reetling

[reetling]

(Worldbuilding) The Underworld

I just rediscovered this world I wrote about two years ago and it's actually surprisingly good. First in a series, because there's too much to talk about for one post.

When someone dies in the living world, they are able to carry one item in their hands to the Underworld. It is known in the living world that the Underworld exists because an item held in a corpse will vanish (though the corpse itself will remain).

Nobody in the living world knows what the Underworld is like, so few people bring anything of pragmatic value. Instead, they prioritize spiritual value. Thus, the Underworld is filled with valuable heirloom possessions and riches unneeded.

The Underworld began as a completely bare set of islands in its own watery planet, so the only vegetation are those from seeds carried by people. As a result, almost every plant in the Underworld is domesticated, and this takes its form as most islands being filled with vast expanses of wheat.

The Underworld is divided into two major regions split across the meridian: The Elysian Archipelago and the Vitessian Isles. Within each, there are a set of magical and religious elements that dictate the lives of the people. The meridian, or the Oblivier Belt, is punctuated by exactly four islands whose inhospitality makes it nearly impossible to cross from one hemisphere to the other.

[reetling]

(Worldbuilding) Spirits of the North Star

Orbiting around Polaris, there is a frigid, tidally locked planet with bizarre climatology. I actually have art, this time. The planet is divided into four regions by latitude, since they get treated so differently by the sun.

THE LOOMS occupies almost the entire western half of the world, where the sun never shines (the north-south pole is perpendicular to the direction the planet is facing). Only geological activity has any effects here, and water that leaks through the porous stone excites movement of tectonic plates and volcanic activity that creates tall spires.

THE SPIRITS occupies the circles around both poles in the middle of the planet, where it is cold enough for much of the atmosphere to fall as snow, but the magnetosphere is thin enough for ionizing rays to enter. Animals here are blubbery and thick. When one dies, microorganisms take to its corpse, producing a flammable gas as a byproduct. When ionized, the gas glows bright cyan, appearing as if the soul of the animal is escaping. Because the decomposition also produces heat, many animals take refuge at the corpses of others. Sometimes, when the rays hit at the right angle, the soul gas can catch fire, producing a slow burning bonfire that acts as an oasis in the cold.

THE SHADOWS occupies most of the rest of the sun-side part of the world. Though it is closer to the sun, light is blocked out by ice particles that come from the sun-side pole. The entire ground is an empty, thick sheet of ice, underneath which all animals live. They make ample use of bioluminescence. On rare occasion, animals will manage to chip out a hole in the ice. The water pressure instantly ejects and then freezes a fountain, decorating the landscape with ice sculptures.

THE NORTH STAR is located at the eastern pole of the planet, and receives the utmost of the sun's light. The rays are bright enough to glass the seabed sand and melt a hole in the thick ice sheet around it. The result is a glass-sand island with a circular liquid water moat and all surrounded by kilometers-high ice. Trees, to avoid damage caused by sunlight, reject all pigment and are instead made of a sugary, clear resin.

[reetling]

(I stole the character designs and put them on here for some reason)

My WIP OC lineup They're all part of the same world, may talk about the story sometime (and will update the lineup as I draw more of the characters)

[reetling]

(Worldbuilding) Ka Hasen

A world subdivided into several regions, with a separate magic system exists in each. The magic systems purely affect human perception, rather than the physical world.

Mostly exists as a playground for the languages, cultures, and a few of the many magic systems I design. It's very far from complete. I've only sort of finished one of the continents.

You'll hear more about this world later, this is just an intro post.