Mezzanine Stairs

We’re now sitting around mid-2001. I stumbled upon RPG Maker 95 around this time, and suddenly it seemed as though I might be able to assemble something vaguely resembling a video game version of my story.

I set about experimenting with this program, and rapidly discovered that though it was more than sufficient to handle the basic ’90s-style RPG infrastructure that my game would need, its interface was discouragingly tedious to use. Additionally, I realized that it would be exceedingly lame to use the prefabricated character art that came with RPG Maker 95 — never mind that I’d barely considered, at this point, what any of my characters would actually look like.

In short, I gave up on the video game idea for a while, and returned to thoughts of writing. If my prose was lousy (it was), I’d be better served by practicing and improving my skills rather than investing time into something that would probably prove disappointing.

So it’s 2002, and I’m focused on documenting the nature and whereabouts of the peoples and nations of what would become the Valelands, namely the folk who linger about Boronach and its adjacent realms. Let’s talk about Voronese history a bit, shall we?

If you haven’t yet guessed, the realm of “Boronach” which I’ve mentioned previously became Vorona (and even novice dabblers into the evolution of language might guess why I changed that name and many others besides). I’ll hold off on that, as it entails more of the later history of my writing rather than the world itself as it was at this stage.

After establishing the history of Boronach, I saw little reason to change it, even as the story evolved further, and so much of what follows can still be considered the history of Vorona as it is in World’s End.

I wrote the realms of Emyrech, Vyrani, and Artarond (which became Emeria, Masori, and Atalon) into existence at this time, as offshoots of the Bronati (Bronoi) realm established by the great tribal leader Arakhym, whose character survives within World’s End as Arkany, the first ancestor of the Voronese royalty.

Various power struggles took place amongst these nations, with mighty Boronach alternately subjugating its neighbors or grudgingly accepting their independence. “Power struggles” might underemphasize the nature of the continual Valelands conflicts as I then conceived of them. A lasting peace between these realms was only reached a couple hundred years before the events of World’s End.

My writing about Boronach at this time more resembled Tolkien’s chronologies in the Lord of the Rings appendix than any narrative. Further derivative were the abundant Tolkien-esque and specifically Quenya-style names I used, particularly among Boronachian rulers: Vyrar, Maromar, Tenochir, to name a few. I can only assume I envisioned Boronach to be like Gondor, with a more glorious imperial past and a comparatively mundane present.

Then there’s Ecthain, God of the Bronoi: he too, was first conceived of around this time, as a rallying figure and impetus for the union of the Valelands peoples, along with his opponent Haxis, who I simply named the Demon-King (creative!), and who led a union of evil against the forces of humanity.

Ecthain was the name I gave to the Swordsman who put an end to the Demon-King. A cult which eventually grew into a religion was established around this guy — I think I envisioned him as a mortal who ascended into godhood. Within the legend, as it was, the Ecthanians claimed that the Demon-King might eventually return, and that a Holy Swordsman would likewise return to smite him.

In the current timeline of World’s End, it’s not entirely clear that any canonical Ecthanian prophecies exist regarding the resurrection of either a Demon-King or a Holy Swordsman. We could perhaps note Milan Vaclav’s ramblings about wastebound god-creatures arising to harry mankind. It’s possible that such ideas linger within apocryphal Ecthanian literature, at the very least.

I drew up a mythology for this world as elaborate as it was unoriginal! I’ll avoid delving into it any further apart from detailing the original Bronati deity in chief: Karrov the Nomad. Ecthain, savior of Boronach, was in later years regarded variously as the son of this guy, or of his brother Agama. The ancient Bronati, by and large, ceased to worship their ancient god after Ecthain’s antics, though he still remained important to their neighbors.

In the current World’s End timeline, the Khiendai of Tierva and Niendam pay homage to both of these gods, and indeed recognize within their mythology that the two of them merged somehow as the “Wanderer at Rest”, Agama-Karrov. This is the deity that is sculpted at the rear of the Tiervan Court in Chapter 3.

But enough with desultory lingering on background trifles for now, right? Let’s move onto exploring the first extensive rendering of the World’s End story.