Woah! Its been a long time since I posted Steemies! BUT IM BACK, and this time, my inspiration is the fantastic STEEM MONSTERS card game which @aggroed and @yabapmatt are putting together..... Its having a HUGE impact already having raised $10,000 worth of steem in as many days and Its only JUST getting started! I reckon its set to pull a LOT of people in to the steemisphere. If you haven't checked it out yet do it here:
@aggroed/steem-monsters-alpha-release-a-collectible-trading-card-game-with-rpg-elements-comes-alive-on-the-steem-blockchain
I love games and the best thing about Steem Monsters is that the community gets to wade in and shape the game with our creativity so I felt FINALLY that it was time to get creative and make my first steempost for about 3 months! Thankyou steem monsters :D
SO, the challenge was to create a map for this new fantasy world to be set in. Im not super great at using digital art programs but I gave it a go. Im using speedypainter and a wacom pen tablet, but to be honest, the program leaves a LOT to be desired! Anyway.....enough moaning....here is the map I drew:
I realise its a bit small.....I guess I should have drawn it bigger. But you get the idea. Now let me explain it.
THE WORLD WITHIN THE CRATER
Far, far away in the hidden depths of space there was a gray planet called MoneyRock. It was ALWAYS gray. There was no night and no day, only Gray, Gray and more Gray. This planet was only populated by bankers, lawyers and insurance firms and life was unimaginably dull. UNTIL ONE FATEFUL DAY a magical shooting star plummeted on to its surface and caused a catastrophicly gargantuan crater to erupt from the hopeless monotony. It released a vast quantity of water that had lain dormant beneath the surface and an ocean of colour was born. Right in the middle of it, the star still burned with epic ferocity and cast glorious golden light all across the crater. Its magical alien qualities infused with the many elements that had erupted in to this collosal bowl and strange lifeforms began to emerge. The Steem Monsters were born! This was the year 0.0000001 (that fraction is always getting smaller) and shall forever be known as the Birth of Colours.
Now for some annotation:
The Rainbow Star - The Bringer of Colours that gives the Crater is plethora of lifeforms. It has a core of molten gold that issues forth golden dragons from its swirling furnace
The Frothing Sea - Where the waters meet the Rainbow Star they are constantly boiling. None but the hardiest of the water beasts can swim there. And In amongst the boiling waters are the Islands Of Fire where volcanic magma erupts out of the sea from the searing heat of the Rainbow star on the rock below. Islands form and strange vegetation thrive although this is predominently the territory of multifarious fire beasts.
The Weeping Mountains - Huge, looming faces of craggy rock forced high in to the atmosphere by the force of the Rainbow stars impact. The tops of these peaks are beset by almost constant precipitation forming glacial snow drifts. Futher down the rains feed great rivers that pour down the cliffs and feed back to the oceans.
Dark Cities - Deep in the cavernous mountain passes lay the ruins of the once sprawling cities of the GrayFolk. These dreadful complexes of crumbling insurance companies and impenetrable iron vaults are now inhabited by the purveyors of darkness who's twisted necromancers believe that the planet yearns to reject the Rainbow Star.
The black beaches - Beneath the Weeping Mountains lay endless stretches of volcanic sand and ash, washed up by the frothing tides. Thousands of rivers snake their way from the mountains to the oceans edge where dark monsters can be found collecting corpses on the beaches to ferry home to their masters.
The Undersea - Perhaps the most populous of all the regions is the undersea where the Waterfolk dwell in all manner of coral cities. Many have dealings and trade and ferocious battles with the folk above the water, but certainly there are unknown monstrosities deep in the ocean bed who are yet to introduce themselves....
The Fairlands - A rich and diverse ecosystem covers the green sloping hills of the fairlands. Forests, plains and dense, wild shrublands make this a fertile landscape where many land dwelling Monsters make their homes. Though it can sometimes appear as a paradise, tensions can quickly mount and dissolve into tribal warfare.
The Golden City - The imperial home of the golden dragons who chose a most idyllic hilltop location to build their grandiose fortresses and their vast libraries of ancient knowledge. Though their power is great, they must keep journeying back to the Rainbow Star to revitalise their lifeforce.
The SteemVeil - Where the boiling frothing sea meets the Rainbow Star, huge clouds are Steem are emitted which pour upwards in to the air and act as a veil between the Star and the rest of the crater, to stop everything from roasting in the heat. The Steem rises up in to a dense layer above the crater and speads outwards towards the edges where it finally cools and becomes rain.
The cloud city - Races of astral monsters have built the most beautiful far-seeing palaces atop the SteemVeil where they presume to know best for the populations below. Many regard them as the great protectors of the crater, while others fear their authority and some declare them as an oppressive force.
So there you go, thats one idea for the Steem Monster world. Please let me know what you think.....my immediate thought is that the whole crater could be ALOT bigger in scale. I imagine the WHOLE Steem Monster world to be contained within this hole, so that what look like islands could in fact be continents and we could zoom right in to find whole new territories in isolated areas, and all sort of strange and exuberant lore. Outside of the crater, the GrayFolk may still be thriving though they will never cross in to the crater because they cant STAND the light. Rarely do the monsters make their way out of the crater because they immediately get lumped with huge quantities of paperwork and almost inevitably get sued and end up with insurmountable debt.
Any ideas and amendments appreciated, I am sure that whatever direction the Steem Monsters World goes in, it will be open to all sorts of interpretation and will evolve like a beautiful 10 dimensional multiheaded slug.
Loads of love to you ALL
It feels great to be back posting again :)
Basil