Young Writers Society

Dude...you. Are. Awesome.
(To say the least.)

Hi aqua! hehe thanks for the comment, but may i ask why? i just put in a lot of work that's all

I thought today i'd speak about some of the weapons. There are swords in the world in my novel that are believed to have some sort of magic, or even curse cast upon them (which they do not) Some notable swords are:

Osiriguard
Rhushard
Nethersedge

Osiriguard: has already been mentioned, and shown on the previous page. it is one of the Osiriniak items (sun vaults) that can give a sun child their abilities. It was hidden below the vaults of Rhushar up until the 'Great War of the Golden Order' by which the Masked Lords of Argar became notorious. It was so named Osiriguard, both due to it being forged in the first years of Osiri, and also as the sun children used to be referred to as 'guardians of the netherworld' the sword was, in effect, what gave the guardians their powers, and so became referred to as the 'guard'.

The sword first saw use in the battle mentioned above when the western (capital) hold of Tavral wanted the items to try and force out a sun child (this was before the second was born, so they had no idea that a red dawn would signal the birth of the next) the child hunts began soonafter to see who was the sun child, but they never came to any success. The sword was the item used on the hunts, and it became feared by many. since its use in the event, it was thought to bring out dark creatures in people who either thought they were the sun children, or who the Emperor thought was. their minds became so overwhelmed that they beleieved they were something else. that was the first indication that the sword had some power. Guhra the Great was the first great king to wield the sword after his ancestor won the war and retrieved it. It was originally suposed to be given to Emperor Rhandyr, but his aggressive nature as a child led to him being given the sphere.

the sword was hidden from him all his life, kept in the vaults below Elarnitan until he died. it was then taken to his cousin who became the next Emperor, and he never used the sword in battle, only for ceremony. His grandson then used the sword in the civil war of Nyshuhr, which was the last main battle it saw. slowly the legend began to fade, and it was handed down in peace until Emperor Saphron recieved it upon his crowning. he did not keep it long, he was assassinated, and his sun child daughter, Princess Sahfire took it and used it in many a battle to win back her father's Empire when it fell. After she died at a fairly young age the sword was given to her couson (also the next of kin as her whole family was killed)
for the next five hundred years it was rarely seen until Prince Osoran was born, by then the names had changed and had lost the Uhrian prefix. Osoran was the fourth sun child and drew his abilities from the sword, but before he could learn his abilities his people fled to Calamiha and took the sword with them. Osoran grew and after he became the Emperor in the east he used the sword to secure peace after the rebellious uprisings and the fourth age war with the Arzurians. after his death the sword went missing, taken by the Lords of Argar who then gave it to their King, who passed it down until one was born who was also the sun child (just remember that in the fifth age, a child was born in the east and west)

the sword was then used by the King as he battled Empress Ember in Thorynwor whilst she wielded Rhushard, and it clashed her back open, but she overcame her injuries and smighted the King. afterwards, she had Sahfire's thousand year old body brought back to her lands and the sword was buried with her.

Rhushard: was forged in the late first age, made as a sister sword to Osiriguard, with a slight different design. it was always given to the prince of the Empire of Nyshuhr whilst Osiriguard was given to the Emperor (when it wasn't supposed to be) Eitherway, it was said that Rhushard (which was forged in Rhushar and named as 'the shard') was a sowrd as mighty as the Emperors, and the only one which could crack the blade of the mighty ruler. after this many began to try and kill the Princes, seen as the Emperor was a harder target. the sword seemed to bring a lot of trouble to the Empire, and the royal.

When Argar invaded, The prince travelled with his sun child sister, until he eventually turned on her and his sword; Rhushard, clashed with Orisiguard, which eventually won. after that the sword was given to the younger cousin of the two siblings when they both died, and the sword was again passed down from prince to prince, but it stil caused trouble. And more Royal Guards were hired to protect the Prince, which lead to the contruction of the 'hall of red metal' in the later third age when the new monarchy was installed. the entire hall was lined with guards, and it became an entire fiasco.

The sword was put to minor use again until it was given to the sun child of the fourth age to take to Calamiha with him. after he dies and Osiriguard went missing, Rhushard became the sword of the Emperor, and then it was given to Empress Ember on her coronation.

Nethersedge: This sword was made for the King who was considered to be the strongest of all Kings in Arinalgar's history. In the 33rd year of the Second Age, the King ordered that a sword be forged for him, and it was made from stone of the old Amarian Kingdom. two hander it was, and was heavier than normal. It had limited use, only being used by the King and his son, but his son, and his grandson, and great grandson all wielded the sword in battle and died early. it was thought that the fury of the strong king was ashamed of how weak his descendents were, and called them to the Netherworlds. the sword was buried there until the sword was stolen and taken to Nyshuhr. it was then hidden for centuries until it was lost. After Argar burned Nyshuhr to the ground, they found the sword without realising its significance, and the leader of an Argarian fort wielded the sword. The Uhrians planned a raid after they heard that the sun child's sister (Princess Sharla) was being held there. When they rescued her, they also saw the sword and killed the leader, taking them both back to their hideout in Urasha. It was a few months later when they had given Sharla the powers of Rhandyr through his sphere (she was also a sun child) and she was given the armour of Enighuir (their goddess. the armour is proof that she only ever existed as a human and was kept secret) and Sharla was also given Nethersedge which she wielded when she fought alongisde her sister in the battle of Thorynwor, where she died with it by her side.

In the end, three sun children were buried besides eachother in the mausoleum in Calamiha; Sahfire with Osiriguard, Sharla with Nethersedge, and Ember with Rhushard. and that is how three swords of the legends came together when the end came.


here is Sharla wielding Nethersedge with Enighuir's armour.


here is Ember wielding Osiriguard with full Calamihan Royal armour.

And as an edit, i have comprised a proper picture of Nethersedge.

The grip/hilt is a little long, but it has a couple of purposes with its length. For one thing it can easily be wielded as a two-handed sword if needs be, but also with such a large blade (which is heavier at the end meaning a heavier strike) the hilt also needs to balance it so that the wielder can easy hold onto the weapon in combat (this is where many sword designs fail) also the blade is held on by the two metal swirls and the tang goes right through the hilt and is bolted in inside the pommel.

(I added a new picture of the sword 'Nethersedge' above)

There has been quite a significant amount of wok done as of late on the story. I will explain what I mean, but first I need to think of everything that I want to include in this update.

Oh – I know where to begin. My most complete ever map – redrawn and reshaped to suit the story better. All places have new names as I will momentarily display (just one of the many changes I’ve done) As you can see I have put rather a lot of effort into this map, and hopefully ‘if’ I get Campaign Cartographer 3 I will be able to build this map professionally into that.



I thought I’d also post the introductions to the first two parts of my story. What I have now devised is; splitting the story into three six-chapter chunks, where the characters enter a new Realm in the country, and before the chapter begins I have placed a body of text stating a little bit of history in a nut-shell about the area.

So here’s the first: Arzuria.






And the Second – Othornia (renamed from Kornia – the old name had ‘corny’ written all over it )





Ok, so one of the largest updates I have ever done, is to shift all dreams of Princess Sahfire into their own section of the novel, fittingly named ‘The Sun Children III – Tales of the Princess’. The dreams which Ember has in the main story are now short chapters in this appendices type format. I did this mainly because the dreams seemed to break up Ember’s story, and seemed to lose the sense of consistency in the main storyline, going from one country to the next a thousand years apart. So now, the main story is its own story with parts such as ‘See page_ of Tales of The Sun Children III for the _____dream’

Here is the introduction to Nyshuhr as it currently stands;




Now then, about the name changes.

Arzuria (In the old lands of the old northern Kingdom of the Second Age)


Erivania (In the old lands of the lesser Realms of the First Age)


Alornia (In the old lands of Barthor of the First Age)


Othornia (In the old lands of Arzornia of the Second Age)
being a dominion of Arzuria, Othornia has no regions, but is one whole land.

That seems to have covered most of my huge plot changes and world changes for now – oh, and I have planned to reconstruct chapters 9-13 as I am taking the characters through a different route in the country, sure to be more interesting world wise. Chapters 1-6 are finished, rewritten, polished off etc, so if you want to have a read at any time, just drop me a message and I’ll send them to you.

Let me know if my new story structure (regarding two separate books) seems like a good idea or not, it makes more sense, but the reader may spend more time flicking back and forth…)

So here we go. This is the last update I’ll upload here for quite some time, possibly ever even depending on how I feel. The reason being that I plan to leave the forum after this post (I have my reasons for my departure, if you really must know – PM me)
I wanted to give everyone one last insight before I go, and a large insight it will be.

I’m not quite sure where to begin…

Oh yes – I have now split The Sun Children V in 8 volumes rather than 4, the reason being that if it was 4 then you’d be looking at 200k words per piece, and for an unpublished author that’s a large gamble if any. As so, each volume will sit nicely around the 100k mark.

The Sun Children V – The Princess’ Crown – Part 1
The Sun Children V – The Princess’ Crown – Part 2
The Sun Children V – The Empress’ Pendant – Part 1
The Sun Children V – The Empress’ Pendant – Part 2
The Sun Children V – The Prince’s Stone – Part 1
The Sun Children V – The Prince’s Stone – Part 2
The Sun Children V – The Emperor’s Sword – Part 1
The Sun Children V – The Emperor’s Sword – Part 2

Now then, the main reason I chose to upload at this time is that the first ever complete draft of TSCV-TPC-P1 is done and awaits editing – post production if you like. It stands at around 90,000 words that I wrote since August so progress hasn’t been too bad.

THE CRUX OF THE STORY – THE SUB PLOTS (please give your thoughts)

The motives of the first volume have been made much more significant since I last posted, with the developed sub-plots running alongside the main. We start off by seeing a mysterious King bidding five lords tasks to gain political prowess over the most powerful nations on the continent. He does however; bid one Lord the task of going to the eastern continent of Dolgarn. That is where the last Sun Child lived. (Now this is all we hear of this King until volume 3)

The five lords of Argar have not only been asked to gain the lands for lands sake, but whilst they do they are made to search for the ancient items known as the Sun Vaults. Their King is said to want them to stop the Sun Child drawing their powers from he items, but secretly there is another reason (SPOILER) The King is also a hidden Sun Child.

Ever since the two twin Sun Children went their separate ways in 21 EOS their bloodlines have become split. Whilst the western line bore a Sun Child ever few centuries, the eastern line was dead, until we meet Ember, our sixth Sun Child. She possesses a crown that seems to give her the ability to control flames with her mind, but she doesn’t know the crown’s significance (it is a Sun Vault)

Now, Ember lives in hiding with her mother and sister in a country ruled by High Lord who killed the last ever king of the land and installed a dictatorship. His wife was killed by a fire made from an arson attack and so he fears fire, but also he is paranoid of people trying to usurp his power (especially when he was able to become High Lord when he was a King’s General) He honestly believes he is installing justice and control, but fails to realise the extent he is enforcing, and so people hate him without him knowing fully why. You can only imagine his fear when the legendary Sun Child makes herself known in a plot for her escape. The High Lord (Larinian) send his armies to kill her, but she escapes. After the other Realms of the country have been living outside his imposed laws (although this isn’t really mentioned) Larinian wants to reinstall order there. The old Kings (who were ‘demoted’ because if they were Kings, they were also of a higher power than a mere High Lord – so Larinian made them lords instead) people are not so much for a republic as the High Lord is, and Larinian begins to use Ember’s escape as an excuse to take his armies across the land in search of her, but only to reach his largest rivalling Realm ‘Alornia’ where he fears Ember will try and find safety.

When he begins to deploy his army he realises what he is doing is far larger in scale than anything he has ever done, and wondering if he is doing the right thing he is visited by Grey Lords. They serve under a Golden Lord (now, this is that Lord mentioned before, bid by his King to go east) They state that Larinian signed an oath to give his armies to the Golden Lord when he became High Lord, and they show him a discrete signing of his contract of Lordship which he signed unknowingly. As such the ‘High Lord’ is now a mere puppet of a Lord from the most powerful country in history. At this point we realise that power comes on many levels, and forms a circle even. Ember (a sun child) is hunted by Larinian (High Lord) who is controlled by Ranthar (Golden Lord) who serves Arghon (a sun child).

As Larinian goes on his way he leaves his city under the control of one of his most trusted men, who after he has gone seizes control of the capital and forms his own army. Larinian doesn’t even know his capital, and his power, is being taken from him. He begins to see that people really do fear and hate him, and he begins to realise he has gone about his Lordship the wrong way. But by now it is too late. At a camp in hills south of the capital Larinian is actually met – and threatened by Ranthar – the Golden Lord. He is told that his oath decreed that when the sun child is found – they must be hunted until their death. As such Larinian is forced to send half of his army to Othornia (a dominion in the mountains where the Sun Child is said to be held) The other half of the army is made to continue onwards south to Alornia.

Larinian assumes Ranthar is on his side and wants to see Othornia fall because of their unruly behaviour and begging for independence. Ranthar however, is cunning. Whilst toying with Larinian he is also manipulating the Othornian Lord – Verna. He tells Verna that the only way he can get independence is by attacking Arzuria, but also to take more land from the southern Realm of Erivania. As such, Verna reluctantly accepts. Now we see that Ranthar is tearing the country apart. He is sending Arzuria to attack Alornia and Othornia. He is sending Othornia to attack an undefended Arzuria and a weak Erivania. The reason being, he is pushing the Sun Child further south than she wants – to the country of Calamiha across the border. His King bid him to take Calamiha once he had control of the weaker country of Arzutare, which he now had. Alornia was no longer safe for the Sun Child to go, which is a good thing because at the end of Volume One she falls from a mountain path and ends up in Erivania on the way to Alornia. Ranthar has sent the powers of the land into a cycling viscous attack so that he can call in his own armies. He nearly had Ember in his grasp, but she nearly killed him before she fled again, and he awakens more determined to kill her than ever. Meanwhile, Larinian begins the attack on Alornia whilst one of his trusty Generals attacks Othornia.

So that is just a sub plot.

ANOTHER TWIST

At the beginning of the first volume we see Ember’s father killed by one of his friends in a great battle. We assume he is a friend anyway. In actual fact he is his unknown half brother. (They share the same father – he had a bastard son with another woman long ago) As the father is High General, his son is to inherit the title. When he became unfit for service he was demoted to recruitment General whilst his son became the High General. When Sharla, Ember’s sister is sent to the army, Hanron, the recruitment General is stunned to find that she is Sharlon’s daughter. This is even before he hears that Ember exists. The sisters are his grandchildren, and the High General their half uncle. Harl, their uncle, doesn’t even know Sharlon was is half brother, but hated him anyway for stealing the love of his life from him, Emlyn (the sisters’ mother and Sharlon’s wife) It is very confusing, but everything only becomes revealed at the end of the second Volume – so not much more to say for this on the first volume.

What I have tried to do is to make the reader sympathise for both sides. Yes Ember wants only what is best and tries not to follow the reckless behaviour of the last Sun Children, but she begins to go the wrong way. Her words and get darker and her actions force her to use her fire to evade dire situations. At the same time we learn that Ranthar wants to install equality and order for his King, thinking that countries under the same banner will mean less of a challenge. He has his reasons for wanting Ember dead. Larinian realises his ways are wrong also, but is forced to go on by Ranthar. And so we become a little stuck as to who to ‘cheer on’.

The main plot has been described over and over again on here, but what I will say is that the companion group now go a different way, and Ember becomes more developed that originally. I have given all main characters their own dialogue and personalities and unique looks, as well as introducing a great many non main characters to flesh out the world with. Unlike most fantasy stories, we see the main characters running from the problem, not going to solve it. Ember is no ‘goody two-shoes’ either as she begins to go wrong, and we see our main character struggle between good and bad with her abilities, this becomes rather interesting to write if I do say.

3 levels of plot

THE MAP – DEVELOPMENTS

Recently I found an old drawing of the North of Arinalgar in which the Second Era primarily took place. It was sufficient for use, but I was unhappy with its shape and so I redrew it and added it to the already existing map. Here you can see the lands of Westfields/Westwatch – the northern hold of Arzuria. Kandaros’ Slumber is the residence of the Cold King Kandaros’ descendent, who died frozen on the throne, and he still sits there today amidst falling rubble in the middle of a frozen lake.


AND ADDED ON:



I have also made a 3D computer model of the map, or have begun to, and I made a video tour of the path taken by the main characters in The Sun Children V – so check that out (it's only crude - but all being well i shall be able to provide a link shortly)

THE BLOODLINE OF THE KINGS OF ARINALGAR

This documents the year that each of the Kings were born in the 3 Eras of Arinalgar

ERA OF ELGARI (EEL)

3 EEL Rard the red the first king of Amar
53 EEL Rardath
81 EEL Gorgath
103 EEL Thagrath
133 EEL Storgath
151 EEL Polgath
174 EEL Halfor
200 EEL Delfor
231 EEL Anafor
255 EEL Rindagor
280 EEL Ranarag
306 EEL Aladag
345 EEL Algorag
373 EEL Baladag
401 EEL Arodag
435 EEL Agradar
460 EEL Rinadar
488 EEL Rinagarn
515 EEL Algarn
544 EEL Negarn the fierce
563 EEL Negarn the II
601 EEL Negarn the III
626 EEL Olgarn
666 EEL Halarn
700 EEL Fogarn the pathtreader
743 EEL Gilarn
788 EEL Ilarm
805 EEL Lathorn
836 EEL Gorn
886 EEL Nindar
928 EEL Gordar I

31 MONARCHS

ERA OF ENGORI (EEN)

1 EEN Gordar II the first king of Arzornia - rebirth
17 EEN Iladar
41 EEN Mandar
58 EEN Managor
76 EEN Managoth
94 EEN Ilagoth
123 EEN Ilanor
156 EEN Vanagorth
179 EEN Heragorth
199 EEN Gordar III the keeper
221 EEN Heraborn
251 EEN Maraborn
283 EEN Darogath
313 EEN Erigath
343 EEN Giligath
360 EEN Varagath
382 EEN Aragath
405 EEN Thornath
430 EEN Thorgan
468 EEN Arogan
500 EEN Ganath
532 EEN Arogan II
561 EEN Ilogan
598 EEN Garagon
631 EEN Garaborn
650 EEN Varalor
690 EEN Varabor
723 EEN Darador
735 EEN Orodor
767 EEN Oradorn
800 EEN Warborn
827 EEN Warthorn
852 EEN Wornagath
888 EEN Felegath
910 EEN Iriganth
938 EEN Baraganth
959 EEN Barigan
994 EEN Harigan
1024 EEN Merigan
1045 EEN Therigan
1075 EEN Thagran
1100 EEN Argon I the impaler
1141 EEN Argon II the bane
1169 EEN Argon III the spearhand
1199 EEN Argon IV the merciless
1220 EEN Nargon the unfulfilled
1241 EEN Nardon the fable
1260 EEN Thadras the brave
1299 EEN Nadras the peaceful
1320 EEN Nardor
1362 EEN Gardor
1391 EEN Arador
1423 EEN Narador
1452 EEN Agador
1482 EEN Agasar
1511 EEN Ansar the firetamer

56 MONARCHS

ERA OF OSIRI (EOS)

THE FIRST DYNASTY - ARZORNIAN

1 EOS Vansar the first sun child
Elansar the first sun child
22 EOS Vanasal the flamecarrier
45 EOS Dorasal the extinguisher
72 EOS Daragar the hearty
101 EOS Delafar the hunted
131 EOS Delgar I the fleeing
162 EOS Beldor
183 EOS Belgar
208 EOS Falgar
224 EOS Thaladar
282 EOS Avelgar
300 EOS Delgar II the isolated
319 EOS Thorn
328 EOS Thorn II
364 EOS Nagahorn
398 EOS Agrahorn
422 EOS Gorahorn
448 EOS Delaghorn
470 EOS Delthar
497 EOS Delaran
(519) EOS (Emperor Rhandire of Nyshuhr – third Sun Child and bringer of the second period)
531 EOS Delahorn
561 EOS Delagaria
588 EOS Selagiria
602 EOS Alagria
632 EOS Palagria
655 EOS Balaria
677 EOS Giladria
702 EOS Godria
(731) EOS (Princess Sahfire of Nyshuhr – fourth sun child and bringer of the third period)
733 EOS Deladira
758 EOS Varia
780 EOS Naradia
803 EOS Varidian
835 EOS Haldrian
878 EOS Thalagan
906 EOS Thalagon
933 EOS Oligon
951 EOS Ragaron
980 EOS Banahorn
1016 EOS Lanahorn

THE SECOND DYNASTY – ALORNIAN

1054 EOS Londar the first king of the first Alornian Line –half brother^
1056 EOS Londor
1077 EOS Lorin the watcher
1110 EOS Adanor the freer
Engalor the redeemer
1136 EOS Norana the loyal
1138 EOS Agador son of Engalor

THE THIRD DYNASTY - ARZURIAN

1140 EOS Radona the victor – re-taker of the crown
1164 EOS Tharagon
1199 EOS Oragon
1227 EOS Onagor
(1253) EOS (Osiragire – fifth Sun Child and bringer of the fourth period)
1267 EOS Onadon
1301 EOS Ranadon
1319 EOS Enadon
1341 EOS Enador
1374 EOS Haradon
1398 EOS Haragon
1424 EOS Gilidon
1454 EOS Gadaron
1485 EOS Enaron the ignorant
1511 EOS Erenar
1544 EOS Orenar
1600 EOS Koren the axe
1632 EOS Kanar the worrier
(1683) EOS (Ahrgon – the sixth Sun Child and bringer of the fifth period)
(1683) EOS (Ember - the sixth Sun Child and bringer of the fifth period)
(1685) EOS (Sharla – the seventh Sun Child – sister of Ember)
THE FOURTH DYNASTY - ALORNIAN

1675 EOS Athonar the rising – first king of the second Alornian dynasty.

63 MONARCHS

150 MONARCHS IN TOTAL

Given these dates, we can finally give the main characters their years of birth:

1639 EOS - Hanron
1646 EOS - Larnkor
1649 EOS - Larinian
1659 EOS - Sharlon
1662 EOS - Tarna
1664 EOS - Emlyn
1667 EOS - Harl
1669 EOS - Valan
1674 EOS - Karnon
1676 EOS - Darla
1683 EOS - Ember
1684 EOS - Theran
1685 EOS - Sharla

BLOOD OF THE NORTH

At school a few weeks ago, my form tutor assigned my form the task of writing a short story each, starting with a sentence that she gave us. Well, it was a mistake to assume I was going to write a ‘short’ story. I ended up typing the story and soon it reached over 5k words. Luckily enough it gave me the opportunity to write the story from a different aspect. I was able to fill in a gap, or at least begin to. There was an entire Era in my world that was left blank, and now I have began to fill in the canvas.

Basically a kingdom in the north of Arinalgar begins to invade Arzornia, and the powers of Arzornia need to think fast as it is unlike any other power they have ever faced. It is unrelenting in its path and calls for Arzornia to side with the lands it enslaves for one time only. They fight back and relinquish the evil. It’s a couple of hundred years later the first twin Sun Children are born.

The story involves politicians and Generals and Lords and Kings being tangled in a battle of words and opinions that culminate in their reconciliation that allows them to fight back. One man speaks to another, and they another and they work their way up the authorities until they get the King (or rather his son) to sign a declaration of war. The king of Alornia and Elgarn join his armies and face the ‘Cold King’

Had it not been for Elgarn’s willingness to join them (as they had a much larger army, unknown to the Arzornians) they could easily have defeated them in their days of weakness. They could be seen as the sole reason that Arzornia survived. The Northern Kingdom didn’t last much longer afterwards, and the descendents of the Cold King really did freeze upon the throne.

The story actually takes place in the latter years of the Second Era (Era of Engori, EEN) which lacks much history on my part.

If you’re interested in reading it then just PM me.

A HISTORY OF: THE ORDER OF ARGAR

The first two Eras of time had passed by having endured centuries of barbaric rulers and bloody wars that stained once lush fields. One ruler per land had seemed to be an ideology followed by most, and if said lad was invaded, the ruler would find themselves at war. One change however, came with the Third Era. One line of rulers took several lands for their own liking, and only by the bidding of their Order could they do this.

The new hold of power can find its origins with the birth of the first two Sun Children. When the sister of the twins took her armies and founded the small land of Nyshuhr in the west, she installed the foundation of a system to survive for years to come.

When the father of the Sun Children dismissed their council of High Lords – the Five Lords they ere known as (not to be confused with those of the Order). The sister felt that their power was invaluable, and she sought the help of the most influential Lord to come with her and set up an authoritarian system in the west. The Lord was however, occupied in his own matters. He was building a fortress that overlooked Agar and also an encircled mass of land in the middle of a ring of mountains where mountain tribes dwelt as if they were trapped in an arena. Instead the Lord sent his son, Korvon to go with the Sun Child. He was a little younger than she, but he had learnt the meaning of true authority and did not take any strange business lightly. He was thorough and helpful to those who he felt could give him even further power. Over time however, he found that he had fallen in love with the Sun Child, and they were married in secret. Their marriage lasted for fifty two years until she died in 72 EOS. Her last words were that the stone that had given her her abilities was hidden away so that the evil she had exerted could not be spread by any other.

What had come to pass in 33 EOS however, was that the Sun Child had re-established the order of the five High Lords to govern her country whilst she was at war. They were feared by many, and rightly so, as they knew things many others did not. They even predicted that Nyshuhr would fall, but the Sun Child saw to that prediction failing. When she died and Korvon told them about her plea for the stone to be hidden, they devised a way in which they could divide its power and use it for their own gain as well as regulating any future Sun Children if there was ever to be any (it was one of their predictions, and they were right) Deep below the walls of the capital of old Nyshuhr they boiled the stone until it melted into a molten liquid, and then they poured it into ten moulds. It was then that five Sun Vaults were forged; a sword, a crown, a ring, a sphere and a pendant Five masks were also made, and each of them were worn by the Lords.

This Was the day that the legendary ten items were born, and the day that their presence began to shape the world. The five Lords ruled Nyshuhr until the prince was of ruling age. He was the son of the sun child and her legit husband, but she also had a son with Korvon of whom took on his father’s mask when he died. The five lords served the new king and followed him into many a war that gradually saw the taking of more land that was to become Nyshuhr. Korvon’s grandson, Selarn ordered the making of a sword for each of the Lords to be used for ceremony, and each had a unique design. He also introduced the tradition of naming their sons with similar names to their fathers so they were recognisable and equally respected. Eventually the swords were re-forged and made battle-worthy (though not until 187 EOS), and the tradition of names ensued. Selarn’s son; Selvon spoke with the other Lords about a new plan to gain them secret power. Enticed by the thought of power the Lords accepted, and they killed off many of the non-abiding politicians so that they became more feared than the Emperor. The Emperor tried to quell the Lords, but they were very powerful indeed and a civil war broke out. Afterwards the Lords lost and the armies of the Emperor triumphed. The Lords were banished to Seergard, a high fortress built by Korvon inspired by his father’s domain. There the Lords were kept for many years, and they conceived children with the maids who tended to them. They promised them power once they were released as a means to continuing their line of Kings. Selvon however, was killed by the other Lords for landing them there in the first place. Before they were released in however, a strange visitor arrived and spoke with them, stating that they could go with them to the lands of Argar and become the most powerful men alongside him – for he was the King of Argar. The Lords’ time in prison however had reminded them of their allegiance and they declared that they had a sworn service to the Emperor. With that the King left and without Selvon’s evil ways the new Emperor allowed the four remaining Lords to return to the High Court and the maids they conceived children with became the Empress’ maids (three of them were proud, but two felt it was no different to their life before). The Lords were not so welcomed by the people, but as ten years passed they became great politicians, forming new laws and managing their own holds of the ever expanding country. The control of the armies however was in the hands of another man, and he used his authority to drive out the native people and made them flee north to Argar.

At the age of 12 Selvon’s son was handed his father’s mask by the other Lords and he began his political career, learning how to be politically minded by the Emperor’s master. He was told how evil his great great grandfather’s mind had turned, and was made to hate his own past and he made an oath to redeem his line. The other Lords wore their masks with pride, and as Seldon (Selvon’s son) grew to seven feet tall he appeared greater than the other Lords. Not to be thought inferior the other Lords had boots made which made them stand at the same height. This began the next tradition of the Lords always being seven feet tall.

The Line continued on as it was until 187 EOS when the Argarians launched their first invasion. This came after the latest King of Argar renewed his father’s offer in secret. When the Lords declined once more he told them that Argar would face war. When the Lords told the Emperor that war was coming he was wondrous of how they knew, but trusted them nonetheless. They were prepared to fight since it was their fault it was happening. They were trained to use swords properly and their blades were re-forged for use in battle as a result. Each Lord accompanied a General into battle, and assumed control when the General’s were killed or fell part in the face of defeat, which all eventually did. The Lords were born to be strong and focused and power driven, and so under their guidance hey began to push back the forces of Argar. Unfortunately, Felborn of Korvon’s line died at the age of 18, having only become a father to his wife’s son a month before in the face of oncoming war.

The remaining Lords returned from battle as heroes and regained their trust from the people of Nyshuhr. The King of Argar was more impressed than angry at how effectively the Lords could lead an army. More now than ever he wanted them to join him. In 204 EOS he waged another war when they didn’t join him again, and in 222 again. Each time more and more Nyshuhrians were being killed and their land being slowly taken from them. The Lords debated which Sun Vault to give the new Sun Child, Rhandire, and when they decided that none was to be given another civil war broke out, though not many knew why. This was the War of the Osiriniaks, which resulted in Rhandire being given the golden sphere. At this time he was only five years old. When Emperor Rhandire, third Sun Child came to power he wanted to make sure his country was fully under his control. The King of Argar launched another attack in one final bid to gain the Lords, and they declined. Rhandire had however, bought spies and they intercepted the King’s messages. He then realised that they alone were causing war. His abilities to control fire quickly saw that the war was over, but he disowned the Lords much to his people’s resentment (but they didn’t know what was going on ‘behind-the-scenes’) Rhandire became annoyed that he was hated, and he tried to make his people understand but they were resistant. In the end he gathered his people before his palace and told the Lords to come. They did not know what was going to happen, but Rhandire announced the Argarian King’s proposals to all and told the Lords that they should leave the country. At this time the Emperor was young and naïve and after he was told that he had made a bad choice. If Argar invaded Nyshuhr again, the Lords would not be on his side. Eventually, The new Argarian King waged another war, and fearing what the consequences could be this time, the Lords accepted. They journeyed into Argar to remain there forever more. The Nyshuhrians declared that they wanted the Lords to rule instead of the Emperor, which angered him. (they wouldn’t believe that the Lords had been the cause of all the wars as they were loved by all) Rhandire, becoming ever agitated, began to lash out against his own people and became even more disliked. He became what every Emperor feared becoming - a tyrant.

The Lords were given their promised lands in Argar, going their separate ways until the time came. They were also given control of the armies there, and as the years played on and the fourth Sun Child, Sahfire came to be, they would not hold back on plundering her Empire into ash.

Korvon 85 32 32 EOS
Kelarn 62 34 66 EOS
Selarn 65 30 96 EOS
Selvon 43 45 111 EOS
Seldon 37 25 136 EOS
Selborn 66 33 169 EOS
Felborn 18 18 187 EOS

Other Notable Lords:
Kythan 701 EOS – Taker of Nyshuhr after the Emperor was slain

Tagryth 713 EOS – Lord who took on Princess Sahfire and fell when she fought for her father’s kingdom.

Ranthar 1653 EOS – Lord who took on Ember Galinoth and fell. He orchestrated the political turmoil in Arzutare in the fifth period that led to the great civil war.

More to follow shortly.

Well here we are, Christmas eve. Today holds some significance in terms of progress and development.

In summary:

1) It finally occurred to me earlier how the 8th part of the series will play out, and if i can pull it off in a few years it will be quite nice I shall hold my secrets for now though.

2) Today also marks the point when i finished editing Chapter 8 - which has basically been half redone. There is now a hell of a lot more action, and it holds great importance to the plot itself.

3) I also finished a large part from the end of the 7th book, and it links in everything that has occurred over the series to a single point. Only the day before i completed a section where the second main character finally dies, and it is the saddest thing i have ever written.

I also realised that after the last post i made, i never told anyone how the entire line of Sun Children began - so here goes! :

A HISTORY OF: THE SUN CHILDREN

The Sun Children can find their origins in the solar atmosphere above the world. Their abilities came from a rock from space that was radiated by a solar flare. It broke through the skies of the world in a red dawn in 1511 EEN. Many took it as an omen, many a praising and many a sign those times were changing. Nonetheless it was decreed as a new Era, named ‘Osiri’ which in the Arinalgarin language means ‘Sun’

The comet fell in the ‘Wastes of Amar’ and desecrated the once lush lands that had already been half submerged by the great waves of the Engori Era. In the mountains of Arzornia, King Ansar saw that the stone had fallen in the abandoned wastelands east of his Kingdom. He sent a vast army to collect it and secure it to bring it home. When the armies got there however, there were already others on the horizon coming to claim their prize. The vast size of the Arzornian force saw quickly that the opponents were diminished. The rock was taken as a spoil of war and quickly it was pulled back into the mountain Realm. The King’s brother was the first to welcome the men home, but he seemed drawn to the rock. He reached out and touched it, his body filled with a part of its energy. His veins turned dark and grew into his skin, and many thought he had become a divine being, sent from the gods. As such he used his status to try and kill his brother, but the royal guards quickly stopped him, and he was executed. Celebrating his conquest and prolonged life, the King consummated the joy with his wife. The stone had been brought into the King’s chamber however, and the radiation was still rife. His wife unknowingly took on the energy and began to feel horribly ill as the days went on. She was later found to be pregnant and thought that was the reason. Nine months later in 1 EOS the children of Ansar were born. Twins they were, one boy and one girl. They were named Vansar (the boy with green eyes) and Elansar (the girl with blue eyes) they had bronze hair and pure skin. The bloodline was notorious for its jet black hair, and so the new parents were confused. Their mother then began to feel a pain, and she lifted her hand to find her veins dark. Her mind had begun to burn up and she was extremely ill. Hours later she was declared dead and Ansar blamed the children for killing their mother. He hence sent the babies to the monastery below the mountain where the city of Fort Agar dwelt.

In 5EOS the siblings had grown up a little, and their hair was long and still very bronze. The maidens of the monastery praised them as gifts from the gods, but their father still disowned them. He had become rather bitter and isolated in his later years.
The twins were out of bed one night and wondered the lonely corridors of the monastery in the candlelight. It was that night that they discovered their abilities. The flames from the candles began to dance around them, and when they ran the flames followed. They went on throughout the night dancing and playing with fire, and the maidens became worried and cried for help, but when they saw what was really happening, they were wondrous. Being the religious sort they deemed the twins as ‘Guardians of the Netherworlds’ and prophesized that they would one day make the world a better place. Other had a hard time believing that. At the age of 10, in 10EOS their father died, and they didn’t seem to care not for what he had done to them. They were still playing with their fire, but had managed to control it now. Daransar was to become King, but he was not of age. As such the High Court of the Realm assumed control. In 15EOS at the age of 15, the twins had grown up quickly, and were looking like the adults they were destined to become. Daransar was crowned king on his birthday, and realised that he had come to like his sister as more than just that, and as a last act of guidance the maidens told him that they must one day go their separate ways and be prepared to lose one another. They had feared what their fire would bring harm to one another and tried to make them more independent. Elansar felt sad that her brother could not give her the attention any longer, and soon took her own path to independence. As such, three years later they became close again, and this time it was obvious that Elansar was much stronger and more in control of her emotions. She was a woman now, and she threw her brother to the floor when he made a move on her. When she heard of her brother’s pans to go to war she wanted to fight. After displaying her destructive abilities she was given command of the armies, but assisted by a tactician as politics was more her brother’s strong point. Erivania was laying almost desolate in the south. Its men had all but fallen, and made it an easy target for invasion. Elansar led her brother’s armies into battle whilst watched from afar, impressed with her power. She scoured the forest, but in the night when they were camping many figures appeared from the woods in the mist. Maidens of the wood were coming for vengeance. Daransar was taking a midnight stroll when he was nearly killed by one. He used his fire, but he lacked restraint and control, and he nearly killed his own men. Luckily Elansar had awoken and sent his rogue fire away. She then killed the maidens and heard that the Erivanians had headed south in fleeing. The Arzornian army then chased the Erivanians to the southern border where only a wooden bridge lay across sinking marshlands. There a great battle was fought, but lost to the armies of the five southern provinces. Elansar fainted mid battle and was pulled away. Daransar ordered a retreat when his sister fell and his men came to hate him for it. When Elansar awoke she was angry, and fire came from her breath. She said that her brother must fend for himself, and she stated that she was to leave. Arzornia meant nothing to her any longer. The following year she took a great army west across Southguard and to the Realm’s naval berthing to cross the western ocean. Before she left however, she knew that some form of council would be needed where she went, and she sought the help of a man she knew would perhaps be keen. It was the banished Lord, Kagaron that she had in mind. He said that he was too busy with his own matters, but bid that his son, Korvon, who was a little younger than Elansar help her. She was amused, but she became impressed by his knowledge and words.

Daransar was left so angered by his sister’s leaving that he blew out a great bout of fire from the tower of Agar, and then he realised that he could become just as powerful as she. In the years that followed he grew strong again, and was able to fight again. He found a wife (a politician’s daughter) and had a son and two daughters, and his wife was made Queen. She ruled whilst her husband practiced his abilities, and his people came to love him again as a leader.

Meanwhile, Elansar was scouring the lands she had found, an she named them ‘Nyshuhr’. The natives were being forced across the land from her fire. Upon an outcrop of rock she made her home, and a great camp was erected (to one day be known as ‘Rhushar’) In secret she married Korvon, but at the same time she was forced to marry a prince from the north, from Argar. When they consummated their marriage she was careful, but a day later she did the same with Korvon and fell pregnant. He knew what she was up to when the Prince did not, and the Prince thought the child was his. For thirty years they snuck around behind everyone’s backs, not knowing what turmoil was growing in the east.

Daransur had grown into a mighty King, and had managed to build great cities, fortresses and armies across the country. His wife ruled whilst he conquered, and his son and two daughters had grown into fierce warriors likewise. They shared a special bond, and were forbidden of speaking of their aunt Elansar. She on the other hand spoke poorly of her brother to her son. He had too grown strong, and he was told by his mother that Korvon was his father, and he had to treat the Prince as if he was his father. One day however, the Prince ‘mysteriously’ died and many thought from that moment Elansar would die alone, though she did not.

News came of Daransar’s power growing in the east, and suddenly Elansar felt threatened. She wanted to take back the land she could easily have claimed so far back. At age forty two she had readied her armies and rallied many more and left Korvon to defend her lands when she was gone. She took her son back across the wide seas to Arinalgar again where they met resistance on he coast. After the majority of her naval fleet battled its way through the armies landed and spread far into the country. News reached Daransar quickly that his sister had landed. He knew that soon enough they would meet again, and so he sent his children and their armies onwards so that he could face his sister, as she would be too powerful for his children to defeat even in a combined attack. Fearing the same for her son, Elansar sent him and his armies forward into battle.

Daransar then rode ahead on horseback and his sister the same. Amidst a lonely valley they rode at one another and their fire became their jousting lances. Their flames clashed and threw them backwards and the forest around them alight. They got up and drew their swords, but they were draped in fire as the metal clashed. Roaring jets of flames encircled the twins and heated the blades of the swords. Everywhere they went turned dark as it was scoured.

The armies by now had clashed at three different areas along the western coast, and her son was not by any means at a disadvantage. One by one he took down the armies of his cousins and the four other Lords of Nyshuhr’s High Council saw that Daransar’s children were killed. Her son claimed victory on the coast and wondered where his mother had gone.

The stone that had fallen had fragments placed in the pommels of the swords that the twins used, and it protected them from each other’s flames. It seemed that in the end the battle hung on the skills of their sword fighting alone. Elansar had fought Daransar through the valley and onto a stone bridge crossing the River Othor. There the twins gazed upon their home in the mountains, and all sense of battle stopped for a moment. Then, as Daransar saw the banners of Nyshuhr reaching the horizon he knew his children had been slain. He fell weak as Elansar struck again with her sword, but Daransar tried and failed to fight back. His sword fell and he was slain. There was no pride in Elansar’s heart, and she declared that her work be done. With a quelled threat, which they intended to destroy when they arrived, now gone they returned home. Her eldest son however, was killed by a great storm upon the ocean, and she fell ill with grief. When she came home she conceived another child with Korvon to settle her pain, but it was of no use. Eighteen years passed and her son had grown into a fine warrior. He was trained by great Generals and taught the ways to govern by the five Lords. The grief in Elansar’s heart was still too great, and she passed away in 61 EOS without having ever having used her fire since she returned home so long ago. She had regretted killing her brother from the day it happened, and in the end not even Korvon’s love could save her. As a dying wish she told him that the stone was to be concealed, that it be hidden from any future Sun Children if any ever came. She did not want them to feel the guilt that she had felt. With her passing there arose a great time that Nyshuhr rose in the control of her Lords, but a couple of years later her son became King, and the line was continued.

Far in the east, Daransar’s son had survived, and he returned home to find his mother with another man. He had he executed for not honouring her late husband and he ruled therefore. Daransar’s line was allowed to continue.

And so the bloodline was split between east and west. Daransar’s line would not see another Sun Child until 1683EOS, but Elansar’s line would hail a new Sun Child in only a couple hundred of years. Rhandire was born in Nahrsa, in Nyshuhr. He was betrayed by the Order of Lords, and when he banished them he was hated by his people. In his anger he grew terrible, and bitter. His wife kept him calm for a while, but when she was killed his tyranny got the better of him. In all his fiery anger he lashed out at Argar in a great battle that saw him return wounded. People quickly realised that Argar had been the cause of so many wars, and so had the Order. He was quickly accepted and sympathised with for defending his country. He still died a bitter old man from his war wounds, and was buried alongside Elansar in Rhushar. Five more Sun Children were to follow after, but only one came from his line.





CHAPTER 8 UPDATE:


So, i have been developing Ember as a character, and now she feels a lot deeper than before. As such i have been drawing a number of times in scenes from the story. Finally i have finalized her sword design which you will see below.

I have also been drawing a number of scenes from the novel, and these are for my university sketchbook that i need for my application, so you can see most of them in small below.


Apart from that...not much more to do from me....but have a great christmas and new year guys!

Ok here we go. This update, in summary, is about my main protagonist (Ember) and my main antagonist (Ranthar). I will outline how their role in the story comes about and how they got to where they are. It feels that i have really developed where they have come from, and i hope it comes across. Ranthar in particular has become, for me, an astounding character. His mind (well, in effect, my mind) is so tactical and logical it's uncanny)

So, what else has happened?
-Chapter 10 editing done shy of 12k words
-Chapter 11 editing to begin next week
-Plots for books 3-8 have begun to get more developed
-I am slowly converting a lot of locations in my model into 3d entities for a video i plan to release in the next few weeks about the story.
-I have recently finished an art unit at school about my novel, the world its in and the inspirations behind it.
-Some of the names have changed:
-Sahfire's surname is now Talinor
-Nyshuhr has gone to 'Nyshur' and now to 'Narashar'
-Calamiha and Miha have gone to 'Calamara' and 'Mara'
-Also, the death scene and one of the last parts of book 7 has been written as a prototype, and i've got to say, i cannot wait to get to that book and continue it, because it is the most moving piece i think i have written (but then, perhaps it's just my emotional attachments to the characters coming into play)

Right then, first of all, Ember's background:

The burning desires of a girl that could change it all.

Ember’s life and background:

Emlyn’s family come from Calamara all the way back, and before that they were from Arzornia in Arinalgar. Sharlon’s family have always been in Arzornia – but then moved to Arzuria when the old Realm fell.

1683 EOS -A red dawn occurs and Ember is born. Emlyn (her mother) and Sharlon (her father) are both shocked by the fact their daughter has amber hair. It can mean only one thing – she is the sun child. There was no way the sun child should have been born in Arinalgar at all – not unless they came from the eastern line which was long thought extinct. This is why when the red dawn came, King Kanar grew worried that Calamara would rise – Calamara being the Empire of the last sun child four hundred years before.

-Sharlon, Ember’s father is sent to fight (in an act of conscription) in the first of the Red Dawn Twin Wars. The RDT Wars involve two waves of conflict between 1683 EOS and 1685 EOS. They began when King Kanar sent his armies towards Calamara to defend the border and infiltrate the northern province there to create a blockade against the sun child whilst a smaller army sought to kill them.

1684 EOS -The first war fails, and the Arzurians are pushed back into Arinalgar. Calamara’s armies are too large to deal with and the Arzurian army flees back into its own country. Calamara does not seek to infiltrate Arinalgar and so once the armies are sent running, they return to their Empire. Erivania, the southern Realm of Arinalgar where the war is being fought, secretly signs an armistice and withdraws its men from the southern city, leaving Arzuria by itself.

-Sharlon returns home and brings with him all his old books which he said he wants Ember to read one day to know real history. (Sharlon worked in Arncourt’s docks and secretly bought books from far away lands from the black market. He liked to read stories and was fed up with restricted history – especially regarding the sun child – so imagine his surprise when his daughter turns out to be just that)

He also brings home a dagger that he found on a Calamaran soldier and tells Emlyn that it shall belong to their daughter one day as a souvenir from the Empire. Shortly after, Emlyn falls pregnant with their second child. Sharlon finds the old black box in amongst possessions in house and asks Emlyn about it. She tells him that its supposed to be handed down from generation and generation and they plan to give it to Ember when she is old enough to appreciate it.

Sharlon wakes one morning to a knock at the door and is greeted by a soldier informing him that his services are required for another war. Emlyn worried beyond belief, but Sharlon has to go.

1685 EOS Sharlon goes off to fight another war.

A few months later Emlyn gives birth to their next child. Her neighbour, Lilion hears the screaming and helps her to give birth to the child, luckily Ember is asleep up stairs as no one can ever know she is there. Emlyn calls her new daughter Sharla – after her father who she fears she may never see again. Sharla merely stars into space and sees a figure behind their mother, and when Emlyn asks what she’s staring at and turns to see nothing she grows a little worried. To see an invisible entity is thought to be a bad omen.

Three months later her fears are realised when the army returns from war exhausted. High General Hanron visits each house of the men in his unit and informs the families of their losses. Elmyn gets a knock and hears that Sharlon is missing. She cries on Hanron’s shoulder and he tries to help her. Hanron and Sharlon were close (Hanron was his father – although Sharlon never knew) Emlyn decided that Ember would never be allowed outside, especially not now since King Kanar had been killed by lord Larinian who is much stricter on control.

1686 EOS A cult runs riot in Arncourt claiming the sun child has returned. Larinian has them all executed for his hatred of the sun children stories (they mean a lot to his past, but that’s another story) Emlyn fears for Ember’s life when soldiers bring more cultists out of houses down her street. She had no idea she was living so close to those in support of her daughter’s return, but at the same time she realises it really is too dangerous for Ember to go outside.

1688 EOS Ember’s fifth birthday – Emlyn gives her the black box she and Sharlon planned to give her all those years ago. Ember seems more interested in the books she has been given and the pictures in them of mythical creatures and great kings. That night however she sits in her room and opens the box. She finds a crown inside, and as she touches the surface she feels a deep tingle that sends her into a fit. She cannot scream but writhes in pain in her bed before passing out. She dreams of a young princess of whom she bares resemblance to. The princess seems to be wearing the crown she holds and is bowed down to by a great many people amidst the grounds of a great palace. The next day Ember looks at pictures in the books she received for the princess, but can find no references. She wonders why the girl is so real in her dreams. Ember is caring of her little sister and plays with her often.

1690 EOS Sharla’s fifth birthday. She receives a necklace from her mother which she loves.

1697 EOS Sharla is sent to the Legacy Academy as her father was in the army. She is given a thorough education and from the age of 12 she is taught to use a bow. She is taught the history of Arzuria, but nothing of the sun children. She has her necklace stolen.

1700 EOS One day Sharla thinks she sees her necklace on a stall in the market and steals it. She got a kick from the theft, and every time she is sent to the market by her mother she steals something else. At this age she had began to teach Ember everything she was learning at the academy – including how to read. This is how Ember became educated and able to read, because her sister taught her. This was the point when they really began to bond as siblings and friends. It also marks the point where Sharla becomes addicted to thieving off of the market. One night the sisters recall of Ember’s dream of the princess, and Ember could still see her face clearly in her mind.

1703 EOS Where the story begins


You can see from this that even the greatest of people start somewhere. Ember lived inside her home for 20 years before she stepped into the outside world. To have grown into an Empress one day she never really told anyone how her life began – under so much darkness and danger. To have her own mind become so drowned in hatred and revenge and mistrust one day just goes against her innocence. She had a late start in life and she had trouble understanding the world she lived in.

A Political Mastermind of a Villain. The Sun Children V Part One

Ranthar’s moves

1683 EOS:
-Ranthar moves to Arinalgar
-Ranthar tells Lord Verna he is asserting control, Verna doesn’t believe him, so then the Grey Lords arrive and kill every Othornian army General in the night, so Verna has no choice but to appoint the Grey Lords as generals of Othornia’s armies. Ranthar then takes a number of people into the ruins of Fort Agar.

1685 EOS:
-Ranthar sends a disguised Grey Lord to Arncourt to slip a ‘Declaration of Emergency Power Handover’ into Larinian’s hand, disguised as another document. Larinian effectively signed over his Realm’s armies in the case that the Sun Child returned. Ranthar was beginning to build his armies.

1686 EOS:
-Fort Agar becomes a fully operational fortress and with conflicting powers between Agar and Ekinar, Othornia is hence split in two, and Ranthar threatens Verna that he as an army larger than he can imagine, but he doesn’t tell him its Arzuria’s armies. Even this early on, Ranthar is beginning to manipulate Arzuria and Othornia under his command without either of them knowing otherwise.

1689EOS:
-Ranthar declares himself as supreme Lord of Othornia, and Verna is forced to sign a ‘Declaration of Abdication’ with Grey Lords watching him either side and in full view of the people of Ekinar. Ranthar becomes Supreme Lord of Othornia.

1693 EOS:
-Ranthar meets Larinian for the first time, and Ranthar tells him thbat when the time comes he will fall in line under his command, and Larinian is doubtful, but fears what Ranthar could have meant.

1703 EOS
-Ranthar hears that the Sun Child has been sighted in Arncourt, and calls upon his ‘Declaration of Emergency Power Handover’ from Larinian. He sends four of his Grey Lords to speak with Larinian, and they tell him that they are to meet Ranthar at Avonguard.

-Ranthar speaks with Verna once again, and tells him that he must send his armies to attack Arzuria (Othornia is only a Dominion that seeks independence and the title of Realm, and Ranthar assures Verna that by attacking a weakening Arzuria he will get what his Dominion desires) Ranthar also tells him that Erivania to the south has practically no army and they would be an easy-taking where Verna could control more land and gain more power)

-Larinian flees Arncourt, placing it under the control of two naïve men, a politician, and a lower ranked army official. Larinian heads for Alornia with his armies (and the armies of Avonguard) to quell the idea of the Sun Child finding allegiance there, but along the way he realises that perhaps he is being hasty. Ranthar hears from his Grey Lords that Larinian fears him. Ranthar uses this fear to make Larinian run, and further towards Alornia. Ranthar then visits Arncourt and meets the two naïve men, and he sees that they have already began to dispose of the system, and he ensures them that the revolution must go further. He tells them to execute the Mayor of Avonguard, he is undefended because Larinian took his armies. Ranthar is given the mayor’s sword and rides to Larinian before Larinian hears that he is being disposed of. Ranthar finally catches up to him and demands that he presses on to bring down Alornia. In fear, Larinian agrees. He also agrees to send armies towards Othornia to bring them down too. (Ranthar may be Supreme Lord of Othornia, but he only wanted the power temporarily to build his influence, it was merely a disposable position that was necessary to give him certain power) and so Larinian splits his armies up, sending half towards Alornia and the other half towards Othornia, both armies were now weaker.

Ranthar returns to Agar and there he meets Ember – the Sun Child – having been made a prisoner. She escapes his clutches and flees into the mountains. Ranthar heads towards Ekinar to speak with Verna. When he gets there he tells Verna that Arzuria has been brought to its knees and is ready to fall, and so Verna begins to rally his armies. Ranthar hears that Ember has been captures again and is in Ekinar. There she faces him again, and she unmasks him after a small fight (something no one has ever managed to do) her fire then knocks him unconscious in the tower where she was being kept, and she flees again.

Even though Ranthar had been passed out for weeks, his powers and manipulation still spread. Ember’s followers heard that he had twisted the minds of the Othornians and Arzurians and it became clear that Arzuria was headed for Alornia to bring it down once and for all. Alornia was Ember’s last hope at raising an army to bring down Larinian, and they were by no means strong enough to defend themselves against Larinian without preparing. Ember and her followers meet a band of Erivanians, led by once of the Erivanian Princes. He begins to fall for Ember and says he will do whatever he can to help her. He says that Alornia is not only Ember’s last hope of help, but Erivania’s too, since the two Realms help one another. If Alornia falls, so does Erivania. What the Prince doesn’t know is that the Othornians plan to invade Erivania too. Without knowing this, the Prince orders that his father’s small armies go and aid Alornia to ensure that they survive, and by doing to he renders his father’s realm defenceless.

Arzuria attacks Alornia with a weaker army than expected, but still powerful. The other Arzurian army reaches Ekinar whilst the Othornians march to Arncourt and head out into Erivania, leaving Othornia vastly undefended. Even without awareness, Ranthar manages to rotate the armies of all Realms and the Dominions so that they are attacking one another, bringing each other down. The whole time, neither Larinian nor Verna had any idea that Ranthar was playing them against one another. When he awakes, he plans to use the civil war that happens to create a further weakness for his own armies to take control of Arinalgar. With the fall of Alornia, Ember and the others are forced further south to the border of Calamara – the former Empire of the Sun Children. This falls into play nicely, as Ranthar originally assumed that the Sun Child would be born there anyway, but he didn’t expect to meet her in Arinalgar at all. His plans had altered slightly, but now he saw that Ember wasn’t as powerful as many made out, and he plans to go after her.
His King had told him twenty years before to take over Arinalgar, and then invade Calamara, and his work was now half done.

The order of Argar was told by their King to collect the Sun Vaults and bring them back to him so that they could be destroyed, but secretly the Lords of Argar know that the King’s son is also a Sun Child and he wants the Sun Vaults to make his son more powerful than any Sun Child before. The Lords are cunning, and they plan to actually destroy the Sun Vaults to end the days of the Sun Children. We begin to ask ourselves – are they making the world safer by doing so? Are they really that evil afterall?

So – is Ranthar a cliché villain? Looking further into him, he is not. In fact I would say he is not a villain at all. I make out Ember to be the ‘good guy’ which allegorically classifies anyone against her as a villain. Ranthar and his order go against their king even. They experienced first hand how terrible the Sun Children are, and their hatred for their proclaimed power has transcended through the generations. Their King is also a Sun Child (they don’t know it at first) who wants all Sun Vaults in order to stop the Sun Children gaining any power in the future. However, the Lords secretly agree that it is most coincidental timing for their master to want the Sun Vaults after the Sun Child has been born. They begin to suspect he is hiding something. They secretly agree to collect the items and hide them from their King even so that no one has access to abilities. By doing so they will keep the threatened nations of the world safe from any one who thinks they are of a higher authority. They are basically a communist council who believe in equality. The Sun Child is an outdated and impending threat to their ideology that must be quelled. They gave Ember a Sun Vault in the hopes she would inherit the violent nature of its previous owner and use her abilities to fuel peoples’ hatred towards her and bring her down, but it didn’t work. When Ranthar is sent to kill the Sun Child anyway he quickly remembers that the Sun Vault exists somewhere in Calamara and presumes, like everyone else that the Sun Child is there. He was wrong. The family that took the crown all those years ago since moved north into Arncourt, the capital of the country Ranthar was sent to take over in order to amass a large enough power on the Calamaran border. You can imagine his surprise when he hears the Sun Child is in Arncourt 20 years later. He tells Ember he wanted to use her as an assassin, but now he’ll have to kill her because her use didn’t come to fruition. He tries to cut off any help she may seek (like companions, followers or even the support of another Realm) so that she will surrender, but she doesn’t.

Later on the Lords realise that their King is a Sun Child after one of their order is killed by him and they meet secretly to discuss a contingency plan. They plan to get rid of all Sun Vaults and kill their king, but it isn’t easy. Their efforts are just one of the reasons that the Great War of Fire breaks out in 1707EOS. They bid that if their king is slain and all Sun Vaults destroyed then they shall dismantle the Order of Argar and dispose of their masks (which are in effect – Sun Vaults. They protect the Lords from the fire of the Sun Children, so if the Sun Children are defeated the masks wont be needed) Ember ends up making pacts with the Lords, stating that she shall keep peace in the east whilst the Lords maintain it in the West when their King has been slain. As such the Order of Argar was dismantled by 1710EOS.

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After seeing how both Ember and Ranthar lived before 1703 EOS, we can see that Ranthar had been very active even before Ember was old enough to read and understand the old stories. She was innocent and cared for her sister above anyone else whilst the order of Argar was already at large.

So why does the eastern bloodline reopen?

This is a confusing matter if any. If the western bloodline could breed sun children, why not the eastern line?

First period of Osiri
1EOS Varansar
1EOS Elansar

The two sun children twins were born identical, and their abilities were the same. They were known as ‘guardians of the other worlds’ before being known as the ‘sun children’. It was only after a long conquest and feud that both siblings went their separate ways. As such they split the bloodline in half. Varansar stayed in the east and ruled Arinalgar whilst Elansar went west and ruled Narashar. The difference between the two Sun Children was that Elansar’s line was a purely royal line. As the royal family of the Narasharin Empire spread about the land they became more various. The Sun Children possess only half of the gene it takes to make a Sun Child be born. Like most royal families, the House of Talinoth that ruled Narashar married into the family and so over time those that descended from Elansar with half agene came together and secured the fate of the blood line. Those born with the full gene then passed that on to their own children, but the gene is random and only triggers ever so often.

519EOS Rhandire -Second Period
731EOS Sahfire -Third Period
1253EOS Osirigire -Fourth Period
The case of Emperor Osirigire is one that changed the course of history. When Argar annihilated Narashar the Narasharin people fled across the seas, hoping to find refuge in Arinalgar. Since they had left it was the Alornian Dynasty that ruled, and they were so far against the growing threat of the new Realm – Arzuria. Arzuria and Alornia shared half of the people who fled from Arzornia when it fell and as such they became divided and hated one another. Alornia was open to receiving the last remnants of the Narashin Empire as aid to fight against Arzuria and keep its power, but the fleet upon the sea became lost and instead they fell upon the shores of Areddun. As such, the Narasharin were trapped in Areddun as they were enemies of Arinalgar. They were taken to Elinar, the capital province and enslaved. The prince of Narashar was taken in by the King of Areddun and trained as a squire. He was however, already trained as a knight and proved his valour when a coup tried to overthrow the King. As a result the prince was given more trust and when the King died everyone voted the prince to become King. Within a year he had changed the Kingdom into a vast Empire that thrived under the rule of the House of Narashar in the new province of Mara. The country was then renamed Calamara.

The eastern line which was originally headed by Varansar and the House of Arzor was more relaxed in its breeding. Princes and Princesses were allowed to marry the common. As such the heirs of the House only lived with half a gene, but this created a lot of people living with half a gene, though only the true heir’s could activate it. As more and more people were born with half a gene it became weaker and weaker. As time went on, the line split again with one side heading into Calamara and the other living in Arzuria. The Order of Argar wanted to destroy the Sun Children once again, and they went to Arinalgar and traced down the bloodline of Daransar. They handed them the crown of Sahfire so that her fiery anger could be revived in the next Sun Child, but no one understood the situation about the half genes. The power of Sahfire was supposed to kill off Osirigire, or at least ravish the Empire he built. This never came to fruition. Over time the family that owned the crown moved back towards the north to the quieter province of Balina. There they were raided by men of Arinalgar and enslaved to work as slaves in Erivania, the southern realm of Arinalgar. From Erivania the family earned their freedom and made for the capital, Arncourt, newly founded. The work there was said to be prosperous and well payed and so many families moved there. Four generations later, Emlyn the descendent of this line, was married to Sharlon. Sharlon’s family had lived in Arncourt since its founding from when its people came from the ruins of Arzornia – or Fort Agar – its last capital. Both possessed a half gene and as such their first born – Ember was born as a Sun Child. The skies turned red upon her birth and the world knew she had arrived, but knew not where she lived. The Order of Argar presumed she still lived in Calamara, where they last watched over the bloodline, but they were mistaken. One other thing happened however, Sharla, Ember’s sister was born with a defective gene that she could not activate because she had no Sun Vault, whereas Ember could activate her abilities via Sahfire’s crown. It was not until 1707 that Sharla was taken from Argarian captivity by Argurians (Argarian Urians – a race formed from captured Urians in Argarian lands) the Urian side of the told them that Sharla could be reborn as their old goddess – Enighuir. She was given Enighuir’s armour and her mind bent to accept the presence of the Prince’s Sphere – a Sun Vault owned by Rhandire – another powerful Sun Child. Sharla however, since she shared the same genes as Ember was able to connect to her through the Sun Vault. Because they share the same genes they are connected in more ways than one.

Fifth Period
1683EOS Ember
1683EOS Ahrgon
1685EOS Sharla

Ember retained the complete gene of the Sun Children and its strong nature meant that it was much more developed. It was so developed and mutated that all three of her children were born with the abilities of the Sun Children, but they had no way of activating them because there was no more Sun Vaults. This was until they found something that would change all of that.

1717EOS Sahfira
1718EOS Halinora
1720EOS Sharlira
(All three of which are pictured below)



So from this we can see how the two main nemeses of the story come together. Ember is very innocent whilst Ranthar is far from it. Ember begins out as a simple, helpless girl whilst Ranthar is already at large. What my intentions are, is for everyone to see that Ranthar is not all bad. The Order of Argar decree that once the Sun Vaults have been destroyed, the Order shall dismantle and a new age of equality shall commence.

So i have redrawn a map of Arinalgar/Arzutare (its been a while since i updates my maps) and also you can see Ember's three children.

Alright i don't have as much to update this time. Exams have prohibited me doing much work on chapter 11, but i managed to fill my time with a hell of a lot of 3D modelling. Currently i am constructing an entire rendition of Arncourt, the Arzurian and Arinalgarin capital. 34 hours in and im still only around 1/5 and 1/4 done. It is the single largest 3d model i have ever undertaken, but the results are worth it, especially when they impressed my interviewers at Uni

So i will post some shots of important areas of the city as well as a large view of the place so far. I will also include important dates and people that i have already amassed. i dont know many people who go so far into politics to be honest, maybe its just me -.-

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High Law: Sun Children Scrutiny Act
What did it do: banned all talk and writings of the Sun Children, punishable by death
Year: 1403EOS

Campaigner: Neral Garlion
Lived: 1410EOS-1490EOS
What did she do: She was a campaigner who tried to initiate the first religious cult of women, but when the country had a bad harvest it was thought to be because women were telling the gods to strike down men for their negligence, as such all were locked in Ringwater’s dungeons and broken. Garlion however escaped.

Bishop: Lagaran Garath
Lived: 1423EOS-1492EOS
What did he do: Won the right to rebuild the flat roofed churches into tall spired structures. As part of the rebuilding, Ringwater Castle was given more pointed roofed towers too in 1490EOS. However, Lagaran was against women being part of the religious cult, he though they corrupted the minds of the men who spent hours praying in concentration to keep the gods happy.

Dock Worker: Verana Dorthall
Lived: 1445EOS-1526EOS
What did he do: Hosted a strike in the docks of Arncourt for the extra labour workers were doing, helping to unload stone for the new churches and were getting injured without any extra income.

Lord’s Law: Contract Reduction Act
What did it do: It made it illegal to go on strike and if workers refused to return to work within a week they were fired from the workforce.
Year: 1493EOS

Dock Worker: Godara Dorthall
Lived 1465EOS-1506EOS
What did he do: Lead a full assault on the city’s army which required the rangers of Southguard to march to Arncourt and re-establish order.


High Law: Banner Limit Act
What did it do: It made it a law that no building in the city could surpass the height of Ringwater’s banners. Many thought of it to be silly, but even into the 1700s it stuck.
Year: 1506EOS

Cultist: Esogar Iragor
What did he do: led a rebellion against King Orenar in 1552EOS, standing up against his Barons and Lords in the Barrens. The rebellion was a result of barons having too much power and overtaxing the tenants to fund the expansion of Arncourt
Lived: 1510EOS – 1553EOS

Baron: Aran Borthar
Sent armies by decree of the king unto the rebellion. He became condemned and even king Orenar turned his back after he failed to maintain his castle’s defences. He sent a crow to tell his second in command to assassinate the Baron and assume control of defences, thus crushing the besieging rebellion

Lord’s Law: Carriage Routing Act
What did it do: made carriages use the riverside road to keep off the smaller streets of the city.
Year: 1566EOS

Bishop: Fordan Noron
Lived: 1566EOS - 1622EOS
What did he do: challenged King Koren for neglecting the churches- executed
Early life: discussed the building of a grand church with architect Riggar Baragon, the king thought it overshadowed the importance of Ringwater Castle and had the height of the spire lowered in 1620EOS, 2 years before Fordan died

King Koren
Lived: 1600EOS-1682EOS
Founder of Koren Court and modern Arzurian militarism

Cultist: Erego Olodar
Lived: 1577EOS-1633EOS
What did he do: Original founder of the cult (in 1600EOS) who began to try and find out more about the Sun Child and where they were from. They were however, unsuccessful, but because the Sun Child was hidden all their life. No one was ever going to find her.

Architect: Riggar Baragon – star spire designs
Lived: 1598EOS-1684EOS
King Koren approached Riggar to design the new army court (Koren Court) but Riggar told him that because he nullified the prominence of the church he would do no such thing. Riggar heard that koren was to have him tortured for turning him down and so he went into hiding. He died in Alornia in 1684EOS

King Kanar the worrier
Lived: 1632EOS-1685EOS
Last King of Arinalgar.

General’s Law: Sun Child Snare Act
What did it do: all barons, Lords and Mayors were forced to enlist a team of soldiers to purposely hunt for the Sun Child, forming a larger army to hunt for them. Half went to Othornia and met resistance at Fort Agar to make sure the old bloodline was not awoken (and many were thrown in the prisons there including the unit’s leader) this is not something usually spoken of. The other half met their death at the sinking bridge.The Act also heightened levels of alert in cities and regulated the amount of candles used per household. New watchtowers were erected
Year: 1683EOS

General’s Law: Ale Consumptions Act
What did it do: limited the consumption of ale as it was thought to be one of the causes for defeat in the first war in the south. Soldiers were court-martialled for breaking this, but towards the end the generals gave up because it was such a problem.
Year:1684EOS

High Law: Sun Shield Act
What did it do: Gave the king’s two courts to govern the entire country in the war of the red dawn. It was met with resistance from many, particularly in Alornia.

General: Gardar Gothran
What did he do: He was leader of the Othornian division of King Kanar’s Sun Child hunters. He was captured in Fort Agar and imprisoned there after being tortured by Lord Ranthar. He was eventually released as a cripple and went into hiding in Othorwood, refusing to sign allegiance to the court of Ringwater.
Lived:1656EOS-1696EOS

High Law: Republic Revolution Act
What did it do: It made High General Larinian ‘High Lord’ by decree. Once this was installed, a series of new reforms was to be made.
Year:1685EOS

High Law: Hierarchy Reform Act
What did it do: It made all Barons into Noblemen, Lords into Mayors and the kings of the other realms became Lords, all because the new High Lord was to have superior status.
Year:1685EOS

General’s Law: Higgar’s Act
What did it do: Gave the court of generals the right to install authority by military means wherever they felt it was necessary. The court of Lords felt they were being overshadowed by the lower court and having their powers taken from them. General Higgar, high orator of the General’s Court put the Act forwards, to which High Lord Larinian accepted.
Year:1690EOS

Cultist: Driggar Darna
Lived: 1671EOS-1703EOS
What did he do: Led the cult to find the Sun Child, and tried to raid Ringwater Castle to find any information regarding their whereabouts, but was caught and failed, three weeks before the Sun Child returned.


The two courts (Generals and Lords) are basically there to take the load off the King whilst he focuses on more national issues. He can however pass laws by himself (High Laws)

Here we are at another update. I know I might be flooring this a bit, but I have so much background material I want to get out…so bear with me. Before I start, if you could answer me this; do you look at the updates here more for the pictures I post, or the actual text information? I just want to know what it is that seems to be getting this topic so many views, which I honestly can’t thank everyone enough for by the way.

Anyway, a few profiles of important historical people here today. But before I go on with them, I would like to say that chapter 11 has been edited and so far it is my favourite, at around 11900 words. The pace varies, but when it slows there is a build up of tension and an eerie atmosphere so I’ve tried to make it balanced. I have began to go more into Othornia’s history now, as you will see with the last figure profile below. I have begun to draw up a map of the underground tunnels there, and it is not easy, as I’ve tried to base my ideas for the place from the catacombs in Paris, which I think really brings home a lot to the plot and background to this world I am creating (and as you will see, it all fits in)

The character profiles here today are not about some bishop or architect before, but more based on the men (and women) that built the country that became Arinalgar.

The profiles are:
-Rard – the first King of Arinalgar
-Delfor – the first Queen of Arinalgar
-Warborn the Dreamer – another unusual monarch of Arinalgar
-Goron Rambora – the taxman who nearly saw Othornia desecrated.

1) Rard the Red and the forming of Arinalgar

Born: 23PE
Died: 37EEL

-First king of Arinalgar. He was named ‘red’ because of the amount of blood that was spilled leading up to his coronation. His procession actually took place amidst a battle in central Amar where be battled the armies of Bryon the Blue. He was led down the causeway to the castle as men were slain either side. His cloak dragged along through blood with his guards defending him either side. When the castle was taken Rard entered to have the crow bestowed upon him, and the bells rung to signify victory. Bryon was not the sort of man to surrender. Barthor , the land of Bryon had engulfed the smaller realms of the land and unified them into one people. This was the first time that any land made of collective regions would be formed. Barthor threatened Amar that built up east of the mountains and so Amar had to make a stand. The Barthorin people however underestimated the Amarians. Rard began life as a peasant, serving his master of the clan he was part of. As the years wore on he was given much more responsibility, and when he saved the master from an ambush he was made the master’s right hand man. In 17PE the master died and Rard was passed the title of master. His qualities as a leader were not to be underestimated, and he persuaded many regional clans to join him in rivalry with another rising figure ‘Stom the Still’ so named for he froze in battle and was beheaded by Rard. Rard then claimed the land as his and began to build his people a home. At this point the ‘Reggart Clan’ was still relatively unnoticed, certainly on the western side of the mountains where the onset of Barthor took shape. Bryon the Blue was already the son of a powerful Lord – Heron.
Time went on, and in 2PE the Reggart Clan had absorbed most of the eastern lands. It was at this point, and the time when Heron died that everything began to fall into place. Rard was now a regional Lord, governing the entire eastern region. Bryon had married the daughter of a powerful northern Lord and by doing so was able to betray her people and install power within the north (in the area later known as ‘The Barrens’. One day word reached Bryon that a powerful force was amassing in the east and he sent scouts to find out what was happening. In the distance he saw the great towers of a large structure being build upon the horizon. Rard had begun to build his basis of power, and construction on a new castle was under way. When Bryon heard of this his immediate response was to eliminate this threat – what sort of danger could a few united clans pose? He sent his armies over the mountains and into the valley of the east, and quickly word reached the Reggart High Council that danger was becoming nearer by the day. The people of the east were rallied together and began to construct a series of watchtowers across the land. The armies of Barthor were loud and bold, but they could not evade the stealth attributes of the Reggarts. Whilst the army moved suspiciously between the towers they were unable to see the masses of men hiding on river banks, in trees and amidst their own ranks. When the army camped the guards were killed and Reggart men replaced them. When they became distracted by the ambush they were assaulted from the tower forts. This was however ineffective to the Barthorin. Rard heard that an army three times as large as his was coming and he fled east. Bryon seized the newly built castle and raised the Barthorin banners upon its towers. The distant nation of Elgarn had heard that they were soon to be neighboured by the Barthorin, and this worried them. In response to their own security they sent in thousands of soldiers, and Rard himself was convinced by the Elgarian princess that he should reflect on his younger days as a great leader. With new allies and new confidence Rard set out for his fortress with banners of the Reggart and Elgarn flying side by side. The Reggart’s efforts surprised Bryon, but he was not afraid. Instead he sent out his armies to meet Rard and take him down before he even reached the fortress. He did however, forget about the Reggart men in the north of the eastern lands, and they arrived too and found the defences of the fortress somewhat lower. They were led in by Danag, a childhood enemy of Rard, but he forgot the differences and instead aided his old enemy in the effort to keep his land free. Bryon steadily grew to realise that his claimed fortress was not going to hold, and he called his armies back to defend it. Rard led the Reggart and the Elgarnians in pursuit and together they broke into the fortress and after a long fight, Rard slew Bryon. It was amidst this battle that Rard was then given Bryon’s crown, a crown for a King. In 1EEL (the era that began with the actual coronation) Rard became the first king of the eastern lands of the Reggart and sent the Barthorin folk back home. After the victory Rard married the Elgarnian Princess (for him the though of keeping allies with them was important) in 3EEL their son was born – Rard II who continued to carry on the bloodline. The Elgarnian Princess brought with her the name of her father’s house – Amara – and so the lands became known as Amar. King Thagrath, grandson of Rard II, had all watchtower bases built into high fortresses. The towers were removed and reinstalled at the summit of all fortresses (the last of which was Fort Agar – the most western watchpost)

2) Delfor

Born: 200EEL
Died: 272EEL

-First Queen of Arinalgar, 7th generation descendent from Rard. Her ascent to throne of Amar was a difficult one. From an early age she faced strife and neglect. Because she was a girl her father ignored her, claiming early on that he wanted her male cousin to become ruler one day and not her. Her maidens brought her up, and she developed quite a bond with them – to the point that they became her friends. People admired her more than her cousin, but they feared the King. His nephew, Hunar was arrogant, cocky and yet weak in battle. Many a time Delfor practiced swords with his and beat him, and when she looked to her father for congratulations he turned a blind eye. As the years grew on Delfor became one with her people, trying to put their matters towards her father, but he shunned her away. Hunar spent his time hunting in the lands, flirting with women and cowering away from all conflicts. There came a day where he asked his female companions to infiltrate Delfor’s maids. One night the maids tried to kill the Princess, but the plot had been foiled, and guards burst into her chamber to find that the Princess had already stabbed the imposters to the floor with a dagger she held in her hand. That was the day she realised there were little people she could put trust in. she became awfully timid and cautious after that night, and her cousin’s plan was revealed to King Halfor. He initially denied that his prodical nephew would have any involvement, but when proof was provided, he suddenly realise how manipulative the young heir had been. He was executed and suddenly the only heir to the throne was none other than Delfor. She didn’t want to be queen, but wanted to be accepted as an equal to men, and she had certainly proven her worth now. She was regarded with respect for most of the time that occurred over the next few years. For five years, beginning in 226EEL she maintained governance in the country whilst her father was away fighting a war against the Barthorin men who had besieged the mountains. Eventually however, Halfor returned from battle in a coffin, the King was dead. Suddenly Delfor realised that her worst dreams were about to come true. One cold morning she walked the very plaza where Rard the Red had walked upon his coronation, and she was crowned Queen that day. There were many within her ranks that failed to realise her qualities as a woman. The aristocratic side of the city began to distance itself from the monarchy whilst the poorer side that depended more on the help of the institution felt for their Queen. As two years went by the capital of Amar was almost split. The aristocracy was belligerent, and they refused to pay any taxes to a state that favoured the lesser man (but it was their own fault anyway) as such, Delfor outlawed the head of each house that refused to abide by her father’s laws. The richer families went out into the wild and over time the poorer people began to prosper. One problem remained however. The aristocracy gave the state most of its income, and without it the economy struggled. The outlawed men realised this, and they used their wealth to begin to form a rebellion against the Queen. She heard news that the army of the gold-hats was headed towards Stormgate. Her army general quickly mustered her men on her behalf and they looked substantially under-armed. Next came one of Delfor’s defining moments as a monarch – her great speech to the masses, and she gave it dressed in the armour of her grandmother. She told them that she would join them in the defence of the city and that if they won, the treacherous men would be stripped of all wealth and it distributed equally amongst the squalor of the impoverished land. Delfor wore the blood crown as she rode out with her frontline cavalry, the crown worn by Rard II to pay homage to his father’s struggle. The enemy expected to meet their Queen in battle, but they were wrong, for she had other plans. In the middle of the low plains there was a outcrop of rock that overlooked the valley. She and her cavalry lined up along it and gave the signal for the plan to work. The castle of Stormgate was defended by two large walls that acted as damns against the estuary beyond, and once upon a time the land was filled with a series of great waterfalls. The damns were however, pulled down. Delfor knew her army was no where near strong enough to kill the enemy, and so she had planned another path to victory. The water of the estuary spilled down into the valley, rushing recklessly down either side of the rocky outcrop and ravaging the low plains in water. The men of the rebellion were washed away and the valley quickly became a lake that remained there ever since. Those that died and even those that managed to flee lost all of their gold in the flood, sending their riches to a watery confinement. The word of Delfor became worthless. For the rest of her life she was recognised for her cunning and respect for the lesser man, but she was never forgiven by some for failing to deliver the gold.

3) Warborn the Dreamer

Born 800 EEN
Became King 823 EEN
Died 864 EEN

-His people began to suffer from plague that arrived from foreign lands in 804EEN, and his country’s armies began to dwindle at a time when his father’s past feuds were still raging, although slowly dying down. As a last act of desperation Warborn, upon becoming King had a dream of killing the gods and allowing only the kings to decide how the people to live. As such he had all the dead of the land gathered in one underground chamber (later the idea behind the Hallow Halls below Othornia) and buried with warriors and babies for the warriors to train the babies. He did as was planned, and when he died his body was buried amongst them, enclosed in a bronze statue that still remains there. He was to lead his dead armies through the wilderness of the Netherworlds and take on the gods to hope that the people would prosper. Of course his dream was not to come true, as the plague lasted for another 52 years.

4)The Rambora House

The richest house in Othornia

Back in 1141EOS they found their fortune from the head of the house; Goron Rambora. He came to Ekinar as a wealthy man, having been one of the only educated people to live in Othrun. As such he quickly gained a well paid job; collecting tax and managing the town’s money. He regulated the imports that the town received and sold off food supplies for his own profit. The people began to starve, but Goron claimed that the other towns and Realms were refusing to trade with them. This in turn made the people of Othrun angry and wanted to bargain for more power from Arzuria. Goron had a petition signed, and he declared that he was to head to Ekinar to asked the Lord for his help. When he arrived the Lord had him wait a few days in the town before he was to take counsel. In those days, Goron saw that the city was falling weak on money, and when Goron finally met with the Lord he asked that he be allowed to control the city’s finance. The Lord was aware of Goron’s place in Othrun, but he was oblivious as to how he became so wealthy and his town so poor. Goron explained what he saw in the city, and said how it could be regulated to make it prosperous. The Lord subsequently saw the charisma and will-do attitude in Goron and had him made Financier of Ekinar. The petition from Othrun was then shown to the Lord and he fell for the trick that the other Realms were beginning to cut back on what they gave to Othornia. The Lord began to take more notice of national dealings, and he, much to Goron’s surprise, found that Arzuria had actually been limiting its trade to Othornia in other towns (but the cuts in spending and export were a direct result of Arzuria’s war effort). No help came to Othrun, and the new tax-collector of Othrun told the people there that Arzuria was not willing to provide the amount it should be. As such a great animosity began to occur between the people of Othornia and Arzuria. There were stories of Othrun becoming a graveyard with so many dying from starvation, and this fuelled further discontent. In the years that followed, Goron settled down with a wife and had a son, though his attention was duly poised on the Lord’s declaration that Othornia was to declare war on Arzuria, a war for independence.

As Financier, Goron was left in charge of managing the Dominion’s war spending. He gave the mean weaker armour and less equipment, his reason being that either the Dominion could afford a well armed soldier, few in number, or an under-armed soldier who was greater in number. Often in war it is sheer numbers that prosper, and so Goron went for that option. The Othornians pillaged Rinawood, making a surprise siege of Konol (The northern bridge between Othornia and Arzuria) Rinawood was burned down, and the King of Arzuria was infuriated. He sent a bulk of men back down into the trees of Rinawood and had them quell the Othornians. Suffering the defeat it made a larger uprising even more inevitable. Othornian ranks broke out along the western plains of the land, forming a territory along the Pass of Barthor, capturing supply trains going from Alornia to the capital. As such, Alornia too grew angry at the Othornian uprising. They had extra men defend Alornian towns, and they were much better armed and equipped. The southern ranks of Othornians were crushed by Alornian defences after a great war that saw Othrun burned to the ground. The northern ranks continued further on into Arzuria, but they had better luck. They managed to besiege Avonguard (then the capital), surrounding its walls. What they hadn’t counted on was the strength that the Arzurian city held, and its walls were far too high to climb upon the steep hill. The drawbridge was broken and gates barred. The Othornians began to wonder how The Arzurians were staying alive with no food supplies reaching them, but they didn’t know about the secret tunnels under the ground. A large system of stone tunnels led directly to the coast, and it was here that many homeless lived and died. Eventually an Othornian found an entrance to the tunnels. The army began to infiltrate the underground chambers, and they managed to break out into Avonguard. The men there were waiting for them however, and quickly the men of Othornia were forced into the tunnel again, but the Arzurians had sent message to far away cities and had their men travel to block off all entrances to the underground system. The King of Avonguard poured vast amounts of a flammable substance into the tunnel and then dropped a lit torch into it. The men underground were burned alive, and across the country there were vapours of smoke rising from the ground. Thousands broke free from one poorly-blocked exit, but they were too intoxicated from smoke, and they died along the plains. As many struggled to move on, men from Westwatch came and finished them off. On those fields they were buried, in mass graves. Goron was blamed for his failure to provide better equipped men, and he was exectuted, just as the Lord had received an execution order for himself from the King. Goron’s family was left with much wealth, and his son wanted to redeem his father’s name one day. To make up for his father’s failings, he ordered that a mass grave be built within Othornia to respect the men his father practically had killed. No less than twenty years after the war of independence, the first garden of remembrance was built in Ekinar, and from it the underground tunnels of remembrance too. (later known as the Hallow Halls) they were supposed to mimic the horrid tunnels the med died from, but a relaxing place for people to visit their dead and pray. The families of the dead were made to pay a small amount of money to the treasury of the Dominion in order for their relatives bones to be brought back home (of course it was impossible to identify remains in a mass grave, but none knew that happened) as such, Gerion, Goron’s son, became very rich and he redeemed his family’s name.

The Rambora House was never short of money, and as time went on they still stood by the Lord of Ekinar, and for their love of wealth they gained the symbol of a magpie, basking on an amber background, the colour of Othornia.

Some of the sons of House Rambora
DOB and Name-
1111EOS Goron
1142EOS Gerion
1161EOS Baron
1183EOS Moran
1203EOS Eran
1241EOS Edron
1265EOS Lordon
1290EOS Ronon
1322EOS Konor
1340EOS Verion
1365EOS Arion

So there is a lot of information there, and I hope you are able to read it all, I realise that my updates are slowly getting longer and longer so… yeah….thank you for looking even if you can’t read all of it!

And finally, a map of the route in Chapter 11, by far the largest leap in terms of distance out of any chapter i've done. The pacing runs quite nicely i think too



Ooh ooh and one last thing- an updated view of Arncourt, now showing most of the defence walls, and a development of the Arnur District, overshadowed by Koren Court. Also i expanded and moved the cathedral, now i need to find somewhere to put the Courts of Lords and Generals...

It has been one year this week that this thread first started. In commemoration to this I shall share with you a number of updates I have made recently. I have begun to develop the country of Arinalgar in ways I never thought I would. The cultures of the land have now been implemented fully, which has greatly helped with the writing of the novel. Only one week ago I actually finished the story’s first edit. Now I am working my way through edit #2. I think that by June at the latest the novel should be ready to be sent off (I hope) I need to find some people to read it first though and provide feedback – but we’ll worry about that when it gets to it.

Ok, so here is the first of a few updates I shall post today:

It has been a while since I developed the overall map of Arinalgar. I have developed smaller sections, but as a whole it has gone relatively unchanged. Before now, all three realms had three regions within them, with three or four cities/towns within. However, lately I have been developing the maiden and tribal culture, and it has inspired me to write more about the land that actually features more in the story. I have only briefly touched on the cultures of the three realms, but now I am on to the largest world building streak I have ever undertaken. Arinalgar’s later laws and prominent people were just the start, now I have been developing the history of individuals and their Houses. After that came the maidens and clans, but what we now have is a fully developed country. Inspired by a recent drawing I did of Great Britain I noticed just how many counties there were, and with GB being my inspiration, nine regions just didn’t sound enough. As such there are now forty counties in Arinalgar, including the clan territory.

Realm: ARZURIA
Counties:
-Westwatch
-Northwatch
-Arnon State
-Southguard
-Othmoore
-Crossfield
-North Eastwatch
-South Eastwatch

Realm: ALORNIA
Counties:
-Basindell
-Pennilot
-Portmoore
-Westmoore
-Balalot
-Athorlot
-Tailot
-Thoralot
-Lovorn State

Realm: ERIVANIA
Counties (in regions)
Erania:
-Greywood
-Eriwood
-Bridgewood
-Ariwood

Divania:
-Arimara
-Vaderaguard
-Rother’s Clearing

Daria:
-Anarun
-Vailwood
-Iriwood

Dominion: OTHORNIA
Regions:
-Othoreach
-Agareach
-Koreach
-Amareach
-Shieldhaven
-Highreach
-Fareach

Dominion: THE BARRENS
Clans:
-Thorn
-Greenwall
-Kandia
-Whitefall
-Northmoore

So where do we start?
I suppose the logical thing to do would be to start with whatever tops the list; Arzuria.
Arzuria was founded in 980EOS by King Banahorn of Arzornia. His decision to split his own realm into two smaller realms was a turning point in the history of Arinalgar. Arzornia was falling after so many years of living in the mountains. The days of power had gone from the old forts in the stone, and most of the land around the mountains was dead, and the lands north covered in snow. Banahorn wanted to keep Arzornia as the capital of Arinalgar, but many began to disagree that it was worthy and strong enough. As such they followed Banahorn to the old port village known as Arnmouth. It was from here that in the early decades of the Era, Queen Elansar sailed west to Narashar. It was the first time a monarch had visited since. He declared before the village that it was here that a new city was to be founded in 984EOS, capable of hosting a port – something Arzornia lacked, and supplies reached the mountains slower. If Banahorn was to contend for power he needed resources, and the coast was the best place to get them. As such, the city of Arnmouth was founded, an expansion to the old village that existed there. Two other cities were established; Avonguard – the middle city, capital of the new Realm in 986EOS, and Rinawood, the furthest city in 987EOS, dock city on the River Othor that ran through Arzornia. Supply trains had a direct route across the country, but over time the prosperity that the supply trains brought and the growing population of the three cities meant that Arzuria was to expand. To control the rising population, Banahorn divided the Realm into four counties under the Act of Regulation 992EOS, and a Baron was put in charge of each County.

These counties were:
Westwatch (containing Arnmouth)
Southguard (containing Rinawood and Avonguard),
Two new main cities, each in their own county; Eastwatch and Northwatch.

Northwatch was useful for its timber, for pines that grew below the northern mountains. Eastwatch acted primarily as a barrier to pilgrims seeking refuge in Arzuria from the Wastes of Amar, but life there was hard and cold. Cities there were mainly built off of the giant rocks that lay about the plains. By 996EOS Arzuria had all but drained Arzornia of life, and the old Realm began to fall. In 1000EOS, upon the turn of the century, Banahorn declared that Arzornia was to be disposed of. As such he gave his people a choice; Move to Arzuria or stay in the mountains and die, as trade was to be cut off. Of course, people saw a third choice – journey to Alornia. Three peoples emerged, those settling in Arzuria, those taking refuge in Alornia and those who dwelled in the cold mountains. Alornia received the largest intake, and whilst Banahorn’s dynasty was slowly falling, there were those who doubted Arzuria’s ability to cope as a capital Realm. Eyes turned to Alornia, as did those of Lanahorn, Banahorn’s son.

What happened next was a dramatic turn of events. Banahorn died in 1003EOS, and Lanahorn was the rightful heir to become King. Because of his bloodline he was crowned King of Arzuria, but he desired Alornia as his Realm. In a rather foolish move, in 1008EOS Arzuria went to war with Alornia and was crushed dramatically. Lanahorn was executed, but the people of Arinalgar wanted royal blood to rule. In this case, it was Lanahorn’s younger cousin, Londar, who was next in line. Londar, unlike Lanahorn, was brought up in Alornia as his mother was from there. Alornia saw this as their chance to take the power. Londar’s uncle, King of Alornia, was, by principle, forced to abdicate to allow Londar to rule. And so started the Alornian Dynasty, thus ending the Arzornian Dynasty

The creation of the Alornian Dynasty sparked outrage amongst Arzurians. They were left without a King for months, in which time the people of the land began to fall ill. Those who lived in the mountains no longer wanted to call themselves Arzornians, for it became a shameful name. They thrived along the River Othor, cutting trade tunnels through the mountains. As such they gained their own identity; Othornians. In the time of Arzuria’s weakness, Othornia wanted to become separate from the Realm, after Banahorn had left them as one nation divided. Just when they were about to gain their freedom however, King Londar took Arzuria under his command, and by doing so he strengthened the armies of the Realm. Othornia was slowly losing its upperhand, and by 1021EOS they were placed under Arzurian law as a Dominion of the State. They were regulated by Arzurian law, set by the Council of Barons. However, the laws that were passed benefitted land dwellers, not mountain dwellers. Tensions grew, as did Arzurian culture. By 1029EOS, the city of Rinawood had grown so large that it was able to form its own county; Othmoore. From Rinawood, Othmoore’s three other villages were governed by a Baron. The people there were integrated Othornians and Arzurians, and the County acted as a neutral zone for conflicting attitudes.

In 1141EOS the Othornians finally drew enough strength to attack Arzuria, and they nearly destroyed Avonguard as a result. The Othornians were actually defeated, but Arzuria was left shaken. There was a distant fear for many years after. In 1178EOS King Radona won the War of the Three Stones. By defeating the Alornians in battle Radona took the crown from the capital realm. He grew up during the Othornian fear, and as a result he too feared them. In a drastic twist he decided that Avonguard was too insecure and close to such a large power to be considered a stable place to govern. Rinawood was neutral, and so only Arnmouth was large enough to become capital of Arzuria. As such, in 1180EOS, Arnmouth was renamed Arncourt. The new capital prospered and grew faster than any could imagine. Radona was proud of his heritage, and he wanted his family’s past to be remembered. As such he ordered that the tower of Fort Agar, the Arzornian capital, be cut down and transported to Arncourt to stand proudly in the new capital, reminding people of where they came from, and to remind them of the power they once rightfully had over the Alornians. The Othornians that resided in Fort Agar were massacred by the Arzurians, and their bodies were thrown into the pool at the centre of the mountain (The massacre of Agar). For the next two years the Tower of Agar was dismantled piece by piece and taken through Rinawood to Arncourt where it was rebuilt. Radona had the region around Fort Agar heavily guarded, but rarely did the Othornians show up. They were too humiliated by their defeat still, and the incineration of their people made them fear the Arzurians. They were thought of as those who broke free of the Gods’ insanity.

In 1212EOS, Eastwatch began to face a growing problem. The pilgrims in the Wastes of Amar were wanting to assimilate with Arzurian culture, but the Arzurians were dismissive of outsiders in fear that they could bring down the realm from the inside. The main problem that Eastwatch faced however, was that there were many who wanted to maintain Arzuria’s borders, but just as many who saw the benefit of allowing pilgrims to enter i.e. using them as slaves or cultural values (As the years went on, pilgrims began to marry into Arzuian families, hence the number of Elgarnians in Arinalgar) there was resentment between the two sorts of people, and there was often conflicts over the pilgrims. The north of Eastwatch wanted to keep them out and protect their resources (which were limited anyway) and the south of Eastwatch wanted to let them in for their own uses. Pilgrims crossed into the south via a stone bridge over a dry river bed at the base of the mountains, yet even with it being in the south, pilgrims still found their way north behind the borders of those that wanted to keep them out. When divisions became so entrenched in Eastwatch society it began to trouble the governing of the entire realm. Units of soldiers were deployed to keep order after a number of fights broke out. Often those in the south of Eastwatch allowed the pilgrims to fight with them, which made the other Arzurian counties question whose side they were really on.

In 1215EOS the King came to Eastwatch and saw the state the towns and lands were left in, with crude encampments pitched all over the land. He decided that if the problem was not solved, it would cripple the national economy. As a result, he sent a message to the clans in the north, in The Barrens, and asked that they keep their borders open whilst trains of pilgrims pass through to state-owned land (land still claimed after the War of the Northern Blood) The northern clans agreed to this, but only because they saw the possibility to build their own numbers and pose a greater threat to Arzuria. Each Clan wanted pilgrims, and they often fought over ownership of camps. In 1216EOS the King officially divided north and south Eastwatch to allow their differences to settle. He did however, sanction south Eastwatch for their trivial allegiance. He cut off a section of land that divided Eastwatch from Northwatch, and he called it Crossfields. It was used as a safe land where Pilgrims could pass into the north. It was mainly valleys, winding paths and forests more than fields, although there was a large amount still. As the borders opened there was far more pilgrims than anyone expected, and the King had forts set up along the Wastes of Amar to monitor pilgrim movement. His advisors proposed that he divide the lands up to control and regulate the pilgrims easier, and so he did, though there was no official territories, only makeshift regions each held down with a high up fortress. (But by 1288EOS all of these forts were abandoned) The Arzurians disliked the pilgrims anyway because there was Elgarnian blood in the Alornian royal family, dating back to Princess Lilighan of Elgarn, who had married the Alornian prince.

In 1219EOS there was growing hostility within Westwatch. They felt that Arncourt was crippling the other towns in the county, and they wanted to push it out so that a Baron could be installed and the land regulated better. As skirmishes began to take place a true threat of civil war began to arise, and King Oragon finally declared in 1221EOS that Arncourt was to have its own county to regulate. It became known as ‘Arnonstate’ to compete with the grand status held by Lovornstate, capital of Alornia. It would seem that most of Arzuria’s decisions were based on their resentment to Alornia that never actually died down, it always remained in the hearts of the Arzurians. Over time, Arnonstate would continue to drain the other lands of prosperity, and no amount of land divisions could stop the hoards of travellers travelling all over Arzuria looking for work in the capital.

In the last update I mentioned a land in the north called ‘The Barrens’
These are merely lands full of isolated tribes that the capital realm assumes control over.

THE CLANS OF THE BARRENS

The clans:
-Kandia
-Thorn
-Greenwall
-Northmoore
-Bravefire

The lands north of Arzuria are often regarded as wastelands, filled with uncivilized people and infertile lands. There are however, bands of men who live there. They do not fall subject to the rule of the High Lord or the line of monarchs before them, and for the last few centuries they actually caused quite a resistance to the state.

In the Era of Engori (EEN) the clans of the north were the largest threat to peace in Arinalgar, and their power finally came to be realised in the Battle of the Northern Blood. When the Sun Children came about a matter of centuries later in the Era of Osiri (EOS) their power had all but diminished.

The five different clans rarely agree to work together, but their differing cultural attributes often lead to conflicts between them. Whilst they can all find their origins to the people of the Northern Kingdom of the Era of Elgari (EEL), they have near enough lost any ties to their past.

The KANDIA clan:
The Kandia clan are perhaps the most belligerent of the clans. They retain their name from the people of King Kandaros (who orchestrated the Battle of the Northern Blood). The power that came from King Kandaros can be dated back to the 1100s EEN.

Master Thalados was only a farmer when his influence began to spread amidst the region. His wife was killed by men of Arzornia, trying to assert control and land taxes. As a result Thalados fought back against the army, killing the baron who tried to take control. With the Arzornian baron dead, there was little to be feared from the farmers in the lands. They pushed the Arzornians out of their land and built a wall across the border, separating themselves from Arinalgar. Thalados formed a council of men who were to devise defences around the land to defend their territory from the King – Argon I.

Argon I tried to tax his lands when they became poor. He believed that anyone who relied off of the state should have to pay for their protection. When the northern farming clans refused to pay taxes they lost their protection. When the clans showed his armies up he grew angry, and he refused to let people see him as a pushover. He sent even more men north, an entire army even. They fell before the wall on the border -a strong wall it was, tall and thick.
The Council of the Clans realised that sooner or later they would face a growing influence from their actions, and although they relished the ability to bargain for change, they came to realise that people would need a single figure to look to, a kingly figure almost. They would not admire a council, nor chant its name in battle. As a result of this they made Thalados a Lord of the region. People began to recognise him. He often made speeches involving his family’s involvement in the hardship that came with the reign of the Sun Child King Daransar in the early years of EOS, and he spoke about how his family was part on an uprising within the Sun Child’s flanks that saw his army weakened, but they didn’t realise that an even greater threat was in the lands, Daransar’s sister; Elansar. By weakening Daransar’s army they allowed Elansar’s army to quickly triumph. He then complained that the Sun Children still lived on in infamy because of their power, they were remembered for their malice. The infiltration of the Sun Child’s army proved what an organised resistance could do, and people were admirable towards the tale. Thalados wanted to be remembered for the power he had over the masses and how he was to organise the largest hostile resistance to the King.
At the Battle of Argon’s Shoulder they triumphed in battle, and although their wall was pulled down, the forces they had amassed behind it far outnumbered that of Argon’s army. Thalados’ name was chanted in battle, and the people loved him. He organised two more armies to cover the furthest reaches of the expanding wall, and only one saw any action in the Battle of Arnjaw. Unfortunately, Thalados was killed by one of his own men who claimed that he was unfairly leading the lands into war, and the traitor was then hung. Argon’s decision to invade that led to Thalados’ first wife being murdered (and then started the struggle) gave the King the name of the ‘Impaler’

Two years later, Thalados’ son, Gorados resumed the title of Lord. At first people were sceptical of him and whether or not he could live up to his father’s name. However, he proved himself worthy when he led them into another battle.

In 1178 EEN the Ordan clan made their ties with Arzornia even worse when in that year, Gorados was crowned King of the northern clans. By 1180 EEN he had his militia annex the other northern clans, verifying his claim to be king. As his rule prolonged the winters grew harsher. The north was covered in snow all year round, and King Argon II saw little need to try and install order over infertile and snow covered lands. Whilst this gave him time to focus on matters closer to time, it gave the Ordan Clan time to prepare for war. In 1785 EEN the clan amassed a massive invasion south of their wall. They were expecting a clean cut victory, but they failed to anticipate Argon II’s initiative. In the years of peace he had negotiated with the northern maiden tribes, and told them that they could have the northern forests. As such, when the clan arrived they quickly found themselves attacking the maiden tribes. This was all planned by Argon. He bargained with the other maiden tribes in the south, telling them that the northern clan had wiped out their northern kin. The maidens grew angry of this, and they sought revenge. Argon II allowed them passage on the River Othor as a great fleet of boats sailed north. At the same time, Argon II unleashed his own army, also grown from the time of peace. The army of Arzornians and Maidens led a joint assault on the Barrens. They broke away much of the lower section of the territory, claiming it as part of Arinalgar. The war ended there, when the clan surrendered. Argon II realised that it would take a lot more time to take back the entire north, and his men were beginning to perish in the cold. For this reason he used his victory to make himself look powerful and he used this claim to be merciful to the Ordan clan. Argon II’s use of tactics gave him the name of the ‘Bane’ – using the maidens as bate and making the clan hated by more than the civilized folk of Arinalgar.

Whilst King Eledros and Kanadros followed after Gorados, it was only when King Kandaros came about that the true extent of the Ordan clan’s power became known.
Kandaros’ rule saw the largest conflict to ever take place in the Era of Engori (EEN) In a battle that became known as the War of the Northern Blood Kandaros’s threat was so great that it called for all divided realms of Arinalgar to unite. King Nardon of Arzornia was in disarray that his men stationed in the northern territory of the Barrens were defeated so humiliatingly. They could not brave the cold. It was up to his son, Thadras to resume temporary rule of Arzornia.

Meanwhile, back in the north, Kandaros’s brother, Andros had seen enough conflict in his lifetime, and he rejected his brother’s plans to invade Westwatch, the northern county of Arzornia. As a result he went behind his brother’s back to see the war brought to a close. He took battle plans and rode by horse to Fort Agar, capital of Arzornia. He met with Thadras and was taken to the Court of Lords to speak out against his brother. Everyone was sceptical about Kandaros’ plans, but they came to realise that the evidence suggested Andros was right. Preparations were made, and Alornia was asked to join Arzornia, something that had never happened before. At the same time as this war, Arzornia was already having to deal with the settlements of Elgarnians in the Wastes of Amar to the east. They too were demanding independence, and if it was not given, they would go to war with Arzornia. With little choice but to negotiate, Thadras told the settlers that if they helped in the war effort they could have freedom. As such they accepted. Both Alornia and the Elgarnian pilgrims went into war side by side with Arzornia. Together they won the war, but as a result the county of Westwatch was destroyed. The pilgrims were sent back to their lands. Thadras had managed to persuade the Alornian king to keep an eye on them too, and with the power of two Realms now against giving the pilgrims their freedom, the pilgrims had no choice but to accept – and there they stayed. The Wastes of Amar contributed nothing to the Arinalgarin economy, but the land acted as an empty field between Arinalgar and Elgarn, long time enemies. The further away Elgarn was with unpopulated lands at risk between, it was favourable to keep the lands.

Meanwhile, Andros had made it back to his brother’s castle, and after a long fight he threw him over one of the castle’s towers and onto the ice lake below, his bones breaking upon the thick ice.

From then on out Andros became the King of the Ordan clan. His first actions were to give back much of his family’s territory to Arinalgar, claiming that it was unrightfully theirs. Those that still sought to carry out Kandaros’ plans fought back, and they killed Andros. They could not regain their land, but instead kept their last territory. They were left without an Ordan heir, and they became known as the Kandi, after Kandaros. They called their land Kandia. They never regained any power, and slowly withered away.


EXPLAIN KANDAROS’ PLANS
ANDROS GAVE UP MUCH TERRITORY, HE WAS KILLED AS A RESULT OF GIVING UP ON DECADES OF PROGRESS. THOSE WHO STILL LOVED KANDAROS NAMED THEM SELVES THAT KANDI CLAN, AND THEIR LAST REMAINING TERRITORY BECAME KNOWN AS KANDIA

NAME DOB
THALADOS 1121 EEN
GORADOS 1151 EEN
ELEDROS 1181 EEN
KANADROS 1199 EEN
KANDAROS 1229 EEN
ANDROS 1231 EEN
VALADOS 1255 EEN
ELEGOS 1276 EEN
ELEGON 1302 EEN
ELEGON II 1333 EEN

The THORN clan (history to be expanded soon):

NAME DOB
BARON 799 EOS
THARON 820 EOS
TORON 839 EOS
GORON 861 EOS
DARAN 888 EOS
DORAN 902 EOS
ERAN 944 EOS
ORIAN 965 EOS
FARIAN 998 EOS
THORIAN 1022 EOS
DORIAN 1053 EOS
GALIAN 1087 EOS FORMED THE HOUSE OF RAMBORA (as previously mentioned in the last update)
GORON 1111 EOS
GERION 1142 EOS
BARON II 1161 EOS
MORAN 1183 EOS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THE MAIDENS

These are another culture of people that feature within the novel. They live amidst the many forests of Arinalgar and are also isolated from society, mostly against their will.

The maidens first appeared in the Era of Elgori (EEL)
The last few battles between Amar and Barthor saw the fragmentation of society on both sides. War became so expensive that people simply could not live, and they were forced to sell their homes and move on into the lands. Many settled in camps within the Stormdell, but the collapse of the great walls ended them quickly. Others took to the north and west, the latter of which made it to the gates of Amar. They were left open from the most recent war, and the people hoped they would find refuge in Barthor. They were however, wrong. The King of Barthor had grown bitter to the point of killing any Amarian speaking person he could find. When the droves of settlers set up camp outside the walls of Balathor (The Barthorian capital) The King of Barthor sent in his armies to burn the settlement. The swarms quickly dispersed into the night, and a great many were slain. Those that made it back to Amar were not allowed to enter for treading into enemy lands. Stuck between two Kingdoms that disowned them, the desperate settlers took to the hidden depths of the lands. In the trees that were unexplored by the Barthorin folk they settled. They did not know that the woods were dangerous and old, but they made it their home, and there they stayed.
The vast region of Greywood quickly became a thriving community of people. The trees were dark and bare, but the settlers were happy with freedom, and they danced and sang. They made the forest green whilst they sang, and as generations went on and on the ritual of singing to trees continued. The people began to love the trees, regarding them as their homes that must be protected.

The end of EEL saw the awakening of EEN and the dawn of the three Realms; Arzornia, Erivania and Alornia. The Barthorin folk were forced to the mountains in the great heat of the inter-era time. When they were there they discovered the settlers in the trees and noted that they looked like maidens. This is where their name came from. When the people left for the new lands, the Maidens found that their own grounds were open, and they felt it safe to expand. As a result a great many colonies appeared along the River Othor.

The king’s council organised the maps of the woods into regions. They were unsure of how many individual tribes there were and had to guess roughly. They appointed the regions of;
Greenfoot (later Amaria)
Greywood
Prongroot

In actual fact, there was many more clans and tribes that developed;
Under Greenfoot
-Blackheart
-Fireheart
-Greenfoot (the namesake)

Under Greywood
-Greyclaw
-Whiteseed
-Leafvail (hence Vail)

Under Prongfoot
-Redfang
-
-

The Maidens were seen as lesser and deprived people to the Arinalgarin folk, who had forgotten what the people used to be. They enslaved them and had them working as servants and real maidens (another speculated reason for the name) However, the captivity if the maidens was stopped around 330 EEN. When they were allowed to leave the cellars of homes and courts, they began to thrive once more. They formed a grand territory along the River Othor, growing in size and power. More regions were opened up and the influence of the Maidens spread. In the War of the Cold, King Nardon lost his mind and so it was up to his son; Thadras to take control of the armies. He realised the threat the maidens caused, and the maidens attacked groups of soldiers when they travelled north through the trees. Thadras asked that terms be agreed, that they be given land after the war in return for peace and cooperation. The maidens accepted, as they were naive in the face of politics. The deal never came to fruition, and animosity increased.



In the more recent years of EOS, there existed a great Maiden leader. Her name was Eltharna, Eltharna Greyclaw (or as many came to know her ‘warwomb’ for her offspring thought to be bred for war)

Eltharna 1582EOS - 1668EOS

She had six children:
Fambarn 1619EOS - 1688EOS
Endan 1626EOS - 1695EOS
Embarn 1631EOS - 1683EOS
Omara 1635EOS - 1711EOS
Agamara 1639EOS - 1709EOS
Tharna 1642EOS - 1723EOS

So this was the Greyclaw clan as it stood at the time. Eltharna was Lady of the Greywood, and an honorary member of the Blackwood Council.

1692 EOS
High Lord Larinian tried to assimilate the maidens, the first time the state actually recognised them as potential counterparts. The maidens however, resisted, and many were arrested as a result and imprisoned in Fort Agar, Othrun and Fort Korvon.
Endan was injured in his attempt to flee, and he died of an infection three years later whilst in the depths of Korvon. Rinawood was then filled with garrisons of soldiers to control the maidens, and as a result, the maidens grew increasingly hostile. Many skirmished broke out and slowly the number of maidens began to reduce.

Omara led a rebellion from northern Othordell and was captured whilst her rebellion was quelled. Therna was imprisoned before he could lead his own rebellion (even as he had no intention of copying his sister) and in protest an even greater front came from the maidens of The Vail.

The army then realised that negotiations might be worth considering. They went after Agamara, least powerful of the Great Maiden’s offspring. They asked her to move her people to The Barrens to begin life there to allow closed Realm borders (maiden territories left pockets of land between realms and their neutrality meant that people could pass through much easier) When Agamara and her people got to the Barrens they were shocked to see that there were actually very little trees, and they were cold in their thin clothing. Whilst many of her followers perished in the cold, she found peace with the leader of the Thorn clan. The clans of the north were angry by the influx of maidens, and they made a pact with Agamara that they were to present a united front against the High Lord’s armies. There was however, leadership crises. The united front drove down into Westwatch and found themselves in the midst of a bloody conflict. Agamara herself was injured in what became known as the ‘Battle of the Barrens’

1703EOS

The War of the Rising Sun ravaged Arinalgar/Arzutare when Lord Ranthar manipulated High Lord Larinian and Lord Verna of Othornia into attacking one another and the other weaker Realms. Ember, the Sun Child, and those who followed her made it safely into Calamara over the estuary bridge before it was destroyed. Meanwhile in Erivania, the armies of Arzuria and the alliance of Erivanians and Alornians rode at one another in battle. Lord Larinian had grown tired of the conflict, but he knew that because of Lord Ranthar’s ways, war was inevitable. The Battle of Three Banners was the most famous battle in Ainalgar’s involvement with the War of the Rising Sun, but there was another. The Battle of Greyclaw wiped out any strength that the Othornians held over Erivania. The people of Erivania were evacuated to follow Ember, fearing that their forest homelands would be burned to oblivion. The Erivanians had however forgot about the maidens left in their woods. Over the years the Maidens had been allowed to thrive without constraint. The Othornians knew about them, but they seriously underestimated their numbers. The Erivanians left behind masses of weapons, weapons that the maidens quickly took hold of in fear of war. They were largely pacifistic unlike their northern kin who had already been subject to years of psychological torture. Agamara had in the 9 years of hiding, become a great leader, strong and brave. She gave her speech to her united clans when she heard the Othornians were coming. Amidst a great dance and chanting the enemy quickly arrived. Agamara ordered her maidens to fall back into trenches and walkways within the trees. They held their ground amidst ballista fire. Trees were burned and many dies, but Agamara’s heart kept her warriors brave. They fought back against the Othornians, and upon Greyhill, the old watchpost of Greywood, Agamara claimed victory. The Othornians had been surrounded in the trees, and they were killed. From here on out the maidens claimed control of northern Erivania and held the banks of the River Othor between Arzuria, Alornia and Othornia. They had in effect, become the largest force in the country, keeping crippled Realms from fighting one another. Larinian’s returning armies were attacked on their return to Arncourt, whilst Larinian himself walked away from everything, to go into hiding until his come came.

Their land was duly given to them by Ember upon becoming Empress of the new empire. She was plentiful to them, having forgiven their kind for nearly killing her sister when her journey first started out. She came to understand their grief after meeting a maiden in the pits of the fight arenas. She also came to respect their courage for standing up to the Othornians, and they were forever after considered equal people of the empire.

MALES OF THE MAIDENS

The term ‘Maidens’ can often be deceiving. Whilst it generally refers to the women of the tribes and clans, it also applies to the men. The women are much more prominent in the culture because their voices nurtured the trees and supposedly gave them life, and the trees were idyllic of maiden life. Because the women had a much larger profile in the culture the men were much less acknowledged. They acted much like any other culture however, with the women staying in the camps to look after the young, and then men going off to hunt and fight. They did, until Greyclaw, use beautifully made weapons of flint. After Greyclaw they kept the Erivanians’ weapons and did so until the metal rusted.

APPEARANCE OF THE MAIDENS

The women often wore thin clothing, made from wool from sheep they owned on the borders of their woodlands, or a lot of the time, within clearings in the trees. They wore leather armour in battle and used flint tools, refusing to hurt trees for matters of malice. Broaches and jewellery were made of polished stone. The hair of the maidens is usually thick and long, golden in colour with the more northern folk retaining darker strands. Their skin is usually flawless; they don’t catch infections that city folk do. They usually wear feathers in their hair and the dresses of the maidens too have feathers around the base and sleeve ends. Goat horns are often hung at their sides, used as signals for hunting in the trees.



So that concludes the updates for now. One year in and you can see I am still ever so passionate about it all. It is the most enjoyable hobby I have ever done. I hope you all enjoy reading the updates as much as I do writing them. I am unsure how much more I will post after this, as soon things will get quite slow because of exams, but then it shall skyrocket in the summer when I have 3 months off school, in which time I shall try once again to create the Arinalgarin language.

So please, enjoy what I have posted, and I wish you all well.

So it has been a while since I last posted on here. March 16th 2013 – The unedited version of the novel was complete. Since then I have re-written it completely yet again. It has gone from 107,000 words to just under 90,000. Edits still need to go ahead in terms of formatting paragraphs but it’s nearly there. My main characters are basically writing themselves now I have been exploring them that long. I used a personality test to see what sort of person my main character Ember would be like, and it fits. World building itself has been scare as I wanted to concentrate on finishing the book, but I have written some new pieces of information. First however, the front covers of my first 2 books, with *working titles*



Ok, onto the world building.

ARINALGARIN LANDMARK ICONS

The Old Tower of Great Pitor

This was the last and greatest capital of the old Barthorin Realm. It was situated in what is now known as the Bay of Arnur. Great Pitor was a grand city built within a low laying region of land known as the ‘pit’ and the upper-class folk lived upon the ‘tor’ or ‘hill’ hence the name ‘pitor’. Back in the oldest of the era, it was the jewel of the Barthorin Kingdom. It began as a small castle upon the hill, but when the Amarian wars began it became clear that it would be a significant defence structure. A greater castle was then built, taking ten years to finish, but it stood proud and tall above the encircling lands. It became a beacon in the dark, guiding refugees to safety and enemies to death by ambush.
A great tower was built within the castle’s grounds, rising high above the walls and into the skies. Some said it touched the clouds, whereas in actual fact it was little taller than other castles above sea-level. The pit created the illusion that the tower was taller than it was. King Rinard was called ‘the watcher’ for his achievement in building the tower. The nine houses of Pitor each had a level of the tower named after them, and the tower was built in nine tiers.
The folks who watched below as the tower ascended into the skies could only scowl. They lived in the shadows of those who lived upon the hill. The city was grand, but the outer reaches were far from wealthy. A coup was organised amongst them to halt construction to the tower as it was said that it exploited the fortunes of the wealthy, but the city-guard of Pitor crushed the resistance. The King had the ringleaders executed and construction resumed.
In the years that followed, there was never once an army that breached the city. It seemed that the Amarians were never going to pull down the blue banners that flew upon the walls. It was nature however, that seemed to disagree with the city, but it chose to punish the Amarians too.
When the tides of fire and water came, the low laying lands in the pit stood little chance. The oceans roared in through the Straight of Thorynwor and crashed down into Barthor with utter force, wiping out much of the villages and cities of the old kingdom. All that was left was the tower that stood above the castle and some of the castle itself. From a distance it looked more like a lighthouse than a defensive position, and that was what it became. Through the Era of EEN the tower saw much cult and druid activity, and the tower became affiliated with sorcery and darkness, but soon the cults went quiet. They were cut off from the mainland, and they died in the tower. It is said that the ghosts of many walk freely in the passages, chambers and stairways of the structure, and many have gone missing. In the lowest tier of the tower there exists a hole wherein a drop into the sunken city below can be seen. On a bright day it is also said that one can see the city in its watery depths when sailing by.
Arriving ships saw it as a beacon of other means, guiding them towards the ports that would one day fuel Arncourt’s economies.
In the year circa 1708EOS, Empress Ember Galinoth sailed in past the remains of the tower and saw said to have marvelled its grandness as she sailed into Arncourt to plead with the High Lord to accept dominion status under the rule of Alornia.

The Great Tower of Old Stormgate

The history of Stormgate has already been told, but its legacy lives on. The Straight of Elgarn is an unforgiving watery barren. The lands east of Arzuria are plagued with ruins, inhabited by Elgarian pilgrims. They live in the lands that once belonged to the Amarian folk. Only two Amarian towers remain standing in all Arinalgar; that which stands in Arncourt, that once stood above Fort Agar, and that which still stands where Fort Stormgate once resided. Of course the city is still there, but much like Pitor, its rival, it is underwater. The waters are too dark there to be able to see anything, and the tower has become battered by the weather. The only remains of the old Fortress of Stormgate stand upon the cliffs either side of the Stormdell where the city once thrived. Great halls still remain, and they look out upon the tower. There is more to the Elgarian pilgrims that meet the eye however, for the walls around the tower still remain above water, and upon them a great city has grown. Wooden houses and halls expand far over the battlements. The Elgarnian Commune Council use the tower as a place of debate and negotiations, ever arguing over how next to bargain with the Courts of Arncourt over the rights to enter the country and earn a living. The only way the Elgarnian folk make it into Arzurian culture is when their children are bought by men of Eastfields and sold as slaves. The Arzurian people have never forgotten the feuds between their Amarian ancestors and the Elgarnian Monarchy. Ever since the War of the Golden Basinet, the hostility has existed.
In the time of EEN, the Arzornian people looked upon the Wastes of Amar as a land of ghosts and ill-omens. They said the tower of Stormgate was the house of the reitchous, and those who lived a good life could journey to the tower and live there till the end of their days, and only a few did. The Tower of Pitor however, is said to have been the house of the damned (which is no surprise seeing as it was once the Barthorian capital – enemy of Amar. Lets not forget that Barthorin is the common tongue, but only because people inhabit the lands that once belonged to them) The tower of the damned is said to be a place where exiled folks and the most dangerous criminals are taken, to live their days amongst other exiled folk.
In the time of EOS, the city around the tower became a great naval base, with ships moored both below the tower, and below the cliff fortresses. In the coming years they were to play a vital part in a long and cold war. Plans began to emerge to rebuild the damn walls of Stormgate and drain the Stormdell of its water, but the High Court of Arncourt had something to say about the whole thing. They argued that cheap labour might work, and draining the Stormdell might open up more land to epand into, but the worry was that the Elgarnians would hence build themselves a permanent base on Arzutarian soil, and a war over the Wastes began to become much more of a reality. The War of the Wastes begun in 1767EOS, with the return of the Order of Agar happening, it became easier to move troops about (and a valid excuse) but soon enough the Elgarian King ordered that his men arm themselves and fight back, and a bloody conflict emerged. The Elgarian Pilgrims were not under the jurisdiction of the King, but nationalism and solidarity is something all Elgarnians enjoy. The tower became a waypoint in the voyage for Elgarn’s armies, and the shores of the Stormdell were a front line against the Arzutarian Army.

The Dam City of Arimara

The estuary between the southern tip of Arinalgar and the northern peninsular of Calamara (or Areddun) was forever a gap many tried to cross. In the campaign of the first Sun Children, the lower laying lands were used to bridge the void, but the bridges and villages were made of wood, and quickly perished. It would be some time before a grand project was to undergo construction. It was to be a symbol and keeper of peace. The dam was built from stone quarried from the cliffs both sides, and it was upon these cliffs, in three tiers, that the city thrived below the dam. The dam took 85 years to complete, being completed in 343EOS. Over 200 people lost their lives in the construction which combated rising water levels in a period known for its ridiculous amount of rainfall.
In 352EOS the workers villages closed down and the city began to draw in people who wanted a new life. In
In 355EOS the first parliament was opened in the grand hall. There were two ministers, one from Calamara and one from Arinalgar.
A scrupulous political battle was to take place between the government of the king of Erivania and the Provincial Parliament of Banara over who would possess what percentage of the city, but after a long and heated debate that nearly came to war, it was decided that neither side was to have the city. Instead it was to become its own independent country, named Arimara (an amalgamation of Arinalgar and Calamara). The people there were to take on their own identity and the country city would have its own elite guard. The two Ministers were replaced by one, who was voted in by the citizens.
In 357EOS Arimara officially became a city and two monolithic statues were built above the Ministers hall, both of kings holding swords aloft, looking out into the estuary.
In 1000EOS a new Ministers Hall was built to mark the celebration of the millennia.
The people there continued to live almost peacefully, but always there was fights between the two sides. Underground gangs began to emerge, but quickly they were quelled. The Ministers began to tackle the problems that came with autonomy. Since neither side was willing to trade with the neutral zone, most of Arimara’s imports came from Umria and across the seas. This was hit hard by a number of strikes between 1430EOS and 1560EOS. In the following year the two sides decided on trading terms, but this led to further feuds between the two sides of the city who grew envious of imports from the other sides. Nonetheless a northern and southern gate were added to Arimara’s walls.
In 1589EOS there was a great flood that submerged the lower tier of the city and drowned little more than a hundred people.
In 1683-1685EOS When the twin southern wars were on the verge of breaking out, King Kanar knew that Arimara would be important. He sent his sister to sleep with the Minister of Arimara and in the process, she pulled out a dagger on him, threatening to kill him if he didn’t open his city’s gates. The government of Arimara was mortified to hear the Minister’s plea, and the chambers fell into political turmoil. The city guard staged a mutiny, refusing to fight for either side of the political allegiances, and thus rendered the city defenceless. High Commander Larinian led the men into the city and took over the Minister’s City Hall that stood in the centre of the dam. The verandas around the hall were to act as front line battlements whilst the rest of the northern sector of the city was annexed by Arzuria. Alornia and Erivania sent messages to one another, debating whether they should fight Arzuria to stop them disturbing the peace, but neither Realm had an army large enough. Alornia’s armies had been crushed since the end of their dynasty in the aftermath of the War of Three Stones, and Erivania’s forces were low due to the recent Maiden uprising. Message then came that King Kanar demanded the armies of both Realms head for Arimara. Alornia refused and as a result had its provisions and trade lines with Arzuria disabled. Erivania feared losing further resources and went into battle alongside Arzuria. The monarchs of Erivania and Alornia fell out that day.
Years later, in 1705EOS, when the combined offensive of Alornians and Erivanians led the Sun Child to the south, a great political struggle was met with violence. Since the twin wars the city had become more rundown. Realising the extremity of the situation, the Minister agreed to allow the Sun Child cross, but he was to seal the fate of Arimara once and for all. The Argarian Lord’s plans would have had the Arzurian armies follow the Sun Child into Calamara, and to prevent another war happening it was decided that the bridge would need to be cut off. The dam would need to go. The stone structure was weakened and slowly water began to pour through. The Sun Child and her sister mad their way through falling stone and pouring water until they reached the other side, looking back and seeing the city crushed and submerged.

A quick sketch of Arimara


And finally, the interior and exterior of Fort Agar from chapters 14 and 15 I believe.



link to prologue: The Sun Children V - The Princess' Crown - Prologue - Draft 1
link to first chapter: The Sun Children V - The Princesses Crown - Chapter One

Time for another update! This isn't going to be a wordy update like usual, but i thought it'd be worth mentioning that the final unedited version of the first novel has been completed at last after 5 and a half months rewriting. It now stands at 87,000 words rather than 107,000 it was last time. All that needs doing now is editing and illustrations and i can consider publishing it..how i'll get around that is a mystery, but we'll see

So whenever theres a new place in the book, i will include a map at the beginning of the chapter. I know a few of you like my maps, so here's a few:

Narashar (revived), prior to the prologue:


Arzuria, prior to chapter one:


Othornia and Rinawood, prior to chapters 14 and 11 respectively:


Enjoy Expect more in the coming days (i hope)

Also, just as an addon:

The Princess of whom the first book relates to, and the crown that connects her to the main character. The scene here with Sahfire is from the ending of the first book, but i have thought rather cinematically about it all as i usually do, and it's basically a short scene after it says 'end of part one'





And the extract of that final scene:

…there was movement in the darkness. Ember could sense something. A violent ringing sounded in her ears and her eyes began to open. There was something red stood before her, and it took a moment to realise just what it was. As clear as day she was. Sahfire. She stood with her spiny and pale back to Ember. Her bronze hair hung down her torn blood red dress, and her crown rested above her pure blue eyes. She began to turn her head, glancing down at Ember with a face of anguish. An accented voice then came from her lips amidst dying whispers.

“I told you…I told you not to follow me”

Hello again folks, I'm back with more maps, all of which i managed to draw out in an afternoon. Before i post them though, update time! The novel is still completed, and slowly it is being structured. All 21 illustrations for the chapters are completed, but whether or not i'll post them is a different matter.

-The entire TSCV saga has now been reduced to 5 books rather than 8, simply because it gets to the point quicker, and it makes more sense to have a book about each of the 5 sun vaults.
-I have written the scene when Ember dies in book 5, and lets just say, it goes out with a bang.
-I have invented a time scale (vaguely now) A year is 360 days in this world. There are 10 months and 2 seasons (fire and fall) So each month has 36 days. (Though this is work in progress as i mention weeks in my novel and i've not yet managed to work out what they are)
-I am looking into getting some of my friends to do some beta reading for me before i finally send the book off, but we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, onto the maps (which you seem to enjoy)

So this is where a lot of the first few chapters take place - the centre of Arncourt. The castle of Ringwater and the surrounding island. You can see the two courts in the upper left where a lot of chapter 9 goes down. The courts are very important in the first book as they represent the struggle between social-politicals and militant-politicals.


The place where chapter 16 or 17 take place, i cant remember which. The entire city in this scene has been turned into a giant furnace room/ forgery and the middle street is a trench full of boilers whilst weapons and armour are forged on the upper streets. naturally the city is a ruin and blackened, and full of fire and ash.


The main place from chapter 3 where Sharla gets arrested - the marketplace of Lower Arncourt. It is often mentioned that she goes here to steal from the wealthy. Agar tower is visible too (well it is called Agar street) some, if you have been following will recognise that Agar is also the fortress, and i have mentioned before that the tower was cut down from the citadel and brought to Arncourt.


so more to come soon, enjoy! any questions, do ask!

Some more maps i did tonight:

The house of the two sisters as seen in the first half of the book. Notice in the sisters' bedroom, Ember's bed is further away from the fireplace, coincidence - nope!


Second map of the update: the castle of Eran. seen in chapters 18,19 and 20. most ancient castle in Erivania.


and lastly, a new map of the Halls of the Dead, as seen in chapter 17 (i think) Notice how the three levels constantly overlap, and i have tried to give each level a different style chamber to reflect on the chronology of their construction as each would be built at a different time.