Welcome to the Bright Journey Project, and to the world of Ontolos-Na.

In every Age an Aja of Joy, and in every Age a dark Hero of sorrows. In every Age an Aja of Change, and in every Age a demon Hero who destroys. Yet the choice between Ajahood and herodom can be decided in the fall of a blade, the tone of a single word. And even in a world of peace, there can be some things even more terrible than war...

Beneath many-coloured On, the unmoving sun, the world of Ontolos-Na wings forward on the back of the World Bird. Queens and traders and Theagyns and Daki Ni seek to guide the fate of empires and peoples. But all know that history is ending. Who will be the Aja of this Age? And will her Awakening tear the world apart?

Ontolos-Na, also called Ontolos or Ontos, is a shared fantasy roleplaying world being developed under a Creative Commons License. It is a progressive realm of female power where violent warfare is comparatively rare, and where humans create and direct their deities in massive Theagyn rituals. Ontolos-Na's cultural analogues are North Asian in inspiration—Tibet, India, Korea, China, Japan—and the Project's design aims are to question and explore notions of gender construction, religion, belief, and religion change in a game environment with a particular eye to the nuances of genre.

The Project is part creative dream, part desire to look with fresh eyes and a questioning mind, and part fantasy ethnography, but mainly it is a response to the call of a rich and wondrous story demanding to be told.

This web site has four main sections. Genre explores the Project's inspirations and goals, looks at gender, religion, war and wonder in game terms, and discusses the central importance of genre in roleplaying. It provides initial suggestions for themes and key events in the unfolding campaign. Ontology discusses the nature of time, space, cosmos, life, deity, and mystery in Ontolos-Na, and describes some of the world's unique features and physics. Lifeways begins the exploration of peoples and places, customs and culture, the nations of the world and the richness of their lives. Finally, the Reference page provides maps, timelines and glossaries.

Ontolos-Na is an eternal work in progress. Come join the Bright Journey.