Arden Emil Author Errant
Art Work

The Look of Miljah

The illustrations and artwork that bring the world of Miljah to life are the result of a collaboration between the author and the highly talented illustrator Luke Wells.

Lirah, red-haired and battered, climbing a hillside beside Riidak, a tall striped hound.
Character Study

Lirah and Riidak

Torn skirts, a bloodied knee, a hound with blood still on his muzzle — and she is looking at something further up the hill, not at us.

Lirah is one of the two childhood friends the saga turns on. Riidak walks beside her through most of it.

Read the opening

Available as a print

Plates

The people and the beasts

Select any plate to see it full size.

A Grishkah: a snarling wolf-headed warrior in maille, green-eyed, against drifting embers.
GrishkahIntelligent humanoid beasts who travel in clan packs. Compendium →
Three Mantorahn soldiers in blue and gold arguing over a map spread on a tree stump.
Mantorahn CouncilThe realm that the Subjugate contained but never occupied. Compendium →
A hare bounding through snow-lit grass with a hound closing behind it.
The LeaperThe plate that closes the book — painted in 2017, recoloured in 2026.
Prints

Take a piece of Miljah home

Luke’s paintings from the saga, printed to order and shipped to you. Select any print to see it full size.

Heritage of Loss: a cloaked rider on a grassy ridge in low gold light, looking down on a walled city burning beneath a smoke-dark sky.
The Cover, Repainted Heritage of Loss Luke’s new painting of the scene the prologue opens on: a lone rider on the ridge in the last light, and Ell’Anoth burning in the valley below. Read the prologue → Buy a print
Bound by Fate: the saga’s central figures gathered together, a sorceress rising above them.
Bound by FateThe key art for the saga — the central figures in the fight for the realm, together in one frame.
Buy a print
The Heart-Mender and Her Hound: Lirah, battered and red-haired, beside the war hound Riidak.
The Heart-Mender and Her HoundLirah and the war hound Riidak after their escape from the slavers’ camp. Compendium →
Buy a print
Defiance of the Xydarii: Vishaya on fortress steps, lightning and flame at her fingertips.
Defiance of the XydariiVishaya, the Xydar sorceress who broke Lirah out of the In Kind slave complex, calling down lightning and flame. Compendium →
Buy a print
Ralenn’s Imer’Antras: Ralenn in ancestral raiment with sword and spear, mountains behind him.
Ralenn’s Imer’AntrasRalenn sets out on his warrior’s trial: to hunt an ice sphinx high on the slopes of Vagath’Oth. Compendium →
Buy a print

In a range of sizes, from $18. Printed and shipped by Luke Wells’s shop, where you’ll choose a size and check out.

Process

Before the final plate

Every creature and every realm gets worked out first — colourways, armour, silhouettes — before anything is painted.

Eight colour studies of the hound Riidak, with the chosen sandy-and-striped version marked Final.
Riidak, colourwaysEight options; the sandy brindle won.
Design sheet for Mantorahn armour: line drawings of a soldier with plate components and a blue and orange palette.
Mantorahn armourKit, plate and palette, settled before the soldiers were ever painted.
The Heritage of Loss cover painting without lettering: a wounded rider on a ridge above the burning city of Ell’Anoth.
Cover Art

Heritage of Loss

Kaileth on the ridge, in the last light, with the bundle in his arms and Ell’Anoth burning behind him. The whole prologue is in one image.

Golden stone walls, black from the scorching of fires, and red from the spilling of blood. Shown here as painted, before the title was set over it.

The hardcover edition of Heritage of Loss: black boards blocked in gold with the Tears sigil, beside a quill and inkwell.

The hardcover edition — black boards blocked in gold, with the Tears sigil on the board.

Heraldry

Banners of the realms

Each realm carries its own arms. Read what stands behind them in the world guide.

Banner of the Subjugate
The Subjugate
Banner of Anoth
Anoth
Banner of Freeholdn
Freeholdn
Banner of Andohra
Andohra
Banner of Lea’Angleneth
Lea’Angleneth
Banner of Taivadees
Taivadees
Banner of Mantorah
Mantorah
Eight banners of the realms and peoples of Miljah flying together on a hillside.
Marks & Sigils

Devices of the realms

The Tears of the Aashahl sigil in gold with an amethyst tear.
The Tears of the Aashahl
A single Tear of the Aashahl: a faceted amethyst drop set in gold above a gold wave.
A Tear, set and mounted
The device of Anoth: a red compass-star on black within a silver and gold vesica set with emeralds.
The device of Anoth
At Full Draw cover: an arched window in cream on dark green carrying Andohra’s arms.
At Full DrawThe novella cover puts a realm’s heraldry in a window rather than a scene — Andohra’s star, spear and bow. The tale →
A carved stone tablet bearing the runes of Miljah.
The runes of MiljahCarved in stone for the appendix, and stamped on the back of the novella.
Illustrator

Luke Wells

Luke Wells is an illustration artist from Southern Utah.

“I am a world builder and have been vastly inspired by the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, Jake Parker, Alan Lee, Yoann Lossel, Pierce Brown, Aaron Blaise, and many more incredible people. I believe in three key elements of creating art, namely: Information, Inspiration, and Imagination. These three elements are the basis for my creations.”

Luke Wells

He is constantly seeking to learn and understand new things, forever taking inspiration from experiences and creators alike; then using his imagination to form his art.

Find his work