About: The Continent of Ialana

(The Ialana Series)

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Ialana is a continent inspired by the legendary Atlantis, located somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean of today. Ialana is a land of my imagination, but in some ways, it may also resemble the lost continent. Many of the legends of Atlantis indicate that the continent was in the shape of a turtle, its capital city ring-shaped, so I made the largest city on Ialana ringed and located it in a Bay.

If Ialana was a continent in the Atlantic Ocean (in my books it is called the Sea of Alania) it would have a spine of mountains down its center that are now the mid-Atlantic ocean ridge. It would have existed in a time when glaciers may have covered parts of the northern hemisphere, but Ialana is lucky enough that only its extreme northern area is covered by an ice sheet. The northern areas of the country of Rhagbeneth is covered with this ice sheet.

The climate of Rhagbeneth is similar to that of Siberia with tundra-like plains in its southern regions. This is where my character, Kex, is from. She is a tough cookie, possessing incredible survival skills.

Aelfar is a country to the south of the three rivers that border Rhagbeneth. Aelfar is similar in climate to the north-east coast of North America or the UK. It is temperate, with vast forests, and arable land. It is here where my characters, Blaidd, Jarah, Adain, and Tegan grew up.

To the south of Aelfar is the province of Mernoc; it is ruled by Aelfar. Mernoc has a climate similar to the southern regions of the Mediterranean—temperate and fertile. My character, Tristan, is from here.

The Osgoi Range stretches like a jagged spine down the center of the continent; from its extreme north under the ice sheet, to its tropical south. The Land of Mannanon hugs the south-eastern flanks of this mountain range, spilling down to the southern coast of the Sea of Alania. Mannanon is a wild, forested area, uninhabited by humans, populated mostly by bandits and mutant creatures. No human in Ialana dares to enter its borders. But some do, and that’s where the story gets even more interesting.

The country of Galon, on the south-eastern coast, is dry and hot, with a climate like North Africa or the southern regions of Spain. Its capital is Abena, and it is ruled by a fierce war-lord named Ortzi.

On the south-western flanks of the Osgoi is Ak-Gala and to its north, Dalnoor. This region is ruled by the reptilian, Amrafalus. Its capital city in the Bay of Rhiannon is the legendary ringed city of Rhiannon. Amrafalus obtains his riches in gold and metals from his slave mines in Dalnoor. Dalnoor is a desert, like the Sahara, but is fertile in the south where its climate is tropical.

In the fourth book of the series (to be released sometime in 2016) is Unala, a mountainous, forested region that has not yet been settled by humans. Like Mannanon, it is populated by strange creatures and feared by humans. Its climate is much like that of the north-west coast of the United States. There is a mountain range that separates it from the rest of the continent bordering the desert and Ak-Gala in the south.

Not shown are other continents of Ialana, such as Afarre, which in our world might be Africa. Two of my characters in the series and the novella, The People of the Damned, are from Afarre.

1 Comment

  1. Dana Burnett on April 7, 2019 at 10:42 am

    really enjoyed seeing Ialana as Atlantis and how the cities and geography in the books relate to what we know about out planet. Very cool.
    Brooksie’s song sounds very Irish, loved it!

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