On the Purpose of The Azimuth Fantasarium

This blog, the Fantasarium of Azimuth, is going to be a repository for worldbuilding, lore, legends and stories - a Fantasarium - of the constructed, or secondary, world of Azimuth. Its more lore-heavy or story-like entries will intermittently be accompanied by "crunchy" entries for the world's greatest fantasy roleplaying game. I am putting this here for my own benefit but if perchance someone else reads it and gets inspired, by all means!

Stories in Azimuth are about courageous folk heading out into the wilderness, searching for the evidence of things not seen. Relics of forgotten gods and lost realms dot the lands around the Winter Sea. But the kingdoms of mortals are constrained. There is little trade between kingdoms, and almost no knowledge is exchanged. Azimuth is a world on the brink, requiring people of strong character to forge fellowships and friendships, to create sanctuaries for traders and travellers, to return the knowledge of the old gods to the kingdoms - all while the climate is shifting and the ice in the Winter Sea is growing.

Thematically, Azimuth is a world of Heroic Romantic Fantasy inspired by a northern European, flavour. Romantic, in the heroic sense, means that stories in Azimuth are about hope, heroism and overcoming corruption through mercy and the capacity for friendship. While this does not preclude violence - battle and action are as frequent on Azimuth as they are on Earth - it does mean that true conflicts are not resolved by carrying a bigger stick. Evil must be redeemed rather than extinguished to secure a victory that is anything more than fleeting. The active Evil forces on Azimuth tend to get stronger the more they are fought. Defeating Evil - whether in the form of Uzh the Ancient, of the Deathless King, of the Secret Empire, or any number of conquering armies or lesser evils - will require the bonding with and uniting common people of every stripe and color in a cause worth fighting for, rather than against. 

I have chosen a more or less northern European aesthetic to go with these stories because, for one, that is an aesthetic I am most familiar with. Not only because of the myriad of fantasy stories sharing such a form, ranging from Lord of the Rings to A Song of Ice and Fire - but also because, being from Northwestern Europe, it is the land I am most familiar with. Furthermore: I seek to mirror the real problems of the world aside from the forces of active evil - the slumbering evil of climate change. But on Azimuth, the environmental changes occurring are not the result of greenhouse gases, but of magic. The nature of known magic on Azimuth brings the ice and glaciers of the Winter Sea ever closer to the kingdoms of mortals. This suggests fjords, longhouses, grey mountains, formidable castles and snowy winters in which the protagonists of our stories huddle around house and hearth.

The characters of Azimuth will quest after relics of the ancient gods, making long treks across cold lands under the ever-present threat of winter, while meeting and helping troubled people and townships along their journey. And when they return home - grown, changed - they will tell and sing of their adventures while sharing the wealth they acquired with their friends and families.

Welcome to Azimuth, traveller.