Torthal is the setting for the new short story series I’ve written. It’s a complex Earth-like world, far away, but oddly connected to many other worlds. The people of Torthal have spent almost a thousand of their years (circums) recovering from a chaotic dark age.
This world holds many mysteries. The first mystery readers will notice, is that alien species, called outsiders, appear in Torthal throughout this dark age. A young human whose parents came from Earth is obsessed with solving this mystery. The ancient torthans who could have explained the outsiders disappeared in the same event that began their dark age.
Torthans and humans are not alone. Powerful fanirim giants, and deadly plutoryn flying folk come to Torthal, ripped from their homeworlds. Giants are renowned for their prowess in battle, while the flying folk are hunted down as dangerous to all life on Torthal. Humans are a relative nuisance. They are too ugly, have only two arms, and are too emotional for most torthan societies.
That is what makes Gari Garcia so different. Orphaned at a young age, he found a sponsor among an elite torthan institution. Doma Jaylith, a priestess in the Order of Luminous Monks, mentors Gari from childhood. At the Monastery of Eternal Light, Lari learns their mystic traditions, academics, and martial arts.
Gari loses himself in study, advancing from novice to aspirant within the monk’s closed society. He excels in academics, and despite his lack of appendages, is proficient in martial arts. The Divine teachings of the Luminary Priesthood come easily to him under the tutelage of his gentle Doma mentor.
His only problem is, Gari is a human in world that denigrates his species. When the monks find an excuse to cast him out, Gari must find a new path in this alien world. His journey will change how he sees himself, how the world sees outsiders, and change the fate of Torthal forever.