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sirthosirisFor those who haven't known me, I am trying to write a fantasy series, centered around a world I have been trying to create for a good 10 years.
No. I am not kidding.
10 years ago, RPGMaker was making the rounds, and I was interested in making a game. The story was pretty simple at first, and then expanded. At some point, it got too big for a game, and I considered a book instead. The stories and the world went through a number of changes since then, but things seem to be getting more grounded now. It's been minor tweaks for a while, I think. Which would mean one thing:
Time to start writing.
I went on vacation last week. It wasn't until the end that I started to think about it more. My thoughts strayed to history. I had a small laptop with me, so I did a basic, simple history. This leads into the prologue of one of the first books I plan to write.
In the beginning...
There were the gnomes. The gnomes were similar to the humans, an upright creature that was hairless except on the head, except the gnomes were a foot shorter and more child-like. The elves were also similar, though they were only slightly shorter than humans, slimmer muscled, and had pointed ears. They lived twice as long as humans and gnomes. The kobolds were a species developed from canine-like animals, mostly wolves and foxes, and stood upright like the others.
At the time, the kobolds had begun to develop a tribal culture in the northern forests and mountains. The humans had already developed a nomadic society in the southwest among the plains and deserts, though they were still minor.
The elves developed a highly exclusive society in the forests, river lands and jungles of the east. They mostly kept to themselves in the deep forests, practicing druidism and nature worship. They were simple hunters and farmers, and their civilization became stagnant.
The gnomes, however, developed rapidly. They built towns and cities first among the species. They developed farming techniques, and expanded their civilization along the entire continent. They built trade centers and government complexes. Their architecture became highly elaborate. They established republics, and then empires.
They discovered the arcane, a material hidden within the universe that ran through everything. A constantly replenishable source of energy and power. The gnomes drew their entire culture around the scientists and scholars that learned of, studied, and taught about this strange energy. The empires expanded even more from this discovery.
But soon came the time when they expanded too much. War erupted among the states. Magic, derived from the arcane, was used in offense and defense. Soon, bigger spells were needed. Then, as the states were in mass combat around a capital in the northern reaches, someone let loose a cataclysmic spell, destroying the city, the surrounding region, and parts of the continent. The species crumbled, and fled the center of the continent, disappearing into obscurity, and leaving their crumbled cities behind.
But time flows like a river...
Some centuries after the gnomes disappeared, the humans began to establish their own permanent settlements. The kobolds also began to develop civilization, and the elves expanded from their forests, though they remained xenophobic.
The humans developed like the gnomes. They established villages, then towns, then full cities. A singular empire developed around a single family. It began to war with all the other states, incorporating them into the ever expanding empire. The west was resource rich, and became a crafting hub for the humans. The east became a demilitarized zone between the humans, developing kobolds and defensive elves.
The human civilization was highly diverse. The west was open minded, being an intellectual capital, as well as a trading hub. The middle was honor-bound and noble, though the people thought highly of themselves for living in the center of the empire. The northeast developed a culture similar to the kobolds, having been able to trade materials and ideas between the two species. The humans along the eastern jungles were hunters, killing nature while at the same time worshiping it.
It was only a matter of time when the humans brought the reluctant kobolds into the empire, and the elves soon followed.
And history repeats itself...
Stories of the old ages still persisted, among them tales of a civilization of hyper-intelligent children. These were among the tales of monsters, most notably dragons.
The emperor, a man who grew up with these tales, wanted to create an expedition into the northern wastes, believing an ancient civilization had fled there. The ruins were all about the land, but no one knew where they had come from, or who built them. The emperor was adamant in finding out.
The expedition was led by his son, with the kobold shogun's son as a lieutenant. They supplied themselves in the western states, and then proceeded north.
They found a civilization that wanted to remain isolated. Nearly the entire party was wiped out by arrow fire and strange blizzards. The emperor's son was mysteriously killed by an icicle, and the kobold was wounded by an arrow. By the time he had returned to the emperor to report, he was gravely ill. He died soon after telling his father what happened.
The emperor headed north himself, with the kobold shogun and an elven arch druid in tow. They found a leader of the gnomes waiting for them in a pavilion, with a dragon protecting him. A non-aggression pact was signed, establishing that the gnomes would share their knowledge of the arcane and reintegrate themselves among the species, if they were to be left to their own devices.
No. I am not kidding.
10 years ago, RPGMaker was making the rounds, and I was interested in making a game. The story was pretty simple at first, and then expanded. At some point, it got too big for a game, and I considered a book instead. The stories and the world went through a number of changes since then, but things seem to be getting more grounded now. It's been minor tweaks for a while, I think. Which would mean one thing:
Time to start writing.
I went on vacation last week. It wasn't until the end that I started to think about it more. My thoughts strayed to history. I had a small laptop with me, so I did a basic, simple history. This leads into the prologue of one of the first books I plan to write.
In the beginning...
There were the gnomes. The gnomes were similar to the humans, an upright creature that was hairless except on the head, except the gnomes were a foot shorter and more child-like. The elves were also similar, though they were only slightly shorter than humans, slimmer muscled, and had pointed ears. They lived twice as long as humans and gnomes. The kobolds were a species developed from canine-like animals, mostly wolves and foxes, and stood upright like the others.
At the time, the kobolds had begun to develop a tribal culture in the northern forests and mountains. The humans had already developed a nomadic society in the southwest among the plains and deserts, though they were still minor.
The elves developed a highly exclusive society in the forests, river lands and jungles of the east. They mostly kept to themselves in the deep forests, practicing druidism and nature worship. They were simple hunters and farmers, and their civilization became stagnant.
The gnomes, however, developed rapidly. They built towns and cities first among the species. They developed farming techniques, and expanded their civilization along the entire continent. They built trade centers and government complexes. Their architecture became highly elaborate. They established republics, and then empires.
They discovered the arcane, a material hidden within the universe that ran through everything. A constantly replenishable source of energy and power. The gnomes drew their entire culture around the scientists and scholars that learned of, studied, and taught about this strange energy. The empires expanded even more from this discovery.
But soon came the time when they expanded too much. War erupted among the states. Magic, derived from the arcane, was used in offense and defense. Soon, bigger spells were needed. Then, as the states were in mass combat around a capital in the northern reaches, someone let loose a cataclysmic spell, destroying the city, the surrounding region, and parts of the continent. The species crumbled, and fled the center of the continent, disappearing into obscurity, and leaving their crumbled cities behind.
But time flows like a river...
Some centuries after the gnomes disappeared, the humans began to establish their own permanent settlements. The kobolds also began to develop civilization, and the elves expanded from their forests, though they remained xenophobic.
The humans developed like the gnomes. They established villages, then towns, then full cities. A singular empire developed around a single family. It began to war with all the other states, incorporating them into the ever expanding empire. The west was resource rich, and became a crafting hub for the humans. The east became a demilitarized zone between the humans, developing kobolds and defensive elves.
The human civilization was highly diverse. The west was open minded, being an intellectual capital, as well as a trading hub. The middle was honor-bound and noble, though the people thought highly of themselves for living in the center of the empire. The northeast developed a culture similar to the kobolds, having been able to trade materials and ideas between the two species. The humans along the eastern jungles were hunters, killing nature while at the same time worshiping it.
It was only a matter of time when the humans brought the reluctant kobolds into the empire, and the elves soon followed.
And history repeats itself...
Stories of the old ages still persisted, among them tales of a civilization of hyper-intelligent children. These were among the tales of monsters, most notably dragons.
The emperor, a man who grew up with these tales, wanted to create an expedition into the northern wastes, believing an ancient civilization had fled there. The ruins were all about the land, but no one knew where they had come from, or who built them. The emperor was adamant in finding out.
The expedition was led by his son, with the kobold shogun's son as a lieutenant. They supplied themselves in the western states, and then proceeded north.
They found a civilization that wanted to remain isolated. Nearly the entire party was wiped out by arrow fire and strange blizzards. The emperor's son was mysteriously killed by an icicle, and the kobold was wounded by an arrow. By the time he had returned to the emperor to report, he was gravely ill. He died soon after telling his father what happened.
The emperor headed north himself, with the kobold shogun and an elven arch druid in tow. They found a leader of the gnomes waiting for them in a pavilion, with a dragon protecting him. A non-aggression pact was signed, establishing that the gnomes would share their knowledge of the arcane and reintegrate themselves among the species, if they were to be left to their own devices.
