#fantasy world building

[tathrin]

A thought on Elves and Dwarves (as inspired by my roommate and I and the one place where our brains really don't line up):

Elves with perfect memories, who know exactly where they put that thingamajig even when they last set it down twenty years ago, and thus can always find whatever it is they're looking for amidst what looks like total disarray to everybody else.

Dwarves with perfectly ordered spatial awareness, who are so accustomed to the layout of their workshop or forge that they can lay their hands on any tool in there without even looking, and always set everything back where it belongs out of ingrained habit.

Elves who never ever put things back where they belong, because "put that away neatly so you can find it again" is simply not a concept that exists in elvish minds, because it doesn't need to.

Dwarves who will look right past the thing they're looking for if it's not where it belongs, because it's not where it belongs, why isn't it where it belongs, where did you put it you daft elf...?

Elves and Dwarves in the smithies of Ost-in-Edhil, ready to go to war over the arrangement of their tools, and Celebrimbor on the brink of tears desperately trying to keep the peace here that he never managed to in Nargothrond.

(alt: could easily be done the other way around too, with elves always putting things away because then the thing is always where it's supposed to be, even twenty years later, so you can find it again, because they have so many more important things to hold in their memories than where they last put down their favorite hammer, and after a few hundred years you fall into the habit of expecting things to be where they belong so you don't even look to find them somewhere else; and dwarves who have such an innate sense of their tools and their workspace that they don't need to have "proper places" to put things away, because of course they remember where they put their hammer, what kind of a question is that, can't you just feel where your hammer is wtf???)

[heavenlyraindrops]

Fantasy World Building: Species/ Countries,Nations, Tribes

I said in my world building checklist post I would make a separate post for this so here u go besties 😄👊

things to consider when writing a fantasy book with different species and nationalities in it ‼️

Appearance

What defines their species looks wise?

features such as nose shape, hair texture (if they even have hair), skin tones should be considered

what environment/ climate/ habitat they come from will affect their physical traits

which features are more common in them?

maybe species A are known for having super pale skin and really long, pale-almost-translucent-hair- while species B are known for tanned skin, pale slitted eyes and wild curly hair

what about other FANTASY physical features such as

wings, webbed feet and hands, slitted eyes, pointed ears, tails, clawed fingers

differenr types of THOSE features

As in different types of wings, different shapes of pointy ears, different types of tails blah blah blah

differences between their features in diff stages of life

differences between the genders

also sizes, average heights and all that jazz

Abilities

Physical and magical

lets start with physical

maybe species A are known for being quick and agile

and species B are slow and lumbering

maybe species A are super flexible

and species B are very strong

consider these points:

agility

strength

intelligence

their physical traits as well, such as allergies, resistance to certain things ect.

like how maybe some species are allergic to a certain metal

maybe some are resistant to certain diseases

maybe some don’t burn and are resistant to heat

alr now magical!

do these species have magic at all?

if so, what kind of magic? (Gonna make a separate post for magic)

is this magic woven into their physical being?

are they born with it?

Or do they learn it?

does it come to them naturally? Or do they use incantations, books, artifacts, ect? (Again, separate post for this shit)

is there certain magic they can’t do?)

Culture

Traditions

superstitions

festivals

religion

clothing styles

architecture

famous figures in their community

mythology

places of importance to them, religious or in other ways idk, for example we have Makkah for Islam

accessories

things they believe to be sacred

prejudiced beliefs

Reputation / other stuff idk

Stereotypes

are they persecuted in certain countries?

other rival religions, countries or nations

who are they looked down upon by?

what are they known for?

e.g., being kind, being bloodthirsty, being miserly, being isolated/ secretive/ elusive

how are they treated? Are they seen as a superior species/race?

Do they mix with other races when it comes to marraige, relationships, friendships, business? there’s loads more so I might make a part two if people ask me to, hope this helped 👊 😄

[roads-of-elysium]

RoE Fact!

Throughout his travels in Elysium, Jigen often made up wild stories about his gun and ammo constantly; often telling multiple people throughout the course of his adventure wild tales about how they were cursed, haunted, or even at time's enchanted! These stories would often include tales of either his firearm becoming invisible should anyone else either then himself touched them, his ammo randomly exploding if held for too long, or that the gun itself was only ever really respondent and loyal to him; basically stating that anyone who attempted to wield it would be met with a gruesome and terrible fate should they have decided it best to try and take it from him.

In the end however, this was all carefully crafted lie's designed to keep the often superstitious folk from wanting to constantly buy his firearm off of him, as Jigens gun was often seen by many as high quality and the only one of it's kind so-far to be seen in Ar'kael; a place were typically firearms of such class were only ever built to be wielded or more so owned by the rich and fancy because the parts needed to make and commission such weapon's were indeed quiet expensive; even before the war! Jigen just really didn't like people touching his stuff. . .

[artxstic-scr1bbles]

I... think I went a little overboard with their hair-

Ramble UTC:

HOUSE OF CARDS

[Or H.O.C]

—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-—-

Have you ever wondered what lay beyond the pages of your favourite novel? Could there be a world different than ours, just a few words away?

—-—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-

The story revolves around three teenagers—

Akui Yūrei, Celine Hashimoto and Akarui Kurosawa (left to right).

Two of them close friends, one... not quite. Akui's existence is debatable, to put it simply. He's not quite 'human'.

Currently residing in Wonderland, the three of them try to get by without getting into trouble with the locals. The company is not very pleasant if you need to run for your lives every other second, is it?

Celine and Akarui had been waiting impatiently for a new novel anticipated for in the market— a retelling of the famous Alice in Wonderland, written by Louise Benetton. Advertisements looked promising, and promotional merch was already running out from high demand. The two teens had pre-ordered one right before it had sold out, of course they were excited. Their money was on the line. A month later, and, they recieved their money's worth in the mail—

House Of Cards.

—-—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-

There's a lot more— but that will make this post too long... I'll post another one elaborating on this soon. Basically, the trio got sucked into the book when they had fallen asleep reading it. The locals are mainly divided, but not limited, to two categories-

-> Decks -> Cards

You see, in Wonderland (the book realm) the power (based on magic) hierarchy depends on how many souls you have collected, either dead or alive. Living ones have more value in magic, but are riskier to keep, considering they can topple you over with the right strategy.

Decks are those who have collected one or more living souls. Cards are the ones who live independently— those who have not yet collected any souls.

»» A Deck can become a Card if they lose all their souls.

»» A Card can become a Deck by collecting souls.

Where these souls reside are all variations of different pocket dimensions all Cards and Decks have. One is there by default, forever changing to reflect your life. It is possible to create others, and it is the favoured option. Locals have named them 'Weeping Lands', for the eternal somber melody they can hear from there. Some say it sounds like a forbidden lullaby, pulling them to a deep slumber, while others say it sounds of their lost loved ones, calling out to them in the distance.

Another thing special to Wonderland is a phenomenon observed as 'Carding'. This is something that takes place with very soul not native to Wonderland— an attempt by the world to adapt to you, and for you to adapt to it. Symptoms vary. The first one is memory loss and inability to recall certain events, in this case memory of the life before Wonderland. Then follows delusion that you truly do belong in Wonderland, have always lived here, and never had a life outside of it. Individuals having passed this stage never make it out of Wonderland. Because once the Carding process is completed, it is near impossible to escape, the world simply won't let you. After all, you belong here, don't you?

Then follows alteration of physical features... though what exactly and the extent varies from individual to individual. And, how long the Carding process takes also varies. Younger individuals are most vulnerable to it, however, given that they are naive enough to give in rather easily.

Story's mainly about the trio's shenanigans and their attempts to escape, thwarted time and time again by a certain someone and his right-hand man who will cameo soon.

—-—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-—-—-——-—-

This is basically what I have for now! I have a list of characters ready for the main cast— but only five of them are fully completed.... Gosh this one has a LOT of world building. Plus so many characters. I'm positively both excited and overwhelmed. Suggestions are, as always, welcome! This story has been on my backburner for far too long, I'll be posting about my other one too very soon.

That one has a more original plot line lmaooo

@liliallowed @salzab my writing moots, look at what I have conjured up this fine midnight.

[bleakbarrows]

Happy Skeleton Sunday

[flowerbetweenfangs]

Caged Part Two

(I am currently in a situation where I cannot get pics for the stories. This will hopefully be fixed soon.

This is also a part two of a series, part one can be found here. Reminder, this is a slow burn.

CW: Slavery, but the reader is trying to change/dismantle it in their own way.

Previously: The listener visited a slave market and is now trying to destroy the slavery market by making them pay for run away slaves, but the Lionman they bought may need more than a quick release to truly get their freedom.

"Six days a week, off by the seventeenth mark. The Holy Day you will have off. If you want to go into town during that time, I would suggest an escort." You looked up from the contract, notes jotted on a scrap pieces of paper.

"Since I am your personal property--" Areus began.

"Servant!" You insisted through clenched teeth, cutting him off. "Father and I do not keep slaves."

Your pen flicked across the paper, leaving a few fat drops of ink on the pages.

"Our servants have rights and wages that are livable." You tried to keep your composure and continued to go over the terms written down in front of you. "Six coppers a week to spend as you wish."

You would have to double check the figures, but that seemed right.

"Which, with your diligence bonus, comes to one silver a month, an extra as a present on the Four Season holidays." Maiden Spring, Bride Summer, Mother Autumn and Widow Winter. "With twenty-five silver to one gold, you will be free in just under two cycles."

"If I save all the money I earn." The lionman nodded sagely, fingers laced together. There were scars around the tips of his fingers. The papers declared him "declawed for your protection" and his fangs filed down. No wonder he was nervous.

"Most of your needs will be taken care of." You explained, the hair on the back of your neck standing up. "Food. Clothes. Residence in the servants quarters. Your wages will increase."

"Because I've paid off the debt?" He stared at the contract, tilting his head to try and look at the contract.

"Seniority." You passed it over to him. "The highest paid maid makes five silver a month."

He pondered the words with a furrowed brow and frown. His hands clasped tightly, before he let out his breath.

"If I am your servant, I should be awake and working while you do."

"That would be over twelve marks. You would have no time to yourself."

"I will have Holy Day." He said it almost like he was speaking to a child, before wincing at his tone.

Something told you he wasn't going to concede. You rubbed your palm against your brow. Two mark candles had burned out already. The Notary had gone home, leaving you to do the heaving lifting.

"If you work more than the allotted eleven marks, then you will receive a diligence bonus." You too the contract back and signed the bottom of the contract. "A slightly higher pay. You may earn up to twelve coppers a week and two silvers a month."

"Very well..." He rumbled out the words.

Yeesh, I'm the master but it feels more like he's in charge!

"May I go clean myself off?" He rested his palms on the table.

"Of course, Areus. Apologies for not letting you get to it earlier. I will prepare a nightgown for you tonight. We've sent for a tailor to get your clothing in order."

He stood and made his way to the servants bathing chambers. Long empty thanks to the others getting off on time, he seemed relieved to be alone. Without another word, he closed the door behind him.

Gathering the papers, you sighed in relief. Now you would just have to get used to the new addition to the staff. One gold coin was your father's blessing each month. You'd have to run down and get the appropriate change soon, to properly pay the creature.

Snuffing out the remaining candle, you offered a quick prayer to the Maiden. The symbol of new beginnings and hopefully one that would nurture into something fruitful. Perhaps the Bride to celebrate the new union.

Although this was the start of a master/servant relationship rather than a Holy Union. Bothering her could bring sourness upon the whole arrangement.

Nothing like a Day with Rain to get this into even more of a mess...

Sucking in a breath, you licked your fingers and snuffed out the incense. Closing the Goddess' sight should only be done through pain.

You were finishing putting away the writing supplies when you noticed Areus hadn't signed his name on the bottom of the contract.

Then, a thought struck you. Could he even read or write?

Going up to the door, you listened for splashing. When there was none, you reached a fist up to knock.

Only to hear weeping.

"Areus!?" You called out.

The weeping stopped with some loud sniffling.

"Master?"

Sighing, you considered opening the door. But to have a servant and noble found in such a position... The rumors would spread faster than lamp oil and fire.

"What's the matter?"

Silence answered.

"Areus?"

"My name is one of my many vanities. They ruined it by not letting me care for it. It's all matted, the filth all the way down to my scalp. I fear the only way to release it is to take a razor to the hair."

Frowning, you thought about the implications. A lionman without a mane could make him a target. Humiliations or beatings... It didn't matter.

"Is that all?" You tried to keep your voice from shaking. "I may have some hair ointments that could release it."

"Oh, Master, I could never-"

"Consider it part of your diligence bonus." You opened the door, coughing as all the steam hit you. "Come with me to my chambers. It's not bed time yet."

To be continued...

[softandwigglybones]

Ok, let's say we have a fantasy world where magic exists. And there's also a branch of it we could label as love magic. Typically only creatures like succubi and incubi use it, but it's also been seen in the form of a love potion.

And let's also say that aspec people like aromatics and asexuals (not sure about aplatonics, feel free to add on) are immune to the magics of succubi and incubi because the part of a being those magics latch onto and hijack doesn't exist for aspecs.

But! That's only for the external magic.

So, since a love potion would be an internal application of said magic, how would it affect an aspec?

It obviously wouldn't have the intended effect, but I'm unsure if it'd work more as a potion, a magical power up like a mana potion, or even something else

[nizar-dreams]

As amazing as Fantastic Beast is with all of the interesting creatures and additional lore, I loathe the take on the American Magical World. And not because American pride (‘Merica🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸🦅) but because that might work in New York, but that social structure sure as fuck don’t work the farther west you get.

Each state is different, it gives them their charms, and each state also has… drumroll please 🥁🥁🥁🥁

NATIVE AMERICANS!!! Yes the people who’ve been on these lands since before the first of the 13 colonies even existed!!!

Can you imagine Magical America? The creatures who lived alongside tribes? The giant forests? Hell, the other sentient beings like the centaurs, goblins, elves, etc.? Imagine:

The great Rivers and Lakes guarded by the merfolk and swimming with the great salmons, occasionally assisting the tribes along their borders so they all may share what the waters have to offer them

The great Plains and Forests with centaur tribes being mighty and powerful, guardians of the lands and occasionally allying with the human tribes

Elves that are still short but mighty and healthy and who get mistaken for native children when they live alongside human tribes

Goblins living deep in the caves of mountains, living happily with little human interaction besides for trading for safe passages and materials.

Imagine the werewolves loving their inner wolves and having their own tribes and living peacefully in their homes.

Imagine that, for thousands, and hundreds of years they lived in peace, occasionally waring against themselves but things happen of course but they way the magic and earth had never been so healthy as it was. Gods imagine Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon? Or the Mojave Desert? The great basins, the plateaus…

And then, when the Europeans started claiming the land that the magical beings fought to protect the lands they have lived on for centuries, the creatures of the forest hiding the remnants of their great lands from human eyes and hands, protecting the magic that slowly dies as the land gets destroyed and the magical beings who called those lands home started to die and could no longer protect the land.

That they tried to cling and hide and fight for their homes with whatever they could, but when the magical Europeans got involved it just went to hell for the magical beings.

The Native Reservations, National Parks/Lands, and deep into the mountains, are some of the few places that magical creatures can live in relative peace. The centaurs are not as many, and the elves either live on the reservations or the forests. The goblins are not like their European kin, but they are not the same as they were, now instead of trade for safe passage it is trade for protection of human materials or trading for goblin creations. The merfolk have perished in most lakes and rivers where humans have polluted or hunted their food to extinction. The magical creatures who once lived on the land are either hunted down for sport or for being declared born of hell.

Now imagine Ilvermorny, created by a mother who wanted her children to learn magic, and turned into a way for tribes to take shelter and teach their ways as well as learn other ways for magic. The school cropping up in the midst of Magical Americas downfall becomes a place that the few tribes not driven out of their home learn different form of magic while creating a foundation for Native American magic to survive and be taught in the school. Imagine multiple sister schools (because America is too big for there ti be only one school) to the original Ilvermorny being created to teach, to embrace and preserve a culture they refuse to let be erased.

Years later and it is a core course that gets taught, and keeps a part of a culture alive that was on the bring of complete erasure.

Imagine that when African slaves started appearing and become enslave, those who escaped and found themselves at Ilvermorny schools, they started teaching their magics as well. Then as more minorities started to appear in America, so did the lessons in certain Ilvermorny schools where these minorities were prevalent.

America is a cauldron full of magical cultures being mixed, and Ilvermorny is the first to openly teach different magical cultures. The southern schools involve more Mexican, Spaniard, some French, and African magical courses, while the north is more French. The east coast is more influenced by British magics, while the west coast is influenced by the Spaniard, Chinese, and Russian.

They all had their own mix and all have the main course shared by the people who lived their first, but magical america is sooo much more more fascinating and so young still! There is still so much that I can’t possibly cover without a month of research! And we haven’t even reached the southern hemisphere!

Fantastic Beast is great, but it’s missing the uniqueness and complexity of America. And I can only dip a finger into the endless possibilities of the magical American world.

[sirmicothesilly]

Full Moon is On The Sky and he’s not a Man Anymore

[tathrin]

A Gimleaf Thought:

Dwarves for whom their braids are a huge aspect of their identity and presentation, and which are consequently considered Not Appropriate to touch casually unless you are on very intimate terms. Stroking a dwarf's beard-braid in public in more than the lightest and most fleeting of touches would honestly be more inappropriate than just reaching down and grabbing their cock, it's on that level of intimacy, right?

Elves whose ears are extremely sensitive, not just in the keenness of their hearing but in terms of touch, too. (Yes, Viggo, this one is for you.) Throw in some social aspects of the importance of song to elvish life and spirits (this world was literally Sung into existence, remember, and the elves are very bound to this world and its Song) and you end up with a similar situation, where touching an elf's ears is like the most intimate gesture ever. Not something you would do casually, or to anyone you weren't on like...imminent-betrothal-level terms with at least. With me so far?

Well: Gimli does not know this about elves. Legolas does not know this about dwarves.

The first time Legolas starts toying with Gimli's beard, it's as much idle curiosity as anything: elves like pretty hair, and pretty braids, and Gimli's beard is very pretty. (And he asked Galadriel for her hair! and got three strands! so clearly Talking About Pretty Hair is something they can both appreciate, and thus bond over!) Gimli goes BEET red not that Legolas notices because he hasn't figured out that only elves blush with their ears yet but is too shocked to muster even a token protest, and by the time he remembers how to breathe it's too late, Legolas has already been talking for ten minutes about how nice Gimli's hair is and can he teach him some of those braids they look neat...? and Gimli can't possibly bark at him to stop touching them now, can he? That would be rude. And anyway, Legolas clearly has no idea what fondling a dwarf's beard implies, and there are no other dwarves around to see him now, so it's harmless. It means nothing. Nothing.

Meanwhile the first time Gimli touches Legolas's ears, it's to flick one of them in jest as he teases him for being able to hear a butterfly yawn from forty leagues, you silly creature! Legolas also flushes, dark enough that his brown ears look like they've been dipped in some of his father's favorite wine, but he's never been that good at saying things delicately anyway, and he doesn't want to rebuff the dwarf when Gimli clearly has no idea the implications of what he's just done or the fact that Legolas is shivering all the way from the tips of those ears down to his toes right now and it would be rude to explain now, when Gimli has already moved on to his next clever jest, so Legolas just blushes and lets it go, it's not like Gimli will be able to reach his ears often so he doesn't need to worry about it...

Only somehow they seem to keep finding spots where the road dips and curves, or there's rubble to sit on, and then the mines are just full of broken stones at convenient heights; and then they end up in a boat together, where Gimli can absolutely reach them; and well at least they're not in Lórien now so nobody is around who will know what that means, so Legolas doesn't have to avoid his hands anymore; and then they end up on a horse together, and his ears are even more easy to reach now; and then they're resting on the wall of the Hornburg waiting for the orcs to come and it's very comforting, actually, to have Gimli's hands stroking his ears like that, callused yes but so soft and gentle; and by the time they get to Gondor it's far too ingrained a habit to stop...not that Legolas wants him to.

Meanwhile, of course, Aragorn and Gandalf know EXACTLY what both braids and ears mean to both dwarves and elves, and they spend weeks gossiping together in quiet Quenya about it, and taking bets on what will happen when one or the other one of them cottons-on to what that means to the other one, and who will find out what first, etc etc.

(When Gandalf meets the Three Hunters again in Fangorn, the state of those bets is one of the first thing he asks Aragorn to fill him in on during the ride to Edoras because all wizards are gossip queens.)

And then the Grey Company shows up, with Elladan and Elrohir, and Legolas watches his whole long life flash before his eyes when Gimli reaches up to give his ear a caress—a friendly and completely platonic caress of course, it's not like he knows what that gesture means, he couldn't possibly have figured it out and be doing it on purpose now, don't be absurd you silly elf—right where they can see it!

Gimli suffers much the same experience when over the campfire that night Halbarad casually mentions all the dwarves he's befriended during his time as a Ranger, why Gimli he even knew your dad back when you were all living in the Blue Mountains, nice to see you've gotten your journeyman braid I bet that made Glóin very proud...

Gimli goes as red as Legolas's ears, and then as pale as Saruman's robes. Aragorn silently curses that Gandalf isn't here to see what comes next (he is going to gripe so hard when he finds out he missed the big reveal!) and holds his breath, waiting to discover who's about to win (and lose) all those bets...

[woodsplinter]

Rough pass at a critter design loosely based off of maned wolves and wolverines (mainly for the silhouette, some big cat features got mixed in)

[cb-writes-stuff]

Okay, so, I’m worldbuilding a creature, and I’m gonna get y’all in on the process.

What I Know

The creature has a long, serpentine body, and is large enough to be mounted. It has four legs and a pair of wings.

What I Don’t Know

Does it have fur, feathers, or scales?

Claws or talons?

About how long is it? (Using other animals as units, i.e. “the length of two horses” or something)

What does its face look like? (Again, comparing to another animal)

Why Compare to Other Animals?

Because it’s a lot easier than describing its features in a vacuum. Why do you think the chimera and griffin have the [body part] of a(n) [animal] and the [body part] of a(n) [animal]?

Feel free to reblog with your own thoughts!

[novlr]

Any tips for world-building?

Our Reading Room post today is all about world-building! Here are some of the top tips from it to help you get started. Orson Scott Card’s tips for worldbuilding

Orson Scott Card is widely recognized for his ability to create complex and detailed fictional worlds.

Here are some of his key worldbuilding techniques:

Define the rules: since you are writing about a world that doesn’t exist yet, you must create and define the rules of the world and its elements.

Inventing the past: it is important to connect the events of the story with the past of the world by answering the following questions: why did it happen? How did it happen? What were the consequences?

Language: the way societies communicate in your world influences their interactions, concepts, and culture. It is their way of seeing and perceiving the world you have created.

SPERM principle for building societies

This is a methodology that comes from tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. It focuses on defining the relationships and elements that make a society function and move as a whole. These elements are:

Social: What is the class structure? Are there outcasts and privileges? Why does this class structure exist?

Political: How are important decisions made? Who makes these decisions? What political alliances exist? Who are the most influential citizens?

Economic: How is the population sustained? How is wealth distributed? What products, goods, and services are traded? Are any products or resources scarce? What commercial alliances exist with other societies? 

Religion: What practices or rituals give meaning to your society? Is there a division between believers and non-believers? What are the values that are perceived as positive and which are negative? 

Military: Who are your society’s enemies? What weapons do they possess, or what is their technological capacity to defend themselves?

Environments: physical and cultural

These concepts are the brainchild of Brandon Sanderson, another great writer with a remarkable ability to build expansive worlds. 

A fictional world can be separated into two categories: the physical environment and the cultural one.

Physical environment: all the elements of the world that exist without the intervention of thinking entities, like flora and fauna.  

Cultural environment: these are all the elements that are a construction, tangible or intangible, of thinking entities like education, hierarchies, language, technology, etc. 

In addition to this, it makes use of the consistency between both types of environments so that they do not contradict each other.

[amaiguri]

The Yssaia World Guide 2024 (1-10)