About the world of Seiran

Hey there, traveler!

You may have noticed there’s been a lack of BtS posts over the past month. The main reason is that I’m a lazy fuck and just managed to escape the horrors of the end term exams, so I've been busy creating a million Skyrim characters and not doing anything remotely productive. We also had a huge update for our desert fantasy WIP Shackles of the Storm (or SotS), since through the power of Twitter we managed to find a professional editor that suits both our needs and our budget. Hooray! That means I’m trying to finish self-editing the book as soon as I can (without burning out), so that sucks up a lot of creative energy.

After all that bitching and excuses, what’s this post about?

Well, I thought I’d share some info about the marvelous world we created to see what you may plunge yourself into if you decide to read SotS. I’ve labeled each section according to interest (I hope), so you don’t have to suffer through parts that bore you to death before the good stuff. Here we go!

Also, mild spoiler warning. Nothing here tells anything about the story, only the world, but if you prefer to experience it as the novel unfolds, you might want to skip this one.

For history nerds:

The first and most important country you’ll read about is the fractured desert empire that hosts most of the story-the Eight Provinces of Seiran. As you can guess from the name, it’s not really a solid, unified state, although it was some two thousand years before. The kingdom of Seiran was originally a wealthy and prosperous country with a mild continental climate until it was destroyed by a magical incident. This cataclysm manifested as a subterranean combustion that fractured the soil, burned the foliage and spelled the end of the current civilization. This era before the fall is remembered as the Old Garden by the survivors and most people longe for the lost prosperity.

After the fall, the remaining populace (called the seirs) formed eight sovereign princedoms around the remaining habitable lands. These became known as the Eight Provinces, and after a few hundred years of infighting, they formed the unstable alliance that makes up the country. These events mean a lot of things for modern-day seirs. First of all, they had a couple of generations to accommodate to their princes and independent nationality, which means there’s a lot of unspoken tension between the provinces. Second, they all carry with them the bitterness of those who lost something, even though none of the current denizens were alive when the Old Garden fell, not even their great-grandparents. This doesn’t stop them bitching about it though, and many believe a “New Garden” is coming if they do certain things or somehow redeem themselves. They are basically a nation trapped in the bargaining stage after a great loss.

For fantasy nerds:

The thing that sets Seiran apart from our world is magic, mainly two kinds. There are these people called ‘mejai’, the descendants of powerful magicians from an old era. They are capable of tapping into the invisible, untouchable force of magic that exists as a constant storm in another plane of existence. Mejai can invoke this storm, but even the mightiest of them isn’t able to control it. For practical use, they require Trinkets, relics of a magical nature that can withstand the power and create certain effects. One trinket is only capable of one effect, but the magnitude of it depends on the mejai’s power. Yes, there is a trinket that looks like a lamp, we couldn’t miss that shot. Mejais are rare, but depending on how strong they are they can pop up as street frauds or noblemen, so both end of the spectrum is accounted for.

Then, there are the spirits. In Seiran, they are called djinns, while neighboring countries call them orishas or daimons. Not much is know about them to the humans, sometimes they’re depicted as gods, sometimes they appear as demons, other times they are just really powerful mages. Most legends agree that they can control three of the four arch elements, namely fire, wind and water, although some people whisper about the existence of an earth djinn with power equal to a god in some secret location. Other than that, it’s all guessing with these guys. However, since our WIP is mainly told through the eyes of Zaira, one of these djinns, you’ll learn a bit more about them real fast.

For culture nerds:

As a finish note, let’s talk religion. The people of Seiran aren’t as devoted in their faith as their southern neighbors, but most still believe in the existence of the Great Divine, ruler and creator of everything (except for humanity) and his children, Sheezan and Shardeen. Since the Great Divine is unknowable and even nameless, religious seirs pray to his son Sheezan, the hero god of mankind and according to some its first ruler. In the legends, Sheezan used a magical saber to severe a hundred and twelve souls from his father’s spirit, thus creating the first humans. His twin sister and wife (you know, deities) Shardeen is revered as the spirit of luck, power, charm and magic, so many adventurous and ambitious people seek her favor.

Then there are six lesser deities identified with freshwater, fire, mountains, the wind, and the two moons circling the night sky. I won’t bore you with names right now, but each of them has an alternate meaning and certain professions require a belief in one or the other. Soldiers for example receive the blessing of Idar, god of stones and mountains, but also bravery, morality and strength. Three out of the six even have priestly orders devoted to following their teachings and helping the seir populace find the way back into the gods' favor to regain their lost riches.

Since this is a religion, there's no proof that either of these gods exist. Unlike some other fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings, we left them as simply beliefs rather than cannon entities. Other countries have entirely different religions, which sometimes overlap, sometimes couldn't be further apart. Having said that, there might be some truth in every myth if you search hard enough...

That’s it for today, I hope it was interesting. If you have questions or would like to know more about a certain topic, I’d be happy to follow up! So don’t be shy and take care, travelers!

Cheers,

Dar