Source: Deviantart.com/lunanegra/
I'd like to work on this project simultaneously from both the top down and bottom up directions. That way I can quickly generate usable content and allow for players and a degree of randomness to help generate the world. I can keep certain aspects vague and flesh them out later. Here's a location that can provide a springboard into the Sundaland setting. I'll describe it from the perspective of a local.
This is temple of my people, the centre of our world. My parents tell me that it was built over many generations and one of our most important duties is to see that it is maintained and passed on to our children as it was to us.
Usually it is only the priests and the elders that are allowed to ascend it, in order to carry out rituals and dream quests so that they may communicate with our ancestors and the gods. Often the priests will go up in the middle of the night to watch the stars. They say that knowledge of the past and future is written in them.
We live in the surrounding area of the forest, our homes built to stand away from the ground, to keep us dry when the rains come. The forest provides us with all that we need, the materials to build our homes and tools, the plants to eat and animals to hunt. There are also dangers to watch out for, ferocious animals that will pull a grown man in to the undergrowth never to be seen again. Some say there are also other dangers, immaterial things from the dream world that will drive a person insane.
I've been told by some of the elders that there are other peoples living as we do, they are several days walk away from us. In the past they made war with us and so we are taught to be weary of any one that doesn't wear the clothing and markings of our people. So far I've never encountered any of these strangers but I will make sure never to leave my spear at home in case they dare come back.
This culture lives in the forested highlands of Sundaland, close to deep jungles. The weather is warm and humid the year round. There are roughly 1500 people living in the forest around the temple subsisting on hunting, foraging, fishing and garden cultivation.
The people are lightly dressed but use special headdresses and bodypainting to distinguish their social position and during cultural events. They have basic technology such as clay pottery and basket weaving. Most tools are made from bone or stone but in the past couple of generations they've acquired basic metallurgy skills (it's not clear if they learned themselves or were taught from outside) and are starting to make metal tools and weapons such as spear points and daggers. There is a shallow open pit mine in one of the nearby hills.
The society is somewhat stratified with elders and priests at the top and the best hunters and fighters having an honoured position as well. There are many cultural events that cover spiritual and communal matters as well as for entertainment and educational purposes.
There is no artisan class but the people make wooden and stone carvings and statues at the request of the elders and priests as well as for their own use. Storytelling and singing is an important part of the culture, a way to pass on knowledge from generation to generation. Some of the priests and elders can write and read symbolic writing system but it is a guarded secret and only taught to those deemed worthy.
Inspiration:
Wikipedia: Olmecs
Wikipedia: Maya Civilization
National Geographic: Amazon Jungle Once Home to Millions More Than Previously Thought
Amazon rainforest was shaped by an ancient hunger for fruits and nuts
Hunter-gatherer populations show humans are hardwired for density
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