Illyham

The Illyham project is a shared universe created on livejournal by Candians Sean Esty & Steve LeCouillard (Steve's 'Much the Miller's Son' was recently featured here on WoU). Illyham is a town in a swords & sorcery setting. The hope is that artists will come & post comics, and as more and more come together collaborating & feeding off each others work; a world will sprout up.


Here's their town history to set the stage:

"In the time before time, all the lands around this place are fetid swamps & stinking marshes, and Lizardmen & Frog People worshipe the Old Gods here. In the muck stands a city, and the city is called “Koa”.

Many ages pass. The world itself heaves shifts. In the turmoil of this new era rises a Witch King, and he spawns a twisted, evil army out of black magic. The races of Dwarves & Elves unite to drive back the armies of the Witch King to the frozen wastes from whence they came. In this era the Elves come to this land & build a city around the Red Tower. Together with the dwarven Empire of Grunom Kor (under the Gundar Mountains to the north), a line is drawn holding back the Witch King’s army. The Emerald queen is slain, and the elven King recalls High Elf armies back to their ancestral homeland. The Dwarves of Grunom Kor feel betrayed; relations between the races are strained.

Much, much later, to the north, the Human Empire comes into it’s own, riding to the aid of the dwarven people who are now embroiled in a war with the Goblin/Troll armies. A strong alliance is formed.

Illyham is now a human city, one of several independent towns and castles scattered along the Brokefoot Pass, beyond the Gundar Mountains. It is a wild, untamed land, north of the Southern Badlands and the Sea of the Wrath, where disposed nobles of the Human Empire may travel to rebuild their power. Constantly assailed by the hordes of Orcs & Goblins from the Badlands, these lands are rife with opportunity for mercenaries & adventurers alike.

Baron Korvin III, the Night Baron, returns Illyham. On the winter equinox of that self-same year, Korvin III orchestrates a coup as bloody as it is sudden. Since that infamous “Night of the black swords” Baron Korvin III has ruled Illyham from within the Red Tower to this day."

Wizards of Ur Fans are sure to enjoy the first stip posted there, Steve's 'Una The Blade'




Some more art from Steve & Sean:






For much more coolness in this vein, visit our Ur-like brothers in Illyham:
http://community.livejournal.com/illyham/