An Introduction to Antire

Antire is a world that inherits both literary and gaming traditions of fantasy and, to some extent, sci-fi and space opera. I owe a debt to Tolkien, Pratchett, Howard, Lovecraft, King, Gygax, Greenwood, Hickman & Weis, Lucas, Sabatini, Turtledove, and even artists such as Vallejo, Elmore, Easley, and Frazetta. That debt, in some cases, comes with a HUGE asterisk. More on that in bit.

While Antire inherits these traditions, it is not bound to obey the “rules” of any of those traditions. It is my own world in the end and I hope you enjoy the time we share together exploring its stories. The central characters tell just some of the stories of Antire! I hope the hints of a broader world you see in Antire inspire you in the same way that the cameos of the Mos Eisely cantina, the bounty hunters of the Empire Strikes Back, and Jabba’s palace made me feel the Star Wars universe was so much more than a convenient place for a story of empires, rebels, and space wizards.

I first conceived of Antire as a setting for a role playing campaign circa 2008. At the time, I focused only on the large island of Oenklay (now grown to a small continent) and knew that it existed on a flat world (thanks Mr. Pratchett) where magic and physics played against and with one another to shape the world. As I recall, I did consciously model it slightly on pre-Norman Britain. Several “kingdoms” exist, a prior civilization has fallen, and the nearest city on the mainland has a distinctly French-ish sounding name. My eurocentrism showed in other ways without thinking much about it: the unknown and wild loomed large to the west and to the north; the exotic lurked to the east and south. I’ve come further in my view of the world, Oenklay still remains the core and few, if any names, have changed to shed their vaguely British inspirations. To be sure, the British side of my heritage is Scottish and I hold English imperialism in low regard. I merely was going with what I knew, knowing it needed to be nothing more than a background for some good, old fashioned dice rolling.

Anchoring Antire

Culturally, scientifically, and technologically, I imagine Antire to be roughly equivalent to our own world’s 17th or 18th century with magic added. While nationalities, and geography are different than our own world and even the laws of physics aren’t quite the same, I assume the world overall is starting to see its way to industrialization in ways similar to our own. Technology and magic mix in Antire in ways that may remind some of a magical version of early steampunk, but with my own distinct flavor. I don’t shy away from gunpowder but don’t shy away from magic as an everyday thing either. Like our own world, technology and theology will vary from place to place. Thaumatology, that is, the magical equivalent of technology, will also vary from place to place. Innovation in any discipline is not always assumed to be a good thing. Mad scientists and megalomanical wizards abound.

I picked the 17th century as my inspiration for a few reasons. First, many of the tropes we come to associate with High Fantasy are more of a historical match for this early part of our modern era than the equivalent of middle ages. Even something as minor as the fantasy tavern is more of a 17th century tavern than a 13th century tavern. The pedantic armchair historian in me just plain feels more comfortable with a world I acknowledge as inspired by works like The Three Musketeers and Captain Blood (cringe-worthy as it is) instead of Robin Hood and King Arthur.

Second, I want to play with magical clockpunk (clockpunk=era before steampunk). Look at the marvels of the modern world (panhandlers have started taking digital transfers!) - what if some of those marvels were available earlier. Toilet paper is a much needed invention for our heroes!

Third, gunpowder. BOOM BABY!

Technology is not the same everywhere and not all cultures and civilizations have attained the same levels. Antire is a large world and some societies are more advanced in some ways, more primitive in others. Even in Oenklay, the small continent that is the focus of many stories, sophistication runs the gamut from the scholarly city of Mybourdy to the feudal demesnes of Romhai.

Geography and Climate

See the draft map here: or the huge version here:.

Antire is a quirky world with geometric, geographic, and astronomical properties that its scholars cannot piece together into a rational system. Antire, as we know it, is a bordered world. Roughly circular, geometers believe the center to bulge up above the edges so that there is a horizon on the ocean. Think of it as a dome instead of a sphere or disc. The borders are indistinct, transitioning over a few tens of miles from the rational reality of Antire into the pandemonium of the Other Realms. Astronomy in Antire is a matter of speculation rather than pursuit of science. There are simply too many contradictions to resolve. The sun passes on the same track every day. It travels slower in the summer than winter, lengthening the days, and even the crudest triangulation reveals it also comes closer in summer than winter. Its straight-as-an-arrow path means it comes closer to the center point of Antire than any other point. Where it goes at night is unknown to astronomers. Some scholars speculate that there is no sun and that there are bursts of fire that shoot across the sky daily. Those same astronomers also tend to experiment in transcendent alchemy.

The upward bulge in the center of Antire’s circle brings it closer to the sun and thus is the hottest part of Antire. Steep mountains further away from the solar path have a dramatic effect on the climate when they create permanently shaded valleys. Permanently iced valleys become more common the further north or south one gets. The north of Larleoge is a frigid ice plain shielded from southern warmth by tall peaks of the Platerg Mountains. Oenklay, while “low” because it is near the fringe of Antire, is also near the sun’s path and so enjoys a temperate climate.

People, not Caricatures

Antire is a broad world with many cultures. I hope to echo real world cultures in ways that are respectful and avoid stereotypes and crude appropriation. Do expect to see some mix-and-match though! I hope to find ways to introduce cultural mythical, legendary, and historical elements that will elevate the visibility of cultures we rarely see well represented in western fantasy except as either villains or overly romanticized “noble savages”. Will I succeed or just fall short as many others have in the past? We’ll see.

Sci-fi and Fantasy creators often fill their need for clear bad guys by instituting racism as a part of the fabric of good and evil with whole species condemned to be evil. Tolkien’s orcs were unrepentantly evil, but at least they were created explicitly for evil deeds by an evil demigod. Some imitators (aren’t we all?) of Tolkien miss that detail and condemn orcs and goblins to being evil without a thought. That kind of “genetic” evil is not something I care to deal with in the world of Antire. It ruins any sense of getting a glimpse into a larger, more complex world and gives you paper thin bad guys whose only purpose is to occupy a square on a table top map. I will leave “inherently evil” for fiends, “inherently good” for angels, and let the mortal beings figure out their own morality for themselves. Some of the most challenging stories come from two sides convinced of their own good.

To that end, and because I'm just tired of the tropes around them, there are no orcs in Antire. I do not hide from racism and otherism in Antire, but it is meant to be a product of the social fabric of Antire’s made up reality and is not built into its made up natural or metaphysical laws. The in universe slur “unciv” (i.e., uncivilized) leveled against some members of less mainstream societies is just that, a slur. There are evil uncivs, there are evil civs as well (the worst villains in my current rosters are all civs). There are good uncivs, and good civs. Most beings are somewhere in the realm of “just getting by” in a world where they don’t make the rules.

Religion, not Gods

The theme of mortals figuring out their own morality for themselves extends to religion in Antire. There are polytheistic, monotheistic, atheistic, and more bizarre belief systems all at work, many with their own institutions, bureaucracies, and even theocracies. There’s no “right” religion (at least that will be obvious to the reader) and mortals are their own beings with their own choices, not puppets and pawns.

Holy people who wield magic do so by learning to draw on the energy of the world, not by direct divine favor. That some call it theurgy (divine magic) energy and others thaumaturgy (non-divine magic) is a function of personal belief more than actual mechanism. By convention, I will use “theurgic” and “theurgy” to refer to the world’s magical energies - it’s easier to type and say than thaumaturgic.

There are creatures who are powerful enough to be compared to demigods, but there is no obvious ability to grant power like other worlds typically would see deities bequeath to their followers. For convenience, I refer to all of these as grand beings. If a grand being grants some power to a follower, it’s because the being is manipulating the theurgic energies of the world in a way to bring that power to the surface in the follower. Grand beings simply have a greater understanding of just how malleable the laws of theurgy and physics are in world of Antire.

While there are fiends, angels, and other such creatures that typically are treated as agents of some greater power, any such connection in Antire does not exist on any common level. They are still creatures that embody the morality and ethics we expect them to, thus I will use the common terms we all know. Some of these fiends and angels gain enough power and knowledge to be grand beings. They aren’t the only ones.

Any inhabitant of Antire’s surface gifted with vision is almost certainly familiar with the sight of great dragons occasionally flying across the sky. Most assume these dragons to be an order greater than the more “normal” dragons who inhabit the wilderness and all too frequently terrorize the people of Antire. Even ancient wyrms the size of a house pale in comparison to the great dragons. What the great dragons do in the world is known to few, if any, mortals but they are suspected to qualify as grand beings. Given their visibility, more than a few religions have formed around these dragons. The degree to which the dragons care is a topic for stories, not this background missive.

Nearly every religion and attempt at history in Antire refers to “Elders”. Whether these are mythical beings, some other kind of grand being, or in fact the one true but remote pantheon is something that I feel I’m unlikely to ever explore in any way that establishes their place in canon.

History - a work in progress

Antire is a world of cataclysm and catastrophe. The history of every civilization on Antire is wrought by massive events that bring it low followed by long, slow, fitful recoveries. The history of the small continent of Oenklay alone proves the point. Some of those are natural or supernatural. Many are created by people. Most are all of the above.

Info

Unlike many fantasy worlds, there is no common creation myth for Antire. Most societal and religious origin stories only point to the beginning of that society or religion forming out of the mists of antediluvian Antire. The only common threads point to some group of Elders (their form varies and is often left unspecified) and a very vague notion of primordial chaos.

Recorded history in Antire stretches back around 4500 years. Only fragments survive of that time, although senile undead turn up who are much older than that. Most scholars believe all surface ruins are less than that 4500 years old. Underground evidence and exceedingly rare artifacts turn up that appear to be much older. A few — now insane — scholars insist they have held conversations with great dragons (Possible albeit unlikely.) or some of the things that come over the world’s edge (Impossible! All such creatures are insane to the point of incoherence or outright unintelligent.) that hint those tunnels and strange items are indeed the leftovers of prior civilizations… ones many thousands of years old.