The Swordmaster of Ashland
A heroic tale of love, loss, and vengeance.
PRODUCER SUMMARY
Logline: A young swordmaster is forged by love and shattered by loss—then forced into a war against a resurrecting ash-wraith Shadowlord and its goblin horde, with the fate of Erast hanging in the balance.
Genre: Epic / Dark Heroic Fantasy • Adventure • Tragedy-to-Redemption
Format: Novel (completed) • Adaptation-ready (Feature or Premium Series)
Setting: The realm of Erast — ashlands, ruined keeps, battlefields, shadowed wilds
Status: Book complete (source material) • Adaptation-ready
Materials: Novel (PDF or print) • Cover art • One-sheet
PRODUCTION MATERIALS AVAILABLE
Secure PDFs provided to verified producers - available on request
About T. A. DeBonis
Creator, screenwriter, and author with 30 years in broadcast television, developing production-ready mythic IP for global film & TV adaptation.
• Open to options, shopping agreements, and
co-pro development.
• Materials available for verified producers.
Novel
One–Sheet
WHY THIS WORKS
A heroic love story forged into war—built for a cinematic fantasy adaptation.
• Clear emotional engine: love → loss → vengeance → redemption; the arc is clean, commercial, and deeply motivating.
• A marketable hero journey: a young swordmaster rising from tragedy into purpose—easy to cast, easy to root for.
• Distinct villain concept: a resurrecting ash-wraith Shadowlord (occult/plague aura) avoids “generic armored dark lord” feel.
• Visual-forward world: ashlands, ruined keeps, battlefields, shadowed wilds—strong trailer images without needing constant CGI spectacle.
• Built-in franchise runway: Erast supports sequels, prequels, and spin-offs (new realms, new threats, new heroes).
• Adaptation flexibility: can play as a feature event film or a premium series with episodic quest structure.
WORLD & TONE
• Erast at war’s edge: frontier towns, ruined keeps, and contested roads where goblin raids and fear spread fast.
• Heroic, but not soft: classic quest fantasy with real consequence—loss, sacrifice, and grief that leave scars.
• Occult darkness: the Shadowlord is ash-wraith / plague-king energy—less “armor,” more corruption spreading through land and spirit.
• Grounded grit + mythic scale: steel, mud, firelight, and blood-oaths—then the world opens into nightmare realms and ancient evil.
• Cinematic palette: ashlands, black forests, storm skies, and torch-lit interiors—high contrast, moody, trailer-forward.
• Tone promise: tragedy becomes strength—the story earns its hope through pain, not speeches.
KEY CHARACTERS
A swordmaster forged by tragedy, the love that anchors him, and the Shadowlord that turns grief into war.
IAIN ALDRETH
Young swordmaster • blacksmith’s son • vow-driven hero
• Starts as a working man with a future—then a goblin massacre shatters his world.
• Grief becomes purpose: he takes up the blade and won’t stop until the Shadowlord is ended.
• The emotional core: vengeance tempered into discipline, then redemption.
JENN
Iain’s love • the heart of the story • the loss that shapes him
• The bright life Iain almost had—love, home, peace.
• Her death isn’t just tragedy; it’s the catalyst that hardens Iain into the man who can win.
• Her presence haunts the quest as memory, promise, and fuel.
ALANDIEL
Wizard guide • strategist • keeper of the larger truth
• Sees the Shadowlord threat for what it is and pushes Iain onto the only path that matters.
• Provides the mythic context and the “rules,” but the cost stays human.
• A moral compass who understands sacrifice.
GIDEON
Warrior ally • hardened steel • the grounded counterweight
• A fighter who’s seen too much—practical, blunt, loyal when it counts.
• Keeps the party alive in the real world while magic closes in.
• Challenges Iain’s rage and forces leadership to emerge.
SHADOWLORD/MAEDHROS
Resurrecting ash-wraith • plague-king • occult Dark Lord
• A presence more than a man—corruption spreading through land and spirit.
• Builds an army (goblins and worse) while feeding on fear, grief, and weakness.
• Wants not conquest alone, but a broken world he can remake.
SAGAN
Swordmaster mentor • discipline over fury
• Shapes Iain’s fighting style and forces him to earn the title.
• The “craft” behind the hero—training, consequence, restraint.
THE HOOK / STORY ENGINE
THE HOOK
A young swordmaster’s world is destroyed in a goblin massacre—and the love that anchored him is taken. Forced out of grief and into war, Iain Aldreth is driven to confront a resurrecting ash-wraith Shadowlord whose corruption is spreading across Erast.
WHAT HE DISCOVERS
• The goblin raids are not random—they’re organized, feeding a larger darkness.
• The Shadowlord isn’t myth—it’s returning, rebuilding power through fear and decay.
• Victory isn’t just strength; it requires discipline, allies, and sacrifice.
• The world has rules—ancient magic, blood-oaths, and places where the veil is thin.
WHAT ESCALATES
• Each step forward widens the war: raids become campaigns, and isolated terror becomes a spreading plague.
• Iain’s grief sharpens into resolve—but the cost rises: friends fall, hope fractures, and the enemy grows.
• The fight turns personal and cosmic: stop the Shadowlord, or Erast collapses into permanent darkness.
• The endgame becomes a final confrontation where Iain must become more than a survivor—he must become the Swordmaster.
THE NOVEL
Completed source material — adaptation-ready epic fantasy with franchise runway.
ISBN 9798326592156
The Swordmaster of Ashland follows Iain Aldreth, a young swordmaster forged by love and shattered by loss—then forced into a war against a resurrecting ash-wraith Shadowlord and its goblin horde, with the fate of Erast hanging in the balance.
Available materials (via producer access):
• Novel (PDF or print)
• Cover art
• One-sheet
Rights: Adaptation inquiries welcome.
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• Novel
• One-Sheet
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