worldbuilding desert cultures

I used to live in an area with a lot of Lebanese immigrants and some of them weren't much darker than me, and I'm white. How do your people treat their old buildings, war memorials, and ruins? Hugging? Geography is pretty self explanatory. Liked it? Think Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Poppy War, et cetera. 27, 2022; athens hornets football schedule 2021 The two strongest empires are based on Punic north africa and the neo-assyrian empire, respectively. Press J to jump to the feed. Your culture will adapt to service us. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. But its important to consider technology not just from a do they have computers or not perspective, but by a constant questioning of their relationship to technology, in much the same way we question their relationship to magic. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. If you are writing in a historically accurate version of Earth, you have established cultures into which to fit those inhabitants. Get inspired and use whats useful to you. Acceleration without force in rotational motion? Required fields are marked *. But we know very little about these peoples so I also have to do a lot of my own building from scratch. Some questions to ask yourself here: Religion is likely the second-biggest player in influencing our species (next to Geography). In genres like Sci-Fi and Fantasy, worldbuilding must take center stage in the writing process if the you want to craft a great story. a crescent or U-shaped dune with horns point into the wind, with a depression between its tips. They are theorized to manifest when an especially gruesome death causes damage beyond one's physical body, severing the link between memory and . Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. In this post I return to my minimalist framework for Dungeon Masters, Game Masters, fiction writers, and similar worldbuilders to merge the realms of general myth and geomorphology. Forms from surviving erosion of surrounding area, with top layer resisting denudation of underlying rocks; often in arid areas. For all you players in tabletop RPGs like D&D and Pathfinder working on your character backstories. Hard magic refers to a magic system grounded in some form of reality, restricted by either the laws of physics or other laws and restrictions you implement yourself. Technology offers solutions to problems, and unlocks new opportunities that offer new challenges of their own. The Stone Sky is a 2017 science fantasy novel by American writer N. K. Jemisin.It was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2018. If your working off of a real historical base, not only will it be far easier to avoid cliche and caricature, but you mind even find unexpected inspiration you can weave into your story. The six archetype tags with which I will flag all the various real-world land features in my Mythic Ecology Series: 1. if something is cliche doesn't it mean that it isn't exotic at all? Pueblo people from the Southwest United States? worldbuilding desert cultures worldbuilding desert cultures Blog Nothing specific for you sadly but i just finished a section of my world map that is desert so I have some thoughts kicking around. Even just gesturing with it to somebody innocently was literally saying "You are feces. I was about to suggest researching Berber cultures, nice to see that someone brought it up already!:). For artists, writers, gamemasters, musicians, programmers, philosophers and scientists alike! How much does the society value formality in the public and professional spheres? Settlements, Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds, a sand dune which forms around vegetation. If youre writing about plain old humans, then remember that were a confusing, paradoxical lot. F. or corrections or content removal requests, hit my contact page. What would the temperature be like in a black desert? Wealth would start to look like someone who has water on their property, or who could handle larger crops or more animals. Do they apply these values consistently across contexts or does the application of these values vary depending on the situation and the relationships at hand? Is there a source of magic in your world, and how is it protected? : sites of magnitude and grandeur, living monuments which can function narratively for finding resolve, invoking spirits, or as a Call to Adventure. Does the culture value self-reliance or dependency on others? And while I dont have anything to sell, I do have a lot of things I like complaining about. In a hot desert this can include projections of the sky onto the ground that appear as water, a Mirage Oasis. My worldbuilding is pretty heavily based on the ancient world, and i aimed to go a little off the beaten path for inspirations (not too much, though). Caused by heavy rainfall or melting ice. -Dust Storms Kobold Press's most recent release of Campaign Builder: Cities and Towns has been help filling the holes in my knowledge for the basics of town and city generation. One thing to keep in mind with history, though, is that it shapes attitudes. How to react to a students panic attack in an oral exam? You could try writing down what you think the stereotypes are in your head and make sure to avoid them. Can subvert tropes with Dread or Betrayal. Maybe add some cultural elements from an European country, for example say that the desert ethnic group is an offshoot of your Germanic inspired culture. [Omens, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Reversing Dunes occur where winds periodically reverse direction, with faces temporarily in opposing directions. Education. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. What factors changed the Ukrainians' belief in the possibility of a full-scale invasion between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022? Smaller than a Mesa or Plateau. Can subvert tropes with Ruins or Escape. One stereotype of the middle eastern languages (at least from the perspective of some americans) is that they're harsh sounding. [Settlements, Omens, Passageways, Abyss], Guelta / Agelmam a pocket of water forming in arid conditions within drainage canals, valleys, or dry riverbeds. They also have several different factions, one of which is entirely made up of sea-faring nomads. [Settlements, Omens, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Decomposition Chimney / Devils Stovepipe a hole formed when a sand dune buries a tree and the bark remains even after the tree core has rotten away, leaving a cylindrical void within the sand. [Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Compound Dune when a smaller dune forms on top of a larger dune of a similar type and orientation. There are also other factors like if there is giant fauna in these deserts maybe these people hunt them and then use the bones as tent poles or something, basically they would use every bit of the things they killed. Survival. A single individual may love and hate the same thing but consider those things different. I know that's not a very helpful tip, but sometimes the slightest changes can really make the difference. How does the world they live in impact them and their way of life? the side facing away from the Equator). Like the stereotypical loose sand of the Sahara sand dunes? rare and occurring at a sand seas far upwind margins. A realm of extremes, invoking the supposed primitive past, or the desolate future. For instance, bazaar is often a synonym for market yet caravanserai (according to Wikipedia) more of an inn for specifically travelling merchants (I think I am very wrong in this, btw). -Decomposition Chimney / Devils Stovepipe In the meantime, I post original D&D memes and writing updates daily over on my sites Facebook Page. The civilization in my world borders a region inhabited mainly by Europe inspired cultures, so I don't want it to come out like that when seen next to them. -Guelta / Agelmam -Yardang, Part 4: Larger Desert Landforms Want to help me make more? Related to Ventifact. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. [Settlements, Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Sand Sheet flat, gently undulating sand surfaces with grains too large for saltation and winds too weak to form dunes. shallow lake varying considerably in level by season. In addition to developing a magic system, you need to document how magic affects the people and culture around it. One important thing to keep in mind when worldbuilding is that its easy to get carried away. Little villages with watering systems for their fields might be an interesting feature. compacted and hardened sandstone formed from marine- or wind-shaped sand dunes. Is a hot staple gun good enough for interior switch repair? WORLDBUILDING CULTURES - Terrible Writing Advice Terrible Writing Advice 425K subscribers Subscribe 35K Share 864K views 4 years ago World Building Don't worry. One trick with this is to start from the environment. If you dont live in an area with horses, you probably wont see much in terms of horseback riding). Sans from the Kalahari? Related to Hamada. From the Dullahan to the Blemmyes, these creatures share a reputation for cruel violence and ruthless tenacity. Oases. What mount would work best in a desert setting as a cavalry animal? The following are eight aspects you should nail down at a minimum before you start writing your story. https://www.medicinaneisecoli.it/index.php/MedSecoli/article/view/936, Health and sanitary status in 1970 of Tubu nomads dwelling in Northeastern Niger Is there a resource that one can use to effectively create towns/cities but using very culturally-specific terms to help with naming purposes? Bad Things, Good People - Theological Worldbuilding - In any game with Deities or Religions (and that's almost all RPGs), the . -Plateau Michael Johnston, author of Silence of the Soleri, joins us to talk more about the setting of his latest book and his own desert narrative. Might've mixed up the time periods slightly but should be good. [Omens, Passageways, Abyss], Dew Puddle a spot where dew condenses on rocks in arid environments, allowing for limited vegetation to grow. or the composition of their identity (their origin, age, gender, job title, etc.)? But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. That's the thing, my world isn't presented from anyone's perspective (potential characters can come from any culture, including the desert one), therefore I want to make it an actual functioning culturr, not just an orientalist theme park. Stacked layers can form into cross-hatching patterns. (if they have one, see Politics). What amounts of touch are socially acceptable in public? Passageways: transitional journeylands, including magical portals, functioning narratively for initiation and return, thresholds and tests, shortcuts and setbacks. Cultures are usually somewhat determined by the paramaters they exist in. There's no leaves. SFWA and Nebula Awards are registered trademarks of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. Well At least in the middle east, the go to solution was your hand. The setting is a desert-like area, meaning there just enough water for one to drink and not to dry out. . sketching a framework for designing Yridia, developing this series into worldbuilding web tools, 50+ Wetlands Features For Fantasy Worldbuilding, 70+ Cave Features For Fantasy Worldbuilding, 70+ Coastal Features For Fantasy Worldbuilding, Landform Worldbuilding Cheatsheet - 130+ Tips, Ambience Worldbuilding Cheatsheet 100+ Tips, Landform Worldbuilding Cheatsheet 130+ Tips, 70+ Weather Features For Fantasy Worldbuilding, Gamify Your Mental Health: 10 Simple Tools For Gamers & Geeks, 50+ Desert Features For Fantasy Worldbuilding, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This would stem the growth of these people in terms of pure numbers. Geography. And culture plays a part in this. Desert creatures often use dust baths to absorb and abrade waste materials off their skin and fur. : a void or confined space presenting scarcity or temptation, desperation and danger. Discussed in. What kind of challenges has technology overcome for your world? You can help for as little as $2 per month! You can spend hours, days, weeks, just writing about the world and the people who inhabit it, while never writing a single word of your novel. I already have included a people based on Mesopotamia/Egypt/Persia so no need to bring them up. This is the type of worldbuilding that engages the reader and makes them yearn to experience what the author has crafted. Clothing would be light enough to let air pass through and cool the skin but layered to keep out the sun. >>. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. -Singing / Whistling / Barking Sands Coral Reefs Become Limestone As ocean levels rise and fall, sediments cover these coral reefs, creating layers of limestone. One important thing to remember is that civilization arises where water is. Another trick is just to look at the tropes of the stereotypical "exotic desert people" and put a new twist on a few them. Battlegrounds: sites fit for epic, sprawling encounters and climax conflicts. They constantly move to a better place. Novarian series. And lastly they use the camel equivalent of our world.These animals just like a camel are build for travelling long distances in the desert so they wont get easily tired as opposed to a human. How would someone care for hygiene, like wash themselves, when water is a precious rarity? overall infant mortality rate was 153%, and the overall child I spent some time in the middle east, and I observed a few things. Overlooks: sites of magnitude and grandeur, living monuments which can function narratively for finding resolve, invoking spirits, or as a Call to Adventure. If you want an civilization based on Persian culture from a period of enlightenment, do you want the Achaemenids from ~600-300 BCE, or a more medieval time period, such as Baghdad and the Abbasid Caliphate from ~800-1500 CE? For others, its a source of awe and fear. Did they specifically have to out of their way to find "good enough" sand? Building a desert culture without making it a cliche exotic land. Within an hour, day, week, month, year? I have been trying to get some examples of ~ Types of Shoes/Boots in a Medieval Fantasy Desert Culture The use of natural drugs and the -Vlei What physical attributes do they find attractive in another? when a smaller dune forms on top of a larger dune of a similar type and orientation. Does the culture value self-expression or conformity? [Settlements, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Lunettes / Source-Bordering Dunes / Bourrelets / Clay Dunes fixed crescent-shaped dunes composed of clay, silt, sand, or gypsum eroded from a basin floor or shore, deposited by winds on the convex side of a dune from the concave side. Can subvert tropes with Ruins or Escape. This subreddit is about sharing your worlds, discovering the creations of others, and discussing the many aspects of creating new universes. All the images herein I use for educational and entertainment purposes, I claim no rights to any of them. Its almost single-handedly played the biggest part in shaping our evolution as a species. Related to Desert Pavement. I hope you enjoyed this sixth entry in my Mythic Ecology series! Point is, even in fantasy land, having distinctive cultures will help the story and even a fantasy story's culture needs more than 'it has kings, knights, and princesses'. You can apply a simple checklist to the other worlds and cultures that interact with the small, knowable world of your main character both his foreign and his familiar. And when I say religion, I dont necessarily mean believing in a god, or multiple gods. Do people in the society hide their emotions or express them openly? Water is life. There are often overlapping functions, but they're never identical and the differences change how they fit into civilisations, and influence how other parts of civilisations form. Instead they would hide until it passes. Another thing was, what you or I would consider stagnant and fetid water is a bath to them. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Mediums largest collection of advice, support, and encouragement for writers. Regarding food they are skilled hunters as they need to be able to capture their prey so they had to learn this on their own. Most likely would travel light, or with a beast of burden to reduce their energy expenditure. What do they find unattractive? So if you want to read stories about the day-to-day life of being a salaried corporate writer, interspersed with the occasional flash fiction, sign up to my mailing list now. Worldbuilding a fictional culture can be a tremendous amount of fun, not least because the sky is pretty much the limit: you can choose the setting, technology, class structure or lack thereof, and what culture groups and even species live in it. Well they would almost certainly be nomadic for obvious reasons. A big threat to be used for the justice system would be exile. Dunes. Support Tril on Patreon for as little as $2 a month! -Hoodoo / Tent Rock / Fairy Chimney / Earth Pyramid Can become filled by Flash Floods. Reviews of the book upon its release were highly positive. Thats why, when youre building your world, you need to make sure you build with the people in mind. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. [Omens, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Lithified Dune / Slickrock compacted and hardened sandstone formed from marine- or wind-shaped sand dunes. In their culture, blocking the corridors would be met by brutal punishments because water is considered more precious than gold given their environment. Well, there's no toilet paper. Hygiene and Medicine of Saharian Nomadic Tribes: Tuareg and Tubu Compared Vanni Beltrami .The medical system that these tribes developed before the colonial presence is a mixture of logic and effective practical conduct with superstitious and ineffective spells. Worldbuilding is the part of the writer's craft that establishes the very world(s) that your story is set in. How far away are they from other cultures? Your email address will not be published. Typically arises with limited sand supply, hard ground, and constant wind, anchored at its tall side by shrubs or rock. Typically arises with limited sand supply, hard ground, and constant wind, anchored at its short side by shrubs or rock. -Arroyo / Wash Is email scraping still a thing for spammers. Are there any patterns among Desert peoples religiously or otherwise culturally? Consider them not being an oasis city in the middle of an uninhabitable desert where the women are always dressed like belly dancers. Natalie enjoys hiking in the desert, visiting Paris, and playing fantasy RPGs on XBox. Worldbuilding: Your Full Process For Creating A Fictional World 8 Fantasy World building Fantasy and sci-fi are technically the same genre, both slotted under 'speculative fiction.' When I talk about 'fantasy' worlds, I'm talking about high fantasy. Discussed in, basin or depression which formerly contained a body of water, but evaporated. . Part 0: Mythic Ecology For Fantasy Worldbuilding & Storytelling, -Coppice Dune / Dune Hummock / Nabkha / Knob Dune / Rebdou / Takouit, -Lunettes / Source-Bordering Dunes / Bourrelets / Clay Dunes, -Hoodoo / Tent Rock / Fairy Chimney / Earth Pyramid, -Decomposition Chimney / Devils Stovepipe, -Desert Varnish / Rock Rust / Desert Patina, When talking about desert worldbuilding, Ill start out with a few recommendations: Famous Hippos, symbol of scarcity, of death and dying, of isolation, of will. Awesome read! However, I'd like to avoid making it a cliche super exotic desert land you can sometimes see in stock fantasy. Summer Camp has started, and the first prompt wave is here! [Omens, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Parabolic / Blowout Dune a crescent or U-shaped dune with horns point into the wind, with a depression between its tips. Truce of the burning tree -- how realistic? mortality rate was 99%. What about a Democratic system based on Ancient Greece, but make the ruling class women instead of men? [Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Linear / Longitudinal / Seif Dune long, straight or slightly wavy line-shaped dunes, often forming in parallel. Dimitri Halkidis 89 Followers Communication. Settlements: habitable regions of either Work or Play, Familiar or Exotic, offering diverse narrative functions: a Day in the Life, Home Base, Personal Reasons, Gathering Supplies. They also dont sink in the sand cause their feet are similar to a camel and of course can store whatever food/water it needs so it can use it later without actually needing them often.This takes care of some problems. Hello, welcome to my new worldbuilding channel! I imagine humans could do the same. Is there a "trick" or something that nomads, wanderers in deserts, use? Our absolute odor neutrality is created by our deodorants, antiperspirants, perfumes, colognes, shampoos, and body washes which we apply religiously utilizing water piped in from dozens, or even hundreds of miles away. Or in this case, chinchillas. 4. long, straight or slightly wavy line-shaped dunes, often forming in parallel. Thanks for your support! -Coastal Desert Im a professional fiction editor, and when I was in university for my English literature BA, something else that also fascinated me was psychology and sociology. This is where my UX design thinking starts influencing my fiction. -Barchan / Crescentic Dunes -Mid-Latitude Desert What do they look like? I thought spending some time studying those subjects would strengthen my writing and reading skills as well. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.. Visit Stack Exchange Elaborate your civilization's history 5. Sometimes its a reaction against a particular event, but other times its an adoption and expansion of an event. -Desert Varnish / Rock Rust / Desert Patina What does the concept soon mean within the society? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.. Visit Stack Exchange https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.timetoast.com/public/uploads/photo/6634141/image/3ff43ce8e813f592f8659dd8b0b88998 Something like this to give you a better idea. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Worldbuilding: Creating Fictional Cultures. Can become filled by Flash Floods. -Trade Wind Desert Algonquin Bay is a small town in Northern Ontario, a fictionalized version of the city of North Bay . Who would think a lack of easily accessible water could have such subtle nuances on a people as to influence their body language in such a strong way? The Worldbuilding By the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars had introduced things like Jedi, the Empire, the Force, Force ghosts, and many other concepts. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4416314/. -Battlegrounds, Part 1: Desert Types By Climate & Geography Villeneuve-d'Ascq (59650) VARS-LM. [Omens, Overlooks, Passageways, Abyss, Battlegrounds], Paleodesert former desert areas currently in non-arid states. [Omens, Passageways, Abyss], Watering Hole a depression in the ground where water collects and remains. A classic example is a feudalistic medieval society, though thats a bit played out in fantasy. Does the society value making decisions out of self-interest or commitment to others? Your fantasy magic or tech might also allow fog-harvesting. I feel like Robert Jordan's Aiel people were really well done; on the surface and to the protagonists (at first) they appeared exotic strange and bizarre, their lands were without water which was weird to the two rivers boys, they had a strange and different culture, but as the protags got to know the culture it lost its exoticism and was replaced with a developed culture. I have created several locations within a couple of stories that have very Ancient Egyptian and Arabian style of architecture; hence, my question. -Oasis How do they keep their citizens in check? What challenges has it introduced? Language shapes culture just as culture shapes language, and language is influenced heavily by geography and history. -Star Dune Can subvert tropes with Alternative Solutions. Cultures from around the world have described the awe-inducing horrors of the headless. Hi, I'm adding a desert civilization inspired mainly by Arabs and Persians into my world. 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