I know it's not any surprise that I'm working on a fantasy series, based on the tons of concept art I've churned out over the past few months. I've been brainstorming and drawing up ideas for quite a while now, and I thought it would be appropriate to make an announcement now that I have found for myself the heart of the series of stories I want to write.

I'll start out with a couple of definitions.

To vindicate is to prove that someone is either not guilty of a crime, or reasonable in their actions. In other words, it means to either absolve or justify. Either way, it is a form of defense.

In old-speak, an ancient common language in my fantasy world, the name of the continent Achaemon means "home of many peoples." It is a compound of achay, meaning many different things (as opposed to achor, which means many of the same,) and mon, or home.

Though old-speak died out long ago, the name of the continent has remained, and became even more relevant after the arrival of humans, elves and orcs, who began to inhabit the land alongside its original inhabitants, the beast-men, anthropomorphic animals of various races.

Each people group has its reasons for liking or disliking another. Though there are a fair number of people with no reason for their bias, most of the racism on Achaemon isn't entirely unfounded. That's not to say that it is a good thing, however. Everyone is flawed, and two of their biggest flaws are pride and greed. It is pride in one's personal and cultural identity, and greed for power and pleasure, that drives prejudice and oppression in all directions across the continent.

Certainly, pride and greed are common traits among common people. It doesn't make one evil to live with a tinge of either. But what happens when they are not kept in check? What is the result of uncontrolled lust for superiority and satisfaction?

One becomes evil when they let the forces of pride and greed overcome them, when they disregard their conscience and the well-being of others in favor of fulfilling personal desires.

How, then, does one vindicate oneself when faced with a tendency towards one evil or the other? How does one prove oneself not guilty, if not innocent, of evil?

The vindication is threefold. It is to fight, to heal, and to love. To fight is to make a stand, to confront something and struggle against it. To heal is to treat injuries, to remedy a person's wounds, both physical and emotional. To love is to put someone before oneself, to set one's needs and desires aside in favor of another person's well-being.

To fight, heal and love is to vindicate oneself against pride and greed. Failure to prove oneself not guilty, failure to prevent oneself from living a life controlled by haughtiness and desire, is to fall into evil. Vindication is the act of freeing and keeping oneself free from the guilt and blame of evil.

Parting entirely from pride and greed is indeed impossible; its influence will always be present, even if unnoticed. That is why vindication must be a constant act, a never-ending vigil against ensnarement.

The Vindication of Achaemon will be a Medieval fantasy series based around the concept of a struggle against evil, both internal and external, personal and pervasive. As of now I'm planning four stories, and will possibly see about having them published if they turn out well and if people enjoy them enough.

The stories themselves are still very rough works in progress, so I'm open for any comments, suggestions or ideas.