The Realms of Ryndaria
Scope
The motivation behind building The Realms of Ryndaria
Ryndaria is a world like Middle Earth - an immersive world that slowly but surely grows into something that people will enjoy for generations to come.
It's a world where the underlying assumptions are deeply theologically and philosophically in line with my beliefs - but still accessible to anyone who wants to come along for the ride. My goal is to be a good storyteller first, and a good writer second, but always to seek Truth through my writing.
The realms of Ryndaria are a world that is complex and messy and a little bit difficult.
Ryndaria is a world that challenges the dominant cultural assumptions of the modern age.
Ryndaria is a superversive world: one that builds up instead of tearing down.
The goal of the project
The realms of Ryndaria are large and deep enough to write stories about for the rest of my natural life.
I want to create a world that inculcates in others a deep sense of wonder about, not only my creation, but also God's Creation, and points my readers to the original Author.
The Realms of Ryndaria's Unique Selling point
The Realms are three layered dimensions, connected by landscape and the changes wrought on that landscape by mortals' Talents (and also dragons).
There is an interconnectedness and yet a unique flavor to each realm; they interact and change one another and the people that live in them without actually directly influencing them.
The Dragomir is becoming somewhat of a character in its own right - the dreaming world, which may someday wake up.
Dragons have a fairly unique role here - the original sentinels and Guardians, who keep the realms in the delicate balance between interaction and isolation.
Then there's the weirdness of the Lost, the mortals who give themselves up to their power and become vessels of elemental might, and the subsequent generations of humanoid stone-kin, forest folk, etc.
There's a lot to love about the realms of Ryndaria.
Theme
Genre
My genre is somewhere in the liminal space between Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, and (sometimes) Magical Realism.
What I mean by this is that the scope is epic, the themes and tone are Tolkien-esque, and the everyday lives of my characters tend toward normal - with occasional magical weirdness. And every so often, they get sucked into world-changing events . . . literally world-changing.
Reader Experience
The tone of the stories set in my world tend toward High Fantasy - think 'The King of Elfland's Daughter', 'The Lord of the Rings', or 'Sabriel'. But as a genre, I would say most of my stories fall into noblebright territory; even if the characters are put through awful situations, they don't give up trying to be better people just because their situation sucks.
Reader Tone
The tone of the Ryndarin realms is noblebright. Situations might get pretty dark - in one story, literally human sacrifice - but there is always some redeeming aspect to suffering; it's never misery for the sake of it.
Since everyone has the potential to make the world change around them, wonder is a pretty large aspect of day-to-day living for those with the right personality.
Recurring Themes
Recurring themes:
1) For every decision, there is a consequence - good, bad, or unforeseen.
2) Sacrifice and suffering lead to glory.
3) Choosing the difficult good over the easy or immediately gratifying evil will always be rewarded . . . eventually.
Character Agency
Agency is a major theme in Ryndaria. You see, each of the three realms has a differing level of agency associated with its people - Aldaelians have the most agency, as 90% of them or more are followers of the Way; Ryndarin are able to choose change, but don't always understand the full scope of their abilities; and Dragomirians' actions are bounded by immutable Law.
But changes to the world are basically what the reams are about. The landscape literally changes because of choices that people make - good, bad, and questionable.
Focus
Drama
The Cataclysms are probably the most dramatic event in the Ryndarin timeline - and the most traumatic.
The King of Five Countries, who set the Cataclysms in motion, and who had been imprisoned at great cost, has escaped.
The people of Aldael have cut off contact with the lower realms, leading to a dearth of people who know the Way - making it impossible for anyone to use their god-given Talents and thus halting their progress - technological, theological, and economical. They're stuck in a Dark Age.
Some of the Cataclysm's ecological impacts are setting up to become much, much worse.
The generals of the King of Five Countries are actively working to destroy the new forms of government that the people of Ryndaria had put into place; they intend to burn the world to ashes both literally and figuratively, and rebuild everything from the start.
With the King of Five Countries loose in the Dragomir, the Dragomirians are being tempted to prey on those of the higher realms, who necessarily spend time there in sleep. There's about to be an epidemic of nightmares - the kind that can kill the dreamer.