Worldbuilding Questions yeahhh!

1. (I'm gonna strikethrough the stuff we've already basically answered when it comes to the Isorin story)

      General

   • In which geographical areas will the story take place? How much ground will the story cover? What are the most striking features of landscape, climate, animals, etc. in this area? How will these features affect travel time, communication, etc.?
   • If there are non-human inhabitants, are there any areas they particularly claim as their own (e.g., dwarves traditionally live underground, usually in mountains)?

2. Climate and Geography

   • Have human activities affected climate, landscape, etc. in various regions? How? (Example: Sahara Desert growth has been increased by over-farming.)
   • How do differences from Earth (multiple suns, moons, etc.) affect the climate in various areas?
   • How much land is in each of the equatorial, temperate, and polar zones?
     

     Note: climate affects landscape through erosion and weathering; the distribution of plants and animals, and formation of soil. As a result, it determines what crops can and can’t be grown, what animals can and can’t live in an area, what clothes must be worn to cope with the weather, and how houses are built. Winter freezing and thawing may change travel patterns, as waterways freeze or flood and passes close. Weather also affects available sports, like skiing. Are all these things consistent with what you say the climate is like in particular areas?

   • Where are major mountain ranges? Rivers and lakes? Deserts? Forests, tropical and otherwise? Grasslands and plains?
   • If there are imaginary animals, how do they fit into the ecology? What do they eat? How much habitat do they require? Can they live anywhere, or do they prefer or need specific kinds of climate or terrain?

3. Natural Resources

   • Which areas are the most fertile farmland? Where are mineral resources located?
   • Which animals/wildlife are commonly found in which areas?
   • Which natural resources, if any, have been depleted in which areas over time?
   • Which resources (e.g., coal, oil, iron ore, gold, diamonds, limestone, etc.) are particularly abundant, and in which areas? Which are scarce? Are there places where there are rich deposits that haven’t been discovered yet, or where they haven’t been fully exploited?
   • How much conflict has been or might be caused by these imbalances in resources? How much active, peaceful trade?
   • What water resources available, and for what uses (a mill wheel requires flowing water, i.e., river or stream; irrigation needs a large, dependable water source like a lake or large river; etc.)?

4. World History

   • How far back are there records or tales of historical events? How widely known are these stories?
   • Do average people believe old tales, or do they dismiss some that have a basis in fact (e.g., Troy)?
   • How long have there been people on this world? Did they evolve, were they created by the gods, or did they migrate from somewhere else? If there are non-humans, how long have they been around and where did they come from?
   • How similar is the history and culture of an alternate earth to real history and culture? Why is it similar/different?
   • Where did civilization begin? What directions did it spread? How was its development affected by the presence of magic (ruklarim)? The presence of non-human races, if any? The actions or direct interventions of the gods?
   • Which peoples/countries/races have traditionally fought, allied, traded, or been rivals? Where are there still hard feelings about old events?
   • Which peoples/countries/races have been in conflict in the recent past? Why? When and why was the most recent war? Who won?
   • Which peoples/etc. are considered the most civilized? Which are most technologically advanced? Which are most advanced in magic (ruklarim)? Least advanced? Why?
   • Is there a single, generally accepted calendar (including time measurements), or do different countries or peoples or races have different ones?
   • How many languages are there? Which ones are related (e.g., the Romance languages) and why? Which languages borrow words or phrases from other languages? Which is likely to be most widely spoken?
   • Is there a “trade language” that facilitates commerce between countries that don’t speak the same tongue? Is there a “universal language” spoken by educated or noble persons, as Latin was in the Middle Ages?

5. Specific Country(s) History

   • How accessible is this area? What natural features mark the borders? Who are the neighboring countries/peoples and what are they like?
   • Why did people settle in this country in the first place — strategic location, trade route, water transport, minerals, good farming, etc.? Have things changed much since, or do they still depend on whatever brought them in the first place?
   • How do the weapons of this country compare with those of surrounding cities and countries? Have there been recent innovations that may upset the balance of power, or is everyone more or less equal?
   • Who are the rivals or enemies of this country? How close are they physically? How powerful?
   • Who are the heroes and villains of each country’s history (e.g., Washington and Lincoln in the U.S.; Henry V in England, etc.)? Why are they heroes/villains and what do this say about the country and the people who admire them?
   • How many people are there in this country? How does this compare with world population? What is considered a small town/large town/city in terms of number of people?
   • How diverse is the population of this country — how many different races (human or non-human), creeds, etc. normally live in various cities and towns in this country? In what percentages?
   • Is population shifting from rural to urban, south to north, mountains to coast, etc.? Why — invasion, plague, gold rush, etc.? What effects has this had on the places being left? The places gaining people?
   • Is magic legal here? All magic, or only some types? Do laws vary widely from country to country, or is the attitude generally similar?
   • What does this country import? Export? How important is trade to the economy? How is currency exchange handled, and by whom? What is the system of coinage, and who mints it?
   • Which peoples/countries/races have been in conflict in the recent past? Why? When and why was the most recent war? Who won?
   • Which peoples/countries/races fought, allied, traded, or were traditional rivals? Where are there still hard feelings about old events?
   • How much of the country is farmland? Forest? Desert? Mountains? Plains?
   • What are the primary crops (e.g., potatoes, cotton, tobacco, coffee, rice, peanuts, wheat, sugarcane, etc.)? Are any grown mainly for export? What crops can not be grown here because of the soil, climate, or for other reasons?
   • What water resources available, and for what uses (a mill wheel requires flowing water, i.e., river or stream; irrigation needs a large, dependable water source like a lake or large river: etc.)?
   • What wild animals, actual or imaginary, live in this area? Are any of them potentially useful?
   • Which animals, actual or imaginary, are commonly domesticated in this area? Which aren’t here, but are elsewhere? (Example: water buffalo in India vs. oxen in Europe vs. camels in desert areas.)
   • How do most of the citizens make their living — farming, fishing, trade, manufacturing? Do non-humans tend to take up different trades from humans? Are they legally limited to certain trades?

Archipelagos

I feel like we need more of these on tiraseh. Like several countries should just be a bunch of relatively small islands with shallow water in between.

Maybe not exactly like that but a basic idea of having lots of pockets of sea water in the most agricultural regions. I was originally thinking something like puget sound, but I think the sound might be too big and too deep really.

Now imagine if the above-water parts were bigger and there was a bit more of the visible underwater part.
Also I imagine manmade ocean barriers and such are a relatively recent development that would be invaluable for agricultural uses.

I'm too distracted and dazed to write much tonight but these are some good reference photos to just push my brain in the right direction.

Yesterday's thingy

I drew this during lunch. A tirasian winter outfit. The head thing is not as attractive as I envisioned. Boo hiss.

Also not all outfits need to be anything like this, it's just one I envisioned. Random generic person modeling.

What are tirasian toilets like

no really

cuz

toilets are different.
Holy cow there are incinerating toilets. They don't flush stuff away, they BURN IT AWAY.
Smelly.
I think tirasians would probably ... do a combination of flushing and composting toilets... ? But they'd have to be pretty efficient to not waste water...

ANYWAY ENOUGH ABOUT TOILETS...

Desis has to have dark blue associated with it. I dunno if the countries have flags. Wikipedia says national flags were only commonly used after the 1700s... because they were first commonly used to signify what ship was from where during encounters at sea. Buuut. If they have like uniforms or anything like that, I think Desis would have to have dark blue. Like navy blue ish blue. I don't know why. IT JUST DOES. Oh maybe cuz Isorin is from there. I'm getting better at mentally pronouncing his name right.

Emesa needs to have like yellow or orange associated with it I dunno maybe because it's warmer there lawl.

I need to actually do some concept scribbles instead of just talking about stuff. bah.

Relevent Stuff!

So I forgot that I should be working on stuff that is relevant to like. THE ACTUAL STORY. HAHA.

So the main things which need work are:
-Physical design of settings
-Main striking differences between Emesa and Desis
-Stuff having to do with food and food transport and preparation etc because that will probably help me figure out how the heck the culprit country did the thing they did.
-Pottery stuff

Okay so

Here's what I wrote about the Desis country character I was going to make.
Secretive, gets defensive when people are nosy (my business is my business)
Outwardly very friendly and colorful
Determined to be well-thought-of
Air of self-reliance

Emesa is south of Kareha so it's like... Kareha's ... Italy... if Kareha were Germany... Emesa is probably where everybody in Kareha goes when they want to be warmer. Lawl. So it's like a less snooty Kareha, and yet a lot of important people are there so it has a high-class feel? Maybe Emesa is like where a lot of international meetings take place. I'm thinking like its cities are like california cities where you could run into famous people but mostly it's just normal people being all lively and stuff. Touristy in a cal sort of way? Maybe?

Yes, touristy. Good.

Desis is not touristy. It does not want tourists. I mean, sure, people can come, but they want to know what they're doing, if there's going to be a lot of them. Because they don't want anyone offending the Seorim or upsetting the delicate balance they have there. So, it welcomes people when they come, and tries to be very hospitable, to show they're the good guys, but they keep an eye on their guests and try to show their best side, show that they're not just Seorim puppets.... they've got a lot more anxiety than Emesa, about how they're seen.

Whoops

I missed a day.

So I'll try to post again tonight.

For now though I'm just going to write down an ecosystem idea.

The big house-fungi grow because there are these animals kind of like penguins (no they're not really like penguins) who go onto land to breed. I say they're like penguins because I know that when a penguin is brooding they don't eat anything. They have to go eat and eat and eat and eat and then not eat for a long time. So I figure that's what it's like for these animals. They eat a ton in the ocean and then they go onto land to have their babies. And maybe they die after the babies reach an age where they can return to the ocean. So they're kind of like salmon? Salmon penguins? Penguin salmon?

And so then their bodies make the nutrients that the fungi grows from.

The animals should probably have their bebes in spring and then die in summer and then the warmth decays them faster and then the dampness makes the fungus grow before the winter sets in yay. Also the fungus can grow over the carcass and preserve it as a food source fufufu.

Okay this is kind of gross
but
circle of life everybody

Anywho that's that. Yay migrations! And then smaller fungi can grow on smaller like, insects and other creatures.

Look I made words

Aplé – eating utensil (general)

Ateré - clock

Aloshé - fingers

Asítaro – a dance. I don’t know what kind of dance yet but it’s a dance everybody knows about. At least in certain countries anyway. LETS DO THE ASITARO.

Asihes – red lights

Apaké – applause/cheering

Well I'm just assigning meanings to unassigned words. Woot. Here's the other words that were already assigned.

shesílíel  ... I think these were nuts or something.

 

centralization = ruklarim

city = halesh

heplom = a variety of baking flour

house = aosher (derived from the name of the fungi primitive houses were made from)

karakus = a common edible seaweed.

kíet = a type of grain (gyet)

Moons = Tira and Noshem

Sun= setra

mardis - a staple crop which grows within the shallowest bracket of planting depth, therefore grown mostly on inland farms.

parents = laomaté

parthenogen = parisen 

parthy (derogatory) = rikoen

parthy (self-referring) = para (pahra)

pumpkin apple sack = aosasoet = a deep-shore plant which grows a large, buoy-like bulb, the innards of which are often dried and made into flour.

primary parent = keshé

primary parent’s primary parent = kesheshé

primary parent’s secondary parent = keshetí

secondary parent = yatí

secondary parent’s secondary parent = yatítí

secondary parent’s primary parent = yatíshé

tirdía = an edible pod with juicy slimy orange innards.

yedetan dips = a creamed conglomeration of late winter fruits, usually eaten at the beginning of summer. The dip is scooped up in the open dried bulbs of the yedetan plant, a large, flavorful and tenacious sea grass which produces cup-like bulbs, some large enough to fit over an adult male’s thumb.

 

Urrrmmmmmmmmmm yeah not much so far but there you go.

Hats

Hats and other head coverings are very common because they keep you WARM and tiraseh is a cold planet.

I have an idea for a hat which has a sort of built-in scarf. So the hat covers the head and then has a ring of fabric attached to the back of the hat which goes around the chin and neck like a scarf. IT MAKES SENSE TO ME OK why don't we have hats like this?!

Or you know it could be something like this >_> *lame* 

Or this

Or this

Omg granny facebook picture

 

 None of these are exactly what I was thinking though.

So I think because people's ears would be covered a lot that earrings would be more of a summer thing? Maybe? Or I dunno I guess if people are inside a lot it doesn't matter... and they'd have to be some of the time because dang the dark days in winter would be killer.

So what other kinds of hats do people wear... ?

Hats that keep the rain off probably. I'm imagining like a cross between hats and hoods. But I can't find any good examples of this on the internets. I guess I'll have to fiddle around and try to draw it.

I like the idea of knee-length coats being common. *ughhhhhhhh imagining Tiras in one, so HOT*

I think there needs to be a way that the ends of people's pants sort of tuck into the shoes/boots and then fold over them...
*tries to look up boot covers on google*
... *big mistake*
OW. OW. WHY ARE THEY ALL FUZZY AN STUPID COLORS WHYYYYYYYYYYy.

Okay well they won't be fuzzy, the boot covers, if there are boot covers. Nah we probably don't need boot covers...

seriously pukey

Okay what else can I look up ...

Ummm

Gloves are gloves, I dunno what more can be done about gloves.

Socks are pretty much universal...

I think people need more layers on their bottoms yes. *wait now picturing shorts over pants and no maybe that's not a good idea* WHO WANTS THEIR BUTTS TO FREEZE?!

Although maybe skirt type things would be okay xD loose skirty things to the knee over pants and then knee-length boots or sock things or something so most of hte leg will be warm...?

Yes, I think this would work...

Long vestsssss

There need to be sleeves you can tuck your hands into like those hats at work with the pockets on the ends...

So yeah winter wear is easier lawl...

This is reminding me of how Nikki in Hawaii was like "in cold places do people wear the same thing all the time?" and I was like wth... why would they wear the same thing any more than in warm places...? although I think I get what she means now. I wear a lot of different stuff under my jackets but my jackets get worn and worn and worn x_x

So this weekend I need to draw a bunch of concept doodles... bishies can be my models... and if I get brave maybe I'll try to draw the trio from the book...

Makeup use and androgyny

What is makeup used for?

Something I need to always remember is that not only can females have what earth considers masculine traits but males and generats can have what earth considers sort of feminine traits and this includes styles of clothing and hair and so on. So, if one gender uses makeup, all of them should. We know the Seorim uses makeup. Just think, Isorin could technically wear a pink dress-like thing and have his hair put up in clips and have makeup on for a formal event. And it would be normal. And he wouldn't think it was abnormal unless he just doesn't like formal clothing. Although there could be more than one type of formal clothing for sure, but I doubt it would be assigned to any gender.

So is that sort of thing the general standard for formal occasions? Is makeup expected or optional? Probably it just depends on the outfit you're wearing, your general look, etc...

Does Isorin wear makeup, or does that still connote a sort of wish to attract a mate, and so he tries not to look -too- nice except on special occasions? I think that would be best.

Okay it's official, we need to have a scene where they're all in makeup and Isorin is mostly oblivious and Amiata notices him. This can lead into the possibly-leaving scene later with Amiata : ( She'll be like oh you didn't notice me at all gee thanks and he'll be like well I don't notice anyone and it's not like I don't think you're pretty when I think about it but I have to think about it first lawl and it has nothing to do with my feelings for you as a friend... and she'll be all confused.

Palamo definitely wore makeup.

Earrings were used in ancient greece as payment for passage into the afterlife. Later in England (like 1500s) sailors wore one ear pierced to show they had sailed across the equator....

What do earrings mean on Tiraseh? Bracelets obviously mean one thing (parthy). Necklaces might mean different things in different places... as might Earrings.

If people wear watches they wouldn't be on their wrists. Probably carry pocket watches or something.

Public Performers?

If Tirasians don't like having music in public, there would never be street musicians, but what about other public performers? People could do skits, acrobatics type stuff (which could be anything from backflips to juggling), illusions/magic, dances...?

Pantomimus was the original masked dancer of ancient greece so tirasians could have miming (they could even if this weren't true)

But would they have public performers, or would they want such things to be restricted to more private venues as well such as a theater? Maybe it varies from nation to nation. Probably corresponds with how much of a "everything in its place" mentality the people have.

Also, how long was it from when they first arrived on the planet to when they felt free to explore the arts because there was not such an all-consuming need to find foods, medicines, shelters, etc? When was the first great creative blossoming and when was the latest one?

How are the arts thought of in tirasian society today? Are they seen as unnecessary or are they recognized as a part of a healthy society and thus encouraged as a career path for those who show aptitude? Is it something one must pursue voluntarily, not expecting compensation?

Are sports given much attention as a professional endeavor or is it just relegated to the area of "play" which is its own compensation?

Maybe for today's writing, write something from the POV of an artist?

Anti-competitive?

I think that competition would not be openly valued as much in most countries because with competition comes waste of resources and a destabilizing of the current flow of resources. But is this too simplistic? We are pretty interdependent on Earth but we don't really act like there are limited resources, or if we do it's in a "grab it while you can" sort of way. I think that Tiraseh, because it was fairly obvious from the get-go that getting food etc would be very difficult without cooperation... I think people are much more aware of the impact of their consumption.

What is the balance of power and how do the few countries who try to be fairly self-sufficient get away with it? Is it just that everyone else leaves them alone unless they think they're getting an unfair share of stuff?

So I imagine that a young tirasian is instilled from early on with guilt for taking too much of anything. I may be biased in this opinion because that's how I experienced being in a large family with very little to go around. Other people are sometimes surprised that this didn't make me more demanding so my voice would be heard over the squabble. So I suppose it could go the other way too--it being a given that you have to hash it out aggressively with each other to figure out the pecking order. But as I said, in the case of nations, fighting wastes a lot of resources

Maybe there have been periods in history where people forgot and went to war and it was extremely devastating in the aftermath with like people dying of starvation etc so people have been really careful since then to try and talk things out until absolutely not possible anymore, and this might get to an extreme where they just don't bother some of the more stubborn nations even unless truly necessary...

So, I imagine conflicts are supposed to be resolved through offering the offending party something to smooth things over, a lot... or just reminding one another of how dependent you are... what you need from each other... establishing roughly equal exchanges of different things. And this can sometimes be called blackmail *lawl* if you do this, I won't give you ___ anymore, things like that.