Of Course · 5:38pm May 23rd, 2015
So, Beyond the Borderlands is done (well, just some editing to work on this Monday/Tuesday), the cover is coming(?), and everything else is going well.
Of course Season 5 would drop an episode that throws the whole thing for a loop.
Okay, it's not that bad, but as I understand it, the show's griffon culture and the one in The Dusk Guard are now very different. All I have to say on this one is:
Oh well.
Yeah, not changing it. A) Because I'm not about to rewrite a massive chunk of Beyond, and B) because I actually think my take on griffons is more fleshed out. I'm not saying the show's is bad, it's just not as complete. And from the sound of it, the show is going with a much different angle, I suspect so they wouldn't have to worry about some of the worldbuilding problems they'd need to tackle otherwise. Meanwhile, I dove into creating a culture from the ground up and built something very different.
Long story short? Dusk Guard's Griffons are different.
How different? Well, here's some of the worldbuilding at work, and some of the stuff you'll see referenced in Beyond dumped here from my notes:
The World of Equestrian Economics: Monetary Denominations
Equestria:
Pays for things with representative bits. Bits come in coins (small denominations) and bars (large denominations).
The average pony makes 35 bits per day.
Denominations:
1 bit coin.
2 bit coin.
5 bit coin.
10 bit coin.
20 bit coin = 1 microbar
50 bit coin = 1 small bar
1 Regular Bar = 100 bits (still made of the same materials as a bit)
1 Silver Bar = 200 bits (actual silver embossed)
1 Gold Bar = 500 bits (actual gold embossing)
1 Platinum Bar = 1000 bits (platinum embossing)
1 Equestrian Bar = 10,000 bits (gold, silver AND platinum composition, so-called because it was for some time almost exclusively used by the Equestrian government and large banks)The Griffon Empire:
Pays for things with two types of currency, both representative (and both are like bits and bars). Reeds are the more common form of currency (basically metal straws that are lightweight and easy to pick up and carry, as well as melodious when air flows over them), while the Empire also uses Rings similar to the Plainslands, though with different denominations. Rings are usually worth two of the equivalent reed.
For larger values of currency, bars are used, like in Equestria, but based off of the reed value. These bars follow more “traditional” numbers, as they’re used in larger deals.
The average griffon makes 50 reeds per day.
The exchange rate is 1.5 reeds = 1 bit
Denominations:
1 base reed
Copper reed = 3 reeds
Iron reed = 7 reeds
Steel reed = 10 reeds
Silver reed = 30 reeds
Gold reed = 70 reeds
Aluminum Reed = 100 reeds
Base ring = 2 reeds
Copper ring = 6 reeds
Iron ring = 14 reeds
Steel ring = 20 reeds
Gold ring = 140 reeds
Aluminum ring = 200 reeds
1 Steel Bar = 500 reeds
1 Silver Bar = 1000 reeds
1 Gold Bar = 3000 reedsThe Plainslands:
The Plainslands use a ring based system that, in kind with their nation’s values of intelligence and knowledge, is unsurprisingly straightforward. Since many of their rings are made mostly of the materials they are named after (unlike bits or reeds), they demand a higher value, and it is common practice in the Plainslands to cut them into pieces to make a partial payment (as such, the average ring has small notches made in it to mark its values). Banks will exchange them to the government for reforging at an almost nil cost.
For larger values, Zebras actually use a special alchemically treated and woven silk money. Originally a contract, this process has begun to distill downward, representing lower and lower denominations.
The average zebra makes 25 rings per day.
Exchange is .75 ring = 1 bit
Copper Ring = 1 ring
Iron Ring = 5 rings
Steel Ring = 10 Rings
Silver Ring = 25 Rings
Gold Ring = 50 Rings
Aluminum Ring = 100 Rings
Red Silk marker = 50 Rings
Orange Silk Marker = 100 Rings
Yellow Silk Marker = 250 Rings
Green Silk Marker = 500 Rings
Blue Silk Marker = 1000 Rings
Indigo Silk Marker = 2500 Rings
Violet Silk Marker = 10,000 Rings
Day/Night Marker (White and Black) = 25,000 Rings
Yup, Zecora is wearing her money around.
Heh, +1 for value of aluminum.
Also, man, Beyond isn't posting until Monday or later? Whaaat?
Zecora is just that rich.
I wonder how long aluminum will retain its value once people discover electrolysis...
A ponyfic writer's worldbuilding is more fleshed out than the show's? That's unpossible!
You good sir are a tease!
The episode does not necessarily clash with your canon, since, If I'm not sorely mistaken, Griffonstone is located in Equestria. This would make it separate from the major griffin kingdoms east of Equestria referred to in the map. Granted, Griffonstone isnt represented, but this was made in season 2.
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130403195243/mlp/images/c/cb/Map_of_Equestria_April_2013.jpg
It is not inconceivable that Griffonstone might have had their economy and culture influenced by Equestria, and that the book Twilight referred to only dealt with the history of the griffins Equestrian colonies.
So your story might still be considered true to canon, although I wouldnt know before I read it
I'm pretty sure most writers on the site who focus on aspects of griffon culture got thrown for a loop with this latest episode, enough so that what little planning I had actually done had to prompt a blog post apologizing that I wasn't going to be able to fit my story into 'strict canon' anymore. There was simply no way to write around the changes. (How would I even go about explaining an order of griffon blademasters in such a society without making them all brigands, anyway?)
Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. I'll still think of griffons as Russian-accented airship addicts situated primarily on a floating continent. (The irony of the fact that the show's griffons are a closer facsimile to actual Russian society is not lost on me.) On top of that, the introduction of the "High Talon" of Arad's Mente Materia story is actually one of the high points of the story—it really sets lays out the desperation of the conflict, and highlights just how deep Equestria has gotten itself.
My only real concern, at this point, is how many readers may cry for a story to have AU tags just because the home nation of the griffons isn't a greed-infatuated third world country. Given some of the comments by the show's writers, I imagine this may actually be a common complaint by the end of the season, given how many locations they hinted at.
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That's tomorrow, mate. You won't have to wait for very long. Which is good, because I can't wait much longer either.