Novusvita - A sci-fi world with a political fantasy-esque feel; for a novel series

[Rhotherian]

"Novusvita" is the primary setting of my current novel series "The Peoples of Algol". It is technically a science-fiction setting, given that it's an extrasolar planet with extraterrestrial inhabitants in a universe where real-world scientific laws account for (nearly) everything, but the natives' tech-level ranges from Roman to Middle-Eastern to Medieval to Steampunk so the feel is generally quite high fantasy-esque (Game of Thrones fantasy, really).

The planet is in the (real-world) trinary Algol solar system. Given this, the seasons are quite drastic and are determined by the planet's location in relation with its stars. I haven't actually figured out the seasons exactly, but I imagine they could have quite an effect on the map (wiping out the ice caps during Summer and building them up again to vast expanses during Winter, perhaps even causing large fluctuations in sea level). I've been mapping the world for a really long time now and, though it's been slow-going, I intend to spend much time on it over the next few months/weeks.

Originally I created the map by generating multiple worlds with Fractal Terrains, copying my favorite bits from each and then pasting them all together. I have yet to actually do anything to really make the map look good, instead drawing up many, many layers in GIMP to show nations, sea divisions, plate tectonics, etc, etc, etc. Very few of those layers actually fit into one another, though, so I intend most of them to lead to separate maps, which I'll post here.



(PLEASE do not neglect to scroll down to the attachments. I would like your thoughts thereon.)



Maps So Far (highly WIP. SCROLL DOWN TO SEE.)

-The current coastal outline (minus the pole fix)

-Rough topographical map (the oceans are the main thing that's got to change)

-Tectonic maps:
--A map showing all majour fault lines
--Said map at both poles
--A map showing only the borders of plate boundaries (I intended to add relative plate directions, but forgot...)

-A map showing nations (info on said nations coming soon)
--Said map shown at the poles

-A map of both the north and south poles' coastlines, edited in GIMP (red dot = pole)


Still to come...

-Countries (not the same as nations. Will explain)
-Cities and routes
-Rivers and watershed
-Ocean currents
-Labels


For the moment, the poles are my main concern. On the world map, they're pretty messed up at the moment. So, what I did was printscreen pics of both the North and South Pole in Fractal Terrains and then traced modified, non-pinched coastlines over them with GIMP. I then got a little carried away and decided to add glacial fjords like crazy. Now I'm not s sure if it looks realistic anymore.

So first off, I'd like to know if the coastlines look realistic. Should I add more tiny islands at the fjord mouths? Should I remove some fjords? Should I make them smaller?

Secondly, I have no idea how I'm going to apply these changes to my rectangular world map. If anyone could help me out with that, I would appreciate it greatly. (I imagine there might be some orb projection software that would allow you to paste an image on the surface of the orb, which would then automatically mold into any other projection (such as the orthographic rectangular projection). That's probably just wishful thinking, though.)

[Lalaithion]

There is a piece of software called G-Projector that will take an Equirectangular Projection and turn it into any other projection. You seem to be using an Equirectangular, so it looks good.

This does look brilliant. I can't wait to see what you do next.

[Rhotherian]

Actually, I can already easily achieve a change of projection with Fractal Terrains. With the software I'm looking for, I need to be able to draw on / paste images directly onto a globe (specifically an orthographic I think that's what the projection's called) representation of my equirectancular map) and then convert the globe back into an equirectangular map, with the edits I made now stretched over the projection. Specifically, I want to be able to paste those maps of the poles onto the world map in globe form, so that the edits will show on the equirectangular map.

And thanks. I've been waiting close to a week for someone to post on this thread. xD

[Caenwyr]

I'm very much impressed with these maps, Rhoterian! And I'm very curious as to what's going to be the end product. Which tool (if any) did you use to get these highly random-looking coastlines? I absolutely love them!

[Rhotherian]

@Caenwyr:

Originally I created the map by generating multiple worlds with Fractal Terrains, copying my favorite bits from each and then pasting them all together.

After that I pretty much just traced over the rough resultant coastlines in GIMP with the Pencil tool (this specific tool made it easier to select which areas would be water and which would be land in other layers).

And also, thanks for the compliments.


@jamesspammer39: Wtf, much?

[Rhotherian]

I just finished deciding the borders of the various countries that make up the nations:
Nations.png

I should probably explain the difference between "nations" and "countries". There are nine nations, which are each basically (generally; there are exceptions) states with people of similar ethnicity grouped together under single federal governments. It's a lot less complex for the more "primitive" nations, but a lot more complex for the more "advanced" nations. The "countries" are basically the various states of the planet. Each have their own sub-government (for the big pink nation on the south pole each state represents the territory of a separate clan (not to be confused with the "clan" I'm going to use later in a different context) of nomadic tribes) and semi-unique style.

The nine nations on Novusvita are: (I intend to add descriptions later.)
-The Valiero'ji (Yellow)
-The Aari'ji (Cyan)
-The Svia'ji (Green)
-The Arah'ji (Sea-green)
-The Qui'a'ji (Lime)
-The Tita'ji (Blue)
-The Col'tun'ji (Pink)
-The Iga'ji (Red)
-The Oivah'ji (Purple)

You'll notice that all the nations' names end with the suffix "ji" which means "people" in Valieren (those names are also in Valieren). The names of countries will be easily distinguishable from the names of nations in lacking such a suffix. (Eg. "Ravan", "Tel'nirr", "Toss", "Harden'dell", etc. No "ji".)

The nations can be further roughly divided into three clans (which are basically their races): Jia'éill (aka "Goldskins"), Jia'khell (aka "Greyskins" or "Blueskins") and Jia'vallë (aka "Brownskins" or "Orangeskins"). The Aari, Svia, Qui'a, Arah and Col'tun are all Jia'vallë, the Tita are Jia'khell and the Valiero are almost wholly Jia'éill, save for their northwestern provinces, which are Jia'khell. The Iga'ji and Oivah'ji are both pretty much in their own category, being hybrids of Jia'khell and Jia'vallë - I call these the Jia'iga (aka "Redskins"). The Iga'ji's Eastern countries were originally part of the Amar'ji, a Jia'éill nation, so those inhabitants would generally be Goldskins as apposed to Redskins. On the topic of race, there are also "Copperskins" which are generally Goldskins/Redskin hybrids, and "Greenskins" which are hybrids between Goldskins and Blueskins (Blueskins = specifically the Greyskins of the northwest Valiero'ji) and are also known as "Blood Bastards" to due the racially proud nature of both the Valieren majority Jia'éill and minority Jia'khell.

I'll also give infos on some notable states later.

[Lalaithion]

So, I have a question: how are the governments of the countries related to the government of the Nation? Are we thinking about the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland? Or are we thinking about feudal states, where independent lords decide to voluntarily subjugate themselves to a king in order to, as a group, weild greater power and influence (as well as security)

[Rhotherian]

That depends on the nation.

The one I have most thought out at the moment is the Valiero'ji. Each country in the nation has a ruling family. The Head of House of each ruling family is effectively the monarch of their state. Every five years there's a national election, where one of the stately houses will be elected royal family of the Valiero'ji. The Head of House of said family will then take the role of national monarch and move to the capitol, Valdin, with his or her immediate family (spouse and children, if he or she has any (I say "she" as well, because the Head of House in Valieren society will always be the eldest heir, regardless of gender)). The ruling of the family's country (Stewardship) will then fall to the second heir or the family, be that the monarch's younger sibling or his/her parent, cousin and so on. What concerns law, each country can formulate their own laws, as long as they coincide with the nation's constitution and some ground laws for economy and civil services. Just for interests sake, the current monarch is King Argos Helia Ahron, of House Ahron. House Ahron rules over the state of Ravan, which is a huge valley and also the only very horizontal Valieren state (yellow state) on the map in my above post. The current Steward of Ravan is Argos' younger brother, Thale Helia Ahron, in his stead.

The Svia'ji have a diarchy ruling the whole nation and seperate diarchies ruling each of their respective countries.

The Aari'ji is very similar to the USA, having an elected president or prime minister, which each of the countries effectively acting as federal states. Some of their states are more like colonial territories, though, but the same rules apply.

The Iga'ji has a governor for each of its respective states, but only for administrative purposes as the entire empire must adhere to the laws of its emperor.

The Col'tun'ji is the most simple, literally being a union between multiple separate tribal clans on the southern plains. Each clan can basically do whatever they want, but must answer to the Supreme Chieftain/ess - who is effective chosen among the children of the whole nation during the previous Chief's prime by a bunch of elders who can apparently recognize the required traits for leadership in a young child.

The Arah'ji is similar to the Arab emirates in rule, which each state having a lord (that can come to power in whatever manner works for the people of that state) who answers to a High Lord at the capitol. All their laws are based on a fairly strict religion as well, so laws are pretty much taken for granted in each state. At one point they were made up of your "feudal states", while under Iga'ji rule, before the Aari'ji effectively freed them after a World War (the Iga'ji isn't made up for those feudal states anymore because of the egregious strictness and power of their current emperor).

I haven't really thought of the Tita'ji or Qui'a'ji's laws yet. I expect the Qui'a'ji to be pretty much like the Col'tun'ji (but less violent) and the Tita'ji I'm thinking will have a Kingdom of Iceland type structure ruling over a generally Inuit-like populace. Not sure yet.

[Schwarzkreuz]

I am always impressed by such amount of passion. Cant wait to see more

[Rhotherian]

Thanks!

I'll be unable to work on this for a few days though, due to work, but will get back to it as soon as possible! ^^