I’m happy to report that the draft manuscript of Crown of Caphedra is in the proof reading stage. While that’s ongoing, I’ve dug out the sketchpad once again and tried to give substance to my envisionings.
The first series I did were some shaded sketches of Caphedra and the four other cities of the kingdom. The land once went by the name Almahria, so I will use that here.
By now, you are becoming familiar with Caphedra, if you’ve been following along. It’s the de facto capital and seat of the Wolstett kings. Whereas the other cities of the land are cut off from each other by geographic obstacles and terrestrial peculiarities, Caphedra has long served as a hub for trade. It is the axle upon which the wheel of commerce spins and that has made history all the more favourable and lucrative for those who control it. Both Denn and Olen hail from this city.
Lanstad was home to Livet. It is a darker place that brushes up against the sea. An inner ring wall separates the older, affluent districts of the city from the more sordid and unsavoury outside. Locked away thusly, the wealthy have the freedom to dwell on their addictions to finer culture, though the passions of the day are said to change like the tides.
Far to the north, there lies Northport. It is another ringed city that derives a great deal of its sustenance from the waters off its coast. But the people here are much more pragmatic. While Northport does not feature prominently in Crown of Caphedra, its people do. War has motivated them to settle in Caphedra where they have filled up Porter’s Run with their emblematic timbered styles and raucous community.
Hasen, likewise, is only spoken of. But its wares are well known and its surrounding dry, dusty wasteland intimidates many from journeying there. however, it exists at the mouth of the Darrow, where the river’s estuary meets the sea. Its farmer’s cottages spring up every springtime after the floods, and its people get to work until harvest time sends them into the uplands and the Hasen Greatcamp where they winter and feast.
The most distant and secluded city of the realm, Palinor’s many keeps and strongholds erupt from the mountainous landscape of the northwest. It is surrounded by the Four Peaks of Palinor – Sceptre Peak; Tower Peak; Spire Peak; and Trident Peak. Wedged into its many vales and passes, small settlements of mountaineering folk have taken up residence for centuries, to mine, hunt and forage the mountains.
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