A whimsical creation story for a caring universe; the context for this piece
Worldbuilding Sample: Once Upon a Time in the Dark
Year
September 21, 2024
Role
Writer, Lore Master
Client
Random Kingdom
The story behind this piece
Written for the Fanzine created for the multi-phase, international game and art residency; Queering Nature the Quest (QNtQ) by Random Kingdom, this text is an abridged revisiting of a Cosmology I crafted at the very start of QNtQ.
I was a part of the team setting up the residency, and took part in the Berlin chapter of it, and wrote the initial cosmology to form a fertile ground from which the lore and worldbuilding we would continue to unfold and deepen in the following months could bloom.
I intended to craft a creation story which spoke to the idea of a universe that cares for its creations; decentering the human to make space for a more holistic, ecological, circular view of life, while still making us feel special, though not unique, in that we are all invested with divine essence, are all made of the stuff creation itself, and therefore have the capacity to create harmony and promote life’s flourishing, if we so choose it. In line with Random Kingdom’s goals at creating narratives which empower, emancipate, and inspire sustainable utopia building, I crafted this story to inject a sense of something we often miss in stories today: hope.
“A shroud that was silence. A maw consuming nothing. Eternal, inky night. Then, shuddering breaths; raw potential conflagrating. The first spores of life spiralled forth. Blooming into fullness, Fire emerged and embraced her sleeping sibling with an intensity that would sunder any lesser being to naught but ash.”
Yet Earth was no lesser being. They pulled their kin into a titanic bearhug that infused her heat into their very core, the pair play-wrestling, squealing in delight, through fields of nascent stars and the seeds of the first worlds, borne to the cosmos that very moment. Having at last a home to sustain, Water arose to cloak these creations in sparkling dew, bestowing oceans which vowed to smooth every jagged edge and cleanse every wound, promising all would heed the flow and ebb, reuniting together as grains in the sands of time. Air stirred, awakening from a dream of sublime worlds teeming with absurd beauty. She raced along snow-tipped peaks and spun sea spray into clouds, whistling her dream to her siblings, as she spread life’s breath for beings she knew not how to summon, but her mind’s eye foretold.
The siblings collapsed in fits of laughter, and Aether awakened. With Fire’s fervour, Earth’s essence, Water’s fluidity, and Air’s freshness, she mixed their gifts into a divine leaven that cultivated spirit in the first mortal beings, who gazed upon creation in awe. With each step, we forgot who we had been… Yet each breath is a testament to the divine heritage we share among all living things. Promised to return to oneness, it is our destiny to seek out pathways in the inky night, following the footsteps of our primordial forebears, with only one prerogative to guide us. Breathe life into all we do, and ensure all we do invigorates life’s breath.
Full Cosmology Spoken Reading (Text-Speech Voice) Full Cosmology Spoken Reading (Text-Speech Voice)
