Chapter 1: Background and Basics
Prologue: The Story behind Eranoth's Lore-books.
Eranoth stared at the blank pages of his outdated version of Microsoft word. "Growing up, I studied a large assortment of really random stuff in depth. How do I make this useful?" He asked his elder sister, RedPandaChick.
"I don't have an answer for you, however, I am using my knowledge in writing. Using actual knowledge and applying it to my stories is great!" She replied.
"I'm doing that, but it doesn't seem like enough." Eranoth thought for a bit. My research has almost no real life application though… "Wait! I have an idea!"
RedPandaChick looked up. "Oh?"
"I have wanted to compile my research on various topics into one place anyways. Why don't I write it down and share it. Others can then learn different ways to apply story aspects and I can make my odd knowledge useful!"
The elder sister smiled. "That sounds like a great idea! There is another author that the people in the webnovel chat on discord they call "Wikipedia" because they have answers to a lot of things. This could be a great way for you to get involved in webnovel before you get further in your actual novels."
Eranoth smiled. "I think the other authors may appreciate it."
"I think more than just other authors will appreciate it." She replied.
Eranoth excitedly got to work. Hoping that Eranoth's book of lore research is well liked despite the limited story being told.
The adult male started writing. "To the readers: As most of the content has actually been created through extrapolation and pondering on the subjects in question rather than from a website or specific sources, there will be very few reference links to actual resources. To authors that are struggling with means to understand the intricacies of things, feel free to message me a "subject" you wish for help understanding. While I cannot guarantee accuracy, especially if it is out of my realm of expertise, the lore I write in these books are fantastic ways to apply concepts. Happy writing!"
"P.S. When I start posting my real stories I hope you will love them!
P.P.S. Sadly, despite all of my theory-craft, no successful real life application has been attained."
Lore Book 1: Shapeshifting: An in depth on the myriad methods of creating change to oneself or others.
Chapter 1: The basics of shapeshifting
"Most people think of shapeshifting in a few simple ways." Eranoth muttered to himself as he pondered how to simplify the explanation for chapter 1. "The most commonly accepted method is known as blood-shifting even though most don't call it that. Blood shifting has a few sub-categories but that is for another chapter or 3..."
Relaxing Gameboy Pokemon music played on youtube as he wrote.
He pet the cat sized white tiger plushy RedPandaChick got him while she was at the zoo last time. "How would you explain it?"
The inanimate object did not respond.
Eranoth steeled his nerves as this was something he had put off for years. "Over the ages many people have tried to give shapeshifting a very esoteric definition. For the sake of simplicity I am going to use the following very broad definition. *Shapeshifting is the act of changing from one shape into another.* This broad explanation is actually very inclusive and brings in topics not commonly associated with shapeshifting. But that is a topic for another chapter."
"Shapeshifting has many names. Some of these include: Form shifting, Mutating, Evolving, adaption, Transforming and so on. Despite the fact that these names talk about the same 'over-arching concept', they are actually very different when you get down to the nitty gritty. "
"Logic is a difficult thing to have when involving shapeshifting outside of the 'norm'. Think about it, how can a frog suddenly become a rabbit? When push comes to shove, how does it actually work? Magically?"
Eranoth face palmed at his own sarcasm. "Sorry, allow me to clarify. When writing about a magic there is a 'logical' explanation for that magic, how it works, and so on within the realm the magic exists in. Often times, the 'how it works' for shapeshifting, magical or not, is glazed over, especially when it isn't the primary focus of the story. Lawless shapeshifting can actually lore break."
"Take Legendary Moonlight Sculpture for example. There is a low level npc evil priest that casts a transformation type unholy spell and turns a soldier from the enemy into a ferocious wolf that attacks his own best friends. The soldier couldn't stop it or resist. Holy! That is powerful! Why not use that spell to destroy an army rather than a fireball?"
Now let's turn our attention to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For those who have not read it, I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers. My personal favorite chapter in that whole book is a lore broken transfiguration spell. The target couldn't resist. Their wand fell to the floor. They couldn't use their magic as a result and they became a harmless critter completely at the mercy of the caster. If that much power could be used from a simple spell, then couldn't the dark lord have been stopped ages ago by being turned into a pocket watch?"
Eranoth laughed to himself. "In games it is the same. The MC saves A B and C from transformation curse. But if you really thought about it, if the curse were cast on the MC wouldn't the story suddenly end? Instant game over? Another in game example, MC uses transformation spell to perform task D. They are able to pull it off flawlessly and nobody suspects a thing."
The old pokemon music ended and Eranoth pulled up another song by a remixer named Kamex. He took a deep breath after complaining about ads about liberty mutual and google fi.
"As you can see, lawless shapeshifing can lead to a plethora of questions and break the lore of a story. However, Shapeshifting shouldn't be a taboo. In fact, when I start posting my own stories on webnovel, you will see that shapeshifting can actually amplify the story or allow for a very different way to affect a story. To be honest, I haven't read many people's works yet. However, I want to applaud the writer Harry_Dresden in regards to his comprehension of shapeshifting within the world of his book Werewolf in another world. Even though it is the easiest of the lore to find information regarding, (Conditional Bloodshifting and Illusion-shifting), every time transformations are involved in his story, the lore is maintained."
"When involving most things in a story, you should consider a few things. What purpose does it have? How does it work within the world I have created? Shapeshifting has a bit more to consider as well. What is the cost? What is the result? How does it happen? Does it end? ETC."
Eranoth put his face into his hands thinking that this is probably too much of an info dump despite the fact that the entirety of the book is intended to be an info dump. "I should take a break and prepare the chicken I will be using for dinner." He said as he left his computer behind before getting ready to write chapter 2.
© J Eranoth
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