🗺️Map Reveal: Explore the expansive world of Rage of the Raven Queen
A closer look at the ice-laden mountains, hidden valleys, and sacred islands of Moralann
One of my favourite parts of getting into a new fantasy book is when you crack it open and first come across the map. The unfamiliar names, the sense of wonder, the promise of a new world to explore—it pulls you in, even before you’ve started reading the opening pages.
Rage of the Raven Queen goes far beyond the tight scope of Son of the Thunder Goddess, drawing in a broader range of characters, gods, and places from the wider world of Moralann. I wanted the maps for this book to reflect that larger canvas, and to hint at the even more sweeping adventures to come in later books of The Lays of Athewain.
In this post, I am delighted to present these new maps:
the first showing the archipelago of Moralann
and the second depicting Logren, the region where much of Rage of the Raven Queen takes place
For those of you who have already read Son of the Thunder Goddess, many of these locations will be familiar:
The mighty city of Bridunum,
Centiros and its fearsome host of warriors
Athewain and Nennian’s home of Nanbych,
and the wilderness of the Goednial, where the brothers train under the hermit-warrior Briana’s stern tutelage.
In Rage of the Raven Queen, we travel much farther and meet more of the powers fighting for control of Moralann.
1. Uainlann
The first and greatest of the realms settled by the Moradii people. Hundreds of years ago, thousands fled from across the sea. Men and women, warriors in their prime, the aged, the children, even horses and cattle, sailing in leaky boats to settle and conquer the sprawling lands of Moralann. Uainlann is separated from Logren by the Afon Mar, the largest of Moralann’s rivers. Many tribes and kingdoms dwell here, fighting amongst themselves for dominion.
2. Arnuod
Hall of the Bodtha, goddess of war and Queen of the Ravens. Arnuod is carved into the very heart of an ice-rimmed mountain. It lies deep within the reaches of the north, beyond the limits of Uainlann, a mountainous, craggy region occupied by giants and the hardiest of men. From Arnuod, the Bodtha rages fierce war against the Cuarri, a race of powerful giants who defy the rule of the gods from their mountain stronghold of Sliabaig.
3. Innistwyl
The sacred isle of Innistwyl is home to Moralann’s greatest druidic school. The masters here possess deep knowledge of the arcane Mysteries and train their pupils to be priests, bards, sorcerers and even—it is whispered—the deadliest of assassins. Segar, the treacherous druid of Bridunum, studied here, as did Elath, one of the POV characters in Rage of the Raven Queen.
4. Valley of the Theuda
The Valley of the Theuda lies within the wild forest of the Goednial and borders the rushing waters of the Afon Raedyr. The Theuda are an ancient people, having dwelt in Moralann long before the coming of the Moradii, with whom they fought many wars. Since then, the Theuda’s numbers have greatly dwindled, yet they have continued to endure alongside their more powerful Moradii neighbours.
5. Mount Reath
A towering mountain to the north of Logren, overlooking the dark and swirling seas of the Iarlir. Impossibly steep and jagged, Reath’s fire-scarred summit was once sacred to the Maker, the ancient and mysterious being who comes to Athewain’s aid in the first book. There are rumours that a secret temple to the Maker lies there still, hidden from the watchful eyes of the Sutathar, the last of its kind in all of Moralann.
These maps offer a hint of what is to come—a fantasy world full of history, lore, and mystery, all just waiting to be explored.
I can’t wait for you to explore it with me when Rage of the Raven Queen launches on November 12.
Until then, I’d love to know: what detail in these maps catches your eye the most?
Andrew LiVecchi