Building Reā: How I Created a World Beneath Five Moons
- Annaïa Rowan
- Oct 6
- 3 min read
Art by Kateryna Vitkovska
When I first sat down to write Moonborn, I was chasing two loves: the emotional intensity of romantasy and the breathtaking magic system of The Wheel of Time.
Robert Jordan's saidin and saidar—the way the One Power flows through the world, the duality and balance, the sense that magic is a living, breathing force—has always captivated me. I wanted to create something with that same depth and immersion. A world where magic isn't rare or hidden, but woven into the fabric of daily life. Where vendors use it to keep their fruit fresh, where it shapes architecture and grows impossible plants. Where magic isn't just a tool for heroes—it's as natural as breathing.
That vision became Reā. And Reā became everything.
Crafting a Living, Breathing, World
When writers talk about worldbuilding, it's easy to get lost in maps and magic systems. But the worlds that truly breathe—the ones that feel like they existed long before the first page and will continue long after the last—those are built with something deeper than rules. They're built with philosophy.
Brandon Sanderson taught me that every element of a world must serve multiple purposes. A magic system isn't just cool—it drives the plot, reveals character, and raises thematic questions. Load-bearing worldbuilding, he calls it. Every moon in Reā's sky, every ritual, every rule of magic exists because it has to. Because without it, the story would collapse.
However, Robert Jordan showed me the soul of worldbuilding. The Wheel of Time isn't just a fantasy epic—it's a tapestry of cultures, each with its own rituals, prejudices, and unspoken histories. Jordan understood that people are shaped by their environment, their beliefs, their conflicts. A world isn't just a backdrop. It's a living, breathing character.
In Reā, I wanted to create a world that feels as rich and inevitable as Jordan's, as precisely engineered as Sanderson's. A world where magic isn't just a tool, but a fundamental force that shapes identity, culture, and destiny.
This approach transforms worldbuilding from a technical exercise into an act of discovery.
Five Moons, Infinite Possibilities
Reā is a world governed by five moons: one large, luminous white celestial moon, and four smaller elemental moons—green, pink, blue, and yellow. Each elemental moon is tied to a specific element and facet of magic. Each one rises and sets on its own cycle, creating a constantly shifting celestial dance that determines the magical inclinations of every person born in Reā.
The moons aren't just pretty set dressing. They're the architects of identity. When you're born in Reā, the elemental moons that are full or waxing at your birth determine your magical gifts—a little like astrology. Parents know from the moment of birth what elemental blend their child will carry. Since all four elemental moons wax and wane independently, every Reān is born with a unique combination. Magic doesn't manifest until coming of age at twenty-one, but your destiny is written in the sky the night you're born.
Unless you're moonborn—born under one of the five full white celestial moons each year. Then, you become a C'Elēn, one of the rare few who can wield spirit magic, the power of the white moon itself. Each of the five celestial full moons aligns with one elemental moon and one sacred festival, so C'Elēns still lean toward specific elements. But one celestial moon—the spirit moon—rises when all the elemental moons are full. Those born under this rarest alignment, like my protagonist Laïna, carry the potential for all elements and spirit combined.
An Invitation
I didn't want Reā to feel like Earth with a fantasy coat of paint. I wanted it to feel other—a place where the sky itself writes your destiny.
Reā isn't finished. It never will be. With every book I write in this world, I'll uncover new layers, new histories, new mysteries. But that's the joy of worldbuilding—it's not a static creation. It's a living, breathing thing that grows alongside the story.
If you love worlds that feel immersive, magic systems rooted in ritual and balance, and stories where the setting is as much a character as the people who inhabit it—then I think you'll love Reā.
And I can't wait to take you there!
Annaïa xox
Comments