#conworld

[wongery]

The Wongery — A Site About Imaginary Worlds

Hi! Please check out our site about imaginary worlds!

The Wongery

We've been working on this site for fifteen years, but we've never told anyone else about it until today. Why not? Because we're not very bright, I guess. Is a blazed Tumblr post really the best way to get the word out? Probably not! Like I said, we may not be very bright. Still, I've been on Tumblr for more than a decade (not with this account; I just created this account recently; but I have a personal account I've had for a lot longer), so if nobody ends up visiting the site because of this blazed post, well, I guess the worst-case scenario is that we've just given Tumblr a little money to pay them back for all the time we've spent here. (Well, no; maybe the absolutely worst-case scenario is that somebody does visit the site, and hates it so much they devote their lives to hunting me down and eradicating me and everyone I ever loved, and then this somehow results in the destruction of the universe. But I think that's pretty unlikely.)

Anyway, the site is called the Wongery, and it's at https://wongery.com, and it includes a wiki called the Central Wongery where we post about our own imaginary worlds, and another wiki called the Public Wongery where anyone can post about their creations. It's not limited to just writing text content; there are places where you can post RPG stats for creatures and characters of your worlds, and LEGO models, and video game assets, and more. (Admittedly, there is nothing in those places yet, but they're there.) It's still very much a work in progress, and there are a lot of broken links right now and features we haven't implemented yet, but there's enough there that I hope people can get some enjoyment out of it.

Anyway, please visit our site and see what you think! And please refrain from doing anything that might somehow result in the destruction of the universe. Thank you.

[theblackbookofarkera]

Gynlin Taylor

unnamed Tanogeni warrior

Woodcut

[tepat-side]

Lexember 2023 Master Post

Lyak - Pay, Tûn - Swûl, Nôt - Tsaltep, Kyeng, Ngyûp - Ngôw, Lum, Lûn, Kôn - Klup - Lôy - Luke - Han - Neng, Mûl, Nôk, Lit - Swûq, Hyat - Xûl - Swim - Tsapay - Win, Wip - Kyuk, Mey, Ngan, Lin - Thung, Xhûp

(All posts tagged Lexember)

[nuclearspringworldbuilding]

I 3D printed some coins from my world

Originally posted to r/worldbuilding, I'm moving my stuff to Tumblr because of the recent Reddit shenanigans.

These coins are from Bluelake, the largest city-state in the desert of Laroth. The silver ones are called senn, the gold ones glen and the copper ones fen. The smaller silver and copper coins are called valsenn and valfen.

1 gold coin is worth 10 silver, 1 silver is worth 10 copper and the smaller variants are each worth 1/4 of the larger coin.

The senn that's been cut into 3 is called an arrowhead because of the shape and is worth 1/3 senn.

They are cast then sanded down like ancient Chinese coins, and that is why they have a hole in the middle, so they can be put on a rod and rotated to sand them down (the triangular ones are reuloux triangles so it works for them too).

[jackhkeynes]

a gest "de facto"

a gest /a ʒɛst/ [ɐˈʝɛst]

de facto, in practice, in fact, regardless of official or legal status;

actually, in fact, used to introduce a contradictory remark

Etymology: a Middle Borlish borrowing from legal Latin ad gestum "de facto", literally "to the deed", along with parallel formation a verb < ad verbum "de jure", literally "to the word". In general contexts it is seen from the sixteenth century.

A gest, aucel son progenies jug dez dragon. /a ʒɛst | oˈdzɛl sɔn ˌpro.ʒeˈnjɛz ʒaj dɛz draˈgɔn/ [ɐˈʝɛst | ʊˈdzɛl sɔn ˌpʀo.ʝɪˈnjɛz ʝaj dɛz dʀɐˈgɔn] at deed | bird be.3p descendant still out.of dinosaurs In fact, birds are descended from dinosaurs.

[yuk-tepat]

2023 Lexember #16: Han

Han ‘torso, core: the center of the body.’ The glyph shows an outline of the human body (tam) with arms and legs, and in the center a small, abbreviated glyph for yan ‘person,’ which serves as the phonetic complement too (han rhymes with yan). This old word is mostly superseded by compound expressions like thok-tam (center [of] body)

[relativisticgoblin]

Sketch of a Whence specimen.

The Whence are entities corrupted by the Wither, twisted into chaotic parodies of living creatures. They possess powerful natural magics, and if a sapient entity becomes a Whence, any power it possessed before will be magnified many times over. Highly aggressive, they roam areas of space poisoned by the Wither, feeding on each other and anything from beyond the corruption that finds its way inside.

[tower-of-hana]

I know it's been a while but I fixed Jalo's phonology and orthography.

[starcaptainslangs]

K'awatl'a Introduction - The Conworld

K'awatl'a is one of my oldest continuously developed conlangs, originating at least 15 years ago, if not more. It's a highly agglutinative nauralistic language. It takes inspiration from Nahuatl, Mayan languages, but it is not based on any of them.

Tlaxetl'an Overview

K'awatl'a is spoken in my main conworld, Tlaxetl'an /t͡ɬaʃeˈt͡ɬ'an/. I'm not super into creating a highly realistic setting with like tides and weather patterns, but I have a general sketch of the region and it's climate.

Here's the pitch of the setting:

On a far future Earth, the ancient remnants of past high stellar civilizations scatter a landscape that has been terraformed and shaped and remade thousands of times. Magic-like technology suffuses the environment; priests speak with disembodied AI spirits; robot armies fight bioengineered monsters from alien worlds; abandoned habitats orbit the planet; gateways to distant worlds stand dormant in the center of long abandoned cities; great machines march across the land leaving an alien environment in their wake; scholars and adventurers delve like worms into machines more ancient than the planet itself; and humanity slowly learns of its ancient heritage on a transformed Earth.

Tlaxetl'an Geography

The region it is spoken in is a tropical to sub-tropical river basin on the north edge of a large continent on the planet's southern hemisphere. To the south is grassy steppes, ocean and volcanic islands to the east and north, mountains and a vast desert to the west.

There are seasonal monsoons and flooding in the region so there's a wet and dry season.

K'awatl'a Speakers

I haven't done much development of the speaker's culture apart from some vague ideas about it. The broad strokes are:

They have technology that is roughly iron age. They do have access to advanced materials but lack the ability to manufacture them, relying on scavenging.

Gender is chosen when a person comes of age, with there being three (or maybe more) genders that people can adopt. Sex has nothing to do with the gender roles.

Family structure is communal with an emphasis on the community that helps raise the collective children over the biological family.

Religion is centered around the teachings of Prophets who have connected with the "god AIs" and from them gathered information, providing them with the basis of civiization: agriculture, metal working, and domestication.

That's it so far!

Next post I'll talk more about the phonology. Woo!

[thecrazyworldbuilder]

Another reminder that there's no universal symbolism.

And, by proxy, a reminder that languages are a way of communicating one information via different methods. Sign language uses hand gestures and movements, verbal languages take speech, there's several real-life whistling languages, there's the Morse code, there's binary and all sorts of numeral systems, there's the semaphore, ciphers like the "dancing men" or pigpen, there's the heraldics of Europe, there's the language of flower bouquets and even secret calligraphy languages that hide second layer meanings in the way the letters of a word are written down to the amount of decorative loops and tilt.

Language is a magical thing in a way that anything can be considered language, once there's a system of decoding it. Language could be a ruler with each mark assigned to a letter, used for measuring specific sticks the length of which encode the meaning of the message.

There's so many possibilities. I'm going crazy over them.

[saldrath]

Short Story #1 - The Strongest

This is the first short story I wrote in my own universe, the main character is The Dragon King and The Sword Magus. I'm not gonna spoil more and I hope you enjoy! Please tell me what u think in the comments :)

__________________________________________

If you ask anyone on the street “Who’s the strongest mage in this era?” everyone without a hesitation will give you one name. A name which belonged to someone who took all the definitions of how “Mage” should look, and decided to just throw them all out. To someone who made their own path of magic, a true Magus. Many people at first disagreed, that it was something that shouldn’t be called magic, that it’s not true magic, but soon they were reminded of the words of the ancient Mages - “Magic can have any form, and only if u find your own path u can call yourself true Magus.”. And Midas Van Haathe was exactly that. He made his own path, and thus became the first Magus that was born in a thousand years. But even the great Magus had no way to win a fight versus this… 

In the middle of what once looked like a great palace, there were two men, standing in front of each other. One of them was Midas - a person they call the “Sword Magus”  - his once golden hair was now stained with blood, dust and sweat. His eyes were covered by a simple bandage, compared to the rest of his clothes. He was wearing a black loose long sleeved shirt, similar to something a warrior would wear under his chainmail or armor, and a black pants that were tightly tied around his waist. One can only imagine that the clothes looked good one day, because they certainly didn't now - they were torn up, and you really couldn’t tell whether they were supposed to be red, black or maybe gray. To sum things up, he looked like a complete mess, sweat was running his whole body, and u could see he was really tired.

On the other side stood a person who in contrast looked totally different. Their hair was long, bountiful and black, tied into a single long ponytail. His clothes were extremely fancy and looked like they costed at least a small fortune. Compared to Midas, he did not have a single speck of dust on his clothes. But what made him stand out the most were the black and white horns that grew up from his head, and big majestic wings that spanned at least five meters long. 

— Midas, you really should have known that you stood no chance versus me. I applaud you for being the first Magus of this era, but that’s it. — his voice was loud, and you could easily hear the power behind it. — After all, they do not call me the King Of Dragon’s without a reason. I lived from the beginning of the time, and defeated many Magus, what made you think that you’re different from any of them?

— Don’t worry, oh mighty Dragon King, I still have a trump card that will make you kneel. — Midas said with a smirk, but to be honest, he wasn’t so sure about that, but it was his only and last option. 

— Oh? Show me then. 

In the head of our Magus there were many emotions and thoughts running through right now, but a few stood up among the many. It was awe, fear and… fun? Midas couldn’t remember the last time he had a good fight, when the opponent put him in a corner. Well I wouldn’t even call it like that - right now he was getting absolutely destroyed. But he was having fun? He didn’t know the answer as to why this was like that, but the blood in his veins was boiling, he was itching to fight, to make the great enemy before him kneel, to defeat him. It was in his blood, magic, body - the itch to fight, to become stronger. No. To become The Strongest. He didn’t want to become just a Magus, he wanted to become someone who would be remembered as the strongest person that ever walked this world. 

Midas untied the bandage around his eyes, and revealed his eyes in the color of gold. No, it was an understatement, they looked like they were real gold. His eyes were extremely beautiful, they gave a feeling that u would never find something that looked better than them. But the act of uncovering his eyes was just a trigger action, to help him prepare for his next move. All of his senses suddenly expanded, and he could see and feel much, much, much more than before. All the mana in the atmosphere slowly gathered around Haathe and his sword, seeped inside of his body, in every muscle, every bone, every tiny nerve and in the end it formed a thin coat around him and his weapon. It was the first time a phenomenon like this happened in the world, even the Dragon King was looking carefully with awe.

The Magus finally looked around, and saw the effect of their fight. Hundreds of different weapons were lying around in the ground, but none two the same. Pillars made of marble and stone cutted, smashed were lying around. U really couldn’t point out a space that was not destroyed. 

— This is it, you better get ready. — Midas took a breath, knowing that this may very well be the very last breath of his life. He didn’t regret a single thing. He knew that every life had to come to an end one day, and today was his day to go and meet Death. His mouth formed a small smile, as he rushed forward with his old trusty sword. He was much faster than before, it looked with every step he took he was bending the reality, and when he finally slashed his sword - it slashed through everything - mana, space and even time. And it was the first time his sword catched the Dragon King. It was also the first time the dragon felt fear and awe.

…

The last stand of Midas took hours, and it destroyed everything in the vicinity. And I mean, everything - mountains, forests, rivers and even mana. The place where the fight took place now became manaless, and no living being could even stand in here. It became a bare crater with a span of hundreds of kilometers with no sight of anything other than the dying Dragon King — Midas Van Haathe - I have to admit, you are after all the strongest. There was no one stronger than you, and never will be. — he said to himself, knowing very well that even when he could not see the body of his opponent, he was listening. These were his last words, and soon even his body disappeared. 

[komododad1]

I've been working on this all week and still have another version I'm working on (stay tuned) but really wanted to post this because I've been excited to share one of my old school OCs revamped for my Black Sun work - and here she is: Captain Margaret "Peggy" Patterson, USA. Peggy was one of the first OCs I came up with and really got attached to after I got back into art years ago after a hiatus (thinking I'd never draw again) and I've been wanting to work her into my new stuff after not doing much with her the last few years and I'm excited for it!

[theblackbookofarkera]

From the travelog Dreams of Distant Places Vol 12

[not-the-worldpond]

Rröt Akoð - the primal fire

The dominant belief in the Zākoð kingdoms revolves around the worship of a wild primordial fire from which all living things are said to have originated. According to legend, it burns on a high mountain located at the center of the world.

This primal fire plays an important role in public life, such as ceremonies and festivals, and its symbolism is present in many aspects of art and society.

In the domestic context, other deities are worshiped in addition to the primordial fire. These gods are often adapted from other cultures and can vary greatly depending on the region. Ancestor veneration is also widespread in private households.

[caffeinated-frog]

Kenet, the god of the seasons, weather, and change!

[Image description: Digital art of a tan character with pointed ears. They are holding snow magic in their hands, and are dressed in white, green, and blue clothing. Their hair is braided and in a bun, and they are looking at the viewer. /end image description]

[jackhkeynes]

Can you give an overview of your conworld and language for new people?

Absolutely! :D

The World

The setting I write in (hereafter "Boralverse") is an alternate history of Earth. The original difference from our own history (hereafter "IRL") is the existence of the island of Borland (Istr Boral) between Great Britain and Denmark, inspired by the IRL existence of Doggerland.

The human pre-classical history of Borland can be summarised as:

With sea level rise about 8k years ago, Borland was cut off from the continent and from Britain (this is when Doggerland was submerged IRL); some Stone Age people remain. They leave some monuments—burial mounds, the Çadrosc labyrinth—and were farmers, but they had no writing or ironworking.

The Celts arrive in Borland shortly before they settle Britain in the second millennium BCE, taking up iron tools and establishing many tribal groups. Due to some later migration from Britain to Borland, they speak a language (Borland Celtic) which is most closely related to Proto-Brythonic.

I assume that as far as possible the history of the rest of the world is indistinguishable from the IRL history up to this point. I continue to do so while the Romans invade and settle Borland shortly after Britain, despite conceding to credulity and allowing a few classical references:

...in Ptolemy's description of the Pritannoi we can understand he referred to the Insular Kelts of Ireland, Britain and Borland as a whole... ...contrasting Hadrian's policies in Britain and in Borland is vital for understanding their different fates in the post-Classical age...

where I admit that the Roman Empire having an entire additional province should probably have some observable effects.

Once the Western Roman Empire collapses, I start properly diverging Boralverse history from IRL history. This begins with a different pattern of Anglo-Saxon migration; the two petty kingdoms of Angland and Southbar arise in western Borland, while the settlement of England proceeds slightly slower than IRL.

Historical divergence spreads through western Europe over the next few centuries, and by 1000 CE things are beginning to go off the rails all across Eurasia and North Africa. I leave the history of the Americas the same until Old World contact (via Basque fishermen stumbling across Newfoundland in 1470 CE), and likewise with Australia.

The map below shows Europe in 1120, during the Second Tetrarchy Period. At this time, Europe was unusually centralised, with four great empires: the First Drengot Empire (red), the German Empire (brown), the Second Roman Empire (purple) and the Single Caliphate (green).

In the modern era, my hope is that the Boralverse world feels fractally uncanny; at every scale something is unexpectedly different, from political borders and languages to fashion and pop culture references.

For clarity, I employ an inconsistent Translation Convention when writing from a Boralverse perspective, mostly using IRL English but peppering in calques of Boralverse English jargon for flavour, such as threshold force "nuclear power" or jalick "garment socially equivalent to a tuxedo".

The Language

The original motivation for this alternate history setting is Borlish (Borallesc), the Romance language spoken on Borland.

It picked up a few Borland Celtic loanwords from the existing population at the time of the conquest (macquar ~ Welsh magu "raise, rear"; vrug ~ Welsh grug "heather"), but was much more influenced through the first millennium by Anglo-Saxon settlement and then Norse conquest during the Viking Age. The following is an example of late Old Borlish (ca. 1240):

…sovravnt il deft nostre saȝntaðesem eð atavalesem n iȝ atrevre golfhavn seȝ hamar dont y verb divin ismetre ac povre paian. peðiv soul ez font istovent por vn nov cliȝs d istroienz istablir… …uphold our most sacred and ancient duty to let Gulfhaven be the centre from which we will send the Word of God to pagan lands. We ask only for the necessary funds for a new teachinghouse…

The Modern Borlish language has undergone spelling standardisation (most recently deprecated some irregular spellings in 1870), and contains many more Latin and Greek loanwords, along with borrowings from languages across the world.

Y stal zajadau dy marcað nogtorn accis par lamp fumer eð y lun fragnt de mar receven cos equal party a domn pescour pevr jarras e fenogl gostant tan eð eç nobr robað n'ornament fluibond ant queldin raut frigsað ne papir cerous. The night market's various stalls lit by smoky lamps and the sea-shattered moon welcomed flocks of fishwives sampling paprika and fennel as well as notables in flowing finery carrying stir-fried suppers in wax papers.

In terms of sound changes and grammatical developments, the major points include:

Intervocalic lenition /p t k b d g/ > /v ð j ∅ ∅ ∅/: catēna > caðen "chain", dēbēre > deïr "must".

The use of ç (and c before e i y) for /ts/, and the use of g in coda to represent /j/. Along with some vowel shifts, this leads to things like cigl /tsajl/ "darling".

Total loss of final consonants in multisyllable words, including -s, which leads to:

Collapse of noun declension, including number; Borlish does not mark number on nouns, and if it wants to it uses demonstratives or simply relies of verb agreement: l'oc scuir pasc, l'ec scuir pascn "this boy eats, these boys eat".