Difference between revisions of "Fay-Zarth Relations"

Revision as of 00:10, 22 April 2011

We have been talking a lot about how the Fay and the Zarth interact. So lets see if I got all the ideas down.

1. The Zarth don't care about Fayrie. This makes no sense because domination and exploration are extremely masculine. Oswald
2. The Zarth invaded and took over Fayrie. It is currently under a occupation. However this has no effect on the life style of the Fay themselves.
3. The Zarth have tried to invade, but whenever they show up with hostile intentions the Fay use their magics to defuse the onslaught. (i.e. the Zarth find themselves lost, the zarth are caused to "really just not feel like it anymore", the trees themselves wall off thier movement, or whatever)
4. The Zarth often explore Fay, but they haven't taken it over because it has no use to them.

I like 3, and then 2. The idea of a "war that can't be fought" between the Fay and the Zarth strikes me as a fun mechanic. --Toad 19:20, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Mythology, History, and Cosmology

As an attempt to craft a Silmarillion type overarching history, here is a basic outline of a proposed origin story, as well as the Fay and Zarth interpretation of it.

Ziggy's rant

Watching the sun rise this morning, it occured to me how much of our mythology and culture is based around the world God created. We, as "modern men" wake up in darkness, even when the sun is shining, and turn on lights whenever we want. However, for most of our history, the myths that were born were made by men and women who woke up to the sun every day. Who watched the sunrise, and wondered, and marveled. People who were afraid of the forests for their secrets, or of the night for its terror. Seeing clouds pierced by moonlight, knowing that the mountains your grandfather trod are still visible on a clear day, remembering the last rain, how uncomfortable it was, and wondering when it will rain again. These are all things that shape our language, our myths, our expectations, and how we think about the world.

So, when considering a place like TwinWorld... a place where there are no days, no mountain ranges, no lasting landmarks (except near the Great Tree), certain death at the horizon, and roiling life all around... considering all of that and more, what kind of a culture and mindset would the "people" living there have? What kind of myths would they build? What kind of cities? What would they worship when they stoop to worshiping idols? How far would they go to make something of beauty, or secure safety for themselves and their friends? What would they love? What would they value?

Two hundred years ago, the sun, moon, and stars were the standard of reliability, beauty, and wonder. Now we trust machines to be reliable, and wonder at screens filled with our own visions. But in TwinWorld there is no sun, there is no moon. Can we even imagine the thoughts that would mark the minds of a Fay? What pictures would adorn their walls? When would they rise, and when would they sleep? Their culture and cognizance will have some fundamental ideas that will be naturally alien to us.

Tolkien was interested in history, and I think we should be as well. What stories do the Fayrie tell each other? What legends do the Zarth recount? More importantly, how are they different?