30 Days of World-Building (Second Edition) - Day 10 - Mood and Culture

Exercise 10 - Settle on the overall mood for your story if you haven't already. Look through your timeline, political groups, and language notes and mark for revision anything that doesn't fit your mood. If you have time, revise those things. Otherwise, leave them for later.

The mood I have settled on will consist of dark, supernatural overtones with aspects of suspense, horror, steam punk  and adventure. Throughout the course of the story, the Doctor will have to overcome obstacles both in his medicinal practices and in physical confrontations, as encounters with the Blood Harvesters seldom end well. As a result, he has become highly proficient with the use of single-shot pistols, and carries one on his person at all times, along with his traveling doctoring bag.

The aspect of the supernatural will be portrayed through the blood medicine that the Blood Harvesters utilize. Fittingly enough, this concept will also address the horror aspect, in regards to the sheer fear and gore that comes from these experimental blood practices.

Steam-punk will be addressed in terms of the technology made available through the cities. Widespread electricity, mechanically-driven steam shops, clockwork robotics, and more can be witnessed in the cities.

30 Days of World-Building (Second Edition) - Day 9 - Language

Exercise 9 - Listen to how different syllables sound to you. Do they excite you? Do you associate a particular sound with an emotion or place or memory? Write down some generic preferences for your languages, and then go listen to what those things sound like. Write down the syllables you hear when you run a faucet or sit by a stream, for instance. Those sounds will be your "root" syllables when making up names for places and people and things.

The language that exists in this world is shared through most of the country. Those in the Cities are more educated, and therefore, use a more sophisticated form of communication. Those in the Fringe villages are not so fortunate to possess an education, and their speaking patterns and word choices are affected because of this. 

(To be honest, language is not the main focus of this story. I know my linguistics professor would yell at me for that, but I won't be worrying too much about language, lest another language come to light during this creation process.)

30 Days of World-Building (Second Edition) - Day 8 - Econ & Politics

Exercise 8 - For five minutes, make a few notes on your map to mark places that have more of a type of resource, and jot down anywhere that has definite deficit of something needed. When you're done with the resources, take another ten minutes to identify which major groups in your civilizations care about which resources.

Resources in the Fringe Cities are slim - there is seldom enough firewood for every house at night, and deaths are commonplace during the winter months, especially along the River of Blood. Electricity is pretty much non-existent in the Fringe villages, and when it is present, it is seen as mystical and unnatural by some.

The reason resources in the Fringe cities are slim is because the Cities have taken most of it - as if they didn't already possess enough. Resources are abundant in most cities, and people wouldn't have to go far to buy oil for their heat lamps, or firewood for their cobblestone fireplaces.

The Blood Harvesters take what they can, whether through moral or immoral gains - to the Fringe villages, they have become little more than bandits, and some villages negotiate with them - resources and food in exchange for the ability to live another month.

30 Days of World-Building (Second Edition) - Day 7 - Recent History

Exercise 7 - Spend 15 or more minutes outlining the major historical events of the last 100 years before your novel begins.

Prior to the 18th century (Early and Mid 17th century) - The discovery of minerals and precious ores as conduits for technology, the cities developed massive excavation machines, and began to carve into the plains separating the Cities from the Fringe villages. While the operation was a success, it left four vicious scars across the plains, which stand as a reminder of the price of advanced technology. A reminder that is sorely ignored by the cities. At the same time, the ousting of the Blood Harvesters took place, as their killings grew increasingly violent. The Blood Harvesters scattered throughout Castravia, but some believe they still haunt the land. They are right to fear them . . . for the threat is truly alive, and very real indeed . . .

1700 - At the turn of the century, breakthroughs in technology were astounding: The discovery of controlled currents made widespread electricity possible through street lamps, which were soon commonplace in the cities, machines replaced animal and human labor, freeing up more time for philosophical thought and the arts. At this time, opportunities for would-be inventors were at their peak . . .

1713 through present - Thirteen years after this period of industrial revolution, the Fringe villages started suffering from plagues and diseases. At first, these occurrences were rare. But as time moved on, the plagues became more and more common. The symptoms became more violent as well, and since nobody knew how to combat these sicknesses, those that caught it could do little more than wait for death . . .

1715 - The emergence of the Blood Harvesters. Fringe villages suffer from these attacks, where villagers would go missing overnight, accompanied by vicious and terrifying screams. Calls for help to the Cities are rarely answered, and the Fringe villagers become excruciatingly cautious and self-sufficient because of this . . .

1715 - News of the plagues reach the Cities, accompanied with the appeals for help regarding the Blood Harvesters. Those invested in the profession of Doctor band together in order to aid the Fringe villages in dealing with the plague. They are seen as "gutless sympathizers" by some in the cities, who believe that if the Fringe villages have it so bad, they could come to the Cities, where all is perfect. A viewpoint that is sorely ignorant of the reality of the matter. Their efforts are wholly self-funded, which unfortunately, cuts into the cost of their equipment. Their efforts are equally seen as pointless by the higher-ups in the Cities . . .

1750 - The main protagonist is born, the bright and curious-eyed son of a doctor and his mistress, who served in the establishment where he worked. He is raised within the walls of his father's workplace, and is introduced to the doctor profession at an early age . . .

1775 - Over the next generation, technology in the Cities grows tremendously, while the Fringe villages slowly begin to fade away. The efforts of the Doctors Union have saved some villages, but the vast majority of the Fringe villages went unaided, not due to lack of compassion, but lack of equipment and time . . .

1776 - Our story begins, as our protagonist has been hired as a traveling doctor for a merchant caravan striking out into the Fringe villages . . .

30 Days of World-Building (Second Edition) - Day 6 - Races

Exercise 6 - Spend 10 minutes figuring out what people who evolved in each major area of you world would look like. Then spend another 5 minutes asking "what if this group encountered that group?" Would they fight? Trade? Both? Inter-marry and blend their genetic types? Would they remain largely separate, with pure strains of both racial groups co-existing (not necessarily peacefully)? How would that encounter be brought about in the first place?

First note worth mentioning: this story features primarily human beings, with references to the supernatural here and there. While drastic differences in basic features don't occur, differences arise based upon social background and physical living location.

Second note worth mentioning: while regions exist within this world, most people are separated by whether they lived on the Fringe or in the Cities. Villages and cities can differ slightly, based on location and ruling forces, but overall, the similarities outweigh the differences.

The Fringe-Dwellers - The tough, down-to-earth, hard-working for meager pay citizens of your typical village. Most are hardened to the rough environment at an early age, and as a result, genetics have resulted in Fringe-Dwellers having naturally broad shouldered and calloused on both the palms and feet. While some villages suffer heavily from plagues or sickness (especially those along the River of Blood), others are self-supporting: they may still have to pay recompense to the queen, but most of the time, those on the Fringe are left to their own means. Calls for help are rarely answered, and when they are, the armed forces are meager, rambunctious, and, rather ironically, more of a problem instead of a deterrent . . .

The City-Dwellers - The often-frail, philosophical, and servant-employing citizens of your typical city. Those with the good fortune of being born in the cities are nurtured towards a life of luxury: the cost of living anywhere within the city would be considered a small fortune to those on the Fringe. In addition to this "silver-spoon" attitude, the City-Dwellers are heavily invested in science and philosophy: they are always looking for the key to absolute knowledge, they want to know how their world works. Is there a higher power? If so, what does he or she want? Additionally, most City-Dwellers think of those on the Fringe as a plague, and try their hardest to fortify their cities against those who bear signs of sickness. While this level of paranoia is rather commonplace, most of those employed in the profession of Doctor reject these claims. These doctors (who have formed their own union within own particular city) are instead pursuing a different mission: eradicate the disease plaguing the Fringe-Dwellers. This has drawn ire from the high society, but no direct action has taken place yet . . .

The Blood Harvesters - Most people believe they don't exist. Others fear them more than death itself. To be captured by them is to face a fate that even the most demented of torturers couldn't bear to imagine. These people were driven to the edge long ago, when fear of the plague and sickness was at it's peak. Originally a radical group of City-Dwellers, they believed that their blood was poisoned by this plague. As a result, they were possessed by this idea that if they could exchange blood with someone else, they could be rid of their sickness. They haunted the cities, as City-Dwellers would vanish in the middle of the night. People wondered why the Queen didn't order them exiled. Appeals to those in charge went unnoticed. Eventually, the City-Dwellers took a stand, and launched a counter attack against the Blood Harvesters. However, they managed to escape, fleeing to every corner of the continent, some far beyond the reaches of the Queen's power. They still haunt the City-Dwellers today, and the stories and legends have seeped into the tales of the Fringe-Dwellers, transforming a once real and dangerous threat into a ghost story meant to scare children into obedience. They have been silent lately, but people have begun to go missing from the Fringes . . .

Relations - Communication between the Cities and the Fringes is minimal: the occasional trade caravan passes through, but fear of the plague often scares most traders away from the caravans. Those that do venture in the Fringes often invest in hiring a doctor to serve them while they travel, in case one of them gets sick on the road. The Blood Harvesters have become little more than myth now, but certain individuals in high society know that they are, in fact, very real. Some even have . . . business deals with them, every now and then . . .