The world of Binsmuth should be a paradise. Two sibling gods acting together to build a place where animals, plants, and humans live in harmony. Imagine such a world. I did. It started with imagining these two gods sitting in a void. They talked of something and called it light Together they forged the sun from pure chaos. The aether swirled around them. One imagined stone and soil, metals and gems, while the other imagined curious creatures that strolled beneath mighty trees. One of those creations was humans. They came together and forged the world. Where the land formed under them became known as Godsdown, a place where the gods themselves came down to Binsmuth. These kind gods gave the humans laws to balance their place in the world against that of the flora and fauna around them. Peace ruled for a time, but their father had other plans.
The Core Elements of Fantasy Worldbuilding
It often starts with something like that. Some of the greatest authors have enriched our lives with detailed worldbuilding, rife with nooks and crannies for you to discover on the pages of their novels. It’s the bright and shiny lure that drags you along behind it, questing to taste such a pretty prize. The characters are not just dropped into a vanilla landscape. The story is more than arcs and plot points. It takes languages, gods, geography, politics and intrigue to make a world. The reader is a story geologist, digging into the map of the world and uncovering the layers of complexity that fill the mind with images of the world the protagonist lives within. See the words but imagine the world forming around you.
The Mechanics Behind the Magic
For me, the challenges lay in the mechanics behind the scenes. It is not enough to create, there has to be a logical flow, consistency and cohesiveness. I immerse myself in my world until I can see the landscape, the rarely trodden paths, and the outposts of civilization that mark the places where my characters have carved out their space in the world. The further you go into a world, the more the pieces must connect. It is a time-honored tradition to place kingdoms within lands. The systems that govern those kingdoms have to make sense. Binsmuth has a duality to it.
There is the mundane world, ruled by kings, queens, and in some places a tyrannical wizard. Then there is the world of religion. Binsmuth is not governed by abstract absent omnipotent beings. It is a place where the goddess of nature actively intervenes to ensure that there is a place for all, even those she doesn’t create. To make this happen she has invested priests to carry her word to those who need to live in harmony, druids to take care of the land, and holy warriors, paladins, to enforce the laws in times of need. Interweaving those two halves is a difficult dance, choreographed down to the very forests themselves. That is the essence of world building. Interlinking all those elements into a tapestry that brings the world to life.
Divine Systems: Gods and Their Orders
Those entrusted with the gifts of the goddess set themselves apart from society. They coexist but rise to the call. Her spirit passes through them to give them the ability to carry out her desires. Some humans feel called to her brother, to harvest from the soil and rock the things that humans need to survive and prosper. This is not contrary to her will. She and her brother view their world as a joint effort.
Building a Cohesive Magic System
How does magic play a part in this world. It comes from either order or chaos? Those gifted by the goddess and her brother are channeling the divine nature of their celestial patrons. They shape their spells through prayer. It is this passing from goddess to mortal that allows the druidess to manipulate the land or cause the animals to rise up in defense. Priests channel their prayers to do things that honor their god. Paladins augment their physical prowess with the divine.
Conflict: The Engine of Your World
To build a believable world is to imagine all the elements. Why do the farmers toil? What happens when there is mundane strife mixed with that generated by the immortal overseers. To truly understand a fictional world is to deeply feel its making. Becoming invested in what has been created is the truest test of a story. Hopefully as you read Rise of the Veilbreaker you feel that immersion, that love that was laid out into those words. I look forward to hearing about what you imagine and feel on this journey.
The Final Test: Achieving Reader Immersion
Why they do this is even more important. Without strife, a story is just a trip across the lands. Opposing the order that the god and goddess have invested in this world is their father. Exactly why he opposes them is part of the story. It must be revealed across the pages and chapters to be fully understood. The magic is not a gimmick to place this story in the fantasy realm. It is important, woven into the fabric of the tapestry.