Sub Zero's Land

I first thought of the character, Sub Zero when I was in middle school. Back then I was always dreaming ideas up for stories, because I knew that I wanted to publish novels someday. I suddenly got an image of a powerful white wolf, who was so strong and so fast in battle that he known to be "colder than a sub-zero night." Back then Sub Zero's world had several things in common with Jack London's The Call of the Wild and White Fang. Sub Zero himself was somewhat inspired by the books, since they were both about mighty wolf dogs who eventually conquered their enemies and became fierce fighters. But as his story began to evolve, I decided that, though I wanted Sub Zero to be a legend, I did not want him to be a ruthless killer. I wanted him to be a symbol of power, of freedom, and above all, of good.

 

Sub Zero first became a story of good vs. evil when I created Sub Zero's Land, version 1 (SZL the first), somewhere around 2001-2002. Like most wolf RPGs, there were the three simple alliances, Good, Evil and Neutral. Sub Zero was the main good wolf, and his archenemy was a wolf named Wipollo. The first RPG did not enjoy much success, mainly because I was a beginner at managing RPGs, and because the site had such poor navigation. It was created on Expage (and just about everyone knows how cheap Expage is), with Alxboard message boards. The main page had a table, which was spiffy, but to access each message board, you first had to go to a Description page to read what the board was for, and then click another link to actually see the board. It was confusing and annoying. Not to mention the game's storyline had barely gone anywhere.

So eventually SZL the first was closed down. But I had not forgotten about Sub Zero and Wipollo. I continued to think up plots for them, and soon I made SZL the second. SZL the second was the most successful of all the SZL versions so far. Not only was their a huge leap forward in the game's story, but it also gained several active members. Some of the major changes included: a hierachy had been established with the wolves--Sub Zero was now the Wolven King, leader of all the Good wolves, and Wipollo was the Dark Lord, determined to defy Sub Zero's reign and overthrow him; Marlina, the lead Neutral wolf, was introduced; Jesse, Sub Zero's human companion, was brought into the story; the game was created on Dreamtools message boards, which were much easier to access and navigate; other main characters, such as Tassen, Storm, and of course the notorious Vren, were introduced.

SZL the second had well over 100 wolf characters, and very active roleplay. Not to mention the community blossomed, and soon SZL began to have fansites, chat rooms, Cafrepress shops, Yahoo! communities and more. With the high level of support, I was encouraged more than ever to make SZL bigger and better. However, Dreamtools soon closed down, and SZL was forced to move to Proboards. Thus SZL the third was created. The game looked and worked much better on Proboards, which most RPGs were using then because of its nice layout and easy navigation. The game continued to evolve there, until, as the game grew inactive and I became busier, it was closed down.

 

But alas, in 2005, I began to realize just how much I missed SZL, and how much I still loved the story. Still I was trying to perfect it, and finally it was coming closer to something that I liked--something that could make a good novel. At last, I relented and created the latest version of SZL, SZL2: The Next Generation. This version's storyline had been suggested by an old member--now, the game was set 5 years into the future from when Sub Zero and Wipollo reigned, and now their sons, Tassen and Storm, came into leadership. Somewhat darker than the other three versions of SZL, SZL2 focuses on the how Tassen and the Snow Star Pack cope with Sub Zero's death, Storm's attempts to walk in his father's footsteps, and Vren's evil ambitions to conquer Sub Zero's Land. The game's story continues to evolve, and is just starting to gain a good level of activity. So now we can only watch and wait, to see what SZL becomes. For the RPGs have always been a huge factor in determining what happens in the books I plan to write. I hope the game continues to be fun and entertaining for everyone, and that one day Sub Zero will be a real franchise. Long live SZL!

--Jessica Senia, head admin and founder of SZL