The Campaign Builder's Guild

Hmm, I was actually thinking it was kinda the opposite; most fantasy names really seem to be made-up while many real names are composites. Not that I'm planning to do that with all my cities, but I think that sort of name suits an industrial city well.
I'm liking Tarnish all of a sudden, I just don't know what to combine it with.

EDIT: otherwise I was thinking of ending the word with either chant, toil (good idea Jaerc) or ken. Or perhaps church/chapel due to its religious importance.

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowHmm, I was actually thinking it was kinda the opposite; most fantasy names really seem to be made-up while many real names are composites. Not that I'm planning to do that with all my cities, but I think that sort of name suits an industrial city well.
I'm liking Tarnish all of a sudden, I just don't know what to combine it with.

I think 'Tarnish' by itself would make a fine name. Combining it with another word could easily make it uncomfortably long and complex, something that might over time lead to it being shortened anyway - people generally don't like it when they have to spend much effort pronouncing words they say very often.

I'm going to use Tarnish for now then :)
I'll get around to rewriting it to be next to the river soon.

EDIT: Okay, I lied. I can't really stop looking for that "perfect" name.
But I have a suggestion: Ferzest. Possibly with a Lower thrown in front or a -mere or a -toil stuck to the back if it suits you. It sounds gritty and has a tinge of mountaineous East Europa and could also well be an industrial place. It was created as a mix of ferrium (iron) and zest (enjoyment), and could quite well be the name of a hopeful young city before it turned bad.
If Ferzest or any derivation thereof doesn't suit you, here is the full list of words I've gathered:

[spoiler=list of words for industrial city]
Name:
Toil
Prayer/chant
Blister
Forge
Metal/gold/iron
Black
Church/chapel
Tarnish
Wrought
River
Dull
Ember
Graven
-ken
Chain
Torque
Tackle
Furnace
Ingle
Vent
Under
Lower
Side
Fuse
Mellow
Zest
Mere
-age
[/spoiler]

I thought I should perhaps post a list of the countries I'm currently planning on implementing

EDIT: I will do some edits here as things change.

Besmakia
[list=1] Kolyaev
Descendants of the Winter Empire; tenaciously holding on to the memory of their former glory.
* Vennem- The Ironbound Union
An industrial state of iron and steel, where they worship the river and the mountains.
* Kingdom of Khiere
The oldest and most corrupt kingdom in the north, hidden in the bogs beyond the crucible.
* Tide
Stuck between many powerful nations, Tide is an important port wanted by most and claimed by none.
* Berend
A theocratic democracy where the churchstate hungers for the approval of their flock.  
* The Harvest Commonwealth
A peaceful if plagued nations where the earth is rich and the fields are abundant.
* Ramshackle - the Great Slum
The greatest city on the planet, Ramshackle surrounds the overgrown ruins of the old city they were once ruled by.

The South

* Halegate - the new crossing
Located by the Isthmus seperating south and north, here a cabal of merchants try to create a channel to rival the Winter Channel of Kolyaev.
* The 5 Gray Gates
Sitting on the border of Ieshyn, the Gray Gates are places of trade and depravity.
* Ieshyn - the Empire of Black and Green
The largest and most exotic nation in the known world, currently enrolled in a brutal civil war.

Itelghast

* Whisperlands
A religious union of cities on the edge of the world
* Setch
 A nation destroyed by itself, its inhabitants now wander the world as cursed refugees.

Distant places:

* Farlands
The Farlands lie beyond the South; that is, far away. The nations of the North have only recently sent expeditions to claim land and found colonies.  
* Beyond the Sea
No known sailor has ever crossed the violent Leviathanic Sea. Only the corsairs dare sail it, and in their wake follow the rumors of their home on the other side.
[/list]

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowEDIT: Okay, I lied. I can't really stop looking for that "perfect" name.
But I have a suggestion: Ferzest. Possibly with a Lower thrown in front or a -mere or a -toil stuck to the back if it suits you. It sounds gritty and has a tinge of mountaineous East Europa and could also well be an industrial place. It was created as a mix of ferrium (iron) and zest (enjoyment), and could quite well be the name of a hopeful young city before it turned bad.
If Ferzest or any derivation thereof doesn't suit you, here is the full list of words I've gathered

I kinda like Ferzest, kina. Ferrzan? Ferrizahn? or how about New Ferrzahn? but that would obviously imply that an "old" Ferrizahn exists. I like Lower Ferrizahn/Ferzest, as it brings to mind things an industrial city should have. Hell, you could call it Ferrium and totally get away with it. Pherrium even.

Hello, I wasn't annoyed by any of the cliches (you mentioned we should look for them)

But:

>>The Open Republic of Visille
A theocratic democracy where the churchstate hungers for the approval of their flock.

Theocratic Democracy? Or did you mean an oligarchy? A republic? Everyone can vote on their representatives? or only members of the church may? They change their religion's tenets by democracy? Or just leadership? What happens when politics and Religion collide?

8 may be a bit cliche.

Visille will be the next one I'll write something on.
The idea isn't fully formed, but essentially there is the Chamber of Men in which laymen can be given a place by vote, and then there's the Chamber of Saints which is reserved for the representatives of saints who've again been voted to join the chamber.
Because they believe that mankind has some divinity as well the church are quite liberal with naming people saints, and more or less anyone can be anointed to become a priest/representative of said saint.
The sect is called the Vox Populi (voice of the people/not so subtle reference) and is a break-away sect from one of the larger religions called the Therennial Cycle. They adapt the religion to suit the people, so if they "ask" for a deity of wine a saint with that portfolio will pop up, and if the crops go bad, a devil will be invented to take the blame.  

EDIT: And I might replace Mirrorwane with a Royal Society-esque organization.

Ugh, I had a long post here but the stupid web browser ate it. Reconstructing...

I think "Solstheim" is a familiar name. Wasn't that some town in Morrowind?

Mirrorwane and Sarathea kind of bug me a bit, and it's the religion vs. science thing that's doing it. Admittedly my personal biases are in place, here, but "monks hate science"/"church squashes reason" think has never appealed to me.

My own dislikes aside, I think you're going to have to work to reconcile "scholars who run a university and an archive" with "anti-science".

I also think anti-religious iconoclasm is a pretty flimsy premise to hang a nation on, so I'm worried about Sarathea unless you've got a little more in the pressure-cooker for them. Right now, Sarathea and Mirrorwane read like an exaggerated exploration of the tired old "science versus faith" business, and even in the best of circumstances that always seems hamfisted.

I am really looking forward to when the nations of the South get big writeups; I am tantalized by the one-sentence previews.

As noted, Mirrorwane might be dropped and the archive relocated.
And besides the iconoclasts, religion, magic and science coexist quite peacefully in my setting. They might actually merge in places (the Keepers have a somewhat religious view of electricity).
And the iconoclasts is not so much an attack at science vs. religion as it is an attack on atheism itself. I wasn't sure I wanted to give them a nation for themselves. Might be better to make them operate in cells scattered across the world, like anarchists/terrorists. I think my reasoning was that I wanted them to be able to field an army, but it might actually work better without.  
And damn about Solstheim. You might very well be right. Why are all the good names taken ^^ Should I find another -heim or should I just make it the Ironbound Union?

"-heim" is a suffix associated with Norse settlements, isn't it? Personally, I think I would try to stay away from it unless you're deliberately trying to evoke a Nordic feel for the city. Based on what little I know of the rest of the world, if there's an intended Nordic connection in place already, I'm failing to notice it.

The iconoclasts might work better as an underground movement of some sort, sure. But whether you convert them to a guerilla organization or leave them with their own nation, I think it will be a lot easier to appreciate them with some more knowledge about why they're doing what they're doing, what their goals are.

Are they trying to usher in an enlightenment and a golden age of reason? Are they trying to break the power of regressive theocratic tyrants? To avenge great thinkers unfairly "silenced" by The Church? Right now, they just read as "radical atheists", and I guess I have personally never met a radical atheist who wasn't a huge jerk.

Quote from: Luminous Crayon"-heim" is a suffix associated with Norse settlements, isn't it? Personally, I think I would try to stay away from it unless you're deliberately trying to evoke a Nordic feel for the city. Based on what little I know of the rest of the world, if there's an intended Nordic connection in place already, I'm failing to notice it.

I had the same thought too.

I might go for a different name then. And exactly LC. Atheists are mostly pretentious jerks, and yet most claim it to be superior to religion. So the atheists are not enlightened here (even if they might think so), they are merely self-righteous radicals bordering on a personality cult for the founder. They believe religion is irrational and holds the nations back and therefore should be destroyed.

[spoiler=a brief digression]I want to clarify my above statement: it's not just radical atheists who I think are huge jerks. Radical religious-folks also qualify for the title (often in very big ways), and if I had ever heard of radical agnostics, they'd probably also fit the bill.

I have also met some surpassingly pleasant atheists![/spoiler]

I would like to hear more about the founder this personality cult is based upon, really. I am also curious about whether "irrational and holds the nations back" is extended to other concepts besides religions; there are certainly other things that fit the bill, or could be argued to.

Well, yeah, I would be an idiot to call all atheists jerks ^^ I*m just generally not in agreement with their view of the world. But I know some nice ones as well to be sure.
And in their current incarnation they are mostly anti-religious, but that could certainly be changed if you have any ideas? I will write something on their organization, but I'll probably put it in a separate thread with history and organizations.  

#10 sounds really neat, but I frankly don't like the name. Hale sounds like hail, which makes me think cold. It also looks like Hellgate at a quick glance. I think a vaguely tropical, Spanish-y name would be neat.