#draugr

Next, I’ll be going out to visit some real places around my country (starting with one) that reenact era’s like the iron and Viking ages, which are both considered to be the 10th-century here in Scandinavia. There are surprisingly many of these places around here, which is great because that means I won’t simply have to google every answer when doing research for my book. I can actually (kind of) step into the era I’m writing about. Isn’t that cool??

Also, what is with #sleeptoken and always accidentally fitting so well with the story I’m trying to tell? It’s a vibe, though.

Illustration art (...my apple pencil is still nowhere to be seen… should I hang up missing posters? Maybe then it’ll reappear...), W.I.P snippets, Character info, and plenty more to come soon. Hit follow to join the loop 🔄🌳

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbnmKesIN1d/?igsh=MWdkZjE2MTRkaHZxZA==

Pictures are NOT mine. Found on Google even though I originally wanted to draw my own illustrations since I can, but I seem to have misplaced my apple pencil at the moment, so while I'm still looking for it, please excuse me from borrowing these pictures. They are simply there to help people visualise what a Draugr is described to look like.

Honestly, #SleepToken and their music has been great unintentional inspiration for me lately. Don't mind it one bit, though. Been a big fan of theirs for a long time now

Illustration art (once I locate my apple pencil...), W.I.P snippets, Character info, and plenty more to come soon. Hit follow to join the loop 🔄🌳

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbYjJwliFLB/?igsh=MXd6Mmp5dDk5Znk2

Day 5 Progress Check: Page 1 and 2 of my Norse horror novel, Draugr, are officially ALIVE. 💀📜

Writing a horror story is hard enough, but my universe decided to curse me early. The ‘B’, ‘N’, and ‘?’ keys on my iPad keyboard are completely dead. I am literally out here having to stop every five seconds, activate voice-to-text, and aggressively whisper “QUESTION MARK” and “PANCAKES” at my tablet just to get these siblings to argue about Norse grammar 😭

PLOT SUMMARY:

an American family of three, led by an unshakeably optimistic, fast-talking single father and his two teenagers, Darius (17) and Thea (15) takes a sudden vacation to a historical, immersive Viking-themed tourist retreat tucked away in Odense, Denmark. Joining them are their closest family friends, creating a chaotic, multi-ethnic group getaway. Contained within an invisible, localized 10th-century time loop, all modern smartphones and technology are instantly fried. Attempting to walk down the exit highway causes space to bend, dropping panicked tourists right back where they started. As night falls, the village is overrun by Draugar. Swollen, corporeal Viking dead driven by ancient malice and greed. The physical monsters are only half the nightmare. The true curse of the village lies in its ancient engine of Fate: a cosmic force, subtly forcing them to reenact an ancient, bloody tragic script they cannot escape. They must race against a ticking clock to find a legendary thread of the Norns and stitch their way out before the ancient wheel of destiny forces them to destroy one another.

Hello friends! I've been working on this story for quite some time, and while it's definitely not anywhere near finished, I wanted to share this massive Chapter One as a kind of 'preview' to gauge interest and see what you think of it...

It's the m. Dragon Priest x m. Deathlord x f. scholar story I teased a long time ago, and while it is set in Skryim, about ten years after the end of the game itself, you don't need to know anything about the game or the world to enjoy the story. It's just a cool, fantasy sandbox for me to play in and borrow some lore and language.

Backstory/context/wiki page for those interested (it will be covered in the story, so you don't need to know this really)

The premise of The Heart of the Temple is this:

Senna, a mage in her twenties and recent graduate of the College of Winterhold, is convinced that artefacts from the Late Merethic Era (some four thousand years before her day) are worth studying for their unique magic and enchantments, the exact weaving of which has been lost to time. Armed with nothing but her own extensive studies, a working knowledge of the now-dead Dragon Tongue, and an unhealthy amount of conviction, she parts ways with her ex-boyfriend, Nilandir, in the city of Riften and heads into the nearby mountains to find the lost tomb complex of Shearcliff Temple.

There, she completes the Trials and gains access to the inner sanctum, only to find that the temple's inhabitants are not long-dead and sleeping the peaceful slumber of death, but are in fact very much awake. While some of them are welcoming of this seeker of knowledge, others are wary and distrustful, if not outright hostile.

Invited to stay by the Dragon Priest himself, Senna begins a kind of apprenticeship down in the dark, secret chambers of the tomb, and slowly, undead hearts begin to beat once more under the lively influence she brings with her. She wins over the affable Dragon Priest, Vokunaak, easily enough, but his bodyguard and eternal soulmate, Deinmaar, is harder to crack.

And then there are the rest of the Deathlords and Draugr Wights within the wider temple beneath the mountain: Zahkrii, the aggressive and arrogant Captain, Kodaav, a warrior as big as the bear for which he was named, Ronaan, the lithe and cheeky archer who's hard of hearing and his best friend, Norok, who fights with her twin blades. Ahraan, the scarred alchemist growing potent herbs in a secret courtyard, Ruvaak, the keeper of ravens, and Kiraan, an assassin from another complex who found himself trapped there when Alduin, the great dragon they all worshipped, was first vanquished four thousand years ago and the curse of undeath descended upon them all.

While learning all she can from Vokunaak, Senna works to win them over, but her time in the temple complex is limited, and there are plenty of things that could go horribly wrong for her, even with the growing affection of the Dragon Priest himself and the protection of his loyal guard...

It will be NSFW in places, which means future chapters will be behind a paywall due to Patreon's 18+ policies, and while they're undead, they're not rotting zombies, I promise! That's not my kind of undead.

If that all sounds like your cup of tea, here's the first chapter for you. I've included a few screenshots from the game for the vibes, but they're not entirely accurate, since Shearcliff Temple is made up for this story. I hope they don't get in the way for you. It won't be a feature in future chapters anyway.

Content/warnings: cis female mage works against academic prejudice and a lack of support from her ex (but on friendly-ish terms) high-elven (Altmer) boyfriend to uncover the secrets of the past. Brief but genuine threat to life (no blood/injury), and some sentences of Dovah-zul (Dragon Tongue) with translations within the text (from Thuum.org).

Wordcount: 7927(!)

Read the whole chapter here for free right now! (Free members and up)