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Journals of Yesteryear

Created by

TJ Trewin

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Scope

The motivation behind building Journals of Yesteryear

Pixel art of a wooden airship without a balloon, with a moray eel as the figurehead.

Airship by TJ Trewin

The Zendian government has set a bounty for retrieving magical artifacts from deadly ruins guarded by living constructs, sparking an exciting nation-wide treasure hunt attracting adventurous travellers to the region (yourself included). Meanwhile, sky pirates are to blame for the vanishing floating islands, and newly invented airships have inadvertently brought horned rats to Zendu's major cities.

About this project

Journals of Yesteryear is an optimistic leaning, heroic fantasy world with derpy magical creatures, floaty islands, mouth-watering food, and adventure-filled vistas - all presented in an interactive wiki with colourful pixel art where you can explore the world and collect fond memories along the way!

Genre

Heroic Fantasy with a light sprinkling of Steampunk.

Tone

Journals of Yesteryear (JOY) is neutral bright in tone and strikes a balance between perilous adventure and relaxing cosy spaces. Characters strive for positive change without ignoring the compromises of overcoming impactful challenges. No matter age nor experience, every person is a hero of this world, and their destiny is a saga of triumph. The world feels invitingly vibrant, awe inspiring, and full of wonderful people and creatures to encounter. For every challenge and obstacle that arises, there's always five friends that will be there to help overcome it.

Middle Moons by TJ Trewin

Themes

Fun!
Traditions, hobbies, sports, and activities that create bountiful enjoyment and lasting memories.
Food!
From nurturing and gathering ingredients to carefully crafting a delicious meal that enriches the senses.
Fauna!
Every living thing has magic, and those with higher levels of intelligence are able to wield it in more complex and powerful ways.

Trials

The Zendian government has set a bounty for retrieving magical artifacts in a research effort to unlock the secrets of their creation. The nation-wide treasure hunt has given rise to specialist guilds looking for courageous individuals to help infiltrate the ruins guarded by deadly living constructs.
Floating islands are going missing, and the sky pirates are seemingly to blame.
Airships have inadvertently brought horned rats into Zendu, infesting major towns and cities and causing concerns about disease.

Science, Technology, & Magic

Airships are the latest trend in transport making use of the floating igneous rocks known as albar, the same rock that all floating islands have within their core which rise when heated. Steam trains and sailing vessels make use of this material to lighten their cargo. Folks and other living beings of this world have an affinity for magic. It's similar to the type of energy that makes you feel awake and vitalised when you're full of it, or tired when depleted. Magic requires active casting, and the art of enchanting objects or surfaces with magical spells and abilities has been lost since the Great Betrayal. Enchanted artifacts have become a priceless commodity, and there are many hefty rewards for obtaining one, depending on who you trust...

Long-nosed Ringtail Snake by TJ Trewin

pixel art of a huge sawfish rostrum and an intricate, colourful feather

Sawfish rostrum & feather by TJ Trewin

Motivations

My motivation for building this bright fantasy world, as always, is to hone my skills, and have fun whilst exploring a new tone and setting - having a fresh canvas is a great opportunity for me to refine my methods of worldbuilding! Journals of Yesteryear is a place where I can enjoy bright topics and challenge myself with some creative constraints (like pixel art and using a limited colour palette), and ultimately bring JOY to others :D I really enjoy sharing my process with others, so check out my worldbuilding blog (I have a newsletter now!) and posts around the community. I want to share my contagious enthusiasm that I have for exploring this world, and I'd love to make this a happy place for you to come and visit to brighten your day :)

Nominated for the Most Beautiful World Award 2024

Antique Scimitar by TJ Trewin

Goals

My overarching goal is to explore ways to make worldbuilding projects more interactive and immersive. I have a new goal for this world - video games! I've just started learning game dev and I'm making game demos set in this world. For the forseeable future these will be small, finishable projects that will help me learn programming in Godot (don't expect a fully-fledged RPG for many many years)! I aim to expand the region of Zendu and fill it with fun lil creatures, characters, and trinkets - all with illustrated pixel art :D I want to have a balanced mix of aspects in this world and I'm keeping track by using tags on my articles, you can see how it's going here: