TLDR: Ending the Leaves of Terranthir project for various reasons. Thursday slot will be variable but undefined, AH, AH side, or used for potential new projects.

Hello all. So as the title suggests, I’m dropping Leaves. Likely forever. I apologize to those who enjoyed reading it and hope it’s not too annoying for it to be left where it’s at. There weren’t any major plot threads even started which shouldn’t make it a devastating cut off.

I went into great detail to explain my reasoning for starting the story and still stand by all that. The experience helped me tremendously, from a writing, mindset, and community perspective. Mindset wise it was needed and switching things up a little made the whole process of writing exciting again, revitalizing both AH and Leaves for me personally. I’m aware that from a reader’s perspective that may or may not have been apparent.

From a writing perspective, well most of you know that I started AH without much prior experience or education in writing. It worked out and here we are. But while I have progressed in many aspects, other things have not become apparent until I started Leaves. The story has a lot of glaring issues, some of which pointed out by feedback and other things simply leaving me unsatisfied personally. The main reason I’m dropping the story however is simply because it’s not fun to write anymore.

The whole idea was to make both the character and world a little more heavy, in a sense as an antithesis to the feel of Azarinth. But in the end there is a reason I could write millions of words for AH without burning out. It just works for me. The different approach to Leaves helped me clear my head and gain inspiration but as a continuous project, it’s starting to bog me down more than anything else. If you were interested in what the plans were for Adrian and what the world had in store, I’ll add a segment at the end with some of that.

I plan to continue experimenting with new stories and systems to keep things fresh for myself and to work on my skills as a writer. The Thursday slot will be used variably for that. I’ll post whatever else I’m working on in the Discord, where those who are interested can check it out. If anything else I write gets to 10-20 chapters, I might put it up on Royalroad.

Following are just thoughts on Leaves and writing. Worldbuilding stuff and story plans for Leaves at the end.

What worked and what didn’t:

For Leaves specifically, I think I realized that a character like Adrian requires defined plot threads to push him forward, because as a character himself, he’s just not very fun. The pacing became an issue rather quickly, as I tried a different style at the beginning with much more focus on descriptions and mood. Very little happened and even now we’ve barely scratched the surface of the world he’s found himself in.

The system was planned to allow for unique skills and combinations from various gear he finds along the way. He would level his base stats and skills to get a personal power bar and all the gear would be added on top, maybe gloves that allow for a fireball spell, or a chest piece with a flying ability. Having so many variable pieces turned out to quite obviously be a shit ton of work to both write and balance. He’s just now starting to get somewhat specialized with his base stats alone but his gear is still the main focus.

I think the exciting parts of the AH system are the evolutions of both skills and Classes, the experimentation and heavily personalized skillset. Adrian having only a single skill is simply not as exciting, both from a sheer litrpg dopamine perspective, as well as for possible solutions and future changes.

The choice to have him start entirely alone was based on the oppressing / Soulsy feel I tried to convey. I feel like I succeeded in channeling that energy but in the end it’s a concept that I may not have the skill to pull off quite yet. Character interactions are important after all, and a solo adventure may work a little better in a game. Though I have read gamelit stories where the mc barely had an interaction for dozens of chapters and still enjoyed it.

The lack of direction was inspired by souls as well and should’ve led to lots of options for Adrian to choose but because of the starting location and how the system was set up, a cautious approach of farming near endlessly seemed most appropriate. And the pacing of fights and exploration led to not a lot happening in nearly three hundred pages. This is of course similar to whole sections of AH but because Ilea is simply more fun and lighthearted, it’s way more enjoyable to read (or so I’d like to think). Coupled of course with the many character interactions, interesting new monster types, and most importantly skills changes / level ups.

I enjoyed exploring Adrian as a character and setting up his development. I suppose in the future he would’ve become more reckless and uncaring for death, experimenting with potions and magic to fight dangerous creatures with little regard for his own health. But of course the whole slice of life aspect is a little lost when the world itself is mostly just monster infested and dead. The switches in AH between character interactions / exploration / fighting / town management keep things fresh I think.

What I certainly felt was the much higher tension. Where death itself of course wasn’t a danger, Adrian could lose any fight he got into. Compared to forced narrative tension where it’s mostly impossible for the mc to die anyway. The low level stuff however was certainly a nice change of pace, but I do prefer the more hands on approach of Ilea compared to the somewhat cautious and ranged one of Adrian.

As to the power progression, I think a middle ground between Leaves and early AH is for the best.

What happened in Faenhold?

Olsdaat was a very magical continent with various monsters and powerful beings both human and not. The mentioned Guardians were/are godlike creatures mixing both eldritch/folklore/divine qualities and aspects.

The mentioned Numera Empire were a highly industrialized magitech dwarven people that invaded Olsdaat from the east 20-30 years prior to the start of the story. Their military allowed them to push far and hard, Olsdaat being incredibly valuable compared to their much more hostile continent.

In the end they managed to push far, leaving Olsdaat with little chance of victory.

The most influential and powerful leaders of the continent either banded together / were manipulated / paid to work on a plan to defeat the invaders. I called them the Envoys of Retribution.

These included King Merthor of Faenhold, a just king who didn’t want to see the lands fall into the hands of the invaders.

The Witch of Fae, a floating void witch monster living in a deep forest comparable to an ocean – She was simply interested in the destruction this plan would bring.

Next we had Miralinis, queen of the White Castle, ice magic and a palace of glass/ice deep in the western mountains with for Olsdaat highly industrialized tech.

The Witch Lurial, living in a swamp area east of Faenhold who loves corruption/destruction in general and a major player in setting up this collaboration.

A Dragon in the east who was tricked and sealed away due to his young age.

And finally the Leader of the northern tribes whose peoples lived in a great desert. Their capital was the source of the Whisper, a ritual like spell involving most of the Envoys and a captured Guardian of Olsdaat. The spell killed and turned most living creatures in most of the continent into undead, including some of the Envoys themselves. Both the invading forces and the people of Olsdaat itself were pretty much wiped out instantly, leaving both the Empire and whatever was left in Olsdaat in absolute shambles.

For this plan to succeed, the Envoys had to weaken/seal/trick the Guardians first, each trapped/bribed/tricked in ways fitting with their powers. Otherwise the Envoys suspected the Guardians would’ve prevented the ritual.

One of the Guardians was Terranthir, the white tree/s and a god like being related to life and nature. King Merthor hid away one of the trees right next to his royal chambers because he suspected the devastating effects of the Whisper but felt himself trapped in the choice either way. What he wanted was to provide the continent after the Whisper a chance to regain its former glory.

Terranthir, woken up after the events of the Whisper started summoning those who gave up on their own realm, giving them the same powers Adrian received and putting them in various locations throughout the continent. There were about 50 people summoned before Adrian, many of them dead by the start of the story. Ten years have passed since the Whisper and once Adrian would’ve reached a sufficient level, Terranthir would’ve informed him about the quest – Both freeing the trapped Guardians, killing the corrupted/undead Envoys, and finally ending the still active Whisper that greatly subdues life and magic throughout Olsdaat. He would’ve offered to find a way to bring Adrian back if he succeeded in this mission.

The plan was to provide interesting environments much like in Souls, to fight the various Envoys in, with characters both also Leaves of Terranthir (the summoned) and locals/veterans/scavengers with their own objectives/goals. Yrenor for one had the goal to free the souls of the Faenhold peoples and finally their King, who was undead and in the Throne room of the castle. He himself had been a Kingsguard previously, and was in the south leading a guerilla force to fight the invaders where the range of the Whisper didn’t reach their troops.

So it would’ve mostly been a gearing / leveling up journey for Adrian as he explored the continent, finding the various Guardians and Envoys before ultimately trying to stop the ongoing ritual, or simply watching the Guardians do what he lacked the power to achieve.

In the end Adrian would’ve gone back or stayed, depending on where his character would’ve been at mentally. Perhaps he would’ve found purpose in the plight of Terranthir and the people of Olsdaat, making friends he wouldn’t have wanted to leave behind, or perhaps he would’ve wanted to rest back on Earth.

And that’s pretty much it. Not sure yet what will come next but I’ll keep you updated for sure :).