Seth is a project born out of a generalised dissatisfaction with the design and lore sensibilities of the fantasy genre, or, rather, generic fantasy. It is in turn shaped by a pathological contrarianism which demands it reflect the basic structure of that which it ostensibly rails against, thereby running a constant risk of falling into identical patterns, and is peppered with disparate references that share little connection outside of my fleeting personal interests.

In other words, a sneering, facetious parody, too cynical to really be worthy of understanding as anything more than a kind of snide remark directed against media and art that a great many people take a great deal of joy in.

This is certainly how Seth appeared at birth, with bad teeth and a mean look. It was an exercise in frustration, and intended more or less as a joke- ‘what if Elves were sort of ugly?’. Since, however, I would hope that it has become something rather more self-assured, more aspiring.

Over the last year or so I have been working on Seth piecemeal, adding something or other nearly every day. It was only recently that I decided to consolidate the work in a more disciplined way, and publish it here. Upon this decision, I set out much more formal boundaries than I usually would in an attempt to curb the bloat and redundancy incurred by similar projects in the past. Although these seemed reasonable, even restrictive, at the time, Seth has still managed to find a way to burst its girdle and attain a scope far beyond what I’d imagined.

I don’t mind. The reason it’s gotten so big is because it’s so exciting. It’s been an opportunity not only to experiment and combine things I love out of familiarity, but also to research and write without it feeling like a chore.

Seth is ambitious. I want it to be good. I want it to be something I would enjoy. It’s not even close to being finished, but that’s good. If nothing else, it’s practice, and my core hope for the publishing of it is that at the very least, my meagre abilities as a writer, world builder, and especially illustrator will have improved somewhat as we approach whatever it is that might resemble the project’s ‘completion’.

It seems pertinent here to properly introduce Seth, and explain what it actually is.

Seth is a fantasy world-building project leaning heavily on speculative evolution sensibilities and drawing from less represented historical aesthetics and languages.

Seth is set on the eponymous world ‘Seth’, at a time where the seven native, and hitherto alien to one another, races, or, as they will obstinately be referred to, ‘Sapients’, finally meet on an eighth, uninhabited continent. Gods are present, magic abounds, and every living thing has the potential to become a monster. Things are not often as they seem, and even the writing published here and attributed to me cannot always be trusted.

Seth will be published in semi-regular segments, starting with the introductory materials you will hopefully be able to access here, providing my Dunning-Kruger-inflaming WordPress ability pulls through.

The next phase will be brief overviews of each of the seven Sapient species of Seth, focusing on their biology, with the first to raise their heads (well before the project had a name) being the Elves.

Afterwards will be rounds of information about the biomes of the seven progenitor continents, and the myriad fauna that our Sapients share them with.

The third, and the most intimidating, phase will be biographies of three notable cultures for each of the seven Sapients, with each culture having its own history, gods, magics, idiosyncrasies, art, warfare, foreign relations, and so on. It will be representatives from these cultures that land on the shores of the eighth continent.

Then, there will be the account of Congregation, and then there will be what happens after.

A brief apology: my geography is bad. I dove into Seth disregarding its sage and venerable laws, and at this point it is too late to institute them in any serious fashion. For lovers of maps, equators, and serious weather patterns, once again, my sincere apology. At this time, I have nothing to offer you besides. Below may serve as a warning for what you can expect:

Hopefully, this will improve in the future.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading, and thank you for your time.

-Tachyoveliger