Star Spun Souls

This post is part of a series to augment The Worldbuilder's Handbook available for free download. This and other world workshops are gathered in my Worldbuilding Directory for you to explore. Find more linguistic content in my Language Directory . A lot of invented worlds feature a common tongue, sometimes referred to as a lingua franca , that unifies the various peoples of that world. A standard world language can be useful, steamlining your storytelling and allowing you to avoid pesky language barriers when working on dialogue. However, defining a standard language for your world also raises some rather tricky worldbuilding questions. Unifying languages start out as regional languages and gain prestige over time. Like all languages, they take their names from the people and places where they were first spoken. They have history, and they bring cultural baggage with them wherever they spread. ...

This post is part of a series to augment The Worldbuilder's Handbook available for free download. This and other world workshops are gathered in my Worldbuilding Directory for you to explore. Find more map-making content in my Cartography Directory . When building your world, it's important to keep in mind that civilizations first crop up near rivers . Obviously, ready access to fresh water plays a huge role in where early settlements are established, and the most successful of these settlements grow into cradles of civilization. But the mud available to a civilization also plays a key role. Mud bricks are a crucial building material for many early settlements, allowing societies to establish their first permanent structures, well before they develop the tools necessary to build with wood or stone. Of course, the presence of magic in your world may replace certain tools, resulting in a di...

This post is Part 4 of a series to augment the Magic of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other mystic resources are gathered in my Magic Directory for you to explore. Find more worldbuilding content in my Codex Directory . As explained in Part 1 of this series , magic is prevalent in the Known World, and generations of magic scholars have compiled their observations to create the Magic Codex , a functioning taxonomy of magic. This post series corresponds with Magic Codex Chapter 6 - Rare Magics. Within the codex, the term magus is located at (6.3) and is defined as: magus (N) A legendary person with one of five rare forms of special magic. In my Tales of the Known World saga, the word magus refers to a person with rare magic whose cardinal powers are from the special magic branch (as in, That man is a magus , or, Some mag...

This post is Part 3 of a series to augment the Magic of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other mystic resources are gathered in my Magic Directory for you to explore. Find more worldbuilding content in my Codex Directory . As explained in Part 1 of this series , magic is prevalent in the Known World, and generations of magic scholars have compiled their observations to create the Magic Codex , a functioning taxonomy of magic. This post series corresponds with Magic Codex Chapter 6 - Rare Magics. Within the codex, the term sensate is located at (6.2) and is defined as: sensate (N) A legendary person with one of ten rare forms of sensory magic. In my Tales of the Known World saga, the word sensate refers to a person with rare magic whose cardinal powers are from the sensory branch (as in, That man is a sensate , or, Some s...

This post is Part 2 of a series to augment the Magic of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other mystic resources are gathered in my Magic Directory for you to explore. Find more worldbuilding content in my Codex Directory . As explained in Part 1 of this series , magic is prevalent in the Known World, and generations of magic scholars have compiled their observations to create the Magic Codex , a functioning taxonomy of magic. This post series corresponds with Magic Codex Chapter 6 - Rare Magics. Within the codex, the term elemental is located at (6.1) and is defined as: elemental (N) A legendary person with one of twelve rare forms of elemental magic. In my Tales of the Known World saga, the word elemental refers to a person with rare magic whose cardinal powers are from the elemental branch (as in, That man is an elemen...

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Magic of the Known World available for free download. This and other mystic resources are gathered in my Magic Directory for you to explore. Find more worldbuilding content in my Codex Directory . As explained in this note on the widespread use of magic , magic is prevalent in the Known World, and generations of magic scholars have compiled their observations to create the Magic Codex , a functioning taxonomy of magic. This post series corresponds with Magic Codex Chapter 6 - Rare Magics. Rare magic is a heightened form of natural magic , a class comprised of magics that arise instinctively in children and are mastered by repetition. Every race has a standard pair of two purviews for each branch of natural magic, resulting in three total pairings and six total purviews for individuals of that race. Check out the Magic of the Kn...

This post is Part 3 of a series to augment the Magic of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other mystic resources are gathered in my Magic Directory for you to explore. Find more worldbuilding content in my Codex Directory . As explained in Part 1 of this series , magic is prevalent in the Known World, and generations of magic scholars have compiled their observations to create the Magic Codex , a functioning taxonomy of magic. This post series corresponds with Magic Codex Chapter 0 - Magic Basics. With few exceptions, everyone has some sort of magic at their disposal. As such, there is no basic word for a person with magic powers. Since every individual has some natural ability to wield magic, being a person is synonymous with being a magic user. Individuals without any magic are so rare that there is no word for them, either. In my ...