#wyrdwood worldbuilding

[melsrainpod]

Worldbuilding theory: there are two systems of writing in Wyrd — runic writing and proto-calligraphy.

Anyone who uses copestones is used to runic writing. It's angular, easy to carve into stone, and clearly an older writing system that has its own shorthand which fits more of a message into a smaller space on the copestone (both a smaller footprint of a letter, and also abbreviations like c u l8r). Runic writing is taught by elders to whoever will listen, common and wild folk alike, drawing runes with a stick onto the ground.

Due to cultural exchange with other continents (I assume there are more continents than just Heorth, common folk had to come from somewhere) and with their own wild folk, mostly elves and aasimar, common folk merchants and other people who have to rely on writing to keep and store their history (of purchases, of magic, of banking details, what have you) have begun adapting runic script to work when writing with quills on paper, borrowing the knowledge from the elvish script and using more curves than straight angles. This form of calligraphy is still evolving, and in parts that don't have much trade between each other those evolutions are fairly diverging. I imagine Cressida would have had to learn at least two or three various scripts with more or less being borrowed from Elvish script — runes but with more curves and flowing together, straight transcription of Wyrd into Elvish script, and a combination of the two.

Relatedly: everyone can read and everyone except Robin can write in runic Wyrd, although only Willowfine and Happen are used to carving messages into copestones. Willowfine knows a "more flowy and curvy" version of runic and uses a charcoal pencil for writing down stuff in her journal, although she can use quills and ink, just prefers not to use them because it's messy. Cressida has the most calligraphic writing ever and her magical tome is filled with neat and organised writing with an occasional diagram. She has a selection of quills and three different colours of ink on her at all times. Morven sometimes writes down stuff she needs to remember on stray pieces of whatever she can find in shorthand runic with a piece of charcoal.

[rustywizerd]

I'm really enjoying RJ Barkers worldbuilding.

I've read the boneships trilogy last year and really enjoyed it so I'm reading gods of the wyrdwood rn

Theres so much going on in terms of worldbuilding ahhahah I'm so happy. Its a lot. Gotta reread (both series) because i wanna draw some epic fanart if i got the time..

[melsrainpod]

Probably spoilery, unsure at the time of writing this, thoughts about Wyrdwood under the cut. (Update: it's also rambly as all hell. You've been warned.)

I'm not sure if I can express my feelings about Oxventure: Wyrdwood right now. I'm not particularly sure what is it that I'm feeling, if I'm honest, but that's just a testament to how much there is to feel. Now that the season's over and there's more to come, there's gonna be this Heorth-shaped void in my metaforical fandom heart that I, for one, will be filling in by piecing fanlore into the shapes of the various districts.

The initial pitch of "folk horror Oxventure" was intriguing, but as not a big fan of horror I was more excited for just more of a serious tone and seeing how everyone in the oxboxtra(way) crew grew as a roleplayer. But oh wow, did they not only gain levels in roleplay, but apparently also everyone acquired proficiency in persuasion because this folk horror was somehow really up my alley. Unsettling, unnerving, genuinely scary monsters mixed with the psychological unease of not knowing when and how the magic will go wrong, interspersed with talks about throwing buckets over buildings or unexpected religion lore. Both the decision-making within combat and the casual chatter in calmer periods were rich with character and incredibly insightful.

Combat, by the way, was spectacular. I know Johnny isn't a big fan of combat, but after the usage of lair actions by the bear in the pit I genuinely whooped in excitement — the combat in this series is not only full of genuine stakes, but is also not boring to watch (props to all the producers and editors as well! lighting, sound effects, cuts to close-up rolls on initiative rolls — they are not unnoticed, I absolutely love it!). I think starting on fifth level was the right call, I just hope the group will get to level up for if not the second, maybe the third season and manages to nab some more cool powers. The mechanic of debt is also quite fun, although personally I would prefer for it to go off a bit more frequently, but I doubt it would be particularly fun to stop the game in the middle just to see who'll get 'loped just for the sake of more chaotic magic.

But speaking of magic and debt! Worldbuilding. Oh my absolute gods, the worldbuilding is so juicy. I want to know everything about Heorth. I want to know the courting rituals in Fennfold, where Willowfine is from. (I also want to know all the spellings, Johnny, please release the spellings guide, thank you very much, all the writers and theorists will be in the magical debt for you.) I want the map. It genuinely feels like Heorth is alive around everyone, and I want there to be more stories, big and small, set within its regions, because I truly think there's an almost onfinite number of them. I love the fact that the mysteries are now multi-layered — of course, we're trying to figure out why the magic got borked, but there are also questions of how the magic works, who is this Poor Man, who are those higher beings, and that's not even counting the side mysteries of common folk in Baelwood and Morven's death. It is crystal clear that Johnny has put their heart, sweat, and excitement into the worldbuilding and I would give a (non-monetary, because. well. real life geopolitics.) big value to get to see even one document of the hundreds on the google disc folder they have.

In short, absolutely bloody loved the season one. Can't wait for more. In the meantime, I've got some theories to write!