Andrew Michael Miller's Thought Backlog
Writer and working Agile professional. Author of Pancho's Fall.
Among the other mysteries that have been alluded to within the recovered texts of the ancients, diagrams of fantastic weaponry have been discovered in many settlements. Swords, especially, have been used in artwork of all kinds that were left behind when the world's people were lost in the Fall. But for as prevalent as the depictions of the swords have been, very few swords of that era remain. The few swords that have survived over the millennia are typically treated as heirlooms, locked away within royal vaults, not to be used in actual combat due to fears of value being lost, even if the swords have demonstrated remarkable longevity. The secret of how these swords were originally made remains lost, but some believe the answer lies within the mountain city of Vestilla, where ancient mines long sealed off from the outside world were used to extract precious metals that may have been used in the original production of the swords.
As the people of the White Walled City expanded outward after the First Son's crusade to end the demonic presence throughout the land, the ancient walls that would form the basis of today's major cities were not the only relics reclaimed from the ruins. Tucked away deep within the vaults of the major cities where they were protected from time and the elements, there were many scrolls and tomes that held various information relevant to ancient times, before the Fall of Man. While some have been loosely translated from the various ancient tongues, there are many texts that still to this day have not been translated, despite the best efforts of modern researchers. What knowledge lies within these mysterious tomes may well be considered lost as time rolls forward.
Have you ever noticed how similar characters can be to other characters you've read or watched in other stories? Sometimes, we watch a movie or read a book and we barely come into contact with a character before we already know exactly what that character is all about. Why is that? In human nature, there are certain emotions and other commonalities that span through all societies that are instantly recognizable. When storytellers present us with certain triggers, such as the existence of a hunky small town bad boy love interest for our Hallmark big city girl who doesn't realize just what she's missing in life yet, we respond by not questioning who these people are because we're already well-conditioned to the type of people they are.
