A World Primer for The Shiver Tree
With advanced reader copies of The Shiver Tree making their way out into the wild at last (you can pre-order now!), I thought it time to offer a quick glimpse into the world inhabited by our adventuring heroes, with a focus on the various peoples. Later posts may explore the lands, the lore, and other elements further.
While based on the continent my husband, our Dungeon Master, created for our first D&D campaign, the world has undergone a great many changes as I have taken liberties with the whos, the whats, and the wheres for the purposes of my story. Likewise, while the story is inspired by that very D&D campaign, I have altered certain events, characters, and timelines, as well as departing from D&D rules and lore both for the obvious copyright reasons and also for greater creative freedom. I have, however, included nods to the game that I hope D&D fans (like my own party) will appreciate.
So, the world. The land of Amarra is a large continent isolated by a bordering storm that never ceases. The storm has raged for centuries, and no one seems to know why. No text exists to explain it, no oral history passed down from previous generations. People know there is a larger world beyond, but they know nothing of it. While this strange phenomenon does not directly impact this book, it bears noting. And this unknown outer world is not the only history lost to time.
The druids of Amarra have suffered great loss of their own. Centuries ago, Five Orders of druids existed: Sun, Sky, Jade, Spirit, and Ice. Over time, for reasons long forgotten, the Orders faded, scattering to become a single tribe of nature mages. With this scattering came both a loss of specialized knowledge and two notable disappearances. The Sky Druids and Ice Druids were not among the dispersed. They simply vanished. Already isolated by the nature of their home at the center of Storm Lake, the Sky Druids are believed to still exist there, alone and unreachable. Hope remains that the Ice Druids still live and have likewise sequestered themselves, but the location of their most recent home was among the knowledge lost.
For now, druids do their best to guide their fellow Amarrans on matters regarding healing and the natural world. This burden has grown heavier these past centuries as their numbers begin to dwindle and balance within the natural world tilts, threatening to throw the world into an era of hunger, disease, and war with violent aberrations like werewolves. This is the state of the world as our heroine, Kiana, begins her adventure.
An Introduction to the Peoples of Amarra
Elves
Innately magical, elves are typically born as some type of caster. Even those predisposed to martial endeavors have abilities beyond most other races, from enhanced senses to greater agility, speed, and resilience. Elves even have a certain level of innate self-healing power. The average elf can live for millennia, though Amarra suffered a culling that devastated the elven population. The oldest known age of an Amarran elf now stands around 400 years. Culturally, elves tend to be collectivistic and family oriented. While a few differences stand out among regions (city elves often value status far more than the folksy coastal elves, for example), it’s rare to find an elf on the immoral end of the spectrum—though it does happen.
Half-elves
The result of a human and elf procreating, a half-elf enjoys most of the benefits of their partially elven blood—though somewhat diluted—with the notable exception of lifespan, which usually caps out between 300 and 500. The cultural tendencies of half-elves usually depend on their upbringing and are often a mix of elven and human traditions and behaviors. Half-elves also tend toward magical bloodlines, whether arcane or natural, and are often found in the divine orders of benign deities.
Gnomes
Also innately magical but in a far lesser sense than elves, gnomes have a specialty in the enchantment school of arcane magic, though they can also master natural and divine magic. Every gnome has the enchantment gift to some degree, though occasionally this presents merely as the ability to make a kettle boil instantly or a loaf of bread bake in under a minute. Gnomes are the most widely dispersed of all the peoples, and you will find a least a handful in every region of Amarra. As a people, they are cheerful and hardworking and never struggle to carve out a home for themselves, making friends—and coin—along the way.
Humans
Decidedly unmagical in nature, humans can be born with arcane magic, or devote themselves to a deity to inherit divine magic, but never will you find a human druid. Human sorcerers are also incredibly rare, a sorcerer being an arcane mage who can wield any type of arcane magic rather than a single specialty, like enchantment or necromancy. Humans can live up to around 100 years old, though most make a series of life choices that cut off at least a few decades. Aside from being known as an individualistic race, they have little in the way of definable culture. Some humans have gone on to be great leaders or inspiring heroes. Others are the absolute worst.
Dwarves
Brilliant crafters, smithies, and builders, dwarves are renowned as the Architects of Amarra. Most of the continent’s greatest cities, whether settled by dwarves or not, are dwarven creations. Likewise, most of Amarra’s greatest weaponry is dwarven craft. Though dwarves’ strong sense of duty and loyalty make them inclined toward life paths that offer divine magic, dwarven arcane mages are wildly rare, and dwarven druids do not exist. Their close ties with many gnomish tribes have resulted in a great many magical items, which dwarves can often be found using in their daily lives. While you will certainly bump into the stereotypical grump of a dwarf, most are just as good natured as any other Amarran, particularly those in the Dulin hill country.
Half-orcs
These hulking towers of muscle mainly wander the desert lands of Akkra and the surrounding areas. Morally gray and inclined toward violent pursuits—though not inherently evil like the beastlier half of their parentage tends to be—they are prime recruits for mercenary guilds and piracy. They are the only humanoid race known to have no capacity for magic. Cities populated by half-orcs tend to run on more of a barter system largely based on who can yell the loudest or hit the hardest. More on their culture in a future adventure…
Orcs
What’s a half-orc without an orc? These nasty brutes are almost exclusively raiders and scavengers. They are to be avoided unless you’re looking for a fight. Though they prefer warmer climates like the Akkra Desert, they have spread far and wide across the continent, maintaining small tribes, as gathering too many orcs together in one place for too long is a recipe for deadly disaster.
Giants
I think the name says it all on this one. Amarra is home to two types of giants: fire and bog. Where the former are intelligent, civilized, and ruthless, the latter are simple-minded wanderers prone to bursts of senseless violence or outrageous stupidity. Fire giants are highly protective of their territory, and intruders will almost always be met with violence. Fortunately, they keep to themselves on Cinder Island. Bog giants are known for sticking near their small encampments in Mooreland, only occasionally wandering out into the wider territory to hunt.
The Fallen
A story for another time. Stay tuned for book two.
While this is not a comprehensive list of all the “intelligent” races who live on Amarra, notable exclusions being such fantastical creatures as werewolves, devils, and dragons, I hope it is enough to provide a picture of the world you’ll be stepping into with The Shiver Tree. I can’t wait to share the adventure with you.