Introduction to Melior
Overview
Melior is a fictional science fantasy world set in 19th century Bradstowe, capital city of The Isles of Orlend and home to the religion of The Originator's Order. The name Melior is derived from the word ameliorate, which means to make or become better. It's a core theme of this setting, but also a personal goal of mine to make this the last world that I make. I am creating this world (along with all the art and lore) as a portfolio piece that explores the contrast of chaos and order, and I will be launching a crowdfunding campaign as the setting fills out to create an art book of the world.
Genre & Themes
This is a science fantasy world set in the 1800s, and there are paranormal and magic influences on the world but some of these can be explained with scientific reason behind them. The largest themes in this setting are: order vs chaos, challenging whether lawful means good, self expression, creativity and 'the inner critic'.
Setting
The scope of the world is set in The Isles of Orlend, a temperate and rainy cluster of isles that have a heavy religious influence—The Originator's Order—who practise the ways of The Architect. Their way of living is very precise, organised and structured but, during these times of industrial revolution, rebellious groups of artists are forming secret cults to explore the chaotic arts that the law has forbidden them to touch.
by TJ Trewin
Order
The Originator's Order has fought against chaos since The Architect designed the world. Each person has a blueprint that they are subconsciously bound to, a natural structure that the mind and body needs to follow in order to live a happy and productive life. The ways of this state religion are strict, but rewarding. Lead a lawful life and you will rise through the ranks of your career into prosperity and great honour.
Chaos
With the growing trade of the industrial revolution, new traditions arise and foreign practises come a s h o r e. The creative mINds of Orlend are eager to explore into the forbidden fields of their craft and are forming secretive art cults that practise their chaotic ways out of sight from the city watch. Using drugs to fuel their states of mind, some have managed to touch the Chaotic Plane.
You cannot cage creativity, even the orderly mind must step into the unknown to lay a new path.
Where to start?
You can explore the world from wherever you'd like to start! Every article in this setting is linked to further reading, so you'll be able to start a journey through the world from anywhere. Click on a location on the map, check out some of the articles I've linked here, or return to the homepage to explore the table of contents, timelines and latest articles!Credit & Disclaimers
All writing and artwork used throughout this project is my own, unless otherwise stated via attribution. I heavily use public domain and CC0 licensed images as part of my work. All CSS styling is also my own, unless otherwise stated via comments. I put a lot of hard work into this project so please don't steal my code. If you want to borrow an element and modify it as your own please contact me first (I'll even help you out)! This project is part of my portfolio and I intend to run a crowdfunding capaign to produce an art book for this setting. If you want to feature my work somewhere, please contact me via Twitter @WorldbuildingW or via email : [email protected]Map of The Isles of Orlend
bonus content
There's plenty of bonus content hidden throughout the world! Some parts of it are visible to everyone, such as tooltips (this is a tooltip, hover over this text) and spoilers.click to reveal
Secret things!!
I love the visual depiction of Order vs. Chaos through the use of bolded words and sub and superscript as well as the other methods used.
Thank you!