#world building project

[arredusworld]

Loongs speculative biology is breaking me a little bit

im adding Loongs (Chinese dragons) to Arredus right, cuz they look cool, are cool, and i refuse to be euro-centric in my fantasy worlds

problem, the way i want to go about it is ruining my life (hyperbole), see part of Arredus is to have implied speculative evolution to back up the speculative biology, and Loongs are making that really hard

lets examine this depiction, scales are seen along side whiskers on the snout, spikes along the back, (presumed) feather coverage on the tale and face, and ears

this creates some issues, see the scales assert that this is a reptile of some kind, the (presumed) feathers make it likely that this is a dinosaur, but thats a guarantee, maybe lizards on Arredus have feathers, maybe its in the class of true dragons, or maybe those arnt feathers at all, and are instead real weird scales, tho considering all the more detailed art ive seen depicts it as fluffy-

-like this, <sidenote, there is so much ai slop of eastern mysticism out there> and while i acknowledge this is a modern piece of art, it appears to be representative of wat ppl think Loongs look like

<another sidenote, some art depicts the dragon with horns but this is inconsistently done so whether its s thing is up in the air>

one more thing b4 i begin speculating is that this project has no respect for modern preconceptions of the fantasy u know and love, only science and even thats a vague impression, so if that means making pegasus a dragon that convergently evolved to look like equines with wings, so be it

with that said lets get into my ideas for how to get this thing to exist at all, firstly lets talk environmental pressures, Loongs are suppose to be water gods of some sort and closely tied to alligators, turtles, and fish, so it is semi-aquatic, and being from china in our world, its likely accustomed more specifically to lush jungle environments

next lets talk niche, every animal in an ecosystem has a niche, wats this guys, well clearly its an apex predator, i dont think this needs much elaboration

next is its behaviors, and again i think its fairly intuitive to say Loongs are ambush predators, like cats and alligators, also most likely making it a solitary animal

finally for the hard part ive been procrastinating on all post, wat friggin animal is this at all, the first thots are obviously a reptile of some kind, if the non scaly bits are feathers, than its a dinosaur, most likely a dragon, however his native land is in Lushia, a continent with very little reptiles at all

another option is to make the Loong a mammal of some kind, maybe a monotreme, which would make it fairly distinct and also give me more freedom to be creative, or a feline, very similar in lifestyle of a jaguar (reminder that these nightmare animals are not only good but happy swimmers)

the issue i run into repeatedly is that no answer makes me happy, while a feline is my fave of the choices, it raises more questions for me, why is its snout so long, is the "scales" just fur pattern? or did this feline specifically evolve armadillo fur, if so why, if its a monotreme, wat does that mean at all, its a neat idea and allows it to lay eggs still but is that all that important? do all monotremes have beaks? does the Loong? is it bioluminescent like platypuses? if its a reptile, why is it one of the few on this continent? it didnt fly over like the dragons did, unless this is a dragon who lost its wings, if so why? why not evolve fin like wings to help swim like sea serpents? if its not a dragon, wat reptile is it? it has to be a dinosaur of some kind thats where feathers are from, but its clearly not any other dino other than a dragon, which circles us bacc around, and wat about them ears, are they false ears like the horns on a horned owl? if so why did it evolve that other than to look cool? does it even look that cool?

in short the Loong is making me tear loong strainds of hair out of my head, so here poll, decide ur thots and please tell me more in the replys/notes/watever else you wanna use to communicate with me

[zoannearts]

I think I Finished the portrait of my oc Llynaira youngest daughter of King Marren the king of the sea.

An important character in my world building project. Let me know if you want to know more about her :3

Been experimenting with a few different elements of my style still trying to figure it all out

[reebls]

Where do souls go when their bodies rise again?

Caretaker my sweet baby, you are DONE! The beast of Willing Possession brings tidings this not a holiday season. And with her come a trail of little souls hoping today is the day they gain a new body.

[darksilvershadows36]

The Republic of Volcalia

The Republic of Volcalia, most often known as Volcalia, is one of the countries found in the Northern Plains of Tavasé, often considered the twin country to Shestelan, due to their shared history and tension.

Government: The Republic of Volcalia is a democracy with a government split into several different departments that deal with different areas of legislation, which regularly meet for council to discuss where funding needs to be moved.

Culture: Volcalia is most often noted for the fact it is almost entirely found underground, in numerous natural and carved caves. They also have a strong connection to the Skyendrajun, choosing to befriend them, at which they created a symbiotic relationship, where the Drajun would protect the Tavasians livestock, and the Tavasians would protect their young and let them stay in their native lands. They otherwise have a similar culture to the Shestelan Kingdom, being largely Storm-Centrist and mage-neutral. They also have a group known as the Riders of the Dark Wing, which are people dedicated to working with the Skyendrajun, and is known mostly for its imposing military strength.

Language: Alzenian

Leader: Doesn't have one - but has the Diplomat Mikhail Crimsonholder and his draconic partner Lumario, Ghost of the Tavasian Skies

Capital: Toshthesh

Geography: Volcalia is mostly open plain, farmland, sparse forest, and several rocky outcrops - especially in the south where it touches the foothills of the Greigant Mountains. As mentioned prior, most of its cities are built underground, with the capital built underneath one of the largest Skyendrajun nests in the Northern Plains.

[aylameridiandrawsstuff]

Concepts of some River Realms stuff...

[redneaththedogwood]

Introduction

Hi! Call me Red.

I am a queer young adult artist with a passion for making stories! My pronouns are he/they/it.

Red 'Neath the Dogwood is a feline centric xenofiction world building project that is inspired by the blogs @/barrenclan, @/bonefall, @/trinitywc, and @/cathedralcomic, as well as published works such as Warrior Cats, Ratha's Creature, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, and Watership Down. Other influences may show through, particularly the horror aspects present in media such as The Magnus Archives and Old Gods of Appalachia.

My goal with R'NtD is to create compelling groups with their own religious beliefs, food cultures, and a unifying language. The overarching story has not been decided yet, and while I flesh that out I will focus on characterizing the groups and who resides in them, along with creating unique roles and government systems for each.

This blog is a passion project and it is mostly just me working on it, with language help from my good friend @elkpaws.

Things To Know

Red 'Neath the Dogwood will not be a project for children and will include serious discussion of topics ranging from mental health, cultism, oppressive structures, and more. If these topics upset you, that is absolutely okay! This project will likely not be for you.

You are not bothering me with like spam or reblog spam! I appreciate the love and engagement :)

I ADORE seeing people talk and reply in tags and replies, it makes my day!!

I love asks! I will read them all!!! I might not get to all of them if I ever get super popular, but as a smaller work I will do my best to answer.

Please do not ping me on other people's work. It feels very rude!

The main theme I want to portray with Red 'Neath the Dogwood is generational differences, finding one's sense of self, and what drives people to fall into fascist ideas. GROWTH, CHANGE, and PROGRESS, for better or worse.

This will likely be a story that follows many characters and will grow to reflect that, with different "arcs" and offshoot tales about characters within the three groups present. I will do my best to tag for organization's sake, but be warned that I am forgetful and might lose posts.

I will also try to remember to tag for triggering or otherwise upsetting subject matter, but if I miss something send me an ask and I'll take care of it as best I can.

Closing Thoughts

For now I believe this covers everything I can think of, and as this project grows I will likely rewrite this pinned post to reflect those changes. In future I hope to have several original tags set up for this blog, including things specific to food, culture, and character posts.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I hope I can make this blog worthwhile.

Ask Status: Open

[k00297797]

WEEK 3

Finished mini-me with mouths. Even though the hair doesn't match Yotsuba's style at all, I used it as inspiration for the colours and the eyes. What's missing is a pair of glasses before it actually looks like me, but I didn't think to make them. I wanted to show that the sun is shining on them at the side. I tried to use Yotsuba's style to draw the mouths, and I used watercolour to colour them to give a soft feel.

[jch3ss3cak3]

I would like to give a small description of what my project "The Golden Tree" is. Its a action RPG concept Inspired by Koro's Wuthering Waves(In combat and world traversal)and Mihoyo's ZZZ(In looks and characters)Where you the "Dreamer" travel diverse and fantastical environments inspired by a mix of afro futurism and solar punk aesthetics to stop a prophecy were your siblings brings the end of the world. For fun I decided to use an app called gotcha Life 2 to get my ideas for characters and their looks out of my head before refining the designs. More posts about the magic system, organizations, places, and character teasers/pre-refinement character designs coming soon. I'll mainly be posting it on my Cara page

[vixenzorra]

Ask and you shall receive! A quick look at what the Veiled World is and who lives there!

https://theveiledworld.com/2024/11/19/witches-vampires-and-werewolves-the-veiled-realm-unveiled/

Simply put, The Veiled World is a world full of all of your favorite supernatural creatures. Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and Fae (sort of) populate the Veiled World. And all of it is secret. 

So What is the Veiled world? 

The Veiled World is the term that is used to describe the Supernatural World that is hidden within our own universe. Kept secret, ‘Veiled’ from the non-magical society, the Veiled World houses and keeps safe all kinds of magical creatures and people, as well as the very concept of magic itself. In a world that experienced centuries of witch hunts and religious persecution of the mere concept of magic, it was deemed safer to hide those who may be at threat if the non-magical world found out about them. Everyone was safer if they remained Veiled. 

In Briton, the magical world is also known as the Knowing World, ie, those who know about or are part of magic. You can probably guess what the non-magical world is called (it’s the Unknowing or Unveiled world if you hadn’t guessed). 

Common Slang for the Unveiled/Unknowing is ‘Unis,’ which when used by certain types of people is also a description of the ‘narrow’ or ‘simpleminded’ views of those who do not live in the Veiled world.

To read more click on the link above!

[arredusworld]

Misc. Regions

Barrenlands

-A small archipelago of active volcanic islands, covered by a massive ice sheet. This barren winter hellscape is a cold and foreboding place that harbors some of the toughest life on the planet.

Auroria

-A large archipelago that is the result of very unique tectonic interactions and erosion, creating a strange and beautiful winter wonderlandscape. Due to the region's placement at the south pole it is gifted with the vision of the Aurora Borealis.

Pantheon Isle

-The home of the goddesses, created as a hideout to watch their creation flourish. Placed at the nemo point and sculpted by volcanoes and erosion to create the perfect living quarters for the creators of this world.

[zoannearts]

Working on some designs for the elves in my world building project,

Designing the clothes for the elves has been really tough so far if anyone has any ideas please let me know haha 😅

Here is an illustration I am also working in, just a sketch so far but I am really trying to push my illustration style and the expressions in my piece to tell a story and convey emotions

[noxsetanta]

Strange thing I found

Strange Places: Describe curious locations he’s visited, with detailed descriptions that convey how they affected him emotionally or mentally. Run-down Warehouse Listicles: Fun or serious lists related to topics of interest (e.g., “Top 5 Most Bizarre Encounters” or “Things I Wish I Knew About Magic”). Keywords: Energy, Dripping, Singing, Song, Message Blood-stained ritual circle: I’m no…

[ajsvoices]

Strange thing I found

Strange Places: Describe curious locations he’s visited, with detailed descriptions that convey how they affected him emotionally or mentally. Run-down Warehouse Listicles: Fun or serious lists related to topics of interest (e.g., “Top 5 Most Bizarre Encounters” or “Things I Wish I Knew About Magic”). Keywords: Energy, Dripping, Singing, Song, Message Blood-stained ritual circle: I’m no…

[darksilvershadows36]

Religions within Ansera

As in all things, religion can be an important part of life for citizen's of Ansera. Each of these centres around one of the main gods in some part with major sects, off shoots and different ideas and ideals. This is a brief overview of the major ones.

The Followers of the New Sun: A surprisingly small religion, the New Sun's religion is found in the Sunblaze region of Vatreal, though much of its principles have bled into many royal lineages in East Fashora as well. It holds the sun and its light above all else, believing heavily that it is all that life should live by. In many sects, magik is also seen as sacrilegious and mages are prosecuted. Many extremist sects also believe the coming of the New Sun will purge all evil from the lesser realms. Their worship is mostly in the form of prayers, with a heavy emphasis on repenting and sin. Most rites are done in Old English.

Celestial Watchers: Celestial Watchers are a smaller group of religions that primarily exist in the Storm-Tossed Archipelago. They worship all the celestial beings as divine concepts that serve to help and balance the world. Certain version of this religion exclude the New Sun, or the Moons, but all worship the Storms in some degree. Most of their worship is designed to appeal to the Gods, with offerings being given regularly.

Storm Centrism: The most common-place religion, Storm-Centrism originated in the Moondew region of Vatreal and spread through the rest of the realms, being next most common in Tavasé. It has hundreds of different branches and sects across the realms, each with there own differing set of rules, but the overarching being the worship of the Storms as all-powerful, divine beings, with personal shrines being very popular amongst more serious practitioners.

The Sheriko fel Bal’llarshera Sa Kal Shakoveltirzha: Roughly translating to 'The Church of It That Waits Beneath', it is founded in Demeta in Fashora, and has since spread to much of West and Central Fashora, splitting off into more distinct sects. It focuses its tenants around balance in all forms, unity and communion, and the balance of Magik and its links to the natural world. It centres most of its worship around holy objects, rituals and sites, with heavy links to the culture of each region it's found in. Most of its rites are done in Old Demetian, though this does change in most Southern sects. Most sects also answer directly to the Verunt Volokt Falvelsiria, or Grand High Prophet, who currently is, and has been for the last few centuries, Verunt Volokt Falvelsiria Seera [titles excluded for brevity].

The Anateli mo Wē Kaliraneta: Roughly translating to 'The Church of Two Forces', this religion is primarily found in East Fashora. It has similar tenants of balance to Sheriko fel Bal'llashera, but also holds Deshma'tali to some regard, saying that the Beast Monarch is a force of destruction chained to the bottom of the world, with Deshma'tali its keeper and protector. A lot of practice of this religion has been restricted to the Far East of Fashora due to prosecution by the Royal Houses of the east, due to their more positive stance on magik. They worship primarily through rituals and offerings.

The Moon Watchers: Another niche religion, Moon Watchers end up alongside those of the Sheriko fel Bal'llarshera, as they share similar values around magik. It's found primarily in the far West of Fashora, and in large areas of Tavasé. They are a disorganised religion, with the only connecting threads the worship of the moons as time keepers and masters of balance. People usually denote themselves to one of the three moons based on their outlook on life, and follow the path of that moon specifically, or passively, depending on why they chose them.

Overall, could probably do a full post on each of these religions in detail, given that there is a lot more detail to go in with each of these. Obviously, there are many much more niche and out there religions, and beliefs, but again these are the major ones.

[kinerxy]

(evil) unicorn redesign

its still a wip cuz i'm still figuring out how to design the part that unifies the tusk and the mouth so i guess ill have to study some references, the head is based on the skull of a Tetralophodon with a bit of artistic modification specially on the second head (right) where the tusks curve upwards to imitate the appareance of the horn of a conventional unicorn, the first one (left) is my favorite tho

here's the concept of a heraldry that i will put on the armor of a faction i'm designing that is part of my world building project, its still a simple sketch but i really liked what i did for the tusk and mouth cuz it lowkey looks like its grinning its teeth which is cool.

now im also having another debate with their name since i originally called them molar horses despite not having any feature related to teeth but now i think the name fits them more since they don't have horns but tusks instead. but i'm still undecided cuz well, their notable feature is the big ass incisives, not the molars. so do I call them incisive horses now? silly. so i guess ill try to find a different name or idunno. enough yapping for today