#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 17: oceanic animals created for “Shaman of Hinam” Additional species of penguins, larger than the ones we have right now. There are also freshwater penguins that live in the rivers.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 16: Oceanic deity in “Shaman of Hinam” A penguin spirit. Observing and following penguins taught their seafaring ancestors how to survive. As a result, penguins are not a food source in the Tarma. They are honored and it is illegal to eat them.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 15: seaside scene Ayesha and Renga will eventually make their way via the rivers to the sea/ocean. The sand is dark brown and penguins, seals, and whales inhabit the waters. There are many islands, some larger than others. Large port cities are near the shore.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 14: cultural dish consumed on special holiday There is a special corn whisky sweetened with a very small amount of mad honey, usually consumed towards the end of a year just before the 24 hour night begins. It is consumed during the “Goodbye, Sun!” holiday.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 17: My Autumn TBR “Redneck Revenant,” book 4 in the Adam Binder series by @drslayton.bsky.social (which will be released in October) Legends & Lattes (*again* because it’s so cozy😆) and the prequel “Bookshops and Bone Dust” by @travisbaldree.bsky.social

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 15: Where would Ayesha like to visit? Ayesha would like to spend a few month near the sea. His schedule is very busy, so he has not left the Tarma forest in years.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember Sept 14: Favorite books? I have so many! Here are just a few. Charm of Magpies Series @kjcharleswriter.com Shades of Magic series V.E. Schwab The Scientific Method series @krisripper.bsky.social Inheritance series @poopraven.bsky.social

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 13: local food invented in Ayesha’s home town. Ayesha’s town of Sih specialized in fruit. A flood destroyed the town and the orchards. The famous recipe for an alcohol made from the local fruits was lost with the village, but some unopened bottles still remain.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 12: foods invented in “Shaman of Hinam.” 🍲 A mushroom, waterweed, lotus root, and fish dish. 🥃🍯Cultivated corn and mad honey whisky/alcohol drink 🌯 Numerous Caribou dishes. (Note: the caribou in the setting are smaller, widespread, and adapted to warm forests.)

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 11: laws/rules related to food 🍄 Don’t eat the glowing sundown mushrooms. 🐟 Do not overfish. Pay attention to fishing seasons. 🗑️ Dumping trash in the rivers/lakes/other echo-systems is prohibited. 🐸 Do not cook or serve poisonous frogs to customers.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 12: Books that remind you of autumn @teromain.bsky.social Alan Drasil/Teromain’s “Light & Shadow“ series. The first novel takes place on Halloween night in a graveyard. 😁 Teromain is revamping the first novel and it’s been so much fun to read.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 11: my next WIP I might go back to writing “1,000 Things.” Sabine, a drag king/dance instructor/grad student, meets her first crush, Ruby, again right before the 2020 Pandemic. Sabine finds 1,000 reasons why life is good. Ruby is one of those reasons.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 10: knowledge or power? Ayesha covets knowledge. He loves learning new things. People with magical power were at a disadvantage where Renga grew up. Renga wanted political and societal power to change his fate and the fate of others who were gifted with magic.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 9: what magic or superpowers would Ayesha and I choose? Ayesha would choose healing magic. I would choose flight. 😆 I dream about flying a lot.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 8: Did Ayesha like school? He liked it, but sometimes he struggled to relate to his peers. Most of them grew up in the city while he grew up in the smaller village of Sih, a village that doesn’t exist anymore.

#Septemberworldbuilders September 10: animals used for food in “Shaman of Hinam” Frogs, turtles, caiman, caribou, shark, fish, snails, mussels, oysters, crabs. Most of the animals that are eaten are aquatic.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 9th: plants/fungi used for food In “Shaman of Hinam” Fresh and salt water plants, fruits, corn and rice. Mushrooms are a big part of the diet as well. The Tarma grows thousands of different types of mushrooms, most of which grow in no other place in the world.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 8: food during important events Freshwater foods are staple foods in Hinam, whether it is fauna or flora. Because of a past of seafaring, seafood and sea plants are also part of important events.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 7: Non traditional seasons in “Shaman of Hinam” “Winter” in this setting is just when the sun doesn’t rise. The location is polar, but it is still warm. It might be a little colder, but that is more noticeable outside of the Tarma forest.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 7: Something that surprised me in “Shaman of Hinam.” The setting I chose is surprising. The location is real, but the time period is very, very different from ours. It’s been so much fun worldbuilding this location.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 6: Saturday Snippet. Ayesha rarely plays any sports anymore due to his busy schedule. Renga somehow gets him to play a game. The snippet is available in the alt text for the image, which I made with HeroForge.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 6: Ayesha’s favorite season I think Ayesha likes spring the most because the sun will be back. Renga likes the sundown months the most. It’s when he reads the most books.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 5: Winter vibes/festivals/events in "Shaman of Hinam." There is a celebration for the bioluminescent plants that only bloom around this time of year while the sun is gone. The celebration is sometimes banned because people dare each other to eat the plants. 😨

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 4: Autumn vibes/festivals/events in "Shaman of Hinam." There is a festival/holiday to say "goodbye" to the sun before it goes away for a few months.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 5: Favorite Fandoms Online indie comics are definitely something I love. I also enjoy indie podcasts and free-to-read books by various writers and I try to support those creators whenever I can.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 4: Character Hobbies Renga loves reading, writing, researching, and travel. Ayesha loves gardening. Kwosa loves taking care of his aquarium.

#HeroForge #NovaeComic #Sulvain #Novae I had to make another Novae-themed creation on HeroForge. Sulvain and Udaya. www.heroforge.com/load_config%...

#Novae #Sulvain #HeroForge I made another figure on Hero Forge. Sulvain from K. Rhodes and Jen Xu's (Kaiju's) @kaijubean.bsky.social wonderful comic, Novae. I absolutely love this comic. Here is the figure on HeroForge. www.heroforge.com/load_config%...

Sulvain cozying up to Persimmon~ (12 more days to get your own Sulvain! He is so soft 🥺💖) www.makeship.com/products/nov...

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 3: education in “Shaman of Hinam” Teachers trained in the city teach in the smaller villages. Many of these teachers are *from* those villages. For people specializing in a specific trade, they can apprentice at a village that specializes in that trade.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 3: summer vibes/festivals/events The time of the story is actually set during the summer festival and the founding of the city. The festival is for 30 days. (Not sure if that is a significant number yet.) People from all over the Tarma forest and beyond attend.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 2: how do I choose my next read? I usually read the summary. If it looks interesting, I look at the first few pages to get a gist of the writing before I choose to fully read it.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 2: spring vibes/festivals/events in “Shaman of Hinam.” There is a festival for the return of sunlight in the spring.

#SeptemberWorldbuilders September 1: what season does “Shaman of Hinam” take place? The middle of summer. Because of Hinam’s location in my world, this is the time of year when the sun never fully sets on the city.

#FantasyIndiesSeptember September 1: intros and WIP Hi! I’m Atlanas and I am going to be continuing to work on my WIP “Shaman of Hinam.” The revered shaman Ayesha races to save his rainforest city Hinam from an unknown enemy. A new acquaintance, just as mysterious as the enemy, helps him.

#FantasyIndiesAugust August 31: wrap up I mostly was focused on worldbuilding again. I went back to the first chapter and have been updating it to account for what I know now about the world.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 31: Where in my world would I like to live? I would definitely want to live in Hinam . . . Just not during the inciting incident of the plot. 🤣 Hinam is in the middle of a rainforest and is led by conservationists. It lives mostly in harmony with the environment.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 30: What topic have you gone down a rabbit hole to research? Salt! I was researching salt and salt mines all because of the inciting event of the plot. Then the research of salt mining helped me flesh out the inciting event. Salt mining is such a fascinating subject.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 29: What programs do you use to worldbuild? I use Simplenote, a note taking app, for worldbuilding notes. I also use sketch books for maps.

#FantasyIndiesAugust August 30 snippet "From the oceans, our ancestors were drawn by the power of Lanjranda!" the performer continued. Renga whispered to Ayesha, "More likely, they were drawn by the shellfish near the shores. Have you read those research articles about the ancient shell dumps?"

#FantasyIndiesAugust August 29: Favorite Characters I took this to mean *any* character, so Drizzy Do'Urden from "Forgotten Realms" is my favorite character.😆 I started reading books about him in high school, and that influenced my writing development and my focus on character background.

#FantasyIndiesAugust August 28: do you stick with one genre? No. I like writing in multiple genres. Fantasy, romance, sci fi, general fiction, adventure, historical romance are some genres I like. It’s good to switch things up for writing development and practice.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 28: ruled by nature spirits in “Shaman of Hinam.” There has always been magic, but limited access to it. When the ice receded from the Tarma and the forest spirit Lanjranda was freed from the ice, the people suddenly had access to incredible magic unlike ever before.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 27: malleable or strict? Magic in "Shaman of Hinam" is fairly malleable, at least right now. It comes very naturally to Ayesha, but someone else might need specific rules and incantation for spells to work.

#FantasyIndiesAugust August 27: WIP Comps These all have some similarities Shaman of Hinam Shades of Magic: V.E. Schwab Charm of Magpies: KJ Charles Shonen Onmyoji: anime Inuyasha: anime Strange Country: @rowanhlaine.bsky.social

#FantasyIndiesAugust August 26: Folklore and legends in WIP Legend has it that the lead Shaman of Hinam during the imperial invasion had two partners and several children who escaped the invasion.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 26: MC's relationship with magic/ritual Ayesha uses magic on a daily basis. He strengthens wards with rituals, blesses places where spirits are growing, and casts practical magic (for ex: mosquito repellent wards.)

#AugustWorldbuilders August 25: Unusual feature of magic in "Shaman of Hinam." It's unusual for someone to have no affinity for spiritual magic in the Tarma. Foreigners are usually the ones who have no affinity. Kwosa, Ayesha's foster brother and leader of Hinam, has no affinity for magic.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 24: Magical traditions During the 30 festival marking the founding of Hinam, the shamans go around the city blessing people and strengthening wards against natural disasters and restless spirits.

#AugustWorldbuilders August 23: Incantations, sigils, runes, magic words. As long as thought, intent, purpose, and/or emotion are put into it, any of the above would work in the world of "Shaman of Hinam." Something similar to sigils is routinely used in the city.