This introduction to the setting is very apt. Let us take a general look at it, shall we ?
Inhabitants
Humans form the majority of sapient inhabitants of the world. There are a
multitude of sapient fantasy species in this world, mostly humanoid.
Even humans themselves form certain distinct subspecies. In addition to
this, the various species have several distinct phenotypes, and even
certain cultural distinctions within their own species. The vast
majority of the fauna and flora are like our own, but there is also
unusual wildlife (often assumed to be relics of older geological eras)
and a variety of strange, often frightening supernatural creatures and
monsters (these are possible products of unethical magical
experimentation or a magical cataclysm that occured in the distant
past). Even so, this is a low fantasy world, rooted in mundanity,
down-to-earth challenges, tensions and conflicts. Closer to historical
fiction and crime fiction than any sort of magic-throwing epic. The
people and their experiences and adventures are what drives the stories
from this setting onward.
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Technology and society
The technology of this fictional world runs the gamut between the OTL
15th and 19th century. There are a few novel tech combinations and
fantasy touches, but otherwise, it's not filled with technological
absurdity and leans heavily towards more plausible technological and
scientific solutions. Despite certain technological extravaganzas and
occassional combinations of magic/alchemy and technology, this is still
an intentionally grounded world.
This world is not uniformly developed - in fact, it is still a mostly
old-fashioned and archaic milieu, as the industrial revolution
equivalent had come to this world fairly recently. Technology is
generally of the steampunkish variety. Mostly realistic, though some
tech is implied to be semi-magical. The city itself is still very
medieval and early modern in tone (especially most of the architecture),
but there's definitely an air of the industrial revolution having
arrived in recent history. You have primitive steam-powered,
petrol-powered and electrically-powered vehicles and devices. The most
advanced firearms have reached a stage comparable to the late 19th
century (early repeating rifles, but these are still extremely rare and
expensive). Most handguns are wheellocks and flintlocks, more rarely
pepperboxes or early revolvers. But guns aren't that common in the
setting, it's still a mostly low-tech world, with advances more visible
in industries or in vehicles.
Among the more out-there technologies are primitive surveillance
cameras, primitive robots (some capable of guard duties and limited
fighting), primitive Babbage-style computers (one of the thievy
professions is "clacker") and some early (and very unreliable) attempts
at telephones and electro-mechanical television
(OTL Nipkow-style, pre-electronic television). Lighting ranges from
candles, torches, paraffin lamps, to gaslamps and extremely rare and
primitive electric lights. This is a plot point: Different light sources
provide different challenges for stealthy heists and the like. Part of
the fun in the setting is coming to terms with the clashes of the old
and new, and clashes between magic and mundane technology.
Rather than going the typical route of Western European-style medieval
fantasy or steampunk, the environments and cultures of this continent
take more inspiration from the real world's central and southeastern
Europe, eastern Europe, the Baltic coastline regions and Fennoscandia,
as well as bits of Anatolia, the Caucasus and central Asia. Thus, it is
still a familiarly “Europe and its neighbourhood” type of setting, but
done in a different way than usual. Hopefully, in a way that you'll find
refreshing. This also extends to the more steampunkish bits of the
setting, so whenever you encounter them, think rather of “18th and 19th
century Lithuania/Austria-Hungary/Finland/Serbia/Romania” than of
“Victorian Britain Classic Vanilla Flavour”.
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Geography and cultures
One of the most striking features concerning the Orbis Furum's
landmasses is that... things are swapped in terms of latitude. Where
landmass features similar to those of our Earth would be in the east,
they are in the west, and vice versa. This means the equivalent of
western Europe is actually on the eastern end of the Aporue continent,
Orbis Furum's version of Europe. Being orientalist-minded would mean
something very different in Orbis Furum (and its own equivalent of such
attitudes would probably be called occidentalist, amusingly enough).
Aporue is Europe, Aisa/Aiza is Asia, Akirfa is Africa. Straightforward
and apparent ? I'd say so. Completely identical and analogous ? Not by a
long shot ! And is there a New World beyond the great oceans and seas ?
Time will tell...
The suggestion of analogous cultures becomes far more muddled and less
clear-cut than it might seem at first glance. Wait, these guys are
analogous to both Baltic and Dutch people, maritime trade and all ?
Wait, there's a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth equivalent, without
Lithuania and the last bastion of an almost Arthurian like knightly
tradition ? Wait, the British and Spanish analogues are no longer
monarchies, but republics ruled by the nobility ? Wait, the British
analogues are mainly Welsh, Cornish and Manx inspired, rather than
Scottish, Irish and English ? Wait, there's a cossack-inspired large
hetmanate and the Russia equivalent is a large federative monarchy that
also has echos of the early United States ? The France equivalent is a
monarchy that is slowly reforming itself from absolutism to
consitutionalism, after getting the scare of its life in an angry
revolution ? There's no Norway or Sweden analogue, but there is a fairly
detailed Finnish analogue and an proto-republican Iceland analogue
quite a distance away ? And the Ottoman equivalents have partly
rediscovered technologies that allow for magitech-powered primitive
robots ?! Yep. All of this, and more. Aporue alone is European-esque,
but the nuances set it apart as analogous but still different. You can
clearly tell what analogy is meant to be what, but they are not 1:1
versions of cultures from real history. Some are combined, moved around a
bit, elements shook up in unexpected but not illogical ways... There's
plenty of things that make this a less straightforward world than it
might seem. Things are further complicated by the fact that these
cultures are not exclusively human and contain various non-human
humanoid sapients.
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Worlbuilding approach
Though I have a whole alternate fantasy Earth to play with, the focus is
deliberately very local. Even in Aporue, a whole continent, the most
focused on and most explored location is the statelet of Melza, the hub
of the entire setting in terms of roleplaying and storytelling. Melza
isn't the biggest or most influential state in Aporue, at all. But it
has an endearing quality all of its own, and is the perfect stage for
fantasy that doesn't concern itself with the sweeping and the epic, but
instead with down-to-earth, mundane, but no less exciting stories and
events.
Melza, a fictional statelet centered on a large eponymous metropolis on
the shores of a large river, is my undeniable primary "playground" in
the Orbis Furum world. Located in central Aporue, it is where the
majority of storytelling and roleplaying in my series takes place. This
is wholly intentional, as already hinted at above. One can try to
worldbuild every single detail in a fictional world, but that might take
a lifetime. Instead, I carve out just one little region in that huge,
wide world and focus most of my worldbuilding and storytelling energies
on it. At the same time, it does not exist in a vacuum, and is very much
part of the wider world, for both better and worse. We do gradually
visit other countries, other regions and other continents, but if my
setting has one cozy, beating heart I always return to, it's Melza. An
archetypally central European statelet, in both its highs and lows,
Melza is the humble hub that many in that fictional world overlook, but
which I consider the lynchpin of exploring that world. Mainly on a
smaller scale.
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Comparisons with existing fiction and influences behind the setting
Even within the broad scope of the fiction set in this world, it falls
under clockpunk, steampunk, crime fiction (including noir fiction),
storytelling inspired by historical adventure fiction ("swashbuckling"
style stuff), and to a smaller extent, also character drama driven
fiction and milder forays into suspense/horror fiction. More on its
specific inspirations under the following spoiler.
Some of the non-fiction and fiction that influenced the Orbis Furum, the setting of Thick as Thieves.
a.) Non-fiction as inspiration
A lot of various non-fiction, mainly in book and television documentary
format, so I won't give you an exhaustive list, because that would
require perhaps two separate posts to list absolutely every single
source I've used in preparation (for the sake of believable
worldbuilding) or for inspiration (because history is often weirder and
funner than any fantastical ideas). When I say non-fiction, I mean
serious examples, whether it be history, archaeology, ethnography,
engineering and bio sciences, and so on and so forth. Typically for me, I
research and pick apart real world tech and cultural history before I
proceed to construct my settings. Unlike some other authors, I take a
very dim view of using pseudoscientific claims and books masqueraring as
non-fiction that do not do proper research and do not use the
scientific method. Just because you're writing or creating a fantasy
world doesn't mean you can underestimate the intelligence of your
readers and feed them inaccurate or even harmful (mis)information. Even
fiction needs to be responsible and not promote misconceptions, clichés,
stereotypes or outright falsehoods. I don't do it to show off my
knowledge chops, I do it to be fair to readers.
I will only pinpoint a few non-fiction works that had their indisputable
level of influence, especially with regards to real central European
history. Namely, the Dvořáks' excellent Traces of the Ancient Past
book series (10 volumes, the entire older history of my country and
adjacent parts of central Europe, since the dawn of man, from the
perspective of a serious archaeologist and historian), A Knight and his King and The Horse and Man in the Middle Ages
(focused on social history and material culture in pre-modern central
Europe). The former by the late Pavel Dvořák and the latter two by
Daniela Dvořáková. All excellent stuff. Several books on the history of
Slovak cities in the Middle Ages and early modern period (e.g. Bratislava in the Middle Ages by Špiesz) also get a mention from me, and Majerech-Mrzúch's obscure but excellent Artisan Guild Organizations in Slovak History
also gets a recommendation from me. This is an utter fraction of what
I've used for my general knowledge and my deeper studies, but I can
wholly recommend these. Provided they get a foreign translation some
day. (I don't think they have that. Maybe a future job for your's truly
?)
b.) Varied fiction as inspiration
| Discworld book series by Terry Pratchett | I wasn't so much inspired by Discworld, per se, as simply realised I have a similar attitude to writing my world. The humorous aspects of my setting, while not the same as Pratchett's writing, still have a Discworldian spark in them. |
| Thief trilogy by Looking Glass Studios | This is one of the primary inspirations in the gaming medium. I think it's still one of the finest fantasy works to ever emerge natively in the computer gaming medium. Excellent and revolutionary gameplay design, superb and subtle storytelling. The vast majority of ideas on stealth mechanics and use of various gadgets and tools are deeply rooted in Thief's wonderfully imaginative design and world. In Thief, you don't fight. You sneak and explore and think and outsmart. And it's awesome. This is the key basis for my approach to gameplay. |
| Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura by Troika Games | I think this is the definitive "industrialising fantasy world rocked by a tension between magic and technology" RPG game of all time. IMHO unsurpassed. Tolkien meets Verne meets Dickens. While there are many differences between this setting and my own, you can certainly see a fair bit of influence in its overall DNA. |
| 7th Sea by Alderac Entertainment Group and Chaosium | The single biggest point of comparison, though not necessarily inspiration, among tabletop roleplaying games. This late 90s debut is an RPG of "swashbuckling and sorcery", set in Théah, a 16th-17th century Europe analogue. Focused on adventure, courtly intrigue and various social and religious tensions. Very historicist, with the fantasy elements less overt. I'd say it's the closest cousin to my setting, at least visually. Add an industrial revolution and non-humans, and it gets closer to my Orbis Furum world. In terms of mechanics, though, 7th Sea is quite distant from my RPG. (Personally, I prefer the first edition of the game, though the second has some good, novel ideas too.) |
| Castle Falkenstein and Deadlands | I include these 1990s diceless roleplaying games for their influence on some of the key mechanics of my own RPG,
not for their settings. I looked at the two as examples of diceless
RPGs that use ordinary playing cards instead of a die or multiple dice. I
think they're not only pioneering examples of this approach, but also
very good examples of how you can use existing and easily available
playing aids as a compelling randomizer instead of dice. (Reviews here and here.) The story-focused RPG Dust Devils also has playing cards resolution mechanics, similar to Deadlands' frequent approach. |
| RuneQuest by various and Chaosium | Not the setting lore at all, but instead the gameplay. RuneQuest was a pioneer of several major ideas in tabletop RPGs, including a classless approach to characters and a more believable approach to portraying injuries, wounds, weapon damage and how they could affect the health and gear and performance of a player character. Even the classics can be inspirational in terms of mechanics. (Lindy has a fine essay on how RuneQuest was ahead of its time gameplay-wise, despite being less famous and less popular than Dungeons and Dragons. Though it was not without its flaws and oversights.) |
Arx Fatalis by Arkane | Arkane's first game and their very own homage to the Ultima Underworld duology, made by Looking Glass Studios in the early 1990s. Very much about the little details and little interesting ideas and mechanics, than just the simple whole. An inspiration for the mechanics, far less for the setting. |
| Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber | These are fairly archetypal fantasy adventure stories often set in an urban metropolis, Lankhmar. I think their tone was influential on a lot of later "low fantasy" fiction set in fantasy cities and towns. Whether in serious iterations, such as The City of Thief, or intentionally humorous/parodic variations, such as Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork. |
| Viriconium stories by M. John Harrison | Not that major an influence, but the atmosphere of a timeless but ever-changing city from these fantasy works by Harrison was something in the back of my mind when I thought about my setting. My setting is nowhere near as philosophical and vague as the Viriconium one. |
| Central European fairytales and folklore. | Laugh or not, these might be a more subtle literary/oral influence, but they have their firm place in the setting, especially given the focus on a region inspired by central Europe, its culture and history. Things like the portrayal of the dwarf equivalents, the hedgehogmen and watermen, or various folk tale inspired plotlines and storylines, that all owes its initial DNA to stories collected by the Brothers Grimm, by Dobšinský, etc. |
| Various film noirs and noir fiction. | They're obviously a stylistic influence, especially for the more serious aspects of the setting's atmosphere, particularly for the city of Melza at night time. |
| Old-school historical adventure fiction. | Not necessarily Dumas (what many would probably expect), as I've often looked more to things like Sienkiewicz's Polish historical novels (The Trilogy, et al), or Manzoni's The Betrothed, or the more adventure themed novels by Jules Verne. |
| Heist films and similar works. | It's hard to make a fantasy setting about professional thievery and not look at some better made heist-themed fiction. Thieves as protagonists notwithstanding, there's something charming in stories about "putting together a team with varied skills, planning a heist". It's like a detective story in reverse. |
| Dzikie Pola (Wild Fields) by various and Wydawnictwo MAG | A historically themed RPG set in the days of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A relatively minor influence, mainly on things like early modern fighting mechanics, including for sabres, other swords and for firearms. |
| Dishonored by Arkane | Itself inspired by the Thief trilogy, made by Looking Glass Studios. This was only a very minor influence, largely by virtue of being Thief's spiritual cousin. (I'd say its more 19th century stylings are closer to influencing some stuff in my Aeroverse instead.) |
If I recall any other works that were an influence on the setting and my
RPG project, I will certainly include them in this list.
The nature of the world
This is an alternate, fantasy Earth, through and through. If you want
to, you can but don't need to think of it as one of the many billions
upon billions of timelines in the multiverse. I basically treat it as
such. It exists in a slightly more fantastic but firmly realistic Solar
System, not unlike our own, and though it is definitely a rather
different Earth than the one we know, it does have many familiar
features and is undeniably the sister of the Earth from our own
timeline, our real history.
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Copyright
(C) 2014-2024 P. Molnár
(C) 2014-2024 Knight-Errant Studios
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