An order of knights secluded themselves in the vast northern forests of Kaskaban and built a grand stone cathedral deep in the wilderness. At first they were known as pious men of good deeds, but their ways grew strange, and stories began to circulate of hostility towards the villagers they traded with. Matters came to a head when a well-respected local clergyman was murdered. Enraged, Lord Kelm sent a small battalion of his guards into the forest to find the knights responsible.
After several days of travel the battalion reached the cathedral — and found it deserted. Not a body, dead or alive, was found, nor any reason why the entire order had vanished. There were hints of dark magic and the occult — strange symbols and statues — but nothing that explained the disappearance. The guards held the cathedral for several weeks and searched the forest, but found no sign of the knights. They returned home, and the cathedral was left to decay in the wilderness, where its ruins still stand to this day.
I built this environment in Unreal Engine 5, with the post-render image work done in Adobe Lightroom. I started by collecting reference images into a board in PureRef, with sections for lighting and assets as well as the layout of the environment. Assets: a Gothic collection by Meshingun Studio, mystical statues by Dzen Games, and Quixel Megascans trees and foliage.
