About Kesselt

                I like maps. For me they fill in the picture in my imagination when reading a story. I have probably spent more time looking at the maps of Middle Earth than actually reading about Bilbo and company. As I was writing my first tale of Kesselt even though it was not germane to the story I also developed this world. At first I was more concern about actual geographical layout. Then as my various attempts at completing a story of Kesselt were unsuccessful the world however was more and more fleshed out beyond the physical features. When I sat down to definitively write The Greggs of Kesselt I had a lot of back ground source material to work with. Between my imagination, past scribblings, and actual sketches this world was ready made before me. It was just a matter of placing a plot line and characters into it.
                Kesselt geographically is basically simple. There are two large continental land masses separated by a narrow sea, north and south, which make up a little more than half of the surface area of this world.  There are a couple of smaller continents or large islands opposite of the two main continents in relation on the globe. Most of my stories I have written, outlined, or scribbled about take place on the north continent.
                North Kesselt as the upper continent is called is pretty much divided by a large river running from a large mountain range in the north to the middle sea in the south.  On the eastern side of the continent is a range of low hills and that quarter’s the continent again with a savanna like environment on the eastern quarter. The western side of the continent is forest with smaller mountain ranges and hill countries. There is in the far northwest of the continent a large peninsula steppe tundra where my first real attempt at writing took place.
                The rest of Kesselt I have vaguely written about and is still open for completion. South Kesselt is dominated by a dessert that turns into another great savanna. Of the islands I spoke of I featured one as tropical and the other as more temperate.
                The back story of Kesselt is that two deities fought over control of this world. As a result of the battle the world suffered a worldwide cataclysm that destroyed most life and people. As a last act of mercy the Kesselt god put in motion to heal the world and bring life to it from other worlds. The other evil aggressor god corrupted that healing process. This would explain barren or inhospitable lands, aggressive peoples, different races, and monsters. The Greggs are the guardians of Kesselt against this corruption until the god of Kesselt is healed to resume his place.
                The Greggs of Kesselt takes place about 45 years from the battle between the gods. The people, both original and those who have been brought to the world by divine magic, are basically at a dark ages level of society. Prior to the gods’ battle the world of Kesselt was an advance agrarian society that had overcome many societal failings. Kesselt had achieved the ideal societal balances. After the battle of the gods, chaos and anarchy gave way to feudal and despotism. There is mistrust between original Kesseltians and the Off-worlders. And of course there are followers of both gods who have continued the fight.
                As for how I came up with the name Kesselt. It’s a doodle name. It’s just a name I came up with when I started writing about the Greggs and the characters in the first attempts at writing.  It also turns out, that it is the name of a village in Belgium; ironically not far from where I lived as a child.
                It’s my plan to publish several set upon Kesselt. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

ML Stidmon