Some Changes

Okay, here are some things I want to do, having developed a lot in my head since my last post.

• The fantasy race will not be distinct from humanity. They will either remain a distinct race that has been magically altered/cursed, or the Mire will become a "refuge" for those who have been cursed in general.
• There will be more than one magic system simultaneously present in the world. My previous system may or may not remain one of them.
• Main character/narrator will begin as an apothecary's assistant. Haven't figured out how to get him to go on his adventure yet.
• Want to work with synthesis of magic and technology as a theme.
• Geography remains largely unchanged.
• Naming language remains the same.
• No guarantee I will keep any of the characters. If I do, their roles will be reduced to make more of a Hero's Story than an ensemble piece.

Language Notes

The Language I am building will be used only for naming particular places and people, with very few exceptions. Thus, I group many of the words together according to the names they will make up.

Ri=Light

Elri=Shine (Literally, "Make Light")

Galryn's Love interest: "Elrii" which is derived from "Shining" or "Making Light"

Gal=Son, Heir, most literally a concept meaning "Continuation of myself"

Ryn=Get up, go higher, Rise

The Warrior will therefore be something along the lines of " Go higher, my heir" or, as I am delightfully pleased with the pun "Son, Rise"

Senrith=Hushed

Ik=Not

Sothal=Blood

Hero: Senrith Galiksothal “Hushed Son Not of Blood.” A fancy way of saying, “Hushed, my adopted son.”

The Bard will literally mean "See and Use the truth," which could mean "tell the truth" or "hide the truth" or many other nuances. However, as a Bard, he will go by "Witt" until they reach his court and reveal his true name. (I am considering making "Witt" part of his real name, but not having an actual meaning in itself).

Solles=River

Nal=Man

(Double final consonant)+or=pluralized

Nallor=Men

Iknallor=Not-men

Creation Myth

The following is the means of creation in the story:

There were forms, and there was matter. The forms described, but as they did not describe anything in particular, they did very little. The matter sought form, but had no attributes. Then one of the forms was self aware. Whether it always knew or became aware, we do not know. But we know that it began to observe its surroundings. All the other forms were infinite—no matter how much of a form The Form took, there was the same amount left behind. But of The Form, there was no more, only itself. It observed its own being and saw how unique it was. So it sought to craft others of itself from the forms surrounding it.

The Form gathered many forms together and made a near replica of itself. However, its creation had nothing to hold it together, and its forms went back to their sources. Then the form looked out past the forms and saw the matter. Carefully, The Maker (for, surely, The Form was a maker by now) rebuilt its creation. Then, it reached into the matter, drew out some of its substance, and filled its new creation. The Maker rejoiced, for its creation held together, but the creation shortly died. The Maker had never seen death before, but quickly observed its effects and learned that death led to decay, and the decay ultimately pulled its forms apart again. But the matter remained bound to the forms. Then The Maker realized its creation could not survive as the only synthesis of matter and form. So, it gathered together forms and matter, and it made rocks, and trees, and earth, and sky, and all things that we know in our world. Then, seeing that it had made an entire world, The Maker gathered together, again, those forms from which it had made its replica. Again it fashioned its pieces, and again filled it with matter. Then The Maker placed its new creation on the world it had created, and named it “Nal,” which we have come to call “human.”

The Maker rejoiced in being able to see a being like itself, but saw that the Nal was lonely as well. The Maker could see the Nal, but the Nal thought it was alone, as The Maker once had. Worse, The Maker saw the Nal trying to fashion a partner for itself, but was using the wrong stuff. So, in love for Nal, The Maker made more Nallor, and placed them nearby so that they might find one another. What's more, forseeing the death of these beings, The Maker so shaped the Nallor that by coming together with one another, they could produce more of themselves. Then, seeing its work complete, the Maker stepped back, rejoicing in being no longer alone, even if its creation could not see it.

Thus we know that the Maker cares for us, and protects our race as a whole, for it delights in its creations. And it is true that we cannot see The Maker, nor do we ever directly see its works being performed. But it will never let us dwindle to nothing, and it delights to see our happiness.

Geography

Started a Map today. Here's some description, until I get a decent picture for you:

Three Major Nations (none named yet), each with a capital.

NW Capital: [Tall City] Located on a mesa
NE Capital: [City in the Shadow of the Lake] Located near a large lake named [The Big Bowl]
S Capital: [Keeper City] Located just North of what is effectively a [Not-Man] reservation called "The Mire"—a massive swamp the size of a small country.

In the Mire is the only [Not-Man] City, called [Healing]. They have managed to dry out and stabilize a section of the mire. While the men of [Keeper City] believe that the [Not-Men] number a few hundred at most, in fact there are several thousand within the city limits. This is possible only because their oppressors rarely venture into the Mire except to trade, and then encounter only outlying settlements built to hide [Healing]'s existence.

The Forest city lies to the East, bordered on the North buy [the Big Bowl] and to the South and West by [the Long River], with a great divide all around them. For [Not-Men] who cannot pass for humans, this is the only major city outside the Mire where they can be assured of their safety. In most small villages and in all the capitals, [Not-Men] are assumed to be monsters.

EDIT: Here is a version of the map (sans national borders).

Forest City

The walls of the city are intergrown trees, planted long before the memory of any man now living. Once, they must have been saplings, but the trees had long since grown into an implacable barrier around the city, over a hundred feet high. Their branches stretched out in every direction, their roots buried deep. High magicians had long ago added hardness to the tree-wall's bark so that it was all but impossible to chip away, and the trees coursed with such life that no fire could hope to consume the walls. In many ways, [Forest City] was the safest place in the world. Even its open gate, a gap in the trees connected only by the branches joining at its peak to form an arch, did not seem to invite enemies. If [Forest City] had any enemies. Indeed, it was a place of total calm. Here, all were welcome. They could study, work, or even just claim asylum, and the city opened its arms to them. All it asked in return is that you left behind something good when you left its living walls, be that research, craftsmanship, or a fond memory.

The Fantasy Race

[Not Men] are an offshoot of humanity. When born, they look relatively human, albeit with very undefined features. They grow in a state of relative androgyny (though they are sexed) until any time between ten and twenty years. Through this time, they can learn to shapeshift to a small degree for short periods of time, taking on features of animals, or forcing definition in their face to pass as human. At some point in this period, however, they are seized by a transformation. This shift locks them permanently into one form: usually a mix between human and animal, though some appear completely human. No one can be certain what causes the varying degrees people take on animal characteristics, nor which animal they seem to resemble. Dog men are not particularly loyal, nor are lion men necessarily majestic. It is also almost certain that the transformation is not by choice. It is possible that the result of the transformation is completely random, but this is pure speculation.

How Magic Works

Here's my basic idea for Magic in the world that follows

The universe as we see it consists of formed matter. There is such a thing as unformed matter, and matterless form. Matterless form functions like the Platonic forms: perfect examples of what objects represent them in the real world. However, instead of being based in nouns (like "chair-ness"), they are to be based in adjectives (like "tallness"). These forms are everywhere and infinite, but are meaningless until assigned to matter. Formless matter (a concept I believe I take from Aristotle directly) takes up no space, and is also everywhere and infinite. Magic works by applying forms to either existing objects, changing them, or to formless matter, creating objects.

At present, there will exist two forms of magic: "High Magic," which can pull matterless forms from the air, and "Low Magic" which can only pull forms from existing objects. Thus, a high magician could make a warrior stronger simply by adding strength to him, while a low magician could only move strength from one warrior to another (though he could create a superior warrior by drawing strength from many separate warriors).