Finishing a World

Peregrine

Waiting for Wit
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. Multiple posts per week
  3. One post per week
  4. Slow As Molasses
Online Availability
On fairly regularly, every day. I'll notice a PM almost immediately. Replies come randomly.
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Primarily Prefer Male
  2. No Preferences
Genres
High fantasy is my personal favorite, followed closely by modern fantasy and post-apocalyptic, but I can happily play in any genre if the plot is good enough.
A partner and I have been working (offsite) on a fantasy world for nearly six months. We set a deadline quite a while back for the end of winter break. And then things got busy. But, for some reason, we both agreed that the deadline should still hold.

I didn't expect to find this lovely little "world" section on Iwaku, but I shall simply take it as a blessing. So now I'm going to see if anyone feels like helping out silly old me in reaching my deadline!

The world geography and climate has been set up with a fair level of realism, based primarily off of Earth's own climate. I hand-drew a map quite a while back as well. Now, we are trying to finish up the last of the countries. We have five that we have not even started and know nothing about except climate, five that need significant aid before they can be finalized, and at least three of our 61 completed countries that need to be edited.

I suppose now you need some background.

Long ago, when the world was uninhabited, forty-eight gods settled the land. They divided the world amongst themselves, each settling in a different part of the world. Once they were finished with the outside concerns they focused themselves inwards. Over time the domain that they actively controlled began to shrink. When they again looked out into the world, their areas of domain had shrunk to little more than a mile or two in diameter. But what was even more surprising was that sentient creatures had settled in the land between the gods.

These people had always known there was something strange about those patches of land, where the world burned with power and energy. At first they steered clear of it, but gradually they began to worship the land as special. When the gods emerged the people, proved in their faith, began to worship the gods with religious fervor.

Flattered by this instant respect, the gods accepted their new worshipers, and left them alone. Countries began to form around the gods, and when these countries were established, they turned their attention to conquering their neighbors. At first, those gods who had people fight in their name were flattered. But as the wars dragged on the gods as a whole began to despise the people of their petty rivalries. They wanted the attention returned to them, for even if the wars were fought in their name the wars were not attention directly paid to them.

The gods offered the people an ultimatum. Lay aside your wars, or we will exterminate you all. There were those who believed it. But the wars had been so deeply ingrained into the very core of the people that they could not stop. After a brief respite, the wars flared up again with greater intensity.

But, as boring as it was to be ignored, it would be worse if the people were to vanish all together. There were some in favor of holding to their promise, but most agreed that it was best to give the world a second chance. Together they found a man of outstanding quality, and they placed the fate of the world upon his shoulders. One of the gods discovered, long ago and to his own agony, that people could be blessed by the gods, and be given a taste of that god's power as their very own. His task was to travel the world, and receive a blessing from each god. But the gods were not willing to give their blessings randomly. They decided that they would require a task from this man. A task that he very well could fail. In order to give him a chance to succeed, the gods collectively placed a blessing of immortality upon him. He would be the same in every respect, except the passage of the years would not affect his age. He could still die like any man, just not of old age. He would need to collect a blessing every eleven years (this could be changed, but eleven years is a five-hundred year arc), or fail the quest placed upon him.

The story would revolve around the quest of this man, who would come to be known as the Harbinger in the future. However, the story would not be told from his perspective. It would be an interwoven tale through the generations and cultures, some people aiding him, some stopping him, some unaware of his grand quest. Before the Harbinger was picked for this quest he had a fiancee. Forced to leave her for life, she chose to create a network of informants dedicated to the sole purpose of aiding him in his quest, however they could. Some people did not trust one man who would have a collective sample of the gods power, and believed that he would become a tyrant, some believed that it was better to die free than live forever as subservient to some other power. All in all, a nice tangled mess.

The part I need help with is actually a bit more tricky. I already have 61 countries, which means there is a very good chance that some people will come up with something I have as well. But it seems more expedient to simply tell you if something seems too close to something I already have, rather than give you a list of all the countries. That would be a lot of reading. Although, I suppose I could give it to you, if you want it. Similarly, I'd rather not give you a list of all the gods. I'll tell you the nearby ones, which are probably the only relevant ones. However, again, I'll give it if you want it.

Like I said, I have five of them. One is coastal, one is grassland, and the last three could be in any climate that would be present in Russia, which probably means steppe, taiga, or tundra. None of them have any specific gods they must worship to fill things in, but I don't think that should necessarily mean they are godless.
The coastal is close to three gods. Akouro, the god of sound, Koinos, the god of partnership, and Erlum, the god of artifice. They cannot worship Erlum, due to a crusade set up by the Goodheart Republic, which worships Koinos, and thinks that deceit is the ultimate affront to partnership. I already have two factions worshiping Akouro, so that might be a little excessive.
The grassland is close to the same three gods, and is actually right next to the coastal country. Perspective, yay!
The three "Russia" countries are also right next to each other. They are close to Ociath, the god of peace (who also already has two countries), Erasia, the goddess of seduction (also two), Lathria, the goddes of being unnoticed (only one, but it is a very affluent and not particularly forgiving society), and Noema, the goddess of sight (who has one, relatively peaceful society).
If there is any other information you would like, as ever, ask away.
More spoilers!
This country worships Isavrie, the goddess of pleasure. They survive by creating the best, or "most pleasurable", of everything, and are kind of one giant tourist industry. They have dubbed themselves "the most beautiful land in the world". Other than that... I don't really have much. They still need a group name and a very unique color (after 61, it starts getting hard to find a color that no other country has). As far as the name goes, it should be something that has some logic or connection to their faction as a whole. This is simply because that was the pattern we accidentally established at the beginning, and now we have to stick with it.
Erasia is the goddess of seduction, so I'm guessing you can see where this is going. This country survives by sending out the most skilled seducers, who have been trained from a very early age, to be companions to very powerful people. They use this closeness to ensure that their homeland gets treated favorably. Religious orgies would probably be fairly common, other that that... run wild, with consistency. They would need a name and a color as well.
Amsir is the god of time, and he technically doesn't have a people anymore. He had a people, but they all committed mass suicide. He was the first god to realize that he could bless someone. It has never been a problem before because the gods thought of their people as entertaining bugs, but Amsir actually got involved and tried to be a “good” god to them. So he blessed every one of his people with the ability to see the future, but it was too strong and overwhelmed them all. They saw too much, and also saw themselves all committing suicide. So they did it. Now, Amsir makes anyone who walks into that land go crazy, which is why the land is considered cursed. They don't really need a name, but I need that organized nice and cleanly, and maybe even a little bit of information on the society, so that we know what the architecture would have been like. Oh! And a color.
Nydalria is the goddess of foresight. And my ideas for this one all suck. Do you have any brilliantness for me? The only thing I know for sure is that they worship Nydalria, and that they live in a very southern country, so it would probably be relatively windy and cold.
A strange, sparsely populated, cult-like faction devoted to Ohecelo, the god of darkness, that is best define by their intents: they want to turn off the sun. In their attempts to do this the Obfuscuom has experimented heavily in ritualistic trials as well as trying to develop real magic. They have also dabbled in alchemy. While they certainly are a peaceful faction, only tending to themselves, many would say their ultimate goal is malicious and they should be kept under watch.
That's all I've got. And, while it is enough, I want more. Will you give me more?
Because Kivron is the God of Luck, the people of his kingdom are predisposed toward a lifestyle and government that is less structured than most nations. Though outsiders may view this nation as a pure anarchy without any restraining forces, the people of this nation function on a foundation of morality and “civic duty” that is more vague than any of the other nations. Surrendering control of so much of their lives to fate and luck does not allow for their government to restrain its people by means of specific and situational laws, instead opting for generalized ideals of good behavior that all citizens should follow: loyalty to the family first, and the country second. If the family is in need of aid, it is a moral imperative that the individual do all that is in that person’s ability to provide said aid. While there is no organized military, a militia-like armament of individual villages is still capable of defending against invaders to a certain extent if necessary. Service to the country is mostly encompassed by the concept of “honor among thieves”, that your neighbor or your country is worthy of aid due to their devout servitude to Kivron. However, if there is a conflict between service to one’s family and service to one’s country, one’s family is expected to take priority on a pragmatic moral level.
I have never made a society that thrives in anarchy before. I've never even heard of one. And, while this is complete enough for my purposes, I want to know more so that I am not puzzling over it when the Harbinger actually gets there. Words of wisdom?
Located between Lifkya, the goddess of purity and Aloscra, the goddess of pain, the Sisterhood of the Sword is an exclusively female faction that has only recently become a problem for other factions. Before they assaulted and defeated the faction (the Purifiers) that held the land they hold now, they were a small sect of warrior-monks who felt that the world had been tainted and must be purified, and the only way to accomplish said purification was through pain and damnation of all other factions. The sect grew steadily until it rivaled the population of the Purifiers, at which point they attacked the faction’s capital, publicly beheaded their ruler, and issued martial law as well as the exile or execution of every male citizen. Since then the Sisterhood has become warmongers.
They are a tropical culture, that could also use some more elaboration.
Little is known about this group who worship Igrati, other than that they control all of the island off the coast of the south-eastern continent, appropriately named Pincer Island due to it’s shape(gaag. Island names can be random. I'd love a better name than that). The clan has just recently been formed, as well, the leader rounding up the small tribes that lived there and uniting them under a single banner. Their warriors have been rumored to carry odd, curved blades, though since the clan is xenophobic very few have actually left the island.
I'd love to make them a little less unknown. The island is probably fairly wet, but it is also fairly far south, so it might get brisk during the winter.
The worshipers of Maticleas, the god of Illusion, the Ignis are masters of illusion, and being in the desert it is said that their city of Fool’s Paradise is extremely difficult to find due to their understanding of how mirages work and how to manipulate them.

Warriors are known as ‘Mesmers’ and fight in a very “glass cannon” style, where they put all of their energy into mobility and offense and care none for defense, leading to a very lightly armored warrior who often wields a hefty two-handed weapon. Anything more, or any edits, are welcome.

That is what I have. At some point I will need to name all the mountain ranges, deserts and islands, etc. I'll also need to delve a little deeper into the fantasy species that are present. But the countries are our deadline, and I would appreciate any aid.

I almost feel a little embarrassed for posting this. But this is what the section is here for, I suppose. I just got to go for it.
 
I would love to help, but I don't have time today to go through everything in depth. However, I'm a bit concerned about the people of Nydalria. She's the goddess of foresight and if her people are living in a very cold and windy area of the world... that doesn't really speak of good foresight. xD.
 
That's fine. I'll take any help I can get.

I can kind of see what you mean, but they are there because their goddess is there. They have centered their civilization around her. If they don't have the ability to settle a place with a more habitable climate, they will simply have to have the foresight to figure out how to work around the problems that will undoubtedly rise from those difficulties. :)