ULTRAMagic Chaos - Introduction
Cover | Interlude | Chapter 1
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There will be no rant about society this time (assuming you have read Book 4’s introduction) as the planning and writing of ULTRAMagic Chaos actually went fairly smoothly. Why is there an introduction this time though? ULTRAMagic Chaos is a bit of a unique book in how it changed from planning to actually writing it. When I initially started planning it out it was vastly different from the book that was published. I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but just know anything I reveal is not inherently a spoiler for the events of the book.
Like Interlude: Shadowland (Book 3), this book was intended to be a super short novella. It also had a female lead, this time being Spiritus Magni Maxima. As you have read from the synopsis, Tusk Willfort is the main character. I was set to have Maxima be the lead until I realized she was way too much of a new character to be the book’s main character. It would have been awkward given that Maxima is not a part of the main cast. Tusk also made more sense in that there were still stories to tell with him. If you have read books 1 and 2, you will know what I am getting at.
The mighty and awesome Arbiters of Droom you will meet as you read were also not in the original draft. The idea of having these unbelievably powerful warriors in the story was too good to pass up. I also took a liking to them, and it is easy to tell where I had a good time writing them and how they interact with each other. Droomopolis, their home, was also not in the original draft. That city was inspired by the works of H.R. Giger, albeit Droomopolis is not graphic like Giger’s work is. A prototype Droomopolis and Realm of Chaos concept actually appeared in a short story that I wrote a while ago (that is now private and unpublished), so I suppose I subconsciously repurposed the concept of a city in The Realm of Chaos for ULTRAMagic Chaos.
Let us talk about The Discordant Gods of Chaos for a second as they are fairly fascinating in their development. As you read the story, you will notice some familiarities to a certain wargame franchise that I cannot name out of fear of legal retaliation. The company in question has become fairly aggressive in recent years, going after fan projects with lawsuits and cease and desist orders. My mentioning of the company and their IP would be legally safe, but since when do multimillion dollar companies ever follow the rules? All they have to do is pay the judge a ‘slap on the wrist’ fee and they are good to go. Just know that I took inspiration in a way that is legally distinct and does not constitute infringement in any conceivable way, outside of this unnamed company deciding to start stealing other people’s intellectual property.
Getting back to the Discordant Gods, initially it was just my take on the unnamed gods from the unnamed franchise until a later draft of the story rolled around. Delphine, Wulfric, Kleitos, and Driskoll were all expanded into a vast pantheon descending from The Old Gods, with members representing more abstract concepts joining the roster. Not only that, but they even have counterparts from other realms, adding on to the legal and creative distinction from my source of inspiration. This expansion of the lore was more done out of creativity rather than fears of legal repercussion, but that paranoia still weighs on my mind.
Again, I’m probably overreacting, but I have seen video game companies (and entertainment companies in general) take down fan art specifically for the bad PR to ‘make an example out of people.’ You would think wargaming companies would be more open to fan content (especially when they encourage you to take two unknown major characters and make your own), but things change when the company makes short-sighted decisions and starts losing money. It is along the lines of the ever classy (and illegal) ‘changing the terms of the agreement after the sale’ move, something you will be familiar with if you are a supporter of ‘Right to Repair’ like I am.
Getting back on track again: I will state this now since it is not really a spoiler: I had a naming convention for the Discordant God’s going, but I ended up dropping it. You will notice the four aforementioned god’s names line up with their main domain, but then there are also Discordant Gods that do not share this trait. It was one of those things that just happened. Funnily enough this was actually a fairly late addition. If you have read Book 3, originally a certain Discordant God did not actually have her name and was referred to as ‘Discordant Desire’ in initial versions of the story. As a side note, a certain couple of Gods you will read about in the book are not related by blood, despite other gods referring to themselves as siblings.
Now let us address chronology. This next section will assume you have read the preceding books and that this is not your first book. While I will concede that Chaos is more beginner friendly than Interlude and Interlude (Bonus Chapters), this book will rely on you having read the previous books in certain parts. With that being said, we shall address when this book takes place. If you wish to start reading ULTRAMagic Alternate with book 5, please proceed to chapter 1 and thank you for making it this far. I hope you have fun with what you read.
Final spoiler warning in 3… 2… 1… Alright, when does this book take place? If you read Book 4, you will know that Tusk is explaining what he was up to in The Realm of Chaos to Blood-Wraith. This book is a retelling of those events and they take place during the two week gap between Interlude and Interlude: Shadowland. And it is not a spoiler to say that we end on Tusk wrapping up his story. This is why I am stressing that you should have read the previous books. A lot of aspects of this book are vastly more satisfying if you have read everything leading up to this. You would not believe how much easier this was to write than Interlude (Bonus Chapters). Thankfully this weird chronology stuff ceases after this book… for the most part.
Regardless of the changes, trials, and tribulations this book had to go through, I am proud of it and it was fun to work on. And thank you for making it this far. It means a lot to me and I hope you have fun with this book. Just know that the series is only going to get crazier as we get further in and I hope you will be here for the whole ride.
Sincerely,
William Ford II (6/12/2025)
Master Post - Patreon
There will be no rant about society this time (assuming you have read Book 4’s introduction) as the planning and writing of ULTRAMagic Chaos actually went fairly smoothly. Why is there an introduction this time though? ULTRAMagic Chaos is a bit of a unique book in how it changed from planning to actually writing it. When I initially started planning it out it was vastly different from the book that was published. I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but just know anything I reveal is not inherently a spoiler for the events of the book.
Like Interlude: Shadowland (Book 3), this book was intended to be a super short novella. It also had a female lead, this time being Spiritus Magni Maxima. As you have read from the synopsis, Tusk Willfort is the main character. I was set to have Maxima be the lead until I realized she was way too much of a new character to be the book’s main character. It would have been awkward given that Maxima is not a part of the main cast. Tusk also made more sense in that there were still stories to tell with him. If you have read books 1 and 2, you will know what I am getting at.
The mighty and awesome Arbiters of Droom you will meet as you read were also not in the original draft. The idea of having these unbelievably powerful warriors in the story was too good to pass up. I also took a liking to them, and it is easy to tell where I had a good time writing them and how they interact with each other. Droomopolis, their home, was also not in the original draft. That city was inspired by the works of H.R. Giger, albeit Droomopolis is not graphic like Giger’s work is. A prototype Droomopolis and Realm of Chaos concept actually appeared in a short story that I wrote a while ago (that is now private and unpublished), so I suppose I subconsciously repurposed the concept of a city in The Realm of Chaos for ULTRAMagic Chaos.
Let us talk about The Discordant Gods of Chaos for a second as they are fairly fascinating in their development. As you read the story, you will notice some familiarities to a certain wargame franchise that I cannot name out of fear of legal retaliation. The company in question has become fairly aggressive in recent years, going after fan projects with lawsuits and cease and desist orders. My mentioning of the company and their IP would be legally safe, but since when do multimillion dollar companies ever follow the rules? All they have to do is pay the judge a ‘slap on the wrist’ fee and they are good to go. Just know that I took inspiration in a way that is legally distinct and does not constitute infringement in any conceivable way, outside of this unnamed company deciding to start stealing other people’s intellectual property.
Getting back to the Discordant Gods, initially it was just my take on the unnamed gods from the unnamed franchise until a later draft of the story rolled around. Delphine, Wulfric, Kleitos, and Driskoll were all expanded into a vast pantheon descending from The Old Gods, with members representing more abstract concepts joining the roster. Not only that, but they even have counterparts from other realms, adding on to the legal and creative distinction from my source of inspiration. This expansion of the lore was more done out of creativity rather than fears of legal repercussion, but that paranoia still weighs on my mind.
Again, I’m probably overreacting, but I have seen video game companies (and entertainment companies in general) take down fan art specifically for the bad PR to ‘make an example out of people.’ You would think wargaming companies would be more open to fan content (especially when they encourage you to take two unknown major characters and make your own), but things change when the company makes short-sighted decisions and starts losing money. It is along the lines of the ever classy (and illegal) ‘changing the terms of the agreement after the sale’ move, something you will be familiar with if you are a supporter of ‘Right to Repair’ like I am.
Getting back on track again: I will state this now since it is not really a spoiler: I had a naming convention for the Discordant God’s going, but I ended up dropping it. You will notice the four aforementioned god’s names line up with their main domain, but then there are also Discordant Gods that do not share this trait. It was one of those things that just happened. Funnily enough this was actually a fairly late addition. If you have read Book 3, originally a certain Discordant God did not actually have her name and was referred to as ‘Discordant Desire’ in initial versions of the story. As a side note, a certain couple of Gods you will read about in the book are not related by blood, despite other gods referring to themselves as siblings.
Now let us address chronology. This next section will assume you have read the preceding books and that this is not your first book. While I will concede that Chaos is more beginner friendly than Interlude and Interlude (Bonus Chapters), this book will rely on you having read the previous books in certain parts. With that being said, we shall address when this book takes place. If you wish to start reading ULTRAMagic Alternate with book 5, please proceed to chapter 1 and thank you for making it this far. I hope you have fun with what you read.
Final spoiler warning in 3… 2… 1… Alright, when does this book take place? If you read Book 4, you will know that Tusk is explaining what he was up to in The Realm of Chaos to Blood-Wraith. This book is a retelling of those events and they take place during the two week gap between Interlude and Interlude: Shadowland. And it is not a spoiler to say that we end on Tusk wrapping up his story. This is why I am stressing that you should have read the previous books. A lot of aspects of this book are vastly more satisfying if you have read everything leading up to this. You would not believe how much easier this was to write than Interlude (Bonus Chapters). Thankfully this weird chronology stuff ceases after this book… for the most part.
Regardless of the changes, trials, and tribulations this book had to go through, I am proud of it and it was fun to work on. And thank you for making it this far. It means a lot to me and I hope you have fun with this book. Just know that the series is only going to get crazier as we get further in and I hope you will be here for the whole ride.
Sincerely,
William Ford II (6/12/2025)
Next: Chapter 1
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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