Regional Taskforce W15

Welcome to the primary thread for the first cycle of the Regional Taskforce system, the Winter 2015 cycle. Please reply on this thread if you want to join the taskforce or if you want to propose a change to the taskforce itself.

What is a Regional Taskforce?
A regional taskforce is a group project focusing on a particular area, either geographic or topical. The taskforce can be composed of any interested contributor to the Dream, whether an old hand or a newbie. A cycle of the taskforce is made up of two rounds.

The first involves the reading of a set of essential readings of entries that are already on the site, and then the composition by each member of the taskforce of a new short entry that is connected to some or all of the essential readings. In the second round, each member writes another entry, this time based on the entries of the first round. Hopefully, each cycle provides a group of closely connected contributions to the Dream that promote both integration and creativity.

Topic:
The Santharian province of Vardýnn, with a particular emphasis on the human inhabitants of the province.

Dates:
Start of Taskforce - November 18
Picked Topic for First Entry – November 21
Draft on Forum for First Entry – December 28
Completed First Entry – December 5
Picked Topic for Second Entry – December 9
Draft on Forum for Second Entry – December 16
Completed Second Entry – December 23

Group Members:
1.   Seagazer (Taskforce Cycle Leader)

Essential Integrations:
Each entry in the first round should integrate the following references.
1.   The Erpheronians
2.   Thar the Great
3.   Armeros
4.   Aerelian Lakes
5.   Churican

Helpful Readings:
Those who are interested in participating might find the following resources.
1.   Map
2.   Rayne's Masterplan

Ideas for Entries:
Rayne compiled a list of possible entries, but I made consolidated some entry ideas below.

Remember: SHORTER IS BETTER. We want momentum in this, so entries should take no longer than a few weeks to write. Don’t pick some monster entry unless you’re willing to spend serious time each day on it.

Places:
1.   Hèckra
2.   Twinnean Peak
3.   Crow Hills
4.   Witchking’s Cliff
5.   Island of Paragonj
6.   Vandrina River
7.   High Fores
8.   Efirhal
9.   Midlanir
10.   Westhorn
11.   Accam
12.   Thyslan
13.   Cemphiria
Natural World (take note of Rayne’s analysis in Masterplan thread):
1.   Pill bug: little wingless bugs that can roll up into a ball for protection.
2.   Centipedes: Things with multiple legs. Feel free to use your imagination to spice them up.
3.   Spiders: Both poisonous and not poisonous to create beautiful webs in our plains and forests!
4.   Grasshopper and cicadas: they hop, they fly, they sing—Vardýnn would love to have some of these talented creature.
5.   Moths and Butterflies: Small creatures that live off the nectar provided by the flowers that grow in the area.
6.   Water Bugs: Little insects that live in the water or that, in their larval stage, live in the water.
7.   Finches: Small birds that eat insects like Malise, Myrmex, spiders, and flies
8.   Falcons and hawks: Predatory birds that eat small snakes, fish, and rodents
9.   Sea-birds: We have gulls, but some other shore-birds might be nice!
10.   Turtles and Tortoises: Reptiles that may hang out around the lakes and rivers, eating small fish and insects that live there.
11.   Snakes: some common snakes, poisonous and nonpoisonous, would be wonderful for our grasslands.
12.   Newts and salamanders: Slimy creatures that like moist conditions.
13.   Frog and toads: We have some, but I would love a few more to join our croaking choirs!
14.   Rabbits: Animals that hop around. We need some for our forests and plains!
15.   Chipmunk and marmot: Small, scurrying creatures to inhabit our forests and plains.
16.   Moles and groundhogs: Under-ground, digging rodents to cause terror to the local farmers.
17.   Weasel: Long and slender creatures with short legs that slink about prairies and plains, similar to the mimsey.
18.   Racoon: Bandits in furry forms.
19.   Otters and Beavers: As well as any cute, water-friendly creature you can think of!
20.   Trout: Fish for our rivers and such that eat small insects in the water as well as other fish.
21.   Minnows: Silvery little fish perhaps similar to the Mithralfish.
22.   Shiners: Silver fish, very minnow-like with big eyes.
23.   Flounder and sea-fish: Fish to populate the western coastline.
24.   Crabs: Small crabs, large crabs—salt and fresh water—for our lakes, rivers, and shore!
25.   Flowering plants: Flowers for sunlight and flowers for shade—enough flowers to throw a great flower parade!
26.   Vines and creepers: We need some for our forests, to clime and drape gently from our trees, and those for our plains, to creep quietly across the ground.
27.   Fruits and Vegetables: I would love some more squash-like plants, as well as pears, plums, etc.
28.   Water plants: Algae and other water plants that grows in or near rivers and lakes.
29.   Grasses: Perhaps some more varieties of grasses in the spirit of alth’ho and wean grass?
30.   Grains: For the baking of bread and the brewing of beer and ale!
31.   Mushroom: We need many more!—for woods, for lakes, for teas and cakes! For slime and stink, for waste and rot, we need some ‘shrooms, and need a lot!