Shan Hai Gen
A Tracery poetry project for NaPoGenMo, inspired by the Chinese geography book Shan Hai Jing.
Effective generative text is often about marrying form and content, which this does wonderfully. It reminds me of of some other travelogue-esque generators, but it has its own voice.
10 miles southwest is a mountain called Mount Give-Horse. Near the top are found scattered Dry crows. On this mountain are found a great many Younger-Color trees, which look like a birch but with flowers like a daffodil. The deity of this mountain is Divine-Earth. To sacrifice to this deity, make a burnt offering of olive oil or fruit. Their shrine has a small reredos and is usually placed beside a rock. The river Younger-Petal rises here and flows west. On its banks can be found uncountably many Spring-Burning crows.
Some of the names are a bit Dwarf Fortress-y, which makes sense given their shared use of names translated literally.
270 leagues west is a mountain called Mount Breaking-Sparrow. Here there are Sleeping-Child fowl. On its slopes are found innumerable waningbushes. The mountain is presided over by the deity Eat-Waning. The river Food-Ant rises here and flows west.
20 leagues northeast is a mountain called Mount Love-Bright. Around the peak can be found a great many Turning-Day dogs. Around the peak can be found a handful of trees that look like birches with papery leaves. The river Love-Bitter rises here and flows south. In it live thousands of Cruel-Bird fish.