Appropriate real world influences

It’s hard to build a world with no influence from reality at all. So I didn’t. Everything in this world is influenced heavily by various parts of the real world, and it’s no secret. If you want to create something new for the world and you want to know where to look for inspiration, this page is here to place influences on the map politically, as well as for the Cultures & Ethnicities of the world.

• Corstaea contains depictions Norway, Finland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
  • Carlow contains depictions of the Celtic nations with no Anglo-Saxon settlement.
  • Tolred was once a Grennerian colony before being claimed by Corstaea, leading to a unique mixture of Finnish and Russian culture depictions in much of the modern populace. The indigenous people of Tolred, however, are a depiction of the Greenlandic Inuit.
  • A depiction of Finland is found in southern Tolred and northern Vallastad, and Norway in the rest of Vallastad, Torstrøm, and Halstrand.
  • The island of Jomsgård is a depiction of Iceland.
  • Sarrac is an autonomous territory depicting the Faroe Islands.
  • Germany is depicted in Affolstein, Hartmond, and most of Allenthal.
  • Finally, the Anglo-Saxon side of the United Kingdom (pretty much just England) is depicted without Celtic influence in Vinesse, Manden, and northeastern Allenthal.
• Destrea primarily depicts versions of Italy and Spain, but also Mexico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Brazil.
  • The group of islands off the southern coast of the country specifically depicts Micronesia and Melanesia. None of the many cultures found on those islands are officially recognized by Destrea, and they are largely left alone today, but were the primary source of people for the slave trade in early history.
  • Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic are all depicted in what is now Selva Luce. Before the formation of Destrea, Selva Luce was four separate nations and had more land. Tensions are extremely high here as Destrean oppression is slowly eroding their cultures, which are not officially recognized as separate by the government.
  • Italy is depicted primarily in Vaceniza, with Rome being mirrored by the city of Alessa. All roads in Destrea and much of Ustonia eventually lead there. Begliano, Nalano, and Mugenno also represent primarily Italian culture.
  • Spain is depicted primarily in Savorra, but also extends through Alcaras, northern Filimeni, and eastern Casezzo.
  • Mexico is depicted in Destrea by the western regions of Tarence and Casezzo, and extends into Ustonia. More on that in the Ustonia section below.
  • All Destrean prefectures were once sovereign nations with their own territories, which is how so many different real-world cultures are prominent in this country. Everything that hasn’t been specifically named above - including additional Latin American cultures - can be anywhere in small numbers, and that will develop over time, but Italian culture is strong throughout most of the south, and Spanish in the north.
  • While the many unique cultures are prominent and celebrated by the people to this day, the country is now politically most similar to fascist Italy.
• Grenneria primarily depicts versions of Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Belarus, Latvia, and Romania.
  • Khotka, however, depicts Portugal and Galicia. It was first settled by people from what is now Destrea and developed independently very early in history, before being taken by Grenneria much later. There is notable Romanian influence, but the Portuguese and Galician cultures remain intact and dominant.
  • Romania is depicted specifically by Nazavat.
  • Ukraine is depicted specifically by Ulavyr.
  • Roslaya primarily depicts Russia, and the whole country is primarily Russian in political style and influence.
  • Polish and Czech culture are both depicted primarily in Kielda.
  • Croatian and Slovene culture are both depicted primarily in Sarabey.
  • Serbian and Bulgarian culture are both depicted primarily in Markask.
  • Belarusian and Latvian culture are both depicted primarily in Ivashni.
  • Other Slavic cultures may also be placed throughout the country in small numbers, but exactly which and where they are will develop over time.
• Osun Tanum primarily depicts a version of Sweden, while also depicting Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Hungary.
  • Hungary is depicted almost exclusively in the southeast region of Elgård, Austria in Vastdal, Belgium in Macdon, and Netherlands in Osterfeld.
  • While the culture is dominantly Swedish throughout the country, Danish culture mixes in more and more the farther south you go.
  • Of the eight large countries, this one has the most fictional aspects to it, explaining Osun Tanum’s near-utopian government and society.
• Sangyon primarily depicts South Korea, while also depicting Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines.
  • Singapore is specifically depicted in Tanje, Thailand in Tanbaek, Indonesia in Jeonsan, and the Philippines in Cheosu. South Korean influence is present in all of them.
  • The northwest corner of this country - mainly Rasan and Ranan - was also settled by Corstaean people early in history, and includes a small but notable mixture of Norwegian culture as a result.
  • Since Shinzen was once an empire that ruled over this entire country, some Japanese influence on the culture is still present in small ways.
• Shaohou primarily depicts China, while also depicting Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
  • Malaysia is depicted exclusively in Suwei, and Vietnam in Xinwei. Mongolian and Cambodian culture and people are spread thin throughout all of Shaohou.
  • Unlike China, the Han people are not the overwhelming majority of Shaohou. They are still the majority, but there is a lot more (recognized!) diversity throughout the country.
  • Since Shinzen was once an empire that ruled over this entire country, some Japanese influence on the culture is still present in small ways.
• Shinzen primarily depicts Japan, while also depicting Taiwan and Hong Kong.
  • Taiwan is specifically depicted in Futou, and Hong Kong in Onsai. These states were part of Shaohou until relatively recently, so Japanese influence on these states is minimal, but present.
  • The Ainu people are indigenous to and depicted mainly in Tozawa with some presence in the south of Sumitori as well. They are much more prominent here than in reality, but are still a very small and fractured minority.
  • The Ryukyuan people are indigenous to and depicted mainly in Okina with some presence in the south of Sumitori as well. Unlike reality, they are officially recognized and were not subject to cultural suppression by Shinzen.
  • All of the regions of Japan have a specific place here. Kiyoshiri depicts Kyūshū (with Satsuma retaining particular prominence), Kenshiri depicts Shikoku, Hayagawa depicts Chūgoku, Sumitori depicts Kansai, Tozawa depicts Hokkaidō, Okina depicts the Ryukyu islands, Asahi depicts Kantō, Kuminachi depicts Tōhoku, and Miwae depicts Chūbu.
  • One major difference from these regions, however, is that the city and culture of Kyoto is depicted in Soukotan, a city in the state of Miwae, rather than in the state of Sumitori with the rest of the Kansai region.
  • Additionally, the Hayato people are depicted in Kiyoshiri, and the Azumi people in Kenshiri, even though both were from Kyūshū in reality, while the Emishi people are depicted in Kuminachi as expected.
  • The many dialects of Japanese are present here, but distinguished more by ethnicity than by region. More on that on the Shisuya page.
• Ustonia primarily depicts a version of the USA, while also depicting Canada, Australia, and Polynesia.
  • Isla Sofia is a completely self sustained island that specifically depicts Polynesian cultures, most prominently Māori people. Its name comes from Destrean colonization attempts, as Ustonia chose to keep that name when annexing the land. The native name of the land is unknown (or TBD).
  • Canada is depicted almost exclusively in Lonfolk, Exford, and Norston, while South Macdon is primarily Belgian with some Canadian influence.
  • Similarly, West Vastdal is primarily Austrian with some Australian influence.
  • Australia is depicted almost exclusively in Morwick, Oxbalt, and Corburn.
  • Prestona and Verace, having recently defected from Destrea, have dominant Mexican culture not found anywhere else in Ustonia. There is little American influence in these states, but some Mexican influence can be found easily in the neighboring states.
  • Ustonia, as you may be able to guess, is a colonized nation. While depicting the named countries, it also prominently depicts versions of the indigenous peoples of them as minority groups, many with their own reservations. All of these indigenous cultures can be anywhere, and that will develop over time.

Alastor and Ilmaria are the only completely fictional locations on the map with no major real-world connections of their own, albeit still influenced in part by the people that live there - Icelandic and Danish for Alastor, Japanese and American for Ilmaria.

Some particularly important differences from reality to consider with your influences are:

• Some of the real-world countries depicted by Destrea have ties with the EU, but the closest equivalent in this world is the Ozen Federation, which Destrea is not a part of. Any multinational EU projects you would like to reference should instead be part of the Ozen Federation. Destrea could still be a customer for these programs though.
  • For example, the Eurofighter Typhoon would be a product of the Ozen Federation in this world, and Destrea would play no part in that program, even though Spain and Italy are project managers for it in the real world.
• This world had its Nazi Germany-esque event in its history, and Germany is depicted in Corstaea. However, in this world, that event and all the weird technology that came with it happened in Destrea instead.
• France isn’t depicted anywhere in this world, but French technology does exist here, so French technological developments should be treated as Destrean.
• Unlike reality, where much of east Asia migrated from what is now China, the people of Sangyon, Shaohou, and Shinzen are all native to their lands. There is also no Chinese influence outside of Shaohou, Futou, and Onsai, but there is some Japanese influence throughout the continent due to empire of Shinzen ruling over the entire continent for a time.
• Grenneria may depict Russia in part, but Grenneria has a floundering aviation sector. Shinzen, meanwhile, is dominant in this field. As such, major Russian aviation companies (Sukhoi, Mikoyan, Ilyushin, Irkut, Tupolev, Yakovlev,) should instead be considered part of Shinzen.
• When it comes to brand names, you can use real-world ones for convenience, as long as you use a Meta admonition to state that you’re doing so. All real-world brand names must be fictionalized in all canon in-world content, so any real-world names will only ever exist on this wiki as points of reference. Check and use the List of fictionalized real-world brand names.

Linguistically, global development in this world should be considered greatly simplified due to the smaller overall population and higher population density, despite cultural development remaining (somewhat) realistically diverse. In fact, the linguistic development of this world is extremely unrealistic when compared to reality, considering that many of the languages located near each other geographically have quite little in common linguistically, but that could be thanks at least in part to those pesky gods meddling in people’s affairs¹, so I think that’s fine. More on handling languages can be read here.

Culturally, I’m fully aware that there are a lot of real-world cultures and peoples not mentioned here - most of the planet has been left out! - and that there’s a lot more detail that could be expanded from what has been mentioned above. This combined with the extremely limited number of major ethnic groups in this world is a conscious decision in an effort to keep the scope of the world manageable, so it should be theoretically possible for anyone to learn the essentials of almost everything about it in a day or two, even as the world grows, as well as to suit the origins of this world being tied to only seven distinct groups that all persisted in some form to the current day.

Don’t let that stop you from adding more real-world cultures and peoples! That would be a very welcome addition! Just keep the above in mind if you do that. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit, just make sure that you include a bit of history to establish the new culture as part of one of the seven major groups, and ideally explain how the new culture ultimately became distinct. New cultures will most likely be minorities, but that does not mean they have to be minuscule in number, nor does it mean that a history of oppression or exploitation is a requirement, so don’t treat that as a limitation. Creating a new major group isn’t entirely off the table, but will require a strong case to consider the myriad potential effects throughout the history of the world caused by changing the origin of history. If, however, you’re interested in making a very small and very unique minority culture, it is also not out of the question for some cultures to be separate from the seven major groups without creating a new one - they could be survivors from Era Dira.

Also, since there isn’t currently a more suitable place to put this note, all animals that exist in the real world exist in this world too. Some that have gone extinct in the real world may not be extinct here, and vice versa. It’s also entirely possible to create completely original creatures that don’t exist in the real world, as long as they’re relatively believable, and in fact some original creatures would be pretty cool since there are so many possibilities for how mystic matter could affect animals in this world.

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