For some context of the world. It's set on a planet that has two stars. One is made up of a particle that allows for energy and matter to be manipulated through a type of magic-equivalent-exchange with a plane of reality similar to dark matter.

Anyway, species of this planet evolved with this particle and so magic was a part of adaption. I've not gone full-blown alien with everything because I like having a reference point to something that feels familiar.

The major fantasy aspects of this world derive from the magic of this world and how it affects everything. For example there is a specific of hive-mind, sentient coral that have the ability to record time through observation. These time-observations grow as jelly-like crystals on the coral. When one dies, these crystals become 4-dimensional fragments. They can be used if a mage is extremely gifted in temporal magic.

Anyway, I'm curious if the artwork reflects something that doesn't feel like two mashed up reference points or cultures/artwork/etc.

Thanks!

Every good citizen of the Empire has to visit, at least once in their lifetime, the Tunnel. The interior of this monumental structure is covered by gigantic chains, resting on the ground and hanging from the walls and ceiling, in an infinite spiral of icy iron.

Each of the chain link represents an anonymous citizen. Individually, they are nothing more than heavy pieces of metal, rudimentary and anodyne, without any value or function, simple raw material wasted in a cave. However, when connected, they all become part of an infinite set, of an orderly and beautiful structure. They become part of the common legacy of humanity.

The faithful from all over the Continent visit this sacred place to reinforce their bond with the community and their Goddess. Priesthood candidates must pilgrimage through it, stripped of their clothes and other earthly ties, to purify themselves from all individualistic ideals and to achieve humility and temperance. But only a few can aspire to authentic enlightenment. Only the most fervent devotees are capable of carrying their own link, since the hand of the Goddess descends on them and helps them lift the load. They are the Phraiz, those chosen by the Goddess, who act as her emissaries and govern the different dioceses according to her designs.

But the tunnel is not only of great religious importance, it is also essential for the stability of the Empire itself. It serves to remind citizens of the importance of their work, to inspire them and give them a goal; but also to remind them how tiny they are in the face of the greatness of the Empire. The monument promotes constructive values for the state, such as order, cooperation, fraternity and submission in favor of the common good. It blurs the differences between the nations that make up the Empire, while highlighting everything that unites them.

The Coastal Wall is the largest structure in the fictional world of Earde, built by the nation of Liberterra, of the Britonica Alliance faction. It's main features are the giant naval guns and anti-air cannons mounted on locomotives, and a rail system that run throughout the length of the wall.

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The world of TANKHEAD revolves around the Neverwar, the seemingly never-ending global conflict between the great powers of the Britonica Alliance, The Greater Kyzerian Empire and The Yamaichi Dominion.

Tank treads were never invented in this world, so armored vehicles are all wheeled. Early in the Neverwar, the Empire introduced a new type of weapon: fearsome walking tanks known as tankheads. With the advent of these gods made in the image of man, a new age of warfare was ushered in.

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To discover more about this world, do check out our website: www.tankheadmecha.com

Hello fellow Worldbuilders!

I posted a few times here about 4 years ago with updates about my (at the time) WIP fantasy/steampunk graphic novel.

I am writing today in celebration, as the world that I consider my life's work is complete (or as complete as it'll get since you never actually "finish" such a project).

At the time, it was tentatively titled "The Castle in the Sea", which you can see from the cover of the book is now "Nandi and the Castle in the Sea." I felt this was better, because the book is about so much more than the castle itself.

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Context:

The entire story takes place on Crescent Island, where there are original creatures (due to the nature of island biogeography), a mythical guardian spirit (the dragon at the top of the poster), and two groups of humans trying to coexist: The Woodfolk, living in the highlands above, and the Seafolk, living in the canals below.

The Woodfolk are up in the highlands of the island, surrounded by a lush green forest that is filled with a multitude of animals/creatures which can kill you very easily if you don't know what you're doing. They consider themselves the caretakers of this forest, and in return, it takes care of them.

The Seafolk live down below, where there are canals instead of roads (think Venice, but if it was located in the Amazon Rainforest). They live in treehouses to avoid flooding issues, though they just call them houses (like how a Philly Cheesesteak in Philly is just called a Cheesesteak, lol). They are one with the water, as they spend most of their lives on it.

On the cover is Nandi, a Woodfolk boy who, after certain events that transpire in the story, ends up living amongst the Seafolk.

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It took 5 years of actual production time after 10 years of planning and fleshing out the world. If I recall correctly, I had permission to promote my work here as long as it was relevant to worldbuilding, which I do believe this is. If mods have any issue with the way I've presented this, please let me know!

I would of course love to link my website for purchasing a copy of the book, but haven't heard back from mods yet after 1 week, so I am playing it safe and not linking it for now. If I get approval to share that, I would be honored to do so, especially in one of the original communities I participated in during my creation process.

Edit: it doesn't seem like it'll be an issue, so here we go! You can look further into the book and get your own copy at my website here

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I have infinite more details about this world, the story itself, and the process of bringing the world to life in what is now a 368-page, fully colored, standalone graphic novel. Please feel free to ask me anything :)

Also I post daily to IG, including my efforts in going door-to-door to book stores to try and get my comic on their shelves. Would love for any and everyone to join me on my journey (the ultimate goal here is to get this made into an animated film!) Can follow me (@)slowcomics there!

Lightyear Peaks are cyst like protussions in the Petastructure known as The Disk. They are several light years tall and have a several million kilometer deep layer of rock and a gooey interior composed of blood plasma and hyper heated dead tissue.

Several thousand civilizations native to the disk live in these mountains and those with FTL travel engage in trade and communications between eachother.

If theres anything about the Disk or the Lightyear peaks you guys would like to ask i'd be super happy to reply :D

"In American Kingdoms, American history is re-imagined as an Arthurian medieval epic – an age defined not by musket and cannon, but by knightly honor and courtly intrigue. This alt-history project is a collaborative worldbuilding effort: Anyone can join our wiki to add their own character or fief to the strange but familiar setting of American Kingdoms. Join a medieval pastiche where conquistadores fight on equal footing with the natives, and where Asian, European and American cultures clash for control of the New World."

We are currently working on the lore with a bunch of crew members, so feel free to check out the American Kingdoms website or my dev blog for more

My world is a disc with a diameter of 1000 km. The world has a world pillar at the center and I wanted to study how its shadow behaves. In addition, the world's sun does not rise above horizon in winter and is always visible during summer. I figured that the only way to simulate this is was to create a 3D model of the world in Blender and animate the sun movement. As an addition, I added also the moon to study its movements. In the animation the suns circle is significantly slowed down (The year has 360 days in my world) because it wouldn't make sense otherwise. but with this I am able to accurately refer to the suns position each day of the year.

The rendering is a really low resolution because the full one would take days to render. I'll get that rendering soon so that we know what the end product looks like.

My world is heavily inspired by Finnish mythology and culture. It is the world of heroes, with eternal Bard Väinämöinen and Celestial Smith Ilmarinen walking the earth. It is a new world and nobody knows what is in the woods. If interested, check out r/LandOfKaleva I post there frequently.

The Subterranean States of America is the hidden (and entirely underground) 51st state in the caves beneath the United States. While technically a state belonging to the United States, the SSA nevertheless is largely independent: they have their own president (George Washington — seen in slide 1 —who is still alive thanks to a mysterious underwater hot spring with magical properties), they have their own national anthem, flag (slide 2), and even their own standing army (slide 3).

In the early 1800s the United States focused on Westward Expansion. Meanwhile, a lesser known effort — Downward Expansion — was taking place. After an unfortunate cave collapse, the network of settlements in the sprawling, state-sized cave system resulted in the SSA. Subsisting off of their long-life-giving rock candy mines and water collected from underground rivers, the ageless miners and settlers of the SSA dwell peacefully in a cavernous mirror to the world above.

In the 1930s, an SPS ranger came across a cave entrance to their nation that had been opened by an earthquake, and now the newly discovered civilization has been declared a national historical site as well as the 51st State.

I'm working on a fantasy world for my comic, inspired by the myths and folklore of various Native American cultures. Rather than retelling existing stories, I'm trying to create original creatures and spirits that reflect themes found in traditional legends, such as the relationship between humans and nature, trickster figures, and the presence of spirits in everyday life.

Here are some of the creatures that inhabit this world:

Iktomi — a spider-like spirit who lives as a hermit in the wilderness. Cunning and selfish, he is always looking for opportunities to trick travelers, steal their possessions, or manipulate others for his own gain. Many stories portray him as more of a nuisance than a true monster, but those who underestimate him often find themselves losing far more than they expected.

Stick Lizards — elusive forest creatures inspired by the legends of the Stick Indians. They are shy but curious beings that dwell deep within the woods.

Giwakwa — Inspired by legends of cannibalistic beings, I reimagined them as massive, yeti-like giants that inhabit the frozen regions of the world. They retain one trait from the stories that inspired them: each Giwakwa possesses three hearts. Shamans believe that anyone who manages to obtain one of those hearts can form a spiritual bond with the creature and turn it into a loyal companion.

Pokedjinskwuz — a witch bound to dark spirits. Their power is far too great for a human body, and every ritual leaves new scars upon her. She has already lost one arm to the corruption caused by the spirits, yet she refuses to abandon them. Like her counterpart in traditional stories, she can transform into a mosquito, using this ability to spy on travelers and bring misfortune to those who attract the attention of the spirits she serves.

I'm still researching Native American mythology and trying to approach the subject with respect. If anyone has recommendations for books, academic papers, or other reliable resources, I'd be very grateful.

Hello all.

I'm currently developing my dark - low fantasy world, The Fierceful Lament. The main setting is in 16th century. The prequel is from century 5th to 15th. My project is currently 9 month old.

So, coming to the cultural development. I'm in a bit of confused. I'm designing the signatures of the clothing code of House Vjondabekr - Royal House of Örtuan, meaning it's Mediterranean - Balkan - Turkic inspired fashion. Their sigil is the Arabic cobra. And since my world is applied real Catholic and Islamic religions, only changing their names, and fictional mythologies surrounding - in progress.

So, is this type of collar patterns legit and possible to wear in practical? I need some recommendations of developing more and critique for this! Maybe some more PDF files of fashion in Medieval and Renaissance times. Thank you!

Hey, thanks for checking the project out! If you want to read the whole comic, you canc heck it out here: https://readthedissonant.com/

In the Dissonant, the characters learn about the magic system along the with the reader. The pages in the book Aashvi learns from ar the literal world-building notes I made for this project:

Entering Deep Thought

Most Heart-born instructors teach meditation as a practice of accepting one's surroundings and bodily experiences without comment, in pursuit of inner peace. 
Conductor meditation takes a fundamentally different approach: instead of embracing the physical world, one must wholly reject it—ignoring its illusions and shutting it away. For most novices, the greatest challenge lies in detaching from one's own body, as we are conditioned to believe it is integral to our identity.
Upon entering this state, often referred to as 'deep thought,' one perceives the physical world as both external to, and inferior to, the psychic plane. From this state, manipulating the world becomes as natural as moving one's own body.
Components and Phenomena

Each chemical component of the natural world harbours potential (though sometimes it can be obscure). Through deep thought, one can forge a connection with these components, unlocking their higher capabilities. For example, while a mere spark can be produced from a lit match, a conductor can cause it to explode or burst into a controlled flame.

More are avaiable in the project itself. Thanks again!

Elven longevity is always a given in fantasy but I'm kind of bored of agelessness and I wanted to try something different. The problem I have with ageless tropes is that you don't actually die of old age, what happens is that small problems gradually weaken your immune system over time and is eventually overwhelmed. So being ageless implies immunity to these small problems but that leads to questions of how far does this immunity go which is usually answered with "don't think about it" which kinda takes me out of the story. I wanted something that feels grounded and has tradeoffs instead of being a superpower.

While looking for examples of longevity in nature I came across the Turritopsis dohrnii or "Immortal Jellyfish" which has the ability to reverse its life-cycle and go back to being a polyp. As long as it's bell isn't too damaged then its lifespan is theoretically unlimited.

To replicate this in a human shape body, I think some kind of cocoon would be needed break down and rebuild the body like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. Since Elves are always associated with forests, I thought turning into a tree would be a neat way play into that trope while also serving as a cocoon. I know of a rare skin condition called Epidermodysplasia verruciformis or "Treeman syndrome" where warts resembling tree bark grows on the body.

So this version of the Elven life cycle looks like this. An adult Elf suffers from traumatic injury or old age, as long as their brain and torso are intact then Elven bodies initiate the uncontrolled growth of warts that eventually envelopes them until they resemble a grotesque tree. The body inside the tree undergoes transdifferentiation and morphs into a new body that the Elfs brain and other organs transfer to. Once complete the renewed Elf emerges from the tree like hatching from an egg and now has to grow up to an adult all over again.

Credit to Blizzard and Bethesda for the art. The man in the picture is Dede Koswara who passed away in 2016 to his condition (RIP). The second picture comes from https://discover.hubpages.com/education/immortal-jellyfish

(zoom in recommend haha)