1. Bjørnar Munkerud

    Bjørnar Munkerud Senior Member

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    My Writing Projects' Place Names

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Bjørnar Munkerud, Feb 12, 2016.

    Just wanted to see if any of you have any thoughts/questions as to the place names I'm planning to use in future projects. Feel free to also chip in with your own place names. Or ideas as to good ways to deal with this part of story writing/development in general. Cheers. Here goes *takes deep breath*:

    Project Jack:
    Astronomical bodies:
    Hod - sun
    Wedge - planet

    Counties:
    Dampershire
    Harlueshire


    Forests:
    Fange
    Kembery


    Islands:
    Hokopo
    - cold and uninhabited
    Spreene - forested
    Foko - forested and uninhabited
    Zizzola - densely populated temperate island
    Vamble - large and varied temperate island
    Offe - cold and uninhabited
    Brimpelle - mostly deserts/beaches
    Petrii - mostly mountains and beaches
    Lotore - part desert, part forest

    Cities:
    Muchasleches
    - a small Texan town, name inspired by Aguascalientes, Mexico
    Gherkin - a farm town
    Green Grass City - self-explanatory
    Jason Pecke City - the planet's capital and most populous city, named for its founder
    Ziiz
    Ellissemere
    - renowned for shipbuilding and as a transport hub
    Ha
    Locktrial
    - known for piracy and business
    Wetley - known for fishing and technology
    Three Wings City - situated at the center of an island with three peninsulas
    Pleasant Beach City - hot, coastal city
    End Cliff City - located at the far point of a roughly rectangular island
    Two Shores City - borders two oceans
    Ashhandle
    Bomnasley
    Deeth
    Drinkwater
    Dunlun
    - inspired by London, England
    Gadmey
    Gardland
    Malikor
    Oklourgy
    Plath
    Rontford
    Skinkem
    Waitorshire
    - supposedly so named because when it was just a tiny town, it happened to only have waitresses, and was subsequently named in jest
    Wance
    Yogham


    Project Myth:
    Rivers - the name of a kingdom, a continent (named after the kingdom, which it contains) and a planet (named after the continent, which it contains); the origins of the name lie in a royal family, who through having secured control of the continents two main waterways became associated with it
    Ārım-Āltar-Lo - lit. "Companionship Freedom Foundation", transl. “United Altam Nation”; the Altam are the islands' native tribe
    Orstrōs - the Altam's capital city
    Sramt - an island
    Ēfrant - an island
    Spīda - an island
    Sālbatan - a lake
    Genz - a lake
    Nanagūla - a lagoon

    Project Quad:
    Jeremiah Quadrant - a vast section of space, named for the in-story historical figure Edmund Beregooth "Ed" Jeremiah
    Maryland Sector - a remote area of space containing a small solar system, named after its first governor, Captain Jason Christian Maryland
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2016
  2. NeighborVoid

    NeighborVoid Active Member

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    It's going to be rather difficult for readers to remember all those exotic names.
     
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  3. Robert Musil

    Robert Musil Comparativist Contributor

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    I got a pretty good laugh out of "Muchasleches". I'm trying to imagine the backstory to that name...maybe it's a dairy-farming town and one time there was such a bad glut in the milk market, that they ended up with pots, pans, bathtubs etc. of milk they couldn't sell just sitting around all over the place.
     
  4. tonguetied

    tonguetied Contributor Contributor

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    Hokopoffe - very cold and uninhabital

    I agree with NeighborVoid that this is quite a large list. Couldn't resist combing two of your island descriptions/names to create a new one; as a semitropical preference person I consider Iceland to be that way right now. :)
     
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  5. Bjørnar Munkerud

    Bjørnar Munkerud Senior Member

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    There's a large difference between Hokopo and Offe, I'll have you know. One is mostly ice with lots of rock and the other is predominantly rocky with lots of icy parts. And one's got more snow than the other. And one is to the northwest and the other to the northeast. If only I could remember which is which ...
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2016
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  6. Bjørnar Munkerud

    Bjørnar Munkerud Senior Member

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    The original idea I had was that an enterprising Bolivian family a few centuries back decided to travel northwards through the Americas selling various wares and grew into a pattern of giving their stops silly names, some of which grew into towns by people gathering there and setting up their own shops. The family business ended when the last family member was shot sideways through the neck as he was crossing into Apache territory. I suspect he must indeed have traveled with copious amounts of milk and caused a bit of a literal stink, alerting nearby tribes to his presence and not coming across as someone you'd want to spend time getting on a good footing with. They were wrong, I suppose, but the Indian who shot him lived to tell the tale, and I can't say I blame him for his actions.
     
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  7. Robert Musil

    Robert Musil Comparativist Contributor

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    I like it. Sounds like something out of a Garcia Marquez story.
     
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  8. King_Horror

    King_Horror Member

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    Good. As it has been said already, these will be hard to remember. My suggestion would be, for the cold and uninhabited islands, to add some nasty-looking monsters to make them more interesting.
     
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  9. Bjørnar Munkerud

    Bjørnar Munkerud Senior Member

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    Done. Isn't there something to be said for realism in fictional geography, though? Does every island no matter its climate or population need to be just as interesting and focal as every other?
     
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  10. tonguetied

    tonguetied Contributor Contributor

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    I wouldn't think so but if it is important enough to be mentioned in your story line then there should be something about it even if it is just a significant landmark for navigation such as avoiding shoals, etc. IMO. Plus don't a lot of mysteries reside in non-descript places. :)
     
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  11. Bjørnar Munkerud

    Bjørnar Munkerud Senior Member

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    The reason they're all mentioned in-story, and thusly here as well, is because they're on a planet with only nine islands, the rest of the surface being covered by ocean. Given that they're all relatively close to eachother and within the same order of magnitude when it comes to size, it makes sense to me that they would all be firmly in most of the adult inhabitants' minds as basic knowledge about their world. Additionally, several central characters, though not always including the MC, end up visiting each of the nine islands during the story's timespan, with important intelligence being brought back to be used to further their quest towards world peace each time.
     
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