Valley of the Colossi
New week, new blog, and since this is a second week, that means a new short story is ready to go and available! We’ve got a little bit to talk about this week, so instead of doing a drawn out intro, let’s just hop straight into the content!
Valley of the Colossi
Situated in the heart of the Faladorian Mountains, the valley of the colossi is one of the most mystical and enigmatic places in the entire world. Though surrounded by frigid mountains, the valley itself is lush and warm, and the life that can be found within its clutches is some of the most exotic the world has to offer. Between its rolling meadows and sparkling rivers, it’s easy to see the appeal of this mountain oasis, but what it is truly known for are its world trees! World trees are a unique type of tree that can only be found in the Valley of the Colossi given their need for the nutrients that exist in the valley. These trees are colossal, far bigger than the mountains around them, and there’s an entire forest of them! Their bark is like steel, and the cores of these trees are so strong that no known metal can compete with them in terms of strength. These trees are truly a fascinating resource, and it’s only natural that life in the valley revolves around them!
While a few ranches can be found throughout the valley along with small villages, the biggest town in the region is actually built among the trees themselves. Frosthaven is a village anchored in the canopies of the world trees with bridges connecting the various platforms the buildings sit upon. Life here is truly unique, especially since part of the village is also built on the nearby mountains, but what really put Frosthaven on the map is none other than the First Archon, Caleia. When the Clockwork Crisis broke out, Frosthaven was first to find itself in its path, and Caleia lost everything. From there, she managed to rally herself and lead the entirety of the world in a campaign that stopped the Clockwork menace, earning her place in the history books, and that history is exactly what Tearna is here to explore!
On this journey, Tearna will, of course, explore all the flora and fauna that can be found in the valley, but her main focus will be getting to the heart of the beginning of the Crisis. This valley is rich in history and creatures, and she will most certainly get all that she bargained for as she gets closer and closer to the heart of the eclipse itself!
Heart of the Eclipse
With the Valley of the Colossi out, there is only one entry left in what I would describe as the first half of Tearna’s Journal. Everything has been building towards a deep dive into the history of the Crisis, and that is exactly what the next entry, Heart of the Eclipse, will be. After seeing where the First Archon made her first stand, it’s only fitting that Tearna’s caravan make their way to where the Eclipse empire placed their seat of power. She’ll explore the ruins of the dark empire, see the remains of its clockwork machinations, and come to terms with the mark they forever left on the world. However, before they can venture into such dangerous territory, they’ll need to get the permission of Falador’s Archon.
Sapphiria in the Karasi!
With all of that out of the way, let’s move on to the next art piece! The next piece will be of Sapphiria visiting the Karasi, the vast desert dominating the northern reaches of Thericia. While the desert is vast and mostly empty, it’s capital city, Nerkossa, provides quite the unique landmark for visitors to explore to their heart’s content! A lot of the focus on this piece is more of the horizon, but a lot of detail is being put into everything you can actually see of the city from the tile streets to even the planks connecting some of the cliff based domiciles. And, of course, Sapphiria stands front and center, beholding all the desert has to offer alongside her less than enthused best friend. My favorite part of the piece is absolutely Atom’s little hat and poncho, something Sapphiria made for him since he hates sand so much. While I could go on and on about this, how about you just have a WIP image instead!
Youtube
On the Youtube side of things, we had a short that just barely fell short of 1000 views! That’s our newest record by a mile, and I have multiple others planned that I’ll be creating this weekend! We’ve got a pokemon short, multiple ark shorts, and potentially a pikmin short all coming out here very soon, so keep an eye for some more short form content since that seems to be the new hotness.
In terms of long term, more ARk videos are getting scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Pikmin speedruns have been relegated to the Thursday slot. Additionally, the new Svartalfheim short series should be making its mark on Tuesdays once I get into a rhythm, though time and availability may impact this. If there is something I’ve done that someone would liked to see specially, please let me know! I am quite accommodating at the moment for special requests of what to post!
Conclusion
There are a couple of other things I could go on about, but I think that’s enough for one week! I hope you enjoy the short stories as well as the Youtube content flying at you. There’s a lot more where that came from, and potentially a few bonus things over the next week or so! For now, that’s all I have, sooooooooooooooooooooooo… Cheers!
The Flying Fennec