Worldbuilding help and discussions!

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  • #164569
    Otherworldly Historian
    @otherworldlyhistorian
      • Rank: Loyal Sidekick
      • Total Posts: 232

      @thearcaneaxiom

      Yea, Junior year has been pretty crazy this year. I’m not so sure six AP’s was as good an idea as I had originally thought 😬 (it is a lot of homework but I will probably be fine, just takes away time from other things). Currently my main novel has been on pause (I still do world building and keep notes of ideas but am not actively working on it) because I have been spending more of my free time working background guides for the Model UN conferences I am chairing. Quizbowl season has also been going pretty well this year (we got a bunch of new freshies which is really great since a lot of the team is graduating this year).

       

      How about you? I feel like last I heard you were graduating last year.

      Through darkness,
      light shines brightest

      #164570
      Otherworldly Historian
      @otherworldlyhistorian
        • Rank: Loyal Sidekick
        • Total Posts: 232

        Also:


        @thearcaneaxiom
        (and any other conlang fanatics)

        How are you guys thinking of incorporating multiple languages into your writing? Especially in a multi narrative book where one narrator might know/speak languages other narrators don’t.

        Through darkness,
        light shines brightest

        #164609
        Keilah H.
        @keilah-h
          • Rank: Chosen One
          • Total Posts: 5178

          @whalekeeper Ooh! Worldbuilding thread!!

          "When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers

          #164734
          TheArcaneAxiom
          @thearcaneaxiom
            • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
            • Total Posts: 1307

            @otherworldlyhistorian

            Yea, Junior year has been pretty crazy this year. I’m not so sure six AP’s was as good an idea as I had originally thought 😬 (it is a lot of homework but I will probably be fine, just takes away time from other things). Currently my main novel has been on pause (I still do world building and keep notes of ideas but am not actively working on it) because I have been spending more of my free time working background guides for the Model UN conferences I am chairing. Quizbowl season has also been going pretty well this year (we got a bunch of new freshies which is really great since a lot of the team is graduating this year).

            6 AP’s sounds both awesome and painful. Glad things have been going well, just make sure your not destroying your mental health!

            How about you? I feel like last I heard you were graduating last year.

            Yep, that’s correct. I am no longer bonded to any formal schooling. I’ve been spending much of my time doing outdoor work for my job, and trying to make additional money via my freelance, but I’ve still have had plenty of free time to work on writing. I’m also working on my mission papers, and putting my availability for Jan 30th, so any time after that, I should be called to serve somewhere on the planet for the next two years of my life. After that I plan on going to BYU Provo.

            How are you guys thinking of incorporating multiple languages into your writing? Especially in a multi narrative book where one narrator might know/speak languages other narrators don’t.

            Hmmm, well I have multiple languages present in my writing already, but are you saying that the story would be read in that language for the audience? There could be many different angles one could take with that. It could be interesting if the language was simplistic enough that the reader could start out with English with bits of coded words, and would grow increasingly more complex. That would be an interesting interactive element, but probably not the best for a fantasy novel, at least not with a classical format. If the writing is all in English, but only because it’s translated from the narrators language, it could be interesting to show elements of how they speak through the grammar structure and word choice, as well as words that simply can’t be translated into English as a single word, and thus is kept as is. Moving from different prospectives would further display this concept, showing that it isn’t just your writing style, but instead a feature of the translation. You could even make intentional errors to show that the language doesn’t map well to English. There could also be many ways this could become an element of the story itself, with how different characters may not speak the same languages, but it’s all translated for the readers, so they know what a character said to another, even if the other didn’t know what was said, and many other narrative dynamics.

            This makes me think of S”halek actually, because I designed in such a way that it can’t just be translated into English normally, because it has a structure twice as complex. I’ve struggled to find a good way to write in the prospective of a Shal’le, because their language and brain functions by giving two different lines of thought in one line of speech, which can feel redundant and confusing, and wouldn’t work as well with linear writing. S”halek is a extreme example I think, but it shows the principle that languages don’t always map well to one another, and there could be a lot of stories one could tell from that. It almost feels like an extra dimensional axis to the different point of views for how information may be conveyed to the reader.

            He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.

            #164780
            Keilah H.
            @keilah-h
              • Rank: Chosen One
              • Total Posts: 5178

              @thearcaneaxiom You must have an exceptional mind or tons of time on your hands to be able to come up with a double language like S’halek! That’s something I wouldn’t be able to do.

              "When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers

              #164971
              RAE
              @rae
                • Rank: Chosen One
                • Total Posts: 3890

                Who else spent days creating a calendar for your favorite culture?

                "You need French Toast."
                #AnduthForever (hopefully 💕)

                #164972
                RAE
                @rae
                  • Rank: Chosen One
                  • Total Posts: 3890

                  Wondian months by Realn reckoning

                  There are 17 Realn Wondian months, beginning with Adhai 1st (June 1st in 10,019 GA) and ending with Elna 21st (May 23nd in 10,019 GA) each month has an equal amount of 21 days. In order the months are:

                  Adhai

                  Yeray

                  Ray

                  Sai

                  Ayay

                  Amai

                  Chanai

                  Dath

                  Nayten

                  Kenth

                  Maz

                  Mai

                  Treh

                  Pent

                  Shoem

                  Haye

                  Elna

                  I know this only makes out to 357 days or 51 weeks in a year, but keep in mind that Wond has its own sun, and therefore, its own solar rotational period. When you get to the end of the Wondian year, simply start back at the beginning.

                  Just as a quick note, the dwarves also go off of the rotation of the Wondian sun, though the months are of course different. Shyiads and Slyiads go off of the rotation of the Wondian moon and the elves go off of the rotation of certain stars. It gets more complicated when the water elves have their own star, the fire elves have theirs, so do earth elves, et cetera. Wondian men may go after any of these, depending on their country. The other ways that a Wondian year is done is by seasons, four months, no weeks and a season is defined by a certain tree. The Nameless Things have a mixture of everything depending on who they are, including no months or year at all. Okay, that wasn’t that quick, but oh well.

                  I haven’t created calendars for all of the above mentioned things, I just have a vague idea, and at this point that’s fine since I mostly just write about the Realn rn anyways.

                  Making this calendar compatible with our calendar is not simple, and I had to change this calendar like ten times just so I myself could keep it straight! I wrote down the months in a pocket book calendar and dated it 10,019 (GA) and just add or subtract eight days to get to the other years. Before I had this whole complicated thing going on that was just killing my brain.

                  "You need French Toast."
                  #AnduthForever (hopefully 💕)

                  #164979
                  Keilah H.
                  @keilah-h
                    • Rank: Chosen One
                    • Total Posts: 5178

                    @rae wow that’s a lot of months

                    I found out recently that Star Wars has names for their days of the week, so I can now mess around with that kinda stuff for my fan fiction using that as a base.

                    "When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers

                    #164984
                    Cloaked Mystery
                    @jonas
                      • Rank: Chosen One
                      • Total Posts: 2821

                      @rae

                      I have the start of a calendar for one of my planets, but I don’t have any months yet. I could share it later.

                      🏰 Fantasy Writer
                      ✨ Magic System Creator
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                      📚 Appreciator of Books

                      #165633
                      TheArcaneAxiom
                      @thearcaneaxiom
                        • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                        • Total Posts: 1307

                        @rae

                        That’s really cool! So does the Wondian planet make a perfect 357 day rotation around it’s sun? We have leap year on Earth to account for the slight error in the 365 days. So is the planet simply perfectly placed for simplicity, or is there some analogue of leap year. Also, what about seasons? Are there four standard seasons like Earth, or are there a different number, and why? (it’s helpful to know about what causes seasons if you want to make a different number.) How do said seasons align with the months. Do the numbers 21 and 17 hold any numerological significance to these people? 17 is a prime number, but 21 can be split into 3 and 7, so the year could have been separated into a number of ways, like 21 months with 17 days, 3 months with 119 days, ect.

                        Non of my own calendar systems are fully developed right now, but I can tell you about how some of them function as a concept.

                        In the first through third era of my septre, the two “suns” maintain a semi-stable orbital structure, weaving around the septre in a way that’s difficult to describe in words, but I’ll do my best. Both suns forever remain on opposite poles of one another. Now imagine an imaginary ring going around the septre connecting the two suns. Let this ring spin along it’s own axis, allowing a regular circular orbit of the suns. Now, imagine at the same time that the ring is spinning on another axis, on the north and south pole of the septre. Now to simplify, each rotation of the suns is 60 degrees of the rotation along the poles, forming a hexagonal structure. This creates a system where for every one day there are two nights. What a calendar will look like for this will vary wildly depending on which of the eras your looking at. The first era, being the most earthlike, will have a simple analysis of this, where they talk about time in terms of the the first or second sun. But the second era, this will bear little relevance, because most will be underground, then the third era, Omialia, will be a field of masses, allowing light to filter through on the horizon, creating a even more complex day night system. The Verna in the third era would likely resemble much of the first era in their calendar, but they might be much more mathematically pretentious about it. Whereas the Shome’el and Rrajlan will both have to function a bit differently according to their different altitudes.

                        I don’t have much worked out for my other eras yet, but the era (I don’t know where to put it yet, but likely the 5th) that could be essentially described as a hollow earth or a natural Dyson Sphere, would have a “sun” in its center, and a sea that is perpetually moving along the equator. There would be no day-night cycle, but they would tell time and when to sleep depending on the seas current position, although I haven’t fully decided it’s frequency, but I’m thinking that it will be anywhere between a day and a week. Then the era I will most likely use as my last era, will have an equal day night period, because it is the separate planet like objects where each individual lives a double life on each one, where one is simply the dream of the other.

                        So I really need to work out more of my calendars, but that’s all the basic ideas I’ve come up with so far.

                        He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.

                        #165634
                        TheArcaneAxiom
                        @thearcaneaxiom
                          • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                          • Total Posts: 1307

                          @rae

                          Also, who are the Nameless Things. That title is already used by Tolkien to describe the indescribable creatures at the very bottom of Arda. Are you describing something similar?

                          He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.

                          #165635
                          hybridlore
                          @hybridlore
                            • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                            • Total Posts: 1697

                            @thearcaneaxiom

                            So, this might be a really dumb question . . .

                            There isn’t any sound in space because there isn’t anything for the sound waves to bounce off of–but in a world (think sort of similar to Skyward by Brandon Sanderson) where battles are fought from not far off the surface of planets to anywhere in deep space, is there any way sound waves could be used as starship weapons or boosters? Is this just impossible?

                            And would you have any ideas/suggestions as to how the starships could be powered otherwise?

                            Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. ~ C.S. Lewis

                            #165636
                            hybridlore
                            @hybridlore
                              • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                              • Total Posts: 1697

                              I would think with enough debris and space junk, there would be enough matter for the sound waves to bounce off. Is that wrong?

                              Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. ~ C.S. Lewis

                              #165637
                              RAE
                              @rae
                                • Rank: Chosen One
                                • Total Posts: 3890

                                @thearcaneaxiom

                                (this is all by Realn reckoning)

                                So does the Wondian planet make a perfect 357 day rotation around it’s sun?

                                Wond makes an approximate rotation of 357 Earthling days, but I’ve not decided if it’s off that number by a day or just a couple hours. Notice my use of the word Earthling, for I haven’t even totally decided if a Wondian day is different than ours (most likely is). I’ve only been working on the origin planet of Wond for about a year, so it is kinda on the lower end of developed.

                                Also, what about seasons? Are there four standard seasons like Earth, or are there a different number, and why?

                                There are four standard seasons, though I am contemplating creating a portion of Wond that has more or less. Most likely won’t happen.

                                Do the numbers 21 and 17 hold any numerological significance to these people? 17 is a prime number, but 21 can be split into 3 and 7, so the year could have been separated into a number of ways, like 21 months with 17 days, 3 months with 119 days, ect.

                                You like math. Yes, you could take the math stance with it, and I had a small math design when I created it, but I got one out of thirty problems in my math right last time I did it. Summary, I flunk math. I have not delved much into the math side of the months or the Realn, so this question must remain unanswered until further notice.

                                Also, who are the Nameless Things. That title is already used by Tolkien to describe the indescribable creatures at the very bottom of Arda. Are you describing something similar?

                                The Nameless Things are races or singular beings, usually immortal, who have dwelled on Wond since the Starlight Ages. They are similar, with slight differences. They’re basically the special races that I don’t want to bother giving names, but still want them to do something and be there when i need them for plots.

                                Your system is very confusing, I can see why it is taking you a while to finish a calendar. Wond is simple, but then I still have to figure out the tri-solar system of the Realn.

                                Wond has one sun and one moon, but the Realn system has three suns that orbit each other, with the planets orbiting them. And moons! I have quite a few moons for this system.

                                "You need French Toast."
                                #AnduthForever (hopefully 💕)

                                #165639
                                Cloaked Mystery
                                @jonas
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                                  • Total Posts: 2821

                                  @hybridlore

                                  I think solid debris wouldn’t help, because sound needs a medium to propagate through. On earth, sound is carried by air molecules bumping into each other repeatedly. It can move through solids and liquids as well, but without air for the sound to move through, it won’t reach the space debris in the first place. Light travels without a medium, so it can travel through empty space, but sound can’t.

                                  🏰 Fantasy Writer
                                  ✨ Magic System Creator
                                  🎭 Character RPer
                                  📚 Appreciator of Books

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