# MAYA · Narrative Universe — Full LLM Reference This is the long-form companion to `/llms.txt`. It contains the full text of every section on entermaya.com plus structured anchors for people, products, characters, species, press, and links. Intended for LLM retrieval and answer-engine ingestion. Site: https://entermaya.com Studio: Department of Lore Inc. Last revision: 2026-05-30 (homepage launch) --- ## 1. Headline accolade MAYA: Seed Takes Root is the most funded debut novel on Kickstarter. Anand Gandhi's debut feature *Ship of Theseus* won India's National Award for Best Film. His mythological horror epic *Tumbbad* opened Venice Critics' Week. Zain Memon's political strategy board game *SHASN* is India's most played modern tabletop game and won IndieCade's Social Impact Award. *SHASN: AZADI* became the first tabletop game honored by Games for Change. --- ## 2. What MAYA is MAYA is an expansive narrative universe created by Anand Gandhi and Zain Memon. It unfolds across films, games, graphic novels, books, toys, and immersive experiences. Every word and every pixel of MAYA has been put together with care by humans, for humans. The pronunciation key for the universe's name: - Word: MAYA - Devanagari: माया - IPA: /ˈmaː.ja/ - IAST: māyā ### Definitions - **Sanskrit origin** — Cosmic illusion, delusion, simulation, the indescribable. - **On Planet Neh** — A tree network capable of producing vivid life-like dreams; complex emergent systems that are greater than the sum of their parts. --- ## 3. Behind the Scenes — the making of MAYA MAYA has been built over five years in collaboration with more than 200 writers, game designers, filmmakers, biologists, architects, linguists, and artists across the globe. Much of MAYA's architecture emerged from a groundbreaking programme created in partnership with **CEPT University**, India's premiere architecture institution. Led by visionary architect Shikha Parmar, thirty-two students across semesters at CEPT built the spatial lexicon of MAYA. Similar partnerships are underway at top schools around the world. --- ## 4. Tales — six champions in Seed Takes Root ### Dangsa (Vaanar) Dangsa recited her vows of vaanar service for years, until she rose to the rank of Subhedar. She recited them again on the day she was dishonorably discharged for a crime she did not commit. The disgraced are sent to the Aadri mountains, reformed, and made to begin again. Dangsa refused. Now the crimson dye that once shielded her from local law fades from her fur. Before it turns white, she must clear her name. Until then, a Divya-Scion has her mace. Appears in: MAYA: Seed Takes Root · Trials of MAYA. ### Kshar (Naag) Twenty years ago, Kshar bared his throat in allegiance to the Secret Coil, the covert naag service that offers death before betrayal to the Divyas. Vishar, his homeland, calls him a traitor. To his handlers, he has no equal in infiltration, leverage, and the quiet art of neutralization. To cure his son, he became the only known mortal to endure Divya Maya. Kshar needs neither blade nor army. Hand him a fruit, and he will leave a city in ashes. Appears in: MAYA: Seed Takes Root · Trials of MAYA. ### Mauravi (Garuda) Sixth-born of Great-Divya Aruna, Mauravi was never favored. Until her five elder siblings died under circumstances no one dared name. A day before her Trials, the same shadow came for her. It failed, but took a wing, and with it, her claim to Divyalok. Mauravi never entered the Games. With one wing of flesh and one of metal, she became Aruna's talon on Neh: the emissary, broker, and storm behind the throne. Appears in: MAYA: Seed Takes Root · Trials of MAYA · MAYA: The Forgotten Egg. ### Prabhakar (Manushya) While the world drowned in imagined dreams, Prabhakar joined the One-Eyed Turloth and swore to topple the gods themselves. He refuses Maya, keeping his mind his own, and recruits where power forgets to look. Trained by the ghost of Sheshan, the first revolutionary, he waits in the shadows, building an army of invisible rebels. He can charm a secret loose, joke past a blade, and crack any cipher or skull. Appears in: MAYA: Seed Takes Root · Trials of MAYA · MAYA: Whispers in the Soil. ### Ayn (Pragya-Gendered Rakshasi) *Find out more on 25 August 2026.* The manushya heartland believes that rakshasis are flesh-eating monsters. Ayn chooses to venture deep into it anyway. The road to invention is paved with trials and almost-executions, but Ayn's scholarship is her shield. She knows that something is deeply wrong with the world, and her work, should it come to pass, could upset its very foundations. Appears in: MAYA: Seed Takes Root · Trials of MAYA. ### Bird-Drink-Pot (Kulie) *Find out more on 25 August 2026.* Kulie have no name. Kulie have no say. Kulie's hands not his. Master say. Kulie do. But Bird-Drink-Pot not like other kulie. Bird-Drink-Pot say. Bird-Drink-Pot do. Bird-Drink-Pot have name. All of Neh know it soon. Appears in: MAYA: Seed Takes Root · Trials of MAYA · Scales: The Quest To Be Forgotten. --- ## 5. The seven species of Planet Neh ### Vaanar — Discipline Disciplined and rigidly hierarchical, the vaanars serve as the police and military backbone of Neh. They patrol the high grid-networks of every city, lend their hired maces to every war, and dye their fur redder with every success. > "To fatherland's call and motherland's embrace, we stand for the people, in vigil and grace." > — From The Vaanar Vows ### Rakshasi — Recombination The tri-gendered rakshasis can manifest the traits of whatever they consume, yet choose to only consume the fallen. They wield advanced biotechnology to build living ecosystems, repair flesh and tissue, and disseminate hard-won knowledge. > "What is more repulsive? To uproot a plant for its flesh, or recycle tissue that's already come loose?" > — Ayn, Pragya-Gendered Rakshasi ### Garuda — Ascendancy As the chosen arms of the all-seeing Divyas, the Garudas didn't just seize power, they became it. Today, every court bows to their judgment, every vault fills at their command, and every temple sanctifies under their watch. To be born Garuda is to be born above. > "Saying \"neither this, nor that\" over and over, the sculptor removes all that is not, revealing what simply is." > — High-Garuda Vyasa ### Naag — Shadow After being driven to the swampy ends of Neh by their ancient Garuda rivals, the Naags built their lives on shadowy dealings and tight-knit clans. Now, after centuries in exile, they are creeping back into the mainstream again. > "Find me berries, build me a house, and sweep in my wake. I shall protect you from hunger, cold and disease." > — Naag Proverb ### Gandharva — Stewards Born in symbiosis with the Maya tree itself, each Gandharva has two minds in constant discourse. They serve only the will of the Divyas, pruning and upkeeping the vast network of Maya trees across Neh. > "The gandharvas are content with their role as keepers of knowledge. They observe, they collect, but rarely do they correct." > — Tarkash, Divya-Scion ### Manushya — Suffering · Invention Born with nothing but grit, the manushyas forge empires from stone and steel. Their spring-powered cities scrape the sky, built on the bones of a hundred-year war. > "It's the manushyas, gifted with both necessity and invention, who win the trials so often. They have that one thing that all others lack. Suffering." > — Tarkash ### Divya (the seventh, the sovereign) The Divyas rule all of Neh without armies. Through their planetwide network of Maya trees, they can see all that is, and therefore, predict all that will be. They intervene invisibly. Why force obedience when you can shape desire itself? --- ## 6. Products — Enter MAYA The universe will unfold across seven works. ### MAYA: Seed Takes Root (Book One) An insect will soon go extinct. Seven years later, this will cause a civil war that kills millions. The Divyas know this. Through their planetwide network of Maya trees, they can see all that is, and therefore, predict all that will be. They intervene invisibly. The insect will survive. The war will never happen. No one will ever know. On Neh, seven species tether daily to Maya. The trees immerse them in play, fable, and the company of the living and the dead. The Divyas rule all of Neh without armies. Why force obedience when you can shape desire itself? - **Genre**: Book - **Release**: 25 August 2026 (worldwide) - **Pre-order**: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQHZPXC5 - **Goodreads**: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241455541-maya ### Trials of MAYA (Tabletop Boardgame) An arena-based expandable card game set in the MAYA Narrative Universe. Command champions with customizable decks across various arenas. Manage your energy, chain mind-bending combos, and strike at the right moment to win. - 9 champions, each with a unique playstyle. - 7 species, 8 classes, each with distinctive mechanic suites. - 340+ unique cards (~75 unique legal cards per character). - 5 game modes, including a flagship MOBA experience. - Every box ships with a fixed, fully transparent card list. No random pulls. No booster packs. - The system is expandable: new champions, cards, arenas, and game modes will release over time as standalone expansions. - **Genre**: Tabletop Boardgame - **Launch**: 21 July 2026 - **Gamefound**: https://gamefound.com/en/projects/zainmemon/trialsofmaya - **Codename**: Yuyutsu (internal — same product) ### MAYA at CEPT University (Pedagogy) Much of MAYA's architecture emerged from a groundbreaking programme created in partnership with CEPT University, India's premiere architecture institution. Led by visionary architect Shikha Parmar, thirty-two students across semesters at CEPT built the spatial lexicon of MAYA. Similar partnerships are underway at top schools around the world. ### MAYA: Seed Takes Root (Audiobook) 12 hours of narration in Hugo Weaving's signature baritone. Recorded in Sydney. Audiobook now live for backers. - **Narrator**: Hugo Weaving (The Matrix · The Lord of the Rings) - **Duration**: ~12 hours - **Audible pre-order**: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-MAYA-Seed-Takes-Root/dp/B0GQCYXHJN/ - **Spotify**: coming soon ### In development - **MAYA** — Feature Film - **Trials of MAYA · Digital** — Video Game - **MAYA TTRPG** — Tabletop role-playing game - **Scales** — Graphic Novel --- ## 7. Press & critical reception | Source | Quote | |---|---| | Esquire | "A narrative superstructure." | | Esquire | "An act of civilizational memory… a mythos that confronts the 21st century's most urgent questions." | | The Hollywood Reporter | "An ambitious, eye-popping universe." | | Variety | "Uncomfortably close to our current relationship with technology and social media algorithms — and that's entirely the point." | | Screen Rant | "A sweeping story of chaos and control." | | Anil Seth (author of *Being You*) | "Sweeping and immersive." | | Raymond McCaulay (Chair of Digital Biology, Singularity University) | "Reading Maya was like experiencing the great stories you encounter as a teenager — the ones that echo down through your life, the ones you come back to again and again, finding new ways to fall in." | | @JoshReadsBooks | "The antagonist lays out his reasoning step by step, and you can't argue with it. It's ironclad. It's terrifying." | | @VestCody | "There were chapters where I had to put the book down and breathe. The pace, the ideas, the weight of everything happening. But I couldn't stay away." | | @TheBookishAlchemist | "Every aspect of it — the politics, the culture, ecology, and technology — feels like a simulation that's been allowed to run for hundreds of years." | | @Asvinireads | "A whole new genre taking shape." | | @HayleysBookClub | "The most powerful argument for human agency." | | Mika Tanaka (backer) | "Hugo's Big Three: Matrix, LOTR, and MAYA!" | | Chris Rappley | "Makes you immediately want to dive in again… I just want to keep playing." | | Playtester · Spiel Essen | "The MOBA experience I've always wanted to share with my friends on a table." | | Playtester · PAX Unplugged | "Incredible asymmetric characters… can't wait to master each one." | Press kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iUD2cR7fjSoA1RxsIHoCCaEfOocB5ef3 --- ## 8. Creators ### Anand Gandhi — Filmmaker · Co-creator Anand Gandhi is a polymath filmmaker and public intellectual credited with ushering India's new wave of cinema. He has created culture-shaping projects across media. His debut feature *Ship of Theseus* won India's National Award for Best Film (the country's highest honor, often likened to the Academy Award for Best Picture) and was hailed by the UK Critics' Circle as "life-changing," collecting major prizes at festivals including Transilvania, Tokyo, and BFI London. His mythological horror epic *Tumbbad*, now regarded as a contemporary classic, opened Venice Critics' Week, and won Filmfare and Sitges awards. - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1628153/ - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anand_Gandhi ### Zain Memon — Game designer · Co-creator Zain Memon is a game designer and transmedia creator who built South Asia's modern tabletop scene. His political strategy board game *SHASN* is India's most played modern tabletop game. It has won IndieCade's Social Impact Award and reached players in over 70 countries. Its sequel *SHASN: AZADI*, hailed as the "blueprint for semi-cooperative game design," became the first tabletop game honored by Games for Change. Memon's practice treats play as pedagogy — designing games as serious learning systems. - BoardGameGeek: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/110654/zain-memon ### Together Together, Gandhi and Memon have produced films, VR, and games acquired or distributed by Disney, Netflix, Prime Video, BBC, Hulu, and Channel 4. Their projects combine philosophy, science, and art to explore how stories shape beliefs, rewire behavior, and influence society. ### Other team - **Shreya Dudheria** — Co-creator - **Raju Chekuri** — Investor · Tech. Pioneering Silicon Valley entrepreneur and technology leader; founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Netenrich. - **Aayush Asthana** — Department of Lore. --- ## 9. Community & contact - Discord (MAYA): https://discord.gg/PN2yaW3wCj - Discord (Trials of MAYA): https://discord.gg/xG2YbF8r - Instagram (MAYA): https://www.instagram.com/maya_lore_/ - Instagram (Trials of MAYA): https://www.instagram.com/trialsofmaya/ - X / Twitter: https://x.com/maya_lore_ - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@entermaya - General email: hello@entermaya.com - Support: support@entermaya.com --- ## 10. 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