overpaid_hack

Well, I have come up with origns of sorts. I dont want to explain too much in detail but give a connective tissue linking every world. There was a race of superbeings, entities who mastered the elemental forces of magic to the point they could transcend their baseline existence. Reaching out through the galaxies, they sought to create homes for the beings who had dwelt on their homeworld, planting life among a myriad of worlds in a seemingly empty universe. But it was not empty, there was something else that dwelt in the blackness between the stars, the Saoth they were called by those who could remember slivers of the original tongue. These things, the Saoth, were as different from the First Ones as could be, things without sentience or self-awareness, lacking empathy or artistic aspirations, their forms grotesque beyond imagining, motives without comprehension. War began as the Saoth tried to feed off the elemental shrines crafted by the First Ones, devouring the primordial pillars of creation. It was with great sacrifice that the First Ones defeated and trapped the Saoth into prisons located upon worlds, some on dead planets or moons, others located within the inhabited worlds they created. The First Ones were in the process of crafting worlds when attacked by the Saoth, among these worlds, Ytral was the rawest, an inhospitable stormy wasteland punctuated by mega groves of giant trees intended to terraform the world.

Greetings all, hope your October is going well so far. I've been contemplating what a world on a low grav planet, maybe as low as our moon would be. Apparently I was not the only one. as you can read here- http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/07/terraforming_the_moon_it_would_be_a_lot_like_florida.html Though based on sci-fi concepts, I found alot of the imagery he described to be quite fantastical, thus born my desire to create a world like this. This one is going to be fairly bare bones until I can think through the implications of very low gravity. This world will be larger than our moon and orbiting a planet about seven times the size of earth. Trying to create some diversity in the climate rather than just florida everywhere. Had an idea for a region called the shatterplains, where, every decade a comet strikes, replenishing the worlds supply of water and keeping its rotation going, these would be inhospitable but containing adapted life and humans as well as a mountain range to protect the habitated coastal lands. I really need to do brainstroming on each world to give it a unique look and feel, for a while I was considering just pouring a bunch of ideas into Esura, my grimdark twilight region. But I feel that I have enough ideas to put into each world to make it memorable. If I ever write a story set in these or finish my worldbuilding outlines.

now that i think of it, Final Empire has a bit of cyberpunk feel. dystopic society with oppressed underclass, sunless polluted sky(ash instead rain), corrupt executive(lord ruler) controlling a hypercorp with a squad of cyborgs(inquisitors), and a small group of underclass fighting back from the shadows using illegal tech.

watched blade runner last night and an idea has been bouncing in my brain ever since. I wanted to create fantasy setting with a cyberpunk feel. So here goes nothing. Ytral- A earth type world sporting a large main continent with several much smaller landmasses. More frequent rains than earth. Flroa and fauna relatively earthlike except for Skyward trees. Dense clusters of massive trees growing near large bodies of water that can reach heights of a kilometer tall with a deep, interconnected root system and many interconnected branch levels. They occur in roughly five large groves where much of humanity resides,with vast farm/fishing regions surrounding them. Countless dwellings are carved into the thick trunks or built upon branches with wood or(rarely) stone. Biomancers have tweaked a naturally occuring species of bioluminescent moss to act as artificial light for indoor/night and the lower levels. There is a constant light rain of water from the top due to rain or the water reservoirs at the tops of the tree, in some places forming plunging waterfalls. The majority live on the mid level canopy layer, able to see the sun in most areas but the deeper one goes the less light is available. The bottom never sees the sun and relies upon the moss save for the outskirts of the forest which is taken up by industrial areas. The upperclass live near the sunlight tops and travel via biomantically engineered birds which possess lighter than air bladders or arcane elevated gondolas. Many of the materials used by the inhabitants are from engineered creatures, with cheaper wood filling in gaps. One can ride a steed adapted to traveling along the winding pathways between branches or ride a lift pulled by giant spiders silk, its not uncommon to see a soldier whose sword is a long row of serrated teeth, vibrating rapidly as an opponent targeted. Also made available to the middle and upper classes is arcanomancy, knowledge based upon learned and applied runes, small utility runes are allowed to be sold but more powerful effects are very tightly regulated. Most seceretly guarded are the runes of the savants, spells allowing one to become hyper focused/smart in a specific area such as language, mathematics, memory, perception,etc. Allowing them to function essentially as living computers. The spells are powerful and very taxing, thus the state cannot be maintained constantly and is taxing upon the body. The arcanomancers and biomancers ,though frequently at odds in a power struggle, are united in keeping power over the citizens, mainly through control of food production, without arcane and biomantic assistance, not enough food could be provided to feed the people. All I got so far, gonna try and start a write up of the two magic systems, want to keep things simple but interesting.

Hi again. again. Gestating another world. Not sure if it is linked into the other four worlds yet. Oraneth- Venus type world with a constant raging storm across the surface, though one much more hospitable to terran life. Setting is a series of large quantum/magnetic levitated landmasses residing in the upper cloud layers and higher. Basically floating islands. Though differing in shape/size quite a bit, most are bowl like with mountain regions on the rim, sloping gradually down to water in the center. This allows plant/animal life to exist and protects from buffeting winds. The high one goes the colder it gets and vice versa. things are relatively earth like on the skylands but on the open air things get weird. Floating plants/forests along with flying and floating animals(they all float...) make up the ecosystem above the raging storms below. Goes without saying that airship tech has been around for awhile. Still brainstorming this setting quite a bit.

Hi again. When thinking up the floatshells for Vae, i wanted something like the nautiloids from starmaker but more terran looking. Amazingly I just found this image a few days ago which is pretty close to what I had in mind. Basically living sailboats. http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4782ebdf1e29c

HI again! jotting down a write up for the world of Esura. Specifically the main continent my creations take place. Santhis- sitting in the center of the inhabitable zone, it is the largest known continent on Esura with the Stormwretch sea to the west, the flatlands to the east, to the south across a narrow sea are the desert lands, to the north past a series of giant lakes is the tundra. Cutting almost completely across the continent is the Titanos range of mountains, reaching up to ten miles high, they create a sharp divide between climates with hot jungles and savannahs in the south and cool forests and plains in the north. A series of natural canyons and passages act as roads through which merchants, migrants and armies pass. The southwest of Santhis, called Thryssia, is home to deep jungles of plants with larger leaves adapted to the lower light compared to full day, compensated by constant pale sunlight. Here species of large avians and gryphons dominate. (gryphons being avian like but possessing clawed hands instead of wings and no flight capability.) This is where mankind, fleeing from some forgotten place across the ocean of night, settled, meeting with obsidian skinned Taelari and with their help, overthrowing the gold skinned Vaelari empire, pushing them back beyond the Titanos. To the east, the savannahs of Suryn are home to human and marakan peoples with primates taking the place of alpha predators. North beyond the mountains, in the land of Aelarym the world becomes much more alien compared to earth. Here the sky is deep blue eternal twilight. While colder than the south, it is fairly comfortable due to storm activity in the Stormwretch sending warm air north across Aelarym(pulled that out of my chull, no idea if that works). Rather than deciduous trees or taiga, large forests of fungal trees dominate, adapted to the lower light. In place of grass, the ground is covered in phosphorescent polyp grass, light and wavy, adapted to the land from their aquatic ancestors. WHile the native Aelari and some other animals can see with infared vision, two dominant species are sightless. Chiroptera have enlarged ears/noses but no eyes, taking place of predators in many niches. Moles and other Talpidae still possess eyes but are mostly if not completely blind and have filled the role of herbivores. The eastern steppes of Unareth host vast fields of polyp grasses with grazing moles and large blind hunter bats. In such a strange enviroment humans have adapted and thrived. Migrant peoples driven north east during a terrible civil war among the king of Santhis found themselves in this windswept place and managed to drive the purple skinned Faelari into seeming oblivion.They called themselves the Wadun. To compensate for their decreased eyesight, humans have domesticated and species of chiroptera called Shayds (dire wolf sized flightless bats). During early childhood, a Wadun bonds with a new born Shayd, caring for it, training it and growing with it until the two become almost symbiotic. SHayds have some of the best senses in the north and help humans detect any threats nearby. Protecting ones Shayd is extremely important and losing one is a source of ultimate shame for Wadun, those who must bond gain are looked down upon, and those unable to bond are cast out. Wadun follow huge heards of mole grazers and ride to battle upon horse size talpids, the Shayds easily keeping up with them. The Aelari greatly fear their raids and invasions, dubbing them the blind terrors. The the west of Santhis runs a chain of many islands which act as a natural buffer against the wild storm that frequent the Storwretch. The Quelari have wooden brown skin with forest green hair and eyes and make their home on these islands which contain unique forests of land adapted corals, not only small polyp grasses but larger more fantastical looking forms found nowhere else on Santhis. The outer islands are bear the brunt of the storms and are uninhabited or more commonly settled in the shadow of cliffs or ocean cave systems. All I got so far. That was alot of strangeness for one world, might change things. The idea of land dwelling corals came to me literally a half hour before I started typing. I wanted some weird flora and so there we go. (though coral isnt even flora). Thinking maybe having some geothermal energy going on in the north to keep things warm too, just an idea. Want to do a writeup on the tundra and icelands and L'thel. Not much came to me for the south or for the Marakan.

I like the idea of geothermal energy, a long time ago i watched a documentary called aliens of the deep that had deep sea lifeforms hanging around thermal vents. I was thinking of possibly havign the cave systems carved out by immense worm like creatures that followed the lines of warmth, eventually dying out, leaving behind the cavern system.

"I have my own made up world (spent something like 20 years on it) but I'm not brave enough to post it here yet." Do It! While I am working on fantastical settings, I still want to have things be (somewhat) plausible. I had mentioned algae just because I wanted a grass analogue as a base for the ecosystem to rest upon. I was reading an article about types of chlorophyll that dont need high amounts of sunlight, i mostly skimmed it but it seemed to talk about how heat could feed the chlorophyll as well, might have to think up another kind of heatsource while still justifying hominids who lost the need for eyes.

Gotcha! yeah my biology isn't the best. Im not sure if any plants could live in lightless conditions from what im looking through right now. Will probably have to rethink what kind of ecosystem the caverns have. I figure the grasslands of esura should still be good a it only gets truly dark on the cold side.

Hi all! new here, big fan of Sanderson and was inspired to start making my own worlds. Going to jot down these notes on four worlds i'm currently working and will update as I (hopefully) develop these further. I'm fascinated with tidally locked worlds at the moment, they are great for really fantastical settings. I'm also a big fan of speculative evolution and biology, seeing how terrestrial life can evolve is different and weird ways. What I've done is taken earth based flora/fauna and placed them in different worlds and seeing how much different they become. The four worlds are habitable to terran life though each one also has several magical nodes setup at points on the planet to mitigate any extreme effects with radiation/geology/climate. Humans are not native to these worlds and were brought there by the arcane superbeings who made these worlds. Humans are refugees after their own world was destroyed in a war between the superbeings and an ancient enemy that seeks to devour everything theyve made. So here are 4 worlds i've got so far. 1. Esura: A tidally locked world with one side blazing hot and the other deathly cold. Life exists on a ring sitting between the two extremes where the daylight never changes, the further north you go the more twilight it becomes and further south becomes brighter. The star system its in is on the rim of a galaxy and in the deep blue sky the only star seen are this long cluster. Flora in the southern part of is mostly similar to earth but adapted to take in more light. In the southern most part where it is near daylight constantly, most plants grow in the shadows of mountains and rocks to protect themselves from the constant daylight and heat. The further north one goes things become stranger. Rather than deciduous and boreal trees one will find forests of giant fungi of many species. Instead of grass covering the steppelands there is algae, moss and lichen. Mankind currently shares an uneasy coexistence with three other humanoid species. Aelari- dwelling in the temperate north beyond a range of gargantuan mountains, the Aelari have three ethnicities of opal black skin with deep red hair/eyes, wood brown skin with green hair/eyes, and deep gold skin with silver hair/eyes. Their eyes are a solid color and they see in infared, giving them advantage in the darker north and shaping their sense of aesthetics. Unlike humans the females are naturally larger/stronger than males. L'thel- living in the northernmost regions where it is nearly eternal night. Tall willowy a with alabaster skin/hair. L'thel carve cities into the massive endless glaciers near natural thermal vents and heard the great eyeless chiroptera species that dwell on the mossy tundra and are hunted by blind predatory moles and sail huge icebergs with sails of hide. Have large eyes adapted to take in as much light as possible and bodies that are made to handle intense cold, when traveling south they must wear goggles to protect their eyes and are at risk of overheating, especially in jungles of where mankind has made its home. Are androgynous and hermaphroditic, only growing breasts when pregnant. While they lack the gender disparity humans have they have their own caste and rank system. Makaran- they dwell in the hot south and possess three sexes. male, female, and femas. Femas have breasts and male genitals but are sterile and traditioanlly nurse and care for children with family units being three rather than binary. Other than that I don't have much else on them so far. This world was one of the earliest concepts I came up with after listening to a Blind Guardian song. 2. Vae: An "icy eyeball" world orbiting a small star, it is far away from the star and is covered in ice on its dark side. The habitable side faces the star and has eternal day, only becoming dimmer as one approaches the ice. Rather than large landmasses there are clusters of islands and archipelagios. Plants have adapted to the constant sun by closing or retracting their leaves, essentially going to sleep for eight hours a day. This is usually how humans synchronize their rest cycles. The world has lower gravity than earth allowing for species of giant crusteceans, called floatshells, to exist which along with internal airbladders allows them to float across the oceans, guiding themselves with small fins or natural sail membranes. There are a great many species ranging from the size of a car to bigger than a blue whale. Mankind long ago learned to tame and breed these creatures and most civilizations use them as living ships, with cabins and cargo holds attched or carved into their dense shells and guided by skilled handlers. There are no other races except humans on this world with the four largest cultures being- Shellriders- people of northern tropical islands, currently the most influential culture in the world. Where the first to tame the floatshells. Whenever a floatshell is about to die they come to these islands and crawl upon shore where they die. The Shellriders have built their dense cities amongst these shorelines graveyards, making homes, temples, llibraries and every other building inside the giant shells along with more traditional structures linking into their huge cities. Long strips of cloth are strung over streets and alleyways between buildings to give the people respite fro mthe contstant sun and heat. Sunpainters- dwelling further west of the Shellriders, these people are known for having intricate, elaborate tattoos on their bodies, denoting identity,family,clan and trade among other things. They wear only loincloths or go nude and have a complex cast structure. WIndsingers- living in the cooler southern islands covered in temperate rainforests, these people are known for covering their entire bodies, wearing stylized masks and different colored sashes to denote identity. It is considered taboo for one to be seen by anyone but their intimate family or friends. Highly militarized they once were expansionist until being devastated by an incursion from the stormclaws Stormclaws- a nomad people living in a cluster of thousands of small islands in the cool south. They do not tame or ride the floatshells but make their large ships from wood, spending more time at sea than upon land. They are known as pirates and raiders, having a hatred and superstition towards the floatshells. Icepeople- placeholder for a culture dwelling near cooler dimmer regions. the float shells came from me wanting to have the nautiloids from starmaker but deciding that would be too alien. All the creatures in these worlds have terran origins. The culture names are placeholders as I came up with much of this yesterday. 3. Amaris: Earth sized moon orbiting blue gas giant. The nightfacing side has normal day/night cycle but the jovian side has a blue lit night, only getting truly dark around noon when the sun is eclipsed by the giant. One of a dozen moons. that can be seen in sky. Has lower gravity than earth allowing for a species of giant avians ridden by nomadic peoples as well as giant trees. Mankind shares the world with five other hominid species. Maur- also called forest children. they live in the heavily wooded temperate rainforests of the north. The forest is home to large predators and they have adapted by growing rough, hard calloused skin over their limbs, face, and torso resembling plates of bark. Their has also become mossy and they even put moss in the joints of their skin to better help camoflauge themselves. Early people who met them thought they were living trees and some superstitious people still think that. While skittish about leaving the forest, many have found work as guides for travelers through the giant woods and a few have even left their home to see the world. Elhemal- people of the deep. Beneath the largest continent of Amaris is a huge, intricate cave system without light. The elhemal make thier homes in these caverns. They have no need of light as they are blind, lacking eyes. Possessing long, pointed, prehensile ears their hearing is their primary sense along with smell and then touch. They have pale skin and sunburn easily, having to wear protective clothing on the surface. Their sense of aesthetics revolves around scent and sound and all wear some type of perfume along with small chimes or bells to make themselves more attractive. Frequently trade metals with the surface but tend towards isolation though they are renowned for their singing abilities. Limner- people of the treetopes. Dwelling the tropical south where hundred foot tall trees grow. The limner are adapted to lving above the dangerous forest floor. They have shortened legs, opposable thumbs on their feet, and a tail to help them grab hold of branches as they climb and swing across the forest, making home in the high branches. They instinctively are uncomfortable being on the ground and when living in cities outside the jungle, they make catwalks and rope lines linking their rooftop homes. Quaria- children of the sea. Carving out towns and cities along the coastal cliffs, the quaria are aquatic, having fused legs into finned tail with webbed fingers, pale grey skin, black, seashell decorated hair, and solid black eyes. Tenoth- children of the plains. A race of warrior nomads, the tenoth have gazelle like legs with extended feet designed to run fast across the steppes. They distrust the avian mounts used by other peoples and can easily keep up with them. Are known as raiders but frequently are merchants as well. Their fierce reputation makes them popular as mercenaries. This was the second world I came up with, wanting to have a setting orbiting a gas giant and having hominds that had adapted to specialized niches. 4. Senal- A "hot eyeball" world, very close to a small star orbiting the systems main star. The sunside is uninhabitable but the "nightside" gets light and heat from the primary star though the center of the nightside is frozen and icy. Mini star has four other moons orbiting that can be seen at varying times. Towards the south as one gets closer the daylight becomes constant and brighter the further south. When the sun comes up it can get quite bright and hot and humans living here are usually nocturnal and have strips of cloth hung between buildings to cool the streets off. Mankind is also relatively new here but exists with five different species of sentients. This has created difficulties with communication at times and has led to a job class which specializes in translating and understanding the different species. Shyryk- a race of bipedal avians who mainly manipulate objects with their beaks, a little bit with their hands and tails as well. They have built nations in the temperate and boreal realms and generally get along with humans well. Communicate with squaks and throat feathers. (very heavily influenced by povorot's dinosauroids https://povorot.deviantart.com/gallery/9348116/The-Dinosauroids) Valethan- a race of sapient pterosaurs, they walk upon their arms when wings are folded and use feet as manipulators. Live on a series of flat topped plateu mountains, they are known for being able to carry cargo and even individuals through the sky, working for all the other races but without aligning themselves to any one. Kogthra- the reptilian peoples of the warm south. the kogthra are quadrupedal with bodies resembling a cross between alligator and seal. They walk on their front hand knuckles to protect delicate hands and use their tails to assist in grabbing, moving with a crawling motion. They dislike darkness, being used to the eternal dawn of the south. Used to be the most power civilization but the arrival of man and the destruction of a forgotten enemy has greatly diminished their power. (based on the inhabitants of the nameless city from hp lovecraft) Palar- sapient cephalapods who carve underwater cities in the shallow depths off the coast. Forge metals from heated vents and craft items of coral, shell and other things. They are far more alien than the other races but get along rather well with mankind and frequently trade their goods for things from the "dry world" as they call it. At times infamous for sinking vessels to steal trinkets from above. There is a legend that they used have cities in the lightless depths but were driven closer to the surface by an ancient enemy. (go the idea from a drawing of a spaient cephalopod that for some reason i cant find now) Tulruth- the oldest and most mysterious race. A species of broad-leafed tree that has become sentient through linking root systems to create a very intelligent mind and personality. Each individual tulruth is a a small forest of trees. Immobile but capable of growing secondary bodies that can move, manipulate, communicate and even become infused with intelligence. They are wise, ancient and largely inscrutable, keeping to their island home of the coast save for two indivduals who were planted a thousand years ago when the ancient enemy invaded. Emissaries from the island came to the mainland and taught the peoples how to defeat and imprison the enemy of their creators. They maintain contact with all the races, even the palar in specially grown secondary bodies, yet are themselves aloof and mysterious. (I had sort of an idea for a sentient immobile tree with secondary bodies to help it. I came across this entry which pretty much matched up what I wanted to add and even more. https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/10735/how-could-a-sentient-plant-evolve-and-what-conditions-would-be-required-for-this) This world came from wanting a setting where the other races weren't just humanoids but completely different species and how their psychology and society would be. I had considered adding beings similar to the tines from a fire upon the deep but decided that was too much for this setting, had also thought of giant insects but didnt see room for it here. Alright well those are the settings iv'e come up with and expanded upon so far. Ive got several different ideas but none have solidified yet and I plan to go into more detail when ideas come up, theres quite a bit that can and needs to be fleshed out with regards to weather, seasons, time, flora, fauna and cultures. I'd be interested in any thoughts or critques of this, anything that seems cool or is doesnt work. Thank you for your time.