I always saw this world as a western fantasy world, more or less. So I figured their religious ideas were more based in Christianity or Ancient Roman/Greek Mythology.
Same here. But I like it when a story carries a realistic message, so when Louanne suggested the idea, I jumped to make the most of it and it seems that everyone agrees, so we'll go for that. Abrupt changes like this are to be expected since this is a discovery written story. I have a feeling that all the writers here are discovery writers.
I think with the spirits, it's easier to go with a more Greek/Roman idea. Because we also haven't set this up for saints or archangels.
The spirits are just natural forces. Yuuna is light, Kurai is darkness, Kori is winter. As to their deeper meaning and origins of existence, I am not quite sure. I think I would leave that to be a mystery. Leaving some of the concepts up for interpretation is a nice strategy to create wonder.
Interesting. But then, why does the world or prophesy even exist? Or more, how do these things exist? We could argue that 'science' is the cause, i.e. The Big Bang, etc. Which would make sense. I would be happier with that idea. Maybe the architect IS the Big Bang and people made it into a godly figure?
Someone wrote them in the past. There have been various scriptures mentioned (Book of Embers, Scroll of Kurai, Scroll of Yuuna and some others). It's pretty obvious who wrote the two mentioned scrolls, and I always imagined them to be: Kurai wrote the scroll to say: Screw all of you, this is what will happen, and you have no choice! More importantly, he wrote it specifically so he could stir ideas into Melina's head. It's a manipulation tactic. He knew she'd want power, so she coined some warrior who'd "unfold lands and oceans" because she'd love it, and stick to it when she finds out that she was meant to be that warrior—because that's what Kurai intended.
The problem is as you say: that some of the spirits have been talking about the architect as a real, existing entity up until this point, so we can't just u-turn. The only solution is to make it so the spirits themselves believe in the architect. The real question, then, is: How did that delusion come to be?
I'd rather not do any extensive planning around this bit. Let's just keep the fact in mind: The spirits also believe in the non-existant architect, and come up with a good answer as we keep discovering the rest of the story.
Most importantly, we should treat the scriptures as reasonable predictions founded in reality. Yuuna wrote hers to oppose Kurai's, but hers didn't come to pass, so the next part of the story is all about overcoming that!
This also shows us that not all scriptures need to be necessarily true. I mean, not all of Yuuna's word came to pass. And even when that changes by the end, then Kurai's word are voided by consequence.
I get that, but I think the message I find or at least would say for the RP would be: All humans should be treated equally and it's possible to change society to reflect that.
Yes, exactly! The super basic version of the message is: Don't just sit there and hope the divine will rescue you, make action and change with your own two hands. And since this story is all about social inequality, it also says that humanity is responsible for fixing its own problems. No divine is there to rescue them. Not even the spirits. Making the society more equal is up to them, and the three predicted girls are there to reform the world afterwards. There is balance in that... a lot more than a single royal reforming everything!
That's essentially what the Scroll of Yuuna predicts. She perceived society to be imbalanced and broken (because it is) so she intended for three members (each belonging to one of the major social classes) to step in and bring balance.
Ravenna belongs to the lab rat class. Lab rats probably didn't exist back in Myrto's time, but slavery very much did. You take a poet, strip their freedom, and do with them as you please. Lab rats are just modern (from the story's relative time) slaves.
It's also notable how the three chosen are actually members of all classes we have so far. Sophia is a mage, but also a royal. Katara is a poet, but also a scientist. Ravenna is a lab rat, but also a poet. The poet bit is kind of redundant but it's no problem because there is more diversity.
Sophia especially has plenty of negative experiences with the royals. Her circumstances were such that she couldn't benefit from being a royal, but still had insider perspective and first hand experience on what happens to those whom royals perceive as weak.
Our trio is quite balanced! And it's really funny because we never actually planned this. It just sort of happened and it makes a lot of sense. There were threads in the forum about how characters tend to write themselves. Well, it's true!
As for Ravenna, if everyone is sticking together, I would say she would do her best to take care of Olive. Because she knows what its like to be alone and unwell.
That could be a possibility. She going to be pretty ill herself quite soon (no spoilers!) so that might make sense. I'll see about it though and talk to you in PMs about it. Since you can't write, let's come up with a plan for Ravenna privately (so you don't spoil the others). I really do think that the surprises are a big part of the fun.
