The reason the Forgotten Realms is the most boring Dungeons & Dragons setting has very little to do with its inspirations and a whole lot to do with being fundamentally ill-matched to the circumstances of its publication. The Realms are basically a pastiche of every esoterically horny romantic fantasy setting that every B-list Mercedes Lackey wannabe ever came up with, except to keep it corporate friendly they had to take out all the femdom and dragon-fucking, and that's just not an environment in which the material can thrive. Fans keep talking about how to "save" the Forgotten Realms, but frankly, at this point the only thing that's going to save it is taking it away from Hasbro and giving it to some microscopic indie studio whose lead writer got banned from TikTok for discussing their werewolf mommy kink a little too sincerely.
Yayoi-era polished stone semi-lunar reaping knives, used to cut ears of rice before the apparition of the sickle.
Those kind of stones knives could be found in many cultures around the world. As stated by archeologist OP, what is super interesting is that they are still used in some areas (last pictures is captured from in Chinese video and shows a similar tool made from iron).
Tbh, they look so handy I'd love to own one for foraging during strolls!
HONESTLY rice terraces are one of the most sophisticated and aesthetically beautiful forms of agriculture, if you haven’t seen what they look like, ur missing out
My Biggest and Most Annoying Fictional Horse Pet Peeve
Big Horses are a Very New Thing and they Likely Didn’t Exist in your Historical and/or Fantasy Settings.
You’ve all seen it in every historical piece of media ever produced. Contrary to popular belief, a big black horse with long legs and long flowing mane is not a widespread or even a particularly old type of horse.
THIS IS NOT A MEDIEVAL THING. THIS IS NOT EVEN A BAROQUE THING. THIS IS A NINETEENTH CENTURY CITY CARRIAGE HORSE.
All the love to fancy Friesian horses, but your Roman general or Medieval country heroine just really couldn’t, wouldn’t, and for the sake of my mental health shouldn’t have ridden one either.
Big warmblood horses are a Western European and British invention that started popping up somewhere around 1700s when agriculture and warfare changed, and when rich folks wanted Bigger Faster Stronger Thinner race horses.
The modern warmblood and the big continental draught both had their first real rise to fame in the 1800s when people started driving Fancy Carriages everywhere, and having the Fanciest Carriage started to mean having the Tallest and Thinnest Horses in the town.
Before mechanised weaponry and heavy artillery all horses used to be small and hardy easy-feeders. Kinda like a donkey but easier to steer and with a back that’s not as nasty and straight to sit on.
SOME REAL MEDIEVAL, ROMAN, OTTOMAN, MONGOL, VIKING, GREEK and WHATEVER HISTORICALLY PLAUSIBLE HORSES FOR YOU:
“Primitive”, native breeds all over the globe tend to be only roughly 120-140 cm (12.0 - 13.3 hh) tall at the withers. They all also look a little something like this:
Mongolian native horse (Around 120-130 at the withers, and decendants of the first ever domesticated horses from central Asia. Still virtually unchanged from Chinggis Khan’s cavalry, ancestor to many Chinese, Japanese and Indian horses, and bred for speed racing and surviving outdoors without the help of humans.)
Carpathian native horse / Romanian and Polish Hucul Pony (Around 120-150 at the withers, first mentioned in writing during the 400s as wild mountain ponies, depicted before that in Trajanian Roman sculptures, used by the Austro-Hungarian cavalry in the 19th century)
Middle-Eastern native horse / Caspian Pony (Around 100-130 at the withers, ancestor of the Iranian Asil horse and its decendants, including the famous Arabian and Barb horses, likely been around since Darius I the Great, 5th century BC, and old Persian kings are often depicted riding these midgets)
Baltic Sea native horse / Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Gotland and Nordland horses (Around 120-150 at the withers, descendant of Mongolian horses, used by viking traders in 700-900 AD and taken to Iceland. Later used by the Swedish cavalry in the 30 years war and by the Finnish army in the Second World War, nowadays harness racing and draught horses)
Siberian native horse / Yakutian pony (Around 120-140 at the withers, related to Baltic and Mongolian horses and at least as old, as well-adapted to Siberian climate as woolly mammoths once were, the hairiest horse there is, used in draught work and herding)
Mediterranean native horse / Skyros pony, Sardinian Giara, Monterufolino (Around 100-140 at the Withers, used and bred by ancient Greeks for cavalry use, influenced by African and Eastern breeds, further had its own influence on Celtic breeds via Roman Empire, still used by park ranger officers in Italy)
British Isles’ native horse / various “Mountain & Moorland” pony breeds (Around 100-150 at the withers, brought over and mixed by Celts, Romans and Vikings, base for almost every modern sport pony and the deserving main pony of all your British Medieval settings. Some populations still live as feral herds in the British countryside, used as war mounts, draught horses, mine pit ponies, hunting help and race horses)
I love this so much - and now I know why Tall Lanky Thin horses have a terryfying vibe to them, and the “primitive” native pony-like breeds awake in me only hope and trust.
A great list! I hope you don’t mind my adding ten of my own…
Access to a library where PCs can find a book that will give them a +2 bonus on any one knowledge check should they spend a few hours searching and reading among its tomes (cannot be retried until player has put at least one more rank in that skill)
A painting/statue of a subject of their choice
Access to a restricted area or person (thieves guild fence, head alchemist, the prisons, etc)
10-25% discount on any items in a store
Permission to court/marry a family member without the family taking action against it
Approval to teleport to this (or the NPCs) location at any time, should they need a quick check in or a place to hide. If its a place, the NPC will ensure that the area is stocked with bed rolls, water and basic food, as well as a couple healing items, once a week.
A broken artifact and a rumor of where it can be reforged
A new, trained, animal companion
The friendship, loyalty, and trust of an NPC
A +2 bonus (diplomacy or the like) on any negotiations of rewards to be given from this NPC, or anyone in the NPC’s social network
I’ve got a few of these on my blog as well. I’ve started calling them Community Lists (and I will add that tag to the older lists someday, I promise).
If you’re interested, check out Tabletop Gaming Resources.
10 More things
1. The usage of a scrying well, although they’ll need to bring something from the place, or person, they wish to scry on.
2. Passage out of town before they find you.
3. A Community list of non-monetary rewards!
4. A way back into the towns good graces.
5. A hint of what’s happening in the town. What’s, /really/, happening.
6. A reluctant backstab, and a deeper understanding of just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
7. A better understanding of why the “Villain/s” does what they do. And an inkling, that there are other forces at work.
8. Information of rites you can perform at a place of worship for a boon.
9. Information of rites you can perform at a place of worship to prevent a boon.
10. Safe passage into a secure location, but you’re on your own from there friend.
and because 3 was a joke.
11. An answer to a question you didn’t know you wanted to ask.
[In my current oneshot campaign I am DM’ing, one of my players seems obsessed with pickpocketing the crowd of NPCs at the event, so I decided to create some roll tables for loot he gathers.]
[The contents range from mundane and useless to unique and interesting to actually valuable and/or magical. You never know what a person could be carrying, but worry not, none of it is too uncommon.]
Hi all, Bunny here. I’ve not given up at all this stuff but I need a few days to get my life in order. I’ve got some things lined up for you to look forward to, and I’ll post them as soon as they’re ready. Thanks for your patience!
Hi all, Bunny here. As I mentioned in my introductory post, Talaura is a world built on trade and commerce, where coin is king. I’ve been kind of obsessed with fantasy economics for a while now (see Spice and Wolf, for example) and it was that fascination that led to the creation of the Talaura campaign setting. That, and I’d been playing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, watching the Pirates of the Caribbean films and the rather fantastic BBC series Taboo, which had me kind of obsessed with the golden age of sail.
A quick note: I decided to add some images to today's post, purely for illustrational purposes. Though most of these have been used without permission, I have credited the sources wherever I can. If there are any problems, the pictures will be removed, but I don't see that being especially likely. Hopefully, they should give you a bit more of an idea of what I've got in mind for Talaura.
Each of the main countries of Talaura has its own main industries, forming a symbiotic circle among them. Imports and exports are incredibly important, and international trade is monitored carefully from bureaus in Jafleaye, Tesman and Skoiasu.
• Jafleaye’s economy is booming at the time the campaign takes place. Its vast fields and pastures make it incredibly rich for farmlands, both for growing staple crops and rearing livestock, but many of the farms in Jafleaye make do with subsistence farming. The temperate climate and vast, open plains make Jafleaye perfect for farmers and landowners, and the quickly-growing population (fueled by immigration from Tesman, Skoiasu and Shabar) brings revenue to primary food production.
Image credits: Darren Alff
Jafleaye is split up into a huge number of administrative units, governed by key landowners who are organised into a strict hierarchy of rights and responsibilities. These landowners are responsible for collecting taxes from their own district and for then paying taxes to the central government. This system lends itself to corruption and embezzlement and many criticisms have been levied at the Council of Eleven, as well as entreaties to Lucrezia.
Of course, the most key part of Jafleaye's economy is its numerous mercantile companies governing international trade. Jafleaye has become very wealthy simply by administrating and monitoring the wealth that flows through their borders. Shipwrights and seafarers are key contributors to Jafleaye's economy.
Image credit: Schooner man
In addition to these, Jafleaye enjoys a position of esteem, being a beacon to academics and scholars from all across the continent. Its numerous universities and academies are like candles to the moths that are the intellectuals of Talaura, flocking to the urban centres of Jafleaye in droves. This in turn helps fuel the economy, as investment and invention is inevitable when intellectuals are involved. Oh my god that was a lot of alliteration.
Image credit: The Telegraph
Though there are many mints in Jafleaye, coinage is tightly-controlled by the central government in Centrico. Most coins feature a relief of the sphinx Lucrezia on the obverse. Jafleaye coins are used in international trade as well, and are popular even among other nations because of the high quantity of precious metal used in their construction as well as the hope that the Jafleaye government will ensure they don't lose value. There is the belief that, even if Jafleaye falls, the coins will remain in use due simply to convenience and faith in the currency.
• Tesman’s abundant natural resources mean that exports to the south commonly include lumber, masonry stone and metal ores. The centaurs and dwarves are sturdy and hardworking, making them exceptional craftsmen and labourers. Further north, straying into the taiga and tundra, centaur clans make their living as scouts, cartographers, trailblazers, trappers, trackers and hunters, bringing beautiful furs with them to market.
Image credits: Oddizzi
Though the central government at Kaura keeps census records for all the clans of Tesman, these groups are largely autonomous and taxation of goods is typically kept to a minimum, opting instead to tax a certain number of hours, days or weeks of labour from the capable men and women of each clan.
Trade within Tesman typically occurs with a barter system. Resources are generally shared within clans, but between clans, the concept of relative and perceived value is understood, and members of one clan will happily give up things that they don't need in exchange for things that they do, even if they wouldn't consider it a fair trade under other circumstances.
Image credit: Weldy Taiga Biome
Tesman has a curious and unique kind of currency which does not see everyday use as the gold and silver coins of Jafleaye do. Metal is stored in ingots, each one representing a weight of roughly 20lbs, and from each of these is stamped a 2oz medallion known as a "Tithe coin". These coins each bear serial numbers and are representative of specific resources, but because of this (and as it is not backed up by a reserve currency) the buying power of the tithe coins are directly linked to the value of the metal ingots they reflect. As a result, they are unpopular except among those who deal specifically in raw materials. Tithe coins can also be made of wood or stone, and each is considered proof of the quality of the material it came from.
Image credits: St. Louis University High
• Shabar, despite the other nations' quickness to caricature them as uncivilised, comprises a rich and vibrant network of trading posts and caravans, through which fabrics, jewellery and labour will flow. Textiles and artwork from Shabar are highly valued outside of Shabar, particularly among the elite of Jafleaye, though rugs and covers are also prized for their weatherproofing in Tesman.
Image source: Wikimedia commons
The animals kept by Shabari warbands are by far their most valuable possessions. Alpacas are reared for wool, meat, leather and as pack animals; Shabari horses are considered the best in Talaura, far more durable, faster and powerful than any other; Shabari dogs are known to be highly-intelligent and easy to train, but powerful and intimidating, making them an excellent choice for guard or hunting dogs in Tesman and Jafleaye.
Image credit: Wikipaedia
Image credit: Tim Flach
Shabar's primary currency comes from black slate pieces, hewn into squares and marked either with carving or with white chalk or paint. These typically act to supplement trade between warbands, rather than the primary mode of wealth transfer. Most trade is done with bartering, these slate coins only factoring in for either small transactions or when the two sides are imbalanced and an agreement is difficult to reach.
Outside of Shabar, orcs often have difficulty integrating into society, but can find work in construction, mining, logging and other manual labour due to their immense statures.
• Skoiasu’s tropical climate and plentiful wetlands result in an incredibly verdant nation. Drained marshes are used for pastures or fields for growing crops, but the wet climate also lends itself to the growing of rice and other paddy crops.
Image credit: Trekearth user anhnguyen
In addition to staple crops, Skoiasu also produces hardwoods, dyes and other luxury items such as sugar. Skoiasu's trade with Tesman (via Jafleaye, primarily) involves the export of various dried plants and derived substances for use in Tesman's shamanic rituals.
Like Jafleaye, Skoiasu also has a proud tradition of academia which dates back to its founding and the establishment of the first Ivory Tower.
Image credit: Vincent Ko Hon Chiu
• The Aspuan archipelago is also rich in natural resources, mostly precious metals and gems, and on the mainland, traditional merfolk artwork fetches very high prices. Historically, items such as conch shells, saltwater pearls and pieces of coral had been used by the merfolk as currency and these continue to be crucial parts of the undersea economy.
Image credit: David Doubilet, National Geographic
Above the waves, Aspuan craftsmen work their natural resources into beautiful jewelry, seen as representative of the country's fabled paradisiacal nature.
Merfolk in the Aspuan will serve Jafleaye merchants as navigators, guides and salvagers, being intimately familiar with the world beneath the waves, though this often leads to their being accused of intentional scuppering of merchant vessels.
Image credit: CNN
Hi all, Bunny here. So for Worldbuilding June I decided to take a look at some of the challenges or prompts other people have been posting. To that end, I decided to have a quick go at @ladytabletop‘s prompt for today. It’s something I’ve touched upon in a couple of previous posts, but I thought it could do with its own post.
Because of the diversity of peoples and cultures across Talaura, it’s inevitable that prejudices and stereotypes would arise. In general, these are not intended to be cruel or disparaging. Insensitivity is more often the cause of discomfort or anger than malice.
• Jafleaye’s history has lead to the caricature that the business-savvy humans, dwarves and halflings are obsessively bureaucratic and numerate. The cliché is that Jafleaye’s citizens are constantly counting their coins and writing things down, inundated with information and unable to see the important features of the world. From the outside, a more positive picture is painted of the culture in general, and the wealth of Jafleaye is often imagined as a huge treasure hoard, perhaps even an entire city constructed out of gold.
• Tesman’s community-mindedness leads many to joke about their extreme friendliness and politeness (imagine them like the Canadians of this setting, but without the hockey). They are seen as almost universally gregarious and accommodating, sometimes to the point of naïvité. Charity, hospitality and patience are strained to the point of ridiculity in the stereotypes, leading some to believe that many in Tesman will simply roll over when entreated.
The dwarves of Talaura, most common in Tesman and Jafleaye, are stereotyped as obsessive and fixated, never moving from one task until it is complete, no matter the distractions around them.
• The more positive stereotypes of Shabar will simply describe them as “proud” and “proactive”. However, the social structure and history of the country mean that these are often extrapolated to mean “vain” and “violent”. In addition, their status as beast masters leads many to suggest that the orcs are perhaps more at home with animals than other people. This stereotype is inverted by the Shabari people themselves, however, who view the weak as less worthy, historically as not even being people.
Shabari art and crafts are incredibly detailed and intricate, which is seen as perhaps incongruous with their warlike nature but not dismissed in any case, as merchant caravans between Shabar and Tesman or Jafleaye often come back laden with riches.
• At best, the merfolk are seen as scavengers and opportunists. The lionfish in the Aspuan often work as salvagers, but charge a great fee and claim to get the first choice of any loot, retaining the right to refuse to hand over whatever goods catch their interests. This is because of the philosophical belief among merfolk that passing The Veil (the surface of the water, seen as a divine boundary between the sky and the sea) washes clean properties such as ownership.
The sharkfolk bear the least distorted stereotype, and do the least to try and discourage it. They famously prefer solitude to the company of others and are viewed by many as barely more than animals. Again, though, sharkfolk don’t care about the stereotypes put on them by other people, largely keeping to themselves.
• The archetypal elves are aloof and disinterested. Seated in their ivory towers, Skoia elves are considered to have little awareness of the world around them. A (possibly apocryphal) story exists of an entire city at the base of a tower being destroyed with the elves remaining entirely oblivious to this day. The elves who don’t sequester themselves in archives or universities are generally thought to be cold, critical and scrutinous, with little care for the passion of any of the “younger” races.
Hey all, Bunny here. Gonna be honest, this isn’t something I’ve thought overly much about. I understand that it can play a huge part in shaping the world, the attitudes of its people and so on, but it’s not something I tend to fixate on. With that having been said, there are a few notes that I’ve made on this topic.
• The most interesting aspect of gender in Jafleaye is the primogenitrix law of inheritance. If a person dies intestate, the majority of their assets are expected to be passed onto the eldest daughter. Sons are expected to make their own fortune, not to leech off what their fathers left behind; while daughters are expected to use their money to make savvy investments and ultimately further their own position in society. The divide in Jafleaye is not between men and women but between classes, the haves and have-nots, though their generally liberal attitude towards “new blood” means that upwards mobility is common, more often among women who have the resources to invest and are often educated on the same level as (if not better than) men.
Homosexuality is not an issue within Jafleaye, where same-sex marriages are heard-of (if not exactly common). The divide between public and private spheres is well-understood, and even the most bigoted members of the upper echelons of society operate on a “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” policy. Although ostensibly illegal in Jafleaye, prostitution is tacitly condoned and escorts and concubines, while not explicitly referred to as such, are common sights in wealthy households.
In addition, upper-class women are often allowed to have more than one partner (though polyandry is not legal), since this reflects their diverse economic interests, and well-educated, worldly women are understood to have lavish parties with many guests that escalate into something more risqué though these are not discussed outside. Upper-class men, however, are expected to remain faithful to their partners, particularly if those partners are their patrons or benefactors as well.
• Shabar’s culture being primarily dominated by displays of strength means that sexism is an unfortunate side effect of institutionalised prejudice rather than being explicit. Rather than what you are, the Shabari will judge you based on what you do, but sexism is still prevalent, particularly among non-orc races. Female orcs are typically looked down upon until they prove themselves, unlike male orcs who are respected until they do something to lose that respect, and the men of other races are accepted more readily into Shabari warbands than the women are, though again, anyone who can prove themselves capable is likely to gain trust; and anyone who betrays that trust will be ostracised. The orcs have a transient idea of gender identity, and many choose to take on the names or epithets of the ancestors they respect the most, regardless of (perceived or actual) gender.
The Voivod of a warband will often take several partners (willingly or by force), as is understood to be their right. Other members of the warband are free to choose partners for themselves, but the decisions of the Voivod will supersede the decisions of lower individuals.
Historically, both elves and humans had been kept as slaves by Shabari warbands for multiple purposes, but sometimes ended up marrying into the clan to achieve full status. Again, this often was not the choice of the slave, though mutual affection between these sorts of couples were not unprecedented. In addition, a Voivod may have kept many slaves in a personal harem, typically women and young men, partly for their own pleasure and partly as a further expression of power. Recently, slavery has been outlawed by four of the five principal countries of Talaura and Shabar, while not involved in that decision-making process, has slowly been attempting to phase out the practice or risk embargo from the other nations (or worse).
• Mothers in Tesman enjoy far more rights than fathers, though this does not necessarily extend to women in general. It is often difficult to prove which member of the clan sired the child, but the mother is not so easily called into question, making her the primary caretaker (though all members of the clan are expected to contribute to the child’s upbringing) and also giving her name to the child (Tesman names consist of three parts: a given name, chosen most often by the mother but sometimes put to a vote by the whole clan; a matronymic, being identical to the mother’s given name apart from necessary inflectional differences, since the Tesman language Pwoðgá has a complex grammatical gender system; and a surname, derived from the clan).
The communal nature of life in Tesman means that homosexuality is not only accepted but expected to some degree. Fidelity and exclusivity are practically anathema among these clans, who are expected to be open and intimate with one another (to a degree that some might find disturbing, perhaps even bordering on incestuous). Promiscuity is not frowned upon, though an individual is considered at fault if their actions have caused the upset of another and this extends to sexual activities.
In addition to this, there exists a particular caste of exclusively-female shamans and seers, known collectively as Vǫlur (singular Vǫlva). Though male spirit-talkers do exist, men cannot become Vǫlur, who enjoy a privileged position in society, commanding great respect from all members of their clans as well as in other clans. Potential Vǫlur are selected at a young age and trained in a number of disciplines including herbalism and traditional medicine, augury, spirit-talking and so on. It is, in fact, a crime punishable by exile for a man to be found practising these specific disciplines, seen to be intruding on the realm of exclusively female magic.
• Some (but not all) lionfish merfolk are sequentially hermaphroditic, beginning their lives as males and metamorphosing into females as the needs of their community vary. These societies are typically matriarchal, with men fulfilling roles associated with manual labour, hunting and fishing, combat and so on; whereas women will be leaders, civil servants and business owners, for example. Primary education typically covers all of these topics (in addition to history, science, the arts, arithmetic and so on), since it is impossible to tell which of the young boys in the school might grow into young women. As time has gone on, this has led to an increasingly blurred distinction between male and female in the minds of the Aspuan merfolk in particular, and more recently the metamorphosis has been less to do with actual physicality and more to do with psychology, being an active decision on the part of many; and down to what feels right or natural for many more. Even the merfolk whose biology remains consistent throughout life might find themselves taking up a more typically “masculine” or “feminine” roles, though this psychological transition is generally more common among those born male than female.
Among the more solitary sharkfolk, mothers are expected to raise their young the bare minimum, then leave their broods to fend for themselves. Sharkfolk are often seen as much more “feral” than their brightly-coloured cousins, considered barbaric or brutal by many, and they often have trouble integrating with society. Sharkfolk don’t like interacting with other races. In fact, they rarely like interacting with other sharkfolk, only coming together to mate and beyond that, finding the company of others tiresome and unnecessary. Sharkfolk rarely form communities with one another and as such, there is no
The people and cultures of Talaura are diverse, and the homes they build for themselves reflect this diversity. In Shabar, homes and dwellings are often ephemeral, and are constructed of sparse wooden struts and thick textiles, often decorated in bright colours. Usually, a fire pit will sit in the centre of larger homes, but in places with smaller houses, the fire will lie outside. Houses are built primarily to keep off the sun during the day, and to keep out the wind at night, as Shabar experiences bitter, cruel nights. The thick textiles also help defend against sandstorms, which are common in Shabar. Often, the woollen coverings are dyed bright colours, with patterns to reflect the people’s proud heritage. The animals of Shabar are hardy, but the more sentimental of the beastmasters will have their trusty hounds and horses share their dwellings. Often, these yurts will be made large enough to accommodate horses anyway, since centaurs are not considered second to the humanoid races of Talaura. More permanent Shabari dwellings are low, long, thatched buildings dominated by tables for the sharing of meals, and although they will often bear tapestries on their outside walls (particularly above their entrances), the outside is normally constructed of what lumber can be gathered, packed together with clay and stone. Over time, the clay will be baked by the sun, and more layers can be applied to reinforce the building. Often this is done in a symbolic, ceremonial fashion.
The longhouses of Shabar reflect similar dwellings in Tesman, though the forests and woods of Tesman make lumber a far more common commodity. Similar to in Shabar, these longhouses are built to endure the elements, but given the increased rainfall in Tesman, this means not only the wind but also the rain and snow. The foundations of Tesman longhouses are typically dug out, so that the main room is partially underground. This gives the houses a smaller above-ground profile, making them sturdier and more capable of withstanding the elements. Like in Shabar, permanent settlements are uncommon, though less so in Tesman, where large communities will often establish villages or even towns at the centre of their hunting grounds. In addition, the dwarves of Tesman are skilled at stonework and will construct enormous fortresses and temples, mostly for their own benefit. Dwarves seek to blend form and function in their work, and decorate their stone and steel with elegant spiral patterns (think Celtic knots, particularly Celtic crosses) and the image of their patron, The Nibelung. Dwarfish crafts reflects their innate desire to recycle, to make the most of what they have, and architecture will often have a patchwork quality to it, with some buildings looking like a strange Frankenfortress, incorporating wholesale the surviving elements from other, less successful projects. Dwarfish architecture is prevalent in Kaura, the capital of Tesman, which is one of the largest permanent settlements on Talaura. Situated within the mountains, Kaura is a city of learning and of industry, where schools and workshops blend seamlessly together.
Jafleaye’s architecture represents the emphasis they place on wealth. Though in the city slums, many small buildings will be crammed together, blocking out the sun as they lean over, threatening to swallow whole any unwary traveller, the façades of these houses are beautifully extravagant (or possibly gaudy), with incredible baroque filigree, polished marble and inlays of gold. The most famous example of this is the building known as The Aerie, the seat of the sphinx Lucrezia and the Council of Eleven. The spires of the Aerie thrust heavenwards, gleaming proudly in the sunlight. They tower over the rest of Centrico, like the gnomon of a tremendous sundial. Not initially built to accommodate a sphinx, many alterations were made over the years, such as the addition of many balconies from which Lucrezia may take flight. At the base of the Aerie are a series of courthouses and legal buildings, all decorated with the same golden filigree, and sprawling in front of them are the botanical gardens.
Many concessions have been made by the elite and urbanites of Jafleaye to make more rural people feel at home and as such, there are many plazas, particularly in Centrico, featuring fountains, ponds and public gardens. These are ostensibly public, but there is an unspoken contempt for those not of a certain calibre attempting to access them. The waterfronts in Centrico are also important, and punts and barges are used to navigate the docks, which is often much quicker than going through the town. Artificial waterways and sewer systems empty out into the harbour, and Jafleaye is very dedicated to infrastructure and public services, taking particular care to make sure that roads are upkept.
Skoiasu’s primary architectural style is simple: wooden houses on stilts. This is all that can really be done with the swampy land. Sometimes the larger jungle trees are used for supports, and rope bridges slung between treehouses can often be seen overhead as canoes drift through the shallow waters. The few larger settlements all bear towers, mostly out of tradition. The capital of Skoiasu bears the famed Ivory Tower (not actually made out of ivory), which features an enormous observatory, library and chronicle of the history of Talaura, of which elves consider themselves the guardians. The other towers are similarly places of knowledge, and have varying degrees of engagement with the people milling about at the base, whose everyday lives very detached from the scholarly learning. The cities built up around the towers are very prosperous, and unlike in the rest of Skoiasu, these cities are often constructed of brick and mortar, using the example of the mangrove swamps to construct buttresses. The marshes are typically drained into underground cisterns in these cities, with the water subsequently used for public sanitation and irrigation of the surrounding areas.
The architecture in the Aspuan is similar to that in Skoiasu, largely consisting of wooden huts on stilts, at least above the water. Beneath the water, the merfolk have their own civilisation, partially hewn out of the rock and partially existing in naturally-formed caves. Ceilings and floors are less important to an amphibious people, but they appreciate freestanding columns, many of which are seeded with coral or at least carved, either with historical murals or simple geometric patterns. These columns often outline “boulevards” in merfolk settlements, though given the three-dimensional nature of their living space, this is largely meaningless. An important part of merfolk life is the bridge between the surface and the depths, and they make use of buoys and pontoons to this end, anchoring them with many lines. Merfolk like to decorate their buildings and especially their buoys with ribbons, flags and streamers, which dance with the currents, not unlike the fins that Lionfish Merfolk bear.
So what are the most important events in the history of Talaura? Surprisingly, this is something I’ve not given overly much thought. I’ve more been thinking about the current political and cultural climate rather than thinking about how it came to be this way. At some point, I want to have a complete and detailed history for the continent (and naturally, the rest of the world) so now seems like as good a time as any to jot down some quick ideas.
The earliest important event was the migration of Orcs from the far west. This represented the first settling of both orcs and elves on the continent and in many ways signified the foundation of what would ultimately become Shabar. Various conflicts occurred between warbands and their leaders, but most of these never escalated beyond bloody skirmishes. Shabar has a tradition of ancestor-worship and hero-worship, and many of their ancestors’ great deeds are passed down in song and story. The most famous figure of their pantheon is the warrior queen Mahshid. She had a famous reputation for both temperance and brutality, resorting to combat only when diplomacy had failed -- and as such, pulling no punches. The lands of her conquests spread far to the west, and many in Shabar consider her the founder of their nation.
Secondly, the emancipation of many of the elves and the establishment of the first of many ivory towers in Skoiasu. Because elves live so much longer than orcs, a single slave would be “handed down” through generations among a single warband, but this meant that they had far more knowledge of the orcs’ history than the orcs themselves. In this way, they often functioned as historians already at this stage, and were often placed in charge of education of the younger generations (not in practical matters, but at least in history and culture). Although they rarely had the chance to exchange information with other tribes, the elves would take whatever opportunities they could to share their knowledge and wisdom, usually when the warbands stopped for trading or celebrations. Finally, a single elf named Chanvatey used her guile to escape from slavery, bringing with her an entourage of other slaves. Fleeing across the mountains, they established a settlement in what would later become Skoiasu, and began to keep written records of what they had learned. The methods for Chanvatey’s escape are shrouded in mystery. Some say she used knowledge of alchemy to concoct a sleeping potion; others say it was simply her charm and good grace with which she persuaded others; while more still suggest she used some kind of dark magic. Whatever the cause, this settlement established by her and her peers would eventually become the capital of Skoiasu and the first of many such archives throughout the country.
Thirdly, the first contact with the Aspuan. A chain of islands forms stepping stones between Skoiasu and the main archipelagos of the Aspuan, and the shallow-bottomed boats that had been historically used for navigation in Skoiasu’s rivers and marshes were well-suited to navigating these waters. As the Skoia people started to explore further southwards, perhaps driven by the elves’ curiosity and thirst for knowledge, they soon came in contact with the merfolk of the sea and, while the settlers were keen to get to know them, the merfolk were intially distrustful. The two groups largely kept to themselves except for trading and so on. Even still, the merfolk largely don’t consider themselves citizens of the nation of The Aspuan, claiming their own right to all the waters around the islands and seeking recognition as their own state.
Fourthly, the secession of Jafleaye from Tesman. The wealthiest landowners of Tesman, south of the mountain range that splits Talaura in two. Rather than the family-centred sensibilities of Tesman, the men of the newly-established Jafleaye were far more individualistic, and this was reflected in the constitution of the state, which focused less on the rights and responsibilities of the clan and more on the single person.
These people then established a central bureaucracy who sought to categorise and classify things. They drew out the boundaries of their own nation, staking a claim to their land, and subdivided it into smaller administrative areas, making each one roughly equivalent to a city-state, ruled over by a central governing body from Centrico. It was the scholars, cartographers and gerrymanderers of Jafleaye that transcribed the first maps of Talaura, and even overstepped their bounds in making official statements of the hunting grounds of Tesman clans and Shabari warbands. Even still, the people of Jafleaye are caricatured as obsessively bureaucratic, taking solace in meaningless numbers and statistics while the other races of Talaura (as they perceive themselves, at least), value action over thought.
Most recently, a cold war has been brewing between Shabar and Skoiasu. Because of its arid climate, pastures and arable land are very scarce in Shabar and the mountain range that separates them from Skoiasu, which once formed a convenient natural boundary, is seen by many of the Voivode as a wall keeping them from expanding. An area of contested land lies south of the mountain range and, while this conflict has not escalated into violence, tensions bubble to the surface between Shabar and Skoiasu, while Tesman and Jafleaye strive to keep the peace and ensure open dialogue and fair negotiations.
As detailed in my previous post, Talaura is a world of diverse nations and peoples. I really dislike the traditional tabletop gaming trope of having peoples divided up exclusively based on race and instead, in Talaura, I use national identity to define attitudes and personalities. Each country has its own distinct set of sensibilities. This world features the core Pathfinder races (Humans, Elves, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Halflings, Gnomes and Dwarves) as well as Centaurs, Merfolk and Orcs (racial details to follow in a later update, for those that wish to make their own Pathfinder characters).
• Centaurs are a typically gregarious people. Strong-willed and amiable, they cleave very closely to one another, and are willing to allow anyone into their community provided that they pull their weight.
• Merfolk are a curious race, simultaneously xenophobic and tight-knit, they form very solid communities among themselves but reject outsiders. Because of their mistrust for other races, merfolk are equally discriminated against, leading to an inevitable feedback loop. Some merfolk make their names as salvagers or navigators, but this often leads to them being characterised as scavengers and opportunists. Some merfolk will try to socialise with other races beyond simple commerce, but it’s rare for any to integrate into a community of non-merfolk.
There are two sub-species of merfolk: the vibrant and brightly-coloured “Lionfish” and the sturdy and vicious Sharks. Lionfish have vivid fins that flow behind them like streamers and they can secrete a potent venom. Sharks are larger and more physically imposing, have thicker skin and generally prefer solitude.
• Talaura’s Orcs are a fierce, proud and warlike people. They admire strength more than anything else, and Shabar, whose population is predominantly orcs, is organised around local warlords and their expressions of powers. Physically imposing, the more patient orcs might find work in other nations as labourers, being well-suited to logging, mining and construction, but this is not for everyone and other people are often scared of them due to their reputation for brutality and barbarism.
• Jafleaye, characterised by its mercantile interests, values any who is willing to expand the economy. The people of Jafleaye care primarily about their bottom line and investments. Other races of Talaura caricature the Jafleaye people as being obsessively bureaucratic, and this isn’t too far removed from the truth. Jafleaye’s government is oligarchic, ruled by a council of eleven members presided over by the Sphinx Lucrezia, whose composure and temperance is valued and respected by all. But before anything can be done in the country, proper legislation and paperwork must be filed. Outside of the city, Jafleaye is divided into a number of partially-autonomous city-states.
Jafleaye’s population is diverse, and all races are represented roughly equally within its borders, with a few exceptions: the population of humans here is far higher than any other race, and merfolk far lower.
• Tesman’s high population of centaurs means that the herd is the central family unit. Tesman’s central government at Kaura has only limited influence over the movement and actions of these clans. Clans will co-operate with one another, but take great pride in their own distinct lands. These borders, however, are often rather nebulous and difficult for organisations to pinpoint.
In the north, many Tesman communities make their livings as trackers, trappers and scouts, whereas those further south will have less nomadic, more permanent occupations as loggers, miners and so on. Because community is such a pervasive feature in the Tesman lifestyle, children will often be raised by the whole herd rather than by just two parents. Paternity is sometimes entirely disregarded, with the mother and her clan being the two most important aspects of a child’s heritage. Adoption and fostering are common among Tesman clans, and the adults of a clan are expected to treat any fosterling as one of their own.
Tesman’s religion focuses on animism and shamanism, with religious leaders communing with the spirits (also referred to as “Petty gods”) that are believed to dwell in plants, animals, streams, mountains, winds, and even more abstract things such as illnesses. Tesman’s pantheon contains a few named deities such as Znou, the god of second chances, but these are largely less significant on a day-to-day basis than the petty gods are.
Tesman’s population is predominantly centaurs, dwarves and orcs (in this order), with some humans, halflings, elves and so on. There are almost no merfolk in Tesman, its frigid, arid climate being inhospitable to them.
• Shabar lies to the west of Jafleaye and is characterised by rough terrain and rough people. Founded by orcs on a mass exodus from their ancestral homeland, they also brought with them the ancestors of all the elves now native to Talaura as slaves. Most settlements are temporary, trading posts and pastures. Shabari orcs train horses and hunting dogs as well as hawks, and keep alpacas for wool, meat and as pack animals. Often considered uncivilised by other cultures, nothing could be further from the truth; Shabar has a rich oral tradition with tales of great heroes and warriors passed down through story and song. Weaving and other textiles from alpaca wool are also highly-prized items in foreign markets, with Shabar tapestries and rugs considered some of the finest in all of Talaura.
Shabar’s population is mostly orcs and centaurs, as well as any humans that are strong enough to keep up with the warbands. Some elves are kept as slaves, but this practice has generally died out. Merfolk find Shabar’s climate inhospitable and the lack of accessible water sources mean it’s too far inland for them to approach.
• Skoiasu’s dense jungles and marshes make it very poor land for building, meaning that there are few permanent settlements. The most prominent are built around the fortresses, observatories and archives of the elves who consider themselves Talaura’s chroniclers. Seen as aloof and detached by other races, the long-lived elves find it difficult to connect with the younger, more impulsive and “childish” races of Talaura, instead preferring to keep to themselves. Other members of the Skoia community are rarely admitted into the archives, instead milling about at the feet of the ivory towers, going about their day-to-day lives as the elves sequester themselves away.
Skoiasu’s shallow and tropical waters are also habitable to merfolk. Skoia merfolk are often more sociable than Aspuan merfolk, as they cannot avoid being forced onto land.
• Far out to the southeast, away from the mainland of Talaura is The Aspuan (the name of both the sea and the country comprising countless small islands). Above the water, many groups of humans, elves, gnomes and halflings make their homes, the pleasant climate and clear waters being a very relaxing atmosphere and leading to a rather carefree lifestyle. Below the water, the landscape is defined by coral reefs, caves and tunnels throughout igneous rocks, massive trenches and shallow lagoons. The merfolk typically spend most of their lives in the water, only surfacing to perform minimal trade with land-dwellers, or using wooden pontoons for drying and treating materials such as linen and fish. The Aspuan is thought of as a kind of paradise by many living on the more temperate mainland, with its abundant resources and gorgeous views; but the reality is that many Aspuan citizens live in poverty, subsistence farming on what little arable land there is and relying on the generosity of the capricious sea to provide them with fish. International trade helps to alleviate some of these issues, as The Aspuan is rich in precious metals and gemstones, and home to many craftsmen and artesans who can work them.
Hi, all, Bunny here. A quick overview of the geography of Talaura (what I have planned for it, at least). Thanks to Artifexian, I’ve been thinking about the physical formation of my planet and Talaura’s place on it, but what I find more interesting is political and social geography. Below is a map showing a rough outline of Talaura, with some handy notes and details following.
The planet on which Talaura is situated (name still pending; most of the names will probably be changed later on to ensure internal consistency) will be roughly earth-like in terms of size, climate, surface gravity and so on. Many geographical features, landmarks and settlements have already been created for the purposes of the games I’ve been running, but there’s still a lot of stuff that needs filling in.
I know it isn’t a particularly pretty map but it shows the sort of thing I have in mind. Each of the cultures on Talaura is influenced by one or more real-world cultures and this carries over into their physical geography as well. I don’t really know what sort of scale I’m working with (I’ll have to go through all of Artifexian’s videos again to work it out) but the lines of latitude give a rough idea of what we’re working with. The three stars represent the capital cities of Tesman, Jafleaye and Skoiasu, respectively (Shabar lacks a permanent capital city).
• The capital of Tesman is Kaura, in the highlands. A great source of geothermal energy and metal ore, Kaura represents one of few permanent settlements in Tesman, and a huge industrial powerhouse with ready access to Jafleaye for the purposes of trade.
• Centrico is the capital of Jafleaye, situated on the shores of the inland sea, its shipyards, docks and trading posts are a sight to behold. This is also the seat of the Sphinx Lucrezia and the Council of Eleven, the leaders of the nation.
• Finally, in Skoiasu is The Ivory Tower, built up around the great observatory and archive of the Elven Lords.
The indicated mountain range and the inland sea provide useful natural boundaries between three of the key nations, though Shabar’s lack of access to the sea is a cause for some upset.
I’ve not drawn the rivers or lakes on yet, but once I work out the watersheds properly I can start adding them. This is just a rough idea anyway, so the specific layout and designs of the different nations might change further down the line.
I want to add a whole load of islands to the eastern coast as well as along the north of Tesman (though these will form a continuous land when the sea freezes). This is what the area bounded by the dotted blue line represents.
Importantly, because of the organisation of both Tesman and Shabar into smaller, largely autonomous administrative units, the western border of both nations is kind of ambiguous. In addition, there is a large stretch of land, far out to the west, which acts as a significant barrier to passage. I plan on adding more continents and countries to the world at some point and indeed, I have a fair few ideas for things that I could do cough centaur samurai cough, but I’d like to work on Talaura before I do any of the others. I do want there to be smaller, independent countries within Talaura that aren’t part of the Big Five but I don’t really know where they’d go and I’ve not
I think about map projections a lot. I feel the need to mention that, because this is a map of Talaura on a flat plane, some distortion is inevitable. I plan on making some more maps further down the line (might even work on them later today) of both different projections and different scales to show each individual nation in more detail.
Good evening, everyone. My name’s Bunny and I decided to give this World Building June thing a go this year. I’ve got a setting I’ve been working on for a while now but that’s got kind of stagnant recently, so what better time or place to attempt to revitalise it than through writing prompts and with feedback from the Tumblr community?
Talaura is a custom campaign setting I’m working on for Pathfinder, one that I’ve used for a couple of games already but that needs more details. Ultimately, I’d quite like to compile everything into a book and publish it (along with new character classes, races, spells, magic items...). It’s a world built on trade and commerce, where coin is king. Talaura is the name of the continent where most of the shenanigans occur, and it comprises four principal nation states as well as a number of smaller autonomous kingdoms. In addition, although not part of the mainland, trade occurs between the nations of Talaura and the islands of the Aspuan Sea, which form their own country.
The other four main countries are:
• Jafleaye, the smallest and youngest of the nations, characterised by rolling hills and pleasant fields, ruled by a council of the wealthiest landowners. Jafleaye lacks many major industries of its own, but is a beacon of scholarship and learning thanks to its many universities and research facilities. In addition, this coastal nation acts as a gateway between many of the other nations, so that trade cannot be done except through Jafleaye, making it one of the richest and fastest-growing nations on Talaura.
• Tesman, to the north, is a land of vast forests and mountains. This is the home of the centaurs, a gregarious and affable race whose religion focuses on animism and shamanism, communing with the spirits that are believed to dwell within all things. Tesman is rich in natural resources, and the centaurs are hard workers, so one can expect lumber, furs, stone and metal ores from Tesman.
• Skoiasu is the tropical southern land of verdant fields, thick jungles and marshes. Skoiasu is where the elves make their home and from their ivory towers, chart the movements of the heavens. Chroniclers and historians, the elves often seem aloof to others because of their longer lifespans.
• Shabar is a western nation, in the rain shadow of Talaura’s main mountain range. Arid and dry, this desert nation is home to the orcs, a proud, nomadic people. Shabari horses and hunting dogs are said to be the best in the world. Shabari hunting clans are governed by might, with each group ruled by a Voivode, only to be unseated by his or her death.
• Finally, out in the east is The Aspuan, home to the curious and suspicious merfolk. These fishlike people live under the sea but can survive out of water. Distrusted by and distrustful of land-dwellers, they prefer to keep to themselves, but will co-operate with other races when it comes to navigation or salvaging. The islands of The Aspuan are populated by a simply but sturdy population, comprising mainly humans and elves.
I’m going to try and post something new on this blog every day, so if you have any ideas or questions you’d like me to answer, feel free to give me a shout. That’s all for now, though!
- Bun.
