SAAVD Dev Blog

Meta Themes II:  Mythology

As I’m sure I’ve posted before, mythology was an early love of mine.  I more or less devoured books on the “classical” Western mythologies; Greek, Roman, Celtic, British.  As I learned more I branched out and discovered Japanese, Indian and Native American mythologies and their associated legends and tales.  Saavd is meant to be a place where gods and goddesses are vivid and part of the overall tapestry, without overshadowing the “human” element of the tales and legends that permeate the world.  So, please enjoy another excerpt from the Histories and Traditions of Saavd.

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While we’re doing a little revamping and house-cleaning for the Saavd website, I thought I would post some “behind the scenes” information.  As a hopeless reader of RPG sourcebooks, well almost any kind of book really, I write a lot of background information that may never see the light of the Internet, but is very important to me for several reasons.  For instance, while an in-depth knowledge of the construction of the Tarot cards is critical for me to understand how to use them as a plot device, it is probably more detail than most readers care to follow.  Engaging stories are about character, conflict, and suspense.  Otherwise dictionaries and encyclopedias would be best sellers.  However, for those interested, or masochistic, I will post some of the story behind the story.  Forge onward at your own risk.

The Saavd Tarot turned out to be significantly more complicated than I had originally visualized, which is often the case with me.  To attempt to stay true to the concept of the “real world” Tarot I had to explore the symbology and mythology of Saavd and how that would be reflected in the Saavd Tarot cards and layouts.  To make things a little more interesting I wanted to have multiple layouts using differing numbers of cards to address different concerns, again attempting to reflect the usage of modern-day Tarot.  I won’t bore you with the many pages of research notes and charts I built trying to create at least an internally consistent logic.  However, I am also building the books that might be found in the Saavd reference library, written from the Saavd point of view.  This is your last chance to turn back…

Still with me?  Ok, here comes an excerpt from Saavd Tarot: History and Traditions.

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Believe it or not, the world of SAAVD and the web sites that go with it have not been abandoned to be locked away in a dark tower controlled by a delusional wizard wielding awe inspiring power for purposes of unimaginable evil!  We just got busy   Fear not my friends, for the time is at hand to give SAAVD some much deserved (and needed) attention, so stay tuned and check in often as things begin to ramp up again …

Many words lurk below, you have been warned…

Once again it has been far too long since I have posted here. Other worlds than Saavd have claims on my time as well. Nor is the “real world” the only competitor! I find myself with multiple stories vying for full attention. Character notes and story outlines span across superhero, speculative, cyberpunk, action and fantasy fiction settings. Saavd is the richest of these worlds and also the oldest. Saavd has more background material, more coherence, than my other endeavors. Saavd has seen many starts and stops throughout the years since it first sprang to life, but it has never faded far from my thoughts nor my pen. Yes, pen. I still use pens and paper to flesh out most of my ideas before transferring them to electronic format. Three-ring binders of notes take up more than one bookshelf in my library!

While this long evolution has delivered a fruitful field for exploration and speculation, it also contains minefields of discontinuity. The characters have grown and changed in my mind as both of us have grown and obtained wider experiences. As I attempt to pull Saavd and its occupants into an interwoven tapestry, I find myself constantly having to change the characters’ personal histories and adjusting Saavd history to match. Read the rest of this entry »

First: many thanks to the crackerjack staff on the technical upgrade of the Saavd Blog and the main website.

Second: it’s amazing how long it’s been since I posted to the blog. Daily life seems to take up a lot of effort and energy; and naturally I have books to read and games to play for both relaxation and inspiration.

Third: what in the world have I been working on? I’ve been working on several projects in addition to my Saavd work. I have been trying to flesh out ideas and symbolism for a Tarot deck specifically aspected toward Saavd needs. Read the rest of this entry »

There have been some content updates, a new feature and some general house cleaning going on at the SAAVD website.  I wanted to give a quick summary for anyone interested.  We have a new and better looking logo on top of the page, some tweaked colors that hopefully look better, a new menu for all but the intro page and a new feature called Web Dice.  It allows you to choose the number of dice, how many sides and get a number back that represents the die roll.  It even gives you the individual numbers of each die as well as the total.  Hope you enjoy it, thanks for checking it out!

Still new to blogging, I’m finding it an interesting challenge to not repeat phrases and tidbits of information over and over again.  Some topics can stand repeated examination and some phrases just seem to fit.  So bear with me and I’ll try to keep things from becoming boring.

Saavd is a dark place where the whispers that seers and sages pluck from midnight winds, those whispers began as screams far, far away.  To paraphrase a friend of mine, you won’t find many “baskets of warm puppies” stories in the tales that wend through Saavd’s history and characters. From its earliest inception, Saavd has always been a turbulent world, a world where passions run deep and as wild, where a fall from grace is never more than a single misstep away.

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Thanks for your patience folks. After far too long away from writing about the trials, travails and tribulations of the cast of Saavd, not to mention a board meeting complete with spotlights and rubber hoses, we are hard at work putting together new content all the way ’round for the main Saavd website. Read the rest of this entry »

Apologies for the long delay in posting to the blog. I dream of the day when my “regular” job can be writing more things for the fine people who have tracked down Saavd. Between life, work and trying to split time amongst various writing projects, I have fallen behind on my musings for Saavd and for writing in general. I have, however, expanded my horizons with travel.

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In case anyone noticed, we upgraded to the latest WordPress.  If you see anything wrong or have any problems, please let us know so we can fix it!