All excellent observations. This was actually my second fantasy novel I ever wrote, but it has sat on a shelf for a long time because I always wanted to smooth it out a bit more and send it to publishers, but I've moved on to other projects so I decided to release it to the public. Hopefully taking a couple years back in style won't detract too much from the plot, heh. The characters are worth paying attention to, I think, as you'll find a great deal hidden in the details.
Thanks for reading, as always!