#cycle ocs

Its been a long time in the making. The world and this plot have been rattling around in my brain for most of my life now, but it was only in 2020 that I finally put word to page and wrote the first chapter.

Back then, my mother - an avid reader for her entire life - had recently been diagnosed with cancer, which would eventually take her life. In those dark days, this story kept me focused and drove me onward. I had hoped to be able to hand her the first copy, but that was one dream that would not come true.

Years have passed since then and at long last the first book of the Cycleverse is ready and available. More are on the way - sequels to this book, along with other stories to explore the world that I have crafted.

Get your copy here!

Alric Lightsworn is a mage in training – heir to the magical traditions of his people, the fiery Hydrisians of the cold north. His path to glory is assured – until he is afflicted with the curse of the werewolf.

His brother, Bjorn, refuses to let him flee alone and so the two turn their backs on the only home they have ever known. Those that the brothers meet along the way are as strange to them as they are to the strangers.

Mila Numitorii finds herself in a distant, foreign land and tasked to bring two fugitives to the jarl's justice. Intelligent, diligent, and perceptive, she makes for a formidable hunter - but can she bring herself to finish the pursuit?

Aderyn, druid of the misty Fells. The woods have long been her home, a cozy place far from the worries of the world. But danger finds its way to even the most secluded lands and soon her path will diverge.

Julian. Nimble thief, favored of the spirits of the wind. A burned home behind him and the open road ahead. He's made it this far by himself, but how long can his luck truly last?

The Hydrisians speak of fate and the wyrd. The path ahead and the step taken. None can see the tapestry until it comes together. None of these five would notice their fates converging ever closer together, tied up in the Threads of the Wyrd.

Celdos reveal, your grace.

Magic fills our world and consequently teems with magicians. Yet vast gulfs of power and skill separate these practitioners from one another. Each journey down the path of mastery is unique, but some patterns emerge.

Wise men of the past identified four ranks. Each subsequent rank is a magnitude more powerful than the one that preceded it. Even the elemental counters are secondary to a gulf in ranks. There is no universal or formal method of determining rank – all peoples of the continent have their own rites of passage to ascend higher.

The first rank is the Novice. Nearly all those who wield magic are novices. The peasant who learns a single spell of an element to make the field's labor less onerous is a novice, as is the fresh-faced apprentice.

The novice knows little of the Cycle Wheel, or the nature of the elements, and is ignorant of their deeper mysteries. They grasp power and channel it without conscious understanding of what they do.

The second rank is the Expert. Once a novice has dedicated themselves to an element and honed their craft, they may rise to the rank of expert.

These are the tradesmen of magic. If one seeks the services of a mage in exchange for coin, then this is the rank one would likely find. They form the bulk of what one can rightly call a ‘mage.’ The Expert is the highest one can rise without gaining spiritual understanding of their element.

The third rank is the Master. Practice is not enough to transcend the rank of expert; revelation is needed. This is often done by study – either of the gods or of another people’s approach to the element. This allows one to glimpse hidden truths about the element.

They act as advisors to high nobility. Often, they are the leaders of temples and orders like the Caravans. A fully realized Temple Knight is a master of their sworn god’s element, in addition to their martial skill. There are always too few masters, and their service is highly sought after.

The final rank is the Grandmaster. There is no set path to this rank – each is unique to the one who finds it. Nothing less than enlightenment can elevate a master to a grandmaster.

There are rarely more than a handful of grandmasters for each element on the continent at any one time. At least one is always find in the elvish lands, but beyond their borders they are vanishingly rare. Though there are some roles that are always understood to be filled by a grandmaster.

The High Priest of the Sun and Moon, who claims lordship over the Cathedral of Dawn Resplendent, has always been a grandmaster of Body for as long as the Temple of Luman has endured.

The Sapa Kwaycha, monarch of the Kwaychan elves, is required by their laws to be their greatest grandmaster of Mind. Their wisdom and foresight guides their entire people, and the Pactlands as well.

Celdos guide you.

(art by @thelastpilot)

From a young age Alric was a skilled brawler, which made it easy for him to join a jarl's band when he came of age. What might have been an easy life of fighting for gold and glory changed in an instant in his first real battle against the orcs. Reduced to fighting for his life with his fists, he found that they crackled with lightning.

Jarl Haakon, a skilled Spirit mage in his own right, immediately took Alric as an apprentice and taught him how to harness the power of the elements like any Hydrisian mystic. The war magic came easily to his aggressive personality and rumors abounded that he would be the old Haakon's successor.

Celdos reveal, your grace.

The gods act in many ways. Rarely do they act directly.

Much more often, rather than shows of direct power, they rely upon the actions of their trusted servants and the day-to-day works of the faithful. For most purposes, this is sufficient.

But the world is seldom peaceful. Evil creeps into the hearts of men and dark powers toil against life itself. At times, a strong sword arm and a will of iron are needed to see the will of the Trine through.

For this, there are the Temple Knights.

Officially founded during the reign of Evander the Resolute, last of the Four Good Emperors, they are the militant arm of the Temples. Each of the Trine has their own force of Temple Knights. Neither Elak nor Dagwos have knights sworn to their service.

They all share a handful of duties – protecting holy sites, defending the priesthood, and championing the faithful. Beyond this, each order is focused on widely differing tasks as befits the deity that they are sworn to serve. Certain sects may arise with the orders focusing upon one specific duty above the others; most Temple Knights, however, can be seen as ‘generalists.’

First are the Temple Knights of Lumanox – the Hospitallers. Once the most numerous of the orders, they suffered greatly at the hands of Empress Soleil. Their primary monastery in Dulinor was destroyed by the Empress, along with a large share of their full members.

Celdos reveal, your grace. A particularly apt greeting for today’s subject. For now we turn our attention to the great gods Celdos.

We reach the end of the Five Who Are Ten. Already we have spoken of the four other pairs: Lumanox, gods of life and death. Boucassan, gods of justice above and below. Dagwos, the gods of nature. Elak, the gods of power.

Now we reflect upon the last and most complex of the gods – Celdos, the gods of wisdom and knowledge.

(art by @noanieactuallydrawingalot)

(art by @stealingpotatoes)

The people of the Fells, the Felfolk, are renown for two arts. The first is poetry – the bardic tradition finds its roots in the misty woods of the Fells and the only minstrels properly called a Bard are Fellish.

The second is woodworking. The trees are ancient and beautiful, and carvers take care to make every plundered branch or fallen tree into something as gorgeous, so that no net beauty is lost in the world.

Lona is a wood carver of some renown within the Fells. Oak and beech, yew and juniper, elder and silver birch – she knows the trees of her homeland down to their very grain. The crwths of bards, proposal spoons for lovers, carved idols placed upon Dagwos’s altars. All these and more she has crafted with hand and knife.

(art by dinwardo on twitter) More than the races of Men and Elves make their homes in the ancient woodlands. Among them, tending to the forests like shepherds to a flock, are the first born children of Dagma the Sapfather. They take the God of Plants name for their people – the Dagfolk, giants that resemble humanoid trees.

The Dagfolk often take the form of trees native to their birth groves. For Hynafwr Onnen, who sprouted in the mist-shrouded woods of the Fells, he takes the shape of a great Ash tree.

Hynafwr Onnen – Grandfather Ash in the Fellish tongue – is an elderly Dagfolk, renown for his far sight and sage wisdom. Well known locally, he often takes part in Fellish ceremonies and festivals, and bears the markings and totems to prove it.

Like all of his kind, he is strong in the ways of the Green and gladly takes on apprentices from local villages, druids seeking to deepen their bond with that which sprouts and spreads roots.

Among his students was the half-Kwaychan druid Aderyn, whom he saved from the wolf attack that slew her parents when she was a baby. It is unusual for anyone to start their tutelage so early, but Aderyn prospered under the boughs and branches of the Grandfather.