#fantasy #worldbuilding #landmarks In The Exiled: Of Shade and Shadow, Astra and Louko travel through what is called the Merym Pass. This is the least perilous way through the Rheritarus Mountain range which divides Nythril from Merimeethia. The excerpt below is where Louko explains how the countries Merimeethia and Nythril came to be: "[Nythril and Merimeethia] were one country a couple thousand years ago. Dragons and humans lived together. There were two in particular that

#fantasy #history #worldbuilding At the start of The Exiled: Of Shade and Shadow, the Elves are mentioned as living in the city-state of Cithan, which resides in the country of Litash. The Elvish race at this time is rather small and, for several hundred years, even neared extinction since Elves only being able to have one child per family—two if they were fortunate. However, this was not always the case. In the ancient days of Litash (approximately two thousand years ago), t

#history #politics #worldbuilding #fantasy Throughout The Exiled books, it's hard to miss the constant mentions of Ethians. These are the top tier of Litash's political system. They form a Council of fourteen, the head of which is crowned king. With the exception of the king (or queen), the role of the Ethians is not necessarily a hereditary one. The fourteen are picked from among the most powerful of the Bandilarians (Litash's shape-shifters). However, since the strength of

#history #fantasybooks #worldbuilding Throughout Of Shade and Shadow, there are frequent mentions to "The Great War". This is referring to a nearly ten year conflict that had concluded mere months before Astra and Louko's story picks up. But this conflict did not start out as a war. It all began with a bloody coup, led by Second Prince Euracia against his own brother, King Judican. With the help of beings known as Screechers, and supposedly backed by Lower Prince Tyron, Eurac