Editing Xanderan the Wizard Slayer (section)

==Xanderan: The Wizard Slayer==

'''Formula''': Xanderan strives to have a life of his own while being the instrument of vengeance for his ancestors. He gathers a group of friends about him in his travels, who act as his Scooby gang -- doing investigation and face work that he can't do while the Calling is upon him. The basic setup revolves around Xanderan tracking and fighting a Reincarnate, one of the immortal Necromancers that nearly completed genocide against his people, while his friends try to control the destruction that the battles always bring.

'''Theme''': The series theme is that the past isn't behind us, it isn't even past. Ancient grudges, sins of the fathers, and the legacy of the Great Disaster all refuse to stay in the past, but wake to control the present. The theme also deals with what of the past can, and should, be let go and what cannot be let go without doing worse damage. Secondary themes include the unifying and healing of friendship vs. the destruction of mistrust and factionalism, the necessity of building something in the present, and the nature of family.

The first season's specific theme is that of finding one's own identity. What is it that makes us ourselves: our ancestors, our upbringing, our circumstances, our choices? Xanderan and the rest of the scoobies will all have to decide who they are.

'''Production Quality''': Heroic Swords and Sorcery with a combination of gothic and exotic looks. The Wizard Hunter picture is, obviously, the central archetype. Most of the darker art in Talislanta is also good. In addition Conan pulps, old Swords and Sorcery pictures, and Elric works would all be good. The setting is less baroque than Exalted, with less over the top florid description, but is much more alien, with hundreds of intelligent species with their own looks and agendas.

'''Motifs''': Old mentor/guide figures and ruins of ancient buildings will represent the influence of the past. The birdmen, losing their power of flight, show how things change and can be neither better nor worse. Ghosts represent when the past is out of balance with the present. Cemeteries show people coming to grips with leaving the past behind them, and mass graves will represent wrongs of the past. People with amnesia and/or no sense of their past will represent what happens when the past is lost as well as the search for identity. Gangs, tribes, guilds show what people do to build communities and feel like they belong. Children on the edge of coming of age, birthdays, obituaries, and works of art will represent sense of self. The road represents the journey of self-discovery.