Why does an artist not post pictures of his artwork before they have signed it? Why does a sculptor not reveal their work before the final blow? Why does a singer not let people hear their new song before it’s produced?
Because it’s not finished yet.
And that’s what happened here with my world: Tiros, and the kingdom of Amidral where it all began.
It started as a small idea back in 2013 when I was supposed to be revising for my final exams at university, but my brain was in full procrastination mode. I had the idea of a blacksmith unknowingly having magic and weaving magic into everything he made. But what if magic were only for a certain set of people, say, royalty? That would make his magic forbidden. And the more I thought about it, the more this world came together. I started writing. And writing. And writing even more till I found myself, a year later, still writing, but I had also delved into the history of this world. Was this kingdom the only one? Were there others? Where did they come from? Were they related? Did they have the same laws? And the more lore I wrote, the more I had to go back and rewrite certain aspects of what I had already written to update it.
And that cycle – write, discover, rewrite – continued for thirteen years. And finally, I am ready to tell you all about Tiros.
Let’s start with the first kingdom I created, the one in which my first story took place: Amidral. Amidral lies nestled between two mountain ranges to the north and south, the sea to the west and vast plains to the east. These people live in a prosperous land, lush, green, and with forests and streams. Their royal family have powerful magic, and they are ruled by the greatest king they have ever known: King Articus. He is married to the lovely Belladonna, and his lineage is secure in his son, Theothelm, and his daughter, Koralia. They are loved and adored by the people of Amidral. But Belladonna is not from Amidral. She is from another royal family.
That means there had to be another kingdom. So Amidral would need to have a neighbour. But why stop at one? I decided that Amidral would have two neighbours, neighbours that they would trade with, have diplomatic relations, and sometimes be linked by marriage (Not too much though! We’ve all seen what happened with the Targaryens!). So I created Kulog and Ekhner (Ekhner being where Belladonna was born). But having three kingdoms the same would be boring, so my first decision was to make Kulog’s magic weaker. The cause of this is unknown, but they have the misfortune of having their magic dwindle with time. They supplement this lack of power with the use of a magic crystal they found buried under their land. This crystal sits at the heart of their castle (which was relocated to be built around said crystal), and they use that to enhance their abilities. Because they are weak in magic, they turn instead to machines, making this kingdom the more industrious of the three. Having said this, Kulog are gifted with wonderfully strange and unique magical gifts. Ekhner, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Kulog. Ekhner is even lusher than Amidral, and the royals’ powers are often linked to nature. They put great stock in their plants and trees, and aren’t keen on their industrial neighbour, whose smog and soot can, on occasion, spill over the mountains that connect them to pollute their air.
The last thing I needed to do was to find the origin story of their magical abilities. Why did only the royals have magic? Why was it a crime to have magic outside the royal family? I had actually thought of this idea fairly early on, but I didn’t know the details. In fact, the details only really became important very recently. But I knew I wanted a war between humans and dragons, and I knew the humans won. I know, right? How could we have done so? I will save that story for my first book! But ultimately, they get their magic after the war as a term of the dragon’s surrender. But only the royal family; if anyone else somehow gets magic, then the treaty will be forfeit, and the war will continue.
Having finished writing the back stories of these kingdoms, I then had to go back and rewrite great swaths of my book to factor in all this new information. With all this information in hand, I went on to finish the first book and start the second. But around a third of the way into the second book, I discovered something that would make me question everything.
Publishing Woes. I had been writing to literary agents and submitting directly to publishers ever since I finished the second draft of the first book. And, as many other authors may be all too aware, it was not uncommon to get a rejection email. But they just kept coming. Rejection after rejection. It seemed that no one was interested in my epic fantasy trilogy. And then came the key piece of information. I was reading articles on publishing and getting literary agents and an aspiring author asked the question I was thinking: “Why doesn’t anyone want my trilogy?” and the answer was simple: if you are trying to have your debut novel be the first book in a trilogy, it would be nearly impossible to get a literary agent or indeed any publisher to take that kind of risk. They aren’t just investing in a single book, but in at least three! That would be a huge risk for them. It is far easier to find a literary agent and then get published when pitching a standalone book. I was distraught. Had I wasted all this time? But then I remembered I once made a list of short stories or novellas I thought would be fun to make in addition to the main books. And that’s when I spotted the perfect protagonist: Liana, Princess of Ekhner, who leaves her royal life to be a ranger and explore the world. Perhaps she finds something terrible? Or dangerous? Or a secret? Or maybe all of the above? That would be a good book. So that’s the book I started writing, and that’s the book, at the time of writing this blog post, I am close to finishing. This book is perfect as it would introduce everything in this world without requiring a publisher to commit to a full trilogy. Once this book is published, the scene will be set for Enzo, the aforementioned blacksmith, and his trilogy to come forth.
After thirteen years, thirteen long years, of tinkering, reshaping, and carving the world of Tiros, I believe I am now ready to share all of this with you. I hope you find it as interesting and thrilling as I do. It is my solemn hope that this year, 2026, I will finish the book and, at the very least, get a literary agent. But in the meantime, I will be sharing character introductions, worldbuilding posts and more with you all.
So, for your consideration, I give you: Tiros. Come on in, there is plenty of room. We have t-shirts!
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