The peoples across the Drifting Amalgams universe are loosely based on earthbound lifeforms. Instead of putting them all in one place, though, I’ve decided to write my fictional species as inhabitants of several different planets.
This way, I can narrowly worldbuilding terrain–creating entire planets that have just one or two physical features. …features that may or may not be friendly to aliens.
So, how do I choose geographical features?
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I mention leopards because the pentapardi of the Drifting Amalgams universe are based on Panthera pardus (the common leopard).
To be clear, all the peoples in my Drifting Amalgams universe are anthropomorphic. And they live in modern homes with modern conveniences. But, humans haven’t always lived the way we do today, and the environment we interacted with in the early part of our evolution helped shape who we are today. So I’m looking at the geographical preferences of leopards as a means of conceptualizing the earliest evolutionary steps of my pentapardi.
Now, it’s time to get started worldbuilding terrain using what I know about leopard habitats.
Worldbuilding Terrain Using Aspects from Leopard Habitats
Leopards easily adapt to a variety of habitats.
And while I want to be selective as I’m worldbuilding terrain for the planet of Barpadai, I’m also looking at keeping a lot of leopard habitat preferences as I make decisions.
Land-based leopard habitats include:
Savannas
Grasslands
Desert and semi-desert
Woodlands
Forests (including rainforests), and
Mountainous areas.
I like mountains because they’re a terrain that leopards are especially good at traversing. And one that other species have difficulty with. Some of the warmer habitats like deserts will be interesting for this reason, too.
I’ll need to expand my focus to more than just worldbuilding terrain, though. I’ll need to adapt some water features to help round out my ideas.
Interestingly, leopards are one of the few cats who love to swim. Since many of them live in climates that are hot during the day, a dip in water is a good way to cool down. Knowing this, I’ll include a few large bodies of water in my build.
But, unlike many other animals, leopards get most of their moisture from their food. Accordingly, they can live without drinking water for as long as 10 days. I think this means that population centers for my leopard-based peoples don’t need to be close to the large bodies of water that I’m building.
In addition to water, I want to consider the impact of that moisture-rich food leopards eat. As carnivores, and as ambush predators, leopards prefer hunting grounds with ample hiding places. Thick vegetation, caves, and rocky terrain are some of their most successful hiding places. To include this in my build, I think I’ll balance the terrain in favor of these aspects.
Now I have a basic layer for worldbuilding terrain, but Barpadai has more than one dominant species. Which means I want to base my build on more than just leopard habitats.
Worldbuilding Terrain Using Mexican Free-Tailed Bat Habitats
My fictional planet of Barpadai has two dominant species. The pentapardi, which I just discussed, and the tadaribrae, who are loosely based on the Mexican free-tailed bat of our world. So I need to look at what worldbuilding terrain means for my batlike tadaribrae.
I lucked out when I selected baseline species for my fictional planet. I chose leopards and bats as baseline species because I thought they were interesting. I didn’t even think about what their planet would look like until well after I designed their joint society. But, it turns out that Mexican free-tailed bat habitats have some things in common with leopard habitats.
Caves are a very notable preference for both.
While leopards like caves for hunting and hiding, Mexican free-tailed bats like them for… everything–preferring them over any other habitat.
I mentioned including mountainous areas so I could have rough terrain for alien adventures, but not all mountains have caves. The mountains on my fictional planet will definitely have caves.
How many caves are we talking about? Well, bat colonies are large. Like: millions of bats–large.
From a worldbuilding terrain standpoint, that means I’ll want to create an extensive cave system within at least one of my planet’s mountain ranges. A creative choice that hints at the tadaribrae being cave dwellers during an early evolutionary stage.
The other habitat preference of Mexican free-tailed bats is location-based. Specifically, they like roosts near water. That’s where all the good bugs are for eating. Plus, they like the convenience of a nearby drink.
While my pentapardi are unlikely to live near large bodies of water, I’m writing that my tadaribrae commonly do… as another littlenod to their real-life counterparts.
Mapping out Features from Worldbuilding Terrain Ideas
Everything I’ve talked about so far is just a basic foundation for worldbuilding terrain and water features. In action, I need a map outlining large- and small-scale features.
Mountains and caves are a primary feature of the planet, which is showcased by a peninsular mountain range with a system of caves throughout them.
There are several smaller mountain ranges, dotting the continents–including a few that butt up against the ocean. Some have cliffs, ridges, and shear drops, while others have a more gradual decline to the water.
To ensure that the pentapardi’s primal instinct as ambush hunter is honored, I’ll complement many of the mountain ranges with stretches of long-grass plains.
And to accommodate mountain runoff, I’ll create a series of connected rivers and streams that run through the grasslands. In line with the idea that only one of the dominant species depends heavily on freshwater, larger bodies of fresh water will not be present.
All considered, I have created a massive mountain range that would have supported the cave-dwelling ancestors native to my fictional planet. As they moved out of the cave system, they migrated to areas on the planet that attract insects. These grassy areas remain moist due to the water cycle created by nearby rivers and streams. And they create sustainable insect farms in these areas.
As for the leopard-like peoples, they’ll be dispersed across these lands–keeping large solitary domains as their evolutionary base preferred.
With that, a planet of leopards and bats is born.
Until next time, stay curious.