Daybreak on Concavia.
Added 2025-06-26 20:42:04 +0000 UTCHere’s something a little different from the usual Humanity Lost pages, a rare glimpse into my upcoming fantasy project, Concavia. For those
Here’s something a little different from the usual Humanity Lost pages, a rare glimpse into my upcoming fantasy project, Concavia. For those unfamiliar or who haven’t seen my previous post on Concavia, I’ve included some of the earlier pieces for context, and I’ll explain a little bit here as well.
Concavia is a world completely unlike our own, yet similar in many ways. It has clouds and trees; mountains and streams; it even has day and night. But where it differs, the gulfs are vast. The inhabitants of Concavia do not dwell on the outside of their world-sphere, like we do, but on the inside. This vast, hollow, concave realm is lit by a sleeping sun-god named Leuada, who has remained in a coma-like state since the “Days of Gold”.
Concavia was shaped by Leuada and his divine children from the body of his primordial twin brother, Tàmhas. Around Leuada revolve four ring-shaped “moons,” like an astronomical sphere. These moons cast shadows across the inner surface of the world, bringing about night. The descendants of Tàmhas, the Dwalves, slip through the shadowy places of the world, seeking to reunite their dark lord’s sundered soul with his broken body, an act that would bring about the end of the world. But that is all I will say of that here, there is much more to reveal in time…
I’ve also been studying and teaching myself how to write in Old English alliterative verse. The creation myth of this strange world will be told through in-universe source documents written in that style. The prose of the illustrated novel itself will be composed in an Anglish-style language, further lending an ancient and otherworldly tone which I hope will steep the reader in the strangeness of this world from the first page.
Anyway, that’s enough about my next project, let’s get back to Humanity Lost!
Comments
How long do nights usually last in Concavia? Do they differ in the seasons like ours do?
RyGuy
2025-10-10 04:30:26 +0000 UTCThanks so much! It means a lot mate 🙏🏻
Callum Diggle
2025-06-29 16:43:38 +0000 UTCThere won’t be any non-humanoid races except mermen/maids, basically all of the races are very human looking. There are some apemen, some elven humans with elongated skulls, there are even some very small in stature races like gnomes, but there are no insect people, or feline people, or lizard people or anything like that. The feeling of Concavia is more Myths and legends than spec-evo fantasy, I’ve tried to be a true to the source material that inspired Concavia rather than going for something approximating sci-fantasy. The Dwalves will be spindly, slender, shadowy figures, and when I say shadowy I mean they are literally shadows that are black as pitch.
Callum Diggle
2025-06-29 16:42:40 +0000 UTCwhat the hell this is actually amazing. didn’t look like you held back for this one and damn are my eyes blessed for it
Miningation
2025-06-29 14:26:01 +0000 UTCWill there be nonhumanoid races. Like the dwelves having a moth look? I just thought of this because the guys cape above reminds me almost of a butterfly for some reason
Fruit hat
2025-06-28 01:25:47 +0000 UTCThanks mate! It will be difficult, but I can manage I think. I don’t know how to use any 3d software, I should probably teach myself tbh, it would make my life a lot easier 😅 What would you recommend using? Bear in mind I only have an iPad, no computer.
Callum Diggle
2025-06-27 14:20:22 +0000 UTCLove what you have in mind with the lore being told through in-universe documents! I would wonder that with the sky never being only blue it would become very tedious recreating the world map for each shot, have you thought of any solutions? Maybe a 3d model that you can overlay and trace?
Lukak
2025-06-27 12:24:23 +0000 UTCSounds very cool.
Maeve Hightower
2025-06-27 10:29:43 +0000 UTCHaha, sure! Long story short: the strife between Leuada and Tàmhas began when Tàmhas shaped Mehter (the mother goddess) from his spit and the sandy loam of Gelh, which was then the single primordial ring before it was split into four moons. Her form was lifeless, so Leuada breathed life into her lungs. This made Tàmhas jealous. Leuada and Mehter spent a long time away from Tàmhas, and during that time they had five children. One day, Leuada gave Mehter rest from mothering by taking the children for a walk with him. While they were gone, Tàmhas crept up to Mehter, and when she would not yield to his advances, he took what was not given and forced himself upon her. When Leuada heard his lover’s screams, he came in fury and struck Tàmhas. They fought, and Leuada was victorious. He then bade his wife and children to shape Concavia from the soulless form of his fallen twin. It soon came to be known, however, that Mehter was once more with child. But when the baby was born, he bore no likeness to Leuada. He was the son of Tàmhas. They named him Dhegoma, “the dark broad earth,” for he had the semblance of the banished primordial Tàmhas. The six gods worked their craft on Concavia and gave shape to each of their domains. In their labours they found love. Duneos showered Florawah’s flowers; Firalah’s creatures crawled from Woodir’s seas; and Swoma’s shrooms lit Dhegoma’s depths. The children of Duneos and Florawah are the Alves . The children of Woodir and Firalah are the Albes. And the children of Dhegoma and Swoma are the Dwalves. Basically, in the deep places where Swoma and Dhegoma dwelt together, they were close to Tàmhas. Dhegoma, his son, came under his influence. Swoma, in her love for Dhegoma, remained by his side, though she was at first hesitant. Without going through the whole tale (the full cosmogony will be available to read fairly soon), Dhegoma, Swoma, and their children — the Dwalves — dug something called the Hourglass Stairwell. It was a tunnel that led from the outer shell of Concavia to its inner surface. In the conflict that followed, their parents were slain, and the Dwalves were stopped and scattered by the gods and their children. The Albes were charged with defending the stairwell, and a magical seal was placed over and around it. Now the Dwalves roam the wilds, hoping to find a way to free their father Dhegoma (who was banished beyond Concavia during the battle), and their grandfather, the dark lord Tàmhas. Doomsday and salvation cults formed around the name of Tàmhas, and in time, some mortals came to worship the Dwalves and the dark powers they offered. I’ve based the Dwalves in Concavia on my reading of source documents concerning the dwarfs of Germanic myth and legend. In various sources, they are described as dark elves, intermediary beings between gods and mortals. They are dark in the sense of being shadowy and elusive, slipping into people’s ears and noses while they sleep to cause nightmares or illness. They are called dwarfs not because of small stature, but because they can shrink and slip through any crack or hole they choose. They may travel in daylight in the form of animals, but the sun is harmful to them. This image of the dwarf from myth and legend is far removed from popular fantasy portrayals. They are more like spindly shadows, the word “spider” is sometimes used to describe them. So in Concavia, I have tried to be more faithful to the old sources, to recover the image of the dwarf (or Dwalf, as I call them) as a truly terrifying, eldritch, shadowy figure that can shape-shift, vanish through cracks in stone, and phase through sand. You’re probably wondering, how can anyone kill a shadow that can vanish in a moment? Well, I’ve pulled their weaknesses from the same old sources and baked them into Concavia’s lore. They are vulnerable to all forms of light, including fire, and are also harmed by iron and the sound of iron clanging on iron. Here’s an excerpt from Concavia regarding iron: “Iron is the blood of Támhas, it runs red in the stone, It is the ore men also call bloodstone. The seams of iron that snake underfoot and through the high hills were cooled and set after Támhas’ soul was sundered from his shape and his soulless shell was shaped into our world. To the Dwalves, iron in its raw form brings no hurt. They dwell among it, delve through it, and carve their halls deep where iron threads wind like old scars. But once iron is taken and wrought by fire and will, it becomes more. Forged iron strikes dread in the hearts of Dwalves, for it shows mastery over their lord, that which was once his lifeblood has been tamed and turned into a thing to be wielded like any tool. To wield such a thing is to bear a token of Támhas’ overthrow. The Dwalves, lesser than Támhas in might and standing, and born of his shadow, feel the bite of worked irons edge. The din of iron on iron also weakens them, and keeps them from shifting their shape or slipping through stone, but they hate the chime of iron bells most of all.” ——— “Who is doomed || Dwalves to find, Mark this lay || to mind now bind. Gift a mistress gold || give a maid silver, Copper for craftsmen || cast but a sliver. For the shape-shifter || in stone-bound hall, Smith shaped Iron || shall bring his Fall.”
Callum Diggle
2025-06-27 08:03:08 +0000 UTCAlready I want to know just how there are descendants of the planet they were presumably created on. And if they'll wind up having a better reason for it than wanting to meet their ancestor for a few seconds LOL
Maeve Hightower
2025-06-27 01:40:51 +0000 UTCThanks Rohan! 🙏🏻
Callum Diggle
2025-06-26 21:45:27 +0000 UTCThanks for the kind words Michael! So much research has gone into this, I even learned a new art form (alliterative verse) specifically for it. I’m really glad that you’re as exited to read it as I am to write it!
Callum Diggle
2025-06-26 21:29:59 +0000 UTCThis is really cool, Awesome work!
Rohan Sinha
2025-06-26 21:22:41 +0000 UTCThe amount of work and research you put into your work is inspiring. I love this project and can't wait to see how it continues to evolve!
Michael Ruiz
2025-06-26 20:58:57 +0000 UTCPRAISE LEUADA! 🌞 Cheers brother!
Callum Diggle
2025-06-26 20:43:48 +0000 UTCGLORIOUS
Ryan
2025-06-26 20:42:54 +0000 UTC
