This is a brief introduction to the world I am building for my novel: Magic of the Ancestors.
Earthling, let me tell you of the world I hail from...
The World of Kab
In the world of Kab, there have been six mass extinctions in its three-billion-year history. The first five were natural, there's no proof otherwise. But the last was manmade. It was caused by the War of Poison Fires. The survivors went underground and lived for a hundred, hundred years.
Akna, a living, breathing being that inhabits within the planet of Kab, had coaxed The People out from their caves and back to life under Father Sun. She revealed that she is the source and nurturer of magic and that she was dying. She told the People that if they wished to keep their magical talents, their Obligations, they must find and speak to the Jajibôba, the Portal Walkers, for they knew the key to restoring her health and thus their magic. With the knowledge gained from the Jajibôba, the Sages built one-way portals that go from five parallel, twin worlds to Kab.
One of those twins is a planet known as Earth by its people. Like all the mirror worlds chosen, Earth's people discovered iron and then mined, pillaged, and poisoned the planet. This lack of care, in turn, sickened, weakened, then killed each of their planet-beings.
The portals created by the sages and Jajibôba are designed to take Obligated people from the now, magically-dead mirror worlds and bring them to Kab where their magic keeps Akna's elemental balance replenished. Thanks to the portals, Akna now thrives as do the People and their magic.
On Kab there are five different Clades -or types of people: Avians, Amphibioids, Insectoids, Florians, and Simians. Every person has at least one Obligation; most have two, and others have more. All the plants and animals are also imbued with magic. Some of these creature's abilities are useful to the people, some are benign, but all are valued.
It has been over a thousand years since the portals were built. And while they maintain the connections between the mirror worlds, time is not stable. A cheechako (a portal traveler and newcomer) can be transported to a world hundreds of years in the future -or the past in comparison to their world. In an effort to be kind, Akna ensures that cheechakos do not remember their old life -freeing them from the sorrow of losing their families and place in their world. However, each does retain "learned knowledge" such as their profession and how to read.
This odd twist has resulted in a world where science and technology have developed in tandem with the knowledge of how to use the power of crystals, steam fission, and the natural vibrations of the universe. Science and magic are equally studied and acknowledged on Kab.
Turtle Island
The mass of land that is called North America on Earth, is known as Turtle Island on Kab.
Turtle Island was never colonized by the People Across the Great Waters of the East: the Europeans and Spaniards. The most likely reason for this is that the genius of the Mayans survived and thrived. As they and their knowledge migrated north great stone cities were built. Their technology continued to grow and expand and rivaled that of any other around the globe.
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Unlike Earth, on Turtle Island, the People's culture was allowed to grow and evolve without the toxin of colonization. Over time, as populations grew across all the continents, borders were agreed upon and Nation-States were created. There are 44 Nation-States on Turtle Island. Each with its own clans, tribes, languages, ceremonies, and culture. But they all belong to the Great Nation of Turtle Island. The common language is Athapascan-Diné.
Cultural mores throughout the Great Nation are focused on protecting Akna, the planet, and all the creatures put under The People's care. The Law Above All Laws states: That no other law can be made that does not support seven generations forward and seven generations back.
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This has resulted in a land and way of life that values All That Is over the individual.