Miscellaneous Chatter > Writing
Some world building
What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Camlost ---I might be a little late to this thread (school tends to redirect the focus of my time spent of the internet..) but I want to say good job nonetheless. One of my favourite aspects of the fantasy genre is the worldbuilding so I'll certainly encourage the practice.
Whether you choose to include these posts as they are directly into your story or just keep them as reference for yourself I want to say that I think it's a valuable effort. If nothing else you are writing, and at the very least it has you thinking and considering the world of your story. It builds context. I mean, with an example we should all recognize, I suspect Bakker has reams of notes on all sorts of things pertinent to Earwa: character sketches, culture outlines, geographic notes, timelines, etc. that never made its way into the narrative.
There is also lots of ways in which you can incorporate worldbuilding into your narrative that can be so subtle as to be almostl unnoticeable. The first time I read through PoN my notion of the Outside was formed almost without me even considering it (the Scylvendi belief that stars are holes in the hide of night/yurt+Akka's water on parchment metaphor+topos). Another example, though I'm not entirely sure he consciously did it or I'm making it up (it might prove a decent worldbuilding tool though), is Martin's prolific descriptions of food. By describing a meal being eaten by a royal family you could potentially extrapolate economic conditions and/or political relations, ie. oranges don't grow in northern climates so that means someone cooking with them either has trade access to the producer and/or the wealth to circumvent those obstacles.
Hope that makes some sense and is somewhat helpful. I'm no expert, just a fan, but if you want to discuss worldbuilding anytime let me know. I know Francis Buck is also shares the taste for worldbuilding
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Callan S. ---Thanks Camlost! :) I've got another area in mind, a sprawling farming area, but with an ectoplasmic angle, and a sudden egyptian addition. Get kind of locked into that between that in a way I've already created it in writing that prior sentence. But I guess it's the details that get missed out on in writing it that way that nag and push to get written too. Must get onto that shortly...
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Francis Buck ---
--- Quote from: Callan S. ---Thanks Camlost! :) I've got another area in mind, a sprawling farming area, but with an ectoplasmic angle, and a sudden egyptian addition. Get kind of locked into that between that in a way I've already created it in writing that prior sentence. But I guess it's the details that get missed out on in writing it that way that nag and push to get written too. Must get onto that shortly...
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Callan, you reminded of a little detail I have in my fantasy regarding an area called The Farmlands. Here's the excerpt from my notes.
--- Quote ---The Farmlands are a very large expanse in northeastern Lennith known for being the most fertile area in the entire nation, and one of the few places where rice is certain to grow. For this reason, virtually the entire region is populated by farmers, since rice is the central component of Lennith's economy and is consumed in large quantities by both peasants and nobles alike. The Family Mavistiel, rulers of the province that the Farmlands are a part of, actually burn gargantuan lamps in the rice-paddies, so that the farmers can work during the night (rice-paddies require a great deal of time and labor to create, and their vital importance generally calls for round-the-clock work schedules during some parts of the year). The enormous lamps can consume over fifty kilograms of ghee and a hundred kilograms of cotton in order to light the fields.
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The thing about the giant lamps is actually true. I can't remember who exactly it was that used it...I want to say the Turkish? But I could be totally wrong. Either way I thought it was just a cool little detail to throw into a fantasy setting.
I've been meaning to post in this thread for a while now, but I'm committed to making a real contribution tomorrow. I would really like to get an on-going brainstorm of various word-building ideas, if only for no other reason than to have some fun and bounce ideas off of each other.
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Francis Buck ---Just some free-form world building off the top of my head, based on an idea spurred from this very interesting location I read about: http://www.atlantisbolivia.org/tunupagallery_files/the-arts-4-large.jpg
It's called Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia. At certain times the water creates an almost perfect mirror. So now to fantastisize (trademarked word) it:
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The various warring tribes of Sui-Tchegei have maintained a long-held truce at the salt-flats -- known as Ernoti-Pahn-Wei-Pahn, or the Heaven's Grave -- in the northwestern part of the region. The tribesman believe that after their gods' final war (the Ernuaz), the mass grave was created as a result of the fallout from their cataclysmic battle. Because of this, it is thought that the Heaven's Grave contains a great deal of latent magical power, and so the various tribes' shamans make the dangerous journey to the flats as a form of pilgrimage. Upon arrival, they ingest the psychoactive juices from the sacred nokuitch cactus in an attempt to convene with the ghosts of the angry gods who still wander in the flats, furious at their failure in battle. When two warring tribes come to a (often temporary) peace, it is custom for the chieftains of each group to go with a neutral shaman and partake in the nokuitch ceremony, in honor of the war their gods fought there thousands of years before.
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Super crappy info-dump but it's a start, gonna add/alter some stuff later.
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What Came Before:
--- Quote from: Francis Buck ---Okay, real quick I'm going to drop a piece of my notes from an old fantasy world I was working on. It basically explains the nature of magic in the world and its effects/uses. It's totally outdated, so if anyone wants to take an idea from it, expand upon it, cut it down, call it a piece of shit, go ahead! It's a bit long but I figured I'd toss it up anyway. At the very least it could spur some more discussion.
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Magic is a force of nature that is defined by its malleability to the conscious will of a sapient being. Magic itself is divided into two basic categories: natural magic (black magic), and arcane magic (white magic).
Black magic is the fundamental constituent of physical reality. Matter, space, and even time are all essentially different manifestations of black mana (the term "mana" is used when referring to the raw energy itself, be it arcane or natural). Black mana has always existed, and always will exist. It is the most basic part of the universe; indeed, one could say that the universe itself literally is black mana.
White magic is the emanation (and sole constituent) of the entity known as Monad. In the simplest terms, white mana is pure conscious energy. It is unknown how exactly white mana (and thus the Monad itself) originally came into being, or if it has in fact always existed. What is known is that white mana and black mana are fundamentally different in many ways. They are both repellent to each other, and yet they are also strangely synergistic (for example, neither one can be used to "destroy" each other; the same amount of white mana and black mana has always existed, and this can never change). When the Monad came into being, it was inherently isolated from the raw, primordial chaos of black mana in the universe, and thus could not exert any control over it. In order to overcome this, the Monad separated a small portion of white mana from itself and allowed it to merge with the black mana, creating a new entity (and the first true living being), which was known as the Demiurge.
Like the Demiruge, all life in the universe is created from an intertwining of the two magical forces: black mana for the physical body (the shell), and white mana for the conscious will and energy that drives the body (the soul). Every living being is technically "borrowing" white mana from the Monad, and when their physical body breaks down, the white mana (soul) is released and returns to the Monad, while the black mana is recycled back into the universe. The only apparent exception to this rule is the entity known as Ka'jünat, who seems to be a being consisting entirely of black magic, and whose very existence is mysterious even to itself.
There are also several fundamental differences between black and white mana when it comes to their usage by sapient beings. When the Demiurge created the planet of Åerunyo, it formed a special type of crystalline substance called santimurite (composed of pure, condensed white mana) and scattered it across the planet. Santimurite allows the Monad's energy to flow freely into the world, counteracting the natural black mana present in physical reality. This was done purposefully so that the sentient beings of Åerunyo could use magic to their benefit. It is for this reason that arcane (white) magic is far easier to wield than black magic. Because an organism's consciousness is actually composed of white magic itself, the bridge between internal thoughts and physical manifestation is much smaller. Thus, arcane magic is more commonly used than natural magic.
Despite these differences, however, the basic concept behind the actual usage of magic is essentially the same. The summoning, manifestation, and manipulation of any magic requires an enormous amount of focus, concentration, willpower, and visualization. Many magicians spend a considerable amount of time practicing meditation for this very purpose.
Arcane (white magic)
The most basic uses of arcane magic involve the conscious manifestation and/or manipulation of energy. This includes:
- displacing heat from the surrounding atmosphere to form water or ice, or alternatively to control air currents which can then be used as a rudimentary form of telekinesis
- enhancing senses to become aware of subtle changes in nearby sources of white mana, such as the detection nearby organisms, and even what kind of emotions they're feeling
More complex uses of arcane magic include:
- creation and utilization of super-hot plasma, resulting in devastatingly powerful blasts of energy, or the manifestation of magnetic shields to defend against such attacks
- the enchanting of objects or places, achieved by embedding latent arcane energy into an object for a variety of purposes (such as a protective barrier stopping intruders from entering a specific location without permission by the initial caster)
- sophisticated forms of telepathy, as well as mind-reading, mind-control, and predictions of the near future, often known collectively as deepsight (with practitioners of such magic being known as deepseers).
- extreme thermodynamic manipulation, to the point of being able to control the weather and summon vicious hurricanes, blizzards, and electrical storms
Natural (black magic)
Because the consciousness of all sapient beings is composed of pure arcane energy, the utilization of natural black mana is significantly more difficult than white mana. Unlike arcane magic, which can sometimes be realized even through the raw force of emotion (such as anger or fear), natural magic can only be manipulated by strong willpower, intense focus, and extreme discipline. The payoff is quite large, however, as control over natural mana can result in fantastic displays of power and reality-warping abilities. Some of the feats possible through the use of natural magic include:
- true telekinesis, including the ability of flight, as well as control over large amounts of matter
- manipulation of gravitational fields, such as the summoning of powerful singularities and black holes (telekinesis is tied to this same concept)
- the conversion of physical matter into different forms, including the concoction of powerful potions, as well altering the attributes of certain materials, such as making iron stronger or glass less brittle
- the rupturing of matter at its most fundamental point, releasing incredible amounts of raw energy far exceeding the levels reached by arcane magic
More complex uses of natural magic include:
- autonomous control over inert-matter, for example the creation of crude "consciousness" in physical constructs like golems, or the artificial reanimation of dead bodies (it should be noted that this is not true resurrection, nor is it the creation of actual sapience -- they physical constructs controlled by a sapient being)
- the summoning and manipulation of condensed black mana into a material known as zeonite, generally referred to as zeomancy (with practitioners being called zeomancers)
- manifestation of space-warping portals, and by extension teleportation, allowing near-instant travel across vast distances (this is very dangerous unless the summoner has actually been to the location that the portal is intended to lead to; otherwise they may accidentally teleport in mid-air, underwater, inside of a mountain, etc.)
- the process of admixination, or the merging of different organisms into new, often more powerful beings (again, this is not truly the creation of "new" life, but instead simply the contortion of already extant beings into unique lifeforms; an example of this is the production of the first dragon, made from the combined arcane essence of a lion, an eagle, a snake, and the blood of an ensilodar)
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