Lore Building: Faeries

I'm currently working on another idea for a novel (superhero deconstruction), and even though I've put a lot of work in the Heart of the Thief, I'm not going to start a rewrite until I've gotten most of the lore sorted out, so be prepared for quite a few of these posts.

An excerpt from Peter's Apocrapha: Faeries: A People of Legend

Many a housewife has told a tale of a missing ladle or a sack of flour and blamed it on faeries. Unlike hobgoblins or poltergeist, faeries were once a real race, not so different from men! Of course, they had elongated ears that somewhat resembled those of a rabbit, and there is some evidence that they had tails as well; but in general appearance, they looked like fair men and women, though taller and slenderer. They lived before the Dominion of Man, perhaps soon after the Age of the Gods met its end. The ruins of their civilization are still found towards the East of the Continent, though many archeologists acribe their elegant architecture to the Emperor's Revival, despite their construction being beyond even the skill of Pallas's best. The Lung of Rankar is thought to have been their totem. They were the first to create music, and it is said that you can still hear traces of their songs in the forgotten dells and haunted groves of the Great Woods. What happened to them is unknown, but the Corruption is blamed, for it is the bogeyman that is always cited when something is inexplicable. More likely, they suffered some sort of plague or environmental catastrophe. We will likely never know for sure.

Lore Building: The North and the Mechanics of Being

The North and the Mechanics of Being

The technological wonders coming out of the North have prompted many in our ignorant lands to regard our distant neighbors with suspicion. The Cult of Rankar refer to inhabitants of the Laurasia as heretics, and the Council of Mages spews vile propaganda about pogroms in which witches are beheaded and magical books burned. True, magic is banded in the North, for the Laurasians made a choice one-hundred years ago to rid themselves of a dependence on sorcery, instead embracing science and mathematics. This Enlightenment is responsible for the many amazing inventions Laurasia has produced: steam ships that are powered by coal; gunpowder and firearms; zeppelins that float high above in the clouds. Critics say that the Northerners have made a terrible sacrifice, trading their souls for a godless existence. This is pure hearsay; I have met Northerners, and let me tell you, they are as human as you and I. I must admit that their language is strange, and their habits and manners much different from our own, but they are not like the men of the Shivering Isles, who are doomed to degenerate into ravenous walking corpses. Were we to do as they do, then all of Capetia would benefit! Indeed, it is inevitable that magic and mages become distant memories, for if we do not match the technology of the Laurasians, we may one day call them Master, for their ambitions are plain, and it is only a matter of time before they set their eyes on the South.

--author unknown

Lore Building: The Corruption and the End of the First Age

The Corruption and the End of the First Age

Even the most ardently secular scholar among us does not dispute that there were other races before man. The reasons for their disappearance, as well as the legends regarding their powers, are the main areas of debate. According to the beliefs of the Cult of Rankar, the first people to gain sentience in the Maat were the Theodoti, who were erroneously referred to as the Gods in many heretical texts. Certainly they were a powerful people; in their veins flowed ichor, and they lived lives far longer than creatures today. Some sources claim that they were of a gigantic stature, and that they possessed magic surpassing that of even the most powerful wizard of our days. It is surmised that they discovered more than one piece of Rankar, which would explain their semi-divine status (though the Cult will bristle at my choice of words). After eons, the civilization of the Theodoti collapsed during a civil war. The Corruption, as it would later be called, is thought to have originated during these mythical days. The reason for the war is unknown, but the Corruption was the result of a defilement of one of the pieces of Rankar, for from the pieces the Theodoti drew their power. The Corruption spread to all the pieces of God that the Theodoti had in their possession, and their powers lessened, and many of them died, and those that survived retired to the deep places of the world, becoming monsters and lesser things. The vicious Barbarian God Prax is hypothesized to have been a fallen Theodoti, or at least based upon one such individual. All of this is speculation and relies upon sources that may as well be apocryphal. What truly happened in the early days of the world is lost. What is known is that the Corruption survived the First Age, and that it ended the Second Age as well. Who knows what will happen in the last days of our world?

From Tales and Legends of Set

Lore Building: Capetia

On Capetia, the Great Pearl of the Gulf 

The great port-city of the Gulf of Katan, Capetia is all that is left of the Kingdom of the Pharaohs, which once stretched across the entirety of the Dash-Margoh desert. The arrival of the Pallas Emperor, of course, brought the reign of the Pharaohs to an end, although the Kingdom was one of the few lands that willingly joined the Empire without engaging in armed conflict. Located on the south side of Capanne Mons, Capetia developed its own unique culture in the post-Empire days, as a merchant class grew rich off of trading and fishing. Ever a melting pot, a visitor to this fine jewel of a city can savor the cuisine of the world, provided they have the coin. Though long infamous for its crime rate (it is still said that one should count themselves lucky if they pass the Row with their purse still on their belt), recent efforts by the Eighteenth Duke of Massalia have proved fruitful, and the city is now as safe as any idyllic Galvanian town. Due to the shared border, tensions have always been high with Galvania, a larger yet poorer nation. Yet don't let the threat of war dissuade you; only once in four-hundred years have the two powers come to blows. The Temple of Rankar rests in the buried pyramid of Arat, around which the palace estate of the Duke and his nobility was built. Inside the Temple is the Heart of Rankar, a religious artifact of much significance to Capetians. The Pallas Emperor himself is said to have given the Heart to the Capetians for safe-keeping, and the honor of that gift still stands with the Duke and his House. 

Lore Building: Fleshing out the World of the Heart of the Thief

I'm in the nascent stages of rewriting my epic fantasy, The Heart of the Thief. After 100,000 words, I concluded that the world wasn't rich enough, nor had I invested enough time in making my fantasy stand out. Anyone writing a fantasy is going to be indebted to The Lord of the Rings; I needed to make my novel unique in a genre full of Tolkien imitators. Thus, I decided to start a series on the blog devoted to fleshing out the lore. The brief piece below discusses the cosmology of my universe (which doesn't have a name yet like "Middle-Earth" or "Narnia").

On the Creation of the Maat, and the sacrifice of Rankar

In the beginning, there was nothing. When God, known as Rankar to our race, awoke, time and space were born, and God realized his own existence. A great loneliness filled His being, and this loneliness manifested a desire for creation. In a sacrificial act, God sundered his form. Out of the hollow of His body, the three tiers of of the world were made. The Heavens were made from His skull, the Earth from His rib cage, and the Underworld from His bowels. His organs were distributed amongst the Earth. Whoever found a piece of God was granted the Gift of Rankar--awareness of their own being. How many pieces of God existed is not known, though since Man is thought to have been made in His image, some scholars believe that for every organ of Man, Rankar left a corresponding piece. What we do know is that our sentience is tied to the Heart, which lies in the buried pyramid of Arat, housed in the Temple of God. Were it to suffer the Corruption, the quick diminishment of our race would ensue. Soul-less husks we would become: Lilu, creatures doomed to madness and slow decay. For this reason, the Heart shall never leave the Temple. For any but a Priest to speak of It is forbidden. Any man who does not heed this edict is sentenced to death, and dishonor follows his house for ten generations. So shall this Age continue, and the evolution of Man be protected.

--From the Vulgate of Herodotus 
 

Unused Lyrics from Kid Rock's New Orleans

I'm going down to New Orleans, gonna find me a hot dog stand

I'm going down to New Orleans, gonna eat as many dogs as I can
 
Down in New Orleans, I'm gonna visit a lotta hot dog stands


When I get to New Orleans, someone gonna treat me right

When I get to New Orleans, I'll eat hot dogs through the night

Down in New Orleans, many hot dogs will lose the fight


Mama won't you tell me, how many dogs can you eat?

Mama won't you tell me, how many dog can you eat?

If you won't tell, mama, then you can smell my feet


Going to the bayou, with a hundred dollars in my hand

Going to the bayou, gonna live it up like a man

Going to the bayou, gonna eat all the dogs in the land


Somebody better help me, I think I'm gonna poop my pants

Somebody better help me, I think I'm gonna shit my pants

If somebody don't help me, I'm really gonna crap my pants


When I get to the toilet, I'm gonna find sweet relief

When I get to the toilet, I'm gonna find my soul's peace

Down in the toilet, I'm gonna make hot dog beef


Forgive me Jesus, I didn't mean to eat so bad

Forgive me Jesus, I didn't mean to wear plaid

Forgive me Jesus, I didn't mean to make you mad


When you get to New Orleans, run from the hot dog man

When you get to New Orleans, run from the hot dog man

Down in New Orleans, stay away from that hot dog man