Imagine a world of blind people.  They can feel warmth, but not see light.  Days and nights would just be warm times and cool times.  As science on this world advanced, there would be a realization that warmth has a source, the sun, which rises and sets.  A mysterious, invisible disk whose motions control warm times and cool times.

The Earth’s sun provides our world with energy, fueling change and life, but what if Earth has a second, hidden star?  A star whose changes are not effected in space and time, but in higher dimensions?  A star whose radiance, whose glow does not create changes in matter and motion, but changes in consciousness. A physical generator of ideas, a fountainhead of imagination.  An invisible wonderland whose warmth can be felt the most open and gifted, but remains unknown and beyond the understanding of people who are blind to the glow.

Many planets orbit the Sun, and there are many planets bathed in the glow of Wonderland.  What would we do if one planet tried to take the sun’s light and heat for itself?  What if Martians revealed themselves and tried to drain all the sun’s energy leaving the earth cold and dead?  There would be one choice: war.  And this is what happened in Wonderland.

The Hearts were the first to reach Wonderland, and discovered a particular crystal, now known as the Heart Crystal, could be used to channel and control the glow of Wonderland.  The disruption and eventual cessation of the Glowflow led scientists and artists on three other worlds to discover and invade Wonderland.  The Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades struggles for years in a fantastic war of imagination, conjuring creatures out of dream and nightmare.

Eventually, saner heads then the discoverers prevailed and established peace between the creative leaders of the 4 worlds.  A city was established around the Heart Crystal and a keeper of the crystal was selected.  The crystals energy most easily communicated with women, so women were selected as the crystal keepers.  They also functioned as leaders of those who has taken up residence in Wonderland, and eventually became known as Queens of Wonderland. 

Those who wanted to darken the outer worlds and hold all the creative power for themselves in Wonderland continued to plot and scheme and became known as the followers of Dark Imagination.  Those who wanted to protect the Glowflow to the outer worlds became known as the followers of White Imagination.  The 4 Houses, descendants of the most gifted leaders of the 4 Worlds continue to rule Wonderland selecting a queen from amongst themselves. 

Followers of White Imagination believe that ideas are discovered, not invented.  As a result the followers of White Imagination are more passive, and value preservation, compassion, and generosity.  They trust the patterns have a purpose, a good purpose, and prefer to let things work themselves out rather than intervene.  –

They are individualists, but still place great value on tradition as something to be learned from, not imitated.  Communication and society are ways to share pieces of the pattern and anyone can contribute something to deepening and strengthening both understanding and creativity.  You never know where the next good idea will be found.

Dark Imagination derives from the belief that ideas are invented, not discovered.  The followers of Dark Imagination value the power to transform and control, and are aggressive and destructive.  If the universe is just random rearrangements without any special meaning or purpose, then the only meaning or purpose in life is to extend and project your ideas as far and as long as possible.  Conflict, violence, and destruction are valuable tools for identifying the best and most powerful ideas.

The Heart Crystal projects the ideas of Wonderlands.  This means the personality and values of the ruling queen are cast into the hearts and minds of the people on the outer worlds.

A queen’s personality can even survive the death of the queen herself.  In between the worlds, somewhere in the Glowflow, ghostly remnants of the queens continue to survive and remember and inspire, reflecting and refracting the glow of crystal into the particular on whose edge they dwell.

These ghostly queens are known as Watchers.  The Watchers of Earth reside in two bubbles in the Glowflow.

The White Imagination Watchers have created what appears to be a castle on a forested mountain, with waterfalls and streams flowing out of the peak.  The sky is filled with astronomical images that put the Hubble to shame, nebulas and galaxies, and the worlds with 3 rings all large enough to see.  These radiant objects are the manifestations of the glow from the Heart Crystal.  In the center of the tower, growing out of a pool is a tree of gold and silver whose leaves gather and collect the glow of the Heart Crystal.

When the leaves fall and drift down to mountain, wildflowers spring up where they land.  The tree bears fruit rich with pure imagination, which sustains the queens in their afterlife.  It can also grow weapons and told which the queens can provide to champions, called Walkers who act as their agents on Earth, promoting their values and inventions.  Occasionally, earthlings lost in forests or diving from waterfalls find their way to the mountain. 

The Dark Watchers dwell in Splinterscape, an island in an underground cavern filled with broken glass.  In the center of the island is a tower of thorns standing above a fiery pit.  The pit draws in pieces of the sea of shards and reforges them into long ribbons of glass that harden and rise and branch out over the island. 

Eventually, their weight becomes too much and the ends break off and return to the sea of shards.  The roof of the cavern is like a geode which thick long colored crystals, glowing with the radiance of the Heart Crystal.  This creative light feeds the tree which bears fruit of pure dark imagination.  The Dark Queens also bestow gifts to their Walkers, although their boons often consume and destroy the recipient.  People in caves, sewers, and tombs sometimes stumble into Splinterscape.

Some White Watchers…

Rory – Short for Aurora, Rory is animated and radiant.  A lover of light, she invented machines to travel to the stars.  Talkative, beautiful, and alert she is a natural leader.

Zephris –  is a collector.  She built a huge library containing an enormous encyclopedia with a list of every invention, discovery, and idea ever conceived.  She also worked to improve education and communication so everyone would be able to access this knowledge.

Neiria – loves to shapeshift and tried to be as many different people as she could.  She inspires people to change their lives into something new and different.

Borea –  was a lover of peace and a queen during a peaceful period in Wonderland’s history.  She created a strong army, a great wall, and many embassies to sustain this peace.  She invented new forms of martial arts which combine meditation to prevent anger and rash decisions with combat skills to ward off and subdue aggressors. 

Siki – A great traditionalist Siki supported bringing back old styles and ways of doing things.  Although new construction suffered some under her rule, many older places were restored and improved. Siki prefers trusting things to work out on their own and waiting to acting.

Genevieve – Murdered by her sister, Genevieve is a careful and thoughtful queen.  A quiet planner and a clear thinker she was able to protect her daughter on Earth from her sister’s murderous rage.

Some Dark Watchers…

Maelstra – Although she was one of Wonderland’s most beautiful and powerful queens, Maelstra was never satisfied.  Only able to see flaws, she tore down and rebuilt the palace constantly, and destroyed most of her creations in her efforts to improve them.   Although initially a follower of White Imagination, her constant destruction in the pursuit of perfection led her to deeper and deeper Black Imagination.  Eventually, her imagination consumed her own body leaving her a constant flux of incomplete forms and shapes.  Inspiration reflected off Maelstra led to the Kracken in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.  A huge writhing consuming hunger is Jules Verne’s impression of Maelstra.

Torvashi – Among the greatest Warrior Queens, Torvashi led Wonderland into a long series of never-ending wars.  Violent, angry, and competent, she prefers action to thought.  Torvashi invented a new way of processing crystal into a physical enhancement steroid and combined it with genetic engineering to create a perfect warrior race. 

Nadine – Obsessed with ownership, Nadine suffers from never-ending paranoia that someone somewhere was stealing her ideas.  She created a patent police to seek and destroy any creations too similar to her own.  In the end, all she created were ways to prevent and destroy the creations of others.

Dorma – Abandoned by her Prince, Dorma was consumed with grief.  Retreating into sorrow, she created statues, poems, and songs, about her lost love, while her queendom fell into decay.

Gloavine – A queen of exceedingly little imagination, Gloavine was consumed with envy.  She created lengthy and elaborate approval procedures for new inventions and under her rule, Wonderland ground to a halt.

Ferrara – Crafty and manipulative, Ferrara uses her brilliant psychological insight to manipulate and control. Always playing mind games, it is impossible to figure out exactly what she wants, or predict what she will do next.

Crumpet – The queen who ate Wonderland.  Crumpet was a brilliant chef, but she preferred eating to cooking, growing in size until she devoured most of the city.  She is the inspiration for Zombie horror films and the associated late night pizza eating.

Walkers are humans the Watchers use to increase the influence of their shade of imagination on Earth.  Walkers are people of unusual creativity and skill who listen to and obey the voices of the Watchers in exchange for information, inspiration, and items made from the imagination of Wonderland.  Some agents know a great deal about the Watchers of Wonderland, while others know nothing.  Walkers can be used for many purposes, such as eliminating other Watchers, preserving of protecting an idea or art work, inventing something, or communicating a message.

(Based on the works of Lewis Carroll & Frank Beddor)

(Part One)