Naming
There are many angles from which you can begin to write a fantasy world. Infinitely many, I would say. Most are bad. If you start writing about gods before culture for example, they will be deeply disconnected in the end. Making a continent or an entire planet from scratch is where people often start, but it’s deeply demotivating seeing huge chunks of land on a map with no cities and no people. Nothing to evoke the infinite complexity of real life.
So you start small.
A schoolgirls leather shoe with fringed laces, hanging by a knot tied around a cold steel beam tells you about the important aspects of a fantasy world. A god wielding the power of light, leading a family of deities to war on his carriage drawn by goats has very little to do with a story that has not even begun.
“Cool dystopian world bro, now show us why it’s worth saving”
- A smart ass dude
My point is this: if the reader (or more importantly -you-) do not understand what day-to-day life is like in the fantasy world, then the reader (and you) will not care about the grand adventures and wars that are happening within it. Most of the time, It goes without saying of course, but I find that it is always worth pointing the camera at the carved pumpkin containing a little candle being held up to a child with tiny squishy hands gripping a match tinged with dancing fire. This is why I am not a huge fan of Dark Souls and Warhammer, as those settings seem unbalanced and deeply leaning into the aspect of suffering. Perhaps the latter moreso. I am not saying that there is no happiness or joy in these worlds, but it is too rarely emphasised, leading to a lack of contrast. The Lord of the Rings achieves this balance immaculately of course. Even in the darkest of times, Frodo and Sam recall their days in the Shire, Rivendell and Lothlorien. Gandalf’s guiding words and Farmer Maggots mushrooms.
“The little things” should of course be emphasised by an overall style or aesthetic that the world adheres to. Also known as the “genre”. (Genre also dictates the natural, physical laws of the world, but that’s a topic for another post). To evoke this style and aesthetic and general feeling, you should study the real-world origin of the aesthetic. Bring forth examples that have actually happened in history, and present them as fantastical!
“Truth is not only stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn’t”
- Mark Twain
When i’m writing a new setting, i’m looking for historical events, items and systems I can tweak and make my own. They are often fantastical enough in their own right, and do not require sci-fi elements or magic to be stylized for a fantasy world. I thought tube-mail was a fantasy concept from Wallace and Gromit until I found this wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_York_City
Apparently there were pneumatic tubes running under New York city!! You could send mail through air pressurized tubes like you’re fucking Gyro Gearloose. Someone shot a damn cat through them at one point, and it lived!! What!? This shit existed in other american cities, as well as london and paris. Apparently these things still have applications in hospitals where they need to send samples and medicine around the grounds. The people who operated these things were called rocketeers. Rocketeers!
A perfect name to steal for my fantasy setting >:)
Names are very, very important when employing an aesthetic in your world. A name tells you a lot about the culture from which it arised and the tone of your setting. The simplest way to find appropriate names is to find the historically equivalent setting and scour it’s wikipedia page. Here are some of the ideas and names I have come up with for the world i’m creating:
The Chaotic Big Street Office
The Rocketeers are a guild of Journalists and Pneumatic experts running the Daily Rocket, a newspaper company that sends papers all around the city using an advanced pneumatic pipe infrastructure. I want these folks to be sponsored by the government, as their systems require access to a lot of public infrastructure. Their greatest weakness is government influence and corrupt journalists.
They do still have many devoted writers however, and have kept an admirable faithfulness to trustworthy sources.
The Men Broken by War
The Clodhoppers were gang of ex-military mercenaries in huge boots and heavy equipment. They go around occupying buildings and laying siege to whoever is in their way. No-one knows if they are contracted or simply working for themself. These are the people that need war. They have no identity when there is no conflict.
The Orange Stripe
The Orange Stripe is an indie newspaper that not long ago was an up-and-coming alternative source of news. It’s parodius comic stripes have become a staple, and is now a large part of it’s branding. The main character, a know-it-all boy called “Boyboy” is a very common graffiti motif. The writers still subscribe to the idea that they are the underdog opposing the rocketeers, but their papers sell just as well, especially among the working class. Their greatest weakness is sensationalist headlines and sketchy sources. They are steadily building a community among the working class.
The Surging Industry
The Paperworks is a factory by the shore that turns cane into paper. A large part of the market is based on the exchange and price of paper.
The Wild Frontier, Where Men Manifest Their Destiny
Carta-Appalakia: Also called “Eastshore”. An alliance of Appalakian and Cartan countries, they have recently settled their differences in a string of bloody conflicts and civil wars. Now they are partly joined by an affinity for overland travel and trade. Racial diversity is both dividing them and allowing for a diverse and prosperous ideology. They have a shared council, but the Cartan and Appalakian countries have their own standing governments. Land disputes are rampant, even though they occupy the largest piece of continent in the known world.
The Sancturial Land of Deep Time
Hagen: Also called “Westshore”. A monarchy built in mountainous terrain stretching down to the western coast of Continentae. In contrast to Carta-Appalakia, most houses here are built in stone. Preferring a slim and tall building style suited for the limited space of the upper lands of Charlemagnia. Above Charlamagnia lies Styria, a mountainous chain taller than any other region in the world. This region has divided the continent in two for millenia. All empires attempting to build a civilization in spite of these mountains have quickly met doom. Tribes have successfully settled here, and are often the stick in the wheel of military forces trying to cross the mountain passes. I am not satisfied with the name of this Kingdom, but it has the correct cultural vibe. It’s always better to have a placeholder name than no name.
The Third World Fulcrum
Shihonkitazewa (Shihon). This is the old name of the city that is the absolute core of the setting. A metropolis of the third world, all cultures are present here and are reflected in different parts of the city. I need a better name to reflect the all-encompassing essence of it. Something like “Capitol”, but I unfortunately got that name from another setting. The name of this city will probably also be the name of the setting. Unlike Discworld for example, where the name of the setting is the world. Tolkien uses the method I will be utilizing, as the Middle-Earth setting is not the entire world of LOTR, only a portion of it.
Shinoda is the island/continent that Shihon is built on. Occupying this place has been essential in any great war, as it gives access to the greatest port in the world as well as the entire ocean. Both Carta-Appalakia and Hagen have occupied this city and built districts in their own styles. 10 Years ago, Hagen arrived in the city with a new super-weapon: the zeppelin. Unopposed, there was no conflict, only an exchange of paperwork.
What
I come to this point and realize that I have committed the same sin that I opposed in the beginning of this essay. I think I mostly wrote the introduction as a reminder to myself. These concepts I have introduced are cool and fun! For now. But if I want to keep them complex and dynamic, they need examples. The best way would probably be to whip up some concept art. I may be a decent artist, but it takes a skilled one to create something good fast. My writing skills will have to suffice. Here are concrete examples for each of the elements above:
The dishonorably discharged sargeant
Clodhopper Sgt Alkemade buttons up his uniform. His back is straight like a steel beam and his hands move like an industrial loom, as if there was a general looking over him and judging the very creases of his worn, scraped uniform. Having led many soldiers in the eastern valleys of Styria, Mr Alkemade lost an important battle in Barrytown. Although exiled from Carta-Appalakia, he now wears his dark uniform and rusted medallions on the streets of Shihon.
The Dead Set Mechanic
Depew Dawrey was a man driven by his love for pneumatics, he had little concern for the ups and downs of politics and journalism. The paper is a means to an end for him, as it funds his research into achieveing the maximum possible speed that the pneumatic tubes can propel items. He once captured a rat and tossed it into one of the pressurised tubes. It made it’s way into the office of Journalist Garfield and tore up his precious binders. He insists that it had somehow jumped into the pipe on it’s own volition, but everyone who has heard the story knows that it was purposfully directed at the journalist who told the truths of matters instead of the money making scandals.
The Paper Boy
Planks is a ruffled 15 year old urchin taking care of and beating the shit out of other street orphans. He sends them running out on the streets, selling orange stripe papers wherever people need them. He cares about his kin, but is also determined to push them out of poverty. He feels deeply connected to the lifestyle, but soon he will have to come to terms with the fact that he must encourage the other kids to leave behind the brotherhood.
The Lasso Slingin’ Charmer
Bullbrim Merry is a skilled and fresh cow-wrangler holding his own against the big cattle-businesses selling dried meat from old home; Carta-Appalakia. He challenges that approach by bringing his animals over to old Shinodan farms where he herds and breeds them. His business partner, Terry Scrangle handles trade and bureaucracy, but brings Bullbrim along as an element of charm during negotiations.
The Overwhelmed Noble Son
Elias Koepcke, awestruck and eaten alive, he is desperately trying to learn the ways of “The Seasick Syndicate”, which is what he calls the drunken leaders and councilmen of Shihon. He has lived his whole life as an upstanding citizen in the biggest city in all of Hagen, but is a fish out of water when it comes to the backstabbing ways of Shinodan beureocracy. He often comments that the two cities are only similar when measured by size.
In The Future
All of these entries should be revised once I have a better grasp of the city. Sure, I know that it’s a crazy top-speed powerhouse of culture, but there should also be a deep-rooted cultural contrast that gives the city a sense of nostalgia and change. I also have to understand how the immigrants have diverted from their roots as they spend time in the city. Wrapping my head around how many years the families have lived in the city should also give me an idea of how much they have diverted. I should also try to widen the themes of the elements I introduce. Love, death and drama is missing from these examples.
I think my weaknesses and strengths as an author and writer come forth quite clearly in this post. I will keep improving.