On World Building & Amusement Parks

This week was another one of those stretches where I found myself tackling stuff I never thought I would be doing. 

As you might remember from last update, the Free Island Republic anthem's lyrics had been composed.  This week, choral and orchestral music was composed for the anthem, and we sent the score over to London to be recorded, just last night.

I also spent a bit of time reaching out to a few select recording artists, attempting to license further music.  So far, it looks like we're going to be able to do so at a price that is well within scope of the project- more news on that, as it develops.

Our texture artist has been busy as always, and spent a couple of days giving the Ellison Farm "Toilet Garden" a facelift.  

Now- another thing this week we had to do was something rather important, yet so mundane:  We had to start designing signatures for the major (erstwhile) human characters, and figuring out which handwriting fonts worked best for each character's personality.

While we were doing this, I was struck with the seemingly overwhelming amount of detail a world such as Peace Island requires to be perceived as even remotely realistic.  I could not help but think:

There will come a time at which we simply must discuss which characters would install their toilet paper rolls so that they can be accessed from the front, and which would prefer to unroll their paper from the side facing the wall...

However, one does their best to not get bogged down in superfluous detail (if you'll pardon the atrocious pun...)

We also had our first, official sitdown with a CPA, to ensure that Peace Island LLC is secure in its practices.  We should have done this a few months ago, but thankfully, it looks like the company is in good shape, if current trends hold steady- and we have ya'll to thank for that!!!

CONTINUING LAST WEEK'S EXAMINATION OF PEACE ISLAND LORE, WE NOW TAKE LOOK AT GREENWOOD FARMS.

At the far north of Peace Island, one finds the Greenwood farmstead.  One might be forgiven for dismissing it in its present form as an unremarkable small family farm - however, the impressive bulk of Greenwood Manor, along with the numerous, myriad outbuildings hint at a more complex history.

For almost half a century, the same plot of land played host to thousands of yearly visitors, when it was known as "Greenwood Gardens" - an amusement park featuring all the prohibition-era amusements that a properly sober family would want to experience.  Among its attractions were a theater, an aquarium, performing artists and musicians, and a public tower that could rightly boast as being the highest point east of Mount Washington. 

Greenwood Manor also enjoyed a more lively past when it was known as "Greenwood Lodge" - the largest hotel to be found on any of Maine's islands.  While presidents, captains of industry and great personalities of the age were frequent visitors, it was also rumored that bootleggers and smugglers found roost there as well- as long as they had the money to pay.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  As the Ellison family saw their land blasted away to make room for gun emplacements, the Greenwood clan were dismayed to see their flood of visitors become a weak trickle, as rumors of local German submarine activity spread like wildfire on the mainland.

However, unlike the Ellisons, the Greenwoods decided to make the best of a bad situation:

Assets were sold, and the forests upon their lands were quickly harvested.  Smaller reports were heard in the area as stumps were dynamited and ground into rich mulch.

By the time WWII had ended, the outbuildings on the eastern side of the amusement park had already begun to sink into the ocean as the poorly-maintained breakwater quickly gave way.  That was of little interest to the Greenwood family, as their new enterprise, the "Peace Island Potato Company" started shipping their first bumper crops to Europe under a generous contract with the US government's ambitious Marshall Plan.

Today, that enterprise continues, though the owners have more or less disappeared from public view.  Even catching a distant glimpse of the Greenwood siblings through the chain-link fencing that surrounds their property is enough to send the local rumor mills into overdrive.

Perhaps you'll find out why....

SEE YA'LL NEXT WEEK!

OOPS- DANGIT - FORGOT ONE LAST THING:

The Peace Island print premiums have arrived, and will be shipped out, as soon as we get backing boards for them (figure a week!)