The "Daily" Worldbuilding Prompt. Chapter 2

[Orc Knight]

Question 65: Ain’t no mountain high enough… or is there? What are the greatest natural barriers in your world?

The Dragons Spine mountain range is supposed to be a pretty good natural barrier. Most greenskins make their homes deep into the range. Most natural barriers are only such for those who have problems with such barriers, though many find ways around or through them. Or in some cases, break their way through them. The only truly natural seeming barrier is The Mouth, which is pretty much Eld on drugs. Everything is bigger, hungrier and harder to kill. It is said even angels and demons dare not tread there. And there's even been wars recorded within it. Because letting something like bigger nasties get in the way of a war just isn't going to happen.

 

[Vaporo]

Question 65: Ain’t no mountain high enough… or is there? What are the greatest natural barriers in your world?

The Barrier Between the Worlds - Not really a natural phenomenon, but too important not to mention. The Barrier is a magical construct that blocks the gateway between the planets of Dor and Gen, isolating the Fel from humanity.

The Aghat Mountains - A rocky oceanic mountain range that was practically unnavigable until recent times. The range extends over a thousand miles into the ocean and is over a hundred miles wide. There is no continental shelf. The crags jut straight up out of the sea floor, so coral can usually only form in thin bands near the shore or in relatively shallow passes between the mountains. As a result, even fish are scarce. The passes between the mountains are riddled with rocks and coral heads lurking just below the surface, waiting to gut any unfortunate ships brave enough to try crossing. The sheer cliffs, poor fishing and almost complete lack of arable farmland mean that there are few towns, so going around the range is going to be a long, slow, stormy haul. The range was long considered to be the edge of the world by Untian sailors, many of whom believed the mountains went on forever. The range is named after the first mate of the ship that first successfully crossed it.

Katasor - The desert on the southern edge of Untia. A thousand miles of hot, flat, dry dead. Easily the most arid place in the world. Many parts haven't seen rain in living memory. Few have dared make the crossing. There is one known oasis, and there is no natural landmark to indicate its presence.

The Arvus Ocean - The ocean to the west of the Aghat Mountains, it is named after is discoverer. It is a very stormy region. The cyclones that batter Untia often regain their strength crossing this ocean, making sailing across very dangerous and often a one-way trip.

 

[Ban]

Question 66: I’ve spent some time in the city, and decide to travel to the countryside. How does life differ? (Specifically, how does life differ in ways I wouldn’t expect as an earth resident?)

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 66: I’ve spent some time in the city, and decide to travel to the countryside. How does life differ? (Specifically, how does life differ in ways I wouldn’t expect as an earth resident?)

The whispering in the wind get's a lot more intense and it's a little easier to talk to the local spirits. The locals are fairly friendly but no less dangerous then the city folk. Some may be more dangerous, though it's variable. You'll find some local dukes and land lords who might be an ass, but no more or less then the usual. Those who are particularly corrupt or treat the peasants poorly no longer last as long as they did.

Most farms are communes and ideally try to share as best they can under whoever the local lords. Though most of all, you'll find a lot of wide open spaces and empty land due to the Lich Wars and a lot of post apocalyptic scenery. Be careful where you poke around and always be on the lookout for bandits, gnolls and centaur war herds. And you may run into the odd redcap home. In which case, run away. Far, far away. Elven serial killers are a bad thing. Report it to your nearest sheriff or local assassins guild outpost. The other thing to watch out for is undead, especially when you're poking about in ruins without adventurers or trained fighters (same thing really). Of course there's also the odd broken tower about, remnants of a world long gone.

That's about country wise for Eld, with the usual warnings about the folks about in it. All in all, life is a little slower, it's still as dangerous and you'll likely meet more dragons and the odd religious cult that's in hiding because it's a front for a Lich. Such is the way of things.

 

[Ban]

Almost forgot to post another question today.

Question 67: If you were to travel to your world, what would you do? (Where would you work/live/go for a drink?)

 

[Orc Knight]

Almost forgot to post another question today.

Question 67: If you were to travel to your world, what would you do? (Where would you work/live/go for a drink?)

Hahhahahaha. Try not to die and I hope I end up in more of the modern age of it. And head for orcish lands as quick as humanly possible. Hopefully survive the trip and take up a job that will probably end up going back to farming or something.

 

[Ban]

Question 68: What’s the average lifestory of a wizard? (How did they start? Where were they taught? What did they do most their lives? Etcetera.)

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 68: What’s the average lifestory of a wizard? (How did they start? Where were they taught? What did they do most their lives? Etcetera.)

For starters, there is no owl post informing them that they are one of the magical sorts. Most people on Eld have rudimentary sorts of magic to help with those little things through life and maybe help in the local bar fight or on the battlefield or even in the county faire pie eating contest. It helps to have magic in more then one form and a fair amount of power to back it up. Magic itself is not overly costly, but they will be hungry after using a lot of it because it is still energy being tossed about.

So, unless Eld is being completely dramatic and they aren't about to put into a story or song, most come into it young and into the teens (This often involves something being set on fire, as it is cliche). A truly gifted child among humans will have eyes the color of metals and precious metals, bronze being the starting point for a decent magic user. Others come with unusual colored eyes or their base eyes, but with fire coming out of them. So, once something like that comes up, depending on where they where born or live, they either take up with the local Hedge or get sent to one of the many guilds or Zukal if they're on the southern continent.

Hedges usually only have a little magic and go around sometimes doing party tricks (sometimes some are just magicians who are good at slight of hand, but any good magic user in the wizard/witch/mage category is fine with slight of hand), but can teach magical basics. Others are taught by a master and apprentice system or several if they join up into the guilds like The Hats to get taught. In Zukal, they have their main magical academy and several others for younger children before they get up to the place of higher learning. That has a small chance of killing said magic user if they do something daft. They've cut it down to twenty to thirty deaths a year, so it's not too bad.

As for what they do for their lives? Many take up positions in courts, work in villages and cities or go forth to do battle. Or build a tower of their own and shut out the world to do magical research in peace, only occasionally coming out to blast someone being annoying. Or they take up their roles in the songs and stories (that they have no choice in) and get to become Good and Evil as Eld tells them to take their place and their role. Or die. Terribly. Still others rise to great power and try to change the world through their own force of will. Or with politics and armies and such. Some take up hunting witch hunters (it's an equal opportunity killing game) and others go about trying to bring their idea of justice. Some set up bars. Still others sit and send adventurers off to faraway places, sometimes for a giggle and to see how many make it back. Some experiment and join up with alchemists to make things explode or change and reshape.

So, lot's of things for them. Though there are some other conditions with magic itself. Eld doesn't really do the whole 'squishy wizard' thing too much. Since magic takes a lot of energy to toss around and use, one has to be in pretty damn good physical condition too. Mage Knights are almost a standard as are other sorts of warriors. Even the local Hedge can trounce a few bandits without much issue.

Wizardry is also not restricted by race/species, so there are variations on them, but they still follow some of the same line. Just unlike humans, many of the others have such natural magic that they take basics as they grow up and come into it. Thus, they don't have to study and work more into it. Which is probably why humans have magical robot armies and everyone else doesn't.

 

[Ban]

Little early this one, and an early happy new year to all of you!

Question 69: Fireworks, parade balloons, contrail art and chinese lanterns. How do your peoples decorate the skies? (And why?)

 

[Vaporo]

Question 66: I’ve spent some time in the city, and decide to travel to the countryside. How does life differ? (Specifically, how does life differ in ways I wouldn’t expect as an earth resident?)
Not much variation from what you'd expect. You'd be more likely to be working a hron orchard than growing potatoes, but otherwise it's a pretty regular country life.

Question 67: If you were to travel to your world, what would you do? (Where would you work/live/go for a drink?)
First of all, I'd find a house far away from any hron orchards, since I know they bring eventual destruction to all who are near. Then, I'd teach the Untians how to smelt iron and get rich off of my "discovery." I'd also seek out Raldan the Immortal and impart him with all of the dark eldritch secrets of the universe, since he's likely the best equipped to handle them.

Question 68: What’s the average lifestory of a wizard? (How did they start? Where were they taught? What did they do most their lives? Etcetera.)
Magic is granted almost entirely at random when a Gift is absorbed into a person's mind. Most never realize that they even have a Gift and never utilize more than its most superficial abilities (immunity to alcohol, perfect memory, improved concentration, etc.) Since there are 1100 Gifts, there are never more that 1100 wizards in the world at a time, and due to the random nature of the power there are no major magical institutions except for the priesthood of the Amul. So, those that realize their potential are usually self-taught.

Since the cost of magic is the deletion of your own memories, most use their power very sparingly. It is possible to take the memories of others, but there are few who will give them up willingly. Since there is no other way to obtain memories other than blatant theft, most keep their power a secret since they know that they will soon become scapegoat for anyone in town who ever forgot anything (I didn't sleep with him! The wizard must have mind-controlled me and made me forget what happened.) or be otherwise ostracized. But, some who learn to use their Gift will let themselves be known publicly and sell services as such.

It is possible to pass the Gift on to another person, so sometimes a person may give their Gift to their child and instruct them in its usage, but this is rather uncommon since passing the Gift on requires that you give up the Gift yourself.

The only true magical institution in the world is the priesthood of the Amul. The Amul decry the Gifts as demonic trickery that can only be wielded by the most devoted of priests. Anyone who shows signs of magical power is brought forth and forced to surrender their magic to the priesthood. To be allowed to use a Gift can take decades of study and intense trials to prove your devotion. One may buy their way into a low-ranking position, but to advance beyond that you must actually study and work your way up the ladder. Most who are allowed to use the Gift are of modest origins, often starting out as a child or young adult who acted as an assistant to a local priest. Even after you've spend your entire life studying, you will still likely only be allowed to use the power occasionally to complete a specific task and then be required to return the Gift afterward. Only a handful of monks and priests are allowed to keep the power permanently, provided that they take precautions to return their Gift before death lest it be cast back out into the world.

There is also another class of magic that is unrelated to the Gifts. All magic in my world is based on the mind, and wizards are "Those who have turned their minds sideways and learned to think outward instead of inward." Those who learn to do this without the assistance of a Gift will usually have a very specific, often rather mundane sort of power, such as the ability to tell when people are lying. They will often obtain their power after receiving head trauma, or having an out-of-body experience. The Amul have monasteries dedicated to cultivating these sorts of people, where the monks spend almost every waking moment meditating and attempting to "turn their minds sideways." What these people choose to do with their power is highly dependent on the nature of the power. Someone who can always tell when people are lying may not even realize they're doing anything magical and exhibit their power openly. Someone who can kill anyone just by thinking their name could be in for a life of ordering people around and threatening anyone who gets in their way. Or hiding it and desperately hoping that they never trigger it by accident.

Question 69: Fireworks, parade balloons, contrail art and chinese lanterns. How do your peoples decorate the skies? (And why?)

At the coronation of a new king or queen or a royal wedding, Antisans will send out a barge filled with a half-circle of flammable material. Since Gen sits almost perfectly half above and half below the horizon, for half the night it will be totally dark. The ceremony will be held either in a large pavilion on the shore on on a large party barge, so when the half-circle is lit it will replace Gen for the half of the night that it is dark. The tradition comes from when a (rather insane) Antisan king ordered that Gen shine for the entirety of his wedding night. Luckily, this satisfied him, and it has been the tradition for large royal ceremonies ever since.

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 69: Fireworks, parade balloons, contrail art and chinese lanterns. How do your peoples decorate the skies? (And why?)

With really big paint brushes. Not really, just, sometimes. They do have fireworks and very creative uses of fireballs. And imagers using image magic. Or using meteor storms and astroids. Pieces of literal stars and the aurora's and other light magics. Also use dragon, wyvern and others in groups like the Blue Angels, maybe even actual angels and demons putting on flight shows. Some may be literally blue, because why not.

As for why? Sometimes it's military stuff, victories and feast days or someone got a hold of a drow party cannon or they were bored and decided the sky didn't really need to be blue today.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 52: A complex series of murders has been committed, and it has become aware that the rank and file police won’t be able to solve it. Who is sent to solve the case? (And will they succeed in finding the killer?)

I'll limit this one to Solaria, the largest nation and biggest beacon of civilization on the main world.

Constables, under the direction of Sheriffs, keep order in the countryside and smaller communities, though criminal investigation really isn't their forte. Imperial Agents - a assortment of groups collectively known as the 'Eyes' act as a semi-secret police. They can and do investigate unusual crimes. Crimes involving magic are the province of the Church, who send forth Inquisitors - often spell-casters themselves to pry into such matters.

The largest cities do have police forces of sorts: Athnor, the Holy City, is patrolled by the II Liberators - aka the 'Head Breakers,' notorious for brutal suppression of riots and demonstrations. The Head breakers boast special units skilled at infiltrating deviant groups. Other large cities have 'Urban Cohorts' or 'Vigils' - a sort of paramilitary police/firefighting force. They operate in squads whose behavior ranges from thuggish to refined, depending on what part of the city they're in. More difficult crimes are the province of the Inspectors - detectives of a sort.

As to solving a complex series of murders...the answer is they'd almost certainly find a politically suitable culprit who might even be the perpetrator.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 53: Can you give me an overview of your world’s most popular beverages?

'Carbone Red' (wine) gets mentioned fairly frequently. Melon-berry wine (more fruity than alcoholic) is also cited. Plus various teas and ales.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 54: Can you describe your world in 10 words or less?

Hmm...

'Lovecraftian entities collide with a quasi-roman empire.'

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 55: How is light taken care of at night? (Candles, torches, electric, magic. Who keeps them lit?)

The lower orders (plebes, serfs) mostly make do with candles or lanterns or go without. The upper classes employ spiky twigs from hot burning 'fumar' trees or more sophisticated lanterns. There are also 'storm-lights' employed by scholars and sailors entering dark holds: sealed lanterns that glow when two chemicals are combined within them.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 57: I’m invited to the grandest event of the year. What is it, and what should I wear? (And what would I wear if I were a woman? Or another species? Or…)

Toughie. Probably Saint Mithras Day - the Winter Solstice. Big feasts (differing menus depending on caste.) People do turn out in their best duds, which can be anything from fur cloaks to togas. Lots of singing, story telling and whatnot. The menfolk are supposed to hold an all night 'vigil' to welcome the rising sun, but usually drink too much and pass out.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 59: When broken down to its essence, what do the biggest religions in your world believe in? (Bonus: How do they treat each other?)

The Solarian Empire tolerates but a single faith - the True Church, which has its origins in a mishmash of Christian and gnostic faiths from the late 2nd century AD on earth (when Solaria's ancestors were moved to this world).

The Church is monotheistic: one God, who judges all souls, and is attended to by a plethora of angels and saints. The church is split into scores of saintly orders, each founded by charismatic preachers whose followings grew so large they had to be either incorporated or suppressed. There are multiple doctrinal differences between the orders.

Other faiths - especially the old pagan religions - are deemed false. Missionaries attempt to convert the heathens, but conversion by the sword has ample precedent.

One partial exception: the Church acknowledges that God, being universal, can be active outside the church. Pagan deities whose teachings align with the Churches are sometimes deemed 'Angels sent to prepare the way' and are incorporated into the faith. Biggest example is Mithras.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 68: What’s the average lifestory of a wizard? (How did they start? Where were they taught? What did they do most their lives? Etcetera.)

Wizards are (usually) descended from people (not always humans) who were tampered with by the Ancient Aliens. The 'AA's' technology had a strong psionic component, so they genetically enhanced that trait in their favored servants. The AA's are mostly long gone.

Something on the order of one person in a few thousand (varies) has sufficient psi talent to be worth training. Many don't; they go through life with knacks for finding direction, calming/influencing wild animals, lucky at dice, or orientation or some such. Most of the others are snagged by the Church, and live a sort of cloistered life, healing and making potions and what not in one or another of the Orders. (Saint Fabia's is one of the more important). Worth noting that most people regard magic as the True God's personal property that he will sometimes lend to authorized users (priests).

The rest are a mixed bag from diverse backgrounds ranging from entertainers to bards to peasants to with special knacks to scholars. The vast majority are trained at one of the four Academies: Mystic Mountain, Solaces University, the Library in Hermosa, or one of Corber Ports petty institutions. Many remain at these places; others travel about spending a few months in this or that town casting petty cantrips in the marketplace or seeking patronage from the local gentry.

 

[Ban]

Question 70: How does a package or message arrive from one place to another?

 

[Deleted member 6067]

I'm loving this kind of challenge threads. Let's see...

Question 51: From knights of virtue to pirates on the seven seas, what types of people have been romanticized in your world?

Funnily enough you just actually answered my question. Then again, it is supposed to be a more downplayed, idealistic take on certain creatures and backgrounds.

Question 52: A complex series of murders has been committed, and it has become aware that the rank and file police won’t be able to solve it. Who is sent to solve the case? (And will they succeed in finding the killer?)

If the incident is that severe, most likely case will be that it will be a cooperative action issued from Belleport that encompasses all of the city's guilds to work with the guards. Nearby settlements may be alerted and most likely join on the hunt as well. It's in nobody's interest to upset the balance that they fought so hard for. As for getting caught, question most often is not 'if' but 'when'. That's what I think would happen, at least.

Question 53: Can you give me an overview of your world’s most popular beverages?

Ale and rum for the pub-going humans, tea for the more sophisticated ones, and virgin blood for the vampires.

Question 54: Can you describe your world in 10 words or less?

Victorian Magical Bermuda Triangle

Question 55: How is light taken care of at night? (Candles, torches, electric, magic. Who keeps them lit?)

There is like... one lit street in Evera at night, which uses these old cubic lanterns with yellow glass (most broken at least in one panel). Jack the night-guard is responsible for those, being one of the few vampires in town as far as I know. It's mostly the villagers put their candles by the windows. As for Belleport, they mostly use gas but there has been a few of these new luminescent crystals (named Aurorium) that can create lots of light with a small infusion of mana. It was a project of the Arcantists' Guild to help the humans at Frostholme not burn down their own wooden houses by accident.

Question 58: What’s the greatest trick pulled in your world’s history? (You have free reign to determine what “great” entails)

Some pirate and her small crew of friends spent months getting the trust of Mainland authorities and then successfully stole the prototype of the biggest battleship ever built, turning it into their own sea fortress.

Question 59: When broken down to its essence, what do the biggest religions in your world believe in? (Bonus: How do they treat eachother?)

Not an expert so don't quote me on that one, but as far as I know:

• Lilithism is the belief that Lilith created the blessing of vampirism: a way of eternal life by simply drinking others' blood, which the demented beast Sygian corrupted and malformed into a curse before The First Childe (Lilian) could spread it. Lilith eventually defeated him but she couldn't reverse the curse as Lilian has turned everybody she came across into vampires, succubbi and other parasitic beings, unaware of the events. Later she was turned against and hunted down, and she became a demi-god after executed thirsty for revenge or something like that.
• Humans have a strange religion where there are six gods and each god stands for a different aspect of life (work, harvest, conflict, healing, etc...)

Question 60: What about weddings? (Who officiates? Where are they typically held? How many people are invited? How significant is marriage in your world? What would be an ideal wedding?)

Typical normal weddings, I would say.

Whoof, that's all I could muster up for now. Will do more if I can next time.