I have not really much time lately to write new chapters for the RP, but I will be soon enough. In the meantime, I am posting a summary of the literary themes of the RP:
Power
Who wants it, who spurns it, who has it thrust upon them, who abuses it, who fears it, who hungers for it but doesn't know what to do with it when they have it, and who just treats it like a game. Who can handle it, who is corrupted by it and who is simply overwhelmed and chewed up by it.
I do not subscribe to a Manichean view of the world. Rather, I espouse the idea that good and evil are both present within each individual. In keeping with this individualist view of humanity, many of the characters in the RP are defined by their use and misuse of power. In fact, the nature of power is directly discussed by several characters in the RP, and each has a different take on it.
A person's use of social and political power usually reveals the limitations and moral boundaries of that person. One limitation is the belief that there is a separate set of laws for those who have power and another for those who do not. Abuse of power occurs when a person’s psychological problems undermine their moral principles. Power also magnifies both a person’s virtues and his vices.
In a sense, this RP consists of a set of meditations on the nature of power, how people wield it, and seeking to try and find an answer to a question man has been asking forever: what makes a good ruler of men, and what right does anyone have to rule?
We've got good potential candidates for leadership, and bad potential candidates for leadership; honorable men and dreadful men; people who fall into power by accident, and those that acquire it through force of will, sometimes through deceit, sometimes through domination, sometimes through democracy.
Also is the idea that the struggle for power and control is a zero-sum game. More succinctly, power is an illusion.
Realpolitik
Realpolitik is a German term for the type of diplomacy which is based on practical objectives rather than ideals. Realpolitik endorses a pragmatic, no-nonsense view and a disregard for ethical considerations. Those engaged in realpolitik emphasize immediate practicalities and self-interest over principled ideologies. The term has become synonymous with unscrupulous and coercive political tactics, particularly since its popularization by Henry Kissinger.
Much of the RP deals with the theme of realpolitik; closed door scheming by the ruling elites at the top of society without regard for ethical concerns. These types of back room dealings are a major driving force in the plot of the RP. The common people have no say in strategic decisions made by the elite, yet their fates are often determined by them.
This Realpolitik allows for the following concepts to be expunged upon:
The law of unintended consequences
The messiness of politics
The danger of ideological purity/inflexibility
Corruptibility and redemption
Religion
A third overarching theme in the RP is that of a plurality of competing religions. Multiple faiths are a more realistic presentation in literature which mirrors the current state of the world.
The RP portrays several competing religions. We included religion in Panessos to make it seem more realistic. Since entirely made-up religions are more difficult to make plausible, we based the RP's major religions on real religious systems, which we tweaked or expanded with imaginative elements, without doing one-to-one transformations. The fictional history of Panessos shows how each religion evolved. Each of the religions reflects its culture's temperament. However, I regard any (real or fictional) religion's claim to truth with suspicion, and I have never been satisfied by standard answers to questions like how a benevolent God allows for a world full of suffering. Many of the characters in the RP espouse a similar perspective.
No religion is presented as the true faith, although there are eerie displays of power on many sides, nor do any have a monopoly on virtue. Readers remain free to wonder about the validity, teachings and supernatural power of the competing religions in Panessos.
Moral Relativism
A common theme in many RPs is the battle between good and evil, although I am deliberately defying the conventions and assumptions of this struggle. I am opposed to the oversimplification of the struggle between good and evil into stereotypical clichés. I believe in the merits of William Faulkner's 1950 Nobel Prize speech, which serves as a paradigm for my writing; Faulkner said that only the human heart in conflict with itself was worth writing about. Just like people's capacity for good and for evil in real life, I explore the questions of redemption and character change in the RP. Characters who initially seem likable commit reprehensible acts, and apparent villains become sympathetic over time, and a presentation of characters with sometimes sympathetic, often imperfect motives.
I refuse to embrace a vision of the world as a Manichaean struggle between Good and Evil. This RP is multifaceted and ambiguous, as are the men and women who wage it.
I am inclined to write about and engage with gray characters instead of good guys and bad guys, and I regard the hero as the villain on the other side. As any universally adored or hated fictional characters are too one-dimensional to present real life, I write my characters with well-mixed natures so that readers will invest in and identify with them. The actions and politics in the RP leave it to the reader to decide about who is good and evil. Characters are explored from many sides through the multiple viewpoint structure so that, unlike in a lot of other RPs, the supposed villains can provide their viewpoint. This is necessary since in the real-world throughout history, all human beings justify their deeds as the right thing and their opponents as the villain. It may not always be easy to determine who represents the good and evil side in real life, as some of the darkest villains in history had some good things about them, the greatest heroes had weaknesses and flaws.
No one is clear cut good or evil, right or wrong. They simply have their motives or convictions, and try to act towards achieving them. Once you see someone else's side of things, you understand how grey things are. We realize that their seemingly completely indefensible actions do, in fact, have a defense. And even if we don’t agree with the logic guiding their actions, we might at least sympathize with them, especially if we discover that they feel guilty about what they’ve done. Some characters will naturally be more difficult to sympathize with though. However, I intending on writing my characters so that we can understand how they got there.
In large part, the difference between moral and immoral people is power and opportunity. Corollary: power is fragile. Power is dangerous, as was previously mentioned.
I think ultimately the battle between good and evil is weighed within the individual human heart and not necessarily between an army of people dressed in white and an army of people dressed in black.
Love
Another theme of the RP is love. The term "Love" does not apply merely to romantic interests, but also to respect, acceptance, and personal fulfillment. All human beings need love and other basic needs met in order to feel a sense of contentment, but people will go about achieving this differently. People require different things in order to feel satisfied, but ultimately they are motivated out of a need to feel loved and accepted.
To the rest of the world, we are often defined by our shortcomings. We need validation like food, from strangers, from our parents, from those above us and those below us. And yet we judge constantly, noticing the negative in others more than the positive, and are judged in turn. The strongest characters are those who have overcome this need, or come to terms with it. Of course, most have not come to terms with it nearly as much as they would like to believe. Corollary: if you don't fit in to your role in society, be prepared to work really ridiculously hard to get people to notice anything else about you.
Order vs. Chaos
The RP also emphasizes the differences between Order and Chaos, and the area in between. Order keeps everything together and allows things to perpetuate as they have. Chaos is, well, chaotic. It is destructive. Yet it also represents power, creative energy, and the life-force itself. An ordered world cannot tolerate the uncontrolled operation of such an incomprehensible power, and yet a too-ordered world, one that too successfully represses this force, becomes sterile and meaningless.
I would venture to say that a sub-theme of the RP is about the destructive nature of charismatic leaders. In this sense, Nathan is an allegorical figure: a good man whose efforts to make good on his ancestral claims and doing what he believe is the right thing leads to war and chaos. Panessos has a well-balanced political system in which every Nation plays a cooperative role. When many of the Ghantish Lords and Paramilitary Groups rise for Nathan, the balance of power in Panessos is upset, and the entire political system comes apart.
The RP represents both the risks and the rewards of the unbridled id and of the chaotic power that underlies existence. Laoni assumes the role of an chaotic figure that renews a sterile world by releasing into it the potentially dangerous and destructive power of another state of being. She shakes things up. She disrupts conventional patterns of meaning and threatens the established order.
Transformation
Transformation is another theme of the RP. On a more subtle level, transformation may chart a character's slow internal change. Personality, values, and their overall outlook on life may be significantly altered in a character's journey from the beginning to the end of the story. Transformation can be either positive or negative. Characters undergo transformations that alter their thought-processes, sometimes voluntarily and other times involuntary. Loss of control, lack of free will, and alienation can emerge as negative aspects of involuntary transformations. Sometimes the characters are forced to endure a transformation as a punishment as well. An individual who chooses transformation, on the other hand, may become symbolic of liberation and escape from convention or expectation. Voluntary transformation can also, however, indicate abuse of power and deceit.
