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.