Discover the Rupt World

  • The Rupt World is an urban fantasy fictional universe of magic, mystery, and monsters created by L. Rigdon.

  • "Rupt" is a term that references any being/creature/entity who can see, use, and accept magic as real.

  • They're called "Slums," but only Rupts call them that. Most Slums don't know they're Slums because they don't know/acknowledge magic, and therefore don't need terms to describe those who can and can't see it.

  • The Rupt World is everywhere. It exists as part of the “normal” world, but it includes all the parts most people — Slums — pretend don’t exist.
     
    By the way, parallel dimensions and pocket worlds are also real and part of the Rupt World. Rupts travel to these places for work, pleasure, obligation, larceny, hiding out, and other things. 

  • See, yes. Believe it’s real, not exactly.
     
    Slums see parts of the Rupt World, but they are quick to excuse it away as smoke and mirrors, drugged-out kids, government conspiracies, AI, etc.
     
    If they don’t acknowledge it as “real,” then they think it can’t hurt them.
     
    They’re wrong.

  • Unlike other urban fantasy series, there is no police force making sure everyone “forgets about magic” or punishing magic users who spill the beans. Slums forget on their own, and Rupts have too much other stuff to worry about.

  • Rupts have debated this for centuries, and some interesting theories exist, but here’s the most prevailing one:
     
    “Humans without abilities are likelier to be Slum because they cannot experience magic firsthand and, therefore, can easily deny it.”
     
    As most Slums lack special abilities and/or cannot knowingly use magic, this theory holds merit.

    Humans and non-humans with abilities are far less likely to deny that magic exists because of what they can do. To them, magic is normal.
     
    That said, there have been times when many humans without abilities were Rupt because magic, non-humans, and other supernatural events happened all the time as part of everyday life. During those points in history, most humans would have been considered Rupt.

  • Technically yes. Some people are born Rupt, especially those who are not human or have abilities. People who become Rupt, known as “rupting,” often experience something so traumatic and life-altering that they simply cannot see the world the way they used to.

  • It’s WAY TOO COMPLEX for a short answer, but in a somewhat oversimplified nutshell, there are three main Rupt political factions on Earth, including:

    • The Sanction: Focuses on protecting the masses for mutual benefit and societal advancement.

    • The Vocroft: Focuses on protecting individual rights and commerce.

    • Neutral Nations: Focuses on maintaining sovereignty from other political groups and pressures.

     
    These political factions operate in their territories and have vastly different laws. While there have been wars between factions in prior centuries, most things in the 21st century have calmed down for trade because money is the one language everyone speaks.
     
    Not to imply that the factions don’t get feisty every now and again, but each faction has extensive regulations and peacekeeping groups to minimize confrontations and keep trade running.
     
    Are those groups always ethical? You’ll have to read to find out.

  • Loaded question! Depends on who you ask.

  • Magic:

    1. Using mental powers, special words, gestures, ingredients, and/or other elements of the natural world to influence a desired effect that would otherwise seem highly unlikely, if not impossible.

    2. Being able to alter the presumed laws of the natural world to allow an effect that should not be possible.

    3. Summoning the power of a greater being to produce a desired effect on the world that would not otherwise be possible.

     
    Mystery: 

    1. A secret waiting to be solved

    2. A strange event that makes no practical sense and must be examined to be understood.

     
    Monsters:

    1. Entities/beings acting violent, aggressive, cruel, and often without remorse.

    2. Entities/beings thought to be mythic, imaginary, or nonexistent.

    3. Entities/beings whose physical presence invokes fear, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

  • Neither science nor religion negate magic, and neither can these be to blame for causing more Slums than Rupts.

    Yes, science and religion sway belief toward specific directions, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist in the Rupt World of magic. Science and religion are fields of study, tools if you will, and everyone, Slum or Rupt, uses them.
     
    Some of the most advanced science in the Rupt World blends scientific theory with magic and supernatural abilities. Likewise, there are numerous Rupt religions that blend the divine with many different tools.

  • Yes, it has happened. Just as something so intense can break your understanding of the world and open your eyes to the Rupt side of life, something so intense can also blind you into the blissful ignorance of Slum life.

  • In the 21st century, fewer than 5% of the human population on Earth is Rupt. But when you consider the number of Rupts in parallel dimensions, pocket worlds, and non-human Rupts in all places, the Rupt population as a whole becomes much more extensive.