The Travelers Guide to Aqualon

The Travelers Guide to Aqualon, No.1

Read the Transcript of the Relevant Article
Welcome, esteemed reader, to the Travelers Guide to Aqualon!
First things first! My name is Thadeus Fletcher, and if you are from the High North a little word of advice: our side won the war, so the North is at the bottom of the map; remember that when I talk about ''up'' and ''down''. It's been fifty days since I left the comfort of my hometown of Manastrat, and the Hank & Jordan & Tenzer Corporation has been so kind as to sponsor part of my trip. I am sending regular letters to my publisher at the HJT Gazette, and you, esteemed reader, will be able to reap the fruits of my in-depth field research!
So, ever had an atlas in your hands? No? Well, this is the situation: We got lots of land in the northern hemisphere, lots of water in the southern hemisphere. The former is called the Great Land and the High North, and the latter the Ocean Belt and the Spiral Sea. We got some big island chains in the Ocean Belt, so it's not all wet. Seventeen really big ones in the Corsic Ocean to the West, and a couple more to the East, and they got some huge lakes and rivers in the Great Land too, so we're all nice and balanced. In the middle, smack in between, of course, lies that wretched Iron Belt. Almost a hundred miles of pure iron (where it hasn't rusted at least), a real bitch to cross, but don't you worry, man finds a way!
In fact, here are my first valuable travel tips:
If you wish to cross the Iron Belt to reach the Great Land, there are three great ports you can steer to: Nankô above the Yamato Kingdom, Blacksteel above the Red Sands, and Ísenwyll by Svalbrynd. Now, if you head over to Ísenwyll, I strongly suggest you curb the whole winning the war stick I gave you in the beginning. The Svalbrynd Nords don't take too kindly to that kind of talk. But hey, since they joined the Axis of Steel with Altonar and the Fiefdoms of Ravensburg, they've become a lot more amenable to travelers and commerce, so don't worry about it. Added bonus with this port: you got actual land around it. Do some shopping, get some souveniers, and spend the night in a room without an iron floor. Additionally, you can cross the Iron Belt pretty quickly here: From Rusty Shore to Rusty Shore, the crazy Altonar technocrats built this thing they call a 'railway' where this huge, metal vehicle drives to and fro, getting you across lickedysplit.
If you're heading for the Middle Lands though, you might not want to take the long way around via Altonar or the Yamato Kingdom, so what do you do? You head to Blacksteel. Now this port is pretty big, and they have these impressive installations built into the side of the Rusty Shore for mooring ships and getting people onto the Belt. You can get some exotic goods here too, if you don't mind hitting the shadier corners. But be careful or you might lose your purse. They don't have any mass transit across the Iron Belt here, but the whole section there is Steel Baron territory. For some coin, their underlings are usually good for taking you across in their magnet rollers. These smaller vehicles float a few inches above the Iron Belt and can reach impressive speeds. The Borealians sold them to the Steel Barons apparently and supply the carbonic power cells they use for fuel; smart deal if you ask me.
Lastly, if the Yamato Kingdom is your first stop, well, Nankô it is. The name means "South Steel" I am told, and it is quite rustic. Everything is made out of bamboo scaffolding and you can usually see several impressive barks moored to the piers here, courtesy of the West Yamato Trading Company. Getting passage of one of their ships to Nankô is also a solid option, if you are having trouble finding your way to one of the three ports. Interestingly, the Yamato Folk have built this huge waterway all the way across the Iron Belt. Almost one hundred miles of artificial river you might call it, a comfortable way to make it across to the Great Land.
Well, while the Yamato Kingdom is a beautiful place to visit, my first stop will be the Middle Lands. I want to head to Aquaris, get a good look at that beautiful Spire of Rahn, everyone keeps talking about! So, Blacksteel it is. I'm on an HJT cog right now, writing this column for my publisher; the captain will hand it over when he returns to Graanshoof, and you'll be able to read more in a couple of issues! T.F.
Aqualon Travel Guide No.1.jpg

Maps

  • The World of Aqualon
    This world map shows the basic layout of Aqualon, most of its parts bleached out to indicate it has not been completed yet. As more and more detailed maps of the nations and locations of Aqualon become available, this grand world map will also become more and more filled out! For now it should help you see the geographic relations of some of the places described in this setting.
    Color Key for Pins
    Green - Large nation, island chain, or region
    Orange - Sub-nation or smaller island
    Blue - Capital city
    Purple - Culturally significant landmark
    Grey - Politically or economically significant landmark

Related Aqualon Facts of the Day


- #96 -
After the Declaration of Existential Independence between 22 and 25 GE, during which Borealis prepared to and then jumped away to the South Pole to forever isolate itself from the world and become a technocratic mega-utopia, the Corsic Ocean was left with a power vacuum that threatened to collapse it. The main actors taking charge across the Seventeen Yonder Islands were the Church of Pure Souls, the reemerging Great Pirate Houses, the cursed land Jamphel Yeshe, and a little bit later the newly formed Hank & Jordan & Tenzer Corporation, which expanded the weakened Hank & Jordan's Cooper and Shipwright Guild into a booming business of mages for hire, which would escort trade ships and liners through the Corsic Ocean, which was now pirate-infested. These mages are still operating today as HJT has grown to a powerful entity within the Seventeen Yonder Islands, and they are generally referred to as "Ferries" due to their occupation of ferrying people safely across the ocean.



- #110 -
The Hank & Jordan & Tenzer Coporation has diversified quite a bit since its founding in 390 GE. Turning into a lucrative business, they have reclaimed some of the old Hank & Jordan's cooper works and shipyards, opened profitable trading routes across the Corsic Ocean, and even published a series of story books called "Ferry Tales of the Ocean Belt", which boasts twenty-four large volumes by now and a roughly five-thousand issue story magazine called "Silfs of the Sea" has been in circulation around the Corsic Ocean and even the Great Land since 1304 GE, coming out monthly pretty much ever since.


Related Reading

The Altonar Calendar
Generic article | Dec 26, 2018

The Altonar Calendar is used in Altonar, the Middle Lands, and some of the Seventeen Yonder Islands. (263 Words)

Aqualonian Maps
Technology / Science | Feb 16, 2019

A primer on mapmaking and the history of the southward orientation. (351 Words)

Aquaris
Settlement | Jan 25, 2019

One of the five capitals of the Middle Lands, home to the Spire of Rahn. ~ 2959 Words


Comments

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Jul 1, 2018 15:59 by Dimitris Havlidis

Absolutely amazing idea Koray very well done - and SO SNEAKY with the transcript <3

World Anvil Founder & Chief Grease Monkey
Twitter | World Anvil Changelog
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” - Aesop

 

Jul 1, 2018 16:06 by Koray Birenheide

Well I wanted to provide a plain-text option so it is searchable, has a word count, and can be copied by readers (and me) ^-^ Thanks for the like <3

Jul 2, 2018 16:44

The newspaper article is great. Nice touch!

Jul 2, 2018 16:47 by Koray Birenheide

thank you ^-^

Jul 2, 2018 16:50 by Benjamin Andula

Wow, that editing ! This newspaper-like way of work is very interesting. More deeper, the subject introduce me to an cool and peaceful Aqualon trip.. Well.. Perhaps ?

"Nothing great has been accomplished in the world without passion" -- G.W.F. Hegel
Jul 2, 2018 16:50 by Koray Birenheide

well there is more to come, this is the format for my entire Summer Camp Challenge ^-^

Jul 2, 2018 16:53 by Benjamin Andula

Woo ! Do you do externally that editing (picture), or do you do a big work on BBCode ?

"Nothing great has been accomplished in the world without passion" -- G.W.F. Hegel
Jul 2, 2018 17:46 by Koray Birenheide

I made that picture in photoshop using a paper texture background, paragraph type text, a number of public domain pictures which I made black and white, and a typewriter font called "Adler" :3 And thank you very much for liking this article, that means a lot to me!

Jul 2, 2018 17:51 by Benjamin Andula

You're welcome, reviews are extremely important for evolve ! I like that type of work, perhaps in the future I will work on newspaper in Stellaria Aeterna, so I'm asking :p

"Nothing great has been accomplished in the world without passion" -- G.W.F. Hegel
Jul 2, 2018 18:08 by Koray Birenheide

well, write me, if you need any advice on how to go about it or have any questions ^-^ And feel free to check out the Aqualon Discord There is a creative lounge there where you can share your stuff and ask for advice as well as lots of Aqualon goodies!

Jul 2, 2018 18:23 by Benjamin Andula

Thanks for this tip ! I will give an eye if I can take the time to get deeper into Aqualon :p

"Nothing great has been accomplished in the world without passion" -- G.W.F. Hegel
Jul 2, 2018 19:09 by Koray Birenheide

No problem ^-^ Can I ask why you unliked the article though? xD

Jul 2, 2018 19:16 by Koray Birenheide

thanks :P

Jul 2, 2018 19:17 by Benjamin Andula

Ups, missclick xD Forgotten to add the favorite on few articles I have read before, so in my fast actions I think I eluded the fact it was already set on favorites xD

"Nothing great has been accomplished in the world without passion" -- G.W.F. Hegel
Jul 2, 2018 19:18 by Koray Birenheide

that sneaky button...

Jul 3, 2018 11:26

Dayumn, the more I look at this page the more I wanna read into your world! The whole setup and the article itself are really cool and immersive!

Jul 3, 2018 11:47 by Koray Birenheide

That is wonderful to hear, thank you ^-^ And thank you so much for liking and following my world! If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out the follow-ups; I am writing a continuation of this for every prompt of the summer camp and currently have 4 newspaper articles like this. The link to the next one is at the bottom of this one. Or you can use this article block:

To the Pyramids of Arkamanthali on Camel-Back
Building / Landmark | Jan 25, 2019

The Travlers Guid to Aqualon by Thadeus Fletcher was a regular column in the HJT Gazette in the 1580s GE. ~ 1305 Words

  The Travlers Guid to Aqualon by Thadeus Fletcher was a regular column in the HJT Gazette in the 1580s GE. I also host a Discord Server where I share new articles and little daily facts about my world. It also contains a creative lounge where other authors can share their work and get feedback and suggestions, in case you are interested :3   PS: this may double ping you, I deleted the first one because I accidentally used the wrong article block

Jan 13, 2019 17:37 by Elias Redclaw

Simply WOW! I just love the newspaper style formatting here. This article did not even at a single point get boring to read and kept me interested right till the end. This really felt like a great guide to the world of aqualon and manages to enrapture the reader in very easily. It contains plenty of details that make for an interesting and enjoyable read for this article. All being said, i think this could serve as a big well of inspiration for those with large scale worlds and looking to make an introductory guide to their world. In my opinion this article is a solid ten out of ten with no mistakes anywhere. My only question was that how did you manage to do the newspaper style format here? Its really interesting. Congratulations and keep up the great work!

Jan 14, 2019 09:16 by Koray Birenheide

Thank you for your kind words and for taking the time to comment. I designed the newspaper page entirely in Photoshop using a paper texture background, the typewriter font "Adler", and various design tricks.

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