- beforeworld -

Begin Again

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:30:28 GMT

I finally figured out a concrete direction for this worldbuilding project, and got past a number of road blocks. Going to be doing a lot of work on "beforeworld".

Thing is, I'm suddenly getting rather protective about my concepts. So the journal's going friends-only. If you want to read, comment here.

Thanks!

. . . beforeworld . . .

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 15:18:52 GMT

Afterworld is the story of the shattering of the veil and what the world becomes in the veil's aftermath. Magic grows stronger, the spirit world and physical world mesh, and strange beasts begin to roam the world once more.

Beforeworld is the story of the construction of the veil and the events leading up to its construction; it is the fluid amorphic world before the veil.

One is much like the other. The world is cyclic; the wheel turns, and what once existed returns again. Not exactly the same, but similar. Once the world was fluid and bubbling with chaos, but it was too chaotic, and returning to the primordial sea from whence it had come; the veil was raised to bring order, to stabilize the shuddering foundations - and it succeeded.

It succeeded far too well.

The veil was meant to last long enough for the world to stabilize, and then fade away after several thousand years. But its creators did not know how well they'd wrought, and did not count on people wanting the veil to remain; a stable world was safer, more comfortable, more predictable. And so the veil crystallized, hardened, and calcified, and reality became equally rigid, until it had to snap or be forever in unchanging stasis - but that is the story of the Afterworld, and the return to fluidity and - eventually - further chaos, until the veil is raised once more and the cycle begins again.

Perhaps Beforeworld is the aftermath of Afterworld; the end is also the beginning is also the end. But that is a question for philosophers, and we'll leave such games to them.

I'll be worldbuilding for both Afterworld and Beforeworld. One will help construct the other; they go hand in hand. Afterworld is, in a lot of ways, a return to Beforeworld. It'll be fun. n.n

Magic: Basic Energy Theory

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 22:14:41 GMT

Energy Theory

At its core, magic is energy manipulation.

Energy is everywhere, in everything; it is the movement of atoms, of electrons, quarks; it is the flash of neurons; it is kinetic or heat. When a person walks, she uses up energy; when she runs, she uses up energy faster, evidenced by the fact that she tires, breathes hard, and her muscles burn. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction; basic physics is basic energy theory in the physical realm.

However, energy manifests in less measurable ways as well. When one person talks, he expends energy. With his voice, he sends energy outward in the form of breath and words; it is energy with focus and intent. He is manipulating energy. When another person listens to his words, she is taking in the energy he puts out; she is being affected by his words. He is, in essence, working magic; she is having magic worked upon her. It is not so esoteric a thing, really.

With the understanding that energy exists and affects everything, one can consciously manipulate that energy to desired ends. Most energy-workers use some manner of focus to aid in directing energy, whether it be ritual, hand motions, swords and wands, etc - but those focuses are not necessarily required. In the above example, the speaker uses words as his focus. If the speaker were energetically aware, he could theoretically accomplish the same result without words, by simply directing energy with the same intent towards the listener.

However, energetic focuses can be very helpful in accomplishing magical goals. If the speaker in the above example were to attempt to get the same effect on the listener's mind without using words, the listener might not be as receptive to the energetic working. She is used to listening to words and considering them; on the other hand, a strange man sitting in silence and looking at her might unnerve her, and she'd be likely to close herself off to any influence he tries to exert. If, however, the speaker were energetically aware and consciously directed energy along with the energy already inherant in the spoken conversation, he could enhance the effect of his words to a great degree, accomplishing his goal that much more fully.

This is the foundation of magic and magical theory. Most magical traditions have this basis in common, whether or not it's viewed in quite the same way.

History (timeline)

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 02:26:44 GMT

This will be honed down; much of the wordier parts belong in the prose version of the history rather than here. Just getting ideas and initial thoughts out for now.)

2000-06: Magical groups begin feeling an increasing urgency and getting visions, premonitions, and warnings of the end of the world or age.
9/11/2001: 9/11 happens, setting off a chain of events leading to "war on terrorism". Diplomacy and international relations deteriorate. World takes steps towards a police rule and friction.
2001-2006: Afghanistan-USA enter into war; the second Gulf War begins; oil prices skyrocket; unrest bubbles and froths. Increased unrest in the Middle East, Asia, and then the entire world.
On the spirit end, the Night Talons increase their efforts. Whole cities are forcibly taken over mystically; mystic and spirit residents are "encouraged" to go elsewhere or be bound, shattered, or killed.
2007-10: Outright war in the spirit realms breaks out; mage-driven storms cause chaos and fluctuation; psychic attacks increase. Night Talons open gates with increasing frequency, summoning nasties, conquering nodes, corrupting areas. Pagan groups clean up and close gates but aren't nearly as well organized and can't keep up.
In the physical realm, physical manifestations are becoming more frequent; Bigfoot and Nessie are spotted more frequently, and bizarre murders by unknown grotesquely "costumed" people (actually non-Judaic demons and various nasties) occur that are labeled cult and occult murders. Possessions occur with more frequency, but Judaic demons remain across the veil, so when Christian faith and emblems provide no protection, Christian faith wanes (and when it wanes enough, the Judaic demons will come across the veil to wreak their own havoc without much opposition).
War increases. Moslem countries band together against the USA, blaming it for the strange problems. War breaks out in Asia as countries such as North Korea make further bids for power. Ireland makes another bid for Northern Ireland; this time, increased occultic manifestation aids them. And on and on...
But mostly magic is still in the shadows; the veil is still strong, though thinned. The world bubbles in chaos and reeks of despair, but for now does little more than simmer.
2010: A group of mages gathers in north-eastern South America with the intent of shoring up the veil and settling the war and storms. The massive working takes a week (not including preparation, consequration, attunement, setting off events elsewhere...) and the lives of five of the mages, and sends ten others into a coma. Four remain battered, but conscious. They succeed - sort of. The veil ripples, shields, and an eerie heavy calm settles over both worlds. It lasts for almost two years.
2012: Unbeknown to the mages, their hardening of the veil made it easier to shatter. Before, it may have just torn here and there and thinned, making the transition smoother but not been ripped to nothing. Before, it was rubber, it was elastic, a flexible bubble. They hardened it to glass. Not only was there a lack of breathing between worlds, causing magesight and power and ability to decrease significantly and causing many otherkin to severely sicken, but it also made the veil almost brittle. People became listless, magic and spirit having been virtually blocked from the world. Wars dwindled from lack of motivation, energy, and spirit-interaction. It was harder to hear the gods. Some mages and otherkin learned to work through the hardened veil, or - with effort - perforate it like adding airholes to a plastic cage. It was the only way many survived. As it was, the suicide jumped alarmingly high.
Through the combined and oft-orchestrated efforts of mages on one side and spirits on the other, on 12/12, the veil shattered. Enough chipping and hammering on the hardness of its surface finally paid off. It broke, and the two worlds became one.

Changes Questions

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 16:21:52 GMT

Things to think about while worldbuilding - the different possible changes from world to afterworld.

Population: Are the old city structures still standing? Are people in city areas or country, mostly? Mountains/plains/woods? How many people left? How big a population decrease and scatter?

Animals: Do they use the change? Are they changed at all by magic? Are there familiars? Otherkin animals? Problem of everyone's pets suddenly running amok - lots of wild dogs, feral cats? Did zoo animals escape - are there now tigers in Tennessee?

Geography: Effects of veil-drop? War? Magic/tech booms? Nuclear reactors melting down? Oil rigs, weapon stores, etc going haywire? Magic + weather = ... ?

Technology: "To gain magic, you must give up technology" (to a degree) because veilfall wreaks havoc on tech and rules of science. Do cars still work? Alternate fuels? Electricity? Plumbing? Tons of tech set in place pre-veilfall. What happens to it? How is it used? Is anyone trying to reclaim it or recycle it? Superstitions about tech? New technology or adaptations of the old?

Politics: How have politics reacted? How did they react? Any governments still together, or are they fractured into nationstates? Diplomacy? How long did it take things to settle into a semblance of order out of anarchy? War? Allies/enemies/neutralities? New government types?

Language: Do other languages pop up from memories? Is English still prominent? Dialects? Where are what languages? Do new languages/dialects develop for those without human mouths? How does telepathy figure in?

History: How is knowledge recorded and remembered? Are there still libraries? Did people preserve books from pre-veilfall? (Likely.) What are the differing theories/beliefs on the whys and hows of historic events (like the veilfall)? Distorted history and stories? Distorted myths (such as with Heru/Set in Egyptian myth)?

Magic: Theories and beliefs of magic's source, workings, morals, existance, etc - no one knows the truth. (What is the truth? Make sure no one has it 100% in their belief system.) Mix of choice, innate ability, deities, and training? Different types of magic? Different types have different sources/requirements/rules with a barebones force/system in common with all? Constructs, awakened objects, shamanism and ceremonial magic? How common/difficult are physical manifestations? How common is magif use? Cost of magic (ALL magic has a cost)? Limitations? Do some otherkin have different abilities/talents than others (i.e.: PVs can manipulate energy very naturally, but rely on prana and have difficulty replenishing with nature energy)? Effect/importance of Will and confidence? How does ethereal/nonphyiscal magic manifest (shields, energy balls, healing, etc)? How did mages handle the veilfall? How did veilfall change magic? Oaths? Links and bonds? (Many more things to think about, but this is a start.)

Deities: What is a deity (facet of the All, ascended being, manifested archetype, manifestation of human consciousness, extremely powerful spirit, infinite powerful being)? Or rather, what do people believe is a deity? How do they act, what are their motives? Why do they interfere with humanity; what do humans think is the reason gods interfere? What are their abilities and restrictions? What are their beginnings?

Education: Do people still know widely how to read? (Probably more than middle ages, but less than now.) How to learn trades (families, guilds, apprenticeships)? Literacy rate?

Culture: Money/currency/trade? Who backs and handles money? Banks, accountants, governments? Counterfeiting and handling of such? Barter system? When was currency/barter system set into place? Myths, stories, morals? How have morals changed since veilfall? Where did stories come from? How did history get altered in tales (i.e: Arthur, Heru/Set, etc)? Superstitions (what survived veilfall, what came post-veillfal - colors, numbers, black cats, broken mirrors, lucky pennies)? Prejudices? Interspecies beliefs, relations, clothing styles? Family structures (VERY LIKELY bigger than nuclear)? Processes of adoption, by-blood versus by-choice? Legal system? Laws and enforcement and law development? Punishment?

Species (otherkin, etc): What are humans - otherkin who "chose" to stay human, or people without any otherness? Are there regular humans as well as otherkin-locked-in-human-form? Are humanform otherkin detectable? What are the ramifications? What species are available? Everything in myth and reality, or are the mythics just close approximations of the otherkin? If so, what's the difference between a dragonkin and a western dragon of mythology? Can people shapeshift or are they locked into one form dependant on species and magic? Innate abilities and disadvantages? Willed shifting or automatic (translation of m-shifting and ph-shifting into p-shifting)? Are there still nonphysical shifts, and what are the ramifications? What about otherkin who thought they were A but ended up being B? Humanity loss? How did the change affect people, society, etc? Suicides? Prejudices? Lynchings? Control and instinctive reactions? New morals? Multiple phenos? How common are otherkin? What's the cause? What about new humanform otherkin born post-veilfall?

History (prose)

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 16:43:33 GMT

It started out as Earth. Yes, our Earth, Terra-of-Sol. Big Green-and-Blue.

But the wheel of ages turns, and all things must end and begin anew. Our age, the age of science and logic, ended some time ago. Not a quick end; a gradual end, beginning in 2007, cumulating in 2012, winding down towards 2017. A lot can happen in a decade.

I was there; I can tell you the tale. I know, I know; it's a hypothetical future, one of many. Or rather, it will happen, just not necessarily in this reality. Each action, every choice, splits realities, millions of possibilities branching into infinity. Choose yours today!

...Yeah, I'm talking from a century or two into the future. I don't even know how long it's been; I've lost track along with everyone else. But I remember the events, relic though I may be. Nothing too wrong with this firefalcon's memory.

What happened? The age ended. Call it Kali Yuga making an early visit. Call it Armageddon if you want. Time speeds up at an age's end; the Wheel turns faster and faster to its resetting; life moves at a frantic pace. That was the world then. The one you live in. So much to do and so little time, and every time-saving invention only meant there was more time to pack in work. Haste haste hurry hurry, honk at the slow idiot driving only 5 over the speed limit, not fast enough, rush to your death! Fast food clogging arteries, fast cars crashing in a scream of twisted metal, fast computers fucking with your bank account. Everyone looking for contentment in all the wrong places, and too often finding rest in a bullet to the brain.

Bang. You're dead. What's on the other side?

Yeah, the other side - that was a problem, too. See, people started getting desperate for a little something to fill the hole left by machines and science and a material world. Some found it in Christianty, but that monolithic beast was nearing the reset of its own cycle, and anything in its Kali Yuga is a rather soulless thing except on the ragged edges and in the craters. Some found it in Eastern thought, with emphasis on relaxing and taking your time and slowing down. Hard to do though; not everyone got it in a world on fast forward. Those that did were a hell of a lot saner, though, I'll tell you that.

And of course, some found their "little something" in magic. Lotta weird ideas and practices popped up. Some even had meat to them. Some were bullshit. There was a sharp increase in foolhardy stupidity. It wasn't just dumb teenagers playing around with old books anymore; you had adults running around opening gates and summoning shit as well. Demons, creatures of negative energy, warped spirits, dark things - call 'em what you will. We just called them nasties. Critters. Things we had to clean up because people were idiots.

Not that we were much better. Fuck, we volunteered to help oversee the end of the world.

Yeah, it wasn't really like we had much of a choice. Not in our nature to say no when a need comes up. The gods cheat; they say you have a choice, you can back out any time, but they pick those they know won't say no. So we did what was necessary. We did our duty. And then we handed the reins to the repair crew when our duty was done.

So what exactly was this end-of-the-world shit? People argue about that even now - those that know, anyhow. I'll tell you what I think. See, you can only push a body so hard for so long before it breaks down. It's like a horse driven all day at full gallop, right until it founders; it's like all the people blowing their brains out because they couldn't take the strain.

The world broke down.

You could see the signs of it years before, if you looked. Gas prices skyrocketed as fuel grew scarce, and countries went to war because of it. Political systems fractured, all the holes blowing open at once, diplomacy scattered to the winds. Former staunch allies turned against each other. Fuel and power, progress and money - these things drove countries to blow the fuck out of each other, ruin their own land with building and drilling, kill off their supplies through excess and indulgence and greed. Tensions rising higher and higher, old morals disregarded, atrocities excused blithely away.

Yeah, I'm bitter. Who wouldn't be? Watching all that happen - a lot of people got angry, but what could they do? Desperation, hopelessness, feeling a need to affect change but having no legal method of doing so... what are concerned citizens to do?

Push a people far enough, break enough of the social contract, and you've got a nasty rebellion on your hands.

So here's the picture: a world raped of her resources, nations at war with weapons that could blow a city to dust, widescale revolution where there's been none for centuries.

Sounds like the end of the world to me.

Of course, that's just the physical half of it. As above, so below - and that goes both ways. The spirit world wasn't too shiny either. Chaos rippled over the ethereal planes. Safe havens were violated, places where violence of any sort was supposed to be taken elsewhere by all the diverse participants. Gods mobilized their forces, pawns and rooks and kings. Spirits shattered into irreplacable shards.

Then you had the crossover. All this chaos on both sides wreaked havoc on the veil between the worlds. Used to be a damn mean feat to pull a nasty across to the physical. Seems like it happens every time you turn around, now. All the idiots opening gates and rifts hither and yon didn't help, either. Especially when some of them weren't idiots. There are some batshit-crazy people in the world with nasty agendas and the brains and know-how to implement them - and the patience. These guys had power, political and magical, grown for decades or maybe centuries. Scary folk. Wanted to remake the world in their own image after they killed it - because you have to destroy to make room for new buildings.

Gates opened by youths reading out of some dusty old book from Uncle Al's attic are one thing. Gates opened by Night Talons are quite another.

[To be continued...]

Resources and References

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 21:58:36 GMT

CIA World Factbook: Because in order to change societies, you first must know about them.

Cities, Population, Subsistance, and Land Area: Scary science. Things I need to read and understand, but it's still intimidatingly technical.

Constructing an SF Universe: Interesting thoughts, ideas, and questions. It's for sci-fi rather than fantasy, but it's still handy.

Designing a New Magic System: Very well done; I've used it for other worlds. Should give me stuff to think about while working on Afterworld.

Encyclopedia Mythica: Very useful for the otherkin/races parts.

Geography Network: So shiny! Free Earth-world maps of all varieties.

Holly Lisle's Fantasy & Worldbuilding: Two essays, this one ("Real Rules for Real Worlds") and the next one ("Rollicking Rules for Ecosystems"). Some good points.

IronyGames Tools: Until I get Camaign Cartographer, there's always Irony Games' ever-useful tools.

Kingdom Generator: Based on Medieval Demographics Made Easy. Afterworld isn't exactly medieval, but these might be good for a rough estimate.

Limyaael's Fantasy Rants: Excellent points on what's overdone, underdone, and done poorly (or sometimes well) in fantasy. The link is to her Memories; linking directly to the Fantasy Rants section makes LiveJournal break, for some reason.

Magical Worldbuilder's Guide: A brief write-up on fantasy worldbuilding. Don't know how good it is; haven't taken a close look yet.

On Creating an Earthlike Planet: Seeing as Afterworld is Earth, only with some changes, this should prove useful.

PaleoMap Project: Includes such gems as what the world will look like, geologically, in the future.

Patricia C. Wrede's Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions: Tons and tons of questions to get one thinking about components of the world. I once answered every single one of these for Shadow Star. I don't know if I'm going to do that for Afterworld, but they'll probably all get addressed indirectly, at least.

Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection: More maps of the world and world places.

ProFantasy Software: Home of CampaignCartographer and other similar programs. I will buy CampaignCartographer one of these days...

Virtual Religions Index: Along with Sacred Texts, this is one of the most useful places for religion and magic ideas.

A Way With Worlds: One of my favorite sites for worldbuilding articles. I finally found it again!

World Builder Projects: Links to a plethora of sites with info on and resources for worldbuilding.

World Builders: An intimidatingly thorough guide to world creation.

Worldbuilding: Tons of links to articles on various aspects of worldbuilding. Very useful.

Worlds in the Net: A huge list of created worlds catalogued around the 'Net.

Not So Grand Cliche List: An interesting, amusing, and very true list of fantasy/sci-fi cliches.

Ursela K. Le Guin On Writing: The author of Earthsea writes good articles on writing.

. . . afterworld . . .

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 21:14:57 GMT

...afterworld...

Imagine that the myths, legends, and superstitions of cultures the world over held more than just a grain of truth. Imagine that gods are more than archetypes, and magic more than seeming coincidence. Spirits are real, and legends are alive - but all is held in immateriality by the veil between the physical world and the ethereal realms. The world exists as we know it in the 21st century, a world of iron and lightning, of science and reason; but spirits lurk across the veil, and magic stirs in the veins of the world.

What would happen if that veil collapsed?

This journal is for the building of a world after the falling of the veil - the afterworld. When relatively complete, it will be either an RPG setting (likely play-by-email) or a novel setting, or perhaps both. We'll see what happens when it's fleshed out.