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Fantasy Dictionar
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Fantasy Dictionar
Fantasy Dictionary
Writing a fantasy story often involves world-building: creating the setting in which your story takes place. Physical location is an important part of this phase—the house, cavern, mountain, forest, town, ship, island, or any other space your characters inhabit. But it is more than just a place. Building a world may mean thinking about the history, art, music, language, clothing, and customs of the story’s people—how they earn a living, what they do on holidays, and what everyday objects they use.
Of course a writer can’t design every aspect of a culture. If you did that, you’d never get around to writing the story! But here is the key: you want to think carefully enough about these things so that the reader believes your fantasy world goes on beyond the edges of your story. You want this imaginary world to feel real. And you do that with some well-placed, clear, creative details.
So let’s do some world-building! Please come up with objects, places, words ... any ideas for a fantasy story’s world. Tools, animals, types of clothing, dwellings—any of these and more may become necessary elements in our story! You may suggest as many as you like, or even post a strange word and let others suggest meanings. If you want, you can also write a sentence using the word or describing the fantasy place. Here are two examples:
haloris – a lantern that gives off both light and a pleasant scent. It is used by people who live near the swamps to counter the odors of mud and decay.
“Quill’s boots sank into the moss, deeper at each step, and ahead she could see a swamp, moonbeams glittering on pools that lapped around the tree roots. Catching the stench of stagnant water, she pulled the haloris lamp from her pack and set it alight.”
gnawk – a large, black bird with a raucous cry and uneven feathers that always look ruffled and untidy. Gnawks have a fondness for pecking and chewing on rope, and they are notorious for setting free dogs and farm animals tied with ropes. They unmoor boats tied to docks, and have been known to free certain fortunate prisoners.
Can you see how story ideas practically ooze from your Fantasy Dictionary, once you get your imagination going?
submitted by Fred Durbin
(April 23, 2014 - 10:11 am)
(April 23, 2014 - 10:11 am)
aistil (n.)
a type of stew made with bits and pieces of other foods. An aistil is usually eaten by the poor, who usually add pieces of bone, edible roots and grasses, and tree bark inside. It is cooked in a large pot with plenty of water inside, giving it a slightly diluted taste. It lasts for several days, but is not necessarily the best-tasting food there is.
i.e.: "Chopped onions, scrap pieces of pork, and mint leaves floated around in the large vat, drifting in foggy water. Sighing, she took up a large wooden spoon, swirling it among the ingrediens of her aistil. Winter would soon be here, and snow would bury any plants growing in nature, so this serving would have to last a while."
(November 10, 2014 - 12:30 am)
aistil (n.)
a type of stew made with bits and pieces of other foods. An aistil is usually eaten by the poor, who usually add pieces of bone, edible roots and grasses, and tree bark inside. It is cooked in a large pot with plenty of water inside, giving it a slightly diluted taste. It lasts for several days, but is not necessarily the best-tasting food there is.
i.e.: "Chopped onions, scrap pieces of pork, and mint leaves floated around in the large vat, drifting in foggy water. Sighing, she took up a large wooden spoon, swirling it among the ingrediens of her aistil. Winter would soon be here, and snow would bury any plants growing in nature, so this serving would have to last a while."
(November 10, 2014 - 12:32 am)
Evkekrial (adjec.) : To be very beautiful but very dangerous or very evil
i.e. " She stared at him, at the pointed teeth, ivory white, one drop of scarlet blood hanging on the tip. It was him, her beloved, her loving, evkekrial boyfriend. "
(November 10, 2014 - 11:38 am)
Erm, your boyfriend...sounds, uh...charming.
(November 11, 2014 - 10:41 pm)
byoutou- a fish that can walk on the ground. They have lungs, so they have to occasionally come up for air when swimming.
(November 10, 2014 - 8:09 pm)
Her's a couple of words for you guys to invent a meaning for:
Slakar:_______________
Wulfron:________________
(November 11, 2014 - 10:46 pm)
slakar- an animal that sort of looks like a sloth, but can dig huge holes in the ground
wulfron- a cloak that can turn the user into any animal that lives in the coniferous forest biome
(November 12, 2014 - 8:14 am)
Nice job Quicksilver!
(November 12, 2014 - 8:41 pm)
Slakar- a seed that grows in a day and grow anything.
Wulfron- a cursed sword that turns the holder bad.
(November 12, 2014 - 7:04 pm)
Awesome Lyra! (Have you ever read The Golden Compass? good series.)
(November 13, 2014 - 9:04 pm)
Absolutely it is almost my favorite series!!
(November 14, 2014 - 7:47 am)
Yensa- an animal that travelers take with them it is kind of like a mule. Sentence. He packed his last bag on his yensa then took a bite of ada. Pronounced anyway you want it
Lecd- a strong rope that is made of limsa skin. Sentence. He walked out of the shop with his new lecd rope slung over his shoulder. Pronounced leced.
Limsa- an animal with a leathery skin that is found in the Aja forest. Sentence. The limsa was just stepping into the trap when the heard called to her.
(November 12, 2014 - 5:27 pm)
Iyrag- a cloak lined with trinkp fur. It is soft and worm and is use mostly in the Aras. Sentence. She tied her iyrag more tightl around her and headed into the storm.
Trinkp- a small soft animal that skin is used for lining iyrags. It is like an eremine with horns. Sentence. Yobma the ermine steped out of the tree and scanned the area." Good no hunters " she thought
Aras- a high plateau that is in the degmah. It is the highest civilized town in Radmast.Sentence. "Father when I grow up I'm going to live on the Aras, " said Barse the five year old." Yes dear," said her father.
Degmah - a chain of mountains that runs through Radmast. It's high point is 200ft above the Aras.
Radmast-is a country in the world ( fantasy times). It is where some of these stories take place.
(November 12, 2014 - 8:47 pm)
Come up with definitions:
twasbyr
grenadien
polkmio
crekeia
cycydryl
ihilptra
(November 13, 2014 - 7:45 am)
Twasbyr- a color that is a rosy purplish blue. Sentence. Her iyrag was the color twasbyr.
Grenadien- a bird that is for hunting. It has a wonderful sense of smell and hearing. Sentence. He untied his grenadien fadra and let her fly.
Polkmio-a tree that has pine neadles and very smoth bark. Sentence. She hugged the polkmio that she had so often climbed
Crekeia- a plant that is used by healers. It can heal any wound. Sentence. The applied the juice of the Crekeia to all hos wounds and they were healed insanely.
Cycydryl-a house of rest. It is kind of like an inn but only for the wounded and exhausted. Sentence. She had rested in the cycydryl for two days now.
Ihilptra-a healer that lives in the cycydryl. Sentence. She saw his wounds ,they were not bad.
(November 13, 2014 - 6:28 pm)