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Worldbuilding: The Origin of Species
Mar. 9th, 2013 10:51 amThe planet of Malanee is a similar luck of the draw miracle to our planet -- it has two moons instead of one, and its distance from the sun isn't the same (namely because their sun is not the same size as ours, though I can't remember in which direction), but it has the perfect combination of traits to turn into a small living melting pot (Malanee is smaller than Earth).
Like earth, there was a time when the continents were all mushed together, and there were a few mass-extinctions before humanoids showed up. Unlike earth, homo sapiens didn't get to kill every other self-aware species, likely because the giant continent split pretty cleanly, with none of earth's weird land bridges.
The split likely resulted in Garanee and Sarasii becoming split from the rest of the land, perhaps due to an impressive earthquake. Welen, Arebe, and Eroqu split more slowly, resulting in humans on these three continents. Arebe had the smallest population -- its impressive mountain ranges hint that plate movement there may have been a BIT too crazy for humans to settle there much.
Faeries were another species that spread out far and wide. They took up Garanee, Sarasii, and Arebe, forming distinct species. The vampires, close relatives of the faeries, showed up a bit later, while the succubi and pixies are remnants of the ancient faerie ancestors.
Demons likely have been around for AGES. They exist on every major continent except Sarasii (shit's too cold there), and considering they can't really swim, this sort of migration must have happened very early on. The different species on different continents have diverged a decent amount since, but not so much that they can't interbreed or recognize each other.
The werevirus -- and its weird relative, the demi virus -- originated very early on in humanoid history, as evidenced by the existence of weredragons. Most of the non-mammalian wereviruses died off as the DNA became too unstable alongside humanoid DNA, with weredragons being endangered in the 1800s. Remnants of these ancient wereviruses exist in the demi virus -- bird demis remain of various types, and I'm sure somewhere there must be reptile or fish demis because that would be pretty damn nifty XD
Speaking of demi viruses, isolation of particular demis may result in the viral DNA being incorporated fully, resulting in a new species. Hippogriffs, gryphons, and merpeople (I've decided they should exist. Sirens also are in the works) are all examples. This sort of demi-species creation likely happened thousands of years ago.
And magic? Magic is oooooold -- bacteria are hardy buggers. Dragons definitely had magic, and they predated humans by a long-ass time (being extinct by the 1300s at the LATEST). It originated in what is now Eroqu, but bacteria being the little microorganisms they are, it spread and evolved rapidly, and likely is still doing so. The magic of the 1800s is likely starkly different than that of the 1700s, and will continue to morph and change.
Also, in terms of how Malanee may change over the next few hundred years? There's a good chance weredragons, succubi, and pixies will all go effectively extinct. Dryads will likely become endangered due to the slave trade. Bird demis will continue to be less and less common. Demons will start having pretty serious competition due to mining becoming more prevalent, which may cause a reduction in their population (before they figure out how to sabotage the mines at any rate :D ).
And everyone else? They'll keep going on. Vampires are too powerful for humans or mountain faeries. Humans and mountain faeries will likely start seriously competing for resources, which will end in massive tragedy for the humans.
And then in the 2000s, when biotechnology figures out how to bring wereviruses back to life, shit will REALLY get interesting.
Like earth, there was a time when the continents were all mushed together, and there were a few mass-extinctions before humanoids showed up. Unlike earth, homo sapiens didn't get to kill every other self-aware species, likely because the giant continent split pretty cleanly, with none of earth's weird land bridges.
The split likely resulted in Garanee and Sarasii becoming split from the rest of the land, perhaps due to an impressive earthquake. Welen, Arebe, and Eroqu split more slowly, resulting in humans on these three continents. Arebe had the smallest population -- its impressive mountain ranges hint that plate movement there may have been a BIT too crazy for humans to settle there much.
Faeries were another species that spread out far and wide. They took up Garanee, Sarasii, and Arebe, forming distinct species. The vampires, close relatives of the faeries, showed up a bit later, while the succubi and pixies are remnants of the ancient faerie ancestors.
Demons likely have been around for AGES. They exist on every major continent except Sarasii (shit's too cold there), and considering they can't really swim, this sort of migration must have happened very early on. The different species on different continents have diverged a decent amount since, but not so much that they can't interbreed or recognize each other.
The werevirus -- and its weird relative, the demi virus -- originated very early on in humanoid history, as evidenced by the existence of weredragons. Most of the non-mammalian wereviruses died off as the DNA became too unstable alongside humanoid DNA, with weredragons being endangered in the 1800s. Remnants of these ancient wereviruses exist in the demi virus -- bird demis remain of various types, and I'm sure somewhere there must be reptile or fish demis because that would be pretty damn nifty XD
Speaking of demi viruses, isolation of particular demis may result in the viral DNA being incorporated fully, resulting in a new species. Hippogriffs, gryphons, and merpeople (I've decided they should exist. Sirens also are in the works) are all examples. This sort of demi-species creation likely happened thousands of years ago.
And magic? Magic is oooooold -- bacteria are hardy buggers. Dragons definitely had magic, and they predated humans by a long-ass time (being extinct by the 1300s at the LATEST). It originated in what is now Eroqu, but bacteria being the little microorganisms they are, it spread and evolved rapidly, and likely is still doing so. The magic of the 1800s is likely starkly different than that of the 1700s, and will continue to morph and change.
Also, in terms of how Malanee may change over the next few hundred years? There's a good chance weredragons, succubi, and pixies will all go effectively extinct. Dryads will likely become endangered due to the slave trade. Bird demis will continue to be less and less common. Demons will start having pretty serious competition due to mining becoming more prevalent, which may cause a reduction in their population (before they figure out how to sabotage the mines at any rate :D ).
And everyone else? They'll keep going on. Vampires are too powerful for humans or mountain faeries. Humans and mountain faeries will likely start seriously competing for resources, which will end in massive tragedy for the humans.
And then in the 2000s, when biotechnology figures out how to bring wereviruses back to life, shit will REALLY get interesting.
