[Mor's End Discussion] Time to open shop!

[Krug]

I don't know about yellow. How about Gold? Or Bronze?
No I don't have much heraldy knowledge.

 

[Conaill]

Yeah, the yellow would really be "gold" of course. "Or" in heraldic terminology. But you can bet that on the vast majority signs it's just going to be yellow paint, cloth or thread...

 

[fusangite]

I'd really like to push for ensuring that the civic crest reflects some aspect of the town's history or character. I'm not especially set on a particular aspect of the history but it does seem strange to me that the city's symbolic representation of itself should be wholly decoupled from its historical self-concept.

I'm not suggesting that this reference be the primary feature of the crest but it seems to me appropriate to include one or more of the following:
(a) a cypress tree in silhouette
(b) a fish
(c) silk
(d) a sheep
(e) a mining pick

One of the problems I have with Mor's End "City of Trade/Coins" is what else is a pre-modern city a city of? Unless it's the capital of an empire, the common thread of virtually all premodern cities is trade. Wouldn't cities of this size in every region be cities of trade?

To be clear, I'm not saying that Mor's End shouldn't see itself as a city of trade; I'm just saying that this cannot be the sole component of how the city symbolically represents itself.

God knows I can't make a crest and therefore can't really step into the breach to "improve" on the attractive-looking crest that has been produced but I hope that my comments can be integrated in some way. Thanks for starting this work GladiusNP; a civic crest is indeed a very good idea. I'd just like it to be a crest that could not easily be adopted by some other city without modification.

 

[jdavis]

I was sort of fond of "City of Chaos" but that would be hard to do on a crest. I don't think that "City of the spineless jellyfish" would make a very good crest either. I'd prefer the sapphires to the gold coins and think the diagnal stripe looks better.

 

[Conaill]

I'm not suggesting that this reference be the primary feature of the crest but it seems to me appropriate to include one or more of the following:
(a) a cypress tree in silhouette
(b) a fish
(c) silk
(d) a sheep
(e) a mining pick

Good points

(a) a cypress tree: easy to draw, easy to recognize (at least if we're talking about the tall "van Gogh" cypress trees, not the more spread out american varieties...)
(b) a fish: well.... they're some sort of jellyfish, right?
(c) silk: hard to represent
(d) a sheep: probably a little too mundane...
(e) a mining pick: refers to Mor and the dwarves, I like it.

Overall, the cypress and the mining pick seem the two most promising heraldic symbols. Perhaps cypress and emeralds?

 

[Lalato]

(a) a cypress tree: easy to draw, easy to recognize (at least if we're talking about the tall "van Gogh" cypress trees, not the more spread out american varieties...)
(b) a fish: well.... they're some sort of jellyfish, right?
(c) silk: hard to represent
(d) a sheep: probably a little too mundane...
(e) a mining pick: refers to Mor and the dwarves, I like it.

with regard to the sheep... don't forget that argali sheep have incredible horns. We're not talking about your typical white fluffy sheep. Argali's aren't that mundane.

How about an Argali ram charging in the foreground... with a cypress tree in the background. This scene would be encircled by sapphires.

jdavis... I'm fond of City of Chaos, too... but I think that's more of an enticing blurb for people to pick up Mor's End... Sorta like the way Green Ronin labeled Freeport the "City of Adventure."

--sam

 

[Conaill]

with regard to the sheep... don't forget that argali sheep have incredible horns. We're not talking about your typical white fluffy sheep. Argali's aren't that mundane.

They're also not that central to Mor's End and teh founding of the city. Plus a stylized sheep is somewhat harder to draw than a stylized cypress (essentially just a green teardrop shape).

 

[Lalato]

They're also not that central to Mor's End and teh founding of the city. Plus a stylized sheep is somewhat harder to draw than a stylized cypress (essentially just a green teardrop shape).

Connail... why are we always at odds...

Anyway... I beg to differ, the Lady Kelvin may be descended from the original Argali shepherds of this area. Erekh may have been a clansman of the Argali shepherds. At least according to my version of the history the above is true...

If that's not enough... Argali sheep provide wool, milk, meat, and horns. Just because they're not as "sexy" as sapphires and fishersilk doesn't mean that they aren't important to the local economy.

--sam

 

[Lalato]

If the Argali Ram is too difficult to draw... how about an Argali horn encrusted with sapphires, encircling a cypress tree.

--sam

 

[Conaill]

And that would be easier to draw?