worldbuilding writing and ocs for the price of one

Hi, I'm Viburnum (she/her) and here, I worldbuild. Many projects may be seen here as I hyperfixate on different projects of mine seasonally. Enjoy!

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I'm a writer, obviously I do writing. By "writing" I mean worldbuilding. And by "worldbuilding" I mean creating political systems that won't ever come up when I get to the actual writing unless I figure out a way.

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A rhyme(or rather an attempt at a rhyme)from Eptem about the Seven Kingdoms:

The kingdoms are seven, scattereded round the sea.

First is Lucerni, of light and wisdom, where elven scholars live.

Second is Umbren, of shadow and cleverness, where you tread with care.

Third is Draconis, of dragons and bravery, where great beasts roam free.

Fourth is Maegika, of magic and mystery, where stars shall never set.

Fifth is Keymani, of winter and beauty, where the ice shall numb the pain.

Sixth is Vigoris, of energy and kindness, where all will shine bright.

Seventh is Convictar, of conviction and persistence, where stop is not a word.

The rhyme is used to teach children a characteristic of each kingdom and the order of them, and out of universe, to establish them.

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Joining team tragedy! A whole whooping 1 hour 40 minutes before artfight starts lol

Kalina_viburnum on artfight, team tragedy, my first year!

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A little comic about religion, leadership, responsibility, the eye boots and some good parenting.

Transcript of my handwriting below.

Panel 1— Altan: The world threads on balance

Panel 2— Altan: Between War and Justice. The cursed lovers, the celestial queens.

Panel 3— Altan: War is cruel. She rarely cares and discards what is no longer of use to her.

Panel 4— Altan: Justice is indifferent in her decisions, dealing her might with no regard for out distinctions.

Panel 5— Altan: Neither is wrong, that's the thing. There's a reason they both rule.

Panel 7— Altan: It is our job, as chiefs to maintain this balance within what we rule, what we can control.

Panel 8— Altan: That is why we wear the insignia of both.

Panel 9— Altan: Do you understand?

Panel 10— Zaya: I do, father.

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Why is English such a casual language no those characters are not on first name basis they shouldn't be saying you but also they are roughly on the same level they wouldn't really use sir damnit I miss causal formalities and having 10 different forms of address. How do you construct a sentence around mister? You've got a well behaved grandson, mister Peter. Does this sentence sound good? Does it???!!!

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Anyways, I made a relationship chart for the Elders of the Yusi Dey Afian tribe. Altan is the chief and as the chief, he can have multiple spouses. Akari and Sarnai are his spouses. Taro is the tribe healer/shaman. Like I mentioned, healers are celibate and that is the only reason Taro is outside of the marriage and feels partially bad about being in the polycule, at least when they were younger.

The kids resulting from this are Zaya, Idalius, Fay and Nerri.

I've actually made the chart a while ago but I'm posting it only now and it's still accurate so whatever

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Diya Pedrogos, teammate of Luna, the person she is closest to out of all her team, actually.

She's got diamonds based powers, she can summon and control them.

Kalina_viburnum on artfight! I still don't know which team I'm joining but I got 5 characters now so I'm done with references I think

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Holy shit I just realised the potential of uncanny valley in fantasy I have many humanlike magical species what if they were all low-key afraid of one what if they were pretending they are not cause it's rude—

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Eptem: general information

Eptem(or Septem) is the common name for the Empire of Septem or the Empire of the Seven Kingdoms. As the name suggests, it consists of seven kingdoms. Those kingdoms are:

Luserna(Kingdom of Light)

Umbra(kingdom of Dark/shadow)

Draconis(Kingdom of Dragons)

Maegika(kingdom of magic)

Keymani(kingdom of winter)

Vigoris(kingdom of Energy)

Convictar(kingdom of conviction)

The names on the left are the actual names and the ones one the right are more for distinction, titling etc.

The title of Emperor(or empress) is passed around every 15 years in the order listed. Once their time is up, the ruler arrives at the next one's capital with the regalia and crowns them themselves. This process usually goes by without issues. Usually. This will be important later.

Not every kingdom has to be ruled by the king. Maegika was for a long time ruled by a Regency Council, in absence of it's rightful rulers, and there are currently plans to establish a ruling council to succeed the elderly King and Queen, with such councils already existing in Vigoris and Convictar. In such a case, the title is awarded to a chosen member of the council, mostly the leader or is passed around the members, depending on the decision.

As of right now, I don't have a map of Eptem but I imagine it is located in an island archipelago, with each island being rather big but not enough to be called a continent.

Eptem is mostly inhabited by different types of elves, native to different kingdoms but also humans and mages among others, less populous. Only Maegika is mostly populated by non-elves— mages with others being elven dominant.

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Another artfight ref! Because I am having a lot of free time rn I guess

My girl Luna Tamsale, the secret wizard princess who rides dragons in waistcoats from grandpa and moon earrings... moon everything really.

@Kalina_viburnum on artfight I still don't know which team I'll be.

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Idk they just felt like a matched set that oughtn't be separated so I'm posting them together.

The wives of Topaya

Might post some Topaya lore later

Refs for artfight, I'm under Kalina_viburnum! And idk which team I am yet, I think I'll do at least one more character because I have 3 rn and that's kinda too few

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My sweet girls Marigold and Danyah (who finally has a proper design and colour scheme) yey go and run towards each other my pretties.

Marigold was a member of a travelling group of artists who came to Danyah's town to perform, which was when Danyah caught sight of the golden-haired beauty on the stage and fell in love.

She is also the fifth prophet, whose symbol is the Red Petalled Sun. A Light Era Prophet and favoured by Solei, Dragon of the Sun.

"Marigold and her lover, Danyah, took to travelling the continent in their lives together, where Marigold realised her gift of prophecy and draconic favour and aided those in need together while embracing their shared adventurous spirit and discovering the land."

- a short excerpt from writings about prophet Marigold.

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I'm making art fight references

Kelly my beautiful space goo fantasy monster-hunter alien girlie, go!

(she/her)

I'm @kalina_viburnum on artfight!

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The council of the seven!(I did say I like politics)

The council of the Seven (also called simply the Seven) is the highest governing body of Ben-gian. It's made up of the heads of the seven most powerful families. Those families are the descendants of the Seven siblings who came to Ben-gian and founded the city. Each family handles an industry(not really but idk what to call them) and the heads have titles corresponding to this.

Zefu: Grand Judge(justice/courts), here it's Vervar

Chien: Grand General(war), here it's Yao

Tao Thuy: Grand Shipmaker(shipmaking but also port matters), here it's Itari

Khoa: Grand Scholar(education, keeping records), here it's Kira

Nua: Grand Trader(trade), here it's Viyen

Took: Grand Medic(wellbeing of the people), here it's Yanna

Vette: Grand Guardian(wellbeing of the city and island), here it's Nayika

The Chiens, Thao Thuys and Nuas prioritize men in their succession, the Khoas, Tooks and Vettes prioritize women and the Zefu prioritizes whoever the court approves of.

The Seven are the lawmaking authority.

Because of the prestige those families carry, they often intermarry with one another or with mainland nobility and royalty. Basically they are all cousins and it's encouraged for the families to spend time together to foster cooperation within the council. If the council doesn't get along, the city will feel the consequences.

Also, the others aren't really that short. Vervar and Yao are simply horrendously tall. Maybe Viyen is that short but. Y'know.

There is also the secondary council, made up of minor nobility. The membership of that council is more mobile and they have far less control, mostly focusing on directly overseeing the administration.

The families are all colourcoded. It's tradition and the Seven are required to attend the meetings in those colours. In their everyday lives they often do not follow those rules. For example, Vervar wears a shade way darker than he technically should(the light colour on his cuffs) and he wears a mix of the Zefu and Chien colours, which he is allowed to do as the ex general.

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The Ben-gian court structure:(specific to the city of ben-gian, it's generally similar in other cities though)

The Grand Judge. There is only one and they are the head of the Zefu council family. The position is semi-hereditary, as it's directly tied to the family. The heir must be approved by the entire court but the choice is only between the kids related to a judge within two generations(DK how to better translate it), so if kids parent was a sibling to a judge they are eligible, if it was only their grandparent they are not. The position is available to any child of the Zefu family, no matter the gender(hence the use of they, it's the only family that does that). The Grand Judge is the overseer of the court, they also handle the affairs of the Seven, between them, they are also the mediator of the Council, being the only one there devoted to the dragon of Justice, Yustiia.

The Judges ordinary are all the other judges in the court, they handle regular affairs between small nobility and common folk. They are regular members of the court who have advanced to the position. Judges are positioned across the city in their own smaller courthouses, accompannied by their Judge Ceremonial and a couple of Maidens and Adepts.

The Grand Judge Ceremonial and Judges Ceremonial Ordinary. To each judge, a judge ceremonial is assigned, handpicked by the judge from the Court Maidens. Judge ceremonial helps the judge keep order in the courtroom, they announce the verdict. They are the one that carries the most regalia and symbols— in their staff, in their make up, on their foreheads.(As seen in Linh's design)

Court Maidens and Court Adepts. They are the office workers of the courts, keeping everything organised behind the scenes. They enter the courthouse at 15 and this is the first stage every member goes through and many stay at. Their work is crucial to keeping the court going. They are some of the most important members of the court even if they go unnoticed. They can progress to become Judges, Judges Ceremonial or Court Ladies(in Ben-gian's outposts on the continent+ only Court Maidens).

And also— Courthouses function like monasteries to Yustiia. The name is simply different because of their function, the same way monasteries(&nunneries) of Solei function as hospitals, for an example.

Another thing is that while the Judges are the ones responsible for the verdict, it is loudly discussed and decided communally by the whole courthouse during communally shared meals. The members all live together with the exception of the Grand Judge(and often Grand Judge Ceremonial), who lives in the Zefu household.

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Cuties

Linh and Than of the Zefu house. The Grand Judge's aid and the Grand Judge Ceremonial(with her staff and some of her regalia).

Those two are the closest people to Vervar before Corah shows up. And they are together(how do I say it casually)

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Duke Abrahm of Kiagan, in his coronation robes. Unidentified ducal painter.

The duke ascended the throne after his father's death at the age of 21. He is portrayed here in his coronation robes, a gold woven coat, his ducal sash and his royal cape, red and adorned with fur at the top. He is holding a cane in his left hand, as per fashion of the time, while keeping his right hand on the crown to symbolise his ascend to power. Behind him, there is a window with the view of Sharrei, the capital of Kiagan, where the Castle is located, although Abrahm didn't like the Castle and utilised the Summer Manor for as much of the year as he could.

The duke is generally remembered well among his subjects, being a good ruler despite his somber and depressive personality. He is considered to have always made decisions with the best interest of Kiagan in mind, even throughout the war.

He had no children with his wife, Duchess Evangelina, although the pair are generally reported to have gotten along quite well, despite being an arranged match.

Abrahm ruled for fourteen years dependent on Falsya and for the other seventeen years of his rule, Kiagan was dependent on Krynthia, with the duke's power heavily reduced.

That would be all general information I have on Abrahm as of right now! I didn't know how much to say without spoiling too much.