Let me introduce you…

I’m working hard on the first book in a shared universe fantasy series and, while The Moon’s Gift won’t be scheduled for publication until next year, I thought I’d introduce you to some elements from the world.

The Mark of Rilean

This is a symbol that holds deep significance within the series and will appear on any story in the shared universe.

The blue sphere is a sentient stone of incredible power that starts off the whole series by causing nothing but trouble.

Because it’s so important, it takes pride of place in the center of the image.

See the diamond like stone behind the sphere? That’s it’s best friend. Yes, even stones need friends. While it’s not sentient, it’s still very powerful, and it helps keep the sphere calm. Together, they’re called the Lover Stones.

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The four creatures surrounding the Lover Stones represent the first friends of the sphere.

The wolf, the eagle, the horse and the earvli (a humanoid creature that gains sustenance directly from the earth).

Rilean

Who is Rilean? He is the historian who searches for the truth behind the myths and legends of his world, hoping to provide fact based records of their history in place of the fictional tales they’ve become.

You see, over the centuries, the Lover Stones have come to mean the moon and the sun for the majority of people who live in this world, and the four friends are interpreted as the elements (eagle/air, horse/earth, wolf/fire, human/water).

Some nations worship these myths, some hate them, but almost all consider them made up.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

If you’d like to know more…

My short stories A Tracker Becoming and A Lion in Colossus, both published in Return to Hades & Other Adventures, are set in this universe.

The Trackers, who can hear the song of creation, are descendants of the Earvli (the leg in the symbol). That’s where they derive their powers from, although the Trackers have forgotten this.

The Lions get their powers from the sphere, which they know very well. Unfortunately they did something very bad, which left them all cursed to a half world outside life and death, but that, in the words of a very famous fantasy lion *cough * Aslan * cough * is another story.

Tracker School

Isador has a secret.

Afraid of the adulation from his family and community as one of the chosen few, a Tracker, set to free them from the invaders who oppress them; terrified of being found out and reviled by his peers, the Trackers-Becoming, because he can’t hear the song of creation, the hallmark of his kind. 

Unable to fit within either world, Isador dreads his annual time of training with the other Trackers-Becoming. 

With constant, unprovoked attacks by a hawk and being partnered with the most gifted boy in the group, can Isador’s time at Tracker School get any worse?

Perhaps, if his secret were discovered…

Tracker School is set in a shared fantasy universe and has direct links to A Tracker Becoming. It will soon be available free for new subscribers to my newsletter.

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Thank you to Mary Crews for turning my scribble into this awesome logo.