DevBlog: A Look at the Universe
Written and curated by Natalie Anneke and Arcanadragon
Concept Art by MintFritter & Arcanadragon
Welcome to yet another Development Blog. This one is all about the Stolendale Universe! I’m Jim, and today with the help of our amazing Lore Writers we will explore some parts of the Universe.
We have been developing the Universe for the past eight months, and it’s coming out great! The Universe Lead, Zach, along with the Lore Writers have been doing amazing work conceiving a never-before-seen Universe, home of many species, continents, and even… galaxies?
The team has been working tirelessly since January. Check out this diagram! Each box contains a short summary of a character, place, or event that has been designed for the Stolendale Universe. For now, we’ve blurred the image to avoid spoiling the story, but you get the idea of how much work goes into our world-building.
Now, it is time for Natalie and Arcanadragon to help you explore it:
Shall we dive in?
Get ready to visit Aeiros, a world full of fascinating species and civilizations! Here there be dragons, goblins, human cities, and other classic fantasy staples— but also terrifying mutants, forgotten secrets, and origin stories so twisted they’ll make you shiver. Today we’ll explore a few of these unique stories and learn how they’ve shaped the world of Aeiros.
The Humans
Humans are a common intelligent species in the world of Aeiros, but they are not alone.
Also called “mortals,” humans have struck alliances and friendships with many other creatures.
They have come into conflict with neighboring cultures — sometimes due to misunderstandings, sometimes through more sinister events.
The humans’ enemies are the Oricani and Dwarfs.
The Dwarfs
The first Dwarf — Derek Dwarf — was a human transformed by his parents’ “deal with the devil.”
When they learned that their child was going to die during labor, they begged a mysterious demon to save his life. She agreed to do so, on the condition that the child would live to honor her. The desperate parents agreed. As they raised Derek, they noticed that he had an unusual fascination with blood, always seemed to be plotting something, and stopped growing after reaching 4 feet, 10 inches in height. Even worse, anyone who befriended him would suddenly shrink to his height — or shorter — and gain his obsession with blood, becoming what he fondly called “a Dwarf.”
One day, Derek was caught attempting to induct his “dwarfed” friends into a demonic cult. The townsfolk banished him to the Northern Mountains.
He and his loyal followers started the new civilization of the Dwarfs.
The Oricani
Strong, intelligent primates, Oricani only recently mutated from ordinary apes as a result of the Blackout.
Other animals mutated by the Blackout savagely attacked humans and other Mortals, but not the Oricani. The Mortals struck back at the creatures that attacked them, which they named “abominations”.
On their crusade against the abominations, Mortals discovered and attacked the Oricani, which they believed to be abominations as well. At that time, the Oricani had little spoken language and no experience with humans. They fled from their attackers into the Northern Mountains, where they encountered the Dwarfs.
They observed the Dwarfs with caution, gradually learning the Dwarfs’ language and customs. Using what they learned, they formed their own society and struck an alliance with their neighbors.
The Dwarfs, Oricani, and other outcasts living in the Northern Mountains were isolated many years from the rest of civilization until a mysterious tragedy took place.
During a quiet summer night, three Oricani warriors snuck into the heart of civilization, the city of Unitania, and assassinated a powerful nobleman. Furious warriors traced the assassins to the Northern Mountains, where they discovered the burgeoning kingdom of the Oricani. When they questioned Goliath, King of the Oricani, about the murder, he claimed to have had no part in it. But he did admit that the three individuals responsible for the murder had gone missing from his kingdom at the time of the assassination.
The Mortals either did not trust the words of Goliath or were simply too angry to listen. They had already suffered from the Blackout, and now a new species created by the Blackout had committed an act of war against them.
Mortals prepared for battle, vowing to exterminate every abomination — which to them, included the Oricani — as well as the Dwarfs, who treated the Oricani as their allies.
The Dwarfs and the Oricani are part of the Arctic Clans, outcasts forced to take shelter in the harsh Northern Mountains, where Mortals have trouble finding them. But not even these hardy people are safe on the northernmost peaks of the continent of Indigo. Death follows everyone who visits such a harsh environment. The Arctic Clans have been made hard by their exile; their very alliance is carved from stone. The world made them this way, and they will accept it no longer.
The War
The Mortals’ war against the Arctic Clans may seem unjust and unnecessarily harsh, but they suffered a great hardship intimately connected to the Dwarfs and Oricani: the Blackout.
Nearly four hundred years ago, the city of Parion stood tall, a beautiful city and Unitania’s proud ally. Kings had ruled it for generations, keeping peace on the southern continent of Cerulean. Then disaster struck.
In a single night, the land darkened and was overgrown by the forest. Abominations — stomach-churning mutants with sometimes more heads than limbs — overran the land. Parion was reduced to ruins and most of its people abandoned it. Only a few remained, holding the monsters at bay and vowing to rebuild their ancestral home.
Though it happened a few centuries ago, the Mortals are still suffering from the effects of the Blackout, and the recent attack of the Oricani assassins was simply the last straw — the last straw it took to drive the Mortals to war.
Today, the Mortals still live in the warm lands south of the Northern Mountains, isolated from the Arctic Clans. They prepare to go to war against their enemies, but even James Ethereal, king of Unitania, fears the hardened people of the northern realm.
The Arctic Clans have come to believe that destroying the Mortals will lead to a better life — one where they spread over the southern realms and no longer have to constantly fight for survival.
This bloodthirsty desire to thrive has spawned an endless series of struggles, battles that are already starting to be called the War of Change.
Today, King Arthur Parion still tries to defend Parion, but even with help from James Ethereal’s forces, all Parionian loyalists can do is keep the abominations at bay. Arthur is the seventh generation in a long line of Parionian kings, and most believe he will be the last. Few believe he and his city will survive the war.
Though the threat of war looms over the world, there are some people who believe there is a solution in the form of an ancient secret.
Tales and whispers of a powerful artifact pervade the lands of Aeiros, full of forgotten magic that could change the world forever.
People say it could connect to other worlds, even universes. It could resurrect lost magics, reveal old secrets, rediscover lost peoples.
But more importantly, it could be the key to winning all wars, once and for all.
This was a quick view of the Universe; what do you think? Join our Discord server and let’s discuss at https://stolendale.com/discord.
