The Project

Ok, so my blog has been stagnant for a while, but I've also not begun any of my writing project for years. So I think I'm going to do at least a temporary transformation of my blog into a journal of the progress as I'm going for my writing project.

The project is going to be in the realm of high fantasy. The initial concept that I had come up with, and this was years ago, was of a cosmos where a group of deity-like beings come into existence. Think of a polytheistic religion and the deities of that religion. Except they seem to just pop into existence out of nothing, and they themselves don't know of their origin. Many cosmologies that have been made before have a sort of Over-god, or singular initial creator. This one specifically may or may not. And part of what sparks the conflict within creation is the disagreement between these deity-beings regarding what the nature of their own existence and creation itself actually means.

There are other cosmologies within which either the Void or Chaos is the primordial reality, and then reality springs forth from it. It's basically the concept that in a non-existent universe, where everything is possible, reality springs forth as an actualized possibility. Again, I wanted to steer away from this directly, as well, and have the deities not really know.

Within a lot of fantasy, then, there is a deviation of moral standards based upon alignment-based tenets. Specifically, there are two axes upon which everyone functions primarily. Law vs Chaos, and Good vs Evil. But what is it that makes something Lawful versus Chaotic if everyone has various principles that they adhere to, to some degree? And what makes something Good versus Evil if there are no fundamentally-defined rules for existence?

The way I divided it up was that the axis for Law versus Chaos is entirely surrounded by the philosophy of the deities on whether or not there is the existence of an Over-god, or some sort of over-arching plan for the universe. Those who are Lawful, believe that there IS, in fact, a greater plan that either has been or must be set into motion. Those who are Chaotic, in the meantime, assert that there is no such Over-god or definitive plan, and creation is simply the result of the choices and actions of those who exist.

In the meantime, how I divided up Good versus Evil is an attitude towards Creation. It was the deity-beings who began the act of Creation, and they honestly didn't really know much of what they were doing until they already started doing it. And since one of the other major philosophical tenets that I'm going for with this universe, is the fact that no act that is done can ever be undone. The deities could not UN-create that which they have created. Destroying it is certainly an option, of course, which is where Evil comes into being, but even Destruction cannot cause something or someone to never have been in the first place. Those who are Good assert that Creation is good. And even if there may have been some experiments that didn't turn out as planned or intended, they are ultimately good and that they need to be preserved, protected and celebrated. Whereas Evil determines that a mistake must be erased and eliminated, Creation was a mistake, and therefore we need to do away with all of it in order to start fresh and get it right the next time around.

These are all the concepts that I've had floating around in my head for years now. What I began today is actually taking the time and fleshing all of this out. If there is one race that is going to be embodied by their particular deity's philosophy, and each philosophy is governed by a single deity, what will each of those deities' races look like?

I had the option to take the easy route and utilize pre-governed races that are commonly known throughout the realms of fantasy. Elves would be the prototypical Chaotic Good, while Dwarves fundamentally embody that which is Lawful Good. Orcs have always been the Chaotic Good, and you can readily call upon the existence of devils as a Lawful Evil force. But that would be using concepts that are already created and there. It wouldn't be creative enough, and furthermore, it would be a less perfect representation. All of those races have been built upon different rules from what I would conceive as the purpose for them. And so I've decided to pave my own way, and construct eight distinct races embodying each of the extremes of philosophy.

If you're as much of a dork as me, you probably asked yourself "Eight? But that diagram should have NINE. Geez, you're fucking it all up already." Well, like any good fantasy series, you always have to factor in humanity. Humanity is always the wild card, the keeper of destiny. It is always a human that unlocks the mysteries of the universe. Who has the potential to change the world. Humans are the key. And so Humanity takes the place of Whoopi Goldberg. Humans are the center square. Ok, sorry, I had to do it. :p

Thus far, I've got general ideas out for each of the nine races, and what exactly the governing of those races might be. For now, I am going to cut this blog short and let it be the overall scheme. The next eight or nine blogs, however, will be about each of the races individually. Stay tuned.