Traces of Magic

Traces of Magic explores the pre-history of Kentucky, a land strangely uninhabited when Europeans came across the Appalachian Mountains, in ways parallel to how epic tales like the Lord of the Rings series unlocked the imagination of the British Isles residents to their pre-history. The story follows the struggles of a group of young adults who get caught up in defending the wonders of their land against an assassins’ guild bent on power and profit regardless of the cost.

Traces of Magic explores the pre-history of Kentucky, a land strangely uninhabited when Europeans came across the Appalachian Mountains, in ways parallel to how epic tales like the Lord of the Rings series unlocked the imagination of the British Isles residents to their pre-history. The story follows the struggles of a group of young adults who get caught up in defending the wonders of their land against an assassins’ guild bent on power and profit regardless of the cost.

With the penetration of the Earth’s defenses by the death monster, the city and valley are devastated. They struggle to discover how to reweave Earth’s broken sacred protection barrier, but they cannot seal it shut until they somehow coax her back through it. Evading the death monster’s touch which can kill with fear on contact, various characters, even ghostly ones, work together to deceive her. These intricate activities and conflicting interests reveal the intertwined character of all those living in the city and the valley — or dying there.

The poisonous ideas spread by the Assassins’ Guild start to infect even the paladins, but this does not interfere with the conversion of many (but not all) of the druids to Christianity. Incorporating some junior magic users at part of the druid schools in the Valley upsets some city folks - including Madam Nadine, who attacks their compound and puts out a “gift” contract on one of the senior magic users.