Let’s Build a World

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  • #89853
    Linyang Zhang
    @devastate-lasting
      • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
      • Total Posts: 1700

      Aight, I saw this idea on another forum and decided to steal it as well…with some changes, perhaps.

      In the real world there are many famous landmarks, both manmade and natural, that have become iconic sights known the world over. There’s the great wall of China, the moai statues of Easter Island, the Grand Canyon, the pyramids of Egypt, and so on. What kinds of sights would impress people living in a fantasy world where magic and miracles are widespread, if not outright commonplace?

      How this works:

      • It’s simple, we build a world together!
      • Each post, you’re allowed to create one landmark, kingdom, city, or natural sight. These can be relatively normal, or very magical.
      • Every post, you create one landmark! Please wait until after someone goes before going again!
      • To encourage more user interaction, it would be fun to reply to the post above yours with some comments, anything will do, perhaps how you could see your characters would interact there, or perhaps even writing a short scene to spark writing juices! Up to you, of course.

      So, without further ado, let’s see what kind of world we can build together?
      Let your imagination run wild!

      Oh, let’s tag some people as well to get this places started, shall we?


      @gracie-j
      @kathleenramm @issawriter7 @nova21 @william-starkey @godlyfantasy12 @anyone-else @everyone-else

      Lately, it's been on my brain
      Would you mind letting me know
      If hours don't turn into days

      #89854
      Linyang Zhang
      @devastate-lasting
        • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
        • Total Posts: 1700

        I’ll start, I guess.

        The Meadow of Spring

        Behold what appears to be a fresh spring meadow, dotted with flowers. It’s a nice place to spend the day, though most don’t stay long, as after dark, it starts to feel cold…

        Someone once said she saw spirits there, but no one believed her.

        Some say that the trail of red flowers is left over from blood spilled from the previous war…

        Here, it is always spring, always bright, but is it always warm?

        Lately, it's been on my brain
        Would you mind letting me know
        If hours don't turn into days

        #89863
        Issabelle Perry
        @issawriter7
          • Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
          • Total Posts: 976

          @devastate-lasting

          Oooh, I LOVE your Meadow of Spring. I could TOTALLY see some kind of story being built around that place! Just to make sure I’ve got this right and don’t completely humiliate myself do I add to your world or am I just to create something seperate?

           

          God gives His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers.
          TeenWritersNook.com

          #89870
          Linyang Zhang
          @devastate-lasting
            • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
            • Total Posts: 1700

            @issawriter7 It could be something completely different! Anything is fine 🙂

            Lately, it's been on my brain
            Would you mind letting me know
            If hours don't turn into days

            #89875
            Issabelle Perry
            @issawriter7
              • Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
              • Total Posts: 976

              @devastate-lasting

              Alright, let’s do this!

              The Medallion of the Far-Off Sea

              A golden chain holds a medallion made of a mix of precious metals from ancient, hidden caves. A legends surrounds this certain object. Any who wear it will hear the call – a call that will lead to a land beyond our eyes. Though, all you choose to test its power should be wary. A price must be paid for every use – every chance to step into this new world. Okay this all just shows how much little creativity I have.

              God gives His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers.
              TeenWritersNook.com

              #89905
              E. K. Seaver
              @e-k-seaver
                • Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
                • Total Posts: 344

                Midnight’s Mountain

                The mountain is the highest in the entire land– yet as you go higher, it becomes easier to breathe. At the bottom of the mountain is the endless desert, but as you climb up the mountain, and day turns to twilight, the scorching sun and sand are slowly replaced with first fields of lush grass, though as darkness descends you reach a forest filled with lush fruit, white, bean-shaped fruits about the size of two fists. The deeper you get into this forest, you realize that the fruits are glowing in the dark. You take a bite, and though you are so thirsty that you could drink gallons of water and so hungry you could consume three feasts, you’re suddenly satisfied. The energy you lost climbing the mountain is restored. You’re awake enough to notice the scent in the air of warm jasmine, and you realize that the flower’s vines twine around the trunks of the trees. Still, you keep climbing up the mountain, determined to reach the top. The forest melts away into a garden, and as you step into the rows of flowers, your way is no longer lit by glowing fruit and fireflies. Instead, you see a trillion stars studding the midnight sky. You see, just a little ways above you, a roofless gazebo, pure white and glistening in the night’s glow. You climb through the rows of flowers, towards the structure. Within moments you have reached it, and you are met with piles of pillows and blankets. You don’t know where they came from, but they smell slightly of mint and jasmine. You collapse onto the blankets, and for the first time since starting your climb, you look back. The mountain slopes down around you on all sides, surrounded by a desert that still glows a faint yellow with the sun– not nearly as vivid as the stars above you. You turn your face towards the stars. A few constellations are recognizable in the dark sky. Your mother’s voice is clear in your head as you recall stories she told you of goddesses and magic, of heroines and monsters. Clear, cold winds play with your hair. They’re tinged with just enough ice that you must pull your blanket around you tighter, but soon your eyes drift shut to their soft lullabies. At last, many hours later, you wake. You have slept deeply, dreamed of the future with a fairy magic that can only be found on Midnight’s mountain. While it is still dark around you– as it always is on the mountain’s peak, you are prepared to make your journey downwards, back into the oppressive and draining day, knowing that you now have the strength to journey on.

                • This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by E. K. Seaver.

                The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
                ekseaver.wordpress.com

                #89906
                E. K. Seaver
                @e-k-seaver
                  • Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
                  • Total Posts: 344

                  Whoa that was way longer than I intended it to be. Many apologies.

                  The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
                  ekseaver.wordpress.com

                  #89908
                  E. K. Seaver
                  @e-k-seaver
                    • Rank: Knight in Shining Armor
                    • Total Posts: 344

                    @issawriter7

                    @devastate-lasting

                    *cough* Sorry I forgot to tag. My post is up there ^^

                    The pen is mightier than the sword, but in a duel, I'm taking the sword.
                    ekseaver.wordpress.com

                    #89929
                    Abigail.M.
                    @abigail-m
                      • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                      • Total Posts: 1242

                      This is such a great idea and I LOVE what everyone’s written:)

                      This is actually an Excerpt In Need Of Revision  from one of my projects, but it seemed like a good thing to add to this world building.

                       

                      The Docks

                      Behind me was the village of SilverKey, beyond that was fields, rolling flowered hills, woods and then the towering mountains.
                      In front of me was the docks and ships; the only thing that stood between me and the Unknown Seas.
                      I looked up to the sky as I heard the screech of a flaming red phoenix.
                      The clouds that would have been judged as grey on a bright blue sky, now shown pearly almost ghostly white with little shadows lined near them. The clouds themselves were actually very neat as they intruded the dense, smooth pastel night sky like a mist or the like. It caught my eye unexpectedly for certain.

                      As I walked along the shore (which wasn’t of sand mind you, just dirt and rocks) I watched the moonlight play on the dancing waves. There was something eerie hanging in the air tonight. But before I could find a patch of ground to ponder what it was that seemed eerie, I glimpsed a stir of commotion in the distance.
                      Three turquoise glowing beasts were chasing each other over the water and their neighs were hollow and ghostly.
                      I straightened my height immediately as I watched the kelpies bound around each other, when the worst happened. One of them spotted me.
                      I tried to turn and run, but it was no use. It shook its watery mane and galloped up  to me in the friendliest manner a kelpie could have. As it’s hooves stepped onto the dirt of the shore, it’s glowing color melted away into a chocolate brown. It used its power to make me mount. It coiled its mane around my hands and charged towards the water. The stench of seaweed and the scent of lilies were so strong that I couldn’t tell if the overall smell was good or bad.
                      But I wasn’t about to be drowned by a kelpie, I fought its grip and though extremely rare, I managed to break free. I was plummeted into the water and swam through the strangely warm water back to shore.
                      I looked back only once and saw the kelpie’s confusion, as its glowing appearance returned.
                      This happened often around the docks to my understanding. The villagers often hung red seaweed on their doors to deter the kelpies. Ah, but I don’t  worry much about them anymore, you see after the one almost took me, I took a piece of its bridle. So I needn’t worry for a long time about them.

                      #89967
                      Gracie J.
                      @gracie-j
                        • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                        • Total Posts: 1789

                        @devastate-lasting (1) Awesome idea, (2) these are SO COOL, (3) I may steal some of y’all’s ideas (not really XD).

                        So, I’m not a very good worldbuilder (since I don’t do it very often…), but I’ll give it a go!

                        The City

                        (So original, I know…)

                        Crumpled ruins are all that are remains of what once was a glorious gateway into a new world. Buildings line a single street that leads into the ocean, shingles crashing one by one into the flooded depths of a pathway many great kings and queens once trod. An eerie wind whistles through open windows, attempting to weave through tattered curtains and escape through cracked doorways. Some say, usually those living on the outskirts of The City and who still feed off of legends, that the whistle heard is the Siren’s song, their gentle call to the sailors porting at the now-sunken harbor. Many inhabitants of the rugged land miles away from The City discredit these myths, but there is no denying the mystery that surrounded the abandoned city and those who dare to travel through…those who never return.

                        A chill creeps up your spine as you survey the ruins of The City. A small bird perches on a lone metal brace, the flag that once hung on it left to the mercy of the wind years ago. The bird sings a pleasant tune, obviously oblivious to the grey clouds hugging The City and the dark shadows that toy with the ripples in the river.

                        But you see it. You feel the foreboding, and as you take a step into your small rowboat, the oppression grows heavier and heavier, until it weighs upon your shoulders and rocks the boat. Or perhaps it is the Sirens whose tails slap against the boat, threatening you for trespassing, promising the fulfillment of their treacherous song…

                        You grip the edge of the boat, cautiously peer into the murky waters and search through layers of debris and looming shadows from something, anything. A tail. A scale. A lock of hair.

                        A gleam on the far right catches your eye. You whip your head around, zero in on what looks strangely similar to a serpent’s scales. The scant sunlight shifts as the clouds press closer, and gone is the glitter.

                        Was it ever there?

                        the resident romance ghost; last seen within the pages of a gothic novel

                        #90077
                        Anonymous
                          • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                          • Total Posts: 1379

                          @devastate-lasting, @issawriter7, @e-k-seaver, @abigail-m, @gracie-j

                          Such an interesting topic! I’m not a fantasy writer, so I’ve never build a world before. (Except for one time when I was like six years old and wrote a story about a rainbow land where a princess and her unicorn dwelt, and her handsome prince was trying to find her… yeah.) Anyways, though I don’t have any experience with fantasy worlds, I thought it might be fun to try.

                          So…

                          Dream Garden of Hidden Lands

                          Hidden Lands is a group of islands which cannot be seen on any map. If you even tried to draw it on a map, the ink would immediately fade. Millions of explorers, desperate to gain fame and honor by finding the Hidden Lands and bringing back the precious jewels (called “lamentannas”) rumored to be there, have set out on voyages. However, not one of those explorers ever returned, and to this day no one knows what became of them.

                          You see, the truth is that the Hidden Lands cannot be seen nor found. Unless you are one of the ‘Chosen Ones.’ Lamentanna (after whom the mysterious jewels are named), the queen of Hidden Lands, is the only living being with the power to anoint Chosen Ones. She does this by showing her anointed dreams of herself and the riches found in Hidden Lands. She then will teleport her Chosen One to Hidden Lands using her magic.

                          Therefore every living thing in Hidden Lands, whether human or animal, is called a Chosen One. Lamentanna also has the power to see the dreams her Chosen Ones have each night. She has incredible skills as an artist, and draws beautiful murals of each dream each of her Chosen Ones have each night. Her palace is filled with these murals. She also makes beautiful sculptures depicting her Chosen Ones’ dreams.

                          Dream Garden surrounds Queen Lamentanna’s palace. Besides having beautiful flowers and sparkling brooks, and being laden with lamentannas, Dream Garden is filled with the sculptures of the Chosen Ones’ dreams. When you visit, you will be awed by the different dreams you will see depicted. Some are beautiful and unusual – like the dream of a little girl Chosen One, a dream in which she was dancing across the moon in pink slippers, with all the stars and planets watching and applauding her. Some are goofy – like the dream of a teenage boy Chosen One, a dream in which he was gobbling five whole boxes of pizza all to himself. Some are whimsical and affectionate – like the dream of an old man Chosen One, in which he was dreaming of his estranged grandchildren who despise him, dreaming that they would return to him and curl up on his lap for stories once again.

                           

                          So yeah… that’s my little imagination. Hope you guys liked it 🙂

                          #90098
                          Abigail.M.
                          @abigail-m
                            • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                            • Total Posts: 1242

                            The Lake

                            Around this land, there were many lakes. But only one was The Lake.

                            The Lake was nestled deep in a valley and brimmed with waterlilies. Rolling hills rose up at the very beginning of The Lake’s edge. So you could literally lay on your side at the top of a hill and roll down, down, down, and SPLASH! You’d plummet right into its tranquil water. The scent of the lilies was so strong that they filled your mind with visions of the mountain maidens in white gowns, dancing on summer’s eve.
                            Beneath the water, if you looked up, you would see the green silhouettes of the bottoms of a thousand lilypads and bright yellow sunlight streaming down to touch The Lake’s depths. Did they truly touch all the depths? I guess no one could really say. Then you’d rise back up to the surface and all around, you would hear nothing but the occasional chirp of birds (though there were no trees) and the annoyingly constant thrumming sound of a cricket that you could never pinpoint where it came from exactly.

                            There was no wind, but the air was brisk, the sun warm, clouds white and sky blue. It was the type of day that would turn into the type of night that belonged to The Lake.

                            #90137
                            Anonymous
                              • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                              • Total Posts: 1379

                              @abigail-m

                              Very interesting! I especially liked your two opening sentences. I feel like they would be an awesome hook for a first chapter!

                              #90254
                              Abigail.M.
                              @abigail-m
                                • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                                • Total Posts: 1242

                                @joy-caroline

                                Thank you:) Maybe I’ll make a whole story out of it someday:)

                                • This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Abigail.M..
                                #90265
                                Anonymous
                                  • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                                  • Total Posts: 1379

                                  @abigail-m

                                  That would be awesome!!

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