Lost Lands Cover Art: The Wizard's Wall!
about 5 years ago
– Wed, Feb 27, 2019 at 07:28:35 PM
Now that we've got funding and a few stretch goals behind us, I thought it might be interesting to our backers (and perhaps some of those on the fence about pledging) to post a sample entry from the book.
You've all seen this incredible piece of artwork from the video and the Kickstarter main page, by the amazing Colin Chan:
One of the coolest parts of working on this project is being able to describe an iconic location in the Lost Lands, and have an artist render in dramatic full color what had before been only an image in my mind's eye! Here, we see a party of adventurers looking up at the escarpment of the Wizard's Wall from the Haunted Steppe. They are heading toward the only path leading south past the Wall, guarded by the citadel of Durgam's Folly, which can be seen at the far left. Behind it, the Stoneheart Mountains loom in the distance. This artwork will be used for the wrap-around cover of the regular version of the book.
And here is the current draft of the entry for the Wizard's Wall:
Wizard’s Wall
The Wizard’s Wall is a vast cliff escarpment over 500 miles in length, running across the Crynnomar Gap between the Deepfells to the west and the Stoneheart Mountains on the east. For well over half a millenium, it has been an impenetrable barrier protecting the Northmarches of the Grand Duchy of Reme from the Haunted Steppe to the north.
Approaching the Wall from the Northmarches, the land slopes gently upward, almost imperceptibly, until it suddenly drops in sheer cliffs to a base on the Haunted Steppe, as much as 1000 feet below. Near its eastern end at the base of the escarpment, the shallow, swampy Shadowfall Lake has formed from the waters now collecting from the redirected Wanaheeli River. The face of the escarpment is effectively impassible, the rock of its vertical walls brittle and likely to crumble in the hands of any who might try to climb them. Attempts to pass the Wall on the west are thwarted by the sharp crags and high peaks of the Deepfells, while the fortress known as Durgam’s Folly guards the only known trail through the Stonehearts at its eastern end. More than just a physical obstacle, the stony precipice holds power over the unseen as well, barring passage by dark spirits from the steppe seeking to cross into southern lands.
After the destruction of the Caleen Colonies in the Haunted Steppe in 2947 I.R., the Wall was raised through the use of ancient and powerful magics by the archmages Alycron and Margon, blocking what otherwise would have been an unstoppable invasion of Reme by hordes of humanoids and shadow walkers from the Lost Mountains far to the north.
In the long years since, Reme has kept a watch on the Haunted Steppe beyond Wizard’s Wall. In addition to the permanent garrison at Durgam’s Folly, the Duchy of the Northmarches maintains a number of watchtowers along the top of the escarpment. Troops are regularly shifted among these watchtowers, Durgam’s Folly and other assignments in the Northmarches, including patrols of the outskirts of the Haunted Wood and the Gryphon Hills. While some smaller towers are not always manned, the six largest host permanent contingents of soldiers charged with watching over the plains beyond. From the west, these six are called Haldor’s Tower, Granite Eye, Rilla’s Watch, the Tower of the Rock, the Duchess Tower and Coursguard.
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I hope this excerpt is interesting, and gives you a bit of a sense for what the book will be like. Needless to say, many entries will be much longer and more detailed than this (while many are shorter), depending on the nature of the location.
Please keep sharing the Lost Lands campaign with your friends and anyone else who might be interested. We've got lots of stretch goals ahead of us that I really want to see unlocked. And thank you to all of our backers for helping to get the world of the Lost Lands into print!
Mark