Madelineblackbart at 23:13, 26 September 2026

2026-09-26T23:13:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:13, 26 September 2026
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	\| [[Eldershore]] \|\| West and East African \|\| Laterite stone, carved dark hardwood, kente geometric patterning, tropical coastal architecture; West and East African percussion and vocal tradition \|\| Afropunk and streetwear styling; lekompo and rap \|\| Elder council and lineage halls		\| [[Eldershore]] \|\| West and East African \|\| Laterite stone, carved dark hardwood, kente geometric patterning, tropical coastal architecture; West and East African percussion and vocal tradition \|\| Afropunk and streetwear styling; lekompo and rap \|\| Elder council and lineage halls
	\|-		\|-
	\| [[Clearhold]] \|\| Yunnan, Himalayan, and Korean mountain peoples, in successive waves \|\| Upswept gray ceramic tile roofs, bracket systems, painted geometric patterning on timber, verandah walkways, dry rock gardens; East Asian court and folk music \|\| Kireime and salon-kei styling, jirai-kei as a counter-current; K-pop and J-rock \|\| Examination bureaucracy		\| [[Clearhold]] \|\| Yunnan, Himalayan, and Korean mountain peoples, in successive waves, with a small Japanese admixture \|\| Upswept gray ceramic tile roofs, bracket systems, painted geometric patterning on timber, verandah walkways, dry rock gardens; East Asian court and folk music \|\| Kireime and salon-kei styling, jirai-kei as a counter-current; K-pop and J-rock \|\| Examination bureaucracy
	\|-		\|-
	\| [[The Iron Coves]] \|\| Mixed — nobody's and everybody's \|\| 1700s sailor's slops and salvaged timber; sea shanty and work song \|\| Visual kei, emo, and olderbrothercore styling; screamo, emo, midwest emo \|\| None; might makes right		\| [[The Iron Coves]] \|\| Mixed — nobody's and everybody's \|\| 1700s sailor's slops and salvaged timber; sea shanty and work song \|\| Visual kei, emo, and olderbrothercore styling; screamo, emo, midwest emo \|\| None; might makes right

Madelineblackbart: Created page with "{{Unofficial|This page is for writers, artists, and builders. Nobody in Teraell knows any of it.}} Each city-state was seeded by a '''founding cohort''' — people the AI pulled from a particular part of our world — and taught by survivors of the old one. Nine centuries later, each city carries an inherited resemblance to the places its cohort came from, and a faint modern layer from what the survivors remembered. These references tell you where to look for..."

2026-09-26T23:12:43Z

Created page with "{{Unofficial|This page is for writers, artists, and builders. Nobody in Teraell knows any of it.}} Each city-state was seeded by a '''founding cohort''' — people the AI pulled from a particular part of our world — and taught by survivors of the old one. Nine centuries later, each city carries an inherited resemblance to the places its cohort came from, and a faint modern layer from what the survivors remembered. These references tell you where to look for..."

New page

{{Unofficial|This page is for writers, artists, and builders. Nobody in Teraell knows any of it.}}

Each city-state was seeded by a '''founding cohort''' — people the [[The AI|AI]] pulled from a particular part of our world — and taught by survivors of the old one. Nine centuries later, each city carries an inherited resemblance to the places its cohort came from, and a faint modern layer from what the survivors remembered. These references tell you where to look for the texture of a place: the shape of a roof, the cut of a coat, the way a hall is laid out. They are '''not equivalences'''. Clearhold is not Yunnan; Eldershore is no place in Africa. Where the reference and the world disagree, the world wins.

{| class="wikitable"
! City !! Founding cohort !! Aesthetic reference !! Modern layer !! Governance model
|-
| [[Shining Reach]] || North European and colonial American || 1700s colonial and Rococo architecture and dress; European baroque and classical composition || High-fashion styling; dubstep || Roman-style republic with a senate
|-
| [[Forgegate]] || Mughal Indian || Red sandstone and white marble, cusped arches, jali screens; Hindustani classical music || Industrial styling; industrial music || Meritocratic guild republic
|-
| [[Stormharbor]] || Norse, Celtic, and Anglo-Saxon || Stave timber construction, carved dragon finials, angular carved inscription, over 1700s colonial tailoring; Norse and Celtic vocal tradition, work songs, skaldic recitation || Techwear styling; death metal || Thing assembly
|-
| [[Eldershore]] || West and East African || Laterite stone, carved dark hardwood, kente geometric patterning, tropical coastal architecture; West and East African percussion and vocal tradition || Afropunk and streetwear styling; lekompo and rap || Elder council and lineage halls
|-
| [[Clearhold]] || Yunnan, Himalayan, and Korean mountain peoples, in successive waves || Upswept gray ceramic tile roofs, bracket systems, painted geometric patterning on timber, verandah walkways, dry rock gardens; East Asian court and folk music || Kireime and salon-kei styling, jirai-kei as a counter-current; K-pop and J-rock || Examination bureaucracy
|-
| [[The Iron Coves]] || Mixed — nobody's and everybody's || 1700s sailor's slops and salvaged timber; sea shanty and work song || Visual kei, emo, and olderbrothercore styling; screamo, emo, midwest emo || None; might makes right
|}

== How to use this ==
* Use the aesthetic reference for '''shapes and materials''': architecture, garment construction, instrument types, ornament.
* Use the modern layer for '''attitude''': what the young wear to make a point, how a hall performance is delivered, why a Shining Reach record has a drop in it.
* '''Appearance''' does follow the cohort: after nine centuries the people of each city still visibly descend from the population it was seeded with. Eldershore's people are Black; Clearhold's are East Asian; Forgegate's are South Asian; Shining Reach's and Stormharbor's are white, the latter of Norse and Celtic cast; the Coves are everyone's descendants at once. Image prompts should say so, or the tools will default every city to one face.
* Do not use the references for '''character'''. A Forgegate craftsman is a Forgegate craftsman. Naming a real-world ethnicity in a Teraell story as an explanation for how someone behaves is the category error the Bible warns against.
* The music descriptions on each city page explain what nine centuries did to the inherited tradition. Read those before scoring anything.

== See also ==
* [[Meta:Conventions]]
* [[The Fall and Year One]] — why any of this is here at all

Meta:Cultural References - Revision history

Madelineblackbart at 23:13, 26 September 2026