Minutia
In production: March 21st, 2010 -
Tagline: Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save me from this hour'? But this is the very reason I came!
Inspiration: After playing a bit of Diablo II for the first time (I like Torchlight better, as a side note) I had wanted to do something with necromancers or human sacrifice. The main point that pushed this into my mind, however, was a picture of one of the Black Mage armors in XI. One of them puts large tattoos on your character's arms when worn, and I liked the look of it. That, in addition to my recent troubles in progressing with EoE as well as my other fantasy titles, brought The One Who Walks With Death to life. Every time I went with a Cataclysm-bound book, everything seemed to work out, but I didn't want to retread old ground. I played out the Living from creation to dissolution and the problem began with figuring how to avoid old motifs.
The inspiration for a new series came from a coworker that suggested I simply divert from the Living era and focus on different aspects of the world. While Anathema was pretty much that exact concept, it still carried over the gods from the books that would come after it. The one thing I felt was holding me back was my direction in the Cataclysm series. Paroxysm changes the world and Anathema is only about 600 years away from Year 1. However, just like Earth, I could always create a past that extends before Year 1. This would give me my new ideas in a familiar setting with familiar races, but it could provide me with new races that may have gone by the wayside by the time Anathema shows up.