Tales from Aurea

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Sakrattars, a university dropout estranged from his wealthy family.Jo, a branded exile, the perpetrator of a crime she refuses to revisit.Kaja, a timid girl with a connection to dragons that defies explanation.Amale, a gentle soul who left everything he ever knew in search of a better life.Leif, a mercenary hiding from his past behind a jovial smile.

No one would have expected them to be heroes. . .

The Aurean Empire, once the dominating force at the heart of Calthia, is crumbling. Those who have been waiting for their chance at greatness will seize power at any cost. As political chaos erupts across the continent, four unlikely companions come together with a humble goal: helping a mysterious young girl named Kaja find her way home.

But when it comes to light that Kaja’s lost people have the ability to turn the tide in the power struggle gripping Calthia, suddenly all eyes—friend and foe alike—are turned towards her.

*Though based on a real Pathfinder game, the characters in the story are not playing a game so there's no references to stats, level progression, etc. in the text

Content warnings:violence and blood (no excessive gore); character death; dealing with grief, loss, and trauma; topics including imperialism, genocide, and slavery

What to expect:💫 Aslow-burn, epic fantasyspanning thousands of pages💫Believable, complex characterswho grow, change, and don't always make the best choices💫Immersive world-buildingwith intricate societies and tangled politics💫Original mythologyand unique races, including the zmaj: people possessed by the spirits of dragons💫 Dungeon crawls and other TTRPG elements baked into the narrative💫Special art postsshowing character level, class, and stats at that point in the story

❌NOA.I.❌NOstubbing❌NOpaywalls

Current Progress:

Arc 1 - Ordo Draconis:10 of 10 chapters uploaded, ~60,000 words

Arc 2 - Iron and Ice:10 of 10 chapters uploaded, ~67,600 words

Arc 3 - Echoes of the Past:10 of 10 chapters uploaded, ~70,800 words

Arc 4 - The Crows of Aravir:6 of 10 chapters uploaded, ~38,400 words

**updates every 2-4 weeks**

Cover Art by isthiseva

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: The Toad Familiar

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.9/ 5.0
Followers: 34
Views: 13,894

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(5)

BaqknsRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review was written as a part of exchange
Tales From Aurea is by far one of two best reads I have found in terms of Style and fluency in scenes.
Do I recommend the book? YES!
Style: The author clearly knows the balance between description and dialogue and skillfully uses dialogues to convey messages to the reader who will like to be involved in the discovery of the world the author has built.
Story: Up till session 3 a lot has happened in the plot and the author's note stopping any soon. While reading the story, the reader can easily understand that the author has a clear direction with the plot and know what they're throwing at the reader. There are cultural differences, races and great characters.
Characters: We meet three primary characters in the story with our MC being an elf joins two other characters on a journey to find the dragons. (Who doesn't like when Dragons are involved?) Each character has depth and different relation dynamics within themselves. My favourite by far is Jo who I found the most enjoyable and she's a badass!
Grammar: Little to no errors. The flow is consis, syntaxes are great and the story is easy to read.
Overall, it's a great recommend from me!
ClyonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Let's get one thing out of the way. It is a phenomenal phantastic story. And i write this after this author reviewed mine.
If you are here to know if you should check the book, you should, absolutely, go inside the pages and read before any review spoils you.
Overall: It feels great to read the interaction and the world that feels so extensive and alive, beyond what the plot could move and yet you feel that there's so much more and not missing anything important, since what is important is what you are reading in that moment.
Grammar: Barely anything to point out, even when i find something strange, turns out it is exceptionally well written. I should learn tons of it and try to apply a bit of it in my own grammar as well.
Story: Well can't say for sure where this will lead, but the author writes their easy to read yet complex to grasp stories, placing all the seeds to make a perfect garden of compelling stories to bloom.
Characters: The greatest and strongest point of this book, which each of the main leads being so intriguing, alive, with it's pros and it's con.
I want to leave a little side note, well, i jest. It is really big, not important to the the readers but a message to the author:
After all of this, even conveying my individual feelings for each category, it doesn't convey the feeling that I regained today. I know nobody will believe this when I write this, but: I don't like reading books. Since child hood I was forced to read books from a mother who couldn't understand me. Because I couldn't express my self well. Will skip some personal stuff, and will get more to the point. I am a logical person with a creative ember that i can not stop since I almost escaped childhood. I am a cynic when it conveys into media. I saw hundreds of series, dozens of movies, and most of the time, i could predict what could happen. I didn't understand what people took some decisions sometimes, or why the plot feel so artificial sometimes. Little to none media in actuality mad
HyattSmytheRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review was written as part of an exchange.
Overall:
Tales from Aurelia draws you into an immersive setting that draws on classic adventure tropes. All of the primary cast feel like distinct individuals with their own secrets and motivations. The challenges that our heroes suffer start out simple, but expand into greater complexity and danger. This story's greatest strength is its author's dedication to writing a fleshed out world that has a deep history. Every character feels like they have lived in this world for a long time before the reader opens the first chapter.
Style:
If I had one primary critique of the opening chapters, it is that the perspective can shift abruptly without much visual indication. These cut-away's are great for expanding the lore of the world, but can be a bit confusing on whether the main cast is present or not.
Other than that, the focus of the story flows logically from place to place. There's a lot of 'Proper Nouns', names of ancestries, places, and history. That threw me off a bit at first, but the author does an excellent job of introducing them without paragraphs of exposition. Characters act like intelligent beings who react reasonably to the events surrounding them.
This is not a power fantasy, there are real dangers to the casts' lives and goals, and I think that's fantastic.
Story:
The story starts out with a straightforward hook. Like many of the opening adventures, what sounds like a simple task turns out to be a lot more complicated than a certain Divination scholar could have anticipated. Along the way the primary cast expands until the main group of rag-tag adventurers is formed. Each of them have motivations based on the setting and their circumstances in life. When the wider plot rears its head, its often all the cast can do to keep up with the rising tide.
Great stuff.
Grammar:
You can tell the story was written by someone with a deep love for their craft. I've yet to notice any major grammatical errors. There are no
J. StiglianoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This review was written as part of an exchange.
Overall: Tales from Aurelia is a fantasy adventure story whose style and structure exude the feeling of a great tabletop adventure. It has endearing characters, whose likability brings a sense of tension to the story's action sequences; I consistently cared about the characters and how things turned out for them. I really enjoyed reading the first arc and am looking forward to starting the second.
Style: The authors are good at choosing when to describe a location or event in detail and when to let the action flow quickly. So, Tales has wonderfully vivid descriptions, giving the world texture and vitality, without bogging down the story's pace. The action is fast-paced and engaging. Moments of building tension, before the action occurs, are also well written for that effect.
My one stylistic critique is that some perspective shifts feel abrupt to me. The story is written in third-person omniscient, and “zooms in” on different characters' points of view depending on whose perspective is relevant for what the authors want to convey. This is completely fine in itself, and most of the time is not a problem at all. At some points though, when the perspective zooms out of one character and onto another, either (a) it can feel a little abrupt, or (b) I'm not immediately sure whose perspective I'm looking through, which can be slightly disorienting.
Story: My favorite thing about the story is that it is strongly wedded to the setting. You couldn't just plop Tales from Aurea into xyz other fantasy setting. So, in combination with vivid location descriptions, the plot roots you in the world it takes place in. This also means that there are plenty of opportunities for the authors to share their world without deviating from telling their story. I'm personally a huge fan of world-building, so getting to explore the world during an adventure that couldn't take place elsewhere is a lot of fun.
I particularly enjoyed Session 5, which
thatsilentscribeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story delivers a powerful and immersive fantasy experience that masterfully combines an original mythology with compelling character arcs and high-stakes conflict. The plot is both intricate and well-paced, maintaining tension and momentum through intense action scenes and quieter moments of reflection. The inclusion of dragons, demons, and the mysterious Irkallu creates a unique and richly textured world that feels alive and full of history.
The characters are one of the story’s strongest points. Each member of the group is distinct, with believable motivations and emotional depth. Jo’s fierce protectiveness, Sakrattars’s internal struggles, and Kaja’s growth as a young zmaj all contribute to a dynamic and engaging ensemble. Their interactions feel genuine and grounded, enhancing the emotional impact of the story.
Pacing throughout the chapters is expertly handled; the narrative moves swiftly during battle and escape sequences but also slows down to allow for meaningful dialogue and world-building. This balance keeps readers invested without feeling overwhelmed or rushed.
The grammar and prose are clear and polished, supporting the story without distracting from it. Descriptions are vivid, and the dialogue flows naturally, helping to fully immerse the reader in this fantastical setting. Overall, it’s a captivating read that I highly recommend to fans of fantasy looking for a fresh and heartfelt adventure. Followed & Favourited <3