Plot, Part 2

Whenever you have opposing interests, you have a conflict. The more diverse the opinions of people in your world, the more conflicts you are likely to have. Shadows & Silver is specifically designed not to conform to the typical black and white method of thinking so common to fantasy today, so there should be plenty of places where conflict can be found. I'm going to establish five core conflicts for the world. These will be conflicts that drive the actions of most people in the world and around which my stories will usually center.

1. The struggle to survive. Shadows & Silver is a gritty world, one in which survival is hard and in which things can always get worse. Three things come to mind that make survival difficult for the common person: famine, economic disaster, and plague.


2. Owners versus workers. Ah, the essential class struggle. This has been one of the primary conflicts we have seen throughout the modern age, especially with the advent of industry. In a time where the common people cannot afford food, they are forced to work for however little the owners want in order to survive. Of course, some people decide to fight the system...


3. Old versus new. Industry, being a relatively new thing, is hailed by many as the savior of mankind (note: this implies that whatever order came before industry was disastrous). Proponents of the old orders fight against it, trying to keep things as they were so they don't lose their place in society. I'm seeing agriculture versus industry here as well as other things: faith versus cynicism, magic versus science, and chaos versus order.


4. Civilization versus savages. Those who have discovered industry always see those who have not as savages. Either they lord their knowledge over them or they try to help them out of well-meaning but unwanted paternalism. Either way, it makes the "savages" resentful; they're proud of their ways and don't think they should change. Often, those who do are seen as traitors. Many accept just enough help from their educators to fight them off with their own weapons, leaving the civilized country to conclude that the savages are just not worth the effort. (Note: could be modelled after America's struggle with its natives, British colonization of Africa, etc.)


5. Racial hatred. Scientific learning gives people more excuses to hate each other. I see humans in Shadows & Silver as the dominant race, and theories of evolution they posit likely give them excuses to look down on other races, if not persecute them entirely. Of course, the attacks are usually aimed at age-old racial enemies, not friends who happen to be less "evolved."