The "Daily" Worldbuilding Prompt. Chapter 3

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

Question 103: Can you tell me about a minority culture in your world, whom are largey unknown by most of your world's residence?

One of the minority folk in my world are the Asrai, derived somewhat from the English folklore/fairy creatures.

These diminutive flesh and blood folk live in one room stone cottages built upon pylons/foundations out in the tidal flats of the bay which makes for easy access to the waters they are drawn to. The have blue, semi-translucent skin, large black eyes that have a protective flap that emerges to cover and protect them when they're underwater. They are my world's fisher-folk, responsible for the bulk of the net and trap work during the "push" tides, created by the pull of the dual moons and the sun, that drive fish into the bay and up the river mouths by the thousands. They can breathe on land or in water and their mouths feature a whale-like baleen, allowing them to feed while swimming, that retracts to reveal rows of tiny, sharp teeth.

They speak through/in the water to each other but are silent on land. They're also night folk, preferring to be out under the moons and asleep during the days. They are an ancient race, once far more prominent in the world and they serve as the memory of the world's history, though none of the land based folk have any notion of their fulfilling that role. Most choose to avoid them when they can, finding them to be too odd to engage with, though most are thankful to them for their skills at harvesting fish and shellfish, both main sources of food for this land.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 103:

Can you tell me about a minority culture in your world, whom are largley unknown by most of your world's residence?

Plenty of obscure groups on both my principle worlds - tribes, races, ethnic groups. Dwarves would be one example: not unknown, but not regarded as a truly separate race, either - merely shorter than normal humans valued as level headed advisers and craftsmen. There are 'dwarf districts,' but no real towns or nations.

Another example would be the Ervin, the more or less direct descendants of those humans who were the favored servants of the utterly alien Dawn Races. Many small bands of Ervin evaded the destruction that befell their masters and went on to establish miniature civilized enclaves elsewhere, using scattered scraps of preserved lore. Clans descended from these bands hold substantial mystic authority in remote city states.

 

[Ban]

Question 104: Do the elderly retire? If so, what would be the stereotypical way someone would spend their old aage? If not, why not?

 

[Gotis]

Question 104: Do the elderly retire? If so, what would be the stereotypical way someone would spend their old age? If not, why not?

Retirement is for the rich.
Most folk work until they die. Some transition to less strenuous work allowing the younger one to take over the heavy lifting. Some don't have anyone to take over, others are too proud too quit.
Among the orcs there is no true retirement. They're expected to die fighting. Those who haven't by a certain age will seek it out. Some go hunting dangerous creatures. Some cities have elderly fight clubs. On occasion an old orc might stand on a street corner goading young folks in a fight.

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 104: Do the elderly retire? If so, what would be the stereotypical way someone would spend their old aage? If not, why not?

Like the above answer, retirement really isn't a concept yet. Most of the elderly tend to be cared for by their families, particularly in the Greenkin, if they somehow manage to live that old. Not helped by such things as the Battle Born, who rarely make it to old age and often die in spectacular fights. As they were born on the battlefield, so they shall die. Mostly a wood elf thing, but up until the Lich Wars there were more then a few such. Most just work their trade and go through the day to day motions.

The best course for many is to end up in either Healers Halls or a Hearth Temple. They can expect to be taken care of quite well and if they feel need to be useful, they can work within their limits. Others are stubborn sorts who will work and live quite happily on their own until they go to the grave and spend time talking to the local Hedges or shouting at kid's in the city to get away from their place. But full on actual retiring isn't a concept as of yet.

 

[Miles Lacey]

Question 104: Do the elderly retire? If so, what would be the stereotypical way someone would spend their old aage? If not, why not?

Because the Tarakan Empire sprawls across many millions of square kilometres of ocean many communities are completely isolated so there is often no means for the elderly to receive a pension so the usual practice is for the elderly to be placed in Halls of the Elders where the elderly spend their final years mediating on matters of ethics, morals or other matters that courts are too busy to deal with. This is also the case in most villages and remoter towns.

In bigger towns and cities local authorities tend to pay an old age pension that is enough to provide for their basic needs and provide them with basic housing.

Only elderly people who have served the Imperial or regional government either as public servants, law enforcement or in the military are paid a pension.

Elderly people who live in the home of an aristocrat or a wealthy benefactor (such as members of a harem or the household staff) are usually paid a large sum of money and moved to a summer house where they can live out their final days in a life of reasonable comfort if they save their money and live off the interest.

Among nomadic communities the standard practice is to abandon the elderly as soon as they are too old to perform their duties because they become a burden to the collective group. Wherever possible they are left in a temple or shrine, thus the reason why so many remoter shrines will often have elderly people praying, meditating or wandering around offering help and advice.

 

[ThinkerX]

Question 104: Do the elderly retire? If so, what would be the stereotypical way someone would spend their old aage? If not, why not?

for humans, the answer is much as previous posts: not really, although younger folks are expected to take care of their elders. Some occasionally retire to special monasteries, but that's not common.

Goblins and hobgoblins are a bit different - they age in a different fashion than humans. The typical (male) member of these races will appear every as energetic at 60 as he did at 20. But, once old age sets in, it does so hard and fast; their bodies degrade to the point of failure in months, a year or two at most. Some commit ritual suicide at this point, others retire to the Halls, dispensing wanted or unwanted consul to any who come by.

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

The world I'm working in is inhabited by a dozen different types of folk and this answer varies village to village. Some villages revere their elders and wait on them hand and foot. Others work as long as they are able right alongside their kin or take over less strenuous matters. However, each village is overseen by a Doyenne who is, by default, the eldest person in the village. They then select a small group of three, usually elders as well, though it is not a mandate that they must choose so, to sit in council with on village concerns. When a Doyenne dies they are replaced by the next eldest in the village.

 

[Devor]

Question 103: Can you tell me about a minority culture in your world, whom are largey unknown by most of your world's residence?

Funny, figuring this out is my next worldbuilding challenge, the last significant hurdle I have on my country map. (To be clear, I'm also writing.)

In my story the nation has a special province that remains feudalistic. Its position on the map, with a mountain range on one side and a huge number of swamps and rivers along the coast, have kept it isolated, and it only joined the main country on the condition of retaining special autonomy.

Recently I've been thinking there may be some kind of colony that another big country established there, which then went independent and semi-native, kind of like the Vikings of Normandy in France. But the region needs to be poor, feudalistic, a little backwards, so I'm struggling to decide what kind of culture and background that colony might be.

Yay! I finally cracked it! Now I can tell you all about my country's minority culture.

Well, there's a few details still to iron out (read: naming issues). :shrug:

Once upon a time there was a family of lonely ogre-like creatures. They were big and dumb, but also friendly and awkward and sad. Their entire small race had their pride stripped from them by fairies. People didn't like them, and eventually attacked them, burning down their home and killing several of their small number. In the ashes of their home a gateway appeared, through which they entered into the endless battlefields of one of the orc gods. "I will sell you a clan of orc slave warriors," he promised, "and you can rule over this region."

The ogre-like creatures agreed, and within a few weeks a clan of orcs arrived on ships to invade. But the ogre-creatures didn't want to invade. They didn't want to rule. In their minds they had bought new orc slave.... friends.

The struggles that followed were awkward, confusing, and cruel. The orcs hated farming. The humans hated orcs. The ogre-creatures never found their friends. And the system fell apart.

Today humans and orcs live side by side under the rule of a feudal lord, whose power comes from the heads of the ogre creatures which now line his walls. Their heavily taxidermied heads retain their innate magics, the orc god's contract, and the lingering magics of the sprites' geis on them, giving this lord enough force to retain his feudal autonomy as part of an otherwise developing nation.

But the people beneath him, many of whom are now a little part orc, hate it and yearn to join the modern world.

 

[Ban]

Question 105: Butterflies, swans and peacocks. Can you tell me about a creature considered beautiful in your world? (Bonus: How are they used by artists and poets? Are any specific values attached to them?)

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 105: Butterflies, swans and peacocks. Can you tell me about a creature considered beautiful in your world? (Bonus: How are they used by artists and poets? Are any specific values attached to them?)

Those three of course, phoenix's, certain types of dragons, jungle birds and well, pretty much anything colorful. But since you also said creature, sylvans, angels and demons can all fall under it too. Though since swans got mentioned, there are Swan Maids and Knights too. Shifter sorts but considered quite beautiful, if kind of brutal at times. They can be a foul fowl after all. But all are used by artists and poets much the same way they are on earth.

 

[Miles Lacey]

Question 105: Butterflies, swans and peacocks. Can you tell me about a creature considered beautiful in your world? (Bonus: How are they used by artists and poets? Are any specific values attached to them?)

One of the most beautiful, if very elusive, creatures are the maliit na pakpak (or merely pakpak) who reside in jungles and woodlands of the northern regions of the Tarakan Empire. They tend to come in a variety of colours but usually the darker shades of the colours of the rainbow. Because of their small size (the average sized pakpak is less than a foot tall) and their tendency to only come out at night it is claimed by many people that pakpak don't exist. Despite their alluring appearance which many a writer and poet has written about they often have a vicious temperament and their bite is almost always fatal to all humanoids except the Tautai.

(The image is purely for inspiration, not for use in anything I may write or publish.)

 

[MrNybble]

Question 105: Butterflies, swans and peacocks. Can you tell me about a creature considered beautiful in your world? (Bonus: How are they used by artists and poets? Are any specific values attached to them?)

There is a creature I have never given a name to. A cross between a mollusk and jellyfish. When it stops moving for any reason in the water in lives, it deploys a gas bag like appendage that floats above the surface of the water. This gas bag trails dozens of tendrils like a jellyfish that glow with a bio luminances while the mollusk part is anchored under the water. The light attracts things that stick to the threads and paralyzes them. Once enough food is collected, it deflates the gas bag and withdraws the tendrils to feast.

Sometimes dozens if not hundreds collected in areas. This provides an eerie light show for people. Tendrils that can get up to half a dozen meters in height. Each having a varied undulating color pattern unique to each creature. An effect called the "Dance of Demon Fingers" by most that have witnessed the spectacle. This has inspired many tales and lores over the centuries.

 

[Ban]

Question 106: Hangovers. How hard does the alcohol hit your fantasy races, and what cures have they concocted for it? (Bonus: Do the cures actually work?)

 

[Svrtnsse]

Question 106: Hangovers. How hard does the alcohol hit your fantasy races, and what cures have they concocted for it? (Bonus: Do the cures actually work?)

This is my area of "expertise" or whatever it's called when talking about things you've made up yourself - or, at least, it should be. A while back I started a thread about whether or not werewolves get hangovers. My thinking is that they do, but that they will need to drink a lot more than regular humans in order to get it.
I've not actually put too much thought into how the other races are affected by overconsumption of alcohol, but I know that at least the anfylk get hangovers. For the elves and the dwarves I don't actually know.

With respect to cures, the anfylk do have them, but they're complicated to make, and require expensive ingredients. As is common with anfylk, the cure is taken by smoking a pipe. I dug up a section from my would-be debut novel Enar's Vacation, where Enar gets offered the cure:

Back on the porch Enar found Beired waiting for him, still sitting at her usual seat, where he'd seen her earlier. In front of her on the table lay a thick cutting board made of stone, and beside it stood a heavy mortar and pestle. Spread out in a disorderly jumble around the board and mortar stood a plethora of jars and tins, pouches and little bags; probably full of herbs and roots and other nature-medicine things he'd never heard of.

When he arrived at the table she looked up and greeted him with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Well...” he scratched his head and looked away, at the hanging chair where he'd sat last night. “I'm okay, I guess, sort of...” He coughed and put his hand up to cover his face. “Just a bit of the-morning-after, you know. Nothing major. I'll be fine.”

“You look like shit.”

Enar blushed. “Um... Yes, sorry. I...” He looked down at his feet. “I'm not at my best.” She was probably right. If he looked even half as bad as he felt he should be happy they didn't have a mirror in his guest burrow. “Sorry,” he said again.

“That's okay. Did Linnea explain?”

“Well, she said you were doing some kind of medicine?”

Beired sighed. “Didn't, then.”

“Oh...” Enar hesitated. “Is there something I should know?”

“Here.” Beired pointed at a small, bone white, pipe sitting on a stand among the jars and tins. A faint trail of smoke wove its way up from its bowl. “You know how to smoke a pipe, right?”

“Uhm... yes... Is that all?” Enar looked at the table with all its tins and pouches.

“Yes.” Beired looked up at him. “Third puff will be unpleasant, so sit down. That's all you need to know – for now.”

He nodded. The secrets of the hills again. “I see.”

“Good,” said Beired with a grin that said he had no idea what he was talking about. “Sit.”

Enar pulled out a chair and sat down. Beired pointed at the pipe and nodded for him to go ahead. He picked it up and weighed it in his hand. Much lighter than he'd expected. The light played over the surface of the bowl, creating an illusion of thick, rolling, fog. Mesmerized he stared at it.

“Cloudswool,” said Beired. “Family heirloom.”

Enar froze. “Oh...” Don't drop it. Don't drop it. Don't drop it. “I've never seen one of those before.” He swallowed. Not an illusion. “They're very rare aren't they?”

“Very.”

He looked at her. Cloudswool pipe, herbs and roots; what was he getting himself into? Maybe he should do like Linnea and run for it. He could deal with a hangover. It'd go away on its own eventually. Beired looked him in the eye, and said nothing. His stomach clenched.​

The story then goes on to describe what happens when Enar smokes the pipe, and in the end, the hangover is completely gone.

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 106: Hangovers. How hard does the alcohol hit your fantasy races, and what cures have they concocted for it? (Bonus: Do the cures actually work?)

They've been known to exist, lurking around dark corners with giant wooden mallets to hit whoever drank two kegs of Pink's Iced Ale or took down too many bottles of Shanty Side Rum on the head. Pretty much everyone can get them, though some can get magical augments and spells to make it not a problem. Others have such active metabolisms that they have to drink a lot and drink something really strong to get them, or just ask for anything made by drow, which solves both problems fairly quickly.

Most of the true lushes have decided that the only cure is to drink some more, which is the one and only true cure. According to them. Most common among the cures for those who don't want to (immediately) get back into drinking is just food. Lot's and lot's of food. Actually, as with Svrt and while something I have shown in chat before, let me gat the hangover breakfast for a starting adventurer who didn't realize it was a good idea to drink with a Priestess of Lolth and a dwarf.

"Drink before you talk." He said kindly. She did so, giving a raspy thank you. It was hot, extremely strong tea that caused her to cough a bit.

"The hells is that?" She sputtered.

"Soldiers tea. The tea of the every day fighter."

"Oh." She grimaced a little and drank some more. "How'd I get here? Where, is here?"

"Here is the Red Knight Inn. I am Jorgen, owner and proprietor. Dwarf called Olgaf and some drow brought you in. Paid for the night and for the hangover cure you'd be needing. Not good to be in debt to either of those, girl." He said. "Now have a seat and we'll get some proper food in you."

Said food turned out to be a tin platter full of fried eggs, hashed potatoes, sausages and bacon smothered in gravy and a side of cheese and bread. It was a ridiculously large meal, but she began to eat it anyways. And to her surprise, she finished it. And three cups of the tea. It was good, once she got past it's darkness and bitterness. She figured to buy some before heading out. Jorgen slipped a paper in front of her.

As a note, the Soldiers Tea is also considered a good and proper thing for waking up and getting over the hangover. Some places do stews or oats and other heavy breakfasts. Some even advise drinking lot's of water. With a plate of much food.

 

[Miles Lacey]

Question 106: Hangovers. How hard does the alcohol hit your fantasy races, and what cures have they concocted for it? (Bonus: Do the cures actually work?)

The most infamous alcoholic beverage served in the Tarakan Empire is vine mamago - spicy rice wine - which is made from an assortment of fruits, rice, spices and (according to rumours) pakpak piss. If you think of your worst hangover and multiply it by ten you might get an idea about what sort of hangover this stuff gives you. The police reckon that shutting the hungover victim in a sound proof cell with no light whatsoever after beating them senseless in the interrogation cell is the best cure: if nothing else the pain from the beating will take your mind off the hangover. Tautai reckon coconut milk drunk straight from the coconut is best - if you can stand the screaming agony caused by the sound of anything being tapped. Everyone else prefers Sinigang Na Baboy (pork rind soup served with pineapples).

 

[Ban]

Question 107: Land-Oysters, Sea-Giraffes and Flying-Bears. What sort of strange and terrifying evolutions have you subjected real world animals to in your worlds?


(Yeah I read the chat Svrt and Orc. Sneaky buggers )

 

[Svrtnsse]

Of the three mentioned above, I do have flying bears - or Wind Bears, as I named them - in my setting. Roughly speaking, they're a bear-version of the flying squirrel. Mostly they sail on the wind and climb on cliffs and mountain sides.

There are also flying luminous jellyfish, which is why I believe prairie-oysters may be a thing too, but I haven't actually written them into the setting yet. The same goes for sea-giraffes, but now I really want to add them. Searaffe?

 

[Svrtnsse]

Also, in one of my books, the main character got attacked by a giant squid, in the jungle.