The Artemis Scrolls Series: World Building

[byakuryuu]

Backdrop:

In a world parallel to our own, magic and science are one, giving birth to marvel after marvel over the ages. The name of this world... is Artemis. Lush, dangerous and of many mysteries, it is a world governed by the Emperor of The Clouds, the Hero of the last great conflict, Greyshard; a Dragon who has ruled the races for more than a thousand years in relative peace.

Timeline Prior to the Series:

Around 4,000 YBS (Years Before Series): The Great Veil is lifted, revealing the race of Dragons to the Mortal World. Dragon Empress Leia seeks to rule over the mortal races, claiming the titanic dragons to be superior. Thus begins the 200 Years of Blood. Dwarves, Humans and Elves fight against the Dragons and their servants, the Orcs and Goblins. The Kings of the Human Lands all but perish, save for two: Redbeard and Bluebeard. The Elven High Priest is killed at the wars end.

Around 3,800 YBS: Empress Leia fights the Stewardess of the Dwarves, Sheila of the Forge, to a standstill atop The Mithril Tower, destroying it in the process. Empress Leia, humiliated by the standstill, agrees to a truce for two thousand years, retreating to the Dragon's Valley, ending the 200 Years of Blood. Thus, begins the Great Stillness. The population of all races is greatly decimated from metal, Sorcery and Dragonfire. The estimate population reduction is around 70 percent.

Around 2,800 YBS: Empress Leia dies of old age. The Great Stillness goes on as magic slowly dies. Dragon-hate is still widespread, and the Orcs move beyond the sea after thousands of years of servitude. The Elven Kingdom of "The Whispering Wind" (Al-Sun-Thes) declare war on the Human Republic of Staghorn. Soon, the Elves and Humans both bring racial differences as almost every Kingdom and Republic has a hand in battle. The war lasts 20 years and there is no clear winner due to strategic cities captured by both sides but tensions begin to set in with the other races of Elven treachery. The Dwarves, in an attempt to hold the peace, build a tomb for Empress Leia. Emperor Valk takes command of the Dragon Empire, once a trusted General in the army.

Around 2,500 YBS: The Great Stillness continues. The races continue their differences as small wars between smaller Kingdoms happen now and again throughout Artemis. The Dragon who would be Emperor of the Clouds, Greyshard, is born. The to-be-Empress, Staia, is born to Emperor Valk and Empress Heln.

Around 2,000 YBS: The Orcs return; at the head of them the Council of the Fields, who have unified the previously-warring Orcish tribes. They wage war with their former masters, the Dragons. A majority of the human nations band together with the Orcs to destroy the dragon empire as Dragon-hate reaches a boil.

Around 1,900 YBS: Emperor Valk and Empress Heln are killed in combat by the descendant and heir-apparent of the Bluebeards and Redbeards: Bolshack of the Stone. The Dragon Empire splinters and Staia, heir to the Empire, disappears. Bolshack performs the taboo of drinking the Blood of the Emperor, making him insane. He disappears as the Council of the Fields takes full rule of the land. The Great Stillness goes on. Dragons are exiled to where the Orcs went.

Around 1,500 YBS: The Great Stillness ends and the Age of the Black Mark begins. Developments in technology come rapidly as magically-sensitive creatures die at an equally-fast race. The Council of Fields is made null as Lord Protector Broll of the Orcs usurps power and unleashes a sickening plague on all the races, save for those who swear subservience. The Dragons are called to help, but are now fearful. Greyshard and his wife, Staia, agree to help the other races restore order, killing Broll. Within a few years, the Black Mark ceases, but chaos still reigns. The Council of Fields is brought together with the Priesthood of the Elves and the Houses of Men. The Dwarven King is given a seat on the congregation.

Around 1,400 YBS: Greyshard, now a hero to all, is given position as Emperor by the council, after a hundred years of peace. Staia becomes Empress, restored to her royal stature. The races begin a long march of peace as orcs, humans, goblins, elves, dwarves and dragons move towards a better future. Technology advances. The races work together to restore the dwindling magic.

Around 1,000 YBS: After 400 years, magic begins to grow again. Heir to the Empire, Sheila, is born. Staia, Empress of the Dragons, passes on after revealing she has fought the Black Mark for 500 years. Her strength is used up in the birth of her daughter.

Around 500 YBS: Magic and technology advance rapidly as airships take flight of all shapes and sizes. The City Above The Clouds rises for the first time as Royal Palace to the Emperor Greyshard and his daughter.

Around 300 YBS: Elvish eccentric Calstos discovers Blood Magic to the community of science and magicka. It is treated with great distrust.

0 YBS: The Heir to the Empire, Sheila, is killed, setting the plot in motion. Leon Tzar, pudgy assistant to a magician, wakes up from his nap.

 

[byakuryuu]

Government:

Humans/Dwarves: The Dwarves are the most long-lived race in Artemis save for the Goblins and Dragons and thus considered among the wisest in general. However, they are very locked in tradition in comparison to the varied and adaptable humans, and find a mutual understanding and love for science, mercantilism and heterogeneous communities. The current state of government for the Dwarves and Humans are separated into individual districts; totaling to more than thirty district Governors who answer to a Common Court based on the structure of the Court of Stone for the Dwarves three thousand years before, which in turn answers to and advises the Emperor.

Elves: The elves incorporate religious belief alongside their government and are strict in the carriage of The Word of the Mother, a book whose laws they follow. Government in general is very focused into individual Houses, with each village, city or township since the destruction of the capital of Al-Sun-Thes by Bolshack, who turned the kingdom into a ruin. Each House tends to specialize in a particular sector of the local governing body, although there are exceptions for several Houses who run several or all matters of infrastructure and legislation. A notable one of this is the Rodomin House, which governs across two cities and one village. The Houses in turn answer to the High Priest or High Priestess.

Orcs: The Orcs run on a system similar to the Elves, in that they incorporate religious belief into governance. Each Clan has a head which has a place in the Council of Fields. As the Orcs are a matriarchal society, more often than not, the Council of Fields' Khaz-Dor (Moon's Hammer) has been female and head of the Council of Fields. The Orcs are the only members of the Empire who have acted with such a degree of independence from the Empire that some assume they are an autonomous body of their own.

Goblins/Dragons: Goblins in general have no governmental identity of their own save for a few Committees, working under the direct observation of the Emperor and the Dragons themselves, having been their servants for millennia. The greatest concentration of Goblins is in The City Above The Clouds and The Spines of Radgethorn. The Dragons answer only to the Emperor as their absolute leader alongside his Council of advisors and his Regents who run a number of cities within the Empire.

 

[zerohour]

Interesting backstory, but what exactly is the plot going to be?

You mentioned that technology advances quickly starting from 1500 years before the start, so what level is it going to be at? Do they have space travel, modern age? What? They have fligth for five hundred years, so they should be futuristic, if it matches our own technological development, but is this the case?

Sorry this isn't more positive, but it mostly seems that you're giving background, which tells us very little about the actual plot. Is this the end of the Dragons reign? Is Leon going to quest from some Draconic booty so they can get a new heir? All I know is that Leon is probably important, though he could be just a POV character like Ishmael was for captain Ahab in Moby Dick. I need more information before I can tell you much besides "the background seems interesting and well thought out."

Edit: And what are the Artemis scrolls? They seem important.

 

[byakuryuu]

Yeah, I'm building the world first. I got a protagonist and a plot, but I'd like to explain the setting first, like a DnD Campaign. This is the "WORLD BUILDING" section of the story/series and I'll be posting the storyline/plotline on another topic. This topic's exclusively made to brainstorm politics, geography, important figures, hierarchy, etcetera.

Anyway, the technological advances have been quite slow. If I want to compare the level of technology to us, I'd put the people of the series at the tech level of the early 1800s/late 1700s in terms of weaponry and a lot of magitek supplements. The Dragons have instilled a sort of arrogance in their ways as they are the most in-tune with the flow of magic in the world and, although this isn't the case with all of them, are generally pricks although not exactly racist.

The Artemis Scrolls are, well... the story themselves and the happenings that occur on the world of Artemis (Specifically the Greater Continent). I've decided that the whole story'd span across a 6 year period at least.

 

[Meinos Kaen]

It is the world building thread, after all... Did you already write anything for this?

 

[Meinos Kaen]

Well, it is the world building thread, after all. Did you already write anything for this?

 

[byakuryuu]

It is the world building thread, after all... Did you already write anything for this?

Strange as it may seem, this started off as a Skyrim fanfic featuring three distinct storylines: Paarthurnax's quest for the redemption of all dragonkind, Sheogorath's conflict between his love for humanity and the duality of his chaotic nature and the Dragonborn's slow corruption and descent into a warmonger after the slaying of his destined foe, Alduin.

Bolshack, the Orc who slew the Emperor and Empress is based on the previous idea of the Dragonborn (Who was an Imperial in the original fic). Paarthurnax is obviously Greyshard and Sheogorath is... whoops! No spoiling yet. Cthonic entities haven't made their way into the lore yet.

A gist of it begins with Leon, an overweight teenager dreaming of making his big break in an acting troupe working as a part-time plumber for a Sorcerer who has just undergone retirement, whose retirement into a mountain town may not be as it seems. This Sorcerer rambles on about having been on several research teams commissioned by the Imperial Sciences and Magicks Division, and was previous head of several projects.

Then he is killed in a somewhat normal-seeming robbery, days after the death of the Emperor's beloved daughter. No one thinks much of it, until it's pointed out that the robbery isn't all that it seems.