A WORLD BUILDING BIBLE
The Muttering Retreats describes a Mexican vaquero inspired world where magic is illegal, and those who are found to be mages are either killed or forcibly pacified. A gang of outlaw mages makes their way deeper into the sweltering desert to escape the ironclad rule of different governments, while the rest of the continent begins to heal the wounds left from a centuries-long holy war.
A tenuous peace settles upon the Creatoric nations. Up until now, the rights of mages have hung in the balance of a centuries-long holy war. One side would see mages imprisoned and forcibly pacified; the other would have them monitored as second-rate citizens.
Some mages go peacefully. Some fight to their death. Some mages choose to run.
The Les Siseos Desert spans the southwesternmost reaches of the Creatoric nations. A cemetery-fence lines the boundaries of the desert as a testament to its nigh unlivable conditions. It is here, an environment so hot and thick with death that only those with magic might survive, that mages may at last find their freedom.
In the sweltering heat of the Les Siseos, a wandering caravan tracks meandering lines into shifting sands. Hand gestures communicate what tongueless mouths cannot. Tonight, there will be no rain, but they will make water.
Chased by bounty hunters and outlaws, fearful of the ever watchful eyes of wild creatures and the government alike, this band of mages makes its trembling escape into the muttering retreats of the infinite desert.
Ship Date: April 2019 (4 months of development)
You can read the world building bible in full here.