In the worlds of my imagination, Cammadan, and it’s neighbors, sit comfortably in between two different kinds.

Somewhere in between Westeros and Capside, Massachusetts

Between Middle Earth and The Upper East Side

Between Tortall and Tree Hill, North Carolina

Between Narnia and West Beverly Highschool

Between Earthsea and The OC

That’s where you’ll find Cammadan.

Instead of popular kids and outcasts there are epic forces of darkness and light. Instead of the undeniable pull of destiny, there is the relationship that’s absolutely wrong, but feels so right. Where there was gossip there’s magic. Where there were dragons there are love triangles. Where there were epic, regular formal parties at convenient plot moments…OK, those exist in both genres so obviously we get them here.

I’m always loved fantasy worlds, and I’ve always loved those teen dramas and as the taco commercial says, Why not both? So, that’s what we’ve been doing for five years. Here’s what you missed!

Year One

Lady Marina Sanpierre, The Duchess of Brightcoast is a very powerful potential magic user. She’s been under close control and observation by Lord Brayton Dovetail and evil black magician who killed his cousin, King Anton and Anton’s wife Queen Marie in a power grab. Marie was Marina’s Aunt.

Growing up in this isolated way, Marina had very few friends, among them was Sir Tristan Dugarry, who is a brave, handsome, brooding palace guard. Marina is obviously in love with him because if you only knew five people and one of them was THAT GUY you’d be in love with him too, probably. Tristan and his twin sister Athena are from a long line of military on their father’s side, and on their mother’s side, from a powerful merchant family that’s basically the mafia. (Their parents are also dead.)

Marie and Anton’s daughter, Annalise has been secretly raised as the ward of the Count and Countess of Pantona, alongside their son Aaron. Marina and Annalise are both Chosen by The Goddess of The Sea Rana, who with her brother, The God of Earth Cornan is imprisoned on a giant spinning wheel, no one knows where. Their other sister, Amina, the goddess of hell, is basically trying to bring on war and chaos to expand her own realm.

All of their lives Annalise and Marina have had prophetic dreams about one another that often ended in one of them getting murdered. (YIKES) Athena also had dreams, but they were more vague. Annalise also often had dreams of the young prince of a neighoring nation, Prince Eric of Phania.

The summer Annalise turned 17, Marina was removed from the Capital City of Cammadan Dovetail, while Tristan and Athena were sent to Pantona to evaluate and understand their mission as Annalise official protectors and military advisers. Tristan and Annalise fell in love. So did Athena and Aaron. This was great, until they got rendezvoused with Marina, and Tristan realized that he might return his old friend’s feeling a little. A few stolen kisses and a broken heart for Marina later, though, he chose Annalise, who knows their relationship can’t be permanent.

During all of this, Aaron and Athena are navigating the fact that their new love is nothing like either of them (both pretty experienced in the romance department) have been through before and will require more out of them than they realized, emotionally speaking. It’s exciting and scary and Aaron’s completely up for it while Athena remains cautious.

After Athena and Tristan use their family’s pull to evacuate Dovetail, the resistance strikes and takes back the capital, Annalise takes Brayton prisoner and she and Tristan pledge to try their best. She also has a vision of Prince Eric, where he promises to wait for her. Aaron’s father and Annalise’s foster father, Caleb falls in battle, and his sudden ascendancy delays the plans for marriage he and Athena made, as he confesses his insecureties about his relationship with his father. After the battle, Annalise captures but refuses to kill Brayton, and he speaks to both her and Marina vaguely about plans to create a sword for The Goddess Amina to counter Annalise, and that Marina’s destiny is to give birth to this dark opposite. (He believes, he himself must be the father)

Aaron and Annalise’s friend from Pantona, William Santino joins them in Dovetail as they settle in, and Marina finds herself attracted to him, realizing that although she might not be in love, she needn’t limit herself to pining after Tristan. Annalise and Tristan try to have a relationship while her growing court openly disapproves. But as her coronation approaches, they find it more and more difficult to get past the clear fact they have an expiration date.

On the night of Annalise’s coronation, Athena and her cousin Alex discuss a plan to broker a merchant arranged marriage for Tristan, while he and Annalise recommit to eachother and sleep together. Marina ends her connection with William who accepts Aaron’s offer to become Pantona’s main manager. In the middle of the night, Marina is awoken by Healer Guard Elodie that a ship from Phania has arrived in the harbor.

Year Two

The morning after Annalise is crowned, Prince Eric of Phania arrives with two companions, Sir Raymond Quents, his sister in law’s younger brother, Annalise and Marina’s cousin, who left Phania because boys are often denied magical training there, and because Cammadan is a safer society for gay people, and Lietutenant Damian Lestoff, his first mate and step brother, called Lefty, a known playboy and decided trouble maker.

After the new guests are greeted, Tristan hastily asked Annalise to marry him and she refuses, while Lefty challenges Athena to a duel, and she discusses the future with Prince Harran of the Westran border tribes, who once visited Pantona when Annalise was younger and still has feeling for her. That night Tristan comes to Marina and confesses his love and confusion. Despite her misgivings about the situation and how it would affect Annalise, Marina gives in to what she’s hoped for her entire life.

Annalise and Prince Eric realize that they’ve both seen and experienced things they can’t quite understand in regards to each other and agree to get to know one another before making any decisions. Athena confronts Tristan about his behavior towards Marina and suggests Alex’s plan of an arranged marriage. Tristan is outraged but agrees to think about it.

Lefty begins setting his sights on Marina, who feels drawn to him, though she and Tristan continue to spend time together in secret, he admits he’s considering the merchant marriage to get away from Annalise and get over her, something he’d happily do with Marina, who admits she can’t leave her cousin on her own. Annalise finds them together and while she instantly forgives them, it shocks Marina enough to end it.

As Aaron prepares to return home to bury his father, Athena suggests that she wouldn’t hold him straying against him, which upsets him enough to suggest ending their engagement. When they talk it through, she explains she’s worried that like her mentor and guardian, Thomas Martin did with most of his lovers, Aaron will eventually grow tired of her and leave her. He assures his this won’t happen and they part sadly but hopeful for the future.

Lefty continues to pursue Marina, who after ending things with Tristan tells him that she thinks she might be too fragile to begin anything new, but she does enjoy flirting and dancing with him, and eventually, kissing him.

Meanwhile, Brayton’s health has been failing for no understandable physical reason, and Marina goes to help heal him. When she realizes he’s lost Amina’s blessing, she and Athena fight Annalise to have him executed and Annalise refuses. This leads to an argument between the girls, which Annalise solves through advice from Eric. Their discussion leads to their first kiss, and Eric’s insistence that if they are going to be together he be the only man in her life. Unsure if she’s ready to give up Tristan, Annalise agrees to wait until she’s free to move further along.

She is of course not free, but regularly sleeping with Tristan.

Athena and Aaron write to each other, while Marina plans a winter festival and studies magic with Raymond. Aaron, Olivia and Martin return to Dovetail just in time for the ball, after which Marina and Lefty sleep together and Tristan leaves to go to Dorin, the northern port city where he’ll look for a wife. Annalise is heartbroken but ready to move on.

That same evening, Marina performs a complicated ritual binding her and Athena’s destiny to Annalise’s divine mandate to free the gods. All three young women vow to stand by one another.

Year 3

Royal Court has moved to Brightcoast, the southern port city that Marina controls as Duchess. Marina and Lefty are hopelessly besotted with each other, while Annalise grows frustrated with Eric’s continued caution. Aaron and Athena finally see that enough order is coming around that they can plan the quiet future in Pantona together, even if Athena’s depression seems to be getting the better of her, while separated from her twin.

Tristan arrives in Dorin and is introduced to Carolina Dukarras, the clever older sister of his cousin Alex’s intended. Carolina is determined to leave merchant life behind, after a series of disappointments, including being abandoned by her father’s choice of husband. Carolina is certainly intrigued by this blunt and awkward young man, who seems to want to spend time with her. In fact she finds herself falling in love with him. Tristan is honest with her about his behavior in Dovetail and his continued feelings for Annalise, though he’s beginning to feel for her too. They become engaged, agreeing to marry after Athena and Aaron.

One night when her frustration with Eric boils over, Annalise begins an affair with Harran, realizing that although their affection is only friendly, their physical connection may be able to sustain a longer partnership. Marina has been having Dreams about raging storms, that include a young woman dressed entirely in black, who Harran guesses is probably a Westran tribal witch named Nika, who’s older sister Brea he has a romantic history with. Annalise asks for him to send for them.

Brea and Nika’s arrival unsettles everyone enough that Annalise and Eric reconcile and finally consummate their relationship, while Marina finds herself more drawn to Nika. That same night a fleet of Phania war ships appear in Brightcoast harbor sending the town and court in chaos. While negotiating a retreat, Marina feels Lefty slipping away, and he admits to her that he’s having trouble believing she won’t wake up one day and realize that she is too far above him for them to have any future.

Martin goes to Dorin to ask The Dumanis family to help by supplying ships to protect Brightcoast, under the auspices of celebrating Tristan and Carolina’s engagement. Tristan feels duty bound to return with him, and Carolina refuses to be left behind.

Aaron learns that the Phanian Admiral Franz, has been sent on a dual mission of making sure that Eric and Annalise are legitimately courting (having heard rumors of their quarrel) and to woo Marina. While he (and Lefty) find the plan very upsetting, Athena and Marina remind them that she did have to spend her early teens simultaneously encouraging and discouraging Brayton, and she can handle the situation. Annalise negotiates Franz’s retreat, while worrying about how Tristan’s return may effect her relationship with Eric, which seems to have found an equalibrium.

Tristan and Carolina arrive and she is overwhelmingly presented to Annalise, after a more casual meeting, where she realizes her fiance and his queen need to talk privately. They do talk, and after a kiss declare that while they’ll always love each other, they know they’re on the right path now.

After the presentation a messanger arrives from Dovetail stating that Brayton has disappeared. Everyone agrees that telling Marina that night would only panic her.

After seeing her reunion with Tristan and becoming jealous, Lefty and Marina argue, which leads to her having a conversation with Nika, which also leads to them kissing. After the ball, Marina and Lefty make up, and make love. She tells him about Nika, and he asks if she wants freedom to explore other relationships, and she reassures him that she only loves him, and doesn’t want to end their relationship. Their happiness is short lived, when they find Brayton sitting at the foot of the bed.

After Lefty attempts to defend her, and Brayton unleashes a shadow attack on him, Marina pushes light magic back and sends her lover to the palace to sound the alarm. She binds Brayton and waits for help. Help comes in the form of Annalise and Athena, and the three agree to send him back to Amina, with a message they are done hiding from whatever fight she wants to bring.

While the others go to fight, Carolina sits waiting with Marina’s old friend Mercy Graves, and confesses she knows that Tristan doesn’t really love her and she’s decided it doesn’t matter. Later, he comes to her asking to move up their wedding and her father tells her that she won’t be happy, but she stands by her decision.

As the sun rises on a new day, Marina performs Athena and Aaron’s marriage ceremony, and finally letting go of her doubts, accepting that their love her true home.

Annalise and Eric say goodbye, and he promises to come back soon to plan their wedding. Lefty leaving with him breaks Marina’s heart, and she withdraws from everyone for weeks. Tristan goes to comfort her and they wind up sleeping together, with the shared promise that this is the closure their relationship needed, not the beginning of anything.

Year 4

Starts Posting 8/4!