Life, Fate, Magic
Life, to give Creation direction.
Fate, to give Life purpose.
Magic, to link them all together.
This is Creation.
What is Life, Fate, Magic?
Once upon a time, there was a magical land called Fife. Fife was full of strange and wonderful Creatures. There were the flying Dradons*, like dragons only slimmer and
with four wings. Then there were Sea Dradons, a cross between Dradons
and a sea horse. They were incredibly swift, and also stealthy. There were
of course many other creatures, but they are far too numerous to be
mentioned here. Rest assured, you will meet more of them. Besides the
creatures, the land of Fife was also full of wonderful adventurers, full of
mystery and intrigue, sadness and laughter, bravery and cowardice. There
were heroes and villains, fools and wise, victims and conquerors.
Some came from greatness, others from humble beginnings. But in their
own way, each came to greatness.
Here follows but one of these tales of greatness.
Written in blue crayon on a paper tablecloth during a family dinner at a restaurant, these lines were the very beginning of the land of Fife, which would later expand into an entire world of magic and stories. Life, Fate, Magic is heavily inspired by The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell, and by J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, among other influences.
This world is my playground. While I do my best to make sure the worldbuilding is internally consistent and believable, the primary purpose is to have a place where I can just have fun. A timeline spanning thousands of fictional years and a map of dozens of countries (many yet to be explored) allow me to tell virtually any story I want in this world without upsetting established canon. I'm a big fan of Sanderson's Zeroth Law of Magic: Err on the side of AWESOME.
*At the time, I thought it was very Cool™ to slightly change the names of things to make them "unique".
Inspirations
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Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell's The Edge Chronicles
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J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth
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Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere
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Mythologies, including Greek, Egyptian, Japanese, and Norse
Stories from Life, Fate, Magic
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More on the way!
Listen to the Life, Fate, Magic playlist on Spotify!
Note: The last song meant to be on this playlist, Into A Fantasy by Alexander Rybak, is not available on Spotify but can be found on YouTube.
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Welcome to
Life, Fate, Magic
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The Old Country
The Old Country lies north of Argeshdar. This small, barren land is home to few living things, all of them lean and vicious. The people who inhabit The Old Country are hard folk who live nomadic lives, scratching out a living and fighting over scarce resources. On one side they are hemmed in by impassable mountains, while to the south lies the river, and beyond, the Land of Lights.
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Across the river is a land that is green and plentiful, but the people of the Old Country fear to cross over, for each night, softly glowing spheres of light appear and prowl the river banks. The very few brave souls that have ever dared explore the other side—under light of day, of course—were never seen again.
Argeshdar
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I have to give a huge shoutout to my sister here. Argeshdar was originally her creation, and became a place where we played around and told stories together. Eventually, she gifted her world, characters, and stories to me. Life, Fate, Magic would not exist as it does now without her.
Argeshdar once seemed to be a land empty of sentient life. When some of those brave souls crossed the river, they found a land that was green and untouched, home only to wildlife and the glowing lights, which proved to be harmless. The explorers intended to return to the Old Country and share the news, but found before they could that they had awakened something.
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There existed in Argeshdar a dormant intelligence, which took the form of glowing lights. These idle beings observed the explorers with deep curiosity, and finally revealed themselves by taking on human shapes so that they could interact with what was, to them, a new form of life.
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This was the beginning of the relationship between Souls of Magic—as the former glowing lights called themselves—and humans, whom they called Souls of Life. This relationship would bring drastic changes—for good and for ill—not only for these souls, but for the whole world.
The Islands of Fate
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Far removed from other lands and peoples of the world are the Islands of Fate (only the major continents are pictured here), the only place in all the world where a third type of Soul can be found: the Souls of Fate. They are human in every way, but have the distinction of bearing a Destiny, a purpose for their their soul to fulfill before it can move on to what awaits in the afterlife. Destinies are given by Fate, the deity who watches over and guides Souls of Fate, who call themselves the Fated.
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Due to the vast oceans separating the islands from the rest of the world, many of the Fated believe that their archipelago is all that exists in the world; this belief, coupled with their shared faith in Fate, has meant that the islands have experienced relatively little in the way of major conflicts. Nothing is more important to the Fated than fulfilling their Destinies, so there is little room for war or strife in their society. Still, not all is peaceful, especially when Destinies can be wrongly interpreted—not always accidentally.
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Fife
Fife is a land of endless possibilities. There is magic infused into every aspect of life, for nearly every person in this expansive country has some kind of magical ability, even if they can do no more than cause a flower to bloom or stitch their clothing back together without needle or thread. Fife is home to fantastical creatures of all kinds and magic users of every sort. It is an ordered chaos, and one hard won.
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Magic is not a thing inherent to this country. For many hundreds of years, Fife had nothing even resembling magic. It came on suddenly, in a great flood that changed everything in an instant. The foundations of society were shaken and torn down, and a new world clawed its way out of the ashes of the old one. Fife was reborn, but where this magic had come from, how and why, no one knew. Even as the people of Fife remade themselves and adapted to their new reality, the mystery at the heart of this forced change persisted.
Fife Directory
I'll admit it: I have a favorite child. Fife is where it all started, and it's where I focus most of my attention and stories.
Lore
Dragons and the mysterious Mountain Men inhabit North Fife's frightening Door Mountains
Lore
The pride of the West is their white gold, a rare metal used primarily in jewelry.
Lore
Tomb raiding is a popular, and illegal, occupation in the desert wastelands.
The Icelands
The Icelands are the northernmost regions of Fife, divided into two territories: the North Icelands and the South Icelands. As the name suggests, the terrain is one of snow and ice, yet the people who live here thrive and have a rich culture.
Lore
Beware the lonely cry of the Sirens, which draws the incautious to their doom.
North Fife
North Fife is the largest land region in Fife. It is the least consolidated of all of Fife's regions, lacking a predominate religion, political structure, or other defining feature that would connect its people. This diversity makes North Fife a welcoming place for new ideas, but also makes it prone to conflict.
Central Fife
Central Fife is made up largely of forest land, and covers a wide stretch of the northern shores of the Sea Kingdom. The folk of this region provide the crucial service of safe passage from one region to another, as the forest is a wild, untamed place.
West Fife
West Fife consists of wide, flat plains and is home to the most suspicious and untrusting people in all of Fife. Westerners have no tolerance for theft, and will deal out harsh punishment to anyone who cannot be proven innocent.
Lore
These forests are inhabited by miniscule, vibrantly colored, dragon-like creatures called Wyverns.
South Fife
Also called the Ashlands, South Fife is an inhospitable region thanks to the ash constantly being spewed from its volcanoes. A few hardy (some would say foolhardy) people manage to scratch out a living here—for reasons no one else can fathom.
Lore
Unlike most of Fife, these lands were unoccupied in the Old Era.
East Fife
East Fife is largely made up of vast deserts, interspersed with flourishing oases. Most of the region's settlements lie along the river that stretches the length of East Fife, where they make rich trade with the Sea Kingdom and West Fife.
The Sea Kingdom
The Sea Kingdom is home to the Mereen [mer rhymes with hair, en as in end], who are half-human and half-sea creature. There are many variations, including the typical "fish" variety, "seahorse" Mereen, "shark" Mereen, and "octopus" Mereen.
Lore
The gods of the Mereen live among their people and have daily interactions them.