Lord Raziere
2015-03-02, 03:09 PM
Welcome, to the world of Raenin.
It is an infinite waterfall. Upon its endlessly pounding falls are various shelves, big rock things jutting out from the waterfall the size of continents. The inhabitants of such shelf-continents know these directions: Fallwards (towards the waterfall), Bluewards (Away from the waterfall), Sunwards (up) and Fogwards (down). Left and Right are the same. Here the inhabitants must eat from crops grown from farms that only grow because of certain rivers that flow from the waterfall, and thus much of civilization is dependent on such rivers. Trade between shelves is dependent upon airships flying between them, so most trade is contained to a single shelf because of how expensive they are- but not all shelves are equal in resources and some need the airship trade more than others.
Thus each shelf has its own culture, series of nations and beliefs. However some things are universal: all cultures warn of Not Going Near The Edge. Fall off the edge of a shelf, and you fall to your certain doom, too fast for any airship to save you, and no one will see you ever again, without even a body to bury. Similarly, there are also warnings about not going too near the waterfall itself. To step into it, is to step into an raging pounding monster that slams you to the ground instantly and quickly drowns you, a not very glamorous fate for anyone. There are also those that are curious of places beyond the shelves, who wish to ride an airship and explore the world sunwards, try to find a top to the waterfall, if any, while others venture Fogwards, down into the thick mists below to see what is under them. Neither of these explorers are ever seen again, whether from death or from finding other places no one knows, and the people in power dislike the money spent on airships to be wasted so.
As for what races inhabit this world, that seems to be variable and dependent upon the shelf, with peoples appearances and magic seemingly changing with each shelf you go to. However there are some commonalities: all of them develop some way to make airships, though they don't all work the same way. One works because it has a bunch of air elementals that signed a contract working in it, another works because someone put an anti-gravity gem inside, yet another works because it has an eternal flame from Mount Makol heating its engine, things like that. Some cultures also develop magic to summon and purify water from the waterfall to use for various reasons without needing to go to the rivers, particularly in more desert-like shelves where its practically vital to develop such magic.
The rulers of course, hold onto the vital resources of the world to keep themselves in power. Tamper with the rivers and any ruler will have your head, they are too vital to society to misuse. They jealously guard most of the airships so that people have to go through them to fly, and of course they always have armies to fight for them. However this is all short term- long term, the shelves slowly erode as the waterfall pounds down upon its connecting part, the shelves doomed to eventually erode until they break away from the falls and go falling down into the fog, it may take millions of years, far longer than anyone's life time and probably not a concern for most people, but it will happen eventually, and some of the people who have figured this out worry and search for a way to either prevent it or to find a new home before it happens, particularly the ones who know that the Breaking Event for their shelf is coming soon.
This is Raenin, a world of shelves, airships, unknown frontiers, scarce resources and inevitable collapse. what stories will you tell here?
(Edit: oops sorry, wrong forum, don't worry, already reported myself to make sure it gets moved to World-Building..)
It is an infinite waterfall. Upon its endlessly pounding falls are various shelves, big rock things jutting out from the waterfall the size of continents. The inhabitants of such shelf-continents know these directions: Fallwards (towards the waterfall), Bluewards (Away from the waterfall), Sunwards (up) and Fogwards (down). Left and Right are the same. Here the inhabitants must eat from crops grown from farms that only grow because of certain rivers that flow from the waterfall, and thus much of civilization is dependent on such rivers. Trade between shelves is dependent upon airships flying between them, so most trade is contained to a single shelf because of how expensive they are- but not all shelves are equal in resources and some need the airship trade more than others.
Thus each shelf has its own culture, series of nations and beliefs. However some things are universal: all cultures warn of Not Going Near The Edge. Fall off the edge of a shelf, and you fall to your certain doom, too fast for any airship to save you, and no one will see you ever again, without even a body to bury. Similarly, there are also warnings about not going too near the waterfall itself. To step into it, is to step into an raging pounding monster that slams you to the ground instantly and quickly drowns you, a not very glamorous fate for anyone. There are also those that are curious of places beyond the shelves, who wish to ride an airship and explore the world sunwards, try to find a top to the waterfall, if any, while others venture Fogwards, down into the thick mists below to see what is under them. Neither of these explorers are ever seen again, whether from death or from finding other places no one knows, and the people in power dislike the money spent on airships to be wasted so.
As for what races inhabit this world, that seems to be variable and dependent upon the shelf, with peoples appearances and magic seemingly changing with each shelf you go to. However there are some commonalities: all of them develop some way to make airships, though they don't all work the same way. One works because it has a bunch of air elementals that signed a contract working in it, another works because someone put an anti-gravity gem inside, yet another works because it has an eternal flame from Mount Makol heating its engine, things like that. Some cultures also develop magic to summon and purify water from the waterfall to use for various reasons without needing to go to the rivers, particularly in more desert-like shelves where its practically vital to develop such magic.
The rulers of course, hold onto the vital resources of the world to keep themselves in power. Tamper with the rivers and any ruler will have your head, they are too vital to society to misuse. They jealously guard most of the airships so that people have to go through them to fly, and of course they always have armies to fight for them. However this is all short term- long term, the shelves slowly erode as the waterfall pounds down upon its connecting part, the shelves doomed to eventually erode until they break away from the falls and go falling down into the fog, it may take millions of years, far longer than anyone's life time and probably not a concern for most people, but it will happen eventually, and some of the people who have figured this out worry and search for a way to either prevent it or to find a new home before it happens, particularly the ones who know that the Breaking Event for their shelf is coming soon.
This is Raenin, a world of shelves, airships, unknown frontiers, scarce resources and inevitable collapse. what stories will you tell here?
(Edit: oops sorry, wrong forum, don't worry, already reported myself to make sure it gets moved to World-Building..)