Zahaho Worldbuilding Project
This page is going to be the lore hub for the my fantasy worldbuilding project, Zahaho.I started this project unofficially when I began writing the first drafts of my swords and sorcery style story featuring Otis Firebird (or was it Birdfire? I literally don't remember). This was back in the mid 2000's. I knew I wanted a story about a hero who makes friends with different fantastical people and they form a group and save the day.
Aesthetic
I'd like Zahaho to have its own moteifs and styles of things so that it doesn't look too much like ye olde europe fantasy. (no shade i love shrek). Of course im taking creature inspiration from several irl cultures and histories but I'm going to try and spin them into their own creatures with their own names and origins. For example my centaurs are not called centaurs in Zahaho prose. Sometimes they are called horsefolk or horsemen. The technology is a mishmash with some areas being considerably lower tech than others. A village in a more rural area might have a community computer that can run while other places will have a computer in every home. I haven't worked out electricity and the water system. I do think the phenomenon of man-made rivers is as common in this world as man-made lakes are in ours.There are bipedal and quadrapedal people.
Some flora and fauna will be similar. Rabbits and songbirds and fish and things like that, but there will also be original organisms among them.
There is a mythology and there are also beings that the people consider gods and the two don't always line up.
Zahaho is a huge landmass on a planet whose size and name I have yet to determine. I call the project Zahaho because that's where most of the stories I've come up with so far take place. It has a number of islands going all the way around the coast. I don't know how many contries are in Zahaho yet. I don't know what the general government is. I'm also not sure how big to make the landmass in comparison to our own Earth.
There is a small land mass off to the right across a wide sea which is referred too sometimes as "The Hatchet" due to its shape. I have not come up with its true name. The Hatchet has a large desert area that turns to ice in the north, coloring the blade of the country white.
Hrasae
Physical
The Hradae are a race of centaurs. They have solid hooves, fur all over their body, dextrous fingers, two pairs of lungs, two hearts, sharp canine teeth, short tails with long hair running the entire length, a mane from the peak of the hairline to the base of the upper barrel, dark skin ringing their eyes, lovely lashes, and a human-like cranium with a sloped equine muzzle. I will put a diagram eventually.Cultural
They're a huge WIP but what I've got worked out so far is that there are two main populations of the Hrasae. Thery are the Mainlanders and the Godsbrow. While rivers, lakes, oceans, and especially fish feature in both cultures' folklore and history, the Godsbrow Hrasae take it to an extreme in that it is rare to see other moteifs outside of the aquatic. Mainlanders have a few distinct cultures across the continent and center their lives around a variety of things. The two populations also have visual differences, so it's fairly easy to tell where one comes from.Mainland Hrasae have more solid bodies overall. Some coats are longer than others and feathering of the hooves shows up occasionally. Their horse-like muzzles vary in shape and size with some Hrasae having a more humanoid apperance.
Godsbrow Hrasae, while they vary in color like the Mainlanders, have a more homogenized bodysahpe. They are smaller and light boned and often underweight with dainty muzzles. Another common trait among the Godsbrow are tiny curls at the tips of their ears.
forgive the no picures