Diplomacy anyone?

This morning, I realized I've done something very dumb. I'll have to admit that my brain wasn't working properly last night. Plagued by fatigue, I ended up calling the world of Dusk and Steel Worldsea. Sounds innocuous? Wait till you see the extent of my stupidity. Those familiar with Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea will surely scream hell and high murder (more specifically theft and plagiarism). Recently, my country has stepped up its efforts in diplomacy (something which keeps my nation ticking in a global sense). President Tony Tan had just visited Pope Francis I, perhaps we will see the Pope returning the favor by visiting my country. Who knows? As for Ursula K. Le Guin herself, maybe she will adopt another means of diplomacy. This time round with Prime Minister Lee no less. It is common knowledge that PM Lee is that VIP patron of Drew & Napier. Imagine what will happen if Ursula K. Le Guin decided to hire the same law firm. Quite obviously someone would have recommended Drew & Napier to her, what is even more obvious will be the fact that I'll be having free food and lodging at Changi.

Because I do not want to risk having a staple diet of black beans and rice...

I decided to modify certain things. Firstly, I declare Worldsea as illegal. Which means I will have to find a new name for my world. Mannan... yes, that sounds cool. Because I know plenty of my fellow Singaporeans are more familiar with the Greek and Egyptian pantheon, let me explain that Mannan is, in fact, Manannán mac Lir. Because there is more than one ethnicity in ancient Ireland, Manannán mac Lir basically goes by a few naming variations.

Manannán mac Lir: Old Irish

Manannán: Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic

Mannan: Manx Gaelic

Manannán mac Lir sounds too long a name for a fantasy world, I had to choose between Manannán and Mannan. After a brief moment of "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" (not to be confused with Jeremy Clarkson's version), I decided to choose Mannan. Thankfully, choosing my girlfriend should never be that simple.

Islands, a big sea, and technology (or rather the lack thereof)

In a twisted sense, I believe my fellow Singaporeans will take a liking to the Earthsea universe. Firstly and foremost, there are only islands. No continents, not even a peninsula in sight. Secondly, the level of technology is virtually zero. Comparing an Iron Age fantasy backdrop with the contemporary fantasy world is no different from comparing the US with my country more than half a century ago.

So in a nutshell, Earthsea is all about iron and bronze, islands and plenty of water.

I was actually thinking of an interesting idea. What if I modify Earthsea into something a wee bit different? Will I still get sued by Ursula K. Le Guin? Will Drew & Napier let me off?

Most importantly, will I end up impressing a beautiful local girl who is also rich and intelligent at the same time?

Modifications in the name of creativity (???!!!?!!!)

By the end of this post, I won't blame any of you for saying "hey, the creativity here looks Korean!" Of course, the irony will be very evident by then. When I was a lad during my NSF days, I was a fanboy of BoA. At this current point of time, I realized I enjoy using Park Shin-hye as some sort of real-life blueprint.

On the land mass, I decided to create two continents and a massive archipelago. The first continent is Lyonore while the other is Teutos. The massive archipelago is situated at the south of Mannan (more on this Ryukyu later, ditto for the Germans and French).

Lyonore is at the west, Teutos is slightly further up (more specifically northeast to Lyonore). There's an interesting interlude in the process of placement. If you have a BFF in Hamburg, most likely she will tell you why Germany had to invade France during the Second World War. You see, France is situated in the southwest of Germany. It's simple geography, that's why Hitler started losing the plot completely upon Normandy being retaken by the alliance of Winston Churchill, the French, and (most likely as well) those daring Jews (not to mention the Yanks joining in the fun after the Japanese were dumb enough to bomb Pearl Harbor). And yes, that eastern Joe as well if we're talking about parking a dummy army for Hitler to fight (i.e. this eastern Joe, not the other Joe of the East).

Enough of digression and Hamburg plus hamburgers. Let's continue.

The size of Lyonore is roughly the whole of Europe. The same goes for Teutos as well. As for that massive archipelago, I'll most likely set the boundary as twice the reach of Indonesia.

You need to money to survive

That's the cold hard truth about reality. People will commit crimes in the name of money, people will even commit suicide because of money woes. Money may be the root of all evil, but that is because you can't survive without money. And if you cannot survive without money, it means you can never enjoy your own money.

The economy in Mannan is quite advanced. Due to a smaller overall land mass, marine trade routes have become the primary way for anyone (and any settlement) to get rich fast. While we as Singaporeans may be more familiar with the British Empire (since Sir Stamford Raffles was a Brit), it must be noted that empires built upon maritime supremacy had been a bedrock of history. In fact, even Zheng He had showed us that even the Chinese understood the art of seafaring. This was despite the Empire of China being a myth (note that a dynasty doesn't automatically equate to an empire. Look to Genghis Khan and the Middle East if you want to know what is an Asian empire. Japan failed terribly bad in an attempt to emulate the Persians, Mongolians, and Ottoman Turks).

During the Roman era, seafaring was already well established. As early as the Greeks before them, people already knew how to sail a galley. In fact, the earliest people to colonize areas via the ocean were the Celts. As a people, the Celts included Gaels (i.e. those living in the northern half of British Isles) and Brythonic Celts (those living in the southern half of British Isles). That was before the Anglo-Saxons decided to say hi.

Therefore, it's only fitting that I decided to create a robust global economy where any settlement can be my equivalent of Singapore (and yes, the British Isles is basically where Sir Stamford Raffles and his best mate William Farquhar came from. Pretty sure they had Anglo-Saxon genes instead of Celtic genealogy though).

This is the truth when it comes to money making between Lyonore, Teutos, and the Confederation of the Seafolk.

You need politics, no matter how much you hate them politicians

I've yet to draft out an effective political model when it comes to diplomacy. This is especially so between Lyonore and Teutos. While the concept of war can be quite fun to play with, one does not simply go to war if there's a risk of money going up in flames. A lot may have been said about China in a negative sense, but at least I have to admit that it does have a prevailing economic influence on a global scale (politically-wise though, I can't say whether it's already on the par with America). Unlike the recent South China Sea dispute (and the not-so-much-reported Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands and Dokdo/Takeshima saga), I don't think I can come up with something convincing unless it's something... well, drastic.

As for the Confederation of the Seafolk, my plan is nothing less than straightforward. Namely the richest faction out of the three. However, I must also stress home the fact that being economic excellence doesn't translate to military excellence by default. I know it sounds a bit Korean (after all, Silla was apparently weaker than Baekje and Goguryeo), but it must also be noted that any manner of foreign policy has to be decided by two main factors:

1. Who has a bigger bank account

2. Who has a bigger stick

Which is why I find this particular scene in Iron Man quite amusing (not the sex scene, but the political aspect).

There are two ways to justify the presence of arms and forces. Either it's mutual animosity or mutual survival/interest at stake (yes, I know both ends of Syria hate the IS. You don't have to tell me that). One thing I've learnt from reading fantasy novels is that portrayal of politics is much harder than doing a well-written war scene. Perhaps that's the reason why it is easier for someone to portray action scenes than courtroom intrigue. After all, politics is a higher form of warfare where soldiers and the sword are replaced by gentlemen and the pen (Hopefully, we don't have to see another nuclear be dropped. That will set back the evolution of conflict by more than half a century).

Okay, I'll be continuing this verily soon. For now, I need to sleep. Maybe I need to take a brief shower since the temperature here has hit 30 despite being 1am now. I'll have the entire tomorrow for myself though, so hopefully I won't go off on a massive tangent. 

Next: Culture, people, and different colours. Maybe even the correct daughter of Rahmat as well.

[Fionee: When was the last time you came to me for help? Ten years ago?

Flayne Iceburn: Five to be exact. Your memory needs some help. And please don't insist I've agreed to marry you. Black and white don't simply mix together, I don't want to have a bunch of grey kids.

Fionee: Nothing has changed, it seems. Apart from your new friends, that is.

Flayne Iceburn: I don't know about my privileged sidekicks. But yeah, everything about me still stays the same.

Fionee: Brown skin, white hair, and that rascally look.

Flayne Iceburn: Yeah, I know. Like excrement topped with milk. Brandy please, thank you.]