Answers to Open Ended Questions

I'm still on tumblr in the good year of 2022, and some of my favorite blogs there are the ones that post questions that anyone can reblog and answer. I decided to make a page dedicated to the morsels of worldbuilding revealed in my reblogs.

wbqotd: What do the people of your setting smell like?

Pretty good for a medieval-esque setting. Perfumes and colognes are fairly popular, but it's also very common for people to just rub good smelling plant leaves on themselves. A "never-wilt" enchantment helps a lot, it's a relatively simple healing-class spell that keeps clipped plants fresh for a few months.

Magic can also alter one's base scent. This only applies stronger magic users, though. The scents are commonly candle-like scents based on personality. Think stuff like cinnamon, pine, food, etc.

wbqotd: How would someone in your setting start a fire?

Just a friction match will do for most, but simple fire spells are the most common form of magic for this reason. It's easier and more convenient to generate fire from yourself rather than having to own a pack of matches.

wbqotd: What percentage of your population is involved in agriculture?

Almost everyone. If someone isn't growing their own plants then they're eating their neighbors plants. The biggest exception is any basytier living on Sza-Vilor, since theyre carnivores in a lush rainforest. They dont need plants to feed themselves nor do they need to them feed their quarry.

wbqotd: Is it considered rude to touch a new acquaintance or stranger in your setting? If it’s not, what types of touch are acceptable?

Generally it just depends on the individual person's boundaries. The glaring exception is the dolorvirr, who tend to have the cultural idea that physical touch is for romantic partners only.

Some people find this ironic, considering the dolorvirr equivalent to a handshake is brushing the whiskers together, which usually involves putting the fronts of their muzzles together. Which means they think hugs are romantic but see a kiss on the lips as a formal and platonic greeting, basically.

Dolorvirr have very thin skin that's easily bruised. And because the skin is so thin, it is also more sensitive to painful or erogenous stimuli.

wbqotd: Does your world have any sign languages? If so, how widespread are they? How easily can people speaking different sign languages/dialects understand each other?

Several. But the most common is... common-sign, of course. All forms of common are 'artificial' languages made up a few hundred years ago just to be a universal language that all sophonts can use. Common-sign is interesting as it only requires a thumb and two fingers, that way it's accessible to ximazan.

The other signs aren't as universal because they may involve too many fingers for certain sophonts or body parts that certain sophonts dont have. For example, some ximazan sign involves antennae movement.

Last updated: -/-/--