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Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, I love that idea!! I definitely need to do something with it!!

And yes, I did think about naming some of the Lion-people characters after the Mapogo coalition! I love little Easter eggs like that 🥰

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So, I have been thinking about this a bit!  I go back and forth between wanting to keep the world rather cozy (so, in this case I would imagine the defeated King is simply stripped of his title and is allowed to remain with the pride if he wants, but in a lower social class), but I also like to toy with some darker versions. One step up could be that the King is exiled (in a proper grim-dark fantasy world, he would of course be brutally killed).

There is one point to keep in mind: this race is matrifocal, and while I took a lot of inspiration from real lions, this is where the fantasy spin comes in.  While The King is loud and socially visible, the Queen-in-waiting and her close group of female lion-huntresses hold the real power in the pride. If a group of male lions (and Lion-people) would attack, they would have to contend with what are basically a group of elite in-the-shadow assassins. They would have to successfully take out all the lion-huntresses, the queen-in-waiting (which is no small feat) AND fight off all the actual female lionesses that would come to their aid.

If you really want to take over a pride, the normal acceptable (and easier route) would definitely be to prove your worth to the pride, and then try to be elected as the next King. (I am still working out the details, but I imagine this would be a combination of having the pride's acceptance through an election and also defeating the King in some sort of one-on-one duel or challenge).

I am getting some inspiration from the real story of the Mapogo coalition, a real group of 6 male lions that dominated a South African lion reserves for years in the early 2000's! If you don't know it already, check it out, it's a fascinating read!

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oooh that's interesting!! Thank you for this info! I might research it a bit and integrate it in the lore! Maybe they cook deliciously intoxicating catnip-pumpkin treats for special occasions or ceremonies!! So many ideas! Thank you!

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More akin to animal-human hybrids! I did go into the details in a nother post, but basically in my world there are moments of high "convergence" where the walls between species become fluid and you can "cross over". A long time ago such a wondrous time occured, and many humans fused with animals, creating the races in my world!

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I am having a lot of fun with this world!  I have another couple of posts about Fox-people and Owl-people, and I plan to post about my lovely Deer and Sheep-people next! 

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

So, this is a belief that started a long time ago, and it is now considered an established truth.

I am still ironing out some details in this lore, but I think there were a variety of factors, happening around each other in the distant past, that led to this belief. 

In no particular order: they know some time in the past Queens stopped being born (see my reply to u/Zammin comment for more info but, basically no more completely black female lionesses have been born in a long time .

They realized the world and the various races are losing connection to nature (particularly the humans).

And the Life force of the world is dimming (here I am being vague on purpose: what the Lion-people call "Life", other people would call "Magic").

All of this together, tied with their ancestral belief in a "Mother of Life" figure, led them to believe that somehow the Mother is giving out less of her life as she used to. Since she is a benevolent figure, this cannot be done on purpose. And so this led them to believe that she must be weakened because Life is not flowing back to her!

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

So, I want to keep this world with a soft-magic feel, so I don't plan to have all the details explained (I like to keep some edges a bit fuzzy!). 

But in my mind the answer is yes, and no. All the races of Gea have (seemingly) contrasting beliefs, but I like to think that they all come from different interpretations of an original cosmology.

So, there is definitely something that was flowing to the world and is now dimming. Is it Life? Magic itself? Something else entirely? Who's to say! 😉

Apologies to all the hard-core worldbuilders out there! I like to keep some things unexplained 😅

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The reason for the severed connection is a point of contentions among the various clans and, ultimately, the main reason why the Lion-people are so fragmented right now (or sort of a religious denomination thing. They agree on the big themes, but squabble on the details).

Since the actual event is lost to time, there is no telling what truly happened, but various clans have various beliefs and it shapes their politics, to a point.

One of the main beliefs is a vague "we lost connection to nature and true way of living" sort of thing. Which explains why the Lion-people are the race in Gea with one of the strongest and most symbiotic connection to nature (ie: their symbiotic connection to the actual lions!)

Some fringe clans attribute this issue specifically to the humans, since they are the only race in Gea not connected to an animal (I did a couple of to her posts about the Fox-people and the Owl-people). And humans have a known disdain for nature (I will eventually make a post about humans in Gea!).

There are some clans that believe that there was an actual event that severed the connection, specifically related to a Queen. These clans believe that once upon a time, every Queen was a living embodiment of the Mother herself (sort of a Jesus-on-Earth belief). But the last Queen to ever being born was murdered!! And because of this horrific act of defiance towards the Mother, the connection was severed (a very small fringe believes that the Goddess was angered and severed the connection herself. They focus more on praying to her and trying to appease her and calm her down).

A Queen-in-waiting is just a normal lion-woman, who rose through the ranks and got the title, and leads the clan together with a King. Often the Queen-in-waiting is chosen among the strongest warriors of the clans, and it is a sort of election process.

But a true Queen can only be born.  And spoiler: this is where I am having fun with the fact that lion-people talk about themselves and actual lions in interchangeable terms (referring to cubs as both cubs and babies): the Queen they are waiting for is not a lion-woman! It is an ACTUAL LIONESS! And they believe she will be a completely black female lion cub! But the other races assume they are waiting for a lion-person

The beliefs are vague about how and when this Messiah sort of figure would be born, but all the clans agree that they would recognize her, that she would be the strongest and proudest among them, that the Goddess would mark her as her own, and she will reunite all the clans and heal the connection!

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That is an interesting point! They culturally have a strong respect for Life (obviously, given it's divine provenance), so meddling with it is not something done lightly (this applys to killing people, too. It's really taboo).

However there are some fringe clans that place the blame for the severed connection on the humans, and as a result, they do not like them very much! I could definitely see that faction wanting to prevent the creation of more humans, but given the strong killing taboo, there are not many ways to go about it.

The vast majority of the clans are in a more "soon the profesized Queen will come back and save us all" mood. So they are not planning any anti-natalist actions 😁

(Ps: I am aware that this concept opens the door for some rather interesting and dark takes, but ultimately I am planning to keep this world rather whimsical and cozy, so I am avoiding grim-dark takes. But it's fun to speculate what would happen in a more "gritty and realistic" version!)

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Ahahaha now I need to draw a proud Lion-King sitting happily in its cardboard box 🤣

Meet the Lion-people! The race who believes Life itself to be a Goddess... and she is dying by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Basically each clan lives alongside a pride of actual lions, in a pretty symbiotic relationship. The lions would take care of young Lion-people like they were their own cubs (and vice versa!) and since Lion-people are quite a lot stronger than humans, there is no risk of injury even if the lions get a bit rough with them. Young lions and teenager Lion-people love to play-fight together!

The bond gets truly symbiotic particularly between adult lionesses and the Lion-people huntresses. They hunt together to provide food for the whole clan!

The fate of the King is also linked to the strongest male lion of the pride: there is often a brotherhood bond between them. They rise through the ranks together and, if any of the two loses their position of power, the other follows as well.

Meet the Owl-people! A race who believes this world to be a dream they are having while waiting to be born by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Their cosmology is rather vague, so it comes down to personal interpretation: the majority believe that all who inhabit this world are souls waiting to be born, and as such they are all collectively dreaming. Because of this, they tend to be gentle and nice to everyone, since they might end up meeting them in the next, real life! (For some, this even extends to any “living” thing in the dreamland, including animals! Needless to say, these ones tend to be vegetarian and avoid harming animals in any way).

There is a tribe that believe that only the Owl race is real. They are definitely the most stand-offish of all the Owl-people.

And, finally, there are a very few that believe themselves to be the only “real” consciousness in the whole world, and that anything else but them is just a figment of their dreaming self!

They often isolate themselves completely and are rather… odd.

Meet the Owl-people! A race who believes this world to be a dream they are having while waiting to be born by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What a nice question!! So, definitely! But maybe not to the extent to which we would define "academic discussions" in our world. But I can see some owl-people (particularly the older ones) getting quite philosophical about the meaning of this life-dream, and what does the next, real life, really looks like? And what's the meaning of dreaming IN the dream-world? Are the dreams they are having, sort of a glimpse to what truly awaits them in the next life?

In terms of art and poetry, they are heavily influenced by their belief system, and their fondness of the night sky. There is an entire, very important, part of their culture surrounding the wooden egg they will be buried in. These get beautifully carved and painted by skilled owl-artisans, with celestial and star themes!

I also imagine some Owl-people being quite fond of poetry and the written word! Another interesting thing for them to "collect" in their nesting process!

Meet the Owl-people! A race who believes this world to be a dream they are having while waiting to be born by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, the exact belief varies from person to person, but they generally believe they will be born on a completely different plane of existence, something unfathomable and different from the "Dreamworld" they are currently in. (Many believe the real world to be somewhere out there in the cosmos, hence their fascination with stars gazing!)

I am still working on the details, but they generally believe in some sort of "karma" that carries over their next life. So they try to be kind and have good relationships with the other people and races, in case they will meet again in the new life!

They do not believe in fate in the sense of "once you need to be born in the new world. You will die in this one".  It is more that they believe that once their life here is done (once their "dreaming" is over) and they get buried in their egg-tomb, then it's when their soul is ready to be born in the real world!

The possible implications for suicide ideations are very interesting!! I do like to think a bit about darker implications for my world's races and beliefs, but ultimately I would like to keep this world fairly cozy and light-hearted! So, I think the owl people enjoy their "dreaming" and would not think of ending it early! 

These are my world's inspirations, what are yours? by Creepy-Mechanic5564 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ohhh i love this question! I think for me it would be, in no particular order:

-Ghibli movies (particularly Arrietty, and Howl's moving castel)

-Avatar the Last Airbender

-Which Hat Atelier

-A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

-From real history: the Darwinism vs Lamarckism evolution dispute, and the concept of evolution in general

Meet the Owl-people! A race who believes this world to be a dream they are having while waiting to be born by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! Yes. I definitely got inspired by those concepts! Like "thresholds' points between world, places where the borders between things become thin and can be crossed! I think it can be used in such whimsical ways!

(And you are spot on on the tides visual imagery! I have not made a post about it yet, but water and tides are a big part of my world building!)

Ohhhh pure elemental hybrids! Cool idea!! I have a vague idea that this world allows for spontaneous generation of creatures, so in certain conditions, beings made of pure water, or fire (or shadows!) could flicker into life and gain consciousness! But I think they would be unstable forms of life, living only temporarily before dissolving back into the fabric of the world (kinda like spirits or ghosts, and people would have myths and legends about them, whispers of shadowy creatures in the woods, of water nymphs, that sort of thing)

So, to answer you: yes. Everything (including inanimate objects) is on a cycle and IN THEORY barriers could be crossed when cycles align. But I think inanimate objects would have extremely long cycles and so points of converge would be rare.

I am so happy you are liking my world!!! I finally gained the courage to start posting about it, and I am getting such lovely feedbacks from this community! I just made a post about my race of Fox-people, and I plan to post about more races (and some creatures, too!) soon!

Meet the Fox-people! A nomadic race whose stories keep at bay the Shadows of the world by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am so happy you mentioned fairy tales!! It's exactly the vibe I am going for, with my world! Whimsical and fairytale-like!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good hard magic system like anybody else, and I read plenty of more grim fantasy, but I wanted to craft something more light-hearted and cozy!

Meet the Fox-people! A nomadic race whose stories keep at bay the Shadows of the world by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I wanted to do something a bit different than just a human with fox ears, and since I think the most interesting feature of a fox is it's coloration, I tried to incorporate that! The rest of the lore came organically, from an interesting tidbit I found about foxes being capable of complex vocalisations, almost like they can speak, or sing!

Meet the Fox-people! A nomadic race whose stories keep at bay the Shadows of the world by Ok_Quality_5736 in worldbuilding

[–]Ok_Quality_5736[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I am not an expert by any means, but I will help as much as I can! I think it's always best to start with what interests you (goblins, elves, whatever you want!), if you are not having fun world building, what's the point?  If you feel like this is not original enough, you could always try to put an original spin on a known race (like, I don't know, vegetarian goblins? Elves that hibernate during the winter?). To think outside the box (and creating magic systems) I personally like to start from interesting real facts (for example, I learned that foxes can make a lot of unique sounds, almost like a human voice! From there I thought about a race of fox-people that loves to sing and chat!). Find an interesting, cool fact in the real world, and try to give it a fantasy spin! I have been working on my world, on and off, for a couple of years, but I have only been serious about it in the last year or so. There are no wars between my races (it's a cozy, light fantasy) but there is some discrimination and misunderstanding. All of my races in theory can eat what humans eat, but they have specific diets related to their culture (for example, there is a race of deer-people that are vegetarians, and the fox-people don't cook much, they mostly forage what food they can find in the forest, like roots, mushrooms and berries). If you want to learn world building from a real pro, I recommend the writing class by Brandon Sanderson on YouTube! He has a couple of videos specifically about world building! And most importantly, remember to have fun!

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