A while ago I wrote
Seven, which is set in Tamriel. Afterward I thought about adapting it to an original setting. I did a lot of world-building, remade the characters to fit the new world, and got started into translating the story over.
I ran out of steam when I started looking at my over-arching direction, and started seeing some problems. The biggest one was that I had in mind a big High Fantasy story - an ancient race rising to destroy the world, champions rising from the dead, the army of light banding together to fight off evil, and so forth. The twist I planned to this standard format was that the protagonists were trying to stop the war, rather than win it. With finding a peace between all involved being the end goal, rather than destruction.
But the story I was starting out with - Seven - is Low Fantasy (at least the way I define it). Farmers and mercenaries vs. bandits. Ordinary people, with ordinary problems. I like that, as it feels very accessible, and makes the characters, even the extraordinary ones, feel more relateable. So that made me want to continue in that vein, and do a series of stories about a pair of hired spells who are part mercenaries, part private detectives. Sort of like Spenser For Hire or Magnum P.I. with magic. That in turn meant scrapping the entire over-arching story. Or trying to bridge the gap between Low Fantasy and High Fantasy. It left me with a lot of questions, and I was not feeling excited about the answers. So I ended up setting it all aside.
Instead of leaving it all collecting dust, I decided to post what I did finish up here. Maybe it will fire me up to get back to working on it again. People who have read Seven will recognize most of the main characters. Names have been changed in many cases. Some because the originals were Bethesda creations, others to suit the new races/languages. Speaking of which races and the like are entirely new, as is the geography, flora and fauna, how magic works etc... I will put some of that here in this post, and start the actual story in a second post. Let me know if you want to see more of the background notes, and I will put them in this post.
This is a world mapThis is the continent of Aulerci, where most of the action takes placeAelaLoriaThe Stone Forest (IRL The Shilin Stone Forest outside of Kunming)Another example of karst landscapeAn Oro (IRL Orodromeus)A Crumhead (IRL Parasaurolophus)RL Troodon (the inspiration for the Teodon race)Troodon frontTroodon headAncient Rasen Armor (IRL Samnite bronze armor)Bronze lamellar armorBronze lamellar armor againVeia MapRasen streetRasen cityRasen apartment blockRasen-style architecturePhereinonPhereinon againMaledictionOwl ScreechingOwl CarvingServes CamnaWooden mugTamac (tomahawk)Raven pendantHrafngoelirHrafn's shieldHrafn's seaxVencaRasen bedroomRasen bedroom 2Rasen bedroom 3Lorcras armorHagalaz runeHorse-Powered Ferryboat 1Horse-Powered Ferryboat 2Spirecrown - Saurolophus AngustirostrisLambeosaurusParksosaurusOrnitholestesHadrosaurs 01Hadrosaurs 02OrodromeusGasparinisauraOuranosaurusMaiasauraTropical Milkweed BeetleTeodon Coloration (this is just what their scale colors look like, not actual representations of the characters)
Alcheon's colorationDaehyun (a very common peasant coloration)Dark Eye (though his belly is not so brightly whiteSindeokBanyan treeDurian treeBromeliadsBamboo forestSolageaKye Rim GravesTeodon DokTeodon village houseTeodon village houseEarthen rampart, wall, and ditchcheavaux de friseShield Wall trainingFighting Moves
Dark Eye's finishing move against DaesoPhereinon's belly to back suplex (German Suplex) that she used upon the Arvern Oathman of House CamnaHere is a link to Sindeok's killing move against Brown-ScalesMorte Strike and Half Sword Defense