Yes, yes, world-building. It really draws you in, doesn’t it? The likes of Mr. Tolkien, Mr. King, and Mr. Riordan really pulls you with their worlds. But living in a fantastic world is much more mundane that you realize and less fantastic it truly is. Even learning their history is much more boring than their wars, victories, and rebuilding make it seem. But I’m not much a judge of interests and my Other, Ris, is a scholar that derives joy in studying so she isn’t reliable for “fun”. Unless you consider “fun” as unleashing your desires with no care for repercussions.
So where do we start? Perhaps the world? Yes. That seems to be the amicable place to start. Afterall, where would we be without our world? Our planet?
How do you know the world? How do you see it built? Through religious eyes? The seven-day story or the separation of the earth and sky by their children caught in the middle? Do you see it through scientific eyes? Stardust collecting and forming rocks that collided to form more massive rocks then shaped by continental drifts? The atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere with the crust, mantle, and core underneath? Yes, yes. I’m sure we’re familiar with that forming story. Some say those stories contradict each other. Some say one is true and the other false. Some Christians even go so far as state that science explains “how” and religion explains “why”. Well, let me tell you this, their worlds are wrong. Not completely wrong, and not completely right either. Let me tell you what the world truly looks like.
Ever heard of Dante’s Inferno? The seven descending rings of hell? The world is like that. Not the planet, no. The world. The crust, mantle, and core is but the physical aspect of our world. Those are true parts of our world, but not where we really live. Our world is divided into five parts—the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Biosphere. They exist on top of one another with a few intersecting sections here and there. If you’ve heard about the Hollow Earth theory, this is where it came from. The physical world is not hollow. Only the “mystical realm”.
WORLDBUILDING 1.1: FIRST BIOSPHERE
We, the majority of the human populace, live in the First Biosphere (there’s a more official name for it, but that’s the rough translation) or the world as you know it. Here, we live in happy ignorance and pride. We are the only intelligent life! Not exactly. The gods, mythoi, and cryptids are born here as well. Well, they did until they migrated to the lower Biospheres. Some stayed in the shadows like some vampire families in Las Vegas or visit here from time to time. I’m sure you know them by name. Bigfoot, Nessie, the giant of Kandahar, the man from Taured, the mothman . . . et cetera. Our world, though predominantly human, coexist with non-humans albeit under the cover of darkness. Some confirmed hoaxes are of course, hoaxes like the mermaid-monkey hoax. But some are not, as I said.
It’s a running problem in the political discourse on whether or not they should reveal themselves again to us en masse like the finale of My Monster Secret. There’s so much things we could exploit with each other if we knew the truth. But as you know, we humans are fragile. We cannot easily comprehend that our neighboring Buddhist’s and neighboring Muslim’s religions are as real as our Christian ones. What would you feel if you discovered that winged reptiles will roam the skies, massive canids litter the streets, Avians to live in our forests, and “man-eating monsters” live next door? Mass hysteria would ensue. Lynching will be back in fashion. All-out war will ravage our countries before the lucky few emerge from the ashes. That’s why they don’t. Tommy Lee Jones said it best in the MiB franchise. “A person is smart. People are dumb…” And if you think our world is a mess now, imagine what would happen if we threw a few more species and countries of non-humans in the mix.
As an added note, we, First Biospherians, are allowed to venture below or to mythoi-accessible places. Vampires have blood banks where they can sample consenting humans, lycanthropes have their own veterinaries, angels work at churches, fairies have markets up here, and merfolk do save submerged people. Not always, but they do. Most of them don’t have prejudice against humans to the point of segregation. As for venturing below, proper channels are erected on certain . . . areas. You just need to find it or have any identifiable cards like you would to an airport.
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WORLDBUILDING 1.2: SECOND BIOSPHERE
As mentioned before, the most non-humans migrated someplace else. The place is the Second Biosphere. It lies directly below ours and is accessible for anyone who want to enter. Some countries have different laws of course, so be wary. That’s why Ris and I switch from time to time to evade the law. Some places or some people don’t take well to my kind or hers—human and undead respectively.
The Second Biosphere is dubbed as the Mythoi Biosphere because most that live there are mythological creatures aside from ethereal beings like “spirits”, “angels”, and “demons”. They link the First and the Third. Through some channels, you can head straight from First to Third without entering the Second. In size, the Second outnumbers the First by at least three or four times to accommodate the growing number of its inhabitants. In technology, they are far more advanced. With the combination of science and magic, they abilities tend to grow at a faster rate. While their growth is impressive, they can also hinder themselves because of what they have. Think of what we study—sciences, aviation, medicine, weaponry, economics, electronics, music. The main fault of these non-humans is their propensity to focus on what they’re good at more than what they need to focus on. A species of lightning-infused mythoi will study lightning extensively while they let other parts of their studies wither.
Don’t even think of it like some grandiose world where dark lords reign and heroes prevail. Those times are long gone. Some pop up now and again like what happened in Manhattan or Egypt, but those are contained disputes. Now, if you want to capture another territory you need to just saddle them with debt until they give in. The best image you can form about this world is if you added some horns, tails, and/or wings to humans. Nothing as overt as Bright, nothing as drained as Onward, and certainly not as apocalyptic as Lord of the Rings.
WORLDBUILDING 1.3: THIRD BIOSPHERE
Not so much as different as the second. The land and people are as varied as the second. Centuries ago, the Third was made for the species that didn’t belong in the Second. The Tauren, various Avian mythoi—you know, the works. But as times went on, the Second and Third became so synonymous in terms of description. There’s a running joke from the Second about how the Third is just a second version of their world while the Third inhabitants joke how the Second is just their beta version.
In terms of noticeable differences between the Second and Third, the only thing I could discern is that the Third is more prone to encounter spirits because of their connection to the Fourth. I live in the Third and suffice to say, my senses were so sharpened I felt like tripping on time on the First. The natural inhabitants were also terribly sensitive. A friend of mine can discern an animal just by the scent it left hours ago.
WORLDBUILDING 1.4: FOURTH BIOSPHERE
Commonly known as the Underworld, the Fourth Biosphere is in charge of souls without a body. To give a brief image of the Fourth is nothing short of impossible. Because it is a non-physical realm, each and every people sees it differently like the works of Mr. Riordan stated in his “stories”. But they all end up in the same place no matter who they are. Not all spirits end up in the Fourth. Some are lost, some have chains that bind them to locations, some don’t even want to.
The only people to get it right are those who believe in reincarnation. When people die, their souls are guided by psychopomps to the Underworld. The souls are then purified by etherem. Those who are in charge of removing the evils are the demons. The process is takes excruciating time and a pain that Ris described as having your flesh ground to dust from the inside-out. That is why there is a story of hell while the good souls do not suffer as much and thus, heaven. Of course to make the job less taxing, the ethereal find creative ways to expunge the evils in the souls. Once the purification is complete, the souls are then sent to new hosts. Ris said there is only a finite amount of souls that can be transferred while the amount of times it takes is limitless. Refer to The World God Only Knows for the reincarnation cycle.
WORLDBUILDING 1.5: THE FIFTH BIOSPHERE
This is the off-limits section for anything. This place is a black cloud of writhing evil where nightmares give birth to even greater nightmares. This place is where the Earth Mother dream of terrors. Evils that are so great that even one of them can devour our existence. These are the Eldritch that terrified Lovecraft and his people. No man can ever defeat their ilk, not even Ris who absorbed knowledge for thousands of years. Sending them all in one dimension where they all tear each other is the only solution for this problem yet many people still try to summon these great evils.
No direct route is created for such a dangerous place, yet many still try to contain these nightmares. Oh god do I hope none bring them back.