Lorata is the name of the planet in which my fantasy stories take place.  Right now, I have two continents planned out for Lorata, plus several chains of islands.  I might add to it as the stories go on, but right now these two continents are where the stories take place.  Lorata can be pronounced Low-rah-tah or Low-rate-ah, in case you were wondering– and I know there are sci-fi and fantasy fans out there who care a great deal about pronunciation.

The ‘old world’ continent is called Manastaecies, pronounced as “mana” plus “Stacy’s.”  How do you pronounce Mana, you might ask? I don’t mind whether you say the first a like  the a in man or in mama; it’s up to your preference.  Manastaecies is where the three enchanted forests are located, and well as the legendary kingdom of Onsira.  It’s also the continent where Goddess Jenh was discovered, and where the conflict between her and the god of evil took place.  It has a lot of diverse kingdoms and biomes, plus various types of dragons, elves and faeries.  Books one and two take place here!

The second continent, where book three and part of book for occur, is Mraté (Mrah-tay), which is land that I’ve had in mind for the longest time. It’s bigger than Manastaecies, and has more advanced technology; imagine leaving the middle ages and early renaissance and heading into the late renaissance and the beginning of the industrial revolution, except magic is helping along the way.  Where Manastaecies has a lot of myth, legend and tradition, plus the enchanted forests, Mraté has the crystal kingdom, complex politics, better science, and a few other surprises.  There are also a lot of islands to the north-west of the continent, which book four focuses on. 

Lorata doesn’t have any humans; I designed it that way.  There are elves, dragons, faeries and a mystical-angelic race that is very rare.  The dragons come in a wide variety and many sizes, and the faeries can by tiny and hand-sized or tall like the elves.  Most of them can inter-breed, but it’s not always successful. 

There are four major gods on Lorata, each one with its own pantheon.  There is Jenh, the elemental goddess, who is in charge of the twelve elementals.  Two of them are stolen from her by the evil god, who rules over countless demons and monsters.  Opposite him is the holy god and guardian of the light, who leads the many saints who work in his name.  Lastly is the celestial goddess, who is as mystical as she is mysterious.  Most of her followers are bards and astronomers, who love her for her gift of music as well as the beauty of the stars above.  She does not have a pantheon in the same sense that the other gods do, but most attribute the existence of the fourth race, who live as mortals but appear as angelic as she is, with similar powers, to her blessing. 

Most dragons, elves and faeries are born with the magic of one of the gods, especially one of Jenh’s elements.  Like the religions of Earth, the gods have their won temples, rituals and spells.  There is one class of people who can use the power of all four gods: the Sorcerers.  They go through special training in order to use all magic and develop their powers, and spend their entire lives in the pursuit of magic.  One of the supporting characters in book one is a sorcerer, and I really think you’ll like him. 

This is just a basic introduction to Lorata, but it’s enough to get you started.  This is a very complex and diverse world, which is exactly what makes it very dear to me.  I love the dragons, I made ancient legends for the elves, and the faeries spread their magic for all to play.  On Lorata, anything is possible; let me take you on an adventure there!