Tag: Fae

Worldbuilding Questions: Post #4 – History of the World

Welcome back to another post in my worldbuilding series! Today, I’m going to be guiding you through building the history of your world. We’re going to cover both the broad history  and the specific history of the setting of your story, if applicable.

Now why history? Why think about your world in perspective from the past when your story is set in a present time?

Every event that occurs throughout the course of your story is based in something that happened prior. Whether on a smaller or larger scale, the conditions of your inciting incident occurred because the pieces all lined up at the precise moment. While maybe all points and questions don’t apply, many will help you shape your world and your story simultaneously.

Remember that we’re working off of this link.

World History

First, we’re going to start with ancient history. We’re looking at where the beginning of written record began and what kind of old tales and historical legends are available. These will give you a basis of how much time civilization has existed as well as some historical events that impact your story.

Then we’re going to actually backtrack and revisit a little further back in history: the beginning of civilization. This question is more to track the spread of people across an area. Where towns and cities built up and why. Proximity to natural resources would be necessary, but what about magic? Did magic affect the way people migrated and settled down?

We then move on to one of the most intriguing parts of a world’s history: relationships. If you’re working with a world that has different countries or realms or kingdoms, what are their relationships to each other? You will need to establish alliances, rivals, and trading partners. Relationships between entities such as these could be very crucial to the way your story pans out, especially those planning on introducing a war. If wars play a role in your story, what conflicts in the recent past have left hard feelings amongst participants?

Don’t forget to think about what languages people speak! Whether it’s one or multiple, you could potentially create development of various cultures and how they have spread out across your world over time.

Specific Histories

The next set of questions will only be applicable if you’re working with specific countries or kingdoms within a larger universe. It’s based primarily on comparing one to all of the others. How accessible is this area to outsiders? What kind of resources does it enjoy? What kind of weaponry and defense systems are in place? That specific question is important for establishing the balance of power in an area. Where are the closest rivals?

History is made up of important figures as well. Are there any specific historical heroes or villains in your story that may come up? I know that in my story, the beginning of modern day Fae history starts with the sacrifice of an incredibly powerful Fae queen.

The last questions consider resources and trade, which I will go into more detail with in a later article on the economy.

I hope you all have continued to enjoy this series of worldbuilding specifics and will continue to follow the series. Comment below with any and all questions about worldbuilding!

The Three Realms: The Upper Realm

Hello readers! It’s been a long time since I gave you a sneak peak of the world inside Chasing Fae. So today, I would like to introduce you to the first of the Three Realms: The Upper Realm! Hold on tight, guys; it’s a whirlwind.

The Upper Realm is the most complex of the Three Realms as it encompasses the entirety of Fae life and the best of the magic available in this universe. At the uppermost edge of the universe, this land features twelve distinct kingdoms of sorts ruled over by the twelve noble Fae houses. Each kingdom boasts its own unique mesh of different cultures, customs, and of course, magical presence. In future posts, I’m going to detail each of these in further detail, but today, I just want to introduce them briefly.

The House of the Sun: a small kingdom on the border of the Upper and Middle Realms with one of the more ornate palaces in the Twelve Houses. A valley kingdom surrounded by a significant amount of fertile farmland.

The House of the Moon: tiny kingdom, but one of the richest kingdoms. Rich in economics, rich in magic. Proximity to the moon creates some of the most powerful magical items, charms, and spells that can be cast during moontime.

The House of the Day: A beautiful valley kingdom with the most quaint fairy tale charm. Home to the largest outdoor trading market. Merchants travel from all over the Upper Realm as well as Fae representing the Middle Realm to trade.

The House of the Evening: a mystical mountain/river kingdom that is known for three main things: spectacular music, the finest wine, and the most wonderful festivals in all the realm. My personal favorite of all the Houses.

The House of Light: a picturesque valley kingdom filled with rolling hills and farming villages. A scenic land known for its wildlife. Strongest trade in magical charms and amulets.

The House of Darkness: An area rich in population and magic, but very weak in resources. A very modern society, the most out of the Twelve. They have a technological advantage, but their lack of fertile farmland has caused them to become incredibly dependent on other Houses to feed their staggering populace.

The House of Earth: Very tiny kingdom, but manages to generate most of the food in the Upper Realm. The kingdom is very humble, mostly agriculturally driven. The villages provide for themselves and no more, a very simple lifestyle.

The House of Wind: The only House with a matriarchy and very powerful for that reason. A mountain kingdom with rich clothing, sugar, and tea trades. Very ancient Greek style architecture.

The House of Fire: A valley kingdom heavily reliant on forging and weaponry trade. The architecture of the land is almost entirely stonework. The towns contain open air markets where multiple forgers line the covered areas. Well trained army.

The House of Water: An ocean kingdom that has strong correlation to Prince Eric’s kingdom from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The main town is a bustling trading port with side streets filled with hand blown glass shops and little local jewelry stores. Very much into local craftsmanship.

The House of Peace: a large river kingdom whose atmosphere reflects its name. The House’s main creed is to protect the innocent as well as nature. Very eco-friendly kingdom where everyone is fairly cheerful, if a little clueless.

The House of War: A river kingdom separated from all of the other Houses that exists as a self-sufficient community. They have the largest army out of all of the Houses and keep their people well trained, ready to move on a moment’s notice. Very little trade with the other Twelve Houses.

There you have it! A brief glimpse into the Upper Realm. I hope you all have enjoyed this post. Let me know which House you want to hear more about first!


Worldbuilding Questions: Post #2 – The World

As promised, I am starting my Worldbuilding questionnaire walk through off with a bang! Today, we’re going to be looking at the first section of questions, which encompasses the most basic questions about the world you want to create. I want to give you just an overview of the questions (because obviously, you can go to the link and read them yourself), but I also want to give a bit of commentary about why these details are important when crafting your fantasy universe.

Section A: Basics

When I started using this questionnaire, the very first question took me a while to think about. You wouldn’t necessarily think about whether the laws of nature and physics still applied as your first step. I actually had to go look up what these laws were (I don’t do science very well. >.<) But believe it or not, your universe could entirely flip on its head (perhaps even literally) due to changes like these. Does gravity apply? Do the laws of motion apply? Where does magic fit in? Are the laws different because magic exists, or is magic limited by these principles? This will start you thinking about the limitations of your magic system, which we will get to in a later article.

Then you need to make a decision about what type of world this is: an earth-like world or not like Earth at all? This not only will decide which sections of questions you look at next, but it is also going to affect things related to suns and moons, shape of the world, and terrain.

Next is the basics about people! Or non-people, if that’s your preference! These questions are meant to establish the main players in your story. Elves, Fae, dwarfs, demons, sprites, mortals, and many, many more magical creatures can grace the pages of your story, and establishing who those are early on can make things easier for you later. Marking the differences between these types in terms of habitats, living conditions, and magic now can also be useful in formatting your terrain, cities, and your magic system in later worldbuilding.

Finally, you’re going to create a very basic outline of the magic system in your universe.

  1. Where does magic come from?
  2. How much magic is available?
  3. What are the long term effects of magic on a magic user?
  4. What are the differences between magic among different races/species, if any?

Very simple questions to start off. No details yet. However, if you look at them, you can see why this author chose to include them in the basics category. The very existence of magic has to have been established somehow, whether it’s during the timeline of your story or thousands and thousands of years before.

Section B: Alternate Earth

Writers who view their universe has being an alternate version of our Earth should take note of this section. Here, you will establish where fantasy diverts away from history. How similar are the histories and cultures of our planet in comparison with yours? What makes them different? Is there a specific point in time where our knowledge of our world ends and yours begins? If not, show where things diverge slowly over time through everyday life changes. If magic exists, how have the inhabitants of Earth been unaware of it this whole time? This set of questions works particularly well for historical fantasy.

Section C: Not Earth At All

Everyone else! Join me! My universe, the Three Realms, falls under this category. You will find that this set of questions is not focused on history and culture (we will get to that later), but instead on the physical aspects of your world. Obviously, we need to establish shape, terrain, and celestial bodies (if any) circling around your world. I didn’t realize it until after I had already built my universe (which only has one sun and moon) how much it would affect aspects like the wind, the tides, and the weather if I had chosen to add something like a second moon. If you set the moons on the same side, the tides would be thrown completely out of whack. If the moons were on opposite sides of your universe, could you create an ocean that stays still? Lots of interesting things to think about.

Comment below with any questions or ideas about your own fantasy universe! I’ll see you next time where we’ll be discussing physical and historical features.