Erin M. Evans
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erinmevans.bsky.social
Erin M. Evans
@erinmevans.bsky.social
2K followers 540 following 660 posts
Author of EMPIRE OF EXILES and RELICS OF RUIN (Orbit, out 4/24)| Brimstone Angels Saga | Dungeon Scrawlers DM and Concentration Check host | STXBP1 mom | co-host of Writing About Dragons and Shit | she/her
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erinmevans.bsky.social
Also I have to do a close up of this crawling claw and it's fab manicure. Also the Vecna + Kas charm bracelet--I howled when I saw it.
A disembodied hand festooned with a purple ribbon and a heart shaped charm bracelet inscribed with V+K, skitters along on an elegant manicure.
November 12, 2025 at 10:22 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
What happens if Havilar gets the Eye AND Hand of Vecna? And the Sword of Kas as a little treat? I’m sure nothing bad. (Bonus: her old hand, Lefty, can help!)

Twice-Cursed Havilar and Lefty the (Cute) Crawling Claw are now available in @idlechampions.bsky.social

Check them out at idlechampions.com
On the left, Twice-Cursed Havilar, a thoroughly wicked looking version of your favorite tiefling glaive fighter, and her crawling claw familiar, Lefty. On the right, the author Erin M. Evans
November 12, 2025 at 10:20 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Well he rallied enough to adamantly refuse to take another nap, answer yes to “do you want to go to school?”, no to “what about going later?” And “ool! ool!” When I tried to make him sit.

He is very hyped about this costume.
A young white boy wearing a red satin poncho and a white fleece mask with horns. His costume is Hornet from Silksong
October 31, 2025 at 5:59 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
It's a fresh #IdleChampions skin for fresh Farideh redesign! Tap into her dark side with Darklord Farideh and Ausir the White Raven familar. (Is this a reference to that weird dream vision of Asmodeus trying to bribe her? Of course it is!)
Get yours at idlechampions.com!
@idlechampions.bsky.social
Farideh, a tiefling woman, depicted in black robes with skeletal details, her hands dissolving in negative energy, a crown of stars orbiting her horns, stands behind a white raven. Beside, a portrait of the author, Erin M. Evans, a white woman with brown hair and red lipstick.
October 8, 2025 at 10:48 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Clip of previous post with “no advice” highlighted
September 7, 2025 at 7:59 AM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Truly if you liked Brimstone Angels, *try* one of these. The other question I can't help people with is "when will you write more Brimstone Angels?" It's also not up to me, but look I have written FOUR MORE BOOKS since then! (I don't have a BA vs Runescape graphic yet)
A fan of Brimstone Angels Saga Books opposite the Books of the Usurper series. Arrows connect their shared themes: Twisty plots, non-human people (some with horns!), a romance you shouldn't root for (but you kinda do), anxiety + hypercompetence, and magic you have to control before it controls you! Books of the Usurper opposite Gift of Guthix with arrows showing shared themes and elements:Nerds doing magic, a world that understands itself (even if the characters are still figuring it out), A cute unconventional pet!, ride-or-die friends (who also make you crazy), complicated villains (that you still kinda root for), "What's the harm in a little lie? (Spoiler:...oh...oh no).
August 31, 2025 at 7:29 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Everyone who sends me these: Yeah, I don't know why there are no reprints, you should take that question to Wizards of the Coast. (No, I don't get any of this money.)
A sales page for a hardcover copy of The Devil You Know by Erin M. Evans. Price: $200
August 30, 2025 at 10:46 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Best archdevil. Worst person to ask for help. #actualplay #dnd
Brown haired white woman (Erin) in a black dress, red lipstick, and blue Devil horns.
August 7, 2025 at 12:19 AM
erinmevans.bsky.social
He’s very embarrassed. But warming up to his competitors.
Erin stands close to the camera hovering behind Idris sitting in a chair
July 31, 2025 at 1:02 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Gen Con, Day 1. The boy has thus far refused to manage my social media. I neglected to consider that he IS my son.

Up early for an Unmatched tournament! First panel at 11 am (Remembering Howard Andrew Jones)
A middle-aged white woman in a red jacket sits against a wall. Next to her in the background, a white teen boy in a brown hoody and a half-ponytail sits drinking a coffee.
July 31, 2025 at 12:44 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Boarding time! #gencon
White teen boy with long hair cheek to cheek with white middle-aged woman in red lipstick at airport
July 30, 2025 at 5:17 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Just learned #RUNESCAPE: THE GIFT OF GUTHIX has been nominated for a 2025 Scribe Award for Best Original Novel (Speculative)! Good job, weird little book! ❤️
Book cover for RUNESCAPE: THE GIFT OF GUTHIX by Erin M. Evans. A young woman with a staff addresses a colossal friendly looking frog-creature in misty cavern.
July 24, 2025 at 1:25 AM
erinmevans.bsky.social
You are not alone! It's also not the most fun description for artists, hence Ivy Lee's Tunuk does get a little light reflection as a treat.
A shadowy man with glowing eyes and a side shave, holds a horned skull in front of him. He wears a uniform of white and a blue and gold cape. Behind him on a purple background, a multipointed gold star frames his head.
May 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
I do not believe the traditional dress of people who live mostly in estuaries and waterways includes a lot of clothing.

Stavio is Ashtabari and so is Hulvia, Richa's colleague. Both of them do have to get dressed for work though.
The Ashtabari The Ashtabari are the last remaining peoples of a type that was far more prevalent on the continent’s eastern coast. Their lower bodies divided into green and brown tentacles similar to an octopus’s, the Ashtabari are comfortable in the water and on the land—though certain accommodations must of course be made. Chairs, for example, are not designed with their bodies in mind. But the Ashtabari were not the only people of their type to reach Semilla. The Pashuntana arrived shortly after, and made clear that in their kingdom, the Ashtabari were an unwelcome fringe culture. In fact the Ashtabari, the Pashuntana insisted, were a lesser people—a slave caste who resided along the estuaries and river mouths, and must not be allowed in the same space. This, as is abundantly evident to the modern reader, is counter to all the morals and laws of Semilla and the Emperor Eschellado made clear this would not be allowed. The Pashuntana rebelled, trying to rally their allies among the Datongu, but in the end, the majority of them were cast out beyond the Salt Wall, still refusing to accept the Ashtabari’s equal standing. The Ashtabari are more insular than most protectorates, but founded the carpentry guild, the College of the Five Forests along with their former tormentor’s would-be allies, the Datongu. Temples to their mother goddess, Blessed Noniva, can be found in most towns and cities, as their many holidays center on these locations—but the most are found in the official seat of their ducal authority, Tornada, on the northern coast. The dukes and duchess of the Ashtabari share their authority through the major families of the octopus people, passing decisions through the network of their kin before cementing them yearly in Arlabecca, the seat of the Imperial Authority.
May 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
I say Ashtabari are octopus centaurs as short hand which makes some HILARIOUS images in people's heads! But imagine like Ursula, but more terrestrially adept. I think. I don't know if Ursula ever went on land that much.
A woman with medium brown skin and curly brown hair. From the waist up she looks human, from the waist down she had green and brown toned tentacles. Her waist is wrapped with purple and red scarves. She is topless, but wears a large necklace and a halter of pearks and shells. She also has large pearl earrings and a pearl labret piercing. The title reads ASHTABARI.
May 2, 2025 at 7:00 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
ALSO, check out this Easter Egg: @jorgesantiagojr.bsky.social is the creator of the webcomic CURSE OF THE EEL. Did the Ronqu once worship Eel? MAYBE. (Read it here, it's delightful: tapas.io/series/Eel/i... Funny, kind, cozy, horrorish)A
Close up of the Ronqu woman's brooch, an eel-like creature coiled in a spiral.
May 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Okay also I love her face in this one. Like she is going "INTERESTING."

The Ronqu are in a sense a culture that forms after the collapse. They're the first to fall to the changeling horde, and the first to pick up and move. Resilience in action.
A woman with dark brown hair and light brown skin holds a pipe with a curious expression on her face. She wears a tunic and trousers, and a cloak with a spiral shaped pin. Her septum is pierced. The title reads RONQU. THE RONQU: The original lands of the Ronqu are difficult to place, and often cartographers will frequently label the general area they are believed to have come from “the Lost Lands of the Ronqu” and fill it with fanciful imagery. After the Khirazji defeated the changelings during the First Sickness, the Ronqu’s original civilization was the next attacked. The Ronqu’s history holds that their original kingdom--a bastion of scholars, a land of towers and hanging gardens--had been rebuilding after a long war with a neighbor when the changelings began to undermine their efforts. Indeed, the people who fled were the grandparents of the people who eventually arrived in Semilla on the other end of the continent. Many thing certainly changed for the Ronqu in their long flight—some of the Ronqu who arrived, for instance, would trace their ancestry to peoples encountered on that migration across the continent, their ways adapted and incorporated into the whole. But the core of their identity remains—they are the ones who survive, the ones who live to tell the story. The ducal authority is an elected one, transferred every four years during the festival called “the Accounting.” The current Duchess Ronqua, Ursana del Ahdarsa, resides in the ducal seat of Ragale on the northern coast, where the Tower of Parem houses the Ronqu derived Order of the Scriveners of Parem.
May 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
THE DETAILS ON THE IVORY PRINCE ARE GREAT! Look at his horse embroidery!

This is Quill's ancestry primarily, although I think it's established he's got a natally Semillan grandfather and a Beminat great-grandmother on the other side too. But for the Minseon, that counts as becoming Minseon.
A youngish man with light warm skin and monolid eyes prepares to draw a bow. He wears an ornately decorated red jacket featuring patterns of horses and riders, loose trousers tucked into boots with turned up toes, and an elaborate crown of gold and emeralds, also featuring a horse's face. The title reads Minseon. The Minseon Many kingdoms have called themselves “Min-se.” At the time of the collapse, there were four—four human princes locked in battle, sending their sorcerers, their archers on horseback, against the others. Only one, called the Ivory Prince, abandoned his fight and his palace to lead his people away in time to avoid the collapse instigated by the changelings—the other princes died in their keeps, according to the common people who fled after. The Minseon people brought horses to Semilla—everything from swift messenger steeds to sturdy draft animals. Their messenger system was implemented, installing relay stations along the roadways designed by the Datongu—although many of these are run by Ashtabari keepers. Their paper-making industry largely supplanted the Khirazji papyrus and Borsyan bark-paper traditions, making recordkeeping and document production much more efficient. The Minseon count inclusion in the protectorate via allegiance to an established family line and the Duke Minseo, leading to a greater mixture of ancestry than some protectorates claim. The current Duke Minseo, a descendant of the Ivory Prince, resides in the mountain city of Hyangaa.
May 2, 2025 at 6:29 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
I need lunch so these might get speedier.

This guy's Datongu! Doing some earthworks and road-building! Richa is Datongu (mostly--it's been a hundred years and everyone's proximate)
A medium skinned man with monolid eyes and a tattoo on his right cheek, carries a stone bowl and a mattock. his head is shaved, and he wears a fur cloak and loose trousers and a shirt. The Datongu The shining mound-cities of Datong among their glittering network of canals and stone-paved elevated roads were a marvel to all who saw them. Indeed, tales of the silver temples, their ruby-ornamented effigies of Datong spread as far as Orozhand—as did rumors of the Datongu’s practice of human sacrifice. No such rites are practiced by the protectorate in modern times—even if the Datongu wished to, this would be against the laws of Semilla—and in the temples of Datongu the tradition is that this practice was one of the causes of the changeling horde’s arrival and Datong’s collapse, a punishment from the gods. The superior roadworks and irrigation systems of the Datongu however have been a great benefit to the empire, as well as their deep knowledge of the surgical arts, adding substantially to the teachings of the House of Unified Wisdom in the Necessary Arts. The current Duke Detongo, Luca Ohiyesan, is expected to pass the title to his daughter very soon. The ducal authority is seated in Caesura, on the south western coast.
May 2, 2025 at 6:29 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
(Past me, why did you do so many of these?)

This is Mother Ayemi of the Beminat. This is the big dog of the pre-catastrophe world. Lot of expansion, lot of military technology. Little Mayan, little Songhai, little Roman--none of these though.
A brown skinned woman in armor stylized to look like a serpent's head and scales. She wears a collar of feathers and carries a spear. The Title Reads BEMINAT The Beminat The largest empire by far, still expanding when the collapse occurred, Bemina’s military might was unprecedented in history. A wide-spread network of bureaucrats and military outposts, more than a few of the eventual protectorates had fought Bemina in the years before the changelings, and indeed there are references in the Accords of the Protectorates that suggest concern among the refugee states that Bemina would not be able to fight its conquering nature. But if the Beminat were the largest population on the continent before the Sealing of the Salt Wall, they suffered the greatest losses fleeing to Semilla. One tenth their great empire’s people were believed to have reached safety, many of their serpent and jaguar knights sacrificing themselves to hold off the changeling horde. With them, the survivors brought the great bronze-works their engineers were known for, which were adapted to the Borsyans’ cold-magic. They are also the originators of the Order of the Vigilant Kinship of Mother Ayemi, a peacekeeping force and fire brigade that long existed in Bemina’s dense cities, now established throughout Semilla. Their ducal authority follows the kingship lines of Bemina, but as in ancient Bemina, the successor is chosen explicitly by the current duke or duchess and is not assumed through birth order. The current Duke Bemina, Dagho del Ghonifochi, resides in Isefa, a city in the central heartlands of Semilla founded by Beminat refugees.
May 2, 2025 at 6:15 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
OKAY THIS IS WHAT THE FUCK AN ALOJAN IS!

An Alojan is like a nightmare about a shadow person, but they are now your neighbor along with the partners in their six-way marriage and their kids, who probably think it's hilarious to hide in the shadows with their eyes closed and jump out at you.
A very tall woman whose skin is essentially Vantablack with glowing eyes. She is bald and wearing a yellow dress, a shawl with intricate knotwork tassels and sandals. She is holding a bone flute. The title says ALOJAN. The Alojans Semilla did not have formal contact with the isolated nation of Aloja before the collapse. Located in cities high up in the central mountains of the continent, the Alojans practice a from of polygamy wherein many adults form a “nest” all in relationship with each other. The Alojans are not human, their creation myths holding that they were born of a shadow cast by the moon. Exceptionally tall—often over seven feet—with elongated limbs, black skin which seems to absorb all light, and large eyes which give off their own faint glow, Alojans must have appeared very frightening to some of the refugees who had not encountered them before! But in the current era, the Alojans’ contributions to Semilla’s great society include founding the Unified House of Wisdom in the Necessary Arts, contributing their knowledge of bone-setting and cranial surgery alongside Khirazj’s dentistry and pharmacology and Datong’s extensive arts of surgery, as well as astronomical arts and their unique comic theater. Their ducal authority is shared by a rotating committee of four which remains in Hyangaa, high in the central mountains of Semilla
May 2, 2025 at 6:08 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
OKAY CAN I JUST SAY THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE PICTURE?
She's so chill and breezy and I want to be her friend.

The Kuali come up in a few places. Chizid del Hwana and Corolia are Kuali, and the beggar Quill meets in the beginning of EoE is too, and wears the traditional veil.
A woman with red-toned brown skin and her hair in braids sealed with clay, strolls easily with a herder's crook over one arm. She wears a green dress with beadwork embroidery around the collar and shoulders, and sandals with ankle cuffs of beads and bells. THE KUALI: The Red Desert of al-Kual lies to the southeast of Semilla’s peninsula, beyond the canyonlands of the Orozhandi. Famously difficult for invading forces to hold or traverse, the desert proved little barrier to the changelings, driving out the nomadic Kuali. Herders of heavy-horned goats and long-haired camels as well as traders of coffee, incense, and red clay along the Bronze Road leading to the eastern end of the continent, the Kuali were one of the earliest peoples to approach Semilla for shelter. The Kuali’s nomadic culture persists in the modern day with a high percentage of the protectorate rejecting a fixed domicile in favor of traveling between the homes of family members in their complex social networks. Traditional men still wear the blue veil over their lower face and disdain handling money as women’s work, while Kuali women make up the majority of coffee house owners in the large cities. The ducal authority is vested in an elected official, chosen every five years by vote. The current Duchess Qualli, Vipha del Edawei, is in her third year of office.
May 2, 2025 at 6:08 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Borsyans, I was thinking of Great Zimbabwe architecture and art and folkloric Russia vibes...but also they are kind of like forest Cthulhu elves.

The Borsyans, frankly, are a little messed up even if they have the magitech batteries (because they have the magitech batteries, arguably)
A pale man with curly blond hair wearing a heavily embroidered coat decorated with tree-like shapes and eyes. He holds a lantern which is powered by the cold-magic. The title reads BORSYAN. THE BORSYANS: In the old world, the human kingdom of Borsya was an isolated and mysterious place in the north of the continent. Its settlements hill- fortresses peeking out through the canopy of a dense forest, Borysa was long ruled by strongmen and oracles, and did not often look beyond its boundaries except to push back any invaders seeking the rich timber resources therein. This was because the Borsyans relied on their forest for a different resource altogether. A grove at the center of the land, known to the Borsyans as “the Black Mother Forest” produced a material which is still in use today. The “cold-magic” is a reservoir of power which—through a combination of traditional Borysan knowledge and Beminat technological advancements—allows the creation of lamps which don’t burn hot, panels which can cool or heat air, adaptations to seeds and plants (such as those which allowed the Kuali coffee seeds to root in cooler, damper Semilla), among other wonders. All cold-magic in Semilla was sourced in Borsya, and is all considered property of the Borsyan protectorate. Their Brotherhood of the Black Mother Forest controls the production and repair of these devices. The ducal authority is prone to changing hands frequently as the leaders of Borsya’s children rise and fall in power. The current Duke Borcia, Ardalai Yagorid, is seated in Bylina on the southern shore of the peninsula.
May 2, 2025 at 5:47 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
IS THIS A TIEFLING? Absolutely not. 👀

This is a reza of the Orozhandi, who are the first of the "not a human" people. They are an HOMAGE to my previous babies, which immediately skew into weirdness by venerating decorated sorcerers' skeletons and having a third eye that sees heat.
A horned woman with medium light skin, considered a horned skull. Both woman and skull have charms decorating their horns and a third eye--the woman's is closed, the skull's is, like it's other orbits, empty. She wears a tunic decorated with geometric patterns in earthy tones, and more coin-like charms along her belt and collar. The designation is OROZHANDI THE OROZHANDI: Northwest of the Red Desert of al-Kual, canyons split the rocky land and the clans of Orozhand held the terminus of the Bronze Road tradeway. Closer to humans than the Alojans or the Ashtabari, the Orozhandi are distinctive for their ram-like horns and the third eye at the peak of their forehead which allows them to perceive heat. This made them well adapted to their canyon homes, divided as they into the above of the sunlight, and the dark below of the caverns. The Orozhandi faith divides the world similarly, between a God Above and a God Below, who they additionally worship through the conduit of “saints”—Orozhandi sorcerers. Indeed one of the most visited galleries of the Imperial Archives is the Chapel of the Skeleton Saints, where the articulated bones of the saints, most brought by the original refugees from Orozhand, are housed as honored guests of the empire. The ducal authority is divided between the traditional leaders of the clans of Orozhand, the rezas, most of whom reside in the city of Maqama, built by the Orozhandi into the caves near the central mountains’ southern edge.
May 2, 2025 at 5:37 PM
erinmevans.bsky.social
Now Khirazj, the Gift of the River! It might be helpful to imagine Khirazj as like an Egypt/Achaemenid Persia/al-Andalus hybrid--but not if you get stuck on any one of these. Khirazj at this time is a superpower on the wane--but not so much they don't bring a whooooole lot of innovation.
Hishenbi the last king of Khirazj. A dark skinned man with a skeptical expression holds a symbolic flail and a compass. He wears layered linen robes and a crown with four heron feathers, a symbol of a king regnant. Underneath, he is designated Khirazji THE KHIRAZJI: Khirazj at the time of the collapse was a powerful human kingdom on the northern side of the continent. While the borders at times extended as far south as al-Kual and as far east as the mountains before Borsya, the heart of Khirazj was the river Pademaki, a fertile waterway which the Khirazji worshipped as the creator of their people and the source of all life. Indeed their rulers counted kinship from this god of the river, and were considered divinities in their own right. Among the oldest, longest-lived civilizations, Khirazj was also the location of the first recorded appearance of the shape-changing entities known as the changelings. During what is now called “the First Sickness,” records of the creatures provoking conflict alongside the civil wars spurred by schisms in the priesthood. Khirazj brought to Semilla a deep knowledge of medicine and record-keeping, as well as their architectural fondness for hypostyle halls and grand domes. Their last god-king, HIshenbi, took the title Duke Kirazzi and established the protectorate’s seat in Sestina close to the Salt Wall. The current duchess, Zara Kirazzi, is his direct descendant, as is her cousin, the consort-prince Ibramo Kirazzi. The previous duke, now known by the epithet, the Usuper, Redolfo Kirazzi, is better not spoken of.
May 2, 2025 at 5:28 PM