Viti

Wow. Started up again, and near immediately missed like, what, two weeks? That’s awful, and I’m only thankful that I don’t think I’d actually told anyone I restarted it. But the voices in my head are very disappointed.

They think I should burn things, but that’s their solution to everything.

In my defense, I spent some of that time (amongst other things) in hospital. Not all of it, but I’m counting that as a pretty good excuse for going into a tailspin for a little bit.

Still, I’m back now. For at least one post that is, as per tradition, on something that can vaguely be called ‘Monday’ in certain parts of the world.

The world of Viti is alive.

By this is not meant that there is some nebulous planar spirit, or that in some sense the inhabitants of the world give it a form of life. What is meant is that the world itself is a sapient creature, with wants and needs and desires.

And chief amongst these desires is entertainment. Being a planet, it transpires, is incredibly boring. And although Viti is omnipotent, the problem is that conflicts it has created for itself are generally not of any particular interest - they are nothing more than playing with toy soldiers to it, even if the soldiers are breathing, thinking beings. It is simply not interested in any scenario it created, because the stakes then mean nothing to it.

And so, Viti has allowed life to develop upon its surface, almost unhindered, watching and gaining its entertainment from the struggles of its people.

But that is not to say it does not interfere. A promising story being cut short in mere moments, simply by bad luck? That is hardly interesting. And a thumb on the scales here and there is quite different, to Viti, to contriving the whole situation.

Needless to say, the people of Viti have learned its ways. Most notably, there are the talesingers. Viti cares about its children as entertainment, and nothing more. It cannot be persuaded by compassion, because it does not care. It cannot be reasoned with, because there is nothing its mortal children could give it.

But, as noted, it loves its entertainment. And so, the talespinners frame the narrative. Make out what is happening as an epic tale of revenge, of love, of good against evil - of whatever they can make it, that will catch Viti’s interest. And much of the time, they fail. Viti remains unmoved. Things proceed as normal.

But sometimes, they are able to catch the interest of the planet themselves. To convince it that their story is of interest, that it should not be cut short. And what to a creature such as Viti is merely a finger on the scales, to mortals can change the course of history. Wars have been won and lost at Viti’s capricious whim. Empires have fallen, and great kings have been brought low.

But, of course, not everyone seeks Viti’s favour - not everyone is willing to worship such an indifferent god. There have been many attempts, indeed, to bring down Viti. It doesn’t care - it sees no danger of actual harm. It plays along, even, sometimes allows itself to be ‘killed’ and withdraws from the world for a while, watching passively without active interference. Or, at least, without making that interference obvious.

Most nations simply ignore Viti, in everyday life. People know, certainly, that it exists. They know that it can solve their problems, and they act accordingly - everything from court cases to martial arts have a degree of drama built into them, in the vague hope that Viti’s attention might be piqued. But mostly the activities of everyday humans, no matter how dramatically they voice their ‘Objection!’ to the latest evidence, no matter how dramatic the fight to save the Dojo from being shut down by real-estate developers, do not catch Viti’s attention. It has a whole world to choose from, after all. And so, life goes on much as it does in other worlds, although somewhat more dramatically. People, for the most part, rely on themselves, not an indifferent god.

And they have achieved rather a lot without such help - even with a degree of hindrance. For although Viti does not prevent people from building things for themselves, it is known to actively interfere with the spread of technology, preferring to keep parts of itself trapped in eras it finds particularly interesting.

Despite this, in parts of Viti the people have begun to develop gunpowder, electricity manned flight, and a thousand other wonders which, a scant few dozen miles away, would probably have the inventors burned as witches.

And in one part of Viti, the Medriis Academy, a particularly interesting technology has been discovered - known as the ley-bore, it can tap into Viti’s own power and make it usable for humans. It has even been theorised that the same technology could be, with some work, adapted into a weapon capable of hurting or killing Viti itself.

The researchers have tested the ley-bore several times, and so far have not attracted Viti’s attention, Viti’s attention having been occupied elsewhere (as it most often is) on each occasion. Thus, Viti itself has no idea that this device exists, let alone that it might be in danger. Still, the researchers know that it is only a matter of time before they are noticed, particularly if they try and siphon off any significant amount of power. As such, they are preparing carefully, both to avoid drawing Viti’s attention for as long as possible and, when the inevitable finally happens, to attempt to survive the wrath of the world itself.