the Avaloria Rex
While it might seem like Avaloria is an idyllic place of harmony and peace at first, there are a number of threats in this recursion. The most obvious is the wildlife. While it may seem odd that a designed digital system like the Avaloria would have flora and fauna, especially those of a dangerous nature, these things simply represent the various sub-programs and algorithms that maintain the overall system. It is worth remembering that the Avalorians themselves are little different in this respect. In fact, the majority of Avalorian wildlife is dangerous to some degree, either through its own predatory nature or defenses evolved against predators. Such scourges range from skiel, vicious, rodent-like scavengers that have far too many claws and mouths, to classic wyverns. There are even reports near the wastes that great lizard-like creatures have taken to the sky, breathing fire and raging. The purpose and origins of these dragons, for that is what they appear to be, is unknown. While the Avalorian clerics hope they are a sign that their gods have returned and sent these creatures to protect them from the encroaching darkness many fear that they are twisted creations of the invading evils representing their imminent doom.
The waste itself, a great crater where one of the three great towers once rooted itself along the ring of Avaloria, presents numerous threats of its own. For experienced recursion travelers, the most obvious would seem to be the fact that the damage is so severe that at its nadir it is open to the Strange itself. This opening is a gaping wound through which beings of the Strange have begun crawling into Avaloria. Fortunately, the wildlife of Avaloria is no more hospitable to these invaders than they are any other visitor that leaves the relative safety of the major cities and the thoroughfares that connect them. The result has been an increased level of danger in the wilds and traveling between cities, but has kept the world from being entirely overrun for the time being.
The larger problem that the wast has presented, however, is that the semi-corporeal nature of the Avalorians themselves meant that, with sufficient distance from the origin, the physical destruction was less harmful than the magical and psychic emanations. The coherent light from which these tortured souls were once made was embedded with the destructive energies and emanations of agony that rushed outward twisting them into beings of clinging, oily energy which coils in on itself like smoke. These tortured beings can barely stand light and seem to be driven by a hunger for the pain of others. The result is a brutal existence. What "society" has formed is a mockery of the Avalorians they once were; organized into small cults that carve shelters into the face of the crater from which they range for victims to capture and feed upon. In a dark irony, the twisted Avalorians seem to have a higher rate of the Spark than their healthy cousins. Though, these dark savants are most likely to turn their eyes to bleak goals like destroying the celestial sphere that creates daytime in the sphere or quenching the light of their untouched cousins in an orgy of suffering.
Ironically, however, the greatest threat to Avaloria may ultimately come from a few of those who are untouched by such desolation but have gained the spark. While many Avalorians who have gained the spark have helped lead the society into brighter and better directions a few members of nearly any sentient race will succumb to greed and avarice.
So... no story is interesting without some source of conflict or danger. Worlds without some threat, internal or external, are boring until some force is put into play that makes the balance precarious. So, when worldbuilding, it behooves writers to include those threats and aspects.
It also behoves us to, y'know, actually write them down. You can see some of the groundwork for the things referenced here in my previous post about the Avaloria Rex, but I simply didn't get them written into that post before its time came. So, here it is as a part 2. Obviously, there are still things I'm referencing without expanding on them. For example, the Avalorians are beings of coherent light. It seemed fitting for a world of psionics and magic. I plan on giving the Avalorians a racial background that can be taken and, possibly, even a foci. Though, I included Bears a Halo of Fire in the world foci to provide a way to simulate that. It might be worth replacing that with Bears a Shard of the Sun.
Another bit that I've considered, but not yet had the time to explore fully, is the idea of the fallen. Those "awakened' Avalorians who stumble down a path of greed and lust. The edges of this idea are why I ended up including the Siphons Power focus... but it's an idea that needs significant development.
While it might seem like Avaloria is an idyllic place of harmony and peace at first, there are a number of threats in this recursion. The most obvious is the wildlife. While it may seem odd that a designed digital system like the Avaloria would have flora and fauna, especially those of a dangerous nature, these things simply represent the various sub-programs and algorithms that maintain the overall system. It is worth remembering that the Avalorians themselves are little different in this respect. In fact, the majority of Avalorian wildlife is dangerous to some degree, either through its own predatory nature or defenses evolved against predators. Such scourges range from skiel, vicious, rodent-like scavengers that have far too many claws and mouths, to classic wyverns. There are even reports near the wastes that great lizard-like creatures have taken to the sky, breathing fire and raging. The purpose and origins of these dragons, for that is what they appear to be, is unknown. While the Avalorian clerics hope they are a sign that their gods have returned and sent these creatures to protect them from the encroaching darkness many fear that they are twisted creations of the invading evils representing their imminent doom.
The waste itself, a great crater where one of the three great towers once rooted itself along the ring of Avaloria, presents numerous threats of its own. For experienced recursion travelers, the most obvious would seem to be the fact that the damage is so severe that at its nadir it is open to the Strange itself. This opening is a gaping wound through which beings of the Strange have begun crawling into Avaloria. Fortunately, the wildlife of Avaloria is no more hospitable to these invaders than they are any other visitor that leaves the relative safety of the major cities and the thoroughfares that connect them. The result has been an increased level of danger in the wilds and traveling between cities, but has kept the world from being entirely overrun for the time being.
The larger problem that the wast has presented, however, is that the semi-corporeal nature of the Avalorians themselves meant that, with sufficient distance from the origin, the physical destruction was less harmful than the magical and psychic emanations. The coherent light from which these tortured souls were once made was embedded with the destructive energies and emanations of agony that rushed outward twisting them into beings of clinging, oily energy which coils in on itself like smoke. These tortured beings can barely stand light and seem to be driven by a hunger for the pain of others. The result is a brutal existence. What "society" has formed is a mockery of the Avalorians they once were; organized into small cults that carve shelters into the face of the crater from which they range for victims to capture and feed upon. In a dark irony, the twisted Avalorians seem to have a higher rate of the Spark than their healthy cousins. Though, these dark savants are most likely to turn their eyes to bleak goals like destroying the celestial sphere that creates daytime in the sphere or quenching the light of their untouched cousins in an orgy of suffering.
Ironically, however, the greatest threat to Avaloria may ultimately come from a few of those who are untouched by such desolation but have gained the spark. While many Avalorians who have gained the spark have helped lead the society into brighter and better directions a few members of nearly any sentient race will succumb to greed and avarice.
~~*~~
So... no story is interesting without some source of conflict or danger. Worlds without some threat, internal or external, are boring until some force is put into play that makes the balance precarious. So, when worldbuilding, it behooves writers to include those threats and aspects.
It also behoves us to, y'know, actually write them down. You can see some of the groundwork for the things referenced here in my previous post about the Avaloria Rex, but I simply didn't get them written into that post before its time came. So, here it is as a part 2. Obviously, there are still things I'm referencing without expanding on them. For example, the Avalorians are beings of coherent light. It seemed fitting for a world of psionics and magic. I plan on giving the Avalorians a racial background that can be taken and, possibly, even a foci. Though, I included Bears a Halo of Fire in the world foci to provide a way to simulate that. It might be worth replacing that with Bears a Shard of the Sun.
Another bit that I've considered, but not yet had the time to explore fully, is the idea of the fallen. Those "awakened' Avalorians who stumble down a path of greed and lust. The edges of this idea are why I ended up including the Siphons Power focus... but it's an idea that needs significant development.
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