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[dustin]

Hey all, I wanted to do this (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=23011.0) 30 day world building when it first came around but I didn't really have any need  to.  Now I have a game I'm working on and want a world for it so I'm working on this while I work on the mechanics and then once those are done I hope I can come up with a story that fits both.

Plus I'm not great at writing so this is a good chance for me to practice! (also it's first person at the moment as that's the easiest for me to write in)

Day 1:
We don’t know where they came from.  Since I've been born they've always been here.  My parents say it all started happening around 30 years ago.  The mist came first and that wasn’t so bad, people didn’t really know what it was.  There were some increased cases of people getting lost but that was about it.  Then, out of the fog came the wisps.  That’s when people started to get scared.  That’s when the nightmares started.  Up until then everyone thought their dreams were their own, protected from the outside world.  The wisps proved them wrong, they feed on your dreams.  People dealt with them ok and it probably would have been fine if that was all the mist could throw at us, but a lot worse things started to come out and we just couldn’t keep up with them.  Now, we just kinda live with them, our dreams are not our own.

[Evan Balster]

Neat linked topic!  Sorta wish I'd been on board for that myself.

-

The children of the Sen-Shir fall ill.
A dream comes to them, and will not leave.
At first they are stricken, and then the world grows dull and far away.
Their eyes dim, and grow sightless.
Their voices whisper as they become deaf.
They grope at the other world with weakening limbs.
A Mother's cries are pressed harder each day to reach them,
and finally the dream leaves with the child in tow.

It is not the custom of the Aai to bury their dead, but these children are buried.
Taken away as they have been.
Their names are stricken from the village bloodlines.

And the bloodlines grow fewer.
Homes sit empty in the trees, and grow dark as the wind and rain beat them.
It is so on the river-bluffs and the seaside valleys as it is with the Red Forest.
Or such is the hearsay.

Survivors of this disease are rare, but one is here.
A strange one, who tells stories to those who will listen -- and they are few.
A bastard child then and a ward of the village now, she is met with resentment.
Whether she keeps enough of herself in this world to notice is hard to say,
but I suspect she does.
She tells of other places, from dreams and stories she has walked.
Her manner of speaking is strange,
and as you listen you can almost walk them yourself.

This is something worth protecting.

[dustin]

ooo I like your writing!

Day 2:
Geography:
Our world is much smaller now then it used to be.  We’re pinned in by the mist.  It started in the middle of the land and eventually rolled all the way to us on the coast.  Now there’s just a sliver of land we have near the ocean to live on.  Somehow it seems like the ocean fog is protecting us, the way it rolls in at night to blanket us and give our dreams some protection from the nightmares.  Every once in awhile people venture out into the dark fog, they don’t make it far though.  It’s apparently not too bad as long as you can stay awake.
   So that’s our world, ocean on one side mist on the other and all we can do is go north and south.  Towns dot the coastline all clinging to the ocean for protection.  There’s still a good amount of trade and communication between the towns.  Everyone has been to their neighboring town north and south, but beyond that there isn’t much travel.  I would like to see the whole coast sometime.
   There’s mountains to the east of us, some say that there are still safe points their, but we’ve never found any.  Some deep caves that the mist hasn’t entered yet. 

[dustin]

For our town the only real landmark that matters is the ocean.  Somehow it’s keeping the mist at bay, or maybe it’s just where our magic comes from.  There are plenty of other magic sources though, there’s the high mountains to our east and the great forests of the north, not to mention the tundra, desert, and jungle.  I’m sure there’s more it’s just hard for anyone to travel between them.  I’ve only ever met a couple mountain and forest people and they’re the closest to us.
   This is where the ground cracked open to spill it’s mist across the land.  I’ve seen canyons before but this is different.  It’s only a couple feet wide in most spots but goes down much farther than I can see.  Whatever happened to open it up was also what let the nightmares free.  Or rather it let the mist free.  No one really knows where the nightmares came from but they have something to do with the mist.
   

[dustin]

whoops didn't post up yesterdays so here's 2 at once!

Resources:
   We used to have more magic.  Now all we really use it for is survival.  Sanitizing water, helping with the farming, stuff like that. 
   It all has to do with our dreams.  While we sleep we generate magical energy that we use up during the day.  That’s what attracted the nightmares to us in the first place, they feed off this energy.  Those of us who can draw our energy from the ocean are the lucky ones, at least our land is the last claimed.  Some of the mountain people have come down to live with us but most can’t stay away from their mountains to long, they just have to go back even if it means entering the mist.
   The mountains used to be where we would get our iron and granite from.  Now we mostly just make due with what we have, leftovers.  We have some nice forests in our area of the coast so wood is no problem.  Same with food, we’re able to grow what we need.  The only thing that we really need the magic for is for water.  Stuck next to the ocean but with not enough fresh water, WTF.

Florra:
   It’s not just us humans who use magic, most things in our world have a bit of the magic in them, even the plants.  Most plants get some energy from magic but there are some that take it to the next level. 
   First there are the giant trees of the forest people.  They build their homes in these trees and get most everything from them.  These trees use the magic they soak up to grow incredably tall.  All the animals living in them only add to the risidual magic around them to help them grow more.
   There are also quite a few plants that put some magic into their fruit.  I guess it makes sense, the trees want to give their seeds a little magical boost but you can get a bit of magic just from eating this fruit.  Just like us the plants don’t have as much magic as they used to, but it’s still possible to find some fruit here and there.
   As for normal plants, they just soak up magic just like they do sunlight.  They grow better with people and animals around to help concentrate the magic around them.  When we grow food we try to give them as much of our magic as we can but we don’t have that much to spare anymore.  They take what they can get but there isn’t as much food to go around as there once was.

[Ctsingy33]

This is a GREAT idea. I shall be joining in, albeit a couple of days behind! Will start with day one tomorrow.

[Graham-]

There was a boy standing at the top of a mountain. The mountain was
red and covered with sand. ... the mountain _was_ sand; it was made
entirely _of_ sand, and the boy's feet sunk slowly into it. Would he
die? That's what he was thinking about, as he sank.

A bird flew over his head, making a humming sound with its wings,
comforting him, and cawing unnervingly. The bird had no knowledge of
the sand, nor did it care about the boy, but it sang accompaniment to
the situation, because that's the way the world is.

The boy's hair was blonde, but so muddied with dust that it may as
well have been red. Though at the right angle another person could
tell otherwise, as could the lizard on the log, if it weren't color
blind.

The boy's eyes shone. They shone like fire, but were paled by the
color of the sand, which was even more red. The sand wasn't bright,
nor was its color pure; it was powerfully red because its properties
were all anyone could think about when they were around it. Maybe not
at first would they be infected by it but eventually they would be,
because the desert consumes minds.

There were screams. The boy could hear them, probably belonging to
people though he wasn't sure. He wanted to meet their owners. He
wanted some recognition of the position he was in, and how brave he
was being. He wanted the company. He didn't want to be alone. He
wanted to feel excited, to remember how it felt to be excited. The
screaming beings sounded excited. They also sounded afraid.

The screaming beings weren't just afraid; they were terrified.
Something extremely significant was happening ... or was it only
largely significant? The boy hoped it was the former. He'd rather it
be the former and die alone than it be the latter.

He sank further.

[bluecollarart]

Wow, other world-building junkies! I didn't know how many were out there.  Are you guys also the type that loves to read P&P source books not to play them, but just to get immersed in the world? Or someone that has tons of notebooks bursting with... well, not stories, exactly... but worlds?

I guess I'll toss something in, too. This is from a futuristic space setting of mine, and it's about what sort of clothing the robotic race wears. They're called "Fixers". They were built to be a hivemind robot race, but their ship crashed on the way to wherever it was going, stranding them on a hostile rock with no connection to the hivemind. They never knew their origin or why they were alone, and had to start from scratch, just like an organic race.

Please excuse the writing here, when this was written I was kind of working it out as I went.

Appearance: They definitely wear clothes. However, their planet had no organic matter. This limited their wardrobes severely, but not as much as you may think. Now, metal is not flexible... to us. To Fixers, even fairly thick metal was easily pliable. What you’d need is a material that wouldn’t break even after a lot of wear and repeated bending and twisting.

Something like a mesh material, or woven metal strands. Woven metal yarn could be nice. I looked at pictures on google, and this is actually a lovely appearance. It also helps take away from the SHINY METAL appearance. That's the answer, then. Fixers wear wear knit clothing.

It doesn’t matter that metal clothing doesn’t keep them warm. As robots, they won’t want to stay warm; if anything, they’d want to keep as cold as possible, to keep from overheating. The clothing could be designed in such a way as to function as a heatsink and actually disperse heat.

What function would clothing serve, then? Why wear it? Well, if it’s a tight enough knit, it would help keep dust and grit from getting into their chassis. They might traditionally wear very long garments, and think of those who wear less as being reckless.

That's why they have a taboo against exposure and nudity. So, clothing would become very important to Fixers in a social way, too. Tight, form-fitting clothing would be the norm. That would function better as a heatsink.

[mysteriosum]

Sweet! Nice stuff guys. I like the dream mist feeding off magic dream energy. Very interesting!

Here's something from a sci-fi-fantasy setting I've been cooking up for a while...

This is Vetus, a prosperous planet of four great nations. The four countries, after an expansive history of war and treachery, are allied: working, building toward a common goal of global stability and providence. Their peoples are happy - but there is a growing malaise that frightens some, and drives others mad.

The planet, you see, is in danger of collapsing. In the last century, there has been hitherto unknown volcanic activity - and has been accompanied by equally troublesome seismic disturbance. Some radicals believe the planet's core is leaking - being drained like a tube of toothpaste. Others believe it's the start of a new era; that the eruptions and earthquakes will create an entirely new ecosystem, after annihilating the current one. Some even claim it's the spirit of Vetus, razing Vetan civilization for what we've done to the planet's natural resources. All that's known for certain is that it's getting harder and harder simply to survive.

When the volcanoes began erupting, we put all space exploration research on haitus; it didn't seem likely that the volcanoes would last long, and the leading scientists were needed to come up with new ways of stemming the lava's wake of destruction. Then, it got worse, and we began abandoning more and more fields to focus on saving our cities, our homes. Soon enough, nearly every scientific mind in the world was recruited to participate in the increasingly disheartening struggle.

Ten years ago they rekindled study for space exploration & colonisation. Though it hasn't been made public yet, the Council has decided that the planet is condemned. We - I and my team of the last astronomers - have been charged with creating plans for space shuttles capable of evacuating as much of the population as possible, and of finding a suitable replacement planet. The plans are made, the ships under construction... but a planet has yet to be found.

We six have given up hope with our current equipment, and must go exploring the ruined, scorched, charred landmass we call home for those ancient laboratories so long ago abandoned - and hope that they will hold what we we've been looking for during these ten long years.

This is our story. Pray, do not judge us.

Ever Yours,
Flynn "Starcap" Edgar

[Graham-]

How can a malaise drive someone mad?

[mysteriosum]

Malaise in this case refers to the atmosphere caused by haunting signs prophesying the end of the world. Volcanoes and earthquakes are monthly occurrences now. The governments have assured their peoples that they're under control, but no one believes it, really - least of all the governments. This malaise* has caused sleepless nights and manic evangelizing alike.



*Collins entry, definition 3

[moi]

would you download a girlfriend?
                    ~Bill Gates III

[Carrion]

would you download a girlfriend?
                    ~Bill Gates III

[DragonStar]

The children of the Sen-Shir fall ill.
A dream comes to them, and will not leave.
At first they are stricken, and then the world grows dull and far away.
Their eyes dim, and grow sightless.
Their voices whisper as they become deaf.
They grope at the other world with weakening limbs.
A Mother's cries are pressed harder each day to reach them,
and finally the dream leaves with the child in tow.

It is not the custom of the Aai to bury their dead, but these children are buried.
Taken away as they have been.
Their names are stricken from the village bloodlines.

And the bloodlines grow fewer.
Homes sit empty in the trees, and grow dark as the wind and rain beat them.
It is so on the river-bluffs and the seaside valleys as it is with the Red Forest.
Or such is the hearsay.

Survivors of this disease are rare, but one is here.
A strange one, who tells stories to those who will listen -- and they are few.
A bastard child then and a ward of the village now, she is met with resentment.
Whether she keeps enough of herself in this world to notice is hard to say,
but I suspect she does.
She tells of other places, from dreams and stories she has walked.
Her manner of speaking is strange,
and as you listen you can almost walk them yourself.

This is something worth protecting.

I realize this is an old thread that was resurrected, but I want to compliment you Evan on a fine snippet of writing.