A Tour of the Multiverse: The Worldbuilding of Palingenesis

Introduction

Welcome back. This week I’ll be tackling the elements that went into the world building of Palingenesis.

As kid I was a loner, and the library was my refuge; In seventh grade I got big into mythology, starting with the Greek myths, then moved on to Norse and Egyptian mythology.

During this time I was also big into video games, anime, comics, and sci-fi/fantasy shows like Buffy, Charmed, and  Star Trek: The Next Generation. All of this shaped the worldbuilding of Palingenesis, as I will explain.

Comics and Anime

My father introduced me to comics during the “Death of Superman” arc that was going on. While I find comics cool, I’d been watching anime series for years and found them and mangas superior.

However, comics taught me the value of having good storylines where the good guys don’t always win, and that being a hero was more than having powers. I took these lessons with me when crafting Palingenesis.

  I’ve tried to capture the operatic nature of comics in the plot, while adding my own spin to things.

As for anime, the first series I was ever big into was Sailor Moon.  I and all the boys in my grade were obsessed with the show and would play act using the abilities of the sailor scouts.

From it I learned the importance of having unique and memorable attacks, such as Travis’s hurricane of pain, a tornado of flames that surrounds his enemies.

In eight grade I caught an episode of Dragon Ball Z on Saturday morning cartoons and was hooked (years later I still am). This series taught me the importance of good fight scenes and how not to ruin said fights by dragging things out like they did with the Goku-Frieza fight on Namek, which they stretched out for twenty thirty-minute episodes.

 Dragon Ball Z also taught me the importance of having a morally complex character like Vegeta. While Goku was the protagonist, he was boring and reminded me too much of bland characters like Superman.

One of the things I set out to do in Palingenesis was create complex characters, such as Travis, who struggle with doing the right thing, because we’ve all had a crisis of conscious.

A Gamer’s Tale

I’m a gamer from back in the day; my first game was a video tape game were you had to shoot at spaceships on the tape, and if they hit you too many times the figure in your spaceship controller would eject and it was game over.

 Following this, I played Thunder Cats on my neighbor’s commodore 64 computer, and later played Super Mario on a gas station arcade game, before getting an NES at age five. I was hooked from a young age and still remember the console war between the SNES and Sega Genesis.

My favorite games were RPGS like The Legend of Zelda, puzzle/platformers like Tetris, and fighters like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. I was also into computer games like Sierra’s Shivers, and Doom, and later mmorpgs like World of Warcraft.

From them I took the concepts of power-ups, special moves, and nerfing. The latter being when devs decrease the abilities of an item, attack, or game class to balance the playing field. In the case of Travis and Prometheus, when they use their abilities too much or rapid heal, their powers are nerfed until they’ve recharged.

I like Big Book and I Cannot Lie

I was introduced to reading at a young age by my father, who read to me and constantly had a book with him. I read the usual kid’s stuff, then graduated to books like R.L. stein’s Goose Bumps series, before jumping to adult book by Dean Kuntz, John Saul, and others in my teens. And while on my trips to the library, I also read fiction books, all of which helped shape my worldbuilding. I’ve tried to combine the suspense of Kuntz’s books with the fantasy of books like Jim butcher’s Dresden Files and sprinkle in bits from other books I’ve read over the years to make something that’s mine. Welcome to my multiverse.

The Multiverse

The multiverse theory can briefly be described as the theory that our universe is one of an infinite number of such universes, all interconnected. I’ll go into this more in a future blogpost in this series, but for the sake of this post, I will say that Travis’s universe and that of hell are parallel to each other and at nexus points, where they intersect, travel is possible. There are other universes parallel to Travis’s, and in these other universes are people with abilities similar to Travis with their own stories to tell, all of which intersect and affect each other.

Myths and Legends

In much the same way Tolkien set out to create his own mythology by leaning on those of older traditions, so have I.

First, I’ll explore the myth of the phoenix and how it relates to my story. To begin with, the term phoenix is Greek meaning blood red, referring to the bird’s plumage. But the myth itself originates in Egypt, where its known as the Bennu Bird. The Bennu Bird was said to resemble a grey heron and had either the atef crown of Osiris or a solar disk. It is the sacred bird of Heliopolis and was said to be the soul of the sun god Ra.

“The Bennu was also associated with the inundation of the Nile and of the creation. Standing alone on isolated rocks of islands of high ground during the floods the heron represented the first life to appear on the primeval mound which rose from the watery chaos at the first creation. This mound was called the ben-ben.

“The Bennu was also considered a manifestation of the resurrected Osiris and the bird was often shown pirched(sic) in his sacred willow tree.

“The Bennu was known as the legendary phoenix to the Greeks. Herodotus, the Greek historian, says the following about the Bennu:

“Another sacred bird is the phoenix; I have not seen a phoenix myself, except in paintings, for it is very rare and only visits the country (so they say at Heliopolis) only at intervals of five hundred years, on the occasion of the death of the parent bird.”

“Herodotus goes on to record that the Bennu bird came from Arabia every 500 years carrying his father’s body embalmed in an egg of myrrh. This Arabian bird however was said to resemble an eagle with brilliant gold and red plumage. Before the phoenix died it built a nest of incense twigs and laid down in it and died. From its body a small worm emerged that the sun’s heat transformed into the new phoenix.

“Another story says that the phoenix rose again from the burnt and decomposing remains of his old body and took these to Heliopolis, where he burned them.

“The planet Venus was called the “star of the ship of the Bennu-Asar” (Asar is the Egyptian name of Osiris). The Bennu was also sometimes associated with Upper Egypt.” ( http://vr.theatre.ntu.edu.tw/hlee/course/th6_520/sty_egy/minor/phoenix.htm#:~:text=Appearance%3A%20The%20Bennu%20bird%20was,the%20sacred%20bird%20of%20Heliopolis.)

The concept of the phoenix’s continual renewal, its triumph over death and recreation of itself through fire are themes I discussed in the previous posts on symbols which you can read here. To Travis the phoenix represents everything he’s fighting to up and the world he’s trying to build. It’s a constant reminder that he can overcome his limitation and rise above all obstacles. But Travis isn’t alone in this. Throughout the series the phoenix represents the inner strength all the characters have and that we all have.

The Greek Myths

As I stated earlier, I got big into Greek mythology in middle school and those myths influenced the multiverse of Palingenesis. In particular, the notion of one set of gods replacing another was something I incorporated in the creation myth of my version of hell.

Moreover, in my multiverse all the old gods and goddesses were either demons or aliens come to earth for one reason or another before being exiled by another set of aliens or demons. Something I’ll explore in later books. Another aspect of the Greek gods I incorporated was their fallibility and human qualities, which is exemplified in Oblivion’s interactions with Travis.

Egyptian Myths

In addition to the myth of the phoenix, I borrowed from other Egyptian myths, such as the Egyptian creation myth and the Egyptian pantheon of gods when it came to shaping my own creation myths for the alien species. In particular the combat myth of Ra and Apophis helped inform my worldbuilding regarding good and evil as a contest between primordial forces of creation and destruction.

Legends

Moreover, I drew from legends like King Arthur, Faust, and Journey to the West to form the basis of the alien stories Travis learns while training in the cave. The legend of Faust was also important in my conception of Oblivion as a seducer and master manipulator.  

And speaking of good and evil the next section is on the religions that influenced the story.

Religion

Like most people in America, I grew up primarily exposed to Christianity and this shows in the reference to biblical passages and imagery I use, but Palingenesis’s conception of good and evil is more nuanced than what many churches teach. While some in the story believe you’re born either good or evil, a recurring theme is that we choose our fate and that our actions and decisions dictate who we are. Moreover, the question as to whether there’s a God is left open-ended and is something the characters grapple with in this and later books. not the only influence on the story.

However, Christianity isn’t the only religion or spiritual belief I pulled from.

The Zoroastrian concept of good and evil and how they came about forms the basis of the myth Oblivion tells Travis about the war between good and evil started.

Moreover, Buddhist concepts like controlling one’s thoughts, emotions, and actions form the backbone of Travis’s credo regarding the use of his powers and the person he wants to be. And the concept that good and evil are part of one perfect whole, and we must live in balance with all parts of ourselves and with others and the environment also inform Travis’s arc in this and later books.

I also drew upon the bad parts of religion (group think, adherence to those in authority, magical thinking, and anti-intellectualism) to shape the religion of hell, wherein demon worship chaos and glorify destruction and violence in the hopes it will free Oblivion from his prison.

Cultures and Civilizations

I already that the Egyptian and Greek cultures played a part in shaping my multiverse, but they weren’t the only ones. Torin, the species Prometheus is from, are modeled after societies like those of Japan and South Korea, While Nekoshins (the primary alien enemies they encounter) are modeled after Spartans.

Moreover, each of the demonic kingdoms is a blend of different cultures. For example, The Djinn of Rose are a blend of France during the lead up to the revolution, and late-era Rome.  The Thoth of Minerva, on the other hand, are a blend of Egyptian and Chinese culture, while The Gods of Death in Nercon are a mix of Viking and Zulu warriors. And last, the Lords of Chaos from Eris are a mix of the Huns and the Nizari Isma’ili Order of Assassins, the latter of whom you can read more here.  

Conclusion

Like the real world, the multiverse Palingenesis encompasses is complex, home to many cultures. This book, nay, this series has been a passion project of mine and I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about creative universe. Next week I’ll dive into sacred geometry, but below you’ll find an exclusive excerpt.

Eons ago, before the multiverse existed, there was only Oblivion and the Void. For countless millennia, Oblivion floated in the sea of nothingness, content to drift along. Then came the great schism. In a whirlwind of fire and light, an entity called Pantheos expelled him from his paradise, telling him he must uphold the cosmic balance by destroying that which He created.

And so, he took the name Oblivion in remembrance of the Void from whence he came and longed to return. As time passed, his duties expanded from causing star systems to implode and creating blackholes to running Pandemonium, the realm of darkness set aside to punish those who disobeyed Pantheos.

At first, he didn’t want to punish anyone, but epoch after epoch of hearing the crimes of his prisoners hardened his heart.

Overseeing Pandemonium was a brutal and lonely job, so he decided to create children in his own image like Pantheos did. From fire and ash, he molded them, breathing life into them with his Essence.