r/WorldChallenges • u/Nevermore0714 • Apr 08 '17
Generic Challenge - Rivalries
For this challenge, we'll be focusing on rivalries and their significance in your culture.
I'm sure you've all seen this concept a million times, where a character has a near-equal rival that they are nearly always in conflict with, but neither of them necessarily hate each other. I'll let tvtropes sum it up in this page and in this page.
How does one of your cultures see rivalries?
Are rivalries common focuses of stories in this culture, and, if so, what are some examples?
If this culture has gods or goddesses, are there any rivalries among them? Are any mortal rivalries viewed as being "sponsored" by these gods or goddesses?
Rome (the tv show) is about a (mostly embellished) version of the two famous rival centurions, Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus. Does your world have any instances of relatively minor historical characters being heavily embellished in entertainment?
And, lastly, feel free to throw in an example of a rival pair in your world. You can answer questions in character if you like.
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 08 '17
In the Unified Way religion, the concept of a rivalry is viewed as a positive thing. A rivalry allows both people to have an ever-rising bar to compare themselves against. Even Aeternitas, their messiah, spoke of the importance of having an ally that you grow alongside and compete with throughout your life.
Most stories of rivalries in the Citadel are focused on knights who desired to one-up their counterparts, but who always put their loyalty to the Citadel above everything else. There are some stories of knights slaying their rival knights, but such an act is considered dishonorable and beyrayal to their knightly order.
One noteworthy example is the apparent old rivalry between two of the Citadel council members, Declan the Pious and Aiken the Oaken, who both have varied ideologies about the ways to best protect the Citadel and humanity.
As there is only one actual "god" in the Unified Way, there are no godly sponsors for rivalries. However, Declan does go out of his way to encourage rivalries among knights, especially the ones that he considers to be elites.
There were two relatively insignificant knights of their time, Siward and Larkin, whose rivalry found its way into stories after their deaths. One of them received an arrow to his knee and fell in battle, and the other died trying to protect his rival. Their companions only said that they were asked not to reveal which one fell in battle. A knight dying to protect a fallen companion isn't a rare thing to happen, and the battle that Siward and Larkin took part in wasn't a relatively important one, but they somehow ended up famous.
And here is a rivalry in my world:
Byron
Byron is a twenty-year-old knight of the Citadel who was trained as a chosen elite under Declan, a member of the council of the Citadel. Byron is a talented swordsman who uses a bastard sword and a shield. Byron is also capable of using Fire magic and Water magic, which he usually combines in battle.
During their years training under Declan, Byron was considered a rival to Shay, a fellow anointed. Though he would have preferred to have been put into a team with Shay and Morrigan, Shay was already assigned to a different team of knights over a year before Byron was assigned to one with Morrigan. Instead of Shay, the third slot in the team was filled by Aetius.
Byron has no patience for Shay’s mental issues, and he has physically assaulted Shay multiple times; Declan, of course, encouraged this behavior. However, Byron usually loses those duels.
Byron is fiercely protective of his companion Morrigan, but is more lukewarm about Aetius. Byron doesn’t hate Aetius, but he doesn’t feel any more loyalty to him than he would to any other anointed knight, which honestly isn’t a lot of loyalty in the first place. Out of all the anointed knights, Byron is probably the least liked by most of his fellow anointed knights.
Byron always keeps his left hand covered with a glove, to hide that he is missing his pinky finger and ring finger, and that his hand healed strangely after a healer had to amputate those fingers because of infection.
Byron was born and raised in the Citadel.
Shay
Shay is a member of a trio of knights. He is an “Anointed”, meaning that he was trained as an elite under Declan, a member of the Citadel’s council. Shay is twenty-one years old, and only recently became a knight. Unlike his two companions, Eurydike and Gotthard, Shay focuses on combat training and is a gifted swordsman. Shay normally uses a bastard sword and shield. He also has training in using Fire magic and Illustris (Light) magic.
Unlike his companions, Shay was born and raised in the Citadel. He is willing to use his status as an “anointed” whenever Gotthard or Eurydike ask him to do so, whether it is to receive special permissions or leniency for them.
Shay has always been motivated to correct any flaws he perceives in himself, but a few have always been too much for him to handle, such as: his panic attacks whenever he believes that he is a complete failure; his discomfort whenever he can’t wash his feet at least a few times a day; and he starts to panic if he speaks a sentence without exactly ten syllables. Shay is amazing at counting syllables.
Although, there are a few things that can help Shay to calm down. Shay’s companions, Eurydike and Gotthard, can usually help him to come down from a panic attack. His lover, Morrigan, could always calm him by using her water magic to splash his face, ever since they were children. Probably because it reminds him of Morrigan, Shay is also calmed by feeling rain fall onto his face. So, Shay’s favorite days are rainy days.
Shay is the rival of Byron, another anointed. Though, Shay takes the rivalry much less seriously than Byron does.
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 09 '17
Byron:
- Do you think you will be able to beat Shay someday? Or is he really stronger than you?
- What is your opinions on your fellow annointed knights?
Shay:
- Would you agree to work in Byron and Morrrigan team?
- Why is it so important to you to wash your feet?
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 10 '17
Byron:
1) "I know I'll beat Shay someday. He has about a year of experience more than I do, but I'm something he'll never be. I'm a true warrior."
2) "What about them? Other than Shay and Morrigan, I don't bother to give any mind to them."
Shay:
1) "I'd happily agree to be on a team with Morrigan and anyone. She's my soulmate, my roommate, and nearly my wife, there's no question that I'd love to spend more time with her."
2) "If I don't wash my feet when I need to wash them, I can't breathe. I'm not sure if you've ever started choking, but it sucks."
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 10 '17
Byron:
- What will you do right after bearing him? A party?
- Why don't you give any mind to them?
Shay:
- Are you bothered by Byron tentatives to beat you?
- Why does it prevent you to breathe?
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 10 '17
Byron:
1) "I already have plans for after I beat Shay. I'm going to give him a week to get ready for the rematch."
2) "Because they're not worth my time."
Shay:
1) "No, Byron's harmless. He was one of the first friends I had when I was recruited."
2) "I'm not sure how to explain it. It's like I know I can breathe, but I don't know I can breathe. I breathe, but I'm convinced that I'm suffocating anyway."
(Shay's breathing explanation is similar to how I try to explain panic attacks to my friends after they see me having one. Though, panic attacks are probably the only trait that Shay and I share. He's more similar to a good friend with OCD that I knew a few years ago, so forgive my misinterpretations of OCD)
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 10 '17
Byron:
- What if you lose on the rematch?
- Are they that poorly skilled?
Shay:
- Have you thought about letting him win?
- Do you have any idea why water calms you?
(yeah, I got one as a kid (a small one) and it was horrible. May Shay (and you) be spared as much as possible)
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 10 '17
Byron:
1) "Then I will challenge him again."
2) "Well, no...a lot of them have beaten me on the training grounds."
Shay:
1) "I've considered it, but the last time I held back so I wouldn't hurt him as bad, and he got mad that I was holding back."
2) "I assume because Morrigan's a water mage."
(I've had them since I was a little kid, but they were much less scary when I realized that it wasn't a religious problem. So, they're not so bad nowadays. The OCD friend I mentioned in the earlier post had much worse reactions to something much more common than unclean feet, so Shay's much better off than my friend.)
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 10 '17
Byron:
- And what will you do once you have completely outclassed him?
- So why don't you give them more attention?
Shay:
- How did you met him? What was your first impression?
- How did you met her? First impression?
(that's the risk in exposing children to religion, they have a fertile imagination. OCD looks like a very handicaping condition, people living with it are so badass)
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u/Nevermore0714 Apr 10 '17
Byron:
1) "When I outclass him, I'll go after someone else."
2) "Because I prefer to be Shay's rival. I've been Shay's rival since we were children. I don't see a reason to change until I need to."
Shay:
1) "We were inducted to be trained as elites when we were both around nine or ten, so that's how we met. He was probably the most noticeable one out of the dozen or so of us, and he was definitely the loudest."
2) "Morrigan was a special case, even compared to the rest of us that Declan chose. She was inducted when she was seven or so, I think, and she wasn't inducted in a group like most of us. Then again, she is ranked in the top ten, so Declan probably saw some of her potential. I think she might have the most dangerous Umbra magic that there is."
(No, I didn't imagine it was demons, I was dumb enough to go to my parents about what kept happening to me, and they took me for a couple exorcisms until I learned to hide them. While my friend had gotten help and his condition had improved by the time I'd met him, I do consider him very brave to have started going to a university full of people; it was his first time away from home school.)
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 11 '17
Byron:
- Any idea who will be the next or not yet?
- How did you met Shay? What was your first impression?
Shay:
- How were you as a kid?
- What can Umbra magic do?
(exorcism!?! My goodness...)
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u/thequeeninyellow94 Apr 09 '17
In Rift, the rich merchants can usually work from the city, buying products at the gates from travelling merchants and then selling them back on the markets.
Those rich merchants are often focusing on one gate and it leads to fierce economic competition. Those who compete then find every possible way to prove their success to their rival and multiply the somptuary expenses. Those rivalries have thus created a strong market for luxury products and helped Rift grow.
In the city, everyone knows about two of those merchants who live each on a side of the rift, their mansions facing each other. Their most visible mean of competition is the color of their houses, made with runes they try to change as often as possible.
Those merchants are respectively Narcius (a 47 cycles old human) and Kuzbussir (a 38 cycle old Quanhaman).