Sections of TWC
Ad
Article Categories
Review of Forgotten Tales of Germania by m_1512
Reviewed by Alwyn and Rabbit55821
A young rider, who has apparently lost hope, is led by his horse to water and meets a mysterious old man. Who is the young rider? Who is the old man who knows so much of the history of the four brothers?
A secret village, whose location is discovered by an outsider. Four brothers secretly go beyond the village boundaries, having adventures but potentially endangering the concealment of the village.
A mysterious menace comes from the east, threatening the peace and safety of the people.
These mysteries and secrets draw the reader more deeply into the story. Mysteries ignite our imagination as we speculate about the possible answers. Secrets intrigue us, we want to know why something or someone is hidden and whether they will be discovered.
Mystery is perhaps the most important aspect of writing. One wonders what will happen as the plot progresses, what different characters think or feel. Some stories go further, for example by showing us mysteries that predate the story, or an essential part of the plot being a thing of mystery that one can only speculate upon. An example of this in the Forgotten Tales of Germania is the "secret that could bring down the Empire" and a mysterious Eastern horde, two mysteries which seem to be connected and at the center of the story.
The old man and the young rider are also another important mystery; readers have tried to guess their identities. It has been hinted that the old and the young rider are both characters we have seen before, and perhaps they have their own story to tell in the future. Perhaps all that we have read so far serves as a prologue to their adventure. Maybe this is the culmination of a long feud, with neither side (or the readers) yet realizing their true identities? Only m_1512 knows and the readers of Forgotten Tales of Germania are eager to learn more.
Reading creative writing in the Writers' Study is not like buying a novel and taking it home. If we buy a book, we have invested something in it. When we read a story on a screen, we have not paid for the story we are reading; other stories are only a couple of clicks away. Writers rightly invest time in getting the openings of their stories right, so that someone browsing a shelf of novels will want to buy their books. In a sense, writers of stories which are published in the Writers' Study are always writing the first page. m_1512 demonstrates the skill of engaging readers and holding our attention. He has thought about the sequences in which we will take in information about the world he is building. First, we are introduced to a mostly-ruined village as the birthplace of Adalbert - so we want to know about Adalbert. Through the old man's story, we are taken back in time to meet him - and then we are introduced to his brothers, so then we would like to know about them.
In his descriptive writing, m_1512 gives us just enough information to engage our attention, and makes us wait:-
A sharp horn was blown, its blaring sound reverberating through the woods and mist. It was not just a sharp blast, but a small note with a deep, throaty blaring sound to it. Adalbert jumped to his feet, and deftly fitting an arrow to his bow. If he had been winded, he was now taking numerous sharp breaths, as if he were an animal who could feel a predator heading its way. “Who goes there?” he squeaked. He had tried to shout it as a manly command, and failed. Such was the strange fear that he felt at the sound of the horn, for to him, it sounded as a horn both ancient and potent. He gathered up his boldness and called out again, in a decent manly voice, “Who is there? Show yourself! I am armed, I warn you!
But there came no answer. Adalbert stood still as a rock, his hands clutching the bow and an arrow. After some moments, the horn blew another note, but this one quite unlike the first. It started as a soft call at first, which then grew in potency and went ringing through the woods. At this, Adalbert not only lost his strange fear, but also put down his weapons. And through the woods, a woman walked into the clearing. Despite the unnatural situation, Adalbert had been unable to help but marvel at her appearance, unlooked for in such a place.
The writing style makes us feel that we are reading a legend from long ago, which fits well with the title of the story. How is this achieved? Partly through the use of words and phrases that evoke long-lost tales ('deeds of renown', 'first-born'), partly through the way that the world is introduced - with tribes and traditions, such as the First Hunt and young people being initiated as warriors. There are many writings which label themselves as Tales or Histories, including Rabbit55821's Historia Quod Britonum, but Forgotten Tales of Germania comes across as exactly what it claims to be, a tale of ancient Germania. Both the style of writing and the nature of the tale as being recounted by an old and mysterious man gives the story a legendary style. The tale is also filled with secrets, such as that of Quintus and a secret that could supposedly bring the collapse of the Roman Empire.
The style of Forgotten Tales of Germania is a enjoyable one to say the least. The style is inviting and intriguing, and gives the player a sense of what it could have been like to sit around a fire and listen to tales of old, great Chiefs and Kings. It fits with the era it is set in, with tribal traditions and seemingly mystical characters, such as the woman Adalbert encountered in the forest at the story's beginning. With its wording and story, this feels like reading a legend of the Germanic people. Yet what makes the Forgotten Tales distinctive is that despite the mystical aspects, it still seems like a very grounded story.
While the legendary style of Forgotten Tales of Germania is a significant part of the story, it is not the only thing that makes this an memorable tale. The story is intriguing, with various characters all going in what seems to be one direction. From the memorable "Secret that could bring down the Empire" to the great Eastern host roaming the lands, it is obvious that this story has much more to tell and unveil to us. It entices the reader to continue to read.
Characters
Our focus is (at least initially) on four characters, Adalbert and his three brothers. We are introduced to their character traits: Adalbert is tenacious, "Clovis the faithful, Karl the headstrong, and Gerulf the crafty". Each has their preferred weapon, "Adalbert wielded the spatha and a shield, Clovis a spear, Karl a heavy axe, and Gerulf a slender hunting bow."
This style of introducing characters is similar to the way in which characters are introduced in the TV series The Musketeers, which are based on the Three Musketeers novels by Alexandre Dumas. Athos is introduced as the best swordsman in the King's regiment of musketeers, Porthas as the best at unarmed combat and Aramis as the best with a pistol or musket. We might wonder whether this style of introducing characters is a good idea. Writers are sometimes encouraged to 'show, not tell' the traits of their characters. Perhaps we need to reconsider that advice - or, at least, treat is as a suggestion, not a rigid rule?
A novelist, Joshua Henkin, called 'show, not tell' "the "Great Lie of Writing Workshops" in the Writer's Digest. Introducing characters by telling readers about their personality traits and particular skills has advantages. It makes it easier to keep track of characters. It is rewarding for readers/viewers when we recognize a character's personality trait or particular skill. This happens when Clovis "the faithful" is unhappy when the other brothers take items from fallen enemies in the chapter First Blood and when a village is looted in the chapter The Thing. This also happens when faithful Clovis reasons with Adalbert, whose tenacity (or stubbornness) angers the tribe's council of elders in the chapter Poisoning of the Peace. These examples illustrate the care which m_1512 has taken to make his characters behave consistently, in line with their personality traits.
The difference between After Action Reports (AARs) and Creative Writing
Forgotten Tales of Germania is a very intriguing story. With secrets luring readers to discover more, a legendary style of writing and an inviting perspective on Germania, this is an inspirational piece of writing. There have been enjoyable migration AARs, in which the player's faction leaves their homeland to find another place to settle. The Forgotten Tales of Germania has had a very unusual journey itself. In this case, the thread on which this story is told - not the player's faction - has migrated. This story began in the Rome II AAR sub-forum, before moving to the Attila AAR sub-forum and then finding its current home in Creative Writing. This journey prompts readers to consider the nature of After Action Reports and Creative Writing and to question the traditional distinction between these forms of writing.
At first glance, the difference is obvious. An AAR originates in a game, something set and concrete, while Creative Writing originates solely in its author's mind. Take, for example, a simple AAR, one which tells the story as if it were written in a history book, and a piece of Creative Writing, which details a fantasy world with little to no basis in reality. There is still one thing that connects the two, however, and it is the world, as a world in which the City of Milan constructs a world-dominating Empire is as much fantasy as a world where the Fellowship stands against Sauron.
Perhaps the difference between AARs and Creative Writing related to the reliance of AARs on screenshots? In A parallel between story-based AARs and screenshot-based AARs, Maximinus Thrax suggested that:-
The intense use of screenshots is not widespread in this case, since most authors can write pages upon pages based on a single in-game capture. Some have mastered their craft to such a degree that they don’t even need to employ screenshots anymore.
The second AAR, which caught my eye, was the recently created Nin-po; The Sword Above The Heart. This AAR, despite only being a few chapters through, is an excellent piece of creative writing. In fact, the author hasn’t even reached the point where the campaign is involved. The story follows a young man who is studying to be a shinobi, a ninja if you like. This AAR is more of a story or piece of creative writing at this point, yet when was that a bad thing!
Here, Merchant applauds a writer whose AAR is more of a piece of creative writing and where no campaign is involved. Would it have mattered if the author of Nin-po had continued with the story, using the world of the Shogun II game without telling the readers anything about a campaign? That is what m_1512 has done with Forgotten Tales of Germania, a story which started life as a Rome II AAR, then moved to the Attila AAR sub-forum before finding its way to the Creative Writing area - a remarkable journey.
The journey of Forgotten Tales of Germania can prompt us to think about the boundary between After Action Reports and Creative Writing. When Forgotten Tales arrived in the Creative Writing area, was the story moving to its natural and true home? Would readers have experienced the story differently if it had remained in either of its previous locations? As After Action Reports continue to evolve, is there a boundary between AARs and Creative Writing?
In Narrative Trends in Shogun II AARtistry, Hitai de Bodemloze explained the increasing tendency towards 'hard narrative' in AARs and asked an important question:-
This increase eventually culminated in the first full ‘hard narrative’ Shogun 2 AARs: Robin’s The Wings of Destiny and my own Yokai. Neither story follows a campaign or seeks to portray – accurately or not – in-game events. Instead, they are more reminiscent of creative writing pieces. The only elements that tie them to the game Shogun 2 are a shared setting and the use of in-game screenshots. As such, the question of whether these can actually be called AARs is one that has been asked by both authors and audiences.
With how the story is progressing, I reckon it is now more of a hard narrative. The only thing that perhaps can link it to video game fiction is the use of the artwork below. But except the images, I don't think the game would have much impact on the narrative.
He was the firstborn of Baldovin, chief of the village, and a shield maiden from the Cimbri people. He was named Adalbert to signify his high birth, and thus he inherited the tenacious blood of the Franks and the unrelenting spirit of the Cimbri.
We suggest that, in a sense, narrative AARs and creative writing are one and the same. They are both forms of creative writing, only differing in their place of origin. A well-written AAR, which explores how actions in-game would affect a real world, or which creates living and breathing characters within the world of the story, is as much a Creative Fiction as it is an AAR. And that is the glory which is Forgotten Tales of Germania. Had it not been labeled as such, one would not even think of Forgotten Tales as an AAR. This is an example of superb writing, as m_1512 makes his writing appear as though it were a real world, not based on a game, which was most likely the reason that Forgotten Tales was able to relabel itself with such ease. Of course, more than one game has been used here, m_1512 initially used Rome II before moving on to Attila. This means that the historical setting of the story was moved several centuries later. This created potential tensions in the story. We learned that Adalbert's mother was Cimbri, when Adalbert was introduced. In the chapter The Breaking of the Leaguer, it we learn...
[...] of the fate of the Cimbri. After the ancient defeat by the Romans, the remnant of the people had settled in the north, minding to their fields and herds.
This attack motivates Adalbert and his brothers to lead men to war, to avenge the destruction of their mother's people. We might expect that a battle will mean that Forgotten Tales will be more like an AAR, if only for a short time. Instead, the battle is covered in a few sentences:-
Three brothers fought at the front, their bands mixed together as a host in frenzy and wrath. The Angles soon knew that they had met their match. Their men fell one after another, as the brothers fought as men burning with heat of their wrath. And this spurred on their warriors to fight with such ferocity that the Angles had never seen. And any that tried to flee were shot down with flaming bolts shot by Gerulf and his men. In less than three hours, the stream ran red and it was finally over.
One of the challenges for an AAR writer, if our main characters go to war, is why they fight. In a Total War campaign, we might simply be fighting to expand our empire, because we enjoy playing battles and because we want to win the campaign. If we want to engage our readers, we need to provide convincing reasons for the actions of our characters. Here, Adalbert and his brothers fight for reasons which sound historically authentic: we can imagine tribes raiding one another in that era, motivating people connected to a raided faction to seek revenge.
Conclusion
m_1512's story captivates us with mysteries and secrets. m_1512 conjures up an authentic historical atmosphere, as if we were joining the young rider around the fire, listening to the old man's tales. m_1512 has shown us characters with distinctive personality traits and particular skills, making it easier for us to follow the story and rewarding readers when we recognise those traits and skills in the story.
We have seen that this story has had a remarkable journey. This story began in the Rome II AAR sub-forum, moved to the Attila AAR sub-forum and migrated again Creative Writing. This journey prompts readers to consider the nature of After Action Reports and Creative Writing and to question the traditional distinction between these forms of writing.
We can only hope that this outstanding tale will continue, so that we can discover more about the many mysteries which drew us in, see how the lives of these distinctive characters developed and find out - if we ever do - who the old man and the young rider really are. Reviewers in the future, who (we hope) will have the benefit of seeing the complete Forgotten Tales of Germania, might well regard this as a masterpiece.
vBulletin Message