Izzit the last day of world-building month, already?

I guess I’ve been taking this past week easy. Oh well…

Then today will be all about random worldbuilding topics.

Milkfin: The most common freshwater fish. Looks like a black and white koi. (see? random! lol)

Okay, let’s try this a different way.

A chain reaction. Like a game of dominoes! I’ll start by explaining something, and if I mention something new in there, I’ll go on to explain that, too. Let’s see how far that gets me before I run out of new terms in my explanations or get sick of it.  :P

What to start with? Hm… How about the ancient rules?

Ancient Rule #1: During the exhaustive reconstruction, during the period of lost time, the people of Lura sought to colonize the world again. But to avoid a repeat of the day of discord, they agreed upon some rules which are now called the ‘ancient rules’. The  The first rule established was that no land could be claimed for a country without it first being fully mapped by a native cartographer. This would stop countries from vapidly claiming land and give smaller countries a chance to expand.

The Cartographer guilds: There are several guilds searching the land and high sea, seeking fortune from their country’s respective rulers. If they complete a mapping of an area with natural borders and turn it in to Sky Haven, they can claim that land for their country. It pays quite well. Of course, it is a difficult life. Most of the unmapped land is quite treacherous, and there are murderous rivalries between the guilds. Anybody can sign up to be a cartographer, but it is usually the hardy ex-soldiers, with their military survival training, that prevail.

Ancient Rule #2: Every established alliance city is granted an elected official to help attend Sky Haven.

The Alliances: There are three main alliances. The Northern Alliance, the Western Alliance, and the Free Alliance.

The Northern Alliance: The Northern Alliance has the most established cities, so it has the most pull in the world. The founders of Aydomar, the largest city in the world, created Lura’s economy, helped found the ancient rules, devised the calendar featuring the years of harmony, and liberated the cities to the east and south, but could not take the western coast. They strongly believe in the structure of the monarchy, following the ancient rules, and backing the strong structure of Sky Haven. They feel it is the best way to avoid a repeat of the day of discord.

The Western Alliance: The coastal cities, expanding north and south — even beyond the Altahra range — form the second largest alliance. Following Joun’s lead, they had a natural advantage in Whitewall and were able to keep Aydomar’s militia from overtaking them. Now, they trade between the north and west coasts using shorerunners and have become prosperous. But the Western Alliance’s armies still patrol the countryside and are wary of Aydomarian spies. They know that if they were to ever attack Aydomar and the northern alliance, the economy would likely collapse.

Shorerunners: Fast sail boats that stay close to the shoreline. They are used to transport goods all along the northern and western shores.

The Free Countries: Long ago, people flocked south beyond the Altahra range into the jungles, savannas, and desert regions. The desert region began to prosper due to trade from its unique crops they grew along the rivers. The Northern Alliance tried to seize the young cities to the south, but ultimately failed when General Gaitan defected from the north to lead the Shiirati to victory. With his ancestors still alive in Shiira, the Shiirati have been worried for over a century about the northern alliance attempting an assassination. The Free Countries are definitely a threat to the Northern Alliance because they have many more small towns that could grow into cities, giving them the most pull. At this time, they are the smallest of the alliances.

The Lost: Any town not on alliance soil or not within an alliance are considered ‘lost’. This includes the people indigenous to the Altahra Range, since no cartographer has fully mapped it. Although they represent a threat to the ‘harmony’ of the years of harmony, they have no officials in Sky Haven, and fugitive hunters are not afraid to enter lost strongholds to keep order and control. If the lost towns start to grow too large, it’s not difficult to break them apart into civil war with tricky politics.

Fugitive Hunters: The fugitive hunters are very tough individuals feared far and wide when they appear. They are hired and outfitted by rulers. Their job is to catch any defectors outside of the city walls. In short, they bounty hunt.

Sky Haven: So what is Sky Haven? Besides a hope for world peace, it is where the highest council in the world governs. High on the slope of Mount Gorna in the Altahra Range sits a large castle with a gold phoenix perched on top. The phoenix represents Lura’s rise from the ashes of the day of discord. It is surrounded by shrines for every existing and defunct religion in Lura. It is where the elected council regulates the flow of shardir to control inflation, ensures everyone has a unique name, enforces the gate system, and makes decisions to keep harmony within Kassara and eliminate entities that threaten it (such as Sabbayists).

The Gates System: Aside from keeping nasty beasts out of the cities, the gates surrounding the major cities serve as a way for the cities to control their population. Many cities outgrow their walls, so secondary and tertiary (etc) walls get built as they expand. Each entry booth has a person to check IDs and a guard. The ID checker has the latest information, per the avian system, as far as bounty lists, missing people, and other things go. They return all information to Sky Haven three times a day. It is easy to tell from this data where people are migrating to. People who become wanted stay away from the gates at all cost. Capture could mean death and many captures occur at the gate. Many of these people become ‘rats’, trying to circumvent the gate system. City soldiers check in with people who haven’t been to a gate in a long period of time. Wanted people outside of the gates usually get found by fugitive hunters.

The Avian System: Lurian animals are smart. Trained birds are very smart. With single word commands, they fly messages to any of hundreds of locations per city within Kassara.

Hm. Did I mention anything new there? Nope…. That one didn’t chain, did it? So, I guess that’s it for worldbuilding month. That’s the end of my purple prose, for now. ;)
There’s so much more to talk about, but after all these posts, I hope you’re better able to envision what life on Lura is like.
I had a lot of fun participating and checking out what everyone’s been up to. Thanks again to Eliza for the open invite.

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