Fantasy World Cultures Questions Thread

Most deities are actually accumulated belief with some kind of intelligence giving it direction. For the most part, they can only work through agents like clerics, priests and priestesses, cultists, warlocks, etc. The agent's belief in their deity empowers a conduit for the deity to channel it's power. This conduit is usually established by a confirmation ritual of one kind or another and allows the agent to commune with the deity. The power of these divine spells are limited by how much prayer is given to the deity and how well established and developed the conduit to the agent is. Deities can manifest avatars and affect the world without an agent, often with extraordinary results, but this takes the entirety of the god's power, eroding the accumulated belief and preventing agents from accessing divine power.

While the support of a deity does provide powerful and easy to use magic, it's still magic and follows the same rules that every other spell caster follows. However, in a head on confrontation, the one with the backing of a god usually comes out on top.

Many of these gods exist, some good, some not so good, some rather mean. The first ones were rather evil, demanding sacrifice after sacrifice, using their power to inspire terror and obedience. They eventually got wiped out for more or less the same reason. Their followers couldn't compete with everybody else and died out. After that came the feudal gods. They were very much like the gods of traditional myth. They quarreled, they lied, cheated, politic'd, had incestuous relations, had relations with mortals, had relations with dragons, caused natural disasters, patroned heroes, gave birth to monsters, and all the things that gods do. Most of them were abandoned or flat out forgotten but they left a huge mess of temples, artifacts, and creatures that continues to plague Gaia well into the information age.

The only deities that were really notable were Artis, Maya, and Du. Artis is the god of architecture. Methodical, patient, and exacting, Artis has a reputation for hiding secrets in elegant buildings and throwing fits whenever someone wrecks a building. Maya, goddess of the harvest, is very passionate but also prone to whimsy. A fertility goddess, she tend to have some rather kinky rituals. Du is a god of death and travelers. Rather dour, his worshipers swear he has a surprising, if dark, sense of humor.

The predominate deity was known as Ven, a rare ascended mortal. Ven was The stereotypical hero. He fought monsters, saved innocents, brokered peace treaties and was generally an all around good guy. His popularity was so great that he was chosen for deification in order to end the Outsider War. Since so many people idolized Ven, he became the most worshiped god bar none. However, after the Outsider war Ven still had an absurd following and no real purpose. For a time things prospered but as time went on members of the congregation decided to use Ven for their own ends. This eventually led to the formation of a powerful theocratic power bloc and Ven being renamed Shoven. However, after the Necromancer rebellions Shoven began loosing faith in godhood and eventually dissolved the Shoven religion.

There are, however, three gods who aren't like the above. They are known as Ah, Umna, and Ragna. Ah is the author of reality, the one who established universal law and forged mass out of raw chaos. Ah doesn't interfere unless something threatens to destroy reality and every act Ah takes is so vast and seamless that it's impossible to tell if anything was done at all. Umna is the tree of existence. All of the material plane is her leaves. Her only interest is the nurturing of life on her branches. Ragna is actually a foreign being to this world. He came from the Outside and is fairly powerful in his own right. When he first met Ah and Umna, neither had any luck seeding life in the reality they had created. Ragna, with Ah's permission, created Gaia, the world on which the entire story takes place. Unfotunately, Gaia was a finicky little bitch and none of the gods had the refined touch to manage this new world. Ragna finally decided to spit himself into thirteen pieces to act as stabilizers for Gaia. Finally, Gaia bore life and Umna transplanted this life to every world that could take it. The thirteen pieces eventually became known as the shards of Ragna and, latter, the blades of Ragnarok and the reunion of these pieces would later nearly destroy Gaia as the pieces fused back into Ragna and the stabilization of Gaia stopped. But that's another story.

What are the Legends of your world? Who are the Heroes? the Villains? The Monsters? What tales to people tell to each other?

edited 17th Jul '12 7:32:47 PM by Belisaurius

One of the main religions of my world, the Zoarite (Zoroastrianism+Islam+bits and Pieces of the Cthulhu Mythos, just for fun) faith, follows the story of the prophet Zoar (Name in progress). He was born around 1-2000 years before the main story takes place, well, long enough for the religion to cement itself in my world's culture.

The story goes that, way back in the day, everyone in the land of Arim (FCC of Ancient Persia/Afghanistan/Mesopotamia) worshipped many false Gods, and the Almighty god, Yavvul, got fed up with this. His evil counterpart, Arha, was creating false religions for the people of the world forcing them to do all manner of evil things that disrupted the natural order, such as human sacrifice. So Yavvul chose a humble, non-religious Shepherd, Zoar, to be his prophet, and to spread his religion across the lands.

So, one day, Zoar was off in his field looking for stray sheep, when he came to a lake. Out across the lake, he had a vision of a great raging wildfire. Transfixed, he walked too close to the flames, and was engulfed by them. He heard Yavvul's voice, who told him a LOOONG list of commandments about the way people should live their lives.

So, after that, Zoar went out on a journey to spread the worship of Yavvul. I could go on much, much longer about this (it's one of the only thoroughly-done bits of my world). In short, the main villain is Arha (Counterpart of Ahriman in Zoroastrianism) and his "thousand demons" who are the deities worshipped by other religions. Zoar, after gaining a small band of followers from his hometown, eventually sets out to the city of Mezzea, the main concentration of population in the region, where he will have thousands to preach to, and where there are even more demons to drive out.

When he reaches the city, he runs into trouble with the elite religious cult who run the city, the Children of the Two-faced God, who is really a demon of Arha and who demands human sacrifices ( A big no-no in Zoarism, the religion promotes not disturbing the natural order of life, and that everything in the universe is running to a divine plan devised by Yavvul, who plans when everything lives/dies etc. and when you kill someone, you give in to the evil, chaotic power of Arha, and break the natural order, screwing up part of Yavvul's plan, which will land you time in Sahll (READ: Hell) after you die). The cult tries to sacrifice him for their God in front of a huge crowd, but divine intervention saves him, and half the city's population converts then and there after seeing him saved by Yavvul. Over the nest day, the religion spreads like wildfire throughout the city, and Zoar encourages the people the overthrow the cult and remove all pagan symbols from the city. They do just this, and all the lead cultists are forced to convert or are executed. Zoar then finds the greatest scribes in the city, and tasks them all with writing down all the commandments given to him by Yavvul earlier, as well as all of the events that have occured recently, making the first Hram-zahs, basically The Bible for Zoarism.

That marks the beginning of the religion of Zoarism in Arim told by most people in my world, and I could go more into the basic beliefs of the religion, but that would be to far off topic.

So, the question: What are the big Nations of your world? Is there a huge, Space-filling empire, or are there many small city-states? Anything in between? And where are they, and what are their cultures based around?

edited 18th Jul '12 2:26:21 AM by Jackal5565

You actually bother to read this?

The Four Kingdoms are part of a small subcontinent of the coast of the main continent. The continent is dominated by three or four empires, themselves essentially groups of regions under a single emperor. The great City of Trefacce is the home of the main religion, and from there a pope (i have to think of a new name for it other than pope) is in charge of the church of the three. South of the continent is the desert of an arbic type culture which i will name soon. The dragon-men, viking style raiders inhabit an archipelago to the east of the four kingdoms, and they have influence all over the known world.

Question: What are the main foods of your culture? things like bread(everywhere), meat(more in northern europe than southern europe), pasta (Italy) etc.

Since no one seems to be willing to keep the flame alive on this post, I might as well answer a second question. Hope no one minds.

Throughout the Tyrian Empire (Expy of the Roman Empire), the only universally eaten food is a mucky, bland type of porridge that is eaten for breakfast by most of the lower, middle, and some of the upper class. Other than that, bread is also eaten by everyone everywhere, as bread, a long with some other simple types of food, is freely distributed by the government to keep people of the lower/middle class fed.

Among the working class, most people have only little to eat all day. Like James 123182 said, towards the north of the empire, people eat more meat, especially the Barbarian tribes to the east. The working class in general eats beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, cucumbers, and mushrooms of various kinds were all eaten.

The middle class prefer to eat pork than any other meat, as well as types of bird (Geese, ducks, chickens etc), and fish and shellfish are eaten more often around the coastal areas. Beef is also eaten, though not as much, since cows were considered working animals, and not something to slaughter away for a meal. Lamb and Mutton are common among the northern plains of the empire.

And I'm not even going to start on what the upper class/aristocracy eat. Anything edible that might taste remotely nice, really, and even if it doesn't, they're willing to give it a try.

So, another question: Give a brief history of one of your races (can be human or otherwise). Where did they migrate to their current home from? Who have been/are their greatest leaders, warriors, etc? What is their religion? Anything else that might be interesting? )

You actually bother to read this?

The peoples of the Four Kingdoms, who are now separated by the walls called Werks, were originally one people living in a flat coastal area in the north of the Continent. Centuries ago, so long ago it is not remembered, except by the people they displaced, they were forced to leave for unknown reasons, and settled in what are now the Four Kingdoms. The kingdoms were originally four separate Oiran provinces, and the Oiran had built the Werks, great walls of rammed earth, to compartmentalize them better and make sure governors knew their boundaries. But now, the Oiran have left two centuries ago, the invasion could not be held off by the locals, and the people settled in the four kingdoms, driving the locals as far north as possible. Then it was decided that the Four Brothers who had commanded the invasion wold each take command of one of the provinces as his kingdom. It was decided who got what by a traditional inheritance method, where all four were blindfolded, spun, and then had to grab one of four poles arranged in a square. Each pole represented a province. These brothers then founded the lines of kings that survive to this day. A few centuries later the Church of the Three began their conversion of the kingdoms. They started with the southernmost kingdom, and worked their way North. The northern borders of the north remain pretty much converted in name only. They use the new names in their prayers, but their method of praying, and their traditions and superstitions, have remained unchanged for centuries. about two centuries ago, an alliance of Dragon-men and Blue-Demons invaded the north, and almost manged to take all of it. The Garrison of the North Bridge and the Garrison of the Werk managed to hold out however, and the Northern King Abrecan II managed to create an alliance with the Middle Kingdom, driving the alliance out. After his death, which came long afterwards, the Capital of the North was renamed after him.

Not exactly the shortest history ever, but it was a more complicated answer than i thought it would be.

Now , Question time: What are the main industries for your culture? Is it Agriculture? Carpet making? Clothes making? Weapons? Armour? Anything else?

Manastra's primary industry is steel making. Honestly, the abundant iron deposits and fast growing trees are the only reason that the area was settled. The highlands usually use traditional shaft based mining techniques while the ever muddy low lands tend to use bog iron. Charcoal making is a tradition in Manastra as the wet but chilly climate is ideal for pine trees.

Liquor is another important industry. Alchohol was discovered to be one of the most reliable means of sanitizing water. The cold climate is ideal for lager as the high lands are often cold enough to brew year round. Later, the introduction of citric fruits led to the development of hard cider and lemonade.

Spice is always in high demand in Manastra but the climate is ill suited to growing such plants. There is a small spice industry but it's never been successful. Most of the spice trade is from other nations, many of which have developed strong ties to Manastra as they could not have been established without Manastran made arms and armor.

How are the armed forces in your country organized?

Just a sample of three of the nations. I suppose the Almohad caste-based society could be an interesting fourth example but it’s very much only sketched-out.

The nation of Kalin relies chiefly on nobility for its protection. Each Sanquirim and Faran (Kingly) Qurim is expected to provide a levy raised from his holdings (Sanquirim armies are in turn composed of levies raised by their Qurims and Sahels as wall as unlanded Sahels). These levies are mostly landed and unlanded Sahels – the landed ones pay for their troops from the income their lands provide while the unlanded ones receive a monthly allowance to provide for themselves and a small retinue. The forces are organized based on territory (the Sanquirim forces each compose a single army while each Quirm belongs to a Frasil (a sort of province for the purpose of military organization). Sanquirm armies are led by a commander designated by the Sanquirm himself while the commanders of are assigned by the King. Mercenaries are also used on all levels although they are usually foreigners.

The nation of Quachli maintains three separate armies for the three constituent parts of the Empire at all times although those forces (composed of willing conscripts, paid for their service) are quite small and mostly tasked with maintaining the local fortifications. If the Sekulan proclaims a time of war each noble is expected to raise a levy from his holdings. Unlike in Kalin nobles themselves almost never personally join their forces baring those holding one of the Teshamicas offices (such as the Cesalipoma – two of the three co-rulers). The armies are under the direct command of one of the Cesalipoma or the Emperor himself although the latter option is very rarely seen.

The organization of the Leagues forces is somewhat complicated by the fact that the League is not a nation and the same goes for its parts. The League relies on the forces provided by their Cities although in-practice that means the armies of the nations those cities belong to. This makes organization a real mess as every nation has its own ideas of how to run an army. Merhof and Burshavin for example have citizen armies where every taxpayer is supposed to serve as a soldier a month per year in peace-time and up to two years in war-time (that period may be increased in cases of extreme need). This of course poses a serious problem for the League in the form of lost income so the armies are rarely actually called and mercenaries are more commonly used. Meanwhile the northern nations depend mostly on feudal structure while Thur Sashis uses a form of forced conscription from poorer strata. The most notable feature of the League’s military force is the famous Company of the Statue – originally an emergency mercenary company it was modified into what may be considered the first modern (in our, not in-universe sense) military force around the middle sea. The troops are paid for their service and being a soldier is their only source of income but they are chosen only from the people of the League and there is a strong sense of patriotism among them. They are led by a commander assigned by the League’s Council who answers directly to it. They are provided with the best equipment available paid for directly from the League’s treasury.

Question: how is the justice system organized in any of your nations?

edited 24th Jul '12 11:58:47 AM by johnthebarbarian

Gorram, I got ninja'd. Well, I'll just have to answer both.

—-
Armed forces:
The armed forces of Bimael's known continents are organized loosely into cavalry/chariotry and foot soldiers. As a rule, they go more by individual experience and merit than by specific rank. Companies rarely get bigger than a battalion of a thousand; full armies range from 7,000-10,000 in the average countries, to 40,000 in the Sakkor Empire. The Unrachest Empire on the eastern continent is the dread of the known world, with a standing army of 70,000.

The most well-known elite forces are:

• The Red Tide of Nehenya: 1,000 chariot-driven warriors led by the High King, who gained their name from their distinctive red clothing and "red" chestnut or bay unicorns. The Red Tide are split into five companies of 200, and led by five captains. One company serves as the High King and his family's palace guard, of which twenty (including their captain) are specifically the royal family's personal bodyguards. The Red Tide is technically composed of 3,000, as chariot units are made up of a pair of warriors and their charioteer. However, the Red Tide mainly uses their chariots for transportation and emergency backup, since they mainly fight on foot.
• The Icemen of the Sakkor Empire: 4,000 spearmen trained in the harshest conditions that man can simulate, particularly the "ice" of winter.
• The Unrachest Empire's Killing Wall: 10,000 men trained from childhood in nothing but warfare. This name for them is not from their own people, which actually translates to "The Gods' Men"; rather, "Killing Wall" was given to them by their opponents from how they stayed at 10,000 every day, which is due to members disguising themselves as average soldiers and then replacing the fallen ranks each day. The only two countries who have managed to best the Killing Wall were the Red Tide in 264 GF and the Icemen in 385 GF.
  • The Red Tide's "official" numbers worked to their advantage, as they were now underestimated. High King Connor divided the Tide into the main warriors and their backups. He had the backups stay in the front lines with their chariots to drive the opposing army to the forests, where the main warriors were waiting. From General Tandesh's account of the battle: "We thought they had miscalculated, for you cannot drive well through the trees. And indeed the chariots [next line damaged] [...] At noon, the rest of the Tide came out of the forest, screaming and beating their shields. That horrible noise!—what could I but surrender, after four thousand of the Gods' Men died that day? It has been twelve years and three children, but I still see the faces of my men in that instant."
  • The Sakkor Empire's victory occurred during late fall and early winter, in which heavy snow delayed most of the Unrachi supplies for two weeks. The Unrachi were forced to redirect most their supplies to the Killing Wall, which caused a full third of the army to die of starvation and another fourth to be easily picked off due to malnourishment.

—-
Justice system:
Amongst the Western continent, the main justice system (with variations by country) is a combination of honor-price and honor debt. They are related, but distinctly different—honor price is the literal money value of one's body, of which the full price must be paid in the event of one's death, ransom, or (in the case of a woman) rape. Honor-price varies widely by status, but in general a free man (with land) is the standard for which all other statuses are based upon.

Honor-debt is enforced when the value of a crime cannot be paid in full, nor settled by a duel, and the offender is enslaved for a certain number of years in restitution. Those undergoing honor-debt will often have their hair cut short as a slave's would be, though they will not have the more permanent marks of a slave and will retain their basic rights as a citizen.

—-
What are the views of slavery in your world? Can they earn their freedom somehow, or are they slaves for life no matter what? Are slaves mainly born into the status, or are they also captured or sold into it? Are there different kinds of slaves, or are they all just "slaves" used for things that others don't want to do? What are the physical traits that distinguish a slave from a free servant—tattoos/brands, a specific hairstyle, clothing, collars, literal chains? Which nations actually depend on slaves, and which countries just view slaves as a status symbol or fact of life?

edited 24th Jul '12 12:38:57 PM by Sharysa

Slavery in Udareth consists entirely of non-civillian prisoners of war. It is not possible for a person to be born into slavery and they typically only stay slaves for five to ten years depending on the severity of their 'war crimes'. The Anakali clan runs their slave trade and considers slavery to be a punishment towards their war enemies for daring to try and fight them.

Unsurprisingly, this tends to make them quite unhappy, even vengeful. A few heavily publicized stories of slaves who have attacked horses, their masters, free servants, and even their master's children have given slaves an aura of mistrust. People who leave slaves unattended around their children, homes, or horses are considered to be irresponsible. A slave can get trafficked around anywhere in Anakali-controlled territory. Because they are considered to be so untrustworthy, they can be four times as cheap as a free servant. Slaves are not status symbols- good servants are. Where a servant or freeman might only get a fine or a night in jail, a slave can be beaten or killed.

Usually, slaves are put to work doing disgusting, menial work such as scrubbing floors, cleaning out privies and chamber pots, cleaning the streets, picking up garbage, or shoveling manure. After capture in war, slaves are often stripped down to their tunics and may be perpetually covered in grime. Servants and slaves are magically marked with their master's symbol- the Anakali symbol is a feather -to signify their servitude; a servant is usually only marked on the backs of their hands and tops of the feet, while a slave is usually branded on the chest and face.

On the bright side, slaves have a few rights. They can't be killed for the hell of it or forced to do anything that would cause their death, such as being a food taster; and they can't be raped, though sexual contact with a slave is very frowned upon.

Congratulations! Someone in your culture has just had a baby. What happens now? How do they raise the child, or try to ensure its survival during these critical first two years? How do they feed, and wean the baby onto solid foods? Does the baby get a cradle, or does it just spend its days swaddled against Mom? Where does Dad come into this?

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

After birth, children tend to be swaddled in soft cloth blankets. This is mostly to keep the infant warm rather than keep it out of trouble. Cradles are usually little more than a hamock. Wood one are considered frivolous and therefore only the wealthy buy them.

Children don't recieve names until their first birthday, a holdover from the times when child mortality was high. In more recent times the first year is so the parents can pick out a name fore the baby after they actually meet it. Recieving a name has the same importence as a baptism and there's usually a modest cerimony.

Weaning starts at 6 months. Care takers chew up a morsel of solid food, extract it by hand, and then feed it to the infant. Typically, the mother breastfeeds the child until then but if the mother's responsibilities prevent her from doing so, a wet nurse is hired.

Typically, the father raises the child as much as the mother, but virtually any member of the community could mentor the child.

What kind of infrastructure does your nation have? How do goods get from point A to point B? What kind of goods are they transporting and why are they needed? How has this trade affected your world's history?

In the four kingdoms most trade is on the old Oiran roads. Most major cities have grown up around intersections of the roads, and subsequently are economically very important. In the kingdom of the swamplands there is a lot of river trade, and barges are very important. The southern kingdom does a lot of trade from the city of Hrosport with the continent. The capital of the southern kingdom is both an intersection of two oiran roads and on the river to Hrosport. The North mostly produces iron and wool, and transports then sells it to the middle kingdom. The middle kingdom mostly produces ship timbers which it sells to the south and the swamplands, and horses which it mostly sells to the north. the swamplands mostly build ships which they sell to the south, and pitch which they sell to everyone. the south mostly produces grain and other foodstuffs. they are also big on cattle. they usually buy the norths iron from the middle kingdom and sell it in weapon form back to them, or sell them on the continent. Due to them being major trade partners, the middle kingdom and the North have always been close friends, and frequently aid each other in wars. the swamplands are the least bothered by the dragon-men because they have the ships to repel them. the south is the most religious of the four kingdoms due to their close trade links with the continent.

Question: is your culture affected by raiders in any way (Eg. vikings)? if so, how has this affected their growth as a culture? if not, why not?

Although the economy of Daoinetir depends primarily on hunting, fishing, and gathering, young Daoine will periodically sail southward to raid the coastlines of warmer countries, including the civilization of Izwelabantu. For this reason the Abantu and other southerly peoples stereotype the Daoine as pillaging, raping savages. However, the Daoine's famous martial prowess and ferocity have made them popular as mercenaries.

Question: Do sexual stereotypes exist about your world's various races or ethnic groups? For instance, is one group stereotype as having, uh, larger organs than others?

Sorry, I'm desperate for questions.

edited 29th Jul '12 7:03:33 PM by Jabrosky

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Given that the Uelane are the only nation on Alos that have legal prostitution and tolerate homosexual marriage, there are many assumptions made about Uelane men and women. They're generally assumed to be very often bisexual (in truth, it's no more than average, but they are more open about it when they are), extremely promiscuous (while failing to sexually satisfy a partner in a marriage is generally seen as a sign of terrible weakness, most Uelane outside of the prostitution business frown on sex with anyone other than one's partner or a courtesan approved of by said partner, and views on premarital sex vary across geography and class, but are generally negative), and just plain kinky (it's relative — the Uelane have their common kinks, which they consider semi-normal, as do the other nations, but there's little overlap). Most of the stereotypes outsiders have about Uelane, meanwhile, are applied to the inhabitants of Yoth Province by other Uelane, with even less truth.

What was the last major war your culture fought in, not counting ones they are presently engaged in, and how did the aftermath of that war effect their society?

edited 29th Jul '12 7:48:45 PM by KillerClowns

There were no major wars in the world since centuries. There always are local conflicts (like the Second Delian Crisis I mention in the backstory of one second plan character), but major wars are largely missing. When you mention wars, most people will think of the Original War, which is my adaptation of Titanomachy. The old generation of gods faces the new one, and armies of their mortal worshippers clash across all of Planitia continent, and parts of Moorland and Kenaan. It's a really major element of their history and culture, and the brutality attested to it scars a lot of civilised societies. Whole races and nations formed as an aftermath of it, including merfolk who were originally elven conscientious objectors, or crystalloids who shut their land behind a magical barrier to hide their artifacts from the cruel biological races. That war literally shaped the world.

Question: What significance your cultures ascribe to language? Power of the word, writing, sacred languages. Or maybe it's just a tool of communication and manipulation?

Damn, got Ninja'd.

The Tyrian Empire's most recent war was a big one with the huge and mysterious south-eastern nation of Aram/Arim (People in different cultures call it different things, and I can't decide on what name I want). Aram wanted to invade Tyria and reunite with some Aramian ethnic groups within The Tyrian Empire, but the Empire defeated the invaders in a single massive curb-stomp battle after the Aramian army crossed a mountain pass, and Aram's military might was all but destroyed. The Empire has been affected in that it's greatest and most formidable enemy has been eliminated, and thus the Empire has entered into a long period of peace and prosperity, while it has entered into a sort of friendship with Aram, which it has no intentions of invading. Trade between the 2 nations has also greatly increased.

Tyria sees itself now as an indomitable military power, and the last few Emperors have decreased spending on military, which might come back to bite them in the future, especially considering the growing power of the Ethycian barbarians to the north-east, which gone largely unnoticed by the politicians in the Empire.

Now, question time: How technologically developed is your main culture, in relation to real world technology levels? (E.G. Is it Renaissance level technology, WWI era technology, Napoleonic wars technology, etc etc)

edited 30th Jul '12 3:57:46 AM by Jackal5565

You actually bother to read this?

(Maybe we can get someone to answer both of our questions)

The Abantu, being ethnocentric like most pre-modern cultures, regard their unique hieroglyphic script as a divine gift, even going so far as to call it the "speech of the gods". However, learning this written language is off-limits to commoners such as peasants and other manual laborers; it is used primarily by political and religious leaders. On the other hand, the Daoine have no written language whatsoever.

Both the Daoine and Abantu peoples have iron tools, so they can both be considered Iron Age, but the Abantu civilization is considerably more urbanized and agricultural than the Daoine. I would roughly liken the Daoine to pre-Christian Norse (albeit with a hunter-gatherer rather than agricultural economy) and the Abantu to ancient Egyptians, Nubians, or Malians.

Question: What role do your political leaders play in religion, or alternatively what role do your religious leaders play in politics?

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Religious leaders are often used as tools by political leaders to connect or outright control the populace. In return for either monetary, political, or even legal concessions religious leaders will exhert their influence on their followers for whatever their benifactors want.Up until the invention of the printing press, religion was the propaganda machine for major nations. Most often, this was used to encourage civil obeidience but not always. Sometimes foreign powers would bribe varius cults in order to stir up unrest. This, however, was considered treasonous and usually resulted in public execution. The most potent use of religion was to connect with other countries. High ranking members of the same faith often trusted each other almost unconditionally. This made them very reliable for negociating peace treaties since like faithed leaders would be both driven to find some sort of settlement while being completely honest with each other.

A wide spread religion could organize these treaties even against a goverment's wishes due to massive popular support. Anyone who refutes their right to do so found themselves excommunicated. The Sho Ven religion forged a massive political power bloc like this. Still, this was a minority compared to most goverrments using religions as tools.

Did your world have a dark age? If so, what occcured during that time and why was it concidered dark?

The aftermacth of the First Great War and anything that happened before it, is considered a dark age as very little information has remained of it and things before it. What is known is that there was a massive war between the Demons and the Fae, and while the Demons won it was at a great cost and most of their civilisation was destroyed. To make matters worse, a civil war broke out among the Demons after their king died, with each of his generals trying to claim the throne. The First Legion War ended up destroying most of the little information that had survived the Great War. Most of what remains is in the hands of the Hierarachs of Dis, who are unwilling to share it with anyone (because being the only guys with mass-produced magical energy weapons gives you a big advantages in negotiations). This is the reason why, even five generations after the War, the world is very SchizoTech-ish as some technology was retained after the war and developed further, while much has had to be reinvented completely, or is still lost.

What animals are commonly used in your world, and do they differ between cultures (ie. one culture raises cows as cattle, while another one mostly raises sheep?). Not limited to just cattle but pets, riding animals etc.

edited 31st Jul '12 2:28:46 PM by Nomic

The Abantu keep as livestock a domesticated species of ceratopsian dinosaur they call the inkomo, which is approximately as large as a cow. Although Abantu frequently eat the inkomo's eggs and drink its blood, only on special occasions do they slaughter it for meat. The more inkomo animals a herder may own, the wealthier he is judged to be, and inkomo are often given as bride-prices.

Question: Do animals feature in your cultures' religions?

edited 30th Jul '12 12:22:40 PM by Jabrosky

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Varanya, God of the eastern lands, is literally a giant feathered serpent capable of flight. It is considered bad luck to see him flying overhead though as he brings storms. There is a species of intelligent feathered serpents that exist upon the mortal world and communicate in whistling chirps. These are considered to be the mortal offspring of Veranya as such are sacred and often kept not as pets, for none would ever dare to claim ownership of such sacred creatures, but as loyal companions. It is considered a sign of luck and divine favor if a feathered serpent chooses to remain by your side. (they basically serve same function as a cat unlike the god Veranya they cannot fly)

Dolphins are another animal considered sacred as they are generally believed to be elemental spirits and the children of the sea god Yana. And Ralalith the trickster god of thieves and greed is a crow who sits upon the shoulder of Ellael, god of knowledge and fire. Ralalith is quite an important figure as he helped Ellael to steal the secret of fire from the elder gods and give it to humans and there are many stories of him aiding heroes in the old tales and legends and just as many where he plays tricks on them.

Question: Does your world have any interesting original diseases? I dont just mean the regular kind like flu or black plague or such but ones that coudl be considered unique to yoru world like some kinda magic induced plague that made the residents of your world bleed from their eyes or maybe one of the original races/type of animal might cause some allergic reaction in your human characters? etcetera.

edited 30th Jul '12 5:17:11 PM by Merlanthe

The flood-fever is a magical disease that appeared soon after the Riving of the Continents. It was discovered in the western continent of Bimael that those living by the Saltless Sea, along the Bashenya River, or at the tip of the Knife would frequently fall ill around the first month of spring, when the various water sources would be most recently fed by ice-melt.

It was thought that this was merely a hygiene problem, but even after boiling the water and significant testing by various mages, those who drank the ice-melt from the affected areas continued to fall ill until the rivers and sea "settled" after a month. Reports in the Eastern continent showed near-identical cases despite quarantines and the wildly differing climates of the Western and Eastern continents, and so the problem was deemed magical.

It is frequently believed to be a message of the gods' anger, which is why the most well-known names besides flood-fever are "Tishmati's Scorn" (among the Unrachest Empire), "Knife-man's penance" (in the bay of the Knife), or "gods' chill" (along the Bashenya and the Saltless Sea).

The symptoms of flood-fever vaguely resemble frost-bite or hypothermia, but with the obvious and contradictory difference of a fever. Those suffering the flood-fever will need to be treated by a healer as soon as possible, since the fever climbs unnaturally quickly. Patients are recorded to have died within a week to three days of catching the fever, and those who do not receive treatment before the fever reaches a certain point will invariably suffer brain damage or other long-term consequences.

Another unusual sign is that the most susceptible people to flood-fever are those in their mid-teens to early twenties, and prior health history makes little to no difference. The populations living in the affected areas have extremely similar superstitions where those aged fifteen to twenty are susceptible to the envy/wrath of the gods—in particular the exceptionally beautiful or accomplished. Customs range from simply forbidding them from certain water sources to outright cloistering from fifteen to twenty.

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Question: What animals have been domesticated (NOT just tamed), and why—for meat, milk, transportation, or just because their people's ancestors thought it would be cool? How long have they been domesticated, and how has this affected your world's culture? How do they differ from their wild cousins? (Example: Shorter/longer lifespan, different horns, unusual colors, different proportions.) Are wild members and domesticated members still able to interbreed, or would it be impossible on a physical/genetic standpoint?

edited 30th Jul '12 6:34:26 PM by Sharysa

You forgot to post a question Sharysa...im really tempted to refer to you as The Lady Amalthea gee i wonder why

edited 30th Jul '12 6:30:35 PM by Merlanthe

Sorry, my computer froze for a minute. Question is up.

In my world magic is an everyday part of life and people can just pray up power for an automobile or invoke the name of Mammon and have a higher lottery chance.

Because of this the inhabitants of my world never needed animal labor but captured shamanic animals and locked them up to spam holiness. So we naturally have feral horses and bison (never evolving into cows) living on the outskirts while we have meek and mild wolves, falcons and doves, caged into as small a space as possible and evolving the perfect balance between stylishness and smallness. You can tell your breeding is going well when the animal glows and speaks in tongues.

The only society to uses manual animal labor is the primarily atheistic dwarves who once ruled the world with their electricity generated by blind, bulky mammals whose closest relative is the mole.

The unchanged bison are hunted by the gentlemenly elves and are allowed to graze on large reserves.

Question: How does magic work in your world? Is it unchanging and automatic upon the invocation of a word or an act. Or is it based off of deep spirituality and happens randomly?

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