Strays and Loose Ends

A collaborative fantasy story

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Grassland golem

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Swamp bat

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Desert fly

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Lucid wisps

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Ivory deer

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Shrieking ant

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Iron crab

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Strange, Rare Creatures of Valecrest

-Shrieking ants: Rat sized ants that plague the Solitiudinem desert in Cameria. They make horrific shriekings sounds, not dissimilar to mating foxes.

-Iron Crabs: These crabs can vary from the width of your hand to the width of a large dog. When young they have extremely high body temperatures, they seek out mines where they can melt down a metal, most commonly iron, and coat their shells with it. As they grow older their temperature drops, allowing the metal to cool and stay on their shells. These crabs are found on the coasts of Septen Land and can be quite deadly to unprotected travellers.

-Ivory deer: A mystical species of deer that's pure white with scale-like spots of green around their bodies. Their antlers are pearlescent and legend has it that they were created by a deer mating with a unicorn. The used to be found in the Silva Forest but they were hunted to extinction. Now they can only rarely be found in the forests of The Sydlige.

-Giant Valecrester Snails: These creatures are often found around water and are most common in The Sydlige despite originating from The Auslo sea and the Sea of Stars. Many Valcrestera are unaware of the existence of these snails and so will be rightly confused if they ever stumble across a 5ft snail.

-Lucid Wisps: These mysterious creatures can be found in the most magical forests like Terminus in Cameria and the dark forest in The Sydlige. If they feel threatened they can drive people into a state of madness that is impossible to recover from. However, if an understanding is in place, like that between the Wisps and the mages of Magum, Cameria, the Wisps are likely to mind their own business. Unless someone intrudes on their land, then they become hostile.

-Desert Fly: Tiny insects that infect warm lands and feed off humanoid blood. If bitten by a desert fly, you will break out in a cold sweat and vomit blood, survival is rare. Luckily, so are the flies.

-Mountain Eagles: Horse sized birds that dwell in the mountains. They eat medium-sized mammals in the wild. There are rumours that the ancient people of Periit, Cameria had these creatures domesticated and used them to travel the Mons cluster.

-Swamp Bats: These creatures are as rare as their habitats, they dwell in swamps and feed on small birds. They are most common in the eastern marshlands of Occiden country and are often found in pairs. They are usually the size of regular bats but grow to twice that size if fed well.

-Ice Wraiths: Possibly the deadliest creatures in Valecrest, found mainly in the Orientem Sea near the mors insula but can travel as far down as The Sydlige. No one’s particularly sure what they’re made of or how they survive but they seem to be glassy structures of ice that move, hiss and attack any living thing they see.

-Dragons: Types of Dragon vary and because of the rarity it is unlikely to see more than one of each type of Dragon so no attempt to document them has ever been made. They seem to vary in size and colour and their basic shape is the only thing that seems to stay constant but even that differs between the creatures. There are ancient rumours of people who can turn into dragons but nothing reliable has ever been documented.

-Grassland Golems: Golems are heavy stone creatures that tumble about the grasslands of Valecrest. They are more common than a lot of rare creatures and can be found in the gaps between civilisation in the north east of Cameria and around the centre of The Sydlige. They are friendly creatures and if encountered they are easy to make friends with unless you have evil in your heart. Many years ago some Septens set about capturing a few golems and now they use then as mining slaves. Golems are usually only around 20 inches tall but the Septens found a way to make them grow to about 6ft.

-Auslo Lantern Fish: These fish are only found in the Auslo Sea, hence their name. They are the most expensive fish in Valecrest and are only eaten by royalty on special occasions. They are the size of tuna fish and have a lantern-like bulb that hangs off its head. They usually swim around the dark depth of the water but can be lured to the surface using gold as a bait. Their scales resemble oil, they are silvery and metallic but in the right light go multicoloured. They are said to taste like heaven itself.

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Valecrest

Valecrest is the name given to the four continents.

-Cameria: Famed for it's connection to the magic and mystical. It draws many tourists to see the mysterious mors insula. Ruled by the Camerons.

-The Sydlige: The most humble of the continents, many there feel personal connections with nature and much of the continent is covered in trees and various plants. They have no royal family but their leader is a wise elder appointed by their knowledge and ability to survive a night in the Dark woods on the very north of the continent.

-Occiden Country: The smallest continent, all of its town's and cities are near water and they are famed for their farming of delicious and exotic fish. They also have controversial travelling museums dedicated to mystical water creatures. Once ruled by the Occide family who went bankrupt and fell out of power, the ruling family is now the Salims, they rose to power through their riches which they gained by trading.

-Septen Land: Famed for their development, they are responsible for mysterious contraptions and technologies that the other continents couldn't even dream of making. There is a thin peace treaty between Septen land and the rest of the continents, because of their advancement, everyone else in Valecrest is eager to keep them happy. However, many Septens, along with their ruling family, the Separnians, believe that they should rule over all of Valecrest.

There are 9 oceans/seas in Valecrest.

-The Salis Sea: This is what separates the four continents, it is the largest body of water in Valecrest and has the highest salinity.

-Meridinam Sea: This lies between Cameria and The Sydlige and is more of an oversized river between the two continents. It is good for farming common fish and is a particularly cold sea, with ice sheets scattered around it, mostly in the south and the east.

-Orientem Sea: The most eastern and cold body of water, it is home to the mors insula and stretches further east than anyone has ever dared to venture. The fish there are scarce and the only living things you're likely to find there is the odd ice wraith.

-The Norwist Ocean: This is shared by the north of Cameria and east of Septen Land. It is known for its deadly winds and is the warmest ocean on in Valecrest, meaning it is responsible for many tropical storms.

-The Sea of Rust: This sea stretches from the north of Septen Land, round the west and all the way to the north of Occiden country. It has a red glow from the iron and copper that is submerged in the water. It provides much of the metal used in Septen creations.

-The Ocean of Stars: Named for the unique sea creatures that dwell here. Luminescent merpeople occupy the strange ebony depths of the northern most water in Valecrest. It connects to the Sea of Rust with a thin line of jagged rocks made from glistening crystals of black, metal ores and bedrock.

-Auslo Sea: The west of Valecrest is occupied by this sea, named after the explorer that discovered Occiden, Auslo Occide, who was originally from Septen. It is only accessible to Occidens and is where most of their fishing occurs.

-The Silken Ocean: A wide body of water that separates Occiden country and The Sydlige. It is the clearest ocean in Valecrest and has exceptionally low salinity. This means that the bright coral reefs beneath the water's surface are easily viewed from the coasts of The Sydlige and draw in a fair amount of tourism from all over Valecrest.

-Elcean Sea: Many of Valecrest's water creatures choose to live in this southern body of water due to it only connecting to The Sydlige whose people are contempt to leave them be. Many of the sea creatures fled The Salis Sea when Occidens started hunting them. The collection of bronze and gold metals beneath the water leave it looking a metallic pale pink and mean the is water full of minerals that are good for the water dwellers.

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A Summary of Places in Cameria

-Cam Regno: One of the 2 main cities in Cameria, it is where the nobility live and is home to the royal family of Cameron that rule Cameria and have recently offered a handsome reward for any information regarding their eldest daughter, the princess.

-Artis Regno: The trading district of Cameria, populated mostly by craftsmen, workers and merchants.

-Luna Lune: A small religious city, the shadow of the mons cluster means they are often left with little light other than the moon.

-Sanctus temples: The temples dedicated to all of the Valecrest gods, each continent has their own set of temples.

-Periit: An ancient abandoned town of mystical mountain people, nearly impossible to get to due to the surrounding mountains.

-Destrui ruins: A ruined castle that once ruled over the people of Periit.

-Mercator: A town of fishermen next to the Humidus lake.

-Praeter: Next to Litore, a rich town of bakers and innkeepers. Often a spot for tourists on their way to Artis Regno.

-Forte: Most of the goods from Seges Farm are sold here, making the town very rich and ripe for tourism.

-Lupinotum: An abandoned town, once cursed by a witch of the Silva Forest to turn into wolf-like beasts on a full moon.

-Venandi: A town of hunters that were once tasked with hunting down the beasts of Lupinotum. Many of the werewolves managed to escape and breed and their lines continued. Some of the more traditional hunters from Venandi still try to track down the beasts.

-Urllis: A small town, mostly populated by lumberjacks.

-Mugistis Valley: A valley used mostly by merchants and traders on their way to Artis Regno. Pilgrim Bridge is too narrow for their dealings and so they use this passage by the coast.

-Lapis Beach: On the eastern coast, next to the apud channel and the mors insula. It attracts a lot of tourism, mostly from the magically inclined and the cynical who want to study the deadly cluster of islands.

-Tandem: A lakeside village near Lapis beach, it would hold tourists but it a very small and poor town due to being quite new and susceptible to flooding.

-Transit: The town that holds the tourists that visit Lapis beach. During the colder months, it could be mistaken for a ghost town, except for a few innkeepers.

-Mysticae: A magical town of mages, witches and other magically inclined people. The town is situated between the Harende beach and the Lapis beach. The town is home to the College of Mysticism and Magic.

-Maritumus: This coastal town deals in weak potions and spells for ordinary people. They also farm for basic supplies such as wood and fish. This is very useful for those who live in the Ferox forest to be away from the busy towns. There is not substantial proof that most of these people are werewolves but there are rumours.

-Domu: Home of the celts, a peaceful people who live apart from those in Cameria. They trade with Maritimus but many are too afraid to visit the Celtae island as they believe the celts were responsible for destroying the castle of Contritum.

-Contritum ruins: The oldest structure in Cameria and possibly Valecrest. Most are too afraid to explore it as they believe that souls and Celtic curses still remain there. It also difficult to get to as the Ferox forest has surrounded it over the years.

-Mea mines: This medium-sized mine is responsible for supplying the continent with a lot of its basic minerals such as construction stone and iron. However, it is most famous for its haematite, a magnetic substance that is very popular amongst the magically inclined.

-Opus: A town of miners and traders. A lot of the minerals from Mea mines and goods from Cibus farmlands go to Opus before making the journey to Artis Regno to be sold to the masses.

-Sillwye: Disputably the oldest surviving town in Cameria. It is home to a lot of occiden immigrants who wanted to get away from the crowded city of Oppidum. It is an honest little town and a lot of it inhabitants and religious and often take boats to the pilgrim bridge to make the journey to the Sanctus temples.

-Oppidum: A bustling city on the west coast, home to many migrants and immigrants from the other three continents. It is popular amoung the Occidens for its closeness to water, the Sydlige for its neighbouring Arbor Forest and the Septens for its advanced development.

-Magum: A small town of mages that channel its neighbouring forests and lake Lacus. The terre wood from Terminus forest is protected by those in Magum because of its natural spirituality and usefulness to the magically inclined.

-Parvus: A small village on the outskirts of the Solitudinem desert which fills the entire north of the continent. The dwellers of Parvus often make long treks to the Villam Oasis to farm its goods. They are also a religious people who make pilgrimages to the Sanctus temples regularly.

-Pago: A village near Cam Regno of honest workers that sell their goods in the capitol.

-Vicinus: A town on the west coast, it is considerably more developed than most of Cameria due to its high percentage of Septen's. They craft technical devices that they sell to the royalty and nobles in Cam Regno.

-Cibus Farms: Most of the goods from these farms go to Cam Regno to feed the nobility but the remaining goods are sold in Artis Regno.

-Seges farm: A lot of these goods go to those who live north of Litore lake but a good proportion of their goods are sold in Artis Regno and as the closest farm to the city, they dominate the agricultural trade there.

-Ulmus farm: They have been trying to sell their goods in Artis Regni for many years but are always beaten by their neighbours on the other side of the river. They mostly sell their goods to the south of Cameria and are most famous for their giant cabbages, although they have seen a mysterious fall in the amount of cabbages recently...

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A Brief Factfile on Giant Valecrester Snails

-Can grow to around 5ft tall

-Hatch at a height of around 30cm

-Top speed of 20mph in water, 10mph on land

-Can hold up to 200kg in weight

-Usually herbivores

-Prefer large vegetation such as Ulmus Cabbages (found only on the Ulmus Farms in Cameria) and Occiden cucumbers (around 2ft in length)

-Very rare creatures found mostly in the Sydlige but they have been known to venture between continents

-Don't make fast friends with land dwellers but it is not uncommon for them to be the pets or companions of water creatures such as nymphs, merpeople and sirens

-Prefer to hibernate in the winter and in cold conditions but can be persuaded to stay awake in exchange for food

-Mostly nocturnal

-Their moods are easily affected by the moon phases, they are happier when more of the moon is visible

-They have a sanctuary in Luna Lune, Cameria for Giant Valecrester snails

-Literally a snail

-But bigger

-A lot bigger

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A map of Cameria, the kingdom where our story is set, one of the 4 continents of Valecrest

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What is the point in this blog?

Basically, we’re a group of friends who are collaborating on a story idea to create something..well...different. With us all having very different writing styles it’s a mess, but it means we can focus on the stuff we enjoy and create more content. There are seven of us in total, each character based on ourselves, and our personality traits. Here is basically a place to dump all our random thoughts and art

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I’m collabing on a story with my friends based around us as fantasy characters and here are a few sketches I did for it. There’s also a three headed cat called The Thing that I might upload later. It eats people.

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One of the things I’m working on. It’s a mess and I love it.

BTW here’s The Thing, it’s horrifying, and became a part of our little band of adventurers when one of the many souls inhabiting Angel found him and decided it would be a great idea to keep him…