Breathing Lands
Type: Independent Project
Length: 3 months, Ended December 2024
overview
What if there were a society that harvested the blood of the gods found in their beating hearts in the center of their lands? This blood is processed into a powder and used in drugs to heal and provide temporary bursts of energy. By harvesting the god’s blood, the people of this earth are harming the heart, leading to the decay of the land.
In this 88-page world bible, I focused on three living cultures and one fallen culture, delving in-depth into one to build out the world of Breathing Lands, exploring how resources, values, and religion play a role in cultural divides. Download your own copy here.
Research
I took inspiration from the Arawak, indigenous peoples of Puerto Rico. They inspired the names and religion of two of my cultures, the Aniki and O’una’ni Aniki. Meaning “heart” and “traveling heart” respectively in Hiwatahia, the cultures also live different lifestyles, as one lives a nomadic life, valuing cultural connection, while the other lives in the north, valuing separationism.
These cultures separated because of religious differences. They both believed in the same religion, but disagreed on fundamental aspects, leading to conflict similar to that of the Sunni and Shiite muslims.
The third and final living culture is the Amuiwa culture. It is more inspired by America’s stark class divide, where there is clear class division. This is a more industrialized nation, as it has a bloodier history than the other two cultures.
Each culture has its own traditions, economy, factions, leadership, and resources. Download the PDF to learn more about each culture.
World History
I created a world map after learning more about how continents are formed by tectonic plates. Geography informs how cultures move and interact with the world around them.
The world has a history dating back centuries. The physical geography has changed, but so have the cultures. The cultures are now in a different place from when they were initially, but some have fallen due to past wars and uprisings.
Each culture is influenced by the flora and fauna native to each biome. Download the PDF to learn more about each of the geography and ecology.
Ecology
One of my favorite aspects of working on this world was building out the ecology. I did this towards the end of the world-building process and came up with a lot of cool ideas that allowed me to go back and change earlier sections.
Each culture’s biome was built out with three flora and three fauna each. They are each important to the religious doctrine, culinary practices, or even signature aesthetics that could be used for environmental storytelling or level design guidance.
Download the PDF to see how the flora and fauna influence cultures, factions, and stories.
Magic
The premise for this world was built on the magic. Before I even knew who the gods were that made this world and powered it with their hearts, I knew how the people worshipped them or abused them.
This was one of the last sections I made as I was polishing this world bible after three months of work. It’s short, but it sums up the intrigue of the world and the cultures that live within it.
Download the PDF to learn more about how this magic manifests within the world.
Reflection
Though there is a lot of work I could do to make this project even better, I learned a lot about the process of worldbuilding, political relations, and geography by creating this world bible. Over the three months I was creating this world bible, I was working on 4 other classes, which strengthened my time management skills. I also constantly got feedback from other students, which helped me catch inconsistencies and weak points.