Development of my epic fantasy Celenic Earth Chronicles Book 1: The Windfarer

Back in the year 2000 when I was twenty years old, the idea came to me for an epic fantasy series, based on the main character who was called Shadowolf Degron. The first volume is called the Celenic Earth Chronicles, and is a trilogy based on his home world, obviously named Celenic Earth. It was more the end of the book, the major war that would eventually span over 100 pages and ten chapters in the final Part.

Today I want to talk about my very first novel, what led up to it and how it came to be.

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INFLUENCES

My writing was heavily influenced by other fantasy writers back then. These included the following which I was reading ath that tender adolescent age:

• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien,
• The Dragons of Pern by Anne McCaffrey,
• The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman,
• The Riftwar Saga by Robert E. Feist,
• The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen E. Donaldson,
• The Saga of Recluce by L. E. Modesitt Jr.,
• Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin novels.

Strangely enough, many who have read The Windfarer mentioned that Part 1: The Asbec College of Elements, reminded them of J.K Rowling's Harry Potter books, while Parts 2 and 3 of the book reminded them of Lord of the Rings. I had never even heard of Harry Potter until the movies emerged. And I only saw The Philosopher's Stone in 2002, just before the Chamber of Secrets release.

As much as I am now a Harry Potter fan, owning all the movies and books and having quite a vast knowledge of the story, to say that anything in the Celenic Earth Chronicles was influenced by the Harry Potter series would only be a half-truth. Sure, I introduced the theme of witches in sequel, The DragonRider, but that was more influenced by my love of The Charmed tv series than anything else.

However, the magic found in the world of Celenic Earth is very original. Even with all my fantasy reading over the years, I wanted to create a magical world that was like no other. The way the magic of the elements are harnessed and mastered, I wanted something brand new that was like nothing I had ever read before.

It would only be in the year 2011 that I would find something close to the magic in my novels. The Windfarer was published in 2007, The DragonRider was published in 2008 and The Sadgi was completed in 2009 but only published in 2015. When I played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in preparation for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I was amazed at how the game was so similar to my novels. Sure, the stories were very different, but they held so many of the same themes. And the dragons in Skyrim was how I envisioned the dragons in The DragonRider were.

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THE THEME

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I have always been fascinated with the natural elements of fire, water, earth, air and spirit. As a matter of fact, as a teen growing up through depression and mostly lonely, I believed I had the ability to summon the wind at will. Whether mother nature was simply indulging me at the time simply to help me with what I was going through, who will know.

My love for air, feeling the wind caress my hair or wipe my sweaty brow on the soccer field, was what drove me to write about someone that had the ability to master wind. Which was where the title The Windfarer arose.

I have also had a love for the canine family since I was a toddler. I had a particular love for wolves, even though at that time these wonderful animals was seen as an omen of evil or some dire events. Today, of course, most love wolves for their loyalty and loving nature like I always have. And so, wolves play a large part in the series.

When Fallout 4 (a game by Bethesda) allowed players to have a canine companion throughout the game, it so reminded me, and many of my readers , of Nelnar, Shadowolf's wolf that was always with him through all his adventures. My heart was warmed by all the twitter Direct Messages where readers felt like the Fallout companion was like Nelnar. It is always so wonderful for an author to know how much their stories mean to others.

And so, the magic of the natural elements and my love for wolves drove the main themes and atmospheric settings for the books.

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INSPIRED CHARACTERS

Shadowolf Degron

My nickname since I was 16 when my parents divorced was Shadowolf, Shado for short by my closest friends. It is therefore no surprise that this would become the name of the main character. I won't share in detail how the name Shadowolf came to be, as that is rather too personal, but the name is firmly tattooed on my back, under a wolf howling at the moon.

It is no surprise then that I would name the main character after my nickname, since my alter ego in the book shares many of the traits I have, and wish I had.

Skywolf

When I was twenty years old, I was dating someone at the time who decided to take on a wolf nickname too after she met me. She became known as Skywolf. It was the intention that Shadowolf and Skywolf were to become the key relationship through the novels. However, by 2003 our relationship dissolved. Fortunately, I had only written the history of Celenic Earth, planned out the Parts and chapters of the book and written the first chapter. I decided to keep Skywolf as a key character in the book, but they would no longer play the main relationship role.

Angelia

After that relationship, I dated someone else for a year or two. I used to call her my angel, which is where the name for Angelia came from. I proceeded to write the remaining chapters of Act 1, and you will see a growing friendship between Shadowolf and Angelia in the first part. When we broke up, I again decided to keep the Angelia character, but they would not serve as the central love theme to the story.

Darcwulf

Growing up, I had a best friend that was like a brother to me. We had our ups and downs, vanishing in and out of each other's lives, sometimes for years. Taking on the wolf name with me, he opted for Darcwulf. The closeness between Shadowolf and Darcwulf reflected our brotherhood in real life at that time, and how we would take on challenges together.

Angelica

The real-life Darcwulf was engaged to someone we called Angelicus, her chosen pagan name (she practised wicca at the time). In the first novel, I introduced her as Angelica as someone that had strong spiritual magic. They would eventually break up in real life, leading to the disappearance of Angelica by the second novel. But more on that later.

Shedaaij

Growing tired of basing novel characters on real people, and realising how it was messing with my story, I decided to create a love for Shadowolf that was born completely from my mind, just like every other character in the series was. So I created Shedaaij, half mermaid from her mother's side, half human from her father's side. She would be the bridge between the people of the land and the mer-kingdom in the oceans.

What was great about creating her was that, no matter how bad real-life relationships became, she would not be influenced by them at all. She would be Shadowolf's strength, the companion that drove him and the wisdom that would guide him. And the love he could not live without.

Nelnar

When I was 3 years old, my dad bought me a border collie puppy. Skipper grew up with me and stayed with me until he was 13 years old. That fondness of having a canine companion, and everything that we did together, was translated into Shadowolf's wolf companion, Nelnar. Writing their parts was maybe the hardest times for me, as I still remember how close we were back then.

The Hand of the Orion

In 2005, I obtained and played Soul Calibur 3 on the Xbox 360. There is a mode where you can create your own characters on a separate story mode. There were five characters I created that became epic fighters. My love for them was so great that I incorporated them as the Hand of Orion. Their descriptions and weapons, and the names I gave them, are exactly as they were in the game.

Chenesia

Chenesia was born out of several desires for the series. I didn't want a series that focussed on Shadowolf alone, but that would lead towards them one day meeting. The Windfarer sees two stories unfold, that of Shadowolf and one of Chenesia. While Shadowolf holds the main story, Chenesia's tale is just as important. Other smaller tales are also told, which is a foreshadowing to events that happen in future volumes, but Chenesia helped me break a singular focus on one character alone.

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RACES AND CREATURES

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Thanks for my love for Lord of the Rings, long before the movies were even thought of, I wanted a world where the three main races were humans, elves and dwarves. Each would have their own sort of kingdoms, not really mingling with one another due to their different cultures and way of living.

Despite their separation, I needed a story that explored their kingdoms, one that affected all of them and that would bring them together. Creating Chenesia helped me introduce the Vale of Tigers and the dwarven race beautifully into the story.

Of course, I also had to introduce the orc race at the start, even though they would somehow fade out as the series evolved. With the dark lord Le'Mar having access to other worlds, this meant that new races could be introduced to take on the races of Celenic Earth.

For a full bestiary of creatures, you can visit my visual glossary on my blog. There are several things I tried with the Windfarer. I brought forward the normal races on would expect from a Tolkien epic fantasy these days, such as the humans, elves and dwarves. Secondly, I experimented with bringing in other mythological creatures one would not have expected with these races, such as fairies, vampires, mermaids and gargoyles. Lastly, I created my own creatures which have never been heard of before, such as Froth Huns, Ma-wreths and Carners.

The Windfarer might appear like a mix of strange creatures at first, but as the story evolves into The DragonRider and finally The Sadgi with the end war in mind, everything becomes clear.

What amazed me was how the story itself evolved over time. Yes, it still went as planned, but as I writing, new ideas came to me, and it look on a mutation of its own. The sudden change in one of the villains, Trimistus, who is a reptilian creature from another world, into one of the main heroes with his own storyline was unplanned.

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STORY AND EXCERPT

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I developed the story of the Windfarer, and the entire series, with the use of spider diagrams. As I evolved as a writer, knowing what publishers are looking for, I developed the stories using story arcs and chapter breakdowns, while maintaining the spider diagrams for my initial creative process.

Here is the short synopsis of The Windfarer:

"A shadow grows over Celenic Earth, as foul creatures attack the villages. The leader of hurorcs and purorcs commands them to attack the southern tribes, and is captured. But Mercius, once known as the Windfarer, finally breaks free after years of imprisonment and sets his sight upon the Asbec College of Elements where an ancient power is rumoured to be hidden.

Shadowolf is in his last year of studies at the College when word of the escape spreads. Strange things happen and he becomes entwined in a world of mystery and murder, using the power of the elements to survive. Ignoring the secret meetings of the Headmaster with four professors collectively called the Sandrihelin, Shadowolf returns home and does everything in his ability to protect the five southern wolf tribes. He merely frustrates Mercius’s plans, but significantly learns that Mercius is subservient to a dark lord; someone more powerful, known as Le’Mar.

Between the protection of his family, the loyalty of the Shadow Clan and the new-found love of his life, can he pull himself away to stop Mercius from reaching his goal? For neither the elves nor the dwarves can stop him should he gain the power he seeks. Even the dark lord seems troubled.

The Masaran Phenomenon approaches, and the “Prophecy of the Windfarer” is upon them."

The Prophecy of the Windfarer is rather a big deal. It is only towards the end of the entire series that the importance of the first prophecy is realised. Therefore, I want to share the first prophecy as an excerpt to the novel.

“He serves none; he walks alone in the passages of time,
For he has bound his soul with another; their powers are one.
He rides upon the wind as if it were his own,
He rides the dragon as if he were its king,
To finally destroy all those before his throne.

He journeys the world; fear is the tool of his power.
His name spreads over the earth, and they tremble.
With bow, horn, staff, dagger and sword he will kill the Sadgi,
With fire, wind, earth, water and soul he will rectify.
He rules the phoenix by becoming one with his ensemble.

Earth, ocean, sky and mountain will be his command.
Yet, with these powers, the land will be his battlefield.
In the end, blood will run from his hands.
In the end, with victory he will leave the land,
With his powers as his conquest and shield.

The Masaran Phenomenon will awaken his power.
He is the Windfarer, the DragonRider, the Sadgi.”

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CONCLUSION

The story of The Windfarer still resonates deep within me. I started to write it in the year 2000 and finally completed it in 2006 once I had decided I wanted to become a published author and dedicated my time to completing it. Although The Sadgi would become the most powerful book I have ever written thus far, The Windfarer is the jewel that would set my career to what it is today.

Thank you so much for all of you who actually read all of this. I will be following this up soon with discussing the second book, The DragonRider, and what went into the development of the book and why the pace differed from the first novel.

If you would like a copy of this book, please see my publisher's page for more details: https://celenicearthpublications.wordpress.com/library/windfarer/

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Kind regards

Shaun M Jooste

Joint-Owner: AIR Entertainment (https://airentertainment.biz)
Director: Celenic Earth Publications (https://celenicearthpublications.wordpress.com)
Author, Screenwriter, Gamewriter, Journalist (https://celenicearth.wordpress.com)