Guide to Kroma
Guide to Kroma was me and Spire Eaton's first collaborative project, released through Kickstarter in August 2020. It is a fantasy travel guide to the imaginary city of Kroma, the capital of the Shungvales continent. Guide to Kroma is available to buy in the Stout Stoat Press shop, or you can pick up a PDF at itch.io.
Spire and I love to worldbuild together, so this zine was a way to finally share just a little slice of the world we'd been creating for years. The continent of Shungvales is surrounded by magical rifts that leak extremely dangerous and unfiltered magic called zhave. Zhave is so important to the people of Kroma that the region and language is even named after it: Zhavise. One of my hobbies is conlanging, so if you're interested in learning more about the Zhavise language you can check out the wee* write-up I've done on it!
The zhave that emanates from the rifts may either cause storms that have extreme effects on their surroundings, or may congeal into forms that mimic living creaures. These "creatures" are known as rainbows. Though little is known about how and why they form, they are a known constant in the lives of people across Shungvales, and many orders have cropped up over the years to deal with this danger. The most famous of these orders is the Oroshadan ("royal protectors"), who are based in Kroma. Other such orders include Es Mivene, Bazkivkan, Eddlyr Uts, and Uyrikk.
As part of the Guide to Kroma Kickstarter, I ran a game of the one-shot TTRPG that came with the book. Spire drew scenes from the game live as the players tried to save the day at the Flower Festival. You can watch it here!
In the future Spire and I hope to be able to make at least one more travel guide featuring Ebavazhto, another of Shungvales' largest cities. Ebavazhto (often shortened to "Eba" by the locals) is on the opposite coast to Kroma, nestled in the bay of Etuji Matho. Etuji and Zhavise culture are very different, but Eba has had a lot of Zhavise influence thanks to ties with the Oroshadan; traditionally, dishonourably discharged Oroshadan knights were banished to the islands of Asochebazis in the north of Shungvales. Many knights, fearing this exile, would divert their journeys to Eba instead. There's a lot for us to talk about when it comes to Eba and its history, so hopefully we can put the Guide to Eba together soon!
Spire and I love to worldbuild together, so this zine was a way to finally share just a little slice of the world we'd been creating for years. The continent of Shungvales is surrounded by magical rifts that leak extremely dangerous and unfiltered magic called zhave. Zhave is so important to the people of Kroma that the region and language is even named after it: Zhavise. One of my hobbies is conlanging, so if you're interested in learning more about the Zhavise language you can check out the wee* write-up I've done on it!
* huge
The zhave that emanates from the rifts may either cause storms that have extreme effects on their surroundings, or may congeal into forms that mimic living creaures. These "creatures" are known as rainbows. Though little is known about how and why they form, they are a known constant in the lives of people across Shungvales, and many orders have cropped up over the years to deal with this danger. The most famous of these orders is the Oroshadan ("royal protectors"), who are based in Kroma. Other such orders include Es Mivene, Bazkivkan, Eddlyr Uts, and Uyrikk.
As part of the Guide to Kroma Kickstarter, I ran a game of the one-shot TTRPG that came with the book. Spire drew scenes from the game live as the players tried to save the day at the Flower Festival. You can watch it here!
In the future Spire and I hope to be able to make at least one more travel guide featuring Ebavazhto, another of Shungvales' largest cities. Ebavazhto (often shortened to "Eba" by the locals) is on the opposite coast to Kroma, nestled in the bay of Etuji Matho. Etuji and Zhavise culture are very different, but Eba has had a lot of Zhavise influence thanks to ties with the Oroshadan; traditionally, dishonourably discharged Oroshadan knights were banished to the islands of Asochebazis in the north of Shungvales. Many knights, fearing this exile, would divert their journeys to Eba instead. There's a lot for us to talk about when it comes to Eba and its history, so hopefully we can put the Guide to Eba together soon!