“No man is an island” said John Donne, and it is as true about #Twitterville as it is anywhere else. No one individual stands apart and no single person can control or change a city. This weeks challenge is to write about the organisations that run #Twitterville, want to run #Twitterville or simply use the city as a base.
Some organisations will be above board and respected such as the Silver Balance Union. Their members will be upright members of the community. Other, organisations, like the Wizards Guild, will be legitimate but more feared than respected. Minor guilds will exist for brewers, tanners, candlestick makers and every other profession in the city. These may be small guilds, looked down on by the large guilds, but their members are the people who keep the city running. The smart people in #Twitterville know just how important these guilds are.
Not all guilds are so public or legitimate. The twin thieves guilds of the Cloak and Dagger are well known, some of their members openly flaunt their membership, and yet they are illegal. Why are the able to operate so freely? The more secretive guilds are unsuspected by many people, such as the beggars guild, known as the Reaching Palm.
Much smaller groups exist, often on the fringes of the law. No one knows how large the vigilante group The Sword Brigade is or even what its real aims are. Whispers of secret meetings by arcanists suggest that the Wizard’s guild is not entirely united or in control of magic. How many secret brotherhoods and cabals exist in the city?
Non-human races, such as the river nomads and the Gnomads are often tightly knit communities. What power structures hold these groups together. Likewise, the traders from the East work together to keep control of the spice markets. Religious groups, both acceptable and unacceptable, exist in the city along side outcasts and rebels fleeing the Empire. Who is organising them and what is their purpose?
This week’s creative writing challenge is to create and expand on all these different factions. What are these groups? What are their aims? Where are they based and most important, who are their members?
In the 140 characters of a Twitter message, can you define the people, places and organisations of #Twitterville?
