skribeworks

All about stories

History: The Battle of the Strand – Part 2

Battle of the Strand - 'Demon Horde' - unknown artist

This is part two of a summary provided by the Norhaven Institute about the key events to the Battle of the Strand. Please check out part one for information about the lead-up to the battle. It provides a lot of the exposition and the reasons why it occurred with details about those involved.

History: The Battle of the Strand – Part 1

Steńŕini - unknown artist. At the heart of the Battle of the Strand

This is part one of a summary provided by the Norhaven Institute about the lead up and background to the Battle of the Strand. Please check out Part two (available here) to find out what happened and the ramifications. Some that are still being felt thousands of years later, and directly affect the journey of […]

Words: Kza-Lan

Words meaning 'words'

For much of its history, the language of the Kza-Lan used an abjad script. It is for this reason that there is some speculation about the exact spelling of most of the words in the language. In this article, we’ll be using the convention employed by the linguists and historians from the Second Armen Kingdom, […]

3 Ways to Avoid Secondary World Anachronisms

A knight in shining armour standing on a street in a futuristic city. An example of a secondary world anachronism.

A few days ago, I read a post asking readers what elements took them out of the story. The reason might be stylistic or a functional decision the writer had taken. Amongst the more popular reasons for being taken out of the moment were secondary world anachronisms. For example, the characters cry out the name […]

Making Maps: Techniques and Tricks

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I love making maps. I make a lot of them. Some are continental-sized, some regional, city or town-sized, and others as small as individual houses or even rooms. While this won’t be a tutorial (although I will provide links to some of the tutorials I learnt from), I will […]

Creating Maps for Novels: Challenges and Solutions

Milardus maps

I like making maps. The first thing I usually do when beginning a project, long before I start writing, is to make a map (or several). It might not be a continent-sized creation. It might just be the floor plans where the main scenes are set. Or an adaptation of an existing map. For instance, […]

Religion: The Scroll of Choalú and Wúrnúr

Wúrnúr and Hématnar.

This is a continuation of The Scroll of Decular. Wúrnúr being the elder warrior was named chief of the Onghaor, and while he had many duties, including teaching the boys and girls how to war and hunt, for the tribe was too small now to rely on just the boys, and collecting meat for the […]

Religion: Maz – God of Manure

A bronze statue of Maz, the God of Manure.

According to the Church of High Gods, Maz is one of the Middle Gods. He (although sometimes she, or it) is said to wander the Overworld in the form of a pig, or a mighty boar, or even a ravenous worm. There are many legends where pig farmers found him in their pens, impregnating their […]

Religion: The Nine Realms

The Celestial Bridge that connects the High Realms

According to the Church of the High Gods there are Nine Realms. They include the Heavens, where fallen heroes go when they die. All the places where the people, animals and plants live. This is often called the Overworld or Overground. And the places where the devils, demons, and the souls of the dead dwell. […]

Words: Saerk

Words meaning 'words'

Saerk (saerk) – vulgar Verb: Noun: Interjection: