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Ythra: Themes

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I think that good, memorable fantasy settings have a distinctive "feel" or "atmosphere" that sets them apart, a unique vibe if you will. I ended up spending more words describing some examples than I'd intended, so I'll devote a separate page to that discussion here:

Examples of distinctive settings

The salient point is, I think it's important for a quality fantasy setting to have some kind of "hook" or vibe that makes it instantly recognizable. That vibe might be overt or subtle, but it's important that a setting not just be a copy-paste of some other popular setting, or just fall into the realm of "generic high fantasy" or "generic dark fantasy." To some extent, any setting which an author spends some time fleshing out is going to acquire unique traits reflecting the creator's personality, but it's obviously possible to do a better or worse job at this, and it doesn't hurt to devote some conscious thought to what one wants the core ideas of one's fictional world to be; what are its hooks, its vibe, its essential character.

To that end, as an exercise, here's a somewhat stream-of-consciousness list of ideas I want to incorporate into Ythra. Some of these derive from my favorite elements of other settings, some from my unique perspective of the world, some as a reflection of the purposes I want the setting to serve:

A dark and harsh world, but one where there is light as well and heroes can shine. As an example, I can't stand Game of Thrones because the sheer cynical nihilism of the setting is anathema to me. Although I take a pretty dim view of the world and humankind in general, I also want to believe in the possibilities of goodness and heroism, and any setting I create has to reflect that.
A world ripe for adventure, because this setting is the basis for RPGs I'm creating now and will create in the future. In other words, it has to work well not only for stories, but also for games -- probably even *primarily* for games.
As a corollary to the above, this is not a tamed, charted world; but more akin to the Points of Light mentioned in the discussion of example settings, where there are bastions of civilization separated by vast swaths of dangerous, monster- and ruin-filled wilderness.
"Power corrupts": Although there is room for benevolent (or at least ambivalent) rulers, most entities in positions of power abuse that power. This is true for the rulers of nations and gods as well. (On that note, the gods of Ythra fall much more into the "hyper-powerful but finite and limited being" variety and not the "omniscient and omnipotent creator-god" type. A creator Overgod might well exist, but if so, its existence is so distant from the material realm that its influence never directly touches the people of Ythra, at least not in ways that are easily detectable.)
Built on the ruins of an ancient, hyper-powerful civilization that somehow destroyed itself. Yes, this is a trope that has been beaten to death, but that's because a mysterious destroyed ancient civilization and the ruins it's left behind is so awesome as a concept that to fail to use it is to deprive oneself of a fantastic tool for world-building, storytelling, and adventure potential.
As a corollary to the above two points, this ancient destroyed civilization was definitely not benevolent and probably got wiped out as a sort of cosmic karmic justice, obliterating itself through its own hubris and cataclysmically poor decisions.
Although it is a fantasy world, Ythra is entirely open to incorporating sci-fi elements. For example, the ancient civilization specified above might well have taken on technological (magi-tech?) elements. It is however primarily a fantasy world, and any sci-fi elements will (usually) exist in the background through implication, and not overtly.
Like in D&D, alternate dimensions/planes of existence do exist and would make for interesting adventure locations for high-level, epic play.
Background sci-fi elements aside, the general operative tech level is somewhere between medieval and Renaissance Europe with a few fantastical elements thrown in (like magic-powered airships), although these latter are expensive rarities and not a common feature of the setting.

The above are high-level "concept" ideas, but there are also more specific and concrete elements that have sprung up in different variations through enough of the stories and games I've made that they're clearly important to me and should be part of the crystallized setting:

A kingdom called Vantia which is the closest Ythra comes to the trope of the benevolent "goodie-two-shoes" kingdom of light. That doesn't mean that Vantia doesn't have its share of dirty politics, but life for the people of Vantia is generally prosperous and free by the standards of the setting. I've often depicted the ruler of Vantia as a young woman named Anri Elflied (though her name has gone through some variations in different depictions) who was thrust onto the throne prematurely due to the untimely death of her father the king. Sensing weakness, conniving nobles strive to wrest power for themselves, while the young queen struggles to hold their machinations at bay with the aid of those nobles who remain loyal to the crown. It is a situation ripe for political intrigue that, in the worst case, could spill into civil war. In short, Vantia is the "good guy" kingdom but suffers from both chaotic internal politics and external threats in the form of hostile neighbors. To be pretentious about it, one could say Vantia represents the fragility of goodness in a fallen world.
An empire called Rikenfald which has in some depictions been a hegemon or regional superpower and in other depictions has only had ambitions of acquiring that status. Either way, it is militarily the most powerful force in the region and its nobles and upper class live a life of decadent luxury while the lower classes suffer under a tyrannical ruler. It's in many ways the "stereotypical evil empire," but I would contend that this trope reappears not so much through lazy storytelling but simply as an accurate representation of what national powers end up devolving into throughout most of human history.
One or more essentially neutral states that are more concerned with mercantile and/or arcane affairs than either expansionistic conquest or creating a benevolent society. One that has popped up multiple times is a mercantile state called Nenthar, and another is a magocracy focused on the study of the arcane, originally called Lyat but evolving into what I think is the more evocative and aesthetically pleasing name of Thyria. These countries are uninterested in the conflicts of others, neither wanting to partake in Rikenfald's wars of conquest nor in joining a coalition to resist it -- although depending on Rikenfald's actions, they might not have much of a choice but to choose a side.

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