The Universe of Tokorel
By Drew Bankston
A number of years ago, while writing some short stories with
a friend of mine just for the fun of it, I developed the universe of Tokorel.
You might wonder what exactly this universe is and why it’s different. If so,
I’m about to tell you. So, sit back and get ready for a trip to a place that
will make you smile, laugh and question everything thing that you believed
about reality and fantasy!
The universe of Tokorel started with a character named
Permac. Permac was a handsome and rugged young man from the world of Tokorel.
His home world is an interesting one. Each person has the unique ability to
sense and influence the emotions of others.
The Tokorellans were descendants of people from the planet,
Khizara. It had been 200 years since the Tokorellans and the Khizarans had been
in contact with each other, when Permac and a woman archaeologist from Khizara,
Linsora, met. Still with me? Perhaps I should go back that 200 years and tell
you why they, the Khizarans and the Tokorellans, split.
So, 200 years ago a man named Tokor, a botanist, had
received permission from the Prefecture on Khizara, to explore some other
planets and look at the possibility of bringing back foreign plants to enhance
the local food supply. After exploring, Tokor brought back a plant that he
called, Tejina. This plant yielded a fruit called Chikara which was very sweet,
juicy and made a wonderful addition to other fruits on the planet. But Tokor
wanted to be sure that this foreign fruit was going to be safe from others as
well as being safe for others to eat, and so he kept it to himself while he
tested it.
Eventually, he discovered that after eating the fruit, he
started to develop some interesting abilities; the abilities to sense and
influence emotions. That, is another story. Over time he learned to control his
powers and started feeding a chosen few the Chikara fruit, teaching them how to
control their abilities as well. But secrets are not things to hide on Khizara
and eventually word spread. The population of Khizara thought that Tokor’s
powers were demonic. After he and his followers were threatened with death, he
was allowed to flee the planet, banished forever. When his travels led him to a
new and abandoned planet, he formed a society where his followers could learn
to cultivate the new plants that gave them the amazing powers.
When news got back to the people of Khizara, they were
horrified that the demons had escaped with their lives and actually thrived
somewhere else. Rumors spread that the new race would eventually come back and
exact revenge on their brothers. That day never came. Eventually, the
Tokorellans, at least a few of them, left Tokorel and tried to blend in as
Khizarans. That’s where Permac enters the picture. You see, Permac was one of
those who left Tokorel. He ran into a Khizaran woman named Linsora, and did his
best to become her friend. Eventually, however, she discovered who he really
was and 200 years of fear, superstition and distorted stories culminated in her
attempts to kill the demon, There’s much more to this story and I hope that you’ll
check back week to learn more!
