Author's Commentary on Broken Lands: Lost Ruins

Sometimes, finding the right place to officially stop between books is easy. Most of the time, there are lulls in the action, where I can add a slightly longer pause right after some sort of resolution.

That didn't quite work this time. The natural ending point was the defeat of Temple Bravo Pelrith Moonshadow, but at that point they're already involved in Othala's request. It was also a bit early. This is probably because Lost Ruins was originally plotted out as the second half of Night Owl, but when that expanded, I pushed Lost Ruins to the next book. It worked, but it did leave me a little short.

The next decent ending point is after they repaired the interspace conduit, before they met Tiwaz; they're in a new place, but they're all alive and have achieved a large piece of what they were asked to do. They're not actually done with Othala's request, though; Othala wants to know why she's getting a response but not an answer.

That's answered when they meet Tiwaz, more or less; Tiwaz is in a hibernation state. I suppose I could have ended the book there, with Tiwaz's request for help or even after they found the storage cubes in the creation chamber. I can't really say why I didn't, except that it still felt too soon. Not very far too soon, but too soon … partly because they don't actually know where they are.

I decided to push through the mystery of the storage cubes, which led directly to introducing Jax. Once I did that, I had to push through to the defeat of his party and his request for assistance. I could have skipped the more or less time skip right at the end and pushed that to the next book, but I felt it fit a little better here (okay, we'll get to actually see Dav early in the next book, but other than that …).

I think this is the right place overall, but it does leave me with a vague feeling of discomfort about the overall pacing. I'd also like to have introduced Jax earlier; I don't like introducing a character right before the end of the book. With that said … he simply isn't relevant earlier. It's something to think about if / when I revise the story.

On the other side of the coin, I'm happy to finally be getting the Cliff / Sophia power dynamic to work out. She really does have the power of two Spheres now … because she can use Cliff's as well as her own, at least with his help. Cliff is in many ways the absolute best person to prepare ahead of time, but he's also very limited because he's not supposed to actually be trying to kill people and he knows that. Killer dungeons get hunted down and either destroyed or reeducated. That doesn't mean he can't kill … but it does mean that even if he could swarm the enemy from his Sphere, it would be very difficult for him to choose to do that.

Now I just have to make the full party dynamic work in a couple of very different situations. It'll work out, I'm pretty sure.

On another topic, I got some questions about Spheres. I've tried to weave the information into the story, but (especially in a serial) things like this are easy to miss … and I'm not sure how well I stated it to begin with. This seems like a good place to copy the clarification.

There are three types of Spheres (the generic term):

Profession: requires a minimum age of 25 and some sort of "alignment" with the Profession chosen. These are generally noncombat, though I mean that specifically vs monsters; guardsman for a city is a Profession.

Vocation: requires a minimum age of 16 and completion of a Vocation-granting Feat (which really means any Feat that is "big enough"). Cannot be chosen or improved if you have taken a Profession. These are generally combat-related, designed to enter Challenges and/or deal with monsters.

Hallow: No minimum age; instead, it requires the attention of a Patron and a minimum level of achievement. This is usually reached by completing a Vocation-granting Feat. These can be either combat-related like a Vocation or noncombat like a Profession, though the general opinion on them is that they are likely to be combat-related. They are customized in some manner by the appropriate Patron.

Called are people with a combat-related Vocation or Hallow Sphere.

The other big thing I haven't talked much about is what upgrades really are. I hope you can tell that I'm in the middle of weaving that in … and that they're directly linked to the Anchor / Sphere / Grand Talent. This trend continues past the third upgrade, but finding anyone here who can tell them about it … well, not in the Broken Lands. They'll have to pass through a Gateway first (or get advice from a Patron, but the odds of that are … not high).

I suppose I should say something about the art. It feels like I did quite a bit less art in this volume than I have in the past, and I think that's true. I think that is partly because the scenes in the story didn't lend them to as much art and partly because I'm trying not to do as many "minor" pieces … or pieces that will take me several days to get right. I just don't have the time for that. As is, I spend quite a bit of time on the art I do include …. Even when it's "only" a new background for a message from the Guide. It seems like that ought to be simple, but it's really not.

I spent several hours today on creating a cover for the next volume. It's definitely not perfect, but it will work. It'll be a bit before they're there, but it's one of the entrances to the Maze … with Sophia's Echo waiting outside, watching the closed gate.

Speaking of the next volume, the planned title is Into the Maze. I'm sure you can all guess why; with all of the team past the second upgrade, even if only barely, they technically qualify to enter. They do have some things to handle first, but I expect they'll get there at some point in the volume.

See you in Into the Maze!

~Lillene

Latest Status

Sophia

Grand Spell: Pierce the Veil

Plumed Domain Abilities:

Warped Human

(Stun Spirit)

(Spread Plumes, Anchor, Anchor)

(Feather Image)

(Spirit Soothe)

(Plumed Spellcaster, 7, Free)

Body: 18

(Veiled Sheath)

(Plume Shift, 7, Free)

Core: 32

Additional (Empty) Ability Slots: 10

(Focused Feather, 7, 7)

(Piercing Plume, 7, 7)

Shield: 255 (155)

Grand Ability: Plumed Insight

(Plush Bonds, 7, 7)

(Innate Communication)

(Plume-Reinforced Spell, 7, 7)

Wisps: 58

(Aural Magic Sense)

(Disruptive Plumes, 7, 7)

(Collected Knowledge)

(Down Coat, 7, 7)

Spheres

(Domain Knowledge)

(Plumed Aura Armor, 8, 8)

Plumed Domain (Hallow)

(MageSight)

(Magic Attuned Aura, Bonus, Free)

Level: 8 - Second Upgrade

(Spirit Sight)

(Firewater Plume, 7, 7)

Anchor: Aura

(Excellent Ears)

(Rending Plume, 7, 7)

Signature: Plume

Additional (Empty) Ability Slots: 10

(Bond of Plumes, 8, 8)

Additional (Empty, -, 7) Ability Slots: 18

Gestalt Invoker (Linked)

Level: 8 - Second Upgrade

Psychic Bulwark (Linked)

Level: 8 - Second Upgrade

Attunements:

Spells:

Species Abilities:

Contraceptive Amulet, 1

(Force Bolt, 8, 8)

(Scaley, 8, 8)

(Force Blast, 7, 7)

(Magical Translucence, 7, 7)

Spear, 1

(Corruption Bolt, 7, 7)

(Manifest Wings, 7, 7)

Enchantment: Image Shift

(True Death Bolt, 7, 7)

(Prismatic Magic, 7, 7)

(Attractive Affix, 7, 7)

(Death's Embrace, 7, 7)

Shield, 1

(Parrying Presence, 7, 7)

Additional (Empty, -, 7) Ability Slots: 24

Enchantment: Image Shift

(Embody Element, 7, 7)

Additional (Empty, -, 7) Ability Slots: 20

Unbroken Link Bracelet, 1

Enchantment: Shared Shield

Enchantment: Send Mana

Sphere: Plumed Domain

Plumes of feathers claim and control your Domain.

Anchor: Aura

You are no longer limited to the body that was once your prison or your home.

An Anchor is required for the first Upgrade. This may be modified by your Signature once it is discovered.

Signature: Plume

Feathers and plumes form the outward manifestations of your style.

A Signature is required for the second Upgrade. This may be modified by your Grand Talent once it is discovered.

Grand Spell: Pierce the Veil

Your Plumes cross the boundary of spirit and flesh. This is a Variant of the Grand Spell: Part the Veil

Spell Fragment: Stun Spirit

Stun your opponent's spirit rather than their body. They may still take actions that do not require thought.

Spell Fragment: Spirit Soothe

Pacify spirits with your feathers' touch. The effect is strongest for those wholly within the spirit realm.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Spell Fragment: Veiled Sheath

Cover anything that strikes you in a feathered sheath that transmits their power across the Veil.

Grand Ability: Plumed Insight

Your feathers feel more than the wind. Use them to comprehend your domain. This is a Variant of the Grand Ability: Shrouded Insight.

Ability Fragment: Innate Communication

Innate Communication is the most comprehensive of the set of Communication Abilities for sapients. It includes understanding of all forms of the language and the necessary knowledge to easily communicate in those languages so long as the capability exists. Languages that require methods not possessed by the possessor of Innate Communication cannot be used without that method.

Ability Fragment: Aural MageSense

Feel the magic within your aura.

Ability Fragment: Collected Knowledge

You understand the monsters in your partner's Collection.

Ability Fragment: Domain Knowledge

Share the knowledge you have collected with allies within your Domain, giving allies a reduced version of the benefits you receive from Collected Knowledge and all related Abilities.

Ability Fragment: MageSight

See magic in all its forms.

Ability Fragment: Spirit Sight

See the spirits which surround you. This does not show auras, but it can reveal spirits that are not native to the forms they occupy.

Ability Fragment: Excellent Ears

Hear the world around you with greater precision.

Plumed Domain Abilities:

Spread Plumes, Anchor Ability

Enhance your feathers with mana to take charge of your Domain. Feathers can attack or be commanded to cast spells or use Abilities. Spread Plumes are required for many other Plumed Domain Abilities.

Plumed Spellcaster

Your Domain is aligned with the Arcane. Learn the spells that resonate with you.

Plume Shift

You are your plumes and your plumes are you. Turn yourself into a cloud of Plumes that you can spread across your Domain. So long as any Plume is intact, you may return to your normal physical form without injury at the location of that Plume. While using Plume Shift, your Shield is disabled.

Focused Feather

Concentrate your attention on a specific feather to improve your control of that feather and all effects it creates. Increases mana requirements.

Piercing Plume

You know how best to use a plume to break the Shield of enemies that you have Collected Knowledge of. Increased effectiveness when used in combination with Focused Feather.

Plush Bonds

Cover your targets in feathers that impede their ability to move.

Plume-Reinforced Spell

A spell cast using a Plume is more difficult to dispel by any means, including simple resistance. Plume-Reinforced Spells are buttressed by your control of your Domain. Costs additional mana.

Disruptive Plumes

Charge a Plume with Arcane magic to disrupt spell structures.

Down Coat

Your feathered Domain gathers around you to retain heat better in the cold and warm up more quickly. Environmental cold must deplete your Shield before it can cause permanent damage to your body. You may lend a Down Coat to another in your Domain at an additional mana cost.

Plumed Aura Armor

Your plumes deflect attacks before they reach your shield.

Magic Attuned Aura

Your aura resonates with the power of magic. Your plumes can weakly affect magic within your aura in any way you choose.

Firewater Plume

Create a plume of crystallized Water that holds Fire in its heart. Requires ambient Water and the Fire that is to be captured. The crystalline prison can be disturbed by a sharp shock, returning to its constituent water and releasing the captive Fire. The crystal will slowly evaporate if kept in a dry environment.

A Firewater Plume can be used like any other Plume. Composition of the Firewater Plume may affect some uses.

Spells:

Force Bolt

Discharge a bolt of magical force to damage your target.

Force Blast

Create a rapidly expanding shell of magical force at a distance to damage targets in the area.

Corruption Bolt

Discharge a bolt infused with the magic of Corruption to damage your target. Corruption erodes the core element of a being.

True Death Bolt

Discharge a bolt infused with the magic of True Death to damage your target. True Death has little effect on natural creatures. It is extremely effective against beings created by magic, such as magical constructs and the walking dead.

Attractive Affix

Attract other magic, including both spells and enchanted objects, to a chosen feather. The feather may be affixed to a creature or object or may simply be a feather in your Domain. The attraction is weak but may disrupt distant attacks or make an affixed creature or object easier to target.

Parrying Presence

Repel other magic, including both spells and enchanted objects, away from a chosen feather. The feather may be affixed to a creature or object or may simply be a feather in your Domain. The repulsion is weak but may disrupt distant attacks or make the creature or object harder to accurately target. Parrying Presence is more likely to disrupt targeting than to completely deflect a blow, though attacks that are poorly aimed may be redirected completely.

Embody Element

Manifest your element physically. Exact effects depend on the element embodied.

Species Abilities:

Scaley

Call upon your heritage to gain the scales of your ancestors.

Magical Translucence

You can choose to diffuse magic that strikes you, reducing its effect on you and spreading a weakened effect over a wider area.

Manifest Wings

Temporarily create a pair of wings formed of magic that can lift you into the sky.

Prismatic Magic

Split magic into its constituent elements.

Death's Embrace

There are those that walk the line between life and death. Many are difficult to harm, yet you know the way to bring them to the sweet embrace of death as easily as the living.

Dav

Grand Ability: Eldritch Acuity

Eldritch Channel Abilities:

Chaos-Warped Human

(Eyes that See)

(Eldritch Call, Anchor, Anchor)

(Eye Image)

(Psychic Mesh)

(Dual Invocation: Weapon, 7, 7)

Body: 32

(Weapon Union)

(Solid Invocation: Weapon, 7, 7)

Core: 16

(Mana Core Specialization: Eldritch)

(Empower Call, 7, 7)

(Mana Specialization Attunement: Eldritch)

(Spirit Shatter, 7, 7)

Shield: 255 (100)

(Spirit Voice)

Additional (Empty, -, 7) Ability Slots: 10

(Borrow Understanding)

Wisps: 16

(Extend Understanding)

Calls:

(Sword Sketch)

(Overflowing Health, 7, 7)

Spheres

Additional (Empty) Ability Slots: 17

(Spiked Shield, 7, 7)

Eldritch Channel (Hallow)

(Flowering Firewater, Bonus, Free)

Level: 8 - Second upgrade

(Reflection, 7, 7)

Anchor: Entity

(Unreal Space, 7, 7)

Domain: Manifestation

(Unbreakable, 7, 7)

(Dread Aura, 7, 7)

(Piercing Chaos, 7, 7)

Additional (Empty, -, 7) Ability Slots: 9

Attunements:

Species Spells:

Species Abilities:

Contraceptive Amulet, 1

(Eldritch Empowerment, 7, 7)

(Bonded Armor, 7, 7)

(Eldritch Overcharge, 7, 7)

(Spell Reservoir, 7, 7)

Eldritch Armor, 1 (Growth)

(Spellwarp, 7, 7)

(Eldritch Elasticity, 7, 7)

Level: 8

(Warp Space, 7, 7)

(Eldritch Adaptation, 7, Free)

Perfect Fit: Dav

(Light and Dark, 7, 7)

Additional (Empty, -, 7) Ability Slots: 25

Rapid Assembly

(Eldritch Projection,7, 7)

Self-Repair

(Quickstep, 7, 7)

Second Skin

(Eldritch Aurora, 7, 7)

Eldritch Reflection

(Eldritch Weapon, 7, 7)

Additional (Empty, -, 7) Ability Slots: 20

Eldritch-Touched Blade, 1

Effect: Dual Invocation

Effect: Image Shift

Unbroken Link Bracelet, 1

Enchantment: Shared Shield

Enchantment: Send Mana

Ability Descriptions

Sphere: Eldritch Channel

Suffuse your being with the eldritch power of Chaos Itself and channel it into the form you desire.

Anchor: Entity

You are yourself; what was once your physical form has become the expression of your being.

An Anchor is required for the first Upgrade. This may be modified by your Signature once it is discovered.

Signature: Manifestation

You overtly manifest the Chaos that fills your Entity into the world.

A Signature is required for the second Upgrade. This may be modified by your Grand Talent once it is discovered.

Grand Ability: Eldritch Acuity

You know more, feel more, and are more than others comprehend. This Ability is no mere Variant; you have started the process to create your own Ability.

Ability Fragment: Eyes that See

Summon the Sight of the Eyes that See. You see beyond the physical, perceiving the eldritch reality of the world.

Ability Fragment: Psychic Mesh

Connect to other compatible entities of your choice. All partners may project some or all of their thoughts to other linked individuals. This ability does not allow for true synchronicity, control, or unity.

Ability Fragment: Weapon Union

Commune with a weapon.

Eldritch Weapon: Eldritch-Touched Blade

Union Effects: Dual Invocation, Image Shift (Tattoo, Blade)

Ability Fragment: Mana Core Specialization: Eldritch

Align your mana core with the Eldritch power that runs through you.

Ability Fragment: Mana Specialization Attunement: Eldritch

You are an Eldritch existence.

Ability Fragment: Spirit Voice

As you can see it, you can speak to it. Your voice may cause pain to those who do not understand their own spirits.

Ability Fragment: Borrow Understanding

Your Psychic Mesh carries fragments of passive expertise.

Ability Fragment: Extend Understanding

Expertise gained is expertise shared.

Sword Sketch

Use your sword to sketch your understanding of the eldritch nature of reality.

Eldritch Channel Abilities:

Eldritch Call, Anchor Ability

Invoke the Eldritch power that suffuses your Entity to create effects. Eldritch Call is required to express all Calls.

Dual Invocation: Weapon

When you Call, your Unified Weapon also Calls.

Solid Invocation: Weapon

Create a temporary weapon of pure Eldritch power. The Solid Invocation may hold a single Call.

Empower Call

Focus your will on a Call to increase its power.

Spirit Shatter

Purge spirits with your eldritch chaos.

Calls:

Overflowing Health

Suffuse yourself with healing eldritch energy that spills past your Entity to aid your allies.

Spiked Shield

Extend spikes of eldritch power from the edge of your Entity.

Flowering Firewater

Lay a trail of burning water that freezes into petals that resist the motions of others.

Reflection

Step out of yourself and join yourself in the fight.

Unreal Space

Your Eldritch power suffuses your Entity. You can partially ignore other influences, such as gravity.

Unbreakable

You are and what you are is inviolate.

Dread Aura

Allow the sensation of your eldritch existence to enter your aura. Causes fear in most who sense it.

Species Spells:

Eldritch Empowerment

Gain or grant a minor eldritch boon.

Eldritch Overcharge

Channel extra mana into Summons for additional power or duration.

Spellwarp

Twist a spell until it triggers or breaks.

Warp Space

Distance is only an illusion for you.

Light and Dark

Gather light and leave darkness behind.

Eldritch Projection

Project the power of Chaos upon your enemies.

Quickstep

Step around instead of through. May be cast on others.

Eldritch Aurora

Pull Chaos around yourself as a mantle.

Eldritch Weapon

Enhance a weapon with the power of Chaos.

Species Abilities:

Bonded Armor

Forcibly bonding with your armor has permanently connected it to you. Armor abilities draw on your mana. Continued use and empowerment may awaken or create additional abilities.

Spell Reservoir

Learn to cast the spells of your species. Does not include any Spell Slots or Spells. If selected, all Species spells will be reserved for the Reservoir.

Eldritch Elasticity

Bounce Back.

Eldritch Adaptation

Your environment adapts to you.

Non-Attuned Magical Items

Charm Bracelets with Compass that can find North or other related bracelets

Feather Charms (Lighten Carried Loads)

Snowflake Charms (Chill Area)

Charm Rune of Spirit Sight (Sophia)

Charm Rune of Affect Undead (Dav)

Charm Rune of Sense Undead (Ci'an)

2 Stoneshield vials

Vial of Shattershell Oil

3 Heatstones

Cord of Spirit Ice

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