Tales of Illnora Hub/Ideas for Plots and Stories
From Create Your Own Story
If you have any ideas for plot lines or directions for potential story ideas, put them here.
Some General Thoughts I had...
Genre: Fantasy
Base Concept: Tales of Illnora isn't so much a single story, as it is a collection of stories that take place over a number of different time periods on a single world (hence why I called it Tales of Illnora, and why I called it a mega-story). Basically, the idea is that each story (or group of stories), is its own general narrative and that they are linked by the setting and the specific time period. Each story will have some RPG elements (Classes, choice of race, etc), and will have some degree of sandboxing to it. If the stories are in the same time period, then they could interact and overlap with one another (difficult to setup but possible).
There are four time periods that I currently got planned (Only got 1 time-period link established, willing to cut them down or alter them) from which stories can branch out from:
The First Empire Era (era where Dragons ruled the world and are the only playable race).
The Great Cataclysm (Short period where the world is breaking due to Dragons messing with forces they can't understand).
the Golden Era (Humans rule the world, and dragons are shadows of their former selves).
the Silver Age (Dragons nearly extinct, but their bloodlines are strong enough that Dragonborn occasionally pop up throughout the lineage of the different humanoid races that are descended from Golden Age).
Of the four ages, I currently only have one age officially established (IE with blue links) and I have only started working on one story for it, with that story being ToI -- The Dragon Master.
Tone & Mood: Varies according to the time period and specific story, but in general, all stories should have parts that are serious and parts that are funny. Some should be more serious and more drama laden than others, but there is a time and a place for each in every story. In the Dragon Master, the tone is supposed to be at parts sober, and at other parts funny... and at other parts disgusting or horrifying (we are dealing with slavery after all).
To what extent has technology reached in the the other/various ages besides the golden one? Pre-industrial by our standards, still slagging behind in their equivalent of a technological dark age, or something else? The presence of an ever encroaching darkness and magic would suggest that scientific development would be substantially hampered. Why make a musket when you can conjure a fireball? ---UnassumingCivilian, March, 6, 2019
Theme: Again, varies depending on the time period and the specific story being told. In the Dragon Master, the themes are about the relationships between humans and dragons.
--Durzan 19:03, 3 March 2019 (UTC)
Questions and Answers
To what extent has technology reached in the the other/various ages besides the golden one? Pre-industrial by our standards, still slagging behind in their equivalent of a technological dark age, or something else? The presence of an ever encroaching darkness and magic would suggest that scientific development would be substantially hampered. Why make a musket when you can conjure a fireball? ---UnassumingCivilian, March, 6, 2019
Answers:
1. Q: To what extent has technology reached in the the other/various ages besides the golden one? Pre-industrial by our standards, still slagging behind in their equivalent of a technological dark age, or something else?
A: The First Empire Era is a long time period that has multiple tech levels within it. In the time period that led up to the Great Cataclysm (~100 to 0 years BGC), Dragons are at the peak of their technological development, which would be the equivalent to advanced Post-Modern Tech, but pre-FTL Future-tech. Unfortunately, Dragons never achieved space travel or dimensional hopping naturally. Humans are basically cave-men and haven't been uplifted and taught by the Gods at this point.
The Great Cataclysm Era is an era of technological darkness, as it is a time period where all or most of societal infrastructure is destroyed. At the beginning, Dragons have the same tech level as they did in the first empire era, but the Cataclysm quickly reverts them back to stone age or worse, and once they are banished... its basically game over for them... at least for the time being. Meanwhile, humans are entering the equivalent of stone age tech, and eventually progress through bronze age.
The Golden Age is basically the magitech equivalent to the industrial revolution in tech level, barring certain exceptions. Certain areas are far more advanced, while other areas are far less advanced. At least... at the start of it.
The Silver Age takes place after another technological and magical regression, as a result it is far closer to traditional medieval tech or traditional fantasy tech than the Golden Age (although both ages do share similar warfare gear such as swords, axes, crossbows, armor, etc).
2. The presence of an ever encroaching darkness and magic would suggest that scientific development would be substantially hampered. Why make a musket when you can conjure a fireball?
Your question implies that magic and science are inherently at odds on Illnora, which isn't always the case. Haven't you heard of the phrase that says that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science?"
Despite its apparent inconsistent nature Magic is actually a natural force (separate and distinct from the other fundamental forces... or possibly even the source of the other fundamental forces) that has a complex array of consistent behaviors behaviors and limits that can be discovered, studied, and understood. IE, magic can be described through scientific theories and laws. It just is so complicated that it seems mystical, even to the magic users that are trying to unravel all its secrets. There are many magic users who study magic with a scientific mind and understanding, and these folks are often called wizards. In fact, its because of these wizards that humans and dragons have advanced to the point they are in technology. Whether you are supposedly drawing your power from your own emotions, logic, or the Gods themselves, Magic functions the same for all who use it (though their understanding of magic and the state of mind needed to cast spells may vary wildly). The field of scientific study that attempts to study and analyzes magic would be Arcanology (The study of the Arcane... which in Illnora is basically synonymous with Magic), and those that do so in depth would be called Arcanologists... or wizards.
So, why would you make a musket when you can conjure a fireball? Because, simply put, a fireball is expensive and taxing and is an AOE effect, while a musket by comparison is cheap and cost effective and is far more precise. Different tools for different jobs. And magic is expensive, taxing, extremely dangerous, and requires lots of intense study in order to do stuff competently. You see, only about 10% of the entire human population actually has the genetic traits necessary to manipulate mana and thus be able to actively use magic (Dragons on the other hand were inherently magical in nature and almost all of them had the genes necessary use magic, but the Cataclysm messed with their magical nature, limiting that vast potential down to a mere trickle), meaning that it is in constant demand in a world where it is the primary source of technology. Your average peasant isn't capable of learning spells, but is capable of learning how to use a crossbow or a musket reasonably quickly.
That being said, firearms and similar weapons don't exist on Illnora for the meta reason of not wanting to ruin the flavor of a fantasy world.
