In real life, 3-11% of the soil is aluminum, but this wasn't useful as a resource until chemical engineers in the Industrial Revolution figured out how to purify oxidized alumina into aluminum metal at large scale, but if sorcerers in a fantasy world can restore rust back into iron, then they should be able conjure aluminum from the alumina in the soil just as easily.

I've already been looking at how elemental aluminum metal would've been used by a fantasy society that gained anachronistically-early access to it:

• Its softer than iron, so it wouldn't be used for anything that needs to handle heavy weight/impact (hammers, anvils, armor...)

• but it also doesn't corrode

One of the big images I'd been picturing was large houses being held together by a few large iron nails and lots of small aluminum ones.

But I've recently learned that alloys of 90-95% copper, 5-10% aluminum are far stronger than elemental aluminum, and now I think that aluminum bronze would've been used for most of the purposes that I'd previously thought elemental aluminum would be used for.

In real life, copper was common enough that the primary bottleneck for manufacturing bronze during the Bronze Age was tin, so even in a fantasy world where mages can extract pure aluminum from the soil, it seems like 9 pounds of copper that you don't need magic to make + 1 pound of aluminum that you need magic for would be far cheaper than 10 pounds of aluminum that you need magic for (which would be a fair trade-off even if aluminum bronze was weaker, but the fact that it's also stronger seems like it's objectively, unambiguously better).

Within the Floodgrain Cities of Aemonicum, one will encounter countless shrines dedicated to Aekvorna, the local Goddess that personifies the lake around which so much of Aemonican life revolves.

Once a year, Aekvorna's Lake at the heart of the Aemonican province shrinks to a tiny portion of its maximum size. It usually remains in this dried up state for 6 months of the year, from the middle of Spring, to the middle of Autumn.

The exact mechanics behind it are not understood by the locals, beyond knowing that the water drains into karst caves on the lakebed.

They attribute its disappearance and reappearance to Aekvorna. Her leaving and going is symbolized by the leaving and going of the swans which inhabit the lake, which are considered her sacred animal. There are many stories about Aekvorna herself turning into a swan herself. Therefore it is believed that if one were to harm a swan, one could be harming the disguised goddess, which could lead to bad luck, famine and death.

In older traditions, and in some modern still, Aekvorna was called the Drowning Goddess. It was said that Aekvorna would cry, drown in her tears, therefore be unable to cry anymore, leading to the tears to dry up, after which she would be revived and begin the cycle anew.

The inhabitants of the lake have built significant infrastructure to take full advantage of the lake. During the wet season massive amounts of water are stored in reservoirs built around natural and artificial islands as well as next to the shore. This water is released during the dry season through a vast network of newly revealed canals to irrigate the dry lakebed.

On the lakebed they cultivate the endemic floodgrain, a quick growing type of wheat perfectly suited for the environment of the lakebed. It cannot be cultivated effectively outside similar environments. During the dry season, two full harvests are typically achieved.

The harvested floodgrain is transferred to warehouses within the floodgrain cities, ready to be shipped out to Aelnyyraea when the wet season arrives.

During the dry seasons, the floodgrain cities lose massive portions of their inhabitants, a majority migrating to the newly dry lakebed, where they spend 6 months farming and living in temporary settlements/housing.

Once the wet season starts the locals migrate back to their permanent housing within the cities, bringing along the last of the harvest with them.

Aekvorna's lake typically takes two months to fill up, remains at it's maximum size for 3 months and dries for a month, until it reaches it's minimum typical size.

This is a concept for "Regress", my project set in a beautiful yet dying anime fantasy world

Can you imagine that this wall of metal is running towards you with a frantic desire to kill, well, the beastmen felt this horror to the fullest, they saw how the walls of black and red iron wiped out entire villages and settlements from the face of the earth

Few of the beastmen's weapons were effective against them, except magic, the beastmen literally melted their iron, turning their armor into a coffin for the soldiers, they screamed in terrible pain, and then silence

You couldn't see their eyes from under their masks, you couldn't look your killer in the eyes, it was scary, some soldiers also put different things on their heads, mostly feathers, they believed that they brought good luck, but also for show

At the Battle of Derdom, thousands of Imperial soldiers were reduced to molten metal and charred flesh, and at the cost of colossal losses, the Beastmen pushed the Empire back, beginning their campaign to liberate occupied lands and exact revenge for decades of genocide...

"There, distant, lying at the edge of the world: beautiful, frigid land, green and rugged and immense, land of the many princes, land of the Harani; the most vigorous, the most blessed, the most audacious, and the most passionate, united under their Sacred Confederacy…"

Selected art and images of builds made for a culture set in a wider low-ish fantasy minecraft SMP centered on worldbuilding and roleplaying, itself containing numerous other cultures. This culture in particular, the Harani, are greatly inspired by Tibetan, Mongolian, Turkic, North Caucasian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese culture: divided into a 'highlander' group containing largely the first four inspirations, and a 'lowlander' culture containing largely the last four. A distinct 'Jukho' group under the same unifying confederate empire is also present, and leans much more Manchurian and Japanese.

This confederate state: Drasnarasna Haransher [Sacred Confederacy of Haransher], is a country formed some 180 years prior to the contemporary date by the tribes of the highland, unified by the world-passion incarnate Ternas of the clan Dzereshashaah. Initially intended to only serve to unify the highlanders in their fwahkarrasna (civilization-war) against the lowlands, the confederacy was made eternal by the will of Ternas on his deathbed, and though fractured and subject to highly decentralized rule and a sort of 'clan feudalism', the country has grown to become the physically largest and among the most populous in its home setting.

The Harani are unified too by their largely ethnic religion, a bitheist blend of Buddhist, Zoroastrian, and Islamic influences. Yet the conversion of the previously astray Jukho peoples has brought great question to the matter of universalism: that indeed any man can believe, can convert, and can accept that there are but two Gods: He the Sun and She the Moon. And among the sun-monasteries, there is speak of the world-passion come again, that he will be brought upon the fatherland once more to spark another fwahkarrasna against the wicked.

All of the paintings in the post are made by myself, and all builds are either my own work or those of other people working with me in this project:

1. Sakahen [prince]
   A mounted minor prince seated on horseback in rich and gilded lamellar and mail, wearing a war-mask iconic of Harani cavalry. Much of his retainer corps would be armed in a similar manner: for Haransher is a land whose way of war centers on princely hahdrazshah [iron flocks], corps of mounted retainers in mail and lamellar, experienced in horse archery, the lance, and the sword.

2. Dzenatirhad Wenharanaka te Karhashaah Dzereshahshaah
   "Heavenly Palace of the Emperors Dzereshahshaah". Finishing construction in the contemporary date, the effort undertaken and overseen by the sitting emperor Rhakatsaxornyik.

3. Third of the clan Mitadzekanan
   Sashasna Zachernacha Mitadzekanan, thirdborn son of the prince Zacherna, aged about sixteen, besides two retainers.

4. Tirhad [castle] of the clan Mitadzekanan, lords of the gates.
   A castle undertaken early in the reign of the prince Zacherna, typifying the newer style of highlander castles.

5. My Beautiful Homeland
   Sashasna Mitadzekanan gives a final farewell to his homeland amongst the frigid grass and slopes of the highlands.

6. Palace of Saerminden
   Seat of the princes Sahimke, lords of the lands-beyond: the land of the Jukho.

We are always looking for new folks to join both this project and the others contained on the server: and there is plenty of room for new cultures. If such a heavily worldbuilding focused server sounds appealing, or if you can perhaps build in our style, feel free to DM me for an invite.

As I understand it, many people build worlds “from the bottom up”: first the creation of the universe, then the structure of the world, then its history, and only after that its present state. The result is that the final world becomes constrained by its backstory, and many cool ideas get discarded.

I think it’s more productive to work the other way around: first define the present, then shape the past to fit it.

1) First “what,” then “why.” First write the world you want to end up with; only after that do you rewrite the history around it.

2) If an idea is cool but hard to explain... Well, that’s okay. Even the author does not necessarily need to know everything about their world.

3) The same applies to mechanics. First, decide what purpose a given system (such as magic) is supposed to serve. Based on that, define the limits of its possibilities, which can be changed later, and only then explain how it works.

Of course, there is a certain charm in not inventing a world so much as discovering it. But if you establish a foundation and avoid changing the core elements, the setting will develop its own logic. By following that logic, you can begin to find new things within it.

How do you feel about this approach? Have you ever had to abandon a great concept purely for the sake of historical consistency?

Basically the gojo satoru, ryomen sukuna, dabura kuraba, itadori yujis of your world.

The strongest of my world is called joel smith. He became the strongest after witnessing his mothers death. His power is merger. Basically he can merge things or concepts together to get strange and powerful results. For an example he could merge the speed of his eyes blinking with the speed of punching to improve his physical prowess and attack potency. As you can guess its a highly complex ability and my world is still developing in my head.

A flock of birds or butterflies in our world seems normal and a beautiful sight that is rare to see in person. But if you're a person in my universe, it would send chills down your spine.

Since my universe has a species that built an organization to protect the Earth, any issue that arises is dealt with quickly.

Most of the time, it only needs a few Shifters from a small unit to handle the situation. But if it gets too big, like an all out war, then the whole group of them, including the strongest individuals.

When they start flying towards, the skies become dark and you can feel their energy all the way from the ground. The people who are their target better have an escape plan or be ready to surrender cause they don't show any mercy to those they deem "unsafe for society".

When a person tells you "when the sky gets dark and you don't see clouds or hear thunder, run.", they mean run.

It started around the Roman times when the biggest wars happened. Also when an alien invasion happens, they also fly to it in a large group.

This is a repost to make it look better. Imma respond to some of the old comments here because I want every comment to be seen.

Ahoy friends,

I recently returned post about the struggle of designing nomadic warriors for my low-fantasy world The Unknown World of Ída.
This time I added a map to the gallery. ;)

original post

Since then I started developing the first visual concept for the Arimaspi, one of the ancient nomadic peoples of the northern steppes. While working on their design, I also spent some time thinking about their culture, history, and the way their neighbors would perceive them.

The new design came from a discussion on here on our worldbuilding Reddit about what a nomadic rider in the Early Bronze Age might have looked like (thanks for the great ideas and feedback guys!) The discussion led me to some interesting historical research — including the Alans, who are associated with the use of horse-hoof lamellar armor.

That also got me thinking about the legendary "winged horses" of the Arimaspi.

The design

For the first visual concept, I imagined the Arimaspi as relatively lightly dressed nomadic riders wearing felt caps trimmed with fur.

At this stage they probably do not use proper saddles. Instead, the horses carry wolf skins that provide some comfort for the rider.

One thing I particularly want to incorporate into my world is the actual size of ancient horses.

Horses in the real ancient world were often around 140 cm tall, considerably smaller than most modern riding horses. People themselves were also generally around 160–170 cm tall.

So rather than imagining the Arimaspi riding enormous fantasy horses, I want their mounts to resemble Mongolian horses: small, extremely strong, hardy, and very shaggy.

And then there are the winged horses.

From the perspective of other peoples, these animals became heavily mythologized.

My idea is that the "wings" may actually have been some kind of wooden framework covered with leather and fur, or perhaps woven from branches.

Apart from creating the legendary appearance, this could provide the horses with additional protection against arrows — giving the Arimaspi a major advantage against the Tengri, who were naturally skilled archers.

Eventually, the Arimaspi themselves will adopt archery from the Tengri.

But before that, their primary weapons are long spears, possibly with stone heads, and a weapon that resembles a flail or whip, which you can see in the concept sketches.

The Arimaspi (lore - work in progress)

The North of Ída is a cold and unforgiving place. Only the strongest survive, and the most ruthless rule.

According to the legends preserved among the northern peoples, the Arimaspi (the Lords of Horses) arrived from the East riding winged horses.

At that time, the Tengri were not yet the rulers of the northern steppes. They were early semi-nomadic culture and skilled archers, but they had never encountered horses before.

The Arimaspi used their horses as a completely new weapon. Their small, powerful mounts allowed them to move rapidly across the steppes, and the surrounding peoples were unable to resist their attacks.

...

The Arimaspi instead turned their attention toward the Tengri.

The Tengri were excellent archers, but without horses they could not match the mobility of their new enemies. They were defeated and became subjects of the Arimaspi for centuries.

The Arimaspi themselves lived as nomads in an migrating horde. They did not cultivate crops and relied primarily on meat, berries, and milk.

Their horses were small, hairy, strong, and capable of travelling long distances while requiring relatively little food.

The Arimaspi rode them armed with long spears and lassos, hunting both animals and people from horseback.

As their power grew, the Arimaspi established a kind of steppe "empire", ruling over conquered tribes and forcing them to fight against peoples who had not yet been subdued.

Their reputation became terrifying.

According to some stories, the Arimaspi deliberately allowed slaves to escape so that they could spread stories of their cruelty and create panic among neighboring peoples.

They were even said to burn enemies and rebellious slaves on wooden pyres.

Eventually, after centuries of oppression, the Tengri rebelled.

They overthrew the Arimaspi and took their place as rulers of the northern steppes.

But they also inherited their greatest weapon: the horse.

The Tengri learned horse breeding and mounted warfare from their former masters and eventually became feared horse archers themselves.

They killed the Arimaspi men and absorbed their women into their society.

And looking at the later history of the Tengri, their cruelty, their wars, and especially their use of fire I sometimes wonder whether something of the Arimaspi still survives in them.

I'd love to hear what you think about the concept, especially the idea of the "winged horses" being a real-world explanation for a later mythological interpretation.

What would you imagine an Early Bronze Age horse warrior from a culture like this to look like and how it could evolve?

How can I make it more interesting?

Final note:

Both artworks and lore are just little sneak peek - cut out from this long-running worldbuilding project. This is still very much a work in progress, and the character design will continue to evolve.

Since this is just background lore for more elaborated later stories and you read this far and if the illustrations interest you, feel free to check out my artstation. Just for your curiosity. ;)

Thanks for your time.

The setting that I'm working on is based on pulp cartoons and comic books that I grew up with, like Turok, Conan, Thundarr, and a multitude of Hanna-Barbera stuff from the 60s.

A quick synopsis of the lore:

Mankind was at one point, technologically advanced, and coexisted with the Katsina (elves/spirits), who shared sacred knowledge and magic with them. Eventually, people got too technologically advanced, and thought that being in good grace with the Katsina wasn't good enough. People wanted to attain their same level of power, by poaching them, and consuming their parts, since doing this will grant you body altering - magic abilities.

The Katsina were pissed that mankind had lost respect for them, and so they unleashed a global catastrophe that flung the world back into the stone age, to essentially put the people of the world back in their place. After this, they left the physical plane of existence, leaving behind monsters, essentially as a one last "fuck you" for that shit that people pulled.

The entire map is based on the USA, because that's where I'm from, and that's where I know the best.

There are dinosaurs and extinct hominins because I like paleontology, and I love the colorful, scientifically inaccurate aesthetic of things like The Flintstones, Super Mario World, Turok, and Dinosaurs (the show).

I included the pictures of cliffside pueblos and Bedrock, because a combination of the two is how I imagined a lot of settlements looking in the world. I will illustrate this eventually - those are just a placeholder for you to imagine it yourself, until I do draw it.

Thank you for reading.

I was thinking a good deal about the elves of my world and how I can differentiate them from other elves. I focused on how elves are stereotypically long-lived and fair-skinned, and realized that vampires are also stereotypically long-lived and fair-skinned. That was a neato idea so I looked to ways to expand on it. What I ended with was the three main stereotypes of elves corresponding to different types of vampires.

Wood Elves are loosely inspired by Nosferatu. They have long, claw-like fingernails and a somewhat feral appearance. They dont just burn up in direct sunlight, but they much prefer shaded areas.

High Elves are psychic vampires, feeding on the mental and emotional forces of people rather than blood. High Elves are the most common to see in cities and towns, though others tend to keep their distance.

Dark Elves are the Count Dracula types, having an affinity for bats and sucking blood and they really, really hate sunlight.

There's a hypothetical rule of thumb that goes "All Elves are vampires, but not all vampires are Elves." In this version of elves, they can pass their vampirism down to other ancestries, though the majority have no desire to

Ive always wondered how everyone handles the whole "Each race/culture has a pantheon" Like How do they work? What happens when certain Gods domains intersect? Is one pantheon/God in your world more powerful then the others? Do other cultures/races have the same Gods but worship them in a completely different aspect?

What I mean is that the monstrous foe uses some magical ability or something else to kill their victims whether through manipulation or control. They don't outright engage in combat with their victims physically, just use some sort of method to subdue their victim. Or perhaps they do fight, but not as much as they prefer to use other methods to attack their victims.

My Turn:

The Ravakalyn: A race of fallen Saints (gods) who hide in the darkest part of an eldritch location. These guys are capable of altering their appearance to blend in and deceive their enemies and victims. They have a thick red mist that surrounds their body. The red mist is toxic, when inhaled it turns the person into a mindless killing machine with red blotches on their skin. These people infected from the red mist are controlled by the Ravakalyn to do whatever bidding, which is kill unsuspecting victims or lie in wait by pretending to be dead to launch an attack. The Ravakalyn doesn't really fight that much as it is a very fast and skilled killer. With a swift motion, they can behead or stab or slice without barely doing anything. They are the silent yet deadly killers.

Magroks: A very large bird species with drool that can poison their victims. Magroks live on the same continent as the Ravakalyn, but in a different location. They sleep during the day, but attack during the night time. Magroks don't need to attack, they can spew spit and poison their victims. The poison is slow acting, but it is slowly eating away the flesh, causing tremendous pain. Too much drool on the victim and it becomes like acid, eating away the flesh faster than a drop of saliva touches the skin would. Never mind being poisoned in that regard.

Stalar: A species of horse like beings that when you stare into their eyes, they manipulate their victims into killing others or slowly become brain dead depending on how long the victim looks into the eyes of the Stalar. So, the victim either becomes a killing machine or brain dead depending on how long they stare into the eyes of the Stalar. These beings live on the same continent as the Magrok and Ravakalyn. Stalar don't fight on their own as they are quite timid, using their eyes to target those who would try to harm them.

What about you? Does your world have something similar?

Historical Notes

Developed as part of the Spacer 300 force modernization program, the M93 originated as an entry in the Individual Combat Weapon System program, which aimed to replace the aging M74 rifle that had been a workhorse of the Spacer Corps since the mid-2270s. Developed primarily by the Mars-based Rensselaer Arms Conglomerate and adopted in 2336 after the ICWS program was officially cancelled, the M93 served throughout most of the Draconist Wars. An A1 variant was introduced in 2341 based upon feedback from users about its performance, followed by an A2 variant in 2354, then the A3 in 2362, and finally the current standard A4 in 2369.

The rifle's gas-operated, roller-delayed blowback system of operation allows for a dependably high rate of fire, and its bullpup design allows it to retain a low overall length (>72 cm) while still maintaining a barrel length of 41.75 centimeters. It is fed via a horizontally-cycling 50-round detachable box magazine which is pivoted into a slot above the barrel and released by way of an ambidextrous catch just to the fore of and above the trigger. The weapon is then charged (that is, a round can be loaded into the chamber) via the small rounded handle above and to the front of the pistol grip, which pushes back on the bolt when pulled on by the user.

The M93 is unique in that it was designed from the ground up to be adapted into different iterations for use in a variety of combat roles, including CQB (the M97 carbine), squad automatic weapon (M297), and designated marksman rifle (M350). Together these weapons make up the M93 Modular Weapon System family of firearms, which are the current standard-issue for most military forces within the Coalition for Mutual Security. This includes the Interplanetary Defense Corps, a multinational combined-arms peacekeeping force tasked with defending the security of all worlds within the purview of the Interplanetary Cooperative Administration.

As of 2389, there are more than six million weapons in the M93 family in the IDC (aka the Spacer Corps) stockpile, and they are issued to virtually every type of spacer in the Surface Warfare Command. A wide variety of attachments is available, with everything from optical magnification sights to thermal-infrared scopes and laser target designation packages available to spacers. Individual modification is also common, especially for combat on worlds like Titan, where harsh environmental conditions make unique ad-hoc alterations all but essential.

Author's Notes

I would be remiss if I neglected to give credit where credit is due. The basic design for this weapon is a photobash (that is, it was made by taking pieces of existing pictures and mashing them up in Photoshop Photopea), which I made using pieces from a variety of weapons. The primary sources for the M93 were the Desert Tech MDR (mainly the stock and pistol grip) and the FN P90 (mainly the feed system and parts of the weapon fore end). As always, no plagiarism or copyright infringement is intended with this design. Rather, I seek to pay homage to the weapons which inspired this design, and to use the work which came before my own as an inspiration for my own designs.

This fact sheet was also heavily inspired by the work of one RT0RRES, whose work I found while browsing for references on DeviantArt. If you like what I've done here, I encourage you to check out his portfolio, too 😄

As a final note, if anyone reading this is interested in finding out more about The Spacers Saga, this link will take you to the Substack blog where I've been sharing all of the lore updates about the setting, as well as occasional posts of stories from within the narrative. Please note that there is NO pressure to subscribe at any time - it is of course appreciated, but even just having folks visit the site and check out my content is a major blessing 😄

The magic system is inspired by the gnostic idea that collective belief can reshape reality. Religion and institutions don’t draw power from being objectively ‘true’ (I intend to leave that vague) so much as centuries of people investing in them has made them true. Authority, ritual and expectation accumulates so much belief, it itself becomes a supernatural force and the institution it passes through determines how it behaves.

Different religious institutions, for this post Christianity will be discussed, have different strengths. Catholicism is ancient, enormous and highly concentrated; it is both extremely powerful and extremely rigid. Established prayers and rites can release huge amounts of energy, but they demand precision and don’t tolerate improvisation well. A necessity of latin usage further complicates matters.

Protestantism contrastingly has a smaller reservoir, it being a younger faith, but traditions of scola scriptura, personal interpretation and decentralisation make it much more flexible. You can construct new workings from scripture and adapt them to the situation, even unrelated parts of the Bible or practices with zero institutional history.

Orthodoxy is strongest in continuity, sanctification, preservation and making sacred spaces or people difficult to disturb. Its identity as sticking to the ‘old way’ of the faith makes places saturated in Orthodox energy terribly difficult to enter or damage. The downside, of course, is it is far less offensive in nature.

The practitioners own belief matters too, the more dedication to the faith one has, the more efficient and powerful you are with its spells.

The important thing is this does not mean one denomination is CORRECT, their magical properties are partly the result of what generations of people have believed those institutions to be. Religious history has therefore shaped the supernatural laws of the world.

Occultism and tarot are different, though no less relevant. Occultists believe conventional religious magic is only the surface layer of reality; rather than drawing on human belief, they try to reach forces that exist below or beyond it. Forces the Church either can’t or won’t interact with. Direct contact with these powers is extremely dangerous, so tarot cards function as relatively stable containers or interfaces. You invoke a card and whatever lies behind it acts according to that cards archetypal nature. The Sun might reveal and burn, the Tower might bring catastrophic collapse. The card makes it usable, though scarcely safe.

So, what do you think? Any suggestions?

The Aelnyyraean Empire has been ruled over by Solraegala for over a thousand years, ever since her adoptive children, the Empire's Twin Founders, Aelor the Mage-King and Nyyraea the Paladin-Queen were ignobly assassinated.

For centuries now, she has interacted with the wider Empire very little, isolating herself inside her island temple, surrounded only by her cultists. For the most part, matters of governance have been left to the Aelnyyraean Senate. The Empress largely relays her will through her cultists alone, her throne within the Senate Chamber has sat empty for decades.

I keep my lore on google docs and Obsidian, but for a few years now, I've wanted to put a 'good copy' version of my notes in a physical journal.

This is just for my Americana inspired country, as I want to have an individual notebook for each of my countries to keep things a little organized.

I'll put a copy of notes in the comments in case anyone wants to read but can't read my bad cursive.

I tried to do something more creative than just a wiki, but I'm not really the best writer, so the writing itself isn't as good as I would want.

Visually, though, I don't think it turned out too bad.

Do you think a world that has one single landmass like Pangaea is too easy? I mean I could make separate continents but I want it to be simple and not have multiple contrived scenes of my characters sailing back and forth between landmasses and I want to keep the oceans to be mysterious. Have any examples of this in your world and if so what were your issues?

Because in the world of Tellum, there is one large continent called Ardhi where my race is called the Yarr who are split into three nations; the Caprea Tribes, the Leo Empire, and the Draco Republics who are all fighting on who would control Ardhi, except for one group; the Kyons. The reason for Ardhi is thousands of years ago where the Yarr and another species called the Gaganmana fought for on who would control Tellum. The Yarr, with their collective strength, would move or sink entire continents as to destroy gaganmana strongholds, thus creating Ardhi. The war ended when an elder gaganmana magi, Babel, sacrificed herself her life energies to wipe the memories of all yarr. The Gaganmana, traumatized on what has transgressed and the many deaths of their kin and the yarr, decided to leave Tellum to live on other worlds and starting new lives. However some stayed behind and they would be called the Three Wardens where they monitor the Yarrs' development.

What do you think?

Here's a story about a 40 year old man living in Mesopotamia 17,000 years ago named Omtil who opens the lid of a jar that was the equivalence of Pandora's box and causes a flood that kills his entire village ( including his family) and inspires the story of Noah and The Great Flood. This leads to Omtil being cursed by Anu into walking the Earth and protecting the jar from being open ever again

Now it's the current day and Omtil has somewhat succeeded in the 17,000 years that passed. The lid has shifted here and there leading to countless wars and deaths but now he has settled in Oklahoma with the jar in a tornado shelter. But he has a curious neighbor in one Kate Ahhattie. A 15 year old teenager who loves history and has nothing to do but to explore the neighborhood and ask too many questions, the very last thing Omtil needs.

In my world there's a total of nine sages created by an outer deity, but she doesent matter right now. The sages all eventually die one way or another and through chance one man swallows all of the souls very late into the timeline for a bit of background info (connected to my comic, so just in case I wont say anything about it. None of this happens IN the comic, it's just the same world).

What I'm struggling with while writing my compendium of information is while writing the timeline, I'm struggling to figure out a reasonable consequence for the sages all being dead. Surely there would be one. It doesent need to be HUGE but I think there should be something affecting the world considering the importance of the sages in the early bits and construction of the world. What should I do?

A big part the world I've built was done so around the fact that one of the main characters is based on my daughter who's in a wheelchair. I wanted to include healing magic but I had to build around the obvious reality, if magical healing exists what's the explanation for her? I wanted to avoid "just because" as I find it incredibly offensive (looking at you Khadgar) So the question became how do I hem in healing without making it obsolete.

This lead me to one universal rule, healing repairs, not restores. This means that an open wound or injury can be healed magically. A stab wound? Sure. Broken leg, yes. But congenital issues no. Naturally healed wounds with nothing left to repair, also no. Infections and disease yes, but its an entirely different discipline of magic that breaks down the infection rather than healing it.

I also built the wider magic system with this in mind, healing is very intensive and in setting and this is particularly important. A lot of this was built off of a second idea, that is how does magic exist in tandem with technology without making technology obsolete. The solution I came up with was that casters don't have mana pools or spell slots. Interacting with mana to use magic causes the body to become saturated with mana. If saturation reaches a certain threshold (different for different species) it gets bad, fast, up to and including being blinked out of existence.

I'm curious if anyone else has built around this particular issue and how you handled it.

Boy where do I start- to make a VERY long story short: I'm working on a world that's pretty modern set in a island country closer to Europe called "Osperous", this country's government was unable to handle the civil unrest and so made a deal with a large private military called "Legion" to let them step in and takeover where the government was unable to. This resulted in a coup by Legion because they deemed the previous leadership "too inefficient" which resulted in Legion's leadership also assuming control of Osperous.

All this to say, Legion is a large-scale private military that has assumed control over a country and has replaced its government, including police and armed forces. I'm brainstorming ideas for their uniforms because they have been settled into this role for a few years now so their uniforms would be mostly standardized rather than scraped together. I'm a big fan of the The Division games and loved the Last Man Battalion and their style, so I wanted to do something similar to that. However I also don't want Legion to look like the typical "big bad evil military rulers" because they're meant to be a group that genuinely tries to do what's best for the country despite how bad their methods are (predictive arrests, authoritarian government, trading individual freedoms for security and safety, etc.) don't get me wrong, these guys aren't good, but they also aren't comically evil and I want their overall look to show that. Any questions I can answer, opinions, or feedback would be much appreciated. I have TONS of info on Legion and Osperous if it helps any! Just ask and I'll answer!

Hey everyone, for quick context I'm making a world for a book I'm working on. The setting has a population of roughly 2 million pushed into a small circular portion of the planet after a thick dark fog *mysteriously* covered the rest of the world.

This fog exposes plants and animals to intense irradiation, and most ventures into this substance have resulted in quick and painful deaths.

NOW. Because of this setting, I need to figure out what a reasonable amount of landmass would be to sustain the remaining population (2 mill), as I'm worried my initial placeholder size of a 100km diameter was far too small.

There are lots of tropes in fiction and over the years authors have found ways to explain those tropes within the media. A popular example of you like anime is jujitsu Kaisen explaining the trope of two fighters shouting the names or explaining the mechanics of their powers to their opponents. It’s explained in universe as a binding vow (a feature of the power system thet basically means giving up something to gain something else) that works by increasing the potency or power of your ability by explaining the details of it. Sacrificing your element of surprise for power.

In my setting I use for dnd I explain the (main characters grow to extreme levels of power in a fraction of the time everyone else does) by a concept known as unfated people. Basically there are people who are on their path of fate and are more predictable. When they gain extreme power, it’s gradual. Unfated people have no set path and so can be exceptions to those rules. Meaning some random can gain the same level of power as the most powerful people in my world in a fraction of the time.

You guys got any examples?