Prince of Persia Babylon
Yesterday I posted a poem about a city that has been mentioned in Legends of Windemere since the first book. Bor’daruk is the desert city to the south of the Serabian Kingdom and a big trade area. It’s where Kira Grasdon comes from and it’s traditions have given Luke Callindor some grief. People talk about it a lot, but the champions have never gone there in their travels. Well that changes in Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue. Our heroes are finally going south to this city, so you know something big is going to happen.
But what is Bor’daruk like? Well it’s heavily influenced by the Prince of Persia video games, so it has a Middle Eastern/Babylonian feel to it. It isn’t too harsh because it’s still on the coast, but they have walls to protect them from the sandstorms that can come out of nowhere. It is a rather isolated region, so foreigners are a curiosity if they go beyond the large dockyards. The customs here can be strange from the open dating practices that earned the area some disdain to the public water barrels to make sure nobody gets dehydrated. So it will be like the champions walk into a world that is both the same and different.
One of the hardest parts about this introduction is that people will be going in with some knowledge. Yet I still have to describe a lot and it’s being done more around Grasdon Manor. That was fun because they have a lot of odd pets. Outside of that, I did something similar to what I did with Gaia. I described the big places that you can say as you arrived and then stuck to the plot-focused regions. So there might be more of Bor’daruk to appear if anyone ever returns. It isn’t a city that comes up a lot in my books because it was created around Kira Grasdon. So if she’s gone or simply not involved in a story then I need to find a reason for characters to go there. Guess we’ll see what happens as I go from series to series.
There’s a lot to mention, but I do want people to explore the city alongside the heroes. I will mention that there are some interesting defenses in Bor’daruk, there are nomad tribes that rule the rest of the desert, and the locals love weather vanes. Honestly, I’m not sure what else to go into here. So I’ll just open it up to questions.
Legends of Windemere 
This can be a wonderful setting. I remember reading a book in The Harpers series that used such a setting, and I really enjoyed it.
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I think I remember a cover from that series like that. Only read the Arilyn Moonblade and Spellfire books though.
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I remember playing Prince of Persia on the Game Boy!!!
How does this somewhat harsh environment affect the magic wielded? Are there certain spells that work well with the sandstorms? Or would that be too spoilery?
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Magic works the same as it does everywhere else. Beings with a water/ice affinity will be in danger, but casting is the same.
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Do the sandstorms bring a halt to the city’s function or are the inhabitants so used to them it’s like a common thing?
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It makes traveling difficult, but Bor’daruk is on the coast with an enormous wall. The sandstorms are kept at bay by both. If there is bad weather then the port businesses and fishermen keep the city going.
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I hope the weird pets don’t include scorpions!
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Not in the book. Though funny you should mention them. Giant scorpion meat is a local delicacy.
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If it’s like Prince of Persia, will your characters have to make their way through a maze of skinny ledges and leap from poles? Could make for some interesting action sequences!
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Come to think of it, I think one of the characters does stuff like that from time to time. Though that kind of stuff happens more in another series.
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