GitP Worldbuilding Project

[Blaze]

Was just reading about this project, and something stood out to me. Which I have placed in BOLD, so you can edit the error =)

Are they dwarves or gnomes? :P

[I]

Currently, the idea of the world is such:

The world is a sort of Clockpunk/Steampunk/Alchemypunk, which we dub as Gearchemypunk. It is ruled by three races. The Humans, the gnomes, and the crocadilian Sharlaq.

The humans are the aggresive ones, warlike and violent. Yet they are honourable and courageous. The humans seem to have a strange connection to magic.

The dwarves are the progressive ones, industrious and masters of the machine. They rule the skies from their floating cities, ready to strike when needed.

The Sharlaq are the traditional ones, peaceful and quiet. They work the farms and orchards all day. Yet at the same time, they are strong and steadfast in their beliefs.

[Maximum Zersk]

Was just reading about this project, and something stood out to me. Which I have placed in BOLD, so you can edit the error =)

Are they dwarves or gnomes? :P

Fixing that. ._.

[Tulio d Bard]

Joqqulenteq - The Star Eater*

As I said before, that's great!
Also, thinking about it, Sharlaq would have big problems speaking other languages. Having no lips would make it way too hard. Maybe that's one more reason to make communication difficult between races?

...a burning man of rage and blooding...

Maybe I'm looking at it way too literally, but is he actually "burning sharlaq" or a "burning man"?

Plot bunny: imagine how the Sharlaq felt after the fall of the Gnoman Empire when an entire moutain essentially exploded.

I think some of them would move from the shores to the continent in order to fight the creature. The others believe that's not Joqqulenteq and would wait by the sea. It would change my previous "Riverkin accept the Apocalypse" into "Riverkin fight the Apocalypse". These actions don't fit well with Riverkin, though, considering that they're more quiet and pacific than the Seakin. We should discuss this.

Now to steal and rampantly edit into Maximum Zersk's Ragnarok.

That's all great too, but I think the description of Joqqulenteq's return (from "His footsteps" to "worlds of existence.") is either too short or too long. Maybe it's just me, but I would make it into one single sentence (probably if I'm telling it orally) or a small chapter (in the official scriptures, if there are any).
Here, in our thread, it's great, being both descriptive and short. But I believe it would be told differently in Sharlaq ceremonies.
And who's Father? Does he come before Mother?

On re-reading that paragraph, it occurs to me that "I hope you enjoy my apocalypse." is a very funny line.

That's a line worthy of the greatest villains!

Fixing that. ._.

It's not a BIG problem, actually. It wouldn't be weird if Gnomes were called many different names. There're no dwarves in this world, so they could be called that too. But, well, it's better if we avoid it.

[Maximum Zersk]

Wow, it's been a while. I really should add something to this.

So I was thinking about some of the wildlife of the land. Would all of it be this odd and alien? I mean, we have six-limbed gliding squirrel things, fire-breathing toucans, velociraptors, and all sorts of megafauna.

Oh yeah, the megafauna. We have to figure those out. What'll they look like? How will they interact with the other animals around them? This sort of reminds me of that Dresden Codak comic where all the animals had some form of symbiosis. The megafauna in particular were whole biomes. It was really interesting. Would something like that work with our world? Yes, no?

[Tulio d Bard]

Wow, it's been a while. I really should add something to this.

So I was thinking about some of the wildlife of the land. Would all of it be this odd and alien? I mean, we have six-limbed gliding squirrel things, fire-breathing toucans, velociraptors, and all sorts of megafauna.

Oh yeah, the megafauna. We have to figure those out. What'll they look like? How will they interact with the other animals around them? This sort of reminds me of that Dresden Codak comic where all the animals had some form of symbiosis. The megafauna in particular were whole biomes. It was really interesting. Would something like that work with our world? Yes, no?

Oh yeah, the prehistorical fan-fiction.
I think it would depend on how old is the current life in our planet. Back to Dresden Codak, such evolved organisms were only possible because there're no bug extinctions in history of the Earth (or something like that). I think multiple sapient species would either indicate that Steamelund's life is young (many sapient species developed) and/or that these species are friendly to each other. If we had old and unfriendly lifeforms, I believe only one of them would be left in the end (Homo sapiens X Homo neanderthalensis). Not to mention all the disasters that could kill a whole specie.
And when you talk about physical appearance, it's good - and reasonable - to keep a certain level of similarity with Earth's wild life. Not because it's easier or less weird. But because our main races are similar to Earth's species. The lifeforms present in Steamelund couldn't go too far from each other. Remember how Kim could recognize those creatures, even after who-knows-how-many years of evolution? So, I believe most of them wouldn't be much alien, but instead similar to Earth's.

[EDIT]
Actually, thinking better about it, take an evolution tree like this [EDIT_2](I guess you can find better ones)[/EDIT_2] . As you get closer to humans and crocodiles, the chance of Steamelund's and Earth's creatures being similar increases. We could take and add entire branches of that, but the differences and "alieness" are greater near the root.
[/EDIT]

[EDIT_2]
And if you're searching for real really odd creatures, just go back some million years. You may find Anomalocaris, Opabinia, Marella, Dunkleosteus, and pretty much everything from the past eras. I mean, they look like they came from Spore! Just check these pictures. Heck, we have axolotl nowadays!
Those guys could turn into anything.
I wouldn't be surprised if they found Cthulhu fossils someday.
[/EDIT_2]

Question: how are female Sharlaq different from male ones?

[Maximum Zersk]

Oh yeah, the prehistorical fan-fiction.
I think it would depend on how old is the current life in our planet. Back to Dresden Codak, such evolved organisms were only possible because there're no bug extinctions in history of the Earth (or something like that). I think multiple sapient species would either indicate that Steamelund's life is young (many sapient species developed) and/or that these species are friendly to each other. If we had old and unfriendly lifeforms, I believe only one of them would be left in the end (Homo sapiens X Homo neanderthalensis). Not to mention all the disasters that could kill a whole species
And when you talk about physical appearance, it's good - and reasonable - to keep a certain level of similarity with Earth's wild life. Not because it's easier or less weird. But because our main races are similar to Earth's species. The lifeforms present in Steamelund couldn't go too far from each other. Remember how Kim could recognize those creatures, even after who-knows-how-many years of evolution? So, I believe most of them wouldn't be much alien, but instead similar to Earth's.

Hm, makes sense.

[EDIT]
Actually, thinking better about it, take an evolution tree like this [EDIT_2](I guess you can find better ones)[/EDIT_2] . As you get closer to humans and crocodiles, the chance of Steamelund's and Earth's creatures being similar increases. We could take and add entire branches of that, but the differences and "alieness" are greater near the root.
[/EDIT]

Sounds good!

Looking at the chart, Cetaceans seemed to have evolved recently. That's good, so we can do the "evolved in the sea then went back to land" thing. Though that still won't explain why they look like alligators/crocodiles. And if we DO explain them as evolved from the reptiles, then we'd need a reason why they have a neocortex and are endothermic... I guess they could be like the gorgonopsids.

[EDIT_2]
And if you're searching for real really odd creatures, just go back some million years. You may find Anomalocaris, Opabinia, Marella, Dunkleosteus, and pretty much everything from the past eras. I mean, they look like they came from Spore! Just check these pictures. Heck, we have axolotl nowadays!
Those guys could turn into anything.
I wouldn't be surprised if they found Cthulhu fossils someday.
[/EDIT_2]

Oh yeah, those guys. Well, good then!

Bloop.

Question: how are female Sharlaq different from male ones?

Hmm, good question. We could go the human route and have the women be on average shorter, and stuff like that. OR, we could go the other animal route, with females being on average larger. With the Sharlaq's seemingly matriarchal society, I feel that the females being on average larger fits nicely for some reason. :/

Also, your avatar made me laugh and wonder how the Sharlaq would think of Christmas.

"You tell stories to your hatchling of a fat old man breaking into their homes and placing strange objects into their socks or beating them if they do not behave? 0_0"

[Ohmyani]

Do you think it might be possible for me to come in late and contribute some ideas if I have some? Or is this already in full swing?

[Maximum Zersk]

Do you think it might be possible for me to come in late and contribute some ideas if I have some? Or is this already in full swing?

Go ahead! We've been dieing, but who knows, maybe your idea will bring some life back into the project!

Be sure it doesn't clash too much with what we've got already!