The joys of building a world for me go far beyond the map. I do love to make maps but the world itself is deeper than the cartography. Worlds have history, they have lore and they have earth shattering events. Maybe there are long forgotten standing stones that were there from when our grandfathers grandfathers were small and they were told stories by their grandfathers about them. How was the world created? Was there a heavenly battle, cosmic forces or did a sword and shield wage a war that sent stones and gems flying to the earth?
Creating a world is like a blank canvas. Sure you can rely on the legends of existing cultures. I’d be careful if it is a culture not your own because if you don’t tell it in a respectful way it could come across insulting. I look at world building as an ongoing process. Even now we are still finding out so much about our own world,s o too could the characters in your story. As the writer you do not have to be the omniscient voice but that is fine. It is your reader that will experience the joys of finding out more along with you as you create the world.
Perhaps there is a long lost civilization that left ruins behind or maybe different races of mortals and perhaps immortals. It is all story driven and maybe by throwing caution to the wind the world will build organically and the stories will flow out of that world.
A fantasy world is nothing sort of a painters canvas and we are the painters ready to craft a masterpiece.
Joseph S Samaniego 