Kingdom Challenge

Welcome to the Simcincua Royal Kingdom Challenge Blog!

2006-09-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog for the Royal Kingdom Challenge. I chose the name "Simcincua" for my kingdom because it means "City of Rains" in Cherokee. I'm still trying to work my way through the first week with all the families. I have a total of 10 households at this point.

They are:

Royal: David & Mary Royal

Noble: Edward & Catherine York, Charles & Elizabeth Earl, William & Angela Glouster

Merchant: Paul & Susan Weaver, John & Cynthia Miner

Peasant: Jake & Cindy Farmer, Joe & Connie Serf, Jonah & Dana Fisher

Wizard: Ares Seer

All families except for the Seer family started out with 1 toddler, alternating boys and girls.

Weaver Family - Week 1

2006-08-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Paul Weaver was not so sure about this move to a new land. The wife his parents had saddled him with was not exactly to his liking. True, during the march she had presented him with an heir. But in a new land, one son was not enough. There was much that needed doing here and he wasn't sure she was up to the task. Now that they had settled into a home, he sought to learn the medicine that the entire settlement would need sooner or later.

His son Peter grew into a fine child, no thanks to Susan. Thankfully, he took after Paul and was all that a father would want. Peter eagerly sought out learning, having heard from his father that it would ease his tasks in life.

Paul sought out the scrolls that had been brought along with the refugees that would enable him to advance in status. Healers were always highly sought after, especially when the population was small as this one was.

Susan had a difficult time conceiving their second child. Paul suspected that it may have taken witchcraft to help her conceive, but there was no way to prove or disprove that idea. Besides, it was to Paul's advantage to keep such ideas to himself. If true, this witchcraft would make his work as a healer easier. And Paul was never one not to look for an easier way to do something.
Only time would tell if Susan did indeed possess witchcraft. The band had not mentioned witchcraft when they set out, so there was no reason to tell the others. At least, not yet........

York Family - Week 1

2006-08-24T04:17:00.000-07:00

Edward was not content with his life. Well, yes, his new home was spacious, but his first born child was a girl not a boy. For someone as ambitious as he, girls were useless! Well maybe not useless, but not what he had desired. He looked at her as a means to an end.

What he really wanted was boys. As was only right, his wife was willing and eager to bear him a son to inherit the title and the estate. He had plans for this new place they had come to, and to bring them to fruitation, he needed several sons.

Still, Sarah was not without some uses. She was the same age as the Crown Prince, and Edward had every intention of her wedding into the royal family. To do so, she would need every social grace possible. Catherine was very attentive to Sarah spending hours teaching her to walk, etc.

Edward was estatic when Catherine became pregnant with their second child. If the gods were with him, it would be a boy. After this child would come others.

His plans grew when Catherine presented him with a son and heir. Sarah had grown into a child and was learning on her own now. She quickly turned her attentions to Jeremy, taking extra care with his bathing.

She spent long hours just cuddling the child. Edward allowed this, although he felt it would only make the boy a weakling.

But just one son was not enough for Edward. He had far greater plans in store!

Royal Family-Week 1

2006-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

King David and Queen Mary were well pleased with the past week. While their house did not yet rival what they'd left behind, it more that suited their needs.

Their young son, Ronald, had grown up into a child.

Mary bore the couple a daughter, named Amanda.

David took Ronald for a ride in the family carriage, first sitting beside him,

Then with Ronald sitting in the back and David driving him.

All in all, it was a good week for the family!

Our Story......

2006-08-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

Prince David looked around him at the bedraggled people who had chosen to follow him. It wasn't easy being the second son of the king, but it was made all the worse by the circumstances. He truly cared for the people, while his father the King and his older brother the Crown Prince thought only of how much they could wring from the population. Up until a few months ago, he was able to simply hide away on his estates and care for his people there. But when his wife became pregnant with the King's first and only grandchild, he realized that something had to give. He couldn't let the King have anything to do with his child. So gathering his nobles, merchants and peasants, they set out in the middle of night. Traveling by night and hiding by night, they crossed the border out of the kingdom of Simtopia. They had a number of anxious moments as they passed through a strange desert land. But now they had found a green fertile land far from anywhere. There was plenty of land and a waterway ran through the area.

Prince David raised his voice, "Listen to me, my people. We will start anew here in this land. For safety's sake, we should stay close together." He saw the nobles and merchants exhange glances. "You have questions?" he asked.

Paul Weaver, the head merchant, bowed to the prince. "Sire, it is not fit that merchants and peasants should live so close by the nobles and the palace. The land across the water is rich and fertile. It will support the farms better. We the merchants and the peasants will settle there. We will still be close enough that we can help defend the land."

Edward, Duke of York, spoke. "Master Weaver, I do believe you have the right of it. Your families will need all the space they can get to raise food to feed us all. We the nobles, can easily cross the bridge should trouble arise."

Prince David saw that all were agreement. "Then that is what we shall do. The merchants and peasants will work the land on the other side of the water. Now, what shall we call our new home?" Just then it began to sprinkle as it had been doing every afternoon since they arrived.

William, Duke of Glouster, laughed. "What else but Simcincua? Truly this shall be a 'city of rains'!" They all laughed and agreed. Thus their new home was called Simcincua, City of Rains, and David became their first king.

Background material

2006-08-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

In setting up my neighborhood, I decided to use the Veronaville map, mainly because of the water seperating the two parts. It made it easier to keep the merchants and peasants on one side while the nobles and royalty are on the other side.

This is the upperclass area. So far we can see the King's Palace on the left with the three Duke's houses on the right.

This is the lower class area with the merchants and the peasants mixed together.

Now, I still need a story line and some families!......................

Royal Kingdom Challenge - the Beginning

2006-08-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

In need of a good swift kick in the ambition, I recently decided to take on the Royal Kingdom Challenge. Starting with 1 Royal Family, at least 3 Noble families, at least 2 Merchant families, and at least 3 Peasant families, you continue onward until you get to the 5th generation in at least 1 family per class. Basically you try to run your neighborhood the way the people actually lived in the era you have chosen. I decided to give the medieval timeframe a go. More than that, I'm actually going to try to keep to a story line. That's a first for me!

So to get things started, let me describe my set-up and take on this challenge. For the challenge rules, a good place to get them is the Royal Kingdom Challenge Group on Yahoo, or the TS2Challenges Yahoo Group . In my neighborhood, the Peasant class has brown/black hair, the Merchant class has red hair, the Nobles and the Royals have Blonde hair. The Peasant and Merchant class have any color skin and eyes, but the Nobles and Royals heirs must have light skin and blue eyes. "Why?" you ask. One basic reason: genetics, both of these are recessive and make it harder, but not impossible for an individual to move up in class. Imagine the surprise if all of a sudden, there is a dark haired child born to a Noble family?! Townies will be classified accordingly, with none of them initially starting out higher than a Merchant.

Now for a story line......