EXCLUSIVE: HBO has put in development Asunda, a drama series rooted in the namesake fantasy universe created by Sebastian A. Jones.

Co-written and executive produced by Jones, Asunda is set in the culturally rich but war-torn world of Asunda, where an orphan girl is born of two nations and raised in a small desert town. Hunted by all, she will search for her ancestors and the courage to bind them against an ancient enemy.

Mimi DiTrani also executive produces.

Asunda is inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth epics and Greek mythology and is similar in its settings to Westeros, the world in which the HBO hit series Game of Thrones is placed. It is published by Jones’ independent imprint, Stranger Comics, with Kickstarter campaigns helping along the way.

The epic history of Asunda has been chronicled in various “shared universe” titles published by Stranger Comics, among them Niobe, Dusu, Erathune and Essessa — all named for people or places in Asunda, which is a culturally diverse but war-battered world where magic and swords often determine the course of history.

HBO

The central-focus franchise face of the Asunda mythology to date has been Niobe Ayutami, an orphan girl born of two nations, conceived through violence and raised in Oasis, a tiny desert town. The character was introduced in The Untamed (with art by Peter Bergting), which was collected in graphic novel form in 2014. Niobe’s backstory: Her father was a king in a country that Jones modeled on England and Europe, while her mother was the kidnapped female chief of a nomadic tribe of elves who roam a jungle region that corresponds to West Africa. Hunted by all, Niobe will search for her ancestors and the courage to bind them against an ancient enemy. Her adventures have been chronicled in comics form in titles such as Niobe: She Is Life and Niobe: She Is Death.

Fred Toczek, JR McGinnis and WME brokered the deal with HBO.