Amblem is the dark fantasy world created by author Lux M. Vale for The Tome of Talula and the Tomes of Amblem series.
It is a world with two suns, three moons, demons, angels, vampyrs, humans, elves, fae, demigods, cryptids, ancient relics, competing religions, political corruption, and a history that may not be nearly as reliable as its inhabitants believe.
Fantasy worlds are fun until your characters start using words that don’t exist on Earth.
“We have to go. Hugyn is only up for eight hours.”
Cue Malik—freshly escaped from the City Below—having absolutely no idea what that means.
Seth’s explanation is considerably shorter:
“Welcome to Amblem.”
Welcome, indeed.
What Is Amblem?
Amblem is the primary fantasy world of The Tome of Talula, Book One of the Tomes of Amblem Christian dark fantasy series by Lux M. Vale.
Amblem has existed and developed independently from Earth, which means its inhabitants have their own history, governments, religions, cultures, geography, terminology, and understanding of the supernatural.
This isn’t a world where the sun is simply called the sun.
Three moons watch over the night.
Fallen angels aren’t myths—they’re hunted.
Demons aren’t necessarily monsters.
Ancient relics remember things people have forgotten.
Love is dangerous.
Faith is costly.
And history has been rewritten more than once.
The Two Suns of Amblem: Hugyn and Munyn
Amblem has two suns: Hugyn and Munyn.
Hugyn is the light-giving sun.
Hugyn gives Amblem its daylight and stays in the sky for only eight hours.
That makes an eight-hour period of daylight completely ordinary to people who grew up in Amblem—and slightly more confusing to someone who did not.
Munyn is the heat-giving sun.
Together, Hugyn and Munyn are part of the celestial system that makes Amblem fundamentally different from Earth.
This also means that forgetting how long Hugyn stays in the sky can become a legitimate logistical problem.
Especially when something is trying to kill you.
Poor Malik.
The Three Moons of Amblem: Velk, Droth, and Mors
If two suns weren’t enough, Amblem also has three moons: Velk, Droth, and Mors.
The three moons watch over Amblem’s night sky and are part of the world’s distinct celestial landscape.
Hugyn.
Munyn.
Velk.
Droth.
Mors.
Nobody in Amblem needs Earth to make celestial mechanics complicated. They are perfectly capable of doing that themselves.
Who Lives in Amblem?
The world of The Tome of Talula is home to far more than humans.
Throughout Amblem and the Commonwelth, readers encounter numerous supernatural species and beings, including:
- Humans
- Demons
- Angels and fallen angels
- Vampyrs
- Elves
- Fae
- Demigods
- Cryptids
- Direwolves
- Dragons
- Huldras
- Other supernatural creatures
But species does not determine morality in Tomes of Amblem.
A demon is not automatically evil.
An angel is not automatically good.
A human is certainly not guaranteed to be either.
That distinction is important to the larger themes of The Tome of Talula, particularly its exploration of identity, faith, judgment, forgiveness, and redemption.
What Is the Commonwelth in The Tome of Talula?
The Commonwelth is a major part of the political and social world of Amblem.
It has become a home for beings from many different backgrounds and species—a supernatural melting pot that can also be viewed much less generously as a dumping ground for creatures rejected by other worlds.
Humans, demons, angels, vampyrs, fae, elves, and other beings exist alongside one another within a society shaped by centuries of conflict, migration, religion, government, and rewritten history.
Maintaining order in a place like that is supposedly The Council’s job.
Supposedly.
What Is The Council in The Tome of Talula?
The Council is a major governing institution within the Commonwelth and one of the central political powers introduced in The Tome of Talula.
The Council claims to regulate the economy and maintain order among the Commonwelth’s diverse population.
Its Speaker is Boon, a demon who holds one of the most powerful political positions within the Commonwelth.
The Council also includes figures such as Zareth, a demon who works in Council IT and serves as Boon’s secretary, and Corvo, a human member of The Council board.
On paper, The Council exists to maintain stability.
But this is Amblem.
Things are rarely as simple as they appear on paper.
What Is The Brotherhood?
The Brotherhood is a religious cult and major threat within The Tome of Talula.
It presents itself as a movement working on behalf of the people of the Commonwelth.
Its reality is much darker.
The Brotherhood uses religion and ideology as part of a system that causes violence, persecution, and suffering throughout Amblem.
Its existence also raises one of the larger questions explored throughout Tomes of Amblem: what happens when institutions claim righteousness while the people inside them cause harm?
Faith and religious power are not necessarily the same thing.
Amblem has learned that lesson the hard way.
Fallen Angels, Demons, and Religion in Amblem
Religion is not merely background decoration in the world of The Tome of Talula.
Christian theology forms an important foundation for the series, but Amblem is populated by people and creatures with different histories, religions, mythologies, beliefs, and relationships with God.
Fallen angels physically exist.
Demons physically exist.
That doesn’t make faith simple.
If anything, it makes things considerably more complicated.
Fallen angels can be hunted.
Demons can be capable of love, loyalty, and redemption.
Religious institutions can become corrupt.
And people who have every reason to know that the supernatural exists can still struggle with faith.
Tomes of Amblem uses those contradictions to explore what faith means when belief isn’t the easy part.
How Does the Worldbuilding in The Tome of Talula Work?
Every fantasy world has rules.
Mine just likes to remind everyone that Earth isn’t invited.
One of my favorite parts of writing fantasy isn’t simply creating creatures, celestial systems, governments, religions, or ancient artifacts.
It’s asking:
If this world had thousands of years to develop on its own, what would people actually say?
What would they call the objects above them?
How would their history affect everyday language?
What knowledge would seem obvious to someone born there but completely foreign to an outsider?
How would religion change in a world where angels and demons aren’t matters of mythology?
How would different species build a government together?
What happens when the history everyone knows isn’t necessarily the history that actually happened?
Those questions shape Amblem just as much as its creatures and geography do.
The lore isn’t meant to arrive as an encyclopedia on page one.
It unfolds as the characters discover it.
Sometimes because they’re actively searching for answers.
Sometimes because someone genuinely forgot that daylight only lasts eight hours and another character now has to explain celestial mechanics while they should probably be running for their lives.
Deep Lore in the Tomes of Amblem Series
The Tome of Talula is the first book in the planned six-book Tomes of Amblem series by Christian dark fantasy author Lux M. Vale.
The series is character-driven, but the world surrounding those characters has its own history.
Across the Tomes of Amblem series, readers will encounter fallen angels, demons, vampyrs, supernatural creatures, ancient artifacts, religious conflict, political systems, forgotten histories, impossible choices, found family, faith, and redemption.
Not every question about Amblem is answered immediately.
Some answers take time.
Others depend entirely on whether the person telling you the history is telling the truth.
And some things have been forgotten for a reason.
Welcome to the World of The Tome of Talula
Amblem has two suns.
Hugyn gives light. Munyn gives heat.
It has three moons.
Velk. Droth. Mors.
It has demons who aren’t necessarily monsters and angels who aren’t necessarily righteous.
It has a Commonwelth trying to hold countless species together, a Council claiming to maintain order, and a Brotherhood claiming to fight for the people.
It has ancient relics, rewritten histories, faith, corruption, monsters, gods, and things its inhabitants have yet to understand.
This is the world of The Tome of Talula.
Welcome to Amblem.
Just don’t forget how long Hugyn stays in the sky.
