AcolyteHi all,
I’m a recent joiner to this forum and I’ve loved reading through the many threads over the last couple of days. I’d appreciate any thoughts you may have on the world I’m developing.
I’ve already done one novel set in this world, and I’m expanding it as a write my second. This is a brief overview of a world bible that’s already about thirty pages long.
My setting is a grounded fantasy world built around the idea that the age of expansion and heroic conquest is over. The continent is divided into five human kingdoms that survived a far harsher past and now exist in uneasy equilibrium with one another, shaped as much by fear, compromise, and institutions as by kings or crowns. Monsters still exist, ancient ruins still scar the land, and magic has not vanished, but most societies have learned to contain or marginalise these forces rather than confront them head on.
The world is not one of rising glory, but of maintenance. Borders must be held, threats managed, and old mistakes quietly lived with.
The Five Kingdoms
Alteria is a heavily militarised state built around constant readiness. It sits on the frontier between civilisation and chaos, bordering both the semi-lawless Baronies to the south and the orc-infested Central Wastes beyond. Alterian culture values discipline, hierarchy, and preparedness. Its cities are fortified, its roads patrolled, and its institutions closely tied to military authority. Alteria does not expand easily, but it holds what it claims with grim efficiency. The Adventurers Guild is headquartered here, not because Alteria is mercantile, but because it understands the value of organised, regulated violence.
Kranea is a theocratic kingdom where faith and governance are inseparable. Public life is structured around ritual, doctrine, and moral authority, and its cities are monumental expressions of divine order. Beneath the surface, Kranea is intensely political. Orthodoxy is enforced selectively, heresy is often convenient, and divine magic is treated as both sacred and dangerous. Obedience matters more than belief.
Estencos is wealthy, mercantile, and socially fluid. Power here flows through trade, patronage, reputation, and leverage rather than armies. Its ports connect the continent to the wider world, and its cities thrive on information as much as coin. Estencos culture prizes charm, flexibility, and plausible deniability. Loyalty is transactional, and influence is rarely visible until it is already decisive.
Nordvail is a northern kingdom shaped by cold, memory, and war. Its people value endurance, restraint, and shared obligation. A recent war of succession has left deep scars, and Nordvail society is sceptical of grand causes and heroic rhetoric. Authority is local and personal rather than ideological, and the past is treated as something to be remembered carefully, not celebrated.
Transvas lies at the edge of the continent and represents what the rest of the world once was. It is the last true wilderness, sparsely populated and permanently dangerous. Gnolls dominate the hills, kobolds infest the lowlands, and ruins from an ancient pre-human civilisation litter the landscape. Monsters are common, safety is local, and survival rarely scales beyond small fortified settlements. Transvas has only one true city, Greyreach, which exists as a fortified trade and power hub because something has to. Beyond its walls, civilisation survives only through constant effort.
The Shape of the World
Long before the current kingdoms, an older civilisation dominated the continent and then vanished. Its remnants remain everywhere, built over, ignored, or misunderstood. Most modern societies have adapted by limiting their ambitions, avoiding large-scale disruption, and outsourcing danger to specialists.
Institutions such as the Adventurers Guild exist not because the world is adventurous, but because it is unstable. There are still beasts out there, and someone may as well make some real money from keeping them in check. Violence still shapes history, but it is increasingly contractual, regulated, and compartmentalised.
Magic in the Five Kingdoms
Magic exists in the world, but it is neither abundant nor casually used. It is dangerous, difficult to master, and often poorly understood. Most practitioners fall into one of two broad traditions: arcane magic, which is learned through study, experimentation, and personal aptitude; and divine magic, which is mediated through faith, ritual, and institutional structures. Both are rare enough that most people will only ever encounter magic a handful of times in their lives, usually during moments of crisis or violence.
Arcane magic is treated with suspicion across much of the continent. It is unreliable, physically taxing, and prone to unintended consequences when misused. Formal magical education exists, but it is limited, expensive, and tightly controlled, often producing more failures than successes. Divine magic is more socially accepted, but no less feared. It is regulated through religious hierarchies, bound by doctrine, and subject to political oversight. Miracles are real, but inconsistent, and their absence is as significant as their presence. In practice, magic is another unstable force that kingdoms attempt to contain, regulate, or weaponise carefully, rather than a solution to the world’s problems.
Essentially I’ve tried to make a world where I can tell a variety of different stories, from tight character focussed tales to larger scale grand narratives. I’ve also tried to create checks and balances (especially with magic) so that no one faction becomes overpowered.
I’m particularly interested in feedback on whether the kingdoms feel distinct without leaning too hard on familiar fantasy archetypes, and whether the balance between grounded realism and classic fantasy elements feels coherent.
Have at it folks…
I’m a recent joiner to this forum and I’ve loved reading through the many threads over the last couple of days. I’d appreciate any thoughts you may have on the world I’m developing.
I’ve already done one novel set in this world, and I’m expanding it as a write my second. This is a brief overview of a world bible that’s already about thirty pages long.
My setting is a grounded fantasy world built around the idea that the age of expansion and heroic conquest is over. The continent is divided into five human kingdoms that survived a far harsher past and now exist in uneasy equilibrium with one another, shaped as much by fear, compromise, and institutions as by kings or crowns. Monsters still exist, ancient ruins still scar the land, and magic has not vanished, but most societies have learned to contain or marginalise these forces rather than confront them head on.
The world is not one of rising glory, but of maintenance. Borders must be held, threats managed, and old mistakes quietly lived with.
The Five Kingdoms
Alteria is a heavily militarised state built around constant readiness. It sits on the frontier between civilisation and chaos, bordering both the semi-lawless Baronies to the south and the orc-infested Central Wastes beyond. Alterian culture values discipline, hierarchy, and preparedness. Its cities are fortified, its roads patrolled, and its institutions closely tied to military authority. Alteria does not expand easily, but it holds what it claims with grim efficiency. The Adventurers Guild is headquartered here, not because Alteria is mercantile, but because it understands the value of organised, regulated violence.
Kranea is a theocratic kingdom where faith and governance are inseparable. Public life is structured around ritual, doctrine, and moral authority, and its cities are monumental expressions of divine order. Beneath the surface, Kranea is intensely political. Orthodoxy is enforced selectively, heresy is often convenient, and divine magic is treated as both sacred and dangerous. Obedience matters more than belief.
Estencos is wealthy, mercantile, and socially fluid. Power here flows through trade, patronage, reputation, and leverage rather than armies. Its ports connect the continent to the wider world, and its cities thrive on information as much as coin. Estencos culture prizes charm, flexibility, and plausible deniability. Loyalty is transactional, and influence is rarely visible until it is already decisive.
Nordvail is a northern kingdom shaped by cold, memory, and war. Its people value endurance, restraint, and shared obligation. A recent war of succession has left deep scars, and Nordvail society is sceptical of grand causes and heroic rhetoric. Authority is local and personal rather than ideological, and the past is treated as something to be remembered carefully, not celebrated.
Transvas lies at the edge of the continent and represents what the rest of the world once was. It is the last true wilderness, sparsely populated and permanently dangerous. Gnolls dominate the hills, kobolds infest the lowlands, and ruins from an ancient pre-human civilisation litter the landscape. Monsters are common, safety is local, and survival rarely scales beyond small fortified settlements. Transvas has only one true city, Greyreach, which exists as a fortified trade and power hub because something has to. Beyond its walls, civilisation survives only through constant effort.
The Shape of the World
Long before the current kingdoms, an older civilisation dominated the continent and then vanished. Its remnants remain everywhere, built over, ignored, or misunderstood. Most modern societies have adapted by limiting their ambitions, avoiding large-scale disruption, and outsourcing danger to specialists.
Institutions such as the Adventurers Guild exist not because the world is adventurous, but because it is unstable. There are still beasts out there, and someone may as well make some real money from keeping them in check. Violence still shapes history, but it is increasingly contractual, regulated, and compartmentalised.
Magic in the Five Kingdoms
Magic exists in the world, but it is neither abundant nor casually used. It is dangerous, difficult to master, and often poorly understood. Most practitioners fall into one of two broad traditions: arcane magic, which is learned through study, experimentation, and personal aptitude; and divine magic, which is mediated through faith, ritual, and institutional structures. Both are rare enough that most people will only ever encounter magic a handful of times in their lives, usually during moments of crisis or violence.
Arcane magic is treated with suspicion across much of the continent. It is unreliable, physically taxing, and prone to unintended consequences when misused. Formal magical education exists, but it is limited, expensive, and tightly controlled, often producing more failures than successes. Divine magic is more socially accepted, but no less feared. It is regulated through religious hierarchies, bound by doctrine, and subject to political oversight. Miracles are real, but inconsistent, and their absence is as significant as their presence. In practice, magic is another unstable force that kingdoms attempt to contain, regulate, or weaponise carefully, rather than a solution to the world’s problems.
Essentially I’ve tried to make a world where I can tell a variety of different stories, from tight character focussed tales to larger scale grand narratives. I’ve also tried to create checks and balances (especially with magic) so that no one faction becomes overpowered.
I’m particularly interested in feedback on whether the kingdoms feel distinct without leaning too hard on familiar fantasy archetypes, and whether the balance between grounded realism and classic fantasy elements feels coherent.
Have at it folks…
Myth Weaver
