Maps of Awakening: an atlas directory

This post is part of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download.

The TotKW maps from Awakening are gathered in this atlas guide for you to explore.

Find the rest of the TotKW saga in my Books Directory.

Also check out the maps from other TotKW books:

For the making of the TotKW maps, see www.DNFrost.com/cartography.

And for map commissions for other authors, see www.DNFrost.com/portfolio.

You are invited to download any of these maps to share with friends, or use them to write fan-fiction and create role-playing games. See the Gamers of the Known World for your invitation to use these maps for your own games and stories.

Map Key for Book 1

All images are web-sized for quick online sharing. For print-quality images, come Inside TotKW Books to access free downloads.

Click the thumbnails below to view each map, and click the linked text to read the atlas entry about each region, its people, and their magic.

The Known World

Enchanted realm of magic and prophesy.

This world map is for Book 1.

Discover its people and their magic here...

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Kholl

A bleak, frigid land at the edge of the world.

This section map is for Part 1.

Discover its humans and their magic here...

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The Khollek Mountains

Land of icy crags and broken shale.

This portrait map is for Chapter 1.

Discover its humans and their magic here...

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The Sutek Desert

Eternal sands of the mystic Dua Dara.

This portrait map is for Chapter 2.

Discover its humans and their magic here...

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The Forests of Kalrein

Towering black pines of the faeries.

This portrait map is for Chapter 3.

Discover its faeries and their magic here...

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The Draconan Mountains

Northern reaches of dragons and men.

This portrait map is for Chapter 4.

Discover its humans and their magic here...

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The D'jed Mountains

Roof of the world and home of the elves.

This portrait map is for Chapter 5.

Discover its elves and their magic here...

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Download your map guide Atlas of the Known World here.

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The Plains of Rishi

Farmland of elves and gryphon riders.

This section map is for Part 2.

Discover its elves and their magic here...

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The Back Rishi

Fertile river deltas in the elf heartland.

This portrait map is for Chapter 6.

Discover its elves and their magic here...

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The Katei Ocean

Lifeblood of trade routes and pirates alike.

This portrait map is for Chapter 7.

Discover its merfolk and their magic here...

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Kanata

Tropical paradise of plantations and aristocrats.

This portrait map is for Chapter 8.

Discover its humans and their magic here...

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Download your map guide Atlas of the Known World here.

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Old Ryerin

Fallen civilization of the tree elves.

This section map is for Part 3.

Discover its elves and their magic here...

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The Front Rishi

Windswept plains of the gryphon riders.

This portrait map is for Chapter 9.

Discover its elves and their magic here...

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The Gulf of Lohki

Southern fringe of modern trade.

This portrait map is for Chapter 10.

Discover its merfolk and their magic here...

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The Desperate Sea

Forsaken waters off the coastal badlands.

This portrait map is for Chapter 11.

Discover its merfolk and their magic here...

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Download your map guide Atlas of the Known World here.

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The Nine Hells

Shadowed realm of daemons and lost souls.

This section map is for Part 4.

Discover its daemons and their magic here...

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The Glades of Despair

Seething jungle of magic and nymphs.

This portrait map is for Chapter 12.

Discover its nymphs and their magic here...

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The Eighth Hell

Realm of generals and legendary daemons.

This portrait map is for Chapter 13.

Discover its daemons and their magic here...

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A'lara City

Forged by a legend and veiled in mist.

This portrait map is for Chapter 14.

Discover its towers and their magic here...

That's it for this post! Check out the latest TotKW maps for more.

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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Portent XX of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

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!

Through timeless fog enticed
The wayward builder swayed
Assents to trade ignoble heist
For memory unmade

Across his years of pain
Unshackled elf complied
To long confide in son unslain
Of family denied

Though beauty in his sights
Embraces hero's tale
Their vouches fail to set to rights
The mind behind the veil.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.

This prophesy comes to pass in the first few chapters of Broken. I love the complex rhyme scheme layered over the plodding iambic meter.

Who do you think the wayward builder is? I'd love to hear your suspicions on the upcoming ignoble heist, too!

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Gwndah Velyohki Rovikya III
2:1:3:5/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: From memory's halls, necessity calls...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!

A'lara City: a map for Awakening

This post is Part 19 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!

A'lara City

Forged by a legend and veiled in mist.

Geography and Climate

In Chapter 14 of Awakening, A'lara is a legendary city in the heart of the Glades of Despair. Powerful magic drew the stone city from the earth centuries ago.

Five magic libraries called jyagaweh honor those who gave their lives to forge the city. Sheltered in the glade from outsiders, A'lara endures the muggy summers and warm winter deluges without a spot of rust.

This region also lies within the lands of Linneyo Yuuny'ii, near the River Yuuny'ii.

Flora and Fauna

The flourishing rainforest surrounding A'lara defers to the city's magic, and no vines climb the outer walls. Though magic protects A'lara from being spotted from the air, the canopy breaks open above the city, allowing visitors an unfettered view of the sky. Within the walls, the city's paved cobbles show no signs of wear. No weeds sprout between the stone seams, and no moss clings to the shady sides of its towers. Silent and barren, A'lara is a city untouched by the throes of time.

People and Dress

Many legends of A'lara abound, but the truth is there are no guilds of powerful mages within the city walls. In fact, not a single soul lives there. The city remains locked and bound by the magic of its massive iron gates. One legend holds that the souls of the five who died to forge the city still haunt its empty streets, but another insists they departed the moment their life magic raised the stone towers. In either case, the five races have never been fully united, and the city A'lara stands for many people as a symbol of virtue and alliance in the face of a common enemy.

Native Magic

A'lara was forged by life magic, the most primal and subconscious of magics. Scholars have determined that life magic is the force that anchors matter in physical form, and without life magic there would be no world at all. Every object harbors inherent life magic, and all living things harbor more life magic still. The more sentient a being, the more life magic anchors its physical existence. The power of A'lara therefore comes from the five who surrendered their life magic to forge the city. This staggering power imbues the city with its unparalleled libraries, one for each of the five races, whose depths of magic reveal the exact knowledge any visitor most needs to know.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

There are no people within the city A'lara, and legends about the city differ widely from place to place. A'lara symbolizes different things to different peoples throughout the Known World, but most consider the city a myth.

Warriors and Guardians

The magic of A'lara protects it from outsiders, but the city has produced one mighty warrior to protect all of the Known World. When A'lara was forged, a sixth person was present to bind together the magic of the other five. A'lara steeped this sixth person, known as the Binder, in incomparable magic and wisdom. He emerged from the city a changed elf, immortal and indomitable. In a time of crisis, he single-handedly drove invaders from Allana's shores, ousting their eight-year regime and restoring the rightful throne of the empire. Task complete, the timeless Binder whiled away his centuries, abiding a prophesy heralding a new time of crisis. Only then will he be able to return to the city and free himself from his immortal bonds.

Languages

With no denizens to call its own, A'lara has no spoken language. However, some of the stones within the city, most notably inside the Binding Pillar, bear inscriptions written in Ka'e, the ancestral language of the elves. It is believed that these inscriptions appeared in the Binder's native language, and that the inscriptions are not indicative of the superiority of the elvish tongue. Further corroborating this notion, the books within the five magic libraries of the city fill with words in the reader's native language, no matter what language it may be.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Kingard is the immortal elf who helped bind A'lara into existence three centuries ago.

Unleashed from awaiting his long-delayed call to action, Kingard now mounts a quest to reach the city A'lara with a new set of five individuals, each descended from one of the original five.

Guided by prophesy to a little town in the mountains, he unites with the first two members of his destined party.

Kingard leads them through the heart of the empire in a desperate race to reach the city A'lara before all the Known World is doomed.

That's it for this series! Check out the latest TotKW maps for more.

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!

Portent XIX of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

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!

Her advent bids the council rise
To greet her under darkened skies
Where Hells begin and gateway ends
Well met the friendless friends of friends

Her journey they supplant once more
For gate to breach the dark implore
And guide her through the mortal wail
Of shade transcending veil to veil

Her mentors timeless gate estrange
And plead remorseless gate exchange
With thunder's anguish to and fro
Her life for life and woe for woe.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.

This prophesy comes to pass in Book 3, titled Conceived. It opens a scene in Part II of Awakening, in which a dragon attacks Port Myre of Kanata.

I love the rickety rhyme at the end of each stanza of this riddle. Can you guess who the friendless friends of friends are?

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Donvyik Karasyn Dynde IX
2:1:1:5/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Their vouches fail to set to rights...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!

Your Story Comes First: a character workshop

This post is part of a series to augment the Tips for Writing Fiction available for free download.

This and other writing workshops are gathered in my Workshops Directory for you to explore.

Find my world workshops in the Worldbuilding Directory.

Any book can flaunt its creativity, but to be worth reading, it has to tell a great story. Your priority as an author must be to write the best story possible. But before you can take on that challenge, you must first understand what makes a story good:

1. Readers relate to characters, not events. In a great story, readers will connect with your characters and endure plot events alongside them. Before tackling plot, focus on developing your characters into realistically complex personalities.

2. Relatable characters have personal histories, opinions, and cultural heritage. To make your characters come alive, you must know them intimately. Whether or not their secrets are revealed, your characters will seem more real when their secrets influence how you write them.

Check these Tips for Writing Fiction to see more workshops!

3. Readers want to triumph over difficulty with the characters they love. This goes for both your heroes and your villains. When you deliver a character, readers should know his thoughts, live out his feelings, want what he wants, or hate when he wins. These trials and victories let readers bond with your characters through the course of your tale.

The rest of storytelling is in the details. In my Tales of the Known World saga, I craft a gripping story from start to finish using this principle. So experiment with your writing. Discover your preferences for characters and their troubles, and you'll develop your unique voice as an author.


That's it for this post! Check out the latest writing workshops for more.

Download Tips for Writing Fiction here, or start your adventure below.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!

Dawn of Collaboration: inspiration & spark

This post is Part 2 of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore.

Find more map-making content in my Cartography Directory.

In Part 1 of this series, I began writing stories and yearned to share them with someone. Then I entered high school, a new friend introduced me to written role-playing games, and I was never the same. It seemed like the answer to my prayers!

In essence, those games were stories written back and forth with partners, each writing assorted characters and collaborating in new story arcs. The sharing I craved was built right in, and it seized me by the heart. I was hooked.

My friend and I played in online chatrooms, often writing with other gamers we'd met on the internet. I gained the reputation of a plot-master, and I seemed to feel more creatively driven than most players. My gaming refined itself to specific partners who mirrored my fanaticism, with my new best friend at the forefront.

Check out this Author's Manifesto for more of my inspirations!

She shared her existing sci-fi characters with me, and together we branched out, innovating an alien world and new characters. We built an unrealistic race of advanced humans who shape-shift into dragons, the improbable perpetrators of an interstellar colonization. In a private message window, we wrote volumes of adventures together, a few sentences at a time.

Sometimes compelling questions arose: What if the assassination hadn't been averted? We'd hatch a spinoff, waltzing our characters down divergent timelines. Before long, we raised new questions: What if we reversed the social classes of our characters? We placed them in alternate universes, and soon we had dozens of stories splayed in a thousand directions.

Into this madness, I suggested we write a fantasy story with a whole new cast. I enjoyed science-fiction, but fantasy had always been my first love. More enamored with sci-fi but sharing my love for dragons, my gaming partner conceded to the idea. Late that night, ensconced in her bedroom during one of our frequent sleepovers, I drew the very first map of the Known World.

For the humble birth of my Tales of the Known World saga, we plucked characters from four corners of the map and threw them together. Right away, I sensed she held less interest than I did, but I happily took up the slack. Erecting the main gears of the plot, I launched a hazy quest to fulfill an ancient prophesy. We dropped our characters like wind-up toys into my detailed setting, and watched the sparks fly.


That's it for this post! Up Next: How I lost myself in gaming...

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!

The Eighth Hell: a map for Awakening

This post is Part 18 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 Eighth Hell

Realm of generals and legendary daemons.

Geography and Climate

In Chapter 13 of Awakening, the Eighth Hell is the first of the deified regions of the Nine Hells.It lies just above the Ninth Hell, and its elevation ascends into the Seventh Hell, where sentient daemons live.

Cloaked in eternal darkness, the Eighth Hell is caustic and sweltering, lit only by fire and the churning pits of lava beneath its sheer cliffs. Great stretches of molten rock isolate the outlying hunting grounds, whose towering cliffs do little to deter the hungry.

This region also borders the Fifth Hell, the Fourth Hell, and the Third Hell.

Flora and Fauna

Desolate rock offers no hope for plant life in the Hells, and there are no animals native to the Eighth Hell. The daemons of the Eighth Hell are all sentient and unique, revered as demigods throughout the Hells and often legendary within the Known World. Their deity, known as Father, dwells in the Black Citadel of the Ninth Hell, and they serve him with undying loyalty. In times of war, they act as his commanding generals. Like all daemons, those of the Eighth Hell split in two each night rather than procreating. While daemons of the Eighth Hell do not prey on the ascended mages of the nearby Seventh Hell, they do hunt the frail mages of the Fifth Hell. Denizens will also feed on non-sentient daemons from the Third and Fourth Hells, but the higher cliffs make these hunts more arduous, and the easy prey is less rewarding.

People and Dress

The legendary daemons of the Eighth Hell care little about clothing. It is generally found inconvenient, especially since it doesn't split in two along with the daemon wearing it. However, clothes crafted with hide or hair of certain quality may retain the necessary blood magic to split in two with the wearer. While denizens of the Eighth Hell are the highest-ranking daemons in the Hells, they do not bother learning how to create lasting clothes. However, certain daemons have received gifts of clothing as offerings from reverent lesser daemons, and these creatures may still be wearing their clothes today.

Native Magic

Instead of the life magic that forms the physical foundation of the Known World, the realm of the Nine Hells is founded on blood magic. Blood magic is little seen and hardly understood in the Known World, giving rise to the notion that it is evil magic. While there are daemon scholars in the Nine Hells who have studied and categorized blood magic, the revered denizens of the Eighth Hell are not among them. Daemons of the Eighth Hell are each unique, and each of them has a unique blend of blood magics unseen in any other daemon. While each daemon is extremely skilled in its own magics, most do not take the time to develop their skills further, nor do they try to learn new magic skills from other daemons.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

Life for daemons of the Eighth Hell is dominated by religious devotion to the deity Father, and by daily combat to the death in his name. The Eighth Hell is the last domain between Father's realm and the lesser Hells, and its denizens take their charge of protecting the Black Citadel very seriously. Countless devotees from lesser Hells embark on lethal pilgrimages to return to Father, and the daemons of the Eighth Hell must thwart all but the most worthy of pilgrims before they reach the final gate. Those deemed fearless enough, violent enough, and faithful enough pass the Trial of Devotion and are allowed through the Eighth Gate. Beyond, they'll entreat the greatest privilege imaginable: to die upon Father's table and be consumed by the creator himself, thus returning to Father in the most literal way.

As Father's last line of protection from the unworthy, the denizens of the Eighth Hell are loyal, incorruptible, and absolute. Those who fail the Trial of Devotion count themselves lucky to die so close to the Black Citadel. The most unworthy of supplicants are turned away alive, denied the precious gift of death that Father extends to all his faithful. The pain of this denial is extreme, and the daemons believe that through enduring this pain, a supplicant can be purged of past unworthiness. Sometimes, great physical injury is also inflicted upon the denied, and this bodily harm is understood as a kindness, heightening the pain of the denial and hastening the purge of unworthiness. Daemons rarely survive these injuries, and their eventual death is considered the sign of Father's gracious reprieve.

Warriors and Guardians

The daemons of the Eighth Hell are the most devout and pious of all the Hells, which means they are the most violent. In the name of Father, they hone their battle skills constantly, splitting in two each day and fighting their identical twins to the death. Often, they devour the vanquished to save time, though quick victories can result in lethal hunting parties. This continuous battle does honor to Father, setting an example for the lesser Hells by demonstrating their utmost dedication to warcraft and the art of sustainable living, which are considered nearly synonymous. Throughout the lesser Hells, elite clans of warrior-priests emulate the lives of those in the Eighth Hell by waging war on each other. Induction into these elite clans includes battling one's twin to the death, and ceremonial banquets honor the fallen by serving their flesh to the living.

Languages

Regional languages abound throughout the Nine Hells, but the denizens of the Eighth Hell have abandoned their local dialects in favor of T'spfk'gt'x, the language of Father himself. As a unifying tongue for all the Hells, T'spfk'gt'x has no vowels at all, allowing even those daemons without vocal cords to speak it. The language's name translates to Of the Winged Ones, and it sounds like a crush of hissing consonants to a speaker from the Known World. While the daemons of the Eighth Hell are not well-versed in reading and writing, they are adept in the range of military whistles used to issue commands to troops. Ironically, whistling in other contexts is exceptionally degrading and vulgar, though daemons of the Eighth Hell are so high-ranking that they rarely suffer any consequences.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Jorn is a runaway slave reluctantly embroiled in the fate of the world.

Through the course of his strange destiny, Jorn's soul is torn from his body for a disturbing excursion into the Eighth Hell.

There, he is forced to watch the epic battle of twin Minotaurs for hours on end.

Jorn is eventually reunited with his body, but the horrific trauma of his experience lingers as he works to unbind the mythic city A'lara for masters new and old.

That's it for this post! Up Next: Forged by a legend and veiled in mist...

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!

Portent XVIII of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

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!

Bereft successor drowned in red
With thorns for crown and stones for bed
On eve by master all lay dead
The shackled proud would satiate
With nothing but her wide estate
To tempt the tempted tempting fate

Come low who heed the highest plea
Escape the pressures of the sea
And spill their blood for homes to be
They call an end to time untold
By land and sea a hundred fold
And turn to green to turn to gold.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.

I love this portent's triple rhymes! Though the events foretold come to pass well after Book 2, hints of this future arise in Part 1 of Broken.

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Lensih Ndwahvi Lohki VI
2:1:1:2/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Where Hells begin and gateway ends...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!

The Glades of Despair: a map for Awakening

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 the pent-up magic of the mythic city A'lara. Though diverse plant life defines--and defends--the glade, few animal species have survived the centuries of moving vegetation. Without their usual predators to check populations, insects proliferate in great numbers. The largest known creature, the speckled macaque, weighs just over five pounds. These tailless monkeys have been known to spread disease, and live in dwindling colonies facing extinction.

People and Dress

Within the writhing foliage of the glade, only the fair-skinned nymphs move freely. Because their life force corresponds to the amount of surrounding life, nymphs retain youthful bodies within the verdant rainforest, and elsewhere their apparent age fluctuates with the landscape. Isolated by the fierce vegetation and curse of the badlands to the north, nymph tribes haven't encountered outsiders in centuries. Both genders wear abundant jewelry and basic leaf coverings, though style and extent differ between tribes and individuals. Nymph women tattoo the right sides of their bodies, each tribal stripe correlated with a learned magic skill.

Native Magic

All nymphs rely on powerful Plant magics, essential for life within the animate glade. Sensory magics tend to be weak, but the rare Touch or Scent mage has occurred. Despite their primitive lifestyle, nymphs use strong Metal magics for advanced smithing and smelting, mostly to craft ornate jewelry and arcane talismans. Of all the races, nymphs make the strongest Earth mages, fostering a tradition of stonework unmatched in the Known World. Though weaker than the nymphs' prime element, Water magic is not uncommon and highly prized during the wet season.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

Nymphs maintain strong family bonds through extensive physical contact. They consider wisdom and magic the same concept, earned with age and experience. Men live in large villages, raised by male mentors and often apprenticed to particular trades. Women travel the glade in small family groups called rings, led by the oldest and wisest member. Adult women visit villages along their nomadic routes for recreation and progeny, but both genders disdain each other and restrict contact to coitus. Each ring surrenders male children to a specific village, which that ring excludes from visitation.

Time is marked in seasons, and nymphs reference past seasons by the wisdom acquired then. Women discern another's age from tribal tattoos that start at the right shoulder. As wisdom is earned, mnemonic stripes cover her arm and leg before ascending to her face, and skilled mages begin a left sleeve in later years. Men rarely tattoo themselves, and instead gauge others by skill and proficiency. When they come of age, men create their own huts, where they service the nightly influx of women within range. Known as virile duty, this reception is considered a youth's duty to the retired mentors of his village. A woman comes of age in a ring-wide ceremony preparing for her first copulation. Often, an older sister or aunt accompanies the young woman into the virile's hut for guidance and moral support.

Warriors and Guardians

For the past three centuries, the animate vines of the glade supplanted the need for nymph warriors. Most metal-workers now focus on jewelry, but certain rings and villages preserve the art of sword-making. Revered for their wealth of knowledge, these families are the only known to accept outsiders seeking to learn the ancient skills. Those who prove their dedication earn battle techniques and martial arts, achieving a prowess in combat far more respected than sword-making alone.

Languages

The nymphs of the glade speak assorted dialects of A'lari, and most have no understanding of Allanic, the common tongue of the Known World. Oral history dominates the glade, and A'lari has no written component at all. To Allanic speakers, A'lari sounds fluid and nuanced, with few consonants and hardly discernible vowels. Though Allanic shares its language family, the oral tradition of A'lari has caused it to diverge and mutate faster than its written relatives. Even within the glade, family units speak different dialects, and sometimes cannot understand each other.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Kingard ventured into the Glades of Despair long ago to forge the mythic city A'lara.

He emerged from the city imbued with incredible power, which he used to oust an ancient evil from the land of Allana.

Centuries later, Kingard now leads a mismatched band to unleash the city's power as evil rises again.

Shielded from danger by the magic saturating the glade, they trek through the dense rainforest to reach the old city, unaware of the traitor lurking in their midst.

That's it for this post! Up Next: Realm of generals and legendary daemons...

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

---

Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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Portent XVII of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

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 refers?). I'm also excited to hear your ideas on the son long left behind!

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Jaynrik Yohvikye Kaedya V
2:1:1:1/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Escape the pressures of the sea...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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All These Freaking Maps: an inspirational resource

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 lands are mapped, and how every map tells a story of that area's time and place. Maps do more than depict landforms. Maps change over time, as borders are redrawn, lands are discovered, and cultural biases shift. Maps bring worlds to life and embody the people who live there.

I agree with Jeffery on a lot of his points about maps. Though I took no part in the scripting or recording of this episode, Jeffery mentioned me several times. While there is some free software out there for quickly building a reference map, he endorsed my mapping services for professional, publish-ready maps. I'm thrilled by Jeffery's stamp of approval, and I'm honored to be the go-to cartographer for so many awesome worldbuilders.

You can start listening to
Worldbuilder's Anvil: All These Freaking Maps! here.

And be sure to subscribe to Jeffery's awesome podcast, if you haven't already.

That's it for this post! Up Next: Starting on our set of maps for Gardul...

Download the Guest Resources here, or start your adventure below.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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The Nine Hells: a map for Awakening

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 Fauna

Nothing grows in the Nine Hells, and the land is rife with daemons. Instead of procreating, these daemons split in two each night, identical twins emerging from a single body. In the outer Hells, daemons are weaker, less intelligent, and often cannibalistic. Imps and shadows roam the cold fringes of the Hells, forming the foundation of a gruesome food chain. Progressing toward the inner Hells, daemons grow smarter and stronger, preying on the weaker denizens of higher elevations.

People and Dress

A multitude of daemon forms proliferate across the Nine Hells. Some are winged bat-like creatures, and others are stony hulks with glowing innards. From the Fifth Hell inward, daemons are sentient monsters with their own cultures and practices. They have extensive memories that splice back through each night of splitting in two, and many remember centuries before the distant past muddies their recall. Most daemons wear no clothes, though some dress in the skins of their enemies. Generally, sentient daemons choose to hunt beasts in the outer Hells, but those of the innermost Hells often prey on the sentient daemons of neighboring elevations.

Native Magic

The life magic of the Known World is entirely foreign within the Nine Hells, where blood magic reigns supreme. Little is known about the blood magic of the daemons, but they wield an alarming array of magics that are difficult to unravel or counter. For good reason, few scholars have risked studying the strange blood magic of daemons. The opportunity to venture into the Nine Hells is as rare as it is perilous, and of the few scholars who dared the journey, less than half have returned with sanity intact.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

The sentient daemons of the inner Hells have developed their own paradigm of piety and taboo. Daemons are incredibly devoted to their deity known as Father, who dwells in the Black Citadel deep within the Ninth Hell. They believe death is a precious gift from Father, for without death there could be no food to sate the hungry. Pain, another gift from Father, is synonymous with life, for without endurance there could be no triumph. Daemons revere those that have endured extreme pain as wise and accomplished avatars.

Daemon mythology asserts that the first daemon arose when Father himself split in two, and there is no higher honor than to return to Father, which often means death but can also mean ascension into enlightenment. These avatars can trace their memories all the way back to Father himself. Aside from this lineage, daemons do not measure age or even time. Only in the present moment can one return to Father through pain or death, and all daemons are expected to incite their return with reckless endangerment of life and limb. Those who fail to seek out their demise are seen as sinful, faithless, and unworthy of death.

Warriors and Guardians

While all daemons lead brutal lives, each of the inner Hells boasts an exceptionally violent warrior class of the most devout and pious denizens. These daemons wage constant war on each other, rather than scratching out a paltry living as hunters and eventual prey. Their constant war does honor to Father, spreading His love throughout the Nine Hells by inflicting widespread pain and death, two of Father's most precious gifts. A daemon who wishes to join the warrior class must prove its worth by splitting in two and battling its own twin to the death in an arena. The victor is inducted into the clan of warrior-priests, and the loser is honored at a ceremonial banquet where its corpse is devoured by the living.

Languages

Though the daemons speak many regional languages, the unifying tongue is T'spfk'gt'x, the language of Father himself. Translating to Of the Winged Ones, this language has no vowels at all, and sounds to a speaker from the Known World like a rushing crash of consonants and hisses. Some daemons do not have the vocal cords to produce vowels, and while dialects often include vowels and other voiced noises, these sounds are omitted from the lingua franca. In addition, whistles have emerged as a form of long-distance communication, particularly for military commands. Short-range whistling, however, is extremely offensive and usually results in death.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Larin is a runaway slave destined to be cast into the Nine Hells.

The prophetic merfolk of the Known World taught her many things, including several portents of her fate.

Well-aware of the consequences of her actions, Larin triggers her own damnation in an effort to save the world.

Meanwhile, her friends struggle with the burden of their joint destiny as they unbind the mythic city A'lara in her absence.

That's it for this post! Up Next: A seething jungle of magic and nymphs...

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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Genesis of a Writer: inspiration & spark

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 wrote it anyway, tucking it far from the light of day - alongside my leprous first poem - and resolved to write down my dream-stories as they came to me. In those days, I had no aspirations beyond capturing the adventures that flickered through my sleeping circuits.

Check out this Author's Manifesto for more of my inspirations!

Though I started sharing poetry in my preteens, I couldn't corner a single taker for any of the half-written stories off my growing stack. Poetry was easier to share with others, but the satisfaction I gained from storytelling outweighed any poem's easy payoff of smiles and thumbs-ups from friends.

My young manuscripts ranged from contrived dialogue to vacant plotlines and overwrought paragraphs. I'd written all the wrong details, clustered up in beleaguered parcels and lugged from one scene to the next.

But I loved the stories they smothered, and no one was reading them. An audience, the most essential component of storytelling, was missing, and I yearned for it. Long before my Tales of the Known World saga connected me with readers worldwide, I ached for a way to reveal my writing to others.


That's it for this post! Up Next: How writing collaborations changed my life...

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

Liked this? Share, please!