Staigdin Chronicles - July 2025

I'm starting this with a recap. Both to serve as an introduction to the World of Staigdin but also cause I've been working on other things and I need to get my head back into this universe.

Geography

The topographical map I made a while ago. Since then I chaged some stuff and I have a big digital map in the works.

 

I keep calling Staigdin a world, but it is in fact a continent. The World is called Dina, but I haven't explored anything beyond the continent of Staigdin yet.

The continent is a landmass formed by the smushing (very technical term, I know) together of two tectonic plates, which result is a lot of volcanic activity on the south side. Aside from that this planet was a victim of cosmic dodgeball when very very young and has these big ass craters on it. Two of them took part in the great smushing which resulted in a really big cavernous mountain splitting the continent in two. There's also an underground freshwater sea between these two.

I tried to keep everything into plausible sizes so I did some math and kept it on an earthly scale. If I can find the scrap of paper where I did this I'll post it (Edit: Who knows where that fuck that is). But off the top of my head the distance from West to East is similar to the distance from the West of Europe to the East of Asia. The tallest peak is around the size of Everest and the great plateau in between the craters is similar in height and size with the Tibetan Plateau.

Population

The people on this world are very similar to the people in our world. Except when they're not. Here there more skin color variations, nothing too insane, no one's neon green. But aside from the myriad of skin tones we know they also have more blueish, purplish and golden undertones. The hair colors also range from the ones we know to blues, greens, purples and natural platinum. Eyes come in a a larger variety of colors too. Usually cold hair colors pair with warm colored eyes although it's not a rule. (I'm tryin to keep some sort of genetical rule but I failed in my 9th grade genetics lessons - damn flies - and this is a fictional world where I make the rules so don't look into it too hard). Speaking of genetics, there's also gonna be some genes of a more fantastical nature like vampires and such. But these will be rare.

Cultures and Religion

Historically most of the population of Staigdin had a similar religion, with regional interpretations and preferences. The main deity being a collective entity referred to as The Mothers, then there's a bunch of specific gods that are recognized by all, even if interpreted and worshipped differently and depending on the place. And a whole slew of regional lesser gods and entities that specific to the various groups.

At some point a miraculous birth happens (not really a birth, the kid is like 7 when he appears - but spoilers!). Everyone recognizes him as a miracle person, but the Miracle Kid fanclub goes a bit off the rails, denounces all other gods, gets weird ideas about colors and status and goes on a conquering spree turning into an Empire. It goes so far that it also changes the way they view time, ditching the old lunar calendar and the seven summer cycles of the Staigi to a solar calendar because the Miracle Kid is a solar entity.

Concept art - Eth or the Earth Cat - God of the Underwolrd

Geopolitics and transport

At the time of our story the entire western side of the continent is part of the Agath Empire. Their only possession in the East being the city of Siegdor, where most of our story happens. The south of the continent is dotted with many city-states, both on the steep side of the mountain range but also in the islands. Same with the Northern crater. These city states control the waters and make trade with the east hard and expensive. The only other viable trade route is through the mountain, on the shores of the inner sea by goat caravan, but this is very slow. A very rich guy manages to build a train route which makes the whole trip last just days. This is the catalyst for our story.

Map of the Steps, the Eastern side of the mountain. That's where Siegdor city is.

Siegdor City

Siegdor used to be a very prosperous kingdom. I grew around the river that flows from the Undersea, the center of the city being situated on an island where the river split and the rest of the kingdom sprawling up and in the walls of the canyon that surrounds them. To the East there's a drop where the two branches of the river form two large waterfalls, to the West the canyon leading into the belly of the mountain and to the North and South really steep mountains. It didn't need very heavy fortifications.

The source of heir wealth was first of all a precious resource that flowed from the Undersea: a blue leaf of a large tree that grows somewhere on an island in the darkness of the mountain. The only people that can get to it are some mysterious priestesses. They come to Siegdor to trade for food, in exchange they bring leaves, sap that heals and the only tools that can be used to cut into the leaves to make all sorts of ting from them. The kingdom also does "leaf mining" which is more akin to fishing for leaves that flow down the river. This resource and the leafsmithing industry around it was the main thing the Empire craved. They also have mines for a beautiful colorful volcanic stone that has cultural significance to the Staigi but is a fancy decoration for the Agathi and a type of berry that is very appreciated and only grows in their area. All this coupled with the fantastic position on the only continental trade route to the east made the Kingdom a coveted prize. After decades of trying the Empire finally used the river against the kingdom and engineered a flood. Then took over what remained and built a fortified bridge high between the walls of the canyon, on top of the ruins of the old city.

The bridge was designed with a surface level for the colonists and a few lower levels inside the structure of the bridge for the for the lower classes. But despite all that, due to the distance, the city is the freest city in the Empire. Some old political and social structures were permitted to exist in a compromise for security. The old religion is tolerated. The colonists an the representatives of the Empire kinda do their thing independently from the rest of Agath.

Map of the surface side of the Siegdor Bridge. The dark patches are alleys and stairs that go into the lower levels. The teal strip is a park. The large building in the middle is a temple. The gray oval is an open plazza that's on a lower level.

Magic and Fantasy Elements

Both of these things exist in Staigdin. But most of the inhabitants will never ever deal with magic, gods and so on. When anything of that sort happens is A THING. The fantasy elements, like the blue leaves and such are more common but there are very firm rules I set in place to give them some realism and not make them insanely powerful objects.

Okay, this is most of what I can explain without giving too much away. I'll add bits and bobs of details in other entries. But this is the main framework of the worldbuilding.

Some old notes and concept sketches for the island in the Undersea where the Heart Tree grows.

 

 

A painting I did a while ago. I called it Eden. But the concept was based on the ideas of the Heart Tree in my head.

14th of July, 2025

Haven't been doing much except for trying to figure out the zine format so I know how to plan the text and images. I have two version thought out. I wanna keep to the single A4 paper per issue to make it easy to, print, photocopy and share. So as much as my brain wants to go like "ooohh bookbinding!" I need to temper it. I want this to be accessible. So the A4 policy is fixed. But here's where I'm struggling: the bundle or volume version. Let me explain.

Option 1: a single A4 paper folded in 4 with no cuts. This is the absolute simplest version. Just print and fold and that's all. When there's a full chapter I can also design a printable, no glue needed, envelope that can be cut out and folded and can keep the full thing in as a little volume.

Option 2: a single A4 paper folded in 4 but with one cut. This is simple as well. I don't think this could be a burden on the reader. It may be a bit of a challenge for me technically because I'll have odd layouts to work with. Could be fun tho! the reason this version is tempting is that I can also make a little tutorial on several ways to bind this in an actual weird little book. There would be three options: the no glue envelope; a glued together book as the easiest way to make it and a tutorial on a sewn together book for the nerds like me who like to sew books. This gives more options, while still keeping the minimum effort version available. 

I want to have that settled by the end of August so if there are any suggestions or ideas leave them in the comments of this post.

TO BE CONTINUED...