The Firedust of Albeon is a project I started on my YouTube channel about 2-3 years ago and has been developing since.

Essentially, the setting boils down to the idea of a high fantasy continent coming into contact with Age of Exploration era human civilizations.

Albeon, or Ardel as natives all it, is a large continental about the same size as North and South America and them some. It's primarily dominated by Elves, whose female population has the chance to be magically gifted. This fact, especially after wars, was fought between the human eastern empires and western native empires scared the humans into severely persecuting them and severely restricting movement for the magisters.

Punishments for the use of magic can be as severe as the dismemberment of the user's hands since it's the main part of the body. This energy is channeled.

There are other races such as the Syers, animal/human hybrids who live in the Canuparian, Ve'kar (native humans, made up only 10% of Ardel) who were caught in the crossfire between the empires, and Greenskins of Middle Albeon and the isolationist dwarves.

It's a lot more complex. If you want to learn more, I have a playlist on my channel here! Already made 11 videos on it (please ignore the first couple they are BAD)

Firedust of Albeon playlist

Any questions or criticism please ask

Wahlen (wählen, dial translated to German in google translator, I don't know how to get the ä without googling for it and ctrl c, ctrl ving it) is the soul of machinery and the cities that it inhabits.

More specifically, it is our way of controlling the essence that flows through the walls and floors of the monoliths we call home.

The soul of the city, the red essence that powers our machinery, ignites our lights, fuels our fires and opens our doors.

Enough with the theatrics.

Red essence can best be described as the magic or electricity that flows through man made constructs, such as buildings and prosthetic limbs.

And wahlen is like a control panel for manipulating red essence through movements that are believed to have a specific purpose, which is why it is so easy to teach a child to use their wahlen.

And a wahlen is usually stationary as it responds to the movements used against it to alter the essence in its surroundings. Due to this a wahlen cannot be used on the go, without extensive training to learn how to both move the wahlen without it performing actions for you and to use it without it thinking it’s being moved.

The reason why red essence is easy to manipulate with a wahlen is because essence is constantly moving, except red essence moves in a clean formation, like a conveyor belt moving perfectly each time, and yes like a conveyor belt there are hiccups but just like a conveyor belt there aren't always hiccups.

Orange essence.

Orange essence isn’t really known about, within the world, but it moves more like a river, yes it follows a set path like a conveyor belt but try predicting every wave and ripple, making it harder for people to attach their wahlen to it and nearly impossible to control in the same way

Season 1: The Beginning

Chapter 11 — Beyond the Base

The mountain path stretched ahead beneath the morning sun.

Prince walked at the front of the group, carrying the supplies Master O had given them. Maria followed with the map in her hands, while Veylen kept the sealed package secured inside his travel pack.

For the first few minutes, none of them spoke. The familiar mountains gradually disappeared behind them, replaced by towering trees and patches of tall grass.

Prince glanced over his shoulder.

“So, what do you think? Easy mission, right?”

Maria kept her eyes on the map. “We've barely started.”

“Exactly. And nothing has gone wrong.”

Veylen adjusted his pack. “That's usually what people say right before something goes wrong.”

Prince shook his head. “You always expect the worst.”

“No. I simply pay attention.”

Maria stopped beside a fork in the path.

“Both of you, look at this.”

Two routes stretched before them. The left path descended into a wooded valley, while the right path followed a rocky slope along the mountainside.

Maria unfolded the map and compared it with the surrounding terrain.

“The map shows that we should take the left path,” she said. “It follows the stream and eventually leads toward the supply station.”

Prince looked toward the valley. “Then let's go.”

He took a step forward, but Veylen caught his attention.

“Wait. Look at the ground.”

Several stones had fallen across the entrance to the valley path. Beyond them, the trail appeared muddy and uneven.

“Something might have happened here recently,” Veylen observed.

Prince studied the slope. “We could climb over the rocks.”

“Or we could take a moment to decide whether that's a good idea,” Maria replied.

Prince sighed, but he stopped.

They examined both routes. The left path was shorter, but the fallen stones made it difficult to judge how stable the ground was. The right path was longer, though its rocky surface appeared firm.

“Master O told us to reach the supply station safely,” Maria said. “He never said we had to take the shortest route.”

Veylen nodded. “Then we take the right path.”

Prince looked at the rocky slope again.

“Fine. But if we're late because of the longer route, I'm blaming both of you.”

“You agreed with the decision,” Maria reminded him.

“I agreed with the decision. I didn't agree to accept responsibility for it.”

Veylen gave him a flat look.

“You have a remarkable talent for making simple things complicated.”

They continued along the right-hand trail.

As the path climbed, the trees grew thinner, allowing them to see farther across the landscape. In the distance, they spotted a narrow stream winding between clusters of stone and dense woodland.

Prince paused to admire the view.

“It's strange,” he said. “We've lived in the mountains for so long, but there's still so much out here that we've never seen.”

“That's because our training grounds are only a tiny part of the Hybrid World,” Maria replied.

Veylen looked toward the distant forest.

“And if this is only the beginning, imagine what lies beyond it.”

For a moment, the three stood quietly, taking in the unfamiliar landscape.

Then Maria checked the map again.

“We should keep moving. We still have a long way to go.”

They resumed their journey.

A little farther along the trail, the ground narrowed between two large boulders. Prince moved ahead first, carefully stepping across the uneven stones. Maria followed, keeping the map protected inside her pack.

When Veylen reached the narrowest section, a loose stone shifted beneath his foot.

He quickly teleported to the other side.

Purple particles flickered in the air before he reappeared on stable ground.

Prince turned around.

“Show-off.”

“I avoided falling,” Veylen replied.

“You could've warned us first.”

“I didn't know the stone was loose until it moved.”

Maria stepped between them.

“Can we save the argument for later? We should check whether the rest of the path is safe.”

They examined the stones before continuing. This time, Prince tested his footing before moving, and Maria pointed out the more stable places to step.

Veylen watched them carefully.

“You know,” he said, “this is much easier when we actually work together.”

Prince smirked. “Don't sound so surprised.”

“I am surprised. I expected at least three more arguments before we learned that.”

Maria laughed, and even Prince couldn't help smiling.

By midday, the trail began to descend toward the woodland surrounding the supply station. The journey had been peaceful so far, though the unfamiliar paths demanded more attention than any of them had expected.

Prince looked ahead, where sunlight filtered through the trees.

“Come on. We're making good progress.”

Maria checked their position on the map and nodded.

“If we keep this pace, we should reach the station with plenty of time.”

Veylen secured his pack once more.

“Then let's finish the mission and get home.”

Together, the three children continued down the trail, leaving the mountains farther behind with every step.

They had crossed beyond the familiar grounds where Master O had trained them. Now, with only their own judgment and one another to rely on, they were beginning to understand that the world outside their home would demand more than strength alone.

For now, the mission remained simple.

They only needed to reach the supply station.

End of Chapter 11 — Beyond the Base

so i want to start worldbuilding and i find it very difficult to start because i my head i need to start at the top (the base of the mounten/the foundation of everything) with all the really big importent stuff like all the contents and what importent things had happent in the world and because of it i get so overwelmt that i just never start.

so i have a example for a cool magic system. it was that all the magic could be activated via snapping you fingers. but then i started thinking about it and had questions like. when the user snaps there fingers what then? do they snap to cycle between different typs of magic or do they use a ability but how do you know what you do because you do nothing else then snapping. and i just cant think of awnsers to the questions. and i start to doubt myself if i am smart or creative enough to really do this. i really want to try but get so overwelmt by my own mind. does anyone else have problems like this? and how could i fix my "creative block" before i even start.

I have been wanting to create a setting for a tabletop game deeply tied to the spiritual, but was looking for an interesting hook to make the world feel unique. I came up with the idea of spirits being the manifestation of natural things in the world. For example, the spirit of a tree would be a literal 4th dimensional creature that was a physical and emotional representation of the life of the tree from seed to stump. If there were to be a river spirit, it would be amorphous and free to act in a variety of ways, because a river changes shape, size, etc. over its existence. The inverse, a stone or mountain spirit would be limited to a more consistent form, would be bound to act in certain ways. I like the idea of spirits and their world mirroring the material world, with a broad variety of power level and sentience.

What I am having trouble with is determining the cultures and traditions that would form from these spirits, and how they would interact with each other and the world. Ultimately I want the setting to feel strange and unknown, I take a lot of mental inspiration from Ghibli (Monoke, Arietty, Nausicaa, Spirited Away) and very recently from Worlds Beyond Number: WWW with its deeply involved spirits and their 'Breath'.

I want to just sit down and write, but I keep feeling overwhelmed, or that I need to have a better grasp of the basics before I dive in.

Any advice is deeply appreciated!

so, I've been developing this setting where portions of humanity have been thrown into an utterly hellish realm accessed through mysterious boxes scattered across the world. anyone who opens one of these boxes is transported inside, finding themselves in a hostile world filled with monstrous creatures and horrors beyond imagination, and with no way for those trapped inside to warn the outside world, the boxes have continued claiming people throughout history.

The defining feature of this setting is that everyone brought into the realm has their greatest skill amplified to an extraordinary degree. Naturally, society has organized itself around these talents, with the most valuable individuals becoming the backbones of their communities and often rising to positions of considerable power.

However, these abilities aren't inherited. Children born in the realm are ordinary people, regardless of their parents' talents. This creates a society where newcomers can completely upset the established order, and where a person's contributions to survival often matter more than their family name.

A collection of city maps created by Angela and me over the past few months for various publishing projects and private commissions... Have a great evening, everyone!🧭🗺️🏰

Visit my IG for see more maps: https://www.instagram.com/morenopaissanart?dlrf=MXZjajRkeGlzemtxNA==

Hi. I'm new to this subreddit but I am working on an idea and I'd like to advance it with group think tanking and getting input.

So there are two major parts to my story and I am working with.

1. This is a world that has card magic integrated into its history. The world has always had magic cards since the Sumerian time to the modern day. These cards give all humans extra powers/skills and are held in a soul space. At roughly 15 years old every kid gets their first card manifested through the system and an additional card every 8ish years. This world mirrors our own with the settings being a mostly 90s themed retro world just discovering the Internet.

This is mostly because I like Cards as power systems but the best ones I have found are either post/ apocalyptic such as Jakes Magical Market or alternate universe like Summoner Awakens. My favorite is All the Skills but that is also in those realms. The only story I have read that even temps modern day is the worst deck building litRPG I have read to date and it attempts an in the shadows approach. (Deck of Destiny) . This would be a full integration the same way Cultivation is in Street Cultivator.

1. My main character's first card gives him access to spirits of places. I intend to flesh out these spirits as full-on characters based on the people they usually interact with. Houses look similar to their head of house and trees the family as their family. While City's act like the general people and look similar to how one would expect a resident to look. There are also much later on country Spirits like Uncle Sam and Mother Russia. Finally I will also be working on Corporate spirits which are things like Ronald McDonald and J C Penny.

Does this sound interesting to anyone? Does anyone have any questions or input? I plan to make more specific posts once I get a hang of this subreddit.

I know the drawing is not good but I kinda suck in it and I had my friend doodle a doodle for me.

I had posted about my dragon on r/worldbuilding but they keep removing my post and now I am banned so I am posting here.

So the dragons are only 3 meters in height averagely.

They are herbivores creatures(eat fruits)

They feathers help them in flight and attracting mate.

They don't breathe fire but control sound using sound their whole body can work as a sound generator.

To generate sound you have to create vibration They can vibrate their skin so coming to control sound.

[ Tidus, Ocean of Dreams ] \ [ 1367/Alancian Calander ]

[ "It is said that before the catastrophic Flood of Na, that the king of Alancia; Neptas, The Tidal King, ruled over the massive and grand kingdom of Alancia.

A kingdom residing on the continent of Theruh that has been recorded to have been a noble and proud kingdom, poisoned with vile violence through war.

Neptas was said to be a kind ruler, yet had heavy disdain towards the Elgriessian nation, another kingdom that resided in Theruh." ]

# The Continent of Theruh

[ "Theruh, as recorded by geologists and historians, was a land built of three different countries sectioned as a triangular form.

Each country had a kingdom that ruled over its population.

The kingdom of Reinfiel; ruled by Blackbel, The Grave King, was a land of sorcery and knowledge, pushing that "The understanding of death and it's many causes, brings forth desire to pursue power for oneself."

They weren't warring people nor were they very violent, however through planned instigation from a unrecorded group, and the royal family's prince being kidnapped, they were inevitably dragged into the war.

The last in the trinity was Elgriess, Nation of Wind.

Elgriess was actually recorded as more of a huge capital or clan, not necessarily having a ruler.

However, from what historians have gathered, the people of Elgriess worshipped a prophet named Merlin, who was said to be able to hear a voice from the world that would speak of future events foretold through a song passed through the waves on a beach.

From various ruins and texts, we can assume that the land of Tidus dates back 500 years before the Flood of Na, and these three nations had their own stories to tell, however, the one we'll be focusing on, is the Fracture of Tidus; a war that was so devastating, the kingdoms all fell in the aftermath." ]

# Fracture of Tidus [ 952 BY. ( Before Yellowtail ) ] \[ Alancien Calander ]

[ "It had all begun at a royal ceremony celebrating 200 years of peace and trade between the trinity, taking place at the shores of Alancia.

200 years before the ceremony, after the Siege of Raimund, a peace treaty was signed by the three kingdoms to make sure a incident like that slaughter was to never occur again.

At the ceremony the three royal families were all present. The Blackbel family, The Oceanus family, led by Neptas, and Merlin, joined by her brother, Kristoph.

The ceremony started with a rather mysterious start, as Merlin was seemingly late for an unknown reason.

Following the rest of the ceremony a speech was made by Merlin to announce something, the following is the recorded text of the speech.

"My fellow people! My peers! My fellow leaders! Let me speak freely of mind and body for but one moment.

We come here today to rejoice at the sustained peace of our three lands and bring forth a new vision for our futures!

- Merlin pauses, as the crowd cheers, staring off at empty space.

- Merlin's eyes widen as she starts to look around before eventually covering her mouth

"I-I..."

- Merlin shakes her head before casting her gaze upon the people

"K-Kristoph! Come to me!"

"M-My fellow people there is no need to worry, I just feel unwell...please excuse me."

- Merlin rushes off with Kristoph, rambling about something as she covers her ears.

- King Neptas makes a joke about the Elgriessian people and how their manic tribal ways are why someone like Merlin is leading them, as the ceremony continues on before eventually fizzling out.

After this ceremony is the downfall of these three nations, all from a vision that Merlin had seen." ]

# Fracture of Tidus [ 958 BY. ] - [ Alancien Calander ]

[ "6 years have passed since the royal ceremony, and Merlin and her brother are travelling through the Crescent Trail, with the prince of Reinfiel, Ruphus Blackbel, discussing politics.

Merlin diverges the conversation towards a mysterious entity that has been spotted around the sea, revealing a undocumented secret that causes Ruphus to stop the carriage.

Merlin, her brother Kristoph, and Ruphus mysteriously disappear off of the trail and venture towards a shrine, being said to have ancient scriptures detailing the entity.

After this visit to the shrine, it is recorded that neither Kristoph, nor Ruphus were ever documented to be seen again.

The only person to walk away from that shrine was Merlin, however she was recorded as becoming very paranoid.

She had started her mental decline as she would ramble about this mysterious entity and how it would cause a calamity that no kingdom would survive.

At the same time, an envoy is sent to King Blackbel, notifying the king that Merlin has kidnapped Prince Ruphus, causing a kingdom wide panic.

The kingdom of Reinfiel becomes extremely agressive, trying to find their lost prince, throwing out accusations that Merlin had assassinated the prince.

Alancien King, Neptas, sees this as a opportunity to finally be rid of the Elgriessian people, declaring war upon the nation unless they give up the prince.

However, King Blackbel is disgusted by this provocation, always seeing King Neptas as a bigoted and hateful King, refusing his kingdom's help, and speculates that perhaps the kingdom of Alancia was in on the plot to kidnap the prince.

Eventually Merlin, caught in all the madness, decides the best course of action is trying to unify the kingdoms against this threat to uphold the peace treaty, going on a nomadic journey across the land.

After 2 years, war breaks out in Theruh." ]

# Fracture of Tidus [ 960: Siege of Yellowtail ] - [ Alancien Calander ]

[ "War breaks out across Theruh and King Blackbel has put an all-out assault squad to hunt down Merlin on her travels.

King Neptas sends forth his warriors of the sea to take an outpost in Reinfiel's outskirts, while Merlin has been collecting history books and scriptures to uncover this entity's weakness.

The outpost of Yellowtail, houses 200 soldiers with archers lining the canyons edges to rain down on enemy forces.

Mages hide themselves within openings in the canyons sides to ambush the enemy with magical artillery, and the frontlines are full with swordsman and soldiers.

Within the outpost, civilians from the town of Hreil seek shelter and food, as their town has already been ravaged from the war.

During this siege of the outpost, Alancien soldiers charge forwards, while their spies sneak along the canyon edges to take out the archers.

Merlin and her party come in from the east, seeing as how both armies are about to battle, it's the perfect time to reveal to them the true threat and unite them.

Merlin's plans do not come to fruition.

During the battle, many Relian and Alancien soldiers are slain, archers are shoved off the canyon onto spikes, Alancien spies have their hands cut off and executed, and the siege lasts for 4 days.

Civilians have revealed their fear, and start to panic, throwing off the Relian commander at the outpost, and forcing him to improvise.

Merlin reaches the outpost, and is initially attacked by the soldiers, being labeled as a threat to all of Reinfiel, before she reveals all the knowledge she's gathered.

As she does, the commander of the Alancien Army, Varban The Tenacious, bursts through the gate of the outpost with a small assault team that was broken off of the bigger army.

From Varban's records, he had intentionally ran head on into their trap, while taking out one of the mages in the gaps of the canyon." ]

# Part 1

# Fracture of Tidus [ 960: Siege of Yellowtail - 4th Day ] - [ Alancien Calander ]

[ "Through that gap, Varban and his assault team took a 2 day trek through the caverns of Yellowtail before eventually arriving at the outposts gates.

He declares "Your kingdom of death and devilish worship shall fall to Alancia, your treasonous betrayal towards us fuels our aquatic hearts with the blood of pain and fury.

I, Varban The Tenacious, shall capture this outpost, and Alancia will claim this victory for ourselves!

Surrender now, or become the very concept you worship!"

Varban leads his team to attack the outpost of Yellowtail, as the Relian soldiers retaliate, not willing to surrender, causing civilians to be caught in the crossfire.

Merlin, trapped between the two sides battling, attempts to join in, before a loud scream can be heard.

As all three sides turn to see where the scream came from, they notice a mother with her child, slain, laying on the ground of Yellowtail gurgling on their own blood.

From Merlin's account, she had seen a figure with one horn slip away into the darkness, but this is not backed up with any evidence or other witnesses.

Varban is the first to react, slowly sheathing his sword as he backs up.

From his retelling he states, "I never had meant to involve the civilians..

When I had seen that mother and her child slain..I didn't know what to do.

I only fought for the glory of Alancia, and I knew the soldiers had full intent to slay me just as I would they..

But an innocent mother..and her young child..?

....

That was when I retired as commander..and left Alancia."

Chaos broke out as each side hurled accusations as to who did it, causing Varban and his squad to start a retreat, with the Relian soldiers there to attempt to stop them.

Just then, Merlin heard a voice..as the ground underneath Yellowtail started to rumble.

A purplish blue light emerged from the cracks in the ground as a tentacle slowly reached up.." ]

# Part 2

# Fracture of Tidus [ 960: Siege of Yellowtail - Calamity Awakens ] - [ Alancien Calander ]

[ "The Relian Commander, Octeiro The Crucified Eye, retold the events as so.

"It was as if the world had stood still..while we watched the birth of something far beyond our authority...

The creature slowly crawled up through the cracks in the earth...methodically, almost as if to make sure we understood it's presence.

It fully emerged..and it was by far, a creature incapable of understanding.

It's body was dark, as if the shadows of the sea clung to it for life.

Spiraling underneath its skin was sea water...but different.

As if the water had transfigured into some astral form.

It's tentacles slithered and bore ridges and sharp protrusions like claws..

And it's face...oh its face..to describe such a figure was to condemn one to madness.

A spiraling infinite vortex of swirling shapes covered it's face...except for one singular eye.

It's eye glowed with the vibrant hue of calamity, resting upon our armies as if we were nothing more than a patch of grass.

It's size was so large the structure..no, the entire town of Yellowtail was covered in it's visage, as if it existed both within the sky, and infront of us."

- From other reports across Theruh, it was said that this entity had indeed appeared in the clouds and sky at this moment.

The entity spoke one single sentence, echoing across the entire continent..

"Regail me as Na..and converge under your sinful tides."

Water had started to break forth from the earth and all three armies scrambled to survive, a catastrophic amount of casualties occurred as Yellowtail was completely destroyed by the entity's power.

Those who drowned underneath the waves, were puppeteered from the inside of their bodies with the water, breaking open and tearing through their organs, as they became undead followers of Na, becoming mindless and agressive." ]

# Part 3

# Fracture of Tidus [ 963: Flood of Na ] - [ Alancian Calander ]

[ "Three years pass as the entity continues it's wrath across Theruh, slowly turning people into the Sunken, zombie creatures that worship Na.

Merlin, after having escaped Yellowtail, is on the run with King Neptas and Blackbel and their families, trying to tell them of everything she had found about the entity.

The kingdom of Alancia was first to fall, being closest to the shores making it a perfect target for Na.

Reinfiel followed suit, after attempting to talk to the entity and make peace with it.

Elgriess was on the verge of destruction, 75% of the nation was already corrupted and flooded, and Merlin had no idea what to do.

The three leaders eventually return to the shrine in a panic, as Merlin attempts to search through the book at the shrine to try and find any answers.

King Neptas and Blackbel argue over whats going on, while grieving their families and expressing their anger towards the entity.

Merlin kept searching, and as Merlin was about to flip to the page that would seemingly give her a answer...she heard a voice.

Merlin's eyes glowed as she had her final vision, a vision of the sun being blotted out by Na, and a huge tsunami towers over Theruh, with millions of Sunken within the water reaching out towards them.

Merlin slowly turns around, as King Neptas drops to his knees, seeing that exact event unfold.

These were the final words of the three leaders, documented by a mysterious source.

King Neptas: "By the gods..there was never any salvation to begin with...it's all over.."

King Blackbel: "DAMNIT!! You vile behemoth of a beast! Your evil shall never succeed for as long as humanity stands and the future shall become your greatest fear!"

Merlin: "We're too late...my brother..If only I had...tried a different path.."

It was recorded that the tsunami, crashed across all of Theruh, completely destroying and flooding the continent.

Na returns to the sea after this event.." ]

# Birth of Tidus, The Ocean of Dreams [ 1050 ] - [ Alancien Calander ]

[ "After the flood, the continent of Theruh was completely destroyed, breaking off and either sinking into the depths of the ocean, or splitting into the islands of Tidus that we know today.

There were very few survivors, but humanity preserved themselves and eventually managed to recover and adapt to the situation.

Over the years, many renowned figures had become a part of rebuilding their homes, creating Tidus, The Ocean of Dreams, thanks to a hero named Posiedos, who had reunited and brought together the broken fragments of Theruh, to become a new age of humanity.

Now, Tidus is within a era of pirates and sea travel, since most of the world is now consisting of ocean water.

Yet, no one has seen Na ever since the flood, leaving a eery feeling of despair hiding underneath the sunny peaceful adventures of the pirates.." ]

Here The Original

The way the gates works are the same but with the change that the hell,Heaven,Dreamland and Nightland are Ethereal Worlds,this mean anyone can have access to them after certain conditions,and that's why they are called "Total Linked"

-Heaven: When you were an extremelly good person in life and die you come to this place,this place is home of Angels,Deities of Various Cultures (Both Humans and Non-Humans) and Ascended Souls

-Hell: When you were an extremelly bad person in life and die you come to this place,here inhabits Lesser Demons,Major Demons from every Culture and the Damned ones

-Nightland: a place that is formed out of the nightmares of every sentient being,this place is ruled by a being called Fobetor and at difference of Heaven or Hell you can exit this place by waking up,except if you are a soul because this place is also an afterlife for those who were bad persons in life but not so bad to be in hell

-Dreamland: a place formed by the Dreams of the Sentient,is ruled by Hypnos and is also the resting place of those who were good persons but not that good to be part of Heaven,the same rules as Nightland,you exit when you wake up

Other changes are the "Sets",that are basically "Alternative Universes",but not in the way that a multiverse works since they keep the Major Aspects like Species,Physics and Laws with some light changes BUT individual or Lesser aspects like People,Countries,Events and that type of things gonna change,the probability of having an Aaron Taylor in 2 or more Sets is very low,for example

The sets gonna be explained in another post specialized in them

Also i Rearranged the position of Peony Fields because i saw more logic it being an extension of Cyberspace (Actually Y-Earth) rather than a part of the Main Wunderlands Circle by itself

Any question?

I wanted to share The Fire Is Still Yours, a song that grew out of Nyx’s story in The Rift in the Veil.

To give you a sense of where the lyrics came from, here’s a memory from Chapter 2 of her story—a few words that would stay with her forever.

The Ember of the Hearth

The elder began to tell The Ember of the Hearth.

He did not tell the whole of it.

Elders never told the whole story.

They knew how to stop at the exact moment when children leaned a little closer.

“Remember this well, children. An ember is almost nothing. You can crush it without even seeing it. But if someone protects it, if someone still blows on it… then it can rekindle a home. Then another. Then an entire village.”

The children opened their eyes wide.

Ollyne smiled at once.

“Even a very small one?” she asked.

The elder lowered his eyes toward her.

“Especially a very small one.”

Ollyne held the flowers against her, as if that answer belonged to her a little.

This is one of the memories that helped shape this song.

The story is still dark fantasy, but I didn’t want it to be relentlessly bleak. When Nyx retraces her steps through her village and her memories, I wanted there to be sunlight and flowers too.

I’ve probably given her the most painful past of any of my characters. ^^ I wanted to leave room for more than darkness in who she is.

I love this song, and I had so much fun writing the lyrics. It felt like getting to know a more intimate part of her, stepping into her world and touching something that belongs to her—even though I’m the one creating it all. ^^