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.o78 x eysuria: the basics
Okay, so I typed out some of my world building for Eysuria. I got all the basics (I think) out tonight, and I'll move on to other stuff tomorrow. So this post addresses the three Eysurian eras, the magic system, and minor talk of geography and races.
The World of Eysuria
Eysuria: The Basics
It's important to attack Eysuria in segments, mostly because of the magical structure. However, there are some basic elements of the world that must be addressed first.
The basic geography of the world: Eysuria is comprised of two continents (that is, there are two known continents). These are the northern Dahmren and the southern Rahna. Once these were connected by a bridge something like Panama. Small on a global scale, though several miles wide. After the arrival of Thos, however, the bridge was destroyed. Eysuria has three original moons. From largest to smallest, these are Dak, Tyrios, and Datron. Eysuria also has a lot more black sand than Earth; black beaches are not uncommon, hence the name of the Black Coast. The black sand was made common by the arrival of Thos.
There are three major eras in Eysurian history. I abbreviate these to bT, bMf, and aMf. They stand for before Thos, before Moonfall, and after Moonfall. Before Thos, there were three moons. There was one major empire governing Eysuria, if you can call it an empire; it was more like a confederacy since different areas of Eysuria had distinctly different cultures, magic systems, customs, even governing forms, and great freedom from the 'ruling' government. The empire was connected by radiance stones used for communication and a massive transportation network -- aqueducts mostly, crafted by and webbed with magic to transport more than just water, and roads where aqueducts couldn't realistically reach. The overall government and many smaller governments were comprised of one or more rulers advised by a network of sages. Sages were people magically in tune with one aspect of life/nature. One might be in tune with astrological events, one with weather, one with geological events, etc. Working together they had a grand view of the world. They could, theoretically, forecast the future, but with so many variables involved such forecasts were shaky even in the short term.
Thos was originally a meteoroid on a course for Eysuria. The sages discovered that it was coming and would impact with Eysuria, causing great devastation. Something like the dinosaurs. So they gathered a group of mages to repel the meteoroid. To organize their magical efforts, they all repeated a series of chants and gestures. They managed to alter the course of the meteoroid, but just enough that it was caught up in orbit around the planet. The magic of the mages used to alter its course cast a net over it, and thus over the world, creating a new form of magic that I will address when I get to Eysurian magic. The whole process caused devastating change in Eysuria: geological changes, among other things, created the structure of World's End and destroyed the land bridge between the continents; the change in magic destroyed cultures, governments, and caused massive injury and loss of life; the pure chaos created an almost entirely different world.
By the time the chaos began to resolve, entering the era before Moonfall, very few cultures still had any true memories about the world before Thos. The new world was dominated by warring nations, the new magic system, and the rise of new races. In the bT era, humans were the only sentient race. The Thosian magic born from the moon's arrival did more than create a new form of magic. Groups of people who depended on magic on a daily basis, using magic to alter themselves to fit their lifestyle, began to change. Their magic gradually became a part of them, turning them into something not quite human, though definitely still humanoid. Some races that developed: the shifters, who can take almost any shape; the chameleons, who can alter their pigmentation, hormone levels, pheromone levels, and the like; pearlies, amphibious water-dwellers and one of the only races that can't interbreed with any of the others; and several others. I may go into them later, but they don't become especially important until second incarnation. (Note: Aerlun's first incarnation is in this era; his second is at the very end.)
Moonfall is something like what the name implies. Thos collides with the smallest natural moon, Datron; most of the resulting rock and ice from the impact flies out into space, but debris also falls to Eysuria's surface. Mostly over the ocean, where arguably less damage is done, but some rains down on land and cities. Less devastation results from this than the arrival of Thos due to steps taken beforehand, but the chaos is still great.
The era after Moonfall is mostly uncharted, but it is when third incarnation takes place and when Eysuria truly begins to unite back into one world as opposed to two separate continents.
Eysurian magic. There is only one true magic. I call it ancient magic because it existed bT. This magic is a magic shaped by human will and consciousness. In places where there is a great number of humans, magical systems develop. They are created by the laws people give magic. Thus whatever laws people assign to magic are absolute in a society. So let's say Society A has magic that requires the sacrifice of blood to perform magic. And Society B has magic that can only do active things, so that things like protective enchantments don't exist and magic is used for things like building or... immediate things, not imbuing objects with magic etc. In Society A, no magic could be performed without a blood sacrifice. In Society B, no one can create magical amulets.
Now, if someone from Society A travels to Society B and attempts to make a blood sacrifice to cast a spell, it isn't going to work. In Society B, the rules of Society B prevail. No other society's rules are going to work.
But it gets more complicated. Someone from Society A who travels out in the middle of nowhere, where there is no prevailing magic system, tries to perform magic by making a blood sacrifice. Will it work? It may, but the strength of the magic will be a fraction of what it would be in Society A. Whether it works at all depends on the strength of will of the mage and the rigidity of the rules held in the mage's mind. A strong-willed mage who knows the ins and outs of System A's magical system will be able to perform magic, but with difficulty. It's very taxing.
Now say someone from Society A moves to Society B and tries to learn the rules of Society B's magic in order to use it. Again, possible, but it depends on the individual. Someone raised in one form of magic with its laws firmly ingrained in his mind will have great difficulty learning and conforming to the rules of another system, but it's possible. It'd be just as taxing as performing magic outside society unless and until the mage fully conforms to the new magic.
Innovation comes in when the rules of magic give leeway. When they don't say you can't do something. One strong-willed individual experimenting could do something outside the normal bounds of magic as long as it doesn't break any rules. Thus rule systems tend to evolve as individuals discover new ways to use magic and these innovations spread. Old rules can also become defunct as people cease to think about them, but this is much more rare.
Magic can be addictive and very dangerous. When used for long periods of time at low levels or even short term at great levels, mageglow is induced. This is a floating feeling comparable to being high. Mageglow continues until the magic stops being used or gives out. Shortly thereafter the mage will go through withdrawal. Shakes, nausea and vomiting, everything. Depending on the length/strength of magic usage, withdrawal can be minor or very severe, even fatal. Within a society, mageglow isn't all that common, withdrawal even less so. Outside society, however, even minor acts of magic can cause mageglow and withdrawal. Likewise, a mage in a unfamiliar society trying to use that society's magic is more likely to go through mageglow and withdrawal.
Misuse of magic over a long period of time -- years -- results in a descent into insanity.
Aside from mageglow, withdrawal, and eventual degradation of the mind and, in severe cases, soul, the price of magic is determined by the law of society, and in some cases there is next to no cost at all.
Now, physical magic is entirely different. Due to the chanting and gesturing used to turn aside Thos, the net of magic cast over the world created a system of magic controlled by physical action. Physical magic is more a practice of control and holding back than using magic to do things. Without people restraining their interaction with magic, every other gesture would result in magic. Holding back becomes something like breathing for people in the bMf era. When they want to use magic, it's more of a relaxation of restraint. They allow themselves to interact with the magic around them. Unlike ancient magic, physical magic is more or less the same everywhere. In some places it's stronger or weaker than others, and this fluctuates over time, but never will a gesture that creates flame in one place create wind in another. Snapping the fingers causes a spark, for instance, and is considered the most basic of magic.
Physical magic is highly unpredictable, however. Its strength varies according to Thos' orbit, and Thos' orbit is very erratic, unnaturally so. When Thos is in the sky, your magic is guaranteed to be at its strongest, but that's the only guarantee you have. When it isn't in the sky, your magic could be almost unnoticeably weaker, or so weak you're better off not using it at all, or anything in between.
Accidents resulting from physical magic are common, especially in children, but aren't often fatal or seriously dangerous.
Mageglow is very rare, almost unheard of, for physical mages. Many of them unconsciously use ancient magic to supplement physical magic, but rarely enough to actually cause mageglow. However, performing physical magic for long periods of time is very taxing on the mind and tends to loosen one's control on holding back from interacting with magic. Over-drained mages can slip up and make dangerous mistakes.
That's about it for Eysuria's basics. It's late, so I'll go into individual areas tomorrow. I'll work on World's End, and from there probably Aerlun's plot. Hopefully start writing.
Eysuria: The Basics
It's important to attack Eysuria in segments, mostly because of the magical structure. However, there are some basic elements of the world that must be addressed first.
The basic geography of the world: Eysuria is comprised of two continents (that is, there are two known continents). These are the northern Dahmren and the southern Rahna. Once these were connected by a bridge something like Panama. Small on a global scale, though several miles wide. After the arrival of Thos, however, the bridge was destroyed. Eysuria has three original moons. From largest to smallest, these are Dak, Tyrios, and Datron. Eysuria also has a lot more black sand than Earth; black beaches are not uncommon, hence the name of the Black Coast. The black sand was made common by the arrival of Thos.
There are three major eras in Eysurian history. I abbreviate these to bT, bMf, and aMf. They stand for before Thos, before Moonfall, and after Moonfall. Before Thos, there were three moons. There was one major empire governing Eysuria, if you can call it an empire; it was more like a confederacy since different areas of Eysuria had distinctly different cultures, magic systems, customs, even governing forms, and great freedom from the 'ruling' government. The empire was connected by radiance stones used for communication and a massive transportation network -- aqueducts mostly, crafted by and webbed with magic to transport more than just water, and roads where aqueducts couldn't realistically reach. The overall government and many smaller governments were comprised of one or more rulers advised by a network of sages. Sages were people magically in tune with one aspect of life/nature. One might be in tune with astrological events, one with weather, one with geological events, etc. Working together they had a grand view of the world. They could, theoretically, forecast the future, but with so many variables involved such forecasts were shaky even in the short term.
Thos was originally a meteoroid on a course for Eysuria. The sages discovered that it was coming and would impact with Eysuria, causing great devastation. Something like the dinosaurs. So they gathered a group of mages to repel the meteoroid. To organize their magical efforts, they all repeated a series of chants and gestures. They managed to alter the course of the meteoroid, but just enough that it was caught up in orbit around the planet. The magic of the mages used to alter its course cast a net over it, and thus over the world, creating a new form of magic that I will address when I get to Eysurian magic. The whole process caused devastating change in Eysuria: geological changes, among other things, created the structure of World's End and destroyed the land bridge between the continents; the change in magic destroyed cultures, governments, and caused massive injury and loss of life; the pure chaos created an almost entirely different world.
By the time the chaos began to resolve, entering the era before Moonfall, very few cultures still had any true memories about the world before Thos. The new world was dominated by warring nations, the new magic system, and the rise of new races. In the bT era, humans were the only sentient race. The Thosian magic born from the moon's arrival did more than create a new form of magic. Groups of people who depended on magic on a daily basis, using magic to alter themselves to fit their lifestyle, began to change. Their magic gradually became a part of them, turning them into something not quite human, though definitely still humanoid. Some races that developed: the shifters, who can take almost any shape; the chameleons, who can alter their pigmentation, hormone levels, pheromone levels, and the like; pearlies, amphibious water-dwellers and one of the only races that can't interbreed with any of the others; and several others. I may go into them later, but they don't become especially important until second incarnation. (Note: Aerlun's first incarnation is in this era; his second is at the very end.)
Moonfall is something like what the name implies. Thos collides with the smallest natural moon, Datron; most of the resulting rock and ice from the impact flies out into space, but debris also falls to Eysuria's surface. Mostly over the ocean, where arguably less damage is done, but some rains down on land and cities. Less devastation results from this than the arrival of Thos due to steps taken beforehand, but the chaos is still great.
The era after Moonfall is mostly uncharted, but it is when third incarnation takes place and when Eysuria truly begins to unite back into one world as opposed to two separate continents.
Eysurian magic. There is only one true magic. I call it ancient magic because it existed bT. This magic is a magic shaped by human will and consciousness. In places where there is a great number of humans, magical systems develop. They are created by the laws people give magic. Thus whatever laws people assign to magic are absolute in a society. So let's say Society A has magic that requires the sacrifice of blood to perform magic. And Society B has magic that can only do active things, so that things like protective enchantments don't exist and magic is used for things like building or... immediate things, not imbuing objects with magic etc. In Society A, no magic could be performed without a blood sacrifice. In Society B, no one can create magical amulets.
Now, if someone from Society A travels to Society B and attempts to make a blood sacrifice to cast a spell, it isn't going to work. In Society B, the rules of Society B prevail. No other society's rules are going to work.
But it gets more complicated. Someone from Society A who travels out in the middle of nowhere, where there is no prevailing magic system, tries to perform magic by making a blood sacrifice. Will it work? It may, but the strength of the magic will be a fraction of what it would be in Society A. Whether it works at all depends on the strength of will of the mage and the rigidity of the rules held in the mage's mind. A strong-willed mage who knows the ins and outs of System A's magical system will be able to perform magic, but with difficulty. It's very taxing.
Now say someone from Society A moves to Society B and tries to learn the rules of Society B's magic in order to use it. Again, possible, but it depends on the individual. Someone raised in one form of magic with its laws firmly ingrained in his mind will have great difficulty learning and conforming to the rules of another system, but it's possible. It'd be just as taxing as performing magic outside society unless and until the mage fully conforms to the new magic.
Innovation comes in when the rules of magic give leeway. When they don't say you can't do something. One strong-willed individual experimenting could do something outside the normal bounds of magic as long as it doesn't break any rules. Thus rule systems tend to evolve as individuals discover new ways to use magic and these innovations spread. Old rules can also become defunct as people cease to think about them, but this is much more rare.
Magic can be addictive and very dangerous. When used for long periods of time at low levels or even short term at great levels, mageglow is induced. This is a floating feeling comparable to being high. Mageglow continues until the magic stops being used or gives out. Shortly thereafter the mage will go through withdrawal. Shakes, nausea and vomiting, everything. Depending on the length/strength of magic usage, withdrawal can be minor or very severe, even fatal. Within a society, mageglow isn't all that common, withdrawal even less so. Outside society, however, even minor acts of magic can cause mageglow and withdrawal. Likewise, a mage in a unfamiliar society trying to use that society's magic is more likely to go through mageglow and withdrawal.
Misuse of magic over a long period of time -- years -- results in a descent into insanity.
Aside from mageglow, withdrawal, and eventual degradation of the mind and, in severe cases, soul, the price of magic is determined by the law of society, and in some cases there is next to no cost at all.
Now, physical magic is entirely different. Due to the chanting and gesturing used to turn aside Thos, the net of magic cast over the world created a system of magic controlled by physical action. Physical magic is more a practice of control and holding back than using magic to do things. Without people restraining their interaction with magic, every other gesture would result in magic. Holding back becomes something like breathing for people in the bMf era. When they want to use magic, it's more of a relaxation of restraint. They allow themselves to interact with the magic around them. Unlike ancient magic, physical magic is more or less the same everywhere. In some places it's stronger or weaker than others, and this fluctuates over time, but never will a gesture that creates flame in one place create wind in another. Snapping the fingers causes a spark, for instance, and is considered the most basic of magic.
Physical magic is highly unpredictable, however. Its strength varies according to Thos' orbit, and Thos' orbit is very erratic, unnaturally so. When Thos is in the sky, your magic is guaranteed to be at its strongest, but that's the only guarantee you have. When it isn't in the sky, your magic could be almost unnoticeably weaker, or so weak you're better off not using it at all, or anything in between.
Accidents resulting from physical magic are common, especially in children, but aren't often fatal or seriously dangerous.
Mageglow is very rare, almost unheard of, for physical mages. Many of them unconsciously use ancient magic to supplement physical magic, but rarely enough to actually cause mageglow. However, performing physical magic for long periods of time is very taxing on the mind and tends to loosen one's control on holding back from interacting with magic. Over-drained mages can slip up and make dangerous mistakes.
That's about it for Eysuria's basics. It's late, so I'll go into individual areas tomorrow. I'll work on World's End, and from there probably Aerlun's plot. Hopefully start writing.
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I tend to story first, world later. Which doesn't always result in great worlds, but when all's said and done, the world is only useful as far as it supports a story.
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You adapted a fanfiction to fit your world? That's... kinda cool, actually. A bit weird, but cool.
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It wasn't a far-fetched fanfiction. Like Kingdom Hearts fanfic in a fantasy world? Probably difficult to manage. But Zelda fanfiction? Zelda is pretty traditional fantasy as it is.
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I don't think it would be so hard to KH in a fantasy world, because they use so many different worlds anyway.
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Pet writing projects? Right now? I'm working on a firefly fanfic (got addicted to the series last week- watched 12 episodes in 2 days. And crossing my fingers that no-one spoils me for the movie), but when you asked I was working on a novel-to-be, Lunaris, which is set in a modern-esque city in a fantasy world. And I had a short story set now-ish with fantasy elements that I was working on as well, but it wasn't holding its own too well. I have afantasy story I've been working on for years, but it really needs to be re-drafted before I can get it together, and I've been avoiding it. Because it means typing up a heap of drivel I wrote when I was in year 10. :)
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