From: julie@pascal.org
On Thursday, June 26, 2014 8:19:48 PM UTC-6, Carl Dershem wrote:
> "J.Pascal" typed in
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> news:5c72f8ab-e4ae-4baf-9959-8cf44e9468ac@googlegroups.com:
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>
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> > It's easy to try to force world building into giving you what you want
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> > for a story but I'm realizing that my initial ideas aren't really
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> > holding together.
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> >
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> > I don't know if I can explain this so it makes sense. And probably,
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> > just typing it out will help me see the solution.
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> >
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> > The setting is far future. The tech is high-but-not-magical with
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> > their being ancient runes and leftovers from a previous non-human
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> > civilization that does count as magical which supports a Galactic
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> > Empire. My population has been on a particular planet for many
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> > hundreds of years, at least. The main population center is a fully
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> > modern city and space port that works constantly to keep the jungle
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> > and predators from over-running it. The primary industry is
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> > archaeology/anthropology and pharmaceuticals and Port City has only
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> > been there since the nearby ruins were discovered. That *could* be
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> > very recently, 20 years even, but I had defaulted to, perhaps, a
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> > century ago which was probably lazy of me.
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> >
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> > The older settlements are much smaller and in a more temperate but
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> > still plenty harsh area. They're mostly agricultural and mostly
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> > self-sufficient. They've got ruins too but pretty much kept that a
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> > secret. Maybe the original settlers were ideological back-to-nature
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> > types, maybe it was a big colonization effort but the predators got
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> > most of them, or disease, who knows. But there's no real reason to
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> > attract new immigrants unless they want to be farmers and it's
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> > relatively easy for young people to leave.
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> >
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> > What I was hoping for was a long term stable, I won't say "inbred"
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> > because they wouldn't be, population with long term loyalties and
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> > conflicts, possibly even raiding and warring between the various
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> > walled settlements. Actually, *not* inbreeding might provide the
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> > focus on who you're related to and how closely (sort of like a ship
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> > culture) because the gene pool is sort of smallish. So they'd have to
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> > get along in between the times when they don't get along.
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> >
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> > But they've got access to all the technology anyone else in the Empire
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> > would have access to. And they use it. They've got science and
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> > medicine and communications. But they also go really low tech, too,
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> > for some things.
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> >
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> > But I'm realizing... why *wouldn't* they have a couple big cities?
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> >
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> > But if they do, I lose the personal loyalty, everyone knows everyone,
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> > your most promising kid gets elected to leadership when you die so
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> > long as you don't screw up shockingly "inbred" unite-against-outsiders
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> > sort of situation that I want to have.
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> >
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> > Unfortunately Ric isn't here to tell me what stupid thing I'm missing.
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> > :( He was really good at that.
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> >
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> > -Julie
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> >
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> Maybe they have a culture old enough to nrealize that big cities are
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> really not always a good thing, especially in some circumstances. Maybe
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> they have a culural thing against big cities. Maybe there's an economic
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> incentive to stay small enough not to be noticed by the central
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> government. Maybe they know that having a big city means a big target.
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> Maybe it's just not that poopular a place.
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> Just a few guesses. Hope they help.
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>
>
> cd
Thanks... not wanting to be noticed and not a popular place fit pretty well.
-Julie
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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