The World

The terrain we’re on has something to say about the story: when things are more dangerous, we’re in a coniferous forest or in a stone structure. When they’re easier going, we’re in a deciduous one. Once he’s escaped from the catacombs and has easily overcome a threat to rescue a damsel, Kem is fully out in a field, but things only seem easier. He’s being duped. The mise en scène reflects Kem’s feelings in a situation more than the reality of the situation.

The Mesas and the Green Wizard’s Pueblo

Based on the beautiful town of Sedona, Arizona, the Mars-like, hoodoo-dotted mesas are thoroughly arid, in contrast to the verdant, moist world into which Kem descends. The animals here are happy and safe, despite living in a desert and their design is angelic. The pueblo should look like the home of a doddering, old hippie, cluttered and homey, just as the Green Wizard’s mind is muddled and inefficient. In the midst of this jumble, Kem’s spartan room reflects his internal emptiness.

The Forest Beyond the Clouds 

This green, growing land can seem either vivacious and fertile or overgrown and haunting, depending on the tone of the scene. We occasionally see stone ruins, but as we get closer to the Umbra Mountains, things become more civilized and the fantastical creatures become more demonic. 

The Gasptin Plains

Directly between the Mesas and the Umbra Mountains lie the Gasptin Plains, which Mara has conquered and turned into her vineyards. There are occasional oak trees, from whence the vintners source their barrels. There are gently rolling hills and the marble architecture is Greco-Roman, as is the dress of the locals. 

The Dragon’s Lair

Gold, gold, and more gold. The dragon’s aureate lair consists of a yawning, natural cavern filled with Scrooge McDuck-like piles of coins and sporadic columns of light that draw attention to specific treasures. Each of his slave girls has a cubby or cubicle carved into the living rock where she lives when not in service to her scaly master.

The Umbra Mountains and Castle Umbra

Queen Mara’s chosen capitol features terrain as dark and inhospitable as she is. Dotted with xiphoid, coniferous trees, the rocks that make up the Umbra Mountains are broken, jagged, and black, like Mara’s soul. Her castle is a goblin’s labyrinth, cut into the living rock and lit by dim, smoky torches; roaring, Hell-like fireplaces; or cold, blue moonlight.