A New Job, A New Chapter

 I've been quiet on here for a bit. That's because I've been job hunting. And finally, finally, a month ago, the hunt was successful. 

I got a job. 

I'm working at the front desk at a specialist medical office through the week. That's all I'll say about that so I don't end up doxxing myself or revealing any details that I'm not supposed to.

I'm still writing, though it's not as much as it was before. Work is tiring but very rewarding. Life has been continuing on. 

Mom also got a new job after being forced to resign from her old one. She seems pretty happy with her new job. 

We got a new vehicle, trading in our car and Mom's to buy the single vehicle. 

There's been some financial struggles, but things are getting better slowly. 

My friend Danielle wrote a book which I got to paid to edit. She's got another friend doing the cover art. Hopefully, she'll be publishing it soon. I'm definitely going to buy a copy. The title is Kingdoms Built on Blood and Bone, if anyone is interested. 

Life Update: Where I've Been & What I've Been Doing

 So, there's a phrase that goes "man makes plans and God laughs" and another phrase that says "life is what happens while people plan" or something like that. This is just a way of me saying that life got busy and depression began hitting me a bit so my writing didn't happen much. But, things have gotten...well, life happens and things change. 

We've lost our little chicken, HennyPenny, back in September. That was hard and, even though it was expected due to the injuries, I still didn't take it well. 

Medical appointments kept us busy throughout October all the way to December (my wife's appointments and my mom's appointments). There was Hurricane Helene, which hit friends and coworkers, but not us. 

Throughout all of this, I kept writing summaries my serial killer series. I hadn't started writing the first book yet. I just kept writing out summaries for the titled books, figuring out which book would fit where in the series, and how things worked. I worked on character lists for main characters, killers, side characters. I worked on keeping the ever-increasing number of books so I'd know which title went with which number. I wrote down notes on events that would happen so I'd have a record of it for when I reached that point in the series. I started the outline of the first book and when I stalled on that one, I began the outline for the second one only to stall very quickly. I still hadn't started writing the first book. 

I worked on other projects, other ideas. Got a new computer (well, new to me--my wife's old one). Could use Microsoft Word, but that's neither here nor there. Maybe I'll get it for Christmas or something this year because Microsoft 365 just isn't the same and Google Docs is great and all, but not the same as MS Word. I discovered Copilot AI and chatted with it for advice about different topics, ranging from Dungeons & Dragons campaigns to help creating images of characters. I chatted with different AI chatbots because why not? It was a break from my routine.

We went to the circus. First time I've been to one; second time for my wife. It was fantastic. Met Mom's coworker and his family. Pretty cool dude. Planned on a game night. Played Cards Against Humanity. My wife won that first time. Second time, he did. But we'll have another game night eventually.

I discovered animatics for songs from the musical EPIC and fell in love with the entire album. Still obsessed with those songs and longing to write a Greek Dungeons & Dragons campaign. I watched Transformers One, loved the movie, though a certain voice acting choice for a certain well-known Decepticon was certainly a choice and not one I'm too sure works, though that could just be me. I thought D-16's transition to Megatron was fitting and the foreshadowing with his eyes going from gold to orange to red orange then finally the iconic red was fantastic. The movie reminded me that I'm a Transformers fan and I proceeded to bother my wife with my Transformers knowledge. 

Politics happened, voting, election. Nothing much to say there.

My wife's computer desk moved to the extra bedroom so Mom wouldn't complain about how cluttered it was. We made plans for that spare room and for the stuff in storage, planned to move it from expensive to cheaper storage or from cheaper storage to the organized shed we have in our driveway. We had plans and that is where I think everything all went wrong.

On January first, my stepbrother told us he'd been told by his ex-wife that he needed to leave. He had nowhere else to go, so he's now living with us. There's been some...growing pains, I suppose you could call them, and I've got some mixed feelings about him being here. Initially, I was happy having him here, but now it feels like he'd rather my wife and I weren't here--you know, in the house that we own. 

Since I've been feeling a bit unwelcome in my own house, I've not really felt like doing much of anything. I agreed to beta read a fanfiction for a friend since I've fallen into a routine and that fanfiction ignited a fire within me. Her writing reminded me of why I write, why I read, why I want to be an author. Her first chapter had me enraptured from the first sentence and desperate for more like a drowning man desperate for one more breath of life-giving air. 

Her writing reminded me of the passion I'd lost during my sentence as an English major. Her writing reminded me of why I wanted to write in the first place. Her writing brought back the fire that my time in college writing soulless works that professors demanded had nearly smothered. 

After reading her first chapter, I began working on the beginning of the first book of my serial killer series. 

An Update on Life, Writing, & A Discussion About the Significance of Character in Writing

Unpacking. Unpacking never ends. We're still unpacking and moving stuff, but at least the old place has been sold. 

I'm learning German on DuoLingo. This isn't related to any of the writing projects, but just for fun. Once I've got it down, I've got a whole host of other languages I plan to learn, also for fun.

Now, for the biggest update: I've been working on the series I mentioned in the last post and it's got a title now. All the books (well, nearly all) have titles and I'm writing out the summaries for them. Well, more like the blurbs that you would read on the back of the books if you picked them up in the store. 

I'm also doing something I don't usually do when it comes to writing. I'm making an outline. So far that is helping with the first book of the series, where I know the ending but didn't know anything else. Thanks to the outline, and talking about the characters with Myrrh (my lovely wife), I now know the beginning of the book and details about the killer. Even though it isn't planned for the killer to be caught until later in the series, it is important to know these details.

I'm not going to be sharing too much about the series since things have already changed a fair bit from the last post when I mentioned it. I will say that as I've worked on writing out the blurbs/summaries, I've learned things about characters that I didn't know when I initially thought of this idea and, while that might seem to some people as though I'm just making it up as I go, I'm not. These details and information are all things that when I look back at the titles of the books and which ones were going to feature which characters, made sense. Nothing that happens, happens just for the sake of pushing the plot forward or because the plot demands it. It happens because it makes sense based on the characters' histories and personalities. 

I feel that that is something that authors forget. That characters are people, with a history and personality and a level of intelligence, not just props. If a character wouldn't do something because they know it doesn't make sense, then the readers are going to realize that the author has started puppeting the character around, jerking them like a marionette, the moment the character behaves out of character for the sake of advancing the plot. It can ruin immersion and believability, and just disappoint readers in general as the plot then seems contrived even if it had been great until then. 

Readers like to submerge themselves in the world of a novel and if the main character suddenly starts acting a fool when they know better because the author needs it, the author has lost the reader's trust in them. Keeping the character in character is a big deal and a necessity when it comes to writing a series. Consistency is key. That's why knowing the characters is more important than knowing the plot. If you know your characters well enough, the plot will develop on its own. 

Yes, I had the basic idea for the plot in mind before I started working on the characters, but it was a nebulous idea that had nothing solid. Nothing solid until the characters began to form and introduce themselves. Once that happened, the plot became more concrete and the characters became more and more people in their own right. As the characters developed, so did the plot. Without the characters, the plot would have remained rather nebulous. Plot is secondary to characters, not the other way around. 

New Series

 Awhile back, I mentioned that I'd had an idea that wouldn't leave me alone and I'd focused on the characters, plots, arcs, and titles for the novels in the series. I described it as Criminal Minds meets Suicide Squad with supernatural elements thrown in. I'd said that I hadn't yet started writing as I was planning things out.

Well, I finished the planning and started the writing. I'm working on the first book in the series. I've also got a five book spin-off series planned showing how the killers joined the team as well as how the team leader actually ended up in the position he's in. What I don't have at this point is a title of the series in general. But I have titles for the novels, so that's something, especially considering I usually suck at titles.

Yes, some of my titles are incredibly punny. It fits with the tone of the series and with my personality so yeah, they work. Other titles have multiple meanings and for one of them, I actually had to use Google for the title and found that the changing of a single letter changes the entire meaning of the word. I'm not spoiling anything here, but Google "parlay" vs "parley" to find out the difference.

I'm not going to share too much here about the series or anything, but I have started writing the first book. For an idea what the first book is about, you could read the Missing 411 series by David Paulides, or listen to some of the stories from the books on YouTube. That's not exactly what my book is about, but those will give a great feel for the killer and what the victims go through. 

Anyway, I'm working on the first book of the series and still working on The Agency anthology (it's 193 pages, and a whopping 92,981 words so far). There are other ideas that occasionally want my attention, but these are the ones that I am going to focus on. 

These are the ones I am going to finish.

Location 041B

 Happy September, all! It's the start of spooky season! Though things are still busy here, I've decided to share another story of The Agency. This one is set on a picturesque beach, perfect for ending the summer and drifting into fall. 

So, everyone grab the beach towels and the floats. Remember the sunscreen, watch for sharks, and stay in the water.

Location 041B

History

A stretch of beach near the Sapphire Lagoon Resort, approximately an hour from the town of San Anta, Location 041B seems unremarkable. White, pristine sand, crystal clear azure water, thick jungle past the shore—like a dozen other beaches in the area. What makes Location 041B worthy of being designated and quarantined by the Agency are the events that occur there, as seen by Testimony 2020-06-03.

Testimony 2020-06-03

Arch. Pace: Statement of Jace Richard regarding Location 041B, recorded direct from subject by Archivist Evelyn Pace.

Richard: You mean the beach?

Arch. Pace: Yes, though we call it Location 041B. Makes it official. You understand.

Richard: Yeah, I guess. So anyway, my family and I—

Arch. Pace: Names, please.

Richard: Oh, right. My father, Andrew; my mother, Lily; and my siblings, Levi, Miles, Jennifer, and Brandy. We all went on vacation. We were staying at the Sapphire Lagoon Resort and we decided to go to the beach instead of spending the day at the pool or visiting some of the attractions. Miles and Levi wanted to go to some kind of celebration in San Anta—I don’t remember what they called it, but I guess it was something like a carnival or a parade since it involved alcohol. My dad said that they could go that evening, but that they were going to spend the day with the family.

            So we went to the beach. We weren’t the only people there, but I don’t know the names of the others.

Arch. Pace: That’s alright. Please continue.

Richard: Despite how nice it was, the beach wasn’t crowded. Just us and a few others. The waves were calm, there weren’t any riptide warning signs. There was no reason such a nice beach should be so empty on such a perfect beach day. Levi and Miles, even though they didn’t want to be there, were the first into the water. My mom laid down on the towel she’d brought, intending to tan, and my dad sat near her as he watched Jennifer and Brandy build sandcastles.

            I walked closer to the water, just close enough that the waves lapped my feet. The water was perfect, not too cold but not too warm either. It was glistening. The sun was so bright that even the sand seemed to sparkle.

            One of my brothers splashed me and I splashed back, then went deeper into the water. Normally, I wouldn’t. I was scared of stepping on a stingray so I’d normally stay close to shore, just let the waves wash over my feet. But everything just felt so nice and safe that I knew I could go swimming deeper with Miles and Levi.

            I stopped feeling safe when I reached them, though. My feet couldn’t touch the bottom anymore. They didn’t notice and swam a little further so their feet weren’t touching the bottom either. I didn’t like them being so far out and the idea of following them, of what could be below me. They’d let me watch Jaws just a few days ago when our parents went out to dinner.

            But I didn’t want to stay where I was so I turned to go back and swam a little closer to shore. I heard Levi whoop behind me and I glanced over my shoulder. He was body-surfing, just letting the wave carry him back to shore. He and Miles caught up to me when the wave overtook me and the three of us were carried to shore.

            We landed on the beach, laughing as the wave retreated and tickled our chests and stomachs on its way back out. Miles rolled onto his back as Levi shook water from his hair. I sat up, grinning, and looked around. The sand was still sparkling, though not where the waves were. Like the water washed away whatever made the sand sparkle so that it would glisten.

            That was when Jennifer and Brandy began screaming.

            We whipped around in time to see their hands swelling up. It was like they were having allergic reactions, though I don’t know to what. Except that it looked different, somehow. Like boils? I don’t know.

            Our parents got there at the same time we did, though I noticed their feet and legs looked the same as Jennifer and Brandy’s hands. Jennifer stood up, screamed, and then fell; her legs and feet were like our parents’. When she fell, she landed on one of the boils and it burst, spewing clear, yellowish water that glittered like the sand.

            Dad picked her up, more water gushing out as he did so. We started running away from the beach as Mom grabbed Brandy. I felt my feet tingling and, when I looked down at them, they were glittering. And the glitters were moving.

            That was when we heard the screams from the other people at the beach.

            I turned and I ran to the water.

Arch. Pace: Why?

Richard: I don’t know, really. I just wanted to wash the glitters off my feet before the same thing that happened to Jennifer happened to me.

            I went to the water and heard Miles calling me. He and Levi came running after me. Our parents disappeared up the trail to the hotel with our sisters while we stayed in the water. I wouldn’t let them leave the water. Not until the boat showed up.

            Everyone onboard had lifejackets with the letter K on them. They said they were here to help us. They helped us out of the water, gave us blankets to wrap around us, and headed toward a dock.

            Once we got on the dock, there were a bunch of people there in coats like doctors wear, but they had an E on them and some had a weird O symbol. It wasn’t closed at the bottom and had two lines going from the opening. There was also one that had a triangle on his outfit.

            They began checking us and Miles kept asking about our parents and sisters. The only one that seemed to acknowledge us was the one with the triangle. I think his name was Ellis.

            After the doctors cleared us, Ellis came over and began talking to Miles, Levi, and me. He wasn’t excluding me just because of my age. He explained that things weren’t looking good for them, but they were doing everything they could to help them. He said that we could stay in the hotel and he’d let us know how our family is doing as things progress.

            He took us back to our room at the hotel and gave Miles his number so they could keep in touch once Levi and Miles gave him theirs. Ellis said he’d let us know how our family was doing when he had news.

            Miles and Levi didn’t go to the carnival thing they wanted to go to, but I don’t think they noticed. We stayed awake all night, waiting to hear how our family was. I fell asleep around three, I think.

            When I woke up, Levi was letting Ellis into the room. Levi and Miles looked exhausted. Ellis gave them some coffee then sat down in a chair across from us to give us the news. Our family died from their injuries.

            Levi was the first to ask what had caused the swelling and everything. Ellis was quiet then asked if wanted the media answer or the truth. He warned us that if we wanted the truth, that would change everything for us. He told us the truth and brought us here. I’m guessing that Miles and Levi are going to work here from now on.

Arch. Pace: Statement ends. Miles and Levi Richard have completed their employment interviews and will begin training to determine their placement within the Agency.

            Regarding the incident in Location 041B, the source was found to be microscopic, or almost microscopic, mites made of pure corundum, specifically sapphire. Several samples were collected and brought back to be studied, though the mites seem to have a rapid lifecycle and deteriorate quickly.

            One thing that has become clear is that the mites, once entering the body of a human, begin unlatching the skin from the muscles. Once the skin is free, it begins filling with clear, yellow water. From the moment the mites enter the humans’ bodies, there is no hope.

 Anyone heading to a beach in these ending days of summer, be careful. The sand can be more dangerous than the water or the sun. 

Quick Update

 So, we're still in the process of moving in to the new place and selling the old one (anyone wanna buy a house?) which means that I've not done too much of anything except the day-to-day life stuff of taking care of animals and unpacking to make the house a home. 

We've adopted a disabled Bantam-Silkie cross chicken who was run over by a chicken tractor and had an injury to her legs. She's made a remarkable recovery since being in our care, but still can't walk very well. She's able to perch, scratch the ground, and squeeze our fingers, though. She's living her best chicken life as part of the flock with the ducks since she couldn't continue to be part of her original chicken flock (chickens can be quite aggressive and would hurt and bully her since she's clumsy whereas ducks are naturally a bit more clumsy when it comes to their feet). 

I'm still working on the worldbuilding project and have actually gotten the write up for the Leskovin Federation done, aside from the history section which will be the longest. It's a very fun project for me and I've taken to calling it my "fantasy history book" since that's basically what I'm writing as I'm more interested in the history of the world I'm creating than in the idea of actually writing something about it. This has been something I can do to de-stress and it's overall just something I enjoy, worldbuilding. I'm also still working on the timeline since there's events that I hadn't even thought of that I need to include in the timeline. That said, at least the Leskovin Federation write up helped me learn more about that particular group of countries and the religion they have. 

I've found some old ideas of mine that I'd forgotten and I quite like so I'm thinking of maybe reviving them so I may share a bit about them later. Or not. I do have a lot of other projects and unpacking to do. 

There's also something I've been working on that wasn't really a novel idea or anything at first, but has gotten stuck in my head and won't let go so I worked on it a bit. Basically: Criminal Minds meets Suicide Squad with supernatural elements thrown in. I've got the novel ideas written down, titles for them, characters named and histories figured out, arcs for them. It's been a fun thing to work on, but I've not done any actual writing for it yet since I've been actually planning things out regarding this series idea instead of just writing immediately and going back to figure things out later. I may mention more later.

That's just a little about what's been going on here. Hopefully, we'll get the house in order soon and I'll be able to update more, maybe post another story from The Agency. 

Moving In, A New Idea, & A Book Review

 Hey, it's been awhile. 

So, for an update: We've gotten moved into the new place. We're still moving stuff in slowly because of how much stuff we've accumulated over the years, medical issues, life, and trying to make sure we actually get things unpacked this time around. Last time we moved, we didn't do that and our house remained cluttered, chaotic, and an overall disaster. 

Needless to say, we've been busy.

We're still working on getting the yard fenced in for the dogs, getting a walkway from the driveway to the front porch, and just generally doing some home improvements to make this place the perfect forever home. The fence is the next big project, though.

I've not been doing much writing, though I have been revisiting some old projects and worldbuilding some of the ones I've mentioned here. I've also been worldbuilding a project that is a bit different than my usual genres of fantasy, supernatural, horror, and science figure: dystopia.

The dystopia idea was inspired by a dream that actually made me wake up several hours before my normal time so that I could write down as many details of it as I could remember because it was that interesting to me. So, from that point on, I've been working on it on and off, not writing yet and not making any real plans with it. I'm still worldbuilding, though I did get a map done for it. I won't be sharing any information about it here yet since there's still not really enough details or information to warrant that.

My love of Alternate History has led me to branch out in terms of what I normally read, which has led me to pick up The Traitor Beside Her, a historical fiction novel set in WWII by Mary Anna Evans. The Traitor Beside Her is engaging and immediately draws you into the world of the United States during World War II and explores cryptoanalysis, the role women code breakers played in the war, and how important the knowledge of different languages (not just German, but also Choctaw) was and still is. 

Aside from getting settled in and reading, I've not been doing much because moving is exhausting.  

A Life Update, Worldbuilding Information, & a Bit About the Agency

What's up ghosts and ghouls?

So a lot has happened and I've slipped into not updating. Also spent some time struggling a little with mental health, but that's being sorted now. Anyway, Mom sold her house and moved into an apartment in her town while we worked on things on our end. It was a lot of work and difficult to find land, but finally, we found land. We close on the land on the fourteenth of this month, then the fifteenth we put down the money for our manufactured dream home. Everything's coming together at last. 

Worldbuilding

In other news, I've been working on slowly worldbuilding and figuring out more information about the world from my timeline project. I feel like I'd gotten ahead of myself and tried to do too much and too little all at once before so I've started building things up more gradually. 

I've learned more about the Leskovin Federation, including the nations that make it up (Leskovin, Svialyk, Khojek, Zalona, Dalishi, Dertava, Nevishin, and Bientou), the flags for all the nations that are involved in the Leskovin Federation, and the races that are specific to this area. My project is, after all, a bit of a fantasy kitchen sink, if you will, so knowing what races are found throughout the world and what races are only found in specific areas is very helpful. In the Leskovin Federation, for example, you'll find the world-wide races (humans, gnomes, harpies, dryads, and cervitaurs) along with liches, vampires, dhampirs, mummies, and revenants. 

Some interesting facts about the nations here are that Zalona has/had a royal family made of mummies, and Svialyk and Khojek are primarily filled with vampires, humans, and dhampirs. Dertava is one of the more industrious nations in the area and has already made hydroelectric dams, airplanes to compete with the luxurious airships Preycia uses, and is working on creating automatons to help with working and experiments.

Death is cheap in the Leskovin Federation and this is reflected in their magic types, their religion, and their system of government. Even one of the creatures that can be found only in the lands occupied by the Leskovin Federation has adapted to reflect this.

That said, I will be sharing more information about this project as I work on it. 

A Bit About The Agency

I kept working on The Agency. It's currently at 179 pages (that's counting the two stories Myrrh has written). Without those, it's 176 pages, and that isn't counting the one that I'm still writing and almost done with. I do plan to publish this once I've got finished, though I don't know yet when that will be. After all, I don't even feel like I'm halfway through with the project. 

I'm also not sure the way I want to publish this project. An audio format like a podcast would be nice and the obvious choice, but something in a visual medium would also be good, like a webcomic. I'll admit to being fond of the webcomic idea because then the entities, the settings, the characters--all of it can be shown and that would be amazing.

But that's all a long way off.

Another thing that I'd like to do with The Agency is include stories told from the perspective of Agency employees and excerpts from the employee handbook. Again, I'm not sure how to include these or if I'd include these in The Agency if they'd all be separate things like: The Agency: Employee Handbook (or Rules & Regulations), The Agency: Tales from Employees, and The Agency. Maybe. Again, this is all a long way off.

In the meantime, I said before that the world of The Agency is a bit like ours but slightly different. The Agency is on an island off the coast of Alaska and agents travel across the globe to investigate strange creatures and phenomena, and retrieve artifacts and survivors who can give statements. There are support teams both on the island and scattered across the globe to help the Agency. Some teams are there strictly to deal with oceanic issues while others are there for any kind of long stretches where they needed to observe an area. Still others are reporters who write articles to cover up strange events and others are priests, occultists, and exorcists who help when the Agency deals with the supernatural in the form of ghosts and demons (and sometimes even angels). 

There's a lot about the world of The Agency that isn't explained, but that's fine because there's a lot about our world we don't understand. There's some subtle differences in their world versus ours that I can't wait for everyone to discover when they read through The Agency once I publish it (or if I post another entry). 

A New Chapter

 So, I've been MIA for a bit. That's my bad. Life got busy. Like I said in the last post, 2022 is the year of getting things in order and it turns out there are many changes that are being made this year. 

Myrrh and I have been staying with my mom since March to help her get her house packed up and ready to be sold and, now that it is, ready for her to move into an apartment. The apartment is her temporary home where she and her dog Scruffy will be staying for at least a month, possibly two. 

Once we're back home, Myrrh and I will be getting all of our things packed and moved to storage so that our house looks spacious so it can be put on the market. That's right. We're selling the house. We're keeping the ducks, the chickens, the dog, and the cat, but we're not keeping the house or our roommate, though we have been presenting the roommate with options that would allow them to continue to work for the neighbors but the roommate doesn't want to hear it. 

Anyway, we're selling and using the money from the sale of our place, and the money from the sale of the extra property Myrrh owns, and Mom's using the money from her house so we can buy a house (a manufactured home, the 3-bedroom Southern Charm available at Clayton Homes) and property for it. We've already planned on what furniture we're bringing and what we're not and Mom immediately said that the ducks would stay in the laundry room when I had asked where they would stay in the new place. 

The new house has everything we want: the walk-in shower for Mom, the bar area for Myrrh's mocktail hobby, large kitchen for baking for me and space for soap-making (also Myrrh's hobby), and a built-in desk for me. We've planned on fencing in the backyard, getting a wooden shed for storage, getting Myrrh a work shed for tools and pottery work. Using the dog pen for the ducks to wander around during the daylight hours. 

Things are looking up and the future is bright, though that does mean I will be busy and not on here for awhile since I'll be getting things ready. I'll try to log on and update, but there's also the possibility that the next post will be coming from the new house. 

Update 6/19/22: Short update so didn't see the point in making a new post. The chickens had to be rehomed since while we were at Mom's, a raccoon was getting into the coop through a hole in the roof and killing them...and the roommate didn't have any plans to do anything about this until Myrrh said, "That's depressing" when the roommate said that it didn't matter that we couldn't tell which of our young chickens had been got since they'd all lost their bands. The survivors (9 out of 22 chickens) went to a friend who has a lot of chickens and will take good care of them. 

The roommate plans to move north and live with family for a bit then move to the west coast and work on a ship since that's seasonal work. The roommate also plans to continue to carve and eventually get chickens and sheep while out on the coast.

We're looking for property in the surrounding areas. Even Mom's looking at property up this way as she's finally decided that yeah, family is important and her family is here, likes the area, and wants her around. So, when she's able to she's gonna come up and we're gonna actually look at some of the property in person.

My legs have been in a lot of pain and it's a struggle to do daily chores but I get them done. My legs, it should be noted, are hurting from stress. Nothing medical or anything. Just stress. I know because when we were at Mom's, they were fine. Stress is hell, folks, and does terrible things to your body. It's not all in your head. 

A Bit of a Break & a Talk about Consistency

 This week I've decided to talk a little about a tabletop roleplaying game that I've been reading up on recently. I suppose I might be a little late to the party involving it as it was originally released in 2019. I'm talking about Alien RPG, which can be found here.

One of my favorite movies is Alien vs. Predator and I'm also a fan of the original Alien. That said, I enjoyed the movie Prometheus. One of the problems that I have with these movies is the same problem I have with series that explicitly state one thing, then turn around and change it to fit the plot (or just plain ignore reality because that doesn't fit with the story the author wants to tell...) and that is consistency.

Something Myrrh and I enjoy doing is watching movies and pointing out plot holes, bloopers, or just inconsistencies. Sometimes, these are acceptable and easy to overlook. Other times, they lead to rants at three in the morning. One of these rants involved the scene where the Predalien chestburster did what the name suggests and burst...from the abdomen where Scar had been stabbed by the Alien Queen. Another problem with the impalement of Scar is that the Alien Queen's tail is so large, it should have stabbed the chestburster as well, thus preventing the ending scene (and the sequel) from happening. The lack of blood in the surrounding snow was also an issue as with such a severe wound, there would have been more blood. 

This isn't such a big deal, however. The main problem comes when you start looking at the history of both Alien and Predator (also known as the Yautja) species/races and their interactions with humanity as well as the origins of the aliens. 

In AvP, it's established that the Predators found Earth when Antarctica was still a warm-ish climate capable of human habitation and taught the humans there how to build pyramids and were seen as gods. Okay, cool. The pyramids they built exhibited features from the Aztec, Cambodian, and Egyptian pyramids. Okay, also cool. Pyramids are widespread. 

Now, my issue is the translating portion. I understand that for movie/plot reasons they needed to have someone there that could translate the hieroglyphs and convey the story so that the main character (and audience) understood Predators were the good guys in this case, but still. There's no reason for Egyptian and Aztec symbols to show up in a pyramid that predates both of these cultures (it was even stated to be the first pyramid) when it was taught to a race of humans in Antarctica by an alien race. Unless of course we're saying that Egyptian and Aztec are descended from this long-dead Antarctic language, though that didn't seem to be the case based on the dialogue. 

In Prometheus, we learn that the Engineers were the ones who created humans. Okay. Then, we learn that they developed the substance/bio-weapon that would later create the Aliens. Further, the aliens we see in this one aren't the standard xenomorphs or facehuggers, not even the same chestbursters. Alien: Covenant takes it further by showing the experimentation David 8 had to do to get them to the point where they were the more iconic xenomorphs. Okay. So this is all well and good. Except...

AvP established that Predators had been hunting Aliens (the classic standard xenomorphs) for thousands of years, they had an Alien Queen in the pyramid in Antarctica, possibly since it was first built, but at least since the whaling station population vanished. The point is Predators had been hunting Aliens. AvP is stated to take place in 2004. The events of Prometheus take place in 2093 and Alien: Covenant take place in 2104. 

It's established in Prometheus that the Engineers intended to use their bio-weapon goo to wipe out humanity. Okay, fine. Did they use this on any other planets/races? This is uncertain. If they had, it might explain how the Predators were familiar with Aliens, but at the same time maybe not, given that there are some forms that don't have the acidic blood. 

Consistency is important, especially in a series. While you don't have to have all the answers at first when you sit down to write, at least make sure that when you establish something (a rule, a date) that when it gets brought up again, it hasn't changed or you haven't contradicted yourself with it. If you have a rule about why something is a certain way, but a character is able to violate this rule of the universe, give a good explanation for it rather than handwaving it or ignoring it outright. 

I'm not saying you have to answer or explain everything. In fact, sometimes, it's best if you don't explain, especially if you're writing horror. But please use your best judgment and at least have notes for yourself about why you've written things a certain way so that if you are questioned about it later by readers, you can answer it. Also, if you have a romance series with multiple love interests, maybe make a note of what makes each one unique so if you're asked "Do so-and-so ever get married?" you don't go, "Which one was he again?" 

In short: Consistency is important. Make notes about important information, especially if you're writing a series or working on gaming campaign, so you won't get tripped up or forget things. 

Also, yes, I recognize that it is ironic that I talk about consistency in this post which is the only post of mine to go up on a day that isn't Thursday. What can I say? Life happens. 

2022 is the year of getting things in order and there's a lot of work to get done before planting season so my posts may be a bit inconsistent in the coming months while that's taken care of. Another thing that's happening is cleaning and organizing the pantries, fridge, and (soon) the freezer so we're able to meal prep to make things a bit easier on us throughout the week. The sunroom is the biggest task, though, and the most pressing.

The Agency

 I've taken a hiatus from The Agency over the holidays to work on other projects, but recently got back to work on it. What this means is that there aren't really going to be any excerpts shared for awhile since I'm currently writing them as this an ongoing project. 

Instead, I've decided I'm going to share some information about the world of The Agency with you. I know I've said in the past that I don't world-build all my projects and that's true. At first, not every project gets any world-building done. The Agency certainly didn't. It started out as just something that I wrote because I couldn't get it out of my head, just a creepy story about a wicker lighthouse. But then it continued and it grew. And as it grew, so did the world that it was set it. 

Yes, for the most part, it was our world. Many events happened the way they did, when they did in our timeline. Cellphones, movies, modern technology--all of these things are still present. References to horror movies exist. 

But some entries made it clear that this world was just slightly different than our own. Whether subtly through the introduction of technology before it should exist or just the overall concept of The Agency and the existence of a quasi-governmental agency that deals with things that humanity can't, the world is different. 

What isn't clear is whether humanity as a whole is aware of these differences or aware of the agency. The United States government is, clearly, and it can be assumed that so are other governments as the agency is working to quarantine some locations in other countries. It can also be assumed that the agency didn't start out affiliated with the United States as some of the earliest entries predate the existence of the United States, as was seen in the case involving the Pied Piper and the Hamelin Flute. 

The Agency is set in a world very much like our own with some subtle and important differences that are only clear when the entries are read. That said, it's best to take them with a grain of salt. Not everyone giving a statement is a reliable narrator and truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. 

A bit of information to know about the present-day agency is that it is in Alaska, a specific island of Alaska. The employees of the agency are brought there to live once they sign their contracts. The only time they leave is on assignment, the unlikely chance they are able to have a normal funerary service following their deaths, or they decide to quit. They are allowed to quit, though not many take that option, whether due to the high pay of the job, their own quest for knowledge, or just the loss of support and safety from the things they now know exist that quitting would mean. 

Country Spotlight: Vesmain

 This week, the spotlight is on Vesmain.

Vesmain's setting isn't as fleshed out or detailed as Preycia's, but I do have the main information down. Vesmain is also a peninsula, though one with more land mass and connection to the larger continent than Preycia. To the northwest, Vesmain is bordered by the Malarsard Waters and to the southeast they have the Tisrane Bay. The fact that they control Iutharia and Fleyye, countries that also border the bay, means that they have complete control over the Tisrane Bay. Vesmain also shares land borders with Iutharia, Sasnya, Bohl, and Zethea. 

Vesmain is a land of gently sloping hills, rolling fields, and forests. There are meadows and marshlands, outside of the cities. Overall, the appearance is very industrial. Factories and churches are common. The warm sand beaches are off-limits to tourists and civilians as Vesmain is using them for their navy and military training exercises. 

Country Spotlight: Preycia & A World-Building Ramble

 I decided that this week instead of giving you more information about a flag from a nation from my current project that's drawing all my attention, I'd do a spotlight of a country. I think that's going to be the format for things going forward so you'll get flag information and also information about the country so you have a better idea about the people. 

This week, we'll start off with Preycia.

I've given you information about Preycia's flag in a previous post, such as the fact that it is also the coat of arms of the Arnuanna family, the ruling family of Preycia. I've mentioned about Sarai and his father, the tensions and briefly the diplomatic relations between Preycia and Vesmain, and some of more important events from Preycian history, which you can find in the Year End Wrap Up posts. 

This post will cover a bit more about actual setting of Preycia. 

Preycia is a peninsula, bordered on the south by the Gulf of Bientou, the east by the country of Leskovin which was mentioned in the last post, the north by the frigid Alcier Sea, and the west by the Malarsard Waters. The eastern border is marked by mountains, most specifically the Adamantine Peaks, a mountain range that contains Preycia's tallest mountain, the 10,000 foot Irosevain Summit. 

The beaches and shores of Preycia are known for their white sand and very picturesque. They'd be perfect for tourism if not for the rather chilly temperatures. That said, the local Preycians still enjoy time at the beach and, given that Preycia is a peninsula, it is safe to assume that seafood is big part of their cuisine and fishing part of their culture. Of course, for those not into the beach scene, the northern shore has the Wintara Cliffs, fjords that boast stunning views.

Regarding climate, most of the western and northern coasts have a mild climate and are prone to sea storms while the southern coast and part of the western coast have an oceanic-to-subpolar oceanic climate which means they have mild summers and cool winters. The mountains have an alpine climate with a lack of warm summers and very few trees, if any, due to the elevation. Most of inland Preycia has a subarctic climate which leads to long, cold winters and short, cool summers. 

Preycia has a wide variety of plants and animals, despite the chilly environment. Most of their plants include pine, spruce, mosses, and lichens. Wildlife is the most varied, especially their aquatic life. Beaked whales, narwhals, razorback whales, ringed seals, cod, and other fish all call the waters home. The air is home to ospreys near the sea, snowy owls, gulls, pigeons, doves, great crested grebes, and even geese and swans. Ermines, polar foxes, reindeer, muskox, and wolves also call Preycia home, though they aren't often seen near people if they can avoid it. 

Preycia has a thriving navy, their ships mostly in the Gulf of Bientou. That said, their airships are primarily constructed in bases along the Wintara Cliffs. Their submarines that no other nation is aware they're working on are being constructed in the fjords as well due to how shielded they are from potential spies. 

Those familiar with Earth geography can likely guess that I've based Preycia on Norway even though there are a few more countries more northern than Preycia that might fight the geography and climate of Norway better. Well, as the blog says, "life: a rough draft." This is just a rough draft of a project idea. Though I have a map that I'm working from to have an idea where my countries are, I'm not sharing the map and even if I do share it eventually there's no reason to think that it would be the map that would be used as the final product.

I'm not a professional cartographer. I'm not an expert at mapping out climate zones and whatnot. But, I am a writer and a world-builder so I can do that. I research. I know the look I want for the world and the feel I want for certain countries so what my job is, is to capture that with words so that when the editing is all done and someone with more skill than me is told to make the map they know where to put which country. 

That's just a note to world-builders out there: You don't have to be the best at everything. You don't have to do everything for your idea. You don't have to create the map, make the language, draw the characters, or any of that. You can just write down the basics or you can just write your idea. It's awesome if you can do all of that, but you don't have to.

Yes, Tolkien created an entire language for Lord of the Rings. And that is really awesome, and believe me I have considered it and gone, "You know, I really want to do that, and it makes sense that there would be at least a few different languages in this project." But then I've thought about what actually goes into language, and linguistic studies, and realized that yes, that would be cool and something I would absolutely love if this project were ever to become something else, like a TV series where there would be people other than me working on it, but that at this point, it's not feasible for me.

Yes, I made a map and flags. These aren't the finished products. These are what I'm using currently to have an idea for where everything is because, as the Year End Wrap Up posts indicate this is a far-reaching story that involves crusades, curses, assassinations, gold rushes, revolutions, wars, and all of that. That's also why I have the flags. Having the flags and an idea for the meanings behind the flag colors and symbols give me ideas what the people of those countries value, what is important to them economically and spiritually, what they're like. All of these are import for figuring out setting which helps in the long run. Will the flags and map stay the same if/when this is finished and published? Likely no. Chances are, professionals will be involved in those aspects, but at least they'll have something to work from. 

So yeah, a note to all world-builders and writers out there: You don't have to do it all. You can just write. You can do as much or as little as you need to for your project as you want. There's nothing wrong with not world-building and making it up as you go, but there's also not wrong with having a lot of it figured out or at least having enough information seeded in that you're excited to explore the whole history of your world because it feels real. 

World-Building: A Bit About A New Nation

 Last week, I threatened promised that I would mention more about the flags of other nations in the project that I'm world-building. Well, a fact that my fiancé knows about me, but that I haven't mentioned is that I love to make PowerPoint presentations. This is important because I have made a PowerPoint feature the meanings of all the flags of the nations and keep adding to it as I add nations flags. 

Anyway, this was just a little bit of a detour because this past week, eight new nations were created and they could potentially rival the Vesmain Empire. They certainly serve as a reason for why Fleyye and Askington were willing to join the Vesmain Empire via treaty and why the leader of Preycia sent Sarai to negotiate with Vesmain. So, allow me to introduce you to the Leskovin Federation.

This is the flag of the nation Leskovin and the unofficial flag of the Leskovin Federation. The nation of Leskovin has been conquering and allying with the nations around it to form the federation. They share a border with Preycia, though this border is divided by a mountain range which has been discouraging them from advancing toward Preycia. 

The white, as we learned last time we talked about flags, stands for sincerity, peace, purity, and harmony while the green is agricultural influence, prosperity, fertility, and hope. These are crossed by a blood red chevron representing bloodshed, military prowess, war, power, and domination. And over top of all of it is a blue dove--blue for determination, liberation, alertness, good fortune, strength, and loyalty, and a dove for peace, gentleness, and purity. 

I'll leave it here for now because I will be working more on world-building the world. The climates, geographies, cultures, politics, and all that of all the various nations. Yes, all the current nations. I'll also be working on figuring out things that they specialize in (so that I can stop joking about Obriona exporting assassins and Vesmain being masters of long curses, even if it's true). 

World-Building and Reading

 I haven't done much work this week, mostly because I discovered a love for alternate history novels and finished reading Days of Infamy by Harry Turtledove and began the sequel End of the Beginning. I did, however, get a few things done regarding the world-building that I've been doing on this project. Last time I posted about the project, I mentioned that I made flags and said that I might share them. This is the time.

Now, much like flags and coats of arms in our world, the colors and symbols on the flags in this world have meanings. In most cases, the meanings are the same as they are in the real world. There are a few symbols on the flags that I couldn't find any meaning for so I had to make one up, and those I'll indicate as we come to them. 

For information about symbols seen on coats of arms, I used this website and for flag color information, I went here. 

The first flag I'll be sharing is also the coat of arms for the Arnuanna family, which if you've been following the history lessons, you'll remember are the royal family of Preycia. 

The purple stands for nobility, sovereignty, and justice while the white (which is also considered silver in coat of arms) stands for sincerity, purity, peace, and harmony. The blue seen on the goat represents determination, liberation, alertness, good fortune, strength, and loyalty. The goat itself stands for practical wisdom, victory through diplomacy rather than force, working hard to achieve high honors, and a belief of having god on their side while the swan shows perfection, beauty, grace, a lover of poetry and harmony, and a learned person. 

As you can tell, all of that stands for everything the Preycia royal family represents: education, diplomacy, the belief that they are destined to rule by gods-given right. It is interesting in that while Preycia isn't the only monarchy, they are the only country to have the color purple in their flag and for their flag to be the coat of arms of their royal family. 

I'll only discuss one more flag in this post and that is the flag of the Vesmain Empire. 

The red stands for bloodshed, military prowess, war, power, and domination while the black stands for determination and defeat of enemies. The white, as was stated before, stands for sincerity, purity, peace, and harmony, which, given what we know about the Vesmain Empire seems completely wrong and inaccurate. Except, remember, their religion is Order of the White Wolf. In this case, the color is chosen more to represent their deity than for what it means. The wolf itself stands for loyalty, ferociousness, mercilessness, and a deadly enemy to have as well as representing their deity. 

As with the Preycia flag, this flag stands for everything the Vesmain Empire represents. Vesmain allows the conquered nations to continue flying their flags, though flags that contain animals will have to remove them as animals--barring the white wolf seen in their flag--are forbidden from being represented as that would take worship from their deity. The conquered nation of Zethea has yet to remove the crane from their flag and, so far, Vesmain hasn't pressed the issue. 

 Starting off the first excerpt from The Agency of 2022, we have "Inmate 064" which ties in very closely with "Artifact 0145HF" so you may want to go read that one if you haven't already. 

Inmate 064

History & Description

            Inmate 064, known as the Pied Piper only when under the influence of Artifact 0145HF, is perhaps one of the most well-known inmates the agency currently has incarcerated given that he is the multi-billionaire Maximilian Hester. Inmate 064 has been in custody of the agency wardens ever since his supposed suicide in 2020 and has expressed remorse for his actions, except when in the presence of Artifact 0145HF. When exposed to Artifact 0145HF, he becomes panicked and attempts to flee or destroy the artifact while avoiding contact with it at all costs.

            According to all wardens and support team Sigma personnel, Inmate 064 is a model inmate, despite knowing that there will be no parole or release for good behavior. He follows all orders, behaves himself, keeps his cell tidy, and has proven willing to provide information regarding Artifact 0145HF, how it came into his possession, and his experiences with it.

Testimony 2020-06-27

Arch. Doyle: Statement of Inmate 064, previously known as Maximilian Hester, regarding his experiences with Artifact 0145HF and time spent as the Pied Piper.

Inmate 064: Please don’t call me that.

Arch. Doyle: Interview recorded direct from subject by Archivist Miah Doyle with support team Sigma Officer Levi Tolley witnessing.

Inmate 064: I don’t really know where the…the flute came from.

Arch. Doyle: Why the emphasis on Artifact 0145HF?

Inmate 064: Because…because it looks like a flute, sounds like a flute. But it’s not. It doesn’t feel like a flute. Not…not exactly anyway. It feels like something…different. Wrong. It feels unnatural. Wrong on so many levels that it just…it grates on you. It permeates everything. Possesses you. Possessed me. But it’s just a flute. It is a flute. It’s not some kind of demonic artifact. It’s just a flute. An old flute that I must have bought at an auction.

Arch. Doyle: You don’t remember?

Inmate 064: No. I just woke up one day and it was there, on my dresser where I always put new purchases. I must have bought it, but I don’t remember it. No one else seemed to acknowledge it whenever they’d see it. Or whenever they were supposed to see it, like when they were in my room and looking right at my dresser. They’d comment on the other things on my dresser—a pair of bookend statues that I purchased from an antiquities dealer two days before the flute showed up, a samurai sword that was a pain to get through customs, an artistically embellished clock designed to sit on the mantle of a fireplace. But no one ever mentioned the flute. It was as though they couldn’t see it.

I know how stupid that sounds. It was real. Is real. Clearly. You have it. You’ve seen it—

Arch. Doyle: Actually, I haven’t seen it personally. But I do understand what you mean. People from the Agency have seen it, it’s been catalogued and stored.

Inmate 064: Woo, you scared me for a minute there when you said you hadn’t seen it. My point is no one else seemed to see it. I’d bring people over, I’d point it out and they’d just…kind of stare for a moment as though in a trance then talk about one of the other things on the dresser by the flute. It was like…like it didn’t want to be seen.

            I know. I know how stupid I sound. How crazy. It’s just a flute. It can’t think, it can’t want anything. But I know how it felt to be around the damned thing. I was the one it chose. Heh. Again, I sound crazy. It’s just a flute. It can’t physically do anything. Except…it can, can’t it? It changes the engravings on it whenever someone plays it.

I didn’t notice it at first. I tried to avoid looking at the thing, being honest. It…unnerved me. No one noticed it and it…it felt wrong. Just looking at it made me feel ill.

It was 2014 when I noticed it had changed. Initially when I saw it, the engravings were of bare vines. It…vanished from my home on the twenty-sixth of June. Or at least…I don’t remember it being there after that date. I can’t remember seeing it again until four years later. But before it vanished, that morning I looked at it and the vines…there were buds on them. I thought it was strange, but then I ignored it, finished getting ready, and left the room.

It’s all a bit hazy from that point on. I know had important meetings and that I went to those meetings, but I can’t for the life of me remember anything that was discussed or who I met with. I just know that I returned home at the end of the day and the flute was gone.

I was relieved, to be honest. I didn’t have to see that damnable thing again. I thought maybe someone had stolen it, but my mansion has the best security and nothing else was out of place. Nothing else was missing. Still, I was just glad to be rid of the damn thing.

I heard on the news about the children vanishing from the park and thought it strange. So many children just vanishing in plain daylight with their parents right there. Quite an organized kidnapping. Had to be. Kidnapping just one kid in a public area would be hard enough, but to take ten children at once? Very organized operation.

The flute came back in 2018, sometime in May. It was on my dresser again. The engravings were bare vines again. I didn’t pay much attention to it. It still bothered me, still felt wrong. Felt worse now, especially since there’s no way someone could have gotten into my mansion to put it there. It just seemed to appear or disappear whenever it wanted.

In June, I noticed the engravings had buds again. Fifteen this time. I counted because it seemed like more than the last time. I once again went about my day and it was gone when I came back. Again, my memories of what I did that day are foggy, but I know that I went to meetings and made deals with very important people, but I can’t remember who they were or what the deals entailed.

The news that evening mentioned a school bus of fifteen elementary-aged children was hijacked and the kids were missing. I felt bad for the parents. I don’t have children myself, but I like them. I just…well, I never found the right person. Anyway, my heart ached for those parents. To just lose your kids when they’re supposed to be somewhere safe…that’s just a nightmare.

I didn’t see it again until 2020. It came back from wherever it goes when it vanishes. Vines again. I tried to ignore it like I had before, but…I couldn’t this time. It…it was almost like it was calling to me. I know, I know. I sound crazy again, but that’s how it felt. It was calling to me. It wanted me to pay attention. It wanted…it wanted more.

It told me to host a charity event for children at my mansion. It wanted me to play it and…I did. I did everything it said because I couldn’t resist. There was just something about it that made me cooperate. When the day of the event arrived, I donned my green suit that I always wore and, once everyone had arrived, I began to play.

I don’t…I don’t remember much after that. It gets foggy. I just know that when I stopped playing, there were agents there demanding that I come with them. I handed over the flute and they brought me here. I don’t know what happened to the children. I just know that the vines were thornier and there were one hundred and thirty rose buds on it that morning.

Arch. Doyle: Statement ends. Witness statements from receptionists and security footage at Inmate 064’s previous place of employment indicates that he never went into work on days corresponding to the kidnappings in 2014 and 2018. Whatever Artifact 0145HF is, it would seem that it has the ability to remain hidden in plain sight and alter memories, at least of the one it is targeting. The question still remains with how it connects to the first instance of Artifact 0145HF and the original Piper.

 

I hope you enjoyed that excerpt. There may not be any more excerpts from The Agency for awhile, but I'll still try to keep updating. 

Ringing in the New Year with World Building

 Hope everyone had a good holiday season. 

Over the holidays, I had a bit of a computer malfunction so my posts may not be as frequent as they were last year due to laptop difficulties, but I'll make a good try of it. 

Also over the holidays, I did a fair bit of world-building when I wasn't visiting every used bookstore near my mom's and hunting for alternate history books because I've found a new genre that I enjoy. This means that the 53 index cards for the timeline grew to 56 and are still growing. Thanks to a wonderful website for creating a coat of arms (which can be found here), I now have flags that represent the nations involved in the world from my still untitled project. There will be more information about those flags, the colors, and the nations they represent in upcoming posts. 

In this post, I'll share a little about a character who was mentioned in the recent history lesson: Sarai Arnuanna. Sarai is the only son of the ruler of Preycia, Keyleth Arnuanna, who ascended to the throne after the assassination of his father. Despite the potential danger in sending Sarai to the heart of the Vesmain Empire to negotiate, Keyleth sent Sarai (and a couple bodyguards, he's not a fool) in a luxury Preycian liner (but not a luxury airship, which would have been the traditional way for Sarai to travel) to the capital city of Vesmain where he is to negotiate and sign a treaty between their two nations. 

Sarai arrives in Vesmain dressed in the national royal dress of Preycia, decked out in diplomatic adornments that house mind-bending magic to encourage others to bend to their will. He is confident that this will be a simple enough mission and that the treaty will work well in their favor. He doesn't want to let his father down as this is the first time his father has trusted him with something so important. 

Naturally, as I mentioned in the recent history lesson post, things go completely wrong and Preycia ends up at war with Vesmain. 

Year End Wrap Up Part 4: A Recent History Lesson

 So, in the last post, I mentioned several events in my new project's timeline that were more recent and that because of that they deserved their own post. Today is the day for a recent history lesson.

One of the first events that's ongoing at the start of the project was actually mentioned early on in the last post: the Second Crusade Against Heresy. Since the majority of the last post was about it, I won't revisit it here.

The next event that's ongoing is the Lemming Pox Outbreak. Yes, it sounds cute and light-hearted. It isn't. Characterized externally by small sores, Lemming Pox is a magical disease that was never intended to get out but it did and things have gone downhill from there, especially since sufferers are rendered very susceptible to suggestion. I'll let you ponder for a moment how very bad that can be. The country of Uthauvania is enduring this outbreak and trying to deal with it, though this is made much more complicated by the Chieria Gold Rush.

The Chieria Gold Rush is, as the name suggests, a rush of people into the nation of Chieria following the discovery of gold. Most of the people entering Chieria are citizens of the volcanic nation of Othary and the previously mentioned Uthauvania. 

Chieria is just striking out as far as luck is concerned. Chieria, you see, finds itself in the very beginning stages of a revolution, the Marked Insurrection. The people are rather displeased with the royal family for allowing the imperial guards to kill unarmed protesters. 

And finally, the most recent event, the one that actually starts after the project does: the War of Broken Pacts. The whole project idea started with the idea that a diplomat from Preycia, Sarai Arnuanna (son of Keyleth Arnuanna), visits Vesmain in an attempt to negotiate a treaty that works out heavily in favor of Preycia, but things go wrong and, following an attack on the meeting, Preycia and Vesmain are officially in a state of war. 

Those are the most recent, ongoing events in the fictional history of this project. At least, that's as far as I've gotten so far. This project is still ongoing as I've decided to add more countries which will mean more index cards, more long curses, and more current events. 

Hope you've enjoyed this little fictional history lesson. There will be no post next week as I'll be taking a break from posting to enjoy the holidays. Posts will resume in January. Have good holidays, everyone.

Year End Wrap Up Part 3: A Continued History Lesson

 In the last post, I said that the country of Vesmain from my newest writing project has continued their history of expansion through conquest and said that that was a history lesson for another post. That's this post. 

The first country that Vesmain conquered during their Second Crusade Against Heresy (which they started following the Prophecy of Heresy) was the nation of Struydan, which was enduring a plague at the time and in no condition to fight an invading army. Following that, though, Struydan did make several medical advancements, both mundane and magical. 

The next target of the Vesmain Empire was the city-state Bohl, which was still recovering from the Battle of the Drained Sea, where they fought against the nation of Zethea over salt resources. Being a small city-state and recovering from a very recent battle, Bohl didn't stand a chance. 

Of course, Zethea was having its own problems following the Battle of the Drained Sea. Not everyone had approved of the battle with Bohl so Zethea was dealing with an uprising. This gave Vesmain the perfect opportunity to invade and conquer, which made the whole battle between Zethea and Bohl moot. 

The next nation Vesmain went after was the southern country of Sasnya, which suffers frequent severe droughts and is prone to wildfires. The War of Burning Plains is used as an example in the Vesmain military of why it is important to know the weather and climate of the place you are invading as they were unaware of this at the time and attacked a field with their newest invention: flamethrowers. The Vesmain army did not expect the fire to spread as far or as fast as it did, and a temporary truce was called so both sides could combat the fire. In the end, though, Sasnya became yet another part of the Vesmain Empire. 

Of course, Sasnya didn't just willingly submit to Vesmain's rule. A city in Sasnya, Chason, rebelled and began to gather support from outlying towns and villages. Vesmain couldn't have that and quickly crushed the rebellion by destroying the city. The ruins have been left untouched, a reminder of what will happen to those who fight against the might of the Vesmain Empire. 

Meanwhile, other nations have watched the Vesmain Empire's conquest. One of these nations, Fleyye, requests to join the empire through a treaty and thus avoid a war. The ruler of Vesmain agrees and the Treaty of Ma'az is signed in Fleyye's capital. 

Fleyye's neighbor to the north, Askington, is less eager to join the empire. The presence of the Vesmain army in Fleyye increases tensions and leads to the Vesmain army invading Askington during a lunar eclipse which starts what becomes known as the Battle of the Eclipse. The battle raged for several months until finally, Askington requested a treaty. The treaty, signed in the capital of Askington, is officially known as the Treaty of Knosk but has the nickname amongst Askington natives as the Treaty of Extortion due to how heavily it favored Vesmain. 

For awhile, Vesmain's conquest ceased. Following the Treaty of Knosk, the Deathbell Curse, a long curse that targets a family line was levied against the family of the current ruler of Vesmain, Katyr Lurona. Long curses are something that Vesmain specializes in. There were no witnesses to this curse being cast. Months later, Katyr Lurona was assassinated and her assassin (Valida Durthane of Obriona) attempted to frame Wistari Qidan of Preycia, the brother-in-law of the then-leader, Azaki Arnuanna. After investigations revealed the truth, Wistari was permitted to return to Preycia and the new leader of Vesmain (Ruvyn Syljeon) cast a long curse against the country of Obriona, Curse of the Hallowed, which would take a long time to come to fruition. This is when the tensions began between Preycia and Vesmain.

During all of this, Preycia has been making advancements to ships and airships. The leader of Preycia, Azaki Arnuanna orders steel-hulled ships invented and, following the discovery of helium reserves, orders airships for luxury travel. This worries the country of Obriona and prompts Eremon Strakeln to assassinate Azaki Arnuanna which leads to his son, Keyleth Arnuanna, ascending the throne. Keyleth, unlike his father, encourages a focus on military advancements such as weapons for their ships, aircraft-carrying capabilities for their airships, and submarines. 

The most recent country added to Vesmain's empire is the country of Iutharia following the Assault of Fasad, which was an attack on their capital city where the Vesmain army destroyed a statue of a beloved Iutharian leader.

Shortly after the conquering of Iutharia, Vesmain received the Prophecy of War, which spoke of a war that would consume the world. 

Obviously, these are not the only nations involved and there is more history that's been left out such as the discovery of a planet, the Chieria Gold Rush, the Marked Insurrection, the Lemming Pox Outbreak (which is not as cute and light-hearted as it sounds), and the War of Broken Pacts. Those last four are more recent history (as in, ongoing at the time the project is set to start) so I think that those warrant their own post. 

I will, however, end this post by stating that only in nations that aren't part of the Vesmain Empire is it possible to learn about or even mention that there has been a new planet discovered. In the nations that are part of the Vesmain Empire, that knowledge is suppressed. 

Year End Wrap Up Part 2: A New Hobby & A Fictional History Lesson

 Over Thanksgiving, after an impromptu art lesson I hadn't planned on participating in, I discovered that I rather enjoy painting. One sketchbook purchase later and it turns out that I'm pretty good when it comes to drawing if I look at a reference photo. 

I'm pretty proud of how my frog turned out. I'm going to continue nurturing my art skills now that I'm not spending my time looking at my work and comparing it unfavorably to others' as I did through my youth. I spent a long time hating that my art wasn't like this person's or that person's, but now, I've realized it's okay. I'm proud of what I can do when it comes to drawing. My fiancé wants me to sketch out things on their canvases when they paint and our roommate wants me to draw a frog on a canvas for them too.

I mentioned that I finished the timeline for the random project that I started in November. I'm now in the process of culture building. First, though, I think I should mention a couple important events from the timeline. It's still lacking dates, but it's in order.

The first event: The creation of the national religion of Preycia, one of the main countries that is involved in the main conflict at the start of the novel. The Oracles of the Attuned is a polytheistic religion that preaches that the ruling family, the Arnuanna family, are blessed by the gods above all others and the Oracles of the gods.

Preycia is a country on a peninsula in a northern portion of the world. They have a large navy, which following the discovery of helium reserves, includes airships that also serve as airborne aircraft carriers (which is based on the USS Akron and USS Macon, which were operated by the United States Navy in the 1930s). Preycia also pioneered the invention of luxury ocean liners and airships. While they have a substantial navy, they don't have much in the way of an army. They have royal guards, but no real army.

The second and third event, which blend together: The creation of the national religion of Vesmain and the creation of the nation of Vesmain itself. The Order of the White Wolf is a monotheistic religion that focuses worship on the god, the white wolf Fenris. It forbids graven images of animals and people (with the exception of the white wolf depicted on their flag) as creating the images robs Fenris of his worship. 

At around this time, Aeson Vesmain, the founder of the Order of the White Wolf, led his army on The First Crusade Against Heresy. Those who would not convert and could not flee to neighboring countries were killed. By the end of this bloody war, Aeson Vesmain declared the land his army cleared as their nation and named it Vesmain, after himself. 

Vesmain, as a nation, kept its military and religious history. They have a large standing army and maintain a military dictatorship with strong ties to the church. They have also continued their history of expansion through conquest. But that is a history lesson for another post.