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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Archon of Light" data-source="post: 3491222" data-attributes="member: 20967">Wow. Ok, I haven't had an idea appeal to me so strongly as this one has in a long, long time. I feel like grabbing it up and running away with it!  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious    :]" data-shortname=":]" />But I think I'll just post something, instead.This simple idea has the all the potential to become something completely and uniquely different if done right. It has all the right elements that are both familiar and appealing to many of us who share an adventurous heart, as well as a creative mind. But the small twist is so compelling and imaginative, yet not unfamiliar, that it should be its own setting. I feel that it should not be treated as an alternate landscape to your 'typical' fantasy world. This needs to be something more focused and original with a bigger picture. Like this:"The surface world no longer exists. The fiery cataclysm came from the skies without warning. The Final Reckoning, as it was later called, marked the end of almost all life on the planet... except for those who were unfortunate enough to survive and find their way deeper inside the burnt shell of the world.Deep within the world's core, the races from above found their way to settle near large underground seas. They are the last remaining sources of fresh water to support what life still exists. Covering just a few thousand square miles, these vast caverns are now home for the small remnants of an entire planet. It is an alien world unknown to many, and home to many frightening and powerful creatures who have adapted and survived in the darker places for centuries untold. For the races of men, adaptation in a cold and lightless world are all that stands between any hope for survival and complete extinction."My advice is just not to treat this like a revamped cliche' of everything familiar all over again. Think outside the box! Forget about how to apply all the standard races and monsters. For example, assume there were no such things as dark elves before this. The elves that survived faced total annihilation because their spiritual ties to the lands were severed. Many simply mourned the death of their world, and lost their will to live. The elves as a race would've died out completely if not for the attention of a demonic corruptor and led them deep into the earth where they became tainted and dark. They lost touch with their sylvan ways and became something twisted and evil.Gnomes and halflings never had a chance, but the dwarves flourished in the underground realms. It soon became clear to the human races who was more dependent upon whom and the dwarves also became aware of it, too. Before long, humans became second-class citizens and resented the authority of their dwarf leaders. In the end, it was decided that those who would not abide by dwarven standards would have to survive on their own outside the citadels of the Dwarf Lords.Of all the races that descended, however, the orcs made the most surprising and unanticipated change. With the elves gone and their numbers vastly diminished, the orcs knew better than any other race that there is always strength in numbers. It is under such unique circumstances that humans and orcs came to depend on each other and meshed their cultures into something new. Orcs became the protectors of their human counterparts, and the humans did their best to take as much of the 'orc' out of the orcs. They even went so far as to rename their kind as 'Olgren'.I think I could probably just go on like this... hmm, and I just might have to!    <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/nervous.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":heh:" title="Nervous Laugh    :heh:" data-shortname=":heh:" /></blockquote>

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