Know, O Princess

Idea, inspiration, and worldbuilding blog for a writing project called Know, O Princess and its setting. Main blog is @that-dinopunk-guy. Current (probably placeholder) avatar and header are by Frank Frazetta.

[know-o-princess]

Obligatory pinned introductory post

What's up Tumbos, this is my idea/inspiration/worldbuilding blog for a story I'm planning to write, wherein I will be posting...ideas, inspiration, and worldbuilding. For a story I'm planning to write.

What's the story?

It's a sword and sorcery dinopunk story called, get this, Know, O Princess, in which a mercenary recounts her eventful life story to a curious princess during a long journey.

The fuck does "sword and sorcery dinopunk" mean, you stupid nerd?

Imagine Conan the Barbarian, with dinosaurs. Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age is actually a pretty big influence on the setting, and the story's title is itself inspired by the opening to the first published Conan story, The Phoenix on the Sword:

Know, o prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars—Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that bordered on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold. But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen- eyed,sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.

...Only gender swapped because one of the main characters is a princess.

Will you be posting a lot of art for it here then?

Probably not, because I don't enjoy drawing as much as I used to and I'm much more interested in writing. There will be maps though. You can't have a fantasy setting without maps.

Okay that's all for now I may come back and edit this post later or I might not who cares bye.

[know-o-princess]

Oh I am absolutely running with the idea of whale-sized octopus-krakens for Erud's seas.

Illustration by Julius Csotonyi.

[know-o-princess]

Here's an idea I just had, as long as I'm including impossibly large arthropods in Erud maybe some culture keeps cat-sized jumping spiders as pets.

Cat-like personalities, too.

[prokopetz]

Not only is having worldbuilding threads that are mentioned once and never picked up again not a flaw in fantasy media, I'd go so far as to say that a lack of such threads is a flaw. If everything ties up in one neat little package, you're missing the point of fantasy worldbuilding. Like, don't do it on every page, or your setting is going to be an overstuffed mess, but every so often you are not only allowed but obligated to casually drop some utterly batshit worldbuilding detail and then just never follow up on it. Maybe some rocks are sentient. You don't owe your reader an explanation. Just fucking go for it.

[technofeudalism]

god forbid 5000 year old girls do anything

[flamei7]

[postpoeticparadox]

holy shit bronze age pro sheep bone gamer girl

[roach-works]

this is hilarious but also im gonna cry like this teenage gamer died and they buried her with her high score. no one took back the pot or divided it up because no one would play against her again. her family and friends buried her with her wins. im crying

[that-dinopunk-guy]

I think if I got the chance to conceptualize my own line of action figures there wouldn't be like specific characters, it would just be nude (or as close to nude as we could get) base bodies in varying skin tones and with multiple interchangeable heads that people could then customize with separate themed accessory sets to make their own little guys to make up adventures with. Dinosaurs would also be involved. In fact it'd probably just be based on my Erud setting.

I think that would be neat.

[know-o-princess]

Kuda doesn't visit Sunda in Know, O Princess, but I'd really like for her wanderings to take her there in a future story since it's shaping up to be a really cool, creepy place in my head. With dense jungles filled with ancient ruins of civilizations long dead and populated by at least two species of human (sapiens and longi) in the interior with a third (floresiensis) settling the coast, native ape-men, lizard people, and six-foot-tall intelligent mantises with a stone age level culture, it may be the most diverse part of Erud in terms of sapient species, at least that I've come up with so far.

Also rather than the usual smooth green praying mantises, these giant Sundanese mantis-people would instead look like big freaky flower mantises:

Actually getting Kuda there to have some adventures would be tricky, however. Giving her a reason would be easy enough, just say she's hired as a mercenary to escort a shipment of supplies to a colony from a neighboring country like Nanyao or something, but then I'd run into the issue of her established crippling phobia of boats and deep water, picked up when she barely survived a shipwreck off the coast of Alkebu. So the chances of her actually taking a job that involves crossing an ocean would be basically nonexistent.

BUT! This has an easy solution. Since I'm still working on mapping everything out and the geography isn't set in stone yet, all I have to do is add an isthmus of land connecting Sunda to the...uh, other continent. Fantasy-Asia. So that's what I'm gonna do.

[know-o-princess]

While Erud, being inspired in part by the Hyborian Age of Conan the Barbarian, can very often be a harsh, dangerous place, I also don't like the idea of "evil" races. So while some tribes of Sundanese lizard or mantis people are hostile to humans, it's simply out of a garden variety fear of what they don't understand rather than a species-wide disposition towards violence and evil. (And let's be honest here, some of that fear is going to be justified.) And that hostility wouldn't be universal, there are probably also groups out there that can get along with humans just fine, or are at the very least willing to give it a shot. I especially like the idea of mantis-people who live near the coast having a trade relationship with the island-hobbit folks who set up little colonies on the mainland.

[know-o-princess]

Going on a bit of a mantis-people tangent here.

I don't know what they call themselves yet (in fact I'm not even sure if they speak or if they communicate some other way, and if they do have a spoken language it's almost certain to be impossible for humans to pronounce), but the island-hobbit people's name for them basically translates to "Shell people," referring to their hard exoskeletons.

Which also shows how chill the island-hobbits are if they can look at a giant freaking insect twice their height and say "Well, we can communicate with it, so it's a person."

Like real world mantises, the males are smaller and slimmer than the females. Their society is matriarchal, with each tribe led by an elected female chief.

No, the females do not eat the males after mating.

Young are raised communally, and mantis society places no importance on lineage; they neither know nor care who their parents are, but at the same time their entire community could be said to be their family.

Though they're much too heavy to fly, they do have a set of large, colorful wings that they use for display.

[know-o-princess]

I just realized that saying the Staaka are Denisovans (Homo longi) adds a question to Kuda's backstory.

As you may recall from previous posts, the Staaka practice ritual endocannibalism, consuming parts of their dead as a sign of love and respect. And having been raised among them, Kuda would have done this as well. Which would make her a cannibal, right?

BUT! Kuda is not a Homo longi. She's a Homo sapiens, adopted and raised by the Staaka (and she's not the first, the Sarmani tribes, all of whom would be H. longi now, adopt the children of outsiders pretty frequently). So when she took part in that custom, she was technically eating a different species than her own. So was it really cannibalism?

...Not that this question would matter to her, or that anyone would even think to ask it; Erud has just begun to enter its Iron Age, they don't know shit about genera and species. As far as they're concerned, Erud's three species of Homo are all just people that look a little different. So from that perspective, yes, she'd still be a cannibal.

[know-o-princess]

...That should be four species, though the peoples of the part of Erud where Know, O Princess takes place probably aren't aware of Homo floresiensis outside of fanciful second or third hand accounts.

And there might even be more species of Homo running around, I haven't nailed anything down yet in that department.

[know-o-princess]

Kuda doesn't visit Sunda in Know, O Princess, but I'd really like for her wanderings to take her there in a future story since it's shaping up to be a really cool, creepy place in my head. With dense jungles filled with ancient ruins of civilizations long dead and populated by at least two species of human (sapiens and longi) in the interior with a third (floresiensis) settling the coast, native ape-men, lizard people, and six-foot-tall intelligent mantises with a stone age level culture, it may be the most diverse part of Erud in terms of sapient species, at least that I've come up with so far.

Also rather than the usual smooth green praying mantises, these giant Sundanese mantis-people would instead look like big freaky flower mantises:

Actually getting Kuda there to have some adventures would be tricky, however. Giving her a reason would be easy enough, just say she's hired as a mercenary to escort a shipment of supplies to a colony from a neighboring country like Nanyao or something, but then I'd run into the issue of her established crippling phobia of boats and deep water, picked up when she barely survived a shipwreck off the coast of Alkebu. So the chances of her actually taking a job that involves crossing an ocean would be basically nonexistent.

BUT! This has an easy solution. Since I'm still working on mapping everything out and the geography isn't set in stone yet, all I have to do is add an isthmus of land connecting Sunda to the...uh, other continent. Fantasy-Asia. So that's what I'm gonna do.

[know-o-princess]

While Erud, being inspired in part by the Hyborian Age of Conan the Barbarian, can very often be a harsh, dangerous place, I also don't like the idea of "evil" races. So while some tribes of Sundanese lizard or mantis people are hostile to humans, it's simply out of a garden variety fear of what they don't understand rather than a species-wide disposition towards violence and evil. (And let's be honest here, some of that fear is going to be justified.) And that hostility wouldn't be universal, there are probably also groups out there that can get along with humans just fine, or are at the very least willing to give it a shot. I especially like the idea of mantis-people who live near the coast having a trade relationship with the island-hobbit folks who set up little colonies on the mainland.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Bronze and Crystal Sword from China, c.450-250 BCE: the hilt of this sword was crafted from rock crystal, turquoise, and gold

This sword is more than 2,200 years old. The elaborate hilt was carved from a piece of rock crystal and then embellished with turquoise stones and intricate patterns of inlaid gold.

Above: a close-up of the ornately-decorated hilt

The blade itself was forged from bronze, and it has a greenish-blue patina that was naturally produced over time.

Above: some of the damage and discoloration on the blade

As this article explains:

This bronze sword from the Warring States period stands as a testament to engineering and artistic excellence. Meticulously detailed, the sword features a slender, formidable blade that would have delighted its owner both in battle and aesthetically.

However, the true star of this sword lies in its exquisitely decorated hilt. Adorned with inlays of rock crystal, turquoise, and gold, the hilt showcases the remarkable technical and artistic skills of ancient Chinese artisans. These precious materials not only enhance the sword’s visual appeal but likely communicate the status and affluence of its owner.

The sword’s intricate craftsmanship and use of rare materials suggest it was likely commissioned by a wealthy and influential individual, such as a high-ranking military commander or an aristocratic elite.

Sources & More Info:

History, News, and Archaeology: The Jeweled Sword of Ancient China

Brewminate: Metallurgical Evolution in Ancient China

Britannica: The Warring States Period

[that-dinopunk-guy]

[know-o-princess]

Kuda doesn't visit Sunda in Know, O Princess, but I'd really like for her wanderings to take her there in a future story since it's shaping up to be a really cool, creepy place in my head. With dense jungles filled with ancient ruins of civilizations long dead and populated by at least two species of human (sapiens and longi) in the interior with a third (floresiensis) settling the coast, native ape-men, lizard people, and six-foot-tall intelligent mantises with a stone age level culture, it may be the most diverse part of Erud in terms of sapient species, at least that I've come up with so far.

Also rather than the usual smooth green praying mantises, these giant Sundanese mantis-people would instead look like big freaky flower mantises:

Actually getting Kuda there to have some adventures would be tricky, however. Giving her a reason would be easy enough, just say she's hired as a mercenary to escort a shipment of supplies to a colony from a neighboring country like Nanyao or something, but then I'd run into the issue of her established crippling phobia of boats and deep water, picked up when she barely survived a shipwreck off the coast of Alkebu. So the chances of her actually taking a job that involves crossing an ocean would be basically nonexistent.

BUT! This has an easy solution. Since I'm still working on mapping everything out and the geography isn't set in stone yet, all I have to do is add an isthmus of land connecting Sunda to the...uh, other continent. Fantasy-Asia. So that's what I'm gonna do.

[shelandsorcery]

Warrior Woman

I painted this warrior woman with my non-dominant hand when I had to turn down a fun art job shortly after arm surgery; I needed to prove that I could still paint, albeit way, way slower at that time, and I’m still so proud of her!

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

Me, looking at the artwork: what an amazing character look! Always so nice to see a portrayal of of an older, realistically designed warrior woman with practical costume!

Me, reading artist’s comment about this being painted with non-dominant hand: 🤯

~Ozzie

[know-o-princess]

The Sarmani tribes

Kuda, the main protagonist of Know, O Princess grew up among the Staaka, one of a group of nomadic steppe tribes known collectively as the Sarmani. The Sarmani tribes are mainly inspired by real-world central Asian steppe nomads such the Scythians and Sarmatians.

...Only instead of horses they ride domesticated horse-sized alioramin tyrannosaurs.

Mostly known for their ferocity on the battlefield and for the fact that their women routinely fight alongside the men, the Sarmani tribes have spent the last few hundred years sweeping out of the east in waves, with each new tribe displacing the one before it and pushing them further west and into conflict with the people already living there. Able to move quickly and masters of mounted archery, the Sarmani tribes are both feared by the surrounding peoples and prized as mercenaries.

[hurgablurg]

"These sicknasty awesome mercenaries I hired spend more time hunting to feed their mounts than they do fighting my enemies, and I'm beginning to suspect that accumulating 50+ large carnivores in one place is having a negative impact on both the environment and my supply trains.

We have tried supplying the mercenary beasts with both livestock from the conquered territories (the cattle-ranching peasants starve within a year) and the bodies of our fallen enemies (I have been excommunicated by the Temple Faith for blasphemy), but aurochs and Darmesian levies don't seem to satisfy them.

I questioned their chief on the need to raise and train a melee-only predator when their mode of combat is mounted archery (reliant on not being near the enemy in the first place) and the job can be done as effectively with a significantly cheaper herbivore. She called me a "nerd" and threw a rock at me."

[know-o-princess]

SHUT UP, NERD

I did consider how hugely impractical carnivorous mounts would be in real life, but I ultimately decided to just gloss over that little detail and go with it anyway on account of how cool a concept a tyrannosaur cavalry is.

This is very much a "rule of cool" type setting, after all.

[know-o-princess]

I just realized that saying the Staaka are Denisovans (Homo longi) adds a question to Kuda's backstory.

As you may recall from previous posts, the Staaka practice ritual endocannibalism, consuming parts of their dead as a sign of love and respect. And having been raised among them, Kuda would have done this as well. Which would make her a cannibal, right?

BUT! Kuda is not a Homo longi. She's a Homo sapiens, adopted and raised by the Staaka (and she's not the first, the Sarmani tribes, all of whom would be H. longi now, adopt the children of outsiders pretty frequently). So when she took part in that custom, she was technically eating a different species than her own. So was it really cannibalism?

...Not that this question would matter to her, or that anyone would even think to ask it; Erud has just begun to enter its Iron Age, they don't know shit about genera and species. As far as they're concerned, Erud's three species of Homo are all just people that look a little different. So from that perspective, yes, she'd still be a cannibal.

[know-o-princess]

Erud's version of South America is called Atlantis. Unlike a lot of goofy modern ideas about Plato's explicitly allegorical Atlantis, it is not a technologically advanced sci-fi utopia, though since it wouldn't be getting any more than an offhand mention in the story of Know, O Princess I haven't done a whole lot to flesh out the cultures that live there.

HOWEVER.

I can post screenshots from Prehistoric Planet showing some of the animals that live there!

Dreadnoughtus

Secernosaurus

Austroposeidon

Carnotaurus

Austroraptor

Macrauchenia

Protocyon

Eremotherium

Psilopterus

Doedicurus

No Smilodon, because Atlantis is still completely separate from Erud's version of Laramidia (the western half of Erud's North America, still split by an inland sea), so it hasn't had any in-universe version of the Great American Interchange.

[know-o-princess]

You may have noticed that I named several of Erud's landmasses after fictional "lost continents"; namely Atlantis, Lemuria, and Mu. I partly did this as a nod to Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age, which also had them as real (though lost by the time of the setting) places, and partly because I just find the idea of lost continents to be interesting even though all the racist pseudoscience and mysticism that has sprung up around them is total bullshit and will not be making any appearances here. (Well, there might be some supernatural stuff...this is a fantasy setting after all.)

So, because of that, I have decided that Erud's version of Madagascar is called Lemuria. And as Erud's version of Madagascar, it is home to animals that lived on Madagascar in the distant past. Animals like:

Masiakasaurus

Beelzebufo

Simosuchus

Majungasaurus

Rapetosaurus

Elephant birds

...And, of course, lemurs. In fact, the island is home to a species of lemur that has evolved humanlike intelligence and developed a stone age level culture. Though they mostly avoid the human settlers to the island there is some trade between the two groups, with the lemur-people especially keen on getting their hands on the humans' fancy iron tools and weapons. (They're mainly herbivores and not particularly aggressive, but you saw that Majungasaurus up there. They'd still want to defend themselves.)