Autonomy of Magic: a mystic resource

This post is Part 2 of a series to augment the Magic of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other mystic resources are gathered in my Magic Directory for you to explore.

Find more worldbuilding content in my Codex Directory.

The properties of magic from Part 1 of this series let scholars group all the different magics of the Known World into the Magic Codex, a functioning taxonomy of magic.

This post corresponds with Magic Codex Chapter 2 - Autonomy of Magic.

The inception and study properties determine the autonomy of a given magic.

Check out the Magic of the Known World for more resources!

Within the codex, the term autonomy is located at (2.0) and is defined as:

autonomy (N) A classification that divides magics into one of four modes of independence from other magics and skills.

In my Tales of the Known World saga, the word autonomy refers to a preliminary classification of magic, which defines magics by their capacity to be learned and developed without the need for other magics or skills (as in, This magic's autonomy is basic).

Autonomy is determined by the facet of inception dealing with how a magic is accessed or discovered, as well as the facet of study dealing with the related skills or magics required for a magic's development.

The four types of autonomy are basic, advanced, skillset, and deep magic.

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Download the complete Magic Codex:

The Known World is rife with magic. Over time, scholars have compiled all these magics and magical effects into a comprehensive taxonomy. For more about the role and inner workings of magic, check out the complete Magic Codex above.

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Within the codex, the term basic magic is located at (2.1) and is defined as:

basic magic (N) A magic that is both accessed and developed independently of other skills and magics.

The term basic magic is the autonomy for the most independent magics, which have no requirements for either discovery or improvement (as in, Everyone has some basic magic at his disposal, or, Children learn to wield their basic magics at a young age).

A basic magic can be accessed without prerequisites, as defined by its inception property. A basic magic also can be developed without relevant skills or magics, as defined by its study property. Only the basic magic itself matters as an individual discovers his ability and progresses towards mastery.

In the Magic Spell List, basic magics are denoted as Tier 1 spells.

Check out the Magic of the Known World for more resources!

Within the codex, the term advanced magic is located at (2.2) and is defined as:

advanced magic (N) A magic that is accessed independently of other skills and magics, but whose development depends on the improvement of related magics.

The term advanced magic is the autonomy for magics that have no requirements for discovery, but whose improvement is reliant on underlying magics (as in, A basic magic must be developed before the advanced magic can improve).

Just like with basic magic, an advanced magic can be accessed without prerequisites, as defined by its inception property. However, an advanced magic cannot progress without the improvement of one or more related magics, as defined by its study property.

Quite often, advanced magics arise in young magic users, but these magics remain weak and difficult to practice until the basic magics that support them are developed. Some advanced magics even rely on other, earlier advanced magics for improvement.

In the Magic Spell List, advanced magics are denoted as Tier 2 spells or higher.

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Download the complete Magic Codex:

The Known World is rife with magic. Over time, scholars have compiled all these magics and magical effects into a comprehensive taxonomy. For more about the role and inner workings of magic, check out the complete Magic Codex above.

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Within the codex, the term skillset magic is located at (2.3) and is defined as:

skillset magic (N) A magic that is accessed within the practice of a related skill, and whose development depends on the improvement of that skill. Also: basic skillset, advanced skillset

The term skillset magic is the autonomy for magics that require a non-magic skill or knowledge before discovery, and whose improvement is reliant on the development of that skill or knowledge (as in, Healing is a skillset magic that requires learning about the body).

A skillset magic cannot be discovered until a relevant skill is practiced first, as defined by its inception property. Similar to advanced magic, a skillset magic also cannot progress without the improvement of one or more related skills, as defined by its study property.

Also like advanced magic, high-level skillset magics are often accessible as soon as a magic user learns the necessary knowledge or skill. However, these magics remain weak and difficult to practice until the underlying magics that support them are developed.

In the Magic Spell List, skillset magics are denoted with Requires [spell name] or Requires understanding of + the underlying knowledge or skill.

Check out the Magic of the Known World for more resources!

Within the codex, the term deep magic is located at (2.4) and is defined as:

deep magic (N) A magic that is accessed through the secret language Ryunic, and developed independently of other skills and magics.

The term deep magic is the autonomy for magics that require knowledge of a secret language before they can be discovered, but that have no requirements for improvement (as in, Only a rosen knows the Ryunic to cast deep magic). Magics with this autonomy are considered arcana, described in Magic Codex Chapter 8.

Similar to skillset magic, deep magic cannot be discovered until the Ryunic language is learned first, as defined by its inception property. However, just like basic magic, deep magic can be developed without relevant skills or magics, as defined by its study property.

Because of the special language required, the Magic Spell List does not detail any spells for deep magic.


That's it for this post! Up Next: The three classes of magic...

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What is a Wordsmith?

This post is Part 2 of a series to augment the Tips for Writing Fiction available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other writing workshops are gathered in my Workshops Directory for you to explore.

Find more website tag definitions in my Index Directory.

Why do so many good storytellers never become authors? Because a novel is not just spoken language in written form. All writing is the composite of two separate skillsets: the language skills that a wordsmith displays, and storycraft, the art of storytelling.

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how storycraft produces worthwhile content for your tale, while the wordsmith hammers out an engaging manuscript. Neither will spin you a gripping novel alone, but in tandem they unlock your writing prowess.

A wordsmith takes a draft and strikes out anything unnecessary. Beyond proper grammar and syntax, a wordsmith knows how to choose the right words, and where to place those words for best effect. Punctuation and a thesaurus are tools the wordsmith uses to craft phrases into sentences and paragraphs. Though your wordsmith skills define the caliber of your writing, most writers don't even recognize it as a unique skill, because spoken language comes naturally to so many.

Check these Tips for Writing Fiction to see more workshops!

Wordsmith skills also shape your writing style. Many facets of style include both wordsmith and storycraft elements. The wordsmith manipulates words to control flow, while understanding how flow impacts the story is storycraft. Establishing your voice as a writer is storycraft, but manifesting your voice throughout a manuscript is the wordsmith's work.

Your wordsmith skills make the difference between a gripping campfire story and a best-selling novel. Writing isn't just "write like you talk," and without evoking the wordsmith, your manuscript will seem immature and unpolished. By exploiting the most effective syntax and plunging the perfect word into the right phrase of each carefully crafted sentence, the wordsmith is crucial to the successful delivery of your narrative. In my Tales of the Known World saga, you can see how I leverage various wordsmith principles to effect the desired delivery.

On this website, I use the wordsmith tag for posts about words as an artistic medium, an aspect of writing. Similarly, the storycraft tag marks posts regarding the art of storytelling. In these Workshops on Writing, you'll find workshops to hone your own craft. Most writers have either the knack for storycraft or as a wordsmith, but regardless of natural talent, one skill tends to outweigh the other. Fortunately, you can develop your writing skills individually, once you understand the nature of each component.


That's it for this series! Check out the latest writing workshops for more.

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The Draconan Mountains: a map for Awakening

This post is Part 6 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

The Draconan Mountains

Northern reaches of dragons and men.

Geography and Climate

In Chapter 4 of Awakening, the Draconan Mountains crown the northwest edge of Allana. Spanning north of the D'jed Mountains and out to the sea, the Draconan Mountains form the northern border of the Forests of Kalrein.

Its tallest peaks sit nearest the D'jed range, and they descend in elevation toward the coast. When the mild, breezy summer gives way to bitter winter cold, valleys are snowed into isolation, with the exception of a few mountain passes kept open year-round.

This region also borders the North Sea, Drake Bay, and the Forest of Glavi.

Flora and Fauna

Clinging to the windy slopes of the mountain peaks, stub pines mark the treeline with their gnarled branches, and packs of drake wolves meander the rocky climes in search of spectacled ibex. In the valleys, hardwoods and black pines proliferate in the wild spans between hardy orchards bearing apples, cherries, and pears. Vineyards of hops are a common sight, especially in the low-lying valleys near the edges of the Draconan Mountains, where barley cultivation replaces the orchards that thrive at higher altitudes. In the most remote reaches of the Draconans, wild dragons nest in large clans up to one hundred strong. Dragons never stop growing, and each dragon can live for over a millennium, subsisting mostly on fish and whales but also hunting black bear and wolf on occasion.

People and Dress

The humans of the Draconan Mountains are rather tall and broad, with fair skin and dark hair. Their villages populate the mountain valleys, and each is closely allied with its neighbors. The people of the Draconans are loosely allied with the elves of the northern D'jed, with whom they do some trade. However, the Draconan humans have very little contact with the faeries of Kalrein or Glavi, and while they do not engage in the blood feud between the faeries and the mountain elves, they tend to sympathize with the elf traders rather than the occasional vagrant faerie. Often isolated from neighboring valleys in winter months, the people of each valley have developed their own styles of dress, but they generally wear woolen undergarments and outerwear of sturdy canvas.

Native Magic

Draconan men are excellent sensory mages. Their Flavor magic is quite potent, and their latent Light magic is decent as well. While their special magic is not as powerful, it is not unusual for a Draconan human to display reasonable Animal magic. Most Draconan men with an aptitude for Animal magic venture into the remote reaches of the mountains in search of nesting dragons, in the hopes of connecting with a young dragonet. Though their elemental powers are slightly stronger than the men of other regions, the humans of the Draconans display Earth and latent Dark magic that are fair at best.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

The humans of the Draconan Mountains hold sustainable living and self-sacrifice as the highest virtues. Families are loosely patriarchal, with surnames derived from the father's father, and important decisions are usually made by the men of each clan. Family ties are all-important to the Draconi people, and each village is governed by a council of the valley's oldest patriarchs. It is most offensive to insult a person's lineage or family, particularly the family elders or circumstances of a person's birth. Due to the lack of elemental and special magics for the Draconan humans, magic plays a fairly minor role in mountain life. Still, magic is associated with reds and browns, likely due to the connection between food and the Flavor magic common to the area.

As with most of the Allanic Empire, the people of the Draconans measure age in years. They celebrate the new year on the winter solstice, as per the solunar tables of the ancient merfolk calendar, which is the empire's official calendar. In the Draconans, children come of age early. Girls are considered women at first blood, and boys ascend into manhood at the age of thirteen, provided they lead a hunting team into the mountains and return with meat for the family. Successful boys are celebrated with a large party, with friends and relatives trekking in from neighboring valleys to attend. As adults, men are expected to develop a homestead on the family's land, as well as marry and produce children to share in the work. Adult women are responsible for cleaning the home, cooking food for the family, and raising the children. Usually, all the wives and daughters of a clan come together each evening to cook, exchange advice, and mend clothing.

Warriors and Guardians

Since the hardy denizens of the Draconan Mountains can fend for themselves, there is little need for warriors or guardians amid its windswept peaks. However, a guild of dragon riders has traditionally patrolled the mountain ranges, protecting the dragon nesting grounds and serving as ambassadors to humanity from their dragon friends. While Animal magic is not uncommon, the ability to speak to a dragon is rare, and the privilege to hear the dragon's reply is rarer still. These gifted men and women are invited into the Rider's Guild, where their abilities are honed and the inductees are prepared to venture into the mountains to connect with a young dragonet. If an inductee's abilities are too weak, the dragons will kill the intruder to defend their children. If the dragons can hear the inductee's communications, he is allowed to meet the clan's adolescent dragons and leave unharmed. If a young dragonet feels a bond with the visitor, she may choose to follow him back to the guild, and it is this friendship that elevates the inductee to a full member of the Rider's Guild.

Languages

Trophek, the heritage language of mountain men, is long extinct in the Draconans, though it is still spoken further to the east. The Draconi now speak Allanic as their native language. Though Allanic is the lingua franca of the empire, the Draconan dialect is a bit more tuneful and relaxed than the Allanic spoken in the neighboring D'jed Mountains. Written in the elvish script adopted by the empire, the Allanic of the Draconans features some odd words and vowels with specific tones, considered by scholars to be the last vestiges of their dead ancestral language. Moreover, the Draconan peoples tend to write their Allanic phonetically, so their spelling differs from official Allanic and can be difficult for non-locals to read.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Darek is a nine-year-old boy who lives on his uncle's homestead.

A shape-shifter by birth, Darek faces persecution. Imperial mages track him down, invading his cabin in the night and killing his family when they refuse to give him up.

After Darek escapes with little hope and no plan, he bumps into a vagrant faerie named Vithril and a surly elf named Kingard.

Darek's new friends protect him on a perilous journey through imperial lands, guiding him along their quest to reach the mythic city A'lara before they're discovered.

In the prologue Tribe Untied, Darek is a four-year-old boy who lives on his mother's valley farm.

An ominous visit leaves Darek helpless and alone, until his grandfather arrives to relocate him to safety.

Too young to understand the persecution he faces, Darek grapples with the dangers that force him onto his uncle Galen's remote homestead.

That's it for this post! Up Next: Roof of the world and home of the elves...

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

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Portent VI of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Awakening, there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga.

Start with Portent I here.

These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

The virgin nymph a builder born
Is from her destined studies torn
Delivered straight to distant land
And into this expectant hand

Her first true flight for freedom fails (I)
The second falters, third prevails
Then back into his grasp she sails
And on into his realm she wails (II)

When golem's work is long since done
And daemon war is long since won
The gateway master seeks to save
And plunges she into the grave. (III)


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.

In Chapter 1 of Awakening, Larin spies this prophesy lying on the Baron's desk. She doesn't understand its meaning at the time, nor does she realize the portent is about her destiny.

By the end of Awakening, only the first two verses of the prophesy have come to fruition. Can you identify Larin's three flights for freedom from Book 1?

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Lovynge Njyae Dynde II
2:3:4:1/11, 7:3:2 IX
V:I 1:2:4:4/5, III:IX
V:II 2:2:2:2/5, III:IX
VA:III

The portent attributed here references multiple events that come to pass in sections called tatters. An additional tatter dateline has been added to the attribution for each tatter, noting the date when that segment of the portent will come to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: For once she breathes the gifted word...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Tara Swiger: an inspirational resource

This post is part of a series to augment the Guest Resources available for free download.

This and other guest-inspired content is gathered in my Guest Directory for you to explore.

Find my personal inspirations in the Spark Directory.

One of the most cohesive, customer-oriented brands I've encountered is that of Tara Swiger, a self-described "pink-haired author, maker and Starship Captain." Though she began entrepreneurship selling hand-dyed yarn, her small business experience led her to teach marketing insights adapted for the creative community.

Now, owners of handmade businesses across the globe find direction and camaraderie through her online courses, books, and in-person classes. Unabashedly herself, Tara Swiger built her niche as a genuine, compassionate guide into the intricacies of a profitable craft business. By pinpointing the common traits of creative personalities, Tara provides courses that meet the specific needs of her clientele.

Check out these Guest Resources for more inspirational content!

The mainstay of her teaching underscores how pervasively emotions impact creative output. While the typical business mindset "powers through," Tara's methodology encourages her clients to integrate emotional feedback into their goals and business operations.

To further serve the needs of her clients, Tara runs an online community of entrepreneurs called The Starship Adventure, and dubs each member the "captain" of a unique enterprise. This playful Star Trek metaphor seats each of her clients at the helm, empowering them to exchange ideas and define goals unclouded by disparate business advice.

As a self-published author, I've found solace and reprieve in Tara's community and ideas of emotional relevance. I discovered her as I was working to publish my Tales of the Known World saga, and her singular approach to business was a voice of inner stability amidst an unfeeling tide of marketing schemes hungry for the bottom line.

You can connect with Tara
at TaraSwiger.com here.

And be sure to subscribe to Tara's awesome newsletter, if you haven't already!

That's it for this post! Check out the latest guest-inspired content for more.

Download the Guest Resources here, or start your adventure below.

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The Forests of Kalrein: a map for Awakening

This post is Part 5 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

The Forests of Kalrein

Towering black pines of the faeries.

Geography and Climate

In Chapter 3 of Awakening, the Forests of Kalrein lie north of the Front Rishi, filling the western reaches of Allana. The black pine forests are deep and dark, stretching west of the D'jed Mountains and forming the southern border of the Draconans. Springs are rainy and summers warm, but autumn brings cold downpours and snow crusts the winter pines.

This region also borders the Plains of Rishi, the Great Sea, and the North Sea.

Flora and Fauna

The black pines of Kalrein support a flourishing food chain. Insects, birds, and small woodland creatures thrive off the cones of the pines, as well as berries and other underbrush. Larger animals like the speckled wyvern and heart-tail deer meander through the dappled shade, avoiding predators like the black-tipped fox and the stark wolf, which hunts in packs up to twelve strong.

People and Dress

The faeries of Kalrein are a small people, with adults standing about four feet high. Their skin ranges from green to violet, mostly in bright or pastel hues, and they sport two sets of gossamer wings that allow them to fly. They have short ears with backswept points that are often pierced, especially for women. Faeries are skilled tanners and tend to dress in all manner of leathers, usually in muted or natural colors. Both men and women tend to have open-backed garments allowing their wings freedom of movement, though women's clothes are typically laced up the front whereas men's clothes tend to button or hang open. Kalrein faeries have a long-standing blood feud with the neighboring mountain elves, and they can usually collect a bounty for turning in the severed right ear of a mountain elf.

Native Magic

Faeries have strong air magic, which is what ultimately allows them to fly. They tend to be somewhat adept at their latent water magic as well, and the combination of these two elemental magics gives them a profound mastery over the tanning process. In exchange for such powerful elemental magics, faeries tend to have average sensory and special magics. For Kalreini faeries, Intent magic tends to outweigh Scent magic, but both are weak enough to not allow for any real latent powers to arise.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

The Kalreini faeries value independence and tradition, and they tend to be a fairly isolated people who do not travel nor take kindly to outside visitors. Though generally even-keeled, faeries become rather hostile towards visitors, even faeries from other regions of Kalrein. Yellow and brown are viewed as the colors of magic, as faerie skywriting tends to be one of these colors. Families are matriarchal and trades, particularly hidecraft, are handed down from one generation to the next. Though part of the Allanic Empire, Kalrein is self-governing and pays its dues to the empire while enacting its own laws within the forest. Each village has its own chieftain and establishes its own council where members of influential families preside over legislation and the hearing of local grievances. The chieftain acts as tie-breaker and ultimate decision-maker.

Faeries measure their age in years, with the new year on the winter solstice as set down by the ancient merfolk calendar. However, the vernal equinox used to mark the new year, and spring celebrations are held throughout Kalrein, though they are no longer considered new-year festivities. Children come of age when they reach sixteen years old, and depending on a family's wealth and class, the coming-of-age may be celebrated with a small family feast or a large social gala. As adults, faeries are expected to take up the family trade or at least enter into an apprenticeship for some trade. Families with seats on the village council also expect their members to promptly wed and produce heirs to continue the governing line. Failure to do so is punishable by social ostracization rather than legal retribution, except in the case of some chieftain heirs, who are forced on a pilgrimage to find and wed a spouse before they can take up the chieftain position.

Warriors and Guardians

Though Kalrein has no mounted riders, all adults are expected to render services of guard duty, patrolling the mountain borders on the lookout for the elves with whom they feud. The eastern realms of Akveld and Klizveil, which border the elven D'jed, are home to the fiercest warriors, many of whom render guard duty services as their full-time profession. These warriors are viewed as the pride of Kalrein, and there is no honorable way to leave one's family trade except to take up the sword against the mountain elves. Normal life in Akveld revolves around ranching, and many full-time warriors retire to wyvern ranches to serve as private security once their days of border patrol are done.

Languages

Kalrei is the ancestral language of the faeries, though it has been replaced with Allanic in most Kalreini homes. It is written with a flat chisel in a series of alphabetic runes comprised of short lines and dots. Though Allanic is the spoken language of Kalrein, the faeries still use their ancestral alphabet for writing, and they have adapted several of their runes to represent Allanic sounds not found in Kalrei. Now only spoken during rituals and ceremonies, Kalrei sounds flighty and musical to an Allanic speaker, with three distinct tonal ranges and rhythmic oscillation of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Vithril is a faerie from the forests of Kalrein. While on a journey to visit the faeries on the other side of Allana, Vithril encounters a little boy named Darek and his guardian Kingard.

Bound by a faerie curse to follow Darek wherever he goes, Vithril abandons her planned pilgrimage and flees with her fugitive company into the dreaded D'jed Mountains.

With only Kingard's word as protection against the local mountain elves, Vithril must join their quest to reach the mythic city A'lara before it's too late.

That's it for this post! Up Next: Northern reaches of dragons and men...

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

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Portent V of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Awakening, there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga.

Start with Portent I here.

These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

From darkness warped and witnessed hence
The builders rise beneath the fall
Of prince enthralled as fled he whence
The binder heard the master's call

Awakening astride the rift
Of knowledge gained and lessons learned
The builder freed would freely gift
Unbridled bride and suitor spurned

They flame and bound and binder met
Who begged forsaken their consent
When evil stole away his debt
By darkness came and darkness went.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.

This prophesy details the events that unfold in Part 2 of Awakening. Its three stanzas mirror the three chapters of Part 2, and it alludes to each of the characters as their journeys coalesce and the true nature of their quest is revealed.

Can you guess who the forsaken are? (Hint: if you haven't read Part 2 yet, let me send you this free ebook.)

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Valehyn Ryihdas Dynde VI
2:3:1:6/13, 2:1:2 IX
V 2:1:2:3/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has been interpreted, and it references multiple events that culminate on an exact date. An additional verified dateline has been added to the attribution, noting the final date when the portent comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: The second falters, third prevails...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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The Sutek Desert: a map for Awakening

This post is Part 4 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

The Sutek Desert

Eternal sands of the mystic Dua Dara.

Geography and Climate

In Chapter 2 of Awakening, the reddish sands of the Sutek stretch from the back of the D'jed Mountains to Allana's east coast. There, the elevation sheers into steep cliffs and escarpments. To the south, dunes spill out into the neighboring plains, while in the north, desert highlands sprout rocky buttes from coarser sands.

Few clouds pass the D'jed to rain on the Sutek, so water is pulled from wells and the rare oasis. Arid summers scorch the lapsing breeze, until winter's cooling air stirs whirlwinds and raging sandstorms.

This region also borders the Katei Ocean and the Back Rishi, of the Plains of Rishi.

Flora and Fauna

Desert insects ground a food chain supporting lizards, hares, and jackals, and domestic camels range wide swaths of land to graze on sparse patches of thornbush. Though cacti grace the rockier highlands and a few natural springs bring green to the sands, most of the Sutek's plant life is irrigated by well water. Elusive and skittish across vast distances, herds of wild pegasi roam the deep desert, but their feeding habits remain unobserved.

People and Dress

An isolated and private race of men, the Suteki shun the outside world. Tall and bronze, they sport golden eyes and dark hair, typically black with a bluish sheen. Men shear close to their heads, while women prefer hair grown long and wound in topknots. Both genders tie on sandals and wear lightweight robes, white to reflect the desert sun. As children, white ropes cinch their waists, and girls adopt a red rope at first blood. Boys ascending to manhood receive a blue rope, as do women after marriage.

Native Magic

The Suteki make poor elemental mages, though on occasion some demonstrate Earth magic talents. Their sensory magics tend to be quite powerful, Flavor magic predominant with Light magic as a strong latent ability. Animal magic is fairly common, fostering a tradition of skilled caravans and herders. Though Suteki eyes are gold with the sight, only Dua Dara mages learn to harness their latent Gift of portent. They remain the only known landfolk with the power to soothsay.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

Tribes hold prayer and piety as virtues, and view magic talent as a sacred blessing. Water is precious in the Sutek, and the color blue is correlated with holiness, sanctity, and magic. They emphasize independence and respect, particularly for oneself and one's elders. Many family clans comprise a village tribe, and individuals receive varied rank and council status from their clan name. All Suteki bear their names with pride, withholding them only to spite their enemies, and take grave insult to those who would converse with faces covered.

They measure age in hazes, and all grow one haze older on the first sandstorm of winter, which marks the new year. Boys reach manhood on their twentieth haze, and announce their chosen occupation on their fifth day as men. The Feast of Haze commemorates this first decision of adulthood, which the tribe encourages no matter how foolhardy. They find that self-discovery and learning experience outweigh the risk of error.

Warriors and Guardians

As pegasi warriors, the Dua Dara swear to protect the sanctity of the desert from outsiders. To join the sacred mages, a boy with strong animal magic must bond a wild pegasus foal before his fifth haze. The dangerous rite requires him to venture alone into the deep desert and return within three days. Successful boys leave their families for the brotherhood of Dua Daralel, where they master their magics and learn battle tactics and pegasus care. Once young Dua Dara reach their twentieth haze, the high council assigns them to a specific Daralel, which remains their base for border patrols until retirement or reassignment.

Languages

Though isolated from the Allanic spoken in most of the Known World, the Suteki language is mutually intelligible for the most part, and translation is rarely necessary. Written in a curvaceous script like that of the merfolk, Suteki sounds formal and archaic to an Allanic speaker. Vocabulary and pronunciation differ in places, but both languages derived from a single origin. Similarly, the Dua Dara hand signals used during flight mirror many signs of the gryphon riders from the neighboring plains, suggesting a historical alliance now lost.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Tirrok was raised as an orphan after he was found in the village well of Jahari as an infant.

With no family name to rank him amongst the villagers, he struggled as an outcast despite his adoption by renowned Jokkel the Guardian.

Tirrok attempted the Dua Dara entrance rite in his youth, but though he bonded a pegasus foal, he was not inducted into the brotherhood.

Now the Feast of Haze looms before him, and he prepares to reveal his scandalous decision to seek his fortune in the outside world.

That's it for this post! Up Next: Towering black pines of the faeries...

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

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My All-Time Top Five Favorite Sentences: a wordsmith workshop

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Tips for Writing Fiction available for free download.

This and other writing workshops are gathered in my Workshops Directory for you to explore.

Find more guest-inspired content in my Guest Directory.

This week, I'm pleased to introduce guest blogger Jocelyn Crawley, author of Erudition. Her top five favorite sentences unveil the precision writers use to craft their best work.

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I don't do much outside of writing except reading. And when I read, I'm always on the lookout for writers that have an innovative way of doing things. Whether the doing involves an exceptional articulation of the absurd or an inventive complication of something simple, ingesting a well-written sentence is an activity that leaves me in a state of mental reverie.

Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to read a lot of really great books that conform to the aforementioned (and somewhat subjective) guidelines for literary excellence. These days, my literary surmisings have caused me to conclude that the following five sentences are amongst my absolute favorites:


#5. "By nature I am fitted to be a hidden observer of people strutting across the stage of life—rather than to be a skilled actor flooded with limelight under the eyes of an audience."

- Tawfik al-Hakim, Diary of a Country Prosecutor

The ingenuity indigenous to this passage is plentiful. In addition to utilizing the ostensibly universal and ubiquitous world as stage metaphor effectively, al-Hakim appropriates the analogy to juxtapose two important and elusive modes of existence: the observer who dissects the behavior of other people and the actor who is subjected to the aforementioned type of dissection.

#4. "The housekeeper and her husband were both of that decent phlegmatic order of people, to whom one may at any time safely communicate a remarkable piece of news without incurring the danger of having one's ears pierced by some shrill ejaculation, and subsequently stunned by a torrent of wordy wonderment."

- Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Queen of the long sentence, Bronte is likely a cherished, canonized author because her choice of words and their arrangement are as artistic and meaningful as the concepts that the terms are used to articulate. Like thoughtful decorations that enhance the aesthetic appeal of a home, key phrases like decent phlegmatic, shrill ejaculation, and wordy wonderment make the concept Bronte delineates here illustrative in addition to meaningful.

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Check these Tips for Writing Fiction to see more workshops!

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#3. "A single window slit glowed in the distant stable complex, and she ghosted toward it."

- D.N.Frost, Awakening

Here is a short text that contains several subtle forms of brilliance that induce a deep, cerebral pause. On one level, the author does an excellent job of problematizing our sense of singular space insomuch as we are presented with a distant object that a character is moving towards. In addition to complicating the sentence with the reality of two disparate spaces that may soon be united, the passage utilizes a novel verb to describe the activity that will make the union possible: ghosted.

#2. "On rainy nights in the late eighties, we would swan in and request a booth."

- Karen Karbo, In Search of Lost Pancake

This sentence is great because it opens up with a descriptive reference to the weather as well as the time period in which the narrative unfolds--and the author uses just seven simple words to unveil it all. This is to say nothing of the efficacy resulting from the use of the word swan in place of more prototypical verbs like walk or wander to describe the act of moving from one sphere to another.

#1. "On the sly, Cheri studied his companion's large nose, the greying hairy upper lip, and the little peasant eyes which glanced incuriously at ripe cornfields and scythed meadow."

- Colette, The Last of Cheri

It seems that there is no activity so simultaneously strange and normative as humans observing one another. In this passage, Colette does an excellent job of detailing the action that Cheri drinks in as a result of observing his companion. The description is effectively innovative, particularly the reference to cut grass with the illustrative phrase scythed meadow.

Jocelyn Crawley is a 30-year-old student who holds B.A.s in English and Religious Studies. Her work has appeared in Jerry Jazz Musician, Nailpolish Stories, Visceral Uterus, Dead Beats, The Idiom, Thrice Fiction, Four and Twenty, Kalyani Magazine and Haggard and Halloo. She is the author of Erudition and Droll.

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That's it for this post! Up Next: My guest post for Jocelyn's blog...

Download Tips for Writing Fiction here, or start your adventure below.

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Portent IV of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Awakening, there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga.

Start with Portent I here.

These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

The hidden prince unveiled his plan
To take the darkened sky
But mountain met where time began
Awaiting flame to cry

With flame without the flame within
Did flee through snow and hate
To meet another shifting sin
And find A'lara's mate

The bound with binder came to flee
The builder sent to wed
Adopting long mistaken key
When mages both lay dead

At last the stolen builder deems
Escape from master right
Awakening from broken dreams
To flee unto the sight

The dragon mage emboldened fled
The builder's errant son
And master drank the growing dread
Of destiny begun.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.

This prophesy details the events that take place in Part 1 of Awakening. Its five stanzas mirror the five chapters of Part 1, and it references each of the characters as they begin their seemingly unrelated journeys.

Can you guess who the prince or dragon mage is? (Hint: if you haven't read Part 1 yet, you can get the free sample here.)

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Vyedik Ndeloh Dynde XX
4:2:3:6/9, 1:3:2 IX
V 1:3:4:1/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has been interpreted, and it references multiple events that culminate on an exact date. An additional verified dateline has been added to the attribution, noting the final date when the portent comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Astride the rift of knowledge gained...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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The Khollek Mountains: a map for Awakening

This post is Part 3 of a series to augment the Atlas of the Known World available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other TotKW maps are gathered in my Map Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

The Khollek Mountains

Land of icy crags and broken shale.

Geography and Climate

In Chapter 1 of Awakening, the Khollek Mountains cover the western side of the small northern continent of Kholl. The rugged shale mountains are old and crumbling, pulverized by icy polar winds swirling from the northwest. The whole mountain range will someday erode into cold sand. Summers are short but the days grow long. In winter, the dark of night stretches three times as long as daylight, and the spring snowmelt fills a modest network of lakes and rivers.

This region also borders the Katei Ocean, Kondak Sea, and Heleki Desert.

Flora and Fauna

The crumbling shale of the Khollek Mountains produces a poor soil that cannot sustain much life, and only the hardiest moss and lichen have worked their way over the stone. A few rodents scratch out a living by collecting this moss. Notably, the gardener vole lines its stony nest and tunnels with young moss, tending to its food source and only appearing above ground to seek out new transplants. Seabirds roost on rocky ledges, plucking fish from the northern seas. In the high reaches of the Red Coast, a small colony of wild dragons roosts in the winter before migrating northwest across the sea to their summer breeding grounds on Dragon's Breath Isle. From these wild populations, herds of domesticated racing dragons were bred to be wingless and without magic.

People and Dress

The humans of the Khollek Mountains have browned skin and dark hair. They used to be a free people, but they were enslaved by the invading Colkh'rak three centuries ago. Though the desert men to the east were once the same people, now there is an uneasy armistice between the enslaved Kholleks and their rebel Heleki brethren. Though bound to their Colkh'rak masters, the men of the Khollek Mountains enjoy some access to the meager trade that makes its way north from the affluent Kanata. They wear mostly imported clothing of Kanatan style and eat imported produce. Most homes have a pen of domesticated wyverns to supplement their imported diet with fresh meat and dairy.

Native Magic

Khollek men are predominantly sensory mages, with excellent flavor magic to enhance their meager diets, and decent light magic as well. They have decent animal magic, much weaker than men of other areas, and their elemental skills are fair at best, though stronger than men of other regions. In general, the enslaved men of the Khollek Mountains practice little magic, aside from their natural talents with flavor magic. The Colkh'rak employ most of their human slaves as menial laborers in the northern quartz mines, but a lucky few are remanded to the kitchens for their superb culinary skills.

Check out the Magic Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Cultural Values and Traditions

After three centuries of enslavement, the men of the Khollek Mountains have mostly assimilated into the culture of their Colkh'rak overlords. They care little for the trappings of most modern societies, and instead place importance on hard work and civil obedience. Magic is generally viewed as a privilege reserved for the wealthy elite. Each settlement has its own despot appointed by the Colkh'rak authority, and these local rulers report to the central Barony. To keep their enslaved population in check, the Colkh'rak often divide families, sending children and parents to labor in separate settlements to erode family bonds.

Measuring age is not very important for the Khollek people. They gauge the passing of time by the cycle of the seasons, and they generally celebrate the new year on the spring equinox. Children have no official coming-of-age ceremonies, as they usually grow up without a family around them. At first blood, girls are sold as breeding chattel by their Colkh'rak masters, though attractive ones are usually retained for adult entertainment. Boys work into manhood, and the strongest men are used as studs to enhance the laboring population. Obedient men and loyal overseers are rewarded with wives, whose children are distributed to other settlements to prevent the formation of tight-knit communities.

Warriors and Guardians

The enslaved humans of the Khollek Mountains are forbidden from combat. They may not hunt, make or own weapons, or practice any form of martial art. However, illicit sparring rings impart some experience with hand-to-hand combat, and the men in these fighting brotherhoods often help each other fashion crude weapons out of shale fragments and sharpened wyvern claws. These sparring rings are sworn to secrecy. Not infrequently, the Colkh'rak overlords will root out an illicit group and execute all its members, so each sparring ring stays very small and rarely welcomes new recruits.

Languages

Khollic is a harsh, sibilant language derived from the tongue of the Colkh'rak overlords. Over the past three centuries, the Colkh'rak language blended with Trophek, the ancestral tongue of the mountain men of Kholl, and the Khollic language emerged. It is written in the spiky runes of the Colkh'rak, though some new runes were invented to represent sounds integrated from the human language. Speakers of Allanic, the unifying tongue of the Known World, cannot understand Khollic at all, and the spoken language has a heavy use of consonants with very few vowels. The language lacks many common gesticulations, which makes communications across the language barrier even more difficult.

Check out the Language Codex of the Known World to learn more.

Characters from The Known World

In the book Awakening, Jorn is a slave for the Barony in the heart of the mountains.

His unusual talent as a speaker allows him to communicate with the Barony's racing dragons, which produce a profound income for the Colkh'rak.

When Jorn helps a newly arrived slave named Larin hide from their masters, he embroils himself in a conflict of epic proportions.

Launched on a journey to the free lands of Allana in the west, Jorn and Larin discover they must help save their precious sanctuary before it too falls to the Colkh'rak overlords.

That's it for this post! Up Next: Eternal sands of the mystic Dua Dara...

Download the Atlas of the Known World here, or start your adventure below.

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What is Storycraft?

This post is Part 1 of a series to augment the Tips for Writing Fiction available for free download.

This and other writing workshops are gathered in my Workshops Directory for you to explore.

Find more website tag definitions in my Index Directory.

Why do so many good editors never become authors? Because a novel is not just a well-worded manuscript. All writing is the composite of two separate skillsets: the language skills that a wordsmith displays, and storycraft, the art of storytelling.

While the wordsmith hammers out an engaging manuscript, storycraft provides readers with worthwhile content. Neither will spin you a gripping novel alone, but in tandem they unlock your writing prowess.

Storycraft is the art of stitching a good story together. Beyond the events of your plotline, storycraft explores how you sequence your events, where you place foreshadowing, and how that foreshadowing comes to fruition. Creating a vibrant, immersive setting is part of storycraft, as is building relatable characters with realistic personalities. Good stories are crafted with precision and details threaded together to create intrigue, suspense, and satisfaction.

Check these Tips for Writing Fiction to see more workshops!

Storycraft also shapes your writing style. Many facets of style include both storycraft and wordsmith elements. Understanding how flow impacts a narrative is storycraft, while the wordsmith manipulates words to control flow. Manifesting your voice throughout a manuscript is the wordsmith's work, but establishing your voice as a writer is storycraft.

Your storycraft makes the difference between a well-planned tale worth remembering, and a boring ramble with no impact. What keeps readers up too late, or inspires people to share your work with friends? Storycraft separates the sleepy bedtime yarns from the enduring folktales and heroic epics studied in school. While all stories require inspiration, storycraft is what determines your ultimate impact on the reader. In my Tales of the Known World saga, you can see how I leverage various storycraft principles to create the desired impact.

On this website, I use the storycraft tag to denote posts about storytelling, an aspect of writing. Similarly, the wordsmith tag marks posts regarding the use of words as an artistic medium. In these Workshops on Writing, you'll find workshops to hone your own craft. Most writers have either the knack for storycraft or as a wordsmith, but regardless of natural talent, one skill tends to outweigh the other. Fortunately, you can develop your writing skills individually, once you understand the nature of each component.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Introducing the wordsmith...

Download Tips for Writing Fiction here, or start your adventure below.

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Portent III of Awakening: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Awakening, there are 23 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga.

Start with Portent I here.

These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!

Expunging legend's earthly might
The endless creep of shadow's fold
For master primes the westward flight
To twice awaiting hold

The subtle signs of rose's blight
His silent gate is first to see
Awakening to waning light
Without the chance to plea

To close the long unfinished fight
They reign revered as Mother's call
Yet linger lost beyond the sight
Of builder's westward fall.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.

This prophesy details the events that take place in Part 3 of Awakening. Its three stanzas mirror the three chapters of Part 3, and it deals with the flagging hopes of our heroes as they endure the hardest leg of their journey. Can you guess who the silent gate is?

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Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.

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Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:

Jyedih Nnwadohs Dynde XIX
3:2:4:2/6, 1:2:2 IX
V 2:1:4:4/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has been interpreted, and it references multiple events that culminate on an exact date. An additional verified dateline has been added to the attribution, noting the final date when the portent comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: From broken dreams to flee...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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