Today marks the inauguration of a new feature on the Audio Epics website. With Witch Hunter: the dramatized audiobook in the making, we felt it would be a good idea to introduce the lore of the world with a weekly nugget of information that brings to life the universe inhabited by Ludlov and Samina, bit by bit. In this first installment, we provide a brief overview of the origins of Sevenpeaks…

The beginnings of Ivennenborgh

In the days of Ludlov, the greatest city in the known world was called Sevenpeaks, but this was not its original name. Many centuries earlier, the city was named Ivennenborgh by its founder, Wolfen.

Nestled by the river Ivennen in the deepest point of the valley of Ivennendale, the original town of Ivennenborgh was little more than a collection of farm houses. What set Ivennenborgh apart from other towns since its very beginning, was its relgious affiliation and the magic attached to it.

The founder of Ivennenborgh was named Wolfen, the first man to have been granted a personal revelation of the Goddess. With that powerful experience also came the beginnings of the Arcanic language, which was the source of magic power.

Wolfen instituted Ivennenborgh to be a spiritual community, where people would lead their lives in service of the Goddess and with the intent of deepening their understanding of Arcanic, the language of the Goddess Herself.

During the course of Wolfen’s lifetime, ever more people came to live in Ivennenborgh, quickly turning the town into a real city. Most newcomers were there because they hoped to learn magic to make their lives easier. They were disappointed to find out that they would have to work just as hard to survive in Ivennenborgh as anywhere else, even though the farmland was fertile and the great river was full of fish.

Some who came were true pilgrims, summoned by an inner flame to learn what Wolfen could teach them. They would become the first priests and priestesses of the Church of the Goddess, which was instituted when Wolfen erected a structure which he called the Grand Cathedral at the centre of Ivennenborgh. At first it was a wooden hall built to provide a place where quiet meditation and prayer could go hand in hand with lively debates on the Maiden and the Goddess as well as learning the Arcane Language.

As it turned out, Arcanic would be an enormous asset to Ivennenborgh, but those who could speak it could also pose a danger to the city, as we will see in the next installment: Welhalm the White.