The Tale of Dol'ittik the Hunter
Turn 5
I am doing a project of incremental worldbuilding. In other words, I’m taking aspects of worldbuilding and changing them slowly over time, in hope of creating a world that has the real weight of history behind it. In addition, I’m using randomness and ‘game-like’ mechanics, as well as assistance from ChatGPT, to help work my way through this process.
The Eekraw are an avian species that has recently developed sentience. They’re slightly shorter than human height, and live around 80 years absent illness or injury. They can’t lift off vertically, requiring a cliff face or tree to jump off to successfully initiate flight. They have strong and dexterous foot talons, meaning their feet rather than wings are needed to work tools. They live in communal nests, with a nest of four-six raising their young together.
In this turn:
A hunter in the savannah comes to prominence for taking down a powerful predator
I figure out how far the Eekraw can fly
The savannah Eekraw develop a primitive tool for holding water
Inhabited World
The overall map of the planet of the Eekraw is below:
The Eekraw inhabit the continent directly in the center, with the first Eekraw coming to sentience in the small mountain range near the equator.
The Eekraw have inhabited most of the central continent that is inhabitable. The following map shows the climates of the central continent, along with the inhabited Regions of it. It includes Region 8, which is settled during this turn.
Turn Order
The turn order (with some new additions/changes) is:
Random Event: Roll on the random event table, then roll to see what region it occurs in
Activation: Roll a die to decide which region to ‘activate.’
Expansion: The activated region will expand to 1d2 of the nearest regions. If the region is populated, that region will migrate to a nearby region, and the activated region will take their place (waves of migration pushing previous waves away)
Biome Generation: I will generate a biome for the regions that have been expanded into. One animal or plant from each nearby biome is present in the new one - this makes the biomes mesh better, and also can make some interesting ways in which the creatures change between biomes.
Language Development: The activated region and expanded-to regions will undergo language development
Technological Development: Finally, I will roll another die with the new number of regions. Whichever region is activated may have a new technology or cultural or societal innovation occur. I will roll a 1d3 - 1 is technological, 2 is social, 3 is cultural. Those will start off minor - things like some small amount of specialization or developing fire, not agriculture or iron-working. That region will also undergo a round of language development.
Random Events:
At this point I’ve created a 31-part list of possible random events. My plan is to roll on the table and take whatever comes. As with any solo roleplaying roll, if the result is one that I don’t like, I’ll feel free to discard it, although I’ll be hesitant to do so - if I do that too much, it’s not any different than just deciding myself, and takes out some of the ways in which I get surprised by what happened, which is the coolest part.
An animal migrates from one region to another
A species dies out
A new species becomes prominent
A new variant of a species becomes prominent
A new plant becomes prominent
A new resource is found (possibly related to technology - technology advances as well?)
Cultural schism: A region splits into two distinct cultures (possibly ignore/re-roll if it’s a biome that can’t support a large population)
A loan word is transmitted from one region to another
An additional round of linguistic change occurs
Society devolves - some complexity of society is reduced
Society evolves - complexity is added
Society changes - some aspect of society changes
Culture devolves - some complexity of culture is reduced
Culture Evolves - complexity is added
Culture changes - some aspect of culture changes
Technology devolves
Technology evolves
Technology changes - a new or different take on the same thing (not sure if this makes sense - maybe a change in priority - hard to distinguish from devolving or evolving)
Language evolves complexity - add particles, tenses, etc.
Language devolves - remove particles, tenses, verbs
Culture massively changes - massive rapid changes across the entire culture
Major linguistic shift - run language development twice
Major societal shift- massive rapid changes across the entire societal structure
Genetic change - develop new feather colors, for example
Individual figure rises to prominence (shapes culture, later turned into myth)
Major natural formation/landmark adopted into cultural beliefs
Mystical/unexplained phenomenon causes new beliefs/myths
A resource is depleted
Local Natural Disaster (flood, drought, etc.)
Local legend about place, event or individual becomes widely shared
Major Event of Planet-wide importance - instead of rolling to pick a region, roll to see which of these events occurs: 1. Another species gains sentience. 2. Global cooling. 3. Global Warming. 4. Major volcanic eruption. 5. Meteor impact. 6. Extra-terrestrial visitation (probably without contact, probably leave artifacts somewhere). 7. Major plant/animal die-off. 8. Major disease. 9. Sea-levels rise. 10. Sea-levels fall.
I roll a 1d31 and get an 8 - a loan word is transmitted from one region to another. Kind of unexciting result, and honestly the languages are still not different enough for that to make sense, so I decide to roll again. I then roll a 19, which I also don’t like, it feels too early to add tenses and other complexity to these languages. Given that I’ve ignored both of the last two roll results, I decide to just pick one, and I pick 25: individual figure rises to prominence.
I decide to pick that one partly because I came up with an idea about how that would work and I want to try it out, and partly because so far, the worldbuilding has been purely at a species/region level and adding in individuals will make the worldbuilding that much more interesting.
I’ll now roll a 1d7 to pick among the seven inhabited regions on the planet. I rolled a 2, so the savannah inhabitants of region 2 have an individual come to prominence amongst all the Eekraw in the region.
I roll a 1d2 to determine male (1) or female (2). I roll a 2, so she is female.
I put the information on region 2 into ChatGPT, along with the following prompt: A female Eekraw of this tribe rises to prominence amongst the Eekraw. What did she do to rise to prominence? What does she look like? What was her name? What did she do after rising to prominence? Give me five different possible answers to each question, using the above information and language to think through answers
This prompt didn’t work too well - the answers to the different questions influenced each other and didn’t go the way I wanted, so I decided to just ask the first question to begin with.
Here are some of the possible reasons she came to prominence:
She defended a group of nests near a Yek’Tavak (old, sacred tree) from a pack of Vark’tik’ti
She resolved a major dispute amongst the clans about the use and protection of certain sacred Tavak trees
She led a group of Eekraw in bringing down a Tikka’Taluvark (apex predator of the savannah, with barbed tail).
She realized the antiseptic properties of the Tir’krew berries, saving the lives of a large number of Eekraw not just in her clan, but in all the savannah clans
She became well-known for her Yeekee (knowledge) about the tribe’s history and her ability to share those stories
I rolled between these options and got a 3. Therefore, she came to prominence because she led a group of Eekraw in bringing down a Tikka’Taluvark, a difficult and daring accomplishment.
I then prompted ChatGPT to think of names for her before and after the accomplishment. I didn’t love the names that ChatGPT suggested, mostly because they all seemed to make her sound revered even before the accomplishment. Instead, I went to the lexicon directly to think of one.
I had a few ideas, but one idea surprised me, and I rolled with it. She was named Dol’ittik (the word for ‘ground’ and the word for ‘screw-up’) - I hadn’t intended it this way, but the name created a story on its own. She was generally considered a screw-up, who would mess up comically when she tried to impress the tribe. But then she decided to do something big to show everyone, so she convinced some other youngsters to join her, and went to take down the biggest and scariest monster in the area. Maybe this one in particular was hunting members of the tribe, or it was just nearby. Afterwards, she is renamed Var’Doltik (the word ‘above’ added to a compression of her name)
I then asked ChatGPT to come up with some names for her hunting party:
Talu’wi’Tik (scrubland-hunter)
Ekti’Chalu (young-forager)
Dal’Vtal (ground-migrater)
They were all other ambitious younglings from the clan, and afterwards the four of them formed a nest group amongst themselves.
For fun, I then decided to make a song/history of this event in the language of the region:
Dol’ittik yeekree’tiy Kru Dol’ittik ChVarkee’tiy Dol’ittik Tikka’Taluvark Tikvark Eekwi Kru Taluvark’wi Dol’ittik Talu’wi’Tik Ekti’Chalu Dal’Vtal Tikvark Eekwi Kru Taluvark’wi Dol’ittik Tikka’Taluvark Tikvark Dol’ittik Kru Dol’ittik Dol’ittik Raayik Var’Doltik Var’Doltik Talu’wi’Tik Ekti’Chalu Dal’Vtal KrRaitir Eekra
Translated, that means something along the lines of the following:
Dol’ittik possesses no common sense Dol’ittik tries something new Dol’ittik hunts Tikka’Taluvark in the savannah No safety in the savannah Dol’ittik, Talu’wi’Tik, Ekti’Chalu, Dal’Vtal hunt in the savannah No safety in the savannah Dol’ittik hunts Tikka’Taluvark in the savannah Dol’ittik is not (i.e., no longer) Dol’ittik Dol’ittik is the respected Var’Doltik Var’Doltik and her hunting party defend their shelter (metaphorically, form a new nest group)
It’s pretty cool that at this point I can make full stories in the language of this culture, and it makes sense and is comprehensible (mostly), if unsophisticated.
I also decided that even though her name was changed after her feat, due to the song she is remembered as Dol’ittik, not as Var’Doltik. I’ll add a new entry to the society/culture summary:
Prominent Individuals:
Dol’ittik: Dol’ittik was a young Eekraw who was generally derided as being clumsy (hence ‘ittik - from it’tik, which means screw-up). She assembled a hunting party, made up of Talu’wi’Tik, Ekti’Chalu, and Dal’Vtal, and ventured into the savannah to take down a Tikku’Taluvark, the apex predator of the savannah. She was renamed Var’Doltik out of respect and formed a nestgroup with her successful hunting party.
Next turn, I’ll figure out how Dol’ittik is remembered, and move her from ‘prominent individuals’ to myths. I also really enjoyed that section, so I decide to add it as a permanent part of the turn order. I’ll still keep it as a possibility in the random events, but I’ll also add it to the turn order.
New part of the turn order:
Prominent Individuals:
In any region that has a prominent individual, determine how that individual is remembered/how the rememberance has changed, then move them into Myths/History.
Roll a region. If that region has anything in myths/history, see how that remembrance has changed over time.
Roll a region. That region has a new individual come to prominence.
I’ll now do language evolution for region 2. I roll category 3, descriptors, to which I add a few:
Descriptors (3):
Tikti - dangerous
Itek - screw-up (used comedically/lightly)
Dor - hidden
Eek - safe
Jilki’tiy - insignificant/minimal
Incidentally, there’s lots of cool things changing in these languages that I don’t necessarily talk about. For example, Dor previously meant ‘underground,’ originally based on where the burrowing mice in region 1 lived. This turn, Dor underwent semantic drift, meaning that it changed its meaning over time, and it now means hidden. Sometimes the previous meaning just disappears, if it’s irrelevant or unnecessary to the people, or other times a new word is used to fill the meaning. In this case, since the Tiirtur’krew (bad-tasting but nutritious tubers) have to be taken from under the soil, the Eekraw of region 2 take the concept of ‘underground’ from that, taking the first part of the word, Tiirt. Thus, Dor now means hidden, and Tiirt means underground.
Activation / Expansion
Now, Activation. Again, there are 7 inhabited regions. I roll a 4, so region 4 activates. I then roll a 1 on a 1d2, so they expand into one nearby biome. Now, what places region 4 can expand into really depends on how I interpret the biomes. Is the tropical deciduous forest to the west of 4 a new region or part of region 7? Are the island/waterlogged temperate forest areas to the south part of region 4, or not? Is the temperate forest in the continent to the south of region 4 too far away to be migrated to? How do I treat the small patches of one climate in a larger patch of a different climate? (the answer to the last question is probably to ignore it).
One option I could do is treat the regions I’m not sure about as a new region but keep a biome that is mostly the same as the one nearby. The advantage is that I don’t have to generate a new biome - the part I’m enjoying least of doing this. The disadvantages of this middle option are that it would take much longer to inhabit the world (compared to just treating it as part of region 7, for example) or that it limits the opportunities for real variation between areas (compared to generating it wholesale). Still, I think that’s a good compromise and decide to go with it.
Now, I need to figure out if those other areas are too far away to expand to. Region 5 is made up of islands that are relatively close - the longest distance between any island is around 30-40 miles. By contrast, the gap between the southernmost temperate forest on the main continent, at the southern edge of that crater sea, and the northernmost of the southern continent, is around 380 miles. The gap between that crater sea and the continent to the East is around 150 miles, as is the gap between the central continent and the southern continent further west.
Part of what I need to decide, then, is how far the Eekraw can fly in a single flight. I put the following prompt, along with all the information on the Eekraw, into ChatGPT: “How far would the Eekraw likely be able to fly in a single flight? Think through your answer and justify it carefully.”
As usual, I hit ‘regenerate’ a few times to get some varied responses. Interestingly, adding the sentence “You are an expert biologist, with high levels of knowledge about creatures’ biology” to the above prompt resulted in significantly shorter distances than the original prompt, as does adding “You are an expert xenobiologist, with high levels of knowledge about creatures which live on planets other than the Earth.1” The answers I get range from ~10 miles to ~500 miles as max flight distance.
I eventually decide that the Eekraw usually make flights of 10-20 miles, with a maximum single flight distance of around 50-70 miles. That means that until they develop boats of some kind, I should assume they don’t make it across any of those oceans into the southern continent.
I add the following to the species description:
Flight Distance: Normal flight distance for an Eekraw is up to 20 miles in a single flight. The maximum single flight distance is around 50-70 miles in a single flight, given optimal conditions and carrying nothing.
And that makes my decision for me. Region 4 can expand into the island/coastal temperate forest region to the southeast or to the tropical deciduous forest region to the southwest, but not to the other continents. For either biome, I will just reproduce the existing biome, and roll to pick a feature or two in that biome to replace.
I roll a 1d2 - 1 for southeast, 2 for southwest. I roll a 2, so the Eekraw from region 4 expand to the coastal region to the southwest.
Biome Generation
For this biome, I’m going to use the biome of region 7 as a starting point. I’m going to roll a 1d12 three times — the first one is going to be replaced by a new creature, the second will be a relative of a creature in region 7 and the third will be replaced by a relative of a creature from region 4.
First 1d12: 9. Therefore, the small rodent-like creature from region 7 does not exist in region 8, and there will be a new small prey animal. Small Prey Animal: Small, vibrantly colored fish which live in shallows and coastal pools, feeding on small insects and algae
Then I roll an 11, so the funghi from region 7 are changed to Staple Food: Funghi that grow in tidal flats, with stalks that stretch and contract to keep the cap above the water regardless of tides
Finally, I roll a 6, so the buoyant insects are replaced by one of the medium prey animals from region 4. I roll a 1d2 and get a 1, so the first one, the family-group herbivore with exoskeletal shell, replaces it. It’s slightly different for the new biome - it has slightly webbed feet for brief periods of swimming. Thus, Medium Prey Animal: Medium-sized animal with hard exoskeletal shell, four legs and slightly webbed feet for swimming. Feeds on the star-shaped fruits and the funghi, travels in small family groups
I now name all the creatures using words already in the lexicon.
Language Development:
Region 8 - I roll a 7, so the creature category undergoes language evolution (good, because it shortens all the long compound names).
Creatures (7):
Tiko - dangerous creature
Skik’ka - non-threatening/harmless creature
Tsik - nuisance creature
Skitra - harmless sea-creature/fish
Kre’tivar - Large avian creature, large light-sensitive eyes, hunts nocturnally. Will snatch a fully grown Eekraw if they are alone. Relative of the Varkee of Region 1
Jilkavar - Large reptile, has large tail with spikes on it
Tiktiruti - Dog-sized insect, with green camoflauge skin and strong legs. Ambush predator
Torskiar - Large segmented worms that feed on dead plants and animals
Skikratar - Large herbivore with armored hide and two large horns
Trara’tra - Medium-sized animal with hard exoskeletal shell, four legs and slightly webbed feet for swimming. Feeds on the star-shaped fruits and the funghi, travels in small family groups
Rairskali A medium-sized creature with tough skin and sharp tusks
Raa’torik - Bioluminescent beetles that live in colonies and feed on tree sap, release a noxious gas when threatened. Has luminescence that alters based on the season. Related to the beetles of region 3
Skiktra - Small, vibrantly colored fish which live in shallows and coastal pools, feeding on small insects and algae
Region 4 - I roll a 4, so the verb category undergoes evolution:
Verbs (4):
Kar - to fly
Tavkrark - to take off, jump off
Krovor - to succeed/excel
Kril - to use
Tark - to land
Krat - to defend
Yeerti - to pray, meditate or defend against spiritual challenges
Tava - to start
Ratirkri - to mark with Raa’tir (luminescent moss)
Advancement / Development
Now, development. I roll a 2, so region 2 undergoes development. On a 1d3, I roll a 1, so region 2 advances its technology in some way.
Here are some possible advances:
Tir’krew ointment - the Eekraw develop ways to use the berries of the scrublands for their antiseptic properties, reducing deaths from infections
Improved Eekra’tal (shelters) - the Eekraw develop better shelters using wood and brush
Basic maps - the Eekraw carve basic maps on stones to depict landmarks, water sources and sacred trees
Water-gathering tools - the Eekraw fashion tools from bones to scoop and hold water from oases
Var’krilik whistles - mimicking the Var’krilik (whistling birds), the Eekraw fashion instruments to be used for communication
Food preservation - Eekraw dry Jilki (meat) and Jilki’tira (edible plants) using the sun’s rays
Vajilkti (luminescent insect) holders - craft containers to hold the insects to use for illumination
Harnesses - craft harnesses to hold things during flight
Hunting tools - bind sharp stones to sticks with plant fibers to improve hunting
Fire - start using fire to cook and/or dry foods
I roll a 1d10 to decide which technological advancement the Eekraw do. Result: 4. The Eekraw fashion tools from bones to scoop and hold water from oases, making it easier to keep hydrated on long flights through the savannah. That is the Chalu’tarak’tiy (scavenge-water-new) - a tool fashioned from animal bones to draw and store water from oases.
I’ll also do a round of language development - I roll a 1, so the ‘basics/pronouns’ category changes. The new category:
Basics (1):
Ak - me
Juk - you
Rayk - (respectful) you
Ai - them
Eira - that nest group
Era - us
Ke - yes
Kruto - no
Just to show how cool it is that these regions have developed differently, here’s region 8’s category 1 as a comparison:
Basics (1):
Eg - me
Yie - you
Ru - them
Ewa - us
Kir - yes
Kre - no
There are definitely similarities, but the differences are notable enough that these are clearly not the same language.
Alright, that’s it for this turn. I had a lot of fun with the story of Dol’ittik - I’m glad I decided to make ‘prominent individual’ a part of the full turn order, so I do it each time.
Of course, fundamentally, ChatGPT doesn’t ‘know’ anything, nor does it do math or really think about things, so these facts don’t necessarily suggest anything about which are more true, just which fit more with the probabilities of the next word in a text. Fortunately, this is my world, so I can accept an answer even if it isn’t necessarily the ‘truest.’