[IC] ||FANTASY WORLDBUILDING GAME|| Jump-In! ||

[Polybius]

||Fantasy World Build Game!||

_{Anyone is welcome to post! Read the brief 'rules' and jump in!}

_{/\/\| Evocative image not meant to directly influence you one way or the other |/\/\}

Let's build a fantasy world from the top down, just for fun. What do I mean by top-down? You start with the most 'zoomed out' viewpoint and work your way down to smaller details. Check out the How To Play tab before posting. It is suggested you read some of the Compendium to get caught up on the in-game lore. Have fun!

Post a (single-not one of each, just one!) location, event, item, magic, race, or character in a hider like this:

LOCATION

Start with large, continents, landmasses. Vast areas of wilderness etc. Give it a name and a description. Once the broad strokes are drawn, you can place medium and smaller sized locations (like cities, villages, dungeons etc.) in larger areas.

EVENT

Events are things that influence the world at large, or are worth remembering in the historical record. Things like "Necromantic magic engulfed the realm of KAEDROS". At first, pick an era. Make a name up like 'AGE OF MYTH' or some such blather. As the game progresses, events should be more specific.

ITEM

Not just mundane things like buckets or brooms, these are the items that shape the realm. Famous artifacts and enchanted weapons.

RACE

Describe the species. Don't give a definitive history of the race, just describe their strengths, weaknesses, innate magic abilities etc.

MAGIC

Describe a school of magic. This includes the source of the magic and the extent of it's powers.

CHARACTER

When you post a characters description, you are offering it up for any other player to take control of, adapt and use as they please, NOT DISREGARDING things that have come before. So if you invent a character that is King of GROMMOND, then he will always have been the King of GROMMOND at some point.

This is an improvised game, with the motto of "Yes and..." so when creating EVENTS, ITEMS, or CHARACTERS, you must use Information that has come before. To simulate the vagueness and inaccuracy of historical records, you may either LIKE or LAUGH a post into the fog of memory. NOTE: I will probably laugh at any standard fantasy trope posted. Come on, we're all creative people here, let's do better than that!

FAQ

• What's a 'Fog of Memory'? : If an entry has more LIKES than LAUGHS, that event,item,location or character is said to have existed and is considered historical fact. The adverse is true as well (more laughs than likes=some historical inaccuracy)
• Can I drizzle some sci-fi on your fantasy cheesecake? : Nope. Any sufficiently advanced tech is considered for all intents and purpose 'sorcery!'. The genre is fantasy, avoid tropes.
• What's the theme here? Grimdark? Goofy? : We'll have to wait and see.
• Will you update this FAQ as needed? : Probably. Or I'll forget I posted this thing.
• Why are you doing this? : Sometimes I just want to write something that doesn't fit into any specific larger project I'm working on.
• What's the point? : At best, a fantasy world that's ready to roleplay inside of, created by members of the guild. At worst, a shitpost in my post history.
• Can I make up new categories for posts besides Character,Item,Event,Location etc?: Yes you may! Just give me a mention in the OOC with your suggested category.
• Can I use an image for my post? : I'll allow it as long as it's not an enormous pic, and has some relevance to what your talking about. Bonus points for drawing your own art.
• Can I draw a map of this world?: Shut up and take my money.

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[Polybius]

I'll start!

LOCATION

The Pallid Plain

A grey and mottled expanse of landmass, stretching into the distance. Tunnels vein and cross beneath the starched surface, clouds of chalky dust erupting as the land cracks and falters from lack of moisture, creating pitfalls and caverns. It was perhaps a verdant place once before as the bones and sinewy fossils of unknown generations of species can be found among the ruinous landscape; Formless plates of bone and chitin weathered with countless age erupt sporadically from the landscape. Tusks and fangs of varying size, feathery ribs of enormity and the grotesque carapace of some ancient horror are the only features in this forsaken place.

[Hanleth]

Kind of lore heavy but it's a location...hopefully. :/ (Went a little off the deep end on this one)

Location

The Mists of Rom

Putrid and low, crawling between the roots of eight massive spinney tress, hangs a glimmering fog. Myth has spoken in whispers of a black spider, Rom, with her tenfold skittering offspring. She was birthed unholy in the beginning when there was only darkness. With her children on her back she wandered the seas, as her eight legs were long enough to touch the bottom of all but the deepest seas. Slowly wandering, searching with million orb-ed eyes for a nest for her brood, until here, in a mouth of an eroded volcano, she was able to find solace. Rom folded her enormous legs beneath her, her rump facing the highest peaks, and her fangs dipping lightly into the sea at the coastline. For many years the sun rose to glint in her flickering eyes, beacons in the massiveness of the sea. And perhaps that was her downfall, as it is unknown what events actually transpired next. Perhaps, her demise was dealt by the hands of gods, humans, creatures or something as old as she that festers in the depths of the sea. As Rom died, she died as spiders die, on her back, legs reaching towards the sky.

All that is known of her struggle is the aftermath; her bones left to rot and spawn mold, her belly to be the birthplace of spiny vegetation thick with leaves of lavish white webs. Her children have reclaimed her, small though they are as they are no god or goddesses. But they pay tribute to their mother, and at dawn, her island glimmers just as her eyes did once, sunlight glinting on webs of intricate designs spread between her legs. And perhaps Rom still protects her children, because at the place where her fangs touch the sea, just along the top of the salt water waves, there spreads an oily substance, thick and viscous. It slowly boils, secreting a mist that rises and falls with tide, sea faring winds pushing it back into the basin where her children roam.

[Lucidnonsense]

Location

The Isle of Giants: One of the great western islands, The isle of giants as its name implies, is home to large intelligent creatures called giants. early human settlers made pacts with the Giants, the humans would provide food and supplies to feed the giants, while the giants would keep order as lords of the land. Geographically, The Isle of giants is a highly fertile land great for farming and possessing lush forests that the Giants call home, historically feasting on trees. it gets pretty cold in the winter and with dwindling food supplies giants historically usually entered a state of hibernation.

[Bluetommy]

LOCATION

Nuneland

Nuneland is a valley hidden within the massive Gemstone Mountains. Geographically, the limits of Nuneland are hard to define, but it is generally considered very small. Surrounded on almost all sides by the mountains, Nuneland is a mainly temperate area, characterized by rainy summers and mild winters. Volcanism in the Gemstone mountains has caused Nuneland to become a lush, fertile, green landscape, with plentiful minerals and exceptional farmland. In the mountains themselves snowfall is year-round and temperatures are incredibly low. These mountains shield the area from winds to the north and south, causing the temperature to be very high. The inhabitants are a sheltered and isolated people, knowing not but what is inside the mountains. Nuneland is rich in ancient ruins and shattered ancient tools, causing belief that it was once home to a great civilization and that the small populations of isolated people are all that remains.

[Lucidnonsense]

Character

The King of The Crystal Palace:
The name of this king varies from culture to culture but his story has spread throughout the land, the life of the King of the crystal palace was believed to be many thousands of years ago, before the age of some of the oldest cultures. some claim that the King of the Crystal Palace was one of the first humans others scoff at this notion. The birth and early life of the king of the crystal palace varies from story to story and his true origin is lost to history. His anger was legendary and petty, he demanded absolute obedience to his rules and did not accept any backtalk, he had all those who spoke against him killed or exiled. eventually a messenger, often claimed in the myths to be a God in disguise introduced him to a woman of incredible beauty from another land, The King called for the woman and married her, unlike with the other women he had, this one actually seemed to listen...but eventually she started to manipulate the king and criticize him, The only woman who truly loved The King had turned against him, He would give anything to have her back and using this The queen took control of the kingdom. The Queen trapped the king in a hall of mirrors where he is said to dwell to this day. What happened next varies from story to story. Some stories attribute divinity to the queen, others say she ruled the kingdom as a cruel leader...others as a wise leader...and some claim that when she looked on the kingdom she found that none existed, the King had never left his palace and didnt realize that the kingdom he ruled didnt exist. Archeologists believe that the palace is much older than the ruins of the surrounding civilizations and are unable to determine what civilization the King may have been a part of.

[MikkishtheLeprechaun]

LOCATION

Academy of Stellae

On an island far off an eastern coast, an ancient, dark stone tower surges upward and pierces the clouds. The frequent, unnatural storms send ominous, dark blue lightning crashing across the dark cloudy sky.

Within the tower, mages study the dark crafts of necromancy, blood magic, and conjuration from beyond the walls of reality. All across many lands, citizens tell in hushes voices tales of young children being kidnapped to join the ranks of these evil mages...or be used as sacrifices in the dark rituals taking place.

More rare, and much more accurate tales, tell of the older mages, of the highest ranks in the tower, attempting communication with immensely powerful beings from far beyond.

[Lucidnonsense]

Item

The Grimoire of Morvek Callathay contains the notes of one of histories greatest mages, a student of the Academy of Stellae, Morvek penned countless arcane and mathematical theories, his revolutionary work paved the way for the developement of various forms of magic that shaped society and day to day life across most of the world. Morvek worked more on theory than application and it wasnt until years later that practical application of his work was seen. This grimoire contains much of Morveks theories, some of which he never published, it was thought lost for almost a century after his suicide. The Grimoire now sits on display at The Academy of Stellae.

[Polybius]

CHARACTER

Agorophaetox,
...one of the innumerable 'Elder Arthropods', brother to ROM, the black spider, whose spittle still protects her children in the form of stinging mists. The molted carapaces of the behemoth cicada scar the land, in ever increasing size. Some minute civilizations have grown so impudent as to claim these carapace tombs and build cities and fortresses upon their chitinous knolls.

Known by many names; Screaming Thing, Devourer of Whispers, Dark Phaetox, and many more, it is said the maddening screams of Agorophaetox can still be heard in echoes as far as Nuneland, and the Gemstone Mountains.

Agorophaetox's appearance is a brutal thing, membranous, winged, with terrible bulbous eyes and thick, black claws. It is an enormous monster-taller than any mountain in the world. It has no speech, or motive other than slumber and the futile search for a mate and has lay dormant for eons, awakening only to shed its carapace, sound it's city-shattering cry, and then shiver, defeated back beneath the earth.

[MikkishtheLeprechaun]

Location

The Nightmare Reality

When a person suffers a traumatic memory in any given location, their memory of that place becomes distorted. Their memory of that place conjoins with their nightmares, creating another version of that location, but...not quite.

And while it is within that person or group of people's memories and mind as horrible, this new, tainted place is very much real.

Through a certain ritual, the knowledge of which has only been allowed to few people, a person's warped version of reality is accessible. A nightmare version could be made of anything from a tiny shack to a massive city. Those who have entered such twisted planes of reality report crimson skies, fires that never quench, roads littered with corpses, eternal storms, and a population made entirely of foul monstrosities.

[Hanleth]

Are creatures ok? If they are integral to a location? Well, here it is.

Location

The Stitching Mountains

This forest is lewd in it's beauty, with vapid flowers and rocks the color of red soft flesh. Huge girthed willows whisper names so familiar you could believe it to be your own. And between roots drifts water milked clean of dirt, feeding towards the slick lips of waterfalls. But here, the creatures are hollow. Clinging below on branches, claws and talons gripped on a hair trigger. Like bats they hang; birds, beasts, dogs, perhaps even something magical if your eyes are sharp enough. But danger comes, as look too closely you will see a split in their skulls from widows' peaks to the base of their necks. They contain no organs, no blood to drip from their wound. And perhaps you have thought what being a wolf may feel like, what songs you would wind if you had the lungs of a sparrow. In this place you would find that answer. Just stare long enough into an empty skull and listen for the click of a trigger. A *shichk* as these skins release themselves from their mother trees. They fill, no longer hollow, with you. Your mind full of memories stitched into a bird or wolf or beast from the widow's peak to the base of your skull. And some say, near the depths lie the soft bodies of empty humankind, prime picked in every shade and sex. Perhaps, you desire another life? Then come beloved skinwalkers. But only if one not be a frog before they get there. Unless you wanted to be a frog, then congratulations.

[Lucidnonsense]

Event

The hunger of Giants: A massive crop failure forced an end to the self-imposed isolation of the Island of Giants, they needed food and the giants were willing to leave the island to get it, The human servants of the giants created boats to fit their lords and migrated to new lands, some colonized peacefully or integrated with other cultures with varying degrees of success, others became raiders, pillaging villages and generally being a nuisance. The Famine eventually ended and The first human king of the island was crowned.

[Polybius]

LOCATION

The Saprozoic Sea & the Mottled Black Throne

In truth, it is a living thing. A pooling black and twisted lime-green miasma of tainted sea water, the sweetly salted aroma of decay evident only once you have arrived; it is too late. The Saprozoic Sea is a lurid mass of oceanic organism, connected only by the tissue it has consumed & regurgitated. Some seasons it is so massive as to choke harbors and estuaries, appearing to relish the reclamation of more...intelligent creatures. On certain fallow years, the Saprozoic Sea shrinks to a mere speck on the horizon, apparently dormant.

It is during these dormant months that the Saprozic Sea plunges its turgid roots far beneath the ocean surface. An orb is formed, much in the way an oyster protects intruders with a hardened shell of pearl; only these intruders were a thing collected; it is the purpose of the Saprozoic Sea.

Once the incubation has completed the Saprozic Sea erupts skyward, discarding the unnecessary flotsam of its creation. A throne of Black is formed upon an island of dead matter, and upon it is seated a....

[MikkishtheLeprechaun]

Magic

Buff Magic

When a mage harnesses magical energy, most schools of magic involve casting that magic outward in the form of, for example, a lightning bolt. This energy can be cast upon oneself, however, and channeled through the muscles and veins of the mage's own body.

As a result, a mage can alter the abilities and limitations of their own flesh. It is through this form of magic that some mages with weak, untrained limbs can swing battleaxes with ease, dodge the blows of the swiftest creatures, and even harden their bodies enough to knock down castle walls with nothing but their hands.

Some tales tell of unarmed people hunting ferocious predators, moving massive boulders, or fighting off vicious bandit gangs. Likely, they were aided, in no small part, by buff magic.

[Bluetommy]

RACE

Children of Rom

The Children of Rom are the descendants of the great black spider Rom, whose death created a new biome. The Children of Rom are large arthropods, reaching lengths of up to ten meters. The Children have hard chitinous exoskeletons and venomous fangs. The Children, as a result of their descent from a god, are well in tune with magic, and have a deeply shamanic culture dedicated to the worship of their mother. Living underground and harvesting the viscous black oily substance from the nearby waters as a food source, The Children are hard to find, and approaching their homes is very dangerous. They mostly keep to themselves, but every few decades, an army of arthropods marches from the Mists to assault any nearby settlements before returning home, carrying off the inhabitants for unknown reasons.

[Polybius]

RACE

The Dun Gramor
_{Dun (mountain) Gramor (living)}
The Dun Gramor, Grumblers, or Rock-folk reside in the halls and peaks of the Gemstone mountains. Cut from the very shimmering peaks they reside upon, the Dun Gramor are of an elemental nature, perhaps inspired to life by divine or magical favor or mishap.

Gramor make their homes in large cavernous halls with craggy, labyrinthine passages of their own construction using their swollen boulder like fists. Many misguided adventurers and trespassers have been lost in the endless halls of the Gramor, lured by the rumors of great wealth in jewels, gems and relics housed in the innermost fortresses.

They are squat, hardy creatures, crafted entirely of rough-hewn rock and minerals. Their appearance varies greatly, often vividly speckled with minerals and gems on a grey craggy body. The heads are wide, molded into the shoulders creating the appearance of a lack of a neck. Their size varies as well, from no more than 4 feet tall to a towering 12 feet.

They have little contact with the outside world and are worrisome for neighboring settlements. They are often the cause of avalanches and landslides, always preceded by a low, choir-like intonation that is characteristic of their kind in great activity. They require no sustenance, none that anyone has discovered. It has been suggested that they reproduce by 'carving' offspring from the very mountains themselves, but this is perhaps unfounded rumor, only the hollowed out boulders and cliff-faces that can be found among the Gemstone Mountains suggest such a thing.

[Polybius]

I am so sorry to doublepost, but I'm off to work for the evening.

CHARACTER

tagius-Vishrak
Arachnomancer

A powerful sorcerer that has fallen to the lies and whispers of the dead goddess ROM in exchange for eternal life and the strength and power of an arachnid. Vishrak may have once been human, but those vestiges of man have been replaced by tallow molting skin, hollowed eyes that crawl with spiderlings and the black fangs of Roms' Children that are so feared throughout the land.

NOTE: 'tagius' is but a proper address signifying Vishraks identity as a sorcerer. There may be other 'tagius' in the land, but Vishrak either does not associate with them, or he is banished from their presence.

His intent is pure evil, too carry the fetid eggs and offspring of Rom to distant lands, to hide them away in secret chambers and isolated villages, where they may gestate and hatch without interruption; and then awaken to feed upon whatever creature they may find.

Vishrak makes his home in an a ravine in the Pallid Plain, a subterranean tower called Haegargak whose chambers are filled with the offspring of Rom.

[Bluetommy]

CHARACTER

Bane Terrinoxus

Terrinoxus is thought of as a myth, a being meant to stop children from fleeing into forests or taking candy from strangers, but Terrinoxus is far from that, for he is very real. The largest Dun Gramor ever seen at a towering 15 feet tall, Terrinoxus is constructed almost entirely of smooth blue rock. Terrinoxus is perhaps not even a Dun Gramor, as his size and color rank him as unique amongst them, perhaps he is some kind of immortal progenitor to their race, perhaps something entirely different. What is known is that he is a powerful mage, among the most powerful mages in the world. Terrinoxus has never been seen amongst other Dun Gramor, and sightings are limited to the woods of Nuneland, though sometimes he is seen further away, often appearing after attacks by the Children of Rom. A link between the two has not been established.

Terrinoxus is able to speak all human languages with a strange and unidentifiable accent, but very few who meet him are able to tell others. What is known of the towering beast is that he refers to himself as "Bane Terrinoxus", and seems to consider himself a king amongst the Dun Gramor. He shows a searing hatred towards the Children of Rom and yet, contradictorily, shows a bit of admiration towards them. He also shows a hate of giants and humans, more strongly towards the former. He is relatively gregarious and seems to enjoy conversation, though he will attempt to kill his conversational partner soon after he's finished speaking.

[Hanleth]

Item

The Folded Crane

Enchanted majestically to be of a simple purpose, the Crane Wife, a sea-faring vessel of moderate proportions, was created for transport. She holds no treasure, but yet many seek to find her. She requires a crew of twelve. But her Captain may never worry for her well-being, nor should he (or she) chain themselves to her helm to live with her in a watery grave. She is a feather on the seas, swift to port, and light in the breeze. She picks her Captain and will stay with them whist they prove to still be worthy. This treasure is neither gold nor gem, but is indispensable. Because, if the Captain settles at shore and calls for her, she folds her white wing masts, tucks her nose into the folds of her feathers and sinks into the wooden bones of a fine crafted statue. The Crane Wife shrinks smaller and smaller until she floats into the palm of her Captain.

[Polybius]

LOCATION

The Sunlit Vale

In stark contrast to the horrid Pallid Plain or the shores where touches the Mists of Rom, the Sunlit Vale is a lush and verdant region. The forests of birch, pine and corkscrew willows cradle the gentle hills of the central vale where many small communities thrive on the bounty of the fertile soil. Grasslands buffer the ring of forests and the vale. Hundreds of cool springs fed by underground estuaries cross the grasslands and drain into lakes and ponds.

Dappling the overwhelmingly green landscape are slabs of white granite and shale, untouched by weather or overgrowing vegetation. The mosses and ivy that quickly overtake any ruin in the vale inexplicably avoid these enormous stones. They are roughly rectangular in shape, smooth and cold to the touch. The largest, called "Giants Palm" is nearly a mile long, and have sunken into one of the many lakes in the region.

The Vale is isolated and peaceful; idyllic even. The country roads are tedious and winding; dirt and mud paths traveled for centuries by shepherds and farmers and before that the wild herds of animals that have been thinned or driven off with the arrival of civilization, small as it is in the vale.