Uller's Keep (Ruins of Steiple Cen Fouchlannon)

I promise not to flood too much of this sort of thing, but I figured I'd share some of the shots of some random builds I've been escaping into using a program called Talespire.  This technically falls under the category of posting maps and geographic images of the world, since its a representation of a long ruined (and later re-occupied) keep tucked away in the Eldr Vharrow Reaches, up river of the town of Crowsbury.

While this isn't an endorsement of the program, nor is it a review, it has actually proven to be something that can absolutely devour my free time.  I mean this in the best possible terms of course.  I've managed to learn a bit about 3D space by, essentially, noodling with a 3D version of building blocks.

The Nerdening

Years ago, possibly a decade or more, I used to build terrain from foam and card-stock.  It was a natural fit for someone with a nearly obsessive need to map every corner of the mad hedge-maze of a world lodged deep in their psyche.  This terrain would be used in tabletop games I would run to provide a semblance of what the world might look like, if only scaled down by order of magnitude.

While enjoyable, it was also a hobby that soon started to overtake too much of my free space.  This, coupled with the absurd amount of miniatures I had acquired over the decades of playing these games meant that I was soon hitting a wall (almost literally) of how much of this stuff I could have in my home without just giving in and sleeping on flock-covered terrain boards and eating breakfast hunched over cardstock towers.

It was around this time that a company called Dwarven Forge started making near complete sets using 'buildable' terrain.  Everything from caves to towers to cities.  To my mind, which had already fell deep in the spiraling madness of terrain building, this was akin to finding Nirvana.

Until I saw the cost.

Alas, as someone who already had enough expenses, the high (if fair, for what you got) price of these meant it would just be something I could only sit and wistfully stare at in catalogues, or geek over in local game stores that had these things set up.

Soon, I started moving away from doing tabletop games altogether.  New time-eating things started to crest the horizon, things like World of Warcraft and other games of its ilk, coupled with a bloated edition of the game winding down its current cycle meant that the miniatures were put into storage, and bit by bit the terrain was cleared out.  The end of the age of Styrofoam was upon me.

Fast Forward: Nerdening part II

A couple years ago when I still meandered through Twitter, I saw a post by an artist who went by 'Ree'.  He'd post these images of what looked like 3D representations of game miniatures goofing around on these digital boards he would make, complete with the ability to toss 3D dice at them.  I thought it was fascinating enough to follow him as he would post more images every week or so.

Later, because a growing amount of people really seemed to like the idea of a 3D terrain building, a Kickstarter was launched to gauge interest, which it garnered a lot of, and work began on their program.

I jumped on board as soon as I could.  This looked like it would be a way to have all of that terrain that 'younger me' would dream about having, but on a far more infinite scale.  While the purely tactile part would still be missing, this looked to be something that afforded a far more infinite scale than having to have everything in hand.  Or even have to obey the silly laws of gravity.

Things About Space and Verticality

Of course, I started building everything I could.  Partly because it was an escape from the condition the world is heaving through right now, and partly because that young man who dreamed of having a way to build out his world was let off his leash.  I tore into this thing voraciously.  Even at the risk of losing things I built because Talespire is in very early beta, and even warns that things can break, things can be lost, and not everything was even available.

I chose a couple random maps I had made in the past to try and recreate and quickly started to realize the constraints of space of those 2D maps.  I was forcing the little minions of the world to live in tiny little closets in some cases.  I was actually shocked at how packed in everything could be.

I also started realizing that my understanding of 3D spaces, the 'area' which I was trying to picture and plan out, was very linear.  This is true in some of my older art.  Buildings would have a set squared look, and follow a plane of perspective without deviating.  However like with this program, when I started to use 3D objects in my art to represent everything from stones to pillars to buildings (Sketchup is amazing for this), things became more dynamic, the scale felt much broader, and images could have more room to breathe than going only by what line a perspective path would afford me.

Despite being decaying meat-machine that is set in my ways, I still love learning things, even if its small things like this.  Learning that the fantastic can still follow certain rules, but can be given a lot more room to be something more asymmetrical was wonderful.

I'm seeing potential of being able to make images of grand staircases with burning torches and vaulted arches.   A lot of work, to be sure, but I might be able to use this program as a way of doing a 'rough shot' of what I want.

But what is this place

The actual ruins pictured were once a fortress for a warlord known as Fouchlannon of Clan Earrow Hyrford.   Ancient even by ancient standards, before the metropolis of Stokenfire had even been founded as a small settlement to the north, the western shores of Valhaadrune was fractured into varied clans of warlords.  

Trade between these clans were harried by bands of creatures in league with shadow.  Goblinoids, orcs and monstrosities became a problem, streaming from the Eastern Haelfyrcryst Mountains along the great river winding through the Eldr Vharrow reaches, a stretch of dense forest and wild-lands.

The clans started to unite, though not without conflict and political backbiting, but Clan Earrow Hyrford pulled into dominance, setting up a series of fortresses and keeps along a 'watcher's path' in an attempt to seal the breaches of defense for their burgeoning trade-routes.

Fouchlannon seemed able to rally nearly anyone behind his banner.  One of a few known people to be able to perform miracles, and a devout follower of Saint Belcournan (The Ember Father), his ability to draw courage even from the most shaken wool-farmer started to become renown.

With the death of his uncle Aelswyddon II who by all accounts was an heirless lump of a man, Fouchlannon was named Reign and soon commissioned stone keeps to be constructed inside of the Eldr Vharrow.  His vision wasn't just to stop the wild-bands from assaulting the western coasts, but to drive back the shadow that fueled them.  

In Belcournan's name, he would bring the light of the flame to this darkness.

He made his home in the fore-most of these keeps, miles into the cold ancient woods, named Steiple Cen Fouchlannon after himself.  A contingent of his most loyal warriors and advisors, as well as 80 support, including farmers, weavers and smiths would build what he hoped would be the first beacon of civilization and law in those lands.  A township of 'light' in the dark.

In the passing months, and soon years no envoy had returned to establish a trade path or even register a town-name for the new supposed settlement.  Those sent into the misty woods to establish contact simply disappeared, as if swallowed by the place.  The lack of word from their Reign meant generals and captains started to vie for clan lead, the infighting turning to a civil war that all but annihilated Earrow Hyrford, the surviving members scattering to nearby clans, the wilds, with some driving north to establish the foundation of what would become the massive city of Stokenfire, at least according to local legend.

What became of Fouchlannon?  That is still lost to the depths of the Vharrow.  With the passing decades, and then centuries, the place and it's people were soon forgotten.

Wow, this was one wordy post.

I plan on posting more things to the open feed as well.  I'd forgotten to post the most recent paintings.  I'm also going to be sending out the next sketch notice on Monday, late, but still, it'll be sent out.

Take care folks.  Stay safe.

-T.J.