What if
the species on the brink of extinction...
were us?
What would happen if creatures—or, worse, monsters—moved in and we were left out in the cold?
Come along with the characters
in this work of epic fantasy and mystery and try to put the pieces together
... if you can.
Come along with the characters in this work of epic fantasy and mystery and try to put the pieces together
... if you can.
What is Anduirnaëch?
For millennia, humans have called the island where they dwell Anduirnaëch. It is a land as beautiful as it is dangerous.
According to the folktales, the first humans arrived on crude ships from an unknown place more than two thousand years ago, possibly fleeing some danger of which no record remains. Upon their arrival, they encountered humanoid creatures, nightmarish monsters, and bizarre beasts. When they initiated communication with the other inhabitants of the island, they heard them utter the odd, harsh-sounding word Anduirnaëch, and interpreted it as the name of this new land. The newcomers have used that name ever since.
What has already happened when the novel opens?
Sergan Dradarnis, perhaps the greatest magician in history, designs and puts into operation a highly complex metal contraption in order to cross the limits of magic. In his madness, he unleashes a magical storm like no other. Instantly, and perhaps as a result of their actions, a deadly toxic mist spreads from the Great Forest across the island. In a matter of days the human population is on the brink of extinction. A shrinking group of survivors struggles to survive.
At the same time, beings and creatures that supposedly only existed in forgotten legends and myths reappear without warning and without rational explanation. They’re ready to destroy what seems to be the last redoubt of human civilization: the city of Hather Müir.
For eight years, they have been resisting. How much longer can they do it?
Who has survived?
Only three strongholds of human civilization have been confirmed to remain.
※ THe City of HatHer Müir:
With a population of eight thousand inhabitants, the little jewel rebuilt by Sergan Dradarnis now faces an uncertain future. Under the leadership of the governor Yara Aldenier and her council, the last bastion of humanity continues to hold out behind its massive walls, waiting for better times to arrive. Will the council be able to overcome its members’ petty grudges and power plays and guide the city toward salvation?
Which is the real monster—the chair, or the councilmember sitting in it?
Which is the real monster—the chair,
or the councilmember sitting in it?
※ THe White Islands:
Since time immemorial, the small chain of islands northeast of Anduirnaëch has been the ideal refuge for pirates and criminals. But since the fog appeared, the Eastern Isles, under the leadership of Vindar Kranerbaum, have become Hather Müir’s only link to the outside world.
Vindar Kranerbaum: pirate, trader, or explorer? The man who was once the arch-enemy of Ardtrarya’s league of cities has stepped in as their savior.
※ The Caves of Zephre:
The dusty canyon settlement straddles the Mehra River in the far southern reaches of Anduirnaëch.
Old Amarva rules her people with an iron fist and makes sure that Vindar the pirate pays dearly for every pellet of incense and spoonful of spices.
Everything else—the vast plains, the fertile valleys and rivers, and the fate of the cities that once belonged to Ardtrarya’s splendid mercantile league—is completely unknown.
Which is the real monster—the chair, or the councilmember sitting in it?
Which is the real monster—the chair,
or the councilmember sitting in it?
※ THe White Islands:
Since time immemorial, the small chain of islands northeast of Anduirnaëch has been the ideal refuge for pirates and criminals. But since the fog appeared, the Eastern Isles, under the leadership of Vindar Kranerbaum, have become Hather Müir’s only link to the outside world.
Vindar Kranerbaum: pirate, trader, or explorer? The man who was once the arch-enemy of Ardtrarya’s league of cities has stepped in as their savior.
※ The Caves of Zephre:
The dusty canyon settlement straddles the Mehra River in the far southern reaches of Anduirnaëch.
Old Amarva rules her people with an iron fist and makes sure that Vindar the pirate pays dearly for every pellet of incense and spoonful of spices.
Everything else—the vast plains, the fertile valleys and rivers, and the fate of the cities that once belonged to Ardtrarya’s splendid mercantile league—is completely unknown.
Do not enter the Great Forest...
Soon after arriving on Anduirnaëch, humans learned that the vast forest that covered much of the island was no place for the unwary. Many of those who dared to enter it never returned.
Two thousand years of the ravages wreaked by woodcutters and other fortune seekers have reduced its size by nearly half, but now things are changing.
The Great Forest casts a beautiful but menacing shadow. It is ever-changing, magical, merciless. A place where only the most highly adapted beings can survive. A place where uncanny creatures dwell, some magical, others simply… bizarre.
In recent years the forest has been relentlessly advancing, far more rapidly than is natural, as if it had awakened famished from a prolonged stupor. Trees grow more swiftly than ever; vegetation creeps inexorably forward. The signs are everywhere. The world that humans have created over millennia is being swallowed up, and there appears to be no turning back.
Do not enter the Great Forest...
Soon after arriving on Anduirnaëch, humans learned that the vast forest that covered much of the island was no place for the unwary. Many of those who dared to enter it never returned. Two thousand years of the ravages wreaked by woodcutters and other fortune seekers have reduced its size by nearly half, but now things are changing.
The Great Forest casts a beautiful but menacing shadow. It is ever-changing, magical, merciless. A place where only the most highly adapted beings can survive. A place where uncanny creatures dwell, some magical, others simply… bizarre.
In recent years the forest has been relentlessly advancing, far more rapidly than is natural, as if it had awakened famished from a prolonged stupor. Trees grow more swiftly than ever; vegetation creeps inexorably forward. The signs are everywhere. The world that humans have created over millennia is being swallowed up, and there appears to be no turning back.
A bit of history
Within centuries after they first arrived, humans displaced the original inhabitants of the Great Island and destroyed the monsters that prowled what they viewed as their new land. By the time their written language became a single shared tongue about a thousand years ago, the other island dwellers had already disappeared, possibly exterminated or exiled.
Right about that time, Ulnard the Cold, king of the Ardtrards, brought together the various human clans into a single kingdom: Ardtrarya. What followed were periods of fragmentation, unification, and starting afresh, trapped in a tangle of power struggles, of endless disputes between different clans and their rulers. Finally, four centuries ago, the great sage Glonear managed to bring the wars to an end and the mercantile league of cities formed. The kings and their wars and feudalism were left behind, and mercantilism was born.
Unfortunately for mercantilism, some eight years ago, a terrible fog began to spread across the island, wiping out not just all commercial aspirations but also the vast majority of the humans on Anduirnaëch, save a few survivors.
Who are the other inhabitants of Anduirnaëch?
Guiblees:
Legendary creatures, they dwell in the Great Forest. Little or nothing is known of them.
Ytraz:
Bipedal lizardlike monsters that seem to lurk just outside the walls of Hather Müir, like a nightmare turned reality.
Others:
Monstrous creatures and animals that until just a few years ago existed only in the tales of bards now roam freely and reproduce all across Anduirnaëch, and nobody can stop them.
Is this truly to be humans’ destiny?
English Edition – Coming soon
Buy It Now on Amazon (Spanish Edition)
Buy It Now on Amazon (Spanish Edition)
Get out of MY forest!
Nobody is so foolish as to live in the Great Forest.
But it might be a good place to die… if they let you.
Discover what fate awaits Kümagan as he delves deep into Mashaírwa, the endless forest.