JUNE | 2020

ARCHITECTURE
& other topics

WORLD SHOWCASE
vbwyrde’s Elthos

EXLUSIVE INTERVIEW
with Chris Lockey

STORMING THE BASTILLE

Analysis | Art | Interviews A Community Project Prompts | Stories | Theory

Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

23
You can quickly recognize Paris by the presence of the

Eiffel Tower. Athens by the Parthenon. Sydney by its

Opera House. Beyond single buildings, unique patterns

in architecture denote different cultures across the A BOY IN THE WOODS

globe and throughout time. In this issue, we delve into

the most visible components of civilization. It is my

great pride to present to you the culmination of more

than two months of hard work by the Worldbuilding

36
Magazine team and community: the Architecture issue.

On a personal note, this issue is bittersweet for me, as

it is my last issue as Editor-in-Chief of Worldbuilding RED SKY AT NIGHT,

BUILDER’S DELIGHT
Magazine. I’m not leaving, though. I am stepping down

to a more focused role so that I can more effectively

accomplish long-term goals. I’m very thankful to the

team for everything we’ve accomplished thus far, and

65
I look forward to the future as we continue to serve

the worldbuilding community.

Happy worldbuilding! 33 TALES OF WAR

Stories 17-20
LieutenantDebug, Editor-in-Chief

2 Worldbuilding Magazine
CONTENTS
4 World Showcase:
vbwyrde’s Elthos
10 Architecture & Cultural
Assimilation

16 Exclusive Interview:
Chris Lockey
23 A Boy in the Woods

36 Red Sky at Night,

Builder’s Delight
44 Words of Worldbuilding
World Anvil Contest Results
51 Community Art Features
59 Storming the Bastille

65 33 Tales of War
Stories 17-20
ADDITIONAL CONTENT
54 Resource Column
56 Artist Corner
76 Ask Us Anything
80 Meet the Staff
82 Contributors

3
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

WORLD
SHOWCASE
VBWYRDE’S ELTHOS
interviewed by Aaryan Balu | illustrations by vbwyrde
INTERVIEW TABLETOP GAMING

V bwyrde has been creating Elthos, a homebrew

Dungeons & Dragons game world, for over forty
years. Here’s how he describes his world.

4 Worldbuilding Magazine
E lthos has been in the works since 1978, when
I first started hosting as a Game Master. It’s
my own setting. So after all these decades, there’s
I try to convey that is how Elthos works in the
descriptions of my spells, or in the description of
how magic works generally. But mostly it is all in
a lot to the place. It’s a planet, not entirely unlike the wrist...er...how I narrate the game.
Earth—a parallel universe. Here, there are True
Gods, called the Elkron, plus magic, mysticism, Makes sense. I definitely try to lean into more
monsters, tales of woe, and glory. It started with elaborate/ground-level descriptions of magic as
The Iron Legions of Telgar and then shifted focus well. Could you tell me a bit about Glendale and
in the 1990’s to an area known as Korak. In the the troubles brewing in that area?
2000’s the game again shifted focus, this time to
Glendale in the Realm of Palamar. Glendale is a mythical land in the World of Elthos,
high up in the Realm of Palamir, Elkron of the
Elthos is magical, but the magic is more Sun. It all started with a fairy tale. A long time
Tolkienesque than your usual overt role-playing ago now, I had read a story named The Castle of
game’s. Magic, while it does have the usual Otranto by Horace Walpole and conceived from
panoply of spells and clerical powers reflective of it a fairy tale for Elthos, very loosely based on
Original Dungeons & Dragons, it is also low key. some aspects of that story. I used Walpole’s story
Most mysticism is “in your head, man.” as a “Deep Backstory” for my campaign.

How so? What makes the magic mystical? Glendale itself is not real. It’s a prison. A very large,
very pretty, and very illusory prison—but a prison
It’s really in the descriptive narrative that the nonetheless. It was created to hold the Prince and
magic of that happens. I do not rely on mechanical Princess of the Kingdom of Oswald by the Witch-
descriptions like “Ok, you cast Firebolt and deal Sister of the King, and her consort Klingzor, a
2d6+5! Orc takes 10 damage! Now what do you malevolent sorcerer. The overarching backstory
do?” is all about rescuing the Moon Princess and her
brother, the Sun Prince. But, to be honest, there
Instead it’s more like this: “The wizard is has been almost no mention of any of that in all
mumbling again...the torchlight is flaring wildly of the Adventures of Glendale thus far. Because
and one torch hits a wall, and sparks are flying it is Deep Backstory. In Whitewode, finally, they
everywhere, and the shadows are dancing like caught a hint of that when they actually met the
crazy-marionettes, and one of the Orcs hair caught Moon Princess, briefly. After 20 years of play. In
on fire, and he’s shrieking horribly and dashes his fact, if my players ever read this, they will note
head screaming...and what do you do?” that they had no clue about any of this.

Dice rolls happen. But the descriptions are Glendale has its own fantastical backstory as well
designed to keep the magic ambiguous. Was it as four major townships. Hobbinton, a mountain
a fire bolt that took out the Orc? Or something town filled with thieves on the edge of Glendale, is
else? I never say. The wizard will tell you it was where most of the story has taken place in recent
the Magic of Fire. But he’s a wild-eye’d mumbler. years. Here, one can find a number of mysteries...
Can you really believe what he says? even the town’s origin itself.

Is this built into some fundamental aspect of the At this point, though, I should mention that
world, or more just a narrative choice for how Elthos (as I GM it) is about 50% about the world
you conceive of magic? and 50% about the characters in it. The two go
hand-in-hand, and the actions of the characters
very largely drive the story. While there is a vast

5
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

back story going on around them at all times, Fat rich and happy, the heroes all retired, married,
the player’s characters are the focus of the world. and had kids. They were living on the fat of the
What they do makes all kinds of difference to land and their reputations as village heroes. It
what happens in the rest of the world. They are was all going swimmingly, and they did not want
the heroes of the story, after all. to adventure anymore. Ever. But one day I found
an article with a very cool little isometric map of
So what’s the hook for the campaign? the underground city under Derinkuyu. And that
was the beginning of the end of their retirement,
Well, we’ve been playing for a very long time. My I tell ya.
current group has members who started playing
with me in 2009. So the initial hooks are very I loved the map so much, and the amazing city
much in the distant past. But that said, this is under the earth, that of course I had to create
what it was at first: my own. So I created the Caverns of Grimdel...
isometric style. It looks tiny, but it has two levels
There was a group of heroes who joined the actually, and is larger on the inside than on the
Adventurer’s Guild in Hobbinton. One member, outside. Tardis style. That’s just level 1.
Hermel, of Yellow Clay Village, became the
ostensible leader of the group. It featured a Anyway, I had to figure out a way to hook
Paladin named The Star of Justice, the dwarf my players into this new campaign. It was a
Arik Anvilbreaker, the lizard-ish orphan boy struggle, but in the end, through sheer horrible
Praymar, Lido the hobbit and tanner’s son, and GM trickery, I pulled it off. So the retired team
his richer friend Ishcandar. Hermel had a dream flung on their equipment and ran pell-mell into
of a dragon tear that dropped from the eye of a the night to rescue Hermel’s daughter from her
Green Dragon and landed like a meteor in the kidnappers. That campaign went on for about
roots of a tree in the courtyard of the tenement two years and earned the name The Horrors of
house he was living in. When he woke up, Hermel Whitewode. Not just because the place itself was
went downstairs and, sure enough, found a tear- a horror—which it was—but because this was my
shaped emerald buried into the roots of the tree. most overly-ambitious campaign ever to date. A
He decided that he was going to use it somehow ridiculously ambitious project that bore all kinds
to rescue his hometown Yellow Clay from the of malignant fruit. But, it was also spectacular,
bandits that had been harassing it for years, and and none of us will soon forget it. The glooms of
had sent him to the big city to begin with. That’s Whitewode are not someplace you’d ever want to
how the adventure began back in 2009. That visit. I can tell you that.
campaign was named The Adventure of Yellow
Clay Village…and it lasted till 2013. I later did a If you look closely at level 1 of the Caverns of
write-up of the entire campaign, word for word, Grimdel, you’ll notice that the doorway opposite
which I posted to my blog here. If anything, it of the red glowing statue in the rightmost
gives a real feel for both what Elthos is about, chamber has a rolling stone next to it. That was
and also what can be done with my Elthos RPG the trap which kept the players in the dungeon
rules and the Mythos Machine, a web application for two years. And it is exactly like the rolling
I created to support them. stones you will find in the Derinkuyu cave-city.
And it worked like a charm.
None of which has much to do with Whitewode,
a story which took place about three years (real- What resides in the Caverns of Grimdel?
world time) after the end of that campaign.
I should preface this a bit by saying where this
horrible idea came from. I had spent about a year

6 Worldbuilding Magazine
watching 495 episodes of Dark Shadows (the came upon Whitewode and sought information.
original series) from Episode 1. In the middle What they encountered instead were witches.
of that, Christopher Lee passed away, and so I Now these witches didn’t announce themselves
went to look up some of his old films and found as witches of course, and it took quite a while for
“City of the Dead” aka “Horror Hotel.” The my players to even catch on that they were being
fusion of these two is the primary inspiration incessantly lied to, and even then they didn’t
for Whitewode. In particular the witches of catch on to why for some time.
Whitewode. Never was there a more cunning,
evil, lying, charming, deceitful, complex, and Eventually they found out that the witches were
voracious group of villains ever in the history of cursed and doomed to remain in the town until
my world. Their tactics were so simple and yet so they could complete their Coven with a thirteenth
profoundly effective I myself was shocked by how member, which they hadn’t been able to do for
well their plans worked. Until the end of course. 300 years prior to the start of the campaign.
But all along up until then, they just lied and lied, Instead they were trapped in the dismal town
and threw confusions, temptations, illusions, as it sank slowly year by year into the ground
dreams, charms, memory wipes, voodoo, and... because of the curse they put on it themselves.
just about every trick I learned from Dark They had been counter-cursed! So, they only had
Shadows. My players suffered horribly at their one last year remaining before the cavern ceiling,
hands for years. now only a few yards wide, would seal them in
forever and seal their fate. They were getting
Do tell. desperate. So, they tried everything they could
to wheedle, tempt, or threaten any one member
It was all psychological stuff. There they were, of the party to join them. And no one did. The
trying to rescue the children of Yellow Clay. They end of the campaign was as glorious as the entire

7
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

thing had been gloomy. Fire and brimstone, I tell ya. And that’s not
the half of it. Not the quarter of it, really. It was a long and very
wide campaign, with lizardmen, giants, three sibling demons, two
arch-villains, an angelic doctor, a sci-fi Wizard, and not to mention
the appearance—finally—of the Moon Princess and the cat-men.
It was wonderful, even though my players hated Whitewode with
a passion. They said that a lot, though they came to every single
game without fail. So take the hate with a grain of salt, I guess.

Let’s zoom out a bit—can you share what the world looks like?

Let me show you a map of the whole shebang that we created using
another project of mine called The Meta Game...

Glendale is inside one of the hexes in the upper right corner. That’s
the Realm of Palamir. Or Realm of the Sun. Here’s another slice.
The Meta Game, aka The God
Game, is designed to be a compet- What kind of conflicts are going on between these various zones?
itive worldbuilding game for GMs
who want to collaborate on creat-
ing a Shared World, with all of its In the far North is the Realm of the Moon. There you can see
Mythological History based on their that there’s a frozen tundra with Crystal Mountains. There dwell
actions as The Gods (aka Elkron) the first race—crystal giants. They are peace-loving and creative,
during the course of the game.
and they are the masters of gems and all precious things as well
Here’s the first in a series of blog as fantastic craftsmen of old. They are intelligent, but their only
posts about the Meta Game. ambition is to create beautiful works, which they mostly do in
their deep caverns below the world, and most people haven’t an

DETAIL FROM THE META GAME MAP

8 Worldbuilding Magazine
inkling that they exist. However, they will also out that the night we played was the night of the
sometimes extend themselves to the surface Draconid meteor shower: October 7-8th, 2011.
world if things ever should turn so dire as to merit Our game night.
their intrusion in the affairs of the top-worlders.
Stuff like that happens quite a lot for whatever
To the south west you can see the Realm of reason. It’s one of Elthos’ most endearing aspects
Uranus. The deep sea merges with this domain, for me.
which is formed of coral reefs and island chains
and is also marked by mountains on its eastern Any last thoughts you want to leave us with
border. There dwell the fish folk. They are not about worldbuilding?
necessarily very nice or very peaceful, and they
can definitely have sharp pointy teeth and magic As Tolkien called it, mythopoeia is one of the
powers like no one’s business. In the north of great arts of the human race. We get to participate
that land is a very ancient structure known only in creativity at a level that can bring wonders to
as The Dolmen. It is someplace the Elkron do light for us and our friends. RPGs are a means
not even dare to approach. It is even older than by which we can not only practice mythopoeia,
they are.To the far west is the land of Chaos, the but can also play out our worlds as games with
Realm of Mars. there you can see the Floating our friends, bringing forth myriads of heroic
Volcanic Islands, and the Great Whirlpool River. adventures and incredible stories. Worldbuilding
The Armies of the World seem to spawn from is an art, and Elthos is my art form. I also want
there, and it is most notable for its incredible to encourage people to build their own worlds
Ruby Towers which line its northern border. because it is just so rewarding. To help, I created
a project called The Mythos Machine, a tool to
These are just gleanings of details from our Meta help create grand stories and worlds.
Game. We didn’t get a chance to complete the
game as two of our four players had a child and,
well, priorities.
This interview was edited for Worldbuilding
What are some of your favorite aspects of this Magazine.
world?
Thanks to Vbwyrde for joining us! If you would
If I must choose, one of the things I love most like to be featured in a future World Showcase,
about Elthos is how it always seems to interweave click here to apply!
itself with the real world in strange and mystical
ways. For example, you remember I told you about
the dragon tear, right? Well, the night we played BACK TO INDEX
that, a player (Ishcandar) picked the pocket of
an old blind man, and Hermel went back to him
and gave him his own money to compensate him
for his loss. As a reward, the old blind man gave
Hermel a tarot reading during which he was to
pick one card. I have my own Elthos Tarot deck,
and so my player picked a card. It was the Dragon
card. I carried it from there, and Hermel had the
dream about the Green Dragon Tear falling to
the ground like a meteor. One year later I was
looking online at astronomy stuff and I found

9
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE
& CULTURAL
ASSIMILATION IN ART
by Adam Bassett

ART HISTORY RELIGION

A longside the expansion of a people, so too is

there an expansion—and altering—of their
art. In c.640 CE, Muslims ruled Syria, Palestine,
Islam remains one of the world’s largest religions
today. In addition, they taught the foundations
for algebra and arithmetic to much of the world.
and Iraq. Two years later, the Byzantine army Many Muslims went on to make significant
abandoned Alexandria, leaving Egypt to the contributions which advanced the fields of
Muslims. In 651, they took Iran from the medicine, astronomy, and science. Several
Sassanids, thus ending more than 400 years of Christian scholars studied Arabic translations
Sassanid rule. By 710, all of North Africa was of ancient Greek writers such as Aristotle, and
under Muslim control with later advances into Arabic lyrics later inspired French troubadours.1
Spain and France. The Franks repelled their All of this is to say that the expansion of Islam,
invaders, but in Spain, the Muslim rulers of though militaristic at times, also spread new ideas
Córdoba remained in power until 1031. Even that overall benefitted many people. Of course,
then, Muslim influence and power didn’t leave with this expansion, the conquered peoples had
the Iberian Peninsula until much later. a bit of influence on the Arabs as well.

It was not military might alone that was so We’re going to take a look at some pieces of
impressive about the expansion of Islam. Muslims architecture from around the Islamic world
converted millions as the expansion spread, and and then consider how we might use them as

1
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: a Global History. 14th ed., book C, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013, p
284.

10 Worldbuilding Magazine
inspiration for our worldbuilding projects. Each
structure comes with an element of mystery or
a grand story and remains standing today—a
testament to the builders who created them.

DOME OF THE ROCK

“Islam is not only a religion, but a way of life.”
This major tenant is how the Department of
Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of
Art describes the faith. They go on to state
that “the lands conquered by the Muslims had
their own preexisting artistic traditions and...
those artists who had worked under Byzantine
or Sassanian patronage continued to work in
their own indigenous styles but for Muslim
patrons [after the conquest].” This blending of
ideas and art forms didn’t begin to unify into
a definitely Islamic art style until during the
rule of the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE). It WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
was a gradual shift, but during this period, art
and architecture slowly began to form around Sophia. The interior was beautifully decorated in
four components: calligraphy, vegetal patterns, vegetal and geometric mosaic patterns, featuring
geometric patterns, and figural representation.2 images of crowns, jewels, chalices, and other
royal motifs. This may have been a reference to
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem may be the caliphate’s triumph over the Byzantine and
the first great piece of Islamic architecture. Sassanid empires. Calligraphic inscriptions,
It was erected c.687-692 by Umayyad caliph most from the Koran, suggest Islam is the new
Abd al-Malik after they took the city from superior monotheistic faith. At the center of the
the Byzantine Empire. It is, without a doubt, building is an exposed rock. It’s not mentioned
one of those buildings constructed during the in any of the writing on the walls, but has since
aforementioned phase of mixing ideas. The Dome become known as the place where the Prophet
of the Rock was constructed for Islamic functions Muhammed may have begun “his miraculous
but displays an amalgam of Greco-Roman, journey to Heaven (the Miraj) and then in the
Byzantine, and Sassanian elements in its artistry same night, returned to his home in Mecca.”3
and construction. It is an octagonal building
with a large golden dome at the top, a layout The Dome of the Rock is also somewhat
likely inspired by Late-Antique Mediterranian mysterious in its intent. Several clues were
structures such as the San Vitale or Hagia left for us; however, history is messy, and the

2
Department of Islamic Art. “The Nature of Islamic Art.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, 2000, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/orna/hd_orna.htm. Accessed December 18, 2019.
3
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: a Global History. 14th ed., book C, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013, p
285-287.

11
 Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

THE GREAT MOSQUE

OF CÓRDOBA
After approximately 115 years of Islamic rule,
the Abbasids revolted and either killed or forced
the Umayyad caliphate out of Syria in 750 CE.
A few of the Umayyad fled west to Spain and
founded a new dynasty. They ruled from their
capital of Córdoba, located at the southern end
of the Iberian Peninsula. This new Muslim
state rivaled that of the Abbasids and exerted a
significant influence over the Christian states of
Western Europe.

The jewel of Córdoba was, of course, its Great

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Mosque. Mosques are places of Muslim worship,
a wall always facing Mecca—the direction all
structure has been interpreted to be many things. must face when practicing Islamic prayer. The
Christians and Muslims during the Middle Ages construction of the Great Mosque at Córdoba
thought it was the site of the Temple of Solomon. began in 784 by Abd al-Rahman I and later
Later it gained significance as the burial place of enlarged during the ninth and tenth centuries.
Adam (the first man) and also as the place where When it was finished, the building boasted an
Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. As impressive 514 columns, all topped by a unique
such, the Dome of the Rock has cemented its double-tiered system of arches. This style was
place as a religious destination for several major done because the original builders used short
world religions that each persist to this day. columns, and the aforementioned revisions
demanded that the roof be raised higher. 4
One major takeaway here is that it
took years for an Islamic art style to
develop, and one of its most impor-
tant buildings still hadn’t found that
style when it was made. Additionally,
the intent of the building is unclear.
It can be enticing, even comforting,
to detail our worlds to the letter and
guarantee with certainty what each
aspect is for. However, it is important
to remember that sometimes things
can be confused, lost, or forgotten
over time.

The arches at the Great Mosque

at Córdoba are horseshoe-shaped,
likely as a result of earlier Meso-
potamian or Visigothic influence.
In time, the style became closely
associated with Western Muslim
architecture. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

12 Worldbuilding Magazine
The original structure contained beautiful Suleiman the Magnificent, who ruled as sultan
geometric patterns. It wasn’t until the tenth through much of the sixteenth century, Sinan
century revisions under Caliph Al-Hakam that was at the center of several major construction
the mosque gained more detailed designs. The projects. One of his masterpieces was the Mosque
new caliph sought to imitate the structures built of Selim II.
by the Umayyads centuries before, and covered
the walls with marbles and mosaics.5 Before delving into Sinan and the mosque, it is
important to first note the significance of the
Caliph Al-Hakam accomplished his goal. The Hagia Sophia. The Ottoman Empire conquered
finished Great Mosque at Córdoba stands Constantinople in 1453, and with it gained the
proudly to this day, boasting intricate mosaics infamous cathedral. Of course, the Ottomans
that remind one of structures such as the Dome converted it into a mosque, and today the
of the Rock while also retaining a strong sense building functions as a museum. It is a marvel
of uniqueness due to the double-tiered arches of architectural engineering and art that has
and airy halls. Again, we see a clear mixing of stood since its construction c.535 CE. Recalling
cultures. Caliph Al-Hakam may have sought to how Byzantine craftsmen helped construct the
imitate the Umayyads with the expansion, but his Dome of the Rock, we can imagine how the
work resulted in a new style of Western Muslim Ottomans must have seen familiar themes in
architecture that was similar, yet distinct, from the old cathedral when they visited it for the first
the other forms. time. However, mosques require a wall facing
Mecca, and the Hagia Sophia did not quite fit
THE MOSQUE OF SELIM II that mold. Plus, this was a Christian building,
made by Christians—and nothing could rival its
In the late twelfth century, the Seljuk Turks fell magnificence.
from power, creating an opportunity for the
smaller dynasties they once ruled to rise up in So, when Suleiman the Magnificent commission-
Anatolia.6 Among those groups, Osman I founded ed a mosque made in his son’s name, he and his
the Ottoman Empire, which his successors brilliant architect Sinan set their goals high to
brought to great heights. By the fifteenth century, compete with the old Byzantine cathedral. They
the young empire became one of the world’s built the mosque in Edirne, approximately 147
greatest powers. miles west of the Hagia Sophia. It was an ideal
place to show the world the might of the Ottoman
Sinan the Great has gone into many history Empire and Muslim craft—Edirne was the first
books as the greatest Ottoman architect, credited major city that Europeans reached as they
with perfecting the Ottoman style. Employed by traveled into the empire.7

4
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: a Global History. 14th ed., book C, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013, p
290-291.
5
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: a Global History. 14th ed., book C, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013, p
290.
6
“Seljuq.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/Seljuq. Accessed
December 18, 2019.
7
Macauley-Lewis, Elizabeth. “Mimar Sinan, Mosque of Selim II, Edirne.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, https://www.
khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/ap-art-islamic-world-medieval/a/
mosque-edirne. Accessed December 18, 2019.

13
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

The dome on the Mosque of Selim

II doesn’t quite reach the height
that the Hagia Sophia does, but the
land in Edirne is higher than that in
Istanbul. Therefore, the total height
above sea level is higher than the
Hagia Sophia. Regardless, the Ot-
tomans believed that the mosque’s
completion finally proved they had
outdone the Byzantine cathedral,
as well as Christendom itself.9

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Mosque of Selim II, completed c.1568-1575, another’s records, they might strive for the
was built in the shape of an octagon with a dome tallest buildings, most realistic statues, or most
over the center. Four slender minarets adorn its numerous columns.
four corners, each reaching more than 200 ft.
into the sky. The entire structure was engineered INFLUENCERS
to keep strict mathematical ratios. The mosque’s
height, width, and masses relate to one another Throughout this brief history of Islamic
in a 1:2 ratio, tying the structure together in a architecture, one thing has remained ever-
precise visual harmony. It is no wonder, then, present: the influence of outside cultures.
that Sinan the Great proclaimed this building The Dome of the Rock was built with heavy
his masterpiece.8 Byzantine and Sassanid influences, perhaps even
by architects and craftsmen from those empires.
The spirit of competition here is of particular The Great Mosque at Córdoba was influenced
interest. The previous buildings we’ve looked at by either Mediterranean or Visigothic cultures,
have been the assimilation of ideas, and while then took on those horseshoe-shaped arches as
the Mosque of Selim II is not an exception to that a major theme in Western Islamic architecture.
case, it is certainly made in competition with the The Mosque of Selim II, of course, was directly
Hagia Sophia. An interesting exercise might be influenced by the Hagia Sophia. A meeting of
to consider rivalries in your world and see if they peoples will always create influences on one
might compete by trying to outdo one another’s another. The United States has a network of
artistic or architectural accomplishments. roads (the interstate system) in part because of
In the same way people attempt to top one President Eisenhower’s experience mapping the

8
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: a Global History. 14th ed., book C, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013,
p 297-299.
9
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: a Global History. 14th ed., book C, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2013,
p 298.

14 Worldbuilding Magazine
roads of France for the military during World
War II as well as his knowledge of Germany’s
autobahn which was enormously helpful in
transporting people as well as equipment.10

When worldbuilding, keep in mind how your

cultures come into contact with one another.
Those who conquer will take structures and
resources from the people they defeated. Those
who trade will exchange ideas. It is easy to be
building a new world of your own and forget this
simple fact, but having a bit of mingling between
groups—be they allies or enemies—will add a
great amount of depth to the world.

For example, let’s assume a scenario akin to the

expansion of Islam we discussed earlier. If a nation
expands their empire, what will they encounter
for the first time? Might there be exotic materials,
strange carvings, or towering buildings unlike
what they’re used to? It’s important to consider
how they might react to these new experiences.
Any answer is valid, so long as you can justify
it. Many conquerors throughout history have
destroyed that which lay in their path. Others,
like the Ottoman Empire, instead assimilated
much of what they encountered. What will come
of your peoples meeting?

BACK TO INDEX

10
“Highway History.” U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation/
Federal Highway Administration. 24 July 2017, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/brainiacs/eisenhowerinterstate.cfm.
Accessed December 18, 2019.

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

EXCLUSIVE
INTERVIEW
CHRIS LOCKEY
interviewed by Adam Bassett
INTERVIEW TABLETOP GAMING

C hris Lockey works with Critical Role. One of his most

recent projects to see fruition is the Explorer’s Guide
to Wildemount. He discusses his role in writing it and
shares a few more broad thoughts on role-playing games
and their settings.

16 Worldbuilding Magazine
 COURTESY OF CRITICAL ROLE

My name is Chris Lockey (although my Aunt I’m a storyteller in a southern gothic tradition,
Rita always calls me Christopher, and my by way of classic horror fantasists like Edgar
contemporaries usually refer to me by a solitary Allan Poe, Robert E. Howard, Shirley Jackson,
surname). I’m a writer, director, producer, and Stephen King. Among a myriad of artistic
photographer, and editor of broadcast media in influences, I occasionally play favorites: I love
Los Angeles, California—where I currently (and the films of John Carpenter and Ridley Scott, the
quite contentedly) work for Critical Role. As the music of Black Sabbath and Tangerine Dream,
multi-hyphenate title suggests, I am a jack-of- the paintings of Frank Frazetta and Zdzisław
all-trades. I spent my early scholastic years as an Beksiński, Batman comics, cosmic horror,
overachiever of the “accidentally gifted” variety, cartoons, ghost stories, electric guitars, movie
and I never managed to shake the sense of onus theatres, Mexican Coke, and pizza. But enough
that comes along with my particular brand of about me, let’s talk about Dungeons & Dragons…
ambition.

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

Sounds good to me! Let’s begin with the big wasteland known as Blightshore.
news: you helped write the new Dungeons &
Dragons book Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. The book claims there are “four regions...
Could you tell us about how you happened to [which] provide endless potential for adventure
join that project, and what you contributed to it? in a land of brewing conflict and incredible
magic.” What are these four regions, and what
Working with Critical Role for a few years as the makes each distinct?
in-house photographer has allowed me some very
precious (and extremely valued) time around I already mentioned my beloved Blightshore,
that table. The rapport required to capture the which occupies the Eastern Wynandir seaboard,
kind of candid, behind-the-scenes coverage that but let’s take a quick look at the grand scope
I sought eventually led to some classic “table talk” of Wildemount before we get too weird. The
between fellow D&D enthusiasts. It’s impossible four regions of Wildemount include Western
to avoid talking a little shop on Thursday nights. Wynandir, Eastern Wynandir, the Menagerie
And it just so happens that I’d also been working Coast, and the Biting North.
as a freelance RPG designer for the better part of
a decade, thanks to Wolfgang Baur and Kobold Western Wynandir takes its cue from classic
Press. My projects at Kobold Press (such as the fantasy storytelling with a distinctly darker slant.
Tome of Beasts, Creature Codex, and Deep Magic: In a somewhat draconian and nativistic fashion,
Mythos Magic) are what silently earned me Matt the presiding Dwendalian Empire maintains
Mercer’s interest as a potential contributor to a stalwart front against the encroaching forces
the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. Matt did of the Kryn Dynasty from the east. Dashes of
a masterful job of hiding his intentions until inspiration from the likes of Warhammer’s Old
the fateful moment, smack dab in the middle of World, The Witcher’s Continent, and Bloodborne’s
Critical Role’s second campaign, when he asked Yarnham can be found in Western Wynandir’s
me to join the sourcebook’s writing team. gothic landscapes and dreary settlements.
This is where the Mighty Nein began their jour-
Mercer had already done a staggering amount of ney at the top of Critical Role’s second campaign,
work on this book before recruiting Joey Haeck, and it’s where you’ll find some of the familiar
James Introcaso, and myself to help round it out. dark fantasy tropes you’ve come to recognize
And that expert level of preparation is apparent throughout the genre’s history (along with a few
in the collected and confident way he runs the new surprises).
Wildemount campaign on-air every Thursday
night. From the very beginning, Wildemount The southwestern edge of Wildemount is known
was a fantasy setting that I fell in love with. as the Menagerie Coast, a region of verdant
Rather than the classic high fantasy of Tal’Dorei beaches and lush tropical islands. Home to some
(the setting from Critical Role’s first campaign), of Wildemount’s more lawless adventurers,
here was a place that was riddled with sullen the Menagerie Coast is perfectly suited for any
atmosphere and thrilling mystery—a foreboding players with a penchant for pirateering.
world of dark fantasy, where warring governments
and zealous factions vie for the spoils of the Eastern Wynandir is home to the Kryn
very gods that abandoned them. I was eager, Dynasty—an emergent nation of drow elves
honored, and elated to design some of the most who worship a mysterious entity known as The
sinister locations, creatures, and accoutrements Luxon—along with a wide array of what are
that Wildemount has to offer—including a batch traditionally considered “monstrous” societies.
of nefarious magic items, a handful of horrific Eastern Wynandir is a region of strangeness
monsters, and the post-apocalyptic arcane and unfamiliarity, marked by weird and wild

18 Worldbuilding Magazine
fantasy locations like the goblinoid Wastes of graviturgist focuses on the manipulation of
Xhorhas and the magically-corrupted Miskath gravity, often localized to control the battlefield.
Strand (also known as Blightshore). To call James Introcaso added a few hot new spells of
Eastern Wynandir “dangerous” would be a bit of his own, and folks at Wizards of the Coast went
an understatement, but that really depends on through them all with a fine-tooth comb to ensure
which side of the swamp you’re from. maximum compatibility with the pre-existing
spells for 5th Edition D&D.
And above Wynandir lurks the Biting North, a
cold region of arctic landscapes and cruel icy I personally didn’t develop any new spells for
wilderness. The Biting North is a realm defined the guide, focusing my efforts instead on a
by its isolation from the rest of the world. Here, complement of magic items and some new,
explorers risk life and limb delving through the interesting magical effects native to present-
frigid depths of snow-capped enigmas—from the day Miskath Strand. Of the 30+ standard magic
cursed tundras of the Greying Wildlands to the items in the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount,
monstrosity-haunted ruins of Eiselcross. I worked on a solid eight or so that have their
unofficial/official roots in Blightshore. The magic
Thanks for the brief tour! Now, part of Wilde- items I developed were the kinds of treasures I’ve
mount’s description mentions magic. How does longed to see at my own table in an authoritative
it differ from the rest of Dungeons & Dragons’ capacity, so I was thrilled at how well my humble
style of magic? (yet hopefully daring) offerings held up under
the scrutiny of the team. And I can’t wait to see
Thankfully, the creators and custodians of 5th them in action.
Edition D&D have made it abundantly clear
that balance is a top priority when it comes to Was it limiting to have to fit Explorer’s Guide to
gameplay. With that in mind, the new spells, Wildemount within the confines of an existing
magic items, and magical effects developed for game system? What challenges, if any, did you
the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount stem from face in fitting it into established systems?
Mercer’s love of metaphysics while tapping into
Introcaso’s enthusiasm for super-science and my In many ways, the setting of Wildemount is a love
own ardor for necromancy and transmutation. letter to the D&D game system itself. I feel like
that’s reflected in its design from top to bottom.
Before the Explorer’s Guide was even a twinkle As mentioned before, Wildemount is the follow-
in my eye, Matt had shared some early drafts of up to Matt’s Tal’Dorei setting from the first
what he referred to as a new school of magic— Critical Role campaign; to me, it feels like the
what Critical Role viewers would come to know ripened fruit of Matt’s original vision. Like much
as dunamancy. Inevitably, dunamancy didn’t of the speculative fiction that inspires us, stories
become a new school of magic; it rather exists in Wildemount are often told as fantastic yet
as a sort of sub-school for arcane casters with an grim reflections of our own world here on Earth.
abstruse passion for physics, gravity, and time. The sword and sorcery storytelling of D&D is
the essential lens we use to look at Wildemount,
Dunamancy is the study of dunamis, the primal which hopefully provides a fertile setting for
magical energy of potentiality and actuality. It is centuries of stories to come.
this esoteric magic that is explored in a handsome
collection of spells and subclasses that Matt 5th Edition D&D is a streamlined, stripped-
had already developed before bringing the rest down version of what some players came to
of us into the fold. A cronourgist, for example, regard as an overcomplicated system, and its
uses dunamancy to manipulate time; while a popularity owes a lot to its accessibility. There

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

are, however, some mechanical constructs and was unwelcoming but impossible to ignore—
considerations in previous editions of the game the kind of place where bounty hunters and
that do make for more nuanced design elements. tomb raiders would thrive, where the perverse
Much of the challenge of designing for 5th experimentations of the Betrayer Gods run
Edition D&D is adhering to the rigid style guide, amok, and where untold treasures lie waiting to
but it’s also dreadfully important to keep things be discovered in their accursed vaults.
simple. The precision of the 5th Edition ruleset
results in less confusion at the table, and it’s part I’ve heard our beloved design overlords at
of the genius that makes the latest edition work Wizards of the Coast refer to the Explorer’s
on such an immediate level for so many players. Guide to Wildemount as the first D&D setting
The trick ultimately becomes: how do you keep expressly designed for 5th Edition Dungeons &
things simple while leaving room to innovate? Dragons. We imagined that to be the case during
I decided to listen to my gut, honor my inspira- early development, and Blightshore quickly
tions, respect Matt’s vision, and commit to ideas became (for me) a wonderful surrogate location
that I felt would stand the test of time. for every classic deathtrap dungeon I ever
wanted to update to 5th Edition. Consider this:
How do you write about a setting for other Maure Castle, White Plume Mountain, that cool
people to use and explore, giving them plenty of new indie module you’ve been dying to try out?
information to work with, without doing the ad- They’re not officially located in Blightshore, but
venturing for them? How do you decide what to I’m encouraging any intrepid Dungeon Master to
tell them, and what to let the players/DMs figure reason that they might be…
out for themselves?
Another helpful component to this strategy
The development of Blightshore was a direct was the inclusion of four 1st-level adventures,
exercise in providing tools for the Dungeon Master designed to help players kick off new campaigns
to do their own thing. Matt had already defined the in each of Wildemount’s regions. These campaign
majority of Wildemount and mapped it out with starters are the perfect way to whet your appetite
cartographer extraordinaire Deven Rue. Once the with what we’ve established without committing
team was assembled, Matt offered up a choice of to several levels of a pre-baked narrative. My
assignments to us on a proverbial platter—James contribution—known as “Unwelcome Spirits”—
“Joey” Haeck pioneered his Heroic Chronicle occurs in the wastes of Xhorhas, where a spooky
system, James Introcaso was immediately hot for arcane disturbance threatens the rough-and-
Eiselcross, and I instantly gravitated towards the tumble goblinoid village of Urzin. It’s a fierce
psychedelic sprawl of apocalyptic arcane terror little combo of hex-crawl exploration, procedural
known as Blightshore (Matt later admitted this investigation, and event-based encounters;
was his master plan all along). I hope people dig it.

With assignment in hand, my self-appointed What part of the book was the most difficult for
mission was to provide a location in Wildemount you to work on? Similarly, what part of the book
for all of the unexplained phenomenon a cam- are you most proud of?
paign might possibly want to explore. Blightshore
needn’t be overexplained. I wanted to preserve a The collaboration with James, Joey, and Matt was
sense of mystery while arming Dungeon Masters so astonishingly copacetic that it often seemed
with tools to tell compelling stories in a place more like play than work. Once we’d moved into
that feels distinct from every other setting in the early revisions with editor Hannah Rose, we all
game’s history. Ravaged by innumerable arcane started to feel a palpable sense of accomplishment.
calamities, Blightshore emerged as a place that And in all honesty, the hardest part of working on

20 Worldbuilding Magazine
this book was balancing my writing time with the is. To ease some curious minds: Matt’s Blood
early days of the new Critical Role studio and the Hunter isn’t offered as a new official character
Kickstarter for our animated series. While keeping class, but a non-player character version does
pace at the studio—surrounded by Critical Role have a handsome stat block in the Explorer’s
cast and crew members who could know absolutely Guide’s bestiary.
nothing of what I was working on—I found myself
dreaming of Blightshore and Xhorhas at length Final question on the book: could you name
yet utterly unable to discuss them. Creativity was anything that specifically inspired the setting
constant, but the discipline of word processing of Wildemount? How did these various sources
was hard won in those heady days. impact the development of the world?

I spoke briefly about Dungeon Master tools for The gothic fantasy settings of The Witcher and
Blightshore…I think one of the more interesting Bloodborne always struck me as inspirations for
things I brought to the book was a set of terrain Western Wynandir. So when it came to building
mechanics that would help DMs chart their own out Blightshore, I embraced the influence of
version of the ever-shifting Miskath Strand. other FromSoftware titles like Dark Souls and
Really, I’m a monster kid at heart, so I’d be Demon’s Souls (some of, if not, my all-time
lying if I said I wasn’t extremely proud of the favorite video games).
new creatures. And it must be known: my suite
of Blightshore-native baddies is brought to The question I posed to myself, based on Matt’s
insidious life by the absolutely stunning art of early descriptions of far-Eastern Wynandir,
illustrator Stephen Oakley. was precisely how much the proliferation of
an undead subculture would impact a society.
I’m very proud of the collective effort we all What kind of magic items would a population
put in this book: Matt’s extensive and inspiring of undead characters benefit from, and what
foundation, Haeck’s sense of player agency, kind of locations would they be reanimated to
Introcaso’s design acumen and bold ideas for protect? Hopefully, I found some cool answers
Eiselcross, the incredible artistic contributions along the way.
from the art team, the expert development from
the Wizards staff…but I’d be a real schmuck if I The Fallout series of video games from Bethesda
didn’t tell you how radical Joey Haeck’s Heroic also had a significant impact on certain locations
Chronicle is. I’d hesitate to play a future D&D of the Miskath Strand, like the frontier town of
campaign without some version of it at my Rotthold and other anomalies. Also, the films
disposal. Don’t sleep on it. Prometheus and Alien: Covenant from Ridley Scott
& Co. were quite instrumental in my conception
Was there anything that you or your team of how Blightshore came to be, informing how
wanted to include in the book, but for whatever the Betrayer Gods cruelly ravaged the Miskath
reason were unable to make happen? Strand with their loathsome arcane experiments.
Blightshore’s post-apocalyptia was also somewhat
A few magic items didn’t make the cut, and Matt inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road, along with
still has some grander schemes for dunamancy the cosmic horror of Clark Ashton Smith and the
magic. Ultimately, the completion of The psychedelic fantasy of Michael Moorcock.
Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount required a bit of
restraint. As we pushed well past the 300-page Speaking more broadly about tabletop RPGs,
mark, it became clear to all of us that certain how do you utilize player input when world-
elements had to reasonably be cut in order to building? Be it something like Wildemount, or
keep this massive book as mean and lean as it another setting.

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

Player agency is one of the most crucial elements What aspects of worldbuilding do you find are
in tabletop role-playing. Whether congregating easy to overlook when building a setting for a
for a casual roll of the dice or for the narrative role-playing game?
tension of dramatic dialogue, everyone ultimately
wants to sit down at the table and have fun The finer details of worldbuilding never get
playing a game—sharing an experience. A solid enough attention in RPG settings. Things that
role-playing session can make friends out of deserve nuance like customs, cuisine, and
perfect strangers. currency; these elements are easy to overlook
if your campaign is all about dungeon-delving
What I aim to do as a worldbuilder is create a and treasure-hoarding. Sure, name tables and
setting that is broad enough to cater to all types of backgrounds are cool, but I always want more.
storytellers, yet dynamic and interesting enough Joey Haeck did a fantastic job of seeding some
to provide a reason for creating it in the first place. of these elements into Wildemount’s Heroic
Verisimilitude is also very important to me as a Chronicle by the way. And the rewards of this
storyteller; logic drives a lot of my choices. So the particular attention to minutiae might not be
worldbuilding itself, during the effort to make it immediately apparent to the “murderhobos,” but
both fun and compelling, is perpetually guided by trust me—the devil’s in the details.
the history of my interactions with other players
at the game table. What did they find interesting, Finally, do you have a setting that you are per-
inspiring, or hard to believe? It’s also not very sonally working on or have made? We’d love to
easy to get immediate feedback on a project that’s hear what you’re busy with!
being shaped in relative secrecy. Often, in a case
such as this, it’s about trusting the reactions and As evidenced in my passion for Blightshore, I’m
relationships you’ve witnessed all along. drawn to settings of a post-apocalyptic variety—
worlds that have “moved on,” as Stephen King
Similarly, how do you worldbuild to anticipate muses in his Dark Tower series. One of my
the actions of your players? current obsessions is the development of one
such setting that exists far outside of our normal
One of the great beauties of role-playing games conceptions of high fantasy. But I can’t say too
is never knowing exactly what a group of players much more without provoking the ancient spirits
will do. Satisfying RPG worldbuilding should of evil, so that’ll have to do for now.
reflect that. Personally, I try less to anticipate
the actions of my players, than I try to provide
them with a variety of logical and interesting
narrative options within a simulated ecosystem. This interview was edited for Worldbuilding
That ecosystem can (and should) have limits Magazine.
that the stories themselves can bend and break.
But, it’s important for me to establish a shared Thanks to Chris Lockey for taking the time to
language about the make-believe, and that starts talk with us for this issue! You can find him on
with the world itself. Characters in role-playing Twitter, and if you’re interested in reading the
games are often echoes of ourselves, and we’re all Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, you can order
products of our environment. The world informs from Critical Role’s shop.
the character, which in turn informs the rest.

BACK TO INDEX

22 Worldbuilding Magazine
 A BOY IN
THE WOODS
by Ianara Natividad | illustrations by Ahmed ElGharabawy

FANTASY FICTION CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

T he creek glistened with the midday light as Hari strolled onto

the banks. He set his basket of dirty clothes against a nearby
rock and knelt by the water. Placing his fingertips on the surface, he
said, “Dear marin of this stream, I am Hari, and I would like to use
the waters of your home. Please move aside as I wash my clothes
and bathe today. Thank you.” Hari waited for a few moments until
the water’s surface momentarily rippled against his fingertips. He
bowed his head and pulled his hand away before he removed his
robes, discolored from sweat and labor, and started washing his
clothing.

23
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

A soft breeze cooled him while the sun beat down on his bare back.
After receiving his first set of tailored clothes six cycles ago, the
head priestess of the Temple of Light instructed him to care for
them on his own. He had since become quite efficient at doing his
laundry. At the least, the chore gave him ample reason to take a
refreshing bath after.

Once Hari finished with the laundry, he clambered around the

bank until he found a large stick to serve as his link to the land,
warding off any mischievous marin that might fancy he belonged
to the water. After wading in and jabbing the stick into a crevice,
Hari washed himself. As he submerged his face in the cool waters,
a muffled echo reached him beneath the surface. Hari breached
the surface and looked towards the woods, and as the distant
scream grew closer, he rushed to the rocky banks.

A teenage boy suddenly burst into the clearing, tumbling into the
dirt. He looked about Hari’s age—probably no older than thirteen
or fourteen cycles—freckled with dark brown hair and utterly red
in the face. The boy let out one more scream and wheezed. Hari
stared at him, wide-eyed, but managed to pull his gaze towards the
forest edge. As he squinted, he could just barely see the outline of
a hulking creature in the woods behind the boy. Hari kept looking
at it, sure that he recognized the spirit’s appearance, though when
he blinked, the form had faded from view. Too large to be a diwati,
and too angry. If I’m careful, I should be fine getting home, but…

Beautiful and mischievous, these “Oh, spirits. Oh, karma. I’m—” the other boy sputtered as he laid
water spirits take on the appear- on the ground. “I’m alive!”
ance of young women, while their
lower halves look more akin to the
tails of snakes or eels. Though in- Hari’s expression turned to annoyance as the boy pulled himself
clined to teach disrespectful people up into a sitting position. After grabbing a still-damp robe, Hari
a lesson, they nonetheless serve as wrapped it around his waist and kept his distance, gripping the
guardians to bodies of water.
stick tightly. Hari cleared his throat and called out, “Wh-what are
you doing here?”

“Hey! Did you see that?” The boy jabbed a finger in the direction
of the woods. “I had to run real fast from...something! I couldn’t
even see what it was, but it sounded big and loud and really scary.
Maybe it was a spirit! Did you hear it?” He blurted out the words
rapidly and paused only to take a breath. “I wonder why it let me
go...”

You weren’t worth the effort of leaving the forest. The forest’s spirits
weren’t always kind to travelers, and based on first impressions,
Hari wouldn’t be surprised if this boy had done something to upset
the woodland spirits. He winced and slowly asked, “That’s good to

24 Worldbuilding Magazine
know, but why are you here?”

“I already said I was running away from that spirit.” The boy looked
around, his gaze fixed on the forest canopy. “Do you know where
the temple is? I need to go there, and I can’t see it from here.”

“The Temple of Light doesn’t welcome strangers. Much less…” Hari

looked him over. “Strange boys.”

“Strangers? Oh, right.” He held out a hand and grinned at him.

“I’m Kaibo Angalang! I’m from the village. What’s your name?”

“Village? You mean Baya-Marong?” Hari did not shake his hand.
“I’m Hari-Moto.”

“Oh. That’s a northern name, right? Are you a traveler, Hari-

Moto?” Kaibo began rummaging through his pack. “You want
some bread? I think I have some left—oh, wait. No. It’s all crumbly
now. You still want some?”

“No thanks,” Hari replied. His expression turned to disgust as the

boy stuffed the crumbs into his mouth. “You can just say ‘Hari.’”

“Where are you from? Ka-Ago?”

“No, just…nowhere.”

“So you’re a traveler! We get travelers in the village sometimes.” These spirits inhabit remote woods
Kaibo glanced towards the creek, his gaze honing in on the laid out that see little permanent inter-
actions with human society. Shy
garments. “Are these your clothes? You really should hang them up and territorial, diwati very rarely
so they dry well, you know. And your robe’s wet, too!” directly interact with trespassers,
instead opting to curse those who
“I know it is.” Hari pulled the damp cloth tighter around him. dare bring harm or disrespect to
their homes. However, people claim
that the diwati sometimes take on
“Do you have any dry clothes? There’s a breeze, so you might catch humanoid forms to lead lost hu-
a sickness.” mans back out of the forests.

“I’ll be fine,” Hari said. “I don’t get sick easily.”

Kaibo rummaged through the sack again. “I brought an extra

shirt. You can use it.”

“Uhh, you don’t have—”

Kaibo shoved a coarse-looking shirt speckled with crumbs at him.

As it unfurled, a doll fell out of it.

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

“Huh.” Hari picked up the doll and handed it back to Kaibo. “That…
yours?”

“Nope. It’s my sister’s. Aya’s. She likes to have it when she sleeps,
but she forgot it before she left with the priestesses.”

“And that’s why you’re going to the Temple.” Hari grimaced.

The head priestess intentionally made new recruits leave their
belongings behind to help sever any ties that might distract them
from their training. “They don’t let men into the Temple.”

“Huh?” Kaibo cocked his head. “Why’s that?”

“Only women are allowed to become priestesses—any who they

think are worthy.”

“That’s what they thought about my sister,” Kaibo replied softly.

He smiled at Hari. “I don’t wanna be a priestess, though. I just
gotta give Aya her doll.”

“The priestesses will just turn you away. They probably won’t open
the gates, or even speak to you.”

Kaibo stared at him for a few moments, mouth agape. “What

makes you think that?”

Hari hesitated. “I—”

“Ah!” Kaibo’s eyes widened. “They wouldn’t let you in. Is that why
you’re out here, Hari?”

“Not exactly.” Hari stepped towards his basket for some more
distance between him and Kaibo. “This isn’t about me—”

“Once I come back from the Temple, we can go to my house if

you have no place to go.” As Kaibo looked at him before his grin
warped into a somber smile. “Aya’s room is empty now, so I bet my
ma wouldn’t mind you staying with us.”

“I don’t need your pity,” Hari snapped.

Kaibo clamped his mouth shut.

Hari’s mind scrambled for a way to end this conversation, only

then realizing he was usually the one waiting for someone else to
send him off. “You need to go home, Kaibo. You won’t get to the
Temple, and you’ll end up going through the forest in the dark if

26 Worldbuilding Magazine
you keep trying.”

“But I have to give—” Kaibo stopped as he noticed Hari’s pointed

expression. He looked toward the forest edge. “Wait, will the
spirits come after me again?”

“Maybe.” Hari watched the color drain from Kaibo’s face. “I don’t
know.”

Hari averted his gaze and started stuffing his wet clothes into his
basket. The head priestess would be livid if she found a recruit
with a doll. She’d blame me, and it’s not even my problem. A soft
breeze blew between them.

“Should I…should I just run through again? That worked last time,
right?”

“Nunos,” Hari began as Kaibo stared blankly at him, “smaller

spirits from the earth—won’t really bother you if you ask them
kindly to stay out of your way before you start walking. Same thing
with the...fairy spirits.”
Nuno are spirits that possess rocks,
“Oh, I kinda did that,” Kaibo muttered. “The big one showed up piles of dirt, and other earthly
objects found on the forest floor.
after, though.” They tend to keep to themselves
unless disturbed, which happens
“You didn’t do anything that would disrespect them, did you?” often because of their taken forms.
Nunos have the power to inflict
extreme fortune or misfortune on
“I don’t think so.” The other boy paused. “What would count as those who step on them, intention-
disrespect?” al or not. A common practice to
avoid their ire is to kindly ask them
Hari let out a long sigh. “I don’t know. Like stomping over an ant- to move out of the way.
hill, snapping off branches, sitting under a tree without asking,”
he listed, looking expectantly at Kaibo.

“Oh, I didn’t do any of that.” Kaibo paused, jaw slack. “But I had a
rotted banana, and I just kinda threw...it...away.”

Hari squinted at him. “Yeah. That would do it. Some spirits like an
offering, but you dumped your trash in their home.” He hoisted the
basket over his shoulder. “You’re on your own with that.”

“Huh? Wh-what can I do?”

Hari shrugged. “I dunno. Guess you’ll have to run fast.”

“I didn’t mean to…” Kaibo nervously gripped at his tarp sack. “Can
I say I’m sorry?”

27
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

“Might work. But that’s your problem now.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll try that,” Kaibo said in a small voice. He perked
up for a moment, managing a smile while waving at the other boy.
“Bye, Hari! Stay safe and spirits guide you.”

Hari gave the other boy a half-hearted wave and started walking
away. After a few moments, he heard his name being called. Hari
stopped mid-step and turned around. Kaibo had jogged up to him,
holding out a spare shirt.

“I told you I don’t need it.”

“It’ll get colder once it gets dark, and I won’t need it if I’m running.
Besides, I don’t really have anything to thank you with, and ma
always said we have to be grateful for the help we get.”

Hari stared at the garment, brow furrowed. “I just told you what
I knew. Didn’t really do anything for you,” he muttered. However,
seeing Kaibo’s expression, Hari had a feeling the other boy would
only persist. As he took hold of the warm shirt, Hari remembered
his grandmother’s words: ‘We at the Temple of Light guide those
who do not understand the spirits.’ Hari sighed through his nose.
He met the other boy’s gaze and added, “This is a lot to take for
just advice. You’re...from Baya-Marong, right? Do you think you
can make your way back?”

“I think so.” Kaibo scratched his head. “I’m just gonna head up the
Temple, and then I’ll—”

“You won’t make it there.” Hari scowled at the other boy and added,
“You probably won’t even make it home on your own.”

“I won’t?” Kaibo paled. “Wh-what should I do?”

“We’ll make it there if we head back now,” Hari muttered, turning

away. He changed into the dry shirt and a pair of discolored pants,
swatted away the crumbs, and started walking back into the forest’s
edge. “Do what I tell you, when I tell you. Understood?”

Despite his furrowed brow, Kaibo straightened up. “I will!”

No more than a few steps into the woods, Kaibo came to a halt as
Hari told him to stop. He looked to the other boy and mimicked
him, each of them clapping their hands together in front of their
chest and deeply bowing.

28 Worldbuilding Magazine
“Dear spirits, please move out of the way as we pass. We mean no
harm and wish for safe travel through your home,” Hari recited
calmly.

Kaibo watched him before taking the hint from Hari’s sidelong
glance. “Dear spirits, please move outta the way. We mean no
harm, and I just wanna safely get home through your...home.” He
grinned as Hari raised a brow and continued walking.

“D’you think we’ll see some spirits, Hari?”

“Probably not. Most people can’t see them.”

“Eh? But the stories—You sure do know a lot about this stuff.”

Hari snorted. “I just know the stories.”

“Ma likes those stories, too, but my sister does better at remembering
than I do. And my Ma didn’t say much about prayers...Did your ma
tell those stories?”

“No.”

Kaibo blinked as the other boy turned his head away. “Oh? Then
where’d you hear them?”

“I,” Hari began, clearing his throat. “I read them.”

“You can read?” Kaibo’s eyes bulged. “You’re amazing! Ma taught

Aya and me, but I never got good at it.”

“You just need to practice,” Hari muttered beside him.

“That’s what Ma—”

“Shush. Don’t speak so loud,” Hari whispered.

Kaibo tilted his head. He could still hear the chorus of forest
critters and the breeze blowing through the branches and leaves.
His gaze then followed Hari’s finger pointing to a fallen tree trunk
covered in moss and vines.

“See that? Remember what it looks like.”

“The stump? Okay, but why?” Kaibo asked, matching Hari’s volume.

“Just have a feeling. Now, come on.”

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

“Whatever you say.” Kaibo smiled at his companion, though Hari

just kept walking forward. The pair continued their trek with
Kaibo’s occasional commentary on the surrounding woods. After
what felt like nearly a half-hour to the boys, Kaibo halted when
Hari glanced up at the forest canopy. “How long have we—” He cut
himself off as he stared ahead. “Hey, Hari, didn’t we already pass
that?” He pointed at the fallen trunk no more than six paces away.

“Yeah. Good that you noticed.” Hari pulled off his shirt. “It’s messing
with our senses. Turn your shirt inside out, and that should help.”

“What’s messing what?” Kaibo followed Hari’s orders, glancing

around again as silence surrounded them. He frowned at Hari,
who had started squinting at something ahead.

“A tikbalang,” Hari murmured quickly. A pair of red, glowing eyes

stared at them, the creature’s hulking frame blocking the wooded
path ahead. Deep in its home, the tikbalang had enough power
for it to manifest a more solidified spiritual form. “Head and hind
legs of a horse. Body of a man...We’re probably trespassing in its
Tikbalangs are powerful spirits that territory, Kaibo.”
take on the form of a large man
with a horse’s head and hooves for
The other boy looked in the same direction of the creature. At that
feet. They’re believed to arise from
the spirits of travelers who meet moment, the tikbalang stepped forward, the underbrush suddenly
unfortunate or untimely ends; as a crackling under the weight of its hoof. “There, in the brush. What
result, they often act malevolently made that—” Kaibo yelled, as he instinctively took a step back.
against humans, especially those
who trespass into their territories.
At best, they trick people with Hari clasped a hand over the boy’s mouth and hissed into his ear,
illusions, hindering their journeys “It’s the spirit. Remember what we agreed. You have to speak when
while otherwise leaving them alone. I say so.”

Kaibo slowly nodded, eyes widened at the invisible creature.

“Spirit of this forest, we would like to safely pass,” Hari said.

The tikbalang left another hoofprint as it drew closer to the two

boys. Kaibo tried to pull back again, but Hari kept a firm grip over
his mouth. He even tried to dig his heels into the ground, though
Hari just pushed him forward.

The spirit took another step towards them.

“We know that this one has disrespected your home,” Hari
continued, “and he regrets his actions.” Hari maintained his hold
on Kaibo, trying to abate the other boy’s panic as the spirit halted
directly in front of them. The tikbalang bared its teeth, lowering its
equine muzzle towards them. When a warm breath blew over their

30 Worldbuilding Magazine
faces and shoulders, Kaibo let out a muffled sob. “He means now to
apologize.” Hari removed his hand from Kaibo’s face, pulling back
from the tikbalang’s snout.

Kaibo opened his mouth, though he managed only a gasp. He

glanced back to Hari.

The tikbalang began to open its jaw, its tongue unfurling from
within. Hari quickly met Kaibo’s gaze, wide-eyed with beads of
sweat dripping from his brow.

“I—” Kaibo swallowed. “Uh, dear tikbalang, I’m really sorry about
tossing that food into your...house earlier today, I think. I didn’t
mean it, and I didn’t know. I won’t ever do it again, and uh…” He
gritted his teeth, as a furious whinny from the spirit sent another
rush of air at them.

Hari held Kaibo firm, both boys staring aghast. He watched the
tikbalang raise its leg to stamp down on Kaibo, crimson gaze still
bearing down on them. His mind raced for what the priestesses,
what his grandma would say. “Some—” Hari stopped. He wasn’t
like his grandmother or aunt. He never thought he’d have to face
a tikbalang of all things, nor could he, so he grabbed Kaibo’s arm,
the only action he could think of in that moment.

Kaibo heard Hari’s panic, as the brush shifted under the tikbalang’s
movement. Blinking, he looked ahead at the invisible creature and
then breathlessly blurted, “I’m, I’m so sorry that I’ll return with
some...uh, tea! And bananas and food—to make up for it. I’m so
sorry. Please let us pass!”

The tikbalang stopped moving. Hari tightened his grip on Kaibo’s

bicep, ready to pull him away in case they needed to flee. Then,
the tikbalang’s red gaze flickered before its horse-like form
disappeared with a breeze that blew over them. At last, the sounds
of the forest resumed.

“Wh-what happened?”

“You appeased it.”

“I did?”

“You did.” Hari whistled. “You thought of the offering.”

“Yeah! I remembered Ma putting a tea bowl out—by our door. She’d

say spirits get thirsty, too.”

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

“That’s good. But you better follow up on that offering.”

“I’ll have Ma pick out the best food!” Kaibo called out with a grin.

Hari scowled, but even he couldn’t help relinquish a small smile.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

After an hour of traversing the downhill trail, the boys reached the
edge of Baya-Marong. The village was little more than a gathering
of straw-roofed shacks propped up on thick, bamboo stilts. Hari
sighed with relief. Kaibo had unrelentingly chattered during their
trek, asking about his home and family, to which he either feigned
noticing a spirit or ignored him entirely.

“Can you get home from here?” Hari asked, stopping in his tracks.

Kaibo nodded. “My house is on the other side of the village,” he

said, pointing in its general direction. “Are you going?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Kaibo frowned. “Don’t you wanna come to my house? Ma

will make dinner for us.”

“I don’t think I should.”

“Why not?”

Hari grimaced. He remembered visiting this place only once,

maybe four or five cycles ago. Even then, the trip had been brief,
as he didn’t ordinarily have permission to leave the temple. By his
grandmother’s whim—before his aunt succeeded her as the head
priestess—he had gotten fitted with the clothing that now filled his
basket. Just thinking about it made his stomach churn, though an
obscene growl also emanated from his midsection, the day’s labors
catching up to him.

“You’re hungry, huh?” Kaibo leaned with a cheerful smile. “Ma

makes the best food. Come on!” He tugged at Hari.

Hari scowled at him, but his stomach made him dread the trek
back to the temple. “Fine, but I’ll eat and that’s it.”

Kaibo continued forward, thinking aloud, “I wonder what

tikbalangs like to eat…”

32 Worldbuilding Magazine
As the boys passed through the village proper, there was a strong
smell of earth mixed with the stench of feces. Hari couldn’t tell if
it belonged to man or animal, though; chickens clucked as they
ran freely, while a handful of goats and cows stayed in pens. He
scrunched his nose and glanced back towards the trail, pausing
as orange rays of light poked through the green veneer of the
forest-covered hillside. A tapestry of trees obscured the walls
themselves, but over the verdant peaks, he spotted the Temple of
Light’s terraced roofs. The last time he visited Baya-Marong, he
couldn’t even see over the thicket. He then turned back around
to continue following Kaibo. Children wearing sacks for clothing
raced around the village, squealing as they played. Men and women
alike trudged between homes: working, bartering, and gossiping.
Hari even spotted a fancy covered wagon hitched to two chestnut
horses, likely belonging to a traveling merchant.

Kaibo led him to a cottage set apart from the rest of the village.
The boy opened the door and shouted, “Ma! We got a visitor.”

Hari glanced around and noticed rolls of cloth, a few dyed in

different colors, propped up against the wall. A half-finished
robe laid on a table beside a spinning wheel. “Is your mother a
seamstress?”

“Yeah. She does the sewing for the priestesses too,” Kaibo replied,
puffing his chest out slightly. “It’s a great honor for us.”

Hari paled slightly. “I think I should—”

“Who’s this now, Kaibo?” A fair-haired woman stepped out from

behind a divider, holding onto a length of crimson ribbon. Her
gaze slid to Hari, who stiffened under her scrutiny.

Hari stared back, mouth flattened in a line. He remembered this

fair-haired woman, who had measured him during his last visit
to the village. He remembered his grandmother instructing her
to make several sets of white silk robes for him, styled differently
from the priestesses’ garb—he didn’t have the right to wear those.
Hari also remembered the seamstress sizing his robes differently
to account for his growth, making a few large enough that he
wouldn’t have to return to the village for some time.

“Ma, this is Hari. He’s a traveler who helped me, and he’s hungry.”

“Hari…Hari-Moto.”

The seamstress approached, nodded at him, and smiled. “Welcome

33
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

to our home, Hari. I’m Acora. Acora Angalang. My husband isn’t

home right now to greet you, unfortunately.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” Hari paused—his grandmother’s lessons

on courtesy echoing in his head—before he stepped forward and
bowed. “Tiya Angalang.”

“Oh, no need for that. Just ‘Acora’ is fine. I don’t need to feel that
old yet.” She lightly laughed before giving him another once over.
“Though, I’m surprised to see a traveler of your age. You mustn’t
be any older than Kaibo.”

Hari swallowed and nodded. “Fourteen cycles this summer.”

“Oh. Not even a cycle apart.” Acora looked to Kaibo, who had
continued to sheepishly grin at them both since they entered.
“Well, I just have to do the laundry before I make dinner. Will you
stay until then, Hari?”

He straightened his posture and bowed. “Thank you for your

hospitality. You are very considerate. And Kaibo was very eager
to…help.”

Acora raised a brow at her son’s direction. She reached over and
pinched his cheek. “Well, I’m glad something stuck.” She glanced
over at the basket. “We have some space in the back for your things,
Hari.”

“Hari’s great, Ma,” Kaibo chimed in. “He knows all about the
spirits—”

“I’m sure it’s a great story, Kaibo,” Acora interjected with a smile.
“But for now, laundry. Get some water from the well.”

“Okay, Ma,” Kaibo said and eagerly jogged out a back door.

Hari turned to Acora, holding up his hands in a plea. “I’m truly

sorry, Acora. I don’t want to be ungrateful, but I can’t stay for—”
He stopped as he saw her calm smile.

“I recognized you, Hari. Hard to forget the boy that lives with the
priestesses,” she said, folding her arms. “Thank the spirits Kaibo
brought you home, instead of some undesirable. Especially with
folks resorting to banditry nowadays.” Acora paused and sighed
through her nose. “Kaibo didn’t disturb the priestesses, did he?”

Hari shook his head. “He made it to the hill, but...” He hesitated.

34 Worldbuilding Magazine
“So it is a story. We’ll hear it at dinner then,” Acora said, nodding
sagely. She muttered under her breath, “Probably some reckless
thing. Always with that child. One day, he’ll anger an evil spirit.”
Her expression softened. “Thank you for watching out for him,
Hari.”

“He was just—” Hari grimaced, looking down at his feet. “I didn’t
intend it like that. It’s nothing.”

“The spirits rejoice with good deeds, reciprocated or not. The

priestesses teach this, no?” Acora’s gaze lingered on him. “You
know, by the time we finish dinner, it’ll be too dark to travel. You
should stay for the night.”

Hari held up his hand and bowed his head slightly. “I can walk
through the woods just fine.”

“I’m sure you can. You seem like you really know how to handle
yourself...That isn’t my point, Hari.”

“Acora. I—I can’t burden you for that.”

Acora waved off the remark. “No trouble at all. Besides, you’re a
guest Kaibo invited. We have…a lot of space.” She glanced at the
rolls of cloth cluttering the walls. Then, she laughed and smiled
at him with a knowing look. “You deserve the best of our home.
While you’re here, consider yourself family. Please.”

Hari stared at her. His mouth twitched, unsure how he should look
at that moment. He could insist on leaving now and drag himself
back to the temple on an empty stomach. If he made good time,
he’d have to get ready for the dinner, probably help with setting
the tables, and then…And then, all of the priestesses, even his
grandmother, would gather while he ate alone in his room. That
would be his night until he went to sleep. Or, he could—

“How ‘bout it? Dinner and stay the night?” Acora asked softly. She
added in a light tone, “I’ll make a fruit salad for dessert. Special
treat.”

Or he could have dinner in a home that welcomed him.

Hari felt dampness at the corners of his eyes. He swallowed and

bowed deeply. “Thank you, Acora. I’ll stay for the night.”

BACK TO INDEX

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

RED SKY AT NIGHT,

BUILDER’S DELIGHT
by Juhani Taylor

NATURE RESOURCE

M any aspects of how climate and geography

affect architectural styles seem obvious in
hindsight. As worldbuilders, the challenge comes
DIRECT DRIVERS
At its most fundamental level, architecture is
in thinking ahead and planning these often-sub- about fulfilling one of the basic human needs:
tle cues into the design of our settlements. A shelter. Throughout nature, the desire to protect
thatched roof would seem unusual in the middle one’s self from predators and the elements is
of a desert, for example, unless there was a water innate to almost all animals. This should come
source nearby where reeds grow. as no surprise; after all, if a group of apes do not
protect themselves from the cold rain or the tiger
In this article, both the direct and indirect effects nearby, they will produce fewer and less healthy
of climate on architectural choices are exam- offspring than their savvier cousins. In this way,
ined, followed by an exploration into how the architecture can be viewed as a result of natural
“rules” can be broken and what that means for selection itself.
our worldbuilding. By the end, this article will
have offered an idea of how architecture tells a Fending off predators is perhaps the easier of the
story about its location and how we might build two requirements; sturdy doors and walls will
this into our worlds in a way that conveys depth see to that. However, climate and weather are the
and meaning to our audience. real drivers in the design of buildings.

1
Public Health England, “Minimum Home Temperature Thresholds for Health in Winter: A Systematic Literature Review” (PHE
publications gateway number: 2014423, London, UK, 2014), 62-63; Head, K., et al. WHO Housing and Health Guidelines.
Report of the Systematic Review on the Effect of Indoor Heat on Health. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2018.

36 Worldbuilding Magazine
Two main themes emerge when considering protection from the
elements: heat and water. Humans typically want to keep their
homes somewhere between 64°F and 70°F (18°C and 21°C).1 In
colder climates, buildings attempt to retain heat inside, while in
hotter countries, buildings might keep the heat outside. In both
cases, the transfer of heat between indoors and outdoors is the
critical aspect to be controlled.

When exploring how one might build a home in locations far hotter
or colder than the 64–70°F range, common trends emerge. One
such trend concerns what architects call the “Window-to-Wall
Ratio,” or WWR (sometimes termed the “void-solid ratio”). This
value is calculated by dividing the total surface area of all external
windows by the total surface area of the external walls and windows
of a particular building. Thus, a WWR of 0% indicates a window-
less hut, while modern, glass-fronted skyscrapers approach 90%
WWR. Modern building design guides discuss WWR’s as a factor
in “daylighting”: the amount of sunlight that enters the build-
ing and its impact on the occupants’ visual comfort and mood.2
Typically, as the amount of light increases, the well-being of these
buildings’ occupants improve, but older windows had more than
aesthetics to contend with.

Before the industrialization of modern glass production and the

advent of double- and triple-glazing, windows were expensive,
fragile, and extremely poor thermal insulators. The infamous
Window Tax was first introduced in England and Wales in 1696
as an explicit method of taxing the upper classes by charging them WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
proportionally to the number of windows in their residences.3 Only
the wealthiest nobility could afford to heat large homes filled with (Above) A building in Southampton,
expensive glass windows. UK, built in 1830, with bricked-up
windows to reduce the tax bill. 5

This tax had two main effects on the social perception of wealth.
As the tax rates were public knowledge, the general public could
glimpse the level of wealth on display in a stately home simply

2
Nik Ibrahim, N.L. and Hayman, S., “Daylight Design Rules of Thumb.” Conferences on Sustainable Building South East Asia,
Malaysia, 11-13, April 2005.
3
William III. “1695-6: An Act for granting to His Majesty severall Rates or Duties upon Houses for making good the Deficiency
of the clipped Money.” Statutes of the Realm 7, 1695-1701 (1820): 86-94. [21 March 2020]: https://www.british-history.
ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol7/pp86-94 .
4
Harford, T. “The window tax - an open and shut case.” Financial Times, December 4, 2015, https://www.ft.com/
content/5e9f029e-987d-11e5-95c7-d47aa298f769.
5
Wikimedia Commons. Window Tax.jpg. July 19, 2008. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Window_Tax.jpg. 24 March 2020.
Shared under CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

37
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

by the number of windows. Conversely, there are many examples

throughout the British Isles of buildings dating back to this time
with bricked up windows. 4 This simple solution allowed home-
owners to avoid a tax calculated on the number of windows in
their abodes. However, what message did this send to neighbors?
In a time when social standing and appearance among the landed
gentry was of paramount importance to a nobleman, an admit-
tance of being too poor to pay the fee might have been devastating.
Or, perhaps, it was an act of defiance from a crafty lord, outsmart-
ing the taxman at his own game?

In countries that see temperatures close to the range for the ideal
home, there is more freedom in design choices. The city of Venice
in Italy sees a year-round average temperature of 63°F (17°C) in a
pleasant, coastal Mediterranean climate. Combined with a history
of extraordinary trade wealth in the Late Medieval and Renaissance
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS eras, these factors resulted in buildings like the Procuracies of St.
Mark’s Square, in which near-countless windows are separated
only by narrow columns. The average WWR here is enormous
compared to other pre-industrial buildings simply because little
(Above) The characteristic myriad temperature control is needed.
of windows in Venice’s Procuratie
Vecchie.6
Nine-hundred twenty miles (1,480 km) southeast of Venice
(Below) The houses of Oia, over- lies the volcanic archipelago of Santorini. Here, where summer
looking the Santorini caldera.7 temperatures exceed 84°F (29°C), the famous whitewashed stone
buildings sit low and embedded into the sides of the caldera. From
these houses, hypóskapha (hypó- = “under,” skapha = “vessels”)

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

6
Pérez, N. Venecia, Italia - panoramio (16).jpg. February 24, 2012. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Venecia,_Italia_-_
panoramio_(16).jpg. 24 March 2020. Shared under CC BY-SA 3.0 license.
7
Leonard G. File:SantoriniPartialPano.jpg, April 22, 2007. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SantoriniPartialPano.jpg
[Accessed 24 April 2020]

38 Worldbuilding Magazine
tunnel into the pumice hillsides. These building smaller amounts. Alternatively, small fences or
extensions provide additional shelter from the rails can be installed at the lower edge of the
heat of the southern Mediterranean sun, and roof to catch the snow, though special attention
they crucially self-regulate building tempera- must be paid to how the snow is cleared before
tures to stay in a comfortable range year-round. the weight becomes excessive. Where hail is
These buildings lie just 9° south of Venice, yet commonplace, brittle roof tiles might be replaced
the windows are tiny by comparison, sunk into with tougher metal, wooden panels, or thatch.
the thick stone walls to keep the interiors cool. Windows might also be sheltered with shutters
or larger overhangs above them.
Conversely, 9° north of Venice is the Danish-
German border, where the opposite problem These ideas can be expanded further. While
is found: traditional architecture keeps the temperature control and waterproofness are
windows small to keep the heat inside. Just by decisions in basic building design, we can also
looking at the windows of a building, we can consider whole structures designed with specific
learn something about the climate in which they solutions in mind.
are located.
In some hot countries, tall towers can be found
There are other architectural features that are jutting above the adjacent low roofs with huge
used in controlling internal temperature—over- openings in the sides near the top. These are
hanging roofs and balconies are common in bâdgir-hâ, “windcatchers” or “windtowers”
hotter countries, as are windows that are recessed in Persian. They provide natural ventilation
into deep alcoves. These features serve to limit throughout buildings that are otherwise isolated
the incidence of direct sunlight on the windows from the outdoors for temperature control.
and thus reduce the heat transfer to the inside Different combinations of these towers function
of the building. Water is mostly a complemen-
tary factor to temperature. It is an excellent ther-
mal conductor, which means if a building is not
watertight, it will transfer huge amounts of heat
in or out. There are other issues that can arise
from water ingress; mold, for example, can cause
respiratory health problems if left unchecked.

There are also significant design choices made

in response to precipitation. In locations with
higher rainfall, snowfall, or even hail, flat roofs
are shunned in favor of sloped roofs. If this
choice seems blindingly obvious, perhaps it is.
However, as with windows, there is nuance in
roofs. With heavy snowfall, a sloping roof might
accumulate an abundance of snow and hold it in
place until disturbed, say, by a door slamming
shut. The person who has just left the building
then becomes the victim of a mini-avalanche as
the snow dislodges from the roof. This incident
can be avoided by making the roofs steeper, so
less snow can accumulate before it slides off in ANNA HANNON

39
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

in various exacting ways, but their purpose is to efficient heat exchange with magma that is near
create a flow of air. This cool breeze (without the the surface. Iceland famously uses geothermal
accompanying sunlight) expels the hot air from heat to keep its roads and sidewalks ice-free in
inside. If we introduce water to the hot room, winter by pumping 95°F (35°C) water just under
perhaps by deliberately capturing rainfall, this the surface.8
effect is amplified through evaporative cooling.
Some of the room’s heat goes into evaporating The last major point we must consider of the
the water, and this vapor is then drawn out of the direct drivers can be summed up in one word:
room by the airflow. resources. It is difficult to build a stone cathe-
dral in grasslands without some mountains or
The ground, too, can offer solutions for temper- quarries nearby, and a wattle-and-daub house
ature control. Geothermal power generation is a would be out of place in polar tundra. There are
popular renewable energy source in the modern too many combinations and factors to list here.
age, but it is not a new innovation. Ground- It suffices to say that the resource availability for
source heat pumps rely on the temperature building is a logical continuation of climate-de-
difference between the surface and the soil some pendent building. Consider the core materi-
distance below it. In the winter, the surface will als required—stone, wood, clay, etc.—and what
be colder; in the summer, hotter. This difference quantities and varieties of each are available in
can be harnessed as a heat exchanger, allowing a given region.
heat to be “moved” and used to heat a home or
refrigerate food. In areas with more tectonic INDIRECT DRIVERS
activity, such as near volcanoes, the temperature
difference may be much greater too, allowing for In the northern reaches of what are now Norway,
Sweden, Finland, and Russia’s Kola peninsula
live the Sámi. They are an indigenous people
distinct from Finns and Scandinavians in culture,
language, and tradition. Most notably, the major-
ity of their ancestral homeland, Sápmi, lies north
of the Arctic Circle and thus sees midnight sun
in the summer and polar night in the winter. In
Kárášjohka, where the Norwegian Sámi parlia-
ment sits, winter temperatures regularly drop
below -8°F (-22°C).

The majority of modern Sámi are urbanized, yet

some still live in temporary tent shelters (lavvu)
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS in the wild northern plains. Why? Aluminum
and modern fabrics may have replaced wood and
(Above) Traditional Sámi family in hide, but are these materials still inadequate for
front of their lavvu, c.1900.9 the cold climate?

8
Orkustofnun/National Energy Authority of Iceland. “Snow Melting.” https://nea.is/geothermal/direct-utilization/snow-
melting/
9
Library of Congress. File:Saami Family 1900.jpg. Circa 1890-1905. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saami_
Family_1900.jpg 24 April 2020

40 Worldbuilding Magazine
The 3,000 or so Sámi who live like this are BREAKING THE RULES
boazovázzi, or “reindeer walkers.” The Arctic
landscape does not make for green pastures, so The design of buildings can tell a story about the
in winter, the herders must wander the coun- environment in which they were built. But, like
tryside to feed their reindeer on lichen. This many good stories, a particular interest should
semi-nomadic lifestyle is not as necessary in be paid to structures that buck the trend. So far
the summer when leaves and grass abound, so I have focussed on pre-industrial architecture,
they relocate to more permanent log cabins and and not without reason. Modern technology frees
cottages. us from many constraints and allows for seem-
ingly paradoxical design choices in architecture,
The Sámi are just one of many examples of many of which would have been nonsensical a
how climate can affect architecture indirectly. mere century ago.
The cold, unforgiving climate of northern
Fennoscandia demands sturdy, thick shelter, yet In Doha, Qatar, the traditionally styled Souq
its effect on local resources overrules that and Waqif marketplace sits in the heart of the capi-
necessitates the lavvu. This can be used in our tal’s old commercial district. It has the hallmarks
worldbuilding to consider how direct drivers of a pre-modern Middle Eastern marketplace:
might affect other aspects of life, including the small shops in densely packed, rough-plastered
resource requirements of the occupants’ profes- mud-and-bamboo buildings with a maze of
sion. The Sámi are one example; another exam- narrow alleyways connecting them. At one end, a
ple would be fishermen who build their homes wind tower helps to catch the breeze and waft the
on stilts on the water’s edge, allowing them to aromas of shisha and spices through the bustling
fish while keeping their home safely away from crowds.
the water.
Less than two miles (3.2km) away across the West
The salient point here is that incredible depth Bay Lagoon, the thirty-five skyscrapers of modern
and richness can be achieved in our worldbuild- downtown Doha tower over the seafront. They
ing by simply asking the same questions one defy logic with their glass façades in a country
level deeper. These people live here because their that sees 113°F (45°C) on an average summer day.
food source is here, but what resources does that And yet, they are not oddities. Why? The answer
food need to survive? Food chains exist every- is obvious to us in the twenty-first century, but the
where. The web of needs includes sunlight, water, notion of a fully air-conditioned building made
warmth, and many other things. of steel and glass is as alien to a pre-industrial

41
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

society as a sailless ship. While it comes with Indonesian government had ambitions to turn
its own challenges, technology frees architects their capital into a great international city. They
from the constraints of resources, temperature poured funds into the construction of highways,
control, and shade versus insulation. national monuments, shopping centers, govern-
ment buildings and other projects. Homes were
Much of East and Southeast Asia lies near the built, and citizens were encouraged to move to
“Ring of Fire,” a collection of volcanoes and earth- the city. However, the underlying driver in these
quake-prone regions encircling the Pacific Ocean. plans was more political than economic.12 So,
In many of these countries, traditional carpentry corners were cut. Building standards were guide-
and architectural techniques have allowed older lines, not rules. Anything to meet the deadlines
buildings to withstand earthquakes for hundreds set by an increasingly authoritarian president’s
of years. The vertical growth of buildings in the vision of an emerging nation.
last century presents a new problem: special-
ist wooden joints or masonry cannot protect a Sixty years later, these cut corners are bearing
skyscraper from being shaken apart. Enter Taipei rotten fruit. Many of then-President Sukarno’s
101, so-named for its 101 floors and its location in projects involved setting thousands of tons of
the capital city of Taiwan. At over 1,640ft (500m) concrete atop Jakarta’s swampy marshland; as
in height, it needs to protect itself not only from a result, the city is sinking by up to ten inches
earthquakes, but the wind as well. Suspended (twenty-five centimeters) per year in some parts.
between the eighty-seventh and ninety-second Combine this problem with rising sea levels due to
floors is a 728-ton steel sphere. Its job is to act climate change, and here is a perfect storm of fail-
as a tuned mass damper: a pendulum designed ing urbanization. Experts predict that by 2050,
so that it naturally swings against vibrations ninety-five percent of Jakarta will be submerged.
and oscillations (such as those caused by high
winds and earthquakes) and cancels them out. What is one to do in this situation? Indonesia’s
On stormy days, occupants can see the sphere current president has announced plans to move
move up to one meter to counteract the building’s its administration to an entirely new city that it
sway.10 New challenges require new solutions. will build, from scratch, over the coming decades.
The new capital will be located approximately
But what happens when progress continues 760 miles (1,223 km) northeast of Jakarta on the
unchecked and is not controlled in a sustainable eastern reaches of the island of Borneo, ready for
way? Perhaps we want to build a post-industrial the government’s relocation by 2025.
city, a scene where the downsides of technology
have finally caught up after failing to be controlled. This is not the first time a move like this has been
attempted: Brazil, Burma, and Ivory Coast have
Jakarta is just such a city. It is the capi- all built new capital cities when they outgrew
tal of Indonesia, and it is sinking—literally.11 the old ones. We can use these settlements as
After securing independence in 1950, the new templates in our worldbuilding. When a country

10
Limer, E. “How a Skyscraper Stays Upright in a Typhoon,” The Code, Popular Mechanics, Aug 10, 2015. https://www.
popularmechanics.com/technology/design/a16819/tapei-101-mass-damper-record/.
11
Mei Lin, M. and Hidayat, R.. “Jakarta, the fastest-sinking city in the world.” 13 August 2018. BBC News. https://www.bbc.
co.uk/news/world-asia-44636934. 27 March 2020.
12
Sopandi, S. “Indonesian Architectural Culture during Guided Democracy (1959-1965): Sukarno and the Works of Friedrich
Silaban.” Vu, T. and W. Wongsurawat. Dynamics of the Cold War in Asia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. 53-72.

42 Worldbuilding Magazine
industrializes, its people inevitably flock to the ● Similarly, what resources are there for
cities. These urban centers must expand and the residents? Do they need to be mobile
adapt to the growing population, and they must hunter-gatherers, or pastoral farmers? Or
do so sustainably or risk becoming overcrowded neither? How do they get their food, warmth,
slums. This possibility is important to consider and money?
if we are building a world undergoing a techno-
logical revolution. ● What is the purpose of the buildings? Are
they warehouses? Homes? Cathedrals? What
While technology is the cause of such prob- are the requirements of these purposes, and
lems, it can also be its savior. Transport infra- how might they affect the designs?
structure allows for fast travel between cities.
Telecommunications remove the need for many If we ask these questions when we are worldbuild-
people to live near their employers. The mobi- ing, we can soon find that every structure has a
lization and miniaturization of many technolo- history as rich and meaningful as any character.
gies mean production lines no longer need to be
based in industrial centers. And if all else fails,
one can just start again with a new city. BACK TO INDEX

FINAL THOUGHTS
It is said that one of the most sobering realiza-
tions of growing up is that everyone around you is
living through their own stories, just as rich and
complex as yours. So it goes with architecture.

Architecture tells a story, and that applies to

any and all buildings. Within these stories are
glimpses of design choices. We can invent stories
for buildings just by asking questions like:

● Where are they built? Is the region hot?

Cold? Humid? Arid? How might this climate
affect the size of the windows, the shape of
the roofs, or the thickness of the walls?

● What is the local landscape like? Cliff-

side homes have different requirements than
those in flat grasslands.

● What natural resources are available for

construction? Wood? Clay? Stone? Metal? If
there are none nearby, how might residents
source them?

43
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

WORDS OF
WORLDBUILDING
CONTEST WINNERS
hosted by World Anvil

CONTEST

T his year we’re partnering with World Anvil to bring you the results of their worldbuilding contests.
We hope that they inspire you to try something new with your own worlds. In the case of the
“Words of Worldbuilding” contest, our two winners created some fun conlangs that we’re excited to
share with you.

WE ARE KYKR, NOT FAY

by Toblin

The court of High Fay king Tháaltanassar lay at the foot of Ayla’s Peak, the mountain
at the heart of the Winterweald. The glade was covered by a thin sheet of snow, and
the air was crisp. Small puffs formed with every breath from the assembled Fay.
The king sat on his throne when Æþir, the Vindral representative, approached him
from beyond the glade.

The king looked at him. “You know why you have been summoned, Æþir. Speak!”
he said, gesturing to the snow-covered space in front of his throne.

“You have summoned me because you wish to stifle my people. Because you wish
us not to expand. You have lent your ear to the Silfr and the trolls, but you have not
heard us!”

The king’s eyes flared. “Careful, Æþir!” he cautioned. “Your people have bent metal
to your will and are using it to bring blood and death to your fellow kin. I had hopes

44 Worldbuilding Magazine
you might come to see the folly of your ways, but I see now that you are set on the
path of destruction.”

“My people are dying in the deep woods. Our men are devoured by the Silfr, the
trolls steal our children, and you claim we have brought blood and death? Our
mastery of metal is a desperate attempt to defend ourselves and our realm from the
crimes of others! Something you, dear king, advocate. Evolve and adapt, you say.”
Æþir, usually calm in demeanor, found himself raising his voice.

A faint murmur of shocked and offended voices was heard from the gathered crowd
as Tháaltanassar rose from his throne and walked to the end of the dais.

“Adapt and evolve through nature, not metal!” he snapped. “What your people have
done is an abomination against nature as we know it, and we will not stand for it.”

“Then what, oh mighty king, would you have us do?” Æþir’s words slithered through
his gritted teeth, laced with sarcasm.

“ENOUGH!” the king bellowed. “Your people are henceforth banished from the
realm of Ayla! Any Vindral caught in the Weald within ten passings of the sun will
be put to death.” He gestured to the end of the glade. “Go! And may you find life
elsewhere. Your time here is forfeit.”

Æþir clenched his teeth, his hand fingering the grip of his bronze blade, before he
came to his senses and bowed before the king. “As you wish, my lord.”

And with these words, Æþir left the Court of the Inuelweri for the last time—to
tell his people that they had been banished, and that they were no longer Fay, but
something else. Something outside, something against the Fay. Æþir could barely
stand to speak the language of the Inu, so he set a plan in motion in his mind to
unify his people against all Fay. He knew that there were others in the world he
could call on. Others who were not of the Fay; others that might help.

Æþir forsook the language of the Fay and began inventing new words to separate
him and his people from the Fay. He declared that the Vindral were now “Kykr,”
which he described to them as meaning a deep union against the evil Fay: “One
of us. Unity. Progress.” As the Vindral fled across the Crimson Straits, they had
already begun thinking of themselves as Kykr, rather than Vindral or Fay.

ÆÞIR’S LEGACY
From that day forward, the Vindral considered themselves separate from the Fay.
They would no longer live in glades or seek shelter in the woods. Their entire identity
became one of active separation from the old ways. They refined their metalworking
skills, and once they came into contact with the Illim of the Blood Coast, they
learned of iron. The birth of the Kykr civilization was at hand, and the modified
language Æþir created became the lingua franca of the Kykr. He named it Ósleiðr,

45
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

“Word of the Gods.”

LISTEN TO “We are Kykr, not Fay” in ATLÁGA VEKJA

Felþira þøkkragi birkagi hirums Þaltanassar lægir þum rotúmer kellagi Aylis,
kella ann skín rojarégi. Klífe slamtre tynn milkinégi oll nifra eysr meæ. Þykar
hvindur skeín hylli øndemang fýr þøkkar farði. Birke birkutrún honnums án sittr,
Æþir, estra hvindralégi, han askúnr fýr burtun klife.

We Are Kykr, Not Fay is also available in a constructed language—Atlága Vekja—

created by the author. Read it in full on World Anvil, or listen to it on YouTube.

PALINDROMES
by Dylonishere123

Oren looked up. The complex towered over him, easily the largest building he had
ever laid eyes on. The glow of eerie green vapor radiated from the writing littering
every surface. The shrine had existed for centuries as a lifeless reminder of horrors
long past. Oren turned his attention to Loryt. An elven bard with black hair and
brown skin, Loryt was young, almost too young to join their order.

She crouched low, studying the symbols on a slab lost in a pile of rubble at the
entrance of the shrine.

“Can you read it? What does it say?” Oren asked.

She looked up and shook her head. “I can’t translate it. The ancestors didn’t have a
written language as we understand it,” Loryt whispered, as if the ancestors could
hear. She sensed them around her, their silhouettes hovering somewhere between
life and death in vaporous fluid.

“Then what do you call this?” Oren asked, pointing to the writing on the slab.

“Ancestral Alfen,” Loryt began, tracing each letter engraved into the smooth, black
stone with her fingers. “Every single word reads the same forward and backwards.
Their language is nonsensical. There are no standards of sentence structure. Verbs,
nouns, and objects shift and appear randomly in the sentence. We can’t determine
if it is meant to be read left to right, or right to left, and deconstructing a sentence
can lead to words that don’t even exist in the language. All of this is done to justify
their love of symmetry and to fuel their obsessions,” she stopped and pointed to the
wall, “and there, you see that? This is a paragraph that does the same thing. One
half of the text mirrors the other. Their writing was not bound by the same rules and
grammar as ours. We think it was an art form to them. We drew pictures of animals
we loved to hunt on our cave walls. The ancestral elves left behind their words.”

46 Worldbuilding Magazine
“I prefer the pictures,” Oren scoffed. “How do we keep them asleep?”

“I have no idea. I hear others calling me an expert, and I don’t know why. No one
knows how to read this, much less how to operate a tombshrine.” Loryt stared at
the symbols in silence as Oren prepared a response. She wondered why he seemed
so confused, as if shocked by what he heard.

“I’m risking my life and the lives of twenty men and women to prevent another
awakening. You’re saying you can’t do anything?”

“I didn’t say that,” Loryt said through a forced chuckle. “It’s tricky. I won’t make
promises, but it’s better than going in blind. It’s certainly a better option than letting
them wake up unimpeded.” She paused and saw the looks of defeat staring back.
“I can’t read it, but this is a viral language. I can infer meaning from their text.
This slab was a religious altar, for example,” she finished, pointing to the altar, but
her words didn’t seem to ease their worry.

“I didn’t know they had gods,” Oren said.

“They didn’t,” Loryt replied, “The Symmetrical Logic is what they worshiped.
They were obsessed. Look at the stones and how perfectly they fit into every space.”

Oren looked at the floors, walls, and hexagonal columns. Each stone fit into its space
with little to no gaps between. The dimensions of the room were deliberate, calculated
to infinite fractions of an inch. The lines between
the stones were hard to discern, and Oren strained
to notice the contrast of black on black.

For a moment, Oren felt like he could almost

visualize the geometric method used in the
tombshrine’s construction. Loryt spoke, but the
words faded as he stared. The precision of every
angle became clear, and Oren’s head immediately
began to throb. He turned away. The pain lingered
for several minutes, and Loryt spoke when she
noticed him rubbing his eyes, as if to push the
painful sight out of his mind.

“Don’t stare too long,” Loryt said. “There are few

things in nature with true symmetry. As an elf,
I’m almost immune, but humans suffer the most
if they stare at it for long periods.”

They ventured deeper, twenty-two men and

women who vowed to silence whatever ill will
stirred in the shrine. Weeks ago, the green light
had begun to shine. The last tombshrine to

47
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

activate sparked a massive conflict that led to many deaths. The tombshrine held
thousands of ancestors within, each in a deathlike slumber during the final breath
of their empire’s fall in hopes that they would rise again.

The group passed rows of strange spheres; each contained the body of an ancestor
suspended in jade-green fluid. Their slumbering forms twitched, a sign of the
complex beginning to wake them up. The tension was heavy, each soldier jumping
out of their skin at the slightest sound. Loryt was calm, collected, and driven.

With her guidance, the group navigated the corridors. Loryt paused routinely to
gaze at the writings on the wall. Even Oren noticed their artistic quality. The sets
of words lingered in full view, etched in prominent locations and centered on the
wall. As with the rest of the complex, the opposite corridor wall possessed the same
writing on display. Each stood as a perfect mirror image, and the layout of the
complex’s rooms did the same.

Many times, Oren asked if they were lost or going in circles. He found himself confused
by the symmetrical floor plan; some rooms even had the same writings on the walls
as ones they’d ventured into not long before. Loryt seemed to be the only one unfazed,
diligently taking note of the writings, she followed directions only she could interpret.

The complex was empty. It was not only vacant of life, but the foundation of the
tombshrine itself appeared void of personality and life. This absence only led to
more confusion. If a room had anything within, it was the glowing words of the
ancestors, or rows and columns of the strange spheres that stretched to the roof of
the complex. Loryt stopped at the next threshold and turned to address the group.

“Here,” Loryt began with a whisper. “The genesage lies in the next room. They were
the highest members of their society, mutated beyond recognition. Touch nothing,
say nothing, and we might succeed.”

Nods of acceptance came as a reply. They ventured down a narrow hall with writing
lining every inch of the walls, floor, and ceiling. The writing on each wall mirrored
the other. The green vapor lifted and danced, drifting aside as they progressed.
Oren felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. The hall seemed to stretch on for miles,
each step taken with caution.

They came upon a room, its ceiling low and its walls lined with strange spheres
far more ornate than the ones they had observed before. In the center of the room,
the most beautiful sphere of them all rested higher than the others, perched atop a
frame of translucent green stone. The group inched closer, Loryt and Oren taking
the lead. They circled the central capsule, eyeing every corner of the room. Then,
they heard something, a growl like a cat’s, but distorted—unnatural. When they
peered behind the central sphere, they saw something staring back. It stood over
a stone tablet, raking its knifelike fingers over the words etched in the stone. The
words glowed even brighter, and the central sphere began to rotate, floating in the
air above its green stone perch. Loryt stepped forward.

48 Worldbuilding Magazine
“Hello,” she began, doing her best to speak the elven tongue she’d grown up with in
hopes there would be a connection. “Please step away.”

The creature squinted at her, its eyes piercing through her gambeson. The creature
wore nothing but a cloth sash around its waist, and its greenish-gray skin was like
stone. It had no pores, no belly button, nothing that indicated a similarity to life
today. It stood several feet taller than she did, hissing through sharpened teeth as
she spoke. There was no hair on its body. Its ears were elongated to a point far longer
than elves encountered in the world outside. Its teeth were jagged, lining a gaping
maw. The lips, eyelids, and nose had been removed long ago, warping its visage into
something Loryt could only refer to as monstrous.

The creature spoke. Its voice wheezed and rasped with every word while Loryt tilted
her ear toward it on impulse in an attempt to understand it. She failed, losing track
of each word in the layers of voices created by several sets of vocal cords. Her heart
raced, and her skin dampened with the slightest amount of sweat. The moisture made
the air feel cool. The creature was weak, but to attack outright would only lead to her
death. Her eyes darted over to Oren. He still took refuge behind the central sphere.

Oren’s expression said more than her words could. He drew his sword and called
out to the creature. The surrounding soldiers sought to make as much noise as they
could to draw the creature’s attention away. Loryt acted on impulse. The moment
the creature’s head turned, she pulled a dagger from her sheath and plunged it
into the back of its skull. The death was silent, but when the body collapsed to the
ground, the sound echoed through the entire complex. Oren glanced at Loryt. Her
breathing was fast, her hands shaking as she dropped the dagger.

“Are you alright?” Oren asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Loryt replied, running her hands through her hair and shaking her head.
She took a deep breath, sighing as she scanned the tablet the ancestor was using.

The tablet contained six words, each isolated in rows and columns. She looked up to
the sphere above. It rotated gently, but still remained inactive. Oren followed close
behind, peering over her shoulder as she prepared herself.

“Any luck?” Oren asked.

“I don’t even know where to start,” she said, shaking her head again. The soldiers
patrolled the room as she knelt down and retrieved a book from her pack. Oren gave
a sigh of relief that quickly turned to narrowed eyes and a groan when he realized
the pages were blank. She thumbed through the first few pages and revealed her
notes, scribbled and compiled over time. Finding a half-filled page, she began to
write each word down exactly as it appeared on the tablet before turning to Oren.

“I need some space. This isn’t easy to do,” Loryt said. Oren stepped away to assist
the others in their patrol. Her mind raced as she stared at the words. She read

49
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

through her notes, reciting them in her head. Make note of empathic context, she
thought. She proceeded to read each word carefully. The letters meant nothing.
Each character, given a sound by those who study the language, was simply a piece
of the whole. The resulting word’s meaning depended not on its composition, but
on the appearance and aesthetic of the word.

She gazed at each word as she wrote the emotions they invoked. Each emotion was
powerful, sudden, and in some cases, overwhelming.

● LaisilisiaL: Pleasure, success, pride

● KorproK: Negativity, rage, fear
● TersreT: Pain, suffering
● LowoL: Positivity, impatience, anxiety
● RithtiR: Negativity, anxiety, loathing
● SerasareS: Completion, fulfillment

Loryt thumbed through her notes again, trying to push out the conflicting emotions
the words brought out. She tried to keep her breathing under control, though her heart
still raced. Eliminate lingual mirror, then note capitalized characters, she thought.
She stopped, staring at the tablet and back to her notes, while she considered which
word to choose. Oren stood off to the side, tapping his foot when he wasn’t pacing.

“What’s taking so long?” he asked.

“I can’t decide,” Loryt began. “I still haven’t determined if the language expresses
emotions in the writer or the reader. Each word can imply intent, but my own
emotions can cloud that.” She rubbed her temple with her hand and sighed, “If I
read a word and I feel fear, I don’t know if that fear comes from the writer, or myself.”

“So it’s just a guess?” Oren asked, trying to keep his voice down.

“The most educated guess you’ll find, yes,” Loryt replied, “and that’s better than
doing nothing. At least we have a chance.” She pointed to the word that shimmered
brighter than the others: RithtiR. “I know this is not what we need since the ancestor
was using it, but the emotions don’t line up as well as I’d like. Why would the writer
loathe this option? It could be my emotions, but it could be a slave that etched these
words into stone and I’d never know it did the opposite of what we want.”

“So we should prepare to move,” Oren began, his voice raised so all could hear.
Loryt replied with a solemn nod. “Go on then.”

She reached out and lightly touched the word she believed fit best, SerasareS. The
ground shook as light burst forth from the tablet. Loryt turned to Oren, her eyes
wide and her lip trembling slightly at her sudden realization. A low growl rose, the
unnatural call of the sleeping terrors waking up.

BACK TO INDEX

50 Worldbuilding Magazine
COMMUNITY ART
curated by Anna Hannon and Tristen Fekete

T his is a small section we’ve dedicated to our community’s amazing worldbuilding artists. To sign up
and submit your art for a chance to be featured in a future issue, apply here.

MAOZI
by Jesse Daniel

P erhaps the most iconic and recognizable

symbol of the “Rat Monarchy” is the maozi,
an ancient First Era helmet resembling that of
1000 Children, where on line 67, pg. 13,003, the
narrator says: “And so the crimson ‘demons,’ of
the rat denomination, stood forward with their
a small northern temple with its low pointed maozi upon their head, with their lowly roof and
“roof” and geometrically square like silhouette. pointed lid.”
The maozi’s first mention in writing was in the
classical First Era Opera The Rabbit Prince And See more of Jesse’s work on Reddit.

51
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

MONSTER HUNTER’S GUIDE

TO THE SLAGLEFT
by Josef Steyn
T he guidebook shows a backwater region of
one of the larger kingdoms that has been left
to its own devices since war broke out in the east.
The local monster population has been on the rise
since the militias have been mostly conscripted,

52 Worldbuilding Magazine
causing the Monster Hunter Unit to try to recruit Only a handful survive to tell their strange tales
folks that are too old or too young to be pressed to any who would listen.
into military service. Sadly the newcomers don’t
know the full extent of the horrors that await See more of Josef’s work on his Artstation
them in these dust- and smog-covered lands. portfolio.

53
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

SIRDATCS AT WAR (next page)

RESOURCES! by ObsoleteGoat

BLENDER “W ithin a crypt, lost deep in the remote

area of the Shadow-Fell, a tomb was
found; the last resting place of a demon, sealed
by Tristen Fekete there long ago. Alongside the coffin there lay an
ancient tome, naming the sealed beast to be a
Blender is a free, open-source Sirdatc. As these stories often go, the quest for
3D modeling and animation knowledge led the explorers to prise open the
program. It’s a great tool to demon’s tomb and, from it, a fiend arose.”
use for sculpting, rendering,
setting up scenes, checking Sirdatcs are a unique type of immensely
perspective, and more! Though powerful—but deeply flawed—demon. They are
it has a learning curve, it is well-supported with created by the demon prince of war, Nagaa’ya. She
many tutorials and walkthroughs from all over the is considered to be the Queen of Conflict, battles,
community. and the scars that wars bring to the world. When
a battle cry is let out, Nagaa’ya listens; when an
Using 3D modeling is a great way to speed up your army falls, this demon prince claims the lost
digital illustration process, and it is becoming a souls and makes from them a Sirdatc.
common practice for concept artists, illustrators,
and graphic designers. Give it a try! See more of ObsoleteGoat’s work on Artstation,
and see more about the sirdatcs in Sirdatcs,
Servants of the Demon Lord Nagaa’ya on
Dungeon Master’s Guild.

MAP TO GLOBE BACK TO INDEX

by Dylan Richmond

Map to Globe is a free online

tool that allows users to upload
an image of their world map and
apply it to a 3D globe. It is an
incredibly helpful tool for those
that struggle with visualising
their map, highlighting the problem of distortion
when solely designing a map in 2D.

Map to Globe can also generate maps, make rotation

animations, and serve as a tool to sketch on the map
while in globe form.

54 Worldbuilding Magazine
55
Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

ARTIST CORNER
by Tristen Fekete

T his issue’s Artist Corner

will cover using perspective
in your drawings, and a few tips
to make it easier.

Linear perspective is “a type

of perspective used by artists
in which the relative size,
shape, and position of objects
are determined by drawn or
imagined lines converging at a
point on the horizon.” Outside
of the two-dimensional world,
we see perspective every day.
A building further from you
looks smaller than a building
of the same size closer to you.
When attempting to translate
that idea on to paper, it is very “The School of Athens” by Raphael
obvious when it is not done properly. When it is, linear perspective
is an element many don’t even notice. Raphael’s “The School of Athens”
is a great example of one-point
perspective.
There are three main treatments of linear perspective which all
depend on how many vanishing points you use: one-point, two-
point, and three-point perspective. Each is based on a horizon—an
imaginary line which represents the viewer’s eye level. Vanishing
points are placed on this line and used to create the illusion of
depth through collapsing your scene elements towards those
points. Each type of perspective has its strong points, and which
one you decide to use depends on your intent with the drawing:

56 Worldbuilding Magazine
One-point perspective is great for symmetry, aerial views, and
drawing the eye towards a single, distant spot on the paper. It’s
one of the best, and easiest, ways to create noticeable depth.

Two-point perspective shines with close-up objects and street-

level angles. It excels in a more lifelike depth than one-point.

Three-point perspective is mainly used for extreme angles. If

you’ve ever stood in front of a tall building and looked upwards
at it, its height creates a third vanishing point in the air which
the edges of the building converge to. Three-point is fantastic in
giving a sense of human scale to your drawings and can be used
wisely to warp objects in interesting ways.

There are a few ways to go about

creating your perspective grid.
If you work traditionally, there’s
a clever trick you can use with
string: get a spool of non-white
string (so that you can see it more
easily) and stretch it across the
paper or canvas to create your
horizon line. Tape, tack, or glue
it down to the table or a piece of
cardboard behind the paper or
canvas. Choose the location of
your vanishing point(s) and run
a new piece of string from that
point to the edge of your paper.
Go around radially to cover the
entire area you are drawing on.

Digital artists can use a similar

method. If your program has

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

a bezier or pen tool, create a horizon line with Using Adobe Photoshop’s pen tool is a quick and easy
that, choose your vanishing points, then create way to set up a perspective grid.
new lines from your vanishing points and stretch
them around the canvas. If your program allows
you to stroke these lines, it might help to create A horizon line low on the page is akin to a street
a new layer and stroke those lines so you can view, so you’ll have lots of sky space to fill. Placing
adjust opacity and lock it. it higher up on the page is similar to looking
down at something. Moving your vanishing
If this is all too much work, or you just want to points far apart will reduce the warping that may
make something quick, a sketched-in grid will occur in your drawings, but too far apart and it
help to keep your drawing roughly accurate. will eventually look flat. Keeping your vanishing
Always start with a horizon line, then imagine points too close together will drastically increase
your vanishing point(s), and draw the grid the warping on your objects.
expanding away from them. Some programs
might have perspective tools to help with creating Linear perspective can be tedious to set up but
a grid as well. Another great resource are 3D is a vital component in supporting a piece of
modeling programs. They take a bit of time to artwork. It’s easy to notice when done poorly
learn, but once you do, you can use them to set a and invisible when done correctly. Practice and
scene with basic shapes and a camera. innovative tools can help you on your path to
perfect perspective.
When placing your horizon line and vanishing
points, keep in mind where you put them. BACK TO INDEX

58 Worldbuilding Magazine
 STORMING
THE BASTILLE
by B.K. Bass

HISTORY POLITICS WAR

“C ertainement qui est en droit de vous rendre absurde est en

droit de vous rendre injuste.”

(“Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe

absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.”)

— Voltaire, Questions sur les Miracles, 1765

When one considers a government, it’s only prudent to assume

they have a number of buildings that serve practical purposes in
their administration. Some have become landmarks—symbols of
a nation’s identity. Many of them stand for philosophical ideals,
cultural heritage, or as bastions of authority. Among these are
the White House in America, the Kremlin in Russia, and the
Forbidden City in China. Out of these landmarks and others like
them, one could argue that few have been as infamous a symbol as
the Bastille in Paris, France.

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THE FORTRESS
Construction on the Bastille began
in the mid-fourteenth century,
under the direction of King Charles
V, during the Hundred Years War.
Intended as a defensive structure
against English attacks, it was
originally designed to serve as a
gatehouse in the city wall of Paris.1
The structure was initially named
the Chaste Sainte-Antoine. It was
not completed until 1382 CE,
under the reign of King Charles
VI. When complete, the name
was changed to the Bastide—Old
French for “The Fortress”—which
evolved into the moniker that we
recognize today: the Bastille.2

The finished building more

than lived up to its new name. It
consisted of eight towers, each
thirty meters tall and connected
by walls three meters thick at the
base. It was also surrounded by a
moat, and beyond this was a series
of secondary defensive structures.
The interior of the Bastille
contained two courtyards, officer
quarters, barracks, an armory,
dungeon cells, meeting chambers,
a kitchen, and a chapel. The height JOSEF STEYN
of the towers offered soldiers a clear view in
every direction, and they were all linked to one THE PRISON
another by way of the curtain walls upon which
troops could be shifted to defensive positions During the first half of the seventeenth century,
as needed.1 Over the next two hundred years, during the reign of King Louis XIII, the Bastille
the Bastille continued to serve as a military was converted to a prison for upper-class enemies
fortification under both French and English rule. of the crown, many of whom were charged with
the crime of high treason.

1
All About History Team. All About The Bastille. History Answers. historyanswers.co.uk. July 26, 2013. Accessed February 16,
2020. https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/medieval-renaissance/inside-a-medieval-monastery/.

60 Worldbuilding Magazine
While the judicial system in seventeenth-century or representation, led the Bastille to become a
France was subject to royal decree and didn’t symbol of tyranny to the people of France.2
consist of a codified national set of laws, there
were still layers of jurisdiction that established THE STORM
a certain due process in political, legal, and
criminal matters. A system of government During the reign of Louis XVI, France was
officials, courts, and jurists worked to interpret in the grip of a crushing economic crisis. The
various local traditions, royal decrees, and primary legislative body at the time was the
historical precedent to expedite legal matters in Estates-General, hosting representatives of the
a systematic fashion.3 clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. Because
the representation of each of the three estates
Those who found themselves in the Bastille was divided equally, the commoners often saw
often were not afforded this due process, or even themselves on the losing side of any vote due to the
an opportunity to speak in their own defense. clergy and the nobility both voting in opposition.
Instead, the king needed only issue a letter de Seeing that this system would not bring about
cachet—a letter of royal seal—to have a perceived
enemy of the crown detained indefinitely. Many ANNA HANNON
of these detainees were educated individuals
who adopted ideals of the burgeoning Age of
Enlightenment and spoke out against the power
of the monarchy. Occupying the old officer’s
quarters from the structure’s days as a military
fortress, many of the prisoners stayed in spacious
apartments and were allowed to bring furniture,
books, and other amenities from their homes
with them.2

As time passed and the common citizenry began

to speak out against the crown, more and more
of them were interred in the old fortress’ original
dungeons—small subterranean cells that were
dark, damp, and infested with all sorts of
vermin. By the 1780s, the fortress-come-prison
was overflowing with detainees, as well asopald
confiscated books and pamphlets that were
considered to contain ideas which countered the
status-quo. These squalid conditions, combined
with the fact that the king could decree any
person be imprisoned without any recourse

2
. History of The Bastille in Paris. EUtouring. eutouring.com. Accessed February 16, 2020. https://www.eutouring.com/history_
of_the_bastille_in_paris.html.
3
. Breen, Micahel P. Patronage, Politics, and the “Rule of Law” in Early Modern France. Journal of the Western Society for French
History, Volume 33, 2005. Michigan Publishing. University of Michigan Library. Accessed February 16, 2020. http://hdl.
handle.net/2027/spo.0642292.0033.006.

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

TRUEDEVIL

reforms that the common people were clamoring to be unwilling to negotiate any compromise.
for, many of those commoners who made up the Public demonstrations began on the 12th of July,
Third Estate formed their own organization on resulting in violence between the protestors and
June 17, 1789. This new body became the National the military. 4
Assembly, initially focused on creating a new
constitution for France inspired by the recently On July 14th, 1789, the revolution began. By
liberated United States of America. 4 this time the Bastille was nearly empty, and
only housed seven prisoners. In the days prior,
By that July, civil unrest had grown to a boiling the military moved the city’s garrison to the old
point. The National Assembly spoke out for the fortress, along with 250 barrels of gunpowder,
common people, but the opposition was firmly cannons and small arms. On the morning of
entrenched in their seats of power and proved the 14th, citizens gathered around the Bastille—

4
22.3.3: The Storming of the Bastille. History of Western Civilization II, Ch 22: The French Revolution. Open Education Resource
Services. lumenlearning.com. Accessed February 16, 2020. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/
chapter/the-storming-of-the-bastille/.

62 Worldbuilding Magazine
 “NON SIRE, CE N’EST PAS UNE RÉVOLTE,
C’EST UNE RÉVOLUTION.”
(“NO SIRE, IT’S NOT A REVOLT;
IT’S A REVOLUTION.”)
—FRANÇOIS ALEXANDRE FRÉDÉRIC, DUC DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-
LIANCOURT, TO KING LOUIS XVI, JULY 15TH, 1789

which had become such a symbol of royal BUILDING POLITICAL

tyranny—demanding that the weapons within LANDMARKS
be surrendered. Negotiations continued into
the afternoon, and eventually violence erupted. There’s two major things we can learn from the
Gunfire was exchanged for several hours until history of the Bastille for use in our worldbuilding.
the garrison commander surrendered, seeing First, one of the most obvious takeaways comes
mutual slaughter as the only potential result of from the changes in the purpose of the structure
continued violence. 4 over time. It was originally a fortress, then a
prison, and finally a garrison again—if only for
The prisoners were freed and the weapons taken a short time. When developing key structures to
by the mob. The revolution was born in the place in our own worlds, we can draw inspiration
shadow of tyrants cast by colossal stone towers. from this and take a less planned approach to
the purposes of our buildings. In an ideal world,
every structure is tailor-made for its purpose.
In reality, this isn’t always the case. Sticking to
Paris for our inspiration, we need only look to
the Louvre for another example. This structure
was also a fortress first, then a palace, and finally
a museum. In one of my own series of books, I
have an orphanage that was originally a roadside
inn on a main avenue. As the city grew around
it, it found itself in a secluded courtyard where it
was overlooked by merchants and travelers alike,
and so the owners found a new purpose for it.

The other key takeaway is how a building can

become a symbol based on what happens there,
and more so the actions precipitating what
happens there that it represents. The Bastille
becoming a prison, in itself, didn’t make it a
symbol of tyranny. The fact that people were
imprisoned outside of the usual legal system by
decree of the king is what made it so. There had
to be an act of tyranny for it to become a symbol
of tyranny. I would assume that few people hear
the word “prison” and automatically associate
this with an autocratic regime. Replace that with
“gulag” however, and the idea of political prisons

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brings to mind the oppressive authoritarianism

of the Soviet Union in the early and mid 20th
century. It’s not always the purpose of the
building that makes it a symbol, but rather the
methods in which that purpose is executed—pun
very much intended.

When considering the architecture for our

worlds, it’s often quite appropriate to plop down
something that’s tailor-made for its purpose.
From the king’s castle to the roadside inn, many
buildings maintain a consistent role for their
entire use. Others evolve.

The Bastille is a great example of a structure

that not only changed over time through physical
modifications, but also in name and purpose.
From the defensive fortress to the political prison,
the building evolved along with the conditions of
the world around it. If we look at other structures
throughout history, both in the world at large
and also in our local neighborhoods, we’ll find
many that were built with one purpose in mind
and changed to suit other needs. This need not
be as drastic as fortresses or political prisons,
however. Perhaps a warehouse was converted
into a school, or a business built into a former
home. With the expense in both material and
manpower required to build a new structure,
often it’s more pragmatic to repurpose an old
one.

When considering the structures in your own

world, you can add rich layers of history to the
setting by showing evidence of change over
time—and in the process give those lifeless wood
and stone edifices some character of their own.

BACK TO INDEX

64 Worldbuilding Magazine
 THIRTY-THREE
TALES OF WAR
STORIES SIXTEEN THROUGH NINETEEN
by Emory Glass, illustrations by Emory Glass and Tristen Fekete

FANTASY (HIGH/LOW) FANTASY (DARK) CULTURE

T hirty-Three Tales of War is a collection of flash fiction pieces that follow thirty-three anonymous
individuals living during the Candrish Civil War. You can find previous stories in this series on the
author’s blog.

XVI: COBBLER
THE Cobbler blew fuzz and dust off a pair of field boots and set them on the shop
counter. He patted the toes with a satisfied smile. The boots belonged to one of the
Yellow Queen’s elite warriors: a Laurel. For her sacrifices, he deducted ten percent
from his normal price. Repairing them had been a simple endeavor, anyway. A lace
length adjustment here, a few stitches there, and a good deep shine and buff all over
had restored them to near-new condition. He didn’t have to hope the Laurel would
find her shoes expertly repaired. His customers always did—even if he made a few
minor “adjustments” to their fit.

He retrieved a similar pair of boots from behind the counter, which belonged to a
Chonokian girl he’d seen come into town every so often. The Cobbler didn’t trust her
at all with a pair of boots like these. They barely seemed different from the Laurel’s
boots, and indeed if he saw them on the street, he doubted he would be able to tell the
difference. The Chonokian girl said she was a peddler. He didn’t believe it for a minute.
No peddler he knew of had any garment, much less leather boots, so indistinguishable
from those of a Laurel. At best, she’d stolen them clean off the feet of some poor Yellow
Army corpse. At worst…he snorted and shook his head. At worst she was a spy for the
Blue Queen.

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All sorts of folk passed through here: Zoldoni, Rahvi, Charivi, and sometimes
Ochetski savages. Of course, the village was situated right smack on the border
of Zoldonmesk, Rahvesk, and Chariv. He grunted. She could be a spy. It wouldn’t
surprise him. He knew he had not one lick of proof the Chonokian girl was anything
other than a peddler. Because of that, he couldn’t very well go to the Laurels billeted
here raving about a spy. But, if she was a spy, she deserved every single punishment
that could be inflicted.

Though no one else was watching him, he glanced around his shop before scoring
the Chonokian girl’s boot laces—not too deep, and only in the places where they’d
eventually snap anyway. Earlier, he’d taken in the seam near the little toe just a
tad. Sure, blisters were always a hazard, but he wanted a guarantee. Keeping the
Blue bastards down at any opportunity was any good Charivi man’s duty to the war
effort, after all.

He put the Chonokian girl’s boots on the counter and considered them alongside
the Laurel’s. A little bit of a markup—say, fifteen percent—would make up for the
loss on the Laurel’s pair quite nicely. A sliver of guilt wheedled into his mind. He
wished he could simply hand the Laurel her shoes free of charge. It being wartime
and all, folks didn’t have much tadril to send shoes off for repair. He couldn’t afford
to turn down payment.

Moving behind the counter, the Cobbler stooped to find his box of parchment scraps.
After setting it on the counter next to his pen and ink, he picked up two pairs of children’s
shoes overdue for retrieval from the back room, placing them near the Laurel’s and
Chonokian girl’s boots. As he sat down to write receipts, the shop door opened.

“Hello?” asked a high, thin voice.

His cheeks flushed. It was Vivalya, the baker’s daughter. She carried with her a
loaf of bread. He looked down to hide his flushed cheeks and stuttered, “G-good
afternoon.”

Vivalya set down the loaf in front of him. “And a very good afternoon to you. I hope
your day has gone well so far.” She twirled the end of her currant red braid between
her lithe fingers.

“Oh, very well now. What have you done today?” He snuck a glance at her. She was
gorgeous, a vision, the very definition of true beauty. Her milky gray skin was nearly
flawless, and she had the most stunningly vibrant yellow eyes he had ever witnessed.

He listened to her talk, hoping she didn’t stop until the sun set and her mother
called her home. Every word was like music, beautiful music he’d never guess came
from a mortal mouth. Someone entered the shop, but he barely noticed them stop
in front of the counter, take a pair of shoes, and leave a small pile of coins in their
place with a huff.

66 Worldbuilding Magazine
Another customer came in and waited patiently by the door while Vivalya spoke,
clearing his throat loudly whenever she paused. Feeling the man’s icy stare boring
into his head, the Cobbler said, “Apologies, Vivalya, I need to take this customer.
Hello, sir. How may I assist you?”

“I have an order here for two pairs of children’s shoes.” The man’s rough cadence
made no attempt to hide his displeasure. He tapped them. “I want my receipt.”

“Of course. One moment.” Muttering to himself, the Cobbler wrote out the receipt
and handed it to him, noting the Chonokian girl’s boots were gone. He took his coins
and the girl’s. When the door shut, he asked Vivalya, “You were saying?”

She continued her retelling of her morning while he counted out the coins. A tenpiece,
a fivepiece, and a onepiece. He smirked. Stupid girl paying an arm and a leg for basic
work. He pocketed the coins.

Again, someone came into the shop; a woman, head covered with a dingy, gray cowl.
She waited patiently in front of the Laurel’s shoes.

Vivalya glanced at her, then the Cobbler, and said, “It’s clear you’re quite busy. I’ll
come back tomorrow.”

Damn it, he muttered under his breath as he went to help the Laurel with her shoes.
When he instead saw the Chonokian girl’s all-too-pleased face hiding under the
cowl, he nearly choked.

“The work done on these is much better than expected, considering the price. I’ll
certainly be coming back here when I’m in the area.” She dropped three fivepieces
on the counter.

Speechless, he watched her leave. A cold sweat broke over his forehead. If the
Chonokian girl picked up the Laurel’s shoes, that meant the Laurel…

He sank onto his stool, holding his head in his hands. The Laurel had taken the
wrong pair of shoes.

XVII: ARMORER
HER heartbeats clattered inside her chest as she crested Pvokri Hill; that giant
mound of golden grasses that meant she was almost home.

Ten years had passed, yet it looked almost the same. Her feet ached as if she hadn’t
spent years on the march with the Blue Queen’s army crafting and repairing armor
for her warriors. Finally, she had been given leave to come home.

The Armorer halted just before the hilltop to adjust her one-handed grip on the
large sack she dragged behind her. It would doubtless surprise her husband, but

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coming home with one fewer arm was better than coming home dead. Besides,
it wasn’t insurmountable. For gods’ sakes, she’d made it home on her own well
enough. There were some trinkets and treasures she had to leave behind, of course,
but she cherished nothing more than the look she’d soon find on her husband’s face
when she walked back through their cabin door.

When she came over the hilltop, she stopped. A tiny village sprawled out below.
She carried on through her confusion. Last she lived here, Pvokri Village had been
razed in a skirmish.

She descended. At least this meant things were looking up again. Despite the Red
Queen’s inability to protect her subjects in years past, Zoldoni folk always found a
way to rise from the ashes and thrive. Even if she fought against Rosehearts, she
respected their resilience.

The Armorer dragged her sack through the village toward the stand of trees where
her cabin stood. Each footstep fell to the beat of splitting logs.

The woodcutter stopped her as she passed.

“What’re you doin’ round here, warrior?” the woodcutter asked. A woman—his wife,
the Armorer assumed—came away from what she was doing near their log stack to
stand by him.

The Armorer dropped the sack and gestured at the stand. “My husband and I have
lived down yonder since we were children. I went away for…” she paused. Ten years,
but the words wouldn’t come out. “For longer than I wanted. But I’m back now, and
I want to see him desperately.”

The woodcutter’s wife’s voice was high and reserved. “What’s he called?”

“Odzherhei.”

She paled. The woodcutter studied the ground, one hand on his hip and the other
weighing on the handle of his axe. “Best go with her, Vralya?”

Her stomach sank to her feet. “Why? Is he alive?”

Vralya nodded, gathering the Armorer’s bag. “Just...best you both have someone you
know when you see each other again. A decade’s near long enough to raise a child.”

At the mouth of the stand, she broke into a run. Her face was hot and her breaths
ragged. Odzerhei. After all this time. When she saw their little cabin, she sobbed. A
man sat on the porch, whittling.

“Odzerhei!” she yelled. “Odzerhei, it’s me! It’s—”

68 Worldbuilding Magazine
The cabin door opened and shut for a little boy no older than five. He climbed into
Odzerhei’s lap.

She stopped as if her feet had turned to stone. The breath evaporated from her lungs.

Vralya followed behind her, shouting, “Wait!”

The Armorer watched her husband stand through blurry eyes. His mouth moved,
but no words came out. The little boy in his arms watched her with wide eyes, so
innocent and curious.

“Who is that?” she croaked. “Who is he, Odzerhei?”

“Oddi? Are you alright? Who is that?” A woman, heavily pregnant, stepped outside.
An older girl, near nine or ten, peeked out the window.

When the woman saw the Armorer, her expression soured. “This ain’t an almshouse.
Try Losevka.” Exasperation laced every word.

“Almshouse?” The Armorer stepped forward. “I am his wife.”

The woman looked at her belly, then back at the Armorer. “Mhm. And this isn’t his
child, it’s the goat’s.”

“Evchala, go back in the house, please,” Odzerhei croaked.

Evchala cackled. “This disheveled lunatic tomps up to our cabin, calls you her
husband, and you try to send your pregnant wife inside?” She slammed the door
hard enough to rattle the timbers. “Oh no. No no. I think she needs to leave, and
you need to explain what in Leladya’s name is going on.”

The Armorer looked at Odzerhei. Only Odzerhei. The years had been kind to him.
He looked well-fed, well-groomed, well...happy.

Vralya put a hand on her shoulder. “C’mon. Just c’mon, darlin’. I’ll get my husband
and see if we can’t all sit down to—”

The Armorer wrenched her arm away and marched up to the patio to look at the
man she once called her husband. “I loved you,” she sobbed.

“You left,” he cried. “You’ve up and left ten years ago! No notes. No pay. No nothing.
I thought you were dead!”

“I had to!” she screamed.

“You never had to! You could have stayed here. We could have grown old together,
but you left and you expected me to never move on?”

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“I told you.” She tried to force her voice to quiet. Waves of rage and anguish broke
through. “I told you when I returned—”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “I never thought you would.”

She looked him in the eye. Glassy, green as sea glass, scribbled with gold and grey.
She’d loved those eyes. Every move they made, every skirmish won, every battle
fought, every ring in every chain of every piece of mail she’d ever wrought, in all of
them she had seen him and survived to look into those eyes one more time.

But she could feel it. They’d stopped seeing her long ago.

One more time was all she got.

She turned and ran past Vralya into the woods, muffling her sobs inside her elbow
so his bitch wife wouldn’t hear. Every step clipped a string in her heart until its
music no longer played. A thousand paces blazed through her soul, burning them
down shard by blackened shard for the shrikes and peregrines to warm their wings.
Each footfall taunted her with memories of their life, their home, the things they’d
built and the love they shared, all turned to ashes in a long-abandoned hearth.

XVIII: TAX COLLECTOR

FEWER things were so welcome on a warm spring evening as a quiet stroll around
town. The Tax Collector closed the inn door behind her. Followed by her bodyguards,
Dmaril and Yalesk, she started off down Vialikzadni Road.

Wax tablet anchored to her hip, she walked along the forested path admiring the
beauty of such a quaint little settlement. Loprikha? Yoprika? Something of that
nature. The hamlet was barely a whisper on the wind back in Igna; being here, she
could see why. The population was scarcely over fifty. What few buildings existed
were built along the road. The inn, which appeared to be the only true business
aside from the mill, had just three rooms. She made a note on her tablet. Of course,
Vialikzadni Road connected Igna to Sarona—the Blue Queen’s capital city.

Traveling here was nothing more than a vain attempt to squeeze blood from a rock.
Despite the hamlet’s destitution, there had to be something they could spare. It was
built to support a grain mill, after all. The Red Queen needed every single scrap
of tadril in Zoldonya Chovrekozh to win this war, and they were so close. Taxing
landowners alone was no longer enough.

Igna was wealthy. The mining magnates alone funded most public works. Losevka
and Vechnavaya took care of themselves, too, but Zoldoni lands were vast and
bustling with life. Without everyone’s contribution, how would the roads get built
and repaired? How would victims of famine and plague receive compensation? Who
would pay those brave warriors that risked their very lives to bring their countrymen
independence? The Red Queen may be fabulously wealthy, but no single Zoldoni

70 Worldbuilding Magazine
could be expected to finance an entire nation. The poor would have to make do. This
was everyone’s fight. It gave the Tax Collector no happiness; it was only her solemn
duty. Glory to the Red Queen, she thought.

A little farther down the road, something just off the right-hand side clumsily
disguised with vines and bushes caught her eye. She cast them off and smiled. A
shrine to the Five. Of course they practiced Orthodox Quintinity here. The hamlet
stood less than three hundred paces from the border. The Blue Queen’s influence
was nothing if not spiritually strong.

She made another note. Admittedly, this would raise their tax rate. A hazard fee,
in simple terms. The Tax Collector frowned to herself. Adhering to the Cyclical
Mysteries raised no rates at all. Lesser faiths whose names she couldn’t bother
recalling had much lower fees attached as well. Next to her note of the shrine’s
location, she added: “Increase total by twenty-five percent.”

Her knee began to ache—an old war injury. It may have prevented her from continuing
to fight, but it did open the door for her to acquire this position. The Red Queen
needed self-sufficient, capable officers to travel the countryside. She turned back.
Tonight, she had a meeting with the hamlet council over supper. Gods willing, she’d
be off to the next settlement by sunrise.

Fifty paces along, she nearly walked straight into a dirty-faced boy of twelve or
thirteen. She said nothing to him and carried on. From behind, she heard, “Greedy
bleedin’ pig.”

She pivoted and stared him down. “Excuse me?”

He spit at her feet and made a gesture she’d never seen but could surmise as vulgar.

As she stepped nearer to him, she noticed a small gathering of settlers encroaching.
Some lingered near the road while others yet pretended to do their washing and
work. She glanced at Dmaril and Yalesk. They seemed to notice, too.

She huffed. “Wash your mouth, boy. I am your elder and you will respect me.”

Someone came running from between the huts. “Vazhil?” He yelled. When he saw
the Tax Collector, he lunged for the boy and yanked him behind himself. “I am so,
so sorry,” the man said. He was older, but not ancient, and definitely out of breath.
“I don’t know what was said, but he didn’t mean it, I’m sure. He just lost his ma.
Have mercy, please.”

The Tax Collector pursed her lips. “And I presume you are the father?”

He winced. “Uncle. Pa’s been dead years.”

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“In that case, it would seem you are his father, and I would encourage you to keep
a closer eye on your charges from now on. Being that I have a...forgiving nature, I
leave his lesson in respect to you.” She locked eyes with Vazhil. “Other officers of
the Red Queen are not so kind.”

“They wouldn’t be dead if the red bitch wouldn’t have killed them!” Vazhil shouted.

His uncle forced his hand over Vazhil’s mouth. Unprompted, Dmaril came forward
and struck the boy on the side of the head. At once, there was a crowd around them,
spitting and snarling, screaming indecipherable taunts and insults. Five villagers
circled Dmaril, prodding him and shouting at him to strike.

“Dmaril,” the Tax Collector snapped over raucous taunts. “You listen to me. Citizens
of Loprikha! I have no quarrel with you. I am here on official business. I will soon
meet with your leader to—” A throbbing pain struck the side of her head. She clutched
it, vision blurring with involuntary tears, and staggered forward. Her veins flared
with brilliant orange Essence. Blind rage took control. She whipped around, letting
her Essence flow. A ball of flames exploded from her hands.

Silence.

The Tax Collector stopped her dance. A rock laid at her feet. Black blood glistened
on her hand as she withdrew it from her throbbing head. Whatever fool threw a rock
at her must have had a death wish.

Ahead of her, seven scarred and blistering faces clutched at their skin, crying in
agony, and their clothes singed. Her eyes fell upon Vazhil’s charred hands covering
his burned face.

For a full moment, the silence remained. The Tax Collector composed herself, raised
her blistered hands, and shouted, “I do not wish to escalate—”

Everything happened at once. The mob ran at her, Dmaril and Yalesk, each other.
Gritting her teeth, she drew more Essence from her veins until they glowed bright
as the sun. She wheeled and spun, striking her attackers down in a violent dance of

72 Worldbuilding Magazine
flames. Fistfights made ragged edges of the mob. She carved away a path for herself
and bolted, bodyguards be damned. Their idiocy caused this mess.

Her knee ached, but she pushed ever northward down Vialikzadni Road until she
could no longer hear the cacophony. She stopped to breathe behind a poplar. When
the Tax Collector composed herself, she surveyed her hands. Cracked and blistered,
as to be expected without the use of casting gloves. The wax tablet was long melted
and abandoned, probably somewhere along the road. No use going back for that.

She sighed. Now there was the matter of being a Roseheart in Blue Army territory.
If memory served, there was a river not far from here that ran across Rahvesk. If
she followed it, Igna would eventually appear on the other end.

Face etched into a scowl, she started walking. This was just her luck.

XIX: MINER
THE Sakcha family had it coming. They didn’t know it yet, and that was fine. The
Miner relished in knowing their iron empire would soon fall.

His best friend, Mykiv, walked down the twelfth gallery alongside him. Down here,
it was pitch-black. Thankfully, Mykiv was an essencecaster. His veins glowed just
bright enough to cast faint light around them.

For a few precious moments, the mine would be empty except for water-men like
Mykiv and himself. A nasty bout of witherlung had thinned out camp over winter.
To keep the miasma low, the head overseer sent one shift down at a time, by gallery
level. Since he and Mykiv worked at the lowest reaches of the mine—gallery twelve—
they would be the first to arrive.

“I can’t believe it,” Mykiv whispered, thin black lips twisted up into the wryest of
grins. He twirled his pickaxe round and round in his hand. “Their greed’s their own
undoing.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the Miner snapped.

Too much had been sacrificed to bring this plan to fruition to risk it folding in
on them now. Not long ago, the overseers forced everyone to dig down until they
reached rock and clay that seemed to bleed water at an overwhelming speed. Eight
miners drowned trying to quell the flow. No amount of adits, water-wheels, screw-
pumps, or buckets could drain it, not even with the help of watercasters brought
from Igna by special request. Eventually, the head overseer gave up and ordered
the shaft sealed.

Water-men like themselves worked in shifts day and night to bail out the water, never
resting, all of them slaves in everything but name to the Sakcha Family and, because
of that, the Red Queen. It seemed the Red Queen’s favorite method to get rid of

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undesirables was to seal them in one of her mines, never again to see the light of day.

Eight years ago, he’d been a simple farmer none the wiser about any wars or any
Red or Yellow queens. But, the Rosehearts had come and given him a choice: turn
over his farm and join the war, or work in the mines. “Sod off” was, apparently, the
incorrect answer.

The only thing that stopped him from jumping down the main shaft the day he
arrived was meeting his wife. Now, it was the burning desire to protect the child
they were soon to bring into the world. One of the overseers had a soft spot for
pregnant women. It was already arranged that she’d help Oleva escape. The child
would never know their father, but the thought of Oleva smiling with the sun in her
face and their baby cooing in her arms, free of this dismal cave, was worth far more
than spending another eight years down here with her, stealing kisses and finger-
touches when the guards weren’t looking during shift changes.

He and Mykiv did not go to the shaft in which their water-wheels turned. They
carried on to find the sealed adit and, finally, its door.

Someone had packed clay into the jamb and the threshold, but it wasn’t enough.
Water leaked through the gaps.

The Miner turned to Mykiv. “Once we break through, run. Don’t stop, don’t gawp
at it when you get on the ladder, don’t turn around to make sure it’s working.
Understand?”

“Aye,” Mykiv replied, raising his pickaxe.

They struck the door offset from one another, Mykiv counting evens and the Miner
calling odds. One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight. Water gushed out. On
Mykiv’s next strike, the door collapsed. They abandoned their axes and bolted.

They reached the ladder. Mykiv went up first. Water surged into the stope. Soon, it
reached the Miner’s hips. He put a hand on one of the rungs. “Don’t stop, don’t gawp,
don’t look down,” he bellowed at Mykiv. “I’m right behind you.”

He wasn’t. The water reached his chest, his shoulders, his neck. He watched Mykiv
reach the top rung and disappear.

The water reached the Miner’s chin. He climbed one rung, two rungs, three rungs,
four. Maybe this didn’t have to be the end. He had yet ample time to follow Mykiv
before his absence was noticed. But what was left for him after this? His wife and
child would be safe. The mine would be unusable if not forever, for long enough at
least to hit the Sakcha Family and the Rosehearts where it hurt.

74 Worldbuilding Magazine
If the mine proved too much work to reopen, they’d just disperse the miners
elsewhere anyway. The Sakcha Family practically owned the mountains for how
many mines they lorded over.

Eight years he wasted in this mine aiding a cause he didn’t much care for. The water
tickled his chin.

No. He let go of the rung. He wouldn’t waste eight years more.

BACK TO INDEX

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ASK US ANYTHING
by B. H. Pierce

T his Ask Us Anything is presented by a senior member of the Amalgamated Order of

Interdimensional Persons, Percival Aluminius Illumnius, Adjunct Professor of Gateways, 3423
WestNorth Street, Dunny-on-the-Spire.

What are some ways to show differences in

classes in my world?

—Anonymous

Let me answer your question with another

question: what is class?

...I’ll wait for the communists to quiet down. Are

they done? Splendid. To answer your question
about classes, you have to know what they are
first. However, a detailed overview of historical
classes and their expressions, while extremely
entertaining, would go beyond the scope of this
piece. A more reasonable distinction to look at is
the difference in classes in three different eras in
history. The Pre-Industrial Era, an Industrious
Era, and the Industrial Era.

In the Pre-Industrial era, the largest class by

far are those who work in food production, be
they hunter-gatherers, nomadic pastoralists, or
farmers. Artisans will make up a small portion AHMED ELGHARABAWY
of society and will mostly make functional
goods. What luxuries they can produce will be An Industrious Era is a middle point between Pre-
provided for the even smaller ruling class. States Industrial and Industrial periods. These most
and governments will be small-scale and local. often arise during a time of extended stability
Goods won’t travel very far before they’re used. and peace over a large area of land. Usually,
People won’t travel very far either. Most will stay these periods occur in a large state or empire,
in their home village and the class they were such as Rome, the Ottoman Empire, or one of the
born in unless some war or other calamity comes better Chinese Dynasties. In an Industrious Era,
screaming through and creates social mobility. the bulk of the population will still be concerned
with making food, but a larger percentage of it
will be artisans, bureaucrats and merchants.
Due to the stability, trade and innovation will

76 Worldbuilding Magazine
flourish, making luxury goods available and detailed modes of behavior, are also effective.
affordable to more of the population. Social Learning a certain dialect, dance, or way of
mobility is more common, though its extent will eating can take an enormous amount of time and
depend on specific cultural rules. might serve as an instant marker of who’s who.

The Industrial Era is marked by the rise of Before I let you go, I feel I must mention social
machines used for manufacturing, farming, and mobility again. As mentioned before, changing
transportation. The rural population typically your class can be easy or difficult. But the higher
decreases as people leave farms for the city, whose you climb, the harder it will be. The highest
populations swell as the size of the agricultural classes or the ruling classes do not like to share
classes shrink. The size of the urban worker power or their station. Birth will usually count for
class begins to increase, as do the populations a great deal, even more so than having access to
of artisans, merchants, and bureaucrats. Luxury the same opportunities, resources, and knowing
goods become more widespread, as technology when to use the second fork on the left.
decreases their prices and faster transport makes
it easier to move them from market to market. If a train leaves New York City, taking roughly
Social mobility is easier in this era since rapid 30 minutes to reach its maximum speed of 88
innovation and access to opportunities make it miles per hour and another train leaves Chicago,
possible for the ambitious to move up in the world. taking 45 minutes to reach its maximum speed
of 95 mph and they are both traveling on a single
So now that we’ve covered different economic rail system, while both carrying 55 passengers
eras, let’s circle back to your initial question and this is in the midst of the 1850s, which is
about how to show class difference. One of the your favorite Back to the Future movie? (Don’t
most important differences in class is access to forget to show your work.)
power. The upper classes will inevitably exert a
great deal of influence on how a society is run —Il Magnifico Barbarossa
and organized, so showing them making laws
and running things is one way. Another method Are you mocking me? I think you’re mocking me.
is showing how their class or position protects
them. In Edo Japan, one of the samurai class When it comes to making merchants, what do I
could legally execute anyone they felt insulted need to know about my world to make a savvy,
them, an example of a formal protection. intelligent businessman?
However, informal ones exist as well, such as
how the wealthy may have access to expensive —Lynx
lawyers who smooth out troubles for them.
In short, to know the businessman, you must
The living situations of people in your world is first build the business. What is being sold or
also a fine example of how to show class. Large what service is being provided? Is the product/
houses and estates are a classic way of showing service vital to survival? Does it help make other
wealth. What people do with their leisure time things? Or is it a luxury only available to a few? A
(if they have any) can be another great means businessman who sells wheat by the wagonload
of showing the differences between classes. will need a different set of skills than someone
There might be certain activities, such as types who sells pottery wheels or jewelry. To go even
of music or certain sports only enjoyed by high- further, you have to know how that good or service
class people, whereas others may not have the relates to the society he sells it in. Is it locally
money or inclination to engage in such activities. produced and available everywhere, something
Manners, if you want to spend the time creating everyone has access to? Then this businessman

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

will need to be a slick marketer to convince

his customers that his good is better than his
competitors’. If what he is selling is rare and from
a place far away, then he’ll likely need to know a
great deal about foreign trade routes, tariffs, and
taxes as well as have intimate knowledge about
the exclusive clientele it will be sold to.

Once you’ve built the business, you must have

an idea of the economy it exists in. Knowing
the era it takes place in (see above) will help you
figure this out. Are there a great deal of laws
your businessman has to know to legally make
or sell their product? Is their profession heavily
regulated, or can they do as they please? Do
intrepid merchants risk it all one on shipment of
precious goods or are their joint-stock companies
that spread the risk around? Is success measured
by having a longstanding, steadily profitable
operation, or is it all about making a huge score
fast? To learn these things, do your research.
Find an era in history similar to your world and
dive deep into its economics. Read up on how
silk from Han dynasty China made it to Imperial
Rome. Look into the history and practices of the
Dutch East India Company. Find out how the
capitalists of the Second Industrial Revolution
made their vast fortunes. The rich and their
riches have been written about for all of history.
Make use of that information.

What are some realistic reasons for a people/

country to invade or attack their neighbors?

—Anonymous

Because they want something.

What? More? All wars are about resources.

They’re waged because the people declaring
war think they have something to gain from it.
With that said, there are many things to attain.
It could be something physical. Their neighbors
may have resources they want, such as minerals
or fertile soils. The land itself may be valuable for
access to trade routes or defensive terrain.

78 Worldbuilding Magazine
The reward could be political. A leader might
go to war to boost their popularity or distract
their followers from another issue. War may
be waged to increase a nation’s standing in the
international order by showing that they are
strong. Or, it could be about revenge. Insults and
slights reduce the prestige of a nation, so waging
war could be a way to restore what was lost.
The
The scale of the societies going to war will change Writing
Cartel.
how the conflict looks, but not the reasons why it is
waged. Two pastoralist tribes raiding each other
with bows and arrows over the best pasture is A group of writers trying to do the
the equivalent of two industrialized nation-states impossible—actually fi
fin
nish a project.
going at it over oil fields. When Genghis Khan
was a rising leader of the Mongols, he attacked •Discussion Channels.
•Weekly Critiques.
the Chinese on his own. After the Chinese •Critique Exchanges.
retaliated, he went to the other Mongols to unify •Optional Word Count Tracker.
them in response to the threat. When Bismarck •Seasonal Events.
insulted the French into attacking Prussia, he ...and Lots of Writing Sprints!
used the war to unify the German states under
Prussian rule. Different place, different time, Join us .
same strategy. When one tribe, state, nation,
or empire attacks another, it is always because
they believe they will profit from it. Just what
they think they will get will depend on exactly
who is waging war. When looking for a realistic
reason to begin an invasion, start by looking at
the culture and situation of the invader.

BACK TO INDEX

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MEET THE STAFF: TYLER SILVA

curated by ACGrad

Please introduce yourself! What is your role for draw upon any source while still committing to
the magazine? What do you hope to do going be its own version. A lot of this can be seen in my
forward? gods, who I’ve based on mythologies less used
as inspiration such as Basque, Hindi, Ossetian,
My name is Tyler, though I’m oft-referred to as Romuvan, and Suomenusko—all the while still
Dino. I host the podcast Worldcasting and serve taking cues from Hellenism as a backdrop of
as an admin for the Discord community. I spend ages of divinity and the decline of power and
most of my time not working on the magazine magic. Where the two blend is a world of living,
itself, but on related projects and community breathing gods. These gods may be strong but
organization. Going forward I’d like to run are not all powerful, but they don’t fit neatly into
more events for the community. Whether it be the slots laid down in D&D by the Olympians.
in giveaways, events, or contests, I’d just love
to engage with all you wonderful readers more! What have been your favorite mythologies to
Likewise there’s the ever elusive convention research? What qualifications or themes do you
scene that I hope to dive the magazine into one think make a deity suitable for an RPG setting?
day.
I’ve spent years studying history and mythology.
Tell us about your world! Do you have a final When it comes to history, there is a wealth in
medium of choice? What is your favorite part of aesthetic, government, and diplomacy that can
worldbuilding? be created by figuring how your world relates
to time periods in our own world. I like to do
Worldbuilding has been a lifelong passion and the same with mythology. There is, at least as
endeavor to craft a world. I’ve used my setting I see it, a divide between the more popular and
to write stories and to run tabletop games in. widely known mythologies (Hellenism, Norse,
Getting to explore it in those mediums has been and Egyptian) versus the ones that tend to be on
a lot of fun. My world has always been a blend the periphery of people’s conscious (Hinduism,
of my favorite concepts from worldbuilding. Celtic, Tao/Dao, Shinto, and Zoroastrianism),
Themes and aesthetics from across fantasy, and that tends to be all people know. I delved
horror, science fiction, and folklore from around into those and took a lot from them. They had a
the world. I always strive to make my world feel lot of interesting lessons and creatures in them.
alive, as if it were a truly lived-in place. This I found morals and parables that work with a
doesn’t mean that I try to obtain the ever elusive belief system to be of great interest. In many of
realism. Instead I strive to make it so that the the mythologies I listed, they are heavily delved
pieces of the world blend together, that they meld into as well, with a piece of them making their
to create a genuine feeling to everything that way into my setting. I definitely took a lot of
happens. keynotes from Hinduism and Zoroastrianism for
my own spiritual systems and mixed them with
Over the years, my scope has expanded quite a the Ovidian principles I grew to love as a child
bit from what was originally just a small part of a when reading the Metamorphoses.
continent that relied heavily on Tolkien and D&D.
Eventually it blossomed into a setting unafraid to

80 Worldbuilding Magazine
Yet, that’s not where I’d say the ticket stops for When the heroes seem to be at a dead end, a bit of
the most interesting mythologies. Those listed unassuming aid from a traveler or stranger can
are just the ones I’ve read the most of. Though, prove to be a bit more profound than previously
that would be because they are the most explored. anticipated. If the heroes strayed from their path
There are many great characters, and heroic and could fall, it seems within reason a patron
concepts, inside Suomenusko and the different god would test them. Then there’s the ever present
Slavic folktales, but the availability of those in danger of a Trickster God giving help, unasked or
English is sparse, which naturally makes them unwanted, that could either help or hinder the
less well known or widespread. I find regional party. I find that when emulating these entities,
and smaller cultures or folktales have the most throwing pomp and circumstance to the window
life to them. The three that stand out the most is the best option. I never make it seem like some
to me are Armenian, Basque, and Ossetian. The grand affair, and I certainly try my hardest to
first two people are generally aware of, but the have the moment of arrival feel natural. When
Ossetians were something I stumbled upon. communing with gods, I try to figure out the
Descendants of the last of the Sarmatian horse personality of the deity beforehand. A serious
lords, the Ossetians are a minority group in the and formal one might require more austerity,
Caucasus Mountains. Their culture and folktales whereas others may appear in guise and interact
survived dozens of empires and migrations with the party while doing a casual activity like
through their homeland. It is a treat to read about walking or carousing. I find that it gives them
them. On the surface it seems to have a simple each a different (and memorable) face. That by
sky god who oversees a pantheon of gods. When being real and interactable, even active in the
you delve into it, the Ossetian Uatsdin is about affairs of the world, it makes the players more
the Universe, about how the scope of our world is engaged with that lore and more willing to seek
so much larger than what we can see. That when it out. Plus it generally creates some good role-
you look up into the night sky, you see Xwyatsu playing opportunities.
and all that the Lord of Wisdom and Worlds has
made and embodies. The most fascinating part
to me is the Nart Saga, which shows that the link
between divine and ordinary is short. Sometimes
ordinary people do great things, and sometimes
it takes a gift of power to stop a great evil. All of
that serves as inspiration for good worldbuilding
when it comes to the divine.

When it comes to RPGs and using deities in them,

I find that it’s all too easy to use a hat trope for
them. To give them a portfolio or purpose and
making their whole characterization around
that. Personally, I find that to be not at all like
the deities you find in any folklore. To most
polytheistic faiths the gods were real beings who
live in or were adjacent to this world. They had
wants, desires, loves, and hates. They were gods
but also people. In many of these faiths, the gods
even wandered the world in guise to see how we,
their faithful, truly acted. In RPGs I strive to
have this feeling pervade throughout the setting.

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CONTRIBUTORS

ADMINISTRATION
Editor-in-Chief Vice Editor-in-Chief
LieutenantDebug Adam Bassett

Editorial Chair Editorial Deputy Chairs

Ianara Natividad Dylan Richmond
Jaren J. Petty
Zaivy Luke-Aleman

Writing Chair Writing Deputy Chair

B. K. Bass Taylor Frymier

Art Chair Art Deputy Chair

Tristen Fekete Anna Hannon

Meta Chair
Dinostompah / Tyler Silva

STAFF
Layout Artist Artist
Ahmed Aljabry Truedevil

Artist Writer
Ahmed ElGharabawy Aaryan Balu

Artist Writer
deïficat B. H. Pierce

Layout Artist Writer

Enya Gomez Emory Glass

Artist Writer
Josef Steyn Juhani Taylor

82 Worldbuilding Magazine
Editor
E. Baker

Editor
Michael Kayser

Editor
Spencer Brady

Community Assistant, Layout Artist

ACGrad

Community Assistant
Celestial_Blu3

Community Assistant Cover: Tristen Fekete

NotDaedalus Logo: Tristen Fekete
Fonts: Futura PT
Community Assistant Georgia
Rayfeller Lato

All in Fair Use

WITH SPECIAL
GUESTS
Chris Lockey
Featured Author

vbwyrde
Featured Worldbuilder

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Issue 3 | 2020 ARCHITECTURE

84 Worldbuilding Magazine