History is Your Canvas - Vol. 1 Ed. 8
Sep 08, 2020 5:56 pm
World Builders' Guild Newsletter
The year is 1625.
You're lounging in a dim cabaret tucked into the woods outside of Paris. You sip a tannic red and admire the serenity of the area.
Two tables over, a noble English gentleman jumps to his feet and raises his voice. Three flamboyant Frenchmen, armed to the teeth, gesture accusingly at the coins and dice strewn about the table.
A chair is tipped.
Wine glasses shatter.
"En garde!"
You dive behind an overturned table as all hell breaks loose.
You're visiting the action-packed world of Alexander Dumas' classic The Three Musketeers. I recently unearthed my dollar store copy from the 90s. What I discovered, aside from the clunkiest translation known to man, was that Dumas set the story in real-world early 17th century France.
Almost all of his characters were based on political or military figures from the time. The storylines loosely followed regional events in the north of France and southern England. (My translation: they hated each others' guts.)
Like this, but without so much electricity. Or any. (Photo by Pedro Lastra on Unsplash)
The adventure was all Dumas' to splash onto this rich canvas. He could have built a world all his own. Students of history would tell you that's not always necessary.
Through all our folly and triumph across the ages, we humans have stumbled into complex settings for our tales. It's all recorded there in the history books for the taking. Imagine your favorite story from the past.
Now, imagine yourself inside that story. What do you feel? How does the world around you look? Who else is there?
Hold that image in your mind.
Could your world use a little reality?
To future worlds,
Matt Ventre
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