Harriet woke up with headache, enough so that she refused to open her eyes when she first realized she was regaining consciousness. She always found it frustrating trying to think around the pain, hoping that if she remembered what caused pain, she might be able to come up with a way to fight it. Was she drinking last night? She didn't remember doing so. Wasn't it a school night, anyway?
Oh, that's right. She was fighting a giant lizard monster.
She sat up suddenly, eyes open. Vicky, who sitting on the floor nearby, squeaked in surprise and scooted away from the bed in reflex. Harriet rubbed her eyes upon seeing her; the sleepiness in her eyes seemed to cause Vicky's figure seemed to shrink and grow right before her.
Harriet looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of square cage, about 15 feet on a side, with other cages positioned around them. The bars seemed to go straight into the rock ceiling and floor. Each cage, including their own, had two or three hide cots and a large urn in a corner. Harriet was occupying one of the two in their area. Evan was on the far side of their own cage, talking quietly to someone in the next one over. Vicky, who had stumbled back onto her hands, pushed herself forward so she was sitting up straight again and looked over her shoulder at her classmate.
Evan stopped his conversation when he realized he was being watched. He stood and came over next to her, . He seemed taller than she remembered. "Good, you're awake," he said in a hushed tone. "How are you feeling?"
"Somewhat upset that it wasn't a dream," she replied. "Still a little foggy. The last thing I remember was pinning the guy with that spear-thing."
"Alright. After you did so, something happened and you began to freak out a little--"
"That's right," Harriet interrupted, looking down and holding her head as she her memory came back in haze. "There was something odd about how he looked at me. Like I was..." She looked back at Evan, wide eyed. "Like I was ten-feet tall or something."
Evan grinned. "You were. Anyway, when you realized this, you got startled. You let go of the spear, backed up and shrank quite a bit--"
"Shrank?" She shook her head, trying to keep up. "Evan, what is going on here?"
Evan continued to grin. He smiled the patient smile of an adult who's reading a story to a child but can't get past the first page. "I can explain how things work, where we are, or I can explain what happened. Why don't you tell me which one you'd like to hear first. I just need you to avoid being so loud."
She thought for a moment before replying in a much softer tone. "Let's start with where we are."
"Ah, of course. It always starts with the hardest question." He stood up, pacing a little. "Well, currently, we are in the Pen. It's like a prison that the goblins use for those that they believe 'aren't allowed here.'
"In a grander sense, though, we're on the Edge, not too far from the Precipitous Bar."
Harriet stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she put her head in her hand. She couldn't keep up, and the headache, although fading, was not helping matters.
Before she began to ask questions, Vicky spoke up. "The goblins are the things we saw, and you stabbed, on the way in. They live in the area around here and tend to not like visitors, although they don't go in the bar. And the Edge is pretty much the edge of reality."
Evan shook his head. "That's not really what it is."
Vicky shrugged. "It's a semi-hypothetical place that only somewhat exists in what is the known universe. It's an undefinable space somewhere between physical reality and our minds."
"Psychoplanes," Evan said, crossing his arms.
"Whatever. You're not even sure if we're really here. It's the edge of reality."
Evan looked surly for a moment, then smiled and sighed. "Ten years studying this place, and yet still others have a better sense of what's going on than I do. Applause to the young student."
"I'm just trying to put a way that doesn't require two days of explanation. Like yours did."
"Of course. But brevity is a much a gift as understanding."
"Two days?"
Evan jumped at Harriet's sudden interruption. Vicky was suddenly enchanted with something at her feet.
"Yes. You were unconscious for quite some time."
"Two days."
"More or less. It's hard to judge time here, with any sort of accuracy anyway." Harriet only looked at him with a raised eyebrow, which Evan took to mean to continue on. "It's always sunset."
Harriet continued her puzzled expression. Evan sighed. "Alright, let me start from here. Ten years ago... well, ten years from my perspective, my uncle and I came to the same woods we were in not too long ago, pursuing an old family legend about the Precipitous Bar. We had some lore passed down from my grandfather that said a gateway of sorts would be appearing there. It took us almost a week of searching with a few other family members to find the stream we went down. The stream has some sort of strange effect on one's judgement. Uncle Todd believes that it's because it was projecting our physical bodies onto the psychoplane, although my theory is that our consciousness was actually being removed while our bodies were being held in--"
"Evan." Vicky interrupted.
"Right. Brevity. Anyway, we made our way through, fumbling much like I assume the two of you did. Although you, Miss Stanford, did surprisingly well. Something about the Edge likes you."
Harriet rubbed the back of her head, where her headache was still lingering. She wasn't surprised to find a sore spot. "Not all of it, apparently."
"We're coming to that. Anyway, my uncle and I came here and were set upon by the same gray-skinned Goblin you so elegantly dispatched. However, we were not as--lucky isn't the word. Driven, I suppose fits best. We were cornered, and frightened, and quickly captured. The goblins seemed to grow in front of us the closer they came, so we gave in. And they took us here."
"Why were you looking for the bar?"
"Oh, well, now that is a question. You know, the legends say that the drinks at the bar can heal all ailments. They say you can meet the dead there, or even creatures from other worlds. They also say that the bartender has the answer to all problems.
"Our family has been looking for the bar for generations. My grandfather disappeared while looking for it, shortly after her turned seventy; his body showed up years later, although he looked like he had only passed days after, dead from--of all things--lung cancer."
"Are you saying he got lung cancer from living here?"
Evan shook his head. "He had cancer before he disappeared. It was slow, and painful; far more painful than the peaceful look on his face had shown when we found him. I suppose that's why I wanted to find it, though. I was there when he was found, and I wanted to know why he looked so peaceful.
"It took a sharp turn when we got here, though. Being in this prison for ten years... It wasn't easy on us."
"Ten years? You got taken when you were three?"
Evan smiled. There was a tray sitting by head of the bed that Harriet noticed as he walked towards it. "Here," he said, grabbing a piece of hard bread off of it. "You've been asleep for two days. You must be hungry."
She took the bread, but realized she wasn't hungry. "No, thanks," she said.
"Water, then," he said, handing her a clay jug of clear water. Harriet turned this down as well, confused. "You've been out for two days; even if you hadn't, you were running and fighting. But you're not tired, hungry or thirsty. Two days have passed here, but to your body, it's probably been about five minutes."
"So... there's a time difference."
Evan nodded. "I was gone for ten years. To the rest of the world, though, I was only gone two days.
"Whatever theory is correct, something is going on here that somehow heightens our minds, speeding up our experiences. The link between our emotions and our interaction with the world here is much more direct. It can cause some disturbing physical changes."
"Like what?"
Evan suddenly leaped at Vicky's flank, looking like he was about to swing. Vicky shrunk back, then literally shrunk. She lost more than a foot in height before she snapped back to normal as it became obvious Evan wasn't intending to hit her. Growling, she took a swing at his knee, but he sidestepped quickly.
"What we feel can affect how we appear. Fear normally causes one to shrink. From what others have said, hope can make one powerful, uncertainty leads to frailty, selflessness can make one impervious and courage-"
Evan walked over to the bars of the cage. With a smile on his face, he pulled on the bars. The thick steel bars started to bend, until he suddenly yanked and ripped them out of the ceiling.
"Courage can make us stronger." He walked out of the cage and into the next one. "It's going to take a bit, but we can get out of here as long as we don't get frustrated. We'll talk as we walk. C'mon."
Harriet walked out from between the bars. "What happened to me anyway?"
"You got startled," Vicky said from behind her. "When you shrank, that yellow one we passed back came up and knocked you out with that sheath he had. Evan said we should give up, and they brought us here."
Harriet cringed. "Guess my emotions are my weakness."
"Yeah, but they're you're strength, too," Evan said. "You grew to ten-feet tall! I don't know what you were thinking about, but I'm thankful for it. That old gray goblin wasn't planning on let me escape again. So whatever you were thinking of then, don't forget it."
Harriet swallowed and nodded. She found herself hoping that they simply didn't run into these goblins again.
The Precipitous Bar, part 4
Click here to start at beginning, or here to read the previous entry.
Harriet landed solidly on what felt like stone. The rushing water pouring in from multiple directions prevented her from standing straight, but she managed to keep upright. Unable to see past the cascade in front of her, she felt out ahead with one hand while slowly sliding her foot forward until she kicked a steep step. She took a high step up and repeated the process.
She slowly climbed up about four steps before she made it out from under the waterfall. There was still some water flowing about her hips, but she was able to see again. Each step now brought the water level lower. She went up a few more steps until the flow no longer forced her to bend over to keep her footing. She turned around to see Vicky still standing at the edge, although she was now at eye-level and watching Harriet finish her climb.
Harriet opened her mouth to tell Vicky to stay put and she'd be back in a moment, but she didn't have a chance. All that came out was "Vicky!" as the girl looked away, glancing down the fall and taking the single step off the edge. Harriet only paused for a moment before rushing back down the steps and into the water.
She only fumbled for a moment before she managed to grab the young girl's arm. Not wanting to injure her again, she shifted her grip around the girl's waste and pulled her the direction that she had just came from, pulling up when she came to a step to help her find them. They made it to clear air quickly and they both gasped, hunching over and trying to catch their breath.
"Why did you jump?" Harriet asked between gulps of air. "I was going to come back for you!"
"And how were you going to do that?"
Harriet looked back the way they came. The gap was far to wide to jump, and there was no purchase with which to climb back to the ledge they came from. Even if they were, climbing up through a waterfall wasn't really an option.
"Also, when you came out of the water," Vicky continued after she finished catching her breath, "you didn't have that tired look on your face anymore. I thought maybe the waterfall would help with the cloudiness that was in my head, too."
Harriet straightened up as she looked back at her student. She was right; the fog was gone, and she could think clearly. She's fairly certain she would not have tried that jump had she been thinking straight. Then again, how much of anything that's happened recently.
Vicky was stilled hunched over, although she didn't look like she was breathing hard any more. The girl's face and neck now had angry black-and-blue patches that matched the one on her wris.
Harriet furrowed her brow. The water wasn't flowing hard enough bruise, especially on an athletic girl like Vicky. In fact, she should have had her face down, so it couldn't have bruised her there. She checked her own arms and shoulders, but there was no sign of injury. "Vicky, are you ok?" she asked.
The girl flushed, the bruises themselves almost seeming to pale. Before she had a chance to respond, though, there was a crashing sound above, echoing from the cave mouth, followed by a scream. A scream that sounded distinctly like Evan.
Harriet tapped Vicky lightly on the back to get her moving and took off up the steps. Upon crossing through the strange stone circle, she found herself on a winding staircase cut into the stone of some sort of cave, the source of the flowing water nowhere to be seen on the dry floor. The dark red, clay-like walls were lit by an unknown source, but Harriet was happy to finally be able to see where her feet were going to fall. The two of them continued their exhausting pace up, sprinting across the periodic landing as they continued upwards. Their steps echoed through the cave, becoming quite loud in spite of the soft surface.
Harriet stopped abruptly as she noticed something on the ground of one of the landings. It was generally human in shape: it was about five-and-a-half feet tall (well, long right now), with a head, torso, two arms and two legs. It was muscular, almost stocky, and lying on its back it looked like some sort of wrestler who just lost a match.
The similarities ended there. It was mostly nude, although it had no genetalia that Harriet could see. It had yellow, leathery skin, patched like scales in areas. It had three fingers and toes, each elongated and ending in a broad, dark nails. Its head had some sort of strange, blunted beak, ending in a substance just like those on its hands and feet. And coming from the back of its head was some sort of crest. Harriet was reminded of the pictures of dinosaurs she saw as a child growing up.
Vicky began to push by her, but Harriet stopped her with one hand out. The only things he was wearing was a hard wood-and-leather sheath that looked the type to carry a long, curved sword that was nowhere in sight, and some sort of back-harness. And its chest was moving up and down, its nostrils flaring, so Harriet knew it was still alive.
"We don't have time to stare, Miss Standford," Vicky said from next to her. "Evan's in trouble!"
She nodded, realizing there was little she could do but try to pass. Evan managed to, after all. "Just don't go near it. Stay as close to the wall as you can."
The two of them crept by as softly as they could; the strange creature did not move, just continued its heavy breathing. As soon as they were past arm's reach, they began their run. It was only a few more steps before Harriet noticed another ring of rock, opening up to a bright sky above. The clashing she had heard before suddenly started again, and this time should could tell it was not far from the opening.
Harriet barely registered that the sky was a deep purple and red before she burst through the stone ring. She looked up to see Evan, with a curved sword in one hand and a large, steel-banded wooden shield in the other, barely managing to maintain his footing in front of a creature much like the one that had passed on the way up, wielding an enormous double-handed sword.
Well, there were a few differences. This one's skin was grey, not yellow. Its head crest had three points instead of a rounded edge. And it stood well over eight-feet tall.
Its next blow shattered the thick shield Evan had on his arm. Evan cried out as more than half of the shield flew off, only leaving a few planks still connected to the leather straps. He held his sword out, readying to parry the next few blows but obviously worried how long he could hold up. Harriet thought he could almost see him shrinking before the creature before him.
She looked around quickly. The were in an open area with the same clay substance that was in the cave for the ground. There were thick rock walls that made up a tall cliff-face both behind and in front of them, opening off to Harriet's left and tapering to a corner on the right, a corner that Evan was rapidly getting pressured towards. There weren't any plants around aside from a few stout bushes, but Harriet ignored them. On the ground not too far from her feet was a strange, two-pronged spear. She hefted it and ran at the creature, thrusting it as hard she could into its back.
It yelped in pain, pulling away from the weapon and turning, looking up to face her. Its eyes went wide, and she took its surprise as an opportunity. She thrust the weapon at the creature's neck, catching it between the prongs and sinking the blades into the stone behind him. The weapon buried itself deeply, putting pressure on the creature's throat and causing it to gag, although it could still breathe. It dropped its enormous weapon, grabbing at the haft of spear as Harriet let go, unsuccessfully trying not remove it from the rock behind him and never breaking wide-eyed contact with the woman before him.
It was only then that Harriet realized the huge creature was looking up in order to meet her gaze.
To Be Continued.
Harriet landed solidly on what felt like stone. The rushing water pouring in from multiple directions prevented her from standing straight, but she managed to keep upright. Unable to see past the cascade in front of her, she felt out ahead with one hand while slowly sliding her foot forward until she kicked a steep step. She took a high step up and repeated the process.
She slowly climbed up about four steps before she made it out from under the waterfall. There was still some water flowing about her hips, but she was able to see again. Each step now brought the water level lower. She went up a few more steps until the flow no longer forced her to bend over to keep her footing. She turned around to see Vicky still standing at the edge, although she was now at eye-level and watching Harriet finish her climb.
Harriet opened her mouth to tell Vicky to stay put and she'd be back in a moment, but she didn't have a chance. All that came out was "Vicky!" as the girl looked away, glancing down the fall and taking the single step off the edge. Harriet only paused for a moment before rushing back down the steps and into the water.
She only fumbled for a moment before she managed to grab the young girl's arm. Not wanting to injure her again, she shifted her grip around the girl's waste and pulled her the direction that she had just came from, pulling up when she came to a step to help her find them. They made it to clear air quickly and they both gasped, hunching over and trying to catch their breath.
"Why did you jump?" Harriet asked between gulps of air. "I was going to come back for you!"
"And how were you going to do that?"
Harriet looked back the way they came. The gap was far to wide to jump, and there was no purchase with which to climb back to the ledge they came from. Even if they were, climbing up through a waterfall wasn't really an option.
"Also, when you came out of the water," Vicky continued after she finished catching her breath, "you didn't have that tired look on your face anymore. I thought maybe the waterfall would help with the cloudiness that was in my head, too."
Harriet straightened up as she looked back at her student. She was right; the fog was gone, and she could think clearly. She's fairly certain she would not have tried that jump had she been thinking straight. Then again, how much of anything that's happened recently.
Vicky was stilled hunched over, although she didn't look like she was breathing hard any more. The girl's face and neck now had angry black-and-blue patches that matched the one on her wris.
Harriet furrowed her brow. The water wasn't flowing hard enough bruise, especially on an athletic girl like Vicky. In fact, she should have had her face down, so it couldn't have bruised her there. She checked her own arms and shoulders, but there was no sign of injury. "Vicky, are you ok?" she asked.
The girl flushed, the bruises themselves almost seeming to pale. Before she had a chance to respond, though, there was a crashing sound above, echoing from the cave mouth, followed by a scream. A scream that sounded distinctly like Evan.
Harriet tapped Vicky lightly on the back to get her moving and took off up the steps. Upon crossing through the strange stone circle, she found herself on a winding staircase cut into the stone of some sort of cave, the source of the flowing water nowhere to be seen on the dry floor. The dark red, clay-like walls were lit by an unknown source, but Harriet was happy to finally be able to see where her feet were going to fall. The two of them continued their exhausting pace up, sprinting across the periodic landing as they continued upwards. Their steps echoed through the cave, becoming quite loud in spite of the soft surface.
Harriet stopped abruptly as she noticed something on the ground of one of the landings. It was generally human in shape: it was about five-and-a-half feet tall (well, long right now), with a head, torso, two arms and two legs. It was muscular, almost stocky, and lying on its back it looked like some sort of wrestler who just lost a match.
The similarities ended there. It was mostly nude, although it had no genetalia that Harriet could see. It had yellow, leathery skin, patched like scales in areas. It had three fingers and toes, each elongated and ending in a broad, dark nails. Its head had some sort of strange, blunted beak, ending in a substance just like those on its hands and feet. And coming from the back of its head was some sort of crest. Harriet was reminded of the pictures of dinosaurs she saw as a child growing up.
Vicky began to push by her, but Harriet stopped her with one hand out. The only things he was wearing was a hard wood-and-leather sheath that looked the type to carry a long, curved sword that was nowhere in sight, and some sort of back-harness. And its chest was moving up and down, its nostrils flaring, so Harriet knew it was still alive.
"We don't have time to stare, Miss Standford," Vicky said from next to her. "Evan's in trouble!"
She nodded, realizing there was little she could do but try to pass. Evan managed to, after all. "Just don't go near it. Stay as close to the wall as you can."
The two of them crept by as softly as they could; the strange creature did not move, just continued its heavy breathing. As soon as they were past arm's reach, they began their run. It was only a few more steps before Harriet noticed another ring of rock, opening up to a bright sky above. The clashing she had heard before suddenly started again, and this time should could tell it was not far from the opening.
Harriet barely registered that the sky was a deep purple and red before she burst through the stone ring. She looked up to see Evan, with a curved sword in one hand and a large, steel-banded wooden shield in the other, barely managing to maintain his footing in front of a creature much like the one that had passed on the way up, wielding an enormous double-handed sword.
Well, there were a few differences. This one's skin was grey, not yellow. Its head crest had three points instead of a rounded edge. And it stood well over eight-feet tall.
Its next blow shattered the thick shield Evan had on his arm. Evan cried out as more than half of the shield flew off, only leaving a few planks still connected to the leather straps. He held his sword out, readying to parry the next few blows but obviously worried how long he could hold up. Harriet thought he could almost see him shrinking before the creature before him.
She looked around quickly. The were in an open area with the same clay substance that was in the cave for the ground. There were thick rock walls that made up a tall cliff-face both behind and in front of them, opening off to Harriet's left and tapering to a corner on the right, a corner that Evan was rapidly getting pressured towards. There weren't any plants around aside from a few stout bushes, but Harriet ignored them. On the ground not too far from her feet was a strange, two-pronged spear. She hefted it and ran at the creature, thrusting it as hard she could into its back.
It yelped in pain, pulling away from the weapon and turning, looking up to face her. Its eyes went wide, and she took its surprise as an opportunity. She thrust the weapon at the creature's neck, catching it between the prongs and sinking the blades into the stone behind him. The weapon buried itself deeply, putting pressure on the creature's throat and causing it to gag, although it could still breathe. It dropped its enormous weapon, grabbing at the haft of spear as Harriet let go, unsuccessfully trying not remove it from the rock behind him and never breaking wide-eyed contact with the woman before him.
It was only then that Harriet realized the huge creature was looking up in order to meet her gaze.
To Be Continued.
The Nations of Radix: Declaria
Declaria was my "wild nation." The nation's original concept revolved more along the lines of a mix of rain forest and rolling savanna-like plains. However, the concept changed as the world did; rain forests became somewhat implausible in a world where the water was "fed" to other countries and oceans don't exist. When I decided that the Root of Creation, of life and chaos, would be coming up through it as well, it took another twist.
The country turned into a dense forest of deciduous trees, thinner at the edges where most of the larger towns were located. The closer one came to the middle of nation, the wilder the area would get, with great trees and the most barbaric of villages closer to the middle. At the very center of the world is a vast, half-sphere crater; all of the water that comes into the country, regardless of its point of origin, ends here, filling most of the five-mile-wide hole and turning it into a deep lake dozens of feet below the closest edge of land. Most people do not know what is actually right next to root; although legends tell about people disappearing or abducted to other worlds, those who know of these things know that the Fae make their home near the base of the root itself, and venturing to those lands means one may never come back; if they do, they will most likely not come back the same as they once were.
Since the country was centered around the idea of chaos, I decided that a singular ruling body was unrealistic. Any centered power-seat would be immediately rooted out by not only the anarchistic forces of the land, but also by those who lived here and considered themselves part of such a chaotic land. As such, I decided that any governing body would only meet periodically, and often in secret. It would be composed of defacto or informal leaders from any and all settlements, gathered by some of the greatest Terrestrial Mages who were capable of detecting colonies of living, thinking bodies throughout the country, as well as creating vast nets of communication lines between them through various means.
The immediate problem that tends to come from creating separate nations within a world (unless, of course, this is something you're intending to do from the beginning) is the tendency for some of them to be perceived as "good" and others as "bad." The tyrannical oppression of an empire versus the freedoms represented by the conglomerate of states run by the people. It's ingrained in many of us, to be honest, as it's how many of us were raised.
So when I first decided I wanted to create a nation that consisted of a large number of independent cities and villages, I was afraid most anything I wrote would be construed as some sort of allegory either for or against democracy. I wasn't entirely comfortable with construction, and I definitely wasn't ok with the idea of a back-woods society I was trying to create being compared to any sort of modern-day political construction.
As such, I decided I would make the "ruling body" consist of two things that would separate it from modern political schemes. First, I made it a shadow organization: although each member would do their best to represent the interests of their home, most did not make any within their home aware that meetings were happening, what they were discussing or where they were being held. Second, I added an illogical hierarchy, where villages with their own mages in the organization were given priority over those that were not, and that priority amongst the mages were given not by their power or strength, but actually the distance and area of effect a mage could control or influence at once.
After also removing the ability to create any legislature of any kind, restricting the body into a role where it could do little aside from setting up trade or evaluating threats, I was a bit more comfortable with the nation. To be honest, it's still my least favorite of the nations I created. At the same time, I think that's driven me to keep working on it.
The country turned into a dense forest of deciduous trees, thinner at the edges where most of the larger towns were located. The closer one came to the middle of nation, the wilder the area would get, with great trees and the most barbaric of villages closer to the middle. At the very center of the world is a vast, half-sphere crater; all of the water that comes into the country, regardless of its point of origin, ends here, filling most of the five-mile-wide hole and turning it into a deep lake dozens of feet below the closest edge of land. Most people do not know what is actually right next to root; although legends tell about people disappearing or abducted to other worlds, those who know of these things know that the Fae make their home near the base of the root itself, and venturing to those lands means one may never come back; if they do, they will most likely not come back the same as they once were.
Since the country was centered around the idea of chaos, I decided that a singular ruling body was unrealistic. Any centered power-seat would be immediately rooted out by not only the anarchistic forces of the land, but also by those who lived here and considered themselves part of such a chaotic land. As such, I decided that any governing body would only meet periodically, and often in secret. It would be composed of defacto or informal leaders from any and all settlements, gathered by some of the greatest Terrestrial Mages who were capable of detecting colonies of living, thinking bodies throughout the country, as well as creating vast nets of communication lines between them through various means.
The immediate problem that tends to come from creating separate nations within a world (unless, of course, this is something you're intending to do from the beginning) is the tendency for some of them to be perceived as "good" and others as "bad." The tyrannical oppression of an empire versus the freedoms represented by the conglomerate of states run by the people. It's ingrained in many of us, to be honest, as it's how many of us were raised.
So when I first decided I wanted to create a nation that consisted of a large number of independent cities and villages, I was afraid most anything I wrote would be construed as some sort of allegory either for or against democracy. I wasn't entirely comfortable with construction, and I definitely wasn't ok with the idea of a back-woods society I was trying to create being compared to any sort of modern-day political construction.
As such, I decided I would make the "ruling body" consist of two things that would separate it from modern political schemes. First, I made it a shadow organization: although each member would do their best to represent the interests of their home, most did not make any within their home aware that meetings were happening, what they were discussing or where they were being held. Second, I added an illogical hierarchy, where villages with their own mages in the organization were given priority over those that were not, and that priority amongst the mages were given not by their power or strength, but actually the distance and area of effect a mage could control or influence at once.
After also removing the ability to create any legislature of any kind, restricting the body into a role where it could do little aside from setting up trade or evaluating threats, I was a bit more comfortable with the nation. To be honest, it's still my least favorite of the nations I created. At the same time, I think that's driven me to keep working on it.
Deciduoh: the Dragons
I absolutely love dragons. I'm pretty sure this is abundantly obvious to anyone who has had any sort of extended interaction with me: "Oh, him? Yeah, he's obsessed about cartoons, swords and dragons." I'm sure conversations about me are much more colorful than that, but I like to imagine that something so innocuous has happened at least once.
Still, I've never been happy with the whole good vs. evil, colored vs. metallic, and a lot of other fantasy aspects of draconic sub-systems. Then again, modern/urban fantasy tends to categorize them as either some feral beast, or some old man on a mountain type of meme. Both of these bothered me.
And then I stumbled upon Temeraire and Naomi Novik. To say her stories were inspiring would be an understatement. The idea itself was absolutely amazing (The Napoleonic Wars with dragons as an air force?? That's just made of win!!), but more so than that, I fell in love with the dragons, and how they had grown in the human culture. It wasn't the question of what they were, but how they came to be that way, a question that I had not thought to ask at this point in the development.
And so I looked at dragons from a different point of view. Why are they in the world? Not only why am I including them, but also why are they a part of the world. As I began to answer these questions, the dragons themselves started to take shape on their own.
I started with the original question, of why I wanted dragons in the world. In my case, I wanted to include them as a sort of living embodiment of misunderstood prophecies. Dragons, I had decided, were often included in both end-of-world predictions, as well as saviors, and these legends/beliefs shaped the very societies in which they were found. As I wrote some more notes, I included more and more superstitions in with myths and religious texts. Eventually, something as simple as having a white dragon licking your hands could mean you would lose money that day, while a dark dragon rubbing against your back meant you would have unexpected support.
Then I began to approach their origins. A few days of brainstorming put them as not a creation of the gods but of the guardians, a balance to the humanoid races that is neither truly immortal or mortal. At first, I considered scrapping this, considering making their origins as enigmatic as the animals or monsters within the world. Eventually, though, I didn't want to make an intelligent (well, mostly intelligent) race quite so forgotten, especially when some of them might have lived long enough to remember when it happened.
Eventually, the dragons began to form themselves, the notes defining them far better than I could have if I stated from this end first: a race of creatures that share pieces of one soul that resides on a parallel plane, one that maintains the balance between life and death (the Veil). Some, gifted with a large part of the unnamed soul (ok, it has a name, but at this point it didn't), would have great power and intelligence, and even rule over humanoids in their domain; in others, it would be akin to a dog or cat, with its own personality but far from intelligible.
It was a strange concept, but one I really enjoyed in the stories for the world. My favorite plot with it involved a strange magic that was preventing pieces of the soul from rejoining the unnamed one. As such, the number of dragons in the world slowly began to dwindle as they were unable to return to the world in a new body (which doesn't seem to be a bad thing until the Veil was removed, causing life and death to run rampant around the world).
All in all, though, it was a fun jaunt through discovery, that actually managed to start with the story. My favorite way to start.
Still, I've never been happy with the whole good vs. evil, colored vs. metallic, and a lot of other fantasy aspects of draconic sub-systems. Then again, modern/urban fantasy tends to categorize them as either some feral beast, or some old man on a mountain type of meme. Both of these bothered me.
And then I stumbled upon Temeraire and Naomi Novik. To say her stories were inspiring would be an understatement. The idea itself was absolutely amazing (The Napoleonic Wars with dragons as an air force?? That's just made of win!!), but more so than that, I fell in love with the dragons, and how they had grown in the human culture. It wasn't the question of what they were, but how they came to be that way, a question that I had not thought to ask at this point in the development.
And so I looked at dragons from a different point of view. Why are they in the world? Not only why am I including them, but also why are they a part of the world. As I began to answer these questions, the dragons themselves started to take shape on their own.
I started with the original question, of why I wanted dragons in the world. In my case, I wanted to include them as a sort of living embodiment of misunderstood prophecies. Dragons, I had decided, were often included in both end-of-world predictions, as well as saviors, and these legends/beliefs shaped the very societies in which they were found. As I wrote some more notes, I included more and more superstitions in with myths and religious texts. Eventually, something as simple as having a white dragon licking your hands could mean you would lose money that day, while a dark dragon rubbing against your back meant you would have unexpected support.
Then I began to approach their origins. A few days of brainstorming put them as not a creation of the gods but of the guardians, a balance to the humanoid races that is neither truly immortal or mortal. At first, I considered scrapping this, considering making their origins as enigmatic as the animals or monsters within the world. Eventually, though, I didn't want to make an intelligent (well, mostly intelligent) race quite so forgotten, especially when some of them might have lived long enough to remember when it happened.
Eventually, the dragons began to form themselves, the notes defining them far better than I could have if I stated from this end first: a race of creatures that share pieces of one soul that resides on a parallel plane, one that maintains the balance between life and death (the Veil). Some, gifted with a large part of the unnamed soul (ok, it has a name, but at this point it didn't), would have great power and intelligence, and even rule over humanoids in their domain; in others, it would be akin to a dog or cat, with its own personality but far from intelligible.
It was a strange concept, but one I really enjoyed in the stories for the world. My favorite plot with it involved a strange magic that was preventing pieces of the soul from rejoining the unnamed one. As such, the number of dragons in the world slowly began to dwindle as they were unable to return to the world in a new body (which doesn't seem to be a bad thing until the Veil was removed, causing life and death to run rampant around the world).
All in all, though, it was a fun jaunt through discovery, that actually managed to start with the story. My favorite way to start.
The Precipitous Bar, part 3
For part 1, click here.
For part 2, click here.
The splashing stopped. A new sound rose in its place, a rushing sound Harriet didn't recognize at first. The water at her feet began to pick up more speed, as if in anticipation. It didn't take long for Harriet to figure out what the sound was; she hadn't heard the sound of a waterfall from the top in some time, and she wasn't exactly happy to hear it now. There wasn't much she could do, so she slowed down to make sure she didn't lose her footing.
Vicky followed suit. She took the opportunity to look over the edge; it was immediately apparent that she wished she hadn't. She paled visibly and returned to the center of the stream, walking closer to Harriet.
"Grab on to my shirt," Harriet said over her shoulder, "if it'll help you." Vicky harrumphed at the suggestion, but did not hesitated long before gripping the cloth tightly in her fist.
It wasn't long before she could make out the figure of Evan standing against a bright blue sky. The water had picked up to the point that Harriet had to place each foot carefully. She felt Vicky take a few stumbles, but she was strong and managed to keep herself standing through her grip on her teacher. Harriet called out Evan's name one more time; the dark silhouette turned to face them and waved.
Harriet tried not to stare as she approached, but without somewhere else to look it was proving difficult. On either side, there only sky, a sky that simply reminded her how high they were. Looking down only made keeping her footing that much harder, as she tried to think about every step instead of relying on instinct. Up only held a blank sky and vertigo. So she locked her eyes on the madly grinning boy down stream.
Long before she caught up, he turned his attention to a strange stone formation next to him. All Harriet noticed, though, was that he was standing only five feet from the edge of the water, right before it tumbled down to... Well, hopefully, she'd be able to drag him away before she found out where the water ended.
"Evan--" Harriet began as she came within a few strides.
"Before you go," he interrupted, "look. You're going to want to see this."
Harriet opened her mouth to yell and paused. She reminded herself she was standing before a waterfall, on some sort of stream that seemed to ascend into the sky, chasing a boy who seemed to stand on edge of the world without a care. Regardless of the reason, this was not a good place to start yelling. Instead, she looked down at where Evan was pointing.
Three large, semi-circular stones jutted out of the water, arranged to reveal strange characters carved along the curve. One of them was well out of the water, but the other two sat below the surface of the almost waist-high water. Despite the rushing water, the strange characters were still easy to make out.
Wait, waist high, rushing water? Harriet thought suddenly. Hold on, why--
"Can you read what it says?"
Harriet looked back up at Evan as she was pulled from her thoughts. "No," she said in response to his question. What was she thinking about? She couldn't place it. Her thoughts seemed slow, like they were coming through thick syrup.
Evan laughed, gesturing back to the strange statue. "Just follow along, I'm sure you'll get it." Before she could say anything, he began to chant in a deep rhythm.
"The climb was steep, the journey was long,
But no matter our pace,
We're late.
But we took the steps, and tried our best,
Is it luck? Ambition?
Or fate?"
Harriet was beginning to follow along. She knew he finished the first semicircle, and could almost make out the words on the next row. It was almost like the words were changing to something more recognizable as Evan continued his strange song.
"The door forbidden, found unbidden,
Can be found for one year, so
Fleeting.
Yet we come so far, for the Precipitous Bar
Patient and Driven.
Needing."
It all made sense. Before she realized it, Harriet found herself adding her own voice to Evan's. It wasn't long before Vicky's voice joined as well.
"Our emotions come real, our minds become steel,
The only true strengths are
Choices.
Now we stand before, and call for the door,
With our hearts, our souls and
Voices!"
A huge wave of air and sound pushed suddenly against Harriet, almost destroying her equilibrium. She closed her for only a moment and adjusted her stance, widening slightly bending more at the knees. The first boom was quickly followed by another, but they were no longer threatening. She opened her eyes.
A ring of thick rock, almost like a cave-mouth, hung in the air, some distance in front and above them. Stairs descended from it, and a strong flow of water poured out. The stairs and water came to meet the waterfall about ten feet down from the edge on which they stood, the two flows creating a thick downpour into the empty space below. The stairs continued to ascend through the strange, hanging rock formation, going into... nothing. And yet the water continued to flow down them, endlessly produced from whatever invisible source fed it.
Harriet gaped; from the gasp behind her, she imagined Vicky was doing the same. It took a moment to realize that Evan had stepped off the edge into the waterfall.
"Evan!" she cried, grasping for the place where he was just standing. Her mind was reeling, trying to keep up with a reality that wasn't obeying the rules any more. She grasped for anything that she could onto, a hand, a rock, a thought...
"Miss Stanford!"
She turned her head as fast as it would respond towards the sound. Although even that felt sluggish, she managed to do so quickly. Evan was standing at the mouth of cave, waving once again as if he did not have a concern in the world. He smiled at her as soon as he knew he had her attention, and then turned around once more, jogging up the steps and through the opening.
She looked back at Vicky, concern and anxiety filling her gaze. They did not say a word, but Vicky swallowed hard once and nodded. Turning back to the precipice, taking a deep breath and flattening her arms against her sides, Harriet jumped.
To Be Continued
For part 2, click here.
The splashing stopped. A new sound rose in its place, a rushing sound Harriet didn't recognize at first. The water at her feet began to pick up more speed, as if in anticipation. It didn't take long for Harriet to figure out what the sound was; she hadn't heard the sound of a waterfall from the top in some time, and she wasn't exactly happy to hear it now. There wasn't much she could do, so she slowed down to make sure she didn't lose her footing.
Vicky followed suit. She took the opportunity to look over the edge; it was immediately apparent that she wished she hadn't. She paled visibly and returned to the center of the stream, walking closer to Harriet.
"Grab on to my shirt," Harriet said over her shoulder, "if it'll help you." Vicky harrumphed at the suggestion, but did not hesitated long before gripping the cloth tightly in her fist.
It wasn't long before she could make out the figure of Evan standing against a bright blue sky. The water had picked up to the point that Harriet had to place each foot carefully. She felt Vicky take a few stumbles, but she was strong and managed to keep herself standing through her grip on her teacher. Harriet called out Evan's name one more time; the dark silhouette turned to face them and waved.
Harriet tried not to stare as she approached, but without somewhere else to look it was proving difficult. On either side, there only sky, a sky that simply reminded her how high they were. Looking down only made keeping her footing that much harder, as she tried to think about every step instead of relying on instinct. Up only held a blank sky and vertigo. So she locked her eyes on the madly grinning boy down stream.
Long before she caught up, he turned his attention to a strange stone formation next to him. All Harriet noticed, though, was that he was standing only five feet from the edge of the water, right before it tumbled down to... Well, hopefully, she'd be able to drag him away before she found out where the water ended.
"Evan--" Harriet began as she came within a few strides.
"Before you go," he interrupted, "look. You're going to want to see this."
Harriet opened her mouth to yell and paused. She reminded herself she was standing before a waterfall, on some sort of stream that seemed to ascend into the sky, chasing a boy who seemed to stand on edge of the world without a care. Regardless of the reason, this was not a good place to start yelling. Instead, she looked down at where Evan was pointing.
Three large, semi-circular stones jutted out of the water, arranged to reveal strange characters carved along the curve. One of them was well out of the water, but the other two sat below the surface of the almost waist-high water. Despite the rushing water, the strange characters were still easy to make out.
Wait, waist high, rushing water? Harriet thought suddenly. Hold on, why--
"Can you read what it says?"
Harriet looked back up at Evan as she was pulled from her thoughts. "No," she said in response to his question. What was she thinking about? She couldn't place it. Her thoughts seemed slow, like they were coming through thick syrup.
Evan laughed, gesturing back to the strange statue. "Just follow along, I'm sure you'll get it." Before she could say anything, he began to chant in a deep rhythm.
"The climb was steep, the journey was long,
But no matter our pace,
We're late.
But we took the steps, and tried our best,
Is it luck? Ambition?
Or fate?"
Harriet was beginning to follow along. She knew he finished the first semicircle, and could almost make out the words on the next row. It was almost like the words were changing to something more recognizable as Evan continued his strange song.
"The door forbidden, found unbidden,
Can be found for one year, so
Fleeting.
Yet we come so far, for the Precipitous Bar
Patient and Driven.
Needing."
It all made sense. Before she realized it, Harriet found herself adding her own voice to Evan's. It wasn't long before Vicky's voice joined as well.
"Our emotions come real, our minds become steel,
The only true strengths are
Choices.
Now we stand before, and call for the door,
With our hearts, our souls and
Voices!"
A huge wave of air and sound pushed suddenly against Harriet, almost destroying her equilibrium. She closed her for only a moment and adjusted her stance, widening slightly bending more at the knees. The first boom was quickly followed by another, but they were no longer threatening. She opened her eyes.
A ring of thick rock, almost like a cave-mouth, hung in the air, some distance in front and above them. Stairs descended from it, and a strong flow of water poured out. The stairs and water came to meet the waterfall about ten feet down from the edge on which they stood, the two flows creating a thick downpour into the empty space below. The stairs continued to ascend through the strange, hanging rock formation, going into... nothing. And yet the water continued to flow down them, endlessly produced from whatever invisible source fed it.
Harriet gaped; from the gasp behind her, she imagined Vicky was doing the same. It took a moment to realize that Evan had stepped off the edge into the waterfall.
"Evan!" she cried, grasping for the place where he was just standing. Her mind was reeling, trying to keep up with a reality that wasn't obeying the rules any more. She grasped for anything that she could onto, a hand, a rock, a thought...
"Miss Stanford!"
She turned her head as fast as it would respond towards the sound. Although even that felt sluggish, she managed to do so quickly. Evan was standing at the mouth of cave, waving once again as if he did not have a concern in the world. He smiled at her as soon as he knew he had her attention, and then turned around once more, jogging up the steps and through the opening.
She looked back at Vicky, concern and anxiety filling her gaze. They did not say a word, but Vicky swallowed hard once and nodded. Turning back to the precipice, taking a deep breath and flattening her arms against her sides, Harriet jumped.
To Be Continued
Radix: Magic Within the World
Originally, I had stuck with the traditional "magic" within the world, but more and more I was having issues with the traditional ideals within the setting itself. The deeper I delved into the stories that I was developing in the world, the more I realized that I needed a more defined line between the various "systems" of magic within the world. And so, in the end, I divided magic into three greater categories and two lesser ones. So, for those interested, here they are in the "Hey, this looks good" order of my choosing: Elemental, Terrestrial, Celestial, Divination and Enchantment.
Elemental, or "high" magic, is what normally comes to mind when one thinks of wizards and warlocks. Generally, within the world, if someone says "magic," this is what they're referring. Although it's called elemental, it actually covers much more than just the "elements" so to speak, although many wizards would simply argue that there are more elements than a non-practioner realizes. Most of high magic revolves around calling something into being, removing something that was already there, or changing the make-up of something. For instance, a powerful wizard can remove water from a plant, turn it into ash or turn it into a raccoon, although they cannot directly kill or grow one.
Terrestrial, or "natural" magic, is often considered the opposite of high-magic; practitioners are often called mages. In truth, it is more a practice that is a sort of tangential to high magic, related but not directly, a yin to Elemental magic's more aggressive yang. Terrestrial magic is the ability to "coerce" something in one's surrounding: calling up the rock in the earth, forcing a plant to grow, removing the air from an area, etc. In a way, it's both more restricting and much more freeing than high magic. Whereas you cannot call a fire into being where there was not one before, you can cause a fire to smolder, erupt or flash brightly, or even go out completely, effects that a wizard could only do by adding something else to the equation. Where a high wizard can attempt to add a memory to one's mind in order to approach them as a friend (a very delicate process), a natural mage can simply adjust the person's feelings directly, allowing for a friendly approach regardless of predisposition. And although a wizard can create a new organ for injured person, only a mage can cause a person's wounds to heal; it takes them both working together to heal the most grievous of injuries.
Celestial, or "divine" magic, is the most practiced of the various magics but the least mastered. There are huge numbers of various priests and miracle-workers, but very few can really claim "mastery" over the magic due to its naturally restrictive nature. Celestial magic, as a force on its own, is capable of most anything elemental or terrestial magic can do, with few exceptions; however, the magic itself is considered a gift from the Thrones themselves, and the "gifts" given can be very restrictive. This particular practitioner may have gained the favor of a throne of health, and thus can only use his powers to heal the sick, while another who worships the Throne of Domination can control the minds of the faithful (or the unfaithful, depending on how much favor he has gained). In order to truly master divine magic, one must gain favor from many thrones, which of itself can come with a steep price.
Each of the three countries tends more towards one type of greater magic or another, but there is a "presence" at each. Still, most practitioners of one type of magic tend to have their own stereotypes about the others, and for the most part they do not get along. For instance, many natural mages think that celestial magic does not actually exist, and most miracle workers are just weak spell-casters who don't realize what they're doing. Elemental wizards tend towards the belief that terrestrial magic is child's play, and is best left for those too lazy to actually invest into the "real" practice of wizardry. Most of the high priests of Hydranatos believe that high magic goes against the natural order of the universe; as such, wizards aren't allowed entrance to most of the holy temples within the city.
As one can expect, this rivalry tends to ensure that practitioners more than one of the greater magics is a very rare occurrence. In fact, there are some that believe that much of the rivalry was intentional, that some great tragedy had happened long ago when someone had mastered all three of the greater magic arts and destroyed the world. The argument usually doesn't go very far, however, as eventually some smartass will mention they're still standing on the world or ask what hallucinogens they're working with in the lab that are making the theorists that paranoid.
The two lesser magics, called so because no one is sure they are actually related to magic or something else entirely, are Divination and Enchantment. Divination, also called the Second Sight, tends to be an almost uncontrollable series of visions that often tell about the past or possible future, but also can simply allow one to become aware of a distant place. Most diviners are unable to control their gift; however, many diviners who also practice terrestrial or celestial magic often can teach themselves to control their gift, giving them a range of power that can affect the future, distant places and sometimes even the dead.
Enchantment is the ability to take items and invest them with power, whether it's to make a blade more deadly, a vial that can erupt with fire or ship able to float through the Nebula with the crew intact. Normally, this type of magic lies solely within the purview of a few, gifted Elemental wizards; however, the "gift" has been shown to appear more and more often amongst the "common crafters," especially in Aracanoc. Most discover accidentally that they have the ability to forge latent magic into an item as they pursue their craft, although a few, most notably the Lightsmith family, have the techniques passed down through the generations. Although many wizards first thought this was a sign of the high-magic gift within the individual, this was unfortunately (and quickly) proven false, forcing them to classify enchantment as its own type of magic.
Elemental, or "high" magic, is what normally comes to mind when one thinks of wizards and warlocks. Generally, within the world, if someone says "magic," this is what they're referring. Although it's called elemental, it actually covers much more than just the "elements" so to speak, although many wizards would simply argue that there are more elements than a non-practioner realizes. Most of high magic revolves around calling something into being, removing something that was already there, or changing the make-up of something. For instance, a powerful wizard can remove water from a plant, turn it into ash or turn it into a raccoon, although they cannot directly kill or grow one.
Terrestrial, or "natural" magic, is often considered the opposite of high-magic; practitioners are often called mages. In truth, it is more a practice that is a sort of tangential to high magic, related but not directly, a yin to Elemental magic's more aggressive yang. Terrestrial magic is the ability to "coerce" something in one's surrounding: calling up the rock in the earth, forcing a plant to grow, removing the air from an area, etc. In a way, it's both more restricting and much more freeing than high magic. Whereas you cannot call a fire into being where there was not one before, you can cause a fire to smolder, erupt or flash brightly, or even go out completely, effects that a wizard could only do by adding something else to the equation. Where a high wizard can attempt to add a memory to one's mind in order to approach them as a friend (a very delicate process), a natural mage can simply adjust the person's feelings directly, allowing for a friendly approach regardless of predisposition. And although a wizard can create a new organ for injured person, only a mage can cause a person's wounds to heal; it takes them both working together to heal the most grievous of injuries.
Celestial, or "divine" magic, is the most practiced of the various magics but the least mastered. There are huge numbers of various priests and miracle-workers, but very few can really claim "mastery" over the magic due to its naturally restrictive nature. Celestial magic, as a force on its own, is capable of most anything elemental or terrestial magic can do, with few exceptions; however, the magic itself is considered a gift from the Thrones themselves, and the "gifts" given can be very restrictive. This particular practitioner may have gained the favor of a throne of health, and thus can only use his powers to heal the sick, while another who worships the Throne of Domination can control the minds of the faithful (or the unfaithful, depending on how much favor he has gained). In order to truly master divine magic, one must gain favor from many thrones, which of itself can come with a steep price.
Each of the three countries tends more towards one type of greater magic or another, but there is a "presence" at each. Still, most practitioners of one type of magic tend to have their own stereotypes about the others, and for the most part they do not get along. For instance, many natural mages think that celestial magic does not actually exist, and most miracle workers are just weak spell-casters who don't realize what they're doing. Elemental wizards tend towards the belief that terrestrial magic is child's play, and is best left for those too lazy to actually invest into the "real" practice of wizardry. Most of the high priests of Hydranatos believe that high magic goes against the natural order of the universe; as such, wizards aren't allowed entrance to most of the holy temples within the city.
As one can expect, this rivalry tends to ensure that practitioners more than one of the greater magics is a very rare occurrence. In fact, there are some that believe that much of the rivalry was intentional, that some great tragedy had happened long ago when someone had mastered all three of the greater magic arts and destroyed the world. The argument usually doesn't go very far, however, as eventually some smartass will mention they're still standing on the world or ask what hallucinogens they're working with in the lab that are making the theorists that paranoid.
The two lesser magics, called so because no one is sure they are actually related to magic or something else entirely, are Divination and Enchantment. Divination, also called the Second Sight, tends to be an almost uncontrollable series of visions that often tell about the past or possible future, but also can simply allow one to become aware of a distant place. Most diviners are unable to control their gift; however, many diviners who also practice terrestrial or celestial magic often can teach themselves to control their gift, giving them a range of power that can affect the future, distant places and sometimes even the dead.
Enchantment is the ability to take items and invest them with power, whether it's to make a blade more deadly, a vial that can erupt with fire or ship able to float through the Nebula with the crew intact. Normally, this type of magic lies solely within the purview of a few, gifted Elemental wizards; however, the "gift" has been shown to appear more and more often amongst the "common crafters," especially in Aracanoc. Most discover accidentally that they have the ability to forge latent magic into an item as they pursue their craft, although a few, most notably the Lightsmith family, have the techniques passed down through the generations. Although many wizards first thought this was a sign of the high-magic gift within the individual, this was unfortunately (and quickly) proven false, forcing them to classify enchantment as its own type of magic.
The Precipitous Bar, part 2
For Part 1, click here
Harriet raced after Evan, barely noticing the branches whipping across her face and arms. In fact, if it wasn't for Vicky's muffled but repeated complaints coming from behind her, Harriet doubted she would have noticed at all. All she noticed was Evan's crunching footfalls had stopped a bit ago, which meant one of two things: either he had stopped at the stream, or he somehow managed to disguise his footfalls.
Skidding to a stop at the water's edge, Harriet looked frantically back and forth. There was no sign of Evan. The stream wasn't very wide; Harriet was fairly confident she could jump it with a running start, but it was flowing fairly fast. It didn't appear deep, but sight wasn't necessarily a reliable witness with water that was travelling this fast.
Vicky, her exposed arm red from not only the branches they hadn't managed to dodge but also on her wrist where she had been dragged bodily through the woods, shivered while looking up and down the banks. "What's going on, Miss Stanf--"
"Harriet."
Vicky's eyes went wide. "I... I can't called you that, Miss Stanford."
"Yes you can. At least for now. We've got to continue running through the woods, and something might happen. I'm more likely to hear you if you call me Harriet than Miss Stanford, and you can yell Harriet faster if you're hurt. Now be quiet for a moment, so I can listen for Evan."
Vicky swallowed loudly and nodded. Harriet was suddenly hit by a pang of guilt. She was probably making more out of this than she should have; Evan only recently ran away, and for some reason Harriet had a feeling that he knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going. But she couldn't stop; the mere possibility of losing a child in woods filled her with equal parts of fear and anger.
She shook her head to clear the cobwebs from her mind. Getting lost back in that train of thought could only make things worse. She listened closely to the sounds around her. One by one, she blocked out the background noise: the bugs chirping, the stream trickling, Vicky's labored breathing...
There it was: heavy steps splashing downstream. It sounded like someone running through the water.
Odd, Harriet thought. She's heard of people running through a stream to avoid dogs or something else tracking them, but it normally doesn't help if someone is following on your heels. The only thing it'd do is slow him down. What was he doing?
She looked over to the younger girl, at her red wrist and arm, and stopped herself from grabbing her once again. "Ok, Vicky, stay close." She nodded once quickly. They took off along the stream's edge; thankfully, Vicky kept active in enough sports and activities to be able to prevent falling too far behind.
Evan's footfalls started sounding distant. Trying to run through ankle-deep water should have slowed him down, but somehow she was losing ground. She shook her head and slowed down, putting her hands on her hips to fight a stitch that started to form in her side. Vicky stopped short behind her, bending over and putting her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. Harriet took her water flask from her hip and handed it to her; Vicky muttered a thanks between breaths and gulped a bit down.
Harriet took a step towards the stream. How was the boy not tired? Unlike Vicky, he wasn't involved in any sports or hobbies. In fact, he seemed to do what he could to avoid anything associated with "extracurricular" or "exercise." Still, he wasn't over-weight, nor was he one of the naturally pencil-thin kids. Maybe these trips he took to woodlands were just the tip of the iceberg; perhaps it was the school he avoided, and not the exercise.
Suddenly, there it was again: Evan's splashing footfalls. She leaned towards the stream. Were they closer?
The stitch left her side finally. Vicky was no longer gasping for air. She came to stand beside her teacher, handing back her water bottle. "Is that him?" she said, leaning towards the water. "He sounds close."
Harriet nodded. Well, if he was getting farther ahead by running the stream...
"C'mon," Harriet said as she stepped into the stream and started jogging with the water. Vicky hesitated, looking down at her new shoes and expensive jeans. The hesitation didn't last long; as soon as she seemed to realize that her teacher was gaining distance, she took her first few tentative steps into the cool, ankle-deep running water, gasped, and started running to catch up with her teacher.
"Don't do that!" she exclaimed as she came closer to her teacher.
"We've got to catch up with him, Vicky," she stated, looking over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we've got to keep moving."
"That doesn't mean you should just disappear like that! I thought I lost track of you for a moment!"
Harriet blinked at her. Disappear? What does that mean?
"Where are we, anyway? I don't didn't see anything like this from the shore..."
Harriet looked up and came to a sudden stop. The banks of the stream simply disappeared on either side. Thick rocks were on either side, but other than that it was open sky. Harriet looked back behind her and saw the same thing in either direction. The stream was still flowing quickly, but they seemed to be standing on the only area where there wasn't open sky.
She walked over the edge and looked down. The cliff face was impossible to see without leaning over, a risk she wasn't willing to take; it almost looked like they were floating in the sky. She could see land down below, but it was impossibly far. It was like she was standing on the edge of the roof of a sky-scraper; she had to be about thirty stories up.
"What is going on?" she whispered under her breath.
Vicky started to take a few cautious steps towards her, but Harriet put up her hand, stopping her. "What is it?"
Harriet shook her head. No point in making her worry yet. "I'm not sure." She heard Evan's splashing steps once again, even closer than before. "Let's just keep going; he's not far now."
The Precipitous Bar, he had said. Well, if it's to be taken literally, Harriet thought to herself, then we're definitely heading the right direction.
To Be Continued
Harriet raced after Evan, barely noticing the branches whipping across her face and arms. In fact, if it wasn't for Vicky's muffled but repeated complaints coming from behind her, Harriet doubted she would have noticed at all. All she noticed was Evan's crunching footfalls had stopped a bit ago, which meant one of two things: either he had stopped at the stream, or he somehow managed to disguise his footfalls.
Skidding to a stop at the water's edge, Harriet looked frantically back and forth. There was no sign of Evan. The stream wasn't very wide; Harriet was fairly confident she could jump it with a running start, but it was flowing fairly fast. It didn't appear deep, but sight wasn't necessarily a reliable witness with water that was travelling this fast.
Vicky, her exposed arm red from not only the branches they hadn't managed to dodge but also on her wrist where she had been dragged bodily through the woods, shivered while looking up and down the banks. "What's going on, Miss Stanf--"
"Harriet."
Vicky's eyes went wide. "I... I can't called you that, Miss Stanford."
"Yes you can. At least for now. We've got to continue running through the woods, and something might happen. I'm more likely to hear you if you call me Harriet than Miss Stanford, and you can yell Harriet faster if you're hurt. Now be quiet for a moment, so I can listen for Evan."
Vicky swallowed loudly and nodded. Harriet was suddenly hit by a pang of guilt. She was probably making more out of this than she should have; Evan only recently ran away, and for some reason Harriet had a feeling that he knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going. But she couldn't stop; the mere possibility of losing a child in woods filled her with equal parts of fear and anger.
She shook her head to clear the cobwebs from her mind. Getting lost back in that train of thought could only make things worse. She listened closely to the sounds around her. One by one, she blocked out the background noise: the bugs chirping, the stream trickling, Vicky's labored breathing...
There it was: heavy steps splashing downstream. It sounded like someone running through the water.
Odd, Harriet thought. She's heard of people running through a stream to avoid dogs or something else tracking them, but it normally doesn't help if someone is following on your heels. The only thing it'd do is slow him down. What was he doing?
She looked over to the younger girl, at her red wrist and arm, and stopped herself from grabbing her once again. "Ok, Vicky, stay close." She nodded once quickly. They took off along the stream's edge; thankfully, Vicky kept active in enough sports and activities to be able to prevent falling too far behind.
Evan's footfalls started sounding distant. Trying to run through ankle-deep water should have slowed him down, but somehow she was losing ground. She shook her head and slowed down, putting her hands on her hips to fight a stitch that started to form in her side. Vicky stopped short behind her, bending over and putting her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. Harriet took her water flask from her hip and handed it to her; Vicky muttered a thanks between breaths and gulped a bit down.
Harriet took a step towards the stream. How was the boy not tired? Unlike Vicky, he wasn't involved in any sports or hobbies. In fact, he seemed to do what he could to avoid anything associated with "extracurricular" or "exercise." Still, he wasn't over-weight, nor was he one of the naturally pencil-thin kids. Maybe these trips he took to woodlands were just the tip of the iceberg; perhaps it was the school he avoided, and not the exercise.
Suddenly, there it was again: Evan's splashing footfalls. She leaned towards the stream. Were they closer?
The stitch left her side finally. Vicky was no longer gasping for air. She came to stand beside her teacher, handing back her water bottle. "Is that him?" she said, leaning towards the water. "He sounds close."
Harriet nodded. Well, if he was getting farther ahead by running the stream...
"C'mon," Harriet said as she stepped into the stream and started jogging with the water. Vicky hesitated, looking down at her new shoes and expensive jeans. The hesitation didn't last long; as soon as she seemed to realize that her teacher was gaining distance, she took her first few tentative steps into the cool, ankle-deep running water, gasped, and started running to catch up with her teacher.
"Don't do that!" she exclaimed as she came closer to her teacher.
"We've got to catch up with him, Vicky," she stated, looking over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we've got to keep moving."
"That doesn't mean you should just disappear like that! I thought I lost track of you for a moment!"
Harriet blinked at her. Disappear? What does that mean?
"Where are we, anyway? I don't didn't see anything like this from the shore..."
Harriet looked up and came to a sudden stop. The banks of the stream simply disappeared on either side. Thick rocks were on either side, but other than that it was open sky. Harriet looked back behind her and saw the same thing in either direction. The stream was still flowing quickly, but they seemed to be standing on the only area where there wasn't open sky.
She walked over the edge and looked down. The cliff face was impossible to see without leaning over, a risk she wasn't willing to take; it almost looked like they were floating in the sky. She could see land down below, but it was impossibly far. It was like she was standing on the edge of the roof of a sky-scraper; she had to be about thirty stories up.
"What is going on?" she whispered under her breath.
Vicky started to take a few cautious steps towards her, but Harriet put up her hand, stopping her. "What is it?"
Harriet shook her head. No point in making her worry yet. "I'm not sure." She heard Evan's splashing steps once again, even closer than before. "Let's just keep going; he's not far now."
The Precipitous Bar, he had said. Well, if it's to be taken literally, Harriet thought to herself, then we're definitely heading the right direction.
To Be Continued
The Precipitous Bar, part 1
Harriet loved being in these woodlands. She always arranged a trip out here every year. In the past, it was always during vacation, and it was always much lonelier. In recent years, she had convinced the school board that it would be educational for her science class, and she was allowed to bring a few of her eighth grade science students, normally the best and brightest as a reward for their hard work.
Two of them accompanied her this year, and they stood out even from the students she had brought along before. Evan was genius of sorts, the typed that seemed terribly bored at school but still managed to finish his work and pass each of his tests with perfect grades. Vicky was the opposite; although she was still quite smart, she was studious and driven, having most of her work done long before it was asked for and blazing through tests as if she had already taken them three times previously.
It was not a hard choice this year; last year, she brought five students simply because it was difficult to decide among them who should get to go. It wasn't just a matter of who was performing the best, but also who would benefit from the trip. She brought Evan to help him understand why his education was important, a step that might help him come to terms with the gift he had. Vicky was invited partially to balance Evan on the trip, and partially because Harriet was worried what would happen should she not bring Vicky. Her parents were both members of the school board, and proponents of her yearly trips.
Harriet sat down on a nearby rock while the children continued to scavenged for the horned beetle she requested they find. She slid out the keyboard on her brand-new smartphone and began typing with one hand, fishing around in her backpack with the other. She smiled as she remembered the two children's reactions to her invite. They both managed to surprise her.
Evan's face lit up as soon as it was mentioned. It turned out, or so he said, that his own family had been up here on quite a few "expeditions" of their own, often for a few days at a time. He hadn't been back for almost a year, and was excited to find out it was only a week away before they left. Although he had become a bit more reserved as they got closer, Harriet could still see the excitement in his eyes.
Vicky, on the other hand, was as surly about going on the trip as she was now. She didn't seem to like the idea of being away from her books and schoolwork. The first question she had was whether anything they found out here would be on the test. When Harriet said no, and pointed out that not all education is about homework and tests, Vicky had at first refused to go. The next day, however, she came in with a signed permission slip, obviously having been forced to attend on her parent's insistence.
As the two of them continued searching, Evan steadfastly digging through the grass and dirt with Vicky silently staring over his shoulder, Harriet finally managed to fish the high-definition camera out from her backpack. She posed it on the rock facing her, grabbing the solar-powered battery pack and placing it against the camera. She connected the camera to her phone and set it on the battery pack's charging pad, to make sure the conference wouldn't take up too much battery.
Initiating the conference took no time at all; she imagined her substitute, a veteran of fifteen years, must be used to this by now and was waiting for the call. Her classroom erupted onto her previously dark screen, all of her students already mid-wave. The connection delay must have been longer than she expected, but for being out in the middle of nowhere like she was, it was still impressive.
"Good morning, class. Your fellow students are currently hunting for Lucanus elaphus, the elusive North American stag beetle. However, it seems they've forgotten their lessons," Harriet turned the camera towards Evan and Vicky for emphasis, "as they seem to be rooting through the ground instead of checking the nearby trees."
Giggles erupted from the phone as Evan stood up, embarrassed. "I told you you were doing wrong," Vicky said quietly, seemingly only half believing her own words. Evan spared her a withering glance before walking over to the stump of a decaying tree, beginning his search anew. Harriet turned the camera back to herself to address the class once more, satisfied that at least Evan seemed to remember where to start looking.
"So, while we wait on our fearless adventurers, does anyone have any questions?"
One of the students raises his hand. Although the screen on her phone is clear, it's small, and Harriet hesitates to take it off the charging pad. Fortunately, her substitute calls on him.
"Have you noticed anything different from the last time you were out there, Miss Stanford?"
Harriet smiled. She recognized the voice of her student even if she couldn't see her face. She got this question almost every year, surprisingly, but rarely was it the first question she received. And despite two decades of teaching experience, she still hadn't gotten used to being called "Miss Stanford."
"One of the amazing things about these foothills out here, Tabby, is the fact that they don't change. The nearby mountains are some of the oldest in the country. No one has settled out here, and the ecosystem has remained fairly stable. I can't say I've noticed much is actually different."
"Well, maybe you haven't been looking hard enough."
Harriet looked up from the camera. Something seemed odd about that voice. It was definitely Evan's, but at the same time not. His tone was off from normal; it was subtle, but different. Not deeper or quieter but... older.
Evan was standing up from bending over the decaying stump. He had his hands cupped around something. He turned slowly to face his teacher. Vicky took a quick involuntary step back from his strange movement, unsure what he was about to do. He had a strange smile on his face, mischievous but somehow sad.
"I'm sure you haven't yet seen the Precipitous Bar."
Silence hovered for a moment, her students becoming quiet as they tried to catch Evan's words. The world seemed to slow down as Harriet found herself staring at Evan for a few seconds, mouth agape. Even the ever-present noise of bugs and animals seemed to quiet for just a moment, the only sound being the careful breeze tugging at the clothes of the three sudden strangers.
Suddenly, Evan lunged, arms extending towards Vicky. He raised his hands above her head and separated them, dropping a red-and-black beetle directly onto her hair. Vicky began to scream as Evan spun on his heel, running towards a nearby stream.
Harriet erupted from her seat. She scooped the beetle out of Vicky's hair and tossed it towards the stump it came from; wings spurt out from its back as it assured its safe landing, quickly hiding them once again under its shell. Vicky stopped screaming and stood gasping, combing at her hair as if afraid it might have left something behind.
"Evan!" Harriet yelled as she made a dash for where the boy had just disappeared. She grabbed Vicky's arm, ensuring that the girl began moving and followed her. There was no way she was going to lose a student. Not by one running off on his own, or one remaining catatonic and alone. Not now, not ever.
to be continued
Two of them accompanied her this year, and they stood out even from the students she had brought along before. Evan was genius of sorts, the typed that seemed terribly bored at school but still managed to finish his work and pass each of his tests with perfect grades. Vicky was the opposite; although she was still quite smart, she was studious and driven, having most of her work done long before it was asked for and blazing through tests as if she had already taken them three times previously.
It was not a hard choice this year; last year, she brought five students simply because it was difficult to decide among them who should get to go. It wasn't just a matter of who was performing the best, but also who would benefit from the trip. She brought Evan to help him understand why his education was important, a step that might help him come to terms with the gift he had. Vicky was invited partially to balance Evan on the trip, and partially because Harriet was worried what would happen should she not bring Vicky. Her parents were both members of the school board, and proponents of her yearly trips.
Harriet sat down on a nearby rock while the children continued to scavenged for the horned beetle she requested they find. She slid out the keyboard on her brand-new smartphone and began typing with one hand, fishing around in her backpack with the other. She smiled as she remembered the two children's reactions to her invite. They both managed to surprise her.
Evan's face lit up as soon as it was mentioned. It turned out, or so he said, that his own family had been up here on quite a few "expeditions" of their own, often for a few days at a time. He hadn't been back for almost a year, and was excited to find out it was only a week away before they left. Although he had become a bit more reserved as they got closer, Harriet could still see the excitement in his eyes.
Vicky, on the other hand, was as surly about going on the trip as she was now. She didn't seem to like the idea of being away from her books and schoolwork. The first question she had was whether anything they found out here would be on the test. When Harriet said no, and pointed out that not all education is about homework and tests, Vicky had at first refused to go. The next day, however, she came in with a signed permission slip, obviously having been forced to attend on her parent's insistence.
As the two of them continued searching, Evan steadfastly digging through the grass and dirt with Vicky silently staring over his shoulder, Harriet finally managed to fish the high-definition camera out from her backpack. She posed it on the rock facing her, grabbing the solar-powered battery pack and placing it against the camera. She connected the camera to her phone and set it on the battery pack's charging pad, to make sure the conference wouldn't take up too much battery.
Initiating the conference took no time at all; she imagined her substitute, a veteran of fifteen years, must be used to this by now and was waiting for the call. Her classroom erupted onto her previously dark screen, all of her students already mid-wave. The connection delay must have been longer than she expected, but for being out in the middle of nowhere like she was, it was still impressive.
"Good morning, class. Your fellow students are currently hunting for Lucanus elaphus, the elusive North American stag beetle. However, it seems they've forgotten their lessons," Harriet turned the camera towards Evan and Vicky for emphasis, "as they seem to be rooting through the ground instead of checking the nearby trees."
Giggles erupted from the phone as Evan stood up, embarrassed. "I told you you were doing wrong," Vicky said quietly, seemingly only half believing her own words. Evan spared her a withering glance before walking over to the stump of a decaying tree, beginning his search anew. Harriet turned the camera back to herself to address the class once more, satisfied that at least Evan seemed to remember where to start looking.
"So, while we wait on our fearless adventurers, does anyone have any questions?"
One of the students raises his hand. Although the screen on her phone is clear, it's small, and Harriet hesitates to take it off the charging pad. Fortunately, her substitute calls on him.
"Have you noticed anything different from the last time you were out there, Miss Stanford?"
Harriet smiled. She recognized the voice of her student even if she couldn't see her face. She got this question almost every year, surprisingly, but rarely was it the first question she received. And despite two decades of teaching experience, she still hadn't gotten used to being called "Miss Stanford."
"One of the amazing things about these foothills out here, Tabby, is the fact that they don't change. The nearby mountains are some of the oldest in the country. No one has settled out here, and the ecosystem has remained fairly stable. I can't say I've noticed much is actually different."
"Well, maybe you haven't been looking hard enough."
Harriet looked up from the camera. Something seemed odd about that voice. It was definitely Evan's, but at the same time not. His tone was off from normal; it was subtle, but different. Not deeper or quieter but... older.
Evan was standing up from bending over the decaying stump. He had his hands cupped around something. He turned slowly to face his teacher. Vicky took a quick involuntary step back from his strange movement, unsure what he was about to do. He had a strange smile on his face, mischievous but somehow sad.
"I'm sure you haven't yet seen the Precipitous Bar."
Silence hovered for a moment, her students becoming quiet as they tried to catch Evan's words. The world seemed to slow down as Harriet found herself staring at Evan for a few seconds, mouth agape. Even the ever-present noise of bugs and animals seemed to quiet for just a moment, the only sound being the careful breeze tugging at the clothes of the three sudden strangers.
Suddenly, Evan lunged, arms extending towards Vicky. He raised his hands above her head and separated them, dropping a red-and-black beetle directly onto her hair. Vicky began to scream as Evan spun on his heel, running towards a nearby stream.
Harriet erupted from her seat. She scooped the beetle out of Vicky's hair and tossed it towards the stump it came from; wings spurt out from its back as it assured its safe landing, quickly hiding them once again under its shell. Vicky stopped screaming and stood gasping, combing at her hair as if afraid it might have left something behind.
"Evan!" Harriet yelled as she made a dash for where the boy had just disappeared. She grabbed Vicky's arm, ensuring that the girl began moving and followed her. There was no way she was going to lose a student. Not by one running off on his own, or one remaining catatonic and alone. Not now, not ever.
to be continued
The Nations of Radix: Hydranatos
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Conceptually, the nations of Radix were an idea before I had even come up with the world itself. Declaria and Aracanoc were both settings I had used in different stories, but they didn't go by that name and they weren't quite as fully developed. Hydranatos is, and I admit this painfully but with pride, loosely based on the kingdom of Hyrule, from the Legend of Zelda. It started that way, anyway; it quickly turned into something VASTLY different.
When I first "built" the country, it appeared strangely unbalanced: there was a sprawling city on one side, with the Root of Water coming up through the middle. The middle of the landmass rose up in a huge mountain, with wildlands on either side. On the far said from the city was a massive fortress, deep within soggy marshland and flanked with giant tower. It was *perfect* for adventuring.
I hated it.
I could never put my finger on it, but something about the landmass just seemed wrong. I kept tweaking it, messing with parts of the design, but I could never figure out until I sat back and just looked at the (overly simplistic) map I had made. It dawned on me: it looked like a giant, dead kidney pea, with one end fat and dark and the other thin and moldy. So I scrapped it and started over.
I flattened the map a little, making it look more like an oval than a bean. I brought the Root straight up through the middle of the mountain, instead of at the edge. I built the city into the side of the mountain; the main temple, which originally surrounded the root, was now two buildings, one under the moutain and one built into side and connected by a man-made cave. The temple still had the same function: to pull water from the Root for use by the residents of the town and the other nations.
I scrapped the fortress idea, in the end substituting it with a man-made fjord at the end of a wide river. The tower still stands nearby, the residents forbidden from living within a certain distance of the Temple. The far side of the wide mountain (it's more of a mountain range, but really only has one long line of a "peak") is spotted with towns and villages all up and down its slopes and plateaus; where the actual city of Hydranatos barely ascends to halfway up its side of the mountain, these much smaller settlements rise almost up to the peak. Surrounding the mountain side and cities is bare rock and soil, outside of the areas that have been cultivated for farming; however, inside mountain is a network of vast caverns, underground rivers and stone aqueducts, some naturally occurring and some made by the strange inhabits that dwell within and without. Beside the single river that flows to the distant tower near the edge of the continent, there is very little water that is not used up long before it leaves the side of the mountain.
It took a lot of work to be happy with the design, and even more went in to making sure the nation could hold the homes for the various races and stories I had planned for the area (most of which developed between the original design and the eventual rework). In fact, it may not have finished its evolution even now; as I'm writing this, I'm getting more and more ideas of what I'd want to do with it. Most of that will probably have to wait until I decide to get back into creatures and races.
Desiduoh, the First Island
When I first started working in Deciduoh, I wanted to start small and expand the world with the characters; in other words, have the world expand from the characters' points of view at the same time and rate the characters themselves were expanding, changing and growing as good characters should.
This seemed like a great idea, but I ended up running in to some road-blocks. For starters, there was maintaining interest. In most stories or games, the characters find themselves somewhat rooted; it helps at first to start at a home town in order to help develop the characters. When this is the case (and the characters aren't immediately taking off on a great journey around the world), the environment they're placed in takes a huge roll.
It's tempting at first to try to add as many different types of environment into a small space as possible. That, of course, brings its own issues, not the least of which is trying to make sure the rest of the world is as interesting as the starting area (TANGENT: an issue, I believe, is one of WoW's weaknesses: you don't find anywhere as interesting as most of the starting areas, especially the newer ones, until the end-of-game; then again, I haven't played the new expansion). On the flip side, making an environment that's too simple can bore people too quickly. I mean, seriously, how many times can you read about "the paths through the plains of tall grass" before you start hoping someone gets jumped and killed? How many sci-fi/fantasy novels do you need to read about adventurers roaming through the forest before you just start yelling at the characters to "look up, there's obviously something in the trees!" at the get-go?
So I wracked my brain for a little bit, trying to come up with something simple but still changing, enough to keep the attention of those who were participating. Eventually, I settled on something that seemed so simple until I did some investigating: Swamp-land, surrounded on three sides by mountains. Although it was a bit predictable, it allowed me to have some sudden environmental changes (patches of dry earth gave way to harder-to-navigate sucking mud to a network of maze-like ponds and streams) while still sticking with a theme.
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| Desiduoh - Western Hemisphere |
The area, the larger island in the north-east part of the map, was the first fully-developed part of the world, as I created the small woodsman town, the clear-cut area in the south for farming and dens of various creatures throughout the waters, caves, and ruins around the area. To be honest, I was happy with the choice for the starting area; I found myself relying on marshland for many other adventure settings, although I do wonder sometimes if it's widely used, or if it's mostly a starting-crutch I invented for myself.
Photo Credit: Cesar Paes Barreto, http://www.sxc.hu/photo/29338
Drawing Credit: sadly, me.
Radix: the Nebula
Nebulas always fascinated me. The idea that entire bodies of gas manage to coalesce without condensing into a single point or expanding into the vacuum around it is just amazing; the fact that they have their own light-play within them, creating an effect that only our own planet's Northern Lights can come close to emulating at times, is mind-blowing.
Whenever someone tries to explain the Astral plane, Aethyr (or ether, for that matter, which is a little embarrassing for me), or inter-planar travel, images of nebulas inevitably dance in my mind. I'm not sure if it's wishful thinking, or just an inevitable imagery to which I always return, but it happens, regardless. Even in chemistry, when everyone got to burn the crazy stuff that made all the different color fumes, my head immediately went to space and imagined all of it happening on a grander scale.
So when I decided Radix would not have oceans and instead "float" out on its own, I immediately decided it would be sitting in a vast "nebula," albeit one of a more fantasy-oriented origin. The idea itself wasn't entirely original, I suppose; the nebula is supposed to lock things floating within from the passage of time, causing them to be caught in a sort of "stasis" until they pass to somewhere with normal conditions. Landmasses and planes create a "bubble" around them, a space where the nebula is pushed away allowing for gas and matter to settle. Because of this, many of the edges the planes and landmasses are cluttered with the debris of "floaters", and sometimes will even see people suddenly landing on them, completely unaware of how they got there.
Although supposedly one could simply propel themselves into the nebula and hope that inertia would take them to their destinations, most travel throughout the world of Radix (and beyond) is done through two magical means. "Gates" are made by pulling a part of nebula into two different landmasses and connecting them through magic. Due to the difficulty of pulling the nebula into the plane (since the very stuff one stands on tries to reject it), most Gates are permanent, as Mages would need to work together in order to create them, and since they wouldn't want to have to do so more often than needed, they put the extra effort into making sure the gate withstood the natural tendency to decay immediately.
Where Gates use the aspect of the Nebula to travel between Planes, "Tandems" would use aspects of Planes to travel through the Nebula. Much easier to create than Gates, Tandems are vessels of all shapes and sizes, with one simple commonality: Each has a piece of the plane on which they were made in it, whether a jar of mud or a room coated in sod, which has been magically infused to echo the plane itself on a smaller scale and create its own "bubble" around the vessel itself once it's drifting in the nebula. Propelling the vessel is a different matter, and is handled differently by each manufacturer (weird using that word in a fantasy setting, but it's still applicable), but each uses the same idea to make them work.
(Photo Credit: NASA, Jeff Hester, and Paul Scowen (Arizona State University))
Origins of Radix
Radix is probably the hardest of my worlds to write about. It's the most recent, and probably the freshest in my mind. It's probably the most in-depth, with a ton of detail, an enormous amount of story and a ridiculous amount of notes I've taken over time. It's got a lot of style (I think), a wonderful cast of strange and fantastic creatures and characters, and elements to it that are so strange, I find myself trying to keep up with everything.
You'd think this would make it easy to write about. But sometimes, having so much of it going through you all the time, it almost becomes too real to express simply in words.
I mean, seriously, have you ever tried to explain what "Earth" is? Consider the difficulty of trying to explain the planet to someone that doesn't know what it is. Or maybe the ocean to someone who hasn't seen water. It's not impossible, but seriously, where do you start?
I started working on Radix when first started considering a single concept: a world where the inhabitants can, and knowingly, ascend to godhood, but only by fulfilling the role of the god, and only by destroying the one who came before them. It started with the Thrones, which I eventually decided would have an inscription of what sort of deed was necessary to take the throne. The roles themselves began to take shape, and eventually I started to separate them into the normal aspects of good and evil. Deciding that, as the roles changed and instead became Concepts, I took away the black-and-white good-vs.-evil idealisms and instead approached it from a more progressive view, creating opposing forces that wouldn't necessarily fall into such categories.
Still, I felt that I needed some sort of categorization; it was then that I came up with the concept of the Roots. Giant, solid skyscrapers made of elemental forces: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Creation (a mix of life and chaos) and Entropy (a mix of death and law). Each throne is support by one to three roots. Those supported by individual roots had the more neutral, broader concepts, such as Passion or Faith. These often didn't have what would be considered a direct opposition in another throne, and the inscriptions were terribly cryptic and next to impossible to fulfill. Those supported by three roots defined much narrower concepts, such as Domination or Enlightenment. Normally, these thrones had inscriptions that were much easier for an usurper to fulfill, and often there was an opposing/related throne that those occupying the seats found themselves at odds with each other.
Suddenly, the Roots started to change from an idea to support a new idea for Deities into the basis of the planet itself. I started considering how the origin of people and other races would start in a world with massive towering structures of elemental force and power. These structures would have helped create and shape the land masses around them, the powers and idealisms of those that lived there, even the presence of the needed elements could be affected.
Suddenly, I found that I created a functioning world without oceans or seas. Yeah, I know, that's a HUGE jump. But that's how it happened, and how I began to really experience Radix. I couldn't stop thinking about it any more. Little by little, everything just kept coming into place, until the entire world began *living* in my head, regardless of what I do with it.
I'll have more on Radix, probably more than anything else. But for now, I figured I should share my insanity, before I went into the details. And this is probably it for the night, too. Good night, interwebs.
You'd think this would make it easy to write about. But sometimes, having so much of it going through you all the time, it almost becomes too real to express simply in words.
I mean, seriously, have you ever tried to explain what "Earth" is? Consider the difficulty of trying to explain the planet to someone that doesn't know what it is. Or maybe the ocean to someone who hasn't seen water. It's not impossible, but seriously, where do you start?
I started working on Radix when first started considering a single concept: a world where the inhabitants can, and knowingly, ascend to godhood, but only by fulfilling the role of the god, and only by destroying the one who came before them. It started with the Thrones, which I eventually decided would have an inscription of what sort of deed was necessary to take the throne. The roles themselves began to take shape, and eventually I started to separate them into the normal aspects of good and evil. Deciding that, as the roles changed and instead became Concepts, I took away the black-and-white good-vs.-evil idealisms and instead approached it from a more progressive view, creating opposing forces that wouldn't necessarily fall into such categories.
Still, I felt that I needed some sort of categorization; it was then that I came up with the concept of the Roots. Giant, solid skyscrapers made of elemental forces: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Creation (a mix of life and chaos) and Entropy (a mix of death and law). Each throne is support by one to three roots. Those supported by individual roots had the more neutral, broader concepts, such as Passion or Faith. These often didn't have what would be considered a direct opposition in another throne, and the inscriptions were terribly cryptic and next to impossible to fulfill. Those supported by three roots defined much narrower concepts, such as Domination or Enlightenment. Normally, these thrones had inscriptions that were much easier for an usurper to fulfill, and often there was an opposing/related throne that those occupying the seats found themselves at odds with each other.
Suddenly, the Roots started to change from an idea to support a new idea for Deities into the basis of the planet itself. I started considering how the origin of people and other races would start in a world with massive towering structures of elemental force and power. These structures would have helped create and shape the land masses around them, the powers and idealisms of those that lived there, even the presence of the needed elements could be affected.
Suddenly, I found that I created a functioning world without oceans or seas. Yeah, I know, that's a HUGE jump. But that's how it happened, and how I began to really experience Radix. I couldn't stop thinking about it any more. Little by little, everything just kept coming into place, until the entire world began *living* in my head, regardless of what I do with it.
I'll have more on Radix, probably more than anything else. But for now, I figured I should share my insanity, before I went into the details. And this is probably it for the night, too. Good night, interwebs.
Aeternus part 1
Ah, Aeternus. Just thinking about it sends me back on memory lane. Although it's probably the least developed of my world-concepts, it was the first that I put true effort into the world itself. Deities, maps, monsters, cities, cultures... I created everything I could from the ground up, in order to make a world that seemed not only fantastic, but believable and immersive. I've always been saddened by the fact I never came back to it.
Aeternus was the first point-of-concept for a "hub-world", a world who's very inhabitants were not based upon some sort of creation myth, but a gathering myth. Every being on Aeternus can trace its ancestors to another world, very different from the one they found themselves. In a way, in made everyone an alien; moreso, though, there was a hierarchy and stereotype in much of the world, based upon not what your race actually was, but how long it had been there. It wasn't always consistent: this merchant town might only allow those who can trace their ancenstry back four generations in this world to become part of the ruling senate; that Kingdom must be ruled by King who can prove his royal blood from another world (these *were* actual examples, btw).
I'm honestly not sure if I still have all my notes on Aeternus, but I hope so; if not, I'll revisit it through memory and re-imagination, but I'd like to include at least some of the original concept. It was, after all, where Grey Man was originally imagined, living in the center of the largest continent, in a swamp of his own creation, guarded by strange magicks and even stranger creatures, where none could approach him unless he willed it. And where the mountains were cleaved by the gods themselves, and the destruction they wrought causes the sky to erupt in fire and rain down into the crevasse where the land never healed. And where an air elemental guarded a legendary trident, only to have it stolen out of his hands and taken by merchant who managed to buy himself a noble title.
All in all, it was a LOT of fun to develop, and a lot of fun to run with as well. I'll keep searching for the notes; in the mean time, I'll try to continue to post up what information I have on the world as I remember more. Oh, and hey, if you remember Aeternus (if you're one of those people who was in that game, or used it in your own, or we just chatted about it at some point), tell me what you remembered about it, and why!
Aeternus was the first point-of-concept for a "hub-world", a world who's very inhabitants were not based upon some sort of creation myth, but a gathering myth. Every being on Aeternus can trace its ancestors to another world, very different from the one they found themselves. In a way, in made everyone an alien; moreso, though, there was a hierarchy and stereotype in much of the world, based upon not what your race actually was, but how long it had been there. It wasn't always consistent: this merchant town might only allow those who can trace their ancenstry back four generations in this world to become part of the ruling senate; that Kingdom must be ruled by King who can prove his royal blood from another world (these *were* actual examples, btw).
I'm honestly not sure if I still have all my notes on Aeternus, but I hope so; if not, I'll revisit it through memory and re-imagination, but I'd like to include at least some of the original concept. It was, after all, where Grey Man was originally imagined, living in the center of the largest continent, in a swamp of his own creation, guarded by strange magicks and even stranger creatures, where none could approach him unless he willed it. And where the mountains were cleaved by the gods themselves, and the destruction they wrought causes the sky to erupt in fire and rain down into the crevasse where the land never healed. And where an air elemental guarded a legendary trident, only to have it stolen out of his hands and taken by merchant who managed to buy himself a noble title.
All in all, it was a LOT of fun to develop, and a lot of fun to run with as well. I'll keep searching for the notes; in the mean time, I'll try to continue to post up what information I have on the world as I remember more. Oh, and hey, if you remember Aeternus (if you're one of those people who was in that game, or used it in your own, or we just chatted about it at some point), tell me what you remembered about it, and why!
Deciduoh part 1
I've done a lot of work on a lot of worlds, but the one I've probably approached the most has been Deciduoh. A world that was originally created for a story I was writing (and scrapped, as I couldn't get into the characters), I adapted it for a D&D game, changing some rules and adjusting some races and such to reflect the concept.
I've always been fascinated by the concept of the Yggdrasil, the World Tree and all other derivatives. The Great Tree is actually what drew me into researching Norse Mythology, it's what got me into SquareEnix's Mana-series games, and it convinced me to spend many an hour resting and dreaming underneath (and sometimes even in!) some of the more majestic ones. A tree's image is used in many references, for meditation focuses, safety guides and even for the Earth itself. So it wasn't a big surprise that, as I started developing the world, I wanted to make a world that was entirely based on a single, great tree.
In a personal interest in keeping the world a surprise, both to myself and the gamers who eventually played in the world, I kept the tree hidden at first. The story started on the opposite side of the world, where the world's currents prevent the occupants from traveling past their hemisphere. The idea was such, at first: Water, as all things, began at the Great Tree (Deciduoh itself), whose roots dug in to the earth to its very core. The water flowed away and around the world, eventually being absorbed into the Earth itself through the rains and oceans. Although the currents turn more typical and wild within the area opposite the Tree, trying to get closer via the ocean was impossible. It gave me some breathing room at first to bring everything together, creating a world that was a bit more "typical" with aspects that gamers and readers were a little bit more familiar.
As such, as I approached more aspects of the world, I realized a theme was developing (and anyone that knows me knows I love themes), and I began to run with it, trying to incorporate it into everything I could. Basically, everything became a strange balance of diametrics, a ying and yang that were incorporated into everything. I separated the Deific entities into two opposing ideals: the Divine, or external force, and Guardians, or the internal force. The Divine fell into their typical roles, but the Guardians were separated into two driving ideals, both of which had their own equal but opposite aspects. The Angel was in charge of Life and Death, encouraging faith among mortals, the cycle of souls and maintaining the balance of the living and the dead. The Grey Man (a recurring aspect of all my worlds; the Grey Man is to me what I assume DEATH is to Terry Pratchett) was in charge of Progress and Statis, of time and space, memory, and maintaining the balance between the idealism of history and growth for the future.
The world itself consisted of two, vastly differing land masses: the naturally occurring Earth, in which the Great Tree took root, and the Great Leaves, huge landmasses created by falling leaves from the Tree gathering debris from various sources until it seems to be an island of its own. The leaves sometimes gather together, forming floating continents, and sometimes they drift and join the Earth, where they eventually become food once more for the Great Tree.
Although I put a whole lot into Deciduoh, I'm going to stop for now and come back to it later. I plan on scanning a few of the maps I created of the world and talk about them in more detail, and also introduce some of the legends and characters that helped give the world its own life and character during its development. If I'm not careful, I'll end up putting it all in this post and have nothing to write about later. So, yeah, for now, a break.
I've always been fascinated by the concept of the Yggdrasil, the World Tree and all other derivatives. The Great Tree is actually what drew me into researching Norse Mythology, it's what got me into SquareEnix's Mana-series games, and it convinced me to spend many an hour resting and dreaming underneath (and sometimes even in!) some of the more majestic ones. A tree's image is used in many references, for meditation focuses, safety guides and even for the Earth itself. So it wasn't a big surprise that, as I started developing the world, I wanted to make a world that was entirely based on a single, great tree.
In a personal interest in keeping the world a surprise, both to myself and the gamers who eventually played in the world, I kept the tree hidden at first. The story started on the opposite side of the world, where the world's currents prevent the occupants from traveling past their hemisphere. The idea was such, at first: Water, as all things, began at the Great Tree (Deciduoh itself), whose roots dug in to the earth to its very core. The water flowed away and around the world, eventually being absorbed into the Earth itself through the rains and oceans. Although the currents turn more typical and wild within the area opposite the Tree, trying to get closer via the ocean was impossible. It gave me some breathing room at first to bring everything together, creating a world that was a bit more "typical" with aspects that gamers and readers were a little bit more familiar.
As such, as I approached more aspects of the world, I realized a theme was developing (and anyone that knows me knows I love themes), and I began to run with it, trying to incorporate it into everything I could. Basically, everything became a strange balance of diametrics, a ying and yang that were incorporated into everything. I separated the Deific entities into two opposing ideals: the Divine, or external force, and Guardians, or the internal force. The Divine fell into their typical roles, but the Guardians were separated into two driving ideals, both of which had their own equal but opposite aspects. The Angel was in charge of Life and Death, encouraging faith among mortals, the cycle of souls and maintaining the balance of the living and the dead. The Grey Man (a recurring aspect of all my worlds; the Grey Man is to me what I assume DEATH is to Terry Pratchett) was in charge of Progress and Statis, of time and space, memory, and maintaining the balance between the idealism of history and growth for the future.
The world itself consisted of two, vastly differing land masses: the naturally occurring Earth, in which the Great Tree took root, and the Great Leaves, huge landmasses created by falling leaves from the Tree gathering debris from various sources until it seems to be an island of its own. The leaves sometimes gather together, forming floating continents, and sometimes they drift and join the Earth, where they eventually become food once more for the Great Tree.
Although I put a whole lot into Deciduoh, I'm going to stop for now and come back to it later. I plan on scanning a few of the maps I created of the world and talk about them in more detail, and also introduce some of the legends and characters that helped give the world its own life and character during its development. If I'm not careful, I'll end up putting it all in this post and have nothing to write about later. So, yeah, for now, a break.
Statement of Intent (or, What's My Motivation?)
So, after a lot of thought, and editing, and setting up and planning and... well, a lot of work, I've decided to try keeping a personal blog. Well, I say personal. Really, what this is basically boils down to two things: Rant space, and a storytelling space.
Rant space is pretty self-explanatory. The storytelling space itself also has two facets. For starters, I tend to have a lot of short-stories that develop in my head and don't go anywhere, simply because (a) I don't have anywhere to put them, and (b) although I love writing, I hate the physical act of doing so. I'm hoping that by having a place I can simply write and keep these pieces, and come back to them later should I want to approach the idea again, I can. Some people asked to hear these stories (and one day in the future, I hope many will want to as well), but for now, I'm going to share it here. Just so you know, most of these posts may not get posted to Twitter, as it's more for me than for my friends; however, if you decide (for some reason) to subscribe to my feed, they should be there.
The other aspect is about storytelling itself. I have a lot of notes, ideas, and work in storytelling itself. I've done some bare-bones world-creation on multiple occasions, and I have a lot more ahead of me. I also plan to go a lot deeper into the worlds I have created, including Aeternus and Radix, and hopefully share not only what I've put into the world itself, but also some of the steps I took in the design process, stream-of-conscious posts as I develop new aspects or new ideas, and hopefully (as I get better at the designs themselves) some graphical designs and representations of the worlds I've been building.
My hope, and much of the reason I've put this blog under a "creative commons" license instead of a typical copyright, etc., is to create worlds that other writers, gamers, designers and creators want to make use of on their own. As such, if you see something in here you like, and want to see about creating your own story about it or within it, please do so! I just ask that you let me know, as I would love to see how this all may grow throughout time and through the minds of others, and of course give me some credit for my own creation(s). :D
That's all for now. I'll hopefully have another new project getting started. I don't want to delve into it too much right now, but I'll put information in here as it develops; terribly excited about it, as it's not something I've tried before, but may be an interesting way to help me develop a character and story that's been dear to my heart for some time now. Thanks for reading! Hope to hear from you soon.
Rant space is pretty self-explanatory. The storytelling space itself also has two facets. For starters, I tend to have a lot of short-stories that develop in my head and don't go anywhere, simply because (a) I don't have anywhere to put them, and (b) although I love writing, I hate the physical act of doing so. I'm hoping that by having a place I can simply write and keep these pieces, and come back to them later should I want to approach the idea again, I can. Some people asked to hear these stories (and one day in the future, I hope many will want to as well), but for now, I'm going to share it here. Just so you know, most of these posts may not get posted to Twitter, as it's more for me than for my friends; however, if you decide (for some reason) to subscribe to my feed, they should be there.
The other aspect is about storytelling itself. I have a lot of notes, ideas, and work in storytelling itself. I've done some bare-bones world-creation on multiple occasions, and I have a lot more ahead of me. I also plan to go a lot deeper into the worlds I have created, including Aeternus and Radix, and hopefully share not only what I've put into the world itself, but also some of the steps I took in the design process, stream-of-conscious posts as I develop new aspects or new ideas, and hopefully (as I get better at the designs themselves) some graphical designs and representations of the worlds I've been building.
My hope, and much of the reason I've put this blog under a "creative commons" license instead of a typical copyright, etc., is to create worlds that other writers, gamers, designers and creators want to make use of on their own. As such, if you see something in here you like, and want to see about creating your own story about it or within it, please do so! I just ask that you let me know, as I would love to see how this all may grow throughout time and through the minds of others, and of course give me some credit for my own creation(s). :D
That's all for now. I'll hopefully have another new project getting started. I don't want to delve into it too much right now, but I'll put information in here as it develops; terribly excited about it, as it's not something I've tried before, but may be an interesting way to help me develop a character and story that's been dear to my heart for some time now. Thanks for reading! Hope to hear from you soon.
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