Ryk E. Spoor
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All-Patron Reward: Things I MIGHT Write 5: Postapocalyptic Zarathan
🕑 Added 2020-10-11 16:33:00 +0000 UTCMy computer is sorta-working (needs to have a separate keyboard and mouse plugged in) but that's good enough for now, so I get to do updates!
The first story set on Zarathan, my main epic fantasy world, was the Balanced Sword trilogy (Phoenix Rising, Phoenix in Shadow,, and Phoenix Ascendant. I have finished the second, the dualogy called Godswar (The Mask of Ares and The Spear of Athena), and I'm currently working on The Spirit Warriors (tentative titles Choosing the Players, Move and Countermove, and Master of the Game).
All three of these stories, however, take place at about the same time, and in fact the protagonists of all three books cross paths at one point or another. This is set against the backdrop of the impending Chaoswar, and the events of one, The Spirit Warriors, result in the breaking of the Great Seal and, eventually, the return of magic to Earth (AKA Zahralandar). The latter event changes Earth drastically over the next few years; in some ways it's catastrophic, to a level that isn't even clear in Legend.
However, the outcome for Zarathan itself is in its own way worse. The breaking of the Seal breaks the cycle of the Chaoswars, but one is already underway at that point -- and that means the final Chaoswar continues with the disastrous force of the broken Seal beneath it. Another element is also present that was not in any prior Chaoswar, one set into motion by events in The Spear of Athena and hinted about at one point in Phoenix in Shadow. In addition, the final confrontation with Virigar which is projected to take place in the story I call The Grand Finale (although the actual title will probably be Wolf's Dominion) will have drastic and deadly consequences for many of the usual powers that blunt or repair effects of the Chaoswars.
Thus, the last Chaoswar will be the worst of all, and the results will scar Zarathan for ages to come. In effect, it will be a magical apocalypse that will cover the world, damaging the very landscape itself, leaving few places untouched.
As an author, there's actually a lot of attractive potential in writing stories set in this after-the-Magipocalypse world. The world then can combine the familiar with the strange, there's power in seeing both what has fallen and what has survived, and the "rising from the ashes" theme can drive a story like no other.
On the other tentacle, it means destroying Zarathan, which is really painful when you've spent over 40 years on it. I did outline the postapocalyptic world some years ago, so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with where it's going to go, but still, blasting the civilizations of that world down and even transforming the geography is a daunting task.
Not to say that there would not be ANY familiar threads; as one example, Kyri-Myrionar isn't going anywhere. I'm not killing her off. Though some of the Great Dragons will die, some wlll still be around, protecting their people. The geography will be damaged, but much of it will still be recognizable. Not all the victories of our heroes will be erased, although there will be prices paid. And salvaging and rebuilding a world, perhaps a better world, can be an exciting and worthwhile story in and of itself.
I'm still undecided on this one for these various reasons. Perhaps it will become clear to me after I've had the Grand Finale and see where that really leaves me.
