what's the climate like in velgrove? does velgrove get all four seasons? how hot and how cold does it get?
hello little groveling!
because velgrove is a small costal town, it has a more oceanic climate. temperatures are fairly mild throughout the year but the strangeness in town seems to affect the weather in a lot more ways than expected. typically it intensifies the weather so what might be considered a warm day easily turns into scorching hot temperatures even with the coolness of the sea. the same can be said for windy and rainy days. there are even days where the tide is a lot higher than it typically is, almost covering up the entire shore.
velgrove does experience all four seasons! we are talking nice and rainy springs to heatwave summers to chilly falls and freak snowstorm winters. of course, any extreme weather is from the weird ways the town exists. extreme weather has never been a big concern to the town but through the past few years, there have been more instances of intense weather conditions than they've ever seen sparking some concern. otherwise, during a regular cycle summer and winter don't usually get too out of control temperature wise.
for regular temperatures, winter is anywhere from 38F to 50F/3C to 10C and summer is anywhere from 60 F to 75F/16C to 24C.
for intense temperatures, winter is anywhere from 20F to 30F/-6C to -1C and summer is anywhere from 83F to 90F/28C to 32 C.
hi i had a couple of quick questions. for the cottages, do we get to decide if they're a double or single bedroom or are there limited spaces to the options at all? would it be okay to be roommates with other player characters?
hi little groveling!
that's a great question and i'm glad you asked!
for cottages, it's up to you if you'd like your muse's residence to be single or double bedroom. the idea of smaller cottages and residences it too highlight the smallness of the town. you won't see buildings over two floors and anything larger than a home with two bedrooms is most likely a public building. of course, for muses who are living with bigger families, bending this descriptor and adding an additional room definitely doesn't hurt!
for double bedroom cottages, you are also more than free to room with other muses if you'd wish. you can indicate this on your application and that will be updated on the residence page so that if there's anyone else who's looking to have a roommate, they'll be able to see that option.
thank you for sending in your question and please ask any others that you have :)
is it fair to assume religion in this universe is also alternate to reality, and that locals have developed worships of their own? and would this worship be more oriented towards harvest and good fortune, like some of your cited inspos for the directory? like stardew valley with its assumed earth/harvest deity (yoba) and kynseed with its fae goddesses. or is religion not a thing in velgrove? thank you so much!
hi little groveling!
religion exists in this world in many different ways as how it does in real life or any other fictional setting. this specific aspect is actually something i haven't fully fleshed out mostly because the southern region isn't very religion oriented. (that's not to say it wouldn't be introduced to velgrove through events since this is not entirely set in stone). of the two major cities, londai definitely has more sectors of religious influence and belief through exposure from other cultures and cities.
velgrove itself isn't very religious though there are many mysteries that would seem religious like you mentioned because of the stardew/kynseed inspired parts. for the southern region, it would be more accurate to say that practiced beliefs from the major cities are based on revering legendary figures, ancestral spirits, and spiritual icons (the likes of saints). this kind of explains why despite everything that happens in velgrove, the people have never really believed or considered it to be specific gods or deities. that's not to say, outsiders couldn't rationalize it that way through their own religion, only that it wouldn't be an easily accepted idea/belief by locals.
with belief in legendary figures, the southern region does hold fables and folklore with high regard. they also believe in ancient stories sprinkled with magic such as tellings of giants or variants of supernatural creatures - inhuman creatures or creatures shapeshifting into humanoid forms. though, you'll never really hear stories of humans turning into said creatures. for example, werewolves are are more animalistic, vampires aren't believed to have ever been human, there's no belief that humans can turn into said creatures after being attacked or maimed by fable/folk creatures. this example is something that applies to the entire world and setting of the roleplay to divulge from the idea of supernatural humans/a supernatural world.
in terms of other countries, muns are free to create religions of their own as they wish if/however applicable to their muse.
i hope this gives a better understanding of how religion is perceived in this setting. for clarity, some of these points may change with the roleplay's continued development. thank you for the question!
would there be a university or higher education institution of some kind in hano-dulum? or would people need to travel even further to find, say, a medical school? thank you!
hi little groveling!
the short answer to your question is yes! higher education very much exists in this world, and muses are able to have attended any of the universities that exist in hano-dulum or londai for various areas of study such as medical school.
for a much more in depth explanation on the schools that exist and how they function, please see below for all the details!
in relation to velgrove, proper education isn't available in the town due to its population and size. however, foundational classes are offered at the lakeside library for children, teenagers, and anyone seeking to learn. it's common for children born in velgrove to move to the cities to pursue higher education. many tend to stay away and start building their lives there once they have a taste of the outside world. this effect is well-known and anticipated by the residents of the town - simply another factor that keeps the population as small as it is.
regarding the bigger cities, hano-dulum has three well known academic institutions. there is the "the dulum institution of women" (commonly referred to as diw /'dew/) opposite the "university for aristocratic men" (commonly referred to as ufa /'yufey/). the men's university was established first with the women's university following suit in just under five years. both universities were established by the aristocrats within hano-dulum for families of higher status. through the years as the universities looked to bolster their reputations, they decided that the quickest way to earn favor with local residents was to broaden those representing the student body. both universities began allowing students of lower class to attend while offering generous financial aid to support those students. this was a successful tactic on their end as since, both universities have maintained exceptional reputations of prestige and acknowledgement within the academic world.
within the recent past two decades, a newer university was established in the part of hano, known as "the institute of hano" (commonly known as the pillar of hano). it was given an ambitious nickname as part of establishing itself as a notable contender against the older universities. however, what truly made the pillar stand out was that the university fell closer in line to being a large trade school. students are able to go into a specific focus and graduate within 2 to 3 years which became largely popularized with the all the economic, social, and cultural developments that took place in hano-dulum during it's peak years of growth.
londai also has a very well-known university - the londai institute of knowledge (londai institute for short). the school is famously known more so for the different and reputable professors teaching there. another defining feature of the school is the curriculum that they offer being much wider than hano-dulum's allowing students to go into nicher areas of study due to their exchange programs and resources as a port city. the institute is known as a top university in the south and is highly competitive to get into. rather than focusing on prestige, their university's focus is on harnessing knowledge to encourage development within the city and around the region.
the londai institute is also known for it's special campus that allows students who didn't get accepted to essentially work on a trimester long project on school grounds. at the end of the trimester they would get evaluated on the final results of the projects to attest their waitlist or rejection from the university. if an applicant scores high enough, the time spent on their project will count for credits and they will be allowed to enroll into the college on a trial basis. they must then maintain two trimesters worth of schooling while meeting the institute's measurements of success to keep their place or else they'll be forced to forfeit their place. it's general knowledge that taking part in the special campus is very stressful as the work that is to presented must be beneficial to the city's development in some way. very few applicants actually pass but the few who do and manage to maintain their places usually become very well-known in the academic sphere.
this was a lot of information on just universities, but i felt it could help in terms of shaping the experience of younger muses who may have just graduated from school or for muses who have attended places of higher education at any point in time.
if you have any other questions, please feel free to send them in. thank you for the wonderful ask!
given its slightly isolated nature, has velgrove developed its own dialect? or would native velgrovians have a mixture of the londai and hano-dullum dialects?
hi little groveling!
this is great a question and it’s exciting to see how interested you are in the worldbuilding of velgrove!
rather than any big dialect shifts, you’re right about the town has more of hybrid dialect between hano-dullum and londai. there’s not a concrete way to pinpoint how or which parts of each dialect were adapted into the dialect velgrove has, but it’s very clear with the mixture of vowel usage.
the dialect does have a heavy lean towards londai‘s accent considering records have tracked most residents coming from londai when the town was first established. for the records that were preserved from the founder’s personal journal, it’s believed the hano-dullum accent was integrated into velgrove’s hybrid dialect because of the possibility the founder came from hano-dullum. this is based on the earliest entries having been documented in said city, and the spelling habits commonly seen from those residing in hano-dullum.
similarly, with foreign languages like english and korean, each city’s accents will carry over. as such, velgrove also has mixed accents with english and korean in town.
i hope this gives a better idea of the languages and dialects in velgrove! thank you for your question!
i'm trying to make a muse from a different country. what language is native in velgrove, is it korean adjacent or something else? sorry if this is a hard question, but does it have a name? thank you!
hi little groveling!
hard question indeed, but it offers more insight to the world of velgrove so i’m more than happy to answer with additional worldbuilding if it helps with immersion and creation!
this is a long-winded answer so please see more below the cut!
languages in the region that velgrove exists in, alongside hano-dullum and londai are very similar. velgrove - considered as a byproduct of both cities as a majority/origin of its history/residents came from the neighboring cities means velgrove has seen just as much diversity and hybrid culture as the other two cities.
the setting’s equivalent of “english” /named english would be considered one of the common languages alongside “korean” /named korean. english, similar to how it is in real life, serves as a widely accepted global language to make communication easier.
native language wise, there are clear dialect differences between hano-dullum and londai (including their governed villages).
the official language of this region would be known as “u’de onteu” (south people, a quite literal translation of: people of the south).
hano-dullum’s dialect is sharper and vowels commonly take sound after each other, making the dialect slightly harder for outsiders to learn fluently. for example , u’de onteu would be pronounced “ee-day entew”. whereas, londai would pronounce u’de onteu with softer and more elongated vowels such as “oo-day awn-two”.
londai’s more direct accent (letter to sound) is a more popularized dialect of u’de onteu considering that as a port city, many people come and go from it. it’s theorized that hano-dullum maintains the more original dialect of the southern language with their heavy focus on preserving history and culture especially amongst the higher classes. on the other hand, londai sees many different cultures coming and going and many parts of the city have adapted through different cultural exposures with time leading to the belief these factors influenced the shift in dialect.
other pronunciation examples using current city names:
hano-dullum dialect
hano-dullum - ha-nao due-lem
londai - lon-dey
lanami - lay-ney-mi
cou’ve - koo-vee
velgrove - veil-grove
londai dialect
hano-dullum - ha-no-doo-luhm
londai - lon-dai
lanami - lah-nah-mi
cou’ve - koo-vey (with a soft aspirated h at the end of ‘vey’)
velgrove - vel-grove
i’m so excited to hear you’re working on a muse! i hope this offers a better idea on language in velgrove and the region! if you have any other questions, please feel free to send them in and i will answer to the best i can - challenging or not!
the business page has now been updated! any claimed business from our applicant's will now be reflected with new details and open roles. these roles are available for reservations and to be claimed.
the residence page has also been updated and should now reflect all current muse residences. please feel free to take a look and let this help with any plotting as needed!
two small visual references have been put together to try to capture the vibe and aesthetic of velgrove. velgrove upon first impression may seem like a small unassuming town. this illusion may come from the peace and space that the grove has been able to keep to itself. please keep in mind, these are not completely accurate and direct portrayals of the town and locations, but hopefully gives a better idea. see below for images.
we are one app away from setting an official opening! muns are open to begin plotting privately. an official date will be set once our tenth application is received and accepted! our advertised roleplay benefits for female muses will only be applicable until opening, all applications following will be reviewed under normal circumstances.
