So I figured I should perhaps post some updates on what I've been working on.
Some of you may already have seen bits and pieces of it from what I have posted on my blog and the dev journals.
Vaal'lin started off as an Age called Rune Tree that I was in the process of building back when I first learned Age building. Eventually aspects of the Ages' story was broken down and rolled into other Ages that I have built over the years.
During the early parts of my storyline on Beneath I had also started planning an Age called Ter'ni. Originally it was going to be a whole new world I was going to start chronicling but again the ideas were broken down and used elsewhere.
Some of these ideas were left on the side waiting to come together, which they did with Vaal'lin. Despite having ran a fan story for 10 years now when it came to D'ni I always preferred being the reader not the writer of the story. When D'ni grew stagnant I got a little tired of dealing with it and decided to create my own splinter world to build in. Not only that but I wanted to create something that had some darkness to it when needed that isn't handled with kid gloves.
So I started Vaal'lin (which in the Vaal'lin language means Rune Tree) and started folding some of my left over ideas and concepts in together. I wanted to create a world that had Linking Technology but was not connected to D'ni (or have very thin strands going back to D'ni) and I wanted the users of the Art in Vaal'lin to come from a different walk of life than the D'ni.
The D'ni have always been rather scholarly, and I wanted to see what a civilization would be like if the Art was "owned" by a society of soliders/warriors/knights/etc.
Over the last few years I have been building up the lore on my private wiki, detailing cities, events, gods, language, and people. All intertwining them together to build a hopefully decent history.
On top of that I have been working on various concept pieces and artworks that I would like to see appear in Vaal'lin and the other empires contained within the world of Ashel. My plan is to start a new chapter of Beneath, Beyond Beneath as it were with little to no references to D'ni. My goal is to start filtering out information about the world then perhaps release access to some areas for people to explore.
And I figured I'd share some bits and bobs here for those who are interested.
Each inhabitant of Vaal’lin is equipped with a personal Linking stone that is worn on the chest. Such an item is so common place within society that fashion has evolved to include said stones within the design.
At the core of the device is an extremely small linking scroll that is connected to the rock interface allowing for a Link to be made upon contact. Similar technology was used with the Vaal’lin Public Link Service.
Azal the God of Creation and is represented by the day. He created the universe with Ib, Hameta and Ophen. It was said he looked upon Ashel with favoritism. When Ib corrupted the people of Ashel Azal turned his back on them, refusing to help them rise up again. Feeling that they should do it on their own merit.
Once considered a brother to Azal due to similar personalities and looks as Azal. Ib lead the corruption of Ashel and as a result was cast down and imprisoned in the darkness he helped spread. He is said to be the night.
Ophen is often represented as either a bird or as time and is both male and female. Due to their free spirited nature and that Ophen once saw both the past and the present at the same time. Ophen was partially blinded in one eye and so their view of what came before is obscured.
When Azal turned his back on the people of Ashel, Ophen stepped forward and offered them guidance.
Hameta is often depicted as the Goddess of the oceans/water. She inadvertently helped the God Ib in the corruption of the people of Ashel when she turned Azal’s gaze from the world.
And no despite the pointy ears she is not an Elf.
The Temple of the Falling Star is a small temple within the Vaal’lin city and sister to the Temple of the Rising Star which resides in another Age. The two temples are linked together by a thread that goes beyond space and time.
Don't want to spoil the subject matter of this image.
Another painting of Ib.
Speaks for itself, Vaal'lin don't use books they used scrolls. Later with improvements to Linking Technology they kept the scrolls sealed and used a seal made of the same stone as the Personal Linking Stones to activate the Link.
The Blight spread quickly throughout the Qumar province. It crumbled kingdoms and from the ruins it carved out a new one for itself. Blighthunters went from door to door tearing families apart, carting off the infected to the city of Anteal and disposing of those who died from the sickness.
A new plague is hard to fight, but a plague that is sentient can be almost impossible to defeat.
The war against the Blight lasted for years. Only the Vaal’lin remained untouched as all others fell to the Blight. But when the war was over, and there was no life left to infect within the Qumar province…not even the Vaal’lin could be found.
Finally, a previously unreleased painting of Jehris
"King" of the Cura Empire and leader of the Azal Crusade.
If anyone has questions feel free to ask, I'll answer best I can without spoilers