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Deseran
Scope
The motivation behind building Deseran
Deseran began out of a desire to write desert fantasy, with Kersir. As I developed the Kersir region and explored some familiar and unfamiliar cultures for inspiration, I realized how fascinating it could be to pull inspiration from real-world cultures and began to expand my view of both worldbuilding as a craft and Deseran in itself.
Now, Deseran has come to be a vast playground in which I can explore different cultures, different worldviews, and different philosophies in practice. Theology and worldview are important topics to me, and I love the opportunity fantasy provides to explore those topics (and their specific facets) in a flexible and non-threatening environment (both for myself and for readers).
The goal of the project
I would eventually like to publish a good number of short stories, novellas, and full novels set in different parts of Deseran (and, in fact, I have a few projects in the works already), but for now I'm mostly in the exploration stage and I'm happy with that. Deseran allows me to take what I learn about the real world and its history and worldviews and play with it in a fictional setting where I can work through ideas on my own terms.
I think it would also be cool to make Deseran playable for D&D. As a far distant idea, it would also be awesome to see Deseran brought into 3D as the setting for video games.
Deseran's Unique Selling point
I love Deseran's diversity. It's not evident in World Anvil yet (I haven't copied all of my scattered notes into articles), but there are already so many cultures with so many wildly different peoples and cultures and values and religions, and it's fascinating to see them 1) grow on their own and 2) interact with one another. Deseran is an outlet to explore a world that is entirely my own, and yet, through that fictional world, to explore our own world and what makes us tick.
Theme
Genre
Most of Deseran is at a more-or-less ancient standard of technology. There are exceptions--bicycles here, plumbing there, muskets even further over there--but it's primarily ancient (or medieval at the latest).
Deseran is a fantasy world, so there is magic in various portions of it. The primary magic systems (as of yet) are found in Eilis, Piradin, and Teraco, though some of the natural abilities of certain races would also be seen as magic. There is also supernatural intervention (according to the Arbans), though some would also call that magic.
Reader Experience
Because Deseran incites such wanderlust and fascination for me, I hope that it produces the same feelings for readers. I also hope for Deseran and its cultures to provoke thought and help readers to understand worldviews different from their own and to consider their own more consciously.
Reader Tone
Tone is somewhere in the middle. Certain areas are quite dark (e.g. Eilis, The Ayan, Alger), while others are quite bright (e.g. Rasell, Lower Virilia), but all have their virtues and their fatal flaws. All are intended to feel "real," with none getting everything exactly right or completely wrong.
Recurring Themes
Community comes up a lot, since that's a topic that's important to me personally. Faith, also, and its impact on culture (for good or ill) is something I explore a lot through Deseran's cultures.
Focus
Find your way!
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