Part 2 of the Palaververse: Asinia · 3:34pm Sep 21st, 2015
I hope you like donkeys, revolutions, and/or Venice/British Empire rip-offs, because this week's got all them in terrifying abundance.
A few points initially. This is the second part in a series of blog posts focusing on the worldbuilding for the setting of Moonlight Palaver, The Tempest, and most of my stories for that matter. Reading these posts shouldn't be even slightly necessary for understanding what goes on these stories or any future pieces, but if you're curious about a particular nation or subject, they should hopefully satisfy with extra detail and historical bits and pieces.
If you're keen on seeing a particular nation or subject covered in a future post, then drop a nomination for it in the comments section. I'll usually go for what the majority of nominees want - emphasis on 'usually'. The nation of Capra and the Capricious Crown got the most votes last time, ahead of Asinia and Corva. Their post's definitely in the pipeline ... but due to a few voices convincing me that it'd be a good idea to hold off on them and build them up due to their central nature in the setting's history and the other nations they've interacted with down the centuries, their post's on hold until a pitchfork-wielding mob demands it.
Furthermore, a few people last week also requested a map of the setting. One's been provided below the page break, covering the northern continent of Ungula and its immediate environs. Extra maps can be provided for the other continents as and when their nations become relevant. I feel obliged to point in advance that my skill in cartography and penmanship could be compared to that possessed by a blind macaque raised on a diet of lead paint and savage beatings to the cranium. Adjust your expectations for the legibility accordingly.
FInally, all thanks are owed to themaskedferret for proofreading this latest entry and generally being excellent and motivating. 'Tis much appreciated. 
No more pre-amble, then. Brace yourself for Asinia-themed ramblings and something technically definable as a map below the page break.
Part 2 of the Palaververse: Asinia
The donkeys of Ungula are relatively few in number compared to the populations of other species, and their country is small and sandwiched between larger powers. They only have one great city to their name, and their available arable land and farming talent is insufficient to feed even that one. They have no natural spellcasters , no weathercrafters and none of the other exotic magic-wielders known to other species. By all traditional metrics, their nation - Asinia, or the Asinial Republic - should hardly register on the consciousness of the great powers of the world.
But for all that, Asinia not only endures and flourishes, but kicks so far above its weight in industry, natural sciences, innovation, maritime trade and warfare as to qualify as a great power in its own right. The wealth of the world flows through their markets and colonies, the high seas answer to their navy, and their ever-progressing technology has pushed out the edges of the known world.
At least, that’s how an Asinian would sell it. Other nations would likely be far less charitable, as well as note the fine line in bullshit Asinians are known to peddle far and wide. Amongst their other wares, of course.
Asinia’s origins are humble, with its ancient roots in the various small donkey tribes that dwelt for millennia in the fertile coastal plains that fill the land between modern-day Equestria and Capra. No evidence has arisen of any civilisational organisation or collective sense of nationhood amongst these primitive tribes, though the evidence of donkey habitation and culture are clear - most particularly, the remains of early forging, mechanisms and engines. The latent magic of donkeys is low-key, manifesting in their relative strength, sturdiness, mental resilience, and unconscious genius for systems and mechanisms. Even an untrained donkey left alone with a complex machine can soon acquire a reliable sense of its interconnected parts and relationships, far in advance of the average of any other species. The first engineers undoubtedly arose amongst the donkey tribes, and the greatest engineers today dwell in modern Asinia.
The full flourishing of that natural talent - as well as the foundations of the modern Asinial state - was laid around two thousand years ago. The Capric Empire, as it regularly tends to do to Ungulan nations throughout history, made its implacable march down from the northern mountains. In only a few short years, capric generals exploited the divided nature of the tribes to subjugate them one after another. Eventually, every donkey chieftain was dragged in chains before the throne of their new Imperator, and the next thousand years of Asinial history were set.
Slaves were taken from the tribes and tasked on great engineering works throughout the Empire, while the remaining donkeys were ruthlessly organised by capric governors to make the province a breadbasket. Farms were planned and laid out across the coastal plain, interconnected by a network of roads, and the foundations of a new city were raised on the shore of a natural harbour to act as a point for central governance and to collect tithes in grain and slaves for wider distribution. Tribes who dared to rise against the Empire were quickly crushed, and all either adapted to the new order or perished.
As the natural talents of the donkeys made themselves known, their caprid overlords gradually started to permit them access to parts of polite society in the Empire, either as auxiliaries in the legions or as tutors and engineering masters in their schools and universities. This exposure to organised schooling, shared pools of knowledge, and raw materials from across a whole continent had a transcending effect on donkey engineering, and a fiery drive to build and improve was lit in the heart of the early nation, a fire yet to be extinguished. This access to the Empire increased, and after a few short centuries and a period of increasing tolerance and liberalisation in the Empire, a donkey was even permitted to occupy the post of Asinia’s regional governor.
That access could only go so far, however. Caprid citizens and nobility were still the enshrined ruling class over the serviles and lesser species in the Empire, and the Imperial Court and ruling Imperators bitterly resisted any and all attempts to erode their power. Unrest was always at a low simmer in Asinia, kept in check only by the threat of the legions, and when the Empire teetered or festered with internal divisions - most particularly, during the legendary reign of a demon of chaos and during its failed attempts at subjugating western Equestria and eastern Corva - that unrest had space in which to grow.
Eventually, a tipping point came when Celestia assumed unchallenged control of Equestria and presented an unassailable opponent for the weakened Empire. Asinia, along with other provinces, demanded greater autonomy and more power in their own hooves. The Imperial Court refused, and crackdown after dissent after crackdown eventually blossomed into full-scale wars for independence across the continent. Asinia and the other breakaway nations succeeded after much bloody fighting and with the aid of Equestria. Immediately, the leader of Asinia’s rebellion, Ancien, declared herself the queen of the new Kingdom of Asinia and was cemented in her position by the popular acclaim of her soldiers. She established a court and a capital in the old Capric harbour city, now known as Asincittà. What donkey labour had once built, the donkeys now took as their own.
Seven hundred years under the rule of the Ancien dynasty followed, and although Ancien and her immediate successors provided competent, stable, and relatively altruistic rulership, the character of the dynasty shifted until the donkeys enjoyed no less tyrannical rulers than they had under Capra. The kings and queens of Asinia, absent any tradition of landowning subject lords or other competing interests or powers to meaningfully counterbalance them, enjoyed absolute rule from their centre of power in Asincittà and demanded increasingly punitive tithes from the city and countryside both. The monarchs existed above the law, titles of nobility were granted and retracted at their whim, and although Asinia science and engineering continued to progress under their rule, they were kept in a tight grip to ensure the fruits of those disciplines stayed in the monarch’s hooves. During their rule, the first Asinial ships were sent abroad to sniff out the world past Ungula’s shores, and the first colonies were established among outlying islands in the seas next to Dactylia and Ceratos.
The situation at home was a breeding ground for unrest among the oppressed Asinial lower classes, though the mutterings of rebellion in the city alleys and countryside were constantly kept in check by the secret police and army of the monarchs. But not every bit of unrest could be quickly hushed, and in one instance, three hundred years before the present day, a full-scale uprising spread across the countryside. The leader of that rebellion, a farmer called Jackplate, was immortalised in the history of Asinia when he led his forces to a valiant defeat against the Ancien regime. He was captured, subjected to a show trial, and publically and gruesomely executed in Asincittà to try and reinforce the fear donkeys should hold for their rulers.
This didn’t quite work as intended, to understate things. A larger uprising followed a scant few years later, holding up Jackplate as a martyr. Rumours of Equestria’s involvement in their rising abound to this day, matched to rumours of Princess Celestia herself becoming appalled by what the regime had fallen to. The donkeys rose from both Asincittà and the countryside, taking the Ancien regime’s armouries and fortress by storm. The Kingdom of Asinia’s last king died fighting, and his heirs and court nobles fled from the harbour to the outlying colonies, raising new ramshackle courts there while Asinia itself remained gripped by turmoil.
Out of the chaos in Asinia emerged a new foundation for the nation, championed by the intellectual leaders of the rebellion - if the Asinians were inevitably going to be tyrannised by whoever they were ruled by, then they’d at least be efficient enough to tyrannise themselves and cut out any middlemen. Dusty Ovish traditions of republicanism and elected rulers found a new and appreciative audience, and soon the Asinial Republic was anointed and recognised by other nations across the continent. Asinians would regularly elect members to represent them in their own Parliament, and from the largest faction in said Parliament, an Arch-Minister would in turn be elected to act as head of state. Revolution Day was established as a national holiday under the first Arch-Minister, Bourbonnais, and a new era of Asinial history began.
The new Republic enjoyed nothing like a smooth start, with dissident factions and militancy still rife within it decades after its founding. The monarchists and nobles maintained their grip on the colonies, and their supporters existed yet in Asinia itself. It would take something drastic for the Republic to find its bearing, and that something came in the most traumatic way possible. Capra, reunited under the rule of the Capricious Crown, descended upon Asinia once again in the name of conquest, storming across the countryside and laying siege to Asincittà. Only Equestrian intervention saved Asinia from subjugation once again, and that salvation still came at the cost of Asinia ceding the Asinial Dales - its most fertile and productive eastern farmland - to Capra.
Traumatic though the war was, the effort by the Republic’s government to defend Asinia calcified support for the Republic among its citizens, as well as binding Asinia to Equestria as fire-forged allies. Donkey and pony relationships had nearly always been positive, partly thanks to a certain mutual compatibility, but now the Asinial state found itself reliant on Equestria for crop imports to feed its citizens, as well as for a military shield on land. Policies shifted accordingly. The Asinial government turned its attentions and sponsorship towards the sea, offering substantial rewards and the warm glow of patriotic accomplishment to those merchants who permitted their ships to be militarily equipped by Asinia’s leading engineers and to be placed at Asina’s service in times of war. Although this arrangement grew decidedly more formal and professional in later years, the Merchant Fleet was born and quickly became the domineering force at sea.
Competition, commercial and otherwise, was heartily encouraged between different engineers and shipwrights, and subsidies and a state-funded safety net for citizens and companies alike encouraged Asinial merchants to take greater risks, indulge in greater ventures, and sail to the very edges of the world in search of profit and glory, partly sponsored and funded by the emerging Asinial banks. The Asinial trading network grew and grew, dredging in all the exciting raw materials of the world to Asincittà and spitting out more and more finished goods and technologies from the new factories sprouting up there, including the first airships and steamships. The colonies were forcibly taken back under the Republic’s wing and the monarchists banished to the high seas as a new breed of corsairs. To this day, the Republic’s outlying domains in the southerly Asinial Main remain haunted by pirates with tattered heraldry and floating courts, who raise glasses to all their fellow Kings-Across-The-Water in honour of their eventual hoped-for return.
The current Arch-Minister of the Asinial Republic, Burro Delver, has his rise to power rooted in battle against these royal corsairs. The details of the case are disputed, and Burro’s own memoirs on the matter - which include a supporting cast of a griffon chieftain, a shapechanging princess, and a fellow donkey searching for his lost love across the oceans - are mostly regarded as rollicking fiction by most Asinians. The basic facts are clear, though; Burro, as a young privateer fleeing from debts in Asincittà to the Asinial Main, encountered and slew a self-proclaimed pirate king with designs on conquering Asincittà, with the aid of a few companions and elements of the Merchant Fleet. Burro returned home a hero, lived for a while off his fame and the profit in the opportunities such fame provided, and entered politics another while later, hitching his flag to one of the main political parties and leading them to victory in the subsequent elections.
Burro has served several terms as Arch-Minister, not all of them consecutive, but remains generally well-regarded by the electorate. He and his cabinet have presided over expansions in the social benefits and protections afforded to Asinian citizens and workers, matched with greater leeway granted to Asinial merchants to aggressively pursue trade in overseas lands - assisting them with the Merchant Fleet where necessary. Asincittà and wider Asinia remain much as they have always done in the modern era - a barely controlled chaos of commerce, industry, innovation, multiculturalism, things that explode at unplanned intervals, and outlying farmers rolling their eyes at the lunacy of the city.
Equestria remains a firm ally to Asinia, although the harshness of recent trade terms enacted upon outlying nations by Asinia has cultivated a certain frostiness - and frostiness from Equestria is something Asinia can ill afford. The Corvid Incursion of a century past was a fine lesson in that, with corvid warflocks tearing through Asinia’s land army and being destroyed by Equestria’s own at the Battle of Dream Valley. Threats on land remain present - Capra and Corva are surely gearing up for a second round, whether in their own times or both at once - and though Asinia continues to rule the waves, its targets overseas shan’t remain easy to push around forever.
After all, if Asinia’s own history teaches anything, every action invites a reaction, immediate or otherwise. Nobody ever benefited from complacency. And even the seemingly weakest can bare their fangs when pressed.
I assure you, it is an honour and you are a delight to chat with. Still excited to see how Discord shall fit in these posts.
I have to admit, I stand in awe of worldbuilding such as this. Mine always falls into the vague category of "He's from the south somewhere and speaks with an accent."
This is brilliant.
World-building at its finest, well done. Oh and the map... well, it shows where what is situated and gives enough information to be able to play geopolitics. Which is what this is all about in the end.
Well, this is fascinating. Also, I only just realized that I missed part 1.
I'll get right on that.
Hmm. Given that I recognize two out of the three, the truth here may be stranger than fiction.
As for where to go for part 3, I think Corva would be very intriguing.
3409276 Pfft, I seem to recall plenty of world building in "The One Who Got Away". Seaponies and all:P
3409251
Discord'll have quite a role to play in future posts, rest assured. That Capric Empire didn't fall entirely by itself, you know.
Thank you.
3409276
As worthy a category as any, depending on the story. A slice-of-life romance, for example, probably doesn't need extended historical revolutions and counter-revolutions and resource access affecting the policies of nations in the background. Probably.
3409316
Thank you! Glad the map does its job of showing where things approximately are, at least.
3409322
It's very strange truth, no question. Hopefully, I'll get round to writing it someday. And a nomination for Corva noted! Don't forget to fling nominations my way, folks.
Wow, dammit. Where do you come up with this stuff?
These things are a lot of fun to read. Good for reviews, too, since it's not always easy to remember all the historical tidbits and references made during the actual stories.
The map is appreciated, and serviceable. It's odd seeing an Equestria without an east coast, though. I assume that means the southern coast is the location of ponified American east-coast cities like Manehatten and Baltimare?
Also, my vote for Corva still stands. I don't think I've ever seen another ponyfic nation run by corvid birds, though it makes some sense given their real-world intelligence. But they're an interesting standout, anyway.
Asinia rules the waves!
You know, in all this rich and vibrant worldbuilding going on I'd actually like a closer look at Equestria as well. Surely it can't have that flat history as presented in the show? Especially this caught my attention in part 1:
Now that bit sounds really interesting and very in-harmonius. Also very interesting is the hinted at diplomatic and military meddling of Celestia over the ages and the repercussions and benefits this will have had for her nation. It's more of an Empire really back then, albeit not an expansionist one. Any naval action, overseas territories and protectorates? Maybe (moderate) tributes even? Celestia, try as she might, can't have been exclusively altruistic, kind and understanding in a time of permanent strife, exploration and exploitation.
Apart from being very interested in all that, I'd vote for Bova or the Griffins.
Ah, a map! Thanks!
"a shapechanging princess"
...And I'm now wondering if people will be looking over that bit somewhat more carefully after a certain wedding.
Interesting. :)
3409322
"Given that I recognize two out of the three"
Oh, I didn't catch that! Thanks!
3409531
Oh, hm, yes, interesting idea about Equestria.
I love the detail. Do I detect a bit of the Dutch Republic, as well? I presume that with the map, Equestria's east coast has shifted to the south. Have the Badlands disappeared, or are they included in Equestria's territory in the southwest?
3409435
Coming up with it's a tricky process. First, I have to don my travelling cape, pick up a walking stick, and venture far across the world's more eldritch parts. I have to walk until I find the trunk of Yggdrasil, the great World Tree, and beseech it for a set of worldbuilding details.
"Sacrifice a man and pour his blood among my roots," Yggdrasil commands, "that I may drink deep of his life and grant you this gift."
"Yggdrasil, we've been over this," I inevitably reply. "The police are already getting a bit suspicious, I can't just keep -"
"Man-blood. Or go make a boilerplate Griffon Empire for all I care."
And so I sacrifice a man to Yggdrasil and get worldbuilding. It's a fairly good deal.
Or if I'm feeling conventional on a day, I just turn a few cool-sounding concepts around in my head and make sure it interacts neatly with other nations I might have previously come up with. I think the whole nautical theme of the donkeys spawned from a brief clip of one carrying Spike somewhere in a riverboat in Dragon Quest. That suggested canals and boats, which suggested Venice, and things spiralled out of control from there.
3409447
Yep, the south coast holds the East Coast expies. Convenient for access for trade with the rest of the continent and the southerly continents. Nomination for Corva noted also! Glad they stand out in a fairly unique manner.
3409463
Rules the waves, rules your pursestrings, rules that neat steam-powered toaster you probably bought recently, and rules in most areas relevant to the average Asinian citizen's pride, really.
3409531
Equestria's got its own fairly vibrant history as well, with all manner of internal and external efforts by Celestia to keep the country stable and try to spread harmony and protect the lives and rights of sentient beings across the world. I'd be up for covering them someday - though if you want a taster of the part in italics, The White Horse offered some of that. I recall you leaving a review there.
Nominations for Bovaland and the griffons noted!
3409622
Maps tend to be handy things, true. And you can bet that shapechanging princess mention will get more attention in the wake of the royal wedding.
3410036
There's a strong flavour of the Dutch Republic there too, yep. Really, there's bits and pieces from a lot of the historical thalassocracies. The Badlands do indeed take up most of that southwestern nub coming out of Equestria.
3410044
Dammit, even your replies...
Good work on Dragon Quest there, though, you're absolutely right.
So they wish they were the 19th century British Empire, but sucks for them there is no English channel to keep the barbarian hordes away.
I'm beginning to notice a theme with the Capras here. Clearly they're conquering @sshats, but they also brought civilization to a lot of different places around the world. Without them, how many species would still be living in caves and thinking fire was the newest and greatest invention? In the Palavarverse, where all the leaders are speaking in the same language.... they're speaking Capric, right? The same way medieval people often spoke Latin to others from different countries?
Ok, no for now to the goats and crows. (I will say, I hope when you do the Capric Empire, you work in that awesome goat giant that invaded Griffonstone). How about Bovaland? They're right between the rock and the hard place, they've got some stories to tell.
3410248
A lot of languages in Ungula are some modern form of Old Capric, just like French, Italian, etc. developed from old Latin. There's a lot of mutual intelligibility between them all - though Equish, the common language in Equestria, and Auld Corvic are very much exceptions, as they were never entirely conquered by the Empire. Magical translator spells are a dime-a-dozen, happily, and most leaders will have one active on their person as a matter of course.
Nomination for Bovaland noted!
3410303 "The sun never sets on the Asinial Empire. At least, it doesn't until Celestia finishes off her 5:45 cake break and gets back to work."
That blind macaque's beatings must have come from an artist teaching it to draw. Chuckle, that map is certainly serviceable and I thank you for including it. A few questions if you don't mind them (really, even if you do it's too late as this is pre-written).
Is the Yak territory due North of the Chrystal Empire or closer to the Griffin Tribes?
Where did the pony tribes come from before they moved to Equestria during the events of Hearth's Warming Eve?
Is the Burning Mountains Archipelago the Dragon Lands?
I also must praise the thought you've put into this and simply wait in anticipation of whatever you update. My vote this week is Corva; I'm specifically interested in the interplay and abilities of the crows, ravens, and rooks. I would imagine they are an interesting parallel to the three tribes of ponies.
3409322 An internet cookie to me as I got three of three.
3410044
You recall correctly - apparently that had slipped my mind. Or not. To cite you, it was just the gateway drug.
3410988
Aargh! No! Questions! My only weakness!
- Yakyakistan is due north of the Crystal Empire, round about where The Known World is inconsiderately taking up room. It's about as far north as beings can actually live - most of the area marked The North is an awful , inhospitable, arcane wilderness. And it only gets worse the closer to Utmost North you get.
-The original pony tribes came from the range of mountains just above Corva. Windigo-induced winters drove them south-west, migrating across the Capric Empire, until they gave this whole 'friendship' thing a try and alighted in the lands of Equestria.
-The Burning Mountains are indeed the traditional lands of the dragons. A few pockets of dragons still live on the continent - such as the group Spike visited in Dragon Quest - but mostly outwith any national borders, due to the fuss kicked up when they blot out the sky with smoke.
Nomination for Corva noted!
3411129
Palaververse: not even once.
3411602 Hmm? In case you mean the 'gateway drug' it's here:
Anyway, I just reread The White Horse and I still like it very much indeed, despite any criticism I had back then.
3411643
Glad to hear it!
3411602
Hello, Nitty McPicker here, from the Sunday Times. I have some follow-up questions, if I may please?
Is modern Corva still affected by the windigoes today after the pony tribes left that region, or did they all follow them to Equestria? And if Equestria's east coast cities are now on its southern coast, does that mean that you've kept the official map as-is and merely changed the cardinal directions, or did you take more liberties with it than that?
3414788
-Most of the windigoes had latched onto the pony tribes, and most of them withered away when the pony tribes united in a harmonious manner. Some few still hang on in the mountains north of Corva, but their numbers tend to get kept in check whenever Corva goes through one of its fleetingly harmonious spells.
-As for the official map ... not a massive fan, really. Safest to assume I've taken massive liberties where I haven't ignored it wholesale. Some things can be more or less transplanted, like the eastern cities moving south. But I've placed Ponyville a lot more northerly and nearer a border for one thing, and I've made the Everfree an effective border for another.
3414825
Now that's going to be hard to reconcile with my own notions of Equestria. It seems I must now employ those self-brainwashing techniques that I read about. You won't hear from me for a few days, Carabas, but if you need me, I'll be in my garden shed. Knock sharply four times and wait for a response before entering.
3414875
Wander out alone to DannyJ's place and meet them in their shed. I'm sure I got a school assembly warning me about this at one point.
3414886
This is the DannyJ Automatic Reply System, or DJARS speaking:
The shed is perfectly safe. Do not feel alarmed. There is no need to call the police. Would you like some candy?
3414964
Candy? Pfft, you cheapskate of an automated system. I suspend my caution for no less than two loads of candy and the chance to see some puppies in the back of a van.
3414975
This is the DannyJ Automatic Reply System, or DJARS speaking:
Additional candy and puppies are now being dispensed at your local collection point. There is no need for alarm. Do not call the police. The shed is perfectly safe.
3414979
Well ... hmm, you know what, fine. Caution suspended! Let's get some shed-delving on.
3416085
[Sinister laughter intensifies]
ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ CAPRICIOUS CROWN OR RIOT ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ
3431683
Hold your small pastel equines. It'll get its day in the sun soon enough.
Haha! As soon as I saw this, I knew you were working towards using the phrase "Ancien Régime" somewhere down the line – And you didn't disappoint.
3641539
I indulge in wordplay based on early modern French political structures, and somehow I regret nothing.
The map isn't there anymore. Did it get removed from the site that hosted it?
4078612
It was a casualty of the site-wide Imgur block, alas. I've found another host, though, so I should be able to pop it back in place soon.
Day 2: Asinia
- It mentions that donkeys have a magic for mental resilience. Does that mean the Crown can't mind control them or will he just have a hard time doing it?
- Did Celestia have any involvement, direct or otherwise, with Jackplate's Rebellion and the founding of the republic?
- If Burro's own memoirs mention a shaping changing princess, then how does he not know about the changelings in Wedding March? It is because he never actually seen a changeling in its true form or is it some other reason?
-Is there a term limit on the office of Arch-Minister?
4422263
-It's not impossible for the Crown to wear a donkey, but thanks to their resilience, yep, it'd definitely find it a lot harder and more arduous. This isn't much of a problem for the Crown, as it would rarely have any interest in wearing a donkey anyway - as a species, a lot of their tricks come from their mind and Cunning, which the Crown would replace wholesale. If it needs a vessel with magic or a strong frame or wings, it knows where else to look for those.
-She'd been appalled by the growing tyranny of the Ancien Regime, but she didn't have a direct hoof in Jackplate's uprising - that was entirely Asinial. She did support the following uprising, though, and supplied it with funds and weaponry in order to expedite its almost-assured victory against the regime. Less bloodshed that way, in her reckoning.
-Burro never saw the creature said shapechanging princess was based on in its true form, no, so he wouldn't immediately draw the connection in the heat of the wedding five decades on. He might have the chance to sit down and make connections later, though.
-Five years per term, with no hard limit on the number of terms they can be re-elected for.
3410044
I know this was two years ago, but I only just now noticed the potential horror of this comment you made:
Normally, the worst things a malfunctioning toaster could cause were burns, severe injury, death, or burnt toast.
But those asses created the possibility of something far, far worse.
Soggy toast.
4748021
What hath mad donkey science wrought?
Dammit, made a map based on your sketch using inkarnate and was pretty much done, needed just some more small details...
then i pressed something and all was lost.
At least i dont have to attempt to recreate the landmass as i saved after doing that.
4845093
Losing things is always a scunner, losing landmasses especially so. At least the latter's been avoided.
Hmm...the overall recipe seems similar to the one that made Ovarn, but applying it to different ingredients produces quite different results. (I would imagine they do get on well, though, fierce trade competition aside.)
5577074
Different results, definitely, but there's a certain conviviality between Asinia and Ovarn. Besides their mutual liberation from the old Empire, states sans a crowned head (or a Crown for that matter) have that little bit in common, and they've a mutual foe in modern Capra.
Well, got past my goal. 232 Palaververse tropes that wick to the page!
"a shapechanging princess" being the one detail I'm most annoyed about! All I can say is that she's the Smurfette Principle. I would've bet she's the Hippogriff / Seapony Princess, or something, because it's an oceanic adventure, but this was written 2+ years too early for that to be canon.
Wedding March notes Chrysalis as "Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the greatest changeling hive on Ungula and mightiest of Queens" so maybe a Changeling Princess from another hive. I forget if Changelings need to revert to base to apply a new form.
Now I can go to bed and work on Castlevania tomorrow.
Have fun with this universe!
So he knew she could shapeshift, but was never sure he caught her true form? Hmm. Whose love was she eating, if she was a Changeling?
5750727
Excellent work! That's a solid amount of tropes.
At the time of writing, the shapechanging princess was intended to be a foreign changeling, but as canon progressed, a hippogriff/seapony could have slotted into place as well. If I'd ever got around to writing about Crankle Doodle's youthful adventures down in the Asinial Main (with full supporting cast of future Arch-Ministers and chieftains, corsair kings, sea serpents, zombies, and giant spiders), she'd have featured there.