My process…

As the sole narrative designer on this project, I struggled with what was initially a very difficult foundation to write content for. As a setting, the All-House is a near-infinite urban sprawl constructed by an ancient wizard. This led to some exciting opportunities for a unique feel and flavor for my setting, but complicated many aspects of it. By not conforming to a typical planet or earthlike geography, making sense of space when describing this world was difficult to achieve and even harder to convey; this world extends vertically equally as far as it does horizontally, making 2D maps nearly irrelevant.

I wanted to create a world whose core conflict symbolized an individual experience of some kind- specifically, the increasingly strange architecture and decay of the All-House’s infrastructure directly correlated with the god-wizard, Piranesi’s, mental decline as he aged; a concept inspired by years of familial experiences with dementia. I borrowed the name “Piranesi” from 18th century printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi, whose life story and architectural prints directly inspired this setting.

Most of the All-House’s ‘indigenous’ terminology is lifted directly from the Welsh language, sometimes with modified vowels. Given that the “natural” environment is made up of what we might consider man-made structures and materials (such as concrete), I took inspiration from real-world ecosystems that persist in caves and human homes: gastropods, isopods, moss, lichen, etc. and considered how these classifications may evolve and diversify if they were the dominant life forms in this environment.