Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 06, 2022, 06:19:52 PM

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil on March 06, 2022, 03:45:37 PM

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on March 06, 2022, 12:52:30 PM
That will be very close to my one year anniversary

Well, if you'd like to have something requested ahead of time, I'd be happy to help!

Hold your horses young one. Arms have to be formally requested and an armiger assigned upon acceptance. The dean or his regent does that.

-REH

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 06, 2022, 11:09:26 PM
For my money, the mercury symbol seems like a bad idea.

You're not excessively complex, since you have four tinctures (argent, sable, azure, and or) and three charges plus a line of division.  That's eight "complexity points," the maximum allowed, as you noted.  But that's still very complex and contributes to why I think this looks so busy.

There's also practical reasons to avoid a small complicated symbol on a large complicated charge.  The bear itself is already on a divided field and so it's going to be small when emblazoned in most instances, and the mercury symbol has to thus be even smaller to be on a "clean" section of the bear so that both can be understood.  If you shrink down this sample emblazonment by 50%, it's hard to tell that it's mercury.  This blazon doesn't quite violate the rule of contrast, but it does violate the principle that rule is intended to protect (designs should be easily-distinguished at a distance).

I'd advise that you should perhaps decide whether you like the bear or the mercury symbol more, and just pick one.

Beyond that, this is beautiful and balanced.

I think you make a valid point. For comparison, here's the version without the symbol. What are the College's thoughts?


Per bend sinister or and azure, a bend sinister sable and argent, between a bear rampant of the third armed of the fourth and a demi-cogwheel of thirteen teeth of the first.

(I am glad everyone seems to like it overall, though!)

Quote from: Iason Taiwos on March 06, 2022, 01:05:03 PM
Could us Cjovaní Ohio Benitians add a team? Cjovaní Squilats (Flying Squirrels)

Consider it done!

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on March 06, 2022, 12:52:30 PM
That will be very close to my one year anniversary

Well, if you'd like to have something requested ahead of time, I'd be happy to help!

I figure this is as good a place as any to share what I have devised so far:


Actually a fair amount of symbolism packed into this one.

Starting with the field, blue and gold is a color scheme I have multiple connections to. A field chequy or and azure was the arms of John de Warenne, from whom my (non-Talossan) surname ultimately comes. Blue, gold, and white were the colors of the high school I attended, as well as the university where my parents met -- a school to which one could argue I owe some thanks for my very existence. The three were also the colors of the service fraternity I was a member of in college. And, when arranged in this pattern, gold placed in the position of honor (reflecting its status as my favorite color).

The bend sinister was sometimes used to indicate a child born to unwed parents; on top of that, you could consider it a nod to the fact that I myself am "sinistral" -- that is to say, left-handed. The bend is itself divided per bend sinister mostly as a rule-of-tincture tactic, but it gave me a chance to bring a little more white into the design to avoid an over-reliance on gold.

In chief dexter we see a black bear, which is both an acknowledgment of my knowledge of the Russian language (Russia's national animal being the bear) as well as my love for the Boston Bruins, a team that wears black and gold and whose team name is itself an old-fashioned term for a bear. The bear has on its chest a Mercury symbol, which...I know this is going to sound a bit odd, but I'd like to hold off on explaining this one until it is determined that the arms would include the symbol.

In base sinister we have a cogwheel/gear, which of course is a nod to my Talossan name -- I chose something that translates as "Mike the Car Guy" for a reason, after all! It could also be taken as recognition of my profession (mechanical engineer). Thirteen teeth are visible on the gear due to the fact that the number shows up multiple times in my life. (For a few examples, my father and I were both born on Friday the 13th, and the name "Michael" first appears in the Bible at Numbers 13:13 -- I was more than a little surprised when I discovered that....)

Per bend sinister or and azure, a bend sinister sable and argent, between a bear rampant of the third armed and bearing a Mercury symbol of the fourth and a demi-cogwheel of thirteen teeth of the first.

I will admit I was unsure how to go about blazoning a bend sinister that is itself divided per bend sinister -- it felt a little repetitive to say it that way.

I think I have hit the limit of eight "complexity points" on the dot -- one each for the bear, Mercury symbol, bend sinister, and cogwheel, along with one for each of the four tinctures (or, sable, argent, and azure). I don't believe the cogwheel counts as an "intrusively modern charge", and I do not see any other obvious violations of the Rules of Heraldry as described on the wiki.

Greetings all, and welcome to the thread for the 2022 season for the Talossan Football Association!

What it is: The TFA is not a fantasy sports league, but rather a fictional sports league.

What do you do? The TFA uses a "scorinator" program to generate scores between sports teams or individual competitors in a variety of sports, often in a sort of worldbuilding context.

Why do you do it? The idea behind the TFA is that it's something that helps generate activity on Witt. People like having a little bit of bragging rights, a little light-hearted smack talk -- this is why each province is automatically granted a team. The idea is that checking in on the regular -- even just once a week to see if they can do a little Witter-cooler bragging -- is something that will help entice people to become regular visitors. It also happens to add a little "worldbuilding flavor" to our beloved nation.

How can I help? Well, like I said, this isn't a fantasy sports league. There's no real way to participate in that sense -- it's more like being the average sports fan. You can watch the games, but you probably don't have the ear of the GM or head coach of your favorite team.

However, at this point in time, you can help. I need a team for each province. Even better if there's both an English- and Talossan-language name for the team. Give me team colors, jersey designs, go nuts with it. But the most important thing is the name, I need that first.

I have some tentative, suggested names for each province:

Capitais d'Atatürk                   (Atatürk Capitals)
Aquilas da Beniuto                   (Benito Eagles)
Canards da Cézembre                  (Cézembre Canards)
Republicans da Fiôvâ                 (Fiôvâ Republicans)
Pastours da Florencia                (Florencia Shepherds)
Soleiglhen da Maricopa               (Maricopa Suns)
Lachistaes da Maritiimi-Maxhestic    (Maritiimi-Maxhestic Lakers)
Rexhitais da Vuode                   (Vuode Royals)

There is nothing that says these should be final, but I figured if nothing else they should be a good springboard. (And feel free to correct my Talossan on these, I am but a novice.)

I'm also accepting teams from various organizations within Talossa. The Royal Talossan College of Arms, for example, or the Zouaves of the Royal Bodyguard. Heck, I'd totally accept Bureaucrats FC from the Civil Service :P (Actually, that would very much fit the Talossan way of doing things. Dangerous to run around playing football with your tongue in your cheek, though...)

I'd like to cap the number of teams at twelve. The idea is to split them into two even divisions, North and South, and then have a season starting April 10 where each Sunday, teams play. Two games against each division opponent (one home, one away), and one against each non-division opponent (split between home and away, alternating year after year). Throw a bye week or two in there, end the regular season in mid-August.

I can provide more information on request regarding the scorination process and the file I have written to simulate a game of Talossan football.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 03, 2022, 03:41:09 PM
Well, it's played online, so I don't see any reason why I couldn't record it. I let all these subscriptions to my fancy online D&D apps go dormant once the pandemic receded enough for my game here at home to return to in person, but I can figure out some alternatives without too much trouble.

Roll20?

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on March 03, 2022, 03:35:26 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 03, 2022, 03:30:59 PM
Maybe I should run another D&D game? I had fun with the last one, and it seemed like the other players did too.

If you record it, if that is possible, then we might even be able to put it up on the twitch channel and Fora Talossa or a revived Talossan Broadcasting Company.

You guys really need to stop giving me excuses to do graphic design  :P

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on March 03, 2022, 02:13:19 PM
For those still interested in the Book of Cuisine. I am including a recipe for something called Double Dog Deviled Eggs.
You will have to read the recipe book to see what exactly is on these eggs though...

My current diet -- and my pining for deviled eggs that results -- are most intrigued...  :-\

Pursuant to my admission as the Oblivious Auditing Fellow, I would like to formally request Arms from the Royal Talossan College of Arms.

The questions necessary to avoid the Gorge of Eternal Peril:

• What is your name? Mic'haglh Autófil
• What is your request? If it so please the Squirrel King of Arms, I request the assistance of the College in designing and obtaining arms for myself and my lawful heirs.
• What is your favorite color? A tough call, but especially in a heraldic sense, yellow -- a deep, golden yellow -- likely takes the cake.

And yes, my name was chosen when immigrating specifically because it roughly translates as "Mike the Car Guy"...

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 03, 2022, 05:09:13 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 21, 2022, 07:12:42 AM
Well, I have been empowered to act on behalf of the Dean, so I'll message him today, but if we don't hear, I'll just do it. I'm not super eager to do that, but we are not in ordinary times and technically it's okay.

I think we should welcome our newest applicant as the Oblivious Auditing Fellow, and as his first task (and seeing there aren't really any other applications for Arms) he should go through the process of requesting and designing his own Coat of Arms. It would be a great way to get his feet wet. Thoughts?

-REH

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 03, 2022, 05:14:16 PM
Well, then by the power vested in me by the Dean and with the agreement of my colleague, I hereby pronounce it so.  And I believe the new OAF should get to work as the Rouge Elephant Herald suggests!

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 03, 2022, 05:46:58 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 03, 2022, 05:14:16 PM
Well, then by the power vested in me by the Dean and with the agreement of my colleague, I hereby pronounce it so.  And I believe the new OAF should get to work as the Rouge Elephant Herald suggests!

To get the best experience, I highly suggest our new OAF follow the steps found here in order to begin his task: http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1135.0

-REH

Gladly, and I thank the College for considering my application!

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 03, 2022, 03:37:55 PM
So what's the next step for this? I'd love to be able to support, even if no one wants to place any bets. If it's getting going in April, then should we set up teams?

Also, I think our magnificent organizer here should award himself a fancy job title.

Yeah, I can get a thread going with an official "request for teams". Feel free to use whatever nicknames for each province, mine are just suggestions. Can handle probably twelve teams, so if we do each of the provinces that's eight already, plus maybe Péngöpäts gives us at least three open spaces.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on March 02, 2022, 02:11:26 PM

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil on March 01, 2022, 08:47:34 PM
Ok that's actually incredibly helpful to know, because yes, talossan.com is what I was using.

Can I ask why? I thought we'd updated all the links on the Wiki and on talossa.com towards the updated site.

Nope, the Culture > Language > El Glheþ Talossan links still goes right to talossan.com

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on March 02, 2022, 02:09:49 PM
That wobbly miéida on the Manaweg flag hurts my eyes, but nice design otherwise

You might like the non-wobbly version better :P

Had a little fun with things and decided to use hybrids of their respective predecessor province pairs to do mockup flags for Litoral (MM+VD), Manáweg (FI+MA), and Sentriun (CZ+KA), respectively:


Manáweg's vertical cross element is obviously too thin, but these are just me goofing around and making rough drafts, because...I like flags, and I can. shrug

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial on March 01, 2022, 09:02:51 PM

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil on March 01, 2022, 08:47:34 PM
No worries, gotta learn somehow, right? "Soleighlen" was an honest typo, but "Fiôvâ" is how I've generally seen it on both here and the wiki so I didn't want to do the "Fine Folks of Fiôvâ" a disservice by misspelling their province. I'm assuming at least one of those accents is gone nowadays?

It's a question of stylistic consistency, I guess. "Fiôvâ" is in the pre-2007 spelling that was/is popular with the Republicans even after Reunision, while in the 2007 spelling reform that was popular with the Kingdom it was changed to "Fiova". Nowadays the prefered spelling is "Fiovă", but which spelling to choose is a matter of which style youre using and staying consistent with that. Since you're not using Ă anywhere else (which is valid), it wouldn't make much sense to use it here either. So the two remaining styles would be the pre-2007 version Repúblicáes da Fiôvâ, and the 2007 version Republicaes da Fiova. The latter would be consistent with the other names, but the former would be particularly on brand for Fiovă so the choice is yours.

Finally to get back to the original topic of the thread, I'm a huge fan of this idea here, and I hope it succedes.

I'm leaving it up to them, which leads me to believe it won't be changed, lol

But thank you! Fingers crossed  :D