The Next Biggest Step For Felaryan World Building.

Legends and myths. These are what people tell each other, what poems are written about, songs, stories for any occasion for any person, from bed time to war, from child to adult. They are driving forces that flesh out a world and take it beyond the skeleton. J.R.R. Tolkein understood this, J.K. Rowling Understood this, and even Star Wars understands this. Almost every fantasy world that feels real are going to have stories woven in. I was particularly fascinated with the story of the Beetle and the Bard, in Harry Potter. The story of the Silmarils in the Silmarillion, Shelob's ancestry, Numenor, how the Elves came to Middle Earth, and the story of Darth Plagueis in Star Wars.

I have been saying this before, but now I'm going to reinforce it. Previous answers have usually been just "oh go to the rumors subforum" as a response - which doesn't cut it.

I suggest a formula of a few paragraphs that talk about a legend or myth that people in Felarya will know. Nagas especially - for nagas this is most important. They used to not be a solitary loner race. I imagine small families all have their stories and myths they tell about famous nagas, or the creation of their world, how they came into being, tales of love, triumph over all odds, or even a story of a little nagaling who found their way home because they started to believe in something, and that story in particular maybe used as a lesson to teach to their young. This could help nagalings and other cultures that appear undeveloped to have a lot more structure and meat to them, or a way to remember their past.

Its extremely important. I'd like your thoughts, or if you want, to write up a legend or myth in response.

Hey there. I don't currently have the time to come up with a myth at present, but I agree with you. Myths and Legends make a world much more diverse and fun and in a world such as Felarya, there's not much in way of limits. I'm almost confident that there would be many legends about the Naga Guardian (can't think of his name) and much more on the war between Nagas and Dridders, with Dridders having their own take on it.

Additionally, many stories of pirate mermaids, Sphynxs, Vivian, temples, and the Corrector war would all be present.

I'll think on this at length, and see what I come up with. However I am currently a little distracted with my work and Christmas season. Hope this lights the spark for a great discussion!

A world like Felarya should have a staggering amount of myths, legends, and history. On that note, I'd like to quote someone who wrote about this:

"So I have broken down these stories in three main categories: true history, legends, and myths/fables. Histories are strictly factual. Legends are typically less reliable and some may be true while others are not. On the other hand, myths and parables are stories which were concocted by your world’s inhabitants for entertainment, explanation, or instruction purposes. I’ve broken each one of these categories down below,and hopefully my tips will help you create the stories of your world."

To be honest, there are a plethora of web pages out there that can help you come up with guidelines for writing this stuff. We have history already, its included piecemeal in various entries, and we have a chronology, which is great. Stabs wrote something on the fairy story of "cookies", which is suitable for a myth, as well as a good description of fairy psychology. That right there is a perfect example, but its a bit difficult to write something that complex that just happens to fit in so perfectly.

Take a look at this site here for more help.

DarkOne wrote:

https://felarya.forumotion.com/t4000-mythos-for-felarya

Flagged for Irrelevant content.

Well you do have a point, Bael. Legends, Myths and rumors are all important to establishing lore which even the most base game series does if it wants to make a worldscape worth investing any time in. The trick ofcourse is to decide which legends and myths will best serve a world and the setting. Felarya has a massive canvas to paint against and the largest pallete of all colors: the multiverse of which to use to make it colorful and bright.

Personally I would love to see more mythos added about Felarya's creation if only as posits instead of cannon stuff. How cultures on our world view it is fascinatingly varied in tale to tale so I can only imagine how Felaryans would see it. I might add some stuff here from the rumors section I posted as well tomorrow.

jedi-explorer wrote:

Well you do have a point, Bael. Legends, Myths and rumors are all important to establishing lore which even the most base game series does if it wants to make a worldscape worth investing any time in. The trick ofcourse is to decide which legends and myths will best serve a world and the setting. Felarya has a massive canvas to paint against and the largest pallete of all colors: the multiverse of which to use to make it colorful and bright.

Personally I would love to see more mythos added about Felarya's creation if only as posits instead of cannon stuff. How cultures on our world view it is fascinatingly varied in tale to tale so I can only imagine how Felaryans would see it. I might add some stuff here from the rumors section I posted as well tomorrow.

I think any myth or legend can work.

Myths are made up stories, whereas legends are something that may have happened. The wonderful part about felarya, is that line there, which separates them both is very much blurred. That's part of the fun though, isn't it? Is the story myth, or legend?

I think of the first part, is what the objective is for the particular myth or legend. What is the accomplishment? The end result, then come up with a couple of characters who serve the driving force behind the story. The characters could probably even be a society, like the ancient Elven Empire, or the Fairies, or the Jotuns. Some interaction between them, put in a twist, then how they work through some drastic problem, and manage to by and win somehow. That I believe is a good basic start for making a myth or a legend. I don't have the experience to write the more subtle complex ones. I wish I did though.

just to clarify, i have no problem with the idea of Myths and rumors in principle, i just doubt the reasoning, sounds more like you believe that merely having them will improve Felarya because it worked for more serious, deciplined and less fetishy and cartoony settings, as aposed to Myths and rumors as content people actually care about and are likely to engadge with.

DarkOne wrote:

just to clarify, i have no problem with the idea of Myths and rumors in principle, i just doubt the reasoning, sounds more like you believe that merely having them will improve Felarya because it worked for more serious, deciplined and less fetishy and cartoony settings, as aposed to Myths and rumors as content people actually care about and are likely to engadge with.

It makes it seem like the people, the inhabitants who live there are living, breathing, thinking people. You can get a sense for the kind of person they are simply by the stories they like.

So, yes, just by merely having myths and legends in felarya will make it seem like a much more whole world.

I have to defer with Darky on this one. Adding myths and legends is a good idea on paper, but merely having them around won't fix the hundred other problems that need fixing. Adding them right now feel like throwing smoke screens to distract from more pressing issues, like consolidating themes and tones of the setting.

Shady Knight wrote:

I have to defer with Darky on this one.  Adding myths and legends is a good idea on paper, but merely having them around won't fix the hundred other problems that need fixing.  Adding them right now feel like throwing smoke screens to distract from more pressing issues, like consolidating themes and tones of the setting.

That is something that is constantly done all the time in every fantasy setting. Things will always be changing, but myths and legends are an essential ingredient, always have been. Failing to acknowledge this will merely keep Felarya as a B-universe, instead of an A.

I can already tell that we're just gonna keep going in circles yet again. Do what you please, then.

Shady Knight wrote:

Adding them right now feel like throwing smoke screens to distract from more pressing issues, like consolidating themes and tones of the setting.

Honestly, you need Karbo for that. I don't think working on a legendarium would divert any resources that would be going towards consolidation.

One of the interesting things about Felarya is that it has a large number of immigrant cultures, which bring their own legends, which can speak volumes about the themes of that culture. For example, I suspect the Vishmital mythos would tend towards the following:

• Idealized accounts of real people, complete with audiovisual recording snippets going back centuries
  
• Strong themes of self-sacrifice for the community and of large cooperative works
  
• A strong focus on the bane that drove them from their empire centuries ago

Psi'ols might gravitate towards a mythos that focuses more on strong individuals instead of broader communities, and many of the powers ascendant would probably be drawn more towards optimistic, victorious legends, while the elves, naga, and other declining (or declined) cultures have a mythos that portrays a gilded age long past. And then, of course, you have the less organized, more folklore, "lower" (to use the theological study term) myths and superstitions.

Archmage_Bael wrote:

but myths and legends are an essential ingredient, always have been. Failing to acknowledge this will merely keep Felarya as a B-universe, instead of an A.

you only think that because you have only read fantasy settings that have myths and legends in them.



What about settings where the premise is that everything fantastical exists and so called myths are simply soon to be confirmed facts?  

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllMythsAreTrue[/quote]

That's actually an important type of story telling, where the heroes of the adventure get into some kind of trouble, and seek out an answer only to find out that a myth that they were always told about turns out to be true. It could shatter the world view of the character, and be a very good idea for a story.

Myths generally are not true, legends are based in truths, and that is the difference there. Though that's not always the case.