#worldbuilding wednesdays

[high-fantasy-sw]

That's Right. Worldbuilding Wednesdays are Back

This installation: Technically Part Two of Clone Culture, even though it's the first Worldbuilding Wednesday for that particular topic. Part One can be found by clicking the link.

HUGE shoutout to @majorproblems77 for helping me come up with, like, 90% of this lore. Thank you so much, Major, I really couldn't have done this without you :)

Also, I'd like to keep this consistency up, so if you're so inclined, let me know in the tags what you'd like to know more about in the AU, and if you're even more so inclined, don't hesitate to send an ask and help me talk it out! I love hearing your ideas for how I could make this AU better :)

@whyoneartheven @anime-obsessed @magpie-sherlock

Edit: Well, crap. I accidentally posted this instead of scheduling it. Oh well, I guess you get Worldbuilding Monday today.

Edit Two: CRAP CRAP CRAP I AM REALLY BEHIND IT TODAY AND COMPLETELY FORGOT TO PUT THE DIAGRAM THERE. OKAY IT'S BEEN ADDED

Identification Rings

Every Clone, at birth, is given an identification ring: a plain iron band with his number stamped on the surface. This ring, purportedly, serves a two-fold purpose. As well as being his official identifying information, it’s also an enchanted artifact: the Kaminoans claim that, as powerful as their alchemy is, it’s not strong enough to create and sustain an entire human being on its own, especially with modifications such as advanced aging; the rings are therefore created with a spell that supposedly splits the life-sustaining alchemy between itself and the Clone in question, and once a Clone reaches the age of nine-eighteen, he is told he must wear the ring at all times or his alchemy will begin to unravel and he’ll die. (Prior to this, cadets wear their rings on chains around their neck, as seen in their concept art; apparently, Kaminoan magic can hold itself mostly together until a Clone reaches adulthood.)

The Clones are extraordinarily protective and even possessive of their rings. Besides their life-preserving properties, they’re also the only items the Clones can truly call personal possessions, the only thing they can really point to and say “That’s mine.” (True, once the war breaks out and they bond with their Jedi Generals, many of them receive numerous gifts from their newfound families, but in truth they often have trouble really seeing these presents as truly theirs, since in the walls of Kamino Fortress there was an unspoken understanding that everything they had- armor, clothing, room and board, anything and everything they touched- was really on loan and would be given to the next batch of brothers when they couldn’t use it anymore.)

Since these rings are so important to the Clones, a culture of sorts has sprung up around them:

As noted earlier, Cadets (Clones under the age of nine-eighteen and/or who have not passed their final exam) wear their rings on chains around their necks. As part of their coming-of-age ritual, their rings move from their necks to their right hands, and they reconfigure their chains from a single loop to this cuff design:

This new chain has both a practical purpose and a symbolic one. Practically, it prevents the ring from sliding off of a Clone’s hand and being lost (the chain is non-removable; all the links are closed). Symbolically, however, the chain has a much deeper meaning. It consists of two segments: the chain of identity (seen in red in the diagram) and the chain of brotherhood (seen in blue). 

The chain of identity is the segment that goes over the back of the hand and connects the ring to the chain of brotherhood. It symbolizes the connection that an individual Clone has to his brothers, and also his own individuality and personhood. Many Clones use this chain to express their own quirks and personality, painting it or attaching small mementoes to it. 

The chain of brotherhood is the segment that goes around the wrist, and to the Clones is the most important segment. It represents the brotherhood between all the Clones, and- eventually- between the Clones and their Jedi generals. There is a very important ritual associated with this chain: they are painted in memory of fallen brothers and Jedi, one link (usually; it can be more, depending on who or how many died) for every slain friend, in the color or colors of their armor (or, in a Jedi’s case, the color of their lightsaber). The inch or so of chain right over the back of the wrist, where it meets the chain of identity, is considered the most personal segment of the chain, and is usually reserved for fallen batchmates (though there have been exceptions to this norm- for example, after Ahsoka left the Jedi, Rex painted his section green for her.)

[orions-quill]

Superstitions - Worldbuilding Wednesdays (Project New World)

This is me committing to what I said about having a schedule to work a little bit on my stories everyday. Wednesdays are for Worldbuilding and today I decided to tackle superstitions in Project New World. I came up with three different superstitions that I think perfectly illustrate that religion is a major aspect of this world!

You'll be able to see a little bit about the mythology I've created and the language I'm developing. It's not a lot, but if you want to know more about those things I can go more in detail on a different post, since this activity is meant for me to create new things for my projects!

Anyways, here are the three superstitions:

When someone says something positive, or a hope or dream they have, people will close a fist and softly hit their chest over their heart three times. This comes from the act of praying, which is done with the hands clasping each other positioned close to the heart. The triple movement symbolizes three prayers, one for each of the Three Siblings, protectors of the Kishyntu (the People, from “ki” many (plural marker) and “shyntu” person).

It is considered bad luck to turn on any sources of light after dawn. Whatever light you might need to do things at night must be turned on before dawn, otherwise you risk offending Neurim, God of Darkness.

It is believed that to ensure the protection of newborn kids, they must be gifted shyntu (person), fejii (animal) and pfin (plant). Usually this is done in the form of a small sealed box that will usually contain a lock of hair from both parents, some sort of animal bone or fur, and dried plants. This is to ensure that the Three Siblings can watch over the newborn.

And that's it! I had quite a bit of fun developing these ngl! I wanna come up with more superstitions now haha

[thatndginger]

Happy WBW! To kick off the spooky Asks, what are monsters like in your world? Real? Fictional? Surrounded by their own Cryptidology?

Thank you so much for the ask Tori! And for giving me the opportunity to ramble about the in-universe mythology and history of the Shifter!verse!

‘Monsters’ have always been real in the world of Shapeshifter, and have been known about since… practically ever, really. There are cave paintings depicting werewolf transformations and vampires, ancient writings describing animals that could become beautiful and dangerous men and women, oral histories of communities stalked by human-faced creatures who only come at night. The folklore surrounding the supernatural is as old as the history of humankind, and because of that there are many widely-held beliefs that are untrue about the supernatural. The truths, when told, are usually told with a heaping dose of falsehoods as well. Ideas like werewolves being influenced by the moon, cat shifters being sly and sneaky, witches being untrustworthy agents of Satan, and vampires having no soul or humanity left after their transformation. It doesn’t help that even in the modern day, with a global population in the billions, most people don’t interact (or know they interact) with supernaturals, so all they have to go on are sensationalist news stories and old wives tales.

For the most part, these ‘monsters’ are the same as humans. And it’s considered rude to call them monsters nowadays. While all shifters have their own little physical ‘quirk’ that can set them apart, the majority of these are easily hidden - there are no animal ears or tails on a human body in this world - which means they can exist in society fairly unnoticed. The same goes for witches. Vampires have a little bit more trouble fitting in, due to their sun aversion and fangs, but a decent obfuscation charm can hide the little physical details that make them stand out. The ease with which supernaturals can blend into society has historically been met with distrust and fear, and that’s a hard thing to overcome. Most supernaturals just want to live like everyone else. They have jobs, own homes, have families, and go on vacation just like the mundane humans who they live with. They just have to do it with a constant awareness that they could be ostracized, run off, or even killed because some people find their existence too scary to allow to exist.

That got a little more serious than I planned, but I’ve been angry at the world for the last couple weeks and the supernaturals in the Shifter!verse are a minority that have been heavily mistreated throughout their history, so I can’t help but be angry on their behalf.

[tomswifty-fr]

Tundra hatchlings leave their eggs with horns and a full coat of fur and are capable of walking and running short distances just hours after birth (though they typically won't choose to for at least a couple of days).

On hatching, the horns are covered with a layer of mostly-hairless skin. The bone here is sturdy enough to serve a similar function as an eggtooth, but is still developing along with the rest of the skull. It will remain soft and somewhat malleable for the few few months to a year of life. The skin covering will die and be replaced with keratin of the same color when the horns are fully developed in late adolescence.

It's easy to affect a horn's development when soft, either accidentally or deliberately. Something as simple as a hatchling spending too much time leaning on one side can train a horn to grow in a "wrong" direction. Some cultures will go to great lengths to correct bent or asymmetrical horns, while others don't consider it a big deal as long as it doesn't affect the hatchling's health. Horns that are severely asymmetrical or curved in a very atypical way (straight forward, for example) can cause neck issues, problems balancing, or even cause stress or injuries to the rest of the skull.

On the other hand, some cultures consider it normal to deliberately sculpt a hatchling's horns. This can be done for purely aesthetic reasons or as a clan/family identifier. The latter is most common in very traditionalist Tundra communities in the Southern Icefield, where it is a very old practice, and is almost never seen in northern flights or mixed-breed communities. Folklore has it that it began as a way to recognize clanmembers in storms strong enough to blow away scent - skeptics say that visibility in a storm like that would be too low to see someone's horns at a distance anyway. The former is highly controversial for being fully elective, so to speak, and Tundras who practice traditional horn modification see it as deeply weird and kind of cruel to saddle your kid with a horn shape that won't be shared with anyone else.

All stances are controversial to someone, and medical opinion is mixed on whether "standard" horn shapes are inherently healthier than just letting them grow, whether deliberate modification is necessarily harmful, when it's justifiable, and how much is too much. Add in the fact that any procedure is irreversible and can only be done when the hatchling is too young to say yes or no - it's a mess.

On the fur front, a hatchling's "baby coat" is waterproof, thin, and extremely soft. Its purpose is to keep the egg liquids away from the skin and protect them from the cold just long enough to crawl under the closest parent. Adult Tundra fur is not waterproof; it keeps them dry by being thick and heavy enough that snow or liquid simply doesn't make it to the skin. A hatchling will start growing their adult coat almost immediately after making it out of the egg, and sheds their baby coat within a couple of days.

Shed baby coats are occasionally collected and woven into fabric in the same way that adult wintercoats are, but it's far less common for several reasons. The first being that the last thing on a new parent's mind is going to be collecting fur from their brand new infant - they have other things to be worrying about! The second being that one baby's worth of fur, or even a whole litter's, isn't enough to really do anything with. At best, you get a little keepsake bandana.

[alumthedragon]

Worldbuilding Wednesday Prompt 3:

Talk about a dragon in your clan who isn't a dragon. What kind of creature are they? What kinds of relationships do they have with the actual dragons in your clan?

[ringleaderising]

Random but very important Lore question:

If your Flight Rising Clan Lore was a video game what genre would it be? Dating Sim? Roguelike? Horror? Cozy farming? tell me about it.

What about Player characters (A third party/custom character? an already existing dragon?) MAIN characters (big players in the story???)

even GAME MECHANICS OR WHATEVER

I wanna know if anybody's put thought into this like me.

[figfull]

A few years ago, I went through a phase where I tried writing dragon nursery rhymes for lore, lol. They’re pretty old, but there are still a few I like.

[porcelainpocketfighter]

thoughts on Greatwyrm's Breach

From the description of Greatwyrm's Breach: "A mighty break in the eggshell-shaped mountain range surrounding the Pillar, named for its visual allusion to the hatching of a new-born dragon. It is said that its westward gorge housed the first clans, and the intricate series of networked caverns that dot it support this claim. A storied realm for dragonkind, many of the old lairs here are known for their murals and cave-paintings telling of the ancient feats performed by the elemental deities in the shaping of the world."

Maybe the very oldest pieces depict the First Four, then branch out to the latter seven as more dragons start to travel to other flights. Such a huge, ancient, public canvas must be invaluable to the historic record; among other things, the artworks track how attitudes toward each of the Eleven shift over time.

[shy-raccoon]

Worldbuilding Tip

If you have a fantasy race with animal traits look at that animals social structure when desiging their culture.

A kingdom of lion people could have 2 types of towns, one with mostly women and one man as mayor and another made up of men banished from the first town when they hit puberity. With duals to decide the mayor of the first town.

Fauns and satyrs could banish all men from town except for during mating season with only women running socity or have seperate towns for each gender like actual deer herds.

Most cultures in fantasy are real world cultures with the serial numbers shaved off or a mish mash of real world cultures. So this is a great way to make more interesting cultures in your setting.

[tiredspirals]

I'll be collecting lore posts like delicious eggs. I'm hoping to find some goons I could maybe use as cameos for my traveling band of adventurers

It'd be cool, I think, to mention 'legendary figures' or clans that are good pitstops that actually belong to players. I'm especially interested if your clan has bounty/task boards

[stabbyfoxandrew]

it’s almost halloween soooo demon neil? :)

WIP Wednesday (10/30) | Demon Neil AU (Part 8)

"You're twenty-five." Andrew says, surprised for some reason. Neil sounds both younger and older than that. Andrew just turned twenty-six a few months ago.

"Such advanced math for a human. I'm impressed."

"Mm, I've always been gifted." Andrew deadpans. Neil snorts a laugh at that and Andrew sits in the silence for a moment. "Neil, where were you before you were in me?"

"Downtown Genizma, being chased by a couple of hell hounds and a sociopathic bitch named Lola." Neil answers with a shuddering breath. 

Andrew opens his mouth and closes it again. "Gen-iz-muh?"

"Yes. It's in the Demon Realm. Outside of Hell Proper."

"You're fucking with me."

"I'm not." Neil argues. "My mom and I. We got separated in Seattle and..."

Andrew blinks. "Seattle? You're in Baltimore now."

"Oh, I wasn't sure I popped up. But that makes sense," Neil trails off, leaving Andrew wondering why it makes sense.

Andrew hums. "Explain popping up."

"My mom created my sigil for me when I was younger. And drew them here and there so I'd be able to get back if I was ever... taken."

"Taken." Andrew rubs his forehead. "Neil, I feel like I'm having to pull bits and pieces out of you. I would like the full picture if you don't mind."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Tell me why he who shan't be mentioned wants you."

"I don't know what the original plan was, but now he just wants to make me bleed. Punish me for running."

"So he, what, dragged you down to Hell to do just that?"

"...Pretty much."

"But then I stepped on your magic circle and you climbed into me."

"Correct."

Andrew lets out a breath. "This is a lot to process."

[high-fantasy-sw]

Worldbuilding Wednesdays

Part One: Jedi Clothing

Welcome to Worldbuilding Wednesdays, the weekly post that expands on an aspect of the AU! This week's edition is focusing on the clothing of the Jedi Order.

Younglings and Young Padawans have the lightest sentence in terms of clothing. That sounds like a bad thing but I have no better way to phrase it. What this means is that they can pretty much wear whatever they want, but there are a few rules that need to be obeyed.

All younglings wear comfortable, loose-fitting tunics and breeches in warm shades, with soft turnstyle shoes made of felt with leather soles (they don’t leave the monastery much, so heavier-duty shoes are not usually needed). They also wear their distinguishing article- their wide-brimmed caps (for boys) or bonnets (for girls); these are based on the helmet-hats seen in Attack of the Clones.

When a Youngling becomes a Padawan, the dress code remains very light: he or she is allowed to wear almost anything of his or her choosing, but it must be modest and not overly distracting- so no eye-searing colors. Boots are preferred but not required, made of soft but sturdy leather, and almost every Padawan wears a belt that matches. Additionally, they each wear a colorful sash that denotes their apprenticeship. Often, these sashes match the color of the young Jedi’s lightsaber, though this is not always the case. (For example, while Obi-Wan’s sash was light blue, and Anakin’s was dark blue, which match the colors of their Kyber Crystals, Ahsoka’s sash was purple while her lightsabers were green.) These sashes can be worn in a variety of fashions, and the style will vary depending on the Padawan’s discretion. (To use the disaster trio for an example again: Obi-Wan’s sash wrapped over his left shoulder and across his chest, Anakin’s draped over both of his shoulders like a vest or stole, and Ahsoka’s wrapped around her waist and hung down the front of her skirt). And, obviously, we can’t talk about Padawans without talking about Padawan hair. All Padawans wear their hair short, but the style can vary based on the Padawan in question. And obviously there’s the Padawan Braid. Head accessories are permitted as long as they aren’t too distracting, and ethnic headgear is allowed and encouraged (Togruta headscarves and horn montrals, Twi’lek lekku headwraps, Mirialan veils, Kel Dor and Cerean helmets, et cetera). 

Senior Padawans are Padawans eighteen years of age or older. When a Padawan becomes a Senior Padawan, he or she begins to be fully integrated into the Order, so at a ceremony called the Rite of Seniority, Padawans actually get to design the habit they will wear, within the ground rules laid out by the Order, as an adult Jedi. Many Jedi wear robes influenced by their birth cultures, and this is a practice both allowed and actively encouraged. As Senior Padawans are still Padawans, however, they continue to wear their colored sashes until their knighting, even if they do begin to wear their adult habit.

During the Clone Wars, Jedi assigned to command troops wear a somewhat standardized uniform instead of their usual habit (however, their individual habit is still worn when at the Temple). This uniform consists of a simple tunic (in various shades of brown), a chainmail undertunic, splint-armor pants, upper-chest plate armor, pauldrons, and some form of boots and gloves. (For a better picture of what this looks like in practice, please reference the Jedi Edition of my Heroforge Series.) However, elements such as color, cut, and of course, cultural aspects like headgear, may be personalized by the individual Jedi.

Thanks for tuning in! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them and I’d be more than happy to answer them! See you next week for part two!

[orions-quill]

Carya Kingdom - Worldbuilding Wednesday (P. Time)

And we have circled back to Worldbuilding Wednesday! Today I'm introducing to you the main setting of Project Time, which is the Kingdom of Carya or the Carya Kingdom, either or is correct. P. Time occurs on a planet much similar to Earth but a little to the left, and Carya exists sort of off the coast from Ireland, the UK, France, Spain and Portugal (all of which will have completely different names in the book).

Carya will have a mixture of influences from all the countries I mentioned before in terms of culture, and I'm excited to develop that a little more.

Here's a map of Carya Kingdom done with the lovely Azgaar! I'm still tweaking some things, so it isn't perfect, especially in terms of the size, since I can't figure how to change that yet lol I've also got to decide the main cities and stuff, so it'll take some time to get it where I want it to be.

Fun fact, Carya is the genus of Hickory trees, which is just, a nice tree type lol

Hopefully I'll continue working on it a bit and bring you some more updates next week!

[thatndginger]

Happy WBW! As I continue my reading saga of death and grief, tell me a little about the subject in your world. How is death treated and thought of? How do your characters-- or the world at large-- handle grief in relation to it?

Hello Tori! I will probably never answer these on time but I will answer them eventually ^.^

Since I've been in a big Shapeshifter mood I'm gonna answer for that setting. Which is pretty much just our world but with werewolves and vampires, so the general beliefs about death aren't that different? All of the world religions and beliefs are pretty much the same. The presence of magic has a small effect on this, but it mostly makes people stronger believers in their religion (aka magic=miracles or evidence of a deity). So for the most part it's a 1-to-1 comparison.

However, I think there is a definite shift in the Shifter!verse towards more 'esoteric' beliefs because of magic that affects the topic of death. Sure a Christian God makes miracles happen, but the Bible and its followers have not been kind to witches in the past. It makes sense that in a world where witches exist and everyone knows it's wrong to kill them Christianity doesn't have such a strong grip on the world. I could see religions where reincarnation is a thing being a bit more popular, and of course various witchcraft beliefs and maybe even some of the older polytheistic religions. So you'd get a lot more people believing in those versions of the afterlife/cycle of life that would affect how people react to grief. Less embalming and preservation of bodies, more cremation and 'natural' burials to allow the natural cycles of life to spin. That kind of thing.

Funnily enough, all the Into the Storm characters lean hard into dealing with grief via denial, aka not dealing with it at all. Better to bury it than acknowledge it, right?

[bardic-tales]

Welcome to Worldbuilding Wednesday. Today, we are going to do something different. Instead of asks, I am going to have 'opened' asks this week. Feel free to answer one or as many questions as you want from the following list:

What limits does the medicine in your world have? What can’t it treat or cure?

What is the public opinion on magic? Is it feared? Accepted? Worshiped?

What does a typical wedding look like?

What are the politics of your world like? What are the major political issues?

Are there certain topics or forms of education that are exclusive to one group or people or another? (exclusive to the nobility, the wealthy, the magical, etc.)

How is society organized? What determines someone’s social standing?

Feel free to reblog this post or make your own. Make sure you tag @bardic-tales or @creators-club, so I can reblog your responses.

Current members:

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@themaradwrites @pinkevilwriter

@serenofroses @asirensrage @aalinaaaaaa @goldenlilium-ocs @glbettwrites

@wyked-ao3 @badscientist @thebadphilosopher @andromedalestrange

@fantastictrashpolice @seastarblue @happypup-kitcat24 @chickensarentcheap @allaboutmagic

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@rosemirmir @salmonandfox @fablesandfragments @paganmindidnothingwrong @elshells

@viscerawrites @ellowynthenotking

[satohqbanana]

This won the recent poll, so I will delight you with a bit more lore and worldbuilding... based on the old poll.

Luishreya TL;DR:

War Queen Luishreya is a balding green-haired, brown-skinned amputee and warrior who not only led at least 11 troops, but also became queen of a kingdom and gained the attention of at least two gods. By the power of both knowledge and wisdom, she led the nation of Verforlea for a long time and left behind three heirs.

Political background TL;DR:

The Endless Wars between multiple nations and city-states during Luishreya's time established the nation of Verforlea. With no suitable heirs to follow into her grand footsteps, Verforlea eventually became susceptible to enemies. Upon its fall, the Emerald Kingdom arose.

Thanks to its predecessor's prior wealth, the Emerald Kingdom became very rich and powerful, but it also got cocky and aggressive towards other nations. The Platinum Fort eventually got fed up of its antics and voiced out their opposition to the kingdom's predatory practices. Soon, a war sparked, covering the real reason why using the debate of alchemy VS magic. Due to this, they began seeking allies and sympathizers to their plight. To protect their maritime trade and tourism industries, the Damasqus Network, which lay between the two, decided to hold a neutral stance and opted to offer hospitals and clinics for wounded soldiers on both sides.

For a time, the biggest question was what the Kingdom of Prisma, the floating nation of Crystallistes, and the city-state of Kaleidopolis will do... until former Prismatic princesses and sisters Head Mage Grace and Queen Charity decided they were going to side with the Platinum Fort.

At the present time of Liberatio, the situation had been at a standstill, both sides silent but agitated, awaiting each other's next moves.

Extra Game Stuff:

The icon for Magia contains the Shruysi character for A.

Surprise screenshot of a room in the Heartwood Academy basement:

Homework:

Unlock more lore and worldbuilding by rearranging the following statements in a meaningful manner:

Insightful Reflections - Gentle is the darkness where the dust settles, and great is the wisdom you have earned.

Ephemeral Journeys - Just as everything has its start and its end, it also has a median where one must make crucial decisions.

Reinvigorated Hopes - Rejoice in your regenesis, and be reborn anew as the cycle of time restarts.

Breathtaking Discoveries - Wide is the world that awaits you, and boundless is the knowledge under the light.

Peaceful Reveries - Trust in the curtain call of time; permit the cycle to reach another graceful end.

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