The "Daily" Worldbuilding Prompt

[WooHooMan]

Question 5: What strange beliefs do your peoples have about places lying beyond the known world? (Here be dragons!)

The world has one continent that is pretty well explored (though not by the humans). Out in the ocean, it's said that there are giant sentient crystal knifes that wreck-up anything that comes too close to the border of the sea and the sky. Not that anyone would know since time is frozen in that region so even if one could go there, they wouldn't be able to leave. In fact, time and space get pretty wonky the further out to sea you go. Closer to the land, there's a species of giant telepathic coral that are known to maliciously take control of people's minds. This isn't true. That species died out a long time ago. The giant psychic manta rays are real though and just as dangerous (if not more so)
Past the sky, it's believed that there is mostly empty black nothingness with some gigantic balls of fire and a few small balls of rock. This belief is not completely true. It's also believed there's a 6 sextillion ton ball of flesh with various carnivorous monsters living on its surface floating out in that darkness. That belief is true and it's also one of the less terrifying things out there.

 

[ScaryMJDiamcreep]

An addidtion to my answer for question 5:

It is believed that on the far away continent, there is the palaces of many of the deities that don't have an obvious place for their palace to be. On the continent that the humans of my world reside on, the palaces for the deities of Life, Death, Light, and Shadows. Then there are the water deities, whose palaces are under the ocean somewhere. There is believed to be some kind of grand palace that they all meet at, but it is not known where that might be.
Not much is known about space. Telescopes are pretty new, and no-one has thought to point them up yet, so they don't know about other planets yet. What they do know is that there is the palaces of the deities of Space, the Sun, and the Moon up there.

 

[Ban]

Question 6: Pets and mounts. Which are some of the interesting ones your world has? (Bonus question: For what are they used?)

 

[Ban]

Question 6: Pets and mounts. Which are some of the interesting ones your world has? (Bonus question: For what are they used?)

In 2080, biologists in and from the URS (Union of Russian States) have mastered the art of domesticating animals through careful breeding, as well as controlled genetic manipulation (legal in the URS on animals, but not on humans). A variety of domesticated animals can be bought, from moose to lynx to komodo dragon. Most of these animals are expensive to obtain, but a great a way for the established elite and nouveau riche to display their affluence. Some pets, like the domesticated fox or capybara are priced the same as an average cat or dog, and can be found all over the world. They're great at keeping vermin populations in control, but are mostly bought to liven up the household and cuddle with.

In the warzones you can find genetic abberations bred and modified for martial purposes. This is considered a form of severe animal mistreatment in the rest of the world, and buying or selling these beast can lead to hefty fines, and confiscation of the animal.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

Question 6: Pets and mounts. Which are some of the interesting ones your world has? (Bonus question: For what are they used?)
Pretty much the only pets there are in the OmniCosmos are cats, who come from the universe of Femifelia, but its more of a partnership than anything.
No one needs mounts, as there are much more efficient ways of getting around.

 

[ScaryMJDiamcreep]

There is a weird species in my world which is a slime-based creature called a Gem Slime. It consumes stones, gemstones, coal and charcoal, as well as having mild photosynthesis. Any minerals that it consumes which are not necessary for it's functions get turned into gemstones on it's surface, which it can use as defenses. One of the earliest gemstones this creature makes is called an elemental diamond, which can, if charged in the sunlight, be used to cast weak elemental spells, such as the simple fireball. This creature comes in many natural shapes, and there's two main varients: armoured and non-armoured. The armoured varients are rarer than the non-armoured, and are coated in small scales or large plates made of gemstones, mostly obsidian. An armoured varient either lives in an environment with large mineral deposits, or has lived a long, peaceful life, as that's the only way for the gemstone scales to have had time to build up. Armoured varients spend a lot of the day resting if they can't get lots of minerals, as the armour lessens the effectiveness of their photosynthesis. Most have wings, and use air spells to fly, and there are some that do not have legs, which generally fly at all times, as to not accidentally dissolve their way through the planet. When young, they are about the size of a small dog, and most are about horse size at adulthood, though there are legends of ones that resemble various types of dragon, and can grow to about the size of Smaug. Generally, they would be befriended while dog-sized, and raised as pets until they reach a size where they are big enough to ride, at which point they are generally trained to become mounts, much like horses. There are rumors that the Apostle of the deity of Truth and deity of Lies(a miracle in itself, a single person being the Apostle of two deities) has a dragon-shaped Gem Slime. The horse-sized ones might sometimes be found among cavalry, and are much more deadly than a horse, due to their ability to cast small spells and the general immunity slime-based creatures have to being killed by melee weapons. The dragon-shaped ones could be used for so many different ways that it would be best to assume anything a dragon can do, they probably can as well, but maybe not as powerful. The dragon-shaped ones are also able to cast stronger spells, and often have many elemental diamonds, allowing for multiple different elements to be used in one go. Mages are experimenting on what happens when a Gem Slime is fed crystallised mana and other highly magical minerals, but no clear results as of yet.

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 6: Pets and mounts. Which are some of the interesting ones your world has? (Bonus question: For what are they used?)

Given Eld starts from the point of a standard fantasy RPG world, there's pretty much everything from horses to the dragon family line (dragons, drakes, wyverns, serpents and wyrms) and griffons, Pegasus and unicorns and wolves and bears (no Russians riding them). There's boar riders and sandworms and eight legged horses that run on the sky. Giant crabs and lobsters and other sea going creatures are used too. They can all be quite interesting. The drow tend to make the more interesting creatures, like Hydra's and cockatrices and manticores and other mixed monstrosities for use as curiosities and for war and fun. The humans have created things like golem horses and other mounts like it.

As for pet's, well there's the usual sorts of dogs and cats and familiars for magic users who want them. Which range from ravens and owls and snakes and others. Then you get into the weird, like Adriel's pet summons that happen to be a bunch of Audrey plants (giant carnivorous plants I've mentioned before) and she's far from the only one that keeps such things. Some keep eagles and hawks and others fairy's. Some have tried keeping dryads and nymphs as pets, but that is pretty much slavery and they tend to fight back, so that particular lesson has been learned.

And obviously, the uses vary from mounts and rides into war and companionship and Eld's usual one, food too.

 

[ScaryMJDiamcreep]

Completely forgot about the regular stuff. There's cats and dogs, and maybe birds of some sort, but not many aquatic life forms, and horses are there for the people who can't afford a Gem Slime. Those things are pretty hard to find in the wild, and expensive if buying off of someone. As for other things, I'd imagine that there'd be a variety of small creatures that mages might have as familiars, including a species of hand-sized dragons that can at best set fire to your hair or cook food for you. And as mounts, you'd find griffins up the mountains, and while no human or Duongel has been heard of taming a griffin, there are many different theories for how one might go about doing it. There's a story where a manipulation-type fire mage managed to befriend a phoenix, though how they found it no-one knows, and even convinced it the let her fly on it once. No-one, not even a human, has tried to befriend an actual dragon, but my main character(the Apostle I mentioned in the other post) is probably crazy enough to try, and smart enough to survive if things go sour.

 

[Ban]

Folks, it looks like we've hit the one week mark on this thread. Well done everyone who has been responding!

Question 7: Days, Weeks, Months, Years. How are they measured and what are they called?

 

[Orc Knight]

Question 7: Days, Weeks, Months, Years. How are they measured and what are they called?

This is actually something I haven't worked on much. There can't be a lunar calendar due to there being far too many moons about and them not being at all rational about when they're coming out. Except maybe the blood moons, they show up whenever war is on, so, they're there most the time. There are still such things as days and months and years as it is the most basic thing I know of using. I just don't name them, keeping them vaguely in seasonal sorts and using the events around them as a sort of half name. It's not helped by the world not having any standardized way of calling them. So, maybe something I have to work with if I want to get incredibly specific.

 

[skip.knox]

Days, Weeks, Months, Years. How are they measured and what are they called?

Respectively: days, weeks, months, years. This being Altearth, donchaknow.

But this does make me wonder if everyone would use this system (I arbitrarily do not keep the Roman nundinae). Dwarves use it because dwarves came out of darkness. They might have some other unit of time more on the hour or minute scale, but for the most part they simply adopted the human system. Same for the those great imitators, the orcs.

But the elves lived under the sun for a long time before they came into human contact. And trolls, well, they're trolls. If they adopted anything, it'd be hamfisted and wrong. Excuse me while I wander off and wonder.

 

[CupofJoe]

In my WiP, the earth is still pretty much earth shaped so there are still difference in day and night length during a year [which is about 365 days long] and there is a moon. But unless things change, the state of the moon or length of day aren't important to what I want to have happen.
There are seasons rather than months or weeks as a unit of big time.
One group of characters are a bit unhinged [in so many many ways] that Before and After are about all you can seem to get them to understand.
Another group are Traders that are more interesting at getting to place to get the best prices/before the weather breaks, rather than by a specific date.
I was thinking about having 8 hour day and 8 hour nights that would wax and wane with the turning of the year [so a summer daylight hour would be longer than a winter daylight hour and vice versa]. But then I went back to twelve hours [but with the same variation] because it was more divisible [1,2,3,4,6,and 12] than 8 [1,2,4 and 8], people would read it easier and it doesn't make a difference to the story I'm telling.
I don't have things happening at half past two at night but just before dawn or when the sun was highest... I've always like noon as a time.

 

[Svrtnsse]

Question 7: Days, Weeks, Months, Years. How are they measured and what are they called?

The world I'm working with has a calendar that's basically the same as ours. I haven't come up with new names for the months or the weekdays, and I've so far managed to avoid having to use them in the stories. I'll have to either come up with names for the days, or avoid ever mentioning them at all.

According to human reckoning it's currently year 3996 AE, where AE is short fort After Erradication, which refers to the fall of the Haman Empire and the disappearance of the god Hima.

The anfylk race has a slightly different timeline. It starts with their creation in 1950 AE, so it's now year 2046 in their reckoning.
Additionally, the anfylk week has 8 days instead of the regular 7, with an extra day for chores between the working week and the weekend:

• Truthsday (Monday)
• Infday (Tuesday)
• Annsday (Wednesday)
• Pipesday (Thursday)
• Ladysday (Friday)
• Choresday
• Feastday (Saturday)
• Restday (Sunday)

 

[skip.knox]

"What is a weekend?" -- Violet Crawley
Probably my favorite line from Downton Abbey. Sums up the difference between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie in four words. Brilliant.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

Question 7: Days, Weeks, Months, Years. How are they measured and what are they called?

Well...

technically time doesn't exist in the OmniCosmos. But I still use the word 'days'. -.- I haven't figured out how to make it better.

 

[Blither]

Basically every tribe/kingdom/empire has their own timekeeping system since the world is so divided, so I'll focus on one interesting one:

The tribesmen of the volcanic plains of West Tritum have a unique way of keeping a calendar. They have no sun, moon or stars to go off, as their sky is constantly clogged with smoke and ash. As such, the tribesmen's calendar is based entirely off of the seismic and volcanic events of the land. Their "months" and "years" begin and end with the eruptions of certain sacred volcanoes and by the amount of smaller tremors.

However, while the tribesmen fervently keep to this "calendar," and several wars are fought every year over interpretations of it, they are totally mistaken with their beliefs. The eruptions and earthquakes are actually completely random, which means that the tribes years can last anywhere between 100 and 500 days (roughly as long as our days on earth.)

 

[Ban]

It's too bad that I couldn't answer my own question for once, but I enjoyed reading yours. You gave me an idea for a megalomaniac warlord or dictator who decides to name the months after him or herself (ala turkmenistan). I'm keeping it in mind for now.

Question 8: Can you give me the synopsis of one of your people's cultural/national epics? The foundational myths as it were.

 

[Devor]

Question 1: Suppose I'm transported to the most pleasant place in your world; where would I go for lodging, and what should I order off the menu?

I don't know about the most pleasant place. But on the seelie court, they have food that can change the flavor of the sauce in between bites, and alcohols that can intensify just any single emotion.

Question 2: Wandering through one of your world's cities, a thief steals my wallet. I report the incident to a local authority. Who would they be, and what will (Or won't) they do about my stolen wallet?

You'd report the incident to a guardsman who maintains order in their direct vicinity. That person would then pass the information along to the constables who investigate crime. For a missing wallet they probably wouldn't do anything unless there was a pattern developing, like a clear MO, a high target area, or a detailed description of the culprit, and then they would post guardsmen or act on the leads accordingly. The problem would have to escalate quite a bit to bring in a magic user. If, say, the culprit does it again, and a guardsman apprehends him in the act, they would look into whether your wallet could be recovered.

Question 3: I dive to the bottom of the sea. What wonders, treasures and curiosities will I find on the seabed?

The remnants of a civilization lost beneath the oceans, known as the Netherlands.

I don't know what's at the bottom of the sea. Asrai live at the bottom of the canals, though. They are tiny fairy mermaids that transform into starfish when they sleep.

Question 4: Now stuck in your world, I would like to continue my studies. What university, academy or similar institution would I want to apply for? (Bonus question: Where would I actually end up studying?)

Mindrise Academy runs most of the schools, museums and libraries in the city, and a host of other education programs. They're independent, but the city will pay them, for example, to run an elementary school. But you'd end up spending your time at the free lectures they give on all subjects from magic to farming in the park, hoping to convince a professor to vouch for you as a real student.

Question 5: What strange beliefs do your peoples have about places lying beyond the known world? (Here be dragons!)

Not sure on this one. I think it's more a question of what misperceptions a human might have about what the fairy realm looks like, for example. They have this notion that the fairy realm is full of frivolity, dance and mischief, but most of it is far more wild and dangerous than that. The seelie court doesn't have a large enough population to shape most of the realm into the land of mirth they would want it to be.

Question 6: Pets and mounts. Which are some of the interesting ones your world has? (Bonus question: For what are they used?)

These are straight out of myths:

The pukis is a dragon-cat from Latvian folklore, kept by wizards it steals on command.

The wolpertinger is a common fairy mount, a rabbit with antlers and wings. Even though it has wings, it can only fly if its rider uses a little seelie magic on it.

The barghest is a vicious ghostly attack dog sometimes used to hunt down fairies.

There's also a giant toad that latches onto your shoulder. If you don't feed it regularly it eats you.

Question 7: Days, Weeks, Months, Years. How are they measured and what are they called?

I skip naming the days and months and just use "the third week of spring" or else hide from it as much as possible. There's enough weird names to go along with. The history in the region is defined by the six great wars that shaped the country, so you'll talk about the period leading into the invasion, for example. The six periods are treated equally even though they're each very different.

Question 8: Can you give me the synopsis of one of your people's cultural/national epics? The foundational myths as it were.

Some of these names are still in development.

The three tragedies of the seelie court.

After the fairies opened a gateway into the seelie realm through the barrows of Fálina Cairn, the seelie court sent a cadre of its immortal members into the mortal realm to explore the world. They were shocked at the horrors they found here, and they forbid their people to ever step foot here again. But two people chose not to return: Eágnus, who had fallen in love with a mortal woman, and Letha, who was fascinated by the way the world was constantly changing around her. Their decision to abandon the court and remain as demigods in the mortal world is the first tragedy.

Hundreds of years later, a member of the court fell in love with Virveia, a lowly cavern nymph, and the two were wed. Nátherk brought his bride home to show her to his family on the court, but his mother Chábelle saw that she was pregnant. She reached her hand into Virveia's stomach and killed the child still in the womb. In response, Nátherk slew his mother and sent his bride into the mortal realm before he was imprisoned. This is the second tragedy of the court.

Shortly before the fall of Fálina Cairn, an unknown half-immortal entered the seelie court and used foreign magics to trap the elder Grierna in the shape of a mongoose, which he then escaped with. Urthián sought and received special permissions to pursue the culprit and rescue his grandmother from the mortal realm. Neither were ever seen again, the third tragedy of the court.

 

[CupofJoe]

Question 8: Can you give me the synopsis of one of your people's cultural/national epics? The foundational myths as it were.

One of the groups in my tale have a myth/history that a part of each of them crawled in to this world through a hole from another world. This is where they think the rest of their soul [for lack of a better word] still exists and that they can move their consciousness back and forth. They may be right in this latter belief but this is also why just about everyone else thinks they are crazy. They are literally not-all-there... or here.

 

[skip.knox]

The elves have something like a Garden of Eden origin myth. They once lived in an idyllic land. Working with the spirits (elves have spirits rather than gods) they built beautiful cities, the land was abundant, and every house was a home to miracles. Alas, the elves were not content with this but strove to go further, to build more, to coax more out of the land, and every house competed with its neighbor. They fell so far out of harmony with the spirits, they broke the land. Fragments scattered here and there, and many were cast into the sea, and the elves became a nation of outcasts wandering the waters, until at last they made landfall in Europa.

The dwarves came from another world. A vast mountain separated their world from Altearth. Some terrible cataclysm happened in their world and they had to flee, tunneling their way through the endless mountain. Their legends say little about that other world, but they have plenty of stories about the Long Dig.

Orcs came out of darkness. Maybe it was a literal darkness but it's hard to say because orc religious language is heavily metaphorical. Anyway, when they emerged into the light, they found their true path. They worship the Sun God, the only true god. This god created the orcs and put them in darkness as a test. By finding their way into the light, they proved they were worthy of him. This test every orc must repeat as an individual, passing through his or her own darkness into the true light.

The origin myth for sprites is similar to that of the elves. Pixies have origin myths, too, but nobody can figure out what they mean or even if they're being serious.