Reads and sites: Worldbuilding with Words, Paint & Pencil

I’ve found some great resources for worldbuilding this week and visited John Howe’s website again. I also took a peak at writer’s notebooks…

Worldbuilding Resources

You can now download the Magical Worldbuilder Guide by  Stephanie Cottrell Bryant in PDF, ePub or MOBI formats:

“… give yourself 7 and a half hours this month-- 15 minutes a day-- to build a world. It's not going to be Perfect or Set. Why would it be? You haven't actually written the story yet, you haven't tested its limits. But it'll give you something to start with, something to feel comfortable about when you start.”

I also came across an interesting interview about worldbuilding on www.writerswrite.com – I always love to hear how different writers go about writing.

John Howe

John Howe is truly one of my favourite artists – and he is a talented wordsmith as well. Enough to make you dark green with envy!

I love notebooks!

What can be better than a brand new notebook? One filled with scribbles, stories and pictures… I came across this link in a tweet by @thecreativepenn – “For the love of Moleskine journals”. My notebooks are usually a mix of ideas, glimpses of stories, the names of books or sites I want to read, doodles and scribbled maps and even the odd feather, leaf and pressed flower… How does yours look?

Worldbuilding Wednesday: Good vs. Evil Part 2 - The Airus

This week I’m taking a look at the Airus and will leave the Aíhla and the Ahma for next week to keep the posts from getting too long.  

The Airus

The opposite of the Lewjan, the Airus are messengers and servants of the Light and are also sometimes sent to help the people of Airthai against the Lewjan and their followers. The Airus are those who did not betray the Creator and are the mortal enemies of the Lewjan Lords.

“And the Creator made the race of the Airus that may pass between his world and ours; the only race able to do so while still alive. And the Creator made the peoples that inhabit the lands of the world. And the race of the Airus received much Talent from their Creator, the most of the Talent that the Creator gave to all the races created.” (Taken from “The Creation of Airthai”.)

Though the Airus are seldom seen, it is said that they were at the great battle fought between the Lewjan and the Erewhar, where they kept the Erewhar safe from harm:

“On the last day of the hundredth year since the coming of the Lewjan to the Erewhar the soldiers of the Erewhar stood against the Lewjan. A fierce fight was fought on that day. The Lewjan attacked the Erewhar with fire, but not one hair on the heads of the Erewhar was singed. Some of the witnesses later said that they saw the Airus that fought on the field alongside the Erewhar and kept the fire from them. The Erewhar stood strong because they knew that this battle was not just for their freedom, but for their very souls.
Some of the Erewhar, however, were so drunk and blind with the power the Lewjan gave and promised them, that they still chose to go with the Lewjan even after the Erewhar had won and were taken away in a plume of smoke when the new day dawned. They were not seen again in their own human form, but were rumoured to dwell in the Death Plain seeking souls to twist as their own were twisted. They could take on any form that they wished, like the strongest of the Lewjan, and it is said that they often took the form of seductive women to seduce men with their looks and voices.
The Erewhar who stayed behind found the ground turned to ash where they stood and not one tree still stood on the burnt plain. Around them the earth was churned to  ash and mud. This land would become the Death Plain, greatly feared by all people of the Southern Lands. And so they trekked south to seek help from the neighbouring countries. Aleidys led the group that would later become the Whargahn clan.” (Taken from “The Fall of the Erewhar”.)

The Fiery Battlefield...."Veldfire" by JEA Volxchenk

The Ealda were also, after the Sundering, led to the Valley of the Ealda by seven of these Airus, who left after the mists and mountains hid the Ealda from their enemies. 

Some, especially the Aíhla and the Ahma, believed that Airus were the ones who spoke to them in dreams and, in this way, conveyed important information or messages to them.

The two Aíhla, Migael and Gabriel, said that they and Leshem were spoken to in a dream to go to the old well at the cross roads. It was when they got there that they found Aran close to death. This was told of in “A Drink of Water” and “Mercy Unlooked For”. 

And so it was that a war - sometimes unseen, sometimes painting the fields of Airthai red - started that would last through all the ages of the world. A war that would only end on the day the sun burned its last and all the life on Airthai pass to the other world where only the immortal soul can go. 

The Great Office Trek

In the year of Our Lord 2011, in the blustery and cold month of June, I attempted, along with various other colleagues, to brave the winter cold and move to another office[1]… We packed the meager belongings stashed away in desk drawers, loaded the bags on our backs and hiked a few hundred meters to our new home.

I, being the slightly strange, nerdy one in the office also carried about 10 pounds of large and very important (maybe even magical) volumes slung over my shoulder. The trek was so tiring, that I even had to stop for a cup of tea and a cup of coffee once I was settled in. Here are a few things that I have learned during this great adventure:

• 1.        Those little bookshelves fixed to the desk can take quite a few dictionaries and other language books.
• 2.      You can never have too many dictionaries with you – either to hide behind or to make you look smart.
• 3.      I have enough memo pads to at least last me the rest of the year – I adore stationery, especially if they are printed with cute designs. Somehow I can always make myself believe that I need another notepad when I see one I like. (Shame on you CNA and CUMbooks for taking advantage of my love of stationery!)
• 4.      I only have one pen from the office supply cupboard – I much prefer those with more than one colour and those which are decorated. It also makes it more difficult for them to ‘get lost’.
• 5.       A new cubicle means new decoration challenges. (Where do I put my family pictures? And my piece of petrified wood? Can I still sneak in the odd action figure? Decision, decisions…

I came across this a while ago – if you also like stationery, you’ll love this!

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[1] OK, cubicle.

The Great Sundering Part 2 – The Flight of the Seafolk

Welcome to the first full week of June – can you believe how this year has flown? As promised, here is part 2 of The Great Sundering. Here the picture of the Seafolk, Dragon Guardians and their Eastern kin becomes more complete… Part 1 of the Sundering can be found here.

The Great Sundering Part 2 – The Flight of the Seafolk

After the Great Continent was split in two, the waters of the ocean churned and boiled for many days and none dared set sail upon it. Great mountains now rose above the water and great sea monsters were seen in the water. The waters around the Sundered Lands were especially rife with these beasts.

But some of the Seafolk, who now found themselves on the northern coast of the Sundered Lands, launched their ships and sailed for the Continent as they tried to flee from the Lewjan and the Wíkla. These folk included Dragon Guardians and Dragon Elders who knew that their dragons would also be blood-bound to the Lewjan if they should find them. They took all the eggs they could carry and young dragons on board the ships and some of the adult dragons flew along and with their fiery breaths scared away the sea monsters who churned the waters.

When the Seafolk fled with the dragons and dragon eggs to the Continent, some fled to the Southern Coast and Reiaghy, while others, who then became known as the Saerímavolk, fled to the Coast of the Eastern Lands, where they knew some of their kin already lived. This was before the House of the Eastern Keepers was built. Some of the Dragon Elders escaped last as the lands that would become the Northern Kingdoms in the Sundered Lands fell to the onslaught of the Werlea, Wíkla and High Wíkla. Some of the Dragons stayed to try and stem the carnage and the save the people that were fleeing across the new sea in what ships they could reach. But these Dragons all fell before the black fire of the Fallen Dragons. 

Next week, I will be posting part 3 of The Great Sundering, in which the Night of Fire will be told of.

I’m still working on a map to illustrate the “before” and “after” of the Sundering, but with all the studying I need to complete this month, I’ll probably only get it done in July… But watch this space; maybe I’ll get some time this month to at least finish one of the complete maps (properly drawn and not scribbled, that is!).

Ageless Words on Friday – Widsith

The Word Exchange: Anglo-Saxon Poems in Translation is a treasure trove of Anglo-Saxon poems, riddles and maxims. The translations are splendid and makes these poems accessible to readers who are not (or not at all) well versed in Anglo-Saxon. The book is also presented beautifully, with mirror pages of Anglo-Saxon and contemporary English, making it possible for the reader to also see the poem in its original form. The editors of this magnificent volume is G. Delanty and M Matto, with the foreword by Seamus Heaney (whose Beowulf translation I fell in love with in high school).

As I quoted Widsith on Tuesday, I figured another piece of this poem would be perfect for Ageless Words on Friday. This is the last stanza of the poem, translated by Bernard O’Donoghue:

So the minstrels of men go wandering

by the dictates of fate through many lands.

They express what is needed and compose thanks.

Always, south or north, they find someone

with wise taste for poems, generous with gifts

who wants his name raised before the people,

to achieve valor, before everything fails,

light and life together. He earns their praise:

so under heaven gains exalted glory.

And the Anglo-Saxon:

Swa scriþende                   gescæpum hweorfað

gleomen gumena            geond grunda fela,

þearfe secgað,                  þancword sprecaþ,

simle suð aþþe norð       sumne gemetað

gydda gleawne,                geofum unhneawne,

se þe fore duguþe wile                                 dom aræran,

eorlscipe æfnan,              oþþæt eal scæceð,

leoht ond lif somod;       lof se gewyrceð,

hafað under heofonum                                heahfæstne dom.

Anglo-Saxon Manuscript

Interesting reads and sites of the week, part 1:

Welcome to the first “interesting reads and sites” Thursday; where I share some of the stories or sites I came across during this week.[1]

World Enough, and Time – a new series of articles on The Friday Challenge about "finding the time to write and to publish." I enjoyed the style this was written in and will definitely keep my eye out for the new ones!

Some more good writing advice from Rachelle Gardner:  Story vs. Craft. 

I have to mention SpecGram’s new June 2011 issue - as always, it’s a hoot to read. This month I especially love the “linguistic love song”... I do not have an article in this issue, but I am (slowly, but surely) working on another one which I am sure will rock the linguistics world! 

Something for the eye: 

I stumbled across this wonderful gallery by Gold-seven on DeviantArt – one of my favourite web haunts for inspiration. 

The Choice of Luthien by Gold Seven

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[1] These articles, stories and sites are chosen by me, I do not receive any remuneration for any of these mentions. 

Worldbuilding Wednesday: Good vs. Evil – Part 1

“We fight against the Lewjan's Shadow and turn to the Light. We guard ourselves and one another. And when a brother or a sister falls to the Shadow, we cry and mourn and beat our chests in anger because of the rebels and betrayers. And still we fight even when our strength lessens. And we use our Talents for the good of all the nations. Even the Lost Nations, though they know it not. Or perhaps they cannot comprehend it until they have been freed from the Shadow.”

The “baddies” of Airthai, Part 1: The Betrayers – The Lewjan:

Click here for the handy chart…

The Lewjan (lit. “Betrayers”) are those who have shunned the Light and have turned to the Dark. They have a hierarchy of lords and servants and each group takes their own name. The High Wíkla and the Lewjan Lords can bind some of the fallen dragons to them through blood and dark arts – they do not use the Dragon Tongue as the Dragon Guardians do.

It is said that the first Lewjan Lord has never been seen in the Lands of Airthai, but sends his servants to do his bidding. These Lewjan servants have been seen to fight against the Airus in various battles throughout the ages.

There are others who are also called Servants of the Dark, like the Fáll, but their story pertains to that of the fall of the Kingdom of Guldargan, and will be discussed on their own. The Scría (S’crí-iar in the language of the Tellerassar) will also be discussed along with the Tellerassar.

The Airus are the opposite of the Lewjan and they and the Ahma will be the focus of next week’s Worldbuilding Wednesday.

So, what is everyone else working on?

Á Agrai tellarias or s'agrélar silássa!