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Galaxies, Constellations, and Card Games
https://archive.holyworlds.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5343		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Lady Eruwaedhiel [ January 12th, 2012, 10:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Galaxies, Constellations, and Card Games
I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here. :twisted:

*ahem*

Right. Well, the point is, I need names. And not character names, object names. Names that flesh out and/or reflect my culture. Here's how it goes.

I have decided that elves have a card game involving lots of runes and colorful cards and trickery, but I have no name. I'm interested in names like those I've seen in other fantasy books - seemingly random name that have nothing to do with the game itself unless you know how to play. Benders, Perish, Solitaire, Hearts, Freecell.

I have decided (since taking up starwatching) that Carseld has lots of really cool constellations with stories to go with them and that, as in our world, they are used to navigate, but I have no names. And no legends.I'm looking for names not like the scientific ones (Sagittarius, Delphinus, Cassiopeia) but like what we call them. (The Queen, the Dolphin, the Archer.)

I have decided that, as we can see the Milky Way across the sky on clear nights, Carseldians can see two bands of their galaxy. But I have no names. I'd prefer names that connect the two. So whatever you come up with, there should be two of them. ;)

If you have any suggestions about possible names for card games (any, really, not just the elvish one) constellations (and not just names there, legends too since I'm not very good at those) or galaxy arms, please contribute!

Looking forward to hearing your ideas,

Lady E
Author:  Constable Jaynin Mimetes [ January 13th, 2012, 9:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Galaxies, Constellations, and Card Games
Do you have a creation myth?

Do you have more than one creation myth?

Do you have any objection to blatantly ripping off Greek myths and legends? We could take some of the more obscure ones and alter them slightly to fit your culture. This would have the added advantage of seeming familiar, while not recognizable. (We could mix and match cultures too... Norse, Gaelic, Arabic...)
Author:  RunningWolf [ January 13th, 2012, 9:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Galaxies, Constellations, and Card Games
I don't know much about your world, but here is how I would (maybe will) think about it if it was mine: Is there more than one sentient race in your world? Maybe they each see images that pertain to their own culture, and see a figure resembling that of their own kind. If they worship gods (as opposed to God), the one resembling one of their own race might be viewed as a god or demigod or something...I might also take a random thing (Icepick, spear, spoon...) and make up something ridiculous (the cow jumped over the SPoon :rofl: ), then try to make it sound cooler, and use whatever I come up with if it seems good to me. You could also use these ideas to make children's fairy tales for your world (kind of a weird concept, but one I happen to like).
I hope this helped, God bless you as you work on this. :D
Author:  cephron [ January 14th, 2012, 1:17 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Galaxies, Constellations, and Card Games
I think RunningWolf has the right idea. Having just read a little about a few of your races, I think you have a rich background in them from which you could draw names. What kind of objects & artifacts would they interact with on a daily basis? Maybe a near-straight line of three stars above a distorted field of stars would be "The Hammer and Anvil" for the Haethor, and "The Net and Spear" for the Sivanis.

What role does each race see itself as playing in the universe? What kinds of stories would they tell their children? Without even fleshing out the story too much, you could come up with a name for the hero in the fashion of that race's language. If they're like us, they'll name some constellations after their heroes, where the constellation could look like something from the hero's story, or just a human-shape projected onto a few bright stars.

As for the two bands of the galaxy...I'm not sure what you mean...how can you see two bands of the galaxy in the sky? Unless your world is a significant distance above/below the plane of the galaxy (or the galaxy has a very unusual shape), I don't see how you could have more than one band in the sky. :?
But anyway, if you have two bands of the galaxy, I imagine they could end up having names connected to any of the classic dualities of existence...Life/Death, Good/Evil...even Male/Female? If one band is visibly bigger/brighter than the other, they could be "The Greater and Lesser [X]". (X = "Heavens"? "Eyes"? "Clouds?"). Maybe they could be called "[Y]'s Tears", where [Y] is some deity they imagine would cry twin streams of tears across the night sky.

For the card game, perhaps decide on the single word that best describes the game, and then poke around thesaurus.com looking for archaic/unusual sounding synonyms? :)
Edit: starting from "Magic" and thinking about trickery, I came up with "mirage", "snare" and "charm" as candidates.
"Anyone up for a game of Snares?" :cool:
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