Worldbuilding Wednesday – The Dragon Tears of Marglóthborg

Before the Great Sundering, many battles were fought in the lands of Airthai. At the beginning of the world, after the Shadow – the first of the Lewjan Lords – turned against the Light, the first great battle was fought between the Lewjan and the Airus. The Airus won and banished the Lewjan Lords into darkness. But in their dark dwellings they planned and schemed and released many beasts into the world.

Airthai before the Great Sundering

These slithering wyrm-like creatures crept from the deepest, darkest caverns across the Great Continent[1] to slay those following the Light or turn them to their masters. They crept along the ground on many legs, pulling their scaly bodies along the ground. Their tails ended in a sharp sting dripping poison which could kill animal and human alike and burnt the vegetation it came into contact with.

But the Light saw everything and was ready for the Lewjan’s onslaught. The dragons of Airthai were smaller than the Lewjan’s beasts, but were more in number and were nimble enough to attack the beasts. The poison also did not hurt them as much as they were protected by their scales. But many still died as they fought, though they did not fight alone. The men of Airthai stood by the dragons and healed those they could. They formed a great bond with the dragons and they were gifted the means to communicate with them and could even control them with the right words. But some of the dragons became wilder and their actions turned to malice as they – and some of the men – fell under the spell of the Lewjan. These men, instead of using their gift to keep the dragons and themselves safe, commanded their dragons to kill, maim and plunder. But those who stayed true to the Light refused to use the dragons like this and even made an oath along with the dragons to the Creator to this end. Because they did this of their own, they kept the gift of the dragon tongue while the others lost this gift and the language turned to meaningless sounds in their mouths.

One by one the beasts of the Lewjan fell. At last only two were left – one in the northern part of the Western Lands and one to the south – close to where Marglóthborg would one day be situated. Here there was a great battle between the shadow dragons, the Lewjan’s beast, the fallen men and those men and dragons following the light.

For four days the fighting continued and blood drenched the ground while fires from dragon tears left the ground under a layer of ash and smoke choked the air. Then, at last, one of the men - Ardeo - came close enough to the beast to deal it its death blow. But the death of the beast came at a great price, for Ardeo died along with two more dragons; struck down in its death throes.

Those following the Shadow fled if they were able to. The dead were buried on the plain and even the dragons were given a hero’s farewell. Those who survived this day were to become the Dragon Guardians.

The dragons whose bodies remained on the plain, however, turned to stone and many tears were shed which were buried with them; for at this time there were yet no way to use a dragon’s heart for dark arts and it was not necessary to destroy a dragon’s body.

During the centuries which followed, the battle was remembered in stories, but the battleground forgotten. Then, during the Sundering, the buried dragon tears were found once more. Not knowing the power these stones held (as the Dragon Guardians kept the secret well), they were mined simply as precious stones and sold and traded. These stones had to be very carefully removed from the surrounding rock and it was extremely time-consuming. The tears glowed in the little light available in the tunnels, forever bathing the miners in strange blue light. Some were said to go mad in the strange darkness and soon the mines – which were held by only a few families – became a last resort to people who had no other way of earning a living.

Other precious stones and metals were also discovered in the vicinity and Marglóthborg became a very rich city over the next few centuries, at last laying claim to the lands from the Dragon Cliffs to the ridge beyond Black Harbour. It was a dry land, but with their riches, trade goods were bought and sold from across the length and breadth of the Continent and the Western Isles.

The city of Marglóthborg was first written of in the story “The City of Promise”, written for NaShoStoMo 2011. It can be read here.

Map of Southern Lands showing Marglóthborg

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[1] Before the Sundering most of the landmasses on Airthai was compacted into one continent. Only after the Sundering were there two major landmasses – the Sundered Lands and the Continent. 

Worldbuilding: Map of the Dragon City

I’ve almost finished a (proper) sketch of Duizisborg and its surrounds!

A Map of "The Dragon City of the South"

Unfortunately, there ended up not being enough space on this map to get all the names in, so I’ve reverted to using a numbered list.  I have yet to write them on the map, so here’s a separate list, for now:

1. The Northern Gate
2. The House of the Dragon Guardians
3. The Inner City (the richest part of the city)
4. The Eastern Gate
5. The Harbour
6. Lighthouse
7. Lighthouse
8. The Square/ Dragon Square
9. The Poor Quarter
10. The Watchtowers
11. Dragon Lake

The little triangles are the main fountains, as the city gets most of its water from an underground water network.

Read more about the city here, or read “The Price of Freedom” (part 1 to 5) here.

Worldbuilding Wednesday - The Dragon City of the South

Or, Some Ramblings on a City with Dragons

Called Diuzisborg by its inhabitants and Dragonburg by most, the southern port city of the Dragon Guardians are one of the most important in Reiaghy. Two roads lead to the city – the Northern Road and the Water Road; from the east. Along this road many goods are transported to and from the main land. Because of the swampy ground between this and the other port cities further east, many goods are also transported by sea. Trade between the New Isles, the Western Isles and the Southern Lands are also done mostly by sea in order to cut out the laborious land travel and the stark desert of the Death Plain.

Another reason for ships to stop at Diuzisborg is to enlist the help of Dragon Guardians and Dragons on their way northwest to the New and the Western Isles. After the Sundering, Sea Dragons were awakened from the deeps of the ocean and hunt the ocean between the Southern Coast of the Continent and the Sundered Lands. To be able to make a voyage in the Southern Ocean, therefore, ships and their crew needed protection from these Sea Monsters. At this time, ships were still too flimsy to withstand an attack, and the weapons not sophisticated enough for proper defence. Captains therefore enlisted the help of a dragon and its Guardian – two if the dragon’s Guardian was female – to accompany it to the isles and back and fend off any monsters.

Although the dragons were usually enough to frighten off the monsters, some still attacked vessels and even sunk some ships. The dragon would then call to its brethren (if still close enough to the land) to help it save as many of the people as possible – first by slaying the sea dragon and then taking the men to safety. Because of the extra cost of procuring a dragon and its Guardian – as well as the extra space taken up by a Guardian, some owners were loath to pay the extra cost – or even stop at the port to call. Many of these unaccompanied ships were lost – some without any survivors, seeming just to vanish into the vastness of the ocean. Others decided to make their boats and ships seem as dragon-like as possible in hopes to scare off any Sea Dragons. This method was especially employed after the dragons and their Guardians left the city and the Dragon Cliffs to seek a more peaceful isle further west.

Dragons were also sometimes used in transporting goods over the Dragon Cliffs and Dhôr Mountains to the dry lands, which got most of their wealth from the salt mines (some of the best salt purporting to have healing qualities, but even the lowest grade mined still better than most other types in the Western, Southern and Middle Lands).

However, dragons would not be used as constant beasts of burden – and their Guardians would also not use them so. The work the dragons did do; was seen as a way of helping their Guardians and other people of the Continent after the Sundering. For they knew that, if the Guardians should not exist, that they, too, would perish or lose the talent of language bestowed on them. 

Image from: http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

Blast from the Past: Worldbuilding Dragon Tears

Being up to my ears in my studies, I decided on posting one of the older posts for today's Worldbuilding Wednesday. This post, "Worldbuilding Dragon Tears" gives a good picture of the dragons of Airthai and the mythology around them. 


Next week, if all goes well, I'll have a new post and map ready for Worldbuilding Wednesday. But, let me get back to my studies before I start rambling on...


Worldbuilding Dragon Tears


After the flurry of writing to finish the NaShoStoMo challenge I took the Sunday off to recharge. While I have not worked so much on fiction this past week, I did get some more worldbuilding done in-between my studies. After the couple of pieces about Airthai that I wrote for NaShoStoMo, I decided to focus on the relationship between the “Continent” and the “Sundered Lands”. The stories of Aran and the Ealda, including the black stone dragons, I decided to focus a lot on the mythology of the dragons and their interaction with the humans and other races of Airthai. From the beginning of Airthai – a book called “A Stone of Indigo[1]” – the Dragon Tears have played a role, although that role has changed as the world was fleshed out. At first I thought “Dragon Tears” are just a cool description for the stones, it was only later that I ‘found out’ that the stones were real dragon tears.

So far, there are four main types of Dragon Tear stones. (Yellow and white is still to come, but they feature mainly in the far Western and Northern Lands.) Those that have read “A Dragon’s Freedom” will know about the indigo stones already, but the others only come into play in other stories…

Dragon Tears:

Being an explanation and list of the different Dragon Tear Stones found in the lands of Airthai: Indigo, red, green and black.

Dragon Tears are stones or jewels which that are formed by the hardening of the tears of the dragons in the Southern and the Sundered Lands of Airthai.

There are quite a few different kinds of these stones, all of which are different colours and have different uses; both for the dragons and for other races.

The Indigo Stones  

The stones mostly seen and known of in the Middle Lands, are the blue-purple or indigo coloured stones. Because these are the most common of the Dragon Tear stones, they are usually referred to simply as “Dragon Tears”, unlike the other types which may have two or more names.

These tears are shed when a dragon is in mourning. This is usually when they are captured – like what happened in the Kingdom of Guldargan – or when one of their kin or a dragon’s Guardian dies.

Those that do not know the words with which the stones may be set afire only know the stones as decoration and they may also glow from within in the deepest darkness. They are used for lighting only in the richest of the houses – most notably the large mansions found in Marglóthborg and its surrounds. This glow is well known in the caverns beneath Treddian and the tunnels of Holt Haliern, but the existence of great amounts of these stones is closely guarded by both parties.

The stones beneath Holt Haliern and Adea in Treddian are tears shed in the swamps north of Brenoth Wood (The Great Wood or Blood Wood as it was once known) by the dragons that were set free by Nasja, but who had grown too wild or had fallen and sought refuge there. There they mourned for the sea and for the loss of their kin. These stones came into the rivers in the Brenoth Wood, which led down below Holt Haliern and were washed from there to the caverns beneath Adea in Treddian.

The Red Stones – Fire Stones

Less well-known in the Middle Lands are the orange-red Dragon Tears. These stones are also known as Fire Stones or Dragon Gifts. These stones are mostly found in the Southern Lands and among the Dragon Guardians in Reiaghy. These stones are usually gifted to a specific person. Each Dragon Guardian receives one of these stones once they enter their second year of apprenticeship. Some of these stones have also been given to the rulers of these lands – most notably when the Guardians first arrived on the Southern Shores with the dragons after the Sundering.

The Fire Stones burn much hotter and brighter than the indigo Dragon Tears.  Those that carry these stones may also be found by 'friendly' dragons, as the stones have a way of calling to them should the wearer wish so. This is much like the firebird who may give a feather to a person as a way for that person to call her.

Nasja was also given one of these stones before he was taken by the northern men from Guldargan, but, knowing its power to call the dragons and afraid that he may be forced to use the stone by the northern men, he threw the stone away while they travelled on the Death Plain. It was at this moment, when he tried to get away far enough from his captors to hide the stone that his leg was maimed, making sure that he could not escape. But, by that time, the stone was already hidden beneath the sand and the men from the north did not find it.

The Dragon Seekers also carries a Dragon’s Gift to help them to show wilder dragons that they are friends of the dragons.

The Green Dragon Tears – Knowledge Stones

The Green Dragon Tears are extremely rare and most are owned by the Ealda in the Sundered Lands and the Elves and Rún in the Northern and Western Lands on the Continent. These stones may also be used between humans and other races to call to each other. They are also known as Knowledge Stones as the Elves have found a way to enclose knowledge within the stones. After one of these ‘inscribed’ stones was stolen, though, the Elves had cut most of their dealings with all other races except the Tellerassar. Their Knowledge Stones are also their best guarded treasure. These stones are now thought of as only legends within most of the Middle and Eastern Lands.

Only one of the Green Dragon Tears were gifted to a Wíkla by the Ealda in the Sundered Lands after the Wíkla proved that she wanted her and her kingdom to change. This was also the first time that any of the Wíkla chose to go to the Ealda for learning after the Great Sundering.

The Black Dragon Tears – Blood Stones

Another type of Dragon Tear is also found in the Sundered Lands - Black Dragon Tears. These stones are also known as Blood Stones, or Death Stones by the Ealda. These stones are not truly made from the tears of dragons, but from the blood of those dragons that have been turned to the shadow. These dragons are mostly of a grey or silver colour - as if the blue colour of the dragons have simply faded. Bloodletting is done on these dragons when they are bound and the stones are worn by the Dragon Men who are the guards and warriors of the High Wíkla.

Not too much is known of all the uses of these Blood Stones[2]. Almost nothing is known about them on the continent, with most of the knowledge based in the far west of the Western Lands. The books of the Ealda also tell of this and contain studies about the power of these stones at the Sundering of the Lands.  The Wíkla and the High Wíkla also use these stones in the Sundered Lands after the Great Sundering. They are used by the Wíkla and the other Fallen to try and find the Ealda. They believed that, if they should destroy the Ealda, they would succeed in destroying the Creator's hold on the Sundered Lands. They also believed that the Ealda held knowledge that would make the Wíkla indestructible.

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[1] No, it is definitely not fit for print. Or posting online. Maybe one day that part of Airthai’s history will see publication – after some major rewriting…

[2] Still working on this…

Fiction (sort of) Monday – Dragon’s Nest

Or, what started out as some thoughts about geography

The following piece started out as a musing about the geography and towns around the Dragon Cliffs. Although I had filled in some of the places on a map (which will only see the light of day once it’s been copied neatly), I still needed to flesh out the immediate surrounds a bit.

Dragon’s Nest (Part 1)

Mairejath, a Dragon Guardian of the Seafolk, made her way to the new nests to check on the eggs. During the night, five Guardians stood a vigil at each of the nests to make sure that no men from the north would try stealing them during the night. After the fateful day nearly twelve years ago when the first egg was stolen, the Guardians had thought that it would not happen again. They were wrong.

The men came nearly every summer. Each time they took eggs, Guardians, or both. The first time they had taken a young boy. He had just become an apprentice Guardian two weeks earlier after studying for four years. And while the other Guardians saved what and who they could, the boy was taken. Three dragons died in the subsequent fighting, along with over a hundred people when the dragons turned against them and attacked the closest town with fire and razor-sharp talons. That was the first time the dragons had ever turned against their Guardians. The Guardians bound them, explained what happened and promised to do whatever they could to keep it from happening again.

But the previous trust that existed between the dragons and Guardians were broken. And the men from the northern plain did come again. At first everyone was sure that none of the Seafolk ever helped the thieves from the north, but in time all agreed that they must have had help from someone who knew the south and who knew the ways of the dragons. It had come to the point where the Dragon Guardians and the other Seafolk started to question each other’s loyalties and the loyalties of the other people of Reiaghy. And so, watchtowers were built, soldiers multiplied in the Seafolk’s towns and parents no longer wanted to let their children study to become Dragon Guardians.  

Mairejath trudged up the steep slope, keeping her eyes on the ground so as not to trip on the rocks. There were no real paths to the dragons, though the Guardians did know the quickest way to the nests – and, more importantly, their dragon’s nest.

Glathnir, a great dragon of a pure blue colour had chosen Mairejath to be one of her Guardians. She was carrying a bag of food on her back for the five Guardians who had stood guard at her nest during the night. She had not slept well, her ears alert through the night to hear the sound of the Guardian’s bells if they should see the nests’ beacons lit. These beacons were built from slow-burning wood and brush and were lit only when the nest was in danger. Because the dragons mostly left the nests at night to feed, the eggs were at their most vulnerable during the dark hours. When the light was seen by the Guardians keeping watch at the Guardians’ house, they, in turn, rung the bells to wake both the Guardians and call the soldiers in the city below to arms.

From Glathnir’s nest on the Dragon Cliffs, various towns and towers were visible. There was the Ruins of Dhôr – a city lost in the Sundering, the lighthouse south of the breeding ground and on the edge of Duizisburg, her hometown and the home of the Dragon Guardians. Although most people have come to call the town simply Dragonburg – being easier to pronounce and making it sound less exotic. Perhaps people have started to forget that we escaped from the Sundered Lands. In the distance you could just make out Midton and beyond it still lay the harbor towns and the Gold Tower – another lighthouse, the name of which made it sound much grander than the white-washed stone tower it actually was.

(To be continued)

Worldbuilding Wednesday – Maps before and after the Sundering

At last I’ve put some time to good use to draw proper (meaning neater and without so many notes) maps of Airthai before and after the Great Sundering. And there is even a third one I’ve drawn and is using as a starting point for the tales in the Seafolk’s lands. Where the first tale about Nasja played out in the Midlands and had him leave his home at a very young age, the cities and towns now need to be much more concrete.

The first map is of the world of Airthai before the Great Sundering. There is only one continent and a couple of the larger isles. The sea dragons of the south are sound asleep in the depths of the ocean and the darkness of a fall turns slowly from rumours to a reality.

The World of Airthai Before the Great Sundering

The second map shows the world after the Great Sundering. The continent has been split in two to form the Continent and the Sundered Lands. More isles are visible, but also the jutting rocks that make it impossible for the (current) ships to sail between the Southern and the Sundered Lands. The Dragon Guardians live on the southwest of the southern coast and sea dragons roam the new-formed Southern Sea.

The Continent and the Sundered Lands After the Great Sundering

I’m using the third map for two short stories at the moment and it is a closer look at the Dragon Cliffs, the homes of the Dragon Guardians, ruins of Dhôr and other cities and town along this stretch of coast. 

Here be dragons of both land and sea!

On Monday I'll have some new Airthai flash fiction ready. 

Until Friday,

A Agrai tellarias or s’agrélar silássa.

Here be dragons...

Here is another, quite simple map of the Southern Lands of Airthai, showing the lands of the Seafolk and their neighbours (drawn by yours truly). The Dragon Guardians are part of the Seafolk and live at the aptly named Dragon Cliffs. This is where "A Dragon's Freedom" starts...

Map of the west of the Southern Lands 

100 Posts: Looking back on a year – and some new fiction

I really hope that I have grown in my writing. What started out as a platform for bits and pieces, thoughts and scribbles soon became a way – especially in these last few months – to keep me committed to writing. But, more importantly, to writing better.

The most popular pieces during the year included the current serial about the We R Dragon Slayers Company, the problem posed to a neighbourhood when an elderly neighbour isn’t seen for a couple of weeks, and the world of Airthai’s dragons and stories.

But, although I have learnt much over this past year, I know that there is still a lifetime of learning about crafting and creating with words ahead of me.

Something Old, Something New:

Here’s a bit of fiction set in a world I am tinkering with. The world is called Icurn and a first glimpse of the world was in the NaShoStoMo piece The Tree Reader earlier this year.

WIP (working title): The Fountain

The stone started speaking to her four years ago. Elrith hated when it was her turn to collect water from the fountain on the corner of the street. It is not that she minded the heavy burden the water posed on the way back to their cramped living quarters in the north of the city of Serenia. She also did not mind the talk of the other young women. It was the fountain itself, or, to be more exact, the stone from which the fountain was constructed.

The fountain had been constructed long before this part of the city became home to the poorer classes .The light brown stone had been specifically imported and used because it was strong, smooth and seemed to keep the water cool even in the heat of summer. The centre of the fountain was a sculpture of four fish  out of whose mouths the water poured clear and clean. For everyone else, the fountain was just that. Nothing but that. Except for a girl she only knew as Maritha’s daughter. Rumour had it that she had heard the fountain’s water speaking to her. But, whatever the rumour, the truth was that she had been living in one of the city’s houses for the mentally infirm. And it was this fact which scared Elrith the most.

And There's More...

Keep on reading for today’s episode of Virgin for Hire, or click here if you want to catch up on the story so far.

Until tomorrow,

Á Agrai tellarias or s'agrélar silássa.

 Virgin for Hire: In Which the Magic Spell Bears Fruit and Something is Stolen

During all of this, the rest of the WERDS Company sat inside the carriage and watched Eldridge enjoy being the hero.[1] The wrangler was well known one of the roads in the next province, where he not only scared the daylights out of a band of thieves, but also had them donating all the stolen goods they kept in a cave nearby to the poor[2]. For, while Philip was the best sword fighter of the group, he also looked like a hero. A chivalrous hero – a hero who would fight fair and who would therefore be quite easy to kill.

Poetry-loving Eldridge, however, looked like the kind who would use the ripped-off arm of the first bandit he could catch to pommel the rest of the band to death before they even had a chance to apologise for trying to rob him. The same man uttering magic spells was even more frightening. The bandits fled before Eldridge’s outstretched hands and Jake even left his monocle behind in his haste to get away from the summoned dragon. Eldridge simply stood there and grinned with a glint in his eye.

“Which one did he recite today?” Philip asked.

Therese, who had the best mind for remembering such things, said: “A riddle about gold. It’s one of Berty’s favourites if I remember correctly.”

The sound of the wrangler rummaging for something in the luggage tied to the back of the carriage, while still having a good laugh, was suddenly cut short. Then his very worried face, white as a very clean sheet, appeared at the window. “We have a problem,” he said. “The dress is gone!”

“Gone?”

“Stolen! The robbers had the arrogance to steal the dress!”

Therese stumbled out of the carriage as fast as her fashionable[3] travel dress allowed to make sure that the wrangler was not mistaken. But he was not. The sturdy carpetbag, in which her specially made damsel-in-distress-dress had been packed, was gone and the straps which had kept it in place had been cut.

After an initial cry of dismay Therese pulled herself together. “Go ask the driver where the closest town with a Magician-tailor is. Tell him we’ll pay him extra.” And then it dawned on her; the driver had been very quiet through the whole robbery.

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[1] The driver, however, was not as lucky as to not be left unscathed by Three-eyed Jake’s poison, but was lying fast asleep upon the driver’s seat.

[2] And a small amount to the local branch of the Fund for Retired Dragons.

[3] (and very unpractical)

The Dragons of Airthai... A Beginner's Guide

Just a short message on this windy Winter's day.

Below is a link to a graph of the different types of dragons found in Airthai - the colour of the blocks also show the colour of the dragons.

The Dragons of Airthai

The colours of the dragons include:
Deep blue
Blue
Green
Grey/Silver (As if the blue has faded)
Red
Deep red
White

I think the Ice Dragons were let loose on South Africa today - the snow wind from the Drakensberg has definitely reached Johannesburg!

And in other news; Issue 7 of The Cross and Cosmos is now available for download - yes, it's free!