World i love you in every universe | saturnine's worlds

[saturnine]

sᴏ ᴇᴅᴇɴ sᴀɴᴋ ᴛᴏ ɢʀɪᴇғ,
sᴏ ᴅᴀᴡɴ ɢᴏᴇs ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴀʏ.
​

 

[saturnine]

Rosedale, California. Population 15,968 at the time of the last census. Founded in 1881 by a group of mostly Italian immigrants, who noted the temperate climate of Southern California and felt it reminded them of home. Among them was the wealthy and influential De Rosa family, who gave the town its name.​

At first glance, it seems like your average mid-tier American city. Cleaner than most, with pretty little residential streets and a robust collection of shops and restaurants.





The city's true character might be likened to a small fiefdom or principality. It is the territory of the De Rosa crime family, who keeps the peace with an iron fist. There's nothing that goes on in town without Cesare De Rosa knowing about it. The police chief is in his pocket, as is the mayor. Businesses pay a modest protection fee or are quickly run out of town.

There's also a Red Light district on the outskirts of the city, on the edge of the border line. It was built specifically so people could get there without having to use the main street (and potentially be seen by their wives or neighbors). It is a celebration of vice, sporting two strip clubs, a casino and several bars. There's a luxury hotel for wealthy out-of-towners, and a cheap motel.



Of course, these establishments toe the letter of the law on paper, but it's an open secret that the hotel is often used for prostitution.

​

 

[saturnine]

time period/setting: an anachronistic early 19th century Europe. cars are motor carriages. technological advancements are not scientific, but magical. dirigibles are powered by air spirits, electricity by lightning sprites

geography: encompassing the the territory of the western Roman empire. There are several other magical empires, but none are as dominant as the Lux Imperium.

geopolitical players:
The Tianglong Empire (China/Mongolia/Korea/Japan)
The Qamari Caliphate (the Ottoman empire)
the former settler colony currently waging a war against the Lux Imperium: the Columbia Confederacy


imperator: Julian Blackwood, the 26th sovereign of the society

government type: modeled off british parliamentary, but only mages can hold government positions







​

 

[saturnine]

art credit



kvængard:
from old norse
kvæn - woman
gard - sanctuary, enclosure​

climate

Very distinct seasons

• cooler summers (avg about 20°C), sunny and mild. the summers feature a "midnight sun" where it never fully sets beneath the horizon, making nights brighter than usual​
• cold winters (-5 to -10°C). snowfall is common and sunlight becomes scarce​

social roles

• modirs: essentially, mothers. only women who choose to give birth are made to participate in the fertility ritual. most of them also choose to raise the children, though there is always a communal role to parenting on the island. some women are only birth-givers, who take on the physical burden of childbirth as a sacrifice to the tribe, but leave the child to be nurtured by others​
• lore-keepers: the women who write the histories of their island and pass down knowledge between the generations. they are the only ones permitted to enter the archive​
• huntresses: those who venture outside the city to hunt animals for meat, or forage for medicinal herbs/berries/etc​
• gardeners: the women who attend to the enclosed food gardens that provide so much of their food. they use the natural thermal vents to create greenhouse-like environments and grow food all year​
• weavers: textile workers who create cloth via weaving or knitting, some also practice a form of folk embroidery​
• wardens: the military force of the island. they run the beacon towers and patrol for outside threats​
• wrights: engineers, metalworkers, woodworkers, etc​

political organization

• their queens are elected to the position, as heredity has very little impact in their society. every adult member of the tribe can vote when one queen dies or becomes ill
• there is also a council of elders, who vote on major decisions impacting the community
  • the queen has a veto power, though it's rarely used
• because their community is so small and isolated, compromise is often used to solve disagreements

religion

• A small pantheon of guardian goddesses that are interchangeable from the land
  • a goddess of the wild animals, whom hunters pay their respects to
  • a goddess of the soil - and fertility, of course
  • the spirit of the main river that provides most of their freshwater
  • the goddess of storms
  • there is only one male deity in the pantheon: the reaper, who slices their lifeline
• the tribe has a shaman, their link to interpreting the will of the gods. the shaman serves for life and is chosen as a small child to be trained in the mystical practices
  • the shaman oversees the lorekeepers
  • she also sits on the council of elders
• there's a sacred shrine on the island built around a crack in the mountain where the "god's breath" (volcanic fumes) seeps out of the land and gives the gift of prophecy/trance
• the abundant life on the island sometimes gives root to strange plants with psychotropic properties

culture

 

[saturnine]

juicy historical events that I'd love to work into a plot:

• the defenestration(s) of Prague (1618)
• Erfurt latrine disaster (1184)
• the Douglas clan's Black Dinner (1440)
• the Marquise de Brinvilliers & the Affair of the Poisons (1670s)
• the Tour de Nesle affair (1314)
• Ivan IV killing his son (1581)
• the Cadaver Synod (897)
• the Borgia "banquet of chestnuts" (1501)
• rumors of royal witches: Elizabeth Wydeville, Joan of Navarre
• Juana the Mad refusing to leave her husband's body (1506)
• Sadistic noblewomen: La Quintrala (Chile, 1600s), Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova (Russia, late 1700s), Elizabeth Bathory (Hungary, Late 1500s), Delphine LaLaurie (America, early 1820s-30s)