basics of the world
this is a list of worldbuilding questions from this website that i filled out to better give you an idea of a few aspects of Teres! i did omit some because, to put it simply, i did not care. some of the questions are my own as well, and i'm always open to taking on more
- what languages are there? currently there are three main languages - common, elvish, and beast-tongue. common is the language spoken most around the world, thought to have originated with dwarves, though history books don't go far enough back to say for sure. elvish originated with elves, with a prominent dialect comparable to japanese kansai-ben for sea elf communities. beast-tongue, though it's name may sound crude, was named by beastkin leaders themselves. it's a shared language through all beastkin communities and lands. there are some regions of Teres where the languages start to blend together, and indeed each language has a fair share of loan words from the others.
- what is the calendar like? there are nine months, each one corresponding to a respective colour, and its god that rules over it. each month has between 27 and 29 days, with the last month having 30 days - the final day being a celebration of the year that passed. in total, there are 255 days in a year, 7 days in a week, 36 full weeks in a year... 24 hours in a day... it is similar to our calendar, just shorter. there are also only three seasons: the Wet, Dry, and Cold seasons.
- what level of technology does the world possess? technology on smaller scales is more readily accessible in Teres, such as smartphones, laptops, tvs, assistive devices… larger scale technology such as cars or planes is very hard to come by. that being said, it's not unheard of! there are truckers in this world, and airships do exist. but trucks are rare, and since most cities are much smaller than you or i would be familiar with, inter-city transit is usually done with smaller vehicles like carts or trolleys.there are some grand and large pieces of technology such as processing plants, but those are also run just as much in part by manpower than tech power.
- who rules? while it's generally agreed that the gods are in charge of the world, it's good to have representatives for the people on the ground floor, isn't it? each god has a personally chosen avatar and a counsel of eight others, one each in contact with the other gods. this counsel of 81 is made up of community leaders and officials, though to say they're "in charge" is putting it a little too starkly. because the large majority of citizens of Teres value open communication greatly, the counsel is held strongly to everyone's standards and expected to do well by as many everyday people as they can. as such, when large changes are to be made, a vote is to be held and honored. the gods are able to intervene in everyday affairs such as votes, but there's an unspoken bond of respect between the gods and the people: the gods will deal with what the people cannot, and the people will deal with what the gods will not.
- what sorts of laws are there? generally, the laws of Teres are relatively lax when compared to the laws on your planet or mine. the three main, overarching branches of laws are "do not steal, do not harm, do not lie - unless absolutely necessary." self-defense is a different story, but… between you and i, i don't know the first thing about making laws.
- how do people earn their living? most people earn their livings running local businesses of various types - shopkeepers, tailors, chefs, such and so forth. there are many farmers, shepherds, fishers, and the like as well. while Teres does have coinage (called Gol), it's a world very sufficient on bartering and trading, both goods and labor. by the by, gol is most closely comparable to yen from our world in that 50 may sound like a lot, but it's really not much at all.
- what do people do for amusement? people love to partake in all kinds of hobbies just like here or there, where you are! to be honest, i am just adding this point in just to say that they are people like you or i, and have interests and hobbies like us too.
- what sort of architecture is there? Let me research architecture and get back to you on this but its like varied. ok.
- how do people dress? the clothing styles on Teres are extremely varied, ranging from what could be considered streetwear, to medieval era clothing, to fantasy clothing. generally speaking though, outfits consist of many layers with several accessories and few - if any - patterns. one commonly recurring motif in clothing is bows tied to have three loops (left, top, and right), with two tailing strands on the bottom side. this is to represent the dragon, and is thought to keep the wearer safe from curses or ghosts.
- what is the political climate? im going to break character here for a mo. it's an lgbtq socialist escapist fantasy world. do with that what you will LOL
- how many people live in this city, country, world? honestly? not a lot. the planet is about half the size of earth, and the population is sparse after the many near-apocalypses. if one was to hazard a guess, maybe 5 million people are on the planet.
- what is the alternative to cops? every settlement generally decides on its own how they'll go about this, but the majority have town guards, people who volunteer to keep the town safe from threats of any kind. this generally comprises of medics, hunters, social workers, people to staff watch towers, and people on staff to listen to townspeoples' concerns and dispatch whatever kind of help is required. the hunters generally don't deal with people-to-people affairs though, just keeping dangerous wildlife out of towns and bringing back the carcasses for the butchers in town to deal with if need be. after a certain point in the Teres timeline, most settlements add postal workers to their guard staff, as the communication aspect is extremely important in keeping communities safe and strong, too.
- is it easy to transition? relatively, especially when compared to earth. there isn't a lot of specialized healing magic on Teres though, so the processes are largely the same, just with fantasy aid in the way of small magic usage and fantasy plant-based medicine. as far as socially, it's very easy to transition! when it comes to things like ID cards, it's fairly easy to get them changed as well - it can be done at any major settlement's offices.
see also: glossary