Building a Setting, input appreciated!

[CrazedBanana]

So basically I had this idea to create not just a world for campaign, but a whole universe, going into as much detail as possible. First, I'm going to put up a skeleton timeline type thing in segments, and build from there.

[Yora]

Again, I refer you to this thread.

[CrazedBanana]

You don't seem to understand what I'm attempting here; I'm going to post the setting that I'm working on, and perhaps receive some ideas. I'm not looking for help on how to go about it.

[CrazedBanana]

Creation
In the beginning, there was the Other. The Other created the multiverse in an explosion of power, creating the twenty gods as well. The gods created many universes, each one wildly different from the next. The two most powerful gods, Sun and Moon, where continuously struggling for control over the Lesser Gods. This climactic struggle was tearing the multiverse apart, so the Lesser Gods created the Living Well, which would allow them to lock away Sun and Moon forever. The Two titans were lured into a trap, and sent to a locked universe through the Living Well. In the new,sealed off universe, around the Living Well formed a great ball of everything that ever would ever exist in the new universe. From this, the Two Gods claimed what was dearest to them, and left the rest. There were now 3 worlds in this new universe: Sun’s domain: A bright, golden land covered in rolling fields of wheat, gleaming cities and brilliant temples, and Moon’s domain: A shadowy and serene land, with great lakes, reclusive mountains, and snow, with great silvery spires that Turin with arcane power. These two worlds rotated evenly around the ball of what remained: the World.

[Cahokia]

I've been working on a similar project for almost two years now, and I'm still far from being done.

Often my most complex worlds start from a simple idea, like the Creation myth you've got there. First of all, I like it, though I definitely have some questions. Does this mean both the sun and the moon orbit around the earth? And then we have more intriguing questions: Is this explicitly what happened and how the world was created? Are the 20 Gods you mentioned active forces in the world, and can their existence be proven or disproven? What about the sun and the moon? Does everyone believe this Creation story, or are there many different creation story for many different peoples?

One of the things I have been most conscious of in my world is religion, and it is as important an element in my world as it is in our own. Religion is more than organizations in the world--they are entire ways of looking at the world. Creating a new universe to work with gives you a lot of opportunities to take things in a completely new direction. Most fantasy settings have a pantheon of Gods, with every single culture on Earth worshipping one or more of them. Though this is realistic if the Gods are beings whose existence can be easily proven, there are so many possibilities to be explored. Perhaps some cultures worship the Gods, complete with your standard clerics. Maybe some worship only one God, whether they accept or deny the existence of other Gods (note that even early Judaism had hints of polytheism: "thou shalt have no other Gods before me" is an awfully specific phrase). Maybe some don't believe in Gods at all--they could revere nature (for examples in the real world, look at anything from Asatru to ancient Celtic religion to Shinto), or have the focus of the religion be personal enlightenment rather than worship. But when figuring out the way someone worships, it's important to keep in mind their reasons for creating the religion in the first place; the niches the religion filled and the questions it answered for them.

Feel free to be equally creative in other aspects as well. The fun part of starting with the big bang and filling everything in from there is taking your own course and seeing where it leads rather than following familiar footsteps.

[CrazedBanana]

Thanks for pointing this out, I realized I left some stuff out. First and formost, is that everything that I talked about in the first section is what actually happened, and that I'll go in to detail about certain cultures' takes and beliefs on these things. The Sun and Moon are equally sized entities; the Moon is a cold, shadowy, yet serene place, full of mystery. The Sun isn't a fiery ball of gas in this setting, its a bright and gleaming, even blinding plane. I'll go into more detail on individual gods in the second bit, which I'll hopefully post tonight or tomorrow. But basically, Sun and Moon (gods) can directly influence the World. The 18 other, or Lesser Gods, can't directly affect the world.I haven't 100% planned how people are going to worship yet, I'm hoping it will occur to me naturally.

[Cahokia]

This all sounds very interesting! I'm excited to see what comes out of it. I think you'll find as you flesh it out that the more detailed it gets the easier you can just close your eyes, drop into the world, and find out what it is you need to know.

[CrazedBanana]

I added a little bit to the Creation post, I'm adding this little section to cover miscellaneous and god specific things.

Notes?
To avoid confusion, when saying Moon or Sun, I'm referring to the god, not it's world. I'll say Moon's World or Sun's World or something similar if it seems like there would be confusion, though I will often refer to the god when talking about world positioning and such.

How day and night works: When Sun is the predominant entity in the sky, its golden brilliance and divinity makes it day. When Moon is predominant in the sky, it's shadowy serenity makes it night. Sunrise/Moonrise occurs very quickly, and the difference between the two phases is fairly noticeable; a fair sized town could theoretically experience both night and day at opposite ends.
Sun is the god not only of day, but of light, and justice, and related themes. The Sun's influence is primarily over battle, divinity and what is classically regarded as holy power, though Sun related magic is still commonplace.
Moon is the god of night, mystery, tranquility, and such. Moon's power leans more towards stealth and magic, though more divine clerics of the Moon can be found with relative ease.

I haven't yet discerned what the domains of the 18 Lesser Gods will be, though in the grand scheme of this setting, it won't be that important. Any suggestions?

[CrazedBanana]

The First Age of the Wellfolk

The Lesser Gods needed a way of guarding the other side of the Living Well, for they knew if they went through, they would not be able to come back. They decided to send a race of immortal beings to guard the other side of the Living Well, and to watch over the world. These Wellfolk were a powerful race, blessed with the power of the Lesser Gods. Around the living well, they built a massive city, crafted with powerful enchantments and beautiful designs. The city was built in concentric spheres around the Living Well, the innermost sphere housing the well itself. This interior sphere was the most elaborate and beautiful, inspiring awe in even the Wellfolk who made it. Its powerful enchantments made it impermeable to any who would enter with malicious intent. The Wellfolk used their innate ability to manipulate the Well's energy to keep the Sphere floating in the centre of the great round chamber. Extending in 4 directions were great bridges that lead to the Second Sphere, which consisted of 18 temples, each one dedicated to a different Lesser God, all connected by floating ramps. The last, Third Sphere was the largest, and hosted the homes and palaces of the Wellfolk. The entire city was built without tools or masonry, it was shaped solely from solid rock by means of powerful *magic. The Wellfolk lived in and improved on their great city for hundreds of years.