A shared sword & sorcery setting: City of Scum

[DraegonDaddy]

I have a title: "The Blade, The Spear, & The Demon Crown."

 

[Audiflex]

A while ago I wrote a story called Rulk the Rat and the Demon Dagger (9.7k words, rated 4.76). A nasty story about nasty people, none nastier than the main character. To me, it encapsulates some of the key elements of S&S: a grim setting, earthy characters, magic that's unpredictable and mysterious rather than utilitarian, people whose motives are selfish, shades of grey, a distinct lack of Good v Evil conflict.

Several readers commented that it would make a good chapter in an anthology:

"You could have some fun expanding this world in future stories for sure."
"It felt like a story from a horror anthology series with a grim narrator introducing each story."
"I feel like this would be a fun episode of something like the Twilight Zone[.]"

In The Sword & Sorcery appreciation thread, the possibility came up of a S&S challenge. I doubt that would happen this year - I won't be organising it, at least - but perhaps people would be interested in using the setting from "Rulk the Rat" as a shared universe. An anthology of standalone stories with a common tone and some common landmarks, but different characters.

Who's interested? I'm not setting any deadlines or saying who's allowed to join, or impose any sequence for people to write their stories. Just an open setting to use as background and inspiration.

"Rulk the Rat" already sounds like a perfect seed for a shared S&S universe, gritty, unpredictable, and full of shady characters. An anthology in that world could be a blast, with different writers bringing their own grimy twists to it. No deadlines, no restrictions? Even better.

 

[DraegonDaddy]

"The Blade, The Spear, & The Demon Crown" is now up to 8000 words

 

[DraegonDaddy]

Correction 9270 words.

 

[StillStunned]

"The Blade, The Spear, & The Demon Crown" is now up to 8000 words

Correction 9270 words.

Looks like you had a productive writing day!

 

[DraegonDaddy]

Debating if I should break this into chapters or just keep going as a continous narrative.

 

[StillStunned]

You're probably best off with a single narrative. Second-chapter views drop off more than average in SF&F, I find.

 

[DraegonDaddy]

They drop off even more if chapter 2 has the bisexual male tag.

 

[StillStunned]

They drop off even more if chapter 2 has the bisexual male tag.

Very true, unfortunately. It's sad how closed-minded the readers of fantasy erotica can be sometimes.