Do you descend from King Baltazar II? (Part 1 of 5 - Windenburg and Rossie)

(Year 234, Summer) Mazaloom kingdom is nearly 235 years old. There were numerous monarchs during all those years, but historians agree that the most important of them all - to this date - was King Baltazar II. With 46 years on the Throne, he is still the nation's longest reigning monarch. Current King Tarriot has already reigned for 36 years, but is atm only 3rd.

Baltazar II was our monarch Years 2-48, replaced by his son Rupert, and later by grandson Wizar (who reigned for 37 years). During his reign, King Baltazar established the foundation of many community structures that we still benefit from today. After the Great Revolution (Year 118) the monarchy was ditched, but later reestablished with House de Luxe-Hamper in Year 150.

Today there still live many descendants of King Baltazar II. With a few exceptions, they are all found within aristocracy. We'll track them all in this mini series of 5 articles.

Raven's Feathers

(Year 233, Spring) Just when we thought we had a good grip on Ravenwood's history, it turns out that locals know a lot more. There are many secrets in this spiritual district, but did you ever hear about the secret society called "Raven's Feathers"? Neither did we.

A young Writer named Shadius Tapper (26) is ready to sign with Moon Books this Summer, and his first book project is about that secret society!

Old photo said to show 7 members of the secret society "Raven's Feathers".

We got a word with Shadius, as he prepares going to Del Sol Valley to spend a few days with the publisher.

Historical Guide to (my) Ravenwood

(Year 233, Spring) Up through Mazaloom's history we often find references to Ravenwood. And that is not so strange, because Ravenwood is probably the oldest civilization within the kingdom. When Mazaloom's year count started 233 years ago, the Heighwood family claimed they already occupied Crow Farm (now Crow's Crossing hood), while the Mux-Raisser family claimed their rights to Whisp Farm (now Whispering Glen hood). This is quite extraordinary, as all other areas of the nation seem to have been rather unoccupied land from the very beginning.

The Ravenwood administration was early, too, but we can't say for sure if it was a community like we define a community today, or just a few organizations with the particular interest in Thanatology, that Ravenwood is still famous for.

Anyway, the place grew into a small town, and Crow's Crossing became the administrative center. From early years there was a town board, unlike most other districts. Here in Ravenwood the board originally had 7 members, but gradually 4 of them were replaced with crows. Today the board includes Ravenwood Mayor, the Priest and the Undertaker, but they still consult the 4 crows when important issues are handled. The Mayor will be elected, but there is a tradition of this position being held by either House of Heighwood or House of Mux-Raisser.

Rewind: Queen Evez Coronation

(Year 232, Fall) It's time for another rewind! This is a photo taken in Year 179 at Queen Evez' coronation. That is 53 years ago and mainly the children are still alive. The photo is currently on the wall in the Throne Room at the Royal Palace.

Let's see who were present, and also look for fun facts regarding their lives and connections, like two of the children are actually married today.

From the Throne Room at the Royal Palace Chateau Peak. Click image for a bigger version.

When Queen Evez got crowned, she had already married Lord Clempus Ross of House of Ross, son of the Duke of Rossie. They had two sons, Tarriot and Blaise. All four are centered on this photo. Crown Prince Tarriot got the Crown when Queen Evez died suddenly in Year 198.

Flock People - Sensational Discovery

(Year 232, Fall) It's late evening and the lab facilities at Dusty Turf in Oasis Springs are pretty quiet. Scientists left their working space - all except Mr. Alexander Goth. He welcomes a few selected journalists to share exciting news.

For some time, scientists have worked hard on capturing as much history as possible involving the long gone Flock People. The green skinned forest people disappeared exactly 100 years ago when their willow forest at Willow Field of Gloomville was cut down by timber industry. This Fall there will be some presentations at the Flock Memorial Day, and Goth and his staff was optimistically gathering information to be presented, thinking their project was nearly completed. Then the totally unexpected happened!

Mr. Alexander Goth works at Landgraab Science Lab, Inc.

- Old myths suggested that the last Flock escaped to hide in a secluded area called Glade. So, we placed wild cameras there. They were known as good at hiding, so nobody knew for sure if he was still around. He would be perhaps 150 years old, which is another myth we wanted to explore - could those forest beings actually live for 200 years, like we hear in the well known children's song? Or was that just a fantasy?

«Flee, flee, from the Glee.

Home to the wood, willow hood.

Was that a Flock, behind a rock?

Was that a knee, up in a tree?

Two hundred candles on a cake,

Flee flee, for Glee's sake!» 

History Lesson

(Year 232, Spring) The ever enthusiastic leader of Mazaloom Historical Society since many years, Mila Munch (78), expresses one sincere wish: That more residents would build knowledge of the history of their family as well as of our community. There is a waiting list to join the popular Historical Society club, but Munch can recommend additional ways to get enlightened.

Mila Munch in Historical Society's genealogy library.

If she had to list just one field where Mazaloom kingdom did well, it would be to make the common history available to anyone interested. Did you know that the online registry provides family trees all the way back to Year 1? Or that the National Museum frequently display portraits and other old heirlooms showing the history of some of our early heroes? Or that there exists a packed History Book online, helping you to trace historical events and persons based on geographical region or department?

The Moon Lisa painting coming to Mazaloom!

(Year 230, Spring) It's a masterpiece, it's a legend, and it has never before been exhibited in Mazaloom. No wonder National Museum curator Nancy D. Roxenfox (63) is super enthusiastic when announcing the arrival of famous Snorthia painting, «Moon Lisa»!

Famous painting «Moon Lisa» is coming to Mazaloom!

Today she invited a few journalists to her Gloomville office, to share the great news.

This Blog, this Winter

I have tons of plans for both my game and content for this blog. The planned stuff is mostly for my own notes, but also because some of you might like to see how I play and perhaps get inspired to develop your own universe.

Don't hesitate leaving a comment on what you might like to read about! Here's some of those plans:

New Feature: Mazaloom History Book

(Year 229) With a geeky focus on my sims community ever since real life year 2014, and a more or less steady eye on the historical aspects including a growing population, a History Book was needed! So, here it is!

It's funny to look back. In the beginning I decided to focus only on Gloomville (aka Willow Creek), then politics became more important and there had to be a region - give Region 12. So, then I realized there had to be Nobility, and lastly - what is nobility without Royalty? With the State of Mazaloom came The People Chamber which finally made more sense to the existing 5 years elections, but it also requires a little bit of knowledge regarding 7 more regions...

Rerun: Mazaloom Medieval (full season 1)

Past December I made the video series Mazaloom Medieval with 5 episodes. I've still not decided whether there will be a 2nd season this Spring, real life has been quite busy. But - in case you missed it all, or like to consume a full season rather than single episodes over time, below are links to all 5 episodes.

Building a Royal Estate - Part 4

Here's part 4 of my series of 6-8 weekly blog posts, sharing the progress as I build a huge home for my royal family, the House of Luxe-Hamper. Here you can follow my progress as well as getting a first introduction to this family and some of their traditions.

In case you missed the previous articles; I have too much CC to provide links as we go. If you see something of interest, just drop me a comment and I'll look up credits and link.

The entrance was adjusted a bit but is not yet final. The reason I put the oval sign there is that the royal family was in fact the reason why Plumbob Pictures established their studio in Del Sol Valley. I imagine the coronation of King Tybe back in Year 150 was their very first TV production and broadcasting. I imagine someone from the royal family being their patron.

We'll check out the left side of the 2nd floor, but first I need to address the death of Queen Evez. She died suddenly at 69, and at the time her oldest son, Prince Tarriot was 31, and thankfully old enough to step right in as an active Monarch. I played his new household for a few years, but it took him 10 years until he married, so for this update just let us pretend he is still unmarried. His father, previous Prince Consort Clempus, remarried their Royal Estate Chief Attendant (Chamberlain), Mira Hoffstar. They had a daughter, and they reside at Chateau Peak, located at The Pinnacles in Del Sol Valley, where there is plenty of room for more than a single King.

Now, let's start this tour:

Rewind: King Tarriot's Coronation

Along my rapid royal journey there are a few major events that deserve attention. In year 198 Queen Evez unexpectedly died, and time had come for eldest son Tarriot Baritom Ruphus Luxe-Hamper to become Monarch. Following protocol the coronation can take place 6 months later, the earliest, and always at Royal Court on Investiture Day (1st day of Winter). The 6 months wait is to allow for any relative to protest, which was more needed in the medieval era when a family tree often involved a surprise or two. These days the line of successors will rarely be subject of debate at all. Anyway - 6 months is also giving time for the palace staff to prepare the big event that the coronation is.

This is also a good occasion for a family portrait. Some attendees naturally longed for the celebrations to follow - a grand banquet followed by mingling in the Chateau Peak salons.

My 20 Years Anniversary

I just realized it's been 20 - TWENTY! - years since my first The Sims web site was released in February 2002*! So to celebrate this amazing anniversary I invite you to dive into the past to explore bits of this journey.

My first site was for The Sims 1, and already back then I had a community focus with a council, experts on food and babies and much more. It was perhaps the first sims site out there that was "for sims, by sims". SUN, anyone? The site had guest writers from other games, and it turned out as a nice role playing universe.

Rewind: The Mazaloom Kingdom

Surprise! I have since long stated that there is no Royalty in my Region 12, but this is no longer the truth! I tried to hold back for this long, but my numerous noble Houses need some organization with a little more omph than what is the current situation. So, during my ongoing journey researching today's royal family, which of course comes with a past, I came across some "older" photos from a very special occasion that took place 78 years ago:

 The coronation of the first King and Queen of the modern Era!

The biggest event of the times made a flying start for DSV's very first TV production company, Plumbob Studios.

The current King is actually the 7th Monarch of Mazaloom, with the first getting his crown in Year 1 (Perhaps you met the first two kings in my video series this Winter, «Mazaloom Medieval»). After a few generations there were riots; The goal of the Great Revolution in Year 118 was indeed to remove all nobility including the Monarch. Nobility did not get completely removed, though, but their privileges shrunk drastically. The royal family extinguished themselves by having no heir to the Crown, and the main seat of House de Froux and House von Donnersmalt, Hedgewood Castle, was vandalized.

MAZALooM Medieval Episode 3: First War

Another weekend means another episode of my mini series MAZALooM Medieval. This story and cast tell the story of the founders of some of my current TS4 families. In the first season covering 5 weekly episodes you'll follow 5 heroes, and all of them lead to my Region 12.

See previous blogpost for an introduction to the cast with links to family trees an more. Episode 4 will release next weekend, but the 5th and last episode will be a few days delayed due to Christmas.

I hope you'll enjoy :)

Premiere: Mazaloom Medieval!

Brand new video series has landed, directly from Simmerville Studio :) This is the story and cast that tell the story of the founders of some of my current TS4 families. In the first season covering 5 weekly episodes you'll follow 5 heroes, and some of them will lead to my Region 12.

This series is created differently from most of my other series. Tech limitations with Sims Medieval forced me to think a new, and hopefully you like the style. There will be a new episode posted every weekend, perhaps the 5th and last episode must wait until I'm back from Christmas vacation, but that will be before end of December anyway. For the first time I actually created most of the episodes *before* releasing anything.

See previous blogpost for an introduction to the cast with links to family trees an more.

I hope you'll enjoy :)

MAZALooM Medieval Cast

The premiere of my brand new video series MAZALooM Medieval is just around the corner. So, I thought it would be a good idea to give you a brief introduction to the cast ;)

Cast and story is actually the origin to many of the families in my current TS4 universe. I had lots of fun trying to match the Sims Medieval looks and limitations with my existing historical facts - that are actually quite many. From my early notes I even knew the DNA of the cast, as well as the birth year of their children etc. Thankfully, I had very restricted notes describing their everyday life except knowing when they got their peerages.

Historical video series coming

It's been quiet on the blog because I've been busy elsewhere, in Mazaloom kingdom to be exact. You might know that I love history and detailed backgrounds for my sims, and although I never played their first decades, I have their full family trees with the main events of their lives. This Fall I grabbed the Sims Medieval game, and I had fun playing out the assumed origin of some of my most noble Houses. And naturally, I had to make a video series based on it all :)

King Baltazar II of Mazaloom

The main royal House of the series was never really given much focus in my game. I don't play royals, only nobilities like dukedoms, baronies and a bunch lords/ladies. House de Froux was top of the bunch back in the early days, and they kept going for a couple generations, before they expired. The throne was taken over by another house and finally ditched as result of the Great Revolution, taking place in Year 118.

Windenburg Treasures at Historical Museum

(Y227) This weekend was the grand opening of the brand new section at Municipal Muses in Gloomville, one of Region 12's historical museums. The new addition is simply a full floor in the basement where half the area is dedicated a more or less permanent historical exhibition, and the other half will be used for changing themes.

Opening night saw a good crowd, and after a couple short speeches noble guests got a guided tour by the museum's Curator, Nancy D. Roxenfox. This prominent group included Duke Victus of Meadows, who is the Historical Museum's Patron, his teen daughter Lady Corva, and of course Duke Merlin von Windenburg with his wife, Duchess Mandy.

From left: Duke Victus (53) of Meadows with daughter Lady Corva (21). Duchess Mandy (41)
and Duke Merlin (75) von Windenburg. Nany D. Roxenfox, museum's Curator.

The first of many changing exhibitions to come is some of the old items of the dukedom von Windenburg, owned by either the Trust or by House von Heimlich. When their estate was recently renovated, a closed room was discovered in the cellar, hiding numerous long lost items.

High Nobility House of Ross

(Current Year: 226) In this series I present the story of my most prominent Houses. Originally my region had ten different houses with one high nobility peerage each; 4 dukes, 5 barons and even 1 lord. Seven of those houses are still top of aristocracy. The Rossie dukedom was the second peerage to be introduced by King Baltazar II in Year 2, and House of Ross got it thanks to a sword duel win. The Rossie landscape includes Henford-on-Bagley, Britechester and Hollow (these days quite forgotten). The entire Rossie district is part of Region 11, but back then the region was much wider. Due to the common past, the high nobility House of Ross still holds very strong ties to my more highlighted Region 12.

This is among the most successful houses around, both politically and financially.


Coat of arms
This coat of arms was kept unchanged except when the 2nd Duke, Benedict II Ross (sovereign Y43-76), designed his personal version where the background changed from quarters to halves, using red on upper half and orange on lower half. The change was temporary, as the next Duke took back the original version, which has been used by the Rossie dukes ever since.

House of Ross got their original coat of arms registered as they were bestowed the Duke of Rossie peerage in Y2. Their main color was (and still is) red, as an reference to blood and their strong military position, lately also to red roses and apples (both of the Rosaceae family). Roses and apples are the Rossie district's signature plants and produce with the best quality coming from Henford-on-Bagley. The additional orange color was a reference to creativity, brought into the Ross family by the 1st duke's wife, widow of Lord of Volpe. A marriage will normally affect CofA only when the spouse hails from a higher ranked House - we don't know the widow's background, but nevertheless it might also have been a tribute to her late first husband. The centered symbol was a Capricorn - originally silver but for the latest generations golden due to their extreme wealth - probably representing strength and their military power, but a few historians have suggested that this fantasy creature actually holds some not yet discovered link to the mysterious vibe of the Bramblewood hood of Henford-on-Baglay.