a map of ansar

Let's start this book journey with one of my favourite things: a map.

Welcome to the world of Ansar. (Forgive the watermark – I like sharing my ideas openly, but I’ve learned the hard way not to share anything too easily reposted!)

This isn’t a detailed map with every single woodland and hill and settlement marked on it, but I’ve made it to give myself the lay of the land and inspire additional plot ideas. Having a map to work with often prods me in a new direction with my characters. And honestly? I just like making them. I used Inkarnate to make this one, it’s possibly the best $25 I spent every year.

The circles mark the major cities, while the diamonds mark locations that will have an important role to play in the story. I don’t want to give too much away, but the location in the far northern mountains is Enna’s family seat, Graymark Keep, and you may also spot a location marker on a rock stack in the Air Court. This will be a mysterious ruined city set atop a tepui (like the Air Court’s political capital, Alsita) that Enna and Bram will be forced to delve into in search of something important.

My concept for the world as a whole includes something that Marie Brennan did brilliantly in her series A Natural History of Dragons: ancient civilisations that the characters in the present day are fascinated by in the same way so many of us are fascinated by the Ancient Egyptians.

In the case of Ansar, this is a time from millennia ago where fae and humans lived largely separately, closed off in their own communities in the temperate centre of the continent. Over time, they began to comingle more – the humans needed access to the fae’s command of magic, and the fae needed human procreative and scientific ability to prevent their race from going extinct. That reciprocal relationship continued throughout the centuries that followed, and so in today’s Ansar there is no distinction between species anymore – everyone is a mix of fae and human to a greater or lesser degree, though one strand of heritage may show up particularly strongly on occasion.

These early peoples left great mysteries behind them – the ruined city Bram and Enna will explore of course, but also smaller things like tumble-down temples and improbably strong castles and strange murals full of beasts nobody living has ever seen. I’m going to have a lot of fun incorporating these smaller puzzles among the wider plot.

There are also reasons why the courts developed as they did, but I’m going to save that for a later newsletter I think. For now, I’ll just address one comment I got which asked (fairly!) why people would bother staying in such inhospitable places that they had to rely on magic to survive. My answer is that they live there because of their magic – their abilities enabled them to press outwards from the temperate centre of the world and set down roots in those inhospitable places. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from reading about history, it’s that people will always go just a little bit further than where they can comfortably survive. It’s one of my very favourite things about us.

Before I sign off, I want to say a quick thank you in case anybody here is someone who so kindly contributed ideas and inspiration for the courts! I’ll be crediting you when I post the story too, but for now, here’s some of what I’ve incorporated:

• user661440504157 suggested putting the Air Court at a high altitude to explain their need for air, which sparked off ten million ideas in my brain and reminded me about tepuis, which make incredible fantasy city settings. (In real life of course I want them left well alone, but in my book… oh boy. I’m going to have so much fun.)

• Hopkinsbent, Rock Bottom Wren and several others suggested the Air Court use their magic for sailing/island hopping, which inspired the archipelago you’ll see between the northern and southern sections of their court. Their major trade city, Varoha, is tucked safely in there and one of their major sources of revenue will now be trade, both of their own goods and on behalf of the other courts (particularly Fire) who have less maritime ability.

• beezelbubbles mentioned Ancient Persian yakchal, a kind of refrigerator building that works with air flow. Again, synapses started firing and now I’m pretty sure I’m going to set the southern city of Sahmad in a series of desert rifts, like this beautiful art by Cecile Carre.

• Maggie (I’m sorry I screenshotted your comment and forgot to save your actual username and now can’t find your comment) said the Fire Court should also use their fire for metallurgy and I immediately agreed – so Enna will be coming across several metal mines and workshops while she’s travelling in her own Court!

• Nini told me about volcano cooking by the Portuguese (I think I’ve read that they do this in the Azores?) and so that will for sure be making an appearance, such a cool idea.

Not every suggestion will work for the story, so please forgive me if I can’t include one you make! But it’s been overwhelming in the best way seeing how this sparks everyone’s creativity, so if you want to, please do keep them coming.

I’m ending this here so it doesn’t get too ridiculously long. Thank you so much for reading. Hope to see you back here for the next one. Let me know what you’d like to hear more about (the characters? The cities? The magic?) by emailing hellowintersaints@gmail.com, shooting me a DM on TikTok or commenting here!

All my love,

Ellie x