Livasid took a bit of inspiration from the Mongols, in that it's an empire ruled by a decentralized nomadic group of horse-riding archers, but the similarities really end there.
Terarga has some medieval inspiration in the architecture and weaponry. The eastern part of the empire (which is not quite an empire) is also influenced by the American midwest in culture, architecture, etc, although minus a Native American analog.
What are some of the more common forms of entertainment in your culture? Does is vary depending on social class? How important is entertainment to the culture?
It depends on where you are in the world. The Horun tribes of the eastern plains generally celebrate a successful hunt with songs. They also have celebrations for other important event, such as a new chief being selected. These are generally day-long in which professional bards tell/sing stories, there's dancing and some religious practices will be observed.
In Musha, the great-city, state there are teahouses where the upper and middle classes come to listen to music, poetry and drink. It's also the place where they discuss philosophy and life. The lower classes have similar venues which are more bawdy. There also an active street live in the slums even at night, while the richer streets are mostly empty as people retire for the night.
The monks of the fire mountains don't have much in the way of entertainment, except for a few religious festivals. On these they are allowed a small measure of drink and some tastier foods. There are also fire breathing competitions and arts. The rest of the year is spend in study and medidation. There is one day in which all of the monasteries rules are forgotten which often ends in drunken revelry.
Now question: What is the source of magic in your world (life force, divine beings, spiritworld, etc)? or if it's without magic: What is considered beautiful (fat or slim, pale or bronzed, blonde or brunette, etc.)?
The source of magic in my graphic novel is, I suppose, a kind of life force. The ability to do magic comes from your soul, but there's also a kind of background radiation of magic that fuels the spells as well as whatever energy you put into it.
What national or seasonal holidays are there in your world?
There are no seasonal events in Aetherion because there are no seasons to mark when they would occur. Each city state, village, city, enclave, what-have-you generally has its own specific holidays. For instance, Udareth has a weeklong festival celebrating their ironworkers because of how heavily they rely on iron for weapons, building, and tools. Divinis, being a former colony, has an independence day; due to the length of the Aetherionian year, it usually falls in late November/early December every decade or so.
Pick an invention specific to your world and describe its impact. Inventions can hit societies pretty hard. The rise of the affordable family car and interstate highway system gave us classic Americana, the steam engine gave us the industrial revolution, and the cotton gin made American slavery profitable again. What about your world?
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."There are two major inventions that heavily influenced the world of Terra Prime. The first was the cause of the First Industrial Revolution: runic power. Arcane magic is nowhere near as old as divine magic and other forms of ancient magicks so its properties and uses are still being discovered in modern times. One of these uses is the enchantment of runes that can power machinery. Stones are engraved with a symbol and infused with arcana like a magical battery. Before steam and water power, runic energy fueled industry all over the world. The second major invention was the airship, which came about as a result of steam power during the Second Industrial Revolution. The first people to create functional airships were the dwarves of Brennia. These vessels were similar to zeppelins and used steam-driven propellers for navigation. Eventually, other nations unveiled their own models, each vastly different from the next. Dorian airships, for example, are built for maximum carrying capacity and military superiority, making use of combustion engines and hundreds of clockwork mechanisms to keep the propellers turning. Mythinese airships are sleek and aerodynamic. They employ propellers only to steer and stay airborne, relying on sails to catch the wind. Airships connected the five continents (Sylvantorr, Drakeshead, Maxima, Dulindor, and Tokai), opening new trade routes and allowing world cultures to spread far beyond their previous boundries. the colonization of the Zamorian wilderness by so many countries was only possible because of air travel. Everything from economic planning to military strategy was affected by the growing presence of airships in the world.
Question: Are there other dimensions/planes/afterlives that interfere with your world? How does one travel between these locales and who or what, if anything, lives there? Are the entrances to these places only open to certain people or at certain times, or can anyone get in at any time? What incentive is there for people to travel between worlds?
edited 7th Jul '14 10:07:53 PM by ZigtarXamos
The more rules there are to magic, the more ways the author will inevitably have to break them.One of my story ideas involves multiple worlds or ‘kingdoms’ that exists side by side. These kingdoms come in two types, the magical or the mundane, though the borders of various kingdoms will often overlap allowing passage between them. Travel between kingdoms is more common amongst the magical ones as their borders can overlap as frequently as every full moon and there are magic mirrors or other spells that enable passage between kingdoms. Because of this residents of a magical kingdom are usually aware of the existence of other kingdoms.
Travel between mundane kingdoms is much harder though as the mundane kingdoms do not overlap with one another. A magical kingdom may overlap with a mundane one but that is rare occurring only once or twice a decade, more often if the mundane world is still in a pre-industrial stage where the residents still believe in magic and susperstition rather than science and technology. Travel to a mundane world by other means would require a very old and powerful mirror or spell and would in most cases be a one way trip. Because of this residents of mundane kingdoms are usually unaware that other kingdoms exist.
Also returning to a kingdom that you had previously visited allows you to leave/arrive at random with anything from a day to a year to a decade having passed since you left, except with a mundane kingdom where you can only return to the same moment that you left. This is a major problem for one of my main characters who accidentally travelled from the mundane kingdom of present day Earth to the magical kingdom of Valeros when he experienced a car crash upon a lonely stretch of road where the borders of the two kingdoms happened to overlap. He wants to find a way home but returning to present day Earth would mean probable death/definite loss of leg via car accident.
Question: How does your culture view women with regard to religion? Do they worship a male/female deity or if they worship a pantheon which deities are ranked higher/more influential the male or the female? How does this affect how women are perceived within your culture? Are they able to gain power/influence/respect in society by serving as priestesses or looked down upon because they did not find husbands as women should?
edited 9th Jun '12 6:39:27 AM by Merlanthe
In Udareth, both genders are seen as equal, necessary parts to a successful, well-balanced whole. Where they see harmony, perfection, and balance, the deity that rules over that domain will be perfectly androgynous to show that the two halves have joined into one. Where they see imperfection and conflict, the deity will clearly identify as a particular gender. These so-called 'imperfect' deities are worshiped pretty much only by classes too poor to afford servants or other childcare that would allow both sexes to participate equally in society. Meanwhile, the 'perfect' deities are worshiped mostly by those rich enough to let both sexes get jobs or even serve in the military, which rewards service with full voting and political rights.
The same beliefs hold true in priesthood- if leaving your children behind will not result in their endangerment and you're a suitably pious person, go right ahead. However, the clergy mostly consists of servant/slaveholders, with a minority consisting of the nobility and orphans.
Ah, the joys of childhood. What do parents typically expect out of children, and how much do people and the state care for their welfare? Do they expect obedience, responsibility, and being seen and not heard? Or do they expect innocence, learning, and folly? Does the state do anything about orphans, child labor in dangerous environments, child abusers, and the like? Or do they regard such children as nuisances or lean to the adults' side?
edited 9th Jun '12 3:09:38 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."The state has no interest in children’s upbringing. The parents generally expect obedience from their children and any details beyond that vary from parent to parent, with the not-wealthy aiming for getting them to work as soon as possible.
The state does not care about the orphans, they are free to starve as they wish as long as they don’t disturb the peace. Some of the temples run orphanages where children are used to help maintain the place in good order (i.e. scrubbing floors and the like). Orphans from rich families can be expected to end up adopted by their closest of kin - which in case of royals may mean state support (in nations where the monarch is the state).
Child labour is common albeit mostly among the poorest strata of the society. Any child-related issues are generally left for their guardians to deal with or simply ignored in case of orphans.
Question: describe any outfit or outfits of your choice that are seen as characteristic of one of the setting’s groups of people. Is there any background commonly associated with them (correctly or not)?
edited 10th Jun '12 7:44:46 AM by johnthebarbarian
In an homage to the Warriors of the Red Branch, my protagonist's elite cavalry force is called the Red Tide. They are identified by deep-red everything: Scarlet cloaks, uniforms, red leather boots/gloves, and "red" chestnut or bay mounts. And a (red) Power Tattoo of a crescent moon on their dominant arm.
Technically, anyone can join them—but given the fact that they swear Geasi to stay with the force until they're old/crippled and the fact that their tattoo is explicitly magical, people think that deserters will die on the spot.
They don't DIE, but their tattoos will break any weapon they try to use. Which is why the tattoo is on their DOMINANT arm. And given that this is a Proud Warrior Race (being Celtic counterparts), that's a very Cruel Mercy because unless they make amends and beg forgiveness of the High King (and it has to be the HIGH king, not just a normal king), they'll be forced out of warfare for the rest of their lives. Alternately they could learn to use their non-dominant hand to fight, but suddenly switching from one hand to the other would be a dead giveaway.
The Red Tide is obviously known for being a Badass Crew, but it is also known for being crazy/brave enough to do ANYTHING.
Question: What characterizes your main culture's cuisine? Are they vegetarians? Do they think Real [X]ians Eat Meat? Are they Extreme Omnivores? What do they consider Foreign Queasine? What are the wealthy/clergy/peasantry accustomed to eating?
edited 12th Jun '12 8:42:02 PM by Sharysa
the cuisine is nice and varied for the rich or powerful: fresh fruit, a wide range of pastry and baked goods as well as thick slabs of red meat. the poor are significantly less lucky, they eat loaves of bread and whatever they can grow or raise themselves: bug eaten vegetables and the scrawniest of the animals that aren't worth anything to sell. a food that would be considered foreign cuisine strangely enough is fish, because while they live in the crook of a river and an ocean the fish that populate there area are disgusting little mud dwelling things with a bad taste. and only by importing from a very distant island nation can they get a species that is edible.
Question: is there any Fantastic Racism ? is bigotry or discrimination supported by the government system (a elf's vote out-ways a dwarf's)? are there any anti-minority groups (e.g. the kkk). if not why not.
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite. — Winston Churchill
The world I'm currently working on is called Sanctuary, there's quite a bit of Fantastic Racism. Humans think they're the most civilized and beautiful and smartest race, but the Numari (who are, in fact, the smartest) see humans as animals pretending to be cultured. The Kavek are the closest, physiologically speaking, to humans, and so get a bit more acceptance from humanity, but they're still seen as barbarians. For their part, the Kavek think every other race is crazy and the Numari think they're all idiots. The Degon are aquatic so they hardly ever interact with other races, which has led to a lot of horror stories about them. The few Degon settlements that do interact with other races tend to hotspots of violence. Then there's the Sarlas. Since the gods of the setting created them directly, they think that they're the best race ever and can boss every other race around (the other races are descended from refugees of destroyed worlds). Most non-Sarlas are absolutely terrified of Sarlas. Though the Numari tend to get along comparitively well with Sarlas and Degon, since Numari have minor empathic abilities.
Then you got the Outsiders, who are latecomers to the world and weren't exactly welcomed. The treaty between their two worlds (well, world and world fragment) forbids Outsiders from entering the world for any reason other than trade or politics. Not that this stops anyone. The Outisder's leaders are the Court of Seranor, who hate the Five Gods of Sanctuary for how the treaty played out. The feeling is mutual (as such, Sarlas, being the god's own creations, hate Outsiders with a passion). Finally, there's the Soulless, who aren't actually a race but rather people who gave their souls to a thing called the Gathering Dark in order to become undead. The Dark Hunters are a group of Knights Templar who absolutely despise Soulless because they fuck up the cycle of reincarnation and want to eradicate them from existence.
What are the gender politics in your world? Are there certain roles that men and women are expected to fill? Do different nations and cultures have different views of gender?
edited 14th Jun '12 7:38:47 PM by LizardBite
In Valeros women are expected to be able to defend themselves but aren’t required to fight as soldiers alongside the men unless in dire circumstances. They are expected to be quiet and defer to their husbands in most areas though a widowed/divorced woman may be as opinionated as she pleases. A womans job is to keep a clean house, raise any children, handle the family accounts and nothing more. Though if a woman is unhappy in her marriage then she may divorce her husband with a minimal of fuss provided that she has sought permission form her local priestess. This is largely because Valeros is primarily an agrarian society and the Goddess who oversees marriage is also responsible for healing and fertility and therefore her priestesses are very influential.
In the neighbouring island nation of Tamera it is the women who own property and handle trade and finance matters. This is because the men usually spend a lot of time either building boats or using their boats for fishing, transporting trade goods, or raiding nearby coastal villages. Consequently women dominate the cloth making and glass making industry whilst metalwork and woodcrafts are gender equal. Women are responsible for the raising of children and usually live together in familial groups whilst the men live on their ships or bachelor huts unless they are married. The governing council is made up mostly of women. Men are allowed to be council members and people do not discriminate when voting. Its just that most men prefer to be with their boats.
These cultural differences regarding gender have often lead to misunderstandings and more than one conflict between these neighbouring nations.
Question: How are magic users regarded within your society? Do the local people fear them or look up to them? Are they a rare enough that some doubt their existence or common enough that most people just accept them as an unavoidable part of everyday life? Or if there are no magic users in your world are there still tales and superstitions about the existence of magic users?
Basically there are two types of magic in my universe: the low, shaman's or witch's kind (I was inspired by Mako from Arnie's Conan The Barbarian) and Formulaic Magic taught in universities, which might well even be no magic at all. The first type is the domain of, well, witches and assorted occupations, and these magicians are regarded with a sort of disdainful respect. Village folk scorns their witch, but all come for help once in a while. Think your standard witch.
The other kind belongs to the academic types, court astrologers and such characters. Among the aristocracy to which they belong — there is the general unspoken accusation of charlatanery, and generally they're seen as aloof and separated (nerd elitism, heh heh), but still highly educated people whose more mundane interests sometimes give practical results. Common folk tends to see them as nobles with even more impractical interests than usually, mostly. Think both of the magicians like Dee and Kelley, and thinkers like Brahe, Kepler and Newton.
Everyday life tends to be, in general, relatively mundane, not far from low-magic Historical Fantasy. As Real Life people tended to believe in magic, so I don't think there'd be many skeptics in this world.
Since the magic is a nice topic, let's continue: how is magic viewed among various societies? Do they all have the same views? Are there varying types of magic used? If there is no magic, are there varying-by-location superstitions that have an effect on a man's life?
All demons in Zaran il Legio's setting are magically attuned (a natural result of living in a world with a far stronger Background Magical Field than the human world has), but most of them can only do simple things like sense magic and channel magical energy into devices designed to store it. Anybody can laern how to cast actual spells, but not everybody has enough magical potential to become a true wizard (the kind that can throw fireballs and other fancy stuff). Wizards are respected because of the power they posess, and high magical potential is seen as a mark of nobility (since warlords and Overlords often cultivate a heightened magical ability through arranged marriages and such). However, wizards are sometimes treated with distrust because they fall outside the normal social system. Notably they aren't conscripted into the Legion army, alhtough wizard academies have mandatory battle magic courses that effectively serve the same purpose. The exact details vary between Legions (read: countries), ranging from wizards being seen as powerful tools for the army to wizards being the nobility that rules over the less magically-inclined demons.
Question: Music. Do your cultures have some kind of traditional style of music and instruments? Is music used during celbrations, battle (marching music), ceremonies (national songs, church music) etc.?
Music in Valeros is performed publicly during annual celebrations and religious ceremonies though the type of instruments used depend upon the deity. Merlanthe, goddess of healing/agriculture/hearth & home etcetera favors chimes and stringed instruments like the harp with chanting of gentle voices whereas Kayleth, goddess of warfare, vengeance and embroidery favors a loud drum beat accompanied by pipes or flute.
Otherwise musical entertainment is provided by travelling musicians and those wishing a career in music have to find a musician willing to apprentice them. Outside of temples, public celebrations and travelling musicians people who sing may be looked upon with suspicion as singing is easily associated with the chanting needed to enact spells.
In Tamera singing and music is a great source of public entertainment, especially opera, and the higher ranked households place value on the ability to entertain guests at private parties with ones singing or musical ability. Consequently most girls are provided with professional singing and music lessons as well as dancing. Boys do not receive the same treatment but if they are interested will often learn from their older sisters or if they show a particular talent in music/singing they may apply to be apprenticed at a music school.
Question: Describe an important event in your worlds recent history and how that may have had a continuing influence upon the culture/socioty.
The biggest occurrence in Terra Prime's recent history is the civil war in Mythinaan after the untimely "death" of its Sultan. He's very much alive, but cannot rule the country anymore due to god-powered magicky stuff.
Anyway, since he did not have an heir, his country's law demands that the head of the Mythan Resistance (a secret intelligence organization and police force that has answered directly to the sultan since it was first created to free the country from foreign rule in ancient times) be named his successor. In order to keep the public from discovering the organization, the law covers it up by saying the sultan has a "chosen heir" who will take his place should he die without a blood-relative capable of ruling. The new sultan is from a race of dark elves called the Zamori. This upsets quite a few people, not because he is a dark elf, but because of his specific heritage. There are millions of dark elves in Mythinaan and there have been dark elven rulers before, but Zamori are a very isolated people and the only Zamori who have contact with the outside world are usually Lunar Knights, who are usually mediators and peacekeepers between elven nations. The country is on the verge of war with the Dorian Empire, which could escalate into a World War between multiple superpowers and they do not feel a Zamori sultan would make an effective wartime leader.
As a result of the nation's divided poitics, Mythinaan's enemies begin to gain the upper hand, and rather than quickly ending the conflict, Mythinaan and its allies enter an arms race and a five-year cold war that causes immense human suffering as atrocities are committed on both sides. Meanwhile, back at home, the controversy continues due to the sultan's sister not yet marrying, as is tradition by her age. The Church of Akkahl (correctly) accuses her of being a lesbian, which they claim taints the royal bloodline. It doesn't help matters that the sultan gives in to popular demand that same-sex marriage be legalized. This serves to divide the country further, as Akkahl's Church is an incredibly popular sect. All of this serves to prolong the war and further damage the lives of people caught in between the superpowers.
Question Time: No matter how pure and good something is, there's always something vile lurking in the dark. Who are the big-time criminals in your world? What do they do? Are they The Mafia or a small group of thugs? Where does their funding come from? Drugs? Embezzlement? Theft? And how do they get away with it? Are the skilled at what they do? Do they have friends in high places? Does money talk? Or are they just that intimidating?
edited 2nd Dec '13 8:42:20 PM by ZigtarXamos
The more rules there are to magic, the more ways the author will inevitably have to break them.Seeing as it's medieval times, highwaymen are the worst land-based threat for travelers. Not only are they mounted, said mounts are sapient unicorns. Most of the highwaymen are in the south, where Luzeny, the England analogue, is influential enough to strong-arm the wealthy into giving up their land, but they've become a more general problem throughout the kingdom.
They aren't really organized—the most organization they have is forming loose bands around roads or lonely areas and accosting travelers, especially solitary or undefended ones. The most famous highwaymen only keep enough money for food and give the surplus to the needy. Moreover, they try to limit their targets to foreigners (especially wealthy ones, or those from Luzeny). they have a habit of being portrayed as Sympathetic Criminals. Most of the locals turns a blind eye to highwayman activity as long as nobody gets hurt.
However, for every sympathetic or justified highwayman, there are ones who are pretty much standard criminals who find no problems stabbing you AND taking your valuables or they actively take advantage of the image.
Seeing as one of my protagonists is a foreign noble, this will cause problems in the story.
edited 16th Jun '12 9:41:56 AM by Sharysa
The biggest criminals in my world are dragon-men, raiders from over the sea who periodically raid up and down the coastline, and sometimes go up river. they are similar to vikings. nobody is feared more than the dragon men, and they are thought to be impossible to defeat. question time: what is perceived as one of the most major influences on your culture (Vikings: the sea, Arabs: the desert etc. etc.)
they tend towards material that will last a long time, apart from the lords and high officials, who wear slightly more expensive but still resilient clothing. the real difference is in armour. high class and rich people wear chainmail and metal helmets, while lower class people have boiled leather as their armour of choice. chainmail generally denotes either someone who is rich or managed to kill someone with mail, therefore probably a good fighter. Question: same one as in my previous answer.
My culture's most major influences are the sea and the mountains, so their terrain is largely suited to fishing/sailing and herding. The arable land is mostly in the south and east, but while farmers are necessary for staple crops, the ideal way to move up in the world is to buy or build up a herd of cattle. Or a trading ship, but that's even harder to start off since a single ship costs enough to feed a family for half a year.
What inter-cultural friction is there? Which cultures are allied with your main culture (trading partners, mutual protection, etc)? Which are antagonistic, "bizarre," or just left alone, and for what reasons?
edited 16th Jun '12 1:07:34 PM by Sharysa
The North is closely allied with the middle kingdom, ever since the northern king Abrecan secured their alliance centuries ago to drive out a combined blue-demon and dragon-men invasion of the north. they have a relationship similar to that of america and britain. the "mainlanders" are major trade partners of all four kingdoms, but everyone makes fun of them. There is an arabic culture far to the south which few know much about, but are generally thought of as strange because of their language and dress. Question: what is the closest related culture to your primary culture, and why?

edited 14th May '12 3:51:13 PM by Jabrosky
My DeviantArt Domain My Tumblr