I know that millions of creatures less intelligent than us exist on our planet and that this can be applicable to fantasy worlds, but do ya'll put a limit on how many intelligent lifeforms exist in your world? Or do you just create as many as you want? How many do you think is reasonable?
Well the way I see it, it is your world as you can add as many as you see fit, because just because you've created it doesn't mean they have to take over or even be in your story, there are things you as the author will know that you may never tell your audience. That's the thing about world building, you have to remember that the world you set your story in has existed long before your characters were born and will be around long after they're gone. Just like our own world, no one story could possibly involve all the creatures and cultures we have on earth, and they don't have to, you can add as much or as little are you see fit because the world you make should always be bigger and greater than just what ends up on the page, idk tho
Interesting! I hadn't thought about it that way, but that's totally true! Thanks ^^
@marzzzbarzz Sure thing Jelly Bean
I just have a few categories of "nonintelligent" creatures; undead (save for vampires and liches), constructs (golems e.g.), and animals (unless they are a familiar are animal companion).
I have some intelligent species but the humans mostly don't know how intelligent they are. You can have different levels of intelligent like human-level, smart animal, average animal, etc. Or you could have tiers of intelligence based on human age, like toddler, teenager, adult etc.
A great deal of my spirits and creatures are superhumanly intelligent. An example would be angels, demons and Pagan gods.