It Never Ends.

okay so may as well start with a very bad oversimplification of lore (Part 1, Dust Era)

Meteors hit desert world bringing good shit Life begins to evolve Lizards Lizards grow big Big lizards become drakes(dragon with no wings and chunky) Big lizard species splits at some point One wants to be bipedal, other wants to fly, third branch is fine with being as is A lot of time passes idfk how much I have no sense of time

Bipedal drakes become drakanoids that look kinda like elves Smart drakanoids are known as Proto-Elves

Flying family starts off with dragons, splits again One flying side is wyrms(arms are wings), one side remains as dragons A lot more time passes and now the Proto-Elves are more smart Some begin to form tribes and some of those tribes are now using very rudimentary magic No mages or anything yet, sorta like medicine men and shamans Those magic tribes start isolating themselves from the non-magic tribes Suddenly angry tree humanoids(treenoids? plantnoids?) called Dak-Shan spring from caves War breaks out and non-magic tribes are not doing so hot Some of the magic tribes emerge from hiding and their magic is like better but not super complex circles and shit Takes 10k years but turns out they're enough to drive back the Dak-Shan and now Proto-Elves can work on civilizations minus regular infighting More time passes(like say 100k years), the non-magic tribes either slowly die out or merged with the magic tribes Some of the magic tribes die out because they stayed isolated or some scuffle happened with borders Remaining tribes now have cities, and soon these cities will become kingdoms, and kingdoms to empires(10k year span)

Whenever I think about advancement of the elves compared to real life human technological advancement, I feel like it's an unfair comparison. Like wifi? Kind of useless when you can just say someone's name and out pops a circle that projects their image like a video call. Same issue with phones too. Cars? They have magic. They'll have hovercars before us even if their technological(not magical) advancement level is behind us.

Arthur C. Clarke may have said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” in the context of sci-fi, but I feel like high fantasy should take advantage of thinking more on how naturally occurring magic would impact technological advancement. Maybe technological advancement is not worth it when there's widely useable spells at everyone's fingertips, maybe technological advancement only happens to make lives more convenient and slowly but surely magic usage dies out in favour of tech, maybe people invent things for fun but never use them for practical purposes, maybe magic drives advancement so that it's completely incomparable to human tech.

Too much thinking for me and thinking too much on technology kills the high fantasy for me, but maybe it doesn't to others. Maybe high science fantasy is or will become a thing in the future and future writers are more willing to delve into magical advancement vs nonmagical advancement.

Small fantasy worldbuilding elements you might want to think about:

A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin

A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans

A clock that isn’t 24-hours

More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know

Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain

Multiple moons/no moon

Planetary rings

A northern lights effect, but near the equator

Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks

Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals

Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands

The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage

No concept of virginity or bastardry

More than 2 genders/no concept of gender

Monotheism, but not creationism

Gods that don’t look like people

Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats

Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot

Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom

“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls

A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language

A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)

I’ve done about half of these myself in one WIP or another and a little detail here or there goes a long way in reminding the audience that this isn’t Kansas anymore.

Universal Lore- Part 1, The High Realms(Tilemgie- Boriasonde)

"We had always known that we would not be forever. We could see all pasts and all futures, and we could see which of those was most likely to be the true path of time. This "absolute time" was what we were created to control, to ensure that the sands of time would always flow in one direction and never loop back.

"We could see the futures of many civilizations both new and old and the future of the dimension-travelling Altersaeans and space-weaving Spaelculans, but we did not see one for us. In all the threads of fate and each of the grains of sand that held a destiny, we did not have one. No endless expanse of black or white, but a simple nothing- we were fated to never have a future.

"We could not prevent this, and we could not flee- after all, without our home realm or Tilisnet, there was nowhere we could survive in- no realm held the exact conditions that could sustain our beings. More so was that none of us were able to warn Avaas or Seclir of Nix's hand in our destruction- Tilisnet said that it was not our place to do so, as we were never made to defy time- only protect it- so we could only accept our fates and live while we still could.

"Now, Tilisnet had created us to have some semblance of free will- more than the Spaelculans, but less than the Altersaeans, as he foresaw that it would one day be necessary that at least some of us would be able to sever ties with him. This had also meant that we were capable of arguing, but some of us did not want to and clung onto the hope that there was one path that could lead to the preservation of Boriasonde. Some of us argued that this was folly and that absolute time cannot be defied, and that we must endure for surely we will persevere in some other form.

"I was part of the latter group. I knew we had no future as the Tilemgians of Boriasonde and the Peoples of Time, and I too feared that The Tearing was our end, but a part of me knew that we would change, that at least a few of us would survive and become something new.

"I was correct, but there was no joy in this as my old friends that were of the former group are all deceased. So, so many of my brethren are dead and cannot be brought back even if Tilisnet were to return and Boriasonde to be rebuilt. Those that have died had their clockwork hearts be torn apart by the tendrils of the abyss or shattered by the piercing shockwaves from the very fabric of Boriasonde's reality being torn apart.

"If their hearts were still intact, they had a chance of being restored, but there is nothing left of them besides memories, and even those are becoming fainter with each day that passes.

"We are scattered throughout this existence- some flung into a distant future, some in the present, and some in the past; some were fortunate enough to make their ways onto planets with strong magic that could preserve us though not save us, and some were able to muster enough power to travel to Derizaren or Anarezen-

"-But our fate has been sealed, and what was once our greatest power has become our greatest detriment.

"The Altersaeans are meant to only remember for as long as the celestial body they guard exists. When that body is destroyed through unnatural means, they are "reset". The Spaelculans gardually forget as time passes as they were never meant to remember every detail of the Lower Realms' lives and worlds. Us Tilemgians were special in that we were never meant to forget, as this inherently violated the duty we were created to perform. We could not suffer from memory overload due to our close bond to time itself, which made us the exceptions to the rules all else in existence must abide by.

"Thus, our memories were our pride until The Tearing. With The Tearing and our scattering throughout time and the High Realms and Lower planes, we have been reduced to a lesser form for the lack of a better term. Our memories that count to almost an infinite amount of years are now a disease, and these memories cause us to become sickly as our now near-mortal minds cannot handle the burden of infinity.

"Many of us have both willingly and unwillingly forgotten some of these memories so that we could preserve our lifespans, some have also gone as far as to give up some of their abilities such as foresight.

"But the remainder groups...they still cling tightly to these memories, as they believe that to abandon them is to abandon our duties. They feel mortality so keenly in their sickness and yet they are stubborn in believing that we are still infinite. I envy them in that regard, but they too will die if they continue to live in this way.

"But enough of wallowing in our misery and mourning what was lost. The existence of the Tilemgians is now in the past and we cannot change this- but we can change ourselves. We now can evolve as the drakes on the elven planet and the crystalline structures on the pseudo-planet have done.

"Though we have lost much, we have been reborn to a trial by flame, and I hold hope that we will endure and become a new species that will carry on the duties of time while being both Eternaveilan and Mortal."

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I'll release the drafts for the alternate versions of what this was going to be later, and yes this story is supposed to be a lot shorter because it'd otherwise reiterate what was already stated in the other High Realms posts.

Previous High Realms lore posts- Derizaren(Spaelcul): https://at.tumblr.com/elvaria-project/universal-lore-part-1-the-high-realmsspaelcul/910zw5urt2xv

Anarexen(Altersae): https://at.tumblr.com/elvaria-project/universal-lore-part-1-the-high-realmsaltersae/1far5pd63wga

Civalthax(Voiskana): https://at.tumblr.com/elvaria-project/universal-lore-part-1-the-high-realmsvoiskana/w8dawu2zblez

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Taglist for writing-

@aneci

If anyone else would like to join the taglist, feel free to DM me or send in an ask! I will also have a separate taglist for art posts.

Proper post scheduled to 12:30 PM EST, see you guys :)

Types of intelligence for your OCs

What kind of intelligence does your character posses? Based on theory of multiple intelligences, these are some ideas what kind of smarts your characters might posses that aren’t the typical academic or street smarts. 

1. Visual-spatial (space smart)

These people are good at visualizing things, seeing in 3D, being able to imagine how things look even out of sight from the information they have about it. They are good with directions, maps, charts and pictures. Eye for drawing, patterns and puzzles. 

Especially useful for: architects, engineers, artists, pilots

2. Linguistic-verbal (word smart)

The ability to use words well, when writing and speaking. Typical strenghts are telling stories, memorizing information, love for reading, skill with words, debating and persuasive skills, adept at explaining complicated subjects. Also tend to be great at languages. 

Especially useful for: writers, journalists, lawyers, teachers, public speakers

3. Logical (reasoning smart)

Not necessarily but possibly mathematical, these people are great at reasoning, pattern recognition and logical analysis. Enjoyment for abstract thinking and ideas, excellent problem-solving skills and logical argumentation are other common traits. Pattersn, categories, relationships. 

Especially useful for: mathematicians, accountants, scientists, and detectives.

4. Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)

Great hand-eye cordination, physical movement, often skilled at sports, dancing and creating things with their hands. Learn and remember rather by doing than listening or reading. Sense of timing and mind-body union excellent. 

Especially useful for: dancers, sculptors, actors, athletes, surgeons, crafts people, soldiers, police officers

5. Musical (sound smart)

Sensitive listeners. Thinking in patterns, recognizing rhythms, notes and melodies, good at remembering tunes, these people often enjoy singing or playing instruments. Often show great understanding of musical structure and know quickly when they hear someone going off-key. 

Especially useful for: musical teachers, composers, musicians, 

6. Interpersonal (people smart)

These people are very good at understanding and interacting with others. From verbal to non-verbal communication, they are proficient at assessing motivations, moods and desires of others and seeing things from multiple perspectives. Great communicators, create positive relationships with others easily and solve group dynamics and group conflicts well. Also enjoy discussions, debates and teamwork. 

Especially useful for: psychologists, counselors, salespeople, politicians, philosophers, teachers, managers, team leaders

7. Intrapersonal (self smart)

The opposite of interpersonal smarts is the intrapersonal intelligence, where people are very in tune with themselves and their feelings. They are honest with themselves, enjoy self-reflection, analysing theories and ideals, love daydreaming, and show great self-awareness and assessment of their own strenghts and weaknesses. 

Especially useful for: writers, philosophers, theorits, scientists

Bonus types: 

8. Creative (ideas smart) 

People that show exceptional curiousity, get inspired by little things around them and connect ideas and concepts in an unsual way. It’s a more feeling-based, spontaneous type of intelligence that gets less recognition, but brings immense benefits in all fields. 

Especially useful for: artists, marketers, scientists, concept artists, 

10. Abstract (concept smart)

Drawn to abstract ideas, these people enjoy deep discussions, don’t like to settle on one truth and ask questions that have no easy or no answer at all. Connecting, conceptualizing, analysing, listening and putting things together, they are great at seeing things from a distance, seeing the whole and not just the pieces. 

Especially useful for: scientists, philosophers, researchers, theorists, designers, analysts

Writing advice masterlist

“Your art isn’t valued by the number of notes you get” okay but. If you spent 6 hours baking a cake for a party, but no one at the party eats your cake, it’s still disappointing.

This is a note to myself Elementals- foreign beings from the elemental planes Primordials- beings that sprung from Elvaria when elemental energies started bleeding into the world Elementals aren't like fully sentient beings from the view of a regular person, they're more than that but sort of in a lower dimension way(?), like if people think in 3D(concept of length width and depth so having a tangible idea of space and being limited to what can be seen from a point on a 3d object like a globe), elementals think more like 2d where they're missing the idea of "limits" and inherently will not understand strictly 3d concepts unless they fuse with something 3d(so like half elves on Elvaria just think normally but with a different perspective of existence compared to before they became half elves) Abstract ideas to us are not abstract to elementals, that's how they think normally and vice versa with regular beings

They're not quite simple and have different needs than Lower Realm beings so they don't need ideas like distinct cultures or individuality, but rather the desire to spread influence Bringing elemental energies to Elvaria to them was extending a gift to the elves and embracing the world's "potential" as it now had the energy(asurei) to "reach" and break through limits, while the elves at the time saw it as making their problems worse and the elemental energy as bleeding into the world instead of a gift for them to prosper The elves in the modern day think of elementals as cryptic and foreign beings but elemental energies are now widely used and there is definitely more appreciation towards it

Primordials are not that smart and were never meant to be, they're basically when things in the world have the spark of "potential" and elemental energies will seep into them to create a core in something, which will spring out a primordial from similar structures(ie volcanoes created the fire giants but the main core was in Embylviska) Since they lack the kind of spark elementals have, they're very simple and think like animals even if their thoughts are "3d" Half-elementals are right in between, since by technicality they're from the world but were created from outside means that didn't come from the elementals. Their intelligence also varies since it's determined by whoever created them

So what is the "potential"? Honestly I have no idea yet, but for now the idea is ability to adapt or if it's at a certain threshold that makes it distinct from others of the same kind The ability to adapt doesn't necessarily have to have been there from the start, it can be triggered from a specific event that gives everything in the world "potential" and that "potential" will attract elementals to it naturally Not every world in the Lower Realm will have "potential", so not every world has an elemental presence. There still may be elements, but they're just regular elements like in the real world Half elves aren't necessarily elves with more "potential" than others, but rather what's most convenient for an elemental seeking to assimilate because of its core losing energy

I am alive again but missing a lot of homework so we will see if I can even post anything this weekend