#eltya

Happy WBW! Goke is one of the kingdoms featured in my WIP Fractured Stars Falling, specifically in my Snow White retelling, Snow Knight!

Environment and Climate

On the other side of Dinvirty's mountains, Goke sits lower in the mountains, with most of the kingdom being wooded. It's a mostly temperate climate, but does have cooler temperatures, especially in the winter and autumn. The woods are full of magical creatures, from huge fucked up deer to old dwarves to magical mushrooms in the woods to sabertoothed snow cats and trolls farther up in the mountains.

Culture

The culture is very cozy and based on the woods that fill the kingdom. The crown is passed through those that challenge the current ruler for the throne, and the challanger can be anyone who can pick up a sword and is brave enough. The fight is not to the death, but people have been killed before- especially by Queen Reigna in the year she took over for her late husband.There is also a lot of culture surrounding the woods that fill and surround Goke, especially hunting.

I based the kingdom on a combination of the medieval gothic era and Germany and China during that time. Including culture, dress, food, and overall look.

Military

The military is very strong, but much less intense than that of it's neighbor Dinvirty. Snow has been training with Captain Kadeson since she was small, and is very skilled in archery, swordfighting, and battle strategy. The army is mainly focused on defense and protection. 

That’s all for now, thank you for reading!

FSF Taglist: @rose-bookblood @chalcid @evethenovicewriter @writing-is-a-martial-art @mjjune @fiercely-raging-writer @wildswrites @corishadowfang @surroundedbypearls @serenanymph

for Fractured Stars Falling, what's your favourite location you've come up with? What's the best detail about it that makes it special (to you or to a character) (--@space-writes)

Happy STS, Space! EEEE I LOVE THIS QUESTION! I love all of the worldbuilding for Eltya, but I do have one absolute favorite that I keep coming back to: The Under. If you don't already know, The Under is the afterlife/underworld of Eltya where mortal souls go when they die- and it's not a fun time for anybody, everything there is trying to kill you, and it's a miserable place :D

It doesn't matter what you were like in your mortal life or what morals you kept or didn't keep- everyone gets the same fate. It's run a little bit like the security area of an airport, where all the souls are sorted by their cause of death, and then sent to a barren area where they wait to rot away until there's no memory of their mortal self and they turn into one of the demons that guards or runs the place. All the souls in an enclosed area (enclosed with a line of short rocks like a fence), are at varying stages of decay, and it could take an entire mortal lifetime to rot away completely into a demon.

Undral is the King of the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld, and he's a sour, no-nonsense businessman that thinks mortals are annoying and whiny little shits. He hates when a few brave ones come to him asking for a second chance at life- he turns them away if he's feeling nice, or locks them in one of his castle's many dungeons where they sit and rot for eternity or are tortured if he feels like it.

His castle is a huge, dark, sharp and spiky looking thing, that sits on the edge of The Under and has a strange orange glow like lava coming from behind it. The castle is guarded by a few of his elite demon soldiers, but mainly guarded by vulture sentinels that love to feast on mortals and scratch their eyes out or eat their organs. Gross :).

The terrain of the entire underworld is like an underground cave with huge stalagmites and stalactites that look like the huge teeth of a monstrous leviathan of some myth as big as the world itself. My main inspirations for it were the Goblin Valley state park in Utah and the huge underground salt caves in New Mexico. The Under is all red rock and orange dirt as far as your eye can see, and what few trees there are, are all dry as a bone and their brittle branches reach out for you like skeleton hands.

If you venture out into the badlands, there are a few crevices and caves to hide in, but the area is filled with shadow monsters that would make anyone terrified.

Also! Mortal souls in the under can get injured or experience thirst and hunger- but they can't die. They'll still experience all of the things that could've killed them in the mortal world, but it won't kill them. It'll be painful and uncomfortable and slow them down, but none of that can kill them. That part is very fun to write, this whole thing is fun to write, but that especially :).

If you're asking why? Death doesn't have to be that way. And I say: well, yes. But first of all, my story my rules. Second, the reason I'm writing it this way might have something to do with my religious trauma (and the weird and fucked up afterlife stuff I was taught to believe), but I'm not gonna think about that too hard to save myself the embarrassment :)))). i mean, that would explain why everyone gets the same fate reguardless of how 'good' or 'bad' they were during their mortal existence.

If you would like to know more- Please please ask me, I would love to ramble more about this miserable little afterlife.

Happy Worldbuilding Wednesday! I'm going to talk about one of the kingdoms featured in my dark fantasy WIP, Fractured Stars Falling.

Dinvirty is nestled in the biggest mountain range in Eltya, and are the sworn guardians of Keyon's Gate- the one thing keeping the Witch Queen in her sandy prison and isolated from infecting Eltya with her dark magic.

Environment and Climate

Dinvirty sits in the middle of a mountain range, and the climate is very cold all year round. There are about two weeks out of the year where you can see the grass before it gets buried in a blanket of snow again. The deeper the snow, the farther into the year you are. Snowstorms and blizzards are very common, as well as avalanches.

The environment is mainly pine forests, with the capital city sitting on the lake found at the bottom of one of the mountain range's valleys. Once again, snow everywhere, with lots of cold forest type wildlife such as bears, as well as monsters like the Snow Blobs, huge Trolls, and very large saber-toothed snow leopards.

Culture

I based Dinvirty on a combination of the Vikings and the Roman Empire. the clothes have lots of fur, leather, metal, and thick fabrics. The castle has Roman like architecture, but are built against the cold. Houses and smaller buildings have Viking like architecture. When a child of the royal family comes of age, all the girls in the kingdom are drafted into a gladiator style tournament, called the Princess Tournament. It is respected but also feared.

Military

They are the kingdom charged with guarding Keyon's Gate, so the kingdom is very focused and based on it's military. The most common and most respected occupation is being a soldier or officer in the military, with occupations that support it such as weapon and armor forging coming in second.

That's all I have for now, thank you for reading!

FSF Taglist: @rose-bookblood @chalcid @evethenovicewriter @writing-is-a-martial-art @mjjune @fiercely-raging-writer @wildswrites @corishadowfang @surroundedbypearls @serenanymph

Please tell me about some of the creatures in your wips?

Sorry it took so long to answer trying to graduate high school is kicking my ass (why are there so many goddamn things i have to get done?!?! just give me diploma and let me be doneeee pleaseeee)

Anyways, Happy WBW! Here's some creatures off the top of my head from Fractured Stars Falling (because it's most developed):

Animal Friends

Raven's horse Dante, a rusty red and sleek horse built for speed

Snow's horse Lady, a black Clydesdale that's battle trained and built for strength and endurance

Elliot's horse Dahlia, a brown common horse with a black mane. She's actually his family's horse but he rides her most

Indigo, the talking rainbow unicorn Raven and Sapphire befriend in their book. He's very grumpy and will stab with his horn as a warning. Besties with Little Stripe

Little Stripe, a talking chipmunk who couldn't be paid to shut up, Raven and Sapphire befriend her in their book, and she's also besties with Indigo

Torch, Triveya's pet baby dragon. Has dark red scales and is essentially a puppy with sharp teeth, claws, and firebreath

The massive fucking dragon from the Under that Hestia accidentally tames with her fire. She's the group's main mode of transport

Cryptids/Monsters

Dolly Mama, a massive deer the size of a house that hangs out in Goke's woods. may or may not be real

Bloody Marianne, the huge blood red sea serpent that roams the high sea around Eltya, wider than a ship and as long as three huge ships end to end

Big Freddy Fish, a giant orange fish the size of a ship

King Gord, the massive immortal gorilla that lives on the volcanic island island

Marmon, the werewolf that lives in the woods that were once Farkle. He's taller than two men standing on their shoulders, and leads most of the werewolves in the dark woods

Dinvirty has mountain trolls and blob monsters made of snow

In the mountains between Goke and Dinvirty, there's also these snow cats that are a cross between sabertooth tigers and snow leapords

it's been a hit minute since I’ve done this but it's fine- anyways I think for WBW for the next bit i'll talk about each kingdom specifically. but that may not happen for a while because school is keeping me busy, we'll see.

Undral is the only god that actually makes an appearance in Fractured Stars Falling, in the seventh book Escape from the Under, as the main antagonist. Half of the main cast is trapped in the Under (Eltyan underworld and afterlife), and trying to escape his clutches.

Undral is the youngest of Mother Hallya’s children. He is the God of the Dead and King of the Under- where all mortal souls go when they leave the living world. He is the most violent and quick to anger out of his siblings. Even in his early days of godhood, Undral disliked the job he was assigned to do, given the powers he was born with. He saw and still sees mortals as beings that do nothing but complain and waste their time fighting with each other- so being assigned to take care of their souls when they die was the last thing he wanted to do.

He’s the most disliked out of the gods, but most feared by mortals. Because everyone is so afraid of him, there are very fear myths about him- all of which tell of the horrifying things he has done and his violence.

The myth that is most told about him actually centers on the mortal brother and sister, who were two of the first kings of Eltya. The brother and sister didn’t want to live without each other, so they used the most powerful magic they could find to cheat death and add a hundred years to their lives. After the time they should’ve died had passed, Undral sent his demons to warn them that no one could cheat death and they would die one day. When the hundred years had passed and the siblings died, they escaped the underworld, further angering Undral. He ravaged the land looking for these two kings, bring terror to the living world.

Mother Hallya stopped her son’s actions, chastised him for going to extremes and punishing innocent mortals, and when the two kings died one final time, they went to the underworld like everyone else.

Undral is the main reason everyone fears death so much in Eltya, and there is so much culture and rituals surrounding death to ensure that it’s painless as possible and that people live happy and full lives. He is always depicted wearing dark robes made of dead things, a tall black crown of spikes, ashy gray skin, and a voice that sounds like tortured mortal souls.

Happy WBW!

There's a whole pantheon in Eltya, so you bet there's myths! Here's what I have so far for myths:

Mother Hallya created the world, starting with the sky, then her children, then Eltya and the things in it

Dragia (the god/goddess *referred to as both* of magic and magical creatures) saved the world from monsters of dark magic, and as a reward, Hallya created astronomical events in the sky (meteor showers, eclipses, blood moons and blue moons, etc) that make magic stronger

One time, Dixy (goddess of entertainment and comedy) played a prank on her younger brother Undral, king of the underworld and god of the dead. He got so angry we went on a rampage through Eltya, causing natural disasters like earthquakes and volcano eruptions trying to find her and make her pay- until Mother Hallya stepped in and made them both apologize, then forbade Undral from leaving the underworld and Dixy from leaving the living world; which explains why there is no happiness or fun in the underworld and there's so much fear around death

That's it for myths right now, but more are sure to come

Cryptids (except some of them actually exist in Eltya)

There's a giant squid like sea creature called the Rumble, with almost indestructible skin and it's the size of a large battleship

There's a lot of sea serpents, but the biggest and baddest one is dark red and sailors call it "Bloody Marianne"

There's a giant orange fish the size of a ship that sailors call "Big Freddy Fish"

On the island with an active volcano, there's a huge immortal gorilla pirates and sailors call "King Gord"

In the woods of Goke (Snow's kingdom) there's rumors of a deer the size of a house with glowing eyes. No one's actually seen this one or found proof that it exists. They call it Dolly Mama.

There's a werewolf in the woods that used to be Farkle called Marmon. He's taller than two men standing on their shoulders, and leads most of the werewolves in the dark woods

People in Dinvirty are always talking about mountain trolls or blob monsters made out of snow

In Goke there's also these creatures that are a cross between snow leopards and saber tooth tigers up in the mountains wherever there's snow. Those are real and my mcs get to fight them. The biggest one is called The Blizzard cat.

Scary Stories Parents Tell Their Kids

You can't be out at night because that's when Undral rules and dark magic seeps out of it's hiding places, and they hunt children who are out at night, but adults are safe

Dark magic users can summon demons from the underworld and live in the woods, so stay out of the woods kids (this one is specific to the area where Farkle, the fallen kingdom, used to be and where everyone is still suspicious of magic and the dark woods). They also tell kids there's werewolves in there, but that part actually turns out to be true

There's a witch named Goo-Goo-Mi who captures children, turns them into crows, frogs, or snakes, and keeps them as pets.

Lots of stuff about getting eaten or taken away by the cryptids i listed above

What does courtship or dating look like in your world? Are there any special rituals that must be followed? Are there any rules about who may court?

How do people typically propose?

What does a typical wedding look like? Where do they take place? How do people dress?

~Morri🗡️ (@memento-morri-writes)

Hey Morri! Happy WBW!

What does courtship or dating look like in your world? Are there any special rituals that must be followed? Are there any rules about who may court?

There are some traditions or rituals that are followed, such as in Dinvirty completing the quest given to you by the person you asked out, which is a common practice and tradition. Courtship is much harder and has more strict rules the farther up the chain you get. The more important a person is, the more likely they are to end up in an arranged marriage. The commoners get more choice and freedom in who they court and it's not very common for them to end up in arranged marriages- arranged marriages are for royalty, nobles/lords, and perhaps high ranking military officers.

How do people typically propose?

It can vary across Eltya, especially since different kingdoms have different rituals and traditions and such. Typically, you just ask and don't have to make any gestures- though pairing the question with a nice gesture is a very good move. In Dinvirty, for instance, the gestures always involve weapons and armor, usually gifting the person your proposing to a new weapon or armor. In Greyvenhill, a common gesture is to propose during one of the festivals (Festival of Dixy is the most popular), dance with them, treat them like royalty, and then propose at the end of the night.

What does a typical wedding look like? Where do they take place? How do people dress?

Weddings are always a cause for celebration, and even with arranged marriages and royalty- it's not just for show. You don't have to get married and you'll be just fine if you don't- but if you do choose to share your life with another, that's a huge deal and it should not be taken lightly. Many prayers to the gods are made during wedding preparations, during the wedding, and after the wedding. Especially Mother Hallya, the Goddess of Life, and if the couple wishes for children, Safiya, Goddess of Children, Pregnancy, and Parenthood.

Weddings are very commonly held during a night with a bright sky and bright moon, and the wedding after party or reception will be held late the next morning so everyone has time to relax and recharge before the celebrations (especially the newlyweds). The only exception is royalty and nobles, they will party with their crowd long into the night because their servants have to worry about all the preparations rather than the couple and their family/friends. There are traditional vows to say in the old tongue, some people choose to say them, some not. If you are royalty, you'll most likely be expected to say the vows. Magic users may be hired to create a show, and many beautiful things will be given to the couple (most likely food, which will later be distributed to family and friends). You can have a small wedding if you want, but even small weddings have quite a few people show up. The whole town showing up for a wedding is very common to see. Clothes depend on the region (lots of furs in Dinvirty for instance), but are always festive. The couple of the hour usually wear bright colors with gold accents, and the guests wear neutral colors with silver accents (showing up with gold earrings as a guest is like wearing white in our world, easiest way to piss the newlyweds off- and it's acceptable and common practice for everyone else to chase you out!). Everyone busts out their finest cloth and adornments and wear all the accessories. It's common to have at least one or two festive/formal outfits in your closet that also pass for a wedding guest.

I didn't have much for the first two questions but I have a LOT for the third one... oh well, still fun.

It's Worldbuilding Wednesday again, yay! This week we're doing the second eldest of Mother Hallya's Children, Keyon.

Keyon is the second eldest to Mother Hallya, and the second god she created. He's the god of war, anger, storms, and violence. Contrary to the popular belief and what's he's the god of, Keyon actually isn't angry or bloodthirsty. In fact, out of all his siblings, he's the calmest and most passive. Keyon understands the need for violence or to fight in some cases, but also understands the need for self control and resolving things peacefully where possible. While he is the most passive out of his siblings, he won't hestitate to protect the innocent and defend justice with all his might.

He's the most skilled fighter with all weapons and forms of fighting (including a little bit of magic, but not like his sibling Dragia). He controls all storms and natural disasters, sometimes using them to clear out dead and unhealthy things so that there's room for new, healthy growth. He also controls volcanoes. He is also very persuasive, and can convince almost any man to lay down a weapon and surrender peacefully. He hates his youngest brother's violence, and wishes Undral would be kinder to the mortal souls he is charged with.

One of the most popular myths about him is when the humans were at war and he put a stop to it. With his mother's permission, he went down to the mortal world and forced them to resolve their matter civilly. After he left, the humans started fighting again, and with Hallya's permission, he stopped the humans once more- then challenged all of the kings leading the fight to a duel, and whoever could beat him won the battle but must leave the other kingdoms alone. One of the kings, who was only to fighting to protect his kingdom, requested that he be allowed to politely refuse- so long as he and his people wouldn't be harmed by the other kingdoms. Keyon respected the peaceful king's answer so much he granted the king gifts and his kingdom prosperity- while the other lords were cursed to never pick up a weapon again until they could be more like the peaceful ruler.