(Federal Whatever's Warning: the following presentation is not representative of the narrative qualities of the actual stories. People who are allergic to narratively illustrated points should avoid prolonged exposure.)
Some journeys start with some unbelievable twists. Mine did, in a way. It started with an old, bearded and bald wizard in a light brown robe. You must think I'm kidding, but I'm not. And—out of all possible places—the wizard was sitting in a tavern.
Why it had to be a tavern? Why it had to be a storm?
The wind howled outside, the rain drummed on the roof, and the dim fire light cast flickery shadows on the tavern walls. A familiar scene—familiar in an ill way!
I don't know why I react like this, but I have to say things aren't meant to happen like this. I knew it in my bones. Yet, it seems, things do happen this way. It happened to me.
The shock and confusion seemed to fade a bit. I wasn't quite sure what had happened yet, but I was busy putting the pieces together. I wanted to proceed somehow. But, by the way—where did I start?
Let me offer my apologies. I can't remember much of how I got here. I think I was reading something—I think, anyway—before something else happened. I'm not sure what it really was that happened, but somehow, I think I ended up to an another world.
I think I got whisked through time and space into this weather-beaten, cold, big city. I mean, I can't remember where I'm from, but I'm sure I'm not from here. This place is like something out of old stories. I feel I'm not from this place. Not originally.
It was raining here, and it was getting a bit windy. All I could hear was the rhythmic creak of a tavern sign, swinging in wind. So what else was there to do? Isn't this what everyone does? Follow the clues, or just go to a place where one can get drunk?
“You have seen me before, have you?” the wizard said with a kind smile and raised his eyebrow. I had the feeling he was fully expecting whatever expression appeared on my face, but he studied it anyway with great interest. “You haven't really seen me. You just think you have.” I've got to admit, he did seem familiar up until that. “Maybe it is that you just ended up here because you thought this was the right place to go. You like familiar things. You saw a tavern, you entered it. You saw a wise-looking wizard, you talked to him. Both seemed like bright ideas.”
It all started to make an eerie but funny kind of sense...
The old man leaned forward, and rummaged his pockets for a while, and apparently couldn't find what he was looking for. I could have sworn he was looking for a pipe. Then he straightened up and looked me in my eyes with that knowing, understanding gaze.
“You seek, in your heart, what is familiar to you.” The wizard smiled. “That is good. Familiar is good. I seem familiar, and you find that comforting. This place looks familiar, and you find that comforting. But to me, it seems to me you have forgotten two things. What is familiar is not always what you expect. And most importantly, what is familiar is not always something you can handle blindfolded, with the other hand tied behind your back...”
So what really is Avarthrel?
Basically, the situation is this: Avarthrel is Yet Another Fantasy World. I try to keep Avarthrel as a "typical" fantasy world, while exploring some themes that are not quite typical in the genre. (Or perhaps are very typical in genre indeed.) My stories are meant to be amusing at a certain level, and even at times thoughtful.
So why did I embark on this journey? Basically, because I wanted to make a new fantasy world. Yes, it really was as simple as that. In summer 2005 I just thought, "darn it, I'm bored, I'd better start writing some fantasy stuff! I'd better just make a whole new world!"... and thus, the world was born.
I'm sorry I don't have anything more grandiose to say, but in this case, the origins of the world couldn't get more boring. I really did just decide to start writing. I had not been writing a whole lot, and realised that writing stuff was really what I had been generally at least a little bit good at, and decided to get on with it. I like fantasy, so I decided to write fantasy. It really is this simple.
I did not create the world entirely out of nothing and without any preparation - or actually, in a way, I did. This is not actually the first time I've written fantasy. About 10 years ago, I wrote some horrible fantasy stories. When I really thought of Avarthrel, I realised some of the things we see in these stories are just much more mature and much better thought of versions of what I did when I was a kid. The difference between these two is staggering.
Unlike my childish stories of years past, I wish to actually explore thoughts and themes in these stories. I try to put some ideas in here. I try to actually think a little bit when writing; I hope it makes people think, too. The above rambling is a short piece on the very nature of the world: In certain moments I'm writing decidedly clichéd fantasy, but really, I like clichés at times. What's wrong with a few of them every now and then, really? The world is supposed to have some highly familiar elements. In my writing, I try to embrace the Good Clichés. I try to invent something new with them. But please, don't go away just because there's familiar ground to cover.
Avarthrel, as a world, has lent itself pretty well for all sorts of thinking - even without specific planning. I started with some heroic fantasy, thought up some monster-killing and thinking, a bit of a romance, urban thief hijinks, tales of elves and magical phenomena that don't make sense... and more is on the way. My current vision is to keep the world in a familiar fantasy ground, with light "steampunkish" influences (if you can call movable type an advanced invention); there's certainly places for all sorts of fantasy stuff in Avarthrel, in one form or another. It's a planet ripe for all sorts of stuff, and I've barely touched two small continents.
Also, while the current stories are under a "non-Free" (as GNU project would say) Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license, my intention is to make the world pretty much open. There's precious few open fantasy worlds there. The reason I chose the BY-ND license is basically because I believe my stories shouldn't be changed, even for better. Fiction doesn't need to change.
For the world, however, I'm planning a different license. The current plan is to make the canonical description of the world is under CC Attribution-ShareAlike license. This would only cover the text/map/etc material found in that package; making original stories, RPG adventures, whatever, would be okay under any license provided attribution is given. And the catch is, of course, that in order to make your own material canonical, we need to consolidate the facts back to the description.
For news on various kinds of stuff, please see the Avarthrel blog - weird stuff that might or might not be interesting, front-row seats to find out some truly insignificant (or, indeed, significant?) thoughts from the Clueless Young Author. I bet some people will find that rubbish priceless in long run, and I definitely think it's fun to do that too.