Next came the same idea done with a little more fantasy element thrown in. I imagined a world, with the same map and the same history, but with the entire world population twisted into animal forms of their selves. I even made it so that certain races would be represented by animals - stupid, I know. That's why it lasted for all of about two weeks. In this version, many of the things that are still there in my modern works would be developed. Characters, that would become other characters or simply be renamed would come into being. One of these sinister characters is Adiemus D'Arnase. Contrary to popular belief, I did not rip this name from the band "Adiemus." The Latin word "Adiemus" means 'Someone who comes amongst you.' Which, in the story, is literally what he does and in quite a bad way. Furthermore Shashka, who was originally represented in her animal form as a fox, came into being. She was originally not a main character, taking a sideline roll in favor of a character named Emoine who has since been trashed and who may or may not show up in later works.
Thirdly, there was a drastic change. The world suddenly got its own distinctive map (see above) which, for once, was not based off of our very own Earth. Furthermore, the world itself underwent a name change. It was now simply "New Earth." Not only that, but I managed to come up with a detailed mythology as to how the world was settled by humans and the histories of all the different races. The Forgotten (The Elves) make their first appearance and so to the Dwere (Dwarves). The Kobolos (Goblins), who apparently used to be a civilized race, were reduced to savagery for a reason that becomes clear later on in the books. Furthermore, readers will quickly realize that all humans have a common ancestral home despite their different skin colors, nationalities and races. Also, they will realize that humans aren't native to New Earth but rather from somewhere else entirely. Shashka becomes a main character and several other characters, Tycondrius, Gertrude, Wotecorix, Bowhen and several others become new characters.
The final incarnation which I can define into real progress came about three years ago. Before then, I had written four full length novels and several short stories that were, in my opinion and the opinion of several others, so bad they will likely never see the sun. In fact, the only location I believe these stories exist is in my girl friend's e-mail account. Three years ago I had an epiphany of sorts. I wrote my first short story of note that was based in the final incarnation of New Earth entitled "One Black Rose." In the story, I introduced a character who is called "The Dark Man." This villain will be a long standing nightmare in the lives of everyone from Shashka to Tycondrius and beyond. In this final incarnation, all of the staple names and places and institutions began to fall into place; The Arcane Order, the Empire, the Tygian Confederacy and, of course, the Greencloaks.
To backtrack a bit though, New Earth was not my first successful world. That honor belongs to Kha'Zah'Ree, the home world of the villainous but strangely understandable Zendalii, a cat-like race of warriors, mystics and political backstabbers. Without going into too much detail - detail that would ruin a lot of the plot - I'll just say that Kha'Zah'Ree is, I believe scientifically possible but not all together probable. Three moons, each smaller than the other, orbit a light-less world in the midst of a luminescent nebula. It orbits no sun and has no other worlds in its system. No light means no plants. Instead, giant crystalline formations grow. All of their heat is geothermal and most of the weather is bad. The landscape is craggy and mountainous, most of the animals akin to the bizarre and frightening fish found at the unfathomable depths of the trenches. In short, completely alien.
