Further thoughts

I've now commented at some length in my collection of notebooks on the intended aesthetic for the World of Arkon and it is now time to update this blog again.  The basic idea here is to have, instead of the 'fantastic realism' of my other projects on hold, such as the intensively developed (c.2008-9) Nyvald campaign world, a surrealistic feel.  This can be discerned in a number of ways.  One of the most prominent would be the promiscuous mixing of technological settings.  This was not so evident in the early days of Arkon which seemed to be more of a doctrinaire Medieval setting, but even then there were hints.  It was much more evident later.  This fits with the general theme of historical cycles and recurrent events.  This last piece is also, in itself, surreal.  But in a typical campaign in the Saen setting, which was the longest in play, there would be hints from all different ages of technology.  For example, vehicles and aircraft, and perhaps cities a bit more along the lines of modern ones, but on the other hand, many aspects of life common in medieval times or in some cases even antiquity are also preserved.  Aristocracies and kings, for example, who have real power, recall the medieval, while the monstrous beings that are found in some wild areas recall the times of myth and legend in antiquity.  So there is a blend of elements.  And the effect is one of wonder.  Another thing that stands out is a bit more of the Abrahamic Apocalypticism coming through with the melodramatic 'dark lords' thing, coexisting with the earlier, more Pagan aesthetic of adventurism which was seen early in Verial's Saga.  This adds another layer of ambiguity.  Out of a continual spinning of the threads, I must remark that the setting has come to have its own character and atmosphere, and is something more or less truly original.  That is not to say that it doesn't fall within a certain tradition of myth and legend, but rather that it also tries to cover new ground to whatever degree is possible, so that this is set apart from and not identical with the feel of earlier settings, even those I might have utmost respect for.  It is also the case that there is a wider cosmos, the Simverse, which this world will fit into.  That development will proceed alongside that of Arkon, time permitting of course.  Still outstanding are some questions I want to further develop - sketches of history, geography, ethnography, religions and so on.  But there will always be some gray areas here, due to lack of time, and also because I like there to be some.  This does maintain a bit of a realism after all, since even in our own scientific and naturalistic inclined world, there are things that remain unknown beyond guesswork.  In sum, there is plenty more to be written on this subject, including some things I've re-evaluated rather recently.  Stay tuned.