Wherein Nova Steals Fearless's Idea

While She's Still Using It Even

ASK ME ABOUT MY WIENERRRR ORIGINAL FANTASY UNIVERSE

Or in other words it's Worldbuilding Wednesday a day early :L The universe in question is for a tetralogy of mine called Colors of the Heart. Some of you have heard me talk about it before. Seein' as it mostly exists in idea form right now, and knowing that I do my best work in conversation, I decided to try Feary's idea - with her blessing, of course. So, y'all can ask me anything about it (Culture, history, notable people etc.). Whatever you'd want to know. You can ask about the story as well, if that's more interesting to you.

 

What is the universe's geography like?

 

What is the derogatory term for black people in this universe?

 

My focus is primarily on one continent, a large island (Think Australia-sized) called Midheaven. The continent is circular, mostly bordered by tall mountains, with a couple of inlets along the eastern perimeter. Terrain can best be described as bumpy; rolling hills to the south, jagged scarps to the north, with a few small mountain ranges mixed in. The coast is sea level, and elevation climbs the farther inland you get.

Midheaven's most distinguishing feature is at its dead center: a sheer canyon, miles and miles wide all around, littered with deposits of Shinestone, a precious mineraloid that shines in every color imaginable (Pretty much opal but magick). At the center of that is a tower said to climb to the heavens and descend to hell.

The climate is, as with most things, notably divided between north and south, with the former tending more towards arid plains and mild deserts, while the latter is made mostly of fertile grassland and river-rich valleys. There is a bit of an east-west division as well, in that the far western lands see frequent storms while the eastern side is sunny and inviting. Forests are sparse, mostly on the southern mainland.

Lastly, all of this is subject to sudden and violent change on a small scale due to spectral scarring, which is basically when the magick in an area gets so swollen and twisted that it starts to warp the surrounding land. This can last for a few hours, or entire lifetimes; some areas have become impassable for centuries. Terrain is more readily affected than climate.

The continent is heavily settled and a bit of a cultural melting pot, as it attracts everything from tourists to spiritualists to conquerors from across the globe, all seeking to reach the tower at its center. Conflicts are frequent. Since everyone arrives on the inviting eastern shores, the only truly unclaimed lands are to the west.

Seeing as "black" is not associated with a skin color so much as a magickal affinity (Dark), the slang is usually something like "imp" or "blackheart." The native ethnicity of Midheaven has a few slurs directed at it, and the northerners and southerners have plenty for each other (shiners, wasters, etc.), but none in universal circulation. They tend to be regional things, spontaneous and short-lived.

#NOTAFRAID

 

What is their word for dirty gypsies?

 

Why is Jiku so curious about derogatory terms?

Also what sort of government do they have? (Democracy, Monarchy...?)

 

How many characters have you based off people you know?

 

It this world based on anything or is it original?

What are the names of the continents and which part of the world are they in (North Eastern hemisphere, etc.)?

 

Kinda answered that already, seein' as the native Midheavans are based on the Romani people. One such slur might be "middlings," but again, not widespread.

Idk that's just what makes her randy I guess

The southern territories have never had a centralized government, but a small monarchy called Luce once stood in the south-central plains, last ruled by Lord Aberdeen. He is since deceased, and his kingdom was torn apart by civil war. Now the south is divided into city-states, which are loosely organized under the New Lucean Union, a military confederation which is more about protection than actual government. So they effectively govern themselves, with oversight from the Union. The Union is headed by the Lightsworn Guard, which itself is captained by the Margrave brothers, Flint and Florence.

The northern territories are a dedicated kratocratic monarchy; the acting ruler, known simply as a Lord or Lady, rules until they are slain, at which point their killer assumes control. If the current Lord/Lady dies of natural causes, many parties declare their right to rule, then fight until a superior is evident. However, society frowns upon deposing a fresh Lord/Lady, as they have not had a chance to cement their strength and prove their effectiveness as a ruler, thus defeating them does not impress. The acting ruler is Lady Embla.

The base of the central canyon is a ruined city named Dragos; it has no human colonists, but is riddled with dragons. They do not govern themselves so much as observe pack status and try not to pick fights all the time, but they are fiercely territorial and will drive out any intruders they see. The tower is "claimed" by the northern lands, but almost no one is stationed there.

Other continents are ruled by more traditional monarchies, or tribal communes.

Only one or two. There's a Union soldier named Sunny who's based on our very own Clawtooth. :3

The world itself isn't based on anything, but the story is loosely inspired by Kingdom Hearts, with a dash of D.Gray-man and Dark Souls for good measure. :L

Midheaven is just south of the equator, and another as-yet-unnamed continent lies to the east of it, where most immigrants set off from. It will probably be named something very European. Northern territories are all untamed wilds, thus sparsely colonized.

 

Describe the living conditions of as many groups of people as you can all across Midheaven.

 

You mentioned that magic exists here. What kind of magics are there and how are they classified?

 

Union states typically live in comfort: sturdy buildings, good furnishings, plenty of heat and running water, and healthy cattle and agriculture. There's just one teeny tiny catch: Embla has been sending massive armies of shadow creatures from the north to topple cities, slaughter citizens, and raze grounds all throughout. Living in perpetual fear tends to sour one's appreciation of the basic amenities. The only profit is in construction and military careers, as homes frequently need rebuilt and the Lightsworn Guard is always recruiting. The capital city, Holt, is where everyone wants to live; best housing, best market, best security, best everything. It's also Embla's prize, which is why it remains under vigilant watch - not a place for free spirits or shifty types.

The northern territories mostly celebrate the war - For one, they're winning, and for two, almost all of them love a good fight. You've got the obvious ones like mercenaries, bodyguards, and other such cutthroats. But even their artists and artisans flourish in war, as it ignites their passions and makes their creations more vivid. As for actual living conditions, they live more modestly, but still comfortably; water is scarcer but not to the point of drought, homes are shabbier but still sturdy enough to survive the elements, and since anyone can make fire in the palm of their hand it's not exactly hard to come by heat. In short, they make do. There is a royal palace, and it is pretty, but its primary purpose is as a base of operations for the acting Lord/Lady, a stage for battles of succession, and to a lesser extent as a monument to their cultural heritage. Nobody's really interested in claiming it, nor do they aspire to live there.

The only exception to the northern territories is through the mid-northwest and central western areas, where most natives reside. Since they're exposed to the awful western weather and live in dry, barren climates, theirs is a more pronounced struggle for survival. Their saving grace is being gifted farmers and avid travelers; the fathers work everything they can out of the land, and the sons and daughters return from cross-country voyages with food, tools, and anything else they manage to find. They're not as war-mongering as their eastern cousins, however, and have tried their best to stay out of the fight; they've got enough problems without inviting anyone's wrath.

Dragos is shiny and barren, as it's been for centuries. Dragons don't give a fuck, they eat what they want.

GLAD YOU ASKED :L

The flavor of the day is spectra, which takes two forms: emotional energy channeled by a living person, and spiritual energy which flows through and emanates from all things - live people, dead people, the planet itself, you name it. Colors are of great symbolic significance to this form of magick, as your emotions when casting and the desires towards which you direct your energy will influence the color of energy you put out. The primary colors are all the colors of the rainbow, plus black, white, and magenta. Each of these can be channeled deliberately, or they can occur naturally as the user experiences an emotion. A rough description of each color and what it presides over can be found in the spoiler.

Spoiler

Red - The most human color. Magick of passion and instinct. Represents anger and hatred as readily as it represents love and attraction. Its ideal state is passion, while its corruption is lust - when one's zest for life becomes excessive and unhealthy.
Orange - The color of drive and initiative. Magick which moves one to decisive action. Represents positive motivation and the drive to succeed. Its ideal state is drive, while its corruption is sloth - when ambition outpaces motivation and forward motion ceases.
Yellow - The color of happiness. Magick which soothes one inwardly. Represents not only the user's happiness, but their willingness to make others happy. Its ideal state is joy, while its corruption is gluttony - seeking internal happiness at the expense of oneself and others.
Green - The color of inspiration. Magick of growth and satisfaction. It represents peace and prosperity, and shares that prosperity with others. Its ideal state is content, while its corruption is envy - seeing another's success and wishing to have it for oneself.
Blue - The color of balance. Magick of calm and thoughtfulness. It is a favorite among scholars, as it bolsters cunning and strategy more than any other. Its ideal state is serenity, while its corruption is wrath - losing control of oneself, or punishing another for disturbing one's order.
Indigo - The color of influence. Magick which invigorates oneself and others. It represents the ability to shape one's own destiny. Its ideal state is wonder, while its corruption is greed - the abuse of power to take others' possessions and command their fates.
Purple - The most worldly color. Subtle magicks which work on a grand scale. It is marked by a far-thinking mindset and respect for the workings of the universe. Its ideal state is awe, while its corruption is pride - the feeling of being above the natural world, claiming dominance over it.

Magenta - The most spiritual color. Magicks of the heart and mind, fusion of the self and the other, the unity of all dimensions of perception. Only rumored to exist, as few have seen it done and none are known to perform it. Its ideal state and corruption are unknown... or unfathomable.

White - The color of order. Magick of stoicism. It represents acute control and unshakable concentration. Its ideal state is tranquility, while its corruption is loathing - bitter hatred towards those who are disruptive.
Black - The color of chaos. Magick of raw, unrestrained emotion. It represents giving and taking everything freely. Its ideal state is harmony, while its corruption is fear - when one is pained by the thought of loss.

The planet is known to contain massive amounts of spectra, either from the spirits of the deceased or through its own force. This energy forms invisible leylines and concentrations across the globe, where people will find certain colors are a little bit stronger and others a bit weaker, and it both directly and indirectly influences the lives of the planet's inhabitants.

One example of this influence was previously mentioned: spectral scarring, wherein the concentration of spectra in an area physically warps the terrain. In the severest cases, it can also warp the surrounding people, damaging them psychologically or dramatically changing their personalities, or even warp spacetime. One result of such is the southern state of Roulette Dares, which has become a spatial labyrinth home to a Wonderlandian populace who have all lost their memories and gained severe xenophobia.

Another example: affinity. Each person is born with an affinity towards white or black spectra: They may manifest powers aligned with either type, and if they choose to study spectra one form will come naturally to them while the other will be a struggle. Affinity rates vary by region, but 50/50 splits are rare. Affinity rates can also be influenced by those with sufficient spectral ability; one such example is New Vanguard, a city on the southeast outskirts of Dragos which has been engineered to produce a near-perfect white affinity rate.

Magick using spectra is called spectral arts, and practitioners are known as spectrists. The nerdier ones are sometimes nicknamed specs.

Dragons are known to practice a different, alien form of magick, but little is understood about it in contemporary times. All that is known is that it seems to grow stronger proportionate to the user's size and muscle mass, and occasionally spikes with certain basic emotions.

 

When was the last genocide committed in this world and which group got the axe?

 

It depends who you ask. The top and bottom halves of Midheaven have fought for so long that no one's really sure who started it, and while there's never been anything on the scale of a true genocide, a couple of mass invasions have been carried out by particularly aggressive monarchs in the past - the latest one being the ongoing invasion of the Union by Embla's forces.

Of course, if you talk to the dragons you'll get a different story entirely; most people think them stupid beasts, but they're smart enough to recognize when they're being culled and feeling enough to be bitter about it. They'd say all of the humans are equal in blame for nearly wiping them out.

Outsiders are kinda floored by the amount of violence on this continent; it's likely there's never been anything close to a genocide in the rest of the world for thousands of years.

 

What is the average dragon's life span? You mentioned them being nearly wiped out. How often can they give birth? 9 months, like humans? Longer? Shorter? And what sort of magic do they have? You said it wasn't understood in contemporary times, so it'll be understood more in the future?

 

omg I so want to do one of these with one of my own stories hnnnnnnnnnng world building

What sort of flora and fauna are to be found? Are any of them, besides the dragons, dangerous?

 

Do the children smoke cigarettes in this world?

 

Adding onto this, mostly out of boredom, are drugs commonplace? Illegal? Some illegal, other not? If beer is the most common type of alcohol consumed in our world (I think...), then what is the most common in your world?

Also, what sort of food do they have? Any regional food? Adding onto Laurence Fox's post, what sort of different food plants do they have (tomatoes, cherry trees) and are the fauna mostly edible (cows, fish), or too dangerous to try and hunt (bears, lions)?

 

Adding further, when is 4/20 in your world?

 

Dragons effectively live as long as they want to, and their scales are especially resilient to the elements, so it's rare that they die of natural causes. They're just so vicious that they were hunted nearly to extinction. They don't give birth in the traditional sense; they once did, but they are so in tune with their spiritual side that they use their magick to transmigrate themselves into different forms rather than bear new dragons. Of course, this also contributed to the stagnation of their race. The price of their hubris, as it were.

In all honesty, I haven't thought about it much. It doesn't factor heavily into CotH, since dragons play a small role in the series. But I imagine it would work akin to Chi, where the user's physical and spiritual energy are a unified force and one rises in proportion to the other. Physically strong dragons are also spiritually strong, and physically weak ones are spiritually weak. (You know how animals were the first ones to use bending in A:TLA? It's like that.)

Real talk I am terminally addicted to worldbuilding and this is such a fun way to do it. I was worried at first that I'd be unable to answer a lot of questions and look like a dope, but it really gets the creative juices flowing. Plus you get a chance to answer questions you know you're gonna be asked anyway. So yeah I'm for it :L If you make one I'll try to think of some stuff to ask.

Of all the weird things in this world, lifeforms are not one of them; all the expected flora and fauna are to be found, and Midheaven in particular is home to a thriving and diverse plant population. Many cities celebrate multiple harvest festivals per year, and most have state plants. Holt's is turnips. Pre-colonization there were many herd and pack animal species, but their populations have thinned since then. The northwest is home to a sizable population of mountain lions. The only other mythological creature known to exist besides the dragon is the phoenix - but "known" is a strong word even then, as sightings are so rare as to be mere rumor.

There are a number of interesting magickal creatures, spectral or otherwise, but those don't really fall under flora or fauna. Fata might be a more fitting word, hehe. The most common are shades, beings of black spectra and emotions made manifest. They can occur naturally as a person gives off spectra, or they can be deliberately created, either from one's own spectra or that of another living thing; but the bearer's death is not implied, nor is it common (Loss of spectra isn't fatal except in excessive amounts, and shades are a dime a dozen). A variant known as wights appear later on, which are primarily synthesized from white energy; and dragons have their own form, drakes, which are made using their own brand of magick.

There are also wisps, which are (true to the name) tiny, glowing, gaseous spheres of energy borne of a deceased person's thoughts and energies. Each wisp corresponds to a single spirit, but they may fade in and out or change forms, and there is not a wisp for every person who has ever died. Their energy is thought to persist in some form or another; it just isn't always a wisp. Typically they only appear in white and black, but a few exceptions have existed through time. They can't exactly be called sentient, either; at best they can only repeat the words and actions of their former selves, and they can be absorbed, dispersed, or manipulated like any other form of spectra.

Arright arright Jeeks, you've had your fun. I could appreciate the first volley, but this is getting silly. No, the kids don't smoke, and there is no 4/20.

I'll admit I haven't thought much about drugs, because I don't know enough about them, consuming or cultivating. Mostly it'd be alcohol, probably local brews, but it'd take me time to think of names.

Mostly answered above, but yeah, they have a ton of fruits and veggies of all kinds. Northerners like to hunt dangerous game, like the aforementioned mountain lions, but southerners keep to simple stuff like cows, pigs, and fish. The lack of hunting expertise, not to mention no centralized government to pass and enforce regulations, means they may see food shortages in the near future, but for now everyone eats a balanced meal. Except the northwesterners. Poor guys. :'c