The Sphaera Project

An Introduction

Sphaera is the planet for which its surrounding universe is eponymously named within metanarrative context. As such, it and its inhabitants are the focus of most story projects that take place (or are planned to take place) within the universe.

The Sphaeraverse

The Sphaeraverse as a whole is an alternate universe where magic is a force of nature with its own physical laws, and biologically-sound speculative versions of mythical creatures run wild. Critical points of divergence in history include the attainment of sapience by paravian dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous period, followed by their terraformation of and exodus to the planet Venus.

World

Sphaera itself is an Earthlike world orbiting a Sunlike star some sixty lightyears from Earth, with two natural moons and an indigenous biosphere composed of Earthly lifeforms. Its three continents, separated by a global ocean, are climatically and biomically diverse. To the north are the continents of Arokha and Eren, whereas the southern hemisphere is dominated by the titanic continent Sikano with the immense tropical island chain Thalassaterria to its east.

Magic

The Sphaeraverse is pervaded by a unique facet of quantum physics that manifests as magic. In the modern era, magic is biologically generated and metabolically expensive; however, in the future era, magic can be generated artificially and magitech is increasingly efficient. Metanarratively, the hyper-justified structure of Sphaeran magic raises new challenges that require creative solutions, and poses implications that have far-reaching narrative consequences.

Denizens

Sphaera’s biodiversity is incredibly jumbled in comparison to Earth’s; it was terraformed by harpies several million years ago. The late stage of Sphaera’s terraforming initiative, Project CINDER, was disrupted by alien forces, leading to the collapse of ancient harpy society and the unchecked diversification of the formerly controlled biosphere. This included the unsupervised evolution of a wide diversity of sophont species from experimental populations.

Narrative

This universe has a far-reaching narrative history, spanning from the mists of prehistory to the distant future where the sophonts born of Sphaera have transcended the limits of time and space. It is also the setting of Waystone, a tabletop RPG adapted from D&D 5e.

Waystone is an adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition tabletop RPG system developed specifically for the world of Sphaera. The main campaign is centered around the mysterious monolithic artifacts scattered across the planet by the ancient harpies.

Extant Projects

Tensions between the Eian Empire and Gorgonic Tribunal are extremely high. The return of a sacred gorgon artifact stolen centuries ago by Imperial pillagers may be enough to defuse the situation, but will the Federation’s representatives be able to bring it home safely before Sphaera is engulfed by its first world war?

Planned Projects

Solace Trilogy

The angels arrived without warning, and their conquest was swift. But the revenants they left in their wake will rise up to overthrow them, and their victory will be heralded by Autumn rain.

Pantheon Trilogy

A lonely traveler seeks to stop a battle whose echoes across time and space threaten to tear the universe apart, but must first face the immortal void and unbecome everything they are.

Keeper of the Watch

Not all gods are created equal. Some are born divine, some are blessed with divinity, and some... are cursed with it. Struggling to understand the power now at his fingertips, a newly minted immortal decides to run from his fate, wandering the multiverse in search of answers.

Metanarrative

Development

Intended to appear like a classical Tolkeinesque fantasy realm from afar, Sphaera and its universe were originally constructed to be a new spin on that subgenre of fantasy. The project aimed to uniquely explain many classical fantasy worldbuilding tropes and entirely invert others with new elements that coalesce smoothly into the grand design. What has developed from this base is a novel, "realistic" way of exploring how culture would develop in a fantasy world, what technology would arise, what paths they would take, etc; as well as an in-depth effort to seek novel and plausible evolutionary justifications for a slew of mythical creatures. Further still, the future eras of Sphaeraverse provide a stage upon which to explore a novel fusion of realistic space travel with the project’s unique approach to magic.

Goals & Impact

The project’s impact is divided based on the time period the reader finds themselves in. The “modern” era of Sphaera is intended to give one a sense that the world is simultaneously open and diverse while retaining the feeling of coherent closeness one gets from traditional fantasy worlds. However, in the far future era after the readvent of space travel, the project’s impact inherits the opposite form: evoking a sense of infinite possibility and majesty of scale, though in a manner intended to induce a sense of familiarity. Everything in the wider Sphaeraverse was made with a core feeling of awesome vastness, but designed specifically to retain the connectedness of the earlier era; intended not to make the audience afraid of the infinite, but rather to induce a fascinated, comfortable respect for it.