Thank You For Answering My Ask! - Tumblr Posts

Happy WBW!

I've got two questions for you:

In the world of your WIP, is there a main pantheon of deities/gods that is worshipped? Are they actual celestial beings that exist or are they figments of the people's imagination? If they exist, do they have anything to do with the magic that exists in that world?

Do you worldbuild before writing your WIPs first draft, like a form of plotting, or does worldbuilding come naturally to you as you develop the story?

Thank you! This one is also super relevant to the Champion & Mage novella I'm working on:

Pantheon:

Yes! There are 5 deities that used to be more directly involved in humans' lives until they started an incredibly destructive war. Thanks to that oopsie, they're now self-banished from the humans, with only their Champions as channels for their influence. (Each deity gets one Champion.)

Their destructive war left behind a ton of magic remnants, which humans harvest and use to create enchanted objects. This has spawned a whole field of mages: novices, harvesters, artifcers, overseers, etc. However, given that the gods aren't around anymore, this scavenged magic is finite, so it's very valuable.

World-Building:

I usually try to have all the relevant bones of the world in place before I start plotting, but things will always come up as I'm drafting for the first time! For example, when starting the first draft of the story, I had to stop to think about details like food, clothing, jewelry, superstitions, architectural style, and traditional offerings.