forum Rambling About My Worldbuilding Instead of Writing

Started June 03, 2023 by @im-with-stoopid pets

tune

Welcome to my writing hell. (Hi, MJ.)
Pretty much just a worldbuilding, plot-planning, and overall braindump for me – feel free to yell at me about inconsistencies and stuff that generally doesn't make sense. Helps me to write better! _{^{(I hope!)}}
Also, let me know if this would fit more in Sharing and Critiques – I figured either or was fine, but ¯\_ (ツ) _/¯

The Everchill and Everything in it:

Majority of the series takes place in The Everchill, and as you'd expect, it's cold. Always.
Realistically, if it was on Earth, it'd be somewhere near the Antarctic – going North gets warmer.
The time period I'm aiming for is Viking, maybe Medieval-ish. Vikieval?

The People:

So, within the Everchill, there's a lot of aliving happening. Evergreen forests, migrating herds, burrowing creatures, and a handful of village-clans. They generally get along well… except when they don't. The two biggest and most plot important village-clans are the Sharpstones and the Greyforge. These two village-clans have BEEF. (Or more like venison, since there aren't any cows there.)

The Sharpstones were the first to figure out how to turn stones into weaponry, hence the name. They used these advancements to generally terrorize everything and everyone. And then the Greyforge came along, and they figured out metalsmithing. Well, shit. The Sharpstones and Greyforge were locked into a standstill, as the Sharpstones had the numbers advantage, but the Greyforge had better weapons. Government's gonna do a government, and now there's propaganda. At that point, it was pretty much burned into the peoples' blood to hate the opposite village-clan, so cue the Protag's birth.

The Creatures:

What's a fantasy world without some fantasy creatures? I tried not to use the standard unicorns, dragons, and trolls as I wanted to make my thing ✨unique.✨_{^{And also because I love making fantasy creatures, but sshhh shut up.}}

Snowstag - Common game animal in the Everchill. Called a "stag" regardless of gender, although males are sometimes called "hornstag." Essentially, think about a deer and then cross it with a feathered horse. Their fur tends to be off-white, with bluish tints in the East and more yellow tints in the West. They run in migrating herds throughout the entire Everchill.

Marmook - Extremely common burrowing pests that can eat almost ANYTHING. Think a silvery groundhog with a longer tail. They have small backwards-curved claws for digging. They're round, shaped like friends, and very much edible. They run in large colonies underground, chewing up plant roots and scavenging.

Wrensinge - An extremely rare predator that was hunted to near extinction. Think a Utahraptor covered in stony-brown feathers, almost fluffy-looking. Their feathers are somewhat iridescent, mostly flashing orange. A line of specialized scales from their necks to their tail-tips can spark fire at will, which is their main defense. They run in small family units in the Southern mountains.

Herringbear - A common predator, generally avoided due to its aggression. Think a silvery, almost blue-furred bear. Their fur is countershaded, with whitish stomachs. They have curved, front-facing horns meant to impale both prey and enemies. They tend to run solitary throughout the Everchill, and they only tolerate each other to start doing population multiplication.

(There's more, but like, I could be here for DAYS describing all the cool creatures I wanna make-)

Uhh, yeah that's enough brain vomit for right now. I might dump some more later today, I just needed to write this all out so people can poke at it. Hell, I might even plop a One-Shot here once I finally get to motivation to finish one.

More brainvomit. More creatures!

Felianthe - Common forest creatures. Often called "Fells" for short. Think a greenish-grey mountain lion with some extra fluff. That's basically it. They are herbivores, though! They tend to run in breeding pairs, although pairs tolerate other pairs and can cooperate if need be.

Moundwurm - Bastards. Somewhat rare, but they live throughout the entire Everchill. Think a blue, fluffy snake and then make said snake as big as a tree. They hide inside mounds of snow and ambush anything that so much as breathes on them. Especially common during storm-season. They run solitary, but will fight each other over good mounds.

Luffcollies - Uncommon predators that usually roam the Northwestern barrens and the West. Think wolves with beaks. And they keep the teeth, too. Their tails end in reflective sails that can be opened and closed at will. They use these sails to communicate with each other by reflecting sunlight. Animals that figured out Morse code! They run in packs, obviously.

Catchphrases

Can't believe I missed this one in the last post. Catchphrases!

• A blizzard's/storm's worth: An uncountable amount of something, mostly used in exaggeration.
• Daylight's Graces: Equivalent to "Good morning."
• Heavy headwinds: A common farewell or wish of good luck. Intended meaning depends on context.
• Like a screeslide: Extremely loud or grating.
• Marmook-brained: An insult used to describe someone or something stupid, reckless, or careless.
• Pine needle: An insult used to someone generally unpleasant. (i.e., a prick)
• Stars above: Common phrase used to emphasize the speaker's disinterest, annoyance, frustration, concern, etc.

I should probably make a universe for this stuff, actually. A map would make sense, too.
Also, shit, just realized that there's a movie called Red Snow and it's somewhat recent.
Guess I'm finding a new title.

May or may not be going overboard with the map draft- In the meantime, more braindump!

Religion(?)

Everchill-folk don't follow a God, exactly, but they do have their shared beliefs about the death and the afterlife.
Keep in mind that this universe is partially based on Medieval times, so it's pretty much mandatory to have these beliefs.

When an Everchill-folk dies, what happens to their bodies determines what happens to their spirits.

Fyrharde - The Burning.
In the Everchill, cremation is considered the "good" way to be disposed of, and is also the most common method. The ritual, called a Fyrharde, is traditionally done at night. While Fyrhardes can be done during the day, if needed, these burnings are considered disrespectful. Bodies are burned en masse on clear nights, although more respected figures have priority and are usually burned separately. It is believed that through a bonfire's rising smoke, the spirits the of dead can become one with the stars and the sky.

Because of this, phrases like "stars above" are sometimes considered offensive. Think of it like "God damnit."

Frih'morid - The Freezing.
Of course, not all spirits are destined for greatness, and not all bodies deserve to be burned. The bodies of unforgivable Everchill-folk are simply left in the wilderness, exposed to the elements. As the body freezes, decomposes, and is potentially torn apart animals, the spirit is banished to The Nevermourn, the in-universe equivalent to hell. The Nevermourn is believed to be in a perpetual blizzard, cold enough to freeze spirits solid. There is no other life in the Nevermourn: no trees, shrubs, animals, anything. Simply an endless, empty storm.
The snow in the Nevermourn is said to somehow always be slush, the wetness eventually seeping into the boots of damned spirits. The ground is covered in sharp, jagged rocks - not that the spirits would be able to see them. There's next to no visibility in the Nevermourn, and the sparse, stony landmarks that do exist in the Nevermourn shift over time.

Heretics and Terrenes
What happens to those who don't believe in the Stars? Those who believe in something else or nothing at all?
While heresy doesn't condemn a soul to the Nevermourn, they aren't rewarded with becoming a star, either.
These inbetween souls are called Terrenes, and they are bound the Everchill for eternity as silent observers.
Many Everchill-folk find the prospect of becoming a Terrene terrifying. When the living look for guidance, not one of them looks for Terrenes. They look towards the sun and stars and sky. To be a Terrene is to be nearly nothing.
And yet, some find peace in this. Some Everchill-folk believe that an afterlife of nothingness is how it should be.

Anyways, *Screams in why is it so hard to make a fantasy religion that isn't just diet Christianity?*

Religion(?)

So, adding onto the idea that (good) people join the stars when they die.

The Stars of Celeste

The Celeste is the Everchill's name for Heaven.
The Stars of Celeste serve both as a sort of North Star(s) for navigation and important figures in how the dead join the afterlife. There are five Stars of Celeste, and they are all above the southern horizon.

• The Star of Guidance, responsible for guiding the deceased into the Celeste. This star is the brightest in the night sky, and it doesn't seem to move at all, unlike the others. It is blue-white.

• The Star of Judgement, responsible for judging the lives of the deceased (as an extra precaution against any immoral folk that wormed their way into a Fyrharde). This star is the dimmest of the SoC, and is red.

• The Star of Mending, responsible for healing the physical wounds of the deceased.

• The Star of Soothing, responsible for calming the deceased, especially if their death was unexpected or painful. This star, and the Star of Mending are similar in appearance (which is why they are believed to serve similar purposes of healing, albeit one physically and one mentally). Both are around the same size, and both are orange.

• The Star of Reunion, responsible for reuniting the deceased with their loved ones in the Celeste. This star also works to resolve any disputes that occur within the afterlife.

The Process

Following a Fyrharde, a spirit (supposedly) searches for the Star of Guidance. This is why it is so important for these ceremonies to happen on clear nights. If a body were to be burned on a cloudy night, the spirit may become lost due to the stars being hidden.

Once meeting the Star of Guidance, the spirit is then led to the Star of Judgement. Because their deceased body needs to be burned for the spirit to even have access to the Celeste, the actual judging process is pretty loose. As long as the spirit's good outweighs their sins, and any major crimes were committed in good faith (Ex. Murder to get rid of a corrupt leader, Treason to stop needless violence on another group, etc.), the spirit will be allowed further into the Celeste.
The Star of Judgement isn't a pushover, though. If you're a serial arsonist who beats up and robs innocents "for the good of the tribe," you're probably not getting in. Spirits not accepted by the Star of Judgement are sent to the Nevermourn, the Everchill's equivalent of Hell.

After passing their judgement, a spirit will then be greeted by the Stars of Mending and Soothing. Both stars work to comfort the deceased. The Star of Mending heals the spirit's injuries, illnesses, and aging, and the Star of Soothing reassures any denials of death, spite towards one's killer, and worries for the still-living.

Finally, the spirit will travel for the Star of Reunion, where their deceased friends and family will be waiting for them. From then on, the spirit is officially another star in the night sky, and in the mornings, they'll mass together with all other stars to form the Sun.

WOW, that was a lot. I'm happier with these additions, since it feels a lot more involved than, "alright, we burned the body - BOOM star now."
Also, it helps to differentiate this world from other "stars = good afterlife" systems. (aka, a crap ton of other fantasy worlds, cough)
The Stars aren't really gods, per se. True, they are held in high regard by the Everchill folk, but they aren't seen as fully sentient beings. They're more just parts of a machine doing what they're supposed to and nothing else.

Map of the Everchill - (Draft)