Hi All. I'm Allen Stroud, writer of the stories in Chaos Reborn and the background for the game. There will be more from me on all things related to the history in the coming days and weeks, but in the meantime, on the excellent advice of NoWorries, I wanted to start a thread in this forum where you can ask questions related to the lore that will help you plan the themes of your realms.

So, please post questions below and I'll try to answer them.

Hi Allen, do you have a publishing date for the CR novel yet?

No. I am waiting on some news on this from a third party. It will affect the structure of the book (or books). The news was due at the end of the month, but may now be delayed further. As soon as I have a decision one way or the other, I can move forward and give some answers about what you can expect next.

I think my wizard comes from Limbo and is going into Realms.
Could you give me a primer on Limbo and the Realms, and their relationship to each other.
What happens to a wizard king/queen when I "kill" him/her (back to Limbo - if so, can they just go through the same portal I used and recapture their realm)? What have I gained by doing this (territory - are the Realms weakly held versus land in Limbo?)?

RafiRomero wrote:I think my wizard comes from Limbo and is going into Realms.
Could you give me a primer on Limbo and the Realms, and their relationship to each other.
What happens to a wizard king/queen when I "kill" him/her (back to Limbo - if so, can they just go through the same portal I used and recapture their realm)? What have I gained by doing this (territory - are the Realms weakly held versus land in Limbo?)?

I can give you so information now. I'm hoping we'll publish more on the website soon.

Limbo is not a very nice place. Its the remnant of the old world from before the Schism, trapped in the eye of the magical vortex. Journal off the Gifted One explains some of the properties of Limbo. I am working on more stories that describe other places and ways to become a wizard other than through the Tower of the Star (as mentioned in the Journal).

Some wizards return to Limbo when defeated owing to the defensive wards woven into their armour and robes. Others have different sanctuaries, but Limbo is often used as the artificers and alchemists there are able to repair equipment without danger, taking advantage of the limitations of magic whilst there. This restriction also ensures Limbo remains neutral territory.

Limbo is also the place where most of humanity still resides, apart from those recruited by a wizard to populate a realm when they are able to fashion one.

Wizards do not like being in Limbo. Their magic does not work well inside the vortex. They want to explore the Fractured Realms and shape them as their own domains.

The Fractured Realms themselves are outside of the vortex and are bathed in its energies. This is what empowers them.

The stories of the realms themselves (i.e. what happens when you defeat the wizard king/queen) is a little trickier to define owing to the game's story based reward mechanic and the way in which you don't actually 'take over' the realm, only plunder it. I would advise realm designers to think carefully about this binary and the reason the wizard (player) has arrived and what they are trying to achieve in relation to what the realm's owner is doing. I'd suggest writing the realm story to incorporate this element and perhaps even to incorporate the enforced exit of the player wizard.

Stories that make more immediate sense might revolve around you defeating the realm's wizard king/queen just in time to stop them doing something else (tapping energy from the vortex, attempting a great spell to absorb vortex power, etc).

However, you can think of it another way if you like. The Chaos Reborn universe is a continual fluctuation between expressions of power and constructions of power. If the realms were not invaded by rogue wizards, the vortex might become static and the realms, become barren.

There is no absolute answer here, I'm intrigued to see how realm designers tackle these issues as they are the biggest divergences between character and player experience/narrative. Julian and I discussed this at length and have some further ideas about it, which we'll talk about in due course.

What comes to mind for me:

Could their be any other context for invading a realm then directly plundering the king?

I could see very interesting realms being designed around the premise of gathering some sort of etherical object that gives them the same power as killing a king, or ridding the land of a wizard lich, or getting trapped in a realm and having to kill a guardian of a portal to escape...things that could use the same "breach force field" (instead of palace) citadel/manaflux mechanics....

Say said guardian had citadels and mana fluxes...or to the inhabitants that didn't know any better said buildings were remnants of some old lost civilization that the current lich was secretly using to generate his/her own power?

Just things to deviate from "i'm just here to kill your wizard king" i think would really help bring out the lore of the universe...instead of plundering a king you could plunder some ancient site..

anjovi wrote:What comes to mind for me:

Could their be any other context for invading a realm then directly plundering the king?

Absolutely, and this is one of the things we've discussed. For the time being, the tools are a little bit limited in being able to construct a different reason, but I think you'll find they will improve. I have already seeded some information in the existing version that could be used.

anjovi wrote:I could see very interesting realms being designed around the premise of gathering some sort of etherical object that gives them the same power as killing a king, or ridding the land of a wizard lich, or getting trapped in a realm and having to kill a guardian of a portal to escape...things that could use the same "breach force field" (instead of palace) citadel/manaflux mechanics....

Some nice ideas, please keep them in mind. I should have more information ready soon that describes the physiology of a wizard which may help with thinking about this. Its all written, just a case of finding the right home for it.

anjovi wrote:Just things to deviate from "i'm just here to kill your wizard king" i think would really help bring out the lore of the universe...instead of plundering a king you could plunder some ancient site..

Indeed.

That's a perfect reply, thanks

What incentive do the people of Limbo have to live in a king's realm?

You mentioned that "Limbo is also the place where most of humanity still resides, apart from those recruited by a wizard to populate a realm when they are able to fashion one."

In what way are they recruited? On the promise of a better life? Gold?

Several realms tell stories of human settlements wanting to rebel against the king. Does this run counter to the lore?

No this doesn't run counter to the lore. Its perfectly fine for humans within realms to be unhappy with their lot.

Limbo in Chaos Reborn is inspired by the ideas defined by Dante in the Divine Comedy. In Inferno, Limbo is the outer circle of Hell, the place where those who could not believe in God (because God was not known to them) reside. These are great thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato, etc. and this is what the line in the trailer (Those who are not saved, but have not sinned) refers to.

In all the regions of Limbo, there is something that makes the existence of people living there wretched. Around the Tower of the Star in Journal of the Gifted One, the plight of the people is clear, but in the second journal I'm writing (The Screaming City) it is a more subtle punishment.

Humanity on Limbo survives, but does not live. The people wait for the Harrower (deliverance), which comes to some in the form of a wizard, but that deliverance can come at a price, as Mistress Abbraxia says in part 3 of the Journal - “People starve on the broken stones, but at least they starve free. Would you give up that freedom for the whim of a tyrant to sate your aching belly?”

Humanity on Limbo has no means of contacting those who have left unless it is through wizards. Only wizards can activate the portals and they only return to serve their own agendas. People will follow a wizard for many reasons. Gold might be one of them, but some Limbo settlements are pretty terrible.