Last week I sent the manuscript of Book 4 of The Wolves of Vimar series. It’s called Immortal’s Death.

I thought you might like to know a bit more about the world of Vimar, so here’s a post about it.

Map created using Inkarnate

Vimar circles its sun in almost exactly 360 days. This leads the people to have divided their year into 12 months of 30 days. Since it is not exactly 360 days, but in fact 360 days and 4 hours, this means that every 6 years an extra day is added to the year. This is added at the end of the year and is called the Day of the Gods. It is a holiday for everyone and as it comes just before Grillon’s Day, also a holiday, when the New Year is celebrated. Everyone looks forward to this time. 

Because all the important astronomical timings are 6 or multiples of 6, the people of Vimar have come to believe that six is a holy number. Thus when they came to devise the timings of the day, they decided to divide it into 24 hours, much as we do on Earth, However, they begin to count their day from the time of sunrise on the 2 equinoxes, unlike Earth, where timing is taken from the mid-point of darkness at this time, more or less. 

Once every place began their day at dawn, regardless of time of year or place on the planet, but as trade increased this became somewhat confusing, and so the standardised time began. Thus what on Earth would be 6am, on Vimar it is 0 hour, and Earth’s 12pm is Vimar’s 6th hour.

Vimar has 2 moons, Lyndor and Ullin. Lyndor is slightly nearer to Vimar than Ullin and appears to be a gold colour. Ullin appears more silvery. It is considered propitious when the moons are both full together, and if both moons are dark, that is considered to be the least lucky time for any ventures. The best times for starting any venture is when both moons are waxing, and conversely, if they are both waning, that is a bad time, although endings can be good at this time.

The world has 2 large continents, The one featured in the Wolf Pack is the continent of Khalram. Grosmer is the largest country on this landmass and has a climate ranging from Mediterranean in the south to cool temperate in the north. To the west, beyond the Western Mountains is a vast plain on which live the nomadic people known as the Horselords for their mastery of the beautiful horses they rear. It is said that a huge ocean lies beyond this plain, but no one knows for sure. 

Beyond the Mountains of Doom, a volcanic range in the east, are the lands of Pelimar, a loose coalition of city states, Erian, ruled by an elected Master and the elven land of Rindisillaron. 

The north of Grosmer is bounded by a huge range of mountains known as the ‘Roof of the World.’ What lies beyond that is unknown. No one who ventured over the mountains has ever returned.

There is a large, mysterious continent to the far east that occasionally comes to the attention of the people of Khalram because of the Raiders who come for plunder and slaves.

Millennia ago, three huge volcanoes stood at around the mid-point of the continent. Over a hundred years, all three exploded violently, plunging the land into a terrible darkness that lasted many years. Eventually, the eastern ocean broke through and created the Three Seas that now sit to the south of Grosmer and Erian.

To the south of the Three Seas is the Great Desert. That, together with the three seas, acts as a barrier. Little is known of the lands beyond.

It was from here that Fero came to live in Grosmer.

Building a believable world can be a daunting task. I did research into geography and geology in order to make it believable. The deserts, for example, are in the same places as they are on Earth.

North of the three seas, the climate is Mediterranean, and as one progresses northwards, it becomes more like the UK, especially around Frind, just south of the Roof of the World.