The Home of JT's Ideas

You mispelled Krist'Maas on two points, but I actually like how it's turning out now. It still has that twisted aspect of a demon riding all around and dropping "gifts", the good behavior part is explained slightly better, and the festive lights and angel dolls to ward off demons is a nice touch. Plus now it excuses how I mentionned winter twice in my stories.

haha I like that idea a lot ^^
it's a fun take on christmas with a Felaryan twist and it's well tthough off. And I believe that world could do with a little more fun and silyness in tone

Ideas - Areas

The Keep

The Keep is a sub-area to the Luminous Hallows. It is a small city of Terra Elves located to the West of the Hallows, a separate smaller cavern. The two are connected by a river of the deep, aglow with strange mushrooms, which flows through a hole in the wall. The Terra Elves have built a mighty gate which hangs over the river- when closed, it keeps all many of predators out of their city. The Keep itself refers to both the fortress in the middle of the cavern and they many houses around the outer edge. The fortress, home of the local royal family, is built into a massive pillar which reaches all the way to the ceiling. It is surrounded on all sides by an underground lake, which is always alive with the lanterns of boaters. Even if someone were to storm the city, taking the fortress itself would be near impossible. The Terra Elves here subsist on their farmed mushrooms and game that they hunt in the Hallows. They also have built a trading tunnel to the caves of the Jotun, allowing themselves to better sustain themselves. Despite being a well stocked settlement, not many surface dwellers know of this place - the Terra Elves prefer to keep to themselves. Their current concern is attempting to rediscover and chart the tunnels under Felarya, in order to connect their small city to the large Terra Elf settlements said to be located elsewhere.

The Web Fells

The Web Fells is the name for the chain of mountains that runs between the Mist Ocean and the Torrential Coast, lying south of the Dridder forest. The Fells are a series of mountains, hills, high valleys and plateaus that run right south from the Dridder Forest. They are a craggy and foggy place, with only the higher peaks being able to rise about the mist. Most of the non-rocky areas are lonely, grassy valleys, treeless and scattered with strange cairns and monoliths. This area was part of the Dridder Empire before its decline, which the Dridders used to explore south while avoiding the windy Mist Ocean. They built many small, but elegant, fortresses and keeps which now lie in ruins. However, they are not always abandoned - while larger dridders have mostly left for areas with more prey, human sized dridders are fairly common here. They hide in the ruins of their Empire and many have turned to banditry. Many also declare themselves "Lords" or "Kings" of particular small valleys, demanding tithes from anyone living there. All these various self made nobles often fight each other for scraps of territory or resources. This area is very dangerous for any non-dridder traveler - it is likely they will be captured and made slaves. Many passes have been strung with webs to block off or catch such victims. There are rumours, however, of bands of dridder knights wearing heavy armour, patrolling the area and defending big and small alike from the tyrants of the Web Fells. What exactly is the nature of these reports is still conjectured.

I really like those two ideas

The keep is well described and easy to visualize, and the web fells is interesting. I especialy like the idea of having numerous self-proclaimed lords of different regions ^^

Thanks for the comments. It's helpful having feedback.

Jazolv Arena

Jazol Arena is an impressive edifice located in the Lower Tier of Negav. It is a circular building, open to the sky, within which lies the sandy circle where the battles take place. Arena fighting is actually a relatively new sport in Negav, imported from other worlds. Often the fights take the form of teams of warriors fighting against various captured monsters - the more strange and exotic the monster, the greater the draw for the crowds. Criminals used to be sent unarmed into the arena but this practice was quietly suspended. Here merchants and criminals, craftsmen and nobles join together for the spectacle - though the nobles usually sit in pre-paid reserved areas.

The Arena serves a purpose beyond entertainment, however. Besides fighting monsters, often teams representing Mercenary or Private Security groups will face off against each other, showing off their battle skills or magic. Smart potential employers watch these battles carefully - the Arena fights are often tied to how much a private military group can realistically charge. If their team got defeated over and over in the Arena it is unlikely they will be able to convince a high price. As well, injuries in the Arena are common and often come in rather strange varieties. The Healer's Guild of Negav has an arrangement to train students at the arena and many Healers have become small celebrities on their own due to the dreadful injuries they have conquered.

The Elven District

Though many elves do not admit it outright, the city of Negav, with its powerful Isolon Eye, is often much safer than their smaller communities. However, elves, with their tight-knight communities, are uncomfortable living so close to other races and the stylings of Negav are distasteful to many. However, many of the most powerful native mages working with the Magiocracy are Elves and they pushed for a circular area in the Higher Tier to be made a district exclusive for Elves.

The Elven District is a city within a city. It is surrounded in a circle by a wall, clearly marking its boundaries. Inside, the architecture is clearly elven and the area seems to be just as much gardens as buildings. It is a combination of the natural, the artificial and the magical. Many buildings are hard to see under the greenery and many people go to the Higher Tier just to look at the area. It is also a self-sufficient community, with its own hospitals, restaurants, banks and law enforcement in the form of the Keepers of the Law. Elves are allowed to travel where they want in Negav (if they wanted to) but members of other races must get a permit to visit the Elven District. The Negav Police are only allowed to arrest someone there if they committed a crime outside its border.

I love the idea of the Elven District. Kinda make sense the smug bastards would want their own little block.

Yep, seems like a good idea to put the Elves in their own little city. And I wondered if Negav had an Arena... I guess it should have one, seems logical.

AisuKaiko wrote:

Yep, seems like a good idea to put the Elves in their own little city. And I wondered if Negav had an Arena... I guess it should have one, seems logical.

Would it also have a TRUE Arena?

Hehe, well, the arena is Karbo's idea originally, I think. I remember him mentioning it in a conversation and I thought it was a neat idea.

It's a popular idea to have a fantasy city with some kind of arena that typically involves fighting. Like in Oblivion, or Fable.

For some reason I'm remembering the Zanarkand Blitzball arena. That was pretty sweet.

And now Sean will be forced to the Inevitable Tournament just so that employer his employer looks like he's worth something.

Question about the elf district, do they accept other species of elves? For example, let's assume a Phantom Elf made it to Negav, would Elves in that district just let the Phantom Elf enter without question?

Sean Okotami wrote:

And now Sean will be forced to the Inevitable Tournament just so that employer his employer looks like he's worth something.

Now you gave me more reason to make more fiction when it comes to "employing" lol.

But yeah. i Find elves a bit tenacious when it comes to interracial things and more conservative then most others. wonder how that'll work...

(I hate the arrogant bastards btw)

As for Elves of other species... well, they seem to be rare outside of certain areas. I'm not sure if the majority of elves would have even seen their more exotic cousins. I think if a phantom elf arrived with money and belongings and was friendly and not brash the elves would make an exception.

I'm feeling a little down. And what does JT do when he is blah? History, of course! It is very late.

The Felaryan Calender

The "Felaryan" Calender is called such as it was used by the Sagolians before being taken as the timing system of Negav. It is speculated, however, that this system could extend to even pre-Sagolian days. Even the Dridder Empire used the Felaryan Calender, in essentially the same format of years, with slight differences within a year, especially in the naming and organization of the months.

The Felaryan Calender utilizes Twelve Months in a Year.

Each Month is exactly 36 days.

Each Month is divided into 6 weeks, which are 6 days long.

Each Felaryan Year is thus 432 Days. The Felaryan Calendar does not make use of modifiers such as leap years.

The Months are each named after a variety of things and, traditionally, are themed around certain aspects of life. Typically, the last week of each month is dedicated to a holiday, though some month's holidays are celebrated more widely than others. For example, the 1st Month is the Mirrored Month, or Month of Mirrors - tradition records that one should reflect on their achievements of the past and coming year. The last days of the Mirrored Month are in preparation for Cal-Chanim on the last day of the month. The 12th Month is the Hallowed Month, or Month of Candles, which tradition states is a time of religious contemplation in time for the new year, ends with the celebrations of Kris'Maas. Other Months have celebrations for love, or remembrance of the dead, or other such things.

The Elven Empire

Before Negav and even before Ur-Sagol, The Empire of the Elves spanned much of central Felarya. It is said to have lasted for 3000 years. Current scholars have found more and more relics and place the founding date at 5512 B.U. The references to the start of the Elven Empire are hard to discern from legend - they detail some entity "granting" power to the first Elven Emperor.

The Elven Empire was unlike the others that succeeded it. It's strength came from a unity with the jungle and nature. The Elves apparently had some awareness of the Guardians and attempted, as best they could, to live with the land. This did not diminish their power, however - they were rumoured to have unparalleled skill at manipulation of the mighty Felarya trees, creating whole cities out of them. They also did various works with stone, building many elegant buildings in the Empire's prime - religious buildings were the ones where stonework was usually used. However, due to their major cities, including their capital, being made from and within the trees, it is very difficult to find relics of the day to day lives of these people. Thus, very little is known about the day-to-day life of its citizens.

The boundaries of the Empire are not clear. It is known that they marked their western border at the fairy kingdom and that they did not advance far North or North-west. However, it is still not known how far the Empire extended to the North-east, as the Oloonde Lakelands were certainly part of it - as well, they may have stretched quite far south.

The Elven Empire collapsed in 2126 BU. This was not a single event, but the end point of a building of factors - the Elves were one Empire not smitten down by the Guardians. Despite their unity with nature, the Elven Empire worked hard to expand, wanting to bring safety and order across Felarya. However, they often found only frustration when dealing with other races. As they gave these races the taste of civilization, they either rejected it, like the Nekos and Jotun, or took it with their own form, like the Dridders and Humans. Eventually, the Elven Empire was in full revolt as two fledgling provinces in its midst rose up - this was the genesis of both the Sagolian and Dridder Empire. A brutal war was waged and many smaller pockets of rebellion sprung up to take advantage of the chaos (While predators took great advantage of the disarray). The most devastating of these raids came finally in 2126 when a large force of Jotun was reported to have sacked and pillaged the Elven capital, putting it to the torch before running off home with everything they could take. (It is still unclear if the Dridders or Humans had a part in this - there are suggestions they bribed the Jotun to attack at a crucial moment.) The Empire fragmented and the fragments were swiftly annihilated in the chaos. The trees took back their forms and the Empire was lost to time.

The Elven Empire still has some legacy. Their religious buildings were sometimes built of stone and some of these ruins still exist, the best known being the Milkadis Temple, built in 2981 BU. Other edifices can be found across central Felarya. As well, the Elvish Language is still known to historians and many phrases from it are used today. Finally, many cultures and customs from the Empire are continued in the Elven populations of today. These are stronger in some areas - the Oolonde Lakelands in particular has many Elven communities that retain the customs of old - this area was spared much of the chaos of the Empire's fall, being separated from the main body of the Empire.

Oh my, the Elven Empire certainly sounds interesting. Seemed a tad farfetched at first, but if I'm imagining exactly, the way you explained it makes sense and could let it work.

Also, yay, a calender, O: I approve of that

I don't have a problem with the calendar. It doesn't screw up with my planned timeline for my own work.

As for the elves, with all those ideas you put that deal with them, I am under the impression that you really like elves.

The only critics with the elven district and empires is the fact, elves are presented as a homogeneous specie and not a hydrogenous ones. It's make the ideas looks a bit generic with the "elven" words, why you don't specify a particular elven ethnic or people ?

gwadahunter2222 wrote:

The only critics with the elven district and empires is the fact, elves are presented as a homogeneous specie and not a hydrogenous ones. It's make the ideas looks a bit generic with the "elven" words, why you don't specify a particular elven ethnic or people ?

Wait... what? What the hell has elves not having hydrogen in them...?

I am utterly baffled as to what you are trying to communicate with your first point.

As for that latter bit, I'm assuming "regular elves" The other species are less in number and usually regionally specific.

He meant heterogenous. He thinks that elves, as far as they go, are pretty much the same with only mild variations in appearances and abilities, while no culture between the different elf species has been developed. I do have something for phantom elves. I tend to see them as stealthy warriors since they are described as vicious in battle, and since they live in Sunfall, where it's always night, then they probably hide a lot in shadows.

well there's homogeneous and hydrogenous; the first being like everything is similar in nature, and the second is more used to describe "girly guys".

I did a mistake I meant heterogeneous not hydrogenous and Sean sums up what I want to say.

@Bael and anyone else coming through here.

HYDROGENOUS - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hydrogenous

It means containing hydrogen. Nothing to do with "girly guys". It does not mean "differences within a group."

Now that's done...

Like I said before, I mean the main elf species. Phantom Elves, Mist Elves and Scarlet Elves are all endemic to very specific parts of Felarya - Sunfall Thicket, Mist Ocean (Or Misty Glade... misty mire... anything with "Mist in it") and the Jungle of Peril.

As Sean suggested, they probably have very different cultures. Seeing as Sunfall Thicket is in the Fairy Kingdom and the Jungle of Perils is the Jungle of Perils, I doubt regular Elves would have much contact from their cousins from those areas. As for Mist Elves, their draconic heritage sets them apart.

You don't understand what Sean and I want to say. What we want to say the concept of a main specie elf make them generic. You consider the specie as a whole with a single specie with a single culture,it's not a question of they are endemic specie to Felarya vs regular elf and even that we have to assume all the non felaryan elves are coming from the same world, I doubt so. As humans, neko and any other sentient species they can come from than different world with different culture etc...
But let's drop it. Your idea is good all you have to do is waiting Karbo's approval.
Bye

Mount Albazar

Mount Albazar is a location within the Oloonde Lakelands. It is a large, long since dead volcano, located North of the Lake of Arrows. The entire crater of Mount Albazar is flooded, forming Lake Albazar. The waters from this lake cascade off a waterfall, eventually flowing into the Lake of Arrows. Lake Albazar is fairly shallow and calm - there are no aquatic tauric predators and few aquatic predators that could be a threat. The lake teems with edible fish that would otherwise be eaten by predators.

In the middle of the lake is, however, the most noticeable aspect of the Mount - the small city of Hashelm. This place is built with its foundations on the shallow lakebed, the town rising up on strong stone supports. It is an old place, having been built during the peak of the Elven Empire. White stone is carved into elegant architecture and water from the lake is used to water elaborate hanging gardens. Small docks house boats that go out and reel in the bounty of fish and lake-plants. The Elves here are generally safe from predators, who would have to make the trek up the entire mountain to reach this city. The exception being that Hashelm has been, for many years, plagued by aerial predators, namely harpies. The Elves use the magic they study to defend their home fiercely and harpy attacks are intermittent, but they show no signs of stopping their raids entirely. These assaults have taken their toll over the centuries and Hashelm is not what it was during the days of the Empire - many buildings and even districts of the city are uninhabited and falling into disrepair, the worst areas even beginning to slowly sink as their supports are not maintained. The Elves do their best to keep their city in shape, but they are much less numerous than they once were. This ruination has also caused another form of predator to descend on the city - looters and treasure hunters, another foe for the Elves to contend with.

Mephar Woodlands

The Mephar Woodlands lie to the west, assumably north-west of the Lamia mountains. It is a hot area, but a coastal one, which regulates the temperature. It has many tall trees and vegetation, though not the lush congregation of the jungles of Central Felarya. The trees here are tough and similar to oaks, though much larger. Though the area is near the sea, it is, for much of the year, very dry, with rainfall being slight and intermittent. The most notable thing about the Mephar woodlands are that the trees and plants that inhabit it are all extreme pyrophytes. Due to the dry climate, this area is very often ravaged by wildfires which sweep across it. However, the trees have strangely adapted to this, many of their seeds not taking root until undergoing large quantities of heat. The trees themselves seem immune to the fire, having thick bark and some species are reported to even sustain themselves on heat and fire. With wildfires occurring extremely often, it is not the safest place for an adventurer and there are still many predators here, of strange varieties able to withstand flame comfortably. The most notable inhabitants are the regions Fire Elementals, who can be found in their greatest concentration here - indeed, many, if not most, of the wildfires are caused by their presence.

Hustenn Forest

The Hustenn Forest lies to the south, beyond the Kyromia fields. It's many tall, dense trees are noted for, all of the year, existing in the vivid reds, oranges and yellows of an autumn season. These trees often loose their leaves, carpeting the forest floor in them, but they grow remarkably quickly. Also quickly grows the vegetation on the ground, a bounty of fruits and vegetables that renew themselves quickly. Despite this, however, this forest is strangely empty. There is little wildlife and essentially no larger creatures or predators. It is said that the forest is cursed, though by and for what is an old memory. Only a single tribe of nekos live here and they avoid any sort of strangers. The only sign of them are the many charms, trinkets, carvings and other artifacts they leave hanging around the forest, on many of the branches, a warning perhaps, or a ward.

The Bramble

The Bramble is an area north of the uncharted areas beyond the Green Hell. Almost none have visited it and returned to tell the tale. The Bramble is colder than the areas to the south, but the vegetation grows thickly here. Massive thorny plants choke every inch of the forest, making travel difficult, if not impossible. The further one goes, it gets only colder and more difficult to traverse and the elevation increases as mountains loom. Larger creatures find it nearly impossible to navigate and smaller ones tend to mysteriously disappear. It is said a tribe of wild, chaotic and primitive fairies are responsible for most deaths here, though few have seen them. Most frighteningly, in many ways the Bramble seems alive and an entity unto itself, which quietly but savagely "deals" with intruders. It is said that old ruins lie buried under all the thorns, but who would build beyond Deeper Felarya?

Your ability to crank out ideas at such a high rate never ceases to amaze me. The city of Hashelm is intriguing to me. I was considering creating an attolian city. Hashelm is close to what I was thinking. I'll be thinking of a few alternative ideas for attolian cities.
Nice job on these ideas.