Building Worlds
The best part of writing ‘The Naraka Cycle’ for me has been the background research. When I started, the thought was to build multiple planets connected by wormholes. The novel is mostly a ‘sword & sorcery’ style epic fantasy. Did I really want to bring in the sci-fi angle with the planets and wormholes? At the end, I decided to go with ONE world and multiple continents to represent the worlds of Naraka, Swarga and Bhooloka.
Would the kingdoms look homogeneous or different? What environments would they inhabit? Initially, the thought was to have three species - Swargans, Asuras and Rakshasas. When the Nagas, Kinnaras and Vidyadharas were added, the scope of the novel expanded considerably. I decided to put the Asuras and Nagas in an equatorial jungle belt,and the Vidyadharas in a mountainous region to the northeast.
The desert and steppe Kinnaras inhabited their respective zones. The seafaring Rakshasas got icy islands to the northwest and tropical islands in the southwest. With the varied climactic zones came the need for unique garments. Weapons and battle tactics were based on the geography and weather. Buildings, lifestyles, cuisines all stemmed from the geography and climate. I can share that I read many, many books on geology, geographical regions of India, fashions of unique world cultures, and weapons used in different geographies of our planet.
The Peaks where the Vidyadharas live
