This is the world I have decided to start working on. I have never done anything like this before so it might be rather amateurish.

Tevo is a large, luscious land, it surrounds the area of Hau, a large, forest expanse (Elves live there) Niba a place surrounded by large caves, rocky terrain (reported to be the home of the Te warriors.) Yeila is a small circle of isles surrounded by other small isles, this is the home of the evil Lamig (half Giant,) and few who enter their territory are ever seen again, those who survive are considered extremely lucky. Loiy a swampy area (Dwarf shape shifters abode) is said to be cursed; whilst people pass through it without fear of being harmed by the shape shifters, weird and harmful things happen if you rest/stay in the swamp too long. People who travelled there years ago are said to be still trapped there, driven mad by the humid weather and swarms of giant flies, doomed to wander with no hope for the rest of time.

Tevo is a land torn with war at present; whilst it has had times of troubled peace there is a lot of unrest especially in the south borders of the land, where the shape shifters live.

I intend to work more on this, I hope I can brainstorm my different thoughts here if that is allowed, as I work on the different ideas. I know there isn't a lot here yet but I hope to expand it when I have free time.

Yay, Elanor!

What are your goals? Do you want a realm?

I hope so, Elly, but it might take a while so I am not too hopeful at the moment.

Very few people have seen the Te Warriors, they are basically like a legend. They are said to be many things; daring, adventurous, wise, serious, dangerous. In times past there were many Te Warriors, they dwelt always close to the King and Queen, defending and protecting them, but since the beginning of the unrest the King fled into hiding and disappeared from Tevo. Many of the Te Warriors were killed by the Lamig but it is said that some of them fled into hiding, living in the caves and rough land of Niba. There they are said to lie in wait, hoping that one day the heir to the throne will return and end the unrest in the land. Then they will gather up the sword again and unite together.

Ok, Elanor, I have a question for you.

Who/what is the Lamig?
Why did you choose the word "Te" warriors?

I bet you can develop it enough to get a realm.

The Lamig are half Giant, I haven't quite worked out what the other half is yet. I want something powerful, cunning. So I am going to work on that.

I have no idea why Te Warriors, I was just looking up French and Spanish words and that is what I came up with.

The Te Warriors are human; they are said to have the power of foresight and some have special gifts, i.e. some are gifted with speed others with strength and so on. They are trained from the age of five to be warriors and each special gift is nurtured to be expressly his own gift. There are different levels of warriors which I will work on to explain later.

Te Warriors have dark skin, they all have brown or blonde hair and brown or blue eyes. They have shoulder length hair although some of the lesser ranks have it cropped short. They are usually around 6 ft 7, none are ever below 6ft tall and that is seen as short.



Yes there are monsters, I will work on those and post them as well soon.

My aim is to make the giants very clever. I always get the picture that Giants are stupid in most stories so my aim is to have a half giant that is cunning, clever, wily, a hunter and very strong. Their isles have so many different tunnels, hiding grounds and look outs few people can step foot on their land without it being known to them, they will kill on sight.

I don't know much about shape shifters. So I am going to have to work a lot on them I was wanting to make it so they can turn into any form of human resemblance, but cannot shape shift into an animal at all, but then I was like...Can a shape shifter even turn into an animal?

Good job! One more thing: Are there other races? Elves?

Thanks! Yes the Elves live in the forests of Hau.

Do the elves live in houses, tents, or what?

Their homes are built in the tree tops Elly; in the winter however, they live in houses in the deepest part of the forest.

Regarding shapeshifters, I've seen books that have them capable making themselves look like other people, and I've seen books that have them capable of turning into animals. So yes, sometimes shapeshifters can turn into animals, and sometimes not. Do whatever you like.

Thank you for the information Lea! I don't want them to be able to shape shift into animals.

The Darre: This is a large animal that comes in three colours: brown, black and grey. They weigh between 75–80 kg, the females are larger than the males. With blue eyes which makes them look striking, they have long, shaggy coats and generally live in forests. They can swim although only do so very rarely. Darre are meat eaters and generally live in pairs; they can and will attack people.


Pilon: these are enormous birds, they have powerful beaks which they use to tear meat off their prey. Whilst they live up in the mountains they have been known to travel far from their home especially during winter, hunting for food. Generally they are brown or black and white striped but the females have a stripe of blue down their back. One Pilon can take a child off and carry it for many miles. Once they have fixed their prey in sight there is little hope of escaping.


There are Dragons in Tevo. Whilst some breath fire others simply have two large teeth protruding from the bottom of their mouths alongside tiny sharp teeth and they kill their prey usually with one powerful bite. There are very few 'good' dragons, most of them live near the Lamig and have been corrupted. Some have remained uncorrupted but there are very few as they have been hunted and killed.

Thank you for posting this!

Your part about dragons gave me an inspiration about my dragons. For some reason the new inspiration has very little to do with what you wrote but my mind works in weird ways.

I'm glad it gave you inspiration, Sui!

So am I.

I want to hear more about them, including the different levels of warriors.

Thanks, I will post about them soon; I am mega busy with work this weekend and Monday.

We'll be waiting to read it.

Ditto, Jonathan!

The warriors are in different levels, e.g. the warriors who have nurtured their powers most and finished their training are at the top. These are now the trainers; below them are the middle warriors who are in the final stages of being trained and below them are the beginners who are being trained by the top warriors. Their talents include but are not limited to: strength, speed, wisdom, warfare, swordsmanship, sight. Anything that is a human power/talent can be their main talent; they nurture it from a young age and grow and are trained most in that talent. They begin training at the age of nine. The warriors are what are left of the King's protectors. They were dispersed when the King fled, but here they have gathered and here they live, gathering their strength….Waiting; believing and hoping that one day their King will return.

That is a great start, Elanor! Does their culture put a lot of emphasis on strength, speed, etc, like the giants' culture?

Thank you, Elly! How encouraging you are. Yes, their culture is built and based around that; it is always their main focus. That's how they were taught, that is how their ancestors were taught and lived and on and on it goes. They have always been the Kings protectors, all through the ages.

Do the warriors ever get married?

Yes, once they reach the middle stage of training they marry. When they are the beginners in training they are not permitted to do so, as their entire thought and mind power must be focused on their training.

Talents are an interesting feature of the Te Warriors. I suppose a Te Warrior whose talent was running could run faster than other humans, and a Te Warrior whose talent was jumping could leap over tall walls. There are a lot of possibilities.


That sounds like the beginning of a story.

It's funny, I didn't have any idea of a story line; but as I did my world building a basic plot just came to me!

The Lamig live on Yeila, a circle of isles surrounded by other isles. They have lookouts on the outer circle so that any activity can be reported back to base as fast as possible. They have an enormous underground system which links the isles to each other, the tunnels connecting each isle; this means that sentries can report to base fast if anyone visits the isles or an immediate threat shows itself.

Few people have been able to learn about the Lamig way of living as they are very private, allowing no one to visit their isles without special permission; anyone without a pass is said to be killed immediately. The middle isle and the largest of them all is said to be where the Lamig women raise their children; nearby is an isle where the men are trained for war. Each isle in the circle has its own purpose; all the outer isles are off limits to the women and children meaning that they are limited to the inside circle of isles, there are some isles inside the middle circle that are also off limits.

**applauds** Very nice job! Do the Lamig men have anything to do with raising the children? Do boys go to the other isle with the men when they reach a certain age? How do you get a pass? Is there anyone checking passes like a guard? How long are the tunnels? Do the tunnels have special communication for someone in the other side of the tunnel, like telegrams? Do the Lamig children learn to use passes like a bus or train ticket? Why are they so secret in their ways? If someone rebels against the customs, is s/he rebuked? How do the people on the different isles communicate with each other? That was a lot of questions. . .

I like the names. Is this how you pronounce them?

Te (teh),
Tevo (tehvoh),
Hau (how),
Niba (naibuh),
Yeila (yeyluh),
Loiy (loy),
Lamig (l (cat) mihg).

I also like the placement of the lands. Keep up the good work!

I love questions, Elly! They really help so thank you! Ask as many as you want.



No, not really until the children are 16, 25 is seen as full adulthood, the Lamig usually live until they are around 130 years old. At 16 the boys are taken to the training island where they are trained for war or whatever aspect they are placed in, ie watchmen, guards, trainers, fighters and so on. The men rarely have anything to do with the girls, they live very sheltered lives. There are some men on the isle, for instance in the watchtower of that isle and the surrounding coast, but otherwise there are few.



Yes, at 16 the boys move across to the Training isle, the boys are trained here intensively. At 20 they are moved across to another isle where the final stages of their training commence. At 25 they are seen as adults and join the men in their duties.



Anyone outside of the isle has to apply for a pass. Actually very few people want to get there for legit reasons, so very few passes are applied for. However, if you want to contact the Lamig in any way or apply for a pass, at the very south of all the isles, standing quite a long way from the main circle of isles is a small isle, it is very tiny; this is where the Lamig take letters, you leave them there and they are picked up once every 3 months, which means that if you want a pass it can take you a very long time.



Yes, there are guards and watchtowers, there are a large amount of guards on the outer circle of isles and slightly less on the inside circle. If you have a pass you can just enter the isles however, you must be able to produce the pass when questioned.



They are enormous; they have never been measured and no one knows how old they are or how they were formed. They surround and join each isle together.



There are 'runners'. These men are trained to know every inch of the underground system. This is how people transfer messages between the isles. It can take days and weeks to communicate between the isles. This is why signals are used, especially if the message is urgent. On one side of each isle directly facing another is a large tower. This is used for urgent messages, if the fire in the tower is lit help is urgently needed on that isle; if the fire is lit and flashing then there is an imminent threat.



Yes, although they are limited to certain isles and they are not allowed to travel between isles without a guide. They are given passes upon birth.



The Lamig are not a loved race, they are evil and feared. Because of this they have many enemies so this is their way of self preservation. They have no friends outside of their circle of isles.



They are so 'indoctrinated' one might say, in their ways very few rebel. If someone rebelled completely they would be killed immediately.




People transfer messages between the isles. It can take days and weeks to communicate between the isles.

Thank you for those questions, Elly. I feel like I have discovered loads about the Lamig whilst answering these.



Thank you, Tsahraf! You have got those perfect. I'm glad they are pronounced like I imagined them to be. I am no good at making maps, so I fear I will never make a map of it for you.

This is what I thought of. I have not drawn many maps at all, and I am very
slow.

Wow! It's great! Thank you, Tsahraf! That was very kind of you.

Thank you, but was it accurate to what you were thinking?

And to be frank, I made it as a challenge. You sort of pricked me when you said we could never hope for a map from you. I darted off to make one. I do not make maps.

I just imagine the Yeila isles differently, more like a circle of isles within a circle of isles. Otherwise, yes. It was great!

Shape Shifters:

The Shape Shifters live in the swamps. They are said to be very dangerous, their emotions moving quickly from one to another in a matter of seconds. Whilst they can be helpful in some circumstances, they are not trustworthy and are not necessarily a good ally in a battle. That said, they are sought after especially if someone wants a spy to visit the different places in disguise. It is very hard to build up a secure friendship with them, however once founded it is not easily broken. Very few people have ever become steadfast friends with a Shape Shifter in Tevo, and whilst you might build up a steady friendship wth one, that does not mean that you have done so with the others.

I haven't done much work on these yet, they are at the very beginning of coming to life, as it where. So any questions are welcome.

Do Shapeshifters have a normal form for when they're not shapeshifting, or are they always changing?

They have their own, normal form; only I haven't decided what it will be like yet.

When you decide, you can post about it.

It could be a serpent; it could even be a certain smell.

A smell? I don't get that!

Ok, my shapeshifters: I am going to use dwarves; is that unheard of? I don't know but I really don't want to use anything else and I wanted to join the two together and use both races so why not shapshifting dwarves? Anyhow, that's what I'm going to be working on this week. Sorry this has been quiet for a while. Yell at me if I'm being completely unconventional.

Being unconventional in a fantasy story is a good thing. I think shape-shifting dwarves sound unique and fun and you should go with it.

I, personally, like the idea of shapeshifting dwarves. It adds a very interesting aspect of dwarves, unlike the regular idea of 'typical, everyday shapeshifters'.

I agree with Ardyth and Elly. It's a good idea.

*yells joyously*
A perfect unconventionality!

Thank you, all! I'm definitely going ahead with it then.

Let us know when you have developed it more, we are all looking forward to it.

Thank you, Elly!