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Sword question...



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Sat Jul 30, 2011 2:13 pm
LadyPurple says...



Well it's set back in the middle ages kind of and it's just like Earth except there's this extra continent called Lynx.Is that what you mean? (Doesn't know what premise means...)
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:44 pm
Rosendorn says...



Premise is the background, and what you're basing the plot on. A premise can be any sort of idea or background, but for me it usually mentions character, setting and time period. I use it as the "basic idea" statement.

ED- They would be Asian, I'd think. :P

So, the question now becomes, what part of Earth is it set on? From "middle ages" I take Europe, which means you are using European swords. Although you could change the setting to a more traditional Japanese one, if you really wanted Katanas. Japan at this time in history was locked up (Borders completely closed to preserve culture), which means you'd need to do some major thinking to make anything Japanese available to your characters.

Honestly, just do some good sword research. It's pretty easy to find when a sword was used, and where it originated/how it spread. I gave you the TV Tropes link, although Wikipedia could also work as a start. Once you have a basic grasp you can keep researching those kinds of swords on other sites or, that could be enough research. Tossing in some history research, like what made certain events happen, would probably help, too. Then you could account for a new continent being around to mess up history and make alternate trade routes.
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:49 pm
LadyPurple says...



Actually, Mason and the other characters live in that contintent. But thank you. :) I'll get right on some research.
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:51 pm
Rosendorn says...



So then you're more focused on figuring out trade routes. Is the continent in the Atlantic or the Pacific? That determines a lot.
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:53 pm
LadyPurple says...



Atlantic.
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 4:10 pm
Rosendorn says...



Middle ages in the Atlantic... the country may or may not have been discovered yet, depending on how far away from the coast it is. You'd have to figure out why it developed like Europe, though.
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 4:12 pm
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Kale says...



You definitely would not have any Japanese swords on that continent then as, historically, Japan has only interacted with the nations with direct access to the Pacific, and the Americas were not part of the known world at that time (except among the indigenous tribes of the far North that crossed the Bering Strait fairly frequently, and the Vikings).

The farthest west I am aware of Japanese ever reaching is eastern Spain in the 17th century. It's mentioned in this Wikipedia article.

As far as swords go, why not create your own type of swords? It's a completely different continent these characters are living on, correct? Therefore, it would be strange for the people on that continent to not have their own unique sword types (Why do they even have swords in the first place? Not all cultures have swords.) unless all the people are fairly new to the place.

As already mentioned, you will need to do your research. Sword types rely heavily on the materials at hand and the needs of those that use them. There are, however, several types of sword that have been developed in parallel in many parts of the world that are essentially identical. These tend to be of the double-edged straight sword variety, though almost every culture with swords has some variant of a curved blade, though the degree of the curve varies.

Keep in mind that a sword's form always corresponds to its function, and you will be able to easily select some actual sword types to model your own from (or use as-is if it makes sense within the story).
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 5:46 pm
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LadyPurple says...



As far as swords go, why not create your own type of swords? It's a completely different continent these characters are living on, correct? Therefore, it would be strange for the people on that continent to not have their own unique sword types (Why do they even have swords in the first place? Not all cultures have swords.) unless all the people are fairly new to the place.

Hmm I didn't thik of that...and the continent has always had people was my thing...maybe I need to think on it.
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 5:56 pm
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Rosendorn says...



Which means they almost surely have their own type of sword, as they had to develop their own before sea travel was invented and they even had the possibility of importing others.

I'd focus research on how swords were created, and which swords are pretty consistent over continents and unrelated areas. Unrelated is the key, because then you can really tell which swords are "standard" and would be developed in some fashion by any culture who had the means of creating them. Also research what is required to make a sword; not all cultures had what we would call swords, because they just couldn't create them.
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Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:08 pm
LadyPurple says...



Alright then. :D
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Sun Jul 31, 2011 4:08 pm
carbonCore says...



I'll chime in.

If your character is fighting with someone with a larger sword than a katana, then it will probably be the katana that breaks. Western swords had the advantage of very high-quality steel. Katanas were only so meticulously forged because the steel originally used was complete crap, and there was little of it. So at the end of the day, while a katana would no doubt be stronger than any equivalent sword made of the same (terrible) kind of metal, it just wouldn't be able to hold its own against a well-forged German Zweihänder, for instance.
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 4:29 pm
EloquentDragon says...



LadyPurple,
Rosey had a really good suggestion. I would also add that, before you start writing, and only if it's terribly complicated and the story calls for it, to draw a map.
I tried to picture what your continents looked like and came up with a pretty much impossible picture. :shock:
Anyway, what does a map have to do with swords?

Well, you can take a look at the general geography and go from there. What kind of metal is available? Is there deep earth mining in that region? Is metal scarce? Maybe there's even a meteor crater with outer-space metal traces. (A stretch for realistic fantasy, but hey...)
And defiantly do what Rosey said. Figure out what the people needed with a sword. Were the more of a raider type than traditional battle type? Does the sword have another purpose than just fighting?

At any rate, all this would be really in depth, and it would take up a lot of valuable writing time to figure out. So, I would suggest checking out "Swords" by Ben Boos at the very least, and don't worry about the particulars. It's fantasy, after all!
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Mon Aug 01, 2011 4:50 pm
LadyPurple says...



Awesome. Will do. :)
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