Long ago, or in a distant future, there exists a land called Azadistan, spreading from one sea to another. Once blessed with the wonders of digital technologies, the world of Azadistan lies beyond a digital collapse.
Portal Fire is an iterative, living text blending Armenian spiritual tradition, practice and lore with expansive and ever-changing realities of its diaspora. It is a forthcoming graphic novel written in the narrative threads of costume, artifact, installation, performance and more. The projects below are windows into the world and story of Azadistan.
For more lore and worldbuilding, scroll to the bottom and/or you can visit Shaded Knot for collections of woven scarves that document facets of Azadistan’s various characters.
Remnants of the digital era can occasionally be found in trinkets and melded into the walls of the architecture, and also in the language that persists beyond the use of such technology.
After the digital collapse, the great spirits of the land have emerged once more to exert their influence–choosing one of the 12 clans of Azadistan to imbue with their particular tint of fire magic. Each clan has a ‘home city’ where the primary temple to their protector spirit is housed. One’s clan status dictates the possible disciplines or trades that one may enter into and holds bearing for one’s values, culture and station in life. If when coming of age, one is unable to be initiated directly by a parent, they must become part of the Spider clan, destined to weave for the remainder of their lives without any possibility of holding greater social status.
Although this society was built on the premise of harmony between the clans, a hierarchy has emerged. Over the last century or so the Dragon clan has asserted total dominance, violently suppressing all other forms of fire magic (they’re butt hurt over their comparatively basic brand of fire magic). Those who resist find subtle, clandestine ways to pass on their knowledge and skill to the next generation. See p.57 of HyeBred Mag Issue 10: “The Cup, in Two Parts” for the first published short story set in Azadistan.
