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Boards first post! Developing my fantasy world.


Creepia

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Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fantasy fan. I've been obsessed with LOTR since I was a little lad and that's only escalated over the years. I've always wanted to write my own fantasy book and a big part of this is worldbuilding. I like the idea of creating my own maps, countries, people, cultures etc and I've been doing it for a while now. So here's my latest thing; it's a sub-continent in the world that my book is set in. This isn't the setting for the actual story, just canon for my ownsake. I wont be posting anything to do with the actual story, that's something that has stayed with me for a while and until I think it's ready to go then I'll release it wherever.



So yeah, here;



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And short descriptions of the major locations ...



Moranang - The South Eastern sub-continent.


Finraea ('fin-ray-ah') - An ancient city state built on the shores of the Glimmering Sound. Finraea is said to be the Gate to The East, at least it was for sailors coming from the south. For thousands of years it has served as a major trading stop for West Moranang and the world that lies beyond the eastern horizon. Due to this, a hundred different types of people have settled here and the native Finraean can no longer be seen. Due to the centuries of mixing cultures you can find a wide variety of Human. Many have white skin, many have tanned. To be considered Finraean is to be considered "Of The World." In the modern day Finraea comes under rule of the Osryn Empire and it was the first city in the west to be conquered by them.


Banaport - Banaport was the second city. "The Key to The North" it calls itself and much like it's southern counterpart you can find a variety of Banes due to it's variety of settlers over the years. Unlike Finraea in the south (which prides itself on peace and trade) the Banes are a warrior-type people. Coliseium's and pit fighting are a major part of the culture. Young boys and girls are raised with spear in hand. They also have a formidable navy which the Osryn Empire have utilised.


Valdessa - Although Banaport considers itself the Key To The North. The newer built city state of Valdessa is the key to the Osryn Empire's western front. Built by the Imperial's only a century ago the city is just recently becoming a major stronghold and landmark in the west. Built into The Funnel (the humongous valley between the Warque Mountains in the north and the Irtia Mountains in the south) this city has lush marble buildings, lavish statues of the Imperator's of The Past and is also the seat of Imperator Osryn when he comes to stay. It is from here the Imperator plans to strike further west.


Darandar - One of the oldest and most powerful sovereign nations in the world let alone in Moranang. Darandar's cities have all been the sites of multiple historical events over the centuries. Because of this the Darandarian people are said to be very world-weary and are untrusting of foreigners. Their army is feared the world over.


Veriss - A young country and a neighbour to the east of Darandar. 300 years ago adventurers from Finraea founded the first settlement (as the land had not been settled by Darandarian's due to it's swampy terrain) and due to this it sparked conflict with Darandar whom claimed they governed the land despite not caring for it. This sparked the War for The Swamps in which saw Darandar and Finraea go at it for a decade. Despite Darandar claiming one of the most powerful armies in the world, they suffered one of their biggest defeats in history at the hands of the Finraean's. Following the war the original Finraean settlers were free to live in Veriss and many more followed. They've been closely allied to Finraea ever since, but now that the Osryn Empire have gained control of the Gate To The East their alliance hangs in the balance.


Skelock - A sister country to Darandar. Originally settled by Darandarian explorers it has since developed into it's own sovereign nation. However it still technically serves Darandar and the King of Skelock have to address the monarch of Darandar is the High King. Skelock shares a culture and genealogy with their mother country.


West Gharim - In a similar vain to Skelock, Gharim (originally one united land) was settled by clansfolk before being integrated into the realm of Darandar.


East Gharim - This divided the clansfolk of Gharim between East and West and they fought a civil war for a long time. Whilst West Gharim bent the knee to Darandarian rule, the East Gharish people continued to resist and they resisted for a long time before eventually being conquered. You'll find more of the native Gharish culture here in East Gharim unlike West Gharim, the natives have tanner skin and are taller in stature.


Great Andapar - The most ancient and the self proclaimed most glorious sovereign nation in the world. It is also the largest country in Moranang if you discount the recent western expansion of the Osryn Empire. A great army, a great navy and with more history than any other nation in Moranang, these are the biggest threat to the Osryn dominion of the continent. They've already smirkished with Osryn troops in the Hinterwild and it is in the Andaparian interest to keep their south-western lands safe.


Varda - Another relatively new country given independence by Great Andapar following a succession of dictators. Varda is located north-west of Great Andapar and although it was under their sovereign rule it was often forgotten about and had been annexed to stewards for a long time. These stewards got complacent and eventually developed a harsh rule, practically enslaving the Vardayan people. The Andaparian's suffered this not and slew down the line of these stewards and because the Vardayan people suffered decades of poverty, they were given independence. They remain close allies to Great Andapar.


Addanos - A war mongering people with a loose grip on ruling. Located east of Great Andapar the Addanese people have remained in the shadow of their great neighbour for centuries. This has turned them bitter and feisty. Relatively similar to Andapar in terms of culture, it's believed that before the sovereign borders went up, the natives were considered one people, but since then they've grown complacent with their bigger neighbours.


Perbellor Peninsula - In truth a "Perbellese" person doesn't exist. There is no one Perballese culture. Historically the north-western peninsula was made up of multiple city-states and lesser kingdoms. They have all been washed away however. The history books tell us that a thousand years ago, the tides rose, rivers overflowed and quakes beneath the earth shook the peninsula to its very core. Entire cities were drowned and millions of lives lost. One common attribute united all the peoples of Perbellor (most of them) and that was that they were capable sea men. The survivors of The Great Flood banded together and fled across the Forgotten Blue. We know that they eventually landed in far away Albaland where they have since thrived.


Throlskelda ('trol-skel-dah') - A wild place and home to The Savage Men of The North. Clansfolk with a mind for war. It's said that a Throlskeldan is "thick of hair, thick of hide and thick of mind" at least to the more 'civilised' people of Moranang. In truth the terrain these Northmen call home has adapted this way. They are clansfolk living in wet and wild villages and small towns, constantly needing to fight for land or food or for shelter. They have pale skin with long hair and beards to mask themselves from the cold. There is only one major Throlskeldan settlement; Uskard. Uskgard is a port town that serves as a major trading port between mainland Moranang (welcome to foreigners) and the Northern Islands.


Vey - The biggest of the three Northern Islands. Vey was settled by Throlskeldan's some time ago and have since grown into their own people with their own laws and customs.


Ory - The second island to be settled by Northmen. They too have developed their own laws and customs.


Osos - Originally settled by Throlskeldan's, but then contested by adventurous Saalish folk. They've since developed into their own people with genes of both types.


Saal - East of Throlskelda lies a small sovereign nation. The Saalish people are very similar to Throlskeldan's in regards to their look and they very likely share the same ancestors, but at some point in history these ancient Northmen seemed to have established their own sovereign nation. Some historians believe that a King from another land inspired them to do so, but others suggest that they had to unite to face some kind of threat. Saalish parents tell their children of this threat to scare them.


Kol Terra - North-east of Saal lies the reclusive country of Kol Terra. A place many know little about. Kol Terran's are short, hairy and speak a language unlike any other. Some scholars believe that the Kol Terran's once mixed with the Waudric (Dwarves) of far off Albaland which seems unlikely, others believe that these Kol Terran's were once of a race similar to the Waudric who then bred with Human's. Whatever the real reason is, we'll probably never know, the Kol Terran's are very secretive and foreigners are not allowed within it's borders without special permission.


I don't care for criticism, I'm not doing this for anyone else really. Just for fun.

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First off... holy shit

 

Secondly........ HOLY SHIT!

 

Thirdly, let it be known that this isn't my kind of thing. These period pieces, the medieval mystical works, the LOTR, Game of Thrones, Elder Scrolls, etc... not my cup of tea. I dunno, I just was never really a fan. Movies, TV, Games, I could do without. But now that that is out of the way, huge props to the thought put into all of this. I never stop being amazed by people's ability to create lore as deep as this. Those who create dialects for differing nations blows my mind, so if you did that too...

 

Anyways, I skimmed alot of this. You start throwing names of nations and people together like that and I see a foreign language so sorry if I missed it but I do have a few questions

 

1)The [main] story, does it have a title? This is obviously gonna be a series of stories with several off-branching when you have a world this rich and this is only a sub-continent NOT EVEN FOR THE ACTUAL STORY, HOLY SHIT, lmao.

 

2)So I guess empires of history exist to consume everything it can. It wants everyone to be under their strict rule, but is there something more beneficial Osryns achieve by conquering the west? And do they already have control over everywhere else?

 

3)The [main] story, does it center around something/someone within the Osryn Empire? Are they considered to be the primary antagonists or are you switching it up and making them the protagonists to chronicle their conquests and maintenance of power?

 

4)I didn't see an actual description for the Hinterwild. You just mentioned Andapar's repelling of the empire there. What is that place? Does nobody live there? What's the terrain like there, all plains?

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First off... holy shit

 

Secondly........ HOLY SHIT!

 

Thirdly, let it be known that this isn't my kind of thing. These period pieces, the medieval mystical works, the LOTR, Game of Thrones, Elder Scrolls, etc... not my cup of tea. I dunno, I just was never really a fan. Movies, TV, Games, I could do without. But now that that is out of the way, huge props to the thought put into all of this. I never stop being amazed by people's ability to create lore as deep as this. Those who create dialects for differing nations blows my mind, so if you did that too...

 

Anyways, I skimmed alot of this. You start throwing names of nations and people together like that and I see a foreign language so sorry if I missed it but I do have a few questions

 

1)The [main] story, does it have a title? This is obviously gonna be a series of stories with several off-branching when you have a world this rich and this is only a sub-continent NOT EVEN FOR THE ACTUAL STORY, HOLY SHIT, lmao.

 

2)So I guess empires of history exist to consume everything it can. It wants everyone to be under their strict rule, but is there something more beneficial Osryns achieve by conquering the west? And do they already have control over everywhere else?

 

3)The [main] story, does it center around something/someone within the Osryn Empire? Are they considered to be the primary antagonists or are you switching it up and making them the protagonists to chronicle their conquests and maintenance of power?

 

4)I didn't see an actual description for the Hinterwild. You just mentioned Andapar's repelling of the empire there. What is that place? Does nobody live there? What's the terrain like there, all plains?

 

1. The story does not have a title.

 

2. As of right now, no the Osryn Empire has no reason to go West, simply because I haven't given them a reason too. Wont be too hard to think of a legit reason, I'll do research on Empires and gain some inspiration. Hopefully.

 

3. No the Osryn Empire has no bearing on the main story. The Osryn Empire is literally just flavour right now. The main stories antagonist is the adopted daughter of the main character who is in service to the new king. I want to challenge the idea that the idea of right and wrong and justice can be completely thrown askew when family is involved. Even adopted family.

 

4. The Hinterwild is just that. Wild. People probably live there, somewhere, probably around lakes and by rivers, but there are no countries or states or governing bodies in that vast expanse. Maybe the Osryn Empire might conquer it one day, create settlements of their own. It's not all just grass plains either. There is quite a large portion of grass plains, but there are hilly areas, swamps, dryer areas etc. This map isn't 100% detailed, just basic markers to show where everything is. Also, this is another edit of this post lol, but I might add more countries that take up space in the Hinterwild, it's all up for changing right now. This isn't the final product by any means.

 

Oh and I completely understand about foreign names and pro-nouns. Especially in fantasy it can make or break the immersion. Some authors like Tolkien use linguistics to their advantage, but I'm not an Oxford English professor so I'm just creating ones at random right now. Some of the names will change, others will remain because I've settled on them.

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That's actually pretty crazy and wayyy more creative than I could ever be. Its pretty impressive how much you've thought this through, that it almost seems like a pitch for a video game or something! (Which I could totally see it being an rpg free-roam video game)

 

I hope you can 1 day get a story completed and put out there for others to read your story, and with crowd funding being a thing these days its very likely that you'll manage! Good shit and good luck.

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That's actually pretty crazy and wayyy more creative than I could ever be. Its pretty impressive how much you've thought this through, that it almost seems like a pitch for a video game or something! (Which I could totally see it being an rpg free-roam video game)

 

I hope you can 1 day get a story completed and put out there for others to read your story, and with crowd funding being a thing these days its very likely that you'll manage! Good shit and good luck.

Thanks G I appreciate the words.

 

The goal is to complete a story one day, it should happen eventually. Hopefully.

 

I would also love the chance to work on the story for an RPG game. It would be cool to work on a world where lots of people would get to see it.

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Okay so here is Albaland. The island kingdom and setting for the actual story;;



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Albaland;



So people shouldn't be surprised to hear that I did base this place off of Middle Earth, I know that's incredibly cliché and every fantasy writer in history has emulated Tolkien in some form or another. However, I know Middle Earth more than most things and it was a good base for me to use as a base.



So in original post I mentioned the Perbellor Peninsula and how it was fractured and flooded over a thousand years ago. Well the survivors and refugees fled overseas and eventually landed here in Albaland. The famed Yon The Wanderer is said to be the first to step foot where the capital city of Sovereign stands today, although that seems unlikely and is likely a tale twisted over the years to curry favour with the High King's. Yon was the first King and the first to commission a settlement on the north-eastern coast. Sovereign remains the largest Human settlement to date and is the biggest of the two cities. It houses the Royal Family, the Grand Temple, the noble district, the merchants district, the Royal Harbour and the residential district. It remains the central hub for human life on the island.



The other city being Carfarrow. The City of Warriors. Built on an inland peninsula next to the Bay of Hermits. It's called The City of Warriors unofficially as the main host of the Royal Army is houses there. Carfarrow houses most of the military officers whom train new recruits the year round. In times of war Carfarrow offers itself as a natural defence position. It's surrounded by water on all sides, but the north-east which is bordered by the Cloudbreaker Line.



Ivergreen College - A place of magic and scholarship. Built by the Dwarves as a gift for mankind, pretty much pleading with them to not conquer their homeland of Skerig like they did the Elves of Seronys. Ivergreen is made of the finest Dwarven architecture and out of the finest Skerig materials. The main spires are made out of obsidian whereas the lower housing structures are made from white marble. It's a truly beautiful place. The purpose for Ivergreen College is to study the Arts of The Arcane. That's right folks, magic! Elemental, Alchemy, Illusion, Kinetic, Necromancy, Herbology and the study of potions, Telekinesis, Telepathy and others. Wise scholars teach their acolytes year-round in the hopes of them continuing on the mastery of the craft. There is also a military wing of the college, a wing dedicated to combative magic where the divisions of his Royal Army practice for war.



Seronys - The forest region in the south-east of Albaland. Once upon a time Seronys took up 80% of the surface of Albaland. It was also home Yvelru, or as Human's call them, Elves. Tall, regal and in-tune with nature these Elves were natives to Albaland for tens of thousands of years, creating their sprawling metropolis under the forest canopy. Elves were in-tune with the Arcane also, having lengthy lives to master their crafts. This also ended with Yon The Wanderer and his refugee's came ashore. It didn't take them long before the greed of man took control and within a few decades nearly half of the forest had been cut down. Yon The Wanderer is responsible for slaying the first of the Elven Queens to have got in his way. The Human's and the Elves warred for several centuries, war taking a toll on both races. Human's had a boost in population around 205 AF (After Landing), but most of them were killed in battle by the time they reached adulthood. Eventually the Elves were enslaved and were driven to extinction. The only ones kept alive were their wisest and their magic wielders. Human's were taught how to wield the Arcane themselves, but the magic they study today at Ivergreen College is a much bastardised version of the Elves' magic. In the modern day, the Yvelru are all, but extinct. Seronys is an eigth of the size it once was and what's left are bandit camps and ruins of ancient Elven architecture.



Skerig - In the north-west lies a large mountainous region and whilst it may look uninhabitable, underneath is another sprawling metropolis full of mega caverns, endless tunnels, mines and beaten-in cities. This place is home to the Waudric a race of short-statured miners, blacksmiths and builders with long hair and long beards. Human's call them Dwarves. They hate that name however and I wouldn't suggest you use it in the presence of one. Skerig is open to foreigners, at least in certain trading areas. The Waudric are a rich people with a wealth of history and experience. When the Human's came to Albaland and began warring with the Elves of Seronys the Waudric left it well enough alone. They kept to themselves and it was only until the Human's were guaranteed to win, when they offered them help. They gave gifts of Waudric steel and architecture to the Humans and have enjoyed an alliance with them ever since.



So basically this is the actual setting to the story I have planned. The main character is a Dwarven herbalist who is employed as the Kings healer. Of course with any ole drama, the king dies and The Herbalist is suspect numero uno and his adopted Human daughter is captaining the manhunt.


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No seriously, this is mad creative. I love reading about it. This would be great as a game or a book even. Love the names of things you came up with as well.

The names are the hardest part for real. Trying to come up with decent names that don't sound too cliche fantasy (I.E like they'd belong in a DnD game) is tricky. For a lot these regions I've based them off of real history. Throlskelda and its people pretty much just Vikings. Great Andapar is based off the British Empire. Using those as bases make coming up with names a little easier.

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Seriously, I would love to read this and have updates on. This is badass.

 

... and I completely agree!

 

Good stuff, PositiveCreep... can't wait to read more of what you have in mind for this thread you've created.

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Okay so I've been watching a lot of Vikings today and I doodled this whilst watching. Not sure how I can incorporate it into the current world I'm building, but it should be able to fit in somewhere. The names are all random, don't mean anything. I think it looks cool though.

 

Pv8kg8M.jpg

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Do you make this whole map thing? Like all the trees and everything?

It's a software called Inkarnate, they have all the sprites ready to use. They've recently gone through a big update and I'm not sure if I like it, but that one turned out okay.

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So the current King is a direct descendant of Yon the Wanderer? And there's got to be a Yvelru that's key to your main plot, right? They can't be ALL done

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Well, I've yet to come up with a royal dynasty. I suppose that'll be something I can work on and update here. I do know that the current High King is the cousin of the last one. They're all descendants of Yon, but maybe not directly.

 

And no, there are no Elves in the main story. Wanna know why I made all the Elves extinct? because they're too over powered in modern fantasy and I'm bored to death with. So I killed them all off.

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Wanna know why I made all the Elves extinct? because they're too over powered in modern fantasy and I'm bored to death with. So I killed them all off.

BOOOOOO!!! *throws tomatoes* You could've kept them out all together or just made them a people with funny ears, but you made them the basis of all magic in your world. They... shall live... FOREVAAAAAH!!

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