Welcome to our Worldbuilding Wednesday! On Wednesdays, we will discuss the creative process behind different facets of the Twinverse, from as lofty a concept as the entire cosmology, to specific characters and their role in the setting. Worldbuilding Wednesday is meant as a behind-the-scenes column to give insight into how the setting itself changes and evolves, beyond just the events of the books.
There are several topics that must be developed, to a greater or lesser extent, when the setting is created. While not all these topics need to be precisely detailed at the beginning, their general scope, at least, should be considered. One such critical topic is the history of your world.
World history is more than just an affectation, or something your characters can discuss as a tool to give the illusion of a deeper world. It informs everything, from cultures to races to mythology to politics. A quick review of our own world's history would clearly emphasize that, but world history is perhaps even more important in a fantasy world where magical and supernatural catastrophes and advancements can add to the mix.
Every culture in a fantasy world might have its own calendar and its own version of history, or course, but certain things need to be defined, even if then they are embellished or obscured when looking at them through the lens of a specific culture. For instance, you need to decide how old the world is (and of course, how it began). While no culture in your world may have a clue about either, it's important for you to know, as it will affect other aspects of your world .Your world's gods may know how the world began even if no one else does, and whether they were involved in it or not, this may color their worldview and their alliances and enmities. If the world is very young, you won't expect to find ancient ruins scattered all over the land; vice versa, if the world is very old, this would give you the opportunity to sprinkle ruins, monuments and secrets throughout the land. In the latter case, however, you must be careful not to let the past overstage the present, which is usually what you are writing about.
Major cataclysmic events - whether great wars, divine wrath, magical catastrophes, et cetera - need to be defined, if nothing else because they are likely to have left scars on the world (whether physically or in the way different cultures work). Even so, your cultures don't need to know everything about their ancient history: most of it should be shrouded in mystery and myth.
For example, in the Twin Worlds, most old history is forgotten. Teidarian cultures using the Airrin calendar believe we are in the Fifth Age, but very little is known of the first three Ages, and barely more is known of the Fourth. The Ledhrorn systematically worked to erase history, so they could paint themselves as the original gods and makers of the world, and so now those who discover fragments of that past are left with many questions as to how everything fits together.
Even so, there are hints that each Age ended with a momentous event. The First Age ended with some cataclysm that wiped out the Elder Races and physically reshaped parts of the world. It is believed the event had something to do with star alignments, that it was caused by some sort of leviathan-like creature, and that it was never killed. But more than that is unknown. The Second Age is believed to have ended with the ascension of the Trienorn to godhood. The Third Age ended with the slumber of the Trienorn and the Lady of Souls. A period of time known as the Interregnum existed between the Third and Fourth ages, during which the Ledhrorn worked to solidify their rule. The Fourth Age ended with the War of Saints. An old prophecy claims there will be Seven Ages, but doesn't detail what cataclysm will end the Fifth Age.
Other cultures have different calendars: for instance, the Empire of Aquande's calendar sets its Year 1 as the year of the Empire's founding, but also counts epochs by way of Stormings - the cyclical events where the denizens of the Everdying Reaches swarm out of their lands and seek to slaughter, devour and destroy everything in their path. By that reckoning, we are now in the late Fifth Stormpeace period.
Such cataclysmic events leave scars that can explain cultural idiosyncracies, but also give you tools and hooks to develop your stories. It is important to make sure things remain consistent, which is why using organizational tools to track everything you create is critical, especially as the world becomes more and more detailed. I have had to tweak the sequence of events in the history of the Twin Worlds a few times (thankfully, only for minor edits) to accommodate events I had not anticipated would overlap with others. Even a simple Excel file will help you, although there are many tools you can use to track your world development. As you create, mark down important dates - the founding of a nation, its fall, the years of a war, the years of a famine. Mark down birth and death dates for very famous and important characters, too, as you create them. Flag the periods of time when specific organizations exist/existed, so that you can quickly verify what might have interacted with what. Did the Sect of Knives exist at the same time as the Paladins of Mercy? Perhaps the latter went extinct shortly after the former came to power? Then maybe the Sect of Knives had something to do with the downfall of the Paladins! These connections tighten your world's history and are a lot of fun to develop.
Either way, history is a critical element of your world, and without history, it will feel much more flat and lifeless, no matter how much you detail it. Give some thought to what themes your history should reflect, as well, and that will also add to the richness (and coherence) of your setting.
Thank you for joining us on another Worldbuilding Wednesday, and see you next week!
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