The Planes of Wyndestia

Welcome to the devblog for my worldbuilding journey. Check pinned for more info.

[wyndestia]

Hello, I'm Scarlett (lesbian, she/her).

I am a writer, TTRPG DM, and amateur worldbuilder with interests in anthropology, sociology, light speculative biology (specbio) and something I have dubbed "speculative geography" (or specgeo).

This worldbuilding project is primarily for my own RPG campaigns I run within 5e, and is modified from some parts of existing lore. However most lore for my inhabitants and realms is entirely my own.

On this blog, I plan on documenting my progress, although at the time of starting this in late 2023 I have already put 3ish years of effort thus far. That said, my goal is to share my thoughts, tribulations, and achievements in an effort to hopefully help other greenhorn worldbuilders out there!

My in-progress wiki is here:

[wyndestia]

Kiril: Adapted from the Celestial beasts, Ki-rin, these beings are ambassadors for the Celestial Plane within the Material. They possess divination powers, the ability to walk on water, and radiant unarmed strikes.

Shimmery, heavenly deer dragons :3

[wyndestia]

Lepidera: Resembling moths and butterflies, the Lepiderae keep to similar ranges as these counterparts. A Lepidera’s appearance and abilities are determined by the height of the sun and moon during hatching, and are either considered Solarborn (which most closely resemble butterflies) or Lunarborn (which similarly resemble moths).

They are a homebrew race I have developed, and I am very proud of their lore and stat block. I did a minor specbio for them specifically for their mouths, focused on what would work for their unique diets.

Find out more surface-level lore I have written under the cut.

Lepiderae drink nectar and eat leaves as their primary source of nutrition, but also indulge in salt rocks and blood as more luxury items. The farming of salt from mines or water pools is common in their settlements, and the raising of a breed of Strider specifically for bloodletting has elevated them above their history of scavenging for blood from carrion. They will also eat cotton, linen, and other fabrics, and thusly view textile clothing as a waste of resources. Their clothes are often pelt-based or leather due to this.

Communal and migratory in nature, Lepiderae stick to large flights/groups which move with the seasons to avoid snow and frost. Some clans exist permanently in areas with warm winters, and settlements occupied by other flying species or areas close to air elemental gates. In all instances, the raising and protection of vulnerable eggs, caterbabies (the term used for their young), and chrysalises is treated as a duty all adults contribute to. The necessary vigilance for this is what led to the distinction of the Solar and Lunarborn, and traditionally each group performs their duties during the half of the day associated with them.

[wyndestia]

I have really been digging into fleshing out my narrative for the Nine Hells lately, all spurred on by my development of my own vampire lore for my setting. It's fun to analyze different ways that the pieces of the puzzle all fit together and modify each other!

[wyndestia]

On of the biggest individual aspects of my worldbuilding endeavors thus far has been getting to this point with my world map. I have gotten here, and past it, several times now leading up to this moment, but I think I am finally happy with it.

What you see is the landmasses and general projection of the ocean currents. These currents help predict many things about a planet's climate and weather, and therefore are the first step towards my main goal of projecting climate zones in line with the Köppen climate classification.

I would love to eventually write up a guide on how to get here, as well as my next steps, but the gist of what is to come is that the red arrows represent "warm" currents (moving equatorial waters pole-ward) and blue represent "cold" currents (polar waters equator-ward). These, combined with the low and high pressure zones created by wind, contribute directly to precipitation and general air temperature, as well as obviously the relative temps of the coastal waters.