Beginnings

In a hole in the ground ... No wait, that's not my script ...

I remember very clearly how excited I was to write my own book. The funny thing is that I was too lazy to even read books myself. I was always very picky and only touched very specific fantasy books. It wasn't until later that I discovered my love for video game adaptations like the Dragon Age books, comics, as well as Dreams of the Dying (Enderal) or the Guild Wars 2 series of books and was able to draw inspiration from them.

I always tell people that Peter Jackson's “The Lord of the Rings” blew me away as a little boy at the tender age of 8, so much so that I have been pursuing the goal of merging fantasy and reality ever since. In my work today I do this mainly through photography and composing, but also through digital art and with Project Wyldheart I want to bring my own fantasy World into reality.

These books were my first milestone. The first draft laid the foundation of many details, characters and connections that I can now go all out with Project Wyldheart and apply everything I learned from my studies.

In this blog post, I'll go through the very first drafts and thoughts that laid this foundation for me and take you step by step from the beginnings to the new adventure with Project Wyldheart.

When I was 14, I started doing my first research into my world, my characters and the plot. I never wanted to just make a story out of existing facts like thriller books and the like, but to create my very own world. Inspired by Tolkien himself, I wanted to create my own language, my own races, my own system, several cultures. My own functioning and lively world with deep characters and individual stories. And so, at the age of 14, the world building and polishing began bit by bit.

I drew inspiration from various sources over the years. The Lord of the Rings, Dragon Age, Guild Wars, Harry Potter, Mockingjay, The Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim, Enderal, Game of Thrones and many more. I was inspired not only by the world development, but also by the characters.

What should their nature be like, what were their goals, what backgrounds made them who they are? I love digging deep and adding depth to a story and a character with a why.

Through my Bachelor of Art studies at Offenburg, I learned a lot about dramaturgy and now know what it takes to create such a world in the first place, to make it credible and to give it depth.

At the time, I didn't want to completely reinvent the wheel. Everyone knows what elves, dwarves, tieflings and the like are. So I oriented myself on what was already there in order to establish my own races, customs and cultures. Maybe someone remembers the game Kameo? I inspired many of the characteristics of my fairy/elf race from it.

I mentioned earlier that those first books and designs laid a foundation. The races and designs I'm about to show you still exist in today's design, just with different backstories, customs and so on.

So let's dive into the first drafts of the races from back then. I guarantee you, all original from 14 years ago.

RACES

**First Design of “Dragonborns alias Rhakios”**

*The so-called dragon veins are the veins that extend to the face. When you use magic, it comes out in a pulsating light, as if a dragon were breathing fire. This blazing burn in the maw of a dragon.*
*For the Dragonborn, which I called “Rhakios” at the time, I worked out the following background story:*
*Legend has it that the dragonborn, called Rhakios in the language of Nyzantia, find their origins from the ashes of fallen dragons.*
It is said that the remaining dragon souls of the old dragon king made a promise to the people of Nyzantia that they would give their lives to protect them from the evil forces that seem to be growing in Dultuur as compensation for the destruction caused by the power struggle between the two brothers Naganoth and Gavarenth.

Race: Dwarfs | Name: Erebos

The Erebos are a very greedy, but also stubborn race. They live deep beneath the mountains in the city of Tiskal, the largest dwarven city and also the only one to be found in Nyzantia.
Tiskal was one of the most revered realms in Nyzantia with its huge stone pillars, statues honoring the rulers of the past and its wealth.
The dwarves were known for their art of forging weapons and armor. They themselves believed in the return of the Rhakios, that a lastborn would take up the blade and bring hope and order back to the world of Nyzantia.
In the hope that the last dragon king would return, they forged a magnificent dragon armor from the dragon bones of older times when there were still many dragons, which was so robust and hard that no arrow or axe could penetrate it, but so beautiful that you could not take your eyes off it.
In the days when the dragon lords still ruled the land, the dwarves were their greatest and most powerful allies. With their wealth and skills, Gavarenth was able to build the land for all the peoples of Nyzantia.
They themselves forged the dragon crown, which was intended for the successor Gavarenth of one of his dragonborn.
Over the years they became increasingly greedy and kept their wealth to themselves, few if any were able to profit from their armor and weapons and their trade.
Many spoke of the dwarven race being extinct, no dwarf had been seen or heard of for years.

In the current script, the dwarves are still alive and play an important role in the kingdom of Veild. One of the main protagonist's companions is also a dwarf, as in the first draft, and is still part of the adventure.

Race: Liyár | Hybriden

The Liyár are hybrids. Their shape is quite unusual, with cat-like ears sticking out of their hair, and their size resembles that of a dwarf.
They are a rather cheerful people, keep to themselves and do not seek violence.
They avoid other races so as not to upset the rhythm of their leisurely lives.
However, they are very courageous and due to their animalistic ornaments they are the perfect thieves, they are also light-footed due to their animalistic abilities.
Their village is unusually white in the mountains, but in the more tropical zones, they are said to have never experienced a winter or seen snow, but they are very content with the warmth and coziness of their home.
The Liyár are a very unexplored people and did not have much to do with the events of the Rhakios back then. But anyone who visits them is a welcome guest as long as they don't mess up their beloved home.

Maybe you can read a bit that this race was heavily inspired by the hobbits from Lord of the Rings. They still exist in the current script, only they are more diverse and also play an important role, which might have something to do with immortality, hehe.

Race: Fairy, Elves | Name: Nemea’s | High-Elves: Alvae

The fairies, also known as elves, are the most mysterious race in all of Nyzantia. They are said to live deep in the shimmering forests of Nyzantia and have mostly been sighted at night at the deep waterfalls of the mountain valleys.
But they are not as small as everyone imagines them to be. The Nemea's, as they are called, are said to be slightly larger than humans. Their magnificent wings are long and pointed and shimmer in the light of the moon.
Their songs can usually be heard as far away as the villages, but they use their songs to create illusions for those who venture into the forest.
Only those who defy these illusions will welcome them. It is said that those who have ever entered the Shimmer Forest have never been seen again. Only a few are said to have seen the elves and reported a mesmerizing beauty.
The elves possess knowledge that goes back far beyond the years of the Rhakios, but no one has yet had the opportunity to pass this knowledge on. It is said that the elves had to deal with the enchantments of dwarven weapons and armor.
It is said that the High Elf Alvae's magic is so powerful and extensive that they can create a new dimension. It is even rumored that they built their village in another dimension so that no one could ever find them or even destroy them. The Alvae are the highest and most royal of the elves, their beauty is so enchanting that one quickly falls for them and seems to forget oneself.
But the dwarves and elves withdrew after the Great War of the Dragonlords and decided to no longer make common cause.
The dwarves claimed that the elves were guilty of the death of the first-born due to weak magic, while the elves doubted the dwarves' blacksmithing skills.
So their community split apart and they were never seen again. Only stories raised hopes of the return of their powerful magic.

In the current version, some drastic changes have also been made, but I can say that their seclusion has a clear and mysterious reason, and they play a bigger role in the new script than was first thought. Among other things, and I can reveal this much, they are direct descendants of the goddess Faonlin.

Race: Human

I don't have any original notes on humans in general, but I've actually kept them very general, as in all fantasy stories. Kingdom, king, magnificent cities, but with one difference. The “white wanderers” or nomads as i called them back then. They were my main focus when it came to humans. Because everyone knows human kingdoms, there's not much to tell except the usual rules you've read about in countless fantasy stories.

So, like the Dunedain in Lord of the Rings, I wanted to create my own adventurous group of people who follow their own paths and rules.

The White Walkers are spotted near the mountains, especially in the snowy areas.
Their specialty is hunting, their equipment consists of bows or swords, but they have light armor covered with bearskin to protect them from the cold winter.
Their companions are the so-called white wolves, which they regard as a sacred symbol of their tribe, as they are so big that you could ride them.
It is said that the white wolves have magical healing abilities, that they can heal even the deepest wounds with just a wolf tear.
The white wanderers are a very reclusive clan, unlike the city people in the white mountains, they study the ancient wisdom of the Rhakios and try to pass on the customs of their tribe and the tribe of the Rhakios to their descendants.
Due to their life in the wilderness and their shooting skills with the bow, they are the perfect hunters, but also one of the most dangerous to approach, as their territory is their sanctuary which they protect with their lives.

I honestly haven't changed much about the nomads yet. When I read through the story again, I found the information and presentation actually quite fitting and simple that I will most likely include it in the new original script.

Monsters & Creatures

For the antagonist's followers, I've also made some notes, but haven't created any designs yet. I'm also still unsure what will be included in the new script and what won't, that remains to be seen. Yet, here you get a glimpse of them.

Name: Khál

The Khál were created by the Dragonstone which was created by Naganoth.
They are splintered souls who did not complete the sealing into the Dragonstone and now roam the land of Dultuur as undead, serving the Dragonstone to which they seem eternally bound.
Their long cloaks and hoods hide their undead form.
The blood-red glowing eyes are their trademark.

Trolls: Theophane

The Theophanes have long been preserved in Nyzantia.
However, they hid in the deep misty mountains of Dultuur and were rarely seen.
When the Great Dragon War began, they sided with Naganoth with a great desire for blood and death, crawling out of their caves and spreading fear and terror.
Their skin is scaly and green and their eyes bleached white. Some said they were blind and only listened to the fear of their enemies

Eldunari:

It is said that the Eldunari are wolves who broke out of the cave to spread death and terror.
However, they were disfigured by the fires of the Dragon Lord Naganoth.
It was said that in order to discipline the wolves and make them his own, he burned and banished them until only a part of them remained.
They are as black as ashes, you can recognize them by their burnt and corroded fur.

Aiur

The Aiur were once part of the people of Nemea until the War of the Dragonlords broke out and some lost themselves in the dark shadows that clouded the Shimmerwood.
The Lost Elves were consumed by the dark power and its false hatred that fueled naganoth within them. They drove themselves deeper and deeper into the darkness with their dark magic until they sold their very souls to it.
The hatred that fueled and consumed them made them surrender to the darkness and become servants of Naganoth.
Years later, after the Dragon War, they were said to serve a continuing power of dragons they themselves called the Last Dark Dragonborn, but no one had ever seen or heard of it.

Development & Bachelor

A few years went by, I had written the first versions and dedicated myself to my studies at the Offenburg University for Media, Animation, Film and Design. I learned a lot about dramaturgy there and also mentioned my book, the world and characters in my application portfolio and, as most people already know, wrote my bachelor's thesis about it.

However, I have to say that my bachelor's thesis was part 2 of this journey, so to speak, because everything I had learned made it more concrete in the details of the characters, the cultures and the world building in general. This means that everything in the bachelor's thesis is just part of the process, only that the foundation became much more mature through my studies.

I have attached the Flipbook from my Bachelor Thesis. Please feel free to browse through it to find out more.

Before I end this blog entry, however, I would like to show you the designs and notes of my characters, how they have changed over the course of the development and what I had in mind when designing my bachelor. I'll go into more detail about the designs in About Wyldheart, so here's just a sneak peek.

Protagonist - Neith

You could almost think that in the former design, she represents an antagonist, whereas in my opinion, in the new, more current design, she appears more like a protagonist who gives you hope. Just like the fire that blazes within her due to her ancestry, I wanted to match the color scheme to this fire to emphasize the dragon.

Companion - R’hazik

In the very first draft, I gave R'hazik a wolf's tail because of a curse he has had since childhood. He's not a pureblood of the Líyar, even if it looks that way at first glance. It remains to be seen whether I will include the wolf's tail and its history in the new script. But since he is magically and alchemically gifted, I wanted to emphasize his talent with the potions, the light clothing style and the vial.

TODAY

I have now given you an insight into the history of Project Wyldheart. For a deep dive into the story, current development and updated information about the world of Ananthara, check out this page: Click Me

I will keep the development up to date with further blog posts and updates on social media as well as on this website. I hope you enjoyed the insight.

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In a hole in the ground…