Fantasy World Cultures Questions Thread

Around 1500 B.C., the proto-Uelane tribes were tricked into coming to Uel from Earth to serve as, essentially, free-range livestock for the memory-devouring Fallen and their rephaite legions.

But humanity is nothing if not adaptable, and while many humans turned to worshipping the Fallen in hopes of being granted relative mercy, in time some proto-Uelane learned to harness their Life Energy through intense training of the body and soul to tear rephaim apart and counter mages' spells with their bare hands. This was tolerated, because the memories of hope and triumph it allowed proved too delicious to resist.

The big break for the proto-Uelane tribes happened when the Fallen turned on each other, with Tamiel betraying and usurping Bezaliel. In the ensuing Spirit War, the Fallen lost their grip and the rephaim were driven nearly to extinction, allowing humanity to truly flourish as the dominant species of Uel.

Some legends say Tamiel intended for humanity to defeat the rephaim, accepting a net loss for a relative gain. Tamiel has always been better at controlling mortals than rephaim, and is the most Lawful Evil of the Fallen, preferring to work through civilizations rather than loose tribes. Other say it underestimated humanity, or simply didn't care so long as it could spite its most hated brother.

What is the greatest existential threat your created culture has endured, and how did it handle it (or how is it trying to handle it, if it remains)?

edited 6th Aug '12 2:34:06 PM by KillerClowns

I’m not sure what the term “existential threat” may encompass. Does a simple war count considering that the conquerors would likely end the existence of a nation and often eventually also the culture or are we saying big scary destruction-bent possibly world-shattering threat? If it’s the latter then only the Old Kingdom could qualify as surviving such a threat and that was by way of not being involved; so I’d rather go with a more standard Fall-of-the-Roman-Empire-style “existential threat”.

Zariho and Kalin have long been at each other’s throats so every war they had vas a high-stake one (genocide included) but a web of alliances as well as the inability to fully defeat the opposing one is what kept them from being subdued.

For Quachli the rebellion of Tehamiloka Osamina the First of Men could be considered an existential threat because of a rather strange ideas he had about the role of various groups in a “perfect society” that he wished to enforce. His sudden and abrupt death put an end to the threat although he managed to make a lasting impact on the philosophical thought within the empire.

As for the League the second League war could have ended with the League’s disbandment if not for the victorious siege of Kaisenrise and the following peace where the victorious loyalists actually gave up and agreed to most of the secessionists’ demands thus ensuring unity within the League.

What is your culture’s stance on the nature of knowledge is it something to achieve through thought process alone or through experimental process. Is knowledge passed on a person-to-person basis or are there organized scholarly centers. Is the knowledge of reading and writing widespread or is it a difficult and rare art?

Ellael is the god of knowledge and his priesthood are dedicated to the preservation and expansion of knowledge. Most scientific development and experimentation during the past few centuries was conducted by the Ellael priesthood who also serve as teachers to the general populance passing down such essential skills as reading and writing, arithmetic, alchemy and making sure that all know and follow the universal laws set down by Ellael (i.e. thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, etcetera).

Temples to Ellael serve as places of scholarly learning and many are accepted as students and trained there regardless of whether they wish to join the priesthood or just indulge their own desire for knowledge. Cities and densely populated areas have a fairly high literacy rate due to the prominence of temples dedicate dot Ellael but the scattered settlements and farms in the outer provinces/northern wilderness/eastern desert lands are usually dependant upon wandering priests who never stay long so literacy is less widespread there.

Question: Is there a hero who is particularly popular in your world? Was he a real person or a product of some storytellers imagination and if he was real how does the reality compare to the figure talked about in legend?

Zaktreas is an immensely famous hero told of in several Mythinese legends. At least three epics have been written solely about his adventures and he appears in countless other myths. He was a real person, a dark elf who lived in the Time of Pharaohs. While many of the legends of his exploits have been discredited, the three main epics seem rooted in historical fact. Most of the magicks described in the tales are accurate for the times in which they are set, as well. This leads many people to accept the epics as fact. However, they are written in very poetic diction, and certain sections of the text seem to be metaphors for lost technology. For example, there is one passage that tells of the wind shaping a giant glass arrow from desert sand. Zaktreas proceeds to lift the arrow, which is three times as long as he is tall, and fire it from his bow. He then jumps onto the arrow mid-flight and it carries him across the sands to a his destination. Some historians point to this as evidence that ancient people had access to airships, while others claim it is merely mystical folklore.

Question: Other than royalty or governing bodies, who controls the majority of your country's wealth? Are they likely to abuse this position?

The majority of the wealth is held by the nobility, but they don't count as far as your question is concerned because they are the goverment. Most of the remaining wealth is controlled by high end industry. Blacksmiths, brewers, and banks for the most part. Their products are the most valuable commodities on the market and sell for high prices. Not even the magi have the kind of money the brewing industry has.

Abuse of power is rare because mismanagement of funds usually ends with bankrupcy. Furthermore, despite the massive amount of capital flying around individual breweries don't actually have much power. Much of their money is tied up in running their buisinesses and while the blacksmithing and brewing industries as a whole have a huge cultural impact, no individual company has a significant sway over Manastra as a whole.

Banks have become a self-regulating buisness ever since the nobility threatened to regulate the buisness for them. Companies that embezzle get blacklisted and since the mages were the first ad hoc lawyers all the dealings are honest.

How do magic users fit into the social structure of your world?

Mages don't quite fit into the social structure most of the Legions follow, which tend to make most of the populace consider them aloof and mysterious, and treated with some suspicion. Those with high enough magic potential are exempt from the conscription to the Legion army if they enroll in the School of Magic instead. They're required to learn some combat magic in the school, tho, and the school does also train battlemages for the army (altough even in the army, the battlemages don't fit the normal structure, and are allocated to different demi-legions as nedded). The mages tend to keep to themselves and rarely have contact with the rest of the society, except the highest up of the goverment (the Grand Master of the school is a member of the Overlord's inner council, along with the High Legate of the army and the Patrician of the civilian goverment). They also wield a very large amount of financial and political power compared to their numbers.

Of course, there are some variations between Legions. On one end of the scale you have a Legion where mages are the nobility, ruling over the non-mages, and on the other you have one where mages are heavily distrusted and the School of Magic is under tight goverment controll to keep them in line.

Question: What is the geography of your world (or the area of it the story takes place) like? Are there any notable geological formations like mountain chains or rift vallyes, and how were they formed?

My world's geography roughly resembles the Mediterranean basin. In the middle is the Mesoterran Sea, which is bordered by three continents: frigid Nodria in the north, arid Oridria in the east, and tropical Sudria to the south. The rocky island of Mesandria rises from the middle of the Mesoterran.

Question: Does your world have any extensive empires?

My post-Cataclysm world has some impressively large realms and empires. The largest would be the Stone Cutter Empire, spanning eastern Asia and Oceania, and the smallest being the New United States of America, as its made up of the United States east of the Mississippi River.

Question: What do the people of your culture do for fun? Depending on when its set, do they have TV? Any theater, films, amusement parks? Or are books the main entertainment?

The Konigtum is a large empire on the continent, which spans from the Drachewald to the borders of the holy states in the south. It's emperor is anointed by the high priest of the three upon his rising to the throne. Far to the south there is an empire that spans throughout the desert, and is the only empire or kingdom that trades with the dragon men. Question time: What music do people listen to? hardcore techno? gentle lutes? EDIT: Dammit got ninja'ed... and i'm not bothered to answer your question. let's hope someone answers both...

edited 11th Aug '12 9:13:11 AM by james123182

While there is a growing publishing industry and the streets are filled with folk songs the most popular entertainment by far is the Tourneys. Essentially mock combat, the tourneys are unique in that anyone may enter regardless of social standing, wealth, gender, or even skill.

The rules are as simple as possible. A fighter is considered defeated either by conceeding or being rendered unable to stand. Attacks on fallen foes are not permitted nor are attacks from the ground allowed. Intentional magic use is usually forbiden unless otherwise specified. Weapons are made from softwood and leather and do not have sharp points but may be any shape the wielder wishes. Other than that, the combatants and arena masters negociate terms beforehand.

Armor is usually forgone, seen as cheap and cowardly. Expensive outfits are also left out both because they tend to get torn and the need to stay cool under heavy exhertion. Most of the time fighters wear little more than underwear and sandals. It's rare for anyone to die in a match but it does happen. Such things are considered part of the risk of participating.

There are a plethora of formats for Tourney matches to take. Some are vast free for alls with the last man standing, litterally, declared the winner. Others are duals between veteran fighters. Usually, the combatants are organized into teams if they did not enter as such. These battles are considered the most "pure" and are usually the main event of any tourney.

Because anyone can enter it's not unusual to see women in the arena. Infact, many women from millitary families have become quiet successful. The use of weapons over hand to hand is quite an equalizer, putting more emphasis on skill and dicipline over brute strength or size. A solid blow to the temple, throat, or knees are often enough to decide the battle.

There is much to be gained by participating in a Tourney. Besides the prize money, which is significant, winners often are offered patronage by nobles, merchants, and guilds. Winning am official tourney in a major city promises wealth and reknown.

How does your country deal with lawbreakers?

Sorry about that, james 123182. I was just as surprised as you were.

ehhh that's all right

For a crime such as poaching, the offendant must either pay the worth of the game or lose a few fingers to make up for it. For murder they have three choices. A) they must pay a wergild to the victims family. The amount payed depends on the victim's job, age, gender and various other such factors. B) they lose the limb which did the deed, such as if they cut him in half with a sword, then the arm wielding the sword is cut off. C) they go through an ordeal such as plunging their hand into boiling water. if it is healed within a week or two, then they don't have to do anything as they have been proved right by the gods. if it is not healed, they must then choose one of the other choices.

Question time: Do people wear any amulets or charms for luck? if so, what form do they usually take, and if not, why not?

Manastrans keep small pocket knives on them at all times. Granted, the average manastran doesn't leave the house with anything less than three blades of various sizes but even the poorest of Manastrans keep a one inch blade on their person at all times. Children are given their first knives at the age of ten as part of a rite of passage.

The origins of this practice can be traced back to the time before the founding of Manastra when the would be manastrans were little more than traveling mercenary bands. There wasn't an official justice system or even designated peace keepers. Life was usually short, filthy, and violent. The simple knife was the most common means of defending oneself and family as well as means of eliminating foes. Giving somebody a knife was a form of recognition, first, that the person in question was both capable of killing foes as well as holding the trust of the ones who gave the knife.

What do the people in your nation tend to wear? Or do they run naked as the day they were born?

Uldarians tend to opt for the more practical choices of clothing. Such as thick, woolen shirts and long leather pants for the winter and simple cotton t-shirts and knee-length leather pants. If there is a ceremony, they will probably wear just that, but with a dash of color. The armour they wear is also very practical. They tend to be a very practical race compared to the Uniomads, who tend to wear very colorful clothing and very impressive armour. This does not, however, reduce their battle hardiness or their social status.

What do you country tend to eat and drink? Where do they eat and drink it?

The Typical Manastran meal consists of potatos, goat cheese or butter, and either spinach or broccoli. Spinach tends to be thrown into the hot food tast minute as an afterthought while broccoli is normally steamed. Potatos come mashed or fried since baked potatos is considered lazy and boring. Cheese and butter is generously smothered over everything. They say there is only two types of meat in Manastra. Pork and Bacon. In reality there is also fish but Manastra's fishing is almost entirely inland and easily depleted. Naturally, heart failure is the leading cause of death in Manastra. It's considered the local equivalent of old age.

Meals are usually eaten indoors or on expansive porches. Due to the common rains food is rarely eaten outdoors. Bars and taverns are considered social meeting places rather than outlets of food.

Does your country have a navy? if so, what ships do they use? How big are they? and what waters does it patrol?

The Uldarian navy is the biggest in The Know Lands, consisting generally of smaller boats that are easily manouverable to surround and swarm the opposing navy. Wars, when they happen, are generally fought on-land though, so the navy is generally used for transporting goods to other country's.

What 'rank' is your country/land considered to be in among other areas by 1st) sports and agriculter and 2) Power, wealth ect.

Danath is basically a Fantasy Counterpart Culture for Victorian Britain (set After the End when modern civilisation has been wiped out thousands of years ago), so it's pretty great in terms of agriculture and sport. It's got the whole empire thing too, so the country's in good shape economically despite being overstretched into the colonies.

What is your culture's government based around (communism, democracy, etc) and what are their primary leaders?

Th main form of government in the Four Kingdoms is, obviously, monarchy. It is a mainly feudal system, with the king at the top, and steadily lower aristocracy, then to the lower classes. the line between the middle class and the lower aristocracy is rather blurred, with frequent inter-marriage between them.

Question: What are the main types of animal, domesticated or wild in your world?

Most domesticated fauna is actually rather unremarkable. Dogs, horses, cattle, and the like. There are, however, two species of note. The first are Elemental Spirits, which are little more than a mass of mana that achieved critical mass and became intelligent. They are often used to avoid major natural disasters by triggering the even prematurely. For example, creating a weakpoint in the bedrock so the volcano ends up venting it's pressure before it could potentially wipe out entire regions. They are also used as sentinels and observers of arcane phenomenon since they are very attuned to fluxuations in the local ambient mana.

The second domesticated, if you can every call anything that powerful domesticated, species is the demi-dragon or wyveren. The average Wyvern has two bat like wings, two powerful taloned legs and intelligence equal to that of a human. Most are as big as a rino but weigh in as much as a horse due to hollow bones and the light weight of the wings. the wingspan is usually equal to the length and averages 20-15 feet. Wyverns first started associating with humanoids simply because their wing-thumbs didn't have the dexterity or reach to catch some prey. The first dragon riders were archers and spear throwers that could wound the prey, making it easier to catch. Wyverns also have a very high capacity for mana as well as an innate tendency for spell casting. Much like themselves, wyvern spell casting is powerful, but rough. However, if bound with a human, the pair can create spells of power and complexity unimaginable to normal spell casters. Wyverns lack the vocal structures to speak trade-tongue but can understand it well. Likewise, their own language, draconic, is almost unpronouncible by humanoids but can be understood with practice.

What kind of social hangups and taboos does your country have?

Commoners in Udareth tend to be rather misogynistic, due in part to the way that their government has attempted to help them in the draft- for centuries, commoner men were forced to sign up for the draft, whereas women were otherwise barred unless they either had no children or had access to adequate childcare. Their government goes to this length to ensure the survival of commoner children so that they can maintain their industries for economic growth. Nonetheless, these efforts and concern have resulted in, well, misogyny, a high divorce rate, and a 'seen but not heard' attitude towards children. Homosexuality, transgender, and sexual kinks outside vanilla sex are generally viewed as games practiced only by the rich, leading to many couples being forced to relocate or seek help from the generally liberal government.

The elite, on the other hand, is liberal, as has been said before. Being the heads of a military state, they usually keep weapons on them and wear cloaks that hide those weapons. When greeting foreign visitors or dignitaries, they remove their cloaks as signs of friendliness, to enable one to see them reaching for a weapon. It is oft-known among dignitaries that asking them to removed their cloaks before they do it themselves, or asking them to remove their weapons- 'isn't seeing them enough?!' -is generally considered insulting enough to mark one's country as a target to be scoped out for conquering.

However, bisexuality is one big taboo that remains throughout both sides of society- the rich regard it as an unacceptably immature act for not making up their minds, and commoners regard it as both disgusting and depraved enough for ostracization.

Hey, kids, it's time for schoo/learning stuff! Before proper schools existed, many children learned life skills at home. What kinds of things do your world's students learn? What about literacy? Who gets to go to what we would call 'school', with a schoolmaster and stuff? What's the curriculum there like? Is it government-regulated yet? Are there universities?

The first learning institute in Manastra is known as a Colligium Magi and started out as a magic academy. Children from caster families would be sent there as soon as they unlocked mana use. Of course, sciences was always part of the curriculum since a caster has to understand the forces she's trying to manipulate. Eventually, nobles managed to gain admittance through use of a few massive donations. With this as a preceeded, the Colligium opened it's doors to anyone who paid tuition.

As gun powder and the printing press gave more power to the middle and lower classes several Colligium graduates established private schools using Colligium practices as a benchmark. This marked the founding of the Manastran school system.

The core of every curriculum is math and reading with social and physical sciences a close second.Art and music are taught in specialty schools if at all. in Many schools host Arena teams and most still teach arcane studies. Schools are open to anyone who can pay tuition for the year. Tuition it'self is rarely beyond reach for anyone but the poorest of citizens and even then the government is willing to lend money for education.

Who were the big movers and shakers in your world's history?

edited 20th Aug '12 6:18:02 AM by Belisaurius

Qaisar, the Last Red King, and Amu.

Qaisar, a Persian mathematician, became the inadvertent founder of the Elasane dynasty about 900 years ago, after being briefly brought to Ūl by an entity he had gotten the better of. He helped the Elasane, then a struggling, desperate nomad tribe among many, with technology and knowledge that gave them a massive advantage over their rivals and led to them becoming the first agrarian society south of the Cloud Forests.

The Last Red King of the Elasane, whose name was obliterated from history, was also the worst Elasane king, and ruled five hundred years ago. He cared little for the day-to-day running of his nation, letting corrupt and cruel officials do it instead. Under their rule, the treatment of slaves, which had never been good, devolved to their lowest, generating the rebellion that would eventually overthrow him. Meanwhile, the Red King himself was a Mad Doctor seeking to understand all there was to know about the mind, body, and soul. His methods were unspeakable, but effective, and though it is never publicly admitted, his notes are the reason the Ūlane are so far ahead of the rest of their world in medicine.

Amu was the leader of the rebellion that overthrew the Last Red King, but his rebellion suceeded only by means of a diabolical bargain with the Eyes and Teeth. The power he was granted made him immortal — by the story's start, he's five centuries old — and a Physical God by many definitions, but also a deluded madman who resists any attempt by his nation to modernize.

What weapons carry special symbolism, and how did they get that symbolism?

edited 20th Aug '12 4:23:56 PM by KillerClowns

Each of the Legions (except one, due to changing their name later) is named after a weapon. Or rather, a Weapon (caps mandatory), a magical artefact said to have been forged by the Demon King's greatest enchanters as gifts to his most powerful legates. Aside from being extremely powerful artefacts, they have extreme symbolic value, being the Overlord's symbol of office and, as mentioned, the very thing the Legion is named after. The Weapons are a sword, a spear, a mace, a staff, a pair of axes and a claw-glove. The last one was a wand/scepter, but the Overlord of the Legion who it belonged to destroyed it, using it as a power source to make himself immortal (such a disrespect for what is essnetially a holy relic is why all other Overlords hate his Legion even more than they usually hate eachother). Mundane versions of the same Weapon also hold symbolic value, even if they're not necessarily the most commonly used ones (most legionnaires regardless of Legion are armed with a spear and a shortsword as a backup weapon). It is not uncommon to see the Demon equivalent of nobility carrying highly ornamental versions of the Legion's symbolic weapon as a part of their outfit.

Alright, with apologies to , I've waited long enough. Here, have a next question:

How does your society ensure that contracts, bargains, and other deals, both formal and informal, are honored and upheld?

edited 20th Aug '12 7:11:36 PM by KillerClowns

Formal contracts and bargains are upheld by both parties signing a written contract imbued with spells that make it both legally and magically binding provided that one is wealthy or influential enough to gain the services of legal clerks and magicians. The less wealthy usually just go with a handshake and a vow recorded and witnessed by the local priest of Ellael and then depend upon the priesthood to exact punishment upon any vowbreakers.

Informal ones can occur anyplace anytime and involve a simple handshake and a spoken vow invoking some deity, demon or divine being. Informal agreements are less binding and whether someone is punished for breaking their vow is dependant upon whether the deity, demon or divine being they invoked cares enough to take notice. Most of the time they dont but there have been occasional cases of a vowbreaker being attacked by demons and dragged into the netherworld.

Question: Does your world have any form of air travel like say magically powered flying ships, aeroplanes, blimps, floating cars, tame dragons, etcetera. How did this capatbility for air travel occur and what influence has it had upon your socioty?

edited 21st Aug '12 4:37:20 PM by Merlanthe