#fantasy setting prompts

[scealaiscoite]

fantasy setting prompts ˗ˏˋ ꒰ 🕊️ ꒱

¹⁾ a darkened apothecary illuminated only by the light somehow being emitted by the many bottles and jars lining the walls

²⁾ the banquet hall of a nobleman’s sprawling estate, in the throes of a lavish ball attended by everyone in the townland

³⁾ at a healer’s cabin in the dead of night, overwhelmed by adrenaline and the scent of countless tinctures and remedies as they’re applied

⁴⁾ the last imperial guardpost before crossing into enemy lands

⁵⁾ a run-down inn in the middle of nowhere, half reclaimed by the woodlands around it

⁶⁾ a lake set deep into the mountains with something sinister lurking beneath the surface

⁷⁾ the first port in a new land after weeks at sea trying to get there

⁸⁾ the highest turret in the royal family’s castle on a wintery morning

⁹⁾ the war council’s planning room, the morning after a bloody defeat

¹⁰⁾ an alchemist’s workshop

¹¹⁾ the stables just before daybreak

¹²⁾ the impromptu camp that the leader of the journey had to be begged into allowing after everyone else grew exhausted from being on the road all day

¹³⁾ the army barracks before a battle

¹⁴⁾ the last altar of a dying god’s religion

¹⁵⁾ the empress’s chambers, trussed up in nothing more than silken bedsheets and the morning sunshine

¹⁶⁾ the bedside of an old mentor, right before the end

¹⁷⁾ on the wrong end of a traitor’s sword

¹⁸⁾ a beast’s underground lair, alone and unarmed

¹⁹⁾ the thick of the enemy’s encampment, shackled and unrepentant

²⁰⁾ the mage’s quarters, having seen something there’s no worldly explanation for

²¹⁾ the armoury in the late hours of the night, stinking of polish and tears

²²⁾ in the throne room of the imperial citadel with an ulterior motive

²³⁾ by the scholar’s side in the library, eager for a little more than knowledge

²⁴⁾ an alehouse in the dead countryside, hoping not to be found

²⁵⁾ the executioner’s platform seeking for just one face in the crowd

[prompt-heaven]

a list of 100+ buildings to put in your fantasy town

academy

adventurer's guild

alchemist

apiary

apothecary

aquarium

armory

art gallery

bakery

bank

barber

barracks

bathhouse

blacksmith

boathouse

book store

bookbinder

botanical garden

brothel

butcher

carpenter

cartographer

casino

castle

cobbler

coffee shop

council chamber

court house

crypt for the noble family

dentist

distillery

docks

dovecot

dyer

embassy

farmer's market

fighting pit

fishmonger

fortune teller

gallows

gatehouse

general store

graveyard

greenhouses

guard post

guildhall

gymnasium

haberdashery

haunted house

hedge maze

herbalist

hospice

hospital

house for sale

inn

jail

jeweller

kindergarten

leatherworker

library

locksmith

mail courier

manor house

market

mayor's house

monastery

morgue

museum

music shop

observatory

orchard

orphanage

outhouse

paper maker

pawnshop

pet shop

potion shop

potter

printmaker

quest board

residence

restricted zone

sawmill

school

scribe

sewer entrance

sheriff's office

shrine

silversmith

spa

speakeasy

spice merchant

sports stadium

stables

street market

tailor

tannery

tavern

tax collector

tea house

temple

textile shop

theatre

thieves guild

thrift store

tinker's workshop

town crier post

town square

townhall

toy store

trinket shop

warehouse

watchtower

water mill

weaver

well

windmill

wishing well

wizard tower

[literaryvein-reblogs]

words for your fantasy novel

supernatural: abracadabra, angel, black magic, deep space, demon, divinity, elf, fairy, galaxy, ghoul, god, hell, hex, incantation, inferno, Lucifer, monster, paradise, phantom, poltergeist, purgatory, Satan, shade, Shangri-la, specter, spirit, utopia, voodoo, witchcraft, Xanadu

of belief: absolution, adjudication, ageism, allegiance, apartheid, apparition, assumed, atheism, attrition, ax to grind, belief, black magic, case, chauvinism, commonplace, concept, conclusion, conformity, connotation, consensus, conviction, creed, culture, deduction, delusion, denomination, dependence/ dependency, determination, dictum, disbelief, dissent, dissonance, divinity, dogma, estimate, ethics/ethic, expectancy, eye, faith, fallacy, fantasy, fatalism, feeling, foreboding, frame of mind, gospel, guess, honor, hunch, idea, ideology, illusion, impression, induction, instinct, intuition, leaning, logic, make-believe, millstone, mindset, misconception, misogynist, motive, necromancy, nihilism, notion, obsession, old wives’ tale, opinion, oracle, patriotism, perspective, pessimism, piety, Pollyanna, preconception, prejudice, premonition, presentiment, pride, principle/principles, prophecy, purport, racism, reality, regard, religion, resolve, right, self-respect/self-esteem, self-satisfaction, sexism, Shangri-la, sign, slant, speculation, stance, standpoint, stock, substance, superstition, surmise, taste, theme, theory, trust, utopia, values, viewpoint, voodoo, witchcraft, Xanadu

NOTE

Excerpted from Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Updated and Expanded 3rd Edition, in Dictionary Form, edited by The Princeton Language Institute.

The above are concepts classified according to subject and usage. It not only helps writers and thinkers to organize their ideas but leads them from those very ideas to the words that can best express them.

It was, in part, created to turn an idea into a specific word. By linking together the main entries that share similar concepts, the index makes possible creative semantic connections between words in our language, stimulating thought and broadening vocabulary.

Source ⚜ More: Basics & Refreshers ⚜ On Vocabulary ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[deepwaterwritingprompts]

Text: The prince sits with a beautiful, snow white rabbit on his lap. It leaps up, transforming into a hare with bared fangs, whenever someone with unknown intentions approaches.

[unboundprompts]

Random Prompt #185

The air in the forest was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine, a heady mix that clung to the skin. A flickering fire crackled in a clearing, its warm glow battling the encroaching chill of twilight. Shadows danced among the trees as a figure crouched beside the flames, carefully sharpening a dagger with practiced ease, the blade gleaming ominously in the firelight.

[soulshards]

Viera April 2025 #10 Fight

For freedom.

Prompt Lists ∙ ∙ ∙

[floral-comet-whump]

consider institutionalized living weapon whump. mmmm. I will now explain this autism fueled hyperfixation that has been going on and off for me in the last 3-5 years

content warnings (all fictional): general whump stuff, child abuse, child soldiers, living weapon whump (kinda), conditioning, discussion of genshin impact (since I'm not tagging this post as genshin in fear of normal genshin likers on tumblr stumbling onto whump and not knowing what it is, therefore whump likers who dislike genshin and have the tags blocked would still view this (maybe. idk how tag filtering works)), multiple whumpers/carewhumpers, multiple whumpees, fantasy whump, briefly mentioned eating disorder

OKAY so back at like 2020 or 2021 I was ACTIVE in the genshin rp scene and one of my friends made a fatui oc that, due to being the only survivor of a snow blizzard, was adopted into the fatui and raised to be a soldier! also this was before inazuma's release so shoutout to [unnamed bc we fell out of touch so I don't know if they'd like to be named] for predicting the house of the hearth!

anyways their oc was not only an absolute BANGER, but also sparked what I now realize was whumperflies in 14 yo me! so I copied it with my own oc. also had the stellar idea to think that if [friend's oc] was integrated, why not make it a whole program? badabim badaboom fatui orphanage. I shit you not the first thing I came up with is that the rejects get sent to dottore

uhhhh as stuff came out and someone leaked a fatui orphanage then the secret shrine maiden quest came out I TWEAKED. my oc got updates. leaks about lyney (and lynette) being from the hoth(house of the hearth) brought me back after I'd gotten bored. I desperately held myself back from telling everyone their surnames. I listened to their leaked voicelines. I read their stories.

it was not as bad as I envisioned in my head. fym arlecchino saved them!! white knight white knight!!! fym they're not sleeper agents!!!! fym freminet has a job he enjoys that is in no way related to the fatui?!!?!!! free time and healthy hobbies on my extremely fanonized interpretation of a fictional orphanage we previously only had teeny tiny crumbs about?!?!?!!!;1!?!

arlecchino releasing made me fully give up on the vision I'd originally had on the hoth. I generally do actually like the canon hoth, but I was super attached to this whole miniature concept I'd invented and shared with so many people.

so I'm making my own child soldier orphanage!!!

CONSIDER CHILD SOLDIERS IN WHUMP. WITH CONDITIONING. consider telling children that have nowhere else to go (and whumper KNOWS they have nowhere else to go) they can either join the military or continue whatever they were doing. consider training and conditioning them. consider reminding them where they'd be, had carewhumper not taken them in. consider "letting them off easy" via punishment, or threatening to put them to other use.

consider teaching those children happy lies of doing good, and shattering that reality when they dare be ungrateful and try to run away. consider always making the expectations on them clear. consider the bonds these children will form both with each other and carewhumpers. parental whump my beloved. consider living weapon whumpee that isn't an on-field combatant. consider living weapon whumpee who's allowed to be a person as a reward.

consider living weapon whumpee who was previously rescued from a different kind of whumper and is just perfect for molding into a killing machine. consider orphans children willingly volunteering for the military because the program is well known. consider generations upon generations of this where previous whumpees retire to work in the same orphanage so that they'll never have to move out, prolonging the cycle of violence with promises of family. and that family isn't even false, just conditional.

whumpee who was rescued from a vampire thrall trade and is constantly reminded where they would've been had carewhumpers not been so generous as to rehabilitate them. ungrateful little thing, always reacting so slow, cowering from the vampires the carewhumpers have taken in as if they're the same one, either hoarding food or immediately wolfing it down.

whumpee who was abandoned as a child and came in to a place they knew they'd be accepted, but gradually realized the danger behind it and tried escaping. they were brought back and thoroughly disciplined. it's obvious that they're using a facade once one simply reads their file or asks them, but that doesn't matter so long as they're obedient.

a whumpee turned carewhumper that sees nothing wrong with what they're doing. they were raised this way, and though it was very scary, so is life in general. they certainly wouldn't have survived in this world without this orphanage, and much less by being coddled. the children brought here have all had difficult experiences that have scarred them, they can't be treated like normal kids.

that's all the ocs I have thought up for it rn soz

yeah!! will also be in a typical high fantasy setting because I prefer it a whole lot more.

I'm honestly unsure of what to call this thing. I can't really go with the house of the hearth. at some point I internally called it erysimum institute because I read destroyer and the name beldam institute just sounds rlly catchy. also erysimums symbolize faith in unfortunate situations which I think fits perfectly. but the loneliness/shyness part of wallflowers (a prominent type of erysimum) is a little less fitting.

I'll definitely change the name because I want it to be as original as it can be!! probably to some kind of flower meaning rebirth or smt but idk.

p.s: it would have art!!!

[writingprompt-ledgers]

world–building prompt:

describe a city from your world and their most important celebration, BUT from the perspective of someone who despises it…

i’ll be reblogging some of my favorite reads. PLEASE make sure to tag us in your post to this to have your writing be featured on the ledger!

[plotandelegy]

The Deep Wells of Magic: Drawing from Timeless and Novel Sources

Hello, and welcome to another one of my incredibly overdue writing guides. Where does the magic pulse from in your fictional world? What energy does your magic user draw forth to complete their spells? Here is a list of classical and somewhat unique magical sources you might use to craft your supernatural system. Remember, the key to originality is being a little twisty and the ability to mash concepts. Okay, maybe the first isn't a determining factor.

Sources:

Geographical landmarks

Celestial Events

Memories

Mythical creatures

Seasonal events

Ancestors

Secrets

Mirrors

Shadows

Dreams

Movements

Heartbeats

Ocean currents

Moonlight

Fragmented thoughts

Music

Echoes

Crystals

Wishes

Mana

Mystical ingredients

Special words

Color

Divine intervention

Relics

Chants

Symbols

Candles

Talismans

Meditation or trance

Sounds and silences

Emotions

Elemental forces

Sacred sites

Amulets

Magic dust

Energy residue

Wind

Weather

[scealaiscoite]

head of state x captain of their personal guard prompts ˗ˏˋ ꒰ 🕊️ ꒱

¹⁾ “must you always make my job so very difficult, your highness?”¹ “someone with your prowess must be challenged, captain. how else will i see to it that i made the right choice in selecting you for the job?”²

²⁾ “*name*, i’m begging you. if you won’t listen to me as your guard, then listen to me as someone who loves you - please let me get you to safety before it’s too late.”

³⁾ “what were you playing at, looking at me like that from across the court?!”

“since when do you feel permitted to give your opinion on matters of the crown?!”¹ “since i fell in love with the person wearing it.”²

⁴⁾ “when i told you to forget our titles during our sparring lessons, i didn’t think you’d actually follow through.”

⁵⁾ “i’m beginning to think you’ve only taken to spending so much time in the throne room to show off for me.”

⁶⁾ “i’ve dreamt of making you my consort more than i’d like to admit.”

⁷⁾ “so not only have you been ‘entertaining’ marriage prospects, but you didn’t even deem fit to tell me about it yourself? am i not even worth that to you?”

⁸⁾ “if the lords/ladies-in-waiting spy you leaving my quarters in the morning again, i fear we’ll be fielding more question than we can answer.”

⁹⁾ “you know how direly i hate these balls, my love.”¹ “yes, i do. but i also know how very much you love me, so i’m hoping one will cancel the other out.”²

¹⁰⁾ “you do remember that i’m supposed to be the one protecting you, yes?”

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Commonly used on bondsmen, indentured servants, and pets, bond runes are form of minor mind control. When the placer of the rune speaks the activating word, the rune's bearer physically has no choice but to obey.

Runes are most commonly tattooed, but it's possible to paint them on for a more temporary effect. Very rarely will a bearer have more than three runes, as the magic that powers them is drawn from the bearer's body, and more than three can leave them dangerously weakened.

There are dozens of specific runes a master can choose from, but six of the most common are silence, speak, kneel, fall, freeze, and come.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Ideas: Fantasy Settings

Fantasy settings - the locations where fantasy series, novels, short stories, and movies take place.

Ways to Create Fantasy Settings

Place modern concepts in a medieval setting. George R.R. Martin had great success inserting thematically modern storylines into his vaguely medieval fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Try your own version of this by thinking up a fantasy story idea that feels contemporary yet is set in a medieval world.

Envision a quest that crosses many terrains. The quest is a classic fantasy trope, and it remains ripe for innovation. Use a quest narrative to think up a fantasy world that incorporates many settings, each with its own unique geographic flavor. Think about how the setting will impact your protagonist's quest both for good and for bad.

Head to outer space. To get creative with outer space, pick a setting that breaks the known laws of physics, incorporates aliens, or forces its human inhabitants to adjust in an extreme way. Imbue your your sci-fi fantasy setting with myths and a deep lore.

Dip under the sea. Underwater settings are popular in the fantasy genre, but not nearly to the degree of medieval worlds, dystopian future cities, or distant planets. As you pick an underwater setting for your novel or screenplay, decide whether your characters will be regular humans or whether they're amphibious creatures that can breathe underwater. Like all fantasy settings, an underwater world is a great vehicle for character development, so make sure to build out your protagonists and antagonists at the same time you embark on world-building.

Examples of Fantasy Settings

Middle Earth: J.R.R. Tolkien set The Lord of the Rings trilogy in this land resembles a pre-historic Europe filled with mythical creatures like dwarves, orcs, and wizards.

Westeros and Essos: These two lands comprise the setting of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which takes a page from Tolkien's high-fantasy world. Martin's books, and the TV series it inspired, Game of Thrones, overlay real-world motivations like lust and power atop a mythical domain filled with dragons and White Walkers. It’s a place where people take magic as a given.

Narnia: C.S. Lewis set The Chronicles of Narnia in a fantasy world that children can reach. This is established in the first book in the series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In this sense, Lewis distinguishes himself from his English contemporary Tolkien by intentionally merging the real world with a fantasy land.

Roleplaying games: Sometimes the best fantasy settings are those created in real-time during a roleplaying game (RPG) like Dungeons and Dragons. In D&D, the world is filled with wizards, dragons, elves, orcs, and mystical clerics. Many games involve epic clashes of good and evil in lands reminiscent of medieval Europe, but the exact course of a game will depend on the decisions of the people playing it.

High Fantasy vs. Low Fantasy

In high-fantasy storylines, the entire world is constructed and clearly operates differently than the world we know. High-fantasy worlds may resemble certain areas of earth at specific periods in time, but their laws of physics and cultural customs are unique.

Low-fantasy stories are set in the real world as we know it but incorporate magic or other fantastical elements.

Fantasy settings tend to bend the rules of real life.

Some fantasy settings recall eras past, such as steampunk novels set in Victorian England or epic fantasies that recall medieval Europe.

Other fantasy books and movies use futuristic sci-fi settings that incorporate spaceflight, time travel, and other tropes of science fiction.

Meanwhile, dystopian urban fantasies often take place in post-apocalyptic settings.

In classic fantasy books and fairytales, the fantasy settings enable the main characters to grow and evolve.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[phishyie]

@theguardianofmagic

Digging through the vault and found these old sketches of these two, almost directly after the original scene I sketched of them! Bowen is a delightful character who I loved to make fun of in my old rp days (re: ten years ago, @heronarose )

For context, Bowen is a knight to the Princess, affectionately called “Darling” by most, save for the knight errant himself. He’s a bit more rigid and a stick in the mud than anyone else in this world, but let’s assume he means well. Guard dog privilege, very repressed feelings, lots of obliviousness (Darling) and yearning (Bowen).

Coincidentally, these two exist in the same universe as Donnie, who I also haven’t drawn in ages… but that’s a story for another day.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, and drawn far more recently - maybe they aren’t kissing, but certainly some not-so-sober longing gazes from one particular knight!

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

Whump Prompt #1376

Whumptober #26: Breakfast Table

That beautiful moment of chaos when the table has to get swiped/cleared for The Whumpee. They’re frantically dragged through the door to The Healer, seeping blood into the wooden floor below as they’re barely able to hold themselves up. Whatever food/supplies that were being prepared are now covering the nearby surfaces/piled on the floor as The Whumpee is transferred to the table. While The Healer sometimes liked the sudden rush of excitement, they were far from happy that breakfast had been disturbed. Couldn’t these adventurers have emergencies during normal waking hours?

Fresh water and towels are produced as The Healer instinctively begins pulling the whumpee’s clothes away to assess the damage, a piece of fruit in their other hand as they are insistent on finishing at least part of their meal. 

“What happened?” They ask, scrunching their nose at the sight of ghastly weeping wounds. 

“The Beast got ‘em.” Grunts the whumpee’s friend. The group of adventurers were ambushed during the night in the forest. They just about managed to defeat the beast, though not without the whumpee taking a bad hit. The Healer listens intently as the friend gives them a description of The Beast, as well as the symptoms your whumpee had been experiencing on their journey. During this time, they also instruct another friend on where to place pressure on the wounds as they flick through books to find more information on their attacker. 

“Did it look like this?” The Healer eventually asks, showing an illustration of The Beast to a friend. 

“It did.” They nod eagerly. 

“Then I’m afraid your friend may not make it through the night… unless you are able to find a very specific ingredient.”

[unboundprompts]

Random Prompt #182

A single match flares to life, casting a brief glow across the stone floor as a woman lights a lantern. The flame flickers, reflecting off the rows of glass jars on the shelf, each filled with something unrecognizable, floating in murky liquid. In the quiet, the soft tapping of fingers against the glass breaks the silence, as if something inside is stirring, waiting.

[autumnslance]

Febhyurary 2025 14 - Love

In the Aetherial Sea linger memories strong enough to resist the cleansing tides for a time. As the Scions journeyed from the Aitiascope into the depths, the aid of departed friends and loved ones saw them past the dangers to reach Hydaelyn.

-

(Aeryn's version of the Aitiascope is written about here, and on Ao3)