Tag: worldbuildingjune

Muunfel Unexplored

Neon BrightLeave a comment

A lot of Muunfel is left without a specific map of the area. The Timewilds of Synka used to be better known to cartographers, but because of the shifting nature of the region and its hostility to settlement, that knowledge has shifted to the coastline and not far inland. Going off the road in Synka is terrible luck, so says the superstition.

Another region that comes to mind is the vast forest covered by the Faelands. Some would argue this land doesn’t count as “unexplored” because it actively prevents anyone from truly knowing where they’re going. The local fae lords and the leaders of the whole nation are able to clear the roads for visitors, but they can also trap trespassers in an area that may not let them leave.

Most regions of Korvasin, Genfierz, and the North are pretty well known. Rutan’s desert and the lands beyond it were unknown until recently, but as the country gains more of a foothold in the international world, more corners of the map are being filled in to the west.

Sky in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

(Forgot to do this yesterday. Oops)

The sky in Muunfel is blue like in the real world, but sometimes it has a slightly greener/turquoise look in some regions. Other than that, the color doesn’t set itself apart much.

The night sky, however, does have four moons in it. Three are roughly the same size, and the fourth, a colloquially-known Little Brother moon, is only about a third of the size. Its orbit tends to follow one of the others, more or less, though it has changed which moon it was following once or twice. This change doesn’t happen often, but when it does it stirs up many astrologists to try and calculate the new tide patterns. Calculating the tides with a single moon is difficult enough, but culminating four of them can take months, maybe years, for one person considering the many factors they must consider.

Crux, the god of the moons and the night sky, is said to use the light of the moons and their positioning to weave very strong enchantments. 

Work in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Mankind is known as the hard workers of Muunfel, since on the surface they have so few natural gifts that they have to cultivate and practice at. Their lives are generally shorter than most other species as well, thanks to their part in exemplifying the life/death cycle created by the first two gods. As such, most people look to them when they wonder what “work” is.

Agriculture and industry both have found niches in Muunfel, with rural areas generally doing well and urban areas building workshops and the like. Korvasin exemplifies an agriculture-based economy, with many of the industries even in the cities working to cater to the many people out working in the fields.

Genfierz, on the other hand, has far less farmland. With more beasts and monsters roaming the wilds, it is tougher for agriculture to truly thrive. The soil is not of the same quality, either, often littered with stones that need to be tilled away. In response, Genfierz is the continent’s leader in metalworking, machines, and invention.

Pastimes in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

There are a lot of team sport style games found throughout Muunfel. Regional variants of (European) football are common in Korvasin, Genfierz, and even Meraev after the Solians picked it up from their human neighbors. There aren’t very big tournaments for it (yet), but it’s a good source of entertainment in many communities.

A sport a lot like American baseball is prevalent in the east and north, with a more volleyball-like game gaining prominence in Rutan and the Northwest. In the latter cases, any game that doesn’t rely on the ground being flat and solid is more likely to be played.

Besides team games, individual pastimes for those with the leisure time to pursue them range from art to education to trades. There are few limits to the hobbies people can take up if they have a mind for it. Communities will often share in a few of these as well, usually headed by the socialites who don’t care what they’re doing, so long as they’re with other people.

Favored Hobbies by Region:

  • Korvasin – wandering/exploring, drawing/painting
  • Genfierz – Tinkering, building, researching
  • Rutan – Street sports, glassblowing, gardening
  • North – Building, cooking as art, social gatherings
  • Faelands – social gatherings, singing/dancing

These are, of course, just a general sense of the types of things people are most likely to get into in these regions, either because of the demand for that type of thing or the ease of finding the materials/space to do them.

Notable Weapons/Armor in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Other than the Godrend weapons or Korvasin Grey Metal, Sunforged Steel is another material used in the most legendary or storied items. Created by the goddess of the sun, it doesn’t scratch or fade, doesn’t rust, and never appears to need to be sharpened. These items, while well-known in principle, aren’t very widespread due to their rarity. However, forges all over Muunfel try to replicate their efficacy.

War in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

War between mortals has occurred almost all over Muunfel for various reasons, with the solians being the most successful in their campaigns and humans being the most ambitious. The Fae are notorious for being the “Switzerland” of Muunfel, staying out of as many conflicts as they can and trying to avoid staying in them when they are involved.

In the north, the people avoid conflict as much as they can, so despite being called the “war-torn north”, it doesn’t have many mortal forces of its own. In the north, wars are fought mainly between the gods, whenever they have a dispute to settle. The Godstep Plateaus are a battered wasteland, and most people are too superstitious to travel on their tops in case they get caught up in a skirmish between deities.

Muunfel Fashion

Neon BrightLeave a comment

In most places, colorful clothing is something of a status symbol. Finer cottons and silks in bold colors denote the money it took to make such things in areas like Korvasin or Genfierz. In some regions, like the north or in Rutan, colorful clothes are slightly easier to come by but as a result aren’t as sought out. Considering the harsh climates in both places, it’s no wonder. Everything fades faster under the bright sun.

In more magically-inclined places, the clothing becomes even more colorful, as it’s much easier to change such things. In the south, people often wear breezier clothes, with more pieces and wrapped styles than the conservative middle/northerners.

Healthcare in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

(Forgot to do this yesterday, so there will be two posts today 😛 )

There’s not a ton to say on this one that won’t come across as super generic. There are doctors who specialize in patching people up, giving treatment, that sort of thing. They sometimes work with herbalists to help treat the symptoms of sicknesses. These types are generally easier to afford, since they probably won’t be performing any miracles, but if there’s one nearby they can do good work to help people.

Then, there are the magic users. There are varied levels of talent with healing, ranging from only doing what the body could naturally do but faster, to straight up miracles that repair damaged tissue and bone and wipe away diseases that can’t normally be wiped out. The catch is that their skills are often more costly, if they do this for a living, and the ones that don’t charge tend to wander all over. It’s hit or miss on being able to find someone in time, try though they do to be there for anyone who needs them.

As a side note, Biim, the god of body, is also the god of healing. Once, while he was manifested in a corporeal body, he sustained a curse that was so heavy that it canceled out his healing, and all healing in the world ceased for a short time. The only thing that fixed it is a counter curse that he must always carry with him as a burden.

Magic in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I did a post on this last year, which covered most of the basics.

This year I can go into the gods that govern magic: Gem and Baota.

Baota is the god of focusing and shaping magic, and is the patron of all who use magic without their own inherent connection to it. Enchanted items are his domain, and his followers have an easier time learning spells and techniques under his tutelage. He is able to redirect and ground out magic from beings that have their own inner magic, and that includes other gods, so very few tend to go up against him or try to slight him in some way.

When Baota takes a physical form, his skin is covered in geometric patterns that glow and pulse as energy moves over him. His markings provided some inspiration to the machinists of Genfierz, and enabled them to create some of the earliest working automatons.

Gem is Baota’s opposite. Where he is calm and focused, she is impulsive and quick to leap into an emotion. She is the god of freeflowing magic, and is the patron of beings that are connected to it. Magical locales are her domain and her followers emphasize adaptability over all else. She can tear spells apart with ease, and reshape magic into something she deems more natural for it. She and Baota have abilities that more or less cancel each other out, and this annoys her to no end.

When Gem manifests, she tends to avoid a fully humanoid form sometimes with extra limbs or the wrong shape of body. It’s rarely the same whenever she appears on earth, but one common feature is her hair. It is long and tied into many braids that are in constant motion around her head. Looking closely at the ends of them (if one is able to approach) reveals that the ends fade out of visibility; they are woven into the flow of magic itself, always moving with it.

Technology in Muunfel

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Muunfel has a somewhat cautious relationship with technology and innovation. The reasoning isn’t because of resources or any specific catasrophe. In some cases, it simply can’t get a foothold to replace magical processes that work just as well. In many others, though, there is a lot of superstition around machines, as well as poorly defined ideas of what counts as a “machine.”

The reason for this is Sarin. Formerly a god of unnatural death and murder, Sarin was one of the first gods. However, during the age when mortals were ascending to godhood of their own, Sarin was cleverly trapped in his corporeal form by a very powerful mage. She enabled another mortal to ascend with a ritual that usurped Sarin’s place in the pantheon and left him with a temporary void.

They had trapped him in a machine, and it was there that he found his new purpose. The Usurped God lives in machines, making them work (or not work) and fueling their innovation where possible. Some people are terrified of meeting his wrath if they fiddle too much with machines, though he has admitted his defeat more or less.

Even so, in many of the workshops of Genfierz, where invention and industry thrive, a shrine to Sarin is a must if they don’t want a mysterious accident to befall someone while they build.