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Writing Resources: WORLD BUILDING

Extremely Comprehensive World-building Checklist

Fantasy Guide: Architecture

Fantasy Guide: Ships, Boats and Nautical Lingo

Fantasy Guide: Weapons

Fantasy Name Generators

How to Start Worldbuilding?

Things to Keep in mind when Writing Deciduous Forest Scenes

Wars, Battles and Sieges: Artillery

Worldbuilding: Crime & the Legal System

Worldbuilding: Societies

Writer's Guide: Guns

Writer's Guide: Writing about Alcoholic Drinks and Cocktails

[theemberarchive]

Idk if I’ll ever return to Haakha, but for the foreseeable future, I’ll be working on this one. Hopefully you guys will enjoy this, and I am sorry for the surprise

so, I have decided to retire my original worldbuilding project for a starfinder one instead. While I will be posting the stuff on the sight through the link, I will be linking them here for you guys to go through. I would appreciate it if you guys would at least check it out, cause this site will actually send at least some money my way if you go to it, and I’ve always wanted to make a living doing this.

Hopefully what I come up with will be useful to you guys, even the 5e crowd

[theemberarchive]

with everything that’s happening right now, i don’t have much to say. but i’ll say this.

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Worldbuilding: Economy

Money makes the world go around and economics of a region makes it flourish or flop. Money and trade are important aspects of any world and you must pay attention to what your kingdom produces or lacks in resources.

Resources and Goods

Though we may touch on this again with another post. Your land must produce something. Even if it is a barren wasteland, your land must produce something in order to survive. It can produce items in categories.

Food: Food is a great way to make money. A seafaring kingdom might produce fish. A landlocked kingdom with fertile soil will produce wheat, barley, rye and other things. All of this can be sold either in the kingdom or abroad, a portion of the trade of course going to the government’s treasury. Food is always a good trade scheme but be mindful that it is something that can falter or be easily destroyed.

Materials: Kingdoms will produce some semblance of a material. It could be stone for building, gold for decoration, sulphur to make gunpowder or flax for making clothes. Materials are always desired at home and abroad and if your kingdom produces the best or most of a certain material it will be famous for it. Like Sheffield steel or Italian leather.

Skill: Sometimes people can be traded or their skills at least. A kingdom that sells a skill will be prized. Think of Sparta and their warriors, Athens and its wise men, Florence and its sculptors and painter or Japan and its software developers. A skill will enhance prestige on the world stage and give them a reputation.

Markets, Plazas and Agoras

When we talk about buying or selling, we often forget where this occurs. Every great city has a marketplace and every major town will have them. When you pinpoint where a character lives or where the story takes place, you should think of it’s economical value and status. Questions to ask yourself.

Home: Which city has the most power in the economy? Which costal areas are the major ports? Which city is the richest? How far do people have to travel to sell goods or buy them?

Abroad: Is there a trading route like the Silk Road? Which kingdom is the richest or poorest? What kingdom is hardest to travel to? Or the closest trading partner? Are there any countries that have been banned as trading partners?

Money or barter

There are two common types of payment for a good. You can pay with money or swap it for something else. Money of course can be in coin of note form. Look at my Fantasy Guide to Currency for more of this. Barter is easier in some cases. You have a goat and you want a small row boat. Is the goat worth the boat? Will all the milk the goat produces match or make more money that the fish the boatman catches? Do nobility use one system and the poor use others? When the tenants of a land pay rent is it in coin or barter? If they can’t pay in coin is bartering a common alternative?

Banking

All the world runs on the backs of banks. Pushing all the bad shit aside, banks are there to loan money or to store it. Banks give out loans for businesses or for projects. Most banks would expect some kind of repayment. In Renaissance times, a bank that did this was slandered as usurers. Banks have often wielded power. The Medici bank brought the owners up to the status of first family in Florence, Grand Dukes of Tuscany and even Pope. What do people think of the banks? Are they hated for their biting rates? Are they respected for their fair dealings with the people? What does the bank own? What are their relationship with the people, nobles and royalty?

Transportation and cost

To sell anything will cost you. You must calculate how much it would cost to make a good, transport it and sell it to a buyer. If you were selling something across the sea, how much will shipping cost you? If you were to have items brought to your home from another city, how would you do it?

Here is a problem for you to practice with: If a poor farmer wants to sell a cow in the capital and he lives fifty miles away beside a major road and river, with no wagon or horses and no money for passage on the river, how does he get there?

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Fantasy Guide to Architecture

This post has been waiting on the back burner for weeks and during this time of quarantine, I have decided to tackle it. This is probably the longest post I have ever done. I is very tired and hope that I have covered everything from Ancient times to the 19th Century, that will help you guys with your worldbuilding.

Materials

What you build with can be determined by the project you intend, the terrain you build on and the availability of the material. It is one characteristic that we writers can take some some liberties with.

Granite: Granite is an stone formed of Igneous activity near a fissure of the earth or a volcano. Granites come in a wide range of colour, most commonly white, pink, or grey depending on the minerals present. Granite is hard and a durable material to build with. It can be built with without being smoothed but it looks bitchin' and shiny all polished up.

Marble: Probably everyone's go to materials for building grand palaces and temples. Marble is formed when great pressure is placed on limestone. Marble can be easily damaged over time by rain as the calcium in the rock dissolves with the chemicals found in rain. Marble comes in blue, white, green, black, white, red, gray and yellow. Marble is an expensive material to build with, highly sought after for the most important buildings. Marble is easy to carve and shape and polishes to a high gleam. Marble is found at converging plate boundaries.

Obsidian: Obsidian is probably one of the most popular stones mentioned in fantasy works. Obsidian is an igneous rock formed of lava cooling quickly on the earth's surfaces. Obsidian is a very brittle and shiny stone, easy to polish but not quite a good building material but a decorative one.

Limestone: Limestone is made of fragments of marine fossils. Limestone is one of the oldest building materials. Limestone is an easy material to shape but it is easily eroded by rain which leads most limestone monuments looking weathered.

Concrete: Concrete has been around since the Romans. Concrete is formed when aggregate (crushed limstone, gravel or granite mixed with fine dust and sand) is mixed with water. Concrete can be poured into the desired shape making it a cheap and easy building material.

Brick: Brick was one of history's most expensive materials because they took so long to make. Bricks were formed of clay, soil, sand, and lime or concrete and joined together with mortar. The facade of Hampton Court Palace is all of red brick, a statement of wealth in the times.

Glass: Glass is formed of sand heated until it hardens. Glass is an expensive material and for many years, glass could not be found in most buildings as having glass made was very expensive.

Plaster: Plaster is made from gypsum and lime mixed with water. It was used for decoration purposes and to seal walls. A little known fact, children. Castle walls were likely painted with plaster or white render on the interior.

Wattle and Daub: Wattle and daub is a building material formed of woven sticks cemented with a mixture of mud, one of the most common and popular materials throughout time.

Building terms

Arcade: An arcade is a row of arches, supported by columns.

Arch: An arch is a curved feature built to support weight often used for a window or doorway.

Mosaic: Mosaics are a design element that involves using pieces of coloured glass and fitted them together upon the floor or wall to form images.

Frescos: A design element of painting images upon wet plaster.

Buttress: A structure built to reinforce and support a wall.

Column: A column is a pillar of stone or wood built to support a ceiling. We will see more of columns later on.

Eave: Eaves are the edges of overhanging roofs built to allow eater to run off.

Vaulted Ceiling: The vaulted ceilings is a self-supporting arched ceiling, than spans over a chamber or a corridor.

Colonnade: A colonnade is a row of columns joined the entablature.

Entablature: a succession of bands laying atop the tops of columns.

Bay Window: The Bay Window is a window projecting outward from a building.

Courtyard/ Atrium/ Court: The courtyard is an open area surrounded by buildings on all sides

Dome: The dome resembles a hollow half of a sphere set atop walls as a ceiling.

Façade: the exterior side of a building

Gable: The gable is a triangular part of a roof when two intersecting roof slabs meet in the middle.

Hyphen: The hyphen is a smaller building connecting between two larger structures.

Now, let's look at some historical building styles and their characteristics of each Architectural movement.

Classical Style

The classical style of Architecture cannot be grouped into just one period. We have five: Doric (Greek), Ionic (Greek), Corinthian (Greek), Tuscan (Roman) and Composite (Mixed).

Doric: Doric is the oldest of the orders and some argue it is the simplest. The columns of this style are set close together, without bases and carved with concave curves called flutes. The capitals (the top of the column) are plain often built with a curve at the base called an echinus and are topped by a square at the apex called an abacus. The entablature is marked by frieze of vertical channels/triglyphs. In between the channels would be detail of carved marble. The Parthenon in Athens is your best example of Doric architecture.

Ionic: The Ionic style was used for smaller buildings and the interiors. The columns had twin volutes, scroll-like designs on its capital. Between these scrolls, there was a carved curve known as an egg and in this style the entablature is much narrower and the frieze is thick with carvings. The example of Ionic Architecture is the Temple to Athena Nike at the Athens Acropolis.

Corinthian: The Corinthian style has some similarities with the Ionic order, the bases, entablature and columns almost the same but the capital is more ornate its base, column, and entablature, but its capital is far more ornate, commonly carved with depictions of acanthus leaves. The style was more slender than the others on this list, used less for bearing weight but more for decoration. Corinthian style can be found along the top levels of the Colosseum in Rome.

Tuscan: The Tuscan order shares much with the Doric order, but the columns are un-fluted and smooth. The entablature is far simpler, formed without triglyphs or guttae. The columns are capped with round capitals.

Composite: This style is mixed. It features the volutes of the Ionic order and the capitals of the Corinthian order. The volutes are larger in these columns and often more ornate. The column's capital is rather plain. for the capital, with no consistent differences to that above or below the capital.

Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture is the blanket term for the architectural styles of the buildings most associated with the eponymous faith. The style covers early Islamic times to the present day. Islamic Architecture has some influences from Mesopotamian, Roman, Byzantine, China and the Mongols.

Paradise garden: As gardens are an important symbol in Islam, they are very popular in most Islamic-style buildings. The paradise gardens are commonly symmetrical and often enclosed within walls. The most common style of garden is split into four rectangular with a pond or water feature at the very heart. Paradise gardens commonly have canals, fountains, ponds, pools and fruit trees as the presence of water and scent is essential to a paradise garden.

Sehan: The Sehan is a traditional courtyard. When built at a residence or any place not considered to be a religious site, the sehan is a private courtyard. The sehan will be full of flowering plants, water features snd likely surrounded by walls. The space offers shade, water and protection from summer heat. It was also an area where women might cast off their hijabs as the sehan was considered a private area and the hijab was not required. A sehan is also the term for a courtyard of a mosque. These courtyards would be surrounded by buildings on all sides, yet have no ceiling, leaving it open to the air. Sehans will feature a cleansing pool at the centre, set under a howz, a pavilion to protect the water. The courtyard is used for rituals but also a place of rest and gathering.

Hypostyle Hall: The Hypostyle is a hall, open to the sky and supported by columns leading to a reception hall off the main hall to the right.

Muqarnas : Muqarnas is a type of ornamentation within a dome or a half domed, sometimes called a "honeycomb", or "stalactite" vaulted ceiling. This would be cast from stone, wood, brick or stucco, used to ornament the inside of a dome or cupola. Muqarnas are used to create transitions between spaces, offering a buffer between the spaces.

African Architecture

African Architecture is a very mixed bag and more structurally different and impressive than Hollywood would have you believe. Far beyond the common depictions of primitive buildings, the African nations were among the giants of their time in architecture, no style quite the same as the last but just as breathtaking.

Somali architecture: The Somali were probably had one of Africa's most diverse and impressive architectural styles. Somali Architecture relies heavy on masonry, carving stone to shape the numerous forts, temples, mosques, royal residences, aqueducts and towers. Islamic architecture was the main inspiration for some of the details of the buildings. The Somali used sun-dried bricks, limestone and many other materials to form their impressive buildings, for example the burial monuments called taalo

Ashanti Architecture: The Ashanti style can be found in present day Ghana. The style incorporates walls of plaster formed of mud and designed with bright paint and buildings with a courtyard at the heart, not unlike another examples on this post. The Ashanti also formed their buildings of the favourite method of wattle and daub.

Afrikaner Architecture: This is probably one of the oddest architectural styles to see. Inspired by Dutch settlers (squatters), the buildings of the colony (planters/squatters) of South Africa took on a distinctive Dutch look but with an Afrikaner twist to it making it seem both familiar and strange at the same time.

Rwandan Architecture: The Rwandans commonly built of hardened clay with thatched roofs of dried grass or reeds. Mats of woven reeds carpeted the floors of royal abodes. These residences folded about a large public area known as a karubanda and were often so large that they became almost like a maze, connecting different chambers/huts of all kinds of uses be they residential or for other purposes.

Aksumite Architecture: The Aksumite was an Empire in modern day Ethiopia. The Aksumites created buildings from stone, hewn into place. One only has to look at the example of Bete Medhane Alem to see how imposing it was.

Yoruba Architecture: Yoruba Architecture was made by earth cured until it hardened enough to form into walls, or they used wattle and daub, roofed by timbers slats coated in woven grass or leaves. Each unit divided up parts of the buildings from facilities to residences, all with multiple entrances, connected together.

Igbo Architecture: The Igbo style follows some patterns of the Yoruba architecture, excepting that there are no connected walls and the spacing is not so equal. The closer a unit was to the centre, the more important inhabitants were.

Hausa architecture: Hausa Architecture was formed of monolithic walls coated in plaster. The ceilings and roof of the buildings were in the shape of small domes and early vaulted ceilings of stripped timber and laterite. Hausa Architecture features a single entrance into the building and circular walls.

Nubian Architecture: Nubia, in modern day Ethiopia, was home to the Nubians who were one of the world's most impressive architects at the beginning of the architecture world and probably would be more talked about if it weren't for the Egyptians building monuments only up the road. The Nubians were famous for building the speos, tall tower-like spires carved of stone. The Nubians used a variety of materials and skills to build, for example wattle and daub and mudbrick. The Kingdom of Kush, the people who took over the Nubian Empire was a fan of Egyptian works even if they didn't like them very much. The Kushites began building pyramid-like structures such at the sight of Gebel Barkal

Egyptian Architecture: The Egyptians were the winners of most impressive buildings for s good while. Due to the fact that Egypt was short on wood, Ancient Egyptians returned to building with limestone, granite, mudbrick, sandstone which were commonly painted with bright murals of the gods along with some helpful directions to Anubis's crib. The Egyptians are of course famous for their pyramids but lets not just sit on that bandwagon. Egyptian Architecture sported all kinds of features such as columns, piers, obelisks and carving buildings out of cliff faces as we see at Karnak. The Egyptians are cool because they mapped out their buildings in such a way to adhere to astrological movements meaning on special days if the calendar the temple or monuments were in the right place always. The Egyptians also only build residences on the east bank of the Nile River, for the opposite bank was meant for the dead. The columns of Egyptian where thicker, more bulbous and often had capitals shaped like bundles of papyrus reeds.

Chinese Architecture

Chinese Architecture is probably one of the most recognisable styles in the world. The grandness of Chinese Architecture is imposing and beautiful, as classical today as it was hundreds of years ago.

The Presence of Wood: As China is in an area where earthquakes are common, most of the buildings are were build of wood as it was easy to come across and important as the Ancient Chinese wanted a connection to nature in their homes.

Overhanging Roofs: The most famous feature of the Chinese Architectural style are the tiled roofs, set with wide eaves and upturned corners. The roofs were always tiled with ceramic to protect wood from rotting. The eaves often overhung from the building providing shade.

Symmetrical Layouts: Chinese Architecture is symmetrical. Almost every feature is in perfect balance with its other half.

Fengshui: Fengshui are philosophical principles of how to layout buildings and towns according to harmony lain out in Taoism. This ensured that the occupants in the home where kept in health, happiness, wealth and luck.

One-story: As China is troubled by earthquakes and wood is not a great material for building multi-storied buildings, most Chinese buildings only rise a single floor. Richer families might afford a second floor but the single stories compounds were the norm.

Orientation: The Ancient Chinese believed that the North Star marked out Heaven. So when building their homes and palaces, the northern section was the most important part of the house and housed the heads of the household.

Courtyards: The courtyard was the most important area for the family within the home. The courtyard or siheyuan are often built open to the sky, surrounded by verandas on each side.

Japanese Architecture

Japanese Architecture is famous for its delicacy, smooth beauty and simplistic opulence. Japanese Architecture has been one of the world's most recognisable styles, spanning thousands of years.

Wood as a Common Material: As with the Chinese, the most popular material used by the Japanese is wood. Stone and other materials were not often used because of the presence of earthquakes. Unlike Chinese Architecture, the Japanese did not paint the wood, instead leaving it bare so show the grain.

Screens and sliding doors: The shoji and fusuma are the screens and sliding doors are used in Japanese buildings to divide chambers within the house. The screens were made of light wood and thin parchment, allowing light through the house. The screens and sliding doors were heavier when they where used to shutter off outside features.

Tatami: Tatami mats are used within Japanese households to blanket the floors. They were made of rice straw and rush straw, laid down to cushion the floor.

Verandas: It is a common feature in older Japanese buildings to see a veranda along the outside of the house. Sometimes called an engawa, it acted as an outdoor corridor, often used for resting in.

Genkan: The Genkan was a sunken space between the front door and the rest of the house. This area is meant to separate the home from the outside and is where shoes are discarded before entering.

Nature: As both the Shinto and Buddhist beliefs are great influences upon architecture, there is a strong presence of nature with the architecture. Wood is used for this reason and natural light is prevalent with in the home. The orientation is meant to reflect the best view of the world.

Indian Architecture

India is an architectural goldmine. There are dozens of styles of architecture in the country, some spanning back thousands of years, influenced by other cultures making a heady stew of different styles all as beautiful and striking as the last.

Mughal Architecture: The Mughal architecture blends influences from Islamic, Persian along with native Indian. It was popular between the 16th century -18th century when India was ruled by Mughal Emperors. The Taj Mahal is the best example of this.

Indo-Saracenic Revival Architecture: Indo Saracenic Revival mixes classical Indian architecture, Indo-Islamic architecture, neo-classical and Gothic revival of the 1800s.

Cave Architecture: The cave architecture is probably one of the oldest and most impressive styles of Indian architecture. In third century BC, monks carved temples and buildings into the rock of caves.

Rock-Cut Architecture: The Rock-cut is similar to the cave style, only that the rock cut is carved from a single hunk of natural rock, shaped into buildings and sprawling temples, all carved and set with statues.

Vesara Architecture: Vesara style prevalent in medieval period in India. It is a mixture of the Dravida and the Nagara styles. The tiers of the Vesara style are shorter than the other styles.

Dravidian Architecture: The Dravidian is the southern temple architectural style. The Kovils are an example of prime Dravidian architecture. These monuments are of carved stone, set up in a step like towers like with statues of deities and other important figures adorning them.

Kalinga Architecture: The Kalinga style is the dominant style in the eastern Indian provinces. The Kalinga style is famous for architectural stipulations, iconography and connotations and heavy depictions of legends and myths.

Sikh Architecture: Sikh architecture is probably the most intricate and popular of the styles here. Sikh architecture is famous for its soft lines and details.

Romanesque (6th -11th century/12th)

Romanesque Architecture is a span between the end of Roman Empire to the Gothic style. Taking inspiration from the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the Romanesque period incorporates many of the styles.

Rounded arches: It is here that we see the last of the rounded arches famous in the classical Roman style until the Renaissance. The rounded arches are very popular in this period especially in churches and cathedrals. The rounded arches were often set alongside each other in continuous rows with columns in between.

Details: The most common details are carved floral and foliage symbols with the stonework of the Romanesque buildings. Cable mouldings or twisted rope-like carvings would have framed doorways.

Pillars: The Romanesque columns is commonly plainer than the classical columns, with ornate captials and plain bases. Most columns from this time are rather thick and plain.

Barrel Vaults: A barrel vaulted ceiling is formed when a curved ceiling or a pair of curves (in a pointed ceiling). The ceiling looks rather like half a tunnel, completely smooth and free of ribs, stone channels to strengthen the weight of the ceiling.

Arcading: An arcade is a row of arches in a continual row, supported by columns in a colonnade. Exterior arcades acted as a sheltered passage whilst inside arcades or blind arcades, are set against the wall the arches bricked, the columns and arches protruding from the wall.

Gothic Architecture (12th Century - 16th Century)

The Gothic Architectural style is probably one of the beautiful of the styles on this list and one of most recognisable. The Gothic style is a dramatic, opposing sight and one of the easiest to describe.

Pointed arch: The Gothic style incorporates pointed arches, in the windows and doorways. The arches were likely inspired by pre-Islamic architecture in the east.

Ribbed vault: The ribbed vault of the Gothic age was constructed of pointed arches. The trick with the ribbed vaulted ceiling, is that the pointed arches and channels to bear the weight of the ceiling.

Buttresses: The flying buttress is designed to support the walls. They are similar to arches and are connected to counter-supports fixed outside the walls.

Stained-Glass Window: This is probably one of the most recognisable and beautiful of the Gothic features. They can be set in round rose windows or in the pointed arches.

Renaissance Architecture (15th Century- 17th Century)

Renaissance architecture was inspired by Ancient Roman and Greek Architecture. Renaissance Architecture is Classical on steroids but has its own flare. The Renaissance was a time for colour and grandeur.

Columns and pilasters: Roman and Greek columns were probably the greatest remix of the Renaissance period. The architecture of this period incorporated the five orders of columns are used: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. The columns were used to hold up a structure, support ceilings and adorn facades. Pilasters were columns within a chamber, lining the walls for pure decoration purposes.

Arches: Arches are rounded in this period, having a more natural semi-circular shape at its apex. Arches were a favourite feature of the style, used in windows, arcades or atop columns.

Cupola: Is a small dome-like tower atop a bigger dome or a rooftop meant to allow light and air into the chamber beneath.

Vaulted Ceiling/Barrel Vault: Renaissance vaulted ceilings do not have ribs. Instead they are semi-circular in shape, resting upon a square plain rather than the Gothic preference of rectangular. The barrel vault held by its own weight and would likely be coated in plaster and painted.

Domes: The dome is the architectural feature of the Renaissance. The ceiling curves inwards as it rises, forming a bowl like shape over the chamber below. The dome's revival can be attributed to Brunelleschi and the Herculean feat of placing a dome on the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The idea was later copied by Bramante who built St. Peter's Basilica.

Frescos: To decorate the insides of Renaissance buildings, frescos (the art of applying wet paint to plaster as it dries) were used to coat the walls and ceilings of the buildings. The finest frescos belong to Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

Baroque (1625–1750)

Baroque incorporates some key features of Renaissance architecture, such as those nice columns and domes we saw earlier on. But Baroque takes that to the next level. Everything is higher, bigger, shinier, brighter and more opulent. Some key features of Baroque palaces and buildings would be:

Domes: These domes were a common feature, left over from the Renaissance period. Why throw out a perfectly good bubble roof, I ask you? But Baroque domes were of course, grander. Their interiors were were nearly always painted or gilded, so it drew the eye upwards which is basically the entire trick with Baroque buildings. Domes were not always round in this building style and Eastern European buildings in Poland and Ukraine for example sport pear-shaped domes.

Solomonic columns: Though the idea of columns have been about for years but the solomonic columns but their own twist on it. These columns spiral from beginning to end, often in a s-curved pattern.

Quadratura: Quadratura was the practice of painting the ceilings and walls of a Baroque building with trompe-l'oeil. Most real life versions of this depict angels and gods in the nude. Again this is to draw the eye up.

Mirrors: Mirrors came into popularity during this period as they were a cool way to create depth and light in a chamber. When windows faced the mirrors on the wall, it creates natural light and generally looks bitchin'. Your famous example is the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

Grand stairways: The grand sweeping staircases became popular in this era, often acting as the centre piece in a hall. The Baroque staircase would be large and opulent, meant for ceremonies and to smoother guests in grandeur.

Cartouche: The cartouche is a design that is created to add some 3D effect to the wall, usually oval in shape with a convex surface and edged with scrollwork. It is used commonly to outline mirrors on the wall or crest doorways just to give a little extra opulence.

Neoclassical (1750s-19th century)

The Neoclassical Period involved grand buildings inspired by the Greek orders, the most popular being the Doric. The main features of Neoclassical architecture involve the simple geometric lines, columns, smooth walls, detailing and flat planed surfaces. The bas-reliefs of the Neoclassical style are smoother and set within tablets, panels and friezes. St. Petersburg is famous for the Neoclassical styles brought in under the reign of Catherine the Great.

Greek Revival (late 18th and early 19th century)

As travel to other nations became easier in this time period, they became to get really into the Ancient Greek aesthetic. During this architectural movement they brought back the gabled roof, the columns and the entablature. The Greek Revival was more prevalent in the US after the Civil War and in Northern Europe.

Hope this helps somewhat @marril96

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What’s an appropriate replacement for golem? Just wondering since you gave one for mana.

GOLEM IS TRICKY BECAUSE IVE HAD SOME JEWISH PEOPLE SAY THE TERM IS FINE BUT OTHERS SAY ITS NOT

IF YOU ARE WORRIED I HAVE ALWAYS ENJOYED “SERVITOR”

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Commissions

So, I need money, and would actually like to do what I love, so I’m making commissions available. What is it I do? Writing! While I write probably too much lore for my stuff, I have also written a few short stories and homebrewed a few rules, so if you guys want me to write backstory for something in your world, a story of some kine for you, or make some rules, I’d be happy to help.

If you’re interested, simply DM me and we’ll discuss the commission

If you would like to help support me in general, please consider supporting me on patreon

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Marriage Through an Anthropological Lens: For Worldbuilding

Heya! Worldbuilding is a tough nut to crack and sometimes it helps me to look at it from an angle other than purely creative. Anthropology, specifically cultural anthropology, can be a good start. 

This is far from a comprehensive rundown of marriage in anthropology, but it’s a good place to start. And please remember, this is only the anthropological scope of marriage across our own world cultures. It’s not a broad look or about weddings or about specific cultures. 

The Social Purposes of Marriage

Control property ownership and inheritance

Provide social/emotional needs of individuals

Maintain a group or bloodline

Establish alliances (financial, social, political, etc)

Child rearing

How to apply this to your worldbuilding: The motivation for marriage comes in different shapes and sizes than simply love. Adding diversity to this front reflects the diversity in our own world and adds potential conflict for subplots. 

The Incest Taboo (and why it matters)

The incest taboo is the stigma of marriage within one’s family, whether that only be immediate family or any blood/legal relatives at all. It’s important because it is found cross-culturally in our world, meaning it’s a nearly universal rule. While the motive for the stigma has evolved in modern times, it originated because of infertility and other birth defects caused by blood relatives reproducing. 

Historically, marriage between cousins has avoided this taboo.

How to apply this to your worldbuilding: If nearly everyone on our planet finds incest taboo, chances are your world will, too. Yeah… that’s all I’m going to say on this subject. 

Endogamy and Exogamy

These terms describe the social relation between the people involved in a marriage.

Exogamy is when a person marries outside their age group, class, ethnicity, religion, and/or region. It’s more common in diverse areas or when transportation/travel is accessible. One of the benefits of this is the expansion of kinship. 

Endogamy is the opposite of exogamy when a person marries within these parameters. The benefits are usually in the perpetuation of a group or community.

How to apply this to your worldbuilding: The societal views on this topic are usually much less strict or obvious than other marriage standards. However, it’s important to think about whether a person, group, or society would expect one over the other and why. If your world has a caste system, then it would probably be stricter on endogamy. 

The Exchanges of Marriage

Marriage is often accompanied by social and property exchanges. Here are a few anthropology terms related to this concept*:

hypergamy: “marrying up”; one of the spouses involved raises their social and/or monetary status through the marriage

bridewealth: the groom’s family pays the bride’s family money in exchange for the marriage

brideservice: wherein the groom must provide physical labor for the bride’s family before marriage

dowry: the bride’s family pays the groom’s family 

*keep in mind, these are based on hetero- and cis-normative assumptions and would be altered for same-gender or nonbinary-partner marriages.

How to apply this to your worldbuilding: Again, sometimes marriage is partially an exchange of money. Who pays whose family depends on the societal views of gender. 

Residence after Marriage

Where the new couple lives after marriage can be a big cultural thing. It’s not always written in stone but usually is expected by a family or society. There are 5 major categories of residence*:

Patrilocality

this is when the new couple lives near/with the groom’s family

found in cultures that value male status and power

50-70% of marriages in our world fall under this category

Matrilocality

this is when the new couple lives near/with the bride’s family

advocates for female control and matriarchal kinship

often found in agricultural societies

Avunculocality

this is when the new couple lives near/with the groom’s mother’s brother and his family (his uncle)

it’s a thing because of a bunch of property rights/inheritance mumbo jumbo

rare, only 4% found in our world

Neolocality

this is when the new couple starts their own, independent household

smaller household in comparison to the others

it is private and mobile but requires a good amount of personal wealth

*again, these are based on hetero- and cis-normative assumptions for the most part

How to apply this to your worldbuilding: different families and societies come with different needs. Agricultural families need more hands than urban ones do.

Polygamy

Marriage between two individuals is called monogamy and is (surprisingly) not the most common in our world. In anthropology, there are two ways to have more than one partner.

Polygyny: When a man has two or more wives; most common in our world.  > Sororal polygyny is when a man marries two or more sisters (sister-wives)

Polyandry: When a woman has two or more husbands, rare in our world.

The motives for polygamy are varied from anything like religious views to the societal view of a gender’s status. 

How to apply this to your worldbuilding: The most common form I see polygamy in fantasy novels is with royalty. However, in our own world, it is most often found in smaller, more rural societies and communities. This could also be a part of your religion worldbuilding.

To Remember

Marriage, weddings, and their traditions all hinge upon other worldbuilding categories including, but not limited to: religion, family and parenting, government, and gender & sexuality. Make sure you consider everything as a whole when worldbuilding certain categories. 

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World Building Resources

World Building Worksheet (Great for Fantasy/Science Fiction)

Forms of Government

Types of Art  - Perhaps the culture you’ve built doesn’t emphasize painting and drawing, but glasswork or sand art as an art form. Be creative.

7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding - What NOT to Do

Cyberpunk Derivatives (Steampunk, Clockpunk, etc.)

Rules of Building Believable Mythology

Fantasy Resources

Medieval Demographics Calculator

Fantasy Calendar Generator - (Can also be used for Sci-Fi)

Social Organization - List of Worldbuilding Questions

Random City Generator

Guide to Fantasy Subgenres

Types of Superpowers (Wiki)

Types of Magic

Magic in Fiction - Wikipedia, discusses ways characters can use magic.

List of Magical Creatures

Creating Fantasy Religions

Science Fiction Resources

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Star System Generator

Creating Believable Aliens

Designing a Hypothetical Alien World

List of Emerging Technologies - Wikipedia

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Things to Remember When Writing Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

Types of Fictional Apocalypse

10 Universal Myths of the Ancient World

List of Mythologies

Future Timeline - Predictions technology, natural disasters, etc., for future; organized by year. An easy to use resource.

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Resources For Worldbuilding

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Creating Fictional Holidays

Music For Your Fantasy World

Creating Religions & Belief Systems

How to Design Your Diabolical Cult

Historically Accurate Sexism in Fantasy: Let’s Unpack That

Debate with the Squirrels: Sexism in Fantasy

Feudalism

Using Politics In Fantasy Fiction

Mythic Justice – Crime and Punishment in Your Fantasy World

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Realistic Political Strife

A Politics Of Worldbuilding

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The International Phonetic Alphabet – Audio Illustrations

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Orbital Operations in Science Fiction

Planet Designer

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Selden’s Catalogs of Objects for Celestia

Medieval Technology

Defining the Source, Effects, and Cost of Magic

How to Create a Rational Magic System

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Fantasy World Generator

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Focused Ambiguity: Using Metaphor in Fantasy Writing

Space Engine

Terragen

The Five foundations of Worldbuilding

Setting the Fantastic in the Everyday World

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9 misconceptions about space travel

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The weapons of Star Wars

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Chemical fallacies in fiction 

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The Science in Your Science Fiction: Time Travel

An Idiot’s Guide to Teleportation

How To Explain Superpowers

List of Supernatural Powers and Abilities

Terraforming and Genetic Manipulation Both

Terraforming planets

Guide To Terraforming

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What Will Real Aliens Look Like?

Wildlife Biology In Fiction

Writing Outside The Human Box

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Space bugs: microbes in outer space

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Earth Science Virtual Library

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I could’ve made this a nation or region that was just infused with elemental energies, but where’s the fun in that?