Races:

Human
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Praevas: Viking-like warriors, the original human settlers on the continent (which is still unnamed, like a lot of concepts). Barbaric and cruel.
Tehnvas: A race which originated near the Crystal Swamp, the source of all mana before The Expansion. Known for creating most magical objects. (think native american)
Umbvas: Notorious for being pirates. Also known for being very convincing in civilized places. Known for their armor. (think african american)

Beast
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Orsnad: An orcish race, half-vampiric, known for being half elven, half human. Known for their two-handed weapons and unruly culture.
Drohnad: A fox-like race, known for being untrustworthy thieves. Live in small communities, never in cities. Two seperate groups rarely get along.

Elven
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The elves of this world are not like those in classic fantasy. They are demons sent to the planet by "Evil Gods" to counteract the creation of humans and to destroy them

Ruhvan: This vampiric race feeds on the souls of its victims. Little is known about them, for they are isolated from the rest of the world.
Motvan: The Motvan are the other vampiric race who feed on pure terror, anger, and sorrow. They will go to great lengths to make their victims suffer.

(Non-Vampiric Elves)

Alzvan: Faceless creatures who travel in hordes. The only recognition of this race being civilized is the audible language spoken through what seems to be music.
Aervan: The Aervan are disease spreading monsters who look nearly identical to the Tehnvas. One can only tell when the Aervan in question releases its deadly disease to the population.

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The humans and elves are at war, and The hero of this story is on a quest to destroy a "floating city". This city is fueled by a "gem" that feeds on life.( It was created and is maintained by a "demon/evil god") Plant-life, Animal-life, anything - Leaving the land it passes over barren and without life. The gem which powers the city has a sister gem, as does every gem. Unfortunately, To recover this gem our hero must first travel to a Mirror-World. Because the beings in this universe view existence linearly (Events happen linearly as long as the God of Time ehxists. Upon his removal, however, things will happen simultaneously, creating infinitesimal numbers of Mirror-Worlds - While still occuring linearly to mortals) yet, they are physically and mentally unable to comprehend these Mirror-Worlds. However, by removing oneself from the linear state of existence, one can travel these Worlds. Each Mirror-World is governed by its own races, physics, plant-life - Everything is different, but all based upon the central basis of reality governed by the "Gods". How our hero retrieves said gem is still in the works, but he must hurry. The "floating city" is approaching the Crystal Swamp, the source of all magic (as far as the humans know.) As he does not know how to destroy the city, he unwittingly finds himself lost within its vast confines, a dark place burdened by thick fog and millions upon millions of paths. (The size of this world is about twice the size of Jupiter, so the city is small in comparison.) His luck turns, (ironically) when he is killed. His soul is sent to "Unnamed place" where he should spend eternity, as he is still in a linear state of being. (I still need a clever way for him to get out of this.) After being "revived" he goes forth to destroy the "God of Time" in order to unlock these Mirror-Worlds. After destroying him (need something clever here too) He enters the Planes of Existence, the space between the infinite number of Mirror-Worlds. To find the correct mirror world, he is guided by the same prophecy that deemed him hero in the first place (Need a prophecy.) The gem in this world is the heart of the Dragon God of Hatred, the size of our galaxy, which is miniscule in terms of Mirror-Worlds. (I need a way for our hero to destroy this dragon). Now the hero returns to "His Planet" to destroy the city. As he fights his way to the city, he gets through the labryinth that it is, to the gem. As he counters the effect of the city's gem with its sister, The "God of Prophecy", "personified" as a bird, flies below the monstorous mass.. destroying all prophecy of past, present, and future. Without Time and Prophecy to govern the world, multiple things happen at once.

1. Our hero ceases to exist.
2. The city is not destroyed.
3. The city destroys the world
4. In a Mirror-World, the city ceases to exist, and life continues
5. The Gods of Prophecy and Time fade back into existence in the same Mirror-World stated above.
6. Our hero is reborn on this world, only with a different fate, and no knowledge of previous events (setting up the next story!)
7. The Expansion begins, to make room for all of the Mirror-Worlds. The world is bathed in mana from a white hole created by the expansion. It will NOT be referred to as a white hole.

The Crystal Swamp is a swamp of trees hundreds of miles high that grow and move as if they were a living organism. It is dense enough to hold an entire city on their tops. It is believed that the Gods exist upon the Crystal Swamp, for it is the source of all mana until The Expansion. The Gods gave up their immortal side when they created the existence humans know, thus the problem with the city approaching. They do not and can not interfere with mortal events (Prophecy and Time are considered immortal) ,thus them not snapping their fingers and destroying the thing.

You may want to add a neutral race, maybe even make the hero one of this neutral race so he can go to the elven cities withoput being killed straight away, just so you can write about the elven culture without it digressing from the story too much.

Jellyfish from another planet would be a perfect neutral race.

Ah, thanks. I guess I got caught up in the grand scheme of things I'll think about it for a while, and see what I can come up with.

I'd personally recommend a dwarven inspired race, as the fact that they live deep underground means they would have a naieve and warped view of the world.

I like how you think :disguise:

Any ideas for the actual story?

Well, I'd make the Dwarves a military superpower who is not committed to either side, and the hero (a dwarf) is sent out with a troop of elite soldiers to investigate the ways of the two sides.
They go to an elven city first where they are given a lavish welcome, but after a few days (or weeks, depends on how much of the elven culture you want to talk about) the hero decides to leave and investigate the humans.
The elves turn hostile and most of the troop is killed attempting to escape. The hero and a few of his troop have to escape enemy territory and on his way back to the Dwarves he sees the floating city destroying a stretch of countryside, he then continues home and the main story could begin there.

How would the dwarves look aesthetically? What would be our hero's role with the dwarves?

Aesthetically I'd make them completely covered in hair and also short and muscular.

In order to stay away from cliches I'd make the hero an older dwarf (how old depends on the kinds of lifespan you'd want to have) and a close friend of the dwarf leader.
Another plot device could be to have a member of the heros entourage be the dwarf leaders son, who is killed excaping the elves. This would give him the motivation to redeem himself to his friend.

Or, for a real mind-[profanity], the hero could be of an elven race. Dward works too I'm just tossing things around

Maybe one of those disease spreading ones you mentioned, only not evil.

He'd be the perfect tortured hero, because he knows he will eventually cause suffering to those around him.

I'd personally recommend a dwarven inspired race, as the fact that they live deep underground means they would have a naieve and warped view of the world.

Why do they need to live underground? Why not be more original?

Why do they need to live underground? Why not be more original?

But what changed him?

They could be an ancient race who's entire civilization was frozen in time for millions of years for unknown reasons, some of their people could have been looted by boh humans and elves as artifacts and when they awoke for other unexplained reasons the humans/elves found out their civilization has the greatest army in history, and send the dwarves back to ally with them.



Wizard did it

I'd explain it as his mother being a human, who was killed by the disease his father infected her with when conceiving him.

I like the dwarf concept though, maybe they could meet up in the story?

Original =/= success.


Take TES for example. They have elves, orcs, dragons, but the way they implement them is unique to the series. I do agree that I need a neutral race if my character is not human nor elf/beast. Any suggestions?

I get that, just saying, there are things similiar to the underground that are not under the ground.

But as for a neutral character. Though it is cliche, a human character is easier to relate to as a human character comes from a culture that is familiar. I'm sure the other races' cultures will draw inspiration from already existing ones, but the races themselves are, in essence, alien. And an alien exterior can be hard to understand if not giving it all the attention it needs. You could of course have something similiar to humans, but not humans at all.

But why need a neutral race anyway? Wouldn't it be more suspenseful if using one of those you already have?

I get that, just saying, there are things similiar to the underground that are not under the ground.

But as for a neutral character. Though it is cliche, a human character is easier to relate to as a human character comes from a culture that is familiar. I'm sure the other races' cultures will draw inspiration from already existing ones, but the races themselves are, in essence, alien. And an alien exterior can be hard to understand if not giving it all the attention it needs. You could of course have something similiar to humans, but not humans at all.

But why need a neutral race anyway? Wouldn't it be more suspenseful if using one of those you already have?

He could always use the "Fellowship" device, and if he is writing a story (I think he is) then they could start in seperate areas and meet up later in the book.

Just my opinion of course

Interesting concept. I'll see how the details pan out, and work from there.