Building a Universe
Figuring out the Whats and Wheres.
I finally managed to get back into drawing my current comic after the Christmas break, after struggling to get back into the routine. Horribly, working on it just reminds me how much I want to be drawing and writing this project instead. My slow comic ‘Haptic’ has a very different vibe. It’s still a story I want to tell but I worry that I’ll end up abandoning it eventually. I hope not!
Since I’ve been working out how to structure this story’s universe to best fit the characters and narrative elements I want to fit in, and have consequently been dying to organise and write about it, I’m laying out some of the land today for anyone interested to read. For context, I’m writing a piece of dark fantasy fiction about a moody female knight, a cult of dragon-worshippers and the devastation of their eldritch abominations.
Alternate Earth
The story takes place on an alternate earth, a world very similar to ours but deviated in its history and in the structure of its surrounding universe. In Soulsian, like many other fantastical settings, the universe consists of multiple planes. The main planes of existence I’m focusing on are:
The Material Plane
Where humanity resides, on the planet earth, and where the endless mystery of space stretches its arms.
The Celestial Realm
A realm of stars and light, inhabited by fae and dragon-like creatures. This place is detached from the material realm, its residents tasked with watching over the material universe. It is dream-like and rich in aether - a substance connected to all living beings and primary source of magick. I’ll elaborate later on.
The Dark
I didn’t actually have a name for this place yet, but “the daaaaark” fits pretty well. Like the celestial realm, it is separate from the material world. This place is, obviously, dark. Space is of course dark too, but this is a deeper, more unsettling shade. Where light is absent, the void festers and thrums and is very much up to no good.
I like thinking of these planes best in two dimensions (because trying to place them in three-dimensional space gives me a headache). Like the map above, the celestial realm and the dark kind of surround the known universe like a halo of opposing forces.
The Veilpool
The Veilpool is a large shallow, mirror-like pond existing in the celestial realm. It is used by those aforementioned dragons and fae to observe. Observing the universe and its planets and its various life forms is how many of these creatures spend their long, long lives. To watch, document, file, study. This is the epitome of existence for some. Why? Well why do we do the things we do? Because we like it.
A huge part of this story owes itself to the rash decisions of one of these dragons, and how she tore apart her own soul to pass through the Veilpool, to live as a human. I’ll come back to tell you about Trivia another time, however. Her tale has a few kinks to work out yet.
In theory, if there is a Veilpool on one end of the spectrum, you might expect there to be one at the other end too. The Dark’s pool remains inaccessible, thankfully.
Aether
I’ve been using ‘aether’ as part of my online usernames for a good few years now. Originally my user as an artist was aethermage. I swapped this for the slightly more professional Aether Illustration in the last couple of years. I feel connected to the concept, I think, of something magical permeating everything we see, that is itself unseen. It’s like a kind of analogy for seeing the magic in life that we often miss. All the lovely moments that easily pass us by if we fail to notice and appreciate them. I struggled a lot with my mental health through my 20s and that’s the kind of mentality that kept me going, so I kind of love the thought of having a word for it.
In Soulsian, aether is a bit more like its alchemical definition. It fills empty space, but also thrives and multiplies in living beings. It is sparse to non-existent in the deceased. In my last post, I mentioned ‘Dust’. The Northern Lights’ Dust was a big inspiration for this manifestation of aether. The way that Dust gathers and moves is a lot like how I imagine aether behaving, though aether isn’t itself conscious.
I’m also leaning towards the concept of aether being the base component of a soul, as souls in this world exist and can be manipulated.
In terms of magick, aether is the fuel. It can be drawn from, but there are consequences to this. One might draw from their own life force to perform a spell or a ritual, at the risk of their own health. It can be both a wonderful and terrible power. This ability is limited - humans cannot see or draw from aether, though this doesn’t mean they wont try.
The Monstergarden's mages are physically changed for and by their use of magic, which prompts me to wonder how my dragons might reflect their magick use physically, and how a human attempt might end up. I already have an idea for the latter, but for the dragons this is something I’d like to explore soon. Thinking of a dragon drained of aether reminds me of the poor Podlings in The Dark Crystal. What a sorry sight it must be.
That’s all I have today. Happy (or Sad) Monday, depending on how you handle it!
Thanks for reading.