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[generalkaidence]

World Building Saturday

Any day can be world building wednesday if you try hard enough.

Anyway, today let’s talk about swear words.

One of the most common curses is “saints ablaze”.

Although very common and used by most Toraanim and Altairians fairly frequently. It’s frowned upon by some of the more conervative and devout people.

“Saints ablaze! I left my bag on the tram.”

*after stubbing your toe* “Saints ablaze!”

“He was an amazing lay, saints ablaze.”

Anyway, you get the idea, it’s a general catchall swear word.

The phrase itself refers to the burning of The Rattler’s saints. Around the mid 3rd century in the Age of Kings (iron age civilizations).

The Ancient Gods have been known to partake in history, with The Red Prince having participated in the downfall of the Wikkerana that marked the end of the Age of the Wikkerana and started the Age of Kings.

The Rattler had been known to take a keen interest in the humans and seemed to take a particular delight in observing them. They selected a troupe of entertainers as Their messiahs. And this band of four would travel the country side of Halidore and Aphidia holding festivals and parties with lots of music and drinking. At this stage the belief of the Ancient Gods hadn’t yet covered the continents.

They entered a small city state named Grovude and began setting up their festivals. But this was not taken kindly by the locals who still practiced a pagan religion that believed such frivolity to be quite sinful. They took these four messiahs and burned them alive. In doing so The Rattler was so enraged by their actions that They tore city asunder and left a gaping chasm. An event which would soon after cement the Ancient Gods as THE religion.

Due to the imprisonment of The Red Prince in the Age of Legends, the Ancient Gods had made a pledge never to so directly effect the world and its people, and at no other time in human history have They done so. The Rattler retreated from Their extremely close inspection of humans and not since then have They returned. But devotees of The Rattler still live very loosely with a large focus on humour and fun in their lives, even though yes most of the disapprove of using the phrase “saints ablaze”.

[generalkaidence]

Concept art Parasoul bares a striking resemblance to my character General Kaidence.

Art source: yubigd

[generalkaidence]

12 minute crash course in medieval double edged swords.

[generalkaidence]

So in this story we're covering Drade and him learning to do magic. I haven't really talked as much about Drade's part of the story. The story follows Drade and Darius equally as they go their seperate ways. Darius goes into the Royal Guard while Drade is an apprentice to the spellbinder Elzor.

I also wanted to talk about magic in the world and give some detail on how it works.

Drade's lesson:

The royal palace at the capital city of New Eleanore had been renovated and reconstructed countless times since it was first built just two hundred years ago, but the layout has always remained the same. As the newly assigned court spellbinder, Elzor had direct control over the construction of his wing of the palace. Ensuring he had access to all the facilities that he would require in his position. One such amenity was a set of meditation rooms. Although initially quite spartan, these days the floors were layered with brightly polished black and white tiles, a colourful quilted meditation rug taking centre place, the walls etched with marble carvings like the entirety of the splendid royal palace. Drade, who had come from much simpler means, would often marvel at the luxurious structure he now called home. Even after several months of living here.

It was in one of these meditation rooms that Drade now sat, cross legged, opposite Elzor. His palms rested easily in his lap, his head was tilted forward and his mess of neck length brown hair fell across his face. The white training vestment sat loosely and comfortably on his body. Elzor, on the other hand, wore a long ceremonious gown, stitched with silver and shimmering bright against his turquoise skin. As with all eriarnore, his neat, short hair was jet black, same as his pure black eyes, which were currently closed in meditation. Neither Elzor nor his apprentices wore these traditional garments often, only to certain training exercises. Drade and the others usually wore their casual clothes, while Elzor still swept around the wing in all fashion of hefty robes.

Synchronously, Elzor and Drade drew long, deep breaths, remaining completely still. Long minutes past. The room had no windows and was kept lit by several electric lights fixed to the walls. Time was kept by a small watch that lay beneath them. The watch was gold with an inlaid silver pattern. Drade knew the first time he had seen it that it must have been expensive, not only was it ornate but it was specially cased to be completely inaudible. Eventually, their eyes opened in unison. Drade exhaled slowly and a wide grin crossed his face. “Wow,” He murmured in deep relaxation. “That feels amazing.” Elzor chuckled loudly and deftly jumped to his feet, rubbing his pale blue hands together. “Yes, I expect it would. We’ve attuned a large amount of magical energy in this room together.” After quickly stretching his arms and legs, which had lost some of their feeling due to the long inactivity, Elzor picked up the watch laid between them. “Three hours and forty five minutes.” He exclaimed. “I do believe that’s a new record for you my boy.” Drade slowly stood from his seated position. He had an acute awareness in all of his senses. He could see the faintest flakes of dust floating in the lit room, clearly hear the swishing of Elzor’s robes, and feel the very air as it flowed against his skin. But most of all, he felt a mysterious energy pulling at him from the world beneath his feet. Like an ethereal anchor tethering him to the earth, almost replacing gravity itself. “I can feel it,” He said in astonishment. Elzor looked at him questioningly. “I can feel the energy, I’ve never felt anything like this.” Elzor nodded knowingly. “I knew we would have this breakthrough soon. You have improved so much since you first arrived only three months ago. When we first started you couldn’t meditate for five minutes.” Drade smiled sheepishly, standing in place, feeling blissfully rooted to the magical energies. The impatient and impetuous boy from Durst Ridge seemed a whole other life, long forgotten.

Elzor rubbed his smooth face as he continued to talk. “Meditation cleanses and relaxes the soul and the body. Like tuning a radio, we more clearly receive the pure magical energy that us spellbinders draw on to cast our spells.” He stepped closer to Drade, who began to sense the immense breadth of the power that Elzor was capable of channeling. “But you know this,” He put his pale blue hand on Drade’s shoulder, his mysterious pure black eyes looking into Drade’s hazel ones. “So I think it is time that you finally learn what that really means my boy.” “Really? Cast a spell?” A smile grew on Drade’s face. “Yes, this is the perfect opportunity. Be mindful though, attuning your body to the planet’s magical energies is a long process that will take a lifetime to master. This is only a simple spell, and it may take some practice to cast.”

Drade nodded quickly in agreement, and Elzor stepped back. He held out his right hand and, with a swift flourish of his wrist, a luminous ball of light appeared in his hand. He held it there for a second and with a similar gesture, the light disappeared again. “Several key things to keep in mind” He said, as Drade slowly repeated his hand gesture. “Precise hand movement is not nearly as important as will. You need to feel the energy flowing through you as you harness it for your magic. Don’t think about it too much, magic is feeling and intuition, not mathematics.” Drade didn’t really understand what most of that meant, but he readied himself, holding out his hand. He concentrated on the anchoring feeling of the energy and envisioned the floating ball of light in his hand. He inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. And with a flourish, swished his wrist around.

And there, in his upturned palm, was absolutely nothing. “Not to worry.” Said Elzor hurriedly. “Casting the first spell is always difficult. It’s quite like riding a bicycle. Once you know what sensation you’re looking for, it will come much more easily.” Drade continued to try swishing his hand a few more times in quick succession, but to no avail. He could feel frustration tearing at the edges of his senses, the perceived attachment to the world he felt before was waning. “No,” Said Elzor, stepping close to Drade again. “Don’t allow yourself to be distracted, embrace the flow of power surging within you. Harness it, feel it. The power will bend to your will but you must also bend to its.” Again, Drade sensed Elzor’s incredible gulf of potential energy. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The magnetic energy welled into him again. Loosening his muscles, he embraced the sensation of the ethereal magic spreading into his arms and fingers, like a strange, soft tingling. He held his hand up again, and swished his wrist. For just an iota of a second, he felt the sensation of resistance against his hand movement, as if his fingers were catching onto the fabric of the universe itself. He followed through with his gesture, pushing against the resistance, pulling through the magic from within himself.

Drade stood there in a stunned silence as the bright orb of light lay in his hand. “Holy shit!” He shouted, resulting in a stern look from Elzor. But the boy didn’t notice, and hopped on the spot, with the ball sticking to his palm. Elzor continued to watch Drade’s excitement with a smile. He closed his hand around the orb, its weightlessness gave him the impression that it would be fragile, but his squeezes didn’t seem to affect it whatsoever. He turned his hand upside down, but the globe remained stuck in place. Elzor strode over to the light switch next to the door. He flicked them off, but the clear white illumination from Drade’s spell lit the room just as brightly. “Congratulations Drade,” He said with a smile on his normally passive face. “You have just cast the light spell.” Drade continued to stare at the orb of compounded light in his hand. Although it was brighter than the battery powered torches Drade had used, the light did not seem strain his eyes, and when he covered the orb, his vision in the dark did not seem to be adversely affected. “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” He said simply. There were no words he could possibly use to describe the mixture of wonderment and pride he was feeling.

He waved his arm in the air suddenly, throwing shadows over the walls. “Hey, can I throw it?” “Only you can know that, it’s your spell after all.” Answered Elzor flatly. Drade attempted to pitch the light like a ball a few times, but it stayed firmly stuck in his palm. Elzor caught the boy’s arm mid swing. “Not like that.” He whispered slowly. Drade grinned with realisation, and closed his eyes. With a deep slow breath he felt the magical tether again, feeling the power flow through his veins. He reeled and threw the orb. Again, he felt the sensation of a moment of resistance, like his hand catching an otherworldly hook, and pulling it through into the world with a burst of energy. The light left his hand and flew through the air until it hit the wall at the far end. It held its place there, the etched walls casting strangely shaped shadows. Drade whooped out loud. “Now I know exactly what you meant by that weird advice you were giving me before.” Being aware of how to channel the energy and the sensations to anticipate, Drade cast several more light spells, and threw them consecutively against the wall. “Magic isn’t an exact art.” Elzor said with a knowing smile, “As I said before, it will take you your life to master. While stance and gestures do help channel the energy into a spell, it is the will that is also important.” Elzor continued with his lesson as Drade kept on casting the spell and throwing it, and sometimes extinguishing it by simply reversing the small wrist movement. “As you bend the magic to your will, so too must you bend to it. By feeling with your instincts, you can sometimes cast a spell without having learned it before.”

Drade nodded and looked at the now light filled wall. So brightly illuminated he couldn’t actually see the engraved surface. After having cast so many spells in quick succession, he didn’t even need to consciously focus on the energy flowing through him anymore, the spells just came with his will and the hand movement. “How about we try this.” He said after a few moments of quiet thought. Drade held up his left hand, and slowly swiped it to the right. He felt that familiar moment of resistance, and the lights on the far wall began to disappear from left to right along with his hand movement, until the room was left in darkness. Elzor laughed out loud and patted the youth on the head before heading back to door and flipping the lights on again. “That’s it my boy!” He exclaimed loudly. Drade’s smile extended across his face, he had never felt more proud of himself than at that moment. Living with his parents at Durst Ridge, he had never felt any sense accomplishment. His grades were poor, and he was always getting in trouble for one reason or another. Especially when compared to his best friend Darius, the brave and popular son of a knight. But here he was, the first human to cast a magic spell in two hundred years.

“This is just the beginning” Exclaimed Elzor, putting his hand on Drade’s shoulders. “At this rate, I think that you should still be able cast the spell after the attunement from todays meditation wears off.” Drade nodded in response and looked up at his master, unable to take the smile off his face. “I think that’ll be all for today,” continued Elzor, “I guess you would want to fill in the other apprentices that you were the first.” “Well I hope they won’t be too upset.” Replied Drade with a laugh. He quickly ran to the corner of the room to grab his satchel. As the euphoria had mostly worn off, his natural inquisitiveness began to return. “So, if I hadn’t wiped those spells, how long would they have stayed there?” He asked. “That would depend on how much magical energy you load into your spell.” Replied Elzor in his usual slow speech. “Because your body is only just now opening up itself to magic, it probably wouldn’t have lasted any longer than an hour. Learning to regulate how much magic you use in your spell is a skill that we will cover in future, but until then the power and length of your spells will fluctuate randomly.” Drade thought for a moment. “You said that you chose me and the others ‘cos we were more receptive to magic? Does that mean that only a few people can learn it?” “Anyone can learn magic.” Responded Elzor, picking up his own bag. “But some people have a clearer attunement than others. Magic comes easier, and they can cast more powerful spells.” “You would think there would be more spellbinders around, even before they were wiped out in the war.” “Taking on an apprentice means a retirement of one’s career as a spellbinder. The commitment you make to an apprentice is one that you will have for the rest of your life. Remember, not all of them did, and those that chose to would only take on one, two at most.” “But you took ten.” “Well, I’d hate to brag my boy, but I do happen to be immortal.” Drade laughed out loud, He quickly thanked Elzor for the lesson and dashed towards the door. “Before you go!” shouted Elzor after him. “Visit the library here in the spellbinder’s wing, every old book about spells that survived the war is there, so you can read up on and practice some basic ones. And don’t forget your regular meditation and exercises.” Drade nodded quickly, flashed Elzor a big grin, and ran into the hallway.

(A/N) Well, that’s it for that. There is still a lot more complexity to magic in this world that I haven’t talked, and there was stuff that I had planned on discussing in this story. Such as multicasting, metaspells, and ley lines. But I suppose most of that will be covered in the book XD)

[generalkaidence]

Just a quick update on what i've been doing lately before I post my work in progress for the past few days, as I'm transitioning to actually starting my story.

I know I was asking people on tips on drawing a map, I decided to just hand draw a map. I tried auto-realm and another online tool. But they ended up doing my head in, I couldn't get the right proportions and doing simple things ended up being a headache. So I decided to just draw one by hand and it turned out better than I expected. I'll probably scan it and post it soonish. Though I may have to clean it up a bit first.

Second of all I'm going to post my chapter list here soon, and when I do, you'll know that I've gotten seriously started on my story.

Umm, that's it. I'll go ahead and post the story now, but I'll just say that I would really like some constructive feedback on the story. I went through it and tidied it up 4 times, but you know, I'm sure mistakes will continue to crop up. But is it structured alright? Does it flow naturally? Do you understand the sensations that I'm trying to convey? I would LOVE to hear your opinion.

[generalkaidence]

A short one shot of my friend's OCs, Francine, Bonnie, and Rowena. Just hanging out and being dorks.

The three girls slowly made their way along the sidewalk. The streets were dead silent and just barely illuminated by the street side lights in the early hours of the morning. All three of them were quite inebriated, Francine more so than the others as she barely managed to stumble along in a straight line as she lead her friends. “Here it is!” She shouted, her gravelly voice echoed loudly in the suburban area, threatening to almost wake up the entire street. They had made it to an intersection of the quiet back streets, the other two girls looked around expectantly. “Where exactly are we?” Inquired Rowena in a more subdued tone, though with a slight slur. The redhead took this moment to rest against a nearby fence. Her bare feet were sore walking on the rocky sidewalk as she had been carrying her heeled shoes for the last half hour.

Francine pointed excitedly up at a nearby street sign. “Look, the thing. I’m going to have a thing. So that I can show my friends the thing, and they’ll say ‘hey, you got a thing.’ and I’ll be all like ‘yeah I got the thing.’” Bonnie stepped closer to take a good look at the white writing on the flat green sign, Chickadee Way. “Are you serious?” Asked Bonnie incredulously, she was by far the most sober of the three. Rowena stumbled over and looked up at the sign. “Oh Chickadee.” She said with a laugh. “What the hell do you need that for?” Francine rolled her eyes. “That’s a bit rich coming from you.” Interjected Bonnie. “How many dresses do you even own?” “Both of you, shut the fuck up,” Interrupted Francine loudly, she stumbled back, but grabbed onto the sign post and steadied herself. “I have a plan. One of you help me up, and-” She was cut off by Rowena and Bonnie both shouting “Not it!” But Bonnie had gotten in first by a fraction of a second. She held up her right hand in victory as Rowena looked down and sighed loudly.

“Ok.” Said Francine slowly, regaining her train of thought. “Bonnie, you keep a look out and give us a signal if someone’s coming.” “What kind of signal? Like a bird whistle?” Francine was about to speak, but Rowena cut her off. “No, that’s too obvious. People can recognise a fake bird whistle. Besides, it’s the middle of the night, ain’t no birds whistling.” “How about an owl then?” Inquired Bonnie lazily. She then tried to hoot like an owl, but it just sounded like her saying “Who?” “God no!” Said Rowena again, prodding Bonnie in the chest drunkenly. “That sounded shit.” “Your face is shit!” Responded bonnie indignantly. Rowena ignored her and carried on. “Are there any owls even in this city? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.” “There used to be owls near my mum and dad’s” Said Francine, leaning against the pole. “I remember because I used to think they were bats.” Rowena looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe they were actual bats?” Francine shook her head. “No, because my dad took me out and showed me they were owls, because I was scared of bats when I was little.” Bonnie and Rowena looked at each other for a second before Francine spoke up again. “Ooh, how about you make a Chickadee noise?” She asked excitedly. “I don’t even know what they sound like.” “Oh, you know, like a fwee fwee sort of sound.” Bonnie tried to emulate the sound back at Francine, who shook her head and made another bird sound back at her.

The two continued making odd bird noises at each other. Rowena’s eyes glazed over as she just zoned out of the conversation. But after a few minutes she came to with a start, suddenly realizing they were in a suburban street in the middle of the night making retarded bird noises at each other. “Both of you are bird brains” She said, stopping Francine mid-squawk. “How about you just cough loudly when you hear someone coming. I’ll let Francine down and we’ll just pretend to be three average delinquents hanging out at a street corner on a week night.” The other two nodded slowly in agreement. With a loud sigh, Rowena stepped over to the post and motioned to Francine so that she could help her up. Rowena knelt down and held out her hands. Francine stood in her overlapping palms and Rowena attempted, and failed, to stand up straight. “Careful!” Shouted Francine, trying to keep her balance. “What are you talking about?” Replied the redhead annoyedly. “You haven’t even left the ground yet. Get off for a second.” “This isn’t going to work.” She continued after straightening up again. “We might as well call it a night. You don’t even need that thing anyway.” “No way! We’re here now, so we might as well get this done. How about this, you use your hands to help pull yourself up, and I’ll just stand your shoulders.” Rowena stared at her in shock. “Hell to the no! This is a new dress.” “Yeah, and you’ll never wear it again, so what does it matter?”

Rowena had had enough. “Nah, let’s go home. I wanna sit down or something.” Francine didn’t want to let this go, she threw herself at her older friend. “Please Row! I don’t ask for much, just help me out this one time.” She cried, throwing Rowena the ol’ puppy dog eyes. Her friend just groaned loudly in return. “Fine! but you still owe me.” Francine clapped happily as Rowena knelt down beside the pole again. The brunette stepped up onto her shoulders uneasily. First her right foot, then her left. The rubber soles dug into Rowena’s shoulders painfully. Once in place, she started to pull herself up slowly, inch by inch, combining the strength of her legs and her arms. As she finally stood straight, she buckled slightly causing Francine to almost lose her footing. “Whoa!” She shouted, her left foot left Rowena’s shoulder, in the scramble to regain her balance, she accidentally kicked her friend in the back of her head. “Ow!” She shouted. “Be fucking careful!” “Soz!” Replied Francine quickly, she looked down and saw a muddied black footprint clear in the mess of bright hair and giggled. “Stop laughing you drunkard and hurry up.” Rowena shouted back up, struggling to maintain the weight on her shoulders. “Do you even have a way of pulling that down? Or are you planning on razor blading it off?”

Maintaining her precarious position, Francine deftly reached into her pocket and pulled out a wrench. “Got us covered ahead of time.” She said, reaching up to the sign. “Why didn’t you have us covered by bringing a ladder?” “I think you mean step ladder.” Rowena fumed silently and uncomfortably as Francine struggled to loosen the bolts. “I can’t get these undone.” She croaked, “Why won’t these fuckin’ things move.” “I don’t know. I don’t want to risk looking up and getting a full blown panty shot.” “Oi Bonnie!” Called out Francine, trying to turn her head to look behind her. “How do I undo these?”

Her call was met with silence. “Hey Bonnie!” Shouted Rowena this time, but again, nothing. Both the girls continued to shout out to their friend, getting louder and louder. They were doing their best to look behind them at where they last saw Bonnie without bringing down their tower. At the same time their yelling started to sound panicked, a voice answered. “Yeah, yeah. I’m here.” Bonnie’s voice sounded sleepy and she yawned straight after. “Where in the fresh hell were you?” Shouted Francine angrily. “I don’t know, I was sitting here keeping a look out and next thing I know you guys are yelling. “Wait,” Said Rowena, craning her neck to look at the blonde now walking into view. “Did you fall asleep?” There was a small pause. “No…” “Whatever.” Interrupted Francine, motioning to Bonnie with the wrench in her hand. “How do I undo these?” The blonde girl patted the grass off the back of her white dress as she considered the sign for a moment. “You have to turn it to the right.” Francine reached up and began to unsteadily turn the screw. “No, stop, you’re turning it to the left.” Francine sighed in exasperation. “No, this is the right, see.” “That’s the wrong right, you’re turning it right from the bottom, but you have to have the right turn on the top, so the bottom is going left, right?” Francine tried to consider this for a moment. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Bonnie pinched the bridge of her nose. “I swear to god.” She said in exasperation, “What is it with you and simple instructions?” “Listen here bub,” Francine shouted angrily. “You said to turn it to the right, and that’s what I’m doing. But now you’re saying that it’s the wrong right to the left? What?” “Can the both of you hurry this along?” Said Rowena, interrupting the annoyed exchange. “I’m not exactly having the time of my li-” “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Shouted an unknown voice behind them.

Rowena and Bonnie quickly turned around at the sound. Unfortunately, this also sent Francine falling to the ground with a loud thump, her wrench falling out of her hand into a nearby bush. She hastily bounced back up and looked at the man standing several feet away from them. He was standing just outside the doorway of a nearby house, wearing white bathrobe and wielding golf club and a torch. “Fuck!” Yelled Francine at the top of her lungs. She forgot about her screwdriver and ran down the road in the other direction, her arms flailing in the air. The remaining two looked at each other, then back at the man, and quickly chased after Francine down the street.

[generalkaidence]

Ah, what a long ass hiatus.

Umm, no I'm not dead. Stuff has been happening though I haven't really gotten the chance to do much writing, (or at least, none that I could post).

Umm, but I do have a story to put up, which I will do post haste.

[generalkaidence]

So, I know I got a few world building posts to do. But I think I'll take a small break from them tonight.

I think I'll take time tonight to work on a new character. I have a lot of spots that need to be filled, so I'll get to it with the use of the trait generator I just reblogged.

[generalkaidence]

Quite a few people requested some form of trait/personality generator, and here’s the result!  I wanted to keep it vague enough that the options could work for any universe, be it modern, fantasy, scifi, or anything else, so these are really just the basics. Remember that a character is much more than a list of traits, and this should only be used as a starting point– I tried to include a variety of things, but further development is definitely a must.

Could pair well with the gender and sexuality generator.

To Play: Click and drag each gif, or if that isn’t working/you’re on mobile, just take a screenshot of the whole thing (multiple screenshots may be required if you want more than one trait from each category).

[generalkaidence]

World Building June- Day 24

I'm running out of things to put here.

The sky When you look up in your world, what do you see? What’s up there? Birds? dragons? Thick oppressive clouds? A couple moons? A ring that encircles the planet? We look down at our feet as we build but it’s time to look up and out. What do your wild new horizons look like?

Well, now that you mention it, there's a few differences to point out here.

Birds? Of course, there's a lot of birds in this region. The falcon is especially abundant, and is frequently featured in Toraanim heraldry. In regards to dragons though, sighting one in flight is a very rare sight indeed. Though, it would only be in the wilderness, far from any civilization. The dragons avoid humans and human civilization these days due to a massive falling out that occurred thousands of years ago.

The weather tends to be a fair mix, regular seasons, snowing during winter, etc. There's no unique astronomical features of the night sky. Though the world is located in an entirely different area of the universe, so constellations are quite different. There is only one sun, a bright yellow star, a bit younger than our own. And a thing to point out that there is no moon. So, understandably, there are no tides. Umm, not sure what else I can add in this one.

[generalkaidence]

World Building June- Day 23

Ok, let's keep it rolling.

Then Flora what grows on your world? What sorts of crops do the people grow and which plants are most prevalent? What sort of plants would you find near the equator as opposed further towards the poles? In stories with much more localized areas, maybe it’s time to do some research on the local greenery.

Ah, another shit subject. This is gonna be a short post.

The entire planet, Exelcier, is quite a large planet. Larger than ours by far. The continent of Halidore is larger than Europe, and it is all predominantly in a northern temperate zone, with the same kind of flora, fruits, and vegetables native to such areas. With the southernmost areas being a little warmer and a little drier.

Before the war of the dragon, there was a lot of trade between all the regions of Halidore, and even from the continent of Katachan, a distant continent far to the south. So the peoples of Halidore had access to all sorts of foodstuff and luxuries.

Fortunately, during the war of the dragon, stores of crops and seeds were kept in emergency for replantation after the war. So to this day, people still have access to various foods.

Vegetables, fruits, berries. Grapes and wheat. Tobacco and tomatoes. Umm, this is a shitty subject for me, so I'm not sure what kind of further details to put in other than to say that local flora and fauna are kind of europeany.

[generalkaidence]

Oh and to return the favor-Why don't you expand on the main characters relationship~? Platonic and/or Romantic!

The steam train jolted from side to side as it rolled through the country side. Drade sighed loudly as he gazed out the window. The other apprentices chattered noisily behind him, and Elzor was sitting away from the group in quiet meditation.

After a few kicks to the back of his seat he stood up abruptly. It wasn’t worth getting angry or snappy, he would just move to the next carriage.He walked around the group of loud teenagers and walked to the rear of the bouncing carriage.He opened the door and, with his head down, stepped out onto the platform connecting the two carriages, when he bumped into someone. He looked up, and his heart jumped into his throat.

He hadn’t spoken to Andriel since they returned from Arthnite two weeks ago, and here she suddenly was. Her aqua skin bright in the dreary autumn sunlight, the wind whipping her black hair."Hello Drade." She said with a big smile, her pure black eyes looking into his."I haven’t seen you in a while. You haven’t been avoiding me have you?"

The truth was, he was actually avoiding her. Ever since they’ve returned he felt that he had squandered the time they had together, and he had wanted to get her alone so he could tell her how he felt. But the other apprentices were always around,  and he could never quite catch her away from them.But here they are now, the two of them alone and together. And Drade had now idea what to say.

He shook his head meekly and looked back down, waiting for the moment to pass. For her to move on her way, maybe it was a stupid idea in the first place. What was even the point of telling her his feelings anyway? It would probably just make things awkward anyway.She reached forward and took his hand in hers."Hey," She said in her soft voice, "what’s wrong?"Drade looked back up into her concerned eyes. He was frozen on the spot. His heart hammered away so loudly he thought she might hear it above the noisy. He wanted to do so many things in that instant, he wanted to tell her that he loved her. He wanted to put his arms around her, and he wanted to feel her lips against his. But he couldn’t do it, he didn’t know how.

Their held gaze was interrupted when Drade heard noises on the door behind him. He turned around to see Lachlann making faces against the glass behind him. When Lachlann realised that they were both looking at him, he grinned and yelled out."Hey! Are you two going to kiss? I THINK YOU SHOULD KISS!"

Drade noticed some of the other apprentices still sitting behind Lachlann looking over at the raised voices. He turned bright red and quickly stormed off in the opposite direction.

*  *  *

Ah, how can I mention relationships in my story without talking about the epic romance between Drade and Andriel in the first book? It’s a major part of the story and has a huge impact on the entire story.

Andriel was a bit socially awkward and shy when she was first introduced to the other apprentices, and this was mistaken by a few people as her being aloof and distant.In turn Drade was a bit awkward as well. He had trouble relating to other people, and had trouble keeping his temper under control.

When they were put together on a particular project, they both discovered each other inner depths, and in time, Drade helped Andriel feel connected to other people and know what it’s like to have a true friend. Vice versa, Andriel helped Drade be more emotionally grounded and in touch with other peoples feelings.I suppose it was only a matter of time then, when they developed romantic feelings for each other.

But there are lots of examples of other relationships. In fact, a lot of the characters are good friends. Elzor and Kaidence are both old friends, one being over a million years old, the other being over 200. Drade, Darius, and Joanna have a very close friendship. And then when Darius joins the royal guard, he forms a camaraderie and mutual respect with the other soldiers there.

Also, spoilers, Prudence is a lesbian and has a massive crush on Kaidence.

[generalkaidence]

World Building June- Day 22

Well, after 2 days at a friends house, let's get back into this.

War What is strife like in your world? How do countries or individuals settle their differences when everything comes to blows? Do they march vast armies towards one another? Send missiles at each other? Do they shoot or do they brawl? How even does a small fight work out?

Wow, ok. This is going to be a long one, because to discuss modern warfare and tactics, we've got to look at the origins.

So, in the year 1348 of the age of kings, some time before the war of the dragon, a territorial dispute between the empire of Rytsia-Altaire, and the twin kingdoms of Cielterre and Hygeia.

The particular stretch of land that the Altairians were claiming was ancestral Altairian territories, was a vast area of bountiful fields known as the tulip fields. Hence, in histories it came to be known as the war of the tulip fields. Technologically speaking, the industrial age was in full swing, bolt action rifles were standard issue. Military equipment could be produced in mass amounts, relatively cheaply. Furthermore, the professional militaries of the past were in decline. Soldiers were no longer raised from birth, with modern armies recruiting volunteers.

It was in this era, that in that the empire of Rytsia-Altaire attempted to reclaim its past glory. The emperor had been recruiting and marshalling a large army to hit the twin kingdoms with a large and powerful force for the past eight years. The twin kingdoms however, with their combined forces managed to meet the opposing force on equal terms. With large battalions of infantry and artillery, the war quickly became a war of attrition. Rife with trench warfare, hundreds of men dying merely for the gaining of several metres of territory. Due to several treaties, other countries over the continent entered the war, and it became one of the most prolongued and bloodiest conflicts in history.

It was the Furorians who broke the stalemate. The President of Furor, having lead his men into crushing defeat after crushing defeat, he was voted out, and a new Furorian president was elected and sworn in (Erh, Furorian politics is probably another discussion for another time). He restructured the entire military, and reviewed standard tactics. Forward units would be comprised mostly of lancers and cavalry units supported by smaller, swift squadrons of infantry, with strategic artillery placement. Keep in mind that at this point, the combustion engine didn't exist, neither did any form of flight.

This new military organization, after pushing back the depleting forces of Rytsia Altaire, ended the war. And the structure was mimicked by militaries all over the continent in coming years. It was not long after this that the fateful war of the dragons occurred.

I'll also quickly add, that historically, war has not been the domain of just men. In history there have been many female commanders and warriors. In fact, 4 members of the Binding Twelve were women. There has been very few countries in history who have excluded women from combat or leadership, and this still persists to modern warfare.

Modern Toraanim Armed Forces has maintained the same structure for the past 200 years since then. The military is divided into several corps', or branches. The general of which has a seat in the high step. And each corps is recognised by their uniquely coloured uniforms.

Infantry Corps Green uniforms. Your standard rifleman. Modern tactics call for infantry to move quickly on a fluid front line in smaller formations. Most infantrymen are also trained in swordsmanship for close range combat.

Cavalry Corps Blue uniforms. Most cavalrymen are lancers, Hard hitting horse units that penetrate a defensive position while it is being harried by other units of infantry. The main brunt of the armed forces. Rifles are rarely used on horseback, they are inaccurate and unreliable and are believed to present too much a danger for friendly fire.

Engineer Corps Brown uniforms. Mostly in charge of construction, building fortifications, and sometimes used as a clean up crew.

Artillery Corps Red uniforms. The name says it all. Units of artillery operators, and maintenance crew.

Police Corps Black uniforms. In this world, the police are considered a branch of the military. Even though their structure and function are still the same as police as we know it. There's also a branch of the police corps for internal/external security, like spies. But since the war of the dragon, this branch has played a very small function.

Royal Guard White uniforms. Ah, the special forces. These have a very unique position and function. This corps had originally been setup just over a hundred years after the war, between General Kaidence and Queen Danton III. The royal guard was setup to be autonomous of the crown. As in only General Kaidence had any authority, and she was not directly answerable to the crown.

The purpose of the royal guard is to protect the kingdom, from all of the kingdoms enemies, the last shield of defense for Toraan. But a secret function of this elite unit was to protect the kingdom from future corrupt rulers that the kingdom might have. And to act as a deterrent for any possible corruption. To that end, it has been successful. However there are many detractors who believe that Kaidence has been put into a position of undue power over the monarchy.

Another unique feature of the royal guard is that it only recruits its members from the other corps' via applications. Being a royal guard is considered a huge honour, and many eager young people sign up to the armed forces to try to get into this prestigious unit (case in point, our protags).

[generalkaidence]

That's even worse! Now, instead of just getting it out of the way, you've got another week of fear and apprehension, counting the days until your actual visit to the dentist!

IM SO FUCKING LUCKY

MY MOM HECKED UP

I DON’T NEED TO GO NOW TILL NEXT WEEK

[generalkaidence]

rude child

[generalkaidence]

Oh wow, it's been a while since your races post, and I've had this thing in my head about the Tavsapin being very Bovine in appearance. I think it's a mixture of their primal, tribal culture. And that tavsapin has a similarity to tavros. XD

Amadi a Tavsapin and main hero!

He’s 18 and an apprentice Priest. He’s traveling on a quest to become a fully recognized Priest of his tribe

[generalkaidence]

Do you have any women antagonists or villains?

Why yes!

For example! There is a group of antagonists that emerge in the second half that have a fundamental affect on the story, though I haven’t really considered the groups of individuals that comprise this group. Hopefully these people have interesting personalities, because they have some super funky ass powers.But, onto the two that I know of now.The first one is Idoun! Yes, I don’t know if I’ve really talked about her other than some name drops here and there, so let’s go into detail about her story shall we!

I wouldn’t say she’s exactly a villain or antagonist outright. She’s a lot more like an anti-villain. But I’ll get into the details later.

Idoun is a primary character in the second book. The book focuses all on her and Edward and Guy, and is kind of separate to what’s happening with Drade and Darius and them., but the two stories end up linking together later.So Idoun grew up in a smaller western town named Kyneton Grove. She was the second daughter to the mayor. Her father was close friends to an architect, who he promoted to the head planner and building coordinator of Kyneton Grove.The architect himself had a son the same age, Edward was close friends with her, and has feelings for her as well. But as she’s nobility, she will have an arranged marriage and neither of them can really do anything about it.

The two grew up together, when they graduated primary school, Idoun went on to go to secondary school whereas Edward was an apprentice architect under his father.After Idoun completed secondary school at 14, she attended university at New Eleanore and studied fine arts for 4 years.

The story picks up at her return, her older sister has been married, and the prospect that at any time, she could be married off to sign some sort of business deal terrified her.She’s started working at the local library, and spending most of her free time catching up with Edward, as they hadn’t seen each other before she went to university.

Over the course of their meetings, they eventually realise that they have feelings for each other, but they both realise that there’s no future for them.After several months, the word comes in. The mayor has made a successful business arrangement with a distant town, and the deal is to be signed in the marriage of Idoun, and Stephen. The son of a wealthy business owner, and a knight. The wedding is to occur in a months time.The news brings a near permanent wedge between Idoun and Edward.

The days go on, and as Idoun prepares for the upcoming wedding, she begans having a recurring dream.She’s at the wedding, during the ceremony. She’s standing in a gown next to her would be husband, but he has no face. At some point during the ceremony, a dark shadow passes over the entire hall, and everything freezes, except for the groom.He grows to a monstrous size, tentacles and insect like appendages tear out his clothes.

She flees, and runs out of the building, to find herself in a dark forest thick with fog. She feels she is searching for something in the fog, another presence. Just when she thinks she sees a person in the periphery of her vision, she always wakes up.

As the day of the wedding loom closer, news comes that the groom and his family are on the way, and should be there in a day. That same night, a stranger comes to the tavern.His name is Guy, he has long black hair braided into a pony tale, and he’s got a darker, olive complexion. (Modern Toraan is a fairly diverse place due to Toraan being fairly open to immigration and refugees before the war.)

He carried all his belongings in a large rucksack, he carried both a lever action rifle and a sabre.The drifter wasn’t very welcome, his appearance was considered untimely considering the upcoming festivities.The tavern owner didn’t initially want to rent him a room, and asked him to leave. But he simply threw a wad of cash on the counter.

Edward didn’t really understand why everyone was treating him with such suspicion. He did manage to have a few conversations with him though, he found out that he spent long times living in the wilderness as a ranger.

That night though, Idoun had the dream again, but this time it was different.

When the groom transformed into the monstrosity, she fled again in fear. And again she found herself stumbling in the foggy woods. Dead branchs scratching and cutting her dress. She was looking for it again, this time more feverishly. She had to find it, and this was her last chance.There, in the fog, a figure. Almost completely obscured. But this time she didn’t wake up.She waded through the fog to the person. Slowly the fog cleared and they came into perspective.

She fell to the mud, he wedding dress torn and dirtied, tears streaming down her face and her hands shaking in fear.The other person, gracefully walked up to her. It was Idoun, but a twisted mirror of herself.Her face was thinner and more gaunt. She was dressed in all copper coloured armour, and her head was shrouded in a burgundy hood. Her bright purple eyes locked with the lying Idoun’s brown eyes.

Other Idoun slowly walked over and knelt beside her, holding out her hand to help the muddied girl off the ground. She pulled her up into an embrace, Other Idoun’s strong arms steadying the shaking girl.They move out of the hug, other Idoun takes real Idoun’s face into her hands, and carresses her cheeks as the two smile at each other.Then, she presses her thumbs deep into Idoun’s eye sockets. Her eyes burst from the pressure, as blood pours out of the holes. 

Idoun screams in pain as the thumbs continue to break through into her skull, and then in a burst of bright white light, two giant feathery wings burst from her shoulder blades, illuminating the foggy forest.

That night, Idoun disappeared.

Early in the morning, the alarm was raised, and the townspeople immediately turned on the stranger, Guy. But the Sheriff immediately got a hold on the situation, though he was forced to arrest Guy, even though he didn’t really believe he was guilty.Though Idoun’s father and other town figures believed he was guilty, and demanded an immediate trial. However, the town magistrate was currently visiting New Eleanore, so another one had to be called up from a neigbouring town.Once the groom and his family arrived, Stephan immediately hooked in with the local garrison and participated in the manhunt plans.There was not a lot of information to go, one minute she was there, and then she wasn’t. As everyone was pretty much convinced that Guy had a hand in the kidnapping, they were tracking the movements of local rangers to try to find the pattern of a kidnapping.

Edward tried to get himself involved in the recovery plan, but because he was just an architect, they turned him away. So later that night, he snuck into the prison and had a conversation with Guy.Edward convinces Guy, that because the town already consider him guilty, the magistrates gavel would be nothing more than a formality. So he offers to spring him from the prison if he can track down where the people who took Idoun are.

Guy agrees, and tells Edward to meet him in a few hours with supplies, and ready to travel.In the twilight hours before dawn, they meet on the edge of town. Where Guy says that he found the tracks of a single person, heading west, towards The Veil, so they head off in pursuit.

Wow… I think I just basically summarised the first part of the second book. 

Anyway, I’ve gotten this far, I’m not sure I want to break the suspense by spoiling what happens to her. XD But anyway, SPOILER ALERT!

It turns out that an Ancient God called The Slither had chosen her and made her his messiah by having a part of his essence latch onto her soul. However, due to the resistance she put up, this has caused her psyche to completely shatter. There’s still some aspect of original Idoun in there, for example, she seems to remember Edward, and is still kind towards him. But she’s unpredictable, and completely chaotic and can turn fully psychotic at the drop of a hat. In her more lucid moments she described her life as looking at herself through a nightmare mirror.

I say she’s an anti-villain, because she was made a messiah to fulfill a specific purpose, which just so happens to be a similar goal as the other protaganists. If their goals had clashed, she would be a complete antagonist and a very dangerous foe.

Now, the other female villain I mentioned earlier, is a lot less developed. She’s a character that appears much later in the story, and suffers from the same… erh, condition as Drade.She really comes into conflict with the main characters, and her character is a stark contrast to Drade. In his life he had a supportive family, Elzor, Andriel, and then Ellen after her, and other friends. But this character had none of that, she was alone from the beginning, and no one accepted her.It becomes apparent to Drade that she is a mirror of what he could’ve been if circumstances had been different.I suppose if I was to make a parallel, their contrast is a lot like Naruto and Gaara.Unfortunately, this character is still a blank slate, I haven’t really come up with more for than the basic concept.