In the footsteps of Hemingway I thought a good step while trying to decide what to do with the Creating a World section would be to give a few short stories.
Baby is born, dies, declares war.
Mother’s son, Mother’s pride, Mother’s murderer.
Empty valley, flood, bodies floating away.
Fantasy is a huge genre, but with few exceptions (“The Iron Dragon’s Daughter” comes to mind) there are very few fantasy worlds that have any sort of modern setting, and even less of these feature a world that develops over time. However, the world of Arathria will evolve over time; the mythos of the world will expand from a primitive state all the way into a futuristic setting. However, the bulk of the stories about the world will be about a clichéd medieval period. It will be done this way to allow a complete universe to form. There must be a beginning, middle and end to create a full mythos.
Most other fantasy worlds focus on a single time period (plus or minus a few generations) and are sprinkled heavily with references to the ancient past where things more fantastic and mythical happened. However, I hate how this is done. Why say that this and that happened but not show its repercussions?
One thing that I have always loved about C.S. Lewis’s book The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is the fact that animals are intelligent. In a children’s fantasy book this is easy because you don’t really have to explain why people sit down at the table and start chewing on something that was singing and dancing not so long ago. Unfortunately, without the explanations there is a gaping hole in the thought process behind the book.
For example, in the real world baby chickens are cute and most people wouldn’t choose to eat one just for that reason. However, how many people would eat chicken if it was not only once a baby chicken but could also sing and dance? Humans tolerate eating them because, after all, they are animals. However, once that chickadee looks up at someone and says “Are you my mommy?” they wouldn’t eat it no matter how old it got.
The world of Arathria is composed of two Pangaea like continents named Arath and Ria — imaginative huh. The two continents are far enough apart that no non technological species can cross from one to another. Because of this the two continents have vastly different species; while Ria’s intelligent species are mainly humanoid, Arath’s main intelligent species range from non humanoid to vaguely humanoid. The continents also have very different geography and weather and this contributes to the difference in species.
Ria is a fairly fertile land with a large central desert surrounded by a nearly impassable mountain range. The mountains are not the tallest landforms in the world, but they have an extremely frigid environment combined with frequent volcanic activity. Along the coast the land ranges from rain forest in the north to marshlands in the south. However between the coast and the desert the land is perfect for agriculture.
I have always wanted to write a book. Not just any book; a good one. One that creates an entire universe and populates it; maybe not even a single book, maybe a whole series. Anyway, that’s not why this whole section is here. Instead this section will create a universe. As a basic foundation it will be similar to any Fantasy book or movie you have read. There will be Elves, Dwarfs, Goblins and Dragons. Instead of creating a world defined by the genre and within a tired cliche, I will try to breath new life into the old themes; in such a way that the universe I create is unique while still be familiar and accessible.