What IRL cultures have inspired you in worldbuilding?

[Asdrashari_Tales]

It seems that a lot of writers here are from the west and would be justifiably inspired by western culture and media. Personally I thought it would be interesting in taking inspiration from North Asian (specifically the Ainu), East Asian (specifically the Chinese and Japanese), and Southeast Asian (specifically maritime Southeast Asia) for the ethnicities in my worldbuilding and see how they would interact or influence each other.

What cultures in real life have inspired your worldbuilding? I'd be interested to hear that out.

 

[Queshire]

Hmm... well let's see...

I've taken inspiration from Norse mythology when trying to come up with a twist on the standard fantasy races. In particular, I've looked at how dark elves in Norse mythology often blurred with Dwarves in the mythology to come up with an alternative to D&D style Drow / Dark Elves. Instead spider bondage ladies I have them as a rival to Dwarves when it comes to having crafting as their hat.

I like taking inspiration from the Greek city states. Having a "kingdom" that basically amounts to a single large city and the surrounding area is rather convenient for writing. My settings also tend to feature deadly, monster infested wilderness which serves as a natural barrier splitting things up so that for the average non-mage unable to handle traveling through the wilderness their own city state would naturally be the most important to them.

That said, I also like lumping together into an empire that's a mix of Holy Roman Empire for its divided nature and regular Roman Empire for high level dealings involving mages powerful enough that the wilderness isn't too big of an obstacle for them.

Japan has a lot of fun stuff to take from it and it's probably the cultural I know the most about other than my own. I like the potential for conflict with how there was still an Emperor during the Shogunate, but all the actual power lied with the Shogun which was a military position. Imagine translating that to a western fantasy aesthetic; you got potentially generations of Emperors that have been basically powerless while things are run by, say, a Lord Paladin or something. (It's hard to come up with a equivalent for Shogun in English. Le~sigh...)

Another aspect was the requirement that the daimyo spend half the year living in the capital instead of their own territory with their family remaining there when the daimyo wasn't there. You can basically just replace daimyo there with noble to use the same system in a standard fantasy setting. The nobles have to spend a lot of their time nearby where their overlord can keep an eye on them and when they weren't there the noble's family remained as potential hostages.

From China I mostly take away inspiration from their bureaucracy and in particular the imperial service exam. You hear about stuff like the people taking the exam spending days in a small stone cubicle while they're taking the exam.

So the end result is sort of a layered empire where what layer the characters deal with coming down to how powerful their magic is. Local city states at the lowest level, then imperial bureaucracy and noble clans being about equal and the imperial legions under whatever I end up calling the shogun equivalent at the top while the actual imperial household is in this awkward spot off to the side.

 

[pmmg]

Probably too many cultures to write.

Scandinavian for sure. Most of my northern world is inspired by that. French culture was kind of mixed in there a little. Eskimo's of Alaska as well, for the far northern tribes. Neanderthals also contributed a little to the mix of the world design.

Heading south, there are nomads...maybe Russians or Mongols, but not so heavily. The Caribbean Pirate culture a bit. Something like the Italian and Papal states, thinking on one nation. They have longed lived kings, seems pope like.

Tibet a little bit on one island. Greeks culture for a different area.

A mafia type culture in another area....

Naked Amazonian tribes for the a wide area to the south. Oh, and Native Americans for another (Not really in the story yet, but coming). And kind of the mystic Indian Hindu culture.

And heck, may some that are just made up, and others I forgot to mention.

Not so much Japan though...

None of those are meant to be any kind of exact match. Inspired by is the right world. Its just a mish-mosh of whatever seems to make the story work.

Sadly though, somewhere along the way, the website I was using for titles went away. I have another, but its not an exact match. I hope I have it copied somewhere but...I'll probably fudge it.

 

[Finchbearer]

This question is interesting because there are not many cultures in the world that have not been influenced by other ones…but with that being said, yes I am inspired by European culture.

I’m working on a couple of short stories, two in particular are Shakespeare retellings - but with that, Shakespeare himself was inspired by many different cultures including classicism, which would be Ancient Greece.

I’m also inspired by Celtic and ‘pagan’ tradition and folklore, along with some aspects of Norse mythology. But again, the Britain Isles have been conquered by many different nations and over the years they have resulted in an interesting mix of beliefs.

Asian culture does interest me - I’ve traveled so some East Asian countries and find China, Japan and Korea particularly interesting, including some of the folklore I have read or heard of. But for my writing I’m more interested in delving into my own ancestral past I suppose. The old beliefs and traditions interest me greatly.

 

[Mad Swede]

I'm sure I've been influenced by several different cultures in my writing, but it's hard to identify them specifically. If anything I'd say that my writing reflects the values of the society I grew up in.

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

Hmm... well let's see...

I've taken inspiration from Norse mythology when trying to come up with a twist on the standard fantasy races. In particular, I've looked at how dark elves in Norse mythology often blurred with Dwarves in the mythology to come up with an alternative to D&D style Drow / Dark Elves. Instead spider bondage ladies I have them as a rival to Dwarves when it comes to having crafting as their hat.

I like taking inspiration from the Greek city states. Having a "kingdom" that basically amounts to a single large city and the surrounding area is rather convenient for writing. My settings also tend to feature deadly, monster infested wilderness which serves as a natural barrier splitting things up so that for the average non-mage unable to handle traveling through the wilderness their own city state would naturally be the most important to them.

That said, I also like lumping together into an empire that's a mix of Holy Roman Empire for its divided nature and regular Roman Empire for high level dealings involving mages powerful enough that the wilderness isn't too big of an obstacle for them.

Japan has a lot of fun stuff to take from it and it's probably the cultural I know the most about other than my own. I like the potential for conflict with how there was still an Emperor during the Shogunate, but all the actual power lied with the Shogun which was a military position. Imagine translating that to a western fantasy aesthetic; you got potentially generations of Emperors that have been basically powerless while things are run by, say, a Lord Paladin or something. (It's hard to come up with a equivalent for Shogun in English. Le~sigh...)

Another aspect was the requirement that the daimyo spend half the year living in the capital instead of their own territory with their family remaining there when the daimyo wasn't there. You can basically just replace daimyo there with noble to use the same system in a standard fantasy setting. The nobles have to spend a lot of their time nearby where their overlord can keep an eye on them and when they weren't there the noble's family remained as potential hostages.

From China I mostly take away inspiration from their bureaucracy and in particular the imperial service exam. You hear about stuff like the people taking the exam spending days in a small stone cubicle while they're taking the exam.

So the end result is sort of a layered empire where what layer the characters deal with coming down to how powerful their magic is. Local city states at the lowest level, then imperial bureaucracy and noble clans being about equal and the imperial legions under whatever I end up calling the shogun equivalent at the top while the actual imperial household is in this awkward spot off to the side.

With the dwarves and dark elves I can see the Norse mythology connection, especially when the former is popularised by Tolkien himself. The spider bondage ladies are definitely an interesting take in terms of interspecies relations.

I am also interested in implementing city states in my world-building and I can see why the ancient Greeks are a good inspiration to draw from. Eastern counterparts I often relate to are the Spring and Autumn or Warring states period of China as there are so many of these city states and many traditional idiomatic terms (and their story of origin) come from that period. I would agree that your setting around that is very convenient indeed. The Holy Roman Empire is also something I essentially based a now-defunct world on, I think the complex relationships between all the states definitely adds a lot of drama in terms if power struggle etc. Especially when Habsburgs equivalents are all related to each other.

Also would agree that 'General' does not quite match up the title of 'Shogun'.

With bureaucracy and other scribe-related fields, I find it interesting that the Chinese basically also record histories of their neighbours (especially when their neighbours don't write yet or produce any historical documentation), and I find this to be a useful narrative tool when telling stories in my worldbuilding.

Seeing how you've incorporated different elements from different cultures, it does make for a very complex and lively world indeed!

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

Probably too many cultures to write.

Scandinavian for sure. Most of my northern world is inspired by that. French culture was kind of mixed in there a little. Eskimo's of Alaska as well, for the far northern tribes. Neanderthals also contributed a little to the mix of the world design.

Heading south, there are nomads...maybe Russians or Mongols, but not so heavily. The Caribbean Pirate culture a bit. Something like the Italian and Papal states, thinking on one nation. They have longed lived kings, seems pope like.

Tibet a little bit on one island. Greeks culture for a different area.

A mafia type culture in another area....

Naked Amazonian tribes for the a wide area to the south. Oh, and Native Americans for another (Not really in the story yet, but coming). And kind of the mystic Indian Hindu culture.

And heck, may some that are just made up, and others I forgot to mention.

Not so much Japan though...

None of those are meant to be any kind of exact match. Inspired by is the right world. Its just a mish-mosh of whatever seems to make the story work.

Sadly though, somewhere along the way, the website I was using for titles went away. I have another, but its not an exact match. I hope I have it copied somewhere but...I'll probably fudge it.

I'm sure if you weave these cultures that inspire you in a coherent manner, you will get an interesting homebrew culture!

I've been experimenting with using Scythian as a base for a matriarchal warrior society, almost Amazonian in a sense, then I'm trying to think about how they would integrate or adopt customs from other cultures they encounter (thinking of Chinese and Ainu/Japanese or potentially Egyptian).

While it is 'cool' to have a list of cultures and potentially go on and on with that, it might be best to focus on a handful and really flesh them out.

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

This question is interesting because there are not many cultures in the world that have not been influenced by other ones…but with that being said, yes I am inspired by European culture.

I’m working on a couple of short stories, two in particular are Shakespeare retellings - but with that, Shakespeare himself was inspired by many different cultures including classicism, which would be Ancient Greece.

I’m also inspired by Celtic and ‘pagan’ tradition and folklore, along with some aspects of Norse mythology. But again, the Britain Isles have been conquered by many different nations and over the years they have resulted in an interesting mix of beliefs.

Asian culture does interest me - I’ve traveled so some East Asian countries and find China, Japan and Korea particularly interesting, including some of the folklore I have read or heard of. But for my writing I’m more interested in delving into my own ancestral past I suppose. The old beliefs and traditions interest me greatly.

I guess it just shows how interconnected we are as humans!

With the Shakespearean retellings, are you going full hardcore and writing the whole thing in iambic pentameter by any chance?
That said, I agree that almost everything is inspired by something before and has been merged/iterated into a newer story.

With the mix of Celtic/Norse, Ireland and Iceland sound like good places to research!

What stories from the east do you find interesting in particular? I'm glad that by building your world, you are essentially doing self-discovery as well. Keep up with the good work!

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

I'm sure I've been influenced by several different cultures in my writing, but it's hard to identify them specifically. If anything I'd say that my writing reflects the values of the society I grew up in.

That is fair enough, sometimes when we write things just subconsciously emerge onto ink and paper.

 

[ThinkerX]

Solaria, the primary nation in my primary world was very roughly patterned after a sort of 'fantasy Roman Empire' - and ancient Rome ruled a region that spanned thousands of miles with subjects ranging from what was left of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt to Celtic barbarians to Germanic tribes to the sophisticated Greek city states. I incorporated all these and then some into Solaria. Solaria also encompasses other races - there are enclaves of dwarves (basically seen as short humans), goblins (treated as menials but with a culture I had to derive mostly from scratch because biology), along with elfin visitors. Just outside Solaria's borders is Sinaliel - a sort of fantasy elf nation roughly drawn from north European mythology, and Gotland (a sort of Scandinavia). Across the Cauldron (a circular ocean) is Cimmar, modeled after the Russia of...eight hundred years ago. South of it is the Hobgoblin Hegemony, another unique realm, and still further south is Chou - a sort of twisted version of ancient China. On the other side of the world is fallen Agba, which is sort of unique, though there are Mesopotamian and South Asian element. Elves (Gandharvas) and dwarves (Kumbandas) are found here.

 

[Miles Lacey]

The cultural influences for my work in progress are as far removed from the Norse, ancient Greek and Roman and Scandinavian cultures as it's possible to get. In large part, it's because I live in the South Pacific.

The real world cultural (and other) influences I've used are:

■ Assorted Polynesian cultures, especially Tahitian, Hawaiian, Samoan and Maori, especially in regards to dance, oral traditions and community based values.
■ Southeast Asian cultures including Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Sundanese (not to be confused with Sudanese) when it comes to sex, marriage and family structures.
■ Chinese and Maori mythology, particularly when it comes to dragons and sea monsters.
■ Buddhist (including Shintoism), Islamic and traditional (indigenous) beliefs among Pacific Island cultures.
■ Japan between the two world wars and the Weimar Republic for the radical political and social changes that occurred within these two countries.
■ East Germany (the German Democratic Republic), especially the Stasi and its influence on East German society.
■ Japanese culture since the end of World War Two, especially the rise and fall of the "salaryman".
■ The Great Depression.of the 1930s.
■ The Maori King Movement when it comes up to how people get the top job. (They're elected, not born or appointed to the role.)

 

[pmmg]

Just as an aside, if someone was reading my work and trying to figure out the cultures i drew from i would feel they missed the point. That was not supposed to be the focus.

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

The cultural influences for my work in progress are as far removed from the Norse, ancient Greek and Roman and Scandinavian cultures as it's possible to get. In large part, it's because I live in the South Pacific.

The real world cultural (and other) influences I've used are:

■ Assorted Polynesian cultures, especially Tahitian, Hawaiian, Samoan and Maori, especially in regards to dance, oral traditions and community based values.
■ Southeast Asian cultures including Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Sundanese (not to be confused with Sudanese) when it comes to sex, marriage and family structures.
■ Chinese and Maori mythology, particularly when it comes to dragons and sea monsters.
■ Buddhist (including Shintoism), Islamic and traditional (indigenous) beliefs among Pacific Island cultures.
■ Japan between the two world wars and the Weimar Republic for the radical political and social changes that occurred within these two countries.
■ East Germany (the German Democratic Republic), especially the Stasi and its influence on East German society.
■ Japanese culture since the end of World War Two, especially the rise and fall of the "salaryman".
■ The Great Depression.of the 1930s.
■ The Maori King Movement when it comes up to how people get the top job. (They're elected, not born or appointed to the role.)

It's interesting you included the same culture from different points in time, it seems like there must be some manoeuvring to make things coherent. Quite glad to see more representation and influences outside the western world!

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

Just as an aside, if someone was reading my work and trying to figure out the cultures i drew from i would feel they missed the point. That was not supposed to be the focus.

That is fair enough.

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

Solaria, the primary nation in my primary world was very roughly patterned after a sort of 'fantasy Roman Empire' - and ancient Rome ruled a region that spanned thousands of miles with subjects ranging from what was left of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt to Celtic barbarians to Germanic tribes to the sophisticated Greek city states. I incorporated all these and then some into Solaria. Solaria also encompasses other races - there are enclaves of dwarves (basically seen as short humans), goblins (treated as menials but with a culture I had to derive mostly from scratch because biology), along with elfin visitors. Just outside Solaria's borders is Sinaliel - a sort of fantasy elf nation roughly drawn from north European mythology, and Gotland (a sort of Scandinavia). Across the Cauldron (a circular ocean) is Cimmar, modeled after the Russia of...eight hundred years ago. South of it is the Hobgoblin Hegemony, another unique realm, and still further south is Chou - a sort of twisted version of ancient China. On the other side of the world is fallen Agba, which is sort of unique, though there are Mesopotamian and South Asian element. Elves (Gandharvas) and dwarves (Kumbandas) are found here.

The irl Roman Empire has been an inspiration to many, and of course it would have inspired others in world-building. The vast variety of subjects of Solaria reminds me of the Achaemenid empire as well.
Just curious, do you mind elaborating Chou? and in what sense is it a twisted version of Cncient china?

 

[ThinkerX]

The irl Roman Empire has been an inspiration to many, and of course it would have inspired others in world-building. The vast variety of subjects of Solaria reminds me of the Achaemenid empire as well.
Just curious, do you mind elaborating Chou? and in what sense is it a twisted version of Cncient china?

Chou, in the books, is a place people come from, not venture to. As such it remains 'open to internal development' world building wise.

That said...Chou abuts a huge region covering much of the southern hemisphere generally termed 'the Great Southern Plains,' or the 'Hundred Nations,' or often just the 'Plains' - mile upon endless mile of semi-arid flatlands and rolling hills covered in grass and roamed by numerous nomadic tribes comprised of pretty much every race on the planet. Think 'Central Asia.'

Other critical point to introduce here: this world (among others) was originally terraformed from an all but dead rock by the 'Ancient Aliens' multiple tens of thousands of years ago - entities not even remotely human. The more central of these were the Kwintath - think 'meter high centipedes with psionic ability.' Starting about ten thousand years ago, they began importing other races to this sphere as servants, pets, and experimental subjects. Humans were one of a few primitive races (another being goblins). Starting around six thousand years ago, the Kwintath began to decline in population, so they set up a rough division amongst their subject races. Those they deemed most useful became their personal servitors, dwelling with them in their cities - the first tier or caste. The second tier or caste were organized into autonomous communities and petty fiefs charged with supplying the primary cities with food, metals, and raw materials. The third tier or group were outcasts and renegades who roamed wild - mostly on the southern plains, the ancestors of the hundred nations. Kwintath tech is based partly on psionic ability to properly use, so they genetically modified some of members of their personal subjects to become psionic (aka wizards). People being what they are, rogue wizards popped up within a few centuries.


Anyhow, the Kwintath kept right on abducting isolated groups of humans and others, among them ancient Greeks, Egyptians, South Asians, Proto Chinese, and Sumerians. A little over three thousand years ago, a 'catastrophic Lovecraftian event' badly crippled the primary Kwintath population centers - but left the other groups more or less intact. Unwilling to admit defeat, isolated Kwintath cities continued to bring in humans and others right up until they failed completely not quite two thousand years ago. Some of the last of these importees included isolated Roman, Chinese and others from Asia and elsewhere. The settlements that became 'Chou' fell into this latter category.

About fifteen hundred years ago, the Nations of the Plains formed a great horde that attempted to invade the scattered Asiatic settlements. These communities banded together under a single warlord and managed to fend off the horde. This warlord proclaimed himself Emperor and established a xenophobic, sophisticated, oriental state. Since then, Chou has split and reformed several times, but these characteristics remain constant. Chou is a realm ruled by Shoguns with Samurai enforcers. Outsiders are restricted to a handful of treaty ports.

 

[Finchbearer]

I guess it just shows how interconnected we are as humans!

With the Shakespearean retellings, are you going full hardcore and writing the whole thing in iambic pentameter by any chance?
That said, I agree that almost everything is inspired by something before and has been merged/iterated into a newer story.

With the mix of Celtic/Norse, Ireland and Iceland sound like good places to research!

What stories from the east do you find interesting in particular? I'm glad that by building your world, you are essentially doing self-discovery as well. Keep up with the good work!

Iambic pen…what now? that term is dredging up some memories up from my school days. I shall not pretend to be that intellectual, no, my retellings are not in rhythmic verse, I have taken the basic plot and characters and made my own little stories. Hamlet and The Tempest have been my choices.

In terms of Celtic and Norse I have taken inspiration from Sweden and Norway, and Scotland, England and Wales. Not Ireland or Iceland they have their own shizzle.

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

Iambic pen…what now? that term is dredging up some memories up from my school days. I shall not pretend to be that intellectual, no, my retellings are not in rhythmic verse, I have taken the basic plot and characters and made my own little stories. Hamlet and The Tempest have been my choices.

In terms of Celtic and Norse I have taken inspiration from Sweden and Norway, and Scotland, England and Wales. Not Ireland or Iceland they have their own shizzle.

Yeah sorry I was just pulling your leg. We're all here to build worlds and have fun, not to mentally torture ourselves haha.

That's fair enough. Thanks for the insight

 

[Hope Charlotte]

I've taken a lot of inspiration from various cultures in my main world, Einea.

One thing that I like to do is create 'collage cultures' initially, taking elements of cultures that have some similar material circumstances - i.e. the Yaghan people of Tierra del Fuego and the Inuit of Nunavut who both live in cold climates - and mixing those elements around. I'll then find the right place in my world for that, with the proper climate and geography, and then I'll iterate on that original collaged idea; glue everything together, incorporate totally disparate influences that nevertheless fit with the culture, tweak it with quirks of nearby geography in mind.

That's my main method. As for the cultures I've been most fascinated by in a worldbuilding context recently are the peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North America, the Inca, the Ainu, the village-building inhabitants of Marajoara Island in the Amazon, a few of the many peoples native to New Guinea, Turkey/The Ottoman Empire and the Afsharid Dynasty of Iran.

 

[Asdrashari_Tales]

I've taken a lot of inspiration from various cultures in my main world, Einea.

One thing that I like to do is create 'collage cultures' initially, taking elements of cultures that have some similar material circumstances - i.e. the Yaghan people of Tierra del Fuego and the Inuit of Nunavut who both live in cold climates - and mixing those elements around. I'll then find the right place in my world for that, with the proper climate and geography, and then I'll iterate on that original collaged idea; glue everything together, incorporate totally disparate influences that nevertheless fit with the culture, tweak it with quirks of nearby geography in mind.

That's my main method. As for the cultures I've been most fascinated by in a worldbuilding context recently are the peoples of the Pacific Northwest of North America, the Inca, the Ainu, the village-building inhabitants of Marajoara Island in the Amazon, a few of the many peoples native to New Guinea, Turkey/The Ottoman Empire and the Afsharid Dynasty of Iran.

I'm also figuring out a collage culture and I think it's incredibly fun to think what this hypothetical culture would do and develop in a fictional world. Love the variety of cultures you've got there!