Number of continents in your fantasy world?

Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by Millamber, Aug 21, 2017.

  1. X Equestris

    X Equestris Contributor Contributor

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    Three at the moment, one of which sunk beneath the waves a few thousand years back and features as a part of every religion's stories. Almost all of the action takes place on one continent, though.
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2017
  2. Clementine_Danger

    Clementine_Danger Active Member

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    There's only two reasons I would bring up any places outside of the setting of the story: to give the world texture and history, or because it becomes relevant to the plot somehow. The first one I usually make up as I go along and insert when it's relevant. The second one would have been fleshed out in the plotting phase.

    A current WIP of mine is set in a low-fantasy version of the age of exploration. A new continent has been discovered and the ruling classes and diverse factions of various nations are scrambling to mount expeditions to explore and settle. So, two continents, at least that the characters know of. There might be more, but it's not relevant. So the fact that there's two continents is hugely important.

    Another WIP has a veteran of several military campaigns as a main character. She was an officer in the army when her home nation began a long and very successful a war of conquest. So that's a pretty large world, but the entire story is set in one part of a city, mostly in two buildings. So I need to know what this world is like in a lot of detail, but it hardly ever comes up on the page. The only reason I need to have all this information is because the character would know, and the fact that she's seen quite a bit of the world changes how she interact with the characters and events.

    When it comes to process, the theme and tone matter a lot when making those decisions. In that second example, I'm working with themes of xenophobia and imperialism, so it's vital to have a very clear and nuanced understanding of the world. The tone is one of unease in a rapidly changing world, and the way the characters describe and imagine Other Places plays a huge role. So most of the details were fleshed out before I began writing the actual story.

    (Side rant: this sort of thing. I'm of the school of thought that just because you mention a thing doesn't mean it exists in any real way in the world of the story. Making up the continent of Westbloomington and never mentioning it again doesn't help your story, and it doesn't make the world feel any bigger or more textured. All it means is that the author made up a word. Babies can do that. So as with all things, if doesn't inform the plot or character, it shouldn't be on the page.)

    So I guess the answer is, as many continents as are relevant to proceedings. Whatever that number is.
     
  3. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    How much of a character is the world in your story? That answer should tell you how much you should develop it. In my fantasy series, the world Triskele is one of the main characters. The nature of the conflict in the story goes back to the very creation of the world; so, I've spend alot of time developing Triskele and her story.
    Here's a proto-map that I'm developing. Beware, it looks like the throw-up of a child that ate a box of crayons.

    Triskele Upload.jpg
    Now, this is purely for my reference and will never see the light of day (other than here). Right now I'm just slapping down visual references as I write. The story for the first series takes place in the 'Europe' area of Triskele called Urn. But, I have several featured characters from D'mt, Kiliman(both located on the southern continent of Unina) and other distance places. The second series will move to Greater Byzas and then to the elven land south.
    So, again, I suggest you develop your world as you would a character.
    Godspeed!
     
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  4. EelKat

    EelKat New Member

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    I do my worldbuilding culturally/society based, and write up a background story for each one (about 10k to 20k words each group) and each influenced by geographic regions, but, have never drawn up a map or tried to figure out how many countries/continents/providence/etc there were. It's never something that has been important to the story to know. Partly because the main character himself doesn't know and every novel in the series is told from his POV.

    I use the background story as a reference point when writing about the group/race/culture. It'll list important features of their society, foods unique to their culture, harvests/crops/trade goods they are known for, religious practices and family traditions particular to their culture. Fashion, jewelry, home life, education style, things their people find important, things they find taboo. Any important people, leaders, wars, natural disasters, events. That sort of stuff. I'll write it up as though it were a wikipedia page for their people. This acts as my referance point while writing the novel itself. Many of the details may not be featured in the story, but the details affect the people and how they think and act.

    The main character ends up visiting a lot of cultures around the world, so I have a lot of these background story reference notebooks. He's a wandering vagabond wizard just walking around the world. Once in a while gets on a ship and crosses an ocean. Sometimes he's in deserts, sometimes jungels, but most times here's in Northern frozen wastelands and arboreal forests. The stories all deal with his personal interactions with the people he meets. He never really knows where he is, and just described the area as "swamp land" or "desert" or "on the coast" and "a small village" or "roaming tribe" a big city, etc without ever stopping to ask anyone "So, what is the name of this town/city/country?"

    There's never any wars or battles or politics and such going on (well, it probably is going on somewhere, but he's no interest in that stuff, so those sorts of things are never mentioned) and as a result of this, there has never been a need for me to sit down and figure what the specific landmass variations are or what to name them.

    It's generally assumed to be a quasi-alternate earth, with similar land mass and similar history, though the races and countries are quite different, so I suppose it's logical to assume 7 continents, but it may not be. I suppose I should eventually try to figure it out. 40th anniversary of the series is next year, making a map of the world might be a good thing to do for that.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2017
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  5. Amber13

    Amber13 Member

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    Currently, I only have on continent and one small island nation off the coast. There are three countries (at present) on my continent; two are directly mentioned, and the third doesn't really come into play all that much. I've toyed with the idea of having another continent - I like the idea that the countries on this continent aren't super old, so they had to have come from somewhere. But as it hasn't proven relevant to my story yet, I haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet.
     
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  6. Amber13

    Amber13 Member

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    I love the idea of creating a Wikipedia page for each of your countries/continents. That's a great idea, and one I might implement!
     
  7. Sir Douglas

    Sir Douglas Member

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    I once read in a book by Isaac Asimov, something like: How big does an island have to be before we call it a continent? How small does a continent have to be before we call it an island?
    I've forgotten the title of the book. Regardless, I think in terms of tectonic plates, continental versus oceanic, as I create variations of earthlike planets.
     
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  8. Sir Douglas

    Sir Douglas Member

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    Cool map. How did you edit it?
     
  9. 8Bit Bob

    8Bit Bob Here ;) Contributor

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    I currently have one, but I plan on making more as my stories call for it.

    I too am wondering this :)
     
  10. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    It was done in Adobe Photoshop. I'll probably do the book map in Photoshop, but I have no idea what the art direction will be for the book so I'm not even thinking about it. Having the map layout in layers, so that I can view what I need to, is a real plus using it as a reference source. Photoshop is great for that.
     
  11. AndrewB

    AndrewB New Member

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    I have two in mine, though book one is limited to only one continent.
     
  12. Masema

    Masema New Member

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    I have four in total. Only three of them are inhabited though. The fourth is completely barren, human life can't survive there, though I have a plan for why it's in the story.
     
  13. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I've seen this thread many times, and posted to it at least once, but all the same I just read the title as

    Number of Condiments in your Fantasy World
     
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  14. Kenosha Kid

    Kenosha Kid Active Member

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    How embarrassing. A fantasy world full of condiments and no food.
     
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  15. PixelOwl

    PixelOwl Member

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    For each fantasy world I usually try to limit myself to one continent, though it could be comprised of as little as three countries or as many as forty. It depends on how political I'm getting, typically.

    In a series I have planned, the the western half of the continent is almost entirely mountains, and virtually unable to be traveled with the current technology of, you know, horses and wagons and a good pair of boots. Actually, not knowing what lies on the other side is a huge plot point, as sometimes, something non-human finds its way through the mountains and into the fringes of the human realms. Spooks ensue.

    For my current project, the countries are all island nations and are so far separated from each other that they don't know the others exist, let alone are grouped together in a continent. That is, until various reasons lead "explorers" to start traveling the seas and "making discoveries". It's a loose criticism of colonialism, imperialism, and the slave trade.

    Sometimes I like to think that my continents are actually all in the same world, and then I realize how messy that would be and I pretend I didn't have that thought.

    For my D&D group, there's one super-continent which is basically a clusterbomb of different races, species, cultures, and monsters.
     
  16. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Isn't the definition of a continent something along the lines of a continuous land mass undivided by water?
     
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  17. PixelOwl

    PixelOwl Member

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    Homer - It's hazy. In irl, Australia/Oceania is a continent of islands, after all. It's mostly one big island, but there you have it.
     
  18. Robert Musil

    Robert Musil Comparativist Contributor

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    Yeah, and Europe/Africa/Asia are three continents (according to most people) despite all being one landmass.
     
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  19. orangefire

    orangefire Active Member

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    I have six on the map I drew, but I don't really have much lore for three of them at the moment. Still planning to include them in the lore in some form though.

    At least two are in the book I'm working on with the setting currently. More might appear later on; I'm still pretty early in the writing.
     
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  20. Sir Douglas

    Sir Douglas Member

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    Thank you.
     
  21. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    Just mustard.
     
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  22. 8Bit Bob

    8Bit Bob Here ;) Contributor

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    Mine has ketchup, mustard, and of course, the mystical relish.
     
  23. Robert Musil

    Robert Musil Comparativist Contributor

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    Too bad Brian Jacques isn't still with us, you know that guy would've done this topic justice.
     
  24. orangefire

    orangefire Active Member

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    Well, since we're on the subject. Not a comprehensive list but...

    - Humans have ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, relish, hot sauce...most of the common human condiments are around there.

    - Kahvlarashar have a handful of their own, which tend to be made up of about half magic, and would all taste bland otherwise, including Vlaseriev, Fheriejs, and Anlervhie.

    - Elves have a lot of exotic condiments that most humans would find odd, like Erel'Se'Va (Similar process to ketchup, but made with a fruit native to their homeland that would be most comparable to mangos.), and Lereil'Iren. (A sort of gravy-like sauce made with vegetables.

    -Vencarel don't really use condiments, and if they do they tend to use those made by other races.

    - Nylans (Not technically a race in the usual sense, but I'm including them since they have their own culture.) have a lot of extremely sweet sauces, which pairs with their selection of extremely sweet foods. A lot of their condiments are taken from other races and repurposed, though they tend to avoid the elf selections.

    As for how much of these will actually appear in finished stories? Probably none, but who knows.
     
  25. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Pairing sweet on sweet isn't a great idea unless it's a desert. Better off balancing sweet with spicy or savory (candied bacon, curry and coconut milk, cajun rubs and mango salsa/chutney), though maybe Nylans have especially sweet teeth. You can tell a lot about a culture from their food, and even more about their climate from the spices they use. Spices were originally used as preservatives and hotter locals obviously required more than, say, Eskimos. That's why Thai food is the most spiced in the world with South American (specifically Argentine) not far behind. Russia and Britain traditionally had the least (I think) because it was cold enough to preserve food already.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2017
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