Core Aspects

Foundation

Nightmares have haunted my dreams ever since I was a child. They come and go like the tides, sometimes swelling so fiercely that I fear falling asleep. They've been gone for awhile now, granting me nights filled with pleasant dreams, but with the world's state of affairs, losing my job, and being stuck at home, they've decided to resurface. So to take some semblance of control back, I've decided to compile my fears, my nightmares, and every distraught thought I've had during quarantine and use them as fodder for this new world.
Thus, the concept for Way of Saints was born.
Creation in it's simplest form is all I truly desire out of this world. With that in mind, however, I would like to establish and develop a rich and diverse world that can play as the backdrop for a plot I've been itching to write out. Seeing as I'll more than likely still be home and unemployed by the time NaNoWriMo comes around this November, I plan on using this world and everything I create between then and now, to aid in that story.

World Identity:
What if divinity was accessible?
The Venerated, known as Saints, are divinity made flesh. The power of Oresha solidified into blood and bone. For thousands of years the thirteen Vererated have ruled over the nations of Theilenia, teaching humanity civility and mordern discourse, while simultaneously enlightening them to the power of Oresha.
There is one crucial aspect humanity has forgotten, however, and the Venerated are all to happy to let them sit in ignorance...

For this setting and ensuing story concept, I would like to explore a combination of dark and urban fantasy. The word urban should be taken lightly here; I want there to be cities, modern ammenities, thriving (and failing) economies, globetrotting, and an interesting political sphere between the nations, kingdoms, and empires of the world. However, I see this being a completely different world than our own-- thus the need for worldbuilding and not-so-coincidently Summer Camp 2020.

Character Agency and Themes

Because you can't talk about the one without the other...

Character agency and themes are something I want to more actively focus on-- not just in my prose writing, but the foundation of this world and the worldbuilding within itself. Some of the themes I have chosen will actively shape the world and history as I craft this world. Due to this being a create-as-you-go project, I don't want to limit imagination, but instead have predefined influences or muses in which to draw ideas from. From crafting the narrative to designing the timeline, I want the themes and character agency if the world to reflect that.




The mood of this overall world affects character agency as character agency affects the mood of the world. Due to it being neutral, the agency can vary from world-changing events to very limited impacts.

Setting

TLDR ;*

Motivation

⎔ Personal fulfillment
⎔ Worldbuilding fun

Genre

⎔ Dark fantasy
⎔ AU/Urban fantasy

Scale

⎔ Singular world
⎔ Potentially some extra dimensions

Mood

⎔ Neutral Dark
⎔ Melancholic

Themes

⎔ Dualism
⎔ Prejudice
⎔ Martyrdom
⎔ Power and corruption
⎔ Names, power & significance

Conflicts

⎔
⎔
⎔
⎔
⎔

“I still get nightmares. In fact, I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I'm not. No one ever really gets used to nightmares.”

— Mark Z. Danielewski