Lore Creation
What is Decentralized Lore Creation?
Every minute of every day, the drama of humanity is being inscribed on the Internet. It is a catalog of human culture, distributed across the planet, and any individual with Internet access can add to it. Thus, the creation of humanity’s omnibus is decentralized.
So, too, is the World of Forgotten Runes.
Understanding By Antithesis
To understand what decentralized lore creation is, let’s first look at the antithesis of this concept: large media corporations. With much of the IP they push through their corporate bowels, a soulless travesty comes out the other end. These Characters are controlled by executives with a profit motive, and not by the artists or fans who love them.
The Solution
So what is the solution to this problem? Is there a way to invert this profit-driven model? Is there a way for fans to take control of their favorite Characters, to contribute to the growth of an IP, and let love be the primary creative force? Is there a new way to world-build from the bottom up, in a decentralized way? We believe the answer is yes, and the solution lies in NFTs.
NFT Ownership
Owning an NFT is far different from owning a Bitcoin or a Dogecoin, and that difference is not merely limited to its “fungibility.” If you own one Dogecoin, you have no control over the value of that token. There is nothing you can do to make your Dogecoin stand out among other Dogecoins. But with a Wizard NFT, you are in total control of your Character's destiny. You have the power to make it come alive and stand out among other NFTs. You are able to leverage your passion and creativity to propel your token to legendary status. And everyday, we are seeing our Cult members do just that.
We’ve seen these pixel Wizards rendered as stunning illustrations, animations, paintings, and murals. We’ve seen t-shirts, 3D models and 3D prints. We’ve read Wizard poems, and storyboards, heard Wizard music, and even seen video games. Oh, and memes. TONS OF WIZARD MEMES.
To facilitate this creative energy, The Forgotten Runes team is regularly developing ways to incentivize and encourage it. We have released a map of the world, which gives these legends an anchor. We share community lore on our social media, and highlight it during Wizard Wednesdays. But perhaps the most significant development, thus far, is the release of the Forgotten Runes Book of Lore.
The Forgotten Runes Book of Lore
This digital tome is an ever growing archive of each Wizard’s lore. When you own a Wizard, you have the rights to build them out and create their history. By connecting your crypto wallet to the Book, you have access to that Wizard’s page for immutable lore entry. You are free to edit your Wizards' lore as long as you own them, but if your Wizard changes hands, the lore written by the previous owner is locked forever on-chain, though new owners can "Archive" older entries.
We are betting that great care will be taken when crafting Wizard Lore. If the Lore is unappealing, spammy, or careless, it’s hard to imagine that Wizard will be changing hands. Conversely, if a Wizard’s Lore is compelling, beautiful, and well-crafted, we imagine they will travel far as a very popular Character.
But, “Wait!” you say. “What if I’m not a good writer or artist!? I don't want to write Lore or make artwork! I only want to collect Wizards!”
That’s totally fine! The beauty of this decentralized lore project is that as other creators build out their own Characters, it lifts the quality of the entire project, thus bringing Wizards without Lore along with it. Loreless Wizard holders benefit greatly from the creative talents of our most passionate Cult members.
Larger Media Expressions
Adding to the Book of Lore has another very exciting benefit. The Forgotten Runes team is busy engaging entertainment industry partners for larger media expressions. For example, the Forgotten Runes Wizard's Cult comics will feature scenes that were created not by our core team, but through stories by the Cult itself, and brought to life by Deadpool and Spider-Man artist, Reilly Brown. This Cult-sourced creation will be an ongoing dynamic as Forgotten Runes is seen in more larger media expressions. We intend that the Book of Lore will be the first stop in the development of more comic books, animated content, games, and any other industry-driven content.
Forgotten Runes is an NFT project that emphasizes identity and creativity. You can certainly trade Wizards on the NFT market, and have fun doing it! But like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Final Fantasy, and other franchises that dominate their respective industries, we believe the true value lies in compelling Characters, unforgettable stories, and enchanting aesthetics.
Forgotten Rules As a Set of Components
Roleplaying
Forgotten Runes is like a perpetual, online roleplaying game where community members roleplay their Wizards online in various ways. Even using a Forgotten Runes token as a social media profile picture is a form of roleplaying. The doesn't necessarily follow tabletop-style campaigns, but participants create for their characters in the same comprehensive way as players of popular tabletop roleplaying games.
These pen-and-paper roleplaying games supply their players with all the components they need to make a campaign—a monster manual, a rulebook, a gameboard, dice, etc. Forgotten Runes does this too. Throguh Character collections, items from the Athenaeum, an MMORPG, and several minigames throughout the year. These stories (or “campaigns”) are all kept in the Book of Lore. Even the Icosahedron spinning in the Secret Tower is a reference to the D20 die used in many popular tabletop games.
Villainous, Not Evil
Many of the relationships in the Runiverse extend beyond concept of "Good vs. Evil" into other struggles such as "Chaos vs. Order" and "Technology vs. Magic"
While there may be many heroes in the world, there are also many villains in the Runiverse like the Lich Emperor Supreme, Zombie King of the Undead, the Shadow Hats, and the Beasts from The Gate to the Seventh Realm. Though these characters may seem antagonistic, their goals have layers of complexity beyond just pure evil.
Lich Emperor Supreme
The Lich Emperor Supreme is the closest thing to one-dimensional "evil," yet it is worth noting that he was transmuted from the Sacred Flame. He is bound to it, as are all Souls. He leads legions of Liches and Wraiths, and presides over the Nightmare Dominion.
Zombie King of the Undead
There’s a lot of great lore about the Zombie King in the Book of Lore, and he and his zombie hordes are the eternal rival of the Lich Emperor.
Shadow Hats
The Shadow Hats are the only Wizards in the Runiverse who have totally mastered Black Magic, though this does not make them entirely evil. The Shadow Hats are virtually the only Wizards in the Runiverse who can wield this kind of Dark Magic in it’s totality, but there are edge cases like The Heretic.
Beasts
The Beasts are not evil per se, but they certainly cause an immeasurable amount of strife and conflict in the Runiverse. These Beasts are Kaiju, like King Kong or Godzilla. They are not evil, but they are destructive just by the nature of their being.
Geopolitics of the Runiverse
A Power Vacuum
In the Runiverse, there is no dominant empire or nation state that sits atop the world order. Some may suggest that there is a power vacuum with no particular faction dominating, though there are indeed powerful political factions. Some of the most influential factions in the Runiverse are built upon familial dynasties where power is inherited, the might of tribal warlords, and the riches of maritime merchants and banking syndicates. However, this is a world that contains Magic, which is a very powerful force, and thus those who wield it are often at the heads of these power hierarchies. This is why so many cities and regions across the land bear their names—Red Wizard Capital, Brown Hat Delta, and so on. There are also many factions of nonmagical peoples, such as the Duck Alliance who distrust Wizards, and this is a great source of conflict.
The reason none of these factions seem to rise to the top and dominate the hegemon is again, because of Magic. Magic is an artform, it has inherent disorder, and when disorder is cast into a power structure, it can never really get its footing. For an empire to last, it requires order.
And I should quickly add that wizards are very much ok with this. The inherent disorder in magic prevents the proper organizational procedures required, AND they are less interested in using this power as a means to rule anyway.
The practice of magic is a higher calling, you might invoke the phrase “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's” In other words they inherently understand the separation of the spiritual and the state.
Order & Chaos
The Purple Hats are a perfect example of magical disorder—they practice one of the most chaotic forms of Magic (and potentially the most powerful) but they are the epitome of disorganization, and they revel in it. The Court of Chaos Magic is the closest these Wizards get to an organized structure, and it's a madhouse.
On the other end of the chaos spectrum is the White Hats, who seek pure and total order. It’s a mystery if and what kind of order they’ve achieved, but they are notoriously absent from the political machinations of the world, shying away from rule more than anyone.
The Red and Blue Hats are the Wizards that temper their Magic to reconcile with worldwide political influence. The Reds practicing Financial Alchemy and the Blues trying to merge the Magic and the Machine. Yet, exerting controlling forces over Magic weakens its effects.
The Brown, Yellow, and Green Hats are totally absorbed in their unique magical practices, content on their own ways.
In the Runiverse, there are probable political boundaries, but like Magic, these boundaries are loose, disordered, and ever-shifting.
Some Tips on Creating Your Wizard's Lore
Remember, these are loose guidelines; you do not need to rigidly follow them.
- Focus on creating lore about your individual Wizard. It’s best not to write lore that would pertain to other owner’s Wizards. For example, if you own a Wolfkin Wizard, don't write lore about all Wolfkins in general. Just focus on your Wizard as an individual.
- Try not to write too much lore about the world at large. Again, try to focus mostly on your Wizard. It’s ok if you want to write about your Wizard’s immediate community, and their place in it, but try not to make grand claims about the entire Forgotten Runes world.
- Try not to overpower your Wizard. It can be tempting to make your Wizard the greatest, most powerful Wizard of all time. But oftentimes, such Characters are uninteresting and lack depth. Think of the most interesting Wizards in the stories we know; Gandalf, for example. He had weaknesses and rarely showed his power. He had depth and humanity. The same with Dumbledore, and even Yoda (yes, Yoda is a Wizard!). Try to make your Wizards relatable and give them believable appeal.
- Don't worry too much about continuity. If the lore you write eventually contradicts something in the show, comic, video game, or something someone else has written, that’s ok! First of all, this is a magical world where reality bends with time-travel, parallel dimensions, and unpredictable arcane forces. Secondly, compare to other franchises like Final Fantasy, the Legend of Zelda, even the Marvel Universe. There are countless continuity issues in these stories, but we love them anyway.
- If you need some guidance, there is some meta-narrative within the Forgotten Runes world to help you get started. The first pages of the Book of Lore give you some basics on the factions within the world, the Magic system, and the role that technology plays.
- You are anonymous! Don't let feelings of inadequate creative skills prevent you from writing. This is your chance to get totally weird.
- Have fun! It’s likely that if you have fun creating your Wizard’s lore, other people will have fun reading it!
Join the Cult today, and help us build out this world!