Foreword
Knowledge advises the facts. History tells of the past. But lore invokes wonder and curiosity, inspiring a world unto itself.
— Archlorian Waylor, 1567 ASF
This is not a tome of history. Nor is it a droll, unwieldy encyclopedia, so dry that it makes the paper flake at the touch. If you seek a full accounting of wars, a manual on historical shipbuilding, or a tapestry of royal lineages—loops and knots and all—I’m afraid I must disappoint you.
For this is a book of lore.
When I was a young girl, I helped my father run his fishing tackle shop on a tiny, quiet harbor. Besides sweeping and shooing off seagulls, one of my chief duties was to keep a particular corner of the shop pristine at all times. Called the “treasure corner”, it displayed all sorts of baubles traded from the local fishermen or reeled in by my mother. Warped utensils, half a fishbone necklace, a bladeless hilt covered in century-old rust, odd-looking tools whose name or purpose was anyone’s guess, among much more.
Every now and then, someone with a big purse would blow in from the street and take interest in the treasure corner. At which point my father would burst into a heated—but enthusiastic!—rant about whatever had caught our patron’s eye. He’d explain where it came from, whether it was an artifact from a dramatic event, the piece of a ferocious monster, or the memento from a vanished culture. And before I knew it, our patron was counting out silver pieces on the shop counter, eager to take home their rare find.
Lore. This, I soon learned, was my father’s true trade. And he was no grifter or liar. All his claims were backed in bits of knowledge absorbed from his home or during his wild travels in youth. (Although, looking back with what I know now, perhaps some were more of educated guesses…). Few things, my father always said, are more prized than good lore.
That is my goal, you see: to chronicle this world not through facts and figures, but through its lore. Through the lives of all types of people, such as the dwarves who can’t drink water, the roaming elkfolk, or Queen Viscera herself. Through lands near and far-flung, from a wilderness scarred by stars to an island of always-autumn. Through its myriad creatures, like the grotters (great otters) or the corvil, great elusive blackbirds of the night.
This book is a collection of all these things and more. Of the very best lore I have gathered over my travels far, wide, and long. Peppered across the book, you’ll find bits of my own tale—anecdotes of how I stumbled across these stories, secrets, and mysteries.
You will also see sketches smattered across this book. Painstaking effort and detail went into organizing my notes, checking the facts, planning the project, and writing out the stories, but I make no such promises with the sketches. I’m afraid my hand possesses a mind of its own and, on occasion, decides it would prefer to draw marks rather than draft letters.
There is one other important note to make here: we will not follow a single linear path through time. Rather, we will jump backwards and forwards, travel to lands familiar and remote, focus in and out from a single person to an entire people. Why, you might ask? To follow the most intriguing threads, wherever they take us. I’ll keep the names, places, and dates in order along the way, of course, but rest assured that my first goal is to weave you something interesting—in an order that makes for the best lore.
Or, perhaps, this is all just the odd ramblings of an old Merlish woman. Your pick.
The world teems with wonder, dear reader, and this book is an exploration of all its mysteries, all its secrets, all its oddities, all its fantastic lore. Welcome to Lorellum Fantastica.
Elandra Karpe
Sunthora 14th, 1643 ASF
Content Warning: Lorellum Fantastica is aimed at adult audiences and may include adult themes, as well as sensitive or challenging topics. Reader discretion is advised.
Lorellum Fantastica Entries are designed to be bite-sized and self-contained. While you can dive in at any point, I recommend starting with the Avelliron Lorebook (AVL).
Thanks for reading.
