Drifter's Fantasy Setting Project

[The Drifter]

So if you have been following my drawing topic, occasionally I posted some drawings accompanied by a long paragraph of lore. Rather than continue mixing them with random sketches I've decided to create a separate topic to collect all of them. This way the thread wouldn't get too cluttered and I can focus on it more.

A quick rundown: Mundia, the name of the planet the series is set on, is my personal passion project that I have been working on since high school, approximately 6-7 years ago. It began simply as a concept for an imaginary video game concept. For 5 years it only exist in my mind, as I'm not confident enough to draw or write it down. Because of it the series is constantly shifting in shape, with a two major "reboots." At first the series is more in line with the average fantasy, with the first "reboot" at around 3 years ago where I axed down the races to just four (elves, humans, orcs, and kobolds) along with adding three original races (the duckfolk ganschlings, fishfolk myrs, and catfolk mazcatls). The second reboot from just about a year and a half ago shifted the entire series into the modern times. Currently, the series is undergoing a "soft" reboot where I focuses back into the medieval times, although the modern setting still exist as the "future".

Now what I hope I can post here:

1. Lore posts with or without illustrations. Can be picture of characters, events, etc.

2. Possibly some one shots.

3. An actual full blown lit. We'll see.

A little index to catalogue future posts.

 

Medieval

Ganschenland

• The Warriors of Ganschenland

Azzeria

• The Soldiers of Azzeria

Modern

Gallatia

• A Castle on the Coast

Edited April 22, 2019 by The Drifter

[The Drifter]

(Medieval) The warriors of Ganschenland

The great peninsula of Ganschenland is place of constant warfare. Filled with multitudes of tribes and clans fighting over limited resource, the land of old growth forests and giant insects have hatched a culture of warrior tied strongly to the Ganschling society.

1. A Fyrd spearbearer. The commoners of medieval Ganschenland, the Kotters, are free unlike the peasantry in many other place at the time. However, they're culturally very strongly bond to their clans in the matter of everything. During war half of the adult population of a clan would form a warband (the Fyrd) and fight in the service of their Thanes. Often relying on their number, the average fyrdling are often only equipped with spears and shield, sometimes with gambeson vest and simple helmet. Thus they often fights in massed shieldwall which is actually effective against cavalry. Traditionally only used for defense, the intensifying wars have pushed the kingdoms and tribes into using their fyrds in long campaigns, a very unpopular move.

2. A Karlar. The karls are a class of landless nobles serving directly under a thane. Originally they're merely hired servants paid by their thane (unlike the kotters who must instead pay tribute in exchange for protection) to take care of their estate. While in the earlier times it was only the thanes who fights in the clan wars, but the clans forms into tribes and eventually into kingdoms, the karls are then armed by their masters and eventually transforms into semi hereditary warrior retainers. Often well armed with proper metal armors as they're funded by their rich lords, they primarily fights as heavy infantry while the thanes fights as cavalry, although some tribes are known to also train their karls as riders.

3. A Thane. The thegns are the top of the Ganschling society, the land owning ruling class since the early days of the clans and tribes. Unlike the nobility in other civilizations, the Ganschling nobility is "flat" with informal hierarchy based on personal honor, wealth, etc, with position of leadership like chieftains decided by the vote of a noble council. Is it only with the formation of kingdoms with powerful chiefs crowning themselves as Kunigs that there's something that is clearly above the thegns. In battle they traditionally fights as cavalry, riding the various giant insects of Ganscheland, giving them various advantages over the foot soldiers. They also often equips themselves with expensive thaumic infused weapons and armors along with rare alchemical potions granting all sort of abilities, from breathing thunder to healing even the most deadly wound.

[The Drifter]

(Modern) A Castle on the Coast

Portrait depicting a coastal elven city in the Gallatian empire.

A medieval castle build on a rocky shore with a modern city in the distance. That giant mast with platforms is an airship port. In fact the castle in the foreground was also an airship dock in the past, the tall stone tower with a wooden platform can serve a single airship, which are rarer in the medieval times. Medieval airships used gasbags filled with alchemically altered air that makes them even more lighter that they can carry a wooden carriage up a few hundred feet into the air. They're mostly used as couriers or to carry important passengers at the time as experiments in using them for military or commercial purposes yields lackluster result due to their low weight capacity and fragility. However, the advent of thaumic engines during the industrial revolution capable of creating a continuous lifting spell over a large area leads to the rapid development of heavy airships that can fly faster, higher, and for a longer time in a large number. Not only it changes the economy by allowing the flow of trade and people over previously remote landlocked area, but also changes the face of warfare with the rise of flying warships that can lay destruction from high above.

Edited April 22, 2019 by The Drifter

[The Drifter]

(Medieval) The Soldiers of Azzeria

Azzeria is possibly one of the oldest civilization that have existed on Mundia. The first Ziqqurats was raised during the mythical Green Era where the great desert of Azar-Eq was once blanketed with forests and flowing rivers. Even then, their affinity with the desert allows them to gain riches beyond the reach of other civilizations. Gold, iron, mithril, aetherite, dredged from deep within the shifting sands, and empire of riches backed by state of the art agriculture turning oasis and riverbeds into imperial cornucopia. Under the Zhahanzah the Azzerian empire is guarded by the one of the professional army in the world, equal to the Pontic Theme and the Tiberian Legion. It is commonly divided into three tiers.

1. The regional militia (top right). The Shabat, an administrative unit made up of a city and its surrounding countryside, compromise the lowest level of Azzerian bureaucracy, and thus it's military power. Only entrusted with keeping the local peace, the militias are often scarcely armed often with only just some spears, javelins, and light shields. Formed and garrisoned in their respective home cities, they only come together during the time of war, filling in the roles of scout, skirmisher, and reserve troops.

2. The regular army (bottom left). The Satrap is the second highest unit of governance second only to the empire itself, often equal in size and wealth to independent kingdoms of the world. Equipped and salaried by the state, the average Azzerian soldier are well equipped with full body armor, usually made up of iron helmet and lammellar, sometimes with mirror armor thrown in. Fighting in thick shield blocks, protecting them from the rains of projectiles and cavalry charges. Ideally they're made up of volunteers serving a 10 year tour, but during the times of crisis it is not unheard of for the empire to drawn in conscripts with a much shorter service time, along with the reduced quality of training and equipment.

3.The royal guards (top right). A more feudal institution than the rest of the army, the Azzerian Royal Guard is both directly serves and funded by the Zhahanzah themselves. With the river of coins flowing from the royal purse, the guards are the best equipped unit of the empire, often sporting the heaviest armor and custom forged equipment. Because of their nature, they're also noticeably less standardized than the rest of the army, with each ruler customizing them to suite their need and taste (mostly taste). Thus sometimes they're made up cavalries mounted on the desert drakes, sometimes they're infantry fighting in Pontic style pike blocks, sometimes they're spellswords trained by the royal Magi, sometimes they're all of the above at the same time. Regardless, the Zhah often invest a great deal into their training, ensuring that they at least know how to handle their expensive weapons well.