Fels?
If you wish to read stories set in this place, try those listed under Fels Fiction here.
From my erstwhile wiki:
At some point in the year 2455 AD, the Universe of Natural Law collided with the Universe of Odylicism. In common parlance, this is known as the Collision. The two universes merged to form the universe where Natural Law and Odylicism are blended. A remnant universe was created as a result of the Collision. This remnant of the Collision is known as the Fabled Third World, something few have seen, let alone been into. The most notable of the people who had, was Aegyptus Juvens.
The merger was far from perfect however, and until Aegyptus Juvens corrected the effects of the Collision, there was much chaos in the world.
All technology based on electromagnetism ceased to function correctly. In time, it was abandoned altogether in favour of more prosaic industry or by the agency of odylicism itself.
What this rather florid introduction means is that “our” universe collided with one comprised of magic in 2455 AD, and all sorts of hell and cataclysm ensued. By no means is this unusual in fantasy fiction (cf: the Conjunction of the Spheres in the Witcher stories) but since I was nineteen or twenty when I first conceived of this milieu (a good thirty years ago) I think I can be forgiven for exuberance, and the belief that I created something special.
That youthfulness shows up in some of the names I created for people, places and events therein. Aegyptus Juvens, for example. Terrible Latin, and an especially terrible name (IMHO) for a guy viewed as a messiah by many in the world of Fels. In one iteration of his story, I abbreviated him to “AJ”, which would be more at home in checkered-shirt suburbia than a fantasy world. I’ve since renamed him to the more palatable Alais Gera.
The name Fels itself bears a mention. My younger self genuinely believed I’d invented the word, then I had a polite email later from someone who had Fels for a surname. Turns out it’s a Dutch name.
I used the name “Flamsteed” for a family in one of my stories, only for some guy named Flamsteed to email me saying he was related to Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed, and was wondering if I was writing about that individual. Oh well, there really is nothing new under the sun.
Cartography
The top is the eastern hemisphere of Fels, the bottom the western.
A few more examples of poor word euphony. Merhupneo? No, I don’t know what I was thinking with that one. In later iterations, I renamed it to Merhulneo, which rolls off the tongue easier. It’s due for a redesign too, as I have a few ideas for some tales based there. Tronapt was the setting of a (now-lost) novel-in-progress concerning a detective investigating a murder in a realm that aped the British Empire at its height. No great loss there. Marnopyre, indicated as “5” on the eastern hemisphere, is the location of a rather lengthy work that I’ll get back to eventually.
But it’s the Three Rivers that most of my Fels stories take place in, and it’s this location that I’m going to extensively redesign. Specifically, the southern part of it. There’s a few examples of poorly-thought out or juvenile-minded naming going on there.
Let battle commence
So, apart from giving the names another look-in, I’ve decided upon what kind of world Fels is, and that is, it’s a savage place where might is right, fell sorcery is rampant, and derring-do and skullduggery vie for primacy. Sword and sorcery, in simple terms. But sword and sorcery done my way. No Conans or Kull the Conquerors here. They wouldn’t last in a world like Fels, for one reason or the other.
Fels is going to be the realm of the down and dirty, the downtrodden, the enslaved, the enspelled, the enthralled, the dastardly, and the pure murderous. There’s an old tenet in creative writing that states characters do not need to be likeable, so long as they’re memorable. A few of them are likeable. I’d like to think Seusea is a girl of admirable quality, as are the band known as the Four Gladiators. But others, like Sosophra Ikananyar, Mintimer and Grausolph…well, it’s debatable even their mothers liked them at any time.
For the nonce, I’m aiming for short stories. Some, like most of the Seusea tales, form a coherent timeline, but most will be purely standalone.
And they’ll be all here, for the edification and titillation of anyone who chooses to read them.
