First Expansion
Turn 1
Overview
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 and ensure that I am sometimes surprised by the results.
Now that I’ve established the ‘rules of the game,’ I’m going to conduct the first turn.
Turn Order:
As a reminder, here is the turn order:
For each ‘turn’ I will do the following things:
Activation: Roll a die to decide which region to ‘activate.’ If there are three regions filled, I’ll roll 1d3, if there are fifteen, I’ll roll 1d15 (obviously that’s not a real die, but I’ll be rolling on the computer anyway).
Expansion: The activated region will expand to the one or two (1d2) nearest regions, if they are unpopulated. If there are more than that many, I’ll roll for it. If only one unpopulated region is nearby, they’ll expand to that one. If no regions are unpopulated, then they won’t expand. (The first time it comes up, I may decide to implement a migration/language collision mechanic)
Biome Generation: I will generate a biome for the regions that have been expanded into.
Evolution: The Eekraw in the expanded regions may have minor genetic changes (different color feathers, perhaps?)
Language Development: Then the activated region and the regions it has expanded to will all go through one turn of language development. That process will be similar to the language development I did in the previous post. For the newly expanded regions, there will also be new animals and sights which will need words to describe them.
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. 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.
I may have to implement a technology spread mechanic of some sort as well, but I’ll come up with that when I come to it.
Obviously, since only one region is inhabited at the moment, rolling that first die is unnecessary.
Expansion:
The below maps are the geographic and climate maps of the starting region. The area circled ‘1’ is the mountainous area that the Eekraw begin their journey from. Now, I’ll roll a 1d2 to determine how many regions they expand into. I made a simple Python die-roller for a different project, so I’ll be using that.
As you can see, I rolled a 2, so the Eekraw expand into two of the four nearby regions. Conveniently enough, these regions are numbered 2-5, so for the first expansion, I’ll just roll a 1d4 and add 1, and that region is the region the Eekraw expand into. I rolled a 1, so they expand into Region 2, the scrublands/savannah to the East. That leaves regions 3, 4 and 5, so for the second expansion I’ll roll a 1d3 and add two. I rolled a 2, so the Eekraw also expand into region 4, the forest to the North.
Biome Generation:
Now, I need to generate two biomes - a scrublands/savannah biome and a temperate forest biome. I’ll use a similar prompt to the one I used for the first biome, but with a few additions that I realized would help:
I'm worldbuilding a sc-fi world. I'm going to create creatures for each biome in the world I've made. Help me brainstorm the following things for a savannah/tropical scrubland biome. Be creative and think through how such an ecosystem would function and what creatures would live there. Avoid direct analogies to terrestrial creatures, and don’t use the name of any real creature.
1 major predator
2 minor predators
1 scavenger
1 major prey animal
2 medium prey animal
2 small prey animals
2 staple food (either for humans or for animals)
2 usable resource
The above prompt resulted in creatures that were almost too creative, because I added the phrase “avoid direct analogies to terrestrial creatures.” The creatures in the first biome had some pretty clear Earth analogues, but ones like the ones below … not so much.
Ferrivines - Mobile plant-animal hybrids that possess vine-like appendages. They lay in wait for prey to approach, then entangle and slowly sap the energy of the captured creature, making it an easy meal.
Glorubus - Large, rotund animals that roll rather than walk. Their thick, rubbery skin helps retain moisture. They graze on low-lying plants and their tubular mouth allows them to suck up water and nutrients from the ground. Their rolling motion aids in seed dispersal, vital for the biome.
Nonetheless, I like the ideas here. I’ve decided to do two generations this way, and two without the ‘avoid direct analogies’ sentence, and see what comes out of it.
Results: Tropical Scrubland/Savannah Biome:
Major Predator: Large, slender creature with long, whip-like tails equipped with barbs They have IR vision as well as the ability to sense vibrations in the ground. Though they prefer to act as an ambush predator, they are also very fast when necessary.
Minor Predator: Solitary, medium-sized hunter. Has barbed quills that it propels at its prey
Minor Predator: Medium-sized predator bird with four wings, that hunt in packs to take down medium-sized prey. Can be dangerous to Eekraw, though not as dangerous as the Vark-tik are.
Scavenger: A flying creature that resembles a thin kite, that glides on thermals looking for the remains of dead animals, then settles on top of them to digest them. It is roughly the color of the savannah below, so when it settles on an animal, it’s hard to notice that there is something there
Major Prey Animal: Slow herbivore with an exoskeleton and a long neck to eat at leaves on the top of trees of the savannah. They have a strong exoskeleton and strong hind legs that can deliver powerful kicks
Medium Prey Animal: Large herd animals with six legs and a tendency to stampede when in danger. They graze on low-lying plants
Medium Prey Animal: Tunnel-dwelling nocturnal creatures that feed on roots and tubers. They navigate their large underground burrows with echo-locating clicks
Small prey Animal: Bio-luminescent insect that feeds on the nectar of plants
Small Prey Animal: Small birds that produce high-pitched whistle noises as they fly. They fly in erratic patterns to avoid predators
Staple Food: Nuts that grow on small bushes and trees throughout the biome
Staple Food: A starchy root vegetable that grows beneath the scrubland vegetation, vital for many of the herbivores, and nutritious though unpleasant tasting for Eekraw
Resource: Viscous fluid that can be extracted from berries in the scrubland. Very distasteful to eat, but has antiseptic properties when rubbed in a wound.
Now, I’ll do the same for the temperate forest biome to the North:
Temperate Forest Biome:
Major Predator: Stealthy creature with large, piercing eyes, solitary hunter
Minor Predator: Pack hunting creature with leathery skin and a strong jaw that can crunch through exoskeletons
Minor Predator: Sleek, elongated animal with a prehensile tail. Drops from trees onto their prey, have a venomous bite
Scavenger: Medium-sized beetle-like creature with a hardened carapace, eats decaying plant or animal matter
Major Prey Animal: Large herbivore with broad, leaf-like antlers. Have thick fur that helps keep them warm in the winter
Medium Prey Animal: Medium-sized animal which eats the fern-like plant and moves in groups of three or four, easily startled
Medium Prey Animal: Amphibious medium-sized animal with webbed feet and a finned tail, lives in or near rivers and small lakes, hibernates in winter
Small prey Animal: Small animal with vibrating whiskers and no eyes, lives in decayed roots of trees underground
Small Prey Animal: Bioluminescent beetles that live in colonies and feed on tree sap, release a noxious gas when threatened
Staple Food: A fern-like plant with nutrient-rich leaves which several animals eat. Eekraw cannot eat them, but when boiled they make a good-tasting tea
Staple Food: Bush producing large, sweet berries
Resource: Some trees have sap that is hardens when exposed to water, allowing it to hold things together
Resource: A tree has bark that can be soaked in water and then beaten into sheets to create clothing
One lesson that I’ve learned from doing this is avoiding the temptation to make every single thing in the worldbuilding really interesting. Especially because I’m going to have dozens of different biomes, but even if I was only creating one, trying to make every single creature and plant in the biome of cool and enthralling interest will just dilute the interestingness of the most interesting ones. Better to have one or two that are really interesting, a few more that are mildly interesting, and the rest just normal.
Language Development:
Now, I do a round of language variation, in which tried to use a variant of my previous language development prompt: “You are a language history simulator. You simulate the changes of language over time based on the Principles of Linguistic Change by William Labov1. You are simulating the changes of a sentient avian species as described below. This tribe has just moved from an equatorial mountain biome to a savannah/tropical scrubland biome, as described below. Take the below lexicon and simulate the changes of each of the words over time, including new words as necessary to describe their new environment.”
This prompt didn’t work out that well. It had the problem that ChatGPT was not very creative in creating new words outright. In fact, it often used English words in a compound word - for example, it produced “Tira’nut” for the nut in Region 2 and “Tik’eye” for the predator in region 4 with piercing eyes.
Instead, I decided to do two parts. First, I create new words for each of the new animals, foods and resources that the Eekraw find in their new biome. I try to avoid creating any new base words from scratch, but rather describe these creatures using the words that already exist. Where I was stumped, I put it to ChatGPT, saying “use only words from the below lexicon to describe this new creature.” That usually at least gave me enough interesting ideas to regain my momentum.
After creating new words for all of the new creatures, then I put the full lexicon and the above prompt. The way the results of the prompt come out, ChatGPT doesn’t change every word. Instead, the result will read “for example, this word might change this way,” for maybe five or six words of the lexicon. I did the generation a bunch of times, recording the result, until all the words changed. I’ll have to see if I can make a better process.
As before, sometimes ChatGPT pleasantly surprises me. For example: Tal’raak - pond or oasis (a corruption for the old world for lighted stones, and the word for water to represent reflective ponds).
Region 2 (Savannah):
Basics:
Ake - me
Yuk - you
Eiru - them
Eraw - us
Ki - yes
Kru - no
Raa’yik (sun-you) - you as a term of respect
Culture:
Yekri - elder
Yeekree - wisdom/knowledge
It’tek - traitor/murderer/evildoer
Ek’ti - youngling
Eekraw’wi (safety/safe place)
Jilk - food
Tools/Constructs:
Eekra’tal - temporary shelter
Verbs:
KrVarkee - to leap or glide (no longer ‘fly’ since it’s harder to take long flights in the flat terrain)
KrV’tal (to fly-land) - move/migrate (since they have nomadic patterns in the savannah)
K’Tal - to stand/land
KrTik’vark - to hunt in the open savannah
KrTalu’jilk - to forage in the scrubland
KrRaitir - to defend (from the old word for the sun-reflecting fibers)
Kril - to eat
Other:
‘tiy - suffix for small
‘wi - suffix for place
Environment:
Raa - sun
Dal - ground/stone/soil
Dor - underground
Tarak - water
Vara - air/above
Raikur - night
Ray’ru - day
Tavak - jumping off points for flight - tall trees
Varrkree - flight
Taluvark’wi - (ground-air-place) - savannah
Talu’wi (ground-place) - Scrubland
Raa’ti (small-sun) - sunset
Rakruki - sunrise
Tal’raak - pond or oasis (a corruption for the old world for lighted stones, which don’t exist any more, and the word for water to represent reflective ponds)
Creatures:
Tikk - ground-based predator
Vaktik - air-based predator
Sika - walker - as in creatures that walk (instead of fly)
Jikta - any small reptile-like creature
Tikru’varr - kite scavenger creature (air scavenger)
Vark’tik’ti - the flying predators (the ‘ti was added since they were smaller than the ones from the mountains)
Tikk’tir (predator-plant) - the quill-hunter (metaphorically associating them with thorns)
Varr’jilk’ti (air-eaten-small) - the bio-luminescent insects
Varrkree’jilk (flying-eaten) - the small birds that make high-pitched noises
Tuur’jeek’ti - the tunnel-dwelling nocturnal creatures
Skik’Tik’Rakuu - (walker-snake) - the big creatures with long-necks (i.e., necks are like snakes)
Trarak’skik - the herd animal
Trarak’skik’skik - a herd of the herd animals
Plants:
Tira - plant
Tir’krew (plant-no) - the bad tasting berries
Varskti - trees
Tiirtur’krew - (tuber-no) the bad tasting tubers
Varsk’ti’jilk (Tree-eaten) the nuts
Region 4 (Temperate Forest):
Basics:
Ekee - me
Yiku - you
Erro - them
Erra - us
Kiri - yes
Kreu - no
Culture:
Yeekri - elder
Ti’eke - youngling (me-small)
Yiku’tikk - misguided/wrong
Jil’tal - scared/fearful
Rilk - food
Eek’rawi - home/community
Verbs:
HrVarki - to fly
Rilk - to eat
Hrtaal - to stand/land
Hrai’tiir - to defend (from the old word for the sun-reflecting fibers)
Ravi - to make/create (from the end of cave/shelter)
Varrkr - to travel
Other:
Ti’ - prefix for small
‘tik - suffix for large
Environment:
Raa - sun
Tal - ground/stone/soil
Tori - underground
Tara - water
Varu - air/above
Raykri - day
Raikru - night
Raakriki - sunset/sunrise
Tavark - jumping off points for flight - cliffs or tall trees
Creatures:
Tik - predator
Jil - eaten - as in creatures that the avians eat
Skiku - walker - as in creatures that walk (instead of fly)
Jilk’tal - scared creatures (connotation change from lizard)
Raikrutik (night-predator) - large nocturnal predator with piercing eyes
Skik’tik’tik (walking-predator-predator) - pack hunter
Varsk’ti’tikk (tree-predator) - the predator that drops from the trees
Ti’kruu’tir - scavenger creature (scavenger-plant)
Trarak’tik (mammal-large) - the big prey animals
Skik’jilk’tal - (walker-scared creature) the medium-sized herbivore
Taalak’tarak - water herbivore
Tuur’jeek’ti - the mice-like creatures that burrow
Raikruu’Raa (night-sun) - the luminescent beetles
Plants:
Tir - plant
Varsk’ti - trees
Varsk’titur - (tree-tubers) Berries
Trra’tiir’kri - (mountain grass-no) - bad tasting ferns
Tarakekravi (water-shelter) - tree-sap that hardens when exposed to water
Vask’tiravi (tree-make) - tree bark that can be made into clothing
Region 1 (Original Homeland):
Basics:
Eke - me
Yi - you
Eru - them
Erwa - us
Kri - yes
Krew - no
Culture:
Yeek’r - elder
Ekti - youngling
Yitik - traitor/murderer/evildoer
Tikru - sneaky/untrustworthy
Jilk - tasty/good-tasting
Verbs:
KrVarkee - to fly
KrVarkee - to succeed/excel
KrJil - to use
KrTaal - to stand/land
KrRa’tir - to defend (from the old word for the sun-reflecting fibers)
Other:
‘ti - suffix for small
Environment:
Raa - sun
Tal - ground/stone/soil
Tor - underground
Trak - water
Var - air/above
Ray’kree - day
Rai’ku - night
Raa’kri - sunset/sunrise
Ekra - cave/shelter
Talri - the lighted stones
Tavark - jumping off points for flight - cliffs or tall trees
Varkre - flight
Creatures:
Tikk - dangerous creature
Skik - non-threatening/harmless creature
Tatik - medium feline predator
Tikru - snake
Varkik - raptor-like creature
Ti’kru - scavenger creature
Trara - the large herbivore
Skiktal - the mammals that can climb sheer surfaces
Raakrujilk - the nocturnal rabbit-like creatures
Tuur’jeekti - the mice-like creatures that burrow
Jilktal - the lizards
Plants:
Tir - plant
Tirtur - tuber
Tiirra - sun-reflecting fibers
Trra’tiir - mountain grass
Varskti - trees
As I’ve noted before, these language changes are inherently ‘human’ in some ways - Labov talks about how human languages change due to the amount of effort it takes to pronounce different sounds, which would be different for an avian species. However, in the interest of making the problem interesting but tractable, I’ll ignore that discrepancy.
Technological Development:
I roll a 1d3, since there are three regions. I now realize that I shouldn’t have numbered the regions prior to expansion into them, as that means that the roll in this case isn’t as obvious. However, with only three inhabited regions, it’s still pretty easy. If I roll a 1 or 2, that makes it easy to pick region 1 or 2. If I roll a 3, I’ll pick region 4 to develop. In the end, I roll a 1, so the home region of the Eekraw has a technological, societal or cultural development.
I’m not sure which of those it should be, so I’ll roll another 1d3 to decide. I assign 1 to technological, 2 to societal, and 3 to cultural advancement. I rolled a 3, so the culture of the Eekraw in Region 1 develops in some way. Right now, they revere the sun, and that’s pretty much there entire culture.
If I didn’t have any ideas, I might roll again to see how the culture changes. But in this case, there really isn’t any culture to speak of, and I have an immediate idea on how their culture should evolve. They have a major, scary predator, the Varkik, which preys on them and also preys on their food sources. So it makes sense that their culture now treats the Varkik as a spiritual as well as physical adversarial force. With the dichotomy between the Sun and the Varkik, the Varkik also come to represent shadow or darkness. Finally, the Yeek’r - ‘elder’ - now is a priestly caste, which conducts rituals to drive away the Varkik spiritually.
And with that, the first turn is complete. Per the turn-order I created, I should be conducting another round of language evolution for Region 1, but I decided against it. I did the entirety of this first turn in the course of an evening, and it was a bit too much all at once. In particular, the language evolution, which was fun for the first two regions, was not fun at all for the last one, and the cultural development part wasn’t as fun as it could/should have been. I think in future I need to make sure to space out the parts of the turn more, rather than do it all at once. Even if I had just done part of it before dinner and part of it after, that might have been better.
Still, I’m pretty happy with the results. I now have three different cultures of Eekraw, each with their own language and concerns, and they are already fairly distinct. I can already imagine how this will turn out after five or ten rounds of this, and seeing a really different language in two different regions, which is super cool, and is the point of me doing this project this way.
I haven’t actually read all of this work - it’s really interesting, but also dense, and I don’t have the linguistic training to understand it. It does, however, prompt ChatGPT to make interesting and reasoned changes to languages. Without it, on one of my attempts ChatGPT just added ‘kriv’ in the middle of every single word in the lexicon. On another attempt, ChatGPT listed every word, but then said “no change” for each one. I might at some point look for another book/article on linguistic change to add/replace the prompt, and see what difference that makes.