The Aestarin Alphabet
Last week, we looked at some background on the languages of the Aestari and humans, particularly concerning the names of peoples and places and how they interrelate. Now, let’s take…
Behind the Characters: Hirnid
When creating a story, one of the challenges is to portray how large and how small a world is. Think back on your past week and ask yourself how many…
Mapping the World Part II: Redrawing Isfalinis
With this article, we come to the end of my eight-part series on how the world of Isfalinis, home to “Tears from Iron” came to be. We began by looking…
Mapping the World Part I: Lost Age to Modern Era
The first time I sketched a fantastical world was in 7th Grade Social Studies. We were given a large sheet of paper, perhaps 24” x 20” and told to draw…
The Magic of Isfalinis Part II: Affinities
Last week, I began the discussion of magic in the world of Isfalinis by going over its basic concepts. Magic is based on spoken words. It is a science and…
The Magic of Isfalinis
As I mentioned in the last article, the development of my Etyni and their involvement in creation merged hand-in-hand with the development of the magical system of Isfalinis. In my…
Shapers of the World: The Etyni
This is the fourth article in a series on how the world of Isfalinis came into shape. The first article covered the earliest development some twenty years ago. Then, in…
What People Believe in Isfalinis
Over the past couple weeks, we’ve explored the story behind “Tears from Iron” and how the world of Isfalinis came to be. First, I recollected the early days of world-building…
Evolution of the Four Races
In last week’s article, I talked about the rawest origins of Isfalinis as it rose from a handful of brainstorms to the vestiges of life. After we had abandoned our…
Isfalinis: Beginnings
If you’ve ever wondered how a fantasy author came up with their story setting, here is some background on my own world-building experience. In this series of articles, I’ll discuss…