Othun of the Winds

 Age of the Legends
Approximately 4,000 Years Before the Emrosian Empire

 

Southern Firlos

The gathered warriors assembled near the border with Alhu. The Chieftain of the Drakniir Isles held her axe high, her commands carrying across the winds to all the warriors that followed her. This night their march would begin down through the mountain passes and into the Alheen territories to the central settlement of the Alheen tribes. As the moons waned their march would begin. And when the sky lacked the light of either moon, their battle would begin against the demons of the south.

The woman pointed her axe southward and gave a final roar. A heavy, chill wind blew from the north kicking up colorful autumn leaves in its wake. For the first time the Firlosii clans had united into a singular army against a common threat. The winds of change stirred in the south.

Massive, long horned drakniir pulled heavy wagons of supplies down winding mountain paths as the Firlosii clans began their march to the aid of the Alheen tribes. Quite possibly to the aid of the world.

*************************************

And here's a preview of the map of Firlos (unlabled, just the outline so far)

Updates and links (9/7/20)

Thought I'd put all this up here to keep all useful link in one convenient location:

Facebook

Amazon:
Kindle
Paperback

Goodreads:
Author Page
Stone & Shield page

I made a Twitter a while back just in case it proved useful... I've never really used it, barely know how to, but if that ever changes:
@StoneandShield

and the email to reach me at would be:
fallofemros@gmail.com

If there is anyone that needs the Amazon links for outside the US feel free to reach out.

Split Paths

     I've been pretty beat most weekdays with the new job (which is going well) but have not been putting as much time into writing short stories to put up here. I will get back to it, but when I've had the time and energy to sit down and write lately I've been focusing on Book II.

    But, wanting to put something up here today, I've decided to show this off. While it's still a ways off, I decided to do some mock ups for the cover of Book II. I think it came out pretty good so far, and want to keep the whole series looking fairly uniform.

    Again, Book I is just releasing so it will probably be about a year before this cover is even needed, but it was fun to throw together.

    Remember, you can order your copy of Stone & Shield (or pre-order the eBook) here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FS2GP2F

As always, thanks for reading.

Paperback Available! And General Update August 17th 2020

     So, I've decided to rush ahead a bit. Since there is no option available to offer pre-order sales for the paperback through Amazon (and could not order author copies until it launched) I've decided to launch the paperback today.

    I finished reading the proof and made final revisions that came up during the read over the weekend. Afterward, I decided to go ahead and process the final draft. That being said, I've removed several posts from here (temporarily) namely the previews of the prologue and chapter 1. The posts of chapter 2 shall remain, but due to the exclusivity agreement, once the eBook launches (September 4th), I can not have more than a sample available anywhere else online for 90 days. After the 90 days they shall return.

    Anyway, in launching the paperback early, I should have my copies in time to sell locally on September 4th. I will have 20 copies and each will come with a custom bookmark. If I sell them all, I will likely pick up more as requested.

    If you are interested in picking up a copy of the paperback, but are not local (or don't wanna wait until September 4th) you can find it here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FS2GP2F

    If you'd prefer the eBook, you can pre-order and have it automatically download onto whatever you want to read it on, or pick it up on the 4th.

As always thanks for reading.
Cheers,
-Thomas
fallofemros@gmail.com

Map of Northern Emros the Seat of the Empire

Series Overview

     While I continue to write the main novels for the series I plan to, over time, write several stories, all set within the world of the Emrosian Empire, solely(for now) for use in this blog. Stories taking place in different eras, different regions, and following different types of people. Some showing more of the magic within the world, while others may center on more mundane happening.

    

    While the short stories I post up here will vary and take place at any point in the timeline of the series, the main series will generally follow one basic narrative. With that being said, I thought I'd give an explanation of a bit of the timeline/basic plot of the first two books of the main series.

    Book I follows a pretty straight forward narrative. And, while there are many named characters both POV, secondary, and tertiary, it follows three major "group POVs". Within each group the story is told through the eyes of several people. Each of those group POVs also follow a separate storyline. Each of which I will give a minor explanation of.

    The first group marks the main story of the novel. This is where most of the chapters are spent and these are the characters you will get to know the most. This story is self-contained with a beginning, middle, and end in Book I. A second group follows a different story, that falls a bit more into the background. This story will play out over several books, and ties into the main story at various points and in several ways, mostly acting as a constant, underlying factor that ripples throughout the rest of the world, causing both subtle and blatant effects. Lastly, we have the group that will transcend the entire series. While only a small amount of time is spent on these POVs, and I wouldn't say much gets resolved in Book I, these plot threads will continue throughout the entire series.

    In Book II, rather than one full novel, I'm writing it as more of an anthology. Rather than one long story there will be several short stories/novelettes. Each shorter tale will more closely follow a single story picking up pretty closely around the timeline where the first book ends.

    Of those stories, one picks up focusing on a few characters that may have seemed forgotten in the first book. And it follows their tale, catching up with the main timeline. Other stories follow directly after the first story. And several center around characters in different parts of the world. All to prepare for the third novel that will likely sew all or at least most of these divergent threads back into a single, cohesive narrative.

    As for posts on here, on Monday I will post the first half of the prologue to Stone & Shield: Tales From the Emrosian Empire Book I

Thanks for you time and be well,

-Thomas

Update June 1st 2020

Howdy all,

    After a bit of consideration, I thought I'd start doing these monthly updates/progress reports. As you will likely notice, part II of The Knife was posted this morning. Next week shall see the conclusion. I will continue posting every Monday afterward as well. Following The Knife I will be sharing the prologue to Book I of the series: Stone & Shield, which will be posted in two parts.

    As steps are slowly made in the direction of publishing Stone & Shield I am doing more editing runs through it as well as organizing cover art and all the other necessities to meet my goal. I still hope to publish by the year's end.

    By the time I'm ready to publish I also hope to be in the editing process of Book II and beginning the writing of Book III.

    Most recently I reached the 20,000 word mark on Book II. Which will probably count for about 1/4 completion. I also finished the first part of a Saga I'm writing just for feature on here. Which will follow one character in a series of short stories from his childhood up to his appearance in Stone & Shield (the span of about 50 years)

Expected schedule of future story posts:

6/8- Part III of The Knife

6/15- Prologue I from Stone & Shield

6/22- Prologue II from Stone & Shield

6/29- The Saga of Beld One-Hand Part I (I think I will be breaking this story into two longer posts, rather than three)

7/6- The Saga of Beld One-Hand Part II

    I will also try to post the occasional odds and ends such as Maps and random world building bits, just to try to create a bit more content the just the once a week story portion.

Cheers all, and enjoy,

-Thomas

Stone & Shield: book blurb

Stone & Shield

Book I of the Tales From the Emrosion Empire series

The Emperor is dead. His son now inherits the throne to the Emrosian Empire and he dreams of greatness.

The mercenaries of the Stone and the Shield have fulfilled their contract in the southern deserts of Ahnvesh. Now they must begin their journey to the imperial capital of Emros City to be paid. A long march and an odd job stand between them, a hefty payment, and possible retirement. But as they march, the Empire they thought they knew is changing.

In the far west the Councilors of Guilion seek answers to their own problems, and those that would effect the future of the world. Their source of power nears its end, their ties to the Empire are failing. Now, they must decide which part of their world matters most.

Introduction

Welcome all,

    I've decided to start this blog in anticipation of self-publishing my first novel. I will begin to, semi-regularly, post short stories, excerpts from other works, and possibly serials over time, all set within the world of the series I've been working on. There will also be the occasional general status update and perhaps even worldbuilding articles, bits and pieces from the setting that will only appear on here.

    I have never been much for social media and the likes, so this is fairly new ground for me, and may take some time getting used to. Eventually I would like to try to get into a more set schedule for posting on here, but will take some time to see what works best to keep a schedule that I can continuously meet. That could end up becoming anywhere from twice a week to once a month.

    As previously mentioned, I have recently written my first novel (which will be the first book of a series) and as I am going through, doing various editing passes, and preparing to self-publish I have also been working on the second book along with some short stories.

    So, I ask that you bear with me while I learn my way around the whole blog thing. Read on, enjoy the stories. As I learn more on the features of how to run this thing I will likely post more. And most importantly, thank you for taking the time to check this out.

    I will be posting the first short story on here (either in full or in two parts) during the next week.

Thank you again for your support/interest

-Thomas