I’m Notorious For Naming Things

About Ymsath

All of my characters share a setting – Ymsath, a world situated in the New Cosmos. All of life in the New Cosmos came from its main star, the Great Star of Arjakh-Har, and according to the ancient Firstborn creation myth, personified Arjakh had originated from the endlessly black seas of the Old Cosmos, its birth being the genesis of the Divine Fire and Light. As the only lifeform of its nature, in its loneliness Arjakh had conceived with its own shadow the New Cosmos. As the New Cosmos was born, Arjakh had split into two, and as the light cast from its split body shone upon its spilled blood, the Cosmos' gods were born, and so was all life. The Firstborn believe that a crystallized fragment of Arjakh's blood persists within all living things, in the form of a perfect orb that can react to input from the light of Arjakh's star – the soul prism. If one acts upon this input, they can harness a small fragment of divine power, offering an opportunity to change their surroundings, others or themselves, either creatively or destructively. In the eyes of their gods, there is little difference between the two. As the New Cosmos came into being, Arjakh had remained divided, one half of it becoming the Great Star, all-powerful and eternal but ever dreaming, and the other became a mortal, perceiving only linear time(the deities of the New Cosmos experience time as a flat disc, able to witness all of the events they participated in at once), and stuck in a cycle of death and rebirth. With mortal Arjakh's death, it is said that the Great Star wakes, and with its waking the world falls into a great night, when all gods perish, and their fragmented souls rush to the Great Star to be reborn. In the night, the Firstborn trust it is easiest to invoke divine power, and it yields much stronger results(if one can survive it).

Given the distance from the Great Star, Ymsath is less susceptible to divine influence, and results from invocations of the gods and rituals(some brought to Ymsath by the Firstborn, others independently developed by Ymsath's natives) are rarely immediately apparent, if ever. Although, given the vast conscioussness of the deities that permeate through every corner of the New Cosmos, Ymsath has had its fair share of divine interventions and „paranormal” events over the years. Metamorphoses, rebirths of mortals and the prolonging of one's lifespan are usually possible and play a part in Ymsath's histories, though they come at high costs.

Ymsath's dragons

When the Firstborn brought their faith and ritual to Ymsath, they have also introduced to its people a strict hierarchy of living beings, organized based on their perceived attunement to the Great Star's light, and the greater potential of harnessing it. Below Arjakh-Har, its twelve other deities, the demigods and stray divine soul-fragments, the Firstborn have placed the dragons. Instead of being created from the blood of Arjakh and its light, the Firstborn say that dragons were born from the embers of its fire, their souls neither man, god nor beast, yet being alike to all of them.

Following this interpretation, the dragons native to Ymsath are often subject to reverential treatment by humans, with cultist followings of various sizes who trust that being in service to dragons brings them closer to their gods. Draconic souls do, in fact, offer benefits to those around them, as they're much more sensitive to the Light's influence and can share it with others who have a narrower starting bandwidth of being influenced by it. The most common and sought after side effect of following a dragon would be a prolonged lifespan, and some groups over time even begin to exhibit physical changes, such as longer and sharper teeth and nails, development of tapeta lucida and changes to the color of the iris and pupil shape. Much rarer, small feathery and scaly growths may appear on humans, and some individuals will have a persistent itch or a burning sensation on their shoulder blades, typically where a dragon's wings would be. Sudden severance from their draconic patron, be it their death or abandonment, will cause their following to suffer what is known on Ymsath as the dragon's curse, where many fall to sudden sickness and death, and following human generations suffer very short lifespans. To the curse, there is no remedy. To evade it, humans who have lost their dragon patron will often seek out a new one to sustain them. Other times, to spare themselves from the consequences, some cultists choose(or are ordered) to follow their patron into death.

While the vast majority of the draconic population on Ymsath have a negligible ability to aid humans in their pursuit of eternal life, the small minority of dragons who can foster large cult followings are identified by their ability to breathe fire, and are commonly much larger than their non-firebreathing relatives. (Non-firebreathing dragons, sometimes called lesser dragons or dragonbeasts, are typically 1,5 m/4'11'' – 3 m/9'11'' tall at the shoulder, while fire dragons are 3 m/9'11'' – 8m/26' tall.)

Ymsath's dragons' sentience is rival to humans, some even judging it to be even more sophisticated. Dragons use telepathy as a basis of language, established through skin-on-skin contact. Because of this, unwarranted physical touch is a grave taboo amongst dragons, and when communicating with humans they will only speak through their chosen interpreter whom they trust to truthfully relay their thoughts. Being a dragon's interpreter is a lifelong commitment, and while one dragon may have several interpreters over its lifetime, a human will live to serve only one dragon. Being within a dragon's mind can be easily overwhelming, and it takes years to get used to and to reliably understand their thought patterns.

About the characters (featuring Aun Ghoul + Ieyasu's story synopsis)

All of the human characters I've featured here so far are in one form or another tied to dragons, either of their own volition or not. While being under a dragon's wing usually offers them an upgrade in social status, relations to dragons often come at the cost of a dismantling of all past life, and at times their own selves, becoming forever changed. It can offer freedom as much as it can cage.

Their storylines develop around Ymsath's 11th - 12th century, more than a millennium after the Departure of the Firstborn, and roughly five centuries after the dissolution of Ymsath's greatest empire, of the dragon-emperor Neferthirim of the Blessed Shadow, The One Born in Thunder.

The story that's seen the most development from me is that of Aun Ghoul and Ieyasu. Out of all my characters, these two have the most fleshed out backstory and it's the one I'm most fond of. The very end of their narrative is still open-ended but I don't mind that as of now(I have them do endgame sidequests while it's all undefined; whenever I define the shape of a story I'm very poor at inserting other events or leaving the potential for interactions with characters outside of the main narrative). The first two „acts” of it are more or less complete, and I find their dynamic itself very fun to think about.

So as I'm EXTREMELY partial to these two, I offer a bit of their story. :) (and an unfinished map)

Story synopsis TW for mentions of violence/injury, death, suicide

Their story takes place in the northern hemisphere of Ymsath, below the Isean Mountains where the Western Highlands are located, a region of Isea that are home to both Aun Ghoul and Ieyasu. Isea and its neighboring New Auga to the East have been at odds for decades, the Empire of the New Augean Dawn having its eyes fixed on conquering Isea and taking it under its rule, while also leading a war effort to reclaim isles further Northeast. Isea, having itself split from imperial influence, desires to remain independent. Navigation through this conflict further amplifies when Isea receives reports of a brewing invasion coming from its North, through the only land passage into Isea and by extension, New Auga. In their respective timelines*, both Aun Ghoul and Ieyasu have held positions of power in the ruling fabric of Isea. *Both lived through two lives; first lifetimes are separated by around a century, then are both reborn in a similar timeframe. In his first life Aun dies in his late thirties, and Ieyasu first dies at 26. When they're reborn, their physical forms are roughly of the same age as when they died.

Aun Ghoul is the first bearer of the draconic soul-fragment of the god Azak-Har. He is the one who discovers the dragon once it falls in the form of a comet on the Western Highlands. Gravely wounded and fearing death, the dragon binds itself to Aun Ghoul so it may keep on living. Aun Ghoul, his body now housing two souls, discovers he can take shape of the dragon itself, but this power is unreliable and he can hardly ever call upon it at will. His life after this discovery is dictated by trying to find balance between his own needs and livelihood and that of the dragon. While he does retain much of his own thoughts and perspectives while he assumes the dragon's form, the dragon's own fragmented consciousness alters his decision-making. Just like Ieyasu, he lives through two lifetimes. In the youth of his first life, Aun Ghoul is arranged to marry into the Kazamynov family, but a few years into the marriage he confesses the wrongness he feels in that role, as he had never conceived of himself as a woman. He desires to leave altogether to make a new life for himself as a man, but his partner, Inyr, wishes to follow him into his new life as a friend and ally, if not as a husband. Aun Ghoul allows this, and together with Inyr moves westward, where they forge a new home and form new alliances on the Highlands. There Aun Ghoul discovers the dragon's soul, and there he dies as the dragon defending it. He passes the soul onto Inyr, and it eventually reaches Ieyasu a century later. In his second life, a century later, Aun Ghoul is resurrected to retreive this soul fragment and return it to Azak-Har, and has to find Ieyasu in order to do so.

Ieyasu is, in his first life, the last bearer of the draconic soul-fragment of the god Azak-Har. This inherited soul bound to his bloodline ties him to Aun Ghoul, its first bearer, yet unlike Aun Ghoul, nobody of Ieyasu's blood was able to take shape of the dragon. This bond enables both men to receive visions of each other's life through their dreams, untethered by time(enabled by the dragon's divine nature). Even so, Ieyasu rarely ever interprets these visions as actions of Aun Ghoul, but rather ascribes them to the white dragon, who acts as a figurehead of his own personal religion and obsession, and believes that these fragments of memory are his destiny. Likewise, Aun Ghoul trusts his dreams of Ieyasu to have the same prophetic nature, and both men in their respective lifetimes unknowingly fuel each other's sense of destiny. Their dreams act as a self-fulfilling prophecy in this sense. Ieyasu's first lifetime is marked by the loss of his family and home in a failed uprising against imperial rule. After this, Ieyasu is taken captive by Jin, the Lord of the Riverlands, an ally of the Augean emperor and the past lover of Ieyasu's father. Up to that point, Jin had been a second father figure to Ieyasu, now forever sullied in his eyes. All his efforts are fixed on achieveing vengeance while struggling with his own grief, the weight of the dragon's soul now solely resting on him as he tries to (and fails to) find stable footing while being groomed to become a mere instrument of his captor's will. Under Jin's regime, when nothing remains to Ieyasu that he recognizes as himself, the only thing that anchors him is the growl of the dragon between his ears, and its whispers in his dreams. Of his attempts to enact his revenge one of the most significant was the murder of the reigning emperor and the subsequent burning of the imperial palace, the act that marks him for death. He emerges from hiding to attempt to kill Jin some years later, but fails and commits suicide. He is reborn roughly a decade afterwards, through the possession and murder of Jin's son, fueled by the draconic soul's power. Alive again, emerged from the corpse of his son, Ieyasu kills Jin, and assumes power. As the word spread of Ieyasu's unlikely resurrection and ascension as Riverlord, Aun Ghoul, reborn anew as well seeks him out, to reclaim the dragon's soul. Ieyasu believes Aun Ghoul plans to kill him in order for this to be possible, but his intentions are still unclear. As the Augean empire retaliates not long afterwards, Ieyasu's city falls and he is taken prisoner, but Aun Ghoul manages to escape in the chaos. Imprisoned, Ieyasu is grievously wounded, and as he nears death, the draconic soul abandons him and flees to Aun Ghoul, who instinctively assumes its shape. Driven solely by the dragon's instinct, he flies to the imperial city, and as a dragon he devours Ieyasu and takes him deep into the Isean Mountains, where he regurgitates his dying body. So he may live, Aun Ghoul binds the dragon's soul back to him, Ieyasu's soul being way too weak for autonomous function when torn from the dragon's life essence supporting it, especially after nearly dying now, and having died previously. As Aun Ghoul is the only one who can assume the dragon's form to tend to its needs, yet Ieyasu needing the soul with him to stay alive, their lives are now eclipsed by trying to find balance amongst themselves, completely dependent on each other, the dragon constantly migrating between them.

Personalities + More on the dependency on the dragon's soul

Aun Ghoul as a person values most of all a freedom of choice, and can at times come off as overly idealistic, especially in the youth of his first life, just after his self-discovery. His expectations do temper later on. He can struggle with people pleasing, and wants nothing more than to be respected and allowed to live as he is. As he holds the status of a fire dragon, those eager to reap the benefits of being in a dragon's service flock to the mountainside. Aun Ghoul struggles with the cult of worship that gathers around him, all too curious and intrusive. He is deeply ambivalent towards it, on one hand enjoying the reverence with which he is treated, on the other being burdened with the role of a savior. His followers, who have before studied great dragons like himself, offer insight into his draconic nature, and for that tangible benefit alone he allows them to stay and practice their draconic faith, even if it discomforts him. This treatment leaves Aun Ghoul with a horrible fear of failure, as he's appointed a very grandiose role to fill. Once the dragon's soul begins to migrate between him and Ieyasu, Aun Ghoul's health suffers when he must revert form and returns the soul back to Ieyasu. His health stabilizes after this period of withdrawal ends. Generally, Aun Ghoul will need to assume its form every other month, and will stay in it for a month or two. This period rarely lasts longer, unless Aun Ghoul is for whatever reason unable to revert. Ieyasu's livelihood greatly depends on the dragon being with him, hence why Aun Ghoul must by all means necessary stick to schedule so neither Ieyasu nor the dragon suffer too much. In practice, initiating a transformation rarely comes at Aun's own will. The dragon's own instincts persist within Aun Ghoul's mind, and if it receives a signal strong enough from outside stimuli to act, Aun Ghoul will take its form. Over the years, Aun has had to learn to shield himself from the dragon's impulses, as a premature transformation could potentially kill Ieyasu if he has not yet healed from the last separation from the dragon's soul.

Outwardly, Ieyasu is very reserved and calculated. He clings to a rigid routine that remains from his time under Jin's control. He hates himself for it, yet realizes it is usually the only way he can navigate relations with others and himself. His phrases may come off as very formulaic and rehearsed. He is poor at holding a casual conversation. If he has no time to properly phrase a response, he can be overtly blunt and come off as rude. He's unlikely to lie. Does not trust others enough to let them into his inner world, but operates under the idea of people having enough honor and dignity that they'll keep their promises to him, as he would to them. As such, he weighs every option carefully before making a promise, as he'll intend to keep it. As much as he is a poor and often a boring conversationalist, he is a decent listener. What he lacks in words, he'll usually make up in some sort of service. Takes a very long time to warm up to other people, struggles greatly with intimacy, sexuality and physical touch. Suffers from self-destructive urges and experiences a need for isolation from others(to his detriment), though these urges subside later in life when he develops healthier coping mechanisms and has a home of his own, but are severe in his youth.

The part about Arjakh conceiving the New Cosmos with its own shadow is such a cool image im jumping off the walls!!!!!!!;;;!!!! with how it immediately establishes duality as something fundamental to existence is so cool,,,Light isn't born without shadow, creation isn't separate from loneliness, and the first act of creation is basically an attempt to escape isolation,,,

THE WAY THAT IT CARRIES INTO EVERYTHING AFTERWARDS TOOOO EVERYTHING KEEPS COMING BACK TO THINGS EXISTING AS HALVES INSTEAD OF WHOLES I LOVE CONSISTENT THEMATIC WORLDBUILDING LIKE THATTTYYHG

The dragons are so awesome the fact that people literally evolve around them over generations is so insane I'm biting my phone

Holding Aun Ghoul in my hands and shaking him around I love his story sm,,,,,He finally gets to live authentically but then gets worshipped by strangers😭 the guy who just wanted autonomy becomes responsible for an entire religious movement is SO ironically tragic OUGHHHHHHUCHHHH

Can't even come up with a saying that describes just how insane I am about Ieyasu HESSICKKKKK HES SICK IN THE HEADDDDUHHH AND HES SAVED BY OBSESSION INSEAD OF HOPE IM ILLLLLLL /AFFECTIONATE

The self fullfilling prophecy part lwk opened my eyes that's SUCH an incredible narrative device here. Neither man knows they're dreaming about the other, both think the visions are destiny, they act according to them, and that creates the destiny ?? By talos not even Shakespeare could never write smt that loops with the cosmology where time isn't linear for divine beings so well,,,,It feels like the setting itself is participating in the story AND THATTTTT. IS SO COOOLLLLLL

THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS SO COMPLEX AND INTERESTING AND INTERUINGING OUYGGGGGHDSAA I love love love how they aren't just friends, lovers, enemies etc ,,, they're co-dependent in the MOST literal metaphysical sense possible. One physically keeps the other alive, the other keeps the dragon stable, and neither of them can leave or be free ,,,,, also love how the dragon itself is practically the third participant in the relationship it feels less like a duo and more a constantly shifting ecosystem to me,,,,,,

AND. and. The way the dragon itself lwk feels like a chronic illness is GENUINELY making me lose my shit rn. The fear that the next separation will be the one that kills him??? The way their entire lives revolve around management instead of finding a cure??? There's no beating the dragon, only learning how to live round it ,,,,I think that's part of why the dependency feels so emotionally believable despite being fantastical,,,

OH OH one thing I keep noticing is how freedom vs dependence is basically everywhere

Arjakh creates because of loneliness, humans seek dragons for longer life and lose themselves, Aun Ghoul wants freedom and gains worshippers, Ieyasu wants revenge and becomes bound to THE very force sustaining him, interpreters devote their lives to one dragon, cultists gain blessings but inherit curses,,,,,even reincarnation isn't liberation! But another obligation!

Finally thoughts before I actually explode I think my favorite part is that, despite all the cosmic mythology and giant dragons and rebirths, the emotional core still comes down to two people trying to coexist with a burden that neither fully chose and neither can fully escape

All his prior life was defined by loyalty and devotion to his past lord and his service to them. As a child he was always envious of dragons, of their wings, how quickly and easily they could've moved from one place to the other, never answering to anyone, their horizons always endless. Even though in his place of birth it was not customary for humans to live together with dragons, dragons lived close enough that he could ever so often see them flying overhead. Later on, as an adult, his position is affirmed due to being a gifted fighter, but aside from that, he had no further ambition. He did as he was told, and did not ask much. His human life was utterly joyless, only following the current, neither advancing nor regressing. Always stuck in one place. For a time, he took pride in his devotion. Once his past lord transgresses against a local great dragon, the dragon violently retaliates. In a single day, the entirety of the knight's life ends in fire, with him spared by pure coincidence. Now alone, he is torn from all things that he thought made him a person; his loyalty, his service, his dependence on others to affirm his existence for alone he found he was no one. Seeing the great shadow of the dragon's wings disappear from the flames, he felt the same inspiration he did when he was a child. Not knowing better (now at least having something to look forward to; impossible, he thought, but it was something), the same loyalty that prohibited him from forming his own independent personhood now spurred him to seek out that great dragon. To what end, he did not know. At first, he thought he must kill it, as revenge, but again and again the memory of its wings came into view, and the freedom they offer. There was nothing that tied him to his life anymore, and if he dies, so be it. He did know the tales though, told in hushed voices; people gone missing, wandering off into dragons' lairs, never to return, and years later, of new dragons emerging and flying over towns and villages. Some would land, peek inside yards and houses, as if searching for something or someone, moving with a purpose as if they knew the place like their own.

He finds the great dragon, still unsure what will happen from their meeting. Sensing his desperation, and as redemption for his past lord's transgressions, the dragon offers to change the knight into one of his own kind. The process wouldn't be easy, nor quick, nor can it guarantee his survival. The knight accepts regardless.

* Astrophage is more like a virus that either alters people, causing them to commit crimes or violent acts, or a power that supervillains are starting to use.

* Grace is still a middle school teacher who got bitten by the spider, obviously.

* Adrian is the one who stitched up the suit (the Aunt May of this universe).

* He has all the perks of a normal Spider-Man, but he's still Grace, so he's incredibly clumsy. He does have a super-strong spider sense, and that's what saves him 100% of the time, but he absolutely does not have the agility. When adrenaline kicks in, he can do anything, but otherwise he'll trip over the most ridiculous things.

* He was wearing his yellow raincoat the first time he saved someone, so now he wears it over his suit (along with his white Converse).

* The spider was discovered by SHIELD (which is undercover as a scientific research facility that Grace works for part-time). After the original test subjects (who were only able to survive the spider mutations if they possessed a specific gene) were killed in an attack, Eva delivered the spider to Grace so he could be bitten before other villains got their hands on that power. (My boy gets unwillingly turned into a savior in every universe.)

* Simon is still an ex-convict who, in exchange for his freedom, is asked by the evil company of the day to test a series of mines infected by what appears to be blood from a meteorite (which eventually turns out to be the symbiote Ellie!).