I like the fallen empire idea. But I'm not sure if we want to have fantasy elements or not. I was under the impression that it is a realistic world.
Collaborative Project: Lets Build A Planet (All Welcome)
- Thread starter reesetelford9
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Deleted member 93645
Well, the longevity and the monsters could be explained by the fact that its an alien planet. The creatures wouldn't actually have godlike powers, but they might be perceived as gods by the people settling the area.
Maybe the fantasy elements are poorly-attested. Anyone studying this world's history can choose whether or not they believe it. As long as we don't make a "kitchen sink" of fantasy cliches, I'm fine with it.
Deleted member 93645
Suggestion for the fallen empire, which is actually four different political spheres.
The red area is the main part of the empire, a sort of Phoenicia-Sumeria-Indus Valley area where wheat is domesticated, and city states and empires form, but they don't actually have many of their own resources, leading to widespread trade for both metal ore and spices.
They trade with the green, sort of "Celtic tribal" area which has copper, tin, and iron mines, to actually allow their Bronze age to occur. The green area is not owned by the empire, but the chiefdoms there fight over the rights to trade with the advanced eastern civilization.
The blue area grows spices, which starts this world's "Indian Ocean trade", and these spices are traded by the upper classes throughout the world. This area has its own alliance of trading city states.
The yellow area is a separate empire which borrows many of the early civilization aspects (wheat, the wheel, etc.) from the red area, but then invents writing independently and also domesticates another major crop, creating another cultural sphere. They have to trade for spices indirectly through the red area.
This state of affairs is destroyed by an interglacial period, or a massive volcanic eruption that launches dust in the atmosphere, so many of the details are lost to later civilizations. However some of the bronze age technology, and ruins of pyramids and roads, survive, as well as the memory of trade with faraway countries.
The red area is the main part of the empire, a sort of Phoenicia-Sumeria-Indus Valley area where wheat is domesticated, and city states and empires form, but they don't actually have many of their own resources, leading to widespread trade for both metal ore and spices.
They trade with the green, sort of "Celtic tribal" area which has copper, tin, and iron mines, to actually allow their Bronze age to occur. The green area is not owned by the empire, but the chiefdoms there fight over the rights to trade with the advanced eastern civilization.
The blue area grows spices, which starts this world's "Indian Ocean trade", and these spices are traded by the upper classes throughout the world. This area has its own alliance of trading city states.
The yellow area is a separate empire which borrows many of the early civilization aspects (wheat, the wheel, etc.) from the red area, but then invents writing independently and also domesticates another major crop, creating another cultural sphere. They have to trade for spices indirectly through the red area.
This state of affairs is destroyed by an interglacial period, or a massive volcanic eruption that launches dust in the atmosphere, so many of the details are lost to later civilizations. However some of the bronze age technology, and ruins of pyramids and roads, survive, as well as the memory of trade with faraway countries.
I love this idea. I think it would be interesting if this extinction event was cyclical, and happened every few thousand years or so. Maybe every ten thousand years the earth becomes much colder, killing crops and changing the course of rivers so civilization collapses and people go back to nomadic/ hunter gatherer lifestyles. Then after a few thousand years the world goes back to normal and people build civilization back up again. Maybe this has already happened a few times before, so that the history of the planet actually stretches back much further than realized.
Btw, just so we're all on the same page, this is the most recent map that is color-corrected
Deleted member 93645
Well they're just suggestions, so they can be changed. But I think we should have easily pronounceable names as opposed to the usual fantasy names like "Gr'Chn'Xra" or "Quizz'z'Maroth".
I don't think we should have a lot of names ending in -ia, this isn't Earth and there is no Latin language. Especially 'Polanesia'.
Deleted member 93645
Greek, Turkish, Latin, and Arabic did independently evolve the -ia or -iyya ending, though, and many Indian languages also have -i for a demonym, if not a place. Altaic languages also have -ai for some placenames. I think it would still arise on an alternate world.