✹𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔶 𝔟𝔩𝔬𝔤, 𝔡𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔢𝔵𝔠𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔬 𝔞 𝔇&𝔇 𝔰𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤✹
You may address me as V, Val, Necrosis, or Migraine, it makes little difference to me.
This blog houses, and will continue to house, posts related to my personal canon for easier navigation.
My art blog
✹𝔖𝔬. 𝔗𝔬 𝔟𝔢𝔤𝔦𝔫, 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔢𝔵𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔦𝔰 𝔄𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔯 ℭ𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔲𝔦𝔱𝔶?✹
Athanor Continuity is not a "correction" of the Forgotten Realms. That would be a fundamental misunderstanding of the setting's very nature.
The Forgotten Realms, in their essence, were always conceived as a space deliberately sprawling, flexible, capable of accommodating the most diverse tones, genres, and influences. Yet this flexibility, while a virtue, also engenders certain difficulties for those who seek in narrative a consistent tone and internal coherence. For those for whom immersion is not an empty word, but a condition for genuine communion with a world.
Athanor Continuity is a lens through which the source material is examined. A focus that narrows the multiplicity of possibilities in order to achieve thematic clarity and stylistic unity.
By this, I mean my perspective on certain things that the source material demonstrates.
For example, on consistency:
✹In other words, elements that conflict with the overall atmosphere are removed or toned down. Primarily, meta-humor, winks from the fourth wall, and intrusions from the real world that shatter immersion. (Thus, for example, in Athanor Continuity, Earthly pantheons do not exist, and Elminster has never visited Earth, much less portrayed Santa Claus, nor introduced Mask to jazz. These elements, however curious they may be, are left outside the threshold of this continuity to preserve the integrity of perception.)
✹Gods whose names coincide with Earthly pantheons (such as Tyr) are reimagined as organic parts of the Forgotten Realms universe, without ties to Norse or other mythologies, in accordance with my vision of the setting's internal logic. The same applies to crossovers that are, from my humble perspective, questionable. (Such as, for instance, the situation with Cthulhu.)
✹Chronology and events may be slightly shifted or reimagined. Not from disrespect to canon, but for narrative reasons. (As an example, the Bone Castle still fell, as it should. Mask Godsbane betrayed Cyric, as it should. Kelemvor usurped Cyric, as it should. But in these events, a new participant appeared, whose presence left a mark, and this mark has consequences. History does not change drastically, but it acquires additional layers and is viewed from a different angle.)
✹Many elements of the source material leave room for interpretation. Within Athanor Continuity, these spaces are filled in accordance with my authorial vision.
✹Character motivations and psychology are explored more deeply, their contradictions sharpened, their traumas examined. Where the source material offers an archetype, here we are invited to look closer at them as individuals.
𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔪𝔲𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔩 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢, ℑ 𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔰𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔩 𝔨𝔢𝔶 𝔱𝔞𝔤𝔰:
#Worldbuilding- Everything pertaining to the structure of the world: lore details, historical events, cultural particularities, geopolitics, religion, and other elements that shape the fabric of reality.
#Athanor Continuity txt- For all text posts within this universe. If you simply wish to read and not guess where to click, start here.
#Athanor Continuity art- The visual component.
𝕺𝖓 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘:
✹(𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔞 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔞𝔤𝔰, 𝔠𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔨 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢.)✹
Characters have personal tags in the format "#Lore: (Character Name)." Under these tags, all text posts dedicated to a specific individual are collected.
𝔖𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔰:
Currently, within Athanor Continuity, there are two main narrative lines.
Please note: series titles may coincide with the titles of individual timelines within them (think of it by analogy with The Legend of Drizzt, where the overall cycle bears the same name as the first book).
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«𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔡 𝔇𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔢»- 𝔄 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔫 𝔏𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔶, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔲𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢 ℑ𝔫𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔬𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔈𝔵𝔞𝔯𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔶𝔯𝔦𝔠.
𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔡 𝔇𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔢: 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔰- The timeline of Lothaire's childhood and adolescence. The formation of the foundation, the first cracks, the beginning of everything.
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖊: 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕬𝖑𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕻𝖆𝖎𝖓- The mature years before meeting Cyric. Thay, the building of reputation, and all that entails.
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖊- The central timeline. From the beginning of his service to Cyric until the moment of his imprisonment. The raise of the Supreme Inquisitor, the fall of the Bone Castle, the Raising of the Castle of the Supreme Throne, and everything in between.
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖎𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖊: 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖊𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕽𝖚𝖎𝖓- The era after Cyric's imprisonment. Loneliness among the faithful, the burden of governing the Church, the search for a path to liberation, and attempts to hold reality back from final dissolution.
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«ℭ𝔩𝔬𝔞𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔰»- 𝔄 𝔰𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔫 𝔍𝔞𝔢𝔩𝔯𝔞𝔢, ℭ𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔙𝔥𝔞𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔲𝔫.
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𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖆𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘: 𝕭𝖊𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖐- Life before service. Who she was before the shadow of a god touched her destiny.
𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖆𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘- The beginning of service to Vhaeraun, her formation, the first steps on the path of the chosen.
𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖆𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘: 𝕿𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝕷𝖔𝖞𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖞- The period when Vhaeraun was considered dead.
𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖆𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘: 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘 𝕽𝖊𝖈𝖆𝖘𝖙- Events following Vhaeraun's return.
𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖆𝖐 𝖔𝖋 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖘: 𝕬 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖑𝖊 𝕻𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖊- Subsequent events, including new story arcs and, most importantly, Jaelrae's reunion with her brother.
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In addition to all this, tags may appear in the format "#AthanorContinuity!(Official character name from source material)".
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Questions that might, in theory, arise:
Q: Do you have full-fledged texts? Can I read them somewhere?
When I speak of Lothaire, of Cyric, of the events of Athanor Continuity, I often do so with the intonation of someone referencing an already written text. And this is not a game, nor pretense. It is an honest description of how my consciousness functions. The delusive nature of my thinking creates an interesting phenomenon: Within my head, books genuinely exist. Complete ones. With dialogues, scenes, internal monologues, and the architectonics of plot. They exist with the same degree of reality with which, for an ordinary person, a memory of a read novel exists. I can "open" them, I can "read" a fragment. I can experience scenes anew. These books are real. It's just that their physical copies do not yet exist in a space accessible to others. For me personally, the creative process resembles not inventing, but "remembering" or decoding. But to transfer this from the internal archive to the external world, I need a "decoder". And this "decoder" often takes the form of questions from outside. When a question is asked(any question, even the simplest) it creates a point of entry. I can "open" the archive at the necessary place and begin translating its contents into a language accessible to others. Without guiding questions, I often drown in the boundlessness of my own stream of consciousness, unsure which thread to pull. The situation is complicated by the fact that my native language is not English. And the style I have chosen as suitable for, say, the main story, requires a particular rhythm and nuance. It is akin to translating poetry while attempting to preserve rhyme and meter. So, where do we currently stand? I have a vast, chaotic, yet internally structured archive. I have scattered notes, fragments, sketches, strewn across the blog, and a bunch of information hidden in my phone or computer. I have the ability to answer questions and unfold scenes in dialogue. I have constant, slow work on improving my English and on searching for forms that would allow me to transfer the internal texts outward. I hope that one day these texts will see the light. That the "books in my head" will attain "physical" form. Even if not immediately ideal, then at least approaching the image I carry within my consciousness. Until then, I am grateful to everyone who asks questions. Who shows interest. Who gives me a reason to open the archive and begin decoding another fragment.💜
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Q: Doesn't it seem to you that you play rather too explicitly on Cyric's side? Doesn't your interpretation turn into an apologia for the Mad God?
Yes. I do play on Cyric's side. The question is merely what exactly "playing on a side" means in a context where the very concept of a "side" is dubious. Over the decades of the Forgotten Realms' existence, official authors have, time and again, played favorites. Favoritism in literature is not a sin, but a tool. The difference lies only in whether it is acknowledged and articulated. My bias does not make Cyric an eternal victor. It merely tips the scales closer to that understanding of "justice" (in the heaviest air quotes imaginable) which resonates with my vision. From my authorial touch, Cyric receives not a guarantee of triumph, but the chance to breathe, to lose, to suffer defeat, yet occasionally snatch small, fragile victories. Those very victories which, in an "objective" history, usually fall to others. Moreover, and this is important, even under conditions of my obvious bias, I strive to maintain a certain balance regarding other gods. They do not become cardboard "villains" or helpless victims for the glorification of my favorites.
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Q: And what about Lothaire, then?
Lothaire is the main character of one of the two primary storylines within Athanor Continuity (The "The Wretched Divine" cycle). Stories, one way or another, have main characters. It is impossible to tell everything about everyone. One must choose a point of focus. Lothaire is my point of focus. The character through whom I explore the world. And yes, I devote heightened attention to him. It would be strange if I did not. Stories, one way or another, have protagonists, and official authors exalt their favs without the slightest pang of conscience. They all have received, and continue to receive, "heightened attention" from their creators, and this surprises no one. The difference lies merely in scale. I do not have the resources of WotC to make Lothaire "canonical" for everyone. But within Athanor Continuity, he has the right to the same degree of development and the same narrative privileges, as any official protagonist. But here it is important to speak not so much of "favorites", but of scale. Within the same universe exists Jaelrae, the main heroine of the "Cloak of Shadows" cycle. A drow, chosen of Vhaeraun. She, too, is extraordinary (because stories about "ordinary folk" are a different genre, and my genre is somewhat different), but the scale of her story is different. Jaelrae is close to a god whose capabilities and influence are limited by circumstances and her story, for all its significance, remains, to a known degree, chamber. Lothaire, however, exists in a different weight class. He is extremely intimately close to a god whose actions tangibly shape the cosmos itself. He himself is a being whose existence leaves deep imprints on the fabric of reality. His actions have cosmic consequences. It would be strange if a character of such scale were not an "outstanding figure". This is merely a matter of internal logic. It is important to understand, however, that his "exaltation" does not mean the world revolves around him. He is an important figure, leaving a mark on history, but history meanwhile continues on its course. He receives his victories, he receives his defeats, and he pays his price for them. He influences events, but does not negate the events prescribed by the logic of the world. So does this mean some characters are more "chosen" than others? Precisely this question about the nature of "chosen-ness" is one of the central themes when both cycles intersect. Both "Cloak of Shadows" and "The Wretched Divine" explore different degrees of narrative "chosen-ness". Jaelrae is chosen, but chosen within the limits accessible to her god, her circumstances, her world. Her significance is more grounded and more... "Human"(?) Lothaire, however, is narratively privileged from birth itself. Not by anyone's will, but by the very fact of his existence. Considering merely the fact that he is a deity's offspring, descended from a bloodline possessing blood mutations, a connection to the Feywild, and powerful magic. The tone of his story is pitched in a different key. And not because he is "better", but because he is other. To be slightly more poetic, I might say that his "chosen-ness" is not a privilege, but a sentence, and the exploration of this sentence is one of the tasks of his narrative.
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Q: What if I have a desire to place my own characters within the framework of Athanor Continuity? If I want them to interact with your characters? Is that possible?
Short answer: Yes. And to do so, it is easy to contact me. I perceive my characters as part of a narrative. As a kind of NPCs in an overarching story, if you will. Reflections on how certain characters might intersect, what conflicts or alliances might arise.... This is that part of the creative process I find genuinely engaging. However, here it is important to make one clarification regarding narrative weight. Some characters exist on such a scale that their presence in a story inevitably changes its very fabric. This is as with archdevils, or demigods, or other entities of similar magnitude. Their appearance is itself an event. Lothaire also belongs to this category, which makes mundane interactions with him impossible. So yes, technically, interactions with characters are possible and even welcomed. But if it suddenly concerns Lothaire, it is worth understanding that this interaction will be asymmetrical.
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Q: What about geography and politics? Are there any changes there?
Where they are necessary for the logic of a character's presence or under the condition of influence from slightly altered events. For example, certain cults emerge earlier, certain factions receive different development, but the map of Faerûn remains recognizable, the main states in their places. Such changes are more like cultural sediment from the presence of extraordinary individuals or from a slightly altered official course of events.
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Q: Do you run campaigns?
No. At present I do not run campaigns. Moreover, I have no experience either as a DM or as a player. The reasons for this are not a lack of interest, but simply geography and circumstances. In my region, this kind of pastime is not merely unpopular, but practically non-existent as a cultural phenomenon. Lately, this is changing, but it remains more the exception or the result of groups forming that I was not part of. However, the absence of gaming experience has never stopped me from periodically thinking about the world in game categories. If the opportunity arose, I would gladly transfer my narrative constructions into the format of an actual campaign. I have ideas, I have hooks, I have events awaiting their hour. I have an understanding of how certain storylines might unfold in live interaction with players. So. In short: No, I have no gaming experience. But game-oriented thinking is present. And if circumstances ever change, Athanor Continuity will acquire not only a narrative but also a mechanical embodiment. But for now, I am here. In text, in reflection, and in dialogue with those for whom this might be of interest.
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Q: Your stories place rather heavy emphasis on villains or simply dark figures. Why not more heroic types?
The Forgotten Realms, for all their wonderfulness, suffer from a certain predictability in the moral sphere. They suffer from a certain imbalance. The balance of power here inexorably and predictably tilts toward "good" (in quotation marks or without, decide for yourselves). The balance of power inexorably tilts toward the numerous "good" characters, and "redemption" arcs are cultivated with such persistence that one begins to suspect the universe simply does not believe in a character's right to remain themselves. This is neither good nor bad. It is simply a particular narrative choice. But it is not the only possible one. How many stories have we seen where, for a "villain" to attain happiness, they must... Cease being a "villain"? Where the path to redemption is presented as the only possible trajectory of development? Often, one encounters the notion that growth = improvement. Improvement = approximation to a norm. Degradation = deepening into evil. With this thesis, I profoundly disagree. A character has the right to remain true to themselves, whatever that "self" may be. They have the right to meet the consequences of their choices not with repentance, but with acceptance or struggle. They have the right to love, to be happy, to suffer, and to triumph without becoming "good" and without being "fixed". Because love, happiness, loyalty, devotion are not monopolies of the "light side". They simply look different when they grow from different soil.
