Pre-NevNES- A New World

N

Neverwonagame3

Self-Styled Intellectual
Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Messages
3,549
I have decided to experiment with making a game in the manner of VertNES- Worlds of Altor. One of it's primary features, if one under-utilised, was customisation- that people could design new classes, guilds, settlements, and so on.

I have decided to experiment with the creation of a completly new fantasy setting, designed from scratch. Anyone can contribute, in the manner of a story in a standard NES (though a majority vote can get rid of any truely inappropriate content).

You may now post!
 
In the north, iced with snow and graced with wood, lies the Isles of Breatwaldia. The peoples there are tall, with large beards and thick. The most abundent are the Men. These stand over 6 feet tall and are strong, though, and warlike. They fight many wars with the Giants in the region.

To the south shorter and thinner men are found. These men are more alert than the northern warriors. In legend, a confederation of NorWaldians and SouWaldians as they are known, the warriors and rangers are famed.

(like that? also, will there be dwarves elves ect?)
 
That's the right way to go. You could also design classes, races, gods, history, nations, magic, and other things, though.

(Don't feel overwhelmed, though- you can design what you like)
 
The Isles are Pawshaped. With the palm to the North and fingers curving southeast.

Norulia is the Northern Isle, home of the Norwaldians and the Giants, Ice Trolls, Snow Wargs. A mountain range separates the human lands and the northern lands known collectivly as the Wilderness. 3 Passes connect the Wilderness to the Norwaldian lands. There, the monsters reside on the hunting ground of Central Plateu surrounded by chiefdoms and chaos of war.

To the south 4 Islands curve southeast. A small one to the east is dominated by a volcano and a mysterious vodoo culture. The three other islands are the lands of the Souwaldians. Here, a stream of water from the southeast curve though the channels and keep it mild while during the winter bitter cold from the north. These islands seem small compared the its northern brother but is is actually large. Reguliar, home of the legendary Waldian Confenderation of Chiefdoms, is within sail boat of Norulia. To its south Arzulia is full of vales and rivers. The final Souwaldian Isle is close to the mysterious mainland.

(picture soon.)
 
So we just help you create a world? Sure.

On an island far to the east, in a great ocean, lies a single island. A volcano sprouts from it, and if you get close enough, you can see ruins. Unfortunately, if you are close enough to see the ruins, odds are you will die in the next minute. The island is inhabited by creatures of legend, from the underworld. A long lost people had once settled on the island, when it was peaceful, and they found a vein of a stone so precious you could buy an empire with it. The people got greedy, however, and continued mining. Down and down they went, seeing riches beyond their wildest dreams.

Until they reached it.

They had dug into a chasm and when they lowered themselves into it, they beheld a sight no mortals should see. Long before, in the age of Gods, when mortals were not alive, there was a god. His name was Baxtoril. The god of mountains, he had been jealous of the other gods superiority, and rebelled. Conjuring demons that were powerful enough to challenge the gods, he led a revolt. But the Ultimate Being, one which noone knows of or dares oppose, deemed this a hazard, and killed the demons with a swipe of his hands. He had to punish him. He locked him with chains made of adamantine in the bowels of a mountain. And it was Baxtoril which the species stumbeld upon.
Baxtoril was a tricky god, and he could see what lied in their minds. He swore that if they helped him get out, he would grant them the world. Naturally, they agreed and he killed them. Once again summoning demons, he flew out to conquer the qorld and destroy the other gods. However, he was struck down by the Ultimate Being in an epic fight that lasted 100 years. To stop the demons from escaping, the Ultimate Being created a barrier that no immortals could pass through.

But mortals still can.
 
Since nobody else is doing it, I decided to make up a form of magic.

Death Magic
Death magic is not actually evil- it is simply an enhancer for other forms. The reason it has it's name is that it kills the user for almost all uses. Accessible even by ordinary people, all it allows them to do is create an explosion which normally kills anybody near to them.

For other forms, it tends to increase magical power. At mastery, it can make magic ten times as powerful. A user tends to get magic two to three times as powerful, though- and that is if they have some experience.

It's final use is considered by some to be evil, although not all. Rather then go to the afterlife, a person may be incarnated as a Spirit. A Spirit is not a ghost, and is for most intents and purposes a ressurection. However, it has three differences:
-The person has an obvious golden glow, making them obvious to anybody who sees them. It goes thruogh clothes, and only the strongest magic can conceal it.
-The person can be bound by some forms of magic, making them slaves to whoever did so in mind and body
-If a Spirit dies, the person does not go to the afterlife. They are simply dead.

Death magic tends to be used in war by a core group of fanatics, dying for their cause. In some armies they even rise as Spirits in order to die again.
____________________________________
To satisfy Charles Li's idea...

Hebrida
The Grand Temple of Hebrida- God of Knowledge, and arbiter of all affairs the Ultimate Being did not consider worth his time. This centre of learning was famous for it's prophetic visions, and pilgrimages came from all over the world.

This place was also valuable for another reason- it's magical potency. Anybody who came here would gain the natural powers of a magician of some sort, unlocking capabilities that usually could be gained no other way.

This Temple was often fought over, as by transporting an army there a whole Empire could be built. Kason, the continent on the Temple resided, was dominated by whoever controlled this temple.

The normal supplicant would be a local servant of whichever empire was dominant at the time. He would pass the guards (usually some of the most able men of the kingdom) and enter the temple itself. For maximum potency, he would have to stay for about a day, and would slowly learn his magic as it increased in potency.

By nightfall, he would have a vision of some sort. These were usually quite fragmentary, but put together the visions of the soldiers would usually give enough information to preserve the Empire for the next ten years.

The next day, the soldiers would leave- no more potency was avaliable, and they were needed elsewhere. They would be throughly questioned on everything they saw, then sent off to learn the magics they had gained...
__________________________________________________________________________________

EDIT: To answer Charles Li's questions, there will be Elves, Dwarves, and the like.
 
Raw Magic

Raw magic is a potent energy when used correctly. It has a mutiitude of uses: it can be woven into wires and used in traps; it can be lanuched at the enemy to completely destory their body or it could be used to edge a blade to allow it to slice through almost any armour. Its full uses are not completely known and this is for a reason. This magic is not just exceptionally draining but one mistake in the spell would kill the caster and most likely anything in a 1/2-2 mile radius such is its power when unstable. This magic must always be stablised to use requiring two spells; one to stablise it and one to shape it. Most spell users speak a incantation, usual in elvish, when using this magic to help them focus.

Halacar

Halacar is a land of deserts, jungles and mountains around five hudred miles south of the Hub. It is a land of humans, dwarves and humunoid lions called Leonmes in the language of the humans of this land. It translates as lion men but back to Halacar. Halacar has a seris of mountains that split the island in two with many passes but three of note the Great Northen Pass, the Leonmes Pass and the Sea's Pass. On the west side of these mountains live the the empires of man and dwarf and the Leonmes have been forced out. There are many kingdoms, city-states etc. but five main empires dominate this side: Halacar, the first kingdom that was founded by the first settlers of these lands 4,000 years ago. It is the most powerful and influencal of all the empires. Falun, the fallen ones are a nation of rejects, criminal and the disabled cast out unwanted to live anyway they can. This people came together, held off the Leonmes and founded a small city of the dammed. Since this day their empire has expanded but is still no where near the size of Halacar. It is noted for its warriors that fight with no reguard for themselves, the odds or what the enemy is trying to say. These are a people who know death and embrace it like an old friend that they have not seen in a long time. Telar to the north is a jungle empire of swamps and rainforest. It rules the northen forests and the Great Northen Pass. They arrived from over the seas 2,000 years ago and are the youngest and smallest empire. The last two empires are those of dwarves in the mountains and are both good traders and friends compared to the wars between the humans. They are called Ulvaterwere or Men of the One Farther and Übermeerwere or people from across the sea.

Across the dwarf controlled mountains and gaurded passes of man we have a different world. The leonmes compete with other animals and semi-intelligent races such as lizard men and gnolls (yes gnolls are from D&D but I can't be bothered to invent another race right now). Leonmes live in tribes scattered across the desert, jungle and savanna and are the dominant force beyond the mountains. They can wield and make weapons to supplement their formidible claws and teeth but their main weakness is they rely on their instincts and they lack organisation. They are intelligent enough to learn and use primitive magic and will use it. Their warriors are brave and there are lots of them. The tribes are constantly raiding the passes particularly the Leonmes Pass and are almost always at war with each other.
 
I thought you were quitting NES.
 
Amon Savag said:
I thought you were quitting NES.
Click to expand...

I changed my mind.
____________________________________________

I have decided to focus my creation efforts on the magic system for now.

Mind Magic
Influencing the human mind can be a powerful thing- such is the realm of Mind Magic. It can be used to read minds, influence them, shield from Mind Magic, or even create permanent slaves. It is one of the easier forms to learn, though.

Another unique aspect about it is that it's nature is determined by the mind of the user- calmer people use it slower but are more likely to suceed, while rash people tend to have it long-ranged but weak. Different kingdoms generally desire different personalities for their Mind Mage forces depending on how they wish to specialise.
 
Elemental Magic

Using the will of human nature to temper nature into his will. The weakest can conjure gusts of wind and limited earthquakes that effect the enemy only. The strongest can raise tall walls of water and can sunk even an empire into the seas... however, this strengh can be only achieved by total dominated of all other magic...


Rune Magic
Used on the mysterious men of Volwaldia. They use a stone far under the volcano. They then annoint it with mind Magic and pull the power of the Volcano into the Rune Stones. They are carved and sold. Anyone in possession of a runestone and release and manipulate the fire energy released.

The Volwaldians builts altars and talismans to travel quickly to the Volcano. They made Giant Runestones to ship out to the Souwaldians, who can teleport to a island in a sea of lava and can create their own runes. Soon, in a seclueded hill, a mind altar is built. Those there meditate and press the mind magic into their rune essence. As everyone is different, all mind stones are different... but with these elements, Fire and Mind, even the youngest man can break them together, using the mind magic to fire the flames. Thus magic, and civilization, spread through the Souwaldians in anquity.

More to come.
 
(NB this is exactly what I wanted to do, so kudos to you!)
I am currently playing some Morrowind so I'd take information from there (races, artefacts, Gods)

I'd start with the Gods if I were to do it :)

Gods are like people, they play, they teach, they learn and they fight. Very long ago a God named Alvarec had a quarrel with his fellow Gods. They beat the consciousness out of him and decided to imprison him for eternity in a place where nothing exists. And so they did. Alvarec was thrown into nothingness an nothingness engulfed him. Millions of years passed with him not being able to think, feel or breathe. Slowly he re-discovered thought and with the thoughts came action: he turned nothingness into something and from this moment the world of Alva was born. There was nothing on it, it was bare and made of "universal substance", but it was something. With the birth of Alva Alvarec could think further and act further. He learned how to travel in space, his limbs and organs began to function again, he regained memories of his previous existence. As a sign gratitude to Alva he cut a piece of his heart and inserted it into the middle of the world heating up Alva with his blood. Thus for as long as Alva was alive he was alive and for as long Alvarec was alive Alva would live. He remembered the spirits and other Gods and created the spiritual sphere - vacuum where his spirit could walk unnoticed to common eyes. He remembered the feelings that he felt and created physical world where he could live in open and regain his energy. He looked at Alva and thought "my dearest, I owe my life to you" and from those thoughts Love entered Alva and produced his first offspring - Alvoids: Gods and Godesses of Alva. Alvarec spend some time with his children teaching them his skills, giving them his sacred knowledge and walking with them through corridors of Space and Time to other worlds.
Millions of years passed, many deeds were accomplished then and first creatures were born or entered the Spiritual sphere of Alva. Once Alvarec said to this children: "You are now mature. I have to leave you. I have unfinished business to take care of. I trained you well. Take care of your mother, love her. Love her and I shall come backto you alive" And so Alvarec left Alva and his spouse and children cried so much that their tears fell upon Earth and created Oceans and Seas. But they believe and know that their father would be back. For millenia children of Alvarec did little but take care of their world.
At one time the eldest son Arrus gathered his brothers and sisters and minor spirits and said: My father nourished us, took care of us. Through us he revealed to me he became more nobler and better than he was. He also said that there will be others after us, after our time has passed and that we should prepare the world for those who are to follow so that they live and multiply. He said they will live in the physical world that is not bleak and barren. Some upon leaving the physical plain would move on to higher plains outside of Alva to pursue a noble but unknown destiny. He said that we are to become teachers and shapers. What say you, will you take on thus burden?"
The Gods and Spirits danced in anticipation of more living creatures (at that time "living" meant existing in Alva, not in the physical plain". And so they took to work.
Here's where the story ends, you are welcome to include second gereration Gods, newcomer Gods, stories about how trees, elves, humans and lionmen were created.
What do you think?
 
NWAG maybe you should write some rules on what can and cannot be done with magic. So we know when we are designing magic. The reason for this is obvious without rules there is the potenial to abuse magic.

@ Charles Li can I broaden your ideas of Runic magic and Elemental magic?

Necromancy

Necromancy is using magic via rituals to animate a dead body with a spirit or at least that is how most people view it. Actually necromancy covers everything about death and cheating it from killing people with a word to resurecting your dead comrade. This branch of magic like all magic is not good or evil (bar one or two exceptions) by nature but rather that is decided by the user. One of the most notable things about necromancy is that it can be used to absorb a soul and thus strengthen the user until he uses up the extra energy and also lengthen his life along with of course the undead, summoning spririts of the dead and resurection.
 
I could have guessed. I was asking if I could expand on it though but of course your people would keep their own version untouched.
 
Land and General Knowledge

The Desert of Anrus is a mysterious place. Seemingly rising up out of the middle of the ocean, it is isolated from the outside world. Its sands swirl and shift, almost as if it was a living thing. However, in this seemingly unhosbitable land, small tribes still exist.

Thought to be the survivors of various shipwreks, small numbers of humans exist on the island, living in small tribal communities. Their main source of food is fishing as the coasts of Anrus are suprisingly pentiful [1]. However, there are some animals indigenous to the area that are huntable. Small mice and rats move in the desert hunting small insects as well as each other. There are also strange aquatic animals that occasionally come onshore. One of these are what the natives have named the Strangler. a large Octupus-like creature, its skin holds in enough water in it to allow it to stay on land for about 5 minutes.

It's named the Strangler because of what it does, stragles. It originally only came out of the water when a large rat came too close to the shore, but with the arrival of men to the island, they have increased their trips on land, often dragging one or two men down into the sea with them.

Society

The tribes of Anrus generally are located near the nterior of the desert. This region is free of sandstorms and is difficult for Stranglers to reach. It is also home to the few oasises on the island. Here the people of Anrus have a good source of water. But due to the lack of plants, farming is still impossible. However, this may change with the arrival of different people to the island.

All of the Anrus people are taught co-exist with one another from an early age by the various shamans that rule the tribes. They see no need for war due to the lack of important resources. The only real precious resource is the oasises, but water from those is not owned by anyone, and can be drank by any tribe.

Due to its isolation, the people of Anrus are very primitive when it comes to technology. With now wood, they have to carve weapons out of stone. However, this doesn't mean they can't defend themselves as you will soon see below.

Sandshifting

Sandshifting is the ability to manipulate sand with ones mind. This ability is very useful in the Deserts of Anrus.

The first Sandshifters were said to have benn blessed by the Anrusian god Hemtupot, God of the Sands. He is said to have given them a fraction of his power to help them survive in the lands of Anrus.

Strangely, Sandshifting is a hereditary trait, meaning not everyone can learn it. About 1/4 of the Anrusian population consists of Sandshifters. When a baby is born, it is tested to see if it is a Sandshifter. Someone will drop a few grans of sand on the baby, usually on the belly or arm, abd then see if the infant moves them away with its Sandshifting abilities. If it doesn't then it is returned to its parents. It the baby moves the sand away, it is placed under the care of an adult Sandshifter so that the infant can grow up to be an able sandshifter.

Sandshifters gain power with age, the oldest sandshifters able to make tidal waves of sand. In the test above, only a few grains of sand is used. That's because that's all a baby could really move at that point. Usually by age ten a child can manipulate many pounds of sand. By age 20 they can manipulate about 500 pounds of sand. After age 30, Sandshifters can manipulate very large amounts of sand, often making themselves impervious to danger while in the desert.

Sandshifting has its side effects too. Due to the concentration and focus required to move such small objects like grains of sand, the brain of a Sandshifter is very developed and sharp. Sandshifters are known to be able to focus on many things at the same time and have the strange trait of being able to look seperate ways with their eyes. These Chameleon-like eyes allow them to see and focus on an incredible amount of things.

However, such focus and power comes at a price. While their brains are developed specifically to focus and calculate, Sandbending puts an incredible amount of strain on the mind and body. Headaches are very common among Sandshifters. Headaches, besides inflicting pain, interfere with a Sandshifter's ability to manipulate sand. Attempts to Sandshift while having a headaches can result in losing control of the sand or damage to the brain. Comas are also common among older Sandshifters that have pushed themselves over the limit.

Religion

Hemtupot is generally seen as the major deity, as he is the God of Sands. It is said that he rules the underworld, allowing those who have lived a good life into the more pleasent parts of it. Those who have lead cruel lives are cast into the Desert of Souls, where every soul is a grain for Hemtupot to crush and re-build. There only eternal suffering is to be had.

Shamans pray to Hemtupot in hopes that their village will be blessed with the birth of many Sandshifters and that the shores will be plentiful with fish. These prayers are usually answered, much to the shamans' delight. However, Hemtupot has been known to hate those who do not worship him. The biggest example was the Sinking of Evergold. An elvish ship had managed to get past the sandstorms surrounding the island and had landed on the island. Slowly they began building a town named Evergold and converting the Anrusians to their faith. Hemtupot, enraged that his followers where being corrupted, sunk the elvish city of Evergold into the sands, killing every elf on the island.

An interesting fact is that Hemtupot is the one who has oh-so-carefully guarded the Desert of Anrus from intruders. Sandstorms are usually generated and flund across the see whenever ships get to close the island. Due to this protective nature, few ships dare go near The Desert of Anrus.

Anrusian Classes

Sandshifter

With the power of the sands at your command, you are a hero of the people. To guard your people from outsiders and Stranglers is your job. But be sure not to push yourself too hard, or you risk great harm to you and those around you.

Shaman of Hemtupot

Pray to Hemtupot for his blessings! You are recognized as the conduit from the mortal world to Hemtupot, and are respected for it. Lead your followers and pray for Hemtupot to smite non-believers.

---------------------------------------

[1] It was these plentiful fish that drew so many ships to Anrus before its protection by Hemtupot. It is unknown whether or not Hemtupot put them their to gain followers. However, they continue to be there, even after Hemtupot closed off Anrus from the outside world.

Is this okay?
 


Here's a little map I made. NWAG if you want, I could try and keep it updated if anyone goes to the Desert of Anrus. It's a pretty small map, so it wouldn't take me too long to mess with it.

Also:

Blacksand

As the city of Evergold sank, the priest there cursed Hemtupot and his followers, claiming that revenge will be theirs. This curse was laughed at by Hemtupot, thinking a petty Elf couldn't do anything to a god. However, little did he know another god was watching the Sinking of Evergold. Goronarz, Elven God of Death. He saw the cruelty of Hemtupot and was enraged that he would kill so many Elves. And thus Goronarz helped the Elvish priest curse Hemtupot and his followers: 500 years after Evergold sank, the Elves killed would rise from the sands and would wipe out the Anrusians just like Evergold was wiped out those many years ago.

And so these undead now begin to walk the land, their once great city emerging from the sands anew. But now longer is it great, it is now a terrible place where skeletons and corpses walk. It is now Blacksand.

Blacksand Classes

Blacksand Warrior

Robbed of a warriors death, you have been given a second chance to spill the blood of your enemies. Memories of your life are faded and unclear. But one thing remains clear, Hemtupot and his followers must die. With old Elvish weapons and armor, you will strike fear into your opponents.

Blacksand Priest

Just for converting a few natives you were killed unjustly be the evil god Hemtupot! Now you walk the earth again, your bone chilling voice spreading the will of Goronarz. Beware though, you are the conduit into which Goronarz connect with Blacksand. If too many priests are killed, Goronarz's power will be cut off, and the undead will become dead again.

Are these classes okay NWAG? I know their very specific, but I want each culture or faction to have very unique look and feel.
 
The Undermen

A small, hunched-back, albino blind race of men who live under the land. They are mythic creatures who many believe no longer exist. They have no hair, no eyes, and are no taller then three feet and weigh no more then 70lbs. Some say they are the manifestation of all that is evil in the world, toiling underground enslaving the souls of the dead, while others believe they are just misunderstood outsiders, who were never accepted into the uplands because of their grotesque appearance.

They have very acute senses of both smell and hearing. They are eyeless as they have no need for them in the pitch-black underland. They survive off of what ever wanders down into their depths. They can eat both meat and plant, but as no plants grow in the underland, the majority of their diet consists of small insects or the occasional stray animal, fish, salamander, etc.

They aren't very adept at magic, but are very good at forging weapons, though this is strange as they have no eyes with which to judge the quality of their weapons, they seem to have an innate sense as to when they are done crafting, and very rarely ever make mistakes.

The Undermen are very jealous of their upland rivals. A thousand years ago, the Undermen, lead by Halginious the Great, launched an all out attack on the Upraces, to try and return to the surface. Misjudging their enemies' determinism, they were pushed back into the caves with which they arose, and sealed in for good. Or so the upraces thought.

Now, a thousand years later, harboring the hatred and disgust of the upraces, the Undermen have started to rebuild their war machine of a millennium ago. Sitings of them have become more frequent, and many of the upraces are starting to grow cautious. Many governments are denouncing the claims of eye-witnesses, saying the Undermen were wiped out in the War of the Freaks (as the Undermen attack was to be named) and so are, for the most part, not taking any overt actions against this possible threat. Only time will tell if the Undermen will return.
 
Bestshot, how recent did the attack led by Halginious happen? I might be able to make a little Anrus-Undermen conflict history if it's okay with you.

Edit: I can't believe I didn't catch the time of the attack in your above post.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Eltain
Pre-thread: This world is yours 2: Solspace
5 6 7
Replies
130
Views
7K
NinjaCow64
NinjaCow64
TerrisH
Out of the Portals, a Never Ending Story.
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
8K
Aiken_Drumn
Aiken_Drumn
Zappericus
Starfall
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
12K
tobiisagoodboy
tobiisagoodboy
L
Some ideas for VP and/or modmods
5 6 7
Replies
122
Views
14K
Stalker0
S
TerrisH
Worldbuilding the NES 2a, The Outlands
Replies
4
Views
3K
goldenbat
G
Top Bottom