Settings and Locations
The setting of a book is completely essential to getting a feel for what’s going on. Even if you were writing about a void, you need to state that “void” as the setting of the story; there’s just no way around it. In a lot of cases, it’s more important than the characters themselves as if gives context to the backstory.
Titanic Horse is no exception to this. Our story takes place in three main locations.
Olym
Named as a nod to “Olympus,” Olym is the main location through Titanic Horse due to the story being primarily from Vita’s Point of View. This is where the titans call home and serves as a base for their training. It's one of the furthest Greek islands and is home to a wide array of mythical creatures that are seen in the mythology. However, the population still has more humans than it does anything else.
The island of Olym is split. On one part, we have forests that are mostly left untouched. This is where most of the forest dwelling creatures stay, although it isn’t uncommon to find them also in the other part. With a small path that winds its way through the wooded area, one can find large walls that lead into the City of Olym.
This is where the humans spend most of their time. This is also where the majority of titan training takes place.
For the most part, it’s set up like any other old city you’d find in Greece. There are a few differences, such as the lack of any form of automotive. This is due to the wish to keep the island clean and not have to worry about dealing with all the complicated needs that come with something like a care. (The less Olym has to deal with the outside world the better.) The council is choosey about what technology makes it to the island. Example: the internet is used, just not often.
For the most part, the buildings are made of white stone as they are just as old as anywhere else in Greece. Building-wise, the only one that truly stands out is the Temple.
The Temple is where all the titans are housed. It’s big enough to house fifty very comfortable people but is typically only used for Zoisus, Gaia, and Chronos. It has extra rooms in the extremely unlikely event of any other deity rising. A few of the extra rooms are used for the mentors and servants. Servants are hand-picked by the City while the mentors are a particular bloodline. This is the Maliks; Torna and Ajay (As well as Monty, but he’s still “in training.”) There will be more on them later.
As far as the people go; Olym’s citizens live their days as any other small religious city would. The only thing that will happen on occasion is the change in their own teachings depending on the titans. One example being that Olym started making the knowledge of the English language as a priority when Zoisus was discovered in America.
They have a very set way of dealing with their deities. They don’t like to deviate from that path.
Calbao
This is a literal Underground City. Calbao is located in a cavern near Tikal Guatemala and is typically very hard to find. The caverns below are a home to various… let’s say “darker” creatures. It’s not to say they aren’t friendly to a certain degree. Calbao’s society lives strictly off a”survival of the fittest” mentality. You are respected if you are strong or clever enough to survive against the community. Typically, your respect is paid with the blood on your hands; no one will take anyone’s word for it.
The only way to live somewhat comfortably without killing someone is to be owned by someone else. Even then, unless the slave is owned by someone already pretty high on the totem pole, they are free game for pretty much anything so long as they aren’t killed.
Not much natural light reaches as far as the caverns so most of the way is lit with fires and torches. Unlike Olym, Calbao is far from the most tech savvy magical location. The citizens don’t go out of their way to make sure their deities are comfortable like the titans of Olym. All of the buildings are either built directly into the caverns or made up of a community of tents created from things found on the surface. There are also alcoves found within the caverns that are typically claimed by much stronger beings.
This it typically Horsemen territory and it stays as such due to the high power of its landowners. On an extremely rare occasion, someone will challenge them and win it as their own. Usually, they’re long gone by the time the horsemen return to the city to begin their training.
Being predominately an anarchy type ruling, schooling is virtually nonexistent Calbao. Anything that can’t be learned without proper education is not worth learning at all. The creatures in the caverns aren’t typically great thinkers unless they are already stronger and better equipped to handle themselves. To have any education at all is a luxury item.
In short, strength and power in the caverns translate like currency. In this light, no one is given a pass.
I realize the caverns of Calbao might strike a very small resemblance to another cave containing monsters. However, the fact they both live in a cave is really where the similarities stop. You won’t find many pun-producing skeletons or fluffy goat royals in Calbao.
…Murderous flowers are possible, though.
Sleepy Hollow
Throughout the series, Sleepy Hollow will be one of the few non-magical cities. It’s exactly as it says on the tin; this is just Sleepy Hollow, New York. It’s located right near the Hudson River and it’s where a good chunk of our main cast calls home.
It’s here that Vita lives and goes to school, as well as finds at least one of the members of her team. It’s where she found the gems that gave her the powers and it’s where she and Thom spent a majority of their time.
In an older version, Vita and Thom had just moved in. That was later removed as the two wouldn’t have any need to live anywhere else thus not adding to the story. It also linked to the extremely common cliche of the Main Character being the new kid on the block. The two are already going through enough; working them into a new school takes away from more important conflicts.
The reason Sleepy Hollow was picked was a mix between the town’s lore and the fact that I just really like the location. This is the same location of the Headless Horsemen legend and the story of Ichabod Crane which I’m sure most of you know about/have read the story/have seen the movie/ have seen in episodes of Scooby Doo.
The town is pretty close to perfect in size as it’s just small enough for a person to walk pretty much the entire length of it in only a couple of hours. But the population is still pretty big, meaning someone like Vita is easily overlooked on any given day.
Also, the cemetery there is really cool.
New York City also takes a play into the story, but to a far lesser degree. Being so close to it, there are a few references to the city but aside from that, it’s simply the place where Thom found Lowell and Jordan who, at the time, lived in the Bronx.
Older versions played up New York a little more than this one but it took too much away from the magic aspect. I imagine the appeal to using such a major city is to put some sort of concern that someone might see. (Not a big concern considering it’s New York.)
There are also a few more locations chosen but they won’t be brought into it until Book Two. So, for this post, I’ll end it here.
Thank you for tuning in! We’re getting closer to a release for Book One so keep tabs if you want to hear more!
