Cracking Tales of Aysle - Novel
 |
The stories in this book focus on a few characters fighting¸ living¸ and dying in Aysle¸ one of the realms involved in the Possibility Wars. As can be seen from these stories¸ set in the universe of the Torg roleplaying game¸ Aysle is the realm of fantasy and legendary adventure: monsters¸ myths¸ and magic all come alive in the realm of Aysle.
But why? Why is there a section of the Earth that has been turned into some fantastical place from European myth and legend? And¸ in a larger sense¸ what does this mean to the rest of the game world?
There are many different¸ and contradictory¸ answers to these questions¸ but¸ simply put¸ Aysle represents a land of magical conception. Not only can there be elves¸ dwarves¸ giants¸ or other magical creatures¸ but they can exist¸ in Aysle¸ without detaching themselves entirely from the world of twentieth-century Earth. The magic-using elf may use a calculator to figure out an arcane puzzle; dwarves invest on the London stock exchange; and giants mix with half-folk and mythical creatures in modern-day crime syndicates. The point of reference is familiar.
It is this uniqueness¸ this mixing of the real with the unreal¸ that gives Torg¸ the game¸ its appeal. And¸ in these works of fiction¸ these Chronicles of the Possibility Wars¸ authors are able to experiment with this cross-genre fiction. Elves and dwarves¸ pulp heroes and dinosaurs¸ cyberpunks and occultists Torg has all of these and more. Aysle is not pure fantasy any more than the real Earth is pure anything at all.