So you may have noticed in reading through Neostriker Shining, that God is mentioned mainly only in the beginning. In the Legends I have released, there is the character Simulaen, who is referred to as a prophet. However, there are two things at play here. I cannot logically write a fantasy story that makes use of spirits without including a Supreme Spirit and Creator that has supernatural powers. On the other hand, I do not consider myself to be audacious enough to write anything to represent what God might say. Hence, you most likely won't see any "Thus says the Lord!" in my stories, even from the prophets.
When you read my next novel, you will probably think of Simulaen as mostly like Gandalf the wizard from The Lord of the Rings. Now one thing I will differ from Tolkien on is the use of the term "Wizard" as that is by nature associated with magic and has led to confusion among readers about the nature of magic. More modern series, such as Harry Potter or BBC's Merlin have made it even more confusing. While even Tolkien includes a section in his books about how the "magic" seen was actually science beyond their comprehension, but it never explained what was wrong with magic. Having stepped back and pondered the associations and definition of magic, I now understand why it is evil by definition. I'm not going to into full detail right now as it's actually a planned section in my novel as they discuss the character of a prophet-turned-wizard. Hopefully you will find that dialogue to be interesting as it has had a deep impact on the development of Neostriker.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Friday, February 13, 2015
Legends: The Prophet's View on the Games
This is a very short piece but I think is important for setting up the characters and some of the culture in preparation for my novel. This small piece references two board games I've designed and hopefully can use to create strategy games. While my main goal would be to create a Neostriker game, I would enjoy being a project lead on the two titles I reference here as I have the rules and structure all set up. I just need some game programming experience and artistic talent.
Legends: The Prophet's View on the Games
One day, the two princes were playing a game of Tactics before their class with the prophet Simulaen.
"Ha! I won!" the younger prince exclaimed with joy.
"Good job," Zel said, happy for his brother.
"So there is something you can beat your brother at," the prophet stated.
"Would you like to play a round before class?" the younger prince asked.
"No, but thank you for the offer," Simulaen politely declined. "I do not care for the game of Tactics. I find it a rather disheartening game."
"Why? I know you enjoy playing Neman, which is almost like Tactics," Zel pointed out.
The prophet laughed and pulled out his Neman cards. "It is true that Neman and Tactics are linked. Tactics was derived by removing the customization cards from Neman and adding set units. The idea was to make it simpler and accessible to everyone and not just the wealthy class. Both can have layers of strategy, but the concept of one versus one is my preference."
The prophet picks up a piece and shows it to the princes. "What is the name of this piece?"
"The Soldier," the princes both answered. After that, the prophet picked up another piece and asked the same, they replied, "the knight." Then they were asked which was more valuable and they quickly answered, "the Knight."
"That is why I don't like this game. It assigns value to pieces and tells you which can be sacrificed. While it is possible to win with just the soldier, the tacticians still consider it worth less. No life is worth less than another. Each man is very important, not just on the battlefield, but to the lives of their friends and family. Any man who views war like a game of Tactics deserves to lose. That is your main lesson for today."
"What are the other lessons?" the younger prince inquired.
"How to properly play Neman, of course," Simulaen smiled and the young princes gathered their cards with excitement to play against the prophet.
Legends: The Prophet's View on the Games
One day, the two princes were playing a game of Tactics before their class with the prophet Simulaen.
"Ha! I won!" the younger prince exclaimed with joy.
"Good job," Zel said, happy for his brother.
"So there is something you can beat your brother at," the prophet stated.
"Would you like to play a round before class?" the younger prince asked.
"No, but thank you for the offer," Simulaen politely declined. "I do not care for the game of Tactics. I find it a rather disheartening game."
"Why? I know you enjoy playing Neman, which is almost like Tactics," Zel pointed out.
The prophet laughed and pulled out his Neman cards. "It is true that Neman and Tactics are linked. Tactics was derived by removing the customization cards from Neman and adding set units. The idea was to make it simpler and accessible to everyone and not just the wealthy class. Both can have layers of strategy, but the concept of one versus one is my preference."
The prophet picks up a piece and shows it to the princes. "What is the name of this piece?"
"The Soldier," the princes both answered. After that, the prophet picked up another piece and asked the same, they replied, "the knight." Then they were asked which was more valuable and they quickly answered, "the Knight."
"That is why I don't like this game. It assigns value to pieces and tells you which can be sacrificed. While it is possible to win with just the soldier, the tacticians still consider it worth less. No life is worth less than another. Each man is very important, not just on the battlefield, but to the lives of their friends and family. Any man who views war like a game of Tactics deserves to lose. That is your main lesson for today."
"What are the other lessons?" the younger prince inquired.
"How to properly play Neman, of course," Simulaen smiled and the young princes gathered their cards with excitement to play against the prophet.
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