Quick Peek
High Fantasy | Genre
Loss, restoration, nostalgic populism | Themes | Influences "Younger" by The Mountain Goats, "Frescobaldi's Toccata" arr. Rob Dougan, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien, rust belt aesthetic |
Age | Adult
Audience | Millenial (~25-40), esp. in US & UK. Series | Stand-alone novel Status | First Draft |
"The residual energy of creation came to be known as magic, and it was everywhere. All the races used it to some degree. But as time went on, it gradually became more scarce. It took thousands of years to get to that point, but Rigel was the last of the great adventurer heroes of that age. The world was getting explored, the monsters were fading off, the magic was harder to cast; really, the whole system was falling apart.
"Now, when I met Rigel, he was pathetic and drunk in some backwoods tavern, just like you assholes." Half the room raised their mugs and let out a collective 'aaaaay!' Sandara sat down on her post, pulling a lute out of her bag. As she began to tune it, she looked absently out over the heads of the tavern's occupants. "Fact is, we were both relics by then, and just kind of washed up in the same gutter. And that's where we'd have stayed, if Lord Harrow hadn't shown up looking to bring the magic back." She strummed the strings once, nodded, and began picking out a tune as she continued.
Synopsis
The age of magic has ended, a new industrial age is on the horizon, and the dark corners of the map are being found and tamed. One of the last retired adventuring heroes is wasting away in a tavern alongside a ferret wordsmith, dreading the end of the world they knew. But when a noble recruits them to a team committed to restoring magic to the world, they set out on one last epic quest to shape the future; and must ultimately decide if the glory days of their youth really deserve to return.