Putting the Years Together

Have progressed through thirty-two years of military history. Only 320 years remaining to catch up to present.

It's interesting to learn some of my assumptions about who probably held what rank back when are completely unfounded. It just couldn't work out that way. By Year 81 - the year when flameswords became part of the training - I am going to have to make some adjustments to the structure.

The idea is that, by Year 320, the following structure needs to be in place.

There will only be five Marshalls.

For every Marshall there should be four Generals. This is a change from two.

For every General there should be two Commanders. This remains unchanged.

For every Commander there should be two or three Captains. This is down from four.

For every Captain there should be one or two Scouts and six to eight Lieutenants. This is a change from four Lieutenants.

Pretty dry stuff, I suppose, but it's part of the world building process. Not all of world building is creative excitement. Some of it is simply diligence and adherence to logic and rules already set in place. Changing a rule is permitted, but only if it is exatrapolated throughout. This is required if one wishes to maintain credibility and believability.

We've been watching Dinotopia, another poorly made fantasy movie in which the focus is primarily on strange creatures doing strange things. Time and distance are ignored, making the story seem implausible within itself. As a viewer I am willing to suspend disbelief, but only if the story keeps true to itself. Don't show me that people walk no faster there then here and then expect me to believe someone with asthma can climb a 300-step stairwell in ten minutes, or even a person who is fit can walk miles in a few minutes through jungle.

On average, people walk about three miles in one hour. That is on level ground. So, to walk through jungle it is reasonable to believe the pace will hold true. Disbelief can be set aside for speeds of up to five or six miles in an hour (two leagues). This means, walking, a well fit person could make about twenty leagues (about sixty miles) in a day, but that would be pushing it. And that is a ten hour day, not four or six. I just hate it when writers get time and distance wrong. There is no way I can suspend my disbelief.

And that is why I devote so much time, energy, and pure creative thought to things like who was Head-of-Family in Year 30, and who was High Marshall, and who were the acting Scouts. (For the record, Khirbah was still Head-of-Family in Year 30, Daheek was High Marshall [I had been hoping for Jora], and Alanta, Gahbi, Nordahn and Raigur were the Scouts.) It's a lot of work, but it is part of the creative process.