Insight

I got a very interesting message last week. Someone asked me about my worldbuilding process and how I keep track of everything. Truth is, a lot of it is in my head. But there's also a lot that isn't. So by way of answering that person's questions, here's the notes I'm using for Lifebringer. This, of course, excludes my roadmap, as that would spoil the plot quite completely. Aside from 1-2 changes for the sake of spoilers, this is totally unedited; a direct copy/paste from the word documents I refer to in my writing.

I've also added at the very bottom the 5 parts of the novel and their names. It's insignificant information in a way, but some might find it interesting to know that structural things like dividing into parts is planned out like this.

Notes:

14 boys, 10 girls, oldest 25 (male), youngest 13 (female)

Characters:

·         Wrinlett Leeve

·         Khol (name) (Fork/Knife/Orvin/Gerry/Purzhy/Jurd/Kim/Maggie)

·         Lorsem (Lor) Brith

·         Jaeval (Jae) Brith

·         Karla Deern

·         Tiasi Jay

·         Yawmer (High Cleric)

Academy Subjects - Instructors:

·         Language - Yawmer

·         Anatomy - Jhia

·         Worship - Teff

·         Biology - Warsothet

·         Healing and Hymns - Leorlai

·         Apothecarial Arts - Briwr

Academy Buildings

·         Cathedral (Chapel of Admission/Chapel of Induction/Main Chapel/Basement Levels/Administratorium)

·         Clericum

·         Dormitory (Mess Hall/Common Room/Study Hall/Dorm Floor/Bathroom/Practice Room)

·         Lecture Halls

·         Medicum

·         Library

·         Apothecarium

·         Apothercarial Gardens

Nations/Peoples/Capitol/God/Magic/Arcanists/Art

·         Ægien/Argin/Ægis/Protector/Healing/Priests+Paladins+Inqisitors/Healing

·         Tence/Tencish/Pilor/Former/Elements/Mages+Elementalists/Conjuring

·         Cardis/Cardish/Sandsedge/Maker/Construction/Enchanters/Enchantry

·         Verdis/Verdish/Alchus/Impeller/Energy/Sorcerers/Sorcery

·         Heivar/Heivalar/Godtree/Nurturer/Life/Shamans/Alteration

·         Chronis/Chronists/Drift/Watcher/Time/Chronists/Chronistry

Saints

·         Pice (Alive.)

·         Nomi (Alive. Paladin.)

·         Kiyfall (Dead)

·         Requi (Dead)

·         Cliwth (Dead. First Inquisitor.)

·         Obitus (Dead. First Paladin.)

·         Vaia (Dead. First Priest after the Binding.)

1 Year as students

5 Years in a Clericum OR 3 Years Paladin training OR Inquisitor apprenticeship

After Clericum may live outside Clerica and even stop working as a healer, most stay on. May also pursue Paladinship or Inquisitorial training, though these are subject to recruitment. May pursue Administratorium positions subject to availability.

After 20 years serving in Clerica, may found a Clericum and preside over it as Chaplain.

Lord Cleric (1) - High Cleric (3) - Head Cleric (each capital) - Chaplain (other Clerica) - Priest

Order Father/Mother (Krayw Gror) (1) - Paladin - Initiate (Priest)

Lord Inquisitor (Jekker Promaire) - Inquisitor - Apprentice (Priest)

Characters:

Wrinlett Leeve:

18, black hair, green eyes, average height. Conman, with traits of psychopathy and narcissism. Born to traders, mother (Gloria) died by drowning, father (Tijun) killed 3 weeks later by a highwayman. Lived for 12 years on the streets of Aegis, met Khol within a month. No magical ability, but has bluffed his way into the Academy.

Lorsem Brith:

17, sandy blonde hair, brown eyes, taller than Wrin, well-built but a little lacking from his years on the streets. Student, having lived two years on the streets saving to travel to Aegis for admissions. Thrown out at 15 by his father when he was given the Gift, mother died when Lorsem was 3. Honest and upstanding, but emotional and not above anger. Confident, but not in the presence of Jaeval.

Jaeval Brith:

Lorsem's twin brother, but a little more muscular and well-fed. Left his father at 17 when the Gift was given to him, but left with his father's blessing. Received word during his journey to Aegis of his father's passing. The 'confident' twin, who is naturally more outgoing. Prodigal in terms of healing ability, and admitted a day late because of this.

Karla Deern:

17, brown hair that falls in curls, blue eyes, short, curvy. Born to merchants of medium wealth in Aegis. Given the Gift and can already heal broken bones. Pleasant enough, but secretive and hides a great intellect and confidence behind an outward 'girlish naivety'.

Tiasi Jay:

19, pale blonde hair cut short, brown eyes, Wrin's height, thin. Born to a prostitute mother in Aegis. Mostly independent from a young age, worked in taverns and began to learn arts of brewing. Clever, but a little arrogant and aloof. Kind-hearted and not unlikable, if a little reserved and judgemental.

The six gods created the world, the product of all their talents

The Shaper, God of the elements, gave the world pieces of substance

The Maker, God of construction, bound these things together

The Nurturer, God of nature, gave the world biological creations

The Impeller, God of energy, gave these creations life

The Protector, God of vitality, gave living things the ability to heal and mend

The Watcher, God of time, gave the world the only thing he could; the ability to die

And so the world was. As time went by, men began to favour one God over all others, and began to group themselves with those who were like-minded. The Gods rewarded their followers with a further gift: the gift of magic.

Each God gave their followers a form of magic. The Shaper gave her followers command over the elements, the Maker gave his followers the ability to bind objects together, the Nurturer gave his followers the ability to shape the plants and wildlife, the Impeller gave her followers the ability to transfer energy, the Protector gave his followers the ability to heal, and the Watcher gave its followers the ability to control the flow of time. For a while, things were good this way. But all the Gods knew the truth; That this would be short-lived. They had made men too powerful, and so they began to hurt the world. First it was small things, new lakes made to support settlements, giant walls to keep their lands safe. Then the most powerful began to disrupt the lives of thousands, creating constructs of war, turning cities to stone that crumbled at the wind. Then a powerful Chronist stopped time itself.

His intentions were good. He gathered the Gods and brought them out of their growing denial. The world could not continue this way, and the powers of men had to be curbed. But the Gods saw the danger of such a powerful Chronist, and soon they struck him down.

Still, his words worked, and the Gods agreed to limit the magic in the world. Each God must select the men who would wield their magic, and each must lock it in an art of casting that would take time to learn. The world was repaired as best as could be done, and the passage of time was restored. In among this, though, the Watcher fled the world. No-one has seen or heard of them since. No-one even remembers what they looked or sounded like. With them, the Chronists disappeared.

So that's the mythos, and it leaves me with a lot of freedoms and just as many limitations. The net effect is that I have a world with magic, practiced my Arcanists, divided into 6 distinct systems. These systems are roughly as follows:

The Shaper's magic is practiced by Mages, and a Mage will learn one element at a time with only the most powerful ever learning more than 3, let alone all of them. They are able to use these elements at their will.

The Maker's magic is practiced by Enchanters, and they can bind objects in various ways through the use of glyphs and sigils inscribed onto objects. They are able to construct things like unbreakable buildings.

The Nurturer's magic is practiced by Shamans, and they can alter the biology of new lifeforms. They are able to do things like grow fruit trees that are harvested year-round.

The Impeller's magic is practiced by Sorcerers, and they are able to transfer energy from one thing to another, or create and destroy energy through the use of complicated diagrams imbued with magic. They would be able to take the heat from a fire and boil a body of water.

The Protector's magic is practiced by Priests, and they are able to heal lifeforms through the use of Hymns. They would be able to heal a cut, cure a cancer and prolong a life, but the Hymns get more complicated as the healed becomes older.

The Watcher's magic is practiced by Chronists. No-one knows what they are able to do, and no-one knows how.

Protector:

System - Hymns (Healing).

Rules - Sung in a magical language, with different Hymns for different ailments and subtle differences depending on area injured, severity, etc. Grammatically complex language.

Penalties/Limitations - Time. The older a patient or the more complex the illness, the more complex and long the Hymn.

Maker:

System - Glyphs and Sigils (Enchantry).

Rules - Each must be inscribed onto a certain material and written with absolute accuracy in order to imbue the object with the intended property.

Penalties/Limitations - Material availability. If a certain Glyph or Sigil requires a rare material then its use will be limited. Also due to the accuracy required in writing Glyphs and Sigils it may take time for more complex constructions.

Impeller:

System - Alchemical Diagrams (Sorcery).

Rules - Through the use of these diagrams Sorcerers may transfer energy in complex ways, using commands similar to programming logic.

Penalties/Limitations - Despite perfect transfer, inequivalent exchange is still impossible and energy may not be created or destroyed.

Nurturer:

System - Imbued Intention (Alteration).

Rules - By imbuing a seed or sapling with intentions of eventual properties and use, a Shaman may produce genetically altered plants to serve a variety of purposes.

Penalties/Limitations - Time. Even though the growing process may be accelerated, it still takes some time for a plant to grow, meaning the results of the magic are far from immediate.

Shaper:

System - Channelling (Conjuring).

Rules - A practiser of the magic can call up the element they have control over and produce it with some effort. Often in the form of literally 'shooting' ice/fire/water/what have you from their hands or perhaps an object. Alternatively, a chosen person may become one with the element, forgoing the ability to wield it and instead becoming a living manifestation of that element. These people live on Vane, and have a largely separate society.

Penalties/Limitations - Largely God-imposed. The Shaper will only select someone absolutely capable of wielding the massive power, leaving the number of magic-users incredibly small.

Chronist:

System - Travelling (Chronistry).

Rules - A Chronist may only move a certain distance through time with the help of one or more other Chronists. The further travelled, the more people required.

Penalties/Limitations - Manpower and Equivalent Exchange of Time. For every second moved forward, and area around the Chronist is moved equally back in time, and vice versa. The more Chronists used, the smaller the affected area, however this creates a manpower limitation.

PART 1 - THE BLESSED

PART 2 - THE DISCIPLED

PART 3 - THE RELINQUISHED

PART 4 - THE CONCEALED

PART 5 - THE ASCENDED

Setting The Scene

So Beyond the Horizon has sat quiet for a little while now, seeing as I've been pouring all my efforts into Lifebringer. I didn't want it to stagnate as a project though, so I gave myself a little challenge. I have the roadmap of Beyond the Horizon fully fleshed out, which includes all the places the characters will end up visiting during the story. I decided to bring a bit more life into those places by writing a short piece (around 500 words) describing each.

I started with a place called Brambletown, built around the wreck of some enormous vehicle that crashed into an icy spire in a time long since passed. The town itself is kept a stunning secret from the Francs, a situation which they take full advantage of. The city has managed to become the hub of a trade empire, and as with all such places someone at the top wants to leverage that influence. But then that's intrigue for another story. For now, here's an introduction to the icy jewel of the Baltic.

Brambletown

"Welcome to Brambletown" the sign reads. And what a welcome it is. Maybe you've taken the stairs, all 1072 sleeted death traps, or you've just stepped out of the elevator that groans and shakes every 30 or so metres. Either way, the first thing you see is the metal cavern of the first floor and a sad old sign saying 'Welcome to Brambletown'.

                This floor, if you're a business owner or street urchin, is where all the magic happens. The first elevator load arrives at 6 AM sharp and the first carts and truckstalls come rolling out of it. In a matter of minutes, they've parked at the far end of the floor and are open for business. The people come flooding down from the half dozen stairwells and buzz about the first few stalls like bees on tight schedules. By 6 30 the second elevator load has arrived. The chefs of Brambletown have all bought the day's fresh foods and the market starts to fill with the merchants, who will spend the rest of the day wandering about the floor speaking with the roaming truck vendors. They buy from one and sell to another, with a tidy cut in between. When the more scarce goods arrive, like petrol, apples or wool, they buy up the whole lot and sell it slowly over the coming weeks, having monopolised the supply. With their silver tongues and golden watches they quietly raid and plunder the marketplace.

                It will be 8 AM when the rest of the Brambletonians arrive. The tempo of the market reaches fever pitch, and it rattles and shakes the floor for the rest of the day. The pickpockets dart about in the shadows of the stalls, trying to make up what they lost by failing to pick a merchant. Meanwhile on the floor above, the merchants all stand on soapboxes calling out across the metal halls for the best deals in Brambletown. Their gift of the gab shines through here as they work in pairs, one auctioneer riling up the buyers and one dealer raking in money hand over fist. Between the two floors enough noise is made to shake the icy spires on which the wreck of the Bramble sits, but the ice has held for 500 years, and it'll hold for as long as Frost is harvested. It is that Frost that has driven everything that has happened here. From the settlement of Brambletown, to the construction of the elevator, to the invention of the cloudskimmer.

                The newcomers climb to the upper levels, where the walkways weave in and out of the ice through great steel caverns. Some will come for the restaurants, some for the shops, some for the mechanics. Only a few of them will bother looking up at the clouds. They seem to stretch out for miles, and never once have they abated to show the blue sky behind them. Endless grey, like mud-mixed snow. These people stop looking, before the misery of the sight consumes them. Grumbles about how they could never stand to live here escape their lips as they shuffle away from the sky. All the more's the pity for them. If they could stand to look those crucial moments longer, they would notice something. They'd see the way the clouds don't curl and drift, the way they sit stagnant in the sky. The clouds are no clouds, they are Frost. The best kept secret of Europe.

A Collection of Prompts

Last week I said I'd post with some ideas I have for stories set in the world I've been building over the last few weeks. First, though, I thought I'd put out an update on how Ambervale is going.

I've finished Part 1, or at least have it at the point where it can't be improved until the whole story is finished. Even then, the changes will be minimal. Part 2 is approaching a similar place, and Part 3 will be written as soon as I'm comfortable with Part 2's standard. Overall, I feel the story is fairly strong, the prose is solid and the structure is inventive enough to be memorable without being so outlandish as to be awkward or difficult to read. I won't go about posting Part 2 here, not yet.

As far as the new world goes, I have yet to do more on the worldbuilding side of things. The names of things like nations and lands come to me as I write, so that's the place for all that to happen. I've fleshed out each individual magic system, but writing about each will be time-consuming and would ruin some of the intrigue of the story or stories that come out of this world.

The first idea (and keep in mind that these are vague) is as follows:

A young man has always dreamed of being a Priest, but The Protector has never chosen him. Not to be dissuaded, the man goes to study the arts of being a Priest, bluffing his way into the order's school by pretending he has in fact been chosen by The Protector. The Protector, faced with the possibility of having the reputation of his Priests besmirched by this imposter, is forced to teach this man the ways of his magic.

Idea number two is similar, but would instead follow a man obsessed with finding a Chronist or even The Watcher themselves. The adventure takes him to all corners of the world, and what he finds will likely be far from what he expects.

Idea number three takes a different approach. Instead of following a mortal person, it would follow The Former herself as she teaches and nurtures her small number of students. I still need to think of what exactly would happen in this story, but I like the idea of writing from the perspective of a God rather than of a person.

Obviously, the first idea is the most fleshed-out, and would likely be the first to get turned into a novel. Still, it's good to have options, and whatever one I'm not working on actively will sit on the backburner and become more fleshed-out as time goes by.


Now to address the burning question: What does this mean for The New Age of Steam?

Well, The New Age of Steam has not been abandoned. In fact, far from it. The Ambervale story is set in The New Age of Steam universe, and Beyond The Horizon is still my main project as far as novels go. If I complete a story in this new universe, it'll be a long time from now. That said, I may start writing something in this new universe soon. There's no reason I can't have multiple projects on the go at once.

Next week, I recount the story of the time I wrestled a bear in Latvia.

A Brave New World

So I had an idea, but that doesn't mean anything. Writing isn't about ideas, it's about writing. Still, I like this idea, so I'm getting around the aforementioned issue by writing about my idea. See? Clever.

The idea began with the desire to write in a world with magic, ideally with two or even three magic systems (for a challenge, if nothing else). From there I established a mythos of the world, and began to shape it with that as a starting point. This is what I have so far:

The six gods created the world, the product of all their talents

The Former, God of the elements, gave the world pieces of substance
The Maker, God of construction, bound these things together
The Grower, God of nature, gave the world biological creations
The Impeller, God of energy, gave these creations life
The Protector, God of vitality, gave living things the ability to heal and mend
The Watcher, God of time, gave the world the only thing he could; the ability to die

And so the world was. As time went by, men began to favour one God over all others, and began to group themselves with those who were like-minded. The Gods rewarded their followers with a further gift: the gift of magic.

Each God gave their followers a form of magic. The Former gave her followers command over the elements, the Maker gave his followers the ability to bind objects together, the Grower gave his followers the ability to shape the plants and wildlife, the Impeller gave her followers the ability to transfer energy, the Protector gave his followers the ability to heal, and the Watcher gave its followers the ability to control the flow of time. For a while, things were good this way. But all the Gods knew the truth; That this would be short-lived. They had made men too powerful, and so they began to hurt the world. First it was small things, new lakes made to support settlements, giant walls to keep their lands safe. Then the most powerful began to disrupt the lives of thousands, creating constructs of war, turning cities to stone that crumbled at the wind. Then a powerful Chronist stopped time itself.

His intentions were good. He gathered the Gods and brought them out of their growing denial. The world could not continue this way, and the powers of men had to be curbed. But the Gods saw the danger of such a powerful Chronist, and soon they struck him down.

Still, his words worked, and the Gods agreed to limit the magic in the world. Each God must select the men who would wield their magic, and each must lock it in an art of casting that would take time to learn. The world was repaired as best as could be done, and the passage of time was restored. In among this, though, the Watcher fled the world. No-one has seen or heard of them since. No-one even remembers what they looked or sounded like. With them, the Chronists disappeared.


So that's the mythos, and it leaves me with a lot of freedoms and just as many limitations. The net effect is that I have a world with magic, practiced my Arcanists, divided into 6 distinct systems. These systems are roughly as follows:

The Former's magic is practiced by Mages, and a Mage will learn one element at a time with only the most powerful ever learning more than 3, let alone all of them. They are able to use these elements at their will.

The Maker's magic is practiced by Enchanters, and they can bind objects in various ways through the use of glyphs and sigils inscribed onto objects. They are able to construct things like unbreakable buildings.

The Grower's magic is practiced by Shamans, and they can alter the biology of new lifeforms. They are able to do things like grow fruit trees that are harvested year-round.

The Impeller's magic is practiced by Sorcerers, and they are able to transfer energy from one thing to another, or create and destroy energy through the use of complicated diagrams imbued with magic. They would be able to take the heat from a fire and boil a body of water.

The Protector's magic is practiced by Priests, and they are able to heal lifeforms through the use of Hymns. They would be able to heal a cut, cure a cancer and prolong a life, but the Hymns get more complicated as the healed becomes older.

The Watcher's magic is practiced by Chronists. No-one knows what they are able to do, and no-one knows how.

Next week I'll likely be bringing up some of the fledgling ideas I have for stories within this world, and hopefully by then I'll have a name for the place too.