Hey everyone!
A few months ago, I had to pull down one of my longest running creative writing stories due to the fact that I had placed the adventures inside the universe of another franchise. It was fan fiction, and I was really really proud of it. The characters meant the most to me, and while I had finally finished that story and let it stand on its own, I realized this year that it stood as a personal monument to a company that didn’t deserve that much flattery.
I pulled the story down and pondered on what to do for a while. I thought about simply leaving it be, and never talking about it again, but instead, another idea formed. I decided that instead of letting those characters and their motivations die, I would rebuild the story, removing the setting of the other franchise and giving my original characters a new place to call home.
As a result, I have revised and rewritten story elements where necessary, and I have recompiled the adventures into an original piece of work known as The Flamecaller of Stonehaven. The story is a framed narrative, focusing on a Flamecaller (a magic user specialized in fire) and their history with an ancient evil known as the Yunai. A traveling historian known as the Collector wants to learn the secret of how to defeat these formidible enemies, and everyone agrees that one particular Flamecaller is the one she must seek.
She makes her way to one of the realms known as Patnah, where she finds Sionis Sepher. He agrees to tell her about his life, his fights against the Yunai, and in exchange, she’ll help him around his small farmstead.
The most exciting thing about this new story is that Sionis Sepher’s adventures officially take place within the World Ship universe. In fact, while the story doesn’t divulge too much information about it, the story takes place on WS2004. The citizens of this world call it Azirin. Unlike many other World Ships, this one deals with magical energies and has drawn the attention of the Yunai.
If you’ve read Township, you’ll have learned only a brief bit about the Yunai. We first witness a Yunai in Township – Season 5: Episode 3 – WS2296, when Olivia Sun is confronted by a darkness as they make their way down a river in the dark. Later in Season 5: Episode 12 – Containment, Ronin explains what little he knows about the Yunai, including that his World Ship has a single Yunai aboard and that it can inhibit physical and mechanical bodies. Finally, in Season 5: Episode 13 – Escape, after Olivia and Ronin release the Yunai from its prison, the creature is briefly spotted as the citizens make their escape.
For The Flamecaller of Stonehaven, the Yunai remain a persistent and dominating threat throughout the series, from the very beginning until the climactic finale. While these creature share a common thread through both stories, and I consider them to be a part of the same universe, I also wanted to make sure that the two stories weren’t required reading for the other. I focused on other elements about the Yunai in Flamecaller than I did in Township, and that was intentional. If you’ve read both, you will pick up on hints here or there, but nothing should happen in one story that demands attention in another. For example, the crystal blades used in Township Season 4 are prevalent pieces of equipment on Sionis’ World Ship, but both stories use them in vastly different ways.
On that note, I plan to post soon about development of Township’s fifth and six seasons, as well as the official announcement of a follow on project.
I know that my blog has been increasingly sparse since 2020, but I believe the tides are beginning to return to their normal state. We’ve got a full quarter left in the year, and I’m excited to see what kind of content I can produce before 2021 comes to a close.
As always, thank you to everyone who reads or sees this, and feel free to drop in and chat about any of the creative writing or other content that I produce. I’d be happy for it.
You’re all champions.
TechnicoolDad 