The Wilds: An In-Depth Guide for the Purpose of Creating Wildlings
"The journey that I am about to go on will be full of wonder- terrifying wonder. The Wilds are the natural state of the world, yet bubbles of stability exist, as if we were a vessel sailing through chaos. Though the world above the waves is just as interesting, its the one beneath that has me intrigued. As such, this expedition is set on researching the creation of the Wildlings: those mysterious creatures within that think like us, may even talk like us, but look, live, and breathe quiet differently. Who they are, how does their environment influence their creation and present form, and how does this influence Heart civilization and our place on Olum? I'll have to dive into a variety of fieldwork before I can answer that question more fully, I'm afraid. So let's start by delving into the creation of the Wilds and how they influence the various beings within." -unknown researcher, Present Era
Background: An Ocean of Chaos
Environments that are familiar to our world are also found on Olum, as well as most creatures we are familiar with, whether alive or extinct. However, whereas our world's biomes and creatures have variants that operate within established parameters, the ones in Vaxus have been given an expansive new set of rules to operate within. These new rules are established through the use of Aspects. Aspects are the building blocks of matter, but unlike our world's atoms, they are free to change matter's properties and behaviors on a whim. Though this at first may seem like a system that allows unrepentant, total chaos, there are set laws that balance it out. It is believed that the gods long ago ordained a set of Laws that govern how and when Chaos can act upon its urges. Through their strength, these Laws maintain the highest authority over the Chaos, allowing shifting tides to operate with a robust, but not total, freedom. This gives the world a stable design to operate from, whilst also giving it a level of freedom not seen in our world through branches, twists, and turns. Through these Laws, the world can operate with Chaos flowing through its veins. With the swapping of Aspects possible, environments take on many different forms. Though the gods above maintain the highest authority and thus exhibit virtually omnipresent control, if an entity has enough power and understanding of the Aspects, they can exert their own view of how Law should be governed over a certain area and over certain subsets of law, harmonizing the overall authority with this new perspective. If an entity is especially powerful, they can even affect major portions of the Law, creating new realities. Such an understanding of Aspects and how they are arranged into functional Formulas in a way that affects large swathes of territories is usually reserved for the gods, but creatures that have a little more Law than Chaos inside them can exert a little influence over the Tides of Change. Care must be taken however, for if Law-filled creatures attempt to move into the Wilds without taking the time to "tame" them through shifting perspectives, they run the risk of triggering a severe Backsurge, especially if they do so too fast or unassumingly during a low Tide.The Wilds
The Wilds are areas of wilderness that have been left to the Tides of Change and are not under the direct supervision of any Law-filled entities seeking to impose controlled perceptions over the region's Tides. The farther away the Wilds are from bubbles of civilization, the more specific they get, with Wild Kingdoms forming at the deepest points (Wild Kingdoms can be classified as areas of wilderness that have been left to the Tides of Change but are under the supervision of a powerful entity that is able to impose a degree of input over the area's aspects). Though an area may be mapped as being a certain distance, Wilds are known to stretch time and space, regularly turning what looks like an ordinary cave or forest into something far deeper and expansive than one would typically think. Randomly crisscrossing the world are Ley Lines that can influence certain areas of the Wilds with Axial Overlays, subjecting that particular Wild region to that Ley Line's aspectual focus. Routinely bathing the Wilds with fresh waves of change are Wild Surges. These act as waves that wash over an area, changing the environment's Aspects into new forms.Wild Gods
There are three types of Wild gods that exercise varying control over the Wilds: Minor, Middling, and Major. When a Wild Surge happens, as random Aspects are pulled together and flung apart, a being is sometimes formed out of the titanic forces at work. Usually these are simple, mindless titans that roam around and cause mass destruction and change, disappearing after a little bit, but sometimes they can become sapient, stabilizing themselves and concentrating their power and control over a small area, which becomes their domain. This domain affects the creatures and environment around the titan, which have become changed to fit the whims and wills of the newly created minor Wild god, up to the extent of their power. This area can be as small as a stream or as expansive as a forest. Local settlements that live nearby must take care while living in the region, especially if they need to travel, and will often stay at an inn or tavern in order to catch up on the latest news of minor gods to watch out for. If someone upsets a minor Wild god, they are in deep, deep trouble. The second type of Wild god is what's known as a Middling Wild god. This is where wildling civilizations start to form. Most minor gods only care about their own power, taking care to watch over their domain and demand the occasional sacrifice from nearby settlements and travelers. Middling gods, despite having just a little boost in power over minor gods, begin to become more intentional with their powers, setting up objectives and creating a sense of purpose. The last type of Wild god are the Major Wild gods. These forces/beings have existed for as long as anybody can remember, even from before the Cataclysm, and hold sway over large regions of the world. Controlling major elemental and axial Wild regions, such as the Infinite Seas, the Sulfur Coasts or Mount Elysia, these domains have become rightfully known as Wild Kingdoms. Despite living for thousands of years, the Major Wild gods haven't gone completely insane, though they have become quite eccentric. One example is the self-proclaimed Stone King who controls upper Gudalia and rules from a shining city of crystals and large stone monoliths. Another are the shifting Primals of the Fae, who flit and flitter between politics and regimes. As such, few outsiders are brave enough to establish contact with the oldest Wild Kingdoms, though some trade does exist. Even those who call the Wilds their home are wary to travel outside of their village, due in part to their dependency on the aspects of their region but also out of fear of the dangers that lurk within the Wilds and of those strange lands where Order rules.Wildlings
Those who call the Wilds home are what's known as Wildlings. These are Chaos-filled beings that have gained sapience and live out in the Wilds, not as powerful as Wild gods, yet not as weak as Law-filled creatures. Some live under the influence of the Wild gods, with those living within Wild Kingdoms considering themselves "civilized" from the "hillbilly folk out in the boonies." Like Hearts and Draelish, Wildlings have their own civilizations, though apart from the Wild Kingdoms, these are typically little more than isolated villages trying to get by like everyone else.
by bananafire
- Early map of the Yacuepa Region somewhere on the Southern Continent. Pockets of civilization are interspersed across large regions of uncharted Wilds.
Types of Wildlings
Creatures that have been changed by the Wilds but have not been given sapience tend to fall into the same category as beasts, acting as the wildlife of the world, and are split up into three sub-groups called Ur-beasts, En-beasts, and Ley-beasts. The same groupings are used for these creatures are also used for Wildlings, with there being various different kinds of En-wildlings, Ur-wildlings, and Ley-wildlings existing throughout the world.- En-beasts/wildlings are creatures that have been given traits of their environment (plants, trees, rocks, other creatures, etc.), and can reproduce more easily.
- Ur-beasts/wildlings are creatures whose traits have been maximized to their strongest forms, and rarely reproduce into sustainable populations.
- Ley-beasts/wildlings are creatures that have become connected to the Ley Lines that crisscross the world, usually through the influence of a Wild god, and showcase aspects that are found all throughout its area of influence.
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