Once again, some adjustments to my plans — this time regarding content development — and a few real-life circumstances interfering with them. Overall, it was a fairly smooth week, working as usual, but let’s go over things in order.
Established a Content Development Workflow
Taliskarn — even just the Malkona continent — is pretty vast. I’ll need to write a lot of articles about the regions, peoples, and the world at large. The main problem turned out to be quite simple: it wasn’t clear where to start.
I made a master list of regions — came out to around 40–50 (the exact number keeps shifting as development progresses) zones that definitely deserve their own articles because they’re packed with unique features and flavor. I looked at the list, gave it some thought, and here’s what I came up with:
- One of the main goals — and at the same time one of the main difficulties — is making the world feel cohesive. Neighboring locations influence each other: economy, politics, geography, wildlife — all interconnected. So when nothing’s written yet, it’s hard to start: you don’t know what’s around, which means you don’t know what affects what.
- I tried starting with a region I’d already thought a lot about during early story planning — the Warm Sea. The idea was simple: “I already have a bunch of material for it, so it should be easier.”
- It wasn’t. The Warm Sea is a very complex region to build: it blends multiple cultures, biomes, and themes. I think it’ll remain tricky even when the surrounding zones are done.
- So I tried a different approach: start with a region that’s the least affected by its neighbors. For example, the Scarred Lands of Bruna (specifically, the Cursed Blood Desert): it’s such a harsh, self-contained area that its surroundings influence it only minimally.
- Then, once you’ve fleshed out a “bright spot on the map,” move on to a neighboring region that is strongly influenced by that one, but not so much by others. For me, that was the Ashen Frontier (I skipped over the desert north of Bruna and the Crumpled Wastes for now, but I have some rough drafts for those that I want to revisit and polish a bit more).
- And so on.
This approach worked really well, and I’ve made solid progress — though I didn’t get to cover all of Verda yet, of course.
Wrote Up Several Regions and Articles
At the moment, everything’s still in draft/reference format: lots of information, few details, zero literary polish. It’s basically a working outline, but a very valuable one — especially for me. Even at this rough stage, each region takes about 3–5 A4 pages.
Completed (only in Russian for now, the English version is delayed until the beta phase starts):
Also fleshed out the Saltuars overall and their six main ethnic groups. Plus, I wrote the article on the spirit concept in Verda. And the myth and creature list of Malkona has grown with the addition of the Valgarns (see Wilderreach), which I’m really happy about.
Still Learning to Draw
Ran into a physical issue: using the iPad hurt my shoulder (when it’s angled more vertically) or my neck (when it’s too horizontal). Not ideal. Switched to a Wacom tablet — now I draw on the desk and look at a monitor. Much more comfortable, though it takes getting used to. Still struggling with anatomy, but I’m happy with the progress. Nothing to show yet, but I can clearly see I’m moving forward.
Plans for the Coming Week
I’ve nearly wrapped up the Saltuar section — just have Sudjo left (which leans more toward the Warm Sea) and the Southern Coast (which is its own thing, heavily influenced by Prymar culture). This week, I’ll try to finish the Arydars — there’s tons of material on them already, just needs formatting — and, ideally, the Prymars too. Then the Southern Coast will also fall into place, and what’ll remain in Verda are the Warm Sea and the Crumpled Wastes + the desert nearby.
And of course, keep drawing. And working. Everything’s moving steadily forward — Taliskarn is growing bit by bit. See you in next week’s devlog!