projecteldritch

[projecteldritch]

Don’t get me wrong, werewolves are freakin awesome, but I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that wolves aren’t hostile to their own pack as media makes it seem. There’s no “alpha wolf” — if there are wolves in charge, they’re usually the parents of the other wolves. In other words, wolf packs are one big happy family.

But HYENAS on the other hand?? Testosterone-fueled female domination. The smaller males are the lowest ranking in the hierarchy and they are stuck like this. They get food that females don’t want. Hyenas eat their prey alive and crunch bones. Cubs often suffocate before they can even be born because they are birthed through the female hyena’s unique clitoris, otherwise known as a pseudo-penis — and yes, giving birth through this is incredibly painful.

Even though spotted hyenas are technically not related to canidae, I still think they should be considered as werecreatures in fiction. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[projecteldritch]

Eldara

Are there any foods with symbolic meanings that are eaten on special occasions (e.g. katsudon for victory, or new years oranges for luck)? How did the tradition get started?

If an animal gets frozen by the blue moon's light, and someone manages to kill/butcher it before the moonfest is over, its meat is prepared with great care and consumed in a sort of custom. Everyone gets to derive their own meaning from it.

We all know about weddings and marriage, but are there any ceremonies that symbolically / legally / magically officialize a different type of relationship in your world's culture? (Adoption, apprenticeship, friendship, etc.)

Apprenticeship is important for rangers, and so, becoming an apprentice to a ranger is a monumental event. It's a sort of graduation from childhood, and the beginning of preparation for full adulthood. They usually have a small ceremony and the new apprentices get gifts to start them out on their new adventure. The apprentice leaves camp with their master the next day.

When Aquilans start their pilgrimage, they're ceremonially separated from their home and family, and prepared for the upcoming journey by their elders. This too is a rite of passage, only returned pilgrims being accepted as adults into their society.

What's a rule or social norm that is widely followed in theory, but in practice everyone knows it's not a big deal and breaks it all the time?

There's an official process for how Assassins are supposed to be working, but many people (themselves included) often treat them as mercenaries, and ask of them not entirely sanctioned things as well. If the thing is something that goes directly against the Hierarchy, they can expect another assassin to be sent after them soon, but smaller misdemeanors are overlooked.

Are there any trades or hobbies whose practitioners are stereotyped as weird or extraordinary? (E.g. the "mad hatter" trope.) Why? How true is this perception?

People from collect magic crystals with no stated goal are looked upon with suspicion. Magic users are not that common (1/100-1/1000 people), especially in Empire territory (they're anti-magic), and so, magic crystals are not directly useful to most people. There are ways to make them work for non-mages as well, but that's low efficacy and dangerous. You don't want to piss the elemental in the crystal off.

If you pulled a random average Joe off the streets of your world and asked them to draw a house, what would they draw? (Shape, roof style, position and number of windows, etc.)

They'd likely draw a standard triangle-on-reactangle composition, but they'd be more likely than not to also include a side-rectangle as most houses are vaguely L-shaped.

Is there a place in your world that nobody has ever been to - the bottom of a cave, the moon, another dimension, etc.? How do people know it exists? Why haven't they gone there? What do they believe it's like, and how right/wrong are they?

They certainly haven't visited the moon. Its surface reflects sunlight in a strange way; turns it blue, and where this reflected light touches, time starts flowing in weird ways. No loops or time travel is happening in there, but the speed of time can drastically slow down or speed up, seemingly at random. Because of this, visiting the moon is both extremely hard, and generally undesirable. You could get stuck and frozen in place by the blue moon's light, or live put your entire life in a split second (or more likely move into a frozen state from one of the accelerated bubbles).

What aesthetics are considered "advanced" or "futuristic" in your world - canvas wings, shiny chrome, smooth plastic? How has this changed over time?

Brutalism is the "advanced" view, as most magitech that still remains intact after who knows how many Cycles has this style, and magitech is generally thought of as advanced.

"Futuristic" is the plain white renderite look; not necessarily massive, but definitely has some large, flat, white surfaces and vague geometric shapes.

What's a fun fact about your world that you as the worldbuilder are dying to share, but nobody ever thinks to ask? 

I created a font for my world based on this reddit post.

It looks like this:

It's called Griddish.

Random Worldbuilding Questions

Are there any foods with symbolic meanings that are eaten on special occasions (e.g. katsudon for victory, or new years oranges for luck)? How did the tradition get started?

We all know about weddings and marriage, but are there any ceremonies that symbolically / legally / magically officialize a different type of relationship in your world’s culture? (Adoption, apprenticeship, friendship, etc.)

What’s a rule or social norm that is widely followed in theory, but in practice everyone knows it’s not a big deal and breaks it all the time?

Are there any trades or hobbies whose practitioners are stereotyped as weird or extraordinary? (E.g. the “mad hatter” trope.) Why? How true is this perception?

What are some cliches, tropes, and/or plots that commonly appear in stories written by your world’s inhabitants? What were they inspired by? Why are they popular?

What is a common way to subtly insult someone in your world, without crossing into overt rudeness? Gifting an item with negative connotations? Addressing them more familiarly or formally than normal? Backhanded compliments?

If you pulled a random average Joe off the streets of your world and asked them to draw a house, what would they draw? (Shape, roof style, position and number of windows, etc.)

Is there a place in your world that nobody has ever been to - the bottom of a cave, the moon, another dimension, etc.? How do people know it exists? Why haven’t they gone there? What do they believe it’s like, and how right/wrong are they?

What aesthetics are considered “advanced” or “futuristic” in your world - canvas wings, shiny chrome, smooth plastic? How has this changed over time?

What’s a fun fact about your world that you as the worldbuilder are dying to share, but nobody ever thinks to ask? 

#project eldritch #eldara #blue moon #rangers #aquilans #assassins #New Erigian Empire #elementals #The Cylce #griddish

[projecteldritch]

Eldara

Divine creation.

First, the universe popped into existence from the primordial Chaos.

Then, a set of 47 Elder gods came to be, and started creating stuff, but they were obsessed with perfection.

The primordial Chaos poked a hole on the universe, and corrupted their perfect creations.

The Elders went into hiding, just as a new set of gods, the Nex were born from the partial Chaos.

The Nex also started creating. Their leaders set out a limited space and created a single planet, Eldara, which the lower Nex were tasked with maintaining.

The lower Nex tried being deities, but eventually realized they should remain hidden if possible.

Someone built a massive machine which blew up and almost destroyed the planet.

The Cycle was established, wherein civilizations are allowed to advance only to a certain level, after which, the Nex stop preventing natural disasters, wars, etc. so the planet resets to the stone age.

Worldbuilding Prompt #2

Tell me about the creation of your world. Was there a scientific explanation? Was it divine? Violent? A peaceful ordering?

#project eldritch #eldara #Elders #creation #chaos #Nex #The Cycle #The Machine

[projecteldritch]

I have a future setting for my (originally medieval) fantasy world. It's basically moved into science fantasy, there's plenty of magitech, and the story is largely magic users moving around in a technologically advanced world.

My side-blog for it is very much a work in progress, but you can check it out if you want to.

What does a futuristic, fantasy world looks like? And by fantasy, I mean high/DnD-esque fantasy. You can do post-appo, Jetsons/20th century's concept of the future, a variation of our time or anything that strikes your fancy.

I just want a high fantasy (dragons, cool magic systems, elves, ect.) that is set in a setting that is not mediaeval times.

#project eldritch

[projecteldritch]

Eldara - future

A far future, post-scarcity setting of a fantasy world.

If the planet is entirely city, where does the oxygen come from?

Floating oxygen farms are used; 1-2 hectare (3-5 acre) platforms hosting a large amount of oxygenating plants and algae, regularly sent into areas where the air is becoming polluted or oxygen levels are falling.

In addition to this, in several places, specialized algae is grown to provide local oxygen. The floating farms don't need to visit these places as often.

Third up, the Aquilans (dryad/elf species) have massive trees in many places, grown and maintained by magic, which also help create enough oxygen.

Does the planet have natural water?

Yes, its oceans are largely intact, their surface host to a more natural variant of the algae used to make oxygen. Natural rivers and lakes have largely been supplanted by artificial ones though.

The floating oxygen farms also create drinkable water by condensing moisture and filtering it.

Nesiidae(species)/Pentrosians(nationality) live in underwater cities, and they utilize advanced magitech to filter water into potable sources. They are able to filter way more than needed across the whole planet, so water prices are more than covered by taxes for everyone.

How deep does the city go?

It starts at ground level with minimal (active) subterranean layers, but the buildings reach far into the sky in denser regions.

Underground is the leftover amalgam of past civilizations' tunnels, sunken cities, natural caves, and creature burrows. It is generally not safe for travel, much less for living, but it can go a few kilometers down.

What is transportation like?

Public transportation is the main form (both on-rail and off-rail trains/maglevs and flying transports), but individual, flying pods are also used. They're for the most part automated so as to avoid driver-induced accidents.

How is food produced?

Replicator technology has been invented and is largely used to create food and other consumer goods directly out of energy. This also helps with waste disposal.

Small, private gardens and farms exist, though they rarely feed more than a few people each.

Are the poles less occupied than the rest of the city?

Yes, and no. The poles were for a very long time uninhabitable for mortals, so a group of gods called the Boreals have made their home there. They've developed their own magitech, raised their own cities, and for a long time, have remained mostly hidden. Now that the world has been connected by technological advancement, they act as a neutral nation, allowing limited immigration.

How about the equator?

The equator has a massive wall-building going around in a band around the planet, utilizing the various civilizations' magitech to stay useful. It's a major transportation line, and has a lot of people living next to it.

Are there parks and protected areas of nature?

The Aquilans' mother trees and their underground fungal farms are all that remain. It is debatable how natural these are, but they host the majority of the biodiversity found on the planet.

Sci-fi worldbuilding ideas for your city planets :)

If the planet is entirely city, where does the oxygen come from? Are their farms dedicated to producing oxygen? Special factories? Are there plants that produce oxygen very quickly all over the planet? Do you have to pay an oxygen tax?

Does the planet have natural water? Are the oceans untouched, incorporated into the city, or have they been drained and the water used for things in the city? What is it used for? Drinking, dams, hydroelectricity, food production, etc?

How deep does the city go? Has the planet been mined into to create more space? Is geothermal energy used? Are the bottom levels reserved for things such as sewage, electricity production, factories, prisons, etc?

What is transportation like? Are there roads, floating roads, or are trains and trams used instead? Are planes used? Is transportation fast enough to quickly travel across time zones?

How is food produced? Is it imported, or is it grown on planet? A combination? Think about greenhouses, factorised farms, vertical farming projects, etc. If oceans are left relatively untouched, is food produced in it? Are fish kept? Are there ration laws?

Are the poles less occupied than the rest of the city? Are they used for storing frozen goods, super computers? On a planet with no oceans, is ice and snow valuable?

The same goes for the equator of the planet. Is it more or less occupied? Is the heat used for anything? Are there solar panel farms? Air conditioning?

Are there parks and protected areas of nature? Ancient gardens, important forests, sacred land? Are there laws about chopping down trees? Are there farms for trees and plants? Are their plant shops, and are they expensive? In Star Wars, a part of Coruscant's highest mountain is a public monument that you can look at - are parts of mountains, rare ores, fossils, etc, preserved?

Not all sci-fi cities look the same. Coruscant has skyscrapers arranged in a very chaotic manner, stretching incredibly deep and incredibly high, and there is almost no plant life or natural parts of the planet to be seen. Xandar is arranged neatly with very similar style buildings whilst remaining relatively low rising compared to other city planets, and has lots of greenery and a fairly untouched ocean. Wakanda is relatively defined in layout, with a mixture of plants and buildings, houses and skyscrapers, with every building being unique. Draw inspiration from whatever you like.

Write whatever you want, even if it's common or cliche. It doesn't matter if it has been done before, because it hasn't yet been written by you.

Happy worldbuilding!

#worldbuilding #eldara #project eldritch #fantasy #science fantasy #nesiidae #pentrosia #boreals

[projecteldritch]

This came across my Facebook feed, felt I’d share it.

[projecteldritch]

New Erigian Empire (Eldara)

Funnily enough, it's not their own achievement. It's the capital city that the "Old" Erigian "Empire" built. They were not an empire, but a kid of republic instead with elected officials instead of the New Erigian way of a hereditary monarchy. They used a bunch of magitech and constructed machines and architecture that still function around 1500 years later (imagine if the pyramids were ancient alien spaceships, that's the level of advancement the New Erigians lost).

If you ask the people in and around the royal court, the problem is magic users; too powerful to be trusted, too inconspicuous to easily tell apart. If you ask the common people, it's that the empire is focusing on their expansionist war(s) against neighboring nations too much to actually care for their own people. If you ask the magic users who are oppressed by the empire, the problem is that the line of emperors has gotten way too egotistic and controlling, more preoccupied with projecting power not to create their own downfall. There's a lot of people, magic users and not, who have had enough and a full-on revolution is brewing.

That would be the Rangers. They were more or less created for this exact reason, and they act as unofficial (illegal) enforcers of peace and patrons of progress. It is mostly thanks to them that the entire empire is not just a bunch of burnt huts and tents in a scorched land. They are slowing the pace of the revolution so that it doesn't destroy everything or install a worse dictator in place of the emperor.

Low-level magic users. They have neough magic to be demonized by empire propaganda, but not enough to actually be useful to them in any way. Intersectionality withstanding, it's members of this group who are most often hurt or even killed in random acts of hate, most often from members of the empire military. They are often drafted into the frontlines and used as fodder against opponents.

Whenever there's a noble around, even the empire military is reduced to a bunch of yesmen, lest they suffer the temper of privileged manchildren on an administrative level. Nobles are present in a semi-feudal way (the military collects taxes directly from people, but nobles are given extra duties to fulfill in exchange for their status), but they mostly serve as regional nodes if power the emperor can directly call on if there's a problem in the region or if more soldiers are required from the region. Nobles are treated as second to the emperor himself, with all the associated problems.

The capital city. There, the appearance of everyone not only respecting but loving the emperor has to be enforced, and even visiting nobles are held to strict norms and rigid customs. If there is some event held there, the entire city turns into basically a prison, with very little leeway in who can go where and when, and what they can do there. Any deviation can result in imprisonment, direct violence from city guards, or even public execution.

Around 500 years ago, at the gall of the "Old" Erigian "Empire". Their officials became increasingly corrupt, private interests overpowered public needs, and they stopped allowing "outsiders" (elves, dragons, etc.) into their cities. Eventually their economy collapsed and a new, more erigian-supremacist group took over, installing their first emperor and massively increasing the military.

Around 300 years ago, the state religion was officially changed to a newly fabricated one where the emperor is a personal host/manifestion of one of the six gods of their pantheon. There was a somewhat similar religion before, but the god-emperor thing was a new invention and served to further entrench the emperor as the one central authority. It took a while to filter down into society, but by now, there are a lot of people who have shrines dedicated to the e gods with the representations of those gods being the faces/figires of past emperors who have been said to host the given god.

They're magic users, have families/friend groups with magic users in them, and/or have personally suffered from the injustices of the empire in some horrifying way.

They recognize that the people are mostly victims of a garbage system and too afraid to act. They see the resistance, the small acts of kindness towards the oppressed even when there might be negative consequences for it, and they aim to recruit those that can act. They see a world worth saving and people worth freeing, with a lot of baggage that they will have to address later on.

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions (Society)

Society Worldbuilding Questions:

What is each society’s crowning achievement or proudest "claim to fame"?

What are each society’s greatest ills or challenges? (Do these differ depending on who you ask?)

Who garners the most respect in this society, and why?

Who is shown the least respect in this society, and why (what does it value)?

Where are hierarchies and power differences starkest between people in this world, and why?

Where are social norms and influences (such as laws) most stringently upheld in this world, and why (e.g., what roles do politics, ideology, religion, or competition for resources play)?

When did this society’s power structures emerge or change significantly, and why?

When did major societal beliefs or practices become entrenched? Are there any that have recently fallen away or started to disappear?

Why is living within this society challenging for your main characters?

Why does each character enjoy or appreciate this society, if anything?

❯ ❯ ❯ Read other writing masterposts in this series: Worldbuilding Questions for Deeper Settings

#eldara #project eldritch #fantasy #worldbuilding

[projecteldritch]

Eldara - Meet the characters! (spoilers)

I have been writing since june of 2014 and (hopefully) gotten rather good at it. That being said, most of my writing is in the form of worldbuilding; characters, settings, locations, maps, etc.

Here's a quick rundown of my characters with some more detailed descriptions below the break:

Kody - space mage assassin

Orthus - ancient dragon

William - ranger with a perfect aim

Zeenie - young dragon wanting to prove herself

Ezon - dark strider with a hard shell but a soft heart

Violet - rogue mage with a long life of trauma and alienation

Kody Johnson:

Bio: Cis gay/asexual man, white skin, short, black hair and black eyes, short, compact build

Age at start: 22, working as an assassin for the last 6 of them

Magic: space magic (teleportation, extra-dimensional spaces), telekinesis (weak/latent)

Inspiration: mostly all AC games and an initial self-insert/edgy character whom I've worked to make more realistic since

An assassin by profession, space mage by birth. Born into a high noble family, trained to kill, then disowned when he failed a family rite of passage (which was probably set up for him to fail). He lives in a house he built with Orthus, his dragon companion. It is partially inspired by the TARDIS of all things, being just a door on the outside, but a full-fledged home on the inside. Built with perhaps a bit of megalomaniac zeal, it has way too many rooms for just the two of them, but it serves as a good base of operation for the team once it assembles. He's pragmatic, tactical, but prone to over-straining his magic and ending up exhausted after any given high-intensity event.

Orthus:

Bio: Trans bisexual/biromantic man, dark skin (in human form) and pitch black scales (in dragon form), dark hair & eyes, variable stature & build

Age at start: at least 3000, though he might be significantly older. Has been living with Kody for the last 7 years.

Magic: Shapeshifting (inherent with dragons, but especially versatile in his case), space, fire, earth, shadow, etc.

An ancient dragon with a particular soft spot for humans. Born very long ago in the middle of a war, he hatched in the arms of a young, human girl, and grew up as her companion. He's gotten into a lot of trouble over the millennia and knows a few gods on a personal basis. Respected by Aquilan (northern/wood) elves and has a statue dedicated to him in the capital of a southern union of former Empire colonies. Transitioned after having to really consider his gender after getting pregnant and abandoning his daughter (an egg which comes up eventually in the story). He's calm, collected, a appears pretty stoic at first, but you'll get to know him as someone who cares deeply about everyone around him.

William Wolf:

Bio: Cis straight man, with shoulder-length, blond hair, blue eyes, and white skin, tall, slender

Age at start: 23, 17 of which were spent with the rangers

Magic: undetermined, but he has a low intensity, but long range ability of telekinesis, which is unusual

Inspiration: Aragorn/Legolas

A Ranger Patron (one down from Master) with high chances of making it to Master. Born in a small village of magic users, William always felt a bit of an outsider. His sister, Violet, who's 3 years older than him, was the reason that their parents moved there. From early on, a Ranger Master called Halt was interested in young William, who showed special promise to be a great ranger. When he was 6, their village was razed by empire troops, and he found an unhatched dragon egg under their home, which hatched in his hands. The young dragon is Zeenie, and has been with him since. After the fires died down, he and Zeenie escaped to meet Halt in a nearby town. Halt took them in, and raised William as his son, inducing him into the ranks of rangers.

Zeenie:

Bio: Cis girl (sexuality not addressed), short, thin, light green scales (in lizardfolk/vern form), blue/white scales (in dragon form), white skin and short, blonde hair (in human form, later dyed blue)

Age at Start: 17, hatched when William found her egg, beeing living with him since

Magic: limited shapeshifting, water/ice, air, light, etc.

Hatched from a long-forgotten egg buried under a family home, Zeenie had very little to go on by herself. She's become strongly connected to William, his initial burst of emotion being the thing that triggered her hatching. Through the years, she's been treated as an extension of Will, an accessory to him, and it has been bothering her for a while. Never having seen another dragon in her life before, when Kody mentions he is good friends with one, her mind was made up. Her journey is centered around learning to be a dragon, and above that, her own person.

Ezon Athor:

Bio: Cis bisexual man, medium height, bulky build, slightly hunched over posture, black hair and eyes, tan skin

Age at Start: 40+ (unknown), his past is a bit of a mystery even to him, having forgotten significant portions of it. He ages differently to other humans due to a number of invasive magical experiments performed on him as a child.

Magic: Absorption (he can forcefully drain any source of (regular) magic to bolster his own strength and endurance, accelerating his healing to unnatural levels), preconception (limited)

Inspiration: Bucky Barnes

Born into a small village, he was kidnapped by cultists as a baby because of his connection to one of the Elder gods (Nemun). He was experimented on (basically tortured), and gained a number of strange abilities with it. His perception is slightly skewed through time, making him see a bit into the immediate future, enhancing his reaction speed. His left arm was infected with a magical fungus, which enabled him to absorb all (regular) sorts of magic into him. He eventually escaped and later founded a family, which was then destroyed along with his new home in an attack by a fractured god (Nefest). He's been trying to gain power to defeated the god ever since.

Violet Wolf:

Bio: Cis bisexual woman, medium height, compact build in good condition, red hair, blue eyes, white skin.

Age at Start: 26, escaped the attack that left her and William orphans. She spent a few years on the run, then a few more at a wizard's home as his apprentice. She's been jumping from town to town for the last 10 years.

Magic: Blood magic (a chaotic counterpart to nature magic, the generic healing/life force magic, discriminated against even amongst magic users and subject to a witch hunt a few hundred years back. She can sacrifice life force to open portals into a doomed realm to draw on its chaotic power)

Inspiration: Jean Grey (X-men, Dark Phoenix), Katarina (League of Legends), and eventually Violet (Arcane)

Having escaped the Empire raid on their village, Violet and her friends fled to the same nearby town as William did, but they did not know they had an ally there. One of the girls' parents lived there, so they spent the night there, but were attacked by assassins hired by the Empire (Kody's later estranged father). Only Violet managed to escape, and spent a few years homeless. A wizard took her in, so for a few years, she had a teacher and a home. It all ended bad however when he figured out her magic was blood magic, and she was forced to flee yet again. Thoroughly traumatized and with an unhealthy lack of trust in people, she acquired a daemon (symbiotic dark spirit feeding off of her emotions, acting as a permanent companion and occasional protector), and has been spending her time in random places for as long as people will have her. Meeting her long-thought-dead brother was a bit of a shock for her, and she's got some enemies to take care of.

#project eldritch #Eldara #original character #fantasy #magic #Kody Johnson #Orthus #William Wolf #Zeenie #Ezon Athor #Violet Wolf

[projecteldritch]

Hey Everyone!

This is my fantasy book which I've been working on since mid-2014. It's gotten through a lot of revisions and three major concept redesigns. It's a work in progress and I welcome all who are interested in it.

#Project Eldritch #Eldara #worldbuilding #fantasy #high fantasy #medieval fantasy