Write something about your setting, and the rest of us will help you develop it

My story is set in a medival fantasy world. There are three gods in the world, the Father, basically the standard Jeudo-christian god, the Mother, the goddess of nature and the embodyment of the physical world, and the Other, who is basically Satan. The other mythical creatures of the world are either angels, demons, or nature spirits which are actually part of the Mother.

The story is set in a parallel version of crusader era Palestine (a more successful one). It is a fuedal-theocratic state. There are three main religions who worship these three gods, and they keep fighting for control in that land, and generally.

 

Any more questions for me and my setting. I enjoy this thread a lot.

 

How then would you explain the industrial revolution in Parthia if most scientific descoveries happened in Asia? (In history the scientific and industrial revolutions are tightly linked.

 

I should rephrase that. ABSTRACT scientific discoveries like quantum physics would have come out of Asia in the 20th Century. I think the more concrete, 19th century stuff (light bulb, cotton gin, steam engine) probably all came out of Parthia. Manichaean ethics would have valued anything that caused societal progress but poo-pooed the abstract sciences or the stuse of nature for its own sake.

 

You seem to be implying disagreement on this point. Are there sects that believe in oversight vs. independence, and how does that affect their practice?

Also, what are the street level trappings of this religion? What symbols and visuals does it use and why?

What are the impacts on day to day life? Dietary restrictions? Cleanliness restrictions? If so, where do these customs originate and what larger purpose do they serve in society?

 

The oversight branch were those who operated under the idea that Taughf blessed the old royalty, while the independence branch sided with the electoral monarchists, believing that Taughf only had one prophet, that being the man who first had a vison from him, instead of the whole family. Those that follow oversight are, while not banned, more or less persecuted or driven out from Taughfland.

The traditional symbol is a clenched fist made of iron pointing upwards. The fist is associated with Taughf as, while a symbol of violence, humans also clutch their rakes and hammers in a similar manner. The reason for iron is that is considered a sacred metal, and all iron mines in Taughf belong to the king. The priests typically wear a grey robe, though it can vary with temperature, e.g too hot, no robe. Grey is used because the dye is cheap, and that's considered more practical.

There are no dietary restrictions, but in terms of cleanliness, there should be as little contact with the casteless as possible (to prevent sympathy). On top of that, washing your hands before eating and throwing your crap in the street are considered important. As such, settlements will typically throw their waste into a river, or a large pit to one side or outside the settlement. The biggest thing though is that the priests will often check up on people's work, baring one of The Book's of Taughf and seeing if there's anything appropriate within. A lot of these ideas come from basic sanitation and preventing needless death. Other ones are to do with improving work.

 

Why do the religions fight each other? Over what? Not all religions naturally fight, at least not in the scope you're talking about. So what's the actual disagreement.

What are the pillars of each faith and how does that define their behavior. Are they similar but with different interpretations of the same story (like Christianity, Judaism and Islam) or do they have wildly differing cosmology?

Also, in the story world, are the gods real, and if so do the religions mutually acknowledge the existence of the other gods? In that case you con so much have three religions as three armies who all believe in the same pantheon but serve different members. How does that affect people at the street level and how they live their day to day lives.

 

The religion of the MC (the Faith) is a very oppressing religion. They believe their way of worship and beliefs are the only ones, and all others are heretics. They started these crusades.
The other two religions are slightly more open, and while they still believe their way to be right, their wars are more defensive and/or to gain something rather out of fanaticism.
Also, they fight over what they percieve to be the "land of birth". The Faith rules this kingdom at the beggining of the story

They are more like Judaism and Islam, really.
There are the Faith. They believe in the Trio in that you should only serve the Father. The Mother in their eyes is a dormant goddess and worshipping her is to praise the physical world instead of clinging to the spiritual.

The second religion broke from the first. They see the three gods as different aspects of the same god. While they still believe in demons and angels, they see them as all different servants of the same god. Everything written in the ancient texts that refers to these gods as different entities is metaphors to describe the complexity of the one true god.

The third religion is of a different branch. They read different (but similar) texts, and have quite different customs. They believe that while the Father is the higher and right god, that the other two should still be recognized. They have some rituals to honour the Mother, and they make annual offering to the Other so that he will leave them alone.

It's pretty much Catholism, Protestantism and Islam. (Plus Judaism, if you consider the fourth and original believers of the Trio who died away by the time of the story.

There are other people who devote themselves to the Mother. And some Satan worshippers, as well as many people who believe in other gods altogether (though most of them are seen as dpemons or alngels in the three religions' belief systems.

These gods are real, and have made appearances, but these are so few and far between that the average person will only hear about them in stories. The Father is an all powerful cosmic being that is apart from the lesser physical world, so his connection to the world is mainly through his servants.
The Other iscurrently lockedaway in that world's version of hell.
The Mother's existance is through the life force of every living being in that world, and the spirits of nature are less her servants and more like different aspects of her. To find her one must know how, and that's a knowledge very few seek.

So on the street level the people's contact with these beings are with the rather rare encounters with other supernatural beings such as angels or demons. The comnection is scarce enough for people's knowledge to be based mainly on religion and dofferent superstitions and spells, but enough so that most people there know that these entities exist, even if they dont know their exact natures.

 

So, minus the appearances of the gods, how do the religions affect day to day life? I asked the same question of @halisme but are there cleanliness restrictions? Deitary codes? Prohibitions on anything that we might consider normal (like pictoral representations of nature)?

The reason I ask those is, as someone who adheres to Judaic restrictions myself - changing one facet of things people have to do on a daily basis (eating, washing, blessing actions, saying prayers at appointed times) can have a big impact on how you make decisions. I know I make a lot of decisions trying to avoid doing work on Saturday - which may mean I'm up late on Tuesday to avoid having to finish a term paper on Sabbath. If you invite me out for dinner, my restaurant recommendations are probably going to be based on how much pork or shellfish is offered, and I may have to turn you down if you're going to a crabhouse. So stuff like that goes to behavior.

 

So, minus the appearances of the gods, how do the religions affect day to day life? I asked the same question of @halisme but are there cleanliness restrictions? Deitary codes? Prohibitions on anything that we might consider normal (like pictoral representations of nature)?
I haven't actually thought this through really. There is a daily cermon and preach in the local temple. But the working folk usually don't attend. Then there is a day of rest where the town and nearby villagea gather at the temple for an offering to the Father, and a longer speach, usually by the head of the temple or a leader of a monestary.
The day to day life is very superstitious, and they have their own rituals and charms for basically everything. Especially where the story takes place. It had been conquered many times, and has a rich ethnic variety. So there is a mixture of traditions, even though oficially there's one religion. The priests usually let people carry with their own traditions, unless they find them to be opposed to the Faith. Then these people
They live in a polygamous society, but having more than one wife is frowned upon, as they believe in sexual purity, so most people there are monogamous, especially those who serve in the religious institutions. It's usually reserved for political marriges and in case of a barren woman, for example.
The holy texts themselves are split into three books. The book of righteousness, deals with the fundamental aspects of faith. It tells people how they should believe, and how to walk righteously. The book of law deals with the laws of the state. Any kingdom who devoses laws that are opposed to this book will immediately be considered a land of heresy, and will be forced to change its laws. Then there is the book of prophecy. It deals with all the mythology as well as prophecies about the future.
Most people don't know these texts, especially those who are illeterate. So priests have a very important role in society, teaching the people how to live.

 

I think you have a good start with the superstitons and charms. Also if you want to see how religious differences impact differences in day to day life, consider watching the movie "Fiddler on the Roof". It's a classic musical but it's really deep and gives you a good look at a community of Jewish peasants living in late 19th Century Russia, along with the ways in which they are different from the surrounding Russian Christians. Lots of focus on the Sabbath, Jewish dress customs - all taken from the point of view of someone very poor - and also more than a smidge of the non-canonical Jewish superstition (lots about the "evil eye").

 

Yeah I know. I'm a past-religious new as well. So yeah, I understand. By the way, can I say that this is a really good thread? It helped me tremendeously develop the religious parts of the land O am currently working on.

 

With it being fantasy, is their magic, and if so, how is it interpreted?

Do The Father and Other have minions?

Why haven't the three of them intervened in events?

What of the world outside said area? Such as where the crusaders came from.

 

Anything anyone finds interesting in settings so I can see what I can dredge up on it.

 

The magic in the world is connected directly to the gods, and other supernatural dieties, and is very ritualistic in nature. The Father's magic is mainly through chanting of certain verses from the ancient texts, and/or invoking the names of angels. It's used mainly against demons, whether to ward off evil, exorcisms, and spells of protection.
The Mother's magic is more about connection to the world around. The Mother's believers meditate in order to connect their life force with the life force of other creatures. Once they make a connection they can communicate with other life forms and use them to accomplish what they want. That way they can make animals do what they ask thm to, make plants grow (the plants borrow the user's energy to do so), and so on. Some have been said to be able to connect to the earth itself, but these are mostly legends.
The Other's magic is mainly the summoning of demons. The practitioner will call forth these otherworldly forces and use them to perform certain tasks for him. Sometimes these rituals will work automatically, other times the user will have to give the demon some kind of payment.
Finally, there are certain rituals that are less magic and more science of that world. They are built into the fundamental laws of the universe. Some are simple and well known, like using salt to ward off otherworldly beings, some are very rare.

The Father has the angels. There are ten circles of angels that make up his army, with those known as "angels" the lowest tier. Then there are the five archangels, angels of the lowest tier who have been given a much greater power and are the Father's messengers in the mortal realm.

The higher the power of a certain being, the harder it is for them to reach the mortal realm. The ten levels of "above" and the ten of "below" seperate the higher beings from the world. So they can mostly affect the world through their messengers. Also, they are bound by certain rules, one of the most important of them being free will. So they do interfere, but their interferance is subtle, and they usually act through mortals who "let them in"

That I haven't really developed much. There is the area assosiated with Europe. The base of the Faith's power is there, in the High Temple. There is a large empire south of that land, which is separated from the land by a large desert. There are certain lands in the north, wilder and less inhabited. But no, I guess I developed one area deeply, and kind of left the other lands out.

 

I feel a bit scared, so many good worlds!
I have many countries in my world but Lun, where one of my characters comes from, feels under developed. It is based on 19th century Britain (and a little bit of Germany) and relies heavily on steampower.
They only mine and quarry for metal ores, as human labour is used for the heating of the water. I know they have farming areas, where they use pulley system ploughs and produce potatoes, corn and wheat. They are currently attempting produce motor vehicles and already heavily produce rolling stock, locomotives and one yard, ocean liners.
Other than that though I do not have a clue how this country is run with three species co-existing and why people would want to take the dangerous decision to go across the ocean to Wit, an 18th century East Anglia/ Holland mix, which is a problem as one of my main characters has done this.

 

Ha, ha, no. I am more than able to admit that it has proven to be futile in the past.
I am the the worst writer here, and nothing is going to change that.

 

I don't believe that to be true.

 

What level of technology does your alternate 2016 possess? And how did it develop? And if it exists, how do the Parthians use/view it?

 

In an early post, I mentioned Tumonte and it's knightly orders. I've decided to talk about them, but the less developed side, the fallen ones.

The Order of The Eastern Watch was created to ensure the safety of Tumonte's coastline , both at land and sea. They had a series of small towers across the islands that littered the coast, however, their main holdings were four forts and two castles on the coast of the mainland, that oversaw natural harbours that were not already covered by cities. They lasted for roughly one hundred and fifty years (007 to 172), before being as dismantled as they were judged to be no longer needed, and the order had fallen into a state of disrepair. The watchtowers have been left in a state of disrepair, while the mainland holdings are still maintained, but not permanently manned. Otherwise, they owned many ships, and specialised in boarding actions, as it was the best way to recover the supplies and people taken. Their banner and name have been taken up on two separate occasions by pirates, since their dismantling, but had no relation to original knights. Their role has been taken up by another knightly order.

Originally created to defend the queen and the realm, The Order of The Crown Defendant found that their two roles conflicted. After a long civil war, known as The War of the Princesses, the victor took a "barbarian" for consort, having promised her hand for use of his men and lands. Willam, the grand master of the order, did nothing for ten years, before he began "The Conspiracy of Two". During the birth of the queen's third child, she, her midwives, and any barbarians within the court were killed, while her eldest daughter, Lisette was taken, hostage after witnessing the death of her parents, being age eight at the time. For a period of twelve years, Willam would rule first as regent, then as consort, before being killed by his "wife". The Order was declared an enemy of the state and queen, and they were either killed or fled to survive. A small group settled in an area known as The Clalands, and became heroes to those in the area.

Finally are The Order of The Noble Blade, whose job was to fight said barbarians. When the "barbarians" fully integrated, their job was redundant. However, they asked that their purpose become maintenance and defence of the barbarian's lands far side, which was accepted. However, there were many conflicts with said barbarians, who had ties with those beyond their borders, and preferred to de-escalate situation, instead of killing those that entered their lands. When this matter was brought before the queen, she sided with the barbarians, which the knights did not take well. They decided to rebel and attempted to take up their old role. However, the barbarians had now taken up the equipment and stratagems of the knights, and The Blade found themselves no longer capable of fighting them on their own terms. As such, they took to guerilla fighting and the barbarians old tactics. For the past two hundred years, acted as a point where those who dream of "the good old days" when the forest people were not part of the kingdom.

 

I'm trying to make it as close if a mirror of our 2016 as I can, so that the tech similarities highlight the cultural and geopolitical differences (the fact that they're in an Iraq that looks more like modern America than the real Iraq). MOST of the tech we have exists - laptops and Internet forums have already made prominent appearances - and I'm definitely hand-waving how all that stuff developed because if I get too far into the nitty-gritty it I might derail the plot. Although I've been trying to think about that a little bit more, because I need to at least seem plausible.

I do know that they're slightly ahead of us in their knowledge of quantum physics because I need that to explain my universe-hopping pseudoscience.

That and the one piece of "tech" I've focussed on it the chocolate industry - which is absurdly underdeveloped due to the high price of sugar and the long term suppression of things that are seen as not having a purpose other than pleasure. So one of my main characters is a "xokolatl sommelier" who serves "xocolatl" (essentially rudimentary drinking chocolate) in a really high end tasting room modeled after caviar in our world. She brews it like it's Turkish coffee in little pots, and has to lock the sugar in a safe every night because it's so expensive. That and no one ever references sugar or candy or sweetness other than comparisons to honey. I'm trying to think what other things I could do that to - in terms of retarding the development of luxury goods.

 

Regarding the technology, who owns/develops it? If you're positing a world where luxuries aren't allowed (or are frowned upon) that will impact on the development of technology to some extent, as so much of it has been developed AS a luxury. And do corporations exist, and do they make money the same way they do today ...to make a few people rich and impoverish the rest of the population?

I don't think you need to derail the plot, but I do think you need to keep the overall world-wide political situation of your alternate world in mind as you construct it. So much of what has driven our present world ...including the middle east until recently ...has been a drive to acquire luxury goods and an easy life for the owners of production. If your Parthian empire has risen and become an economic driver by not doing this, then how was it accomplished?

 

So what I'd been thinking about was that most luxury goods from our world, especially stuff that predates the Manichean religion and therefore was already widespread, probably remained in place. And then you have an entire cottage industry of people using legal/theological reasoning to declare certain goods "edifying" on technicalities and therefore allowed. Spices, for instance, have medicinal properties. Honey has some nutritional value. This sort of stuff exists in the real world with things like Sharia Compliant Finance in the Islamic world (a lot of which has to do with how to charge interest when theoretically that's forbidden) or a lot of debates within Judaism (fun fact: electric razors are kosher and straight razors aren't. There's a prohibition on shaving one's beard but electric razors work on a scissor action so it's considered trimming rather than shaving).

So I'm thinking the way to go in world building is to maybe wink at the hypocrisy of all sorts of luxury goods being declared edifying by some committee of monks, but certain specific commodities being made an example of for the benefit of making it look like there are standards. I picked sugarcane as the big one because it's a product of colonialism and because it's extremely hard to make a non-pleasure-based argument for it. So I figure the Parthian colonists probably would have disallowed its cultivation before it became so huge in the global market. But I'm trying to think of other things that fall in that category.

 

I do kind of need some help with a world I'm developing, so here's mine.
There is a creation mythos that involves a primordial force, Chaos, giving form to two opposing forces, the Hallow and the Abyss. The fighting between these two creates aether, a mix of all three. With aether comes the first universe, but the constant warring between the Hallow and the Abyss reduces it to one star, one planet, and one moon. To avoid the annihilation of this potential foothold, both forces send six 'emissaries' in their stead, which inevitably cause a lot of damage to the world.
Humanity, however, manages to survive the conflict, and when the emissaries end up destroying each other in their battle, mankind colonises the rest of the planet (Cyzlith). There are three continents on Cyzlith, one of which is larger than the others (Ulthera) and where the plot takes place. Ulthera is split into the northern half (Grishfell) where the Grashval, worshippers of the Abyss, live, and the southern half (The Unified Land/U'll), where the rest of humanity lives. The plot revolves around the constant conflict between the two peoples.