21
Jul

Fantasy World Building, Part 10

   Posted by: C Scott Morris   in Blog

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Today, instead of talking about one of my Rules of World Building, or aspects of writing like Character of Point of View, I am simply going to fill in another section of the map. I am still looking for comments on Part 8, and how Sophia fits in to our little story.

So far we have some details for Dolnaskie and Telsi, and know that Sophia comes from the north. That is only three of our Six Kingdoms. Let’s fill in some details of the southernmost kingdom. Looking at a map of Slovakia and Poland I see a place called Poznan. I like the sound of that, and Ill use it, but will alter it just enough to avoid offending any residents of what I am certain is a wonderful place to live. Paznin.

If the northern kingdom is covered with plains, as a commenter previously suggested, then I would like Paznin to be the most mountainous of the Six Kingdoms. I like the idea of a rough people living there, independent and fierce. Perhaps the Paz were the last people to be subjugated by Radoslov, our Sorcerer-King.

Now I need a Place of Magic, a Secret, and new Race. Well, if the Paz are a fierce hill-people, then I want something counterpoint to that. And as one of my rules is to Exaggerate, I will take a different direction to the proud Veela. Lets make a burrowing race, full of cowardice. Moles, of course, come to mind. But I want something slightly darker. I want a kind of worm, bloated and pale. The Vodni Panny are a Slavic faerie, sad a pale water nymphs that live in underground lakes and streams. That works nicely.

Ok, so the Vodni Panny are a sad, pale race of wormlike creatures that burrow beneath the southern mountains. For simplicity, lets call them them the Pazni mountains. Now, I like dichotomies, so the Vodni Panny are going to be gentle and generous, to counter their sad and bloated appearance. And I think that perhaps hidden within their maggot-like outside, is a lovely maiden-like torso that can be vomited forth when they feel secure. Kind of like a maggot-centaur.

Now for the Place of Magic. I think there should be two. One, hidden deep beneath the earth visited only by the Vondi Panny and  the second is the secret stronghold of the Paz, where perhaps their last king or religions leader still dwells. I leave it to you to decide. Please leave your comments, this only works if you, dear reader, participate.

Lastly, we have a Secret. I have a good one. All fantasy worlds need this and so far only I know it. And I will only share with those of you who comment.

Mwahahaha! Mwahah- cough Ahem. Sorry. I have been seeing a vocal coach for that, and my evil laugh has been coming along nicely.

Next time, we will continue filling in the details of Sophia and her northern kingdom, and after that, we can move into the central province and the home of Radoslov.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

5 comments so far

 1 

I like the idea of having 2 places of magic. I think that the second one should be a place, like you said, that the king still dwells, but surprisingly, it is above ground, which somewhat contradicts their general nature. It is for his ability to survive above ground that he is even made king, as he is the only one that is able to overcome their cowardly, subterranean nature.

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July 21st, 2010 at 11:48 pm
 2 

Can the dwellings also be in the cliff faces of the mountainous area. Only being able to reach it through flying or getting above the dwelling and having to scale down the cliff face in order to get to a warm fire? This will not only help in keeping out non-flying species, but also help keep predators away. If the king is above ground, maybe this is the only way to reach the king of Paz.

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July 22nd, 2010 at 12:11 am
 3 

Hard mountain man types sound kinda like they need a secret that is (cliche coming) very soft and important… protecting an item that Wesley will need to help him defeat Radoslav. Maybe they only have half of it, and have been warring with the Vondi Panni over getting the other part, which is partially why they live underground now and only the king stays above.

Wesley could do the Dr. Who thing and help the two warring sides find their peace. Or for a spin Sophia could be the one to help, giving her betrayal some juxtaposition within the story

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July 22nd, 2010 at 7:36 am
 4 

The secret item that the Paz are holding could BE said king. Perhaps he is holding some information that will get Wesley to the right place at the right time. Maybe he has a piece of advice that will only become helpfulat the appropriate time. Possibly the Vondi Panni also have something Wesley needs to learn, in their case it would likely be a life lesson, perhaps he is initially very frightened of them and must learn to look inside to find one’s true nature. This way, he gets a little charachter growth, and he has yet another weapon to discover what Sophia is up to.

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July 22nd, 2010 at 9:45 am
 5 

OK, so far we have the Paz are holding the King of the Vodni Panni in their highly defensive cliff-dwelling. This king is also the Vodni Panni’s spiritual leader. His living above ground gives him a unique perspective, thus allowing him to advise his people. He allows the Paz to keep him in their citadel.
The Paz do not allow the Vodni Panni king to speak to his people any more, thus causing a war between the two people.
The normally gentile and peaceful Vodni Panni have taken an ancient weapon of the Paz, something that Paz legends say allowed them to resist Radoslav for so long.
In truth, it is not a weapon but a philosophy, and the Paz lost it the moment they took the Vodni Panni king hostage.
This will tie in to a way for Wesley to eventually defeat Radoslaz. A secret of the Dark Sorcery he uses is that it turns violence against the user. Peaceful intentions render a Sorcerer powerless.
Keep bringing the ideas coming folks, this is good stuff!

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July 27th, 2010 at 10:15 am

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