HIGH FANTASY WORLD BUILDING THREAD.
All spitballing, will update through the day/evening.
LET'S GO.

Focus of our story is the remnant of a once-mighty empire, now reduced to one of its larger colonies.
Think "if the revolution was fought in Europe instead of the USA and the American colonies were all that were left of England".
Then flush the rest of the connotations.

Because this is NOT England.

First off this was a hegemonic empire. Their entire schtick was "we're more prosperous than you, but you can join if you want. Or wallow in squalor. No big."

Thing is, they didn't give enough credit to their vassal states over time, who had become the real driving force of the empire. A few decades of nepotism and gentrification later, and seeds were set for REVOLUTION.

Thing is, the always-distant empire kept good relations with one major colony, which - yes - is now all that remains of the empire.

It's a land in search of a new identity, trying to reconcile the glory that was with the reality of what is, rather than relying on denial and nostalgia entirely.

And this empire needs a name; it's going to be named after it's patron god. The remnant of the Kanathi Empire.

Kanaat is one of eleven Gods credited with making the world, each one having journeyed from another world. The worlds (very plural) the gods came from are barely known of. An occasional allusion in sacred text or prophecy.

Out of the Eleven, nine are presently known of. Five have active faiths, four are spoken of in the legends of active faiths but are not worshipped in any capacity beyond an occasional local cult, and two are completely unknown beside the mention that eleven Gods were involved.

Kanaat - God of storms and oracles.
Maq Qo- Goddess of Words and Stone
Birtul - Deity (?!) of Wind and Pain
Tsemi - Goddess of Fire and Forests
The Hungering One - God of Food

The Hungering One has a holy word that barely comprises one page: in short, all things hunger, all things must be fed.

Maq Qo is considered to be the one that did the most in creation, and is most widely followed.

The Unfollowed Five include:
Jy - Trickster, actively discourages worship, treated like a culture hero instead.
Na-a-tul - Maq Qo's sister. Goddess of the beasts in the deep. Believed to have gone insane; prayers to her are BEGGING for your mind to be taken.

Lokampaniral - Generally unknown what capacity they served, only mentioned briefly.
Shudo - Goddess of Ink, several small cults, no real organized worship.
The God of Shade and Stream - only this title remains.

There are other faiths unhandled by this pantheon: Mielists follow belief in an uncaring and unknowable weaver of fate. The Ossaran Cults do not believe in gods, just in demons. Lots of demons. Most Oirish accept the existence of gods, but only follow "ascended ancestors".

And that's just a small snapshot. There are hundreds of other "small faiths" without as many followers.

None of these countries or faiths are exclusive to one race. Extensive sailing and migration in the ancient era led to fairly cosmopolitan ethnic makeups for most countries that persists to this day.

Magic exists. It's generally accepted that the different magic traditions manipulate the same force, but they perceive it in very different ways.
Literally.
Infinitely complex ink patterns, a language predating existence that you must learn to hear, Divine music...

The list goes on.

There are DOZENS of races...

And I'll flesh those out in a bit.

END THREAD ONE.