Wanderers of Tokhm Azhdaha
Original Story Concept
The Plot
Wanderers of Tokhum Azhdaha is about the deep natural symbiosis between Humans and Dragons across the cosmos. The Humans are cosmic jumpers, leaping between points in space at will, and this ability keeps them equal in stead with The Azhdaha, colossal draconic creatures that fight amongst themselves for sport, the champions of which, hold divine dominion and dignity.
The Humans have a rich culture revolving around collecting and curating treasures of the cosmos for profit and aesthetic pleasure. In this world of excess, witnessing Azhraksh-e-Azhdaha, a Dragon Storm, is sought out by nobility and seekers of ultimate experience. The Humans have intricate systems set in place to safely watch battles from a distance.
The Humans
The Humans have an intricate society built around their energy source - the Will of Air, that evolved man's mind. Little children train in the Corpus Academy since birth to control their experience, perception and memory. Babies are kept in closed controlled chambers lest they leap away haphazardly.
Humans exist in a state of potential, where they exist everywhere all at once, but are discrete only at one spot which manifests as their physical body. In order to zip from one quantum state to another, one needs to strongly visualize their destination. They don't live as long as the Azhdaha, for their minds give out before their bodies. So to aid longevity, humans are made to train their memory by memorizing and reproducing the bloodlines of the Azhdaha. When a human's mind gives out, their mind maintaining ego ruptures and their consciousness scatters out in the universe, dying and decoupling from its infinite quantum states.
Humans are tempted easily and crave materiality since it anchors their amorphous quantum minds to the world. Without many meaningful things to do, they can grow restless and let loose of their mind's control and explode into quantum variance. Hence, human society is mired in materialistic, consumerist activity since it absolutely requires it. Yet, too much consumption damages their minds, rendering them unable to properly wield their leaping. So, much care is taken to build mental discipline in children at the Academy. And the highest echelon of human discipline are the Eyes of the World.
The Azhdaha
The race of Azhdaha is driven by bloodsport. Identity and victory are of sole importance. This competitive inferno churns inside every Egg, absorbing and growing, in the hopes of becoming the ultimate Champion. The Azhdaha or Dragons live by the Will of Fire. It's an infinite, ever-expanding energy that has burned since the First Egg. Dragons are functionally solitary, but their need of identity causes them to draw out of isolation and engage others in battle every so often. The winners name is spread far and wide, the losers are condemned and stripped. A singular dragon can be a force of nature. They can grow to sizes that influence the weather, fluctuations in heat, air pressure, humidity. Their mere passage can create droughts, storms, tornados.
The Dragons are driven by Endolution, an inside-out speciation process as opposed to evolution. All Dragons contain a spherical core known as an Etm, somewhere deep inside their body. Each ensures it specializes into a unique, strong identity over the eons of its development. When a Dragon loses in combat, it sheds it's whole body and exists as an inert Etm for centuries, wandering and gathering natural energy, which the Will of Fire transforms into a new body. Once they are fully regrown, these Dragons set out once again, thirsting for challenge.
The two races exist as great balancing forces in the Cosmos. The Will of Fire and the Will of Air act as counterweights, two eternal stores of energy that are polar opposites, yet one and the same in nature. The will of Fire is singular, gargantuan, ever-expanding. It keeps dragons growing and specializing, sustains them at their colossal sizes for eons. The Will of Air is potential. It is infinite, and reflexive. It spans the whole universe and loops, knots and doubles down on itself in spots.
Art Generated in DALL-E 2
fig. Endolution and Recursive Morphing of Etm-azhdaha
The Corpus
The Corpus are the learned sorcerer sect of Humans who harness raw quantum potential to manipulate natural energy according to their will. They are dedicated to researching all Azhdaha and unearthing their mechanisms of immortality and Endolution process. The Corpus are the caregivers of society, who mediate the different factions, maintain human law and raise the young in their Academies. Corpus incubators are where most, except those who choose to live as Hedons, learn to control quantum leaping.
Dragon Carcasses, Embalmed and Bejeweled at a Hedon Palace
The Hedons
The Hedons hold the coveted memories of all the races. In exchange for holding this knowledge and remembering the true history of the world, they are allowed to live in a material paradise where they engage in sensual pleasure, arts and human bonding experiences to pass time. Locked away from quantum leaping, they stay put in their city, becoming the finest connoisseurs of art, literature and music. The Hedons also educate most of humanity and take charge of the bloodline-memory process. Sole access to the history of the Cosmos gives the Hedons, too much power. Many suspect that they guard key secrets and manipulate narratives to suit their motivations.
The Sentinels
The Sentinels are the soldier sect who enforce civil law and are the keystone of human defense against the Azhdaha. The Divine Guard are a subset of the Sentinels, who meld themselves to the outer walls of Human cities, keeping watch for weather and dragon related catastrophes to ferry Human cities out of the way. In exchange for their eternity of servitude, their young at the Academy are given priority access to the sect of their choice. Some however, slander the Sentinels as being the dogs of the Hedons.
The Wanderers
The Wanderers seek the great treasures of the Cosmos and spend lifetimes searching for and fighting over artifacts, dragon organs and precious metals and gemstones. After months of journeying they return to cities to sell their wares, share stories and proffer glimpses of different parts of the Cosmos to the populace.
The Eyes of the World
The Eyes of the World are living records - adjudicators who stand as witness to an Azhraksh. They encounter and encode the results of all challenges for the rest of the world. These are the most skilled leapers to ever exist. They record the events of a dragon storm by staying as closely as physically possible, without getting caught in the cataclysmic carnage. If they are to falter for even a moment, they may fail to execute a crucial leap and perish in the crossfire. They lead lives of warrior monks, blindfolding themselves and waiting in meditation to preserve their mental pliability and experiential freshness. It is the highest Human honor, becoming an Eye. But most others secretly shun the life of an Eye, since it would mean discipline and rigor and abstaining from the sensual pleasures of the world.
The Eyes of the World witness an Azhraksh-e-Azhdaha
The Features
Human culture takes on aspects of the Persian and Chinese Empires from our world. Their cities are ostentatious and individuals are beautiful and worldly. They buy, collect, own homes filled with treasures and art. And generally find it difficult to maintain their sanity whilst seeking constant stimulation in the face of immortality.
One specific pleasure ritual, is held as the ultimate act of bonding and intimacy. When two humans choose to enter this union, they engage in rapid quantum leaping where each tries to keep up with each other and the longer they go on, the more synchronized they become, doing cosmic dances of sexual integration that span lightyears. The orgasmic pleasure caused by two centers of consciousness existing at the same point in physical space, is needless to say, euphoric and transcendental.