Chapter 4 is up! This one was a challenge to write — Marek is the character I find most difficult because he's deliberately not a talker, and so much of his chapter had to be shown through action and environment rather than interiority.

The Ashfen was inspired by a combination of Irish boglands and some marshland near where I grew up. There's something deeply unsettling about a landscape that seems to have no edges, no clear horizon. I wanted that feeling in this chapter — the sense that Marek has entered something that doesn't quite obey the rules of the world he knows.

The map for the Ashfen region is now up in the Gallery as well. I've also added a small update to the world map to reflect new place names introduced this chapter.

Chapter 5 is drafted and on track for a March 6 release. Thank you all for reading. ✦

Chapter 3 is live. This is the first chapter that takes place entirely in one location — Duskwall — and writing it felt like building a stage set before the actors arrive.

I've been asked a few times now whether the council represents a specific political structure. The short answer is: loosely, yes. The longer answer involves a lot of medieval history reading and some uncomfortable parallels I noticed while drafting. I'll write a proper lore post on the Council's structure in the coming weeks.

The Duskwall city map is in the Gallery now — I drew it by hand and then cleaned it up digitally. I'm not a trained illustrator, so be kind! More maps on the way as the world expands.

One of the central conceits of The Founding is that the world doesn't have settled names yet. The lands, the factions, even the people — at the story's start, much of the world is still in the process of being named.

This isn't a gimmick. It reflects something I find genuinely interesting about early history: the way names get attached to places and people is itself a political act. To name something is to claim it, or to acknowledge it, or to fix it in time. The act of naming is one of the founding acts this story is about.

You'll notice this most with The Councillor — the character in Chapter 3 who never gets a name in the text. That's intentional. I'll explain why (and whether they ever get named) later in the story.

Hello, and welcome. If you're reading this, you've found the start of something I've been building in private for the better part of two years.

The Founding is a serial fantasy novel. New chapters will be posted on a two-week schedule. Some will be free to all readers. Others will be part of the premium archive, accessible with a one-time unlock. I'll explain that structure in more detail in a separate post — but the short version is: the free chapters will always tell you where the story is going, and the premium chapters fill in the world around them.

I'll also be posting maps, character art, world-building notes, and audio narration as we go. This site is meant to grow with the story.

Thank you for being here. Chapter 1 is up now. Go read it. ✦