Abr: Monster Hunter Inspired

One of my favorite stories, for numerous reasons, is The Mute of Abr. And it’s free currently! Just sign up for the newsletter.

The City-State of Abr

Abr was founded on salt trade. The mountains to the west was minerals down in the spring, creating a shallow pool which evaporates midsummer. This creates a giant salt flat, so large that the Abr cannot possibly mine it all before the next season. Mining continues through the spring, when it is water, just the methods change.

The salt is used to trade for goods with the rest of the G’desh Desert, mimicking the salt trade of Africa. While Europe was struggling in the dark ages, the salt trade created some incredible African empires.

Curse of Greed

However, as the story goes, the greed of the Merchant Princes led to great monsters living in the sand. They come up and eat whoever disturbs the salt. Never mind there are stories long before Abr about such massive drakes.

The monsters were nearly impossible to kill. Similar to Dune, when a monster was coming, scouts let the miners know, and they run.

Qas

However, eventually a slave decided to fight. Though there were several, and most just tried to play decoy, one actually killed a monster. From there, killing monsters and trading in flesh and humors became as lucrative as the salt trade itself.

Kaiju

In Japan, they have the kaiju genre. Giant monsters. Best when paired with mecha, or giant robots.

However, in Monster Hunter, it’s giant monsters verse people wearing massive armor, wielding massive weapons. I love the kaiju genre, and I’ve always loved going on hunts with my brothers. So I included it in my world.

And Mercenaries

While the focus in Abr is monster hunting, because the genre and potential is just a lot of fun, it also means a lot of mercenaries come out of Abr. They travel to G’desh, using exotic weapons crafted out of monstrosities to cut down human foes.

What video games inspire you and your creations?

Remember to pick up your free copy of The Mute of Abr!