Alaria Lore Drops Coming Soon! [ANNOUNCEMENT]

Why Wait? Start Now!

...is what I'm currently telling myself, as I sit on a stack of short story ideas and an even smaller stack of ones already written that take place in my world setting of Alaria. Like I've mentioned, the worldbuilding for Alaria started a very long time ago (according to my creative clock.) When I started, part of that worldbuilding was creating legends to build out the unique mythology of the world. Because it was originally for a tabletop game, I wanted these stories to be something for my players to find and learn from. They were designed to be viewed and interpreted by the players' characters who were either residents to Alaria or transplants who are just beginning to explore its history. I wrote them with that in mind, they are introductions to the world in one of the most immersive ways I could think of: legends, fables, and fairy tales. The stories that people had used in the past, and still tell to their children, to help them understand what cannot otherwise be explained.

Short Story Short

My plan is to release these short stories in a volume (or multiple volumes) of small anthologies containing just a few stories per issue. I'm looking to make these stories very accessible, so let's save a few trees and I'll keep it to e-publications until I have enough of the myths to make a decent sized paperback. I'm hoping to get some of the shorter stories illustrated, primarily for the benefit of young readers since I'd really like the books to be used the way I imagined they would be in the world of Alaria—as children's stories. All that said, I'd like to do a limited period where the books are available for free before setting what I hope is a reasonable price for the included material.

The First Volume

So that I don't become bogged down with short story ideas before I can get anything out to the public, the first volume of Alarian Tales will contain these three stories:

The Creation of The Gods and Goddesses

The first myth, outlining the creation of the world of Alaria. 

This is a story that I've had in my world lore for a very long time; and because it is not a very long piece, I'm hoping to get some illustrations to accompany the manuscript.

The Ship That Would Not Be Stopped

A pirate king mistakenly challenges Paka, the God of Winds, to a boat race and learns why it is unwise to play with gods. 

This is the newest tale that I've been writing, and (at the time of this posting) it is unfinished. I have always been drawn to nautical themed stories, so this story has been a delight to work on. I hope to have it finished soon.

The Princess Who Tried to Cheat Death

The fable of a Lanosan Princess who travels to the deathlands to try to return the living soul of a shipwrecked merchant from the city of the dead; and, in doing so, she learns the price of her altruism. 

This is another story that I've had written for a few years, having shared it with only a few other people in the tabletop game that I was running at the time (the party's bard needed material.) It's a slightly longer story, but with a larger scope and grander morals with which to contend.

When I've finished writing the pirate story and gotten the illustrations for the creation myth, I'll post an update with some previews and the release date!