Samthô
Scope
The motivation behind building Samthô
Samthô is supposed to be the 'homeworld' of a book I am planning to write one day. I'm still caught up in worldbuilding though. The world has been on my mind for quite some time. My plans are to flesh out half of the continent my story is taking place on. There are still 6 other continents, the planning of which is postponed to a later date should I want to have stories take place there.
The goal of the project
The world is supposed to be home to many different cultures, some by men, some by elves, some by orcs, others by trolls or subterraneans. These cultures have their individual histories, social structures and belief systems and are entangled with one another. This opens up possibilities to have them be at war or peace to shape a dynamic environment.
The technological stage of the world is pre-industrial, although at some point in time an advanced culture with steam engines existed. However the world is filled with different kinds of magic which in part are employed in ways that resemble more advanced technology, like flying ships or telecommunication devices. These applications are quite basic though and the general feel of the world is rather antiquity/medieval like plus some magical aspects and elements.
The technological stage of the world is pre-industrial, although at some point in time an advanced culture with steam engines existed. However the world is filled with different kinds of magic which in part are employed in ways that resemble more advanced technology, like flying ships or telecommunication devices. These applications are quite basic though and the general feel of the world is rather antiquity/medieval like plus some magical aspects and elements.
Samthô's Unique Selling point
One point that makes Samthô special are the multifaceted cultures and transcultural relationships. The races and peoples are not planned as mere tokens ('the' wood elves, 'the' equivalent of ancient Rome, 'the' brutish warlike orcs...) but as cultures and peoples that feel like real people with a history and connections to other cultures around them. The cultures are meant to show a wide variety of how societies can go about things. Some are conservative, some are open and multicultural, others are highly religious and so on...
The second thing I want to work on is a world with different magic systems at the same time, drawing from different sources and principles, strenghts and weaknesses. They are rooted in the basic energies flowing through the world, abilities granted by gods, powers unlocked by interactions with the spirit realm...
Theme
Reader Tone
Are we Bleakglow or Nobledim.... not sure tbh.
Recurring Themes
The world is at a certain state that is generally quite mediocre. There's good, there's bad, but there are no dominant dogmas on what is what. From 'our' 'modern', 'western' point of view many religious, cultural or societal practices would seem unacceptable, but I would like to try to approach all the cultures I create in my world the way I approach pre-modern cultures in our world: with positivism and respect. So we can expect to see slavery, human sacrifices, prostitution as well as piety, grace, hospitality. There is, however, an underlying notion resembling basic principles of philosophies or religions like the classical Greek saying Μηδὲν ἄγαν. (= nothing in excess) or the buddhist notion of the madhyamā pratipad (= middle way) or the confucian zhongyong (= middle way/doctrine of the mean).
There is a permanent feeling of inertness in the world and sometimes individuals, peoples, organizations or the like can develop too much of a momentum and bring about massive imbalances. This has once in Samthôs history lead to a cataclysmic event. On the other hand, agents with good intentions have a good chance to make decisions and actions that won't make them universally acclaimed saviours or heroes but will enable them to perform deeds that we as an audience would call deeds of exactly that kind of people.
There is no fate and no godly power handling Samthô or those living in it like puppets. Thus there are no destinies one might have to fulfill or prophecies offering solutions for preset problems. There is only the present - and there is a past where one might learn from.
There is a permanent feeling of inertness in the world and sometimes individuals, peoples, organizations or the like can develop too much of a momentum and bring about massive imbalances. This has once in Samthôs history lead to a cataclysmic event. On the other hand, agents with good intentions have a good chance to make decisions and actions that won't make them universally acclaimed saviours or heroes but will enable them to perform deeds that we as an audience would call deeds of exactly that kind of people.
There is no fate and no godly power handling Samthô or those living in it like puppets. Thus there are no destinies one might have to fulfill or prophecies offering solutions for preset problems. There is only the present - and there is a past where one might learn from.