Star Spun Souls

This post is Part 17 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! The Glades of Despair Seething jungle of magic and nymphs. Geography and Climate In Chapter 12 of Awakening , the dense canopy of the glade veils the mythic city A'lara and casts a shadow on all who dwell beneath it. Jutting from the cursed badlands of Old Ryerin into the sea, the glade sees more rainfall than the rest of the Allanic continent combined. Mild, wet winters give way to sultry, humid summers, and over half the glade lies within a massive river basin that drains to the east. This region also borders the Desperate Sea , the Great Sea, the Great South Sea. Flora and Fauna Shifting branches and animate vines slither through the Glades of Despair, fueled by ...

In the novel Awakening , there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga. Start with Portent I here . These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! From sanctuary's edge they go The traitors good and kind To venture bold for country's sake And ruler long maligned While pressing deep into the dark The binder freed would find The turning crown and meet by fate The son long left behind. Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World ? Share your interpretation! Comment below with your take on this portent. This prophesy foretells the very first scene of Broken . Though a little short as prophesies go, this one heralds an epic plot twist. I'm proud of rhyming the word maligned , and I really enjoy the imagery of the turning crown (can you guess to whom it refe...

This post is Part 2 of a series to augment the Guest Resources available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other guest-inspired content is gathered in my Guest Directory for you to explore. Find more world workshops in my Worldbuilding Directory . After recording my interview in Part 1 of this series , my friend Jeffery W. Ingram released the 81st episode of his popular podcast, Worldbuilder's Anvil. The episode, titled All These Freaking Maps! , discusses the various uses for maps and explores the essential need for maps as a worldbuilder. With his co-host Michael, Jeffery enumerates the different types of maps a worldbuilder might need, from work-in-progress maps for personal reference to publish-ready maps to orient readers. Check out these Guest Resources for more inspirational content! They also talk about how different cultural perceptions influence how la...

This post is Part 16 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! The Nine Hells Shadowed realm of daemons and lost souls. Geography and Climate In Part 4 of Awakening , the Nine Hells is a mythic realm of damnation beyond the veil of the Known World. A black, starless night cloaks this haunted land of desolate rock and glowing chasms. In the lesser Hells, the high elevations receive little warmth from the molten rock churning beneath the great cliffs. Each of the Nine Hells grows warmer as it descends in elevation, spiraling towards the magnetic center where the Black Citadel reigns from its deepest pit. This region contains the Eighth Hell , the Outer Hells, and the Inner Hells. Flora and F...

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download. This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore. Find my published stories and guides in the Books Directory . I wrote my first story in 6th grade, and it was based on a dream. That morning, I woke from an unfinished storyline and tried to piece the fragments into a real conclusion. Truth be told, I wanted to know how the dream ended. After ironing out the biggest plot wrinkles in my head, I slipped out of bed and up to the old family computer. By slow hunt-and-peck typing over the whole day, I documented my 11-year-old adventure with a sense of rapture and shame. It brought me such joy, and yet I knew it was terrible. I wanted to share my story, but I knew the piece was too ridiculous, too personal, too vulnerable to release into the wild. But I...

In the novel Awakening , there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga. Start with Portent I here . These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! His brow is graced but soul defaced Unnatural torment now displaced To legend's woe the elf will know But not before the lessons go His power strayed and evil bade The rose to leave them all betrayed When Mother's prayer from lover fair Does cast her into daemon's lair His evil taste to rose replaced By city's light so long encased. Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World ? Share your interpretation! Comment below with your take on this portent. This is one of the coolest portents in Awakening . Not only does it come to pass before the book ends, but it is first said by Tirrok as he leaves the Sutek Desert at ...

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost available for free download. This and other map commissions are gathered in my Portfolio Directory for you to explore. This post is also Part 1 of a series about Claudia Oltean. One day, I awoke to an email from Claudia Oltean and her husband. She'd discovered my world map portfolio on Twitter and decided I'd be the perfect person to create a map for her debut novel. Claudia writes historical fiction about newspaper reporters in a time of mayhem, crime, and corruption. Her late grandfather, a Detroit journalist throughout the Prohibition era, inspired her tales with his daring adventures. Check out this Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost for more maps! To help her readers understand the Detroit area, Claudia wanted a map to show the river and Canadian ...

This post is Part 15 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! The Desperate Sea Forsaken waters off the coastal badlands. Geography and Climate In Chapter 11 of Awakening , the Desperate Sea lies on the southern side of the badlands of Old Ryerin . Few ships traverse the cursed air spilling from the dead shoreline into its waters. The Desperate Sea enjoys warm tropical weather for most of the year. But as the sticky, languid summer gives way to a winter wet season, these waters suffer the occasional hurricane churning up from the south. This region also borders the Gulf of Lohki , Glades of Despair , and Great South Sea. Flora and Fauna Few birds roam the cursed skies over the Desperate Sea, so fish school in huge numbers quite...

In the novel Awakening , there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga. Start with Portent I here . These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! When restless tenant weary grew Of fighting for his key At his behest so did request The west to set her free From Hells' advancing glowers He resumed the flow of time With turning test the truth to wrest Detested from the crime So asked he long to no avail Of comrade oversold And harried guest at last confessed They bested young and old. Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World ? Share your interpretation! Comment below with your take on this portent. I love that this prophesy comes to pass in Awakening . It opens a scene in Part II of the book, and it heralds events in Part IV. I love the complex rhymes and si...

This post is Part 14 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! The Gulf of Lohki Tropical paradise of plantations and aristocrats. Geography and Climate In Chapter 10 of Awakening , the Gulf of Lohki lies between the Katei Ocean to the northeast and the Desperate Sea to the southwest. Ringed by land on almost all sides, the gulf is much calmer and more predicable than open waters. Hot summers give way to temperate winters warmed by the currents flowing up from the south. Though the Great South Sea might sometimes churn up a hurricane, the storms rarely enter the Lohki Gulf to make landfall. This region also borders Kanata , the Plains of Rishi , and the badlands of Old Ryerin . Flora and Fauna The shoals and reefs along the Lohki's g...

This post is Part 2 of a series to augment the Tips for Writing Fiction available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other writing workshops are gathered in my Workshops Directory for you to explore. Find more guest-inspired content in my Guest Directory . In Part 1 of this series , I connected with author and blogger Jocelyn Crawley. We soon collaborated on this guest post for her now-extinct literary blog. I originally wrote this piece in November 2014, and it has been reposted here with permission. One of reading's greatest joys is stretching the imagination and breathing life into the world described on the page. Readers can't do this without good, descriptive composition. But the writer's adage, "Cut your adverbs," asserts that description profanes the imagination, hobbling a reader's immersion in the scene. Readers slogging thro...

In the novel Awakening , there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga. Start with Portent I here . These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! A prison she cannot defeat Where shadows lost and daemons meet Untimely tide assents to greet The gateway unentombed For lover lost in moments stark Her eons squandered long and dark Can forth by master's hand embark With powers rife exhumed Yet languish they in kindly wake Of recollections blankly fake But shall by distance undertake To don the mantle groomed. Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World ? Share your interpretation! Comment below with your take on this portent. This prophesy is cool because portions of it come to pass in different books. The first two stanzas manifest in Awakening while the ...

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost available for free download. This and other map commissions are gathered in my Portfolio Directory for you to explore. This post is also Part 5 of a series about Linnea Tanner. Start with Part 1 here . I first connected with Linnea in Part 1 of this guest series , when I offered to write a guest post for her blog. Soon afterward, Linnea broached the subject of maps. Her novel Apollo's Raven , Book One in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series, was ready for publication, and she wanted a map to accompany the story. Linnea writes historical fantasy set in the world of the ancient Celts. Though grounded in history, Linnea's stories explore the mythos of Celtic spirit warriors, and she invokes a lot of Celtic mythology and magic in her tales. You can read my four-star review of her novel here. ...

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost available for free download. This and other map commissions are gathered in my Portfolio Directory for you to explore. This post is also Part 1 of a series about Monica Spath. I first met Monica Spath as one of the entrants in my world map giveaway from April 2015. She didn't win the free map , but her world sounded very cool. The information she'd entered into the giveaway intrigued me, and I felt like Crystallon was a world that deserved to come to life, so I contacted her about a discounted commission. Though she didn't win the giveaway, Monica was still excited to map her world. She asked me some questions about the basic process, and she sent in a sketch she'd scanned from her art spiral. I was floored! Her artistic sketch was far better than anything I could have drawn myself. ...

This post is Part 13 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here . This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore. Enjoy! The Front Rishi Windswept plains of the gryphon riders. Geography and Climate In Chapter 9 of Awakening , the Front Rishi comprises the western half of the Rishi Plains . It borders the Forests of Kalrein to the north, the Red River Ka to the east, and the badlands to the south, where Old Ryerin once stood. Windswept and flat, the Front Rishi is drier than the river deltas of the Back Rishi , though consistent rains ensure the viability of its arable land. Four seasons grace these plains with hot, breezy summers and cold, snowy winters. This region also borders the D'jed Mountains , the Gulf of Lohki , and the Great Sea. Flora and Fauna Most of the Front Rishi is devoted t...