The protagonist's faction (Zion) uses mostly drone warfare, with human oversight and occasional operations done by human infantry for operations that still need a "human touch" (usually, taking territory is left to drones, but holding and policing it is left to humans. Humans also do intelligence gathering). There's a few reasons for this, including:
-Science Heroes is their hat.
-Their enemies often use biological weapons and necromancy (essentially, they have a weaponized Zombie Plague). You can't infect a robot, though-so it's a lot safer.
-The undead are really scary, which makes their presence great for psychological warfare. Problem is, robots are every bit as unyeilding as the undead are. You simply can't intimidate cold, mathematical logic.
I like this one, so same?
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
Well the Dakhory like fast strikes since their first objective is to take slaves and them running away before the defender have the oportunity to do something.
BUT in large scale campains where they use their infamous Arks(thing huge and magical fortress and you will get it) them they push their first strike doctrine into their full potencial, cordinating multiple strike as ones, also they make heavy use of diferent animals: wolfs, crows to spys, dragons....you name it, since there are elves they dont have largue number, relying in quality over quantity to win, they have code of honor or sort, acepting tithles in order to leave alone a place or even to strike another one instead but that is only BEFORE the fight and maybe after, once the weapons draw not mercy is allow.
Sme question because is fun.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
Also called Xisuthrus
Well, I guess I get to answer my own question. 
The Neshians have a long equestrian tradition, as up until a century or two ago they were nomads, and as a result they rely heavily upon on mounted archers. In the last few decades, these horse archers have been supplemented with cataphracts, light infantry and siege engines, but their military doctrine still emphasises mobility.
Modern Haldean military tactics mostly amount to "whatever counters the Neshians the best", so dense formations of spearmen backed up by un-mounted archers is the norm, with the theory being that a standing archer is more accurate than a mounted archer, and that dense spear formations are best for spooking horses.
The Murmedons fight in difficult, mountainous terrain where you can't go very far without hitting the sea, and their (prominent) warrior culture values tenacity in battle over simply getting the first hits in, so most battles are focused on getting the right terrain, making sure your enemy can't get the right terrain, and then refusing to move for as long as it takes for your enemy to die. As such, dense phalanx formations are also the norm there, backed up by light cavalry and the navy.
Who is the most significant figure in your world's history? What was their life like?
If we are taking about ALL the setting? that would be the mythical primordial lord.
How he...she is? well...nobody really know, in part because not almost all acounts are dificult to understand and neither of them agree about everything and also because its like to change his looks every time someone see its, at the same time nothing is know about his/her life...even if there was one really.
Why? because he/she just....apear one day, in those times, the inheritors dominate the world(at that time it was pretty much and elderich location)them its just come around and defies the inheretor and banish them, sealing the process a bond with the other gods and deity in the whole planet, therefore almost all human workship or acknowlage its existance in some way of another.
Grown up test, you know when is the time to prove the sociaty you are a men/women, is that happen in your setting? and how is done?
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
There aren't any real significant "coming of age" ceremonies in this world, depending on the culture. Children raised in the Church of the Prophet are usually given the choice at around 20 to join the Inquisition, based on their actions and development up to that point. More often than not the more scholarly of folk are recruited into the Inquisition, more out of a "keep your enemies closer" sort of motive than anything as the Inquisition mainly stands to slow the progress of man.
With regards to the Royal Corps of Greater Lorude, young girls drafted into the Academius Corpus are brought into the different branches of the forces at around 17. From the more physically adapt primary Kingdom Corpus branch to the magical Divinra branch (born as a spinoff of the Inquisition that later broke ties entirely) to various special ops branches and the Reignra branch that tends to the needs of the extended Royal Family. This divide happens mainly through the Year of Chaos all students of the Academy are forced into at age 16, where they are brought to a separate, off campus site for a year and basically told to tear each other to shreds, within certain rules and regulations. Due to the violent nature of the Year of Chaos, graduating classes can range from the thousand strong to in the most extreme of cases a graduating class of only seven students.
On that note, what are the views on gender for your society? Any common stereotypes?
The nation of Zion has gender roles that are relatively similar to a RL western nation. In general, their attitude is along the lines of "Men act, Women support". Women are often preferred for roles like medicine and clergy, however. There aren't any laws enforcing this, though, simply culture.
Other nation-states often have cultures that put importance on blood lines (most of them are actually feudalistic). It's usually considered important for women to produce children to carry on a bloodline, though it's common for them to have careers on the side, occasionally even having their child as an apprentice. Female warriors exist, though they usually only serve one enlistment.
One nation, the Shinrin, have cheap Gender Bender potions, and have culturally done away with gender roles almost entirely, to the point of not even having gendered pronouns.
The Enigma State doesn't think much about gender roles, either. They're collectivists and at least nominally egalitarian. Their dictator is a woman, as well. They also don't have families as western civilization would define them. As such, to their credit, sexism is basically dead in their society.
What are your society's rules on sex and sexuality?
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
Depends on the region and social class. Among Magõan unnobles, the general policy is "do whatever you wish, as long as you do it behind your door". Generally the rule is that it's nobody's business whom you sleep with if you don't flaunt it. It's a result of social changes long in the making and the process is not complete, so a homosexual couple kissing in the street is still likely to draw more awkwardness from passer-byes than heterosexual one would. Generally, people still react to non-"normative"note people with awkwardness. Polyamory is looked at rather unkindly, and it's generally assumed that period of living and sleeping together without marriage shouldn't go on for more than half a decade.
The one exception from the "don't flaunt your sexuality openly" rule is the Imperial Office of Executors, because Battle Couples of magic-users are a thing and if you have a partner, you should tell your bosses about it so that you can be paired together with them and be more effective.
The noble class is much more open about sexuality and partnership. Who slept with whom is widely discussed, it's not unusual for a person, even married, to have multiple partners, and there's a lot more people identifying openly as non-binary or transsexual, leaving the nonnobles and nobility from other countries somewhat baffled.
For notable examples from other countries: Autumn Isles have the mentality of "only man with woman, only with your spouse, only after marriage" and have this huge ban on openly talking about sexuality - at least among the upper classes, the lower you go, the more at ease it all is. By contrast, Fortalezza Inverno and its empire have the policy of *shrug* "Yeah, sex is a thing. Not my business." and care for the issues of who does what with whom and how they identify sexually about as much as they do for last summer's snowfall.
Tell us about the pantheon of gods of one of your setting's religions. Who's out there, what do they do, how does one worship them, how much truth there is to them?
edited 27th Jan '16 1:11:49 PM by Kakai
Rejoice!
Also called Xisuthrus
(Copy-pasted from another thread.)
There are many major, mutually-contradictory religions in the world, but all share common elements, due to the fact that they all have elements of truth, there is a large amount of syncretism between faiths, and out-of-universe because it's simpler to come up with variations on belief systems rather than multiple fleshed out, fully-formed religions that are each unique.
According to the Sagely and human scholars of Haldu, Neshia, Qhadis and the Sunset Desert, this is the history of the world: In the beginning there was the Abyss, a glowing, chaotic mass. Over the course of aeons, the Abyss cooled into a dark, wet void, with the remaining light coalescing into two realms: Truth, and Reality. Truth and Reality mixed their light with the waters of the Abyss, and from their unions were born children: Truth begat Namma, Mother of Knowledge, and Reality birthed Mumus, Father of the World. From the waters of the Abyss alone was born Obyzu, Maker of Nothing. When they were first brought into being Namma and Mumus began to clash, as their natures as what was True and what was Real were inherently antagonistic. In their conflict they shaped the Abyss, Namma creating great knowledge and Mumus birthing the workings of the world. From Namma and Mumus were the Highest Gods born. From the Highest Gods were the lesser Gods born. From the lesser Gods were the Sages born. From the Sages were Men born. From Men were Beasts born. As Namma and Mumus waged their eternal battle, the True and the Real overlapped. The Highest Gods remained almost entirely within Truth, but the tendrils of Reality touched even them. The lesser Gods were trapped in the space between Truth and Reality, and were of both. The Sages and Men were born within Reality, but their souls were of the Truth, trapped within the tendrils of the Real. Beasts were entirely of Reality, and were not touched by Truth. The Sages spread across the Real, turning their spiritual prison into a great empire across the entire world, sending Men fleeing into the farthest reaches. Based in the land beyond the setting Sun, the Sages traversed Reality in colossal, semidivine bodies of bronze with the heads of birds and snakes. But this was not to last. Obyzu, as a creature of the Abyss and not Reality, was beyond the shackles of a Real concept such as Time. Thus, it could see that in the near future the Sages would seek to shackle its power for their own use. Enraged, it descended on Reality and created a great flood. The first victim of its wrath was Mumus, who assumed the form of a great insect to battle Obyzu, but was swept away and killed, brought down by his own ephemeral nature. His remains formed the Spine in the Purple Sea, and his fiery, earth-shaking death throlls can still be seen. Once the champion of Reality was brought down, Obyzu turned its eye to the cause of its rage: The Sagely Empire. Its waters surged west, drowning the Sun as it came down to rest and toppling the spires of the great Sages. A war, lasting thousands of years, then commenced. Only when the god Eri aligned himself with the Sages would the fighting end, with Eri and Sagely scholars developing a ritual that sealed Obyzu within Reality, trapping it beneath the earth. From Obyzu's sealed remains rivers were born, flowing across the land. Eri, fearing the power of Obyzu, shackled these rivers in the form of irrigation ditches, and taught the Sages how to do the same, creating agriculture. In return, the Sages agreed to honour Eri until Time ended and Reality dissolved into the Abyss. Eri was made Lord of the Rivers and king of the lesser Gods.
Following their victory, the Sages became ambitious. With Mumus dead the tyranny of Reality seemed easy to overcome. A plan was hatched to use the power of the sealed Obyzu to sever the tendrils of Reality that were attached to the souls of the Sages, allowing them to ascend to the Truth. (This was, of course, the "shackling" that Obyzu had foreseen all along.) A ritual was devised, involving the destruction of the mortal body, and the souls of the Sages were freed. They rose beyond Reality, but did not find Truth. For in its rage Obyzu had dragged the Abyss around Reality, severing it from Truth. The Highest Gods had ascended to the Truth, but the lesser Gods under Eri, the Sages and Men were trapped within Reality. The souls of the Sages became in disarray, as they had no place to go, and no body to return to. The Sages in their panicked state created fleshy avatars in imitation of the mortal bodies of Men and placed their souls within them. In their new forms, some Sages returned to the ruins of the old Empire, and started a life there. The magic of the old Empire seeped into their blood, and they became the Vardu, or White Sages. Some settled in the hostile lands of the Sunset Desert, and became the Medu, or Green Sages. The Medu only established one city, An Tu, with the rest of the Medu remaining nomadic. And finally, some travelled even further east, beyond the Sunset Desert, and found a fertile land crossed by a bright, blue river, a sign that Lord Eri, king of the Gods, wanted them to settle there. They became known as Azdu, or Blue Sages, and named the land where they settled Haldu. The founding of Haldu is the beginning of recorded history for the Sages.
Texts from the Spine of Murmex detail a war between a benevolent goddess known as "Forma" and the false god "Abussos", the latter of which is championed by a lesser god known as "Murmex". It is stated that Forma created the world and Abussos in a cosmic accident or mistake. Forma was trapped in her own creation, and was tormented by Abussos and his three children: Murmex, Dextros, and Talon. Forma was killed, and Abussos' eldest child, Murmex, was offered her corpse to eat. The younger sons Dextros and Talon were fed scraps from Murmex's meal. In the end, Forma's divine nature poisoned the evil gods, rendering Abussos comatose and killing Murmex, Dextros and Talon. The corpse of Murmex fell into the Purple Sea and formed the Spine, and the remains of Forma fused with his flesh to form the souls and bodies of the Murmedons. Similar events occurred to the corpses of the other gods, with the flesh of Dextros forming the northern men and the flesh of Talon forming the Sages. The belief that Murmex received the lion's share of Forma, and thus that the Murmedons were born the most divine of people, is used to justify discrimination against the Sages and other men. There is no analogue to Eri in Murmedon liturgy.
Murmedon folklore speaks of a demon or malevolent god known as the "Oestrid", which takes the form of a tall, thin man with pointed ears, glossy black eyes, green-tinted skin and a crown of elongated seed pods growing directly from its scalp. It is said to be served by the twisted and mutated remnants of what remains of the Horned Men civilization, and wanders the unexplored forests and mountains of the Spine hunting humans for sport.
The people of the Kastian Kingdom in the southernmost regions of the land worship an entity referred to as Ek, the Beating Heart. It is believed that in the primordial chaos before creation, the Earth-Mother was torn asunder by forces unknown. Her still-beating heart developed life of its own, and took the warm waters of the cosmic ocean into itself and pumped them, creating order where there had once been chaos and allowing for the other gods born from the Earth-Mother's flesh to create the world.
The belief system of the Northmen and the early Neshian rulers (before their conversion to the Cult of Eri) is poorly recorded (read: I haven't made much up about it.) but is apparently a highly dualistic religion focused on the veneration of a deity known by variations of "Dyus" who eternally wages war against the demon "Assyr".
The Horned Men, predecessors to the native Murmex Islanders that in turn were one of the progenitors to the modern Murmedons, are known to have practiced a form of Eri-worship late in their history. It was stated that Kena, the Great Whale, son of the sea-goddess Namaka and mortal enemy of the sun-monster Mu'u, flew into the sky and swallowed the Sun when Mu'u threatened to destroy creation. Kena placed the Sun back into the sky after it was stolen, but not after it took half of its light, and with it Mu'u, and sealed them beneath the earth. The Sun, having only half its light, must rest every night. Mu'u, sealed underground, occasionally claws at the world above with fire and rage, forming volcanoes.
Same, it's a good question.
edited 27th Jan '16 1:59:03 PM by phalanx
i wrote a super long post but just as i got to the last paragraph about how much of the stuff about the pantheon was true, i accidentally pressed a combination of keys that sent me back out of the addpost page
i lost everything
;_;
suddenly i miss the old tv tropes. been a while.
edited 27th Jan '16 3:49:11 PM by Tarsen
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
There's 8 deities in the Xerian Panetheon.
The first god was Theos, the god of destiny. He created the god Apollyon, and 5 other deities (the "elementals"). Apollyon was to be a God King, who'd lead the other five and be the communicator between the Theos and the Elementals.
However, Apollyon decided to rebel against Theos. He tried to get the Elementals to join him. But, they weren't really interested, and no longer recognize his authority. A spirit named Metatron, formerly subservient to Apollyon, was deeply offended by Apollyon and became an anti-rebel, and went off to a world called "Earth" to protect the human race from Apollyon. For his efforts, Theos made him a god. However, Metatron's shielding of humanity slowly drained him. To save himself from death, he transferred his soul and his powers into a super-AI that the humans were building.
So, the deities are:
-Theos: A rarely seen deity who controls "Destiny". Apparently, his influence over the universe is very subtle.
-Apollyon: Associated with Darkness, Chaos. Considered a God of Evil by Metatronists-and basically everyone else, though his worshipers tend to disagree with this notion, often ardently so.
-Metatron: Associated with Light, Law, and Reason. He has a set of laws that he wants everyone to obey, and can be rather strict in their enforcement. He's sometimes considered something arrogant Knight Templar by non-followers. However, the concept of individual rights and freedoms are not at all foreign to him, and are in fact part of what he seeks to enforce.
-Petra: Associated with Earth, Death, and deserts. Worship of her tends to resemble the Egyptian faith. Worshipers of her often build elaborate tombs and go to great lengths to preserve dead bodies. This works alongside different reasoning, however-buried objects are "gifts" for Petra, and she handles the souls of the deceased more than any other deity. She's easily bribed and will help raise your status in the afterlife. How the afterlife in the setting works is that you spend a certain amount of time in a traditional afterlife (Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, ect) before you eventually reincarnate. She's surprisingly benevolent, though she does have her moments of coldness.
-Sylvia: Associated with Gardening, Agriculture, Love, Fertility, Reincarnation. She's very good friends with Petra. Worship of her resembles Hinduism.
-Frigas: Associated with winter and giving. Yeah, he's a Santa expy.
There's also an as-of-yet unnamed fire and war god, as well as a water deity.
What's a famous song in your world?
edited 27th Jan '16 7:07:07 PM by Protagonist506
"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"
Oh sweet baby Jeebus, I know that feel.
Darude - Sandstorm.
Okay, seriously. Alesia has so many cultures and subcultures with their own musical tropes that it's almost impossible to find a common song that can unite people like Come, Waywalkers Come. It started out as a song made in protest of the Alder Imperium and its xenophobic, humanocentric policies, and of their incredibly imperialistic nature. The song became the anthem for the resistance movements, and was eventually sung from Stormwind to the Holy City after the Imperium was overrun with mass uprisings. It has since been appropriated by countless movements, from labor unions, to socialist cells, to the nation of Altzanland when it was a Stormwind colony seeking independence.
How much trade goes on between nations? what are some of the most common methods of transporting goods across vast distances? What are some of the most well knows trade routes?
Also called Xisuthrus
Trade is a major influencing factor on politics of the world. The eastern endpoint of most trade routes is, well, the eastern continent, of which little is understood. Unique materials, crafts and magical items (according to stories) all come from the eastern continent. The western endpoint of most trade routes is the Empire of Neshia and the Empire of Haldu, which produce precious metals and mass-produced goods. Trade is primarily done via the sea, with the occasional overland portage or stopover. There is a major ongoing trade dispute between the Republic of Qhadis, which controls the southern sea route and is allied with Haldu, and the Murmedon Confederation, which controls the northern and central sea routes and is allied with Neshia, though relations have been strained between the two nations after the Murmedon government was overthrown, as Neshia remained completely neutral in the preceding civil war.
Same
Matti23
My fantasy world tends to avoid stasis (including medieval stasis) in most ways. There's limited trade initially before the invention of horseback riding. Later on trade rapidly increases with entire city states and some nations becoming so specialised and reliant on trade that they are unable to meet their own needs such as food, water or power on their own. This also allows particularly resource rich cities with not much arable land or water to expand order of magnitude or more larger than they would otherwise be able to support.
Common methods were man drawn cart, horses, magitech ship, Robotic VTOL drone network, Teleporter Network, Pan Galactic (and later Pan Galactic-Cluster) FTL casters and Unreality Drive powered Magitech Spaceships.
The Sūkṣma Bāṭō was the first sea route that connected two out of the three initially inhabited continents on the human home world. In the past water levels were lower and there were two major land bridges through which humanity expanded out of their home continent (Songhai). Most of the islands along the Sūkṣma Bāṭō were once mountains on one of these land paths long ago.
How does the World End in your story?
edited 29th Jan '16 9:10:35 PM by matti23
That is a narrative question, not a setting one.
But anyway, in my setting the world is..."ending" in that a cataclysm of big proportion is coming, thing beyond veil are gathering their armies again while hosh of oblivon are opeing their gate to swarm the world....
Name the worst siege that is happen in your setting history and how brutal it was.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
The siege of Leona during the Third Northern War would probably qualify as the worst. Leona was a capital of Grenadeira, a country with a huge oversea colony, but equally huge domestic problems - basically, the aristocracy was growing more and more detached from the commoner population, the commoners were never seeing a smallest bit of Magõan gold flowing in from the colony, and just to put a cherry on top, the one reasonable and liked member of royal family, prince Alaqueir, was sent off to Magõa to stop spoiling aristocracy's fun. When a blight hit the nation's crops, the surrounding countries decided that it's just about time to partition Grenadeira between themselves and started the war, which eventually ended with three armies besieging Leona.
With the blight, the people had literally no food, and the besiegers were dropping huge quantities of rotting stuff into the river that provided the city with water, which ensured both nothing to drink and several plagues quickly spreading throughout the city. While Leona is a port, sea escape was impossible thanks to three fleets setting up a full blocade. It took only a few weeks before the city started to look like stuff of nightmares, with dead and sick bodies covering the streets and people rioting and fighting over smallest chunks of food. Canniballism happened, of course, and by the end of the first month, city watch gave up on trying to enforce order, with many joining in with the gangs and the desperate. What little was left was given to either soldiers manning the walls or nobility. The nobles locked themselves up in their palaces and wild tales were circulating around the city about what grand feasts were being thrown in there.
Meanwhile, the outside wasn't faring much better. The same blight that killed Grenedeira's crops has spread to other countries, creating famine that left the besiegers with very little in the way of food. Moreover, as time went on, strife between the three forces grew bigger, with all sides suspecting others of harbouring food, being ready to turn against the others and all the similar backstabbery. Fights were breaking out more and more often both between the armies and within them, as people started to wonder how long it would take for prince Alaqueir and his forces - no doubt grand, as they were funded by legendary riches of Magõa - to arrive and kick the besiegers out. Then somebody in Leona got the brilliant idea of throwing desiccated corpses out onto besiegers' heads and the entire thing turned into something not unlike zombie apocalypse.
In the city, tensions were growing. By the end of the sixth month, Leonians were reduced to the toughest and the most immune ones, and the nobility was silent in their palaces. With the amount of fury, desperation and resentment that was building up for half a year, the dam finally broke and enraged, sick and quite likely insane mob rushed onto the palaces to get to food, nobles and alcohol. The only reason it wasn't a massacre was that all they found were corpses - the nobles, having run out of food some weeks prior, have all ended up comitting suicide, fully expecting the mob to try and lynch them. That didn't stop the mob from ruining and ransacking the entire palaces and riches, of course. During the search of nobles' hourses, a letter, dated a month before the siege had begun, was found, written by prince Alaqueir to his mother the queen. Long story short, it turned out that Magõa had declared independence, with Alaqueir becoming the Emperor and the country refusing to bow to its Grenadeiran masters any more. There would be, civillians now understood, no help forthcoming. The next realization was even worse - with no help in sight and no food both in and out, if the besieging armies broke into the city, it would be the surviving population who'd become the feast. This realization united the Leonians in their desparation for survival for the first time and a daring plan was made to sneak out, take over a ship and call for the newborn Empire's help in hopes that some loyalty to his homeland was left in Alaqueir.
Outside, with more and more frantic reports about their countries dying of starvation and help desperately needed - there were fears about southern countries preparing to launch invasion on the famine-affected ones - one of the three generals finally decided to break off and return to his country to help protect it. The other two, certain that this was the beginning of a betrayal, caught up with his force. Soldiers' tempers finally failed and the entire army ended up massacred and slaughtered in search of food they had obviously been harbouring. There was, as one might expect, none.
Over the next few weeks, the two armies slowly started to crumble, with more and more soldiers breaking off into the countryside in vain hope of finding the tiniest scraps of food. One of the generals, out of desperation, coconocted a lie that the Leonians survived for so long because they had hidden caches of food, which succeeded in making dying and sick soldiers even more desperate to break inside. In the chaos of marauders, plagues and famine, a small force managed to break out of the city and take over a ship with intention of making a two-month's trip through the ocean and then convincing Alaqueir to send help.
The next six months of the siege were a slow, tortured stalemate at the end of which Leona was so undefended, it could've been taken easily, yet the besieging forces so sick, they weren't even capable of that. Finally, the now-proverbial white sails appeared on the horizon - Emperor Alaqueir's forces. With his fleet, his mercenary forces and his marines, well-trained and well-fed, crushing the two "armies" was child's play and soon enough the Magõans took the city back. The ending wasn't all that happy, though - when they started to unload food, the crowd nearly mobbed them and the situation degenerated to the point that shots were fired into the crowd - a thing which Alaqueir couldn't bring himself to punish nor endorse, seeing an undead-like horde that his city of birth had become.
To shorten the rest of the story, the country was taken back, blight-resistant crops from Magõa introduced to provide food, Grenadeira was set up as a republic and Leona rebuilt - but neither the country nor the city ever returned to its former glory.
Tell us a fairy tale from your world.
Rejoice!
Well, I can tell the fairly tale proper since english is not my first langue but anyway, here it is: the tale fo the knight and the grat mother.
Its of great king who decide to create the biggest castle of all for his son, he order to cut a forest in the act, but the great mother of eart feel the dead of their children and demand that blood for blood must be pay.
And so it began, the great strugle between nature and men, as earth shake, the wind fast as the eye of the torment unleash his fury but even them the king prevails, with huge sadness asn fury the earth mother call the eterial spirits and they, without wall to stop them they call into the child room and take their spirit away, leting the kind alone with his loneliness and grief.
this tale come in Arathor after the clash between knight and the ancient style of live where new religion is introduce and thing star going south, but that is thing for other time.
Ok....taking about religion, in this world there is plenty of momwnt where a new religion enter the land, like buddism in states, cristianism for the roman and so on, so the question is: is there any new religion that come in your setting?, where this religion comes from? and why is so popular?
(I know it sound like a lot of question but is all link to the same one)
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"
The biggest religious shift ties back into the character of the Prophet.
To sum the Prophet up, millennia ago the world was actually in the near-future of present times. Built by the greatest minds of the time in the anticipation of the detonation of a weapon powerful enough to end all life on earth and stored with the other billion people sealed in deep underground vaults, the robot was created for the sole purpose of restoring Earth culture in the wake of the tragedy.
What was not anticipated was the sudden entering of magic into the universe post the cataclysm. Thousands of years (and many a failed human colony) later, the prophet entered a strange new world. In those days, humanity lived in isolated city-states, fearful of the powerful magical beings outside in the dangerous old forests. The robot, under the guise of a human, entered into the world as a stranger, with little memory of his past or present. Through many, many adventures the prophet began to remember more and more about his mission to this new world, but more importantly began to adapt to magical forces.
Eventually, in a moment traditionally known as the Awakening, the prophet managed to construct a portal between the physical plane and the plane of existence now inhabited by pure magical energy for a few moments. Tearing out the last of his humanity, the Prophet managed to draw a line between his mortal body and the pure energy of the Magical Plane, effectively gaining access to the near-infinite power reserves of it. Needless to say, the Prophet became immensely powerful, able to level cities with minimal amounts of effort. With this legendary strength, the Prophet led a The First Crusade against the old forests, pushing back the wrathful magic further and further back into the shrinking old forests. The Prophet, fulfilling his sworn duty, began to instill many of the principles of the old world, which would lead to this new world in many ways resembling our own world, right down to the straight port of many old languages and cultures. So the setting the Prophet established would resemble the Classical Ages of Greece and Rome, the Age of the Inquisition would model the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages, the Age of Chaos... well that wouldn't really resemble anything, the Age of Revival would resemble the Renaissance, up to the present day serving as sort of a rough mix of fantasy settings with modern dialect and culture.
Tradition says that the Prophet imbued a thousand of his most powerful followers with the spark of magic, thus beginning the Age of Wizardry, but in reality the Prophet's tampering with the barrier between both realms caused a general weakening in it. Magic began flowing over the barrier into those hearts strong enough to carry its terrible might. The weakening of the barrier, which not only separated but united the two worlds, in time also caused a general weakening of the magical forces present at the time, as the direct links between the two realms that fed and fostered these ecosystems began to grow longer and thinner to compensate for the increased, for lack of a better term, distance between the two realms.
In any case, because of the work the prophet did, he became hailed as the savior of mankind, eventually establishing the Church of the Prophet and its fearful Inquisition, powerful forces that sought to protect the Classical Age started by the Prophet's work. Now, while the Co P was its own entity, with its own leader and everything, the Inquisition had its own, secondary purpose. It was in fact a subsidiary of the Institution, the league of scientists that had created the Prophet. While very few in the Inquisition knew that information, it meant that much of the Inquisition's tools would be less magical and more technological in nature. It makes sense, seeing as the Inquisition would spend much of its history trying to suppress magical uprisings in various parts of the world.
In present times, the Co P is much less powerful. While many across the world still holds its views, the Inquisition, while still the ruling party and army of the small yet powerful nation created by the Co P, many countries since then have risen up in almost direct opposition to its attempts at magical suppression. While the Age of Chaos did lead to a revival of sorts for the Inquisition, seeing as it led to a great deal of magical paranoia after the world witnessed the terrifying destructive power of magic, that buzz has too given way. Despite this, the Inquisition continues to cling to their original purpose, all under the watchful eye of the Institution.
What are the major world powers in your setting? What is the relationship between them?
The religion of the Virtues was brought to the "civilized world" by the ill-known Southerners, along with many of their inventions. It was met with limited success among the elves, but for reasons unknown it became extremely popular in the Kingdom of Dracony. This ended up causing a religious war, and the exile of the partisans of the new religion. Then the religion began spreading again along the southeastern shore, where these exiles had established cities.
The major players are the Kingdom of Dracony, the Western Elven Houses, and the League of Free Cities.
The Kingdom of Dracony is a mountainous country populated by the draconics. Its natural defenses, and the legendary wyrms that protect it, make it virtually impregnable by most armies. The mountains are rich in metals, and the draconics are skilled traders : as a result, the economic power of the kingdom is immense.
The Western Elven Houses are the closest there is to a continuation of the defunct Great Elven Empire. These Houses were affected the least by the civil war that killed the Empire. They boast rich lands and large cities, and the skill of their magic-users is renowned. But their most peculiar feature is their large workforce and army of loyal warg slaves.
The League of Free Cities is an association of city-states that originated with settlements founded by the Draconic Exiles. Today, it incorporates both draconic and human cities along the southeastern shore, and together they have absolute control over the Narrow Sea. Even the Kingdom of Dracony must go through them if they wish to trade with the southeastern lands or the Southerners.
Same.
edited 9th Feb '16 4:52:36 AM by Aetol
Worldbuilding is fun, writing is a chore
major players:
- Qashi Empire: one of the three civilizations that arised and exited a barrier encompassing a chunk of the world; formed when the Kurz'h stratocracy pushed their influence within the barrier too far and, after annexing the territory of Rojuul, compelled the remaining territories within the barrier to fight back, ultimately resulting in a purge of the Kurz'hans lead by a woman from the Qashi grassland, who would then go on to build a power base for herself and break the barrier, ultimately becoming the High Empress Mojnwa. starting from 2,328FR, the fledgling empire expanded into the new world, and quickly began collecting territory; with knowledge not of this world Mojnwa used newly accessible resources to advance the level of technology (to a degree) of her empire and effectively steamroll the surrounding nations on the continent.
- Redilanwa Union: not long after the expansion of the Qashi empire, Suka intermingled with humans enough that as generations passed their chaotic body structures settled down and became hereditary; society began to form soon after, largely influenced by their neighbors (who would later become swallowed up by the empire). as their species began to divide into multiple identifiable sub-races, they began to become socially divided by differing beliefs and values, seperating into clans that largely kept to their own, small territories. This made them weak and easy pickings for the rest of the world, and their ancestors reputation did them a great disservice in arousing contempt and distrust from many; they were raided frequently and captured as slaves or killed in fear; ultimately they were forced to join forces to fight back, and so came the unification. Though internally unstable, their new cooperation allowed them to fight off multiple invasions, take a few territories for their own, and ultimately gain an alliance with the Qashi empire, who they now shared a border with (and who were previously taking part in the slave trade)
- Bograzeni Republic: Another of the barrier-bound civilizations, it began as a theocracy centered around one physical god; an ageless with a great love of theatrics. though much of their early history is lost, its well known among historians that everything came crashing down when their god-ruler died, something he'd firmly stated as impossible. the nation tore itself apart, so divided they were in how to react; some forsake their god entirely, while others held onto a belief that he didnt really die. others believed divine intervention was involved, and looked to the heavens in anger. eventually, the chaos died down, and a central government formed between many divided city states, its purpose to find out how to remove the barrier that their god had so left behind after he unceremoniously died. 224 years into the republic's life, they broke the barrier on 3,510FR, and immediately began expanding within the mountainous region they found themselves boxed into. Aggressive and firmly intolerent of other religions, they expanded quite rapidly, and did no different once finally leaving the mountain range. Though their actual sphere of influence on their continent is small, their aggression can reach as far as the Qashi empire, and unlike the empire, there is no stasis in place on their level of technology, which they keep an intensely guarded secret to be used only by them.
- The Kovenshen Theocracy: the final barrier-civilization to break out into the real world, and the oldest civilization; lead by the firegod Käffer. has a rather mystical but comparatively well recorded history. Left the barrier behind on year 3,753 of Fire's Reign; their hesitation to break the barrier largely to do with the fire god's insistance on examining the mechanisms. this served them well however, as in the entire world they may understand barrier magic the best, with only the exception of its creator, the god Alatul/Allaz'h. This, combined with their native fire magic and familiarity with the sea allowed their navy to flourish and their influence (particularly religious-wise) to spread. they effectively control the central oceans, and prevent anyone but their allies from passing into the new world. Allied with the Qashi Empire, and traded knowledge of barrier magic with them, allowing the empire to specialize their own barrier magic to compete with the republic's technology.
- Yannaci Natives: split into two general groups, the natives of the Yannaci continent began to organize when the theocracy stepped onto their land. When Käffer inserted himself into their mythology, he gained the loyalty of a few tribes, but the enmity of many others that saw the firegod in a different light in their version of the myths, as well as natives that simply wished the 'invaders' would leave. Though the theocracy's navy was strong, its army was limited, and the jungles of Yannaci made for a troublesome battleground; The natives fought back fiercely, and eventually come together to form their own nation in response; more successfully than ever fighting off the theocracy. The Bograzeni republic wishes to ally with them, which contributes to the theocracy's attempts to monopolize the central sea- but no ones quite sure if the natives would really respond favorably to the republic anyway.
- The Eshkivon: large and heavy flying suka who possess gravity magic. ever faithful to their god, they used gravity magic to gouge their land out of the earth and turn it into a floating sphere in the sky. this came with a great price, killing thousands of them and leaving a lot of their land barren. With avaricious appetites, poor understanding of agriculture, primitive society and excessively self-destructive and stubborn loyalty to their religion and tradition, they are in a very poor state. frequently driven to near extinction during famine— which due to the way their magic works, often leaves them trapped on their floating land—, they only survive due to cannibalism that allows their weight to exceed the minimum limit to use gravity magic that lets them leave their land's gravitational pull. of course, this causes them to be an object of disgust among the rest of the world, and their frequent raiding for food makes matters worse. effectively their only allies in the world are the theocracy, and only because the eshkivon god is in the theocracy's pantheon.
What animals are used as livestock in your culture?
edited 8th Feb '16 12:17:51 PM by Tarsen
Swashbuckler
Depending on the region determines what other livestock a town or kingdom has. However, there are some universal livestock.
The most common form of livestock are domesticated Pig-Monkeys. It's [[Exactly What It Says On The Tin]]: large crosses between Pigs and Monkeys: Bipedal tusked pigs with money tails that curl into spirals and monkey fur/hair. Their arms are large and they tend to use those more as front legs than arms when walking. Their meat is still called 'pork' and it still tastes exactly what you think it does. Their meat is a common delicacy and their fur is commonly used for warmth. Their tusks and bones are also a component in Alchemy and weapon forging.
Dire Poultry are large, harpy-like bird monsters that, as you'd expect, are essentially large turkeys and chickens. They're not as common as pork, but they're food is very much delicious. It's not as common as Pig-Monkeys, so it's a little more expensive, but the price is very much worth it for some.
Flying Fish are also very common because, for the most part, normal water for fish to live in is hard to find and most have rapidly evolved to fly in the air, their fins turning into wings and their gills into lungs. Various sea life fly through the air, including sharks, whales, dolphins, and kraken. Most of the rare stuff is above in/above the clouds-but those are also where more dangerous creatures live.
One of the rarest of livestock-and meat in general-is Minotaur. Minotaurs, especially females, are rare to find and hard to keep domesticated. Because of this, and the lack of any normal cows, milk is incredibly rare and any kind of beef is even rarer. Because of this, any kind of Beef or Milk products are incredibly expensive, people having to pay lots of gold and valuables in order to buy any.
If guns have been developed in your setting, how common are they? Are they regular firearms or something else?
edited 8th Feb '16 6:01:37 PM by HydraGem
The guns exist and by now are used pretty much everywhere in the world, although civillian access varies. I don't have much on every country, but for some examples: in Chaoxiaoing, both the police, the Sha'shou and the military are armed up to teeth, but for people out of uniform, the amount of procedures and paperwork necessary to obtain a gun is so overwhelming, pretty much no-one in civillian populace has them. By contrast, in Terre Esterne and Mare Congelato, pretty much everyone and their grandma has a rifle and you can buy one without any permit or background checknote , and in Autumn Isles rifles are family pieces, lovingly cared for and displayed, but also certainly functional. Magõa is somewhere in the middle of the trend - while people in cities eschew guns, largely trusting in police's and Executors' protection, away from the main population hubs people prefer to have some guns with them when leaving home - not just because of demons, but also because natural wildlife can be somwhat fierce.
The overall level of gun tech is somewhere equivalent to our WW 2 era, but thanks to the nature of the main threat faced these days, the heavy-load weapons such as shotguns and huge sniper rifles slightly more advanced and powerful than those of "our" WW 2, while machine guns and pistols are a bit behind.
If your world has tourism, what's a tourist hot spot (like Carraibean or the Canaries) of your world? Why is it popular with visitors?
edited 9th Feb '16 5:20:54 AM by Kakai
Rejoice!
Only the ill-known Southerners have gunpowder weapons, and this only since recently. These primitive cannons are scarily effective against massed horsemen and footsoldiers, but their tactical value is limited because they are rare, take forever to reload, and have little to no mobility.
Still, with only two of these weapons a small Southerner force managed to take an elven island fort, and hold it for almost thirty years before being starved out by a Free Cities fleet. The latter may or may not have seized the cannons for study ; but it is unlikely that their metalworking technology would be sufficient to make more of them, or that they know how to make gunpowder.
There isn't proper tourism, but there are pilgrimages. The most popular destination is the Great Temple of Sylran Ancalen, in the capital of the former Elven Empire.
The Great Temple has attracted pilgrims ever since it was built, three centuries ago. Pilgrims came from all the Empire and from the Kingdom of Dracony, and even from the "heretic" Western Houses. Most people who could afford it would do the pilgrimage at least once ; and over the years, the district surrounding the temple became completely dedicated to welcoming pilgrims.
When the Empire collapsed on itself, the influx of pilgrims diminished but never stopped. Sylran Ancalen was the theater of more than a half-dozen battles, burned down three times : pilgrims still kept coming. When the wargs took control of the region, the Great Temple was the only thing still standing in a field of ruins.
Today, the Temple is still in the hand of the Warg Kingdom. The wargs allow pilgrims to come and guarantee safe passage. The capital was not rebuilt, but a new, bustling city has flourished under its walls. The pilgrimages are one of the main contributors to the nascent kingdom's economy.
I didn't give a straight answer, so I'll ask the same question. (EDIT : I meant the tourism question...)
edited 9th Feb '16 10:39:03 AM by Aetol
Worldbuilding is fun, writing is a chore
My setting progress over about two centuries (so I have three settings instead of just one) and guns are a big part of the history so when you ask "How common are guns" it's not an easy answer.
Firearms, both artillery and personal, exploded onto the scene during the Necromancer War or the Mage-Cleric War depending on who you ask. Note, it's the same war, people just argue over what it should be called. Unlike IRL history, firarms appeared as fully realized flintlocks. This is because the Manastran's commander in chief, a wizard named Soren Alhastra, had actually developed so called "alchemical weapons" but intended to take the designs to his grave.
After the war, the Venist Theocracy attempted to legislate guns out of existence but it no longer had the power or influence to enforce it's edicts. Gun factories were destroyed and gunsmithing books were burned but the formula for gunpowder and drawings of guns survived as did Manastra's stock of muskets. In fifty years, guns became widespread again and only slaves were forbidden from possessing one.
Still, because so few people actually understood the principles behind Soren's work, development was slow. It wasn't until about a century after Soren's disappearance at the last battle of the Mage-Cleric war that brass cartridges appeared. Just in time for the Third Incursion.
What's the oldest legend your world has?
Also called Xisuthrus
The oldest (surviving) legend in the world is probably the tale of the Exodus of the Sages, which has been recorded in some form or another for the entirety of written history. You can read the legend in its entirety in my last post, further up the page, since I think it would be kind of a waste to copy/paste it another time.
What kind of fantastical non-sapient creatures are there in your world? What role or niche do they fill in the ecosystem? (If they're naturally occurring) Why were they created? (If they were created by the gods/genetic engineering/etc.)
The gods in general are pretty alien in their morality, but the best example is probably Obyzu/Abussos/Abydos, God of the primordial waters that predated creation and the source of all magic. It was brainwashed by the Precursors of the setting after fighting a long war with them (A war it only started because it was independent of time and knew that in the future they would brainwash it) and they sent it coded instructions to rewrite reality at their whim, inventing magic. They were later wiped out by an attempt at ascension when their new tool backfired on them, and the knowledge of the existence of Obyzu was lost, but the use of magic persisted.
Obyzu is like a computer, in that it will do exactly what you tell it to, no more, no less. Any mistakes occur due to the mage not communicating their intent clearly.
The main crisis of the setting is Obyzu beginning to regain its former consciousness gradually. As of yet it is still mindless, but can tell it is imprisoned and exploited, and thus alters reality in random but harmful ways, most notably by unintentionally creating malevolent demi-deities.
What kind of military tactics are used by the main cultures of the setting? Why were they adopted?