This will probably be quick and I’m sure I’ll get plenty of strong opinions. Now, I have a future series that involves a school for mercenary groups. This takes place in Windemere, so it’s fantasy-based. It’s based on the group of friends I had in freshman year of college, which turned into a fake fraternity. Seriously, it was just a name we gave ourselves and then hung out. Still, it was fun and led to bonding with some memories that I cherish to this day. The name?
Phi Beta
There was a ‘Kappa’ at one point, but it got shrunk really fast. Again, this was nothing official and plenty of fraternities have those two in the name.
The original title of this series was the ‘Phi Beta Files’, which I’ve brought up from time to time. It can be a little bit of a problem. One issue that I never really voiced was using Greek letters in Windemere. Some days I don’t mind it because I take names and words from other languages already. The characters are speaking English too. Then there are days when I can’t shake the feeling that something is off about using Greek letters without an explanation for them being there. I know I have a samurai culture that will be introduced way down the road, which is explained by hints that a person from another world showed up to start the civilization. Do I do the same with the Greek alphabet showing up? Do I even need to give it a real explanation? I guess I fear the backlash that seems to come from anything that could be seen as controversial.
Another issue is that I’ve found if I remove ‘Phi Beta’ from the story, I stop feeling like it’s about that group. The characters are still the 4 idiot boys who are determined to not flunk out and manage to succeed through cunning and chaos. Yet, not having those two letters as their group name really shifts my mindset. Maybe because it’s so close to my memories, which could be the sign that I have to keep the series as the ‘Phi Beta Files’. See how my mind is going in circles here?
Figured that I would open the floor to see what people think. As I said, I’m sure there are some strong opinions on this. I’m terribly at designing my own language, so that’s not an option.
Legends of Windemere 
Just keep your Greek letters, and explain things in something like an authors note at the beginning of the book, or in an appendix at the back. Maybe include the Greek letters in the title and in other places on the books cover. Then readers might expect them. They won’t be like, “What the hell?” When they read the book.
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I don’t usually do prefaces and appendixes. They don’t feel right with my stories. I think I’d have to put it in front too, but it wouldn’t be more than a scrawny paragraph. Maybe a dedication to the real Phi Beta group? Though that could be mistaken for the real frat. This seems more complicated than I realized.
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I would create a backstory to explain the Greek letters easily. It might be as simple as a trade deal that happened many years ago. The letter could also be from some Greek gods the Windemere gods knew a long time ago.
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That’s not as easy as one would think. It means developing a very big connection between Windemere and Earth.
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Yeah I know. My only reservation. That’s why I mentioned the God angle.
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Even the gods pose an issue. If they can cross dimensions then that changes their origins and power levels.
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You are the expert.
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I wouldn’t worry about it. 99% of readers will just go with it. Maybe you can come up with some stupid stunt they get involved in that includes the letters PB. Then they take the joke from there to include the name.
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Maybe. I’m not sure if the academy will have Greek letter squads or a wide variety. So a stunt could work.
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You raise a good point about whether Earth languages and artifacts have been featured in Windemere before. If they have, then your readers probably don’t need any more explanation. If they haven’t, then you might have to offer some explanation, but I’d keep it brief. This is a minor detail — unless for some reason the name is a turning point in your plot.
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I’ve had Earth inventions and write in English, but those are shown as in-world. So they aren’t from our world. The difficulty here is that these will be part of the title and group name. Phi Beta isn’t a turning point in the plot so much as a constantly used label. That’s why I’m wondering if people will question it.
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Plenty of fantasy uses Latin, so why not Greek? If you’re worried, work in some backstory, or do a prequel story to make it clear how it’s possible, or add an author’s note when publishing.
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Forgot about the Latin thing. I might just take the risk at this point. A prequel to explain it seems like it would be over the top, especially since I have no explanation. It could make things messier.
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Have Phi Beta mean something else in Windemere. You could even spell it differently if you like. Fi Bayte or somesuch?
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I could just have it be squad symbols used solely by the mercenary academy. They wouldn’t mean anything outside of that setting.
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That sounds like a plan. You get to keep your personal mojo and you’ve shrouded your source a bit to not break verisimilitude.
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Hopefully. I’ve learned that you can never tell what will happen.
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Ain’t that the truth.
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