Sunday, January 2, 2011

Shatterworld

This is what happens when you're trying to study: you start thinking about everything else BUT studying! Time and time again, my concentration falls victim to the deeply disturbed twists and turns that make up my brain.

This cerebral attack is something that slyly creeps up on me. It happens when I least suspect it. I'm just sitting behind my desk, churning out summaries and schemes, when suddenly, the margins of my paper begin to take on a life of their own. The initial blank spaces rapidly begin to fill up with doodles, drawings and little sentences that practically purge themselves from my mind.

About a week ago, I started to draw the little floating islands that frequently flow out of my pen - it's almost as if it's the only thing I can draw so passionately - only this time, a whole new set of words and ideas began to accompany the drawings. The best way to combat a new addiction is to completely indulge yourself in it and in doing so, gently push it out of your system. I didn't want to keep you in the dark about my where 'thinkabouts' and because I'd like to focus on my studies again -fat chance- I thought I'd give you a taste of this new fantasy world I've created, I call it: Shatterworld...

The premise is this shattered, Skyland-ish world that consists of millions of floating islands surrounding by a vast nothingness, called the Void. Before the world had shattered, it used to be a grand kingdom. Alas, the Queen was deathly ill and there was nothing that could be done to cure her. The King made desperate pleas to the Gods to save his wife, even offering his life in return, but the Gods did not respond. The King grew more restless and decided to force an audience with the Gods. He ordered his scientists to build a machine that had the power to create doorways between worlds. In doing so, he hoped to break through to the world of the Gods and demand them to cure his wife. His son, the Prince however, strongly disapproved of the machine, thinking it were a threat to their world's existence.

Upon completition of the machine, both the King and the Prince were present at its unveiling. The Prince made one final plea with his father to stop his madness and dismantle the machine, but the King was blinded with devotion and an undying desire to save the woman he loved. The King activated the machine and consequently brought about the destruction of his world. The machine tore the fabric of their reality apart and caused the earth to shatter. As the kingdom started to disintegrate, a portal opened, but it wasn't a portal to the realm of the Gods. The Prince was sucked into it and disappeared.

The Prince was actually transported to our world, but in the process, he lost his memories. For years he stayed in our world and ended up in a foster family. But there are worlds within worlds and in between the spaces, there are doorways that connect these worlds. Ten years after the Prince initially arrived into our world, he was brought back to his homeworld, but everything has changed.

The world the Prince returns to, is now known as Shatterworld and the entire kingdom has broken up into millions of floating islands. From here on out, the story is still sort of open-ended. Although I do have some ideas where his father, the King has transformed into a sort-of demon and his mother has been placed into a crystal of some sort. Moreover, the people of Shatterworld will initially distrust the Prince, but slowly start to recognise him as their Lost Prince. Because the Prince has lived in the other world for so long, he will have a profound effect on Shatterworld, although I'm not quite sure what it'll be. He'll also need a companion or companions, but that's also still a work-in-progress.

Finally, I drew a little map of Shatterworld, what follows is a little description of each of the places:
- The Shattered Isles: this used to be the grand road that lead to the Palace, consisting of two giant statues carved out of opposing rocks, although one of the statues would be fractured and its pieces would sort of float around the place.
- The Decimated Grounds: the original site where the machine used to stand, now the lush forrest has been turned into a desolate wasteland where the Chasms roam (Chasms, I imagine, are the creatures that have appeared out of the cracks of Shatterworld).
- The Floating Spires: the crumbling ruins of the Royal Palace, composed of the floating towers and spires that made up the castle.
- Fracture City: the original village, now turned into a dystopian city.
- The Petrified Forrest & The Broken Tower: the large forrest that has transformed into a ghastly place of dead trees. In the middle of the forrest is a giant tower that has been broken in two and floating further and further apart. The tower will have some significance, although I'm not quite sure what exactly!

So, this is Shatterworld, the little imaginary world I've created while trying to study. Let me know what you think and if you've got suggestions, be my guest and comment your A's off!

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