Tuesday Flashback: The World of The Asylum Tales

This week’s flashback isn’t quite as big of a trip into the past since the first Asylum Tales story hit last summer.  However, from various reader comments and questions, I thought I’d take the time to go into a little more detail about Gage’s world and bring up an essay Gage provided some time ago.  

In the Asylum Tales, nearly every creature is open about their existence and is recognized as having the same basic civil rights and liberties so long as they don’t infringe upon the rights of others.  There are a few still in hiding and for good reason.  This openness traces back to around the time of the Black Death – the plague sweeping through Europe and elsewhere.  The plague touched nearly all races and the peoples banded together to find a way of stopping it.  Most attempts failed, but it was the witches and the warlocks who were the most effective in curing and stopping the spread of the plague.  

The witches and the warlocks were celebrated.  They were healers and saviors.  During the next few hundred years, all the different peoples learned to live together, though it was not easy.  The warlocks and the witches were accepted, but generally forgotten after a time as people focused on the bigger problem of living.  That was the beginning of the downfall.  To learn more about the defeat of the peoples of the world and the Great War, please click this link to The Subjugation of the Races essay.  

Fast forward to present day and you have nearly all the races living together in some semblance of harmony.   The only peoples that are relatively evenly spread are humans, though incubi and succubi are a close second.  In the United States, you’ll find more fey in the Midwest and along the Rockies due to the forest land and mountains.  The coastal states see a higher concentration of water races like selkies, undines, merpeople, and water sprites.  

While warlocks and witches aren’t the only one who can use magic, they have the widest array of abilities when it comes to magic.  The other races tend to have very specific gifts or specializations.  The Summer Court of elves is good at making things grow and some limited abilities with glamour and weather.  The Winter Court excels at glamour, illusions, and entering and affecting dreams.  Shape-shifters tend to be fast healers, have heightened senses, and are frequently strong or faster.  Gargoyles turn to stone in sunlight and have a heightened awareness of the city they inhabit.  Pixie glow and hobgoblins can temporarily shapeshift into anything they want.  

And somehow in all of this diversity, these people found a way to live together.  Of course, having a common energy often has the amazing ability to bring people together.  

Be sure to stop by next week when I post a brand new article about Gage’s magic training in the Ivory Towers.