So, I'm writing a story about dogs living in a semi-mining town called Ironvale and I'd like to know what people think of it. The story goes: The stray dogs and pet dogs are on very bad terms with each other, and fight whenever chance they get. Right now there's only one pack of stray dogs (I might add more later idk) and they're led by Renegade, a large Doberman mix who lost an eye in a battle a while ago. He is training his adopted son Desoto to take over after him, though Desoto is not too keen on the idea. For one thing, though this pack of strays claims to be independent, they (for some unknown reason) must pledge fealty to the wolves, whom they see as divine beings (they're just regular wolves btw). One of the many tasks of being the alpha of the pack is to renew the alliance between the two groups. More on that later.
As for the pets, they are sorted based on their owner's profession: miner, farmer or merchant. The merchant dogs are usually wealthy and have a lot of influence in the community. The farm dogs are basically the working class. The dogs who help the miners are strong and silent, and they keep to themselves, so they seem powerful and mysterious. Each faction has a leader, who's job is to only get involved in matters concerning dogs in their own class, but can meet with the other two if there's an issue that concerns the pets in general.
In the midst of all this, a dog named Caliber moves into the farm district with her human, and is quickly drawn into the political and social affairs of Ironvale. But when she winds up meeting Desoto one day, the real drama ensues.
So, if you bothered to read all of that I could use some help finding an official name for the stray pack (Wild One's isn't cutting it) as well as for the three pet factions. I also need locations, culture and traditions. Bear in mind, some of this stuff I came up with as recently as yesterday, so what characters I do have might not be up to date.
Lastly, I have an idea on how the story will end, but I'm open to plot twists and the like. Feel free to ask questions! Link to universe here:
Bloody love it so far! The idea around it is slightly familiar but in a really good way. Like, star trek and Firefly are similar, but you wouldn't say that either is based on the other. It reminds me of the following: Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, Varjak Paw (book), and Felidae. All are animal-based, and if you have time I think it would be helpful to at least watch the movies for more inspiration, as I did read the book when I was 10 so I'm not sure how adult it is. Anyway, another thing that could be helpful is watching documentaries about wild dogs, wolves and other canines to learn more about their breeding, feeding, culture, traditions etc. For example, Ethiopian wolves have one female that is the leader of the pack and often is the only female allowed to breed. This isn't like an ant or bee that mass produces, she has control of when she wants to mate. That could be a good idea for the merchant pet dogs. Since you have these classes, you could make the wild dogs have a more socialist government, where everyone has a fair share? Or a dog-eat-dog society where old dogs aren't common, and neither are pups (since mother dogs have a tendency of eating their pups if they are new mothers or bad at it).
Thank you, so glad you like it so far! Yeah, the merchant class is very wishy washy rn, but I really like that idea. On that note, I have a poodle character who I think is just perfect to lead the merchant dogs. I'mma update her profile after this. Gotta brush up on socialist gov. though, it's kinda escaping me. As for the wild pack, I think I'll have them as a dog-eat-dog, strongest survive type of society. I know that's been done a lot, but it makes sense due to the environment they live in. I think they should have certain rituals concerning old dogs who can't work anymore, maybe mercy-kill them or something?
For names… Looking at wolves or canine's Latin names could be helpful? Oh oh! Or just latin versions of words! So I translated Wild from English to Latin using google translate and got Ferox. Because I know google translate is stupidly unreliable, I googled the meaning of Ferox and got a lot of: aggressive, arrogant, courageous, dauntless, but mainly savage. The Ferox sounds pretty cool, but that's just an idea haha.
Sorry! I didn't know you had replied already haha, I think the dog-eat-dog society would make more sense too, and I don't think it is a cliche or anything, just how nature works.
Dang! Got these ideas rolling in! I'm a little ashamed, because I took Latin this year and completely passed over all those words XD. So let me tweak those around a little, and see what I get. Once the names are finalized, then we can move on to individual roles within the classes. Thanks a lot! And stay posted!
haha, sorry I love these movies and stories! And you took Latin? That's so cool, I really want to learn Japanese to be honest. And very true about translate
Yeah, my school makes it a requirement to graduate. And learning Japanese would be pretty useful. Anyway, how about the mining faction? What should they be called?
well, you didn't say they were lower class, but instead that they were a mysterious class? So it doesn't seem like they are poor or anything, just more separated from the classes than the other two are. http://s197.photobucket.com/user/dazbt/media/dogs.jpg.html
So from a bit of research, the only uses for dogs in mines seemed to be pulling carts, killing rats, and finding the dead or dying after a mine collapsed. They would have known cats (for ratting) and a bunch of canaries really well, which could be cool, for example, if they ever got involved as a mass in a fight, then they would be able to do so in complete darkness, the smaller dogs would be very quick and nimble (like Jack Russells to catch the rats), the large dogs would be very sturdy and strong, and their senses as a whole should be really good compared to the others. For some reason, they aren't the highest class though from your idea, which means they don't want to be, right? Being the pets of the poorest workers would make you want to look after them more I guess, but they are definitely a force to respect. The other classes might not know what happens in the caves, just that the miners often come back up with dead birds and rats, which the dogs and cats are black with coal and their teeth are stained red from the blood of rodents and dead men. I'm trying to think of a latin word that would suit these guys, to help ya, but… I tried Blood, Fire, Burnt, Dark, and mystery but the words don't really spring out as cool? Haha. Amavit sounds nice though, it means loved, and if they are the pets of the miners, then they might be more loved than the well off? If not I can keep lookin' for ya?
0_0 Somehow you're doing a better job of this world building thing than I am. Man, having a beta reader is so cool! Yes, the miners aren't exactly higher than the merchants and farmers, just more secluded. But thanks to rumors, they're made out to be some otherworldly force. Even though they are just regular dogs, the mining class is extremely hardy and adapted to close-quarter combat. They also do get along fine with the cats, due to the mutual need to protect their masters.
I would say that the dogs have a tighter bond with their humans than the other classes, but it really varies from dog to dog. As for the name, I'm thinking a word that means 'bold' or 'valiant' or something like it. Feel free to look at other languages as well, I know Latin can only do so much.
Audax and Audens means both valiant and bold in latin, but when I searched for bold, it also came up with Protervus, Audaculus and Virilis which also sound cool?
Haha, thanks, I like world building and character development a lot. I love writing too, but I'm super struggling with that with my story so I procrastinate on here haha. I'll help you as much as you want besides writing, for example, if you have a sentence, paragraph, or chapter that you want criticism on, I can offer feedback, and help with stuff like this :P
Thanks so much. Maybe one day I can return the favor. Hmmm, well I like the sound of Virilis and Audax. I think the Audax can be the group name, and Virilis can be their leader. And I'mma make him a Russell. I can just imagine the MCs meeting him one day and when they expect someone huge and intimidating, they look down and see him and are all like "Wha…?" XD
go for it, it's your story haha, I like both Kugihan and Illaboro, and they have the same meanings really, so it's up tah you haha, I like it, and you could give a deeper story to behind that class? The origin of the name? I like it.
Google translate, I just plugged it in one name after another. Well now that that's done, next come the roles. There should be at least three roles to fill in each class. Let's start with the merchant class.
Gonna say, I used this hippo-translate thing then checked it in a site called Latin dictionary, you want me to check yours? But with a different dictionary site
Merchant… Okay if we list the jobs associated with trade, or dogs within trade (would be a lot harder) then we could mash them into set roles?
Like in real life: Postman, Mall Cop/ Bouncer, Politician, Cashier, Bus driver. A bus driver, Postman and Politician are all government jobs, but you know that a postman is as a lesser than a Politician, so that role is government based jobs, but there's a hierarchy within it based on the education and easiness of the job. So, if we keep this in mind while looking at each class, and the roles within, it might be a bit easier to do and then you can develop it further yourself? (Holy crap just realised it's 2am haha)
Okay anyway, for trade… there's the transportation of goods and information. That could be two roles right there, messengers and deliverers (please give them better names haha), both are easy jobs so I'd think that they would be roles done by common dogs within the class. There could be trade masters to monitor these trades, which would be higher up. Trade, such as the east india company in the past, is often done by sea (this depends on what time the book is set cause it just hit me that I don't know) if not sea then cars but pets would travel these distances too. These pets would be the common traders, trade masters, or something else which gives us four roles there. This type of stuff would probably make this class better with strategy-based warfare, opposite of the strength of the mining class. Can you think of anything else for the Merchants?
Hmm, I might have something up my sleeve. There must be a pretty big time difference between us, it's only 9pm where I am. It's all a bunch of thoughts racing around in my head, so I'll update you when they're given concrete form. I'll keep those suggestions in mind though, thanks again for your help.
Lol yeah. Update: so this isn't about the classes, but I realized that Desoto looked a little too much like Weed from Ginga Densetsu Weed, so I changed his design. I might still be changing it around until something sticks. Just so you won't be surprised next time you see him.
