Toronto Dogs In The Vineyard:Lexicon

Lexicon is a group setting creation strategy. Players take the role of scholars and historians describing the setting where the players enact their adventures.

The rules for the creation of a Lexicon follow at the end of these entries.

Thanks to Neel Krishnaswami for inventing this game.

Set Up

"You are American historians from the late 20th century writing the 'real' history of the growth of your nation in the New World. Your focus is on the Territories, now called the State of Gilead, a prosperous and religiously conservative member of the United States of America. Some of you are conspiracy theorists writing revisionist histories of the fantastic events that took place in the mid-nineteenth century. Some of you are religious scholars recounting the birth and growth of a new religion in a new land. Some of you are skeptical or critical historians offering "rational" explanations of the fantastic legends that have been handed down in Gilead."

ROUND 1
So, Mark, Shawn and any other Indie RPGers.

• create a new entry under "ABC" that is followed up by citations of two other entries
• on the second round, pick up one of the citations created by someone else and fill out the details, and create a new entry that has 2 other citations
• let's say that round one is over.

ROUND 2
Let's say that the 1st round is over. Now, let's pick up the threads that have been dropped in round 1.

• create a new entry under any of the headings. This is a NEW entry. Incorporate a citation of a previous entry and create an ambiguous citation of a new entry that someone will fill in later.
• fill in an OLD entry. Conclude with a citation of a previous entry and create a citation of a new entry that someone will fill in later.

Lexicon Entries

(ABC)

The Abominations

The first settlers of this land encountered severe resistance from the native tribes. The "Mountain People," as the religious colonists called the Kenebune, presented a hospitable front. But, secretly, a number of shamans and warrior societies conducted a fearsome campaign of terror. Mysterious disappearances, bloody sacrifices on the altars of the Departed Ones, and attacks in frightening disguises led to the creation of folk tales regarding the "Abominations." Members of the Faith spread stories of inuman monsters like fanged and tentacled demons, pale fish-eyed people, or sparkling clouds of deadly fog. These "Abominations" were used a pretext for strict measures by the Dogs for enforcing doctrinal adherence or punishing wrongdoers. Some of the tales of the Abominations have entered the folksongs of the region.

- Dr. Claude Henry Smoot, Professor of American History, University of Gilead (Bridal Falls Campus)

See also "Departed Ones," "Warrior Societies," & "Sacrificial Sites."

Anahiwa

At the time of contact, Anahiwa (his name means "Cut Arm") was the leader of the Drumhead band of Kenebune, whose traditional range included much of the central valley, including Bridal Falls City. Initially, the Drumhead welcomed the early pioneers and assisted them during the first deadly winter. However, as the Faithful began to plant Bridal Falls City and build permanent dwellings, Anahiwa came under increasing pressure to drive them from the ancestral lands. Although Anahiwa preached peace, there were a series of vicious raids against the Faithful sponsored by rival Tall Pine warriors, in which two men were killed and a woman - Patience Steese - was abducted. In reprisal, the Faithful razed two unguarded encampments of Drumhead and later killed seven braves. Even after this, Anahiwa approached the Elders and Ancients to seek a solution. He was immediately imprisoned, which sent his people on the warpath at last. Monish, Anahiwa's chief rival among the Drumhead and a formidable shaman, assumed command of the band. Word soon spread that the Tenskwatawa, the "Ghost Who Walks Through Doors" had arrived to assist them in driving out the Faithful, and many Mountain People rallied to their cause. Anahiwa converted to the Faith in prison. His son, Jacob King, was called to be a Dog and served in that capacity with distinction.

- Dr. Carsten Lundegaard, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UG - Wahanish

See also "Monish," "Steese, Patience," and "Tenskwatawa."

Bethany Creek

A few years after the capture of Anahiwa, Bethany Creek was the scene of a bloody massacre. A new settlement was planned for the site but the first group of settlers found a group of the nomadic Kenebune, whom the settlers called the "Mountain People," already occupying the area. The Elders decided to remove the Kenebune by force and the Dogs of Gilead were called to action. This early Pack was comprised of only ten members, but they accounted for more than 50 dead men, women, and children that night. The Dogs apparently slipped into the campsite under the cover of darkness and slit the throats of the sleeping natives. Many were killed before the alarm was raised. Once the camp was awake and armed, the fight became more frantic. Three Dogs, including Ukaiah Heap, were killed before the fighting was over. Only a handful of Kenebune survivors escaped to tell the true tale of this atrocity. As the settlement at Bethany Creek grew, tales of that original battle grew into a monument to the bravery of the three perished Dogs. They became "The Heroes of Bethany."

- Dr. A. Emme Haron, Professor of Native Studies, Bridal Falls College

See also "Dogs of Gilead," "Heroes of Bethany," and "Kenebune"

Cold River, Battle of

The Faithful did have to fight a few pitched battles when they moved into the Territory. Sometimes it was bootleggers who were dealing alcohol to the natives. Sometimes is was outlaws who were determined to lord it over a few towns. And sometimes, as in the Battle of Cold Creek, it was hard-bitten miners. Cold River was a town set up by a group of such miners. After they pushed off some Mountain People and some non-Faithful settlers, the stakes some claims (with the collusion of a bribe-friendly Territorial official.) Their township was recognized by honest but incompetent Territory officials. However, the town was near a very small Temple that served some small villages. One night a group of miners tried to burn the Temple. Ukaiah Heap and 5 other noted Dogs organized the villagers and fought off the heavily armed miners. Cold River was abandoned by the thugs and taken over by a community of the Faithful.

- Smith, Harry "God, Guns, and Gold -- the Secret History of the Territories."

See also "Bethanay," "Heap, Ukaiah" and "Miners"

(DEF)

Departed Ones

Universal among the various Kenebune bands were the Departed Ones, powerful shamen who oversaw mystery cults and exercised prodigious secular power among the warrior societies. The name stems from the widely-held belief that the soul of one of these elite shamen left for an extended trip for the duration of his life, reuniting only in death. The Departed Ones seemed to form a loose network crossing the boundaries of band and kinship, and they often worked together. Early Faithful accounts ascribe colorful acts of sorcery to the Departed Ones, including the summoning of demons and "strange winds". The long conflict between Tall Pine Kenebune and the Bristlecone Lake Faithful includes many descriptions of Departed Ones summoning "demons" from the lake.

- Dr. Carsten Lundegaard, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UG - Wahanish

See also "Warrior Societies", "Bristlecone Lake", "Watamaket"

Rules

"You are cranky, opinionated, prejudiced and eccentric. You are also collaborating with a number of your peers -- the other players -- on the construction of an encyclopedia describing some historical period (possibly of a fantastic world)."

The game is played in 9 turns, one for each button of a push-button phone. 1 (ABC) 2 (DEF) 3 (GHI) 4 (JKI) 5 (LMN) 6 (OPQ) 7 (RST) 8 (UVW) 9 (XYZ)

1. On the first turn, each player writes an entry for any of the letters 'ABC'. You come up with the name of the entry, and you write 50-100 words on the subject. At the end of the article, you sign your name, and make two citations to other entries in the encyclopedia. These citations will be phantoms -- their names exist, but their content will get filled in only on the appropriate turn.

2. On the second and subsequent turns, you continue to write entries for DEF, GHI, KLM and so on. However, you need to make two citations. One must be a full explanation of an already-written entry, and one must a completely new, un-cited entry. (On the 9th turn, you can cite no phantom entries)

It's an academic sin to cite yourself, you can never cite an entry you've written. (OOC, this forces the players to intertwingle their entries, so that everybody depends on everyone else's facts.) Incidentally, once you run out of empty slots, obviously you can only cite the phantom slots.

3. Despite the fact that your peers are self-important, narrow-minded dunderheads, they are honest scholars. No matter how strained their interpretations are, their facts are accurate as historical research can make them. So if you cite an entry, you have to treat its factual content as true! (Though you can argue vociferously with the interpretation and introduce new facts that shade the interpretation.)

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