Fantasy Realm

Fantasy has always been centered on myths, fairy tales, children's stories and superstitions yet carries the splendor of magic, quests and romantic tales of armies on battlefields with a flowing banner in the battle of the pure versus the wicked. Fantasy's origins go back even further than fantasy godfather J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Tales of Ea' known as lord of the rings, the hobbit and the silmarillion, it odes to the King Arthur legend or the Tales of Camelot showing much of its origins in Celtic myth as its realms of inspiration were medieval Europe to Colonial America though in some works include medieval Japan. Succeeding names in Fantasy are C.S. Lewis for 'The Chronicles of Narnia', George R.R. Martin 'A Song of Ice and Fire' (or on Television 'The Game of Thrones'), Robert Jordan 'The Wheel of Time', Terry Brooks 'The World of Shannara', Christopher Paolini 'Eragon Series' and Anne McAffrey 'Dragon Riders of Pern' all maintaining a world of majesty, adventure, magic and heroic characters in dire times. The heros are often knights or so with mounts ranging from horses to elks and their foes are often sorcerers and others the main villains who hunger for things they should never be allowed to have and their mounts often go from giant bats to rhinos. The rating goes from high to low meaning child to adult as well as dark, light and the most extreme followed by more ratings like adventures across mysterious lands, mythical planes reached only through magical gates and magical realms with danger lurking in every corner. There is the knights in gallant battles upon horses as the tanks or the mythic force wielding wizards using the powers of nature to strike down powerful foes and the tales of the woodsman who wipes out or traps trespassers and those who'd do nature harm. For power or for wealth or fame is the way these tales are often told and the one's who recite them are the bards in the taverns for their own meals and boarding for a night or for the road. All mythical creatures are also found in these adventures such as fierce and mighty dragons, pretty yet tricky fairies, scary and loathsome witches, terrifying goblins, angry giants, half-wit trolls, abrasive nymphs, seductive and deadly vampires and lastly the hoards of the undead. Fantasy is practically always based in some magical/medieval/renaissance world who has yet to discover modern engineering as the dwarves have no doubt accomplished a full millennium before. Of all adventures, fantasy has the undoubtedly best!

Music often found in fantasy or acceptable to a fantasy driven atmosphere is, symphony, Gothic orchestra (for dark fantasy), symphonic metal (for hardcore, extreme and teen fantasy), symphonic opera metal (for steampunk mostly), medieval acoustic (for mystic fiction) and Celtic music (for general to children's fantasy).

The font of fantasy is evidently based on medieval/renaissance age material as well as a slight bit of roman imperial period appearance, other contributors include mythology and fairy styled lettering along with countries like Europe, China and of course the Middle East.

Magical Lands Only The Bravest Dared To Explore

As mentioned, rarely does anyone venture deep into magical lands before realizing what they may be in for. The Khanja (cat race) have gone there on occasion as the typical tradesman and travelers that they are. The Argonats are seen as invaders to the magical folk being these reptilian foes go forth to prey on what doesn't pose a challenge to them, the magic folk can tell you that in reality they are cowards. The Khanja have always seen the Argonats as cowardly ignorant savages being they are also incredibly primitive. However enough of these uncommon and non-self governing races, in the magical realm there are the forests filled with faeries, the thicker woods are filled with Ents or living trees who walk, talk and think much like any creature with intelligence. Some of the magical realms have gnomes whom were reputed to be cross-bred between elves and dwarves and often live on the edge of a forest in a hut deep in the forest. Upon the rocky lands there can be found giants as well as half-giants and within the tropical forests can be found dryads or in other terms nymphs. Most shades of uncolonized land are filled with magical beings who are either helpful or savage to anyone who goes to their land, the Argonats are found in the swamps whereas the Khanja are found in Savanna. Whatever lands fanaticism or dark magic hasn't polluted is fascinating as well as dangerous.

Mythical Planes One Must Be Worthy To Enter

Lands not reached conventionally by a march or a brave venturing are only reached by ritual or by a special gateway that is either rare to find or well guarded by the magical beings of the world. It is said great powers, wisdom or prophetical vision can be found there and even profound knowledge that would empower a kingdom or entire race. Such however can fall to abuse such as dark magic or fanaticism which is generally why the gates to greatness or a plane unlike any is often shut. These mythical lands could even grant immortality to the one who enters but then that individual must swear to never leave again for if he does then his life is dramatically shortened or he simply becomes dust because he excels beyond the age in which he is allowed life. It is often a chosen one, a heroic individual of noble cause or a prophesied leader who is granted passage or who is expected to enter to improve life where he is from because his lands are drenched in conflict and struggle against darkness. It is often where the immortals and gods live as well as creatures of highly magical and immortal nature as in spirits that live in the mythical planes that are found by travelers.

The Warrior

Warriors are all about strength, endurance and guardianship if they are that kind of warrior so regularly they learn all kinds and styles of sword play to be of use in battle. Their brute force and tactical knowledge see them through every battle no matter who or what they are up against, they present themselves as the tanks that absorb most of the damage yet still able to deliver twice that much. A warrior often has the discipline of the blacksmith so they could craft legendary weapons or the magic of a paladin/templar which makes them able to take on the supernatural. They only sometimes have a natural distaste toward mages but that is if they are zealots sworn to a cause that means putting mages in their place or counter-acting a mages mess. Their only other use is in service to civilians or to the local lord who rules over the immediate area they live in.

The Mage

Mages are all about a life force or divine power though they can only draw portions of it unlike the mighty sages of old who could channel incredible amounts of force and command it to do battle for them. A mage who draws too much power risks exhaustion to the point he falls tired or has moments of blood boiling in his veins making him lock up and double over or fall to the bed unable to do much more. Mages are often the craftsmen who enchant a craft to do something a regular crafted weapon cannot do such as bear a flame cause an enemy to freeze upon being struck which are sole capabilities of the enchanted weapons. The source of their power rests in their blood and in their hands where it often disperses in great multitudes transforming any situation to their will.

The Ranger

Rangers are more cultured and civil than rogues though not in the ethnic way as the warriors are raised to be. They are more about adventure than any one of the others and see far more than the rogue can envision on his expedition for wealth or the warrior stuck doing the local lord's will or even the mage who is in constant pursuit of knowledge, expanded power or unraveling ancient things for the betterment of improved civil living, they do it simply because they love to see what lies beyond the borders of their end of the world. Bards often do take joy in teaming up with them since they design songs and spin tales or do whatever it takes to keep food on their table, clothing in their chests and a nice place to rest each night. Rangers love camping more than the rest of the company do, they find more danger than rogues who are more often cautious but always come without so much as a scratch and they find more ruins, artifacts, exotic lands or foreign countries and greater knowledge or wisdom than any of the rest do. They don animal fur or skin as their armor so they can slip past beasts and seem less notable by power mad urchins.

The Rogue

Rogues are not the honorable paragon or the despicable urchin of tales and legends yet are only noted for the things they unravel like entire dungeons or caves filled with ancient treasure. Many tale tellers as in bards delight in telling of a rogue's hap-hazard adventures that find trouble, danger, wealth or obscured sights and ancient powers long forgotten, you do often find a rogue teaming up with a warrior and a mage as well as a ranger on a quest or on a simple adventure that unravels surprises. Rogues aren't simply thieves as local peasants will often tell you but are treasure hunters who stay out of the way of the conflict of the pleasant and ill willed primarily because they don't like attracting attention from any of them. They sometimes tip things to their favor for the good guys or the bad depending on which is convenient for them at the moment but they avoid getting anyone hurt since they aren't about to have blood on their hands if an urchin murders an innocent, nope they just make a proposition that keeps harm away.

The Avatar

Avatars are gifted in every art of war from magic, to swords, to stealth and range making them quite formidable yet they are rare and are only present when the world is truly in turmoil and no one can seem to stop the shadow from growing or the fanatics from their mad quest of absolution. Often avatars are very powerful and have no equal, sometimes they have special powers like the gift of dragons or of faeries or any other mighty being of the fabled realm at their use any time they wish to use it, avatars are by most other's standards chosen by the gods or spirits whichever they believe in. They have purposes like vanquishing an overwhelmingly powerful evil or bringing balance back into the world where balance was shattered through the polluted nature of mortals, whatever the cause of chaos that cannot be solved through a simple hero it is in the end left up to an avatar to solve.


Races of Fantasy

Faerie

The magical races in every inch of fantasy, old explorer legends talked about mushroom circles where they often left a gateway into their realm for mortals to find, old viking legends speak of the same except how these beings are quite tricksy, let a fairy into your hand and you will be shrunken to their size made a slave to them until your use is spent. Some faeries are helpful while others trick you down every venture of life, they offer magical gifts as an act of grace so a king may not raid their wondrous woods, other faeries placate curses upon those they despise or those who tricked them and those they see as vermin. The mind of a faerie is unknowable but they seem to live like a child without a parent forever taking the gift of whatever gods created them and having a blast with it.

Orc

A non-magical but magically twisted race through dark magic practices, otherwise the repulsive image marks the villains in fantasy even as Orcs are sometimes seen as the misjudged just because they are ugly blighters, they are known to be savage and barbaric ravenous beasts. They love slaughter, they enjoy cannibalism, they hate all things pretty and lively and war to them is a reason to exist, they simply seem to have no other reason to exist save to make the world into a wasteland for all or live in the dreary wasteland they call home. In other realms they are feared beings with a primitive way of life and often noted for their ugly appearance which they brush off by calling those societies snobbish. They are of of the few races who believe in raw industrial power that such power can give them invincibility if in a world that is constantly in flux of power struggle, thus they use what dwarves use for medieval iron crafting through primitive engineering to create something solely dependent on the power of engineered force.

Human

Unlike in science-fiction, humans often live in feudal systems where they see the peasants as festering lessers with the brains of orcs, the merchants they see as useful and contributory with the brains the god's gave them but not enough to be welcomed into the graces of their betters and the nobles who every day deal with a variety of arguments of kin and of peers yet luxury helps them forget about it when they sleep. Within the social aspect of humans there are two parts of each, there are the nobles who congregate amongst themselves in daily life, the lord's who left with the matters of outlying farms and villages of the kingdom often dealing with disputes between neighbors, a spy from an enemy kingdom or at worst a scare of witchcraft. Amongst the merchants there are the knights who carry out the kingdom's quests bestowed upon them, they go after things like savage dragons, rescuing a princess that was stolen from her bed in the night or breaking up a riot of peasants; then there are the tradesman who keep shops in local villages hiring crier's to cry their wares or they bring in the goods from a trip to help provide provisions for the kingdom and some who are craftsman or entertainers. Every once in a while it is the great fancy of a merchant to also become an adventurer to explore unmapped realms and return with tales of their adventures to make the mundane life of the kingdom fresh. Bards sing of news that was real in ancient times past but left to the fertile imagination of their tongues, voices and talent with the instrument. The peasants are rarely ever spoken of yet they can tell you when a king was fair and just and when he was a fanatical tyrant, one end of the peasants is the farmer's who spend most of their days doing the least likeable job... Farm chores, and just below them is the muttering fools begging for coin for a nice warm ale and if they had brains, they are criers in the streets giving the latest news in all the land. The greatest punishment for a human is below the headsman's axe, the greatest reward for a human is to be dubbed by the king himself for title, land and to be sung in taverns.

Elves

Elves are the most attractive race of any fantasy besides faeries, in old legends of the vikings, they were a race of beauty but also of deception meaning they didn't condone the dark arts and they sacrificed living beings to their gods. In Celtic legends, they are a fair and wise race that is also beautiful and full of years yet never aging nor dieing and were by Irish standards seen as a snobbish race because they allowed no mortal to venture into their immortal realm for the mortals would utterly pollute it in their state of being. The English only believed they ascended to a higher plane of glory leaving mortals to fester on earth, whatever legend be true, elves surely have diversity in the magical reality. Not all elves are blonde with long pointed ears and snobby but beautiful looking faces, some have flatter ears that stick out to the sides, hence the label 'flat ears' since Dragon Age, the flat ears are made to be seen as the small minded lesser elves who believe every superstition that feeds through the air from every tongue just as any peasant would. Most elves hair colors range as would any races and with short stubby pointed ears one can tell they are the product of a human and elf eloping thus known as 'half-elven' meaning they know how humans think but they know also the mind of elves. For some elves this is seen as useful so they could create an equilibrium upon the racial segregation within the lands, even humans were known to send a daughter to marry a foreign man to create peace between kingdoms and even alliance. For other elves this is seen as a defunct, an act of polluting the blood just to make nice to the filthy humans or what elves of Dragon Age call 'shemlin', elves see the humans and their very way of life as disgusting for they waste, they stink of all the worst odors and their attitudes are high and haughty. Yet not all elves see humans that way just the few who don't care for them keeping themselves folded away to like-minded individuals, elves often live in magical realms like fairies, some live in the trees, some in personally designed homes surrounding magical energy and others in highly elaborate and decorative cities sitting upon coastlines, cliff sides and even in the high mountain ranges. In the sense of attraction factor, faeries and pixies are both flat chested and usually have bulging pupils and eyes along with very long ears, they look as good as a wax statue; mermaids are like a renaissance portrait having small to average sized chests and look about as good as a nerdy girl; elves are generally five feet and five inches to short as three foot eight, the males have small packages sadly enough and not much of a chest yet still anatomically correct, the females have average sized to large chests without a problem of back health and their appearance all of them is like a teenager to the least attractive who appear farm kids and they have medium length to short ears. Their society is clan-like or tribal, they are part of a collective kin, one purpose, one heart, many interests but always setting sights for a common goal, those who go wry are simply exiled.

Halfling

Halflings are a fascinating race, they are neither magical but nor do they live in the stench ridden realms of humans, they aren't even as tall as giants which are as much beast as the dragons. Halflings rarely do adventure since such things can lead to uncomfortable trips down unknown roads which could have many nasty things waiting in the shadows. They live in hills which aren't the ones worms delve into as part of their futile existence nor are they moles who sing to the earth and shape it to their needs, halflings live as a simple man should, no exuberant luxuries nor waste pits and work hard to maintain their very way of life. The more mischievous halflings who seek out life beyond their humble communities and some either go dark with a desire for dark powers which is unpleasant and you never see them again, the ones who don't give into darkness simply go on adventures aiding heroes in their quests to vanquish evil in all its forms. Besides that, every once and a while along come the nasty beasties from the evil realm and a halfling hero rises up to stop him not only creating a bit of something new in the community but also protecting it. Before you ask, yes halflings came from moles as they had suddenly become civilized instead of tribal and their rather pointed ears are the gift of nature not of being descended of elves, but again rarely get out and rarely go far so much it seems that life grows rather dull in time. Oh the dullness it may seem like an old woman leaning over slouching in her chair awaiting the moment of her passing yet for a halfling, nature brings in a fresh change of its own without all the rabble of power mongers and wars of the blighters and beautiful and they pray on high by day and night to their gods above that it stays that way.

Dwarf

Dwarves, an ancient people who lived by delving deeper and deeper into the earth using the magma as a way to power their way of life. Where did dwarves come from? They will say the stone who knows what is true and what is merely their perspective, they claim their gods live as ancestors in the stone according to Dragon Age while others say their gods are all in inches of what they do. They forge the finest luxuries, from the gold to the silver, from the sturdiest armors to the finest of clothes and often love to decorate themselves with it, even the jewels and stones until the luxuries have become their only world. In dragon age their society is divided between those with ill will toward luxury and those who live the pride of ancestry, in time it became common to treat the ill willed as lessers and to not be concerned with their misfortune till they give into crime or other ravenous ways of life to make up for the fact they are seen as nobodies. Dwarves govern by caste, each use of the dwarf has their own caste save those with no intellect and no skill other than to fester and take out the muck they toss to them. In a time of war dwarves depend on their contraptions and devices to aid them in battle as they fight against savage or dark forces that seek to purge them. Their realms are made of what they design... Stone.

Minotaur

As there is no established warrior race in most fantasy, the minotaur the founding template to the qunari of dragon age take the cake on that. The minotaur (because qunari is just a religion, not a race) live and breathe war because for them it is the only way that makes sense, the only way they know to live, unlike orcs as often some races like to compare them to due to their appearance which seems ruffian but they still merit some beauty in their appearance, they aren't savages or barbarians, just roughnecks, the horns on their head is their greatest pride. They learn to farm, they learn to craft, they learn to trade, whatever meets their needs and they raise empires on success, they punish deviants through a hearing and then behead them, they burn abusers of power alive and they do not relinquish their secrets nor do they tolerate others who leave their kind for a life amongst other races. If one leaves they become incessant about hunting them till they are slain for they feel that individual knows their secrets and seeks to betray them much of which is likely born of ignorant fear due to how secrets of power could make or break their empire. They are known to covet their followers and their women equally since both are part of the structure of the existence of their race. Their entire civilizations are of wood and iron while they could use blast powder to volley explosions into distances or even to blow a hole in their enemy's walls while they still strongly depend on their warrior way to guide them into victory in each battle and are known to profess in the spear or dual wield. Minotaur society is very similar to that of the sci-fi teen novels 'the divergent' where everyone is selected a place in society, no one has better or worst lifestyle than the other as their role influenced by interest and habit is given and rewarded with exactly what they need. If the powers need a clean house, the society is put under curfew until the clean house is done and the corrupt are disposed of. Some of their kind who leave express the will to live outside of their society or race and they remind them that the way instilled in them will never change no matter where they venture, deviants on the other hand never live to be exiled or otherwise.

Mystic Fiction

Mystic fiction is really just a fantasy offshoot as much as Steampunk basically is (in spite of the fact that Steampunk also has a sci-fi basis) thus ultimately it combines some mythology and fiction into its storytelling medium even as it must never be confused with the real mystic forces of religion (yes men have mighty imaginations but they managed to muddle gospel truth with fiction) overall it is more like religion in an alternate reality.

Adult Facts Fantasy

It may be a bit naughty of me to explore the zones exclusive to physicians and priests or clerics if you would but we must all know the points of the body that make the race and the magic.