My Life as Fantasy

 

Disclaimer: This is strictly a nerdy little creative writing project, and will in no way become something bigger. Also, I may use terms like cripple, so apologies in advance to those who may be offended.

Real life has been getting pretty, well, real lately so I've needed a creative interlude. I took another Dungeons and Dragons "personality test" a while ago and again, came up with a Neutral Good Human Wizard/Monk. However this test listed some other classes I'd fit in: Bard, Paladin, and Warlock. 

Reading about these classes, I started to get an idea of how well some parts of my life could be twisted to fit this fantasy stuff. So, my next step was challenging myself to write about my life as if it were a Dungeons and Dragons-style fantasy. The Tale of Scomac Andrellan turned out pretty well!

Basically, I just took as many details and life events as possible and made them seem old-timey or medieval. Some things were easier than others:

Terms like disabled/disability became crippled, sickly, ills, ailment, and so on.

Cell therapy became alchemical knowledge and potions, provided by a far-off man of medicine.

Instead of Taekwondo, I attended a monastic academy.

Instead of using a computer to type, I learned a system of magical writing, where I could put quill to page with no physical exertion.

Easter Seals became a guild called the Seal of Eastar and Camp Merrywood became The Merry Wood.  Also, Eastar allows Scomac to become a bard (speaker) and swear his first oath (Leaders of Tomorrow). Sounds really corny, but it translated really well!

Translating Joubert syndrome to a fantasy world was surprisingly tough. Everything I thought of at first sounded really cheesy or a little offensive, and I didn't want either. Finally, I wrote genetics/genetic testing as a form of magic called internal divination, using spells etc. to diagnose things in people. 

Joubert the syndrome became Joubare the race. Joubares are a very rare type of human, and outwardly present as having a variety of common ills and afflictions. However, very few members of this race are exactly alike, with each Joubare possessing traits unique to the specific individual. 

Wanting to do something creative and fun with Joubert syndrome as fantasy, I turned common issues with communication into an aptitude for magic, using the magic writing/computing from before, and expanding it to include people who can speak psychically (in place of speech devices, I figured), and others who craft words and phrases through complex hand gestures typical of some spell-craft (sign language).

These people had their own society, and Scomac Andrellan was asked to speak at one, telling tales of his life experiences. Eventually he'd start encouraging young Joubares to start sharing their stories and would be asked to sit on the society's council until a great plague spreads through the world.

I ended my tale with Scomac writing a book, something I may do myself someday soon.

Fun times!

Cheers