World and Region map requests for a conworld
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I suppose a more detailed description of the world is in order. First, I will outline the basic cultural and political situations spreading across the continent.
But first, I'll describe the planet as a whole. For simplicity's sake, let's call it Kuva.
Kuva is an earth-sized planet, placed in an earthlike solar system, nothing unspectacular. There are two large continents, the 'western' Sarrom and the eastern Ulaya. Ulaya and Sarrom are separated by large tracts of ocean water and essentially are unreachable from one another given the current technology available. Island chains and small archipelagos exist between these two continents.
Sarrom is pictured in the attachment in the first post and is the original birthplace of humanity. Sarrom is also the only continent to develop any form of human colonization or civilization. Ulaya is a vast wilderness, with mountains, jungles, deserts, and steppes all unknown to the modern Kuvan man's mind. While it is possible, though unlikely, that other sapient life forms have developed along the more fertile lands in Ulaya, it is likely that no intelligent life has yet to evolve. Certainly there are fascinating creatures, and Ulaya's varied climate supports a wide host of ecological niches to be filled by lifeforms not seen on Earth in millions of years.
Thus, our concentration on Ulaya is minimal: it is purely for documentary and completist reasons. Ulaya is large-ish, but smaller than Sarrom and should have a varied geographical set up. I imagine lush jungles to its south, near the equatorial region, and rocky mountains to its north. Mountain ranges in Ulaya are a bit younger than in Sarrom. Arid deserts exist in the more isolated regions where only the hardiest creatures can survive.
The main focus of my conworld is Sarrom. East and west are separated by a nearly impenetrable desert. Yet, communication and trade between these two regions exists simply due to the hardy desert nomads who travel through this land.
The east-west distinction is not Europe v. China. While the western nations are most definitely influenced by European analogues, the eastern nations are far more mysterious. No great empires have really been established there: the city-state dominates. Furthermore, cultural exchange with the lower-right tropical island of Gerram has been near continuous. The eastern regions are warm, and capable of supporting dense populations along the coastlines. This region needs more rivers for example...
Gerram is politically similar to many Columbian nations that existed in South America. Governed through confederations and rich in natural resources. Cities in Gerram are quite unlike traditional European cities. Cities are more like locations where local nobles can display their prestige; religious centers were thousands gather; centers of knowledge. Gerraic states, however, should not be mistaken as completely different. Contact with eastern Sarroic states has led to more complex government, specialization, etc. Inner peoples of Gerram are far more nomadic.
Western Gerram is home to two main competing cultures, though this division is not exactly accurate. Inhabiting the Iberia-sized island to furthest west are the Asmodic peoples. Let me explain their backstory.
The Asmodic peoples did not originate in this land. Originally, they inhabited the river valley region that dominates the western plain. They were located to northern part of this region and separated into two related, but mutually unintelligible language groups (compare: Cantonese vs. Mandarin or Spanish vs. Portuguese). The southern half were more 'civilized' in that population density was greater, urbanization was greater, centralized authority was more formal, and written language developed there. Northern Asmodic states were far more politically organized around traditional clans, whereas clans remained in southern Asmodic states (compare: Roman tribes), but were far less politically relevant.
The history of the Asmodic peoples is not very detailed at this moment. A basic progression of events can be modeled like so:
1) the southern states come to dominate the northern ones.
2) development of democratic institutions: the Asmodic republic, which consists of a head of government: consul, and a legislative body, the Senate. Executive power rests in the hands of the consul, judicial power divided between the Senate and Consul. The consuls perhaps can be considered as philosopher-kings. Political and moral philosophy bloomed during this period.
3) spread of Asmodic influence to the south and west, dominating the various groups living in those regions.
4) political corruption, war, invasion, famine leads to weakening of these states.
5) Other non-Asmodic states begin to take a firm hold, particularly the riverfolk with whom the Asmodic peoples had never conquered.
6) The Asmodic diaspora: Asmoda migrate and dominate this western island, creating two distinct Asmodic peoples: the mainland and island. Of course, the mainland is diverse in culture as well: political unity among Asmodic states was rare and many existed.
7) Destruction of mainland Asmodic society. To this day political tension exists between those descended from mainland Asmoda at the time of collapse and those who had already been living on the island.
Modern Asmodic states are city-states still organized around the concept of Asmodic republics, though perhaps more properly called oligarchical republics. They are maritime and trading republics, not unlike Renaissance Italy. Rivalry between non-Asmodic peoples of the mainland exists and resentment by both sides (Asmoda resent them for genocide, non-Asmoda resent the Asmoda for the near thousand year domination of Asmoda over them). Of course, trade and cultural exchange is inevitable given their close proximity to one another.
More to come...hope this world can pique people's interests. Like I said, I'm quite open to creative collaboration on the actual geographic and climatological layout of the continent.
