In the mid-1970s British Author Richard Adams forever re-defined the talking animal fantasy with Watership Down. “A group of adventurers flee their doomed city… and they are rabbits” was one of the taglines. Thrust into the wider world, they encounter predators, roads, hostile or indifferent humans, and unfamiliar territory as they search for a place …
Tag: Character names
Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/27/19: Superheroines
Captain Marvel, now riding high at the box office, debuted under the name of Ms. Marvel in 1977 as a spinoff of Spider-man. Maryjane is worshipful, Peter Parker dubious, and J. Jonah Jameson chomping at the bit at her arrival. How about some other superheroines courtesy of random generation…? Superheroines. Swamp Nymph Scarlet Stalker Ms. …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/20/19: Cetaceans
BIG NEWS from the whale world! A group of cetacean experts identified and took a DNA sample from a mysterious sub-group of killer whales living in the Southern Hemisphere. The mysterious whales, called Type D, have been photographed in recent years, but not studied. They are slightly smaller than genotype species and have a tiny, …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/13/19: Fashion Houses
Sometimes, when you’re writing, you need to stick in a mention of a haute couture suit or award ceremony gown, but don’t want to date the piece by using a contemporary designer. Here’s some names that will fill that role. . Fashion Houses August Brunaut Angeroli Hilbocher Saint-Melrant Ravaux de Vistrenzi Perschino Astraux Igneus Carmacci …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/6/19: Short and Sweet
Sometimes you don’t want a name that’s too long or complicated for a gaming character… something short and easy to say. Here’s a few. Short Names Ghanin Choart Armsin Opan Zasn Chard Chaer Othan Torzan Milven Gandrud Jandal Zulsh Lurth Krind Marn Vitchun Amun Uvan Sephin Chars Gyrn Charl Joforn Elz Seph Dazsh Olans Pantch …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/27/19: Let’s Talk About Chicago
I’ve always thought Chicago had a special ring to it. It’s both soft, and hard, and rolls easily off the tongue (as I also noted for the name Christopher.) It improves any other word it’s paired with. The Chicago Cubs. Chicago pizza. Chicago Transit Authority. It’s the subject of a famous poem that is famously …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/20/19: Coffee Houses
The inhabitants of Seattle drink more coffee than in any other American city, and we also boast more independent coffee houses than other American city. The trend began when Starbucks opened its first store in Pike Place Market in 1971, and really began to take off in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As a …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/13/19: Wicked Women of the Bible
I still can’t get enough of Salome and her yen for peacock feathers. There were other powerful women in the Good Book, some judged as “wicked” by past moralizers: Jezebel, Delilah, Herodias. Others acted just as strongly, but because they weren’t pagans, were forgiven, like Deborah and Judith. Judith in particular has inspired as many …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/6/19: Old Dudes from the Bible
No matter how you feel about God, you have to admit the Bible contains a lot of interesting proper names. Some are used today, like David and Joshua; others belong to previous centuries, like Uriah and Nimrod. Some, like Chushanrishathaim, may never be popular at all. But they fairly easy to imitate, which is what …
Worldbuilding Wednesday 12/26/18: Santa’s Bad Elves
There are the cheery, upbeat elves who help Santa in his workshop, then there are those other kind. The ones no one talks about. Both came from the same roots, yet one creature was sanitized, the other morphed into Krampus and the servants of Krampus. Here are some names for them. Santa’s Bad …