I’m going to document my thought process as I go through world creation here.
So, to start, let’s decide on our truths:
Truths
Sundering
Eons ago, a vast cataclysm shattered continents.
Lands broke apart in an apocalyptic disaster. Powerful cities fell. Fire, lava, and ash scoured what remained. The isles, scattered like broken shards, are the vestiges of these once-great lands, the gravestones of a fallen dominion. Life eventually returned to this realm, but the wounds do not fully heal.
OOC
So I’m thinking something like an Atlantis myth. There was a great civilization here before the sundering, and no one knows for sure what happened to them. Most people are at least familiar with the legend that they retreated under the sea to avoid total annihilation. Whether this is true or not, their artifacts still litter the isles, turning up on even the most far-flung and desolate rock.
Relics
An ancient civilization of unfathomable power left its mark upon the isles.
These people unlocked secrets beyond our understanding. The ruins marking their legacy are places of unnatural construction, confounding mechanisms, and cryptic relics. Some islanders revere the ancients, Others seek to understand them. A few have more selfish motives–pillaging the sites for treasure and artifacts. But some secrets are best left buried. Many ruins are cursed, corrupted by time, and haunted by malignant evil.
OOC
Ok, so this makes sense with what we decided in the last Truth. We can call them the Starmarked, which I am pulling from another truth. Their most common surviving relics are intricate star charts carved into stone tablets, and the few depictions of them that we have suggest their bodies might also have been marked similarly, though for what purpose is anyone’s guess.
Modern Era
It is an age of industry.
The winds of change are upon us. Some of these innovations inspire awe–flying machines that sail among the clouds, metal diving bells that plumb the greatest depths, and mechanical limbs of intricate design to replace what was lost. But industry is also an insatiable fire. Mines, smelters, and factories reshape our lands to feed those flames. Titanic ships seek dominance of the isles. Is it only a matter of time before out steadfast wooden ships and the simple ways of our communities are relics of a bygone age?
OOC
I want this to be pretty steampunk forward. We’re going to have fun mixing technology with magic. Definitely going to have a competing power source for steam in lightning. There’s totally a guild of lighting-catchers trying to cut into the coal market.
Iron Vows
Some see iron vows as a vestige of a more superstitious age, but the tradition persists.
Our forebears bound their promises to the strength and permanence of iron. Today, self-avowed Ironsworn respect this tradition by affirming their resolve with a time-honored phrase: “By iron, I vow.” Even those who forgo an iron totem say the words to lend solemnity to a promise, setting themselves on an honorbound course–wherever it may lead.
OOC
This one I’m ambivalent about honestly. I can see swearing on iron being a holdover from one of the empires of the continent that first settled here. Their influence and power eventually waned so much that their colonies belonged to them in name only, and then not at all. The culture lasted for long enough to permeate many of the oldest and largest settlements in the isles, so that even now as new empires and factions rise, paying lip service to the old tradition nets you some modicum of goodwill with the locals more often than not.
Navigation
We are scattered to the winds, but the ancient people known as the Starmarked plotted courses that linger on.
The people of the isles are often isolated. Trade and communication must overcome distance and the fickle nature of the surrounding waterways. Known passages are undone by tumultuous weather, capricious seas, or unforeseen conflicts. But those who came before us preserved some routes that linger even now, perhaps blessed by the gods or maintained by magic. The tablets on which these paths are inscribed are more precious even than gold, and those who possess them guard them ferociously.
OOC
Kind of combined two with some stuff I made up. I like the idea of these maps being relatively rare in a world where travel is almost supernaturally difficult. And this also lends itself well to a treasure hunting campaign, which is what I think I want to do. The Starmarked were an immense empire, their ruins turning up even in the farthest Reaches, but we haven’t discovered many of these charts. Maybe they only created very few themselves, or maybe there are whole troves of them lost in some crypt somewhere.
Empires
Imperial forces vie for dominion over the Sundered Isles.
Imperial colonization and exploitation is a creeping tide that threatens to engulf the isles. Colonial governors oversee ever-expanding settlements, while powerful trade companies control key trade routes and resources. Imperial agents conduct missions of subterfuge and assassination. Treaties between the empires are forged and broken on a whim, and mariners can never be certain of what flag will fly over a port from one day to the next.
OOC
This might just be set dressing. I’m not sure how much I want to center colonial strife, but it could make for some fun and dramatic flavor. Because the native population of the isles is a civilization that no longer exists, this is a colonization of land (and historical sites, I suppose) only. I definitely don’t want to tell a story about subjugated aboriginals, even if the colonizers are the villains. I do like the idea of power struggles between empires, though, and of rebellion against absolute rule. So I can imagine those themes might end up in the story. Likewise, I’m not interested in depicting racialized slavery, but debt bondage and press ganging are on the table.
Piracy
A burgeoning pirate nation wields great influence.
The marauder clans sail under the command of the Dread Court, a conclave of eight veteran pirates whose shrewd tactics positioned this nation of cutthroats as a rising power. Once each year, the pirate fleets gather at a port called Flotsam–an artificial island built from the husks of captured and ruined ships–to pay homage to the Court and make plans.
OOC
Hell yeah. Pirate nation. These guys are probably just as troublesome for the people of the isles as the warring empires, though at least their ire is normally directed towards strategic colonial targets moreso than the citizenry. But in order to maintain power, they must appear powerful. Sometimes, that means making an example of upstart factions, or disrupting supply lines to certain ports, etc. etc. No one is entirely safe from the lawless whims of the court, even other pirates.
Religion
Old religions clash with the rise of a new God.
The Starmarked also left behind their Gods when they disappeared, and the earliest of our settlers adopted and bent those beliefs to suit themselves. The exact nature of this religion is as varied as the people of the isles; stories of the Gods have changed and shifted in the telling. What remains consistent are the Three Sisters and their Father. Horizon, Zephyr, and Abyss are the triplets who hold sway over the domains of land, sky, and sea. The Shipwright offers safety from his daughters’ capricious moods and sets the stars in the sky to lead lost travelers home. But there is a new God in the isles–Ieus–The King of all Crowns. The empires of the continent have brought their religion with them, and this God sets himself above all others.
OOC
This one is entirely me. I’ve had this clash of polytheist and monotheist cultures bouncing around in my head for a while now, and this seemed like a good place to flesh the idea out. Taking a little bit of inspiration from Sunless Sea with the pretty literal interpretations of things a sailing culture might revere. Like the colonial stuff, I’m not sure how much this will come up vs. just being set dressing, but it’s there if I want to use it.
Magic
Magic is rare and mysterious.
The isles lie at the nexus of the new and the old, science and superstition, the known and the inexplicable. This collision of realities is a powerful but chaotic force, and the rare folk can manipulate these unstable realities to cast spells and perform rites. In some cultures, mystics are respected; in others, they are feared or even outcast.
OOC
I definitely want to have a decent amount of magic in this, but not so much that it’s commonplace. The lightning chasers and airships mentioned above are going to be pretty rare, which would be why the industry hasn’t destroyed the coal business. Real magical ability is probably a one-in-a-hundred occurrence, so most people have at the very least crossed paths with a mage.
Beasts
Beasts lurk in the watery depths and within the reaches of remote islands.
All manner of creatures dwell among the isles–including rate and incredible beasts of legend. Among them are colossal great whales and elder rays, larger than our greatest ship, and blade-winged sea dragons. Some foolish souls hunt these creatures for riches or sport. Others revere and protect them. A few are beast-bonded, forming an enduring friendship with their beast-kin.
OOC
This is good as-is. Definitely want to encounter some monsters and some other unusual or rare fauna. I’m a sucker for a sky whale, so maybe that’ll be a thing.
Horrors
The veil between life and death is as fragile as gossamer.
In the darkest reaches of the isles, ghost ships stalk the seas, undead guardians protect ancient tombs, and drowned sailors emerge from the depths in search of absolution or vengeance. Others may scoff at these tales, but we know the truth–death waits for us all, but is not always an end.
OOC
I went middle of the road on a lot of these choices, it turns out. But that’s okay. I guess I want the possibility of all these things happening to remain open. I don’t want ghosts everywhere, but introducing a little horror now and then is totally on the table. I love horror, but I don’t have a whole lot of experience writing it, so this will be a good excuse to lean into it.
From here, the next steps are to create factions and set up the starting area of the world, as well as creating your character. But since I have vague thoughts about turning this into a shared universe, I’m going to do the more granular stuff inside the individual character journals.