Skip to main content

Forums » RP Discussion » Once upon a time,

a woman requested insight from others upon her ideas.

Halló!
I've been digging into a variety of stuff recently for generalised fantasy worldbuilding that I could slot into various settings with ease, with minimal editing required to make them fit into average fantasy settings.
But, of course, one shouldn't create without outside opinions; an opinion from beyond is essential for seeing your creations in ways you may not.
So, allow me to spill.
I will be providing translations and etymological insight for non-English words and things that I feel to be of importance, which I fear will bloat this considerably, so I apologise heavily in advance.




The Norðmannaríki;

From the northern wastes came the Sjómerr, with the the banners of the Svíar, Gautar and the Danir; the three great Kynættir.
The Norðmannaríki are, by their design, a mostly stereotypical fantasy Víkingarr faction.

Split into three Kynættir [Singular Kynætt; 'Kinfamily'], the Norðmenn are a stark display of religion meshing with ideological and political beliefs. The three Kynættir are the Svíar [Singular Svíi; 'Swede', from a word meaning 'Self'], the Gautar [Singular Gautr; 'Geat', from a word meaning 'To Pour'] and the Danir [Singular Dani; 'Dane', from a word meaning 'Flow']; each with their own goals and targets in the politics of their homeland and abroad.

The Norðmenn [Singular Norðmannr; 'Northman'] have a culture of exploration, colonisation, settlement, trading and conquest due to the low population capabilities of their homeland Vervíkaland [Meaning 'Land of the Worst Bays']. All three Kynættir are under the sway of the Sjómerr [Kening; 'All-Mother', from Sjór; 'Sea' and Merr; 'Mare'], the Goddess of the Norðmenn and the temporal ruler of Vervíkaland, residing in the Uggylfnahús [Kening; 'Great Ruler's Palace', from Uggr; 'Fear', Ylfa; 'She-Wolf' and Hús; 'House'] in the capital of the Norðmenn, Þingaheimgarðr [Meaning 'Home Castle of the Things', a Thing being a Norse and Germanic public assembly].

Whilst it may seem to outsiders that the Norðmenn simply pillage and seize land that is not rightfully for them to take, internally Vervíkaland is a dying home. Their continent is, in effect, majority frozen ice with sparse taiga along the coasts, and the ice is encroaching ever further with each year; as it is living, or was, once upon a time. The continent itself is the corpse of the, reviled by the Norðmenn, dead deity Veröldetari [Kening; 'Destroyer', from Veröld; 'World' and Etari 'Eater'], and as his body slowly rots, the icy cold creeps further to the tips of the land. This fact forces the Norðmenn, under the leadership of the Sjómerr, to focus on finding a new home for themselves elsewhere in the world; by diplomacy, or by force.

Important positions in the Norðmenn include the Fylkjar [Singular Fylkir; 'Folk Ruler'] who oversee the Kynættir, the Hájöfurr [Meaning 'High Prince'] who is elected by the Fylkjar to communicate directly with the Sjómerr and the Fánajótr [Kening; 'Fleet Master', from Fáni; 'Flag' and Jótr; 'Jute'].




The Soengjiujan;
上遙人

The steppes are a harsh place, a harsh land. Upon the endless plains, seek not to angry the Daaibaa or his Zyuwui, lest one succumb to the Tyunke.
The Soengjiujan are a twist on standard nomadic civilisations in fantasy, in the fact that they are currently in the process of settling into a sedentary life and are split between those who support this and those who oppose this.

Entrapped in a civil Cold War are the Ongaapaai [安家派; 'Settlement Faction'] and the Jekeongpaai [野彊派; 'Wild and Strong Faction'], comprised of a plethora of nomadic clans and kin-groups who seek to form a sedentary society or refuse all lifestyles beyond the nomadic one respectively. Leading these two opposed groups are the same clan, sundered in twain by this grand dispute of people, the Amlaamngaan [黯藍眼; 'Dark Blue Eyes']. Now currently split into the Gaa-Amlaamngaan and the Keong-Amlaamngaan, this family has held the leadership of the Soengjiujan, a title known as the Daaibaa [大霸; 'Great Hegemon'], for several centuries, and in this conflict, their grasp upon their rank and power is slipping ever further away to others and outsiders.

Important positions in the Soengjiujan include Zyu [主; 'Lord(s)'] who act as heads of clans and tribes underneath the Daaibaa, the Tyunke [團騎; 'Society of Cavalry'] who operate as the personal retinue of the Daaibaa and the Ginggung [境公; 'Border Duke(s)'] who have already settled into sedentary societies yet still see the Daaibaa as their monarch and thus pay tribute and contribute forces to them; overwhelmingly supporting the Gaa-Amlaamngaan.

The dialect of Chinese used here is Yue.





I was forced to stop here despite having much more thought out and written down in fragments elsewhere due to my terrible ability to focus over extended periods,
but I look forward to seeing what people think about these admittedly rudimentary and uncreative ideas, especially criticisms; one should always strive to improve, shouldn't they?
Please excuse any spelling errors or grammatical mistakes, I will edit them out as I discover them.

Yours truly,
Stephania.
As an outsider given a simple glimpse into your mind workings— I’m quite impressed.

You say these ideas are “uncreative”, but I disagree. Each of these cultures seems rooted in real-world history, though that notion by no means suggests that these ideas are uninspired, or unoriginal. In fact, I believe the opposite. Nothing great is created in a vacuum, after all.

“””Vikings””” as a theme are a lot broader than “typical” fantasy presents and I can see influence here in your work that’s neither too generic, nor difficult to believe. Well-studied is more like it.

Also very happy to see some exploration of “steppe” tribes. I feel as if they aren’t given much light. Again and especially in generic fantasy. Some real ancient stuff going on here.

The way you’ve named concepts amongst these ideas appears very well informed just the same. My only point of grief is that for those who may not be quite as studied in language and history; it makes these terms a bit difficult to access. (Then again, maybe you’d rather keep your audience narrow).

For example, I would guess most people know less about Tolkien’s body of work outside of the Hobbit and Fellowship because he was so far down the rabbit hole of mythology [in something like the Silmarillion]. His earlier works (though hidden and published later) throw around a lot of long-winded names and terminology that while some readers love to get involved in— others (and I’d argue a majority) can’t grasp, nor desire to try and remember. Just a matter of taste, of course.

Overall, I’m intrigued by what I’ve seen and though only as a joe-schmoe reader, I still hope I can encourage you to keep with your studies and embrace the inspiration they give you! ✨
Nordmannahakvan Topic Starter

Wrensul wrote:
As an outsider given a simple glimpse into your mind workings— I’m quite impressed.

You say these ideas are “uncreative”, but I disagree. Each of these cultures seems rooted in real-world history, though that notion by no means suggests that these ideas are uninspired, or unoriginal. In fact, I believe the opposite. Nothing great is created in a vacuum, after all.

“””Vikings””” as a theme are a lot broader than “typical” fantasy presents and I can see influence here in your work that’s neither too generic, nor difficult to believe. Well-studied is more like it.

Also very happy to see some exploration of “steppe” tribes. I feel as if they aren’t given much light. Again and especially in generic fantasy. Some real ancient stuff going on here.

The way you’ve named concepts amongst these ideas appears very well informed just the same. My only point of grief is that for those who may not be quite as studied in language and history; it makes these terms a bit difficult to access. (Then again, maybe you’d rather keep your audience narrow).

For example, I would guess most people know less about Tolkien’s body of work outside of the Hobbit and Fellowship because he was so far down the rabbit hole of mythology [in something like the Silmarillion]. His earlier works (though hidden and published later) throw around a lot of long-winded names and terminology that while some readers love to get involved in— others (and I’d argue a majority) can’t grasp, nor desire to try and remember. Just a matter of taste, of course.

Overall, I’m intrigued by what I’ve seen and though only as a joe-schmoe reader, I still hope I can encourage you to keep with your studies and embrace the inspiration they give you! ✨

To the esteemed reader,

My love of linguistics most obscure does often bring up issues, I've found, but my audience is indeed probably narrower than it'd like, as I doubt many folks would like an RP where traditions, religions, cultures and politics are noted down in detail for reference and development within the RP setting. Perhaps I should curb my enthusiasm for such large projects, I do burn out easily . . .

But thank you for your words, truly;
It's given me food for thought on what to do to improve my creations and make them more accessible to others who aren't interested in remembering or dealing with my rather dweebish enjoyment of long and out-there languages, titles and details.

Yours sincerely,
Stephania.

You are on: Forums » RP Discussion » Once upon a time,

Moderators: Mina, Keke, Cass, Auberon, Claine, Ilmarinen, Ben, Darth_Angelus