Help Hydra design a world

[Mr.Obvious]

Still working on this hydra?

[Unbeliever]

I sure hope this world has some 7-headed monsters in it!

[Hydra009]

Still working on this hydra?

Yes.  Sketched out a rough outline of the world but still lots of holes to fill.  Trying to work on mythology and major characters to help make it more believable and "lived-in"

[Mr.Obvious]

Great to hear.

Just saying, thiugh. If you want more help and idea's sharing what you have might be a good idea.

In order to not have blind suggestions be a complete mismatch.

[Hydra009]

To be honest, I have embarrassingly little to share so far.  And I truly am looking for as many off-the-wall ideas as possible - no bad ideas - throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.  That's why I came to you guys.  Didn't realize that everyone loves mountains LOL.  Well, at least I know that'd be a popular thing to develop.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Might I suggest an ancient race of Gods who were displaced by the current crop. Gives you a never ending supply of "popups" who "want to bring back the OLD GODS!" Distraction or mainline, or have them ambivalent about the new world they live in.

[Unbeliever]

Reminds me of a book called American Gods.

[Hydra009]

Might I suggest an ancient race of Gods who were displaced by the current crop. Gives you a never ending supply of "popups" who "want to bring back the OLD GODS!" Distraction or mainline, or have them ambivalent about the new world they live in.

My setting is without a definitive answer about gods or even the history of the world beyond the past few thousand years.  Like real life, people fill in the unknown with their own conjecture and ideas and many of their stories are fantastical and involve supernatural beings, but there is of course no evidence to support anything.

As a tongue-in-cheek gag, I plan on having a few characters give their theories ("moon is egg, khaleesi" type stuff) and then have another character come up with a guess not far off from the modern scientific understanding only to be met with groans from everyone else at its departure from "common sense".

I also wanted to incorporate a few things that seem as if they might be magical (healing fungus, for example) but I will always keep it ambiguous and never definitively say that something is or is not magical or supernatural.  The reader will have to grapple with the ambiguity just like the characters.

[Hydra009]

My one big departure from the real world is going to be a few plants and animals that definitely don't exist in reality.  Obviously, I plan on incorporating a hydra or two.  But no pokemon or fantastic beasts (I don't know where to find them).  More like the occasional oddity than an ecosystem filled with crazy stuff (though I would like to pass on rumors of an island full of giants the size of titans that eat unwary explorers that may or may not be partially true)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

My setting is without a definitive answer about gods or even the history of the world beyond the past few thousand years.  Like real life, people fill in the unknown with their own conjecture and ideas and many of their stories are fantastical and involve supernatural beings, but there is of course no evidence to support anything.

As a tongue-in-cheek gag, I plan on having a few characters give their theories ("moon is egg, khaleesi" type stuff) and then have another character come up with a guess not far off from the modern scientific understanding only to be met with groans from everyone else at its departure from "common sense".

I also wanted to incorporate a few things that seem as if they might be magical (healing fungus, for example) but I will always keep it ambiguous and never definitively say that something is or is not magical or supernatural.  The reader will have to grapple with the ambiguity just like the characters.

Sounds like some good hammer-and-tongs fodder. Have fun.

[Mr.Obvious]

My one big departure from the real world is going to be a few plants and animals that definitely don't exist in reality.  Obviously, I plan on incorporating a hydra or two.  But no pokemon or fantastic beasts (I don't know where to find them).  More like the occasional oddity than an ecosystem filled with crazy stuff (though I would like to pass on rumors of an island full of giants the size of titans that eat unwary explorers that may or may not be partially true)

You could have a mysterious 'deadly' and accursed swamp.
None who enter the bog, ever make it out.
But it turns out, during winter, smugglers use the swamp for their misdeeds. It being safe when temperatures are cold enough, for some reason.

What turns out, is that people tend to die there when the warm temperature helps release a hallucogenic swamp gas, allong with a monstrously huge species of frogs inhabbiting the swamp.
They hibernate during the winter and devour any human that enters, during any other time of the year.

If you would face a larger than man-sized frog, with mideaval weaponry, especially if it were camouflaged, you'd stand no chance.

[Hydra009]

Nice, love it.

It's somewhat similar to my current also unfinished story that involves a small town near some haunted woods.

The new guy thinks the haunted woods are just a local superstition but he quickly finds out that it is actually haunted and extremely deadly.  If anything, it's undersold.  And it only gets worse when you venture down into the old ruins...

[Mr.Obvious]

As a tongue-in-cheek gag, I plan on having a few characters give their theories ("moon is egg, khaleesi" type stuff) and then have another character come up with a guess not far off from the modern scientific understanding only to be met with groans from everyone else at its departure from "common sense".

I once tried to write a story in a fantasy setting, with magical creatures and alchemy/magical powers and the likes.
The lead character was a member of a pacificst cult, who was getting a bit of the sgink eye because he joined the city guard/watch. Whilst not dtrictly forbidden by the creed of the religion to defend oneself or another, wearing armor all day is concidered bordering on heretical and at the very least a bad influence on the moral character.
But, he is a devout believer. And with 8 siblings, there was no work left in his parents tailoring business, so he had no choice.
His struggles with his profession were not aided by his coworker, the deuteragonist: An actual apostate who left the cult and jokned the guard as a sign of defiance. A man who stopped believing in the sacred texts and even in the concept of gods and spirits and the supernatural.
A man who, despite his harsh stance against the cult, our lead grows to like.

Their relationship in the beginning revolved around them dissagreeing constantly and finding the other naive and misguided, whilst unable to escape one another, as they were teamed up.

I thought it would be funny to write, as an atheist, a deeply religious character interacting with an atheist and a sceptic in a world in which one would be far more justified in entertaining the idea of gods and the supernatural.

Never got too far with that storyline though.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Hot air balloons for transport. Not seen that since The Flying Sorcerers.

[Unbeliever]

I came up, many years ago, with a concept I called "SkyHomes." Basically, they are giant derigibles that are large enough to support habitats that people and their animals can live in. They use hydrogen for lift, but the technology is such that accidents don't happen. The hydrogen is replenished,  when needed, from the oceans. They can rise above any bad weather, and have craft that gives the occupants access to the ground when needed.