Portent XXII of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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 legacy of grandest guest
In whom the timeless all invest
Can naught but timeless night ingest
To light the way and truth request

In segregated serenade
Accrues begrudging accolade
His love undone and truth betrayed
For brother's unsought escapade

Like heresy of desert doomed
Intrepid sea has bloody bloomed
And prince of will is now entombed
His patience lost and fate assumed.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

This prophesy opens two scenes in Part 4 of Broken, heralding events that take place in Book 3. Who do you think the grandest guest is, and what might he ingest to light the way during his brother's unsought escapade?

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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:

Sondynni Kuhdanos Lohki XVII
3:2:1:1/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Awaking gate at water's edge...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Portent XXI of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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!

Through thick and thin the errant voice
Explores the light of day
While tried and true unerrant go
With fortunes shut away

In dire need the prince absolved
Collects his souls astray
Extending oath of ghostly crown
To all who join the fray.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

This portent opens a single scene in Part 4 of Broken, but it foretells events from Book 4. Who do you think the errant voice and prince absolved are, and what is the oath of ghostly crown that they extend?

---

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.

---

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:

Randohk Jihwonni Dohari XV
3:1:4:6/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Can naught but timeless night ingest...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
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Fantasy Map Maker Jump Start: 61 Easy Tips for Fantasy World Building with Real Earth Science

BONUS: A mapping how-to!

Fantasy Map Maker Jump Start:

61 Easy Tips for Fantasy World Building with Real Earth Science

The world-building book for creative people who want to develop their
worlds with the confidence backed by modern earth science.

In this concise and practical how-to guide, professional author and creative cartographer, D.N.Frost, explains the myriad ways our planet creates all the environments on Earth, and she delivers those concepts in 61 useful bite-sized tips that help you to:

• Build your fantasy world with a blueprint of how civilizations thrive and the power of geology in your back pocket.

• Make your world make sense. And keep all the features you love.

• Create the coolest world you can dream up. With unique places and cultures that defy logic but still feel real.

Within FANTASY MAP MAKER JUMP START, you'll learn why the Earth formed as it did, how to mirror that realism in your invented world, how to adapt your fantasy cultures to their unique environment, and how to break all the rules for the most epic fantasy setting your stories have ever seen.

Want an ebook but don't have a Kindle?
Get the free reading app here.

Praise for Fantasy Map Maker Jump Start:

A very strong book in understanding all that "lies beneath."

Worth the read. I read it cover to cover and will most likely return to it when considering other maps at their origin.

The information within is highly accessible. I would recommend it for the beginner.

-- Maggie A. of USA ★★★★★

Have you used this reference book?
Please write your own review.

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Portent XX of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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 ravaged land encumbered grows
With weary weight of wanton foes
As son regained and legend free
Await the swelling from the sea

Unburdened master braves the dark
Through which no man would dare embark
To conjure and ignite the spark
Of cavern's rage within his plea.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

A cool rhyme scheme threads this short prophesy together. It foretells events that unfold in Book 4, as Allana's leaders seek reinforcements before the final battle. Who do you think comes swelling from the sea, and what might the spark of cavern's rage unleash?

---

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:

Yowih Nkyehnri Rovikya XIII
3:1:4:4/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: While tried and true unerrant go...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
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Portent XIX of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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!

Ungifted guile once laid aside
Admits the pain of rights denied
Defers to crown with granted gain
And quick confers unsullied plain

But free would have their brethren rise
Untarnished souls with open skies
Embrace the king of high and low
And leave the shade of shackle's woe

Some loyal hearts take homeland bleak
Where frantic reconstructions wreak
Yet few decline the call to thrive
In homeland dead but now alive.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

This uplifting portent heralds a time of freedom and equality in the aftermath of the great war. It comes to pass in Book 4, when a once enslaved people are invited to embrace the king of high and low.

Who do you think are the untarnished souls, and what could be their homeland dead but now alive?

---

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.

---

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:

Wohdu Nahjwi Dynde XIV
3:1:4:5/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: To conjure and ignite the spark...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
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Portents of Mother's Gate: Book of Epic Poetry from the TotKW Saga

Get the Prophesy Appendix!

Book of Epic Poetry:
Portents of Mother's Gate

Prophesy from the era arranged as epic poetry.

In a world rife with prophesy, the future is already written
and the predictions of yesteryear become the story books of today...

As the Chronicles of Mother's Gate unfold, scholars interpret portents old and new to decipher the future of the Known World and publish fresh details for an eager public.

This is a story book of that era, a contemporary publication of epic poetry recounting heroic deeds of the past, the present, and the coming future.

Want an ebook but don't have a Kindle?
Get the free reading app here.

Read sample portents from the saga:

Praise for Portents of Mother's Gate:

These poems are wonderfully rhythmic.

They are an adjunct to other books in the series, considered historical prophecy and repeated at every opportunity to remind us of the impeding events long before ordained.

The rhyme schemes lend ease to memorization, and it is worthy of an indulgent read, especially when read aloud.

I would recommend these as must read if you are reading the other books and an interesting read which would call me to read the series.

-- Karin V. of Calgary ★★★★★

Have you read this book of epic poetry?
Please write your own review.

See all TotKW reviews at www.DNFrost.com/praise.

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Portent XVIII of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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!

In grief's abandon wanton worn
The master faces wayward son
Through dire days of war begun
Of hopes destroyed and forces shorn

The advent dear to legend's heart
Arrives in spite of absence raw
Yet son endures the wicked thaw
As master seeks a place to start

The fractured foes conjoined in light
Hear mentor's maker on the breeze
And brave the jail above the trees
To slay the night and wrest the keys.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

This prophesy first appears in Part 3 of Broken, and it heralds events that take place in Book 3. I love how the rhyme scheme changes in the last stanza.

Who are the master and wayward son, and what do you think these fractured foes join forces to accomplish?

---

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.

---

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:

Lende Dwihvo Lohki XI
3:1:1:3/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Yet few decline the call to thrive...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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Portent XVII of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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 sea cannot suppress the fears
Of screaming gate and bloody tears
In timeless grip for all her years
While master's hope destroyed

Though banished voice to gate endears
And famished prince through veil appears
She braces heart as evil rears
To weary tread the void.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

This portent foretells the long-awaited cooperation of a mighty power that comes to pass in Book 3. Who do you think the screaming gate refers to, and what is the timeless grip she's endured for all her years?

---

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.

---

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:

Venluh Ndwevok Kaedya IX
3:1:1:1/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: The advent dear to legend's heart...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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Portent XVI of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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 voice impugned for ilk and ire
His word egregious sin
Returns adjured to lowly gyre
And rallies furloughed kin

The shiftless rouse themselves in hate
To death or freedom win
While timeless rigors dissipate
And usher chaos in.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

Though this prophesy opens only one scene in Broken, it has a fun rhyme scheme and ominous clues about the unfolding of Book 4. Who do you think is the voice impugned, and for what purpose does he rally his furloughed kin?

---

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.

---

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:

Wahni Vendohn Dohari VIII
2:3:4:7/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: In timeless grip for all her years...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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My Nymph Hieroglyph Project: inspiration & spark

This post is Part 8 of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore.

Find more linguistic content in my Language Directory.

In Part 1 of this series, I got excited about language and started inventing a number of tongues for my fantasy world. My language development has stalled out a bit these days, since I already have so much established. However, my current language project circles back to the illiterate nymphs of the tropical glade.

Though illiterate in modern times, the nymphs were once a thriving civilization that traded with the forests of Ryerin to the north. Akin to the ancient Mayans, the nymph civilization fell during a major catastrophe, and they fled their stone cities into the jungle when the Colkh'rak invaded.

Check out this Author's Manifesto for more of my inspirations!

Inspired by the complex glyphs of the Mayans, I envisioned the ancient nymphs with an impressive and artistic writing system that allowed each scribe great creative expression of individuality. Though I have no writing samples yet, this project is ongoing, and I hope to include some ancient A'lari glyphs in the first edition of Broken.

As of now, I'm super delighted with my language trees, and I have an exceptional foundation to keep world-building for my Tales of the Known World saga. Aside from the occasional line of foreign dialogue in the novels, which I use (sparingly) to emphasize language barriers, I use my languages to invent consistent names for the places where certain cultures live.

I also use the language rules to change place names from one language to another, such as the Suteki town of Zejawehe, which becomes Zeja'e on elvish maps. Similarly, the elvish town of T'gran'rh is represented on faerie maps as Tigranirsh, pronounced basically the same but transliterated differently.


That's it for this series! Check out my latest inspirations for more.

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.

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Publishing My Language Mess: inspiration & spark

This post is Part 7 of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore.

Find more linguistic content in my Language Directory.

In Part 1 of this series, my first taste of linguistics set me on the path to inventing over seven languages for my fantasy world. As I got ready to publish Awakening, I needed to iron out some leftover inconsistencies between the languages I'd invented and the spellings and pronunciations of different names and places.

The dark tongue of Colkh'rak, spoken by the dark elf invaders of Allana, was actually a pidgin of the dark elf language Dyau and the daemon language with no vowels. Heleki, the ancestral language of the humans of Kholl, arose from Meri, and it mingled with the Colkh'rak language when the invaders landed there. This mingling gave rise to the Khollic language spoken during modern times.

Check out this Author's Manifesto for more of my inspirations!

I published Awakening without knowing the last of these details, confident in my ability to hand-wave any inconsistencies I discovered. When I went to make my language appendix for the second edition, I codified everything and came up with my last adjustments.

The language of Ryehren was spoken during the ancient Golden Age before the invasion, and it arose from Meri. Similarly, the language of the Sutek Desert arose from Meri, so ancient Suteki is akin to Meri whereas modern Suteki is more a dialect of Allanic. This left only the last vestiges of defiant pronunciations and the strange spelling of the Trophek Reaches.

By necessity, I created the language of Trophek for my Tales of the Known World saga. I ruthlessly cataloged every instance of a place or name whose pronunciation didn't fit its native language. Aside from the way /f/ was spelled using "ph" for some places, good old English let me evoke a number of strange vowel sounds for certain letters.

I decided that Trophek was a human language from the rugged northern isles, and their ancient culture had spread, much like the Vikings, to the coastal mountain regions along the northern edge of the Known World. I ascribed unusual readings for Trophek's vowels, solving my pronunciation issues and leading to unexpected readings like Trophek (TRAW-fih-k) and Porthal (PAW-rth-ey-l).


That's it for this post! Up Next: Taking a stab at hieroglyphs...

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.

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Portent XV of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

In the novel Broken, there are 24 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!

With dawning day to empress go
And stoic say the gravest word
Of sands betraying royal plea
To coming Way await in turn

No aid reply to elven plight
Though doomed decry the sacred wake
Until the sigh of passing crown
Evokes the dynasty of peace

Untroubled squander days ahead
Let battle wander where it will
In guidance ponder Way's return
As darkness yonder breaks the line.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

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

This prophesy is weird from head to toe. Its rhymes are mid-line, the portent called forth by a council of men from the Sutek desert. The council seeks advice on their actions in the coming war, and their portent comes to pass at the end of Broken. What could the passing crown foretell?

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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.

---

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:

Council of Tsugen
2:3:3:2/5, III:IX

The portent attributed here has not yet been interpreted. It was said recently, and it will be repeated every twenty days until either it is correctly interpreted, or it comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: While timeless rigors dissipate...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.

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Life is an adventure.
Are You Ready?

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Language Trees and Creoles: inspiration & spark

This post is Part 6 of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore.

Find more linguistic content in my Language Directory.

In Part 1 of this series, I began my love affair with languages. At some point, I made a language map to show how all my fantasy dialects evolved from the original five tongues I constructed. I chose a heartland for each of the languages, and I showed how the neighboring regions were influenced by the nearby language.

As the merfolk spread from the sea, coastal areas began to feel the influence of Meri. As the nymphs traded with the forest outside their glade, A'lari traveled northward. As the humans sailed beyond their initial islands, Thone infiltrated the whole archipelago. As the faeries spread from their western forests, Kalrei traveled outward too. And as the elves descended their mountains to colonize the plains, Ka'e influenced the languages already spoken in the area.

Check out this Author's Manifesto for more of my inspirations!

The map was awesome but dizzying, so I also made a language tree to show how each dialect is related. I didn't intend to create every dialect, but it was important for me to see how the unifying language in the Known World, Allanic, evolved from different creoles of the original five languages. And rather than invent Allanic itself, I decided to create words as I needed them, picking and choosing cool features from the five ancestral languages to give it a truly hodgepodge feel.

Unable to go much further, I turned to lands outside the current scope of my Tales of the Known World saga to find new language opportunities. For the distant southern continent, I began work on Abidyajan, the fluid language of a great desert civilization. I doodled some potential alphabets into a notebook and worked out their creation myth, but I shelved the project until my first six books are complete. I'm not even sure where the notes are at this point. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and shuttled off to post-college life, eager to use my skills to become a published author.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Fixing up some defiant pronunciations...

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.

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