Weltentod

The world is dying. Trees are withering, the ground is becoming infertile and the dead refuse to stay dead. Like a sickness it spreads from the west. Out of the iron forest and onto the central planes and the River Lands.

The times of peace and prosperity after the War of the Gods are finally coming to an end after 350 years.

The people refuse to act or are powerless to do so.​

Against this backdrop we follow the three protagonists as they try to find their way in a changing world.

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Giræsea, who was chosen by the Nightmother to be her hand in this world.

Iora, student of an ancient powerful mage who has become her new father.

Áed, a soldier of the empire tasked with the protection of the western border.

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Weltentod refuses to be the grand fantasy epic, its central conflict demands it to be. The end of the world might be dawning, but even so, an individual person still has to live, has to survive, has to love and thrive.

Even in the apocalypse, compassion can be found. Flowers will grow anywhere.

It is a world that has no heroes but a world that values community. 

A narrative that values a gentle touch and a kind word over the blade of a sword.

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The story is as much a tale of fantasy and magic, as it is one of love. One of staring into the face of the inevitable and screaming "I will endure".

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Weltentod is arguably my oldest ongoing project. Back when I started writing it I hadn't even thought up the idea of Quiet Observer yet, let alone that I would one day merge the two.

I was actually 100 pages deep into a sci-fi novel when I hit a roadblock and kinda just stopped. That one back then actually kind of set the groundwork of what I would then continue: To pick a point of view that might not necessarily be familiar to the reader and then refuse to elaborate on things or concepts the protagonist is already familiar with. Do you think about the intricacies of a microwave when using it?

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I was getting into Darkest Dungeon during that time and remember one day thinking "I need to put into words how this world feels". And so I put on Frostnacht by Helrunar and started to write.

A breather in a war. Bodies being burnt. A muddy field. A dead tree. A discarded necklace and someone being killed without resisting. I think it painted a picture.

One thing I changed since then was the malice Áed had towards the elves. I might just be more grown up but I think that just set the wrong tone for what's to come.

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I think the attitude of just writing without any plan of where it would go is something that stuck with me since then. That's how I approach songs and this novel. Just go the way step by step.

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The other distinct memory I have from these early days was seeing the Occultist and thinking "that needs to be a character" and so he became Iora's teacher.

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I don't know if I really thought of it like that but I think when I laid the groundwork for Weltentod it was to be more of an epic tale. This might have been around the time I was reading the Askir series which too is focused on a small cast of characters but there they are much closer tied to the central world ending conflict and are made out to be larger than life heroes. Or it was the Dwarves. Same point to make, really.

I don't want my characters to be these super human figures. They are normal people in unforeseen circumstances. They try to do good and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. They are often overwhelmed with the situations they are put in. They make mistakes. They are human. (despite them being orcs, dwarves, elves etc)