Back at it, again

I have my two battle-edited chapters, and it’s back to work for me.  I guess I got a sort of Christmas vacation, ha-ha.

Recently, I dug up my old material and looked to see if there was anything I could post up without dying of embarrassment.  …I don’t think so.  Even the original draft of TRoL that I wrote over two years ago is now mortifying—not the style so much as the actual plot points of the story.  *sigh*

What I can share, however, is this old picture of Evynn Rider-of-Stars astride a unicorn.

Now, unicorns are no longer a part of PaD, but it’s still a good picture.  It was a drawing that I scanned and then painted over with Paint Shop Pro 7.  The setting is the Stessian Highlands in Cineach, with the Caraic Ciar (the Dark Mountains—nothing ominous about them) in the background.  I made a lot of use of the different patterns in PSP 7: there are seven different textures in the picture.  Three different gradients are used, as well.  (And you can still see traces of the original pen sketch here and there.)

Evynn is not actually so strawberry blondish, but oh well; this was also done when his hair was shoulder-length (‘tis chin-length now).  One more note, and this is funny: in the original painting, Evynn’s shirt was a parchment sort of color.  However, since we don’t see his face or hands, my mom pointed out that it looked like he wasn’t wearing a shirt.  Oops!  So I painted his shirt over with a nice green color.  Much better!

(Sorry that the copyright was so bold, but I understandably don’t want people stealing my hard work.)

In the Spirit of the Season!

So this is not really related to TRoL, but I thought I'd post about it anyway.  For most of the month, I've felt a distinct sense of surrealism - how could it be Christmas time already?  (Autumn really flew by for me this year.)  However, about two weeks ago, I wrote the first installment of a Sherlock Holmes story (fanfiction), and ever since, I've been whipping out seasonal stories.  Unfortunately for my wallet, they are all fanfiction, i.e. based on pre-existing stories.  But six Christmas-related stories ("fics") in two weeks is quite an accomplishment.

There are four Christmas fics for Sherlock Holmes and two for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.  [I know it's a kids' cartoon - so what?  :-)]  Check them out at my FF.N profile.  (Plus, if you scroll down to the bottom, you can find an old Lord of the Rings Christmas story entitled "The Child.")

Once again, wishing you all a very blessed and Merry Christmas!

FIFTY PERCENT FINISHED!!!

'Tis true!  Ironically, though Chapter 10 should be the halfway mark, Chapter 11 is finished first and thus makes the mark.  Even so, hurray!

Now if my co-conspirator just needs to give me the battle-edited next chapter to work on...

Oh, and:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

9 Down, 11 to Go!

Chapter 9 is finished, and Chapter 10 is almost done!  This is nearly the 50% mark!  At this rate, I could be done by the end of January!  Pray that I can be, please!

The action editing is coming up.  That's not going to be fun - it's definitely going to bog down the progress.  Here goes nothing!

8 down, 12 to go

WARNING: PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD.

Eight chapters down, twelve to go—plus an epilogue.  *cheers*

I have finally finished the chronologically first battle in the book.  Originally, this battle was anticipated, reported on, but not seen—now it takes up a sizeable portion of Chapter 7.  Credit for that (and for the battle scenes and strategies in general) goes to my brother, without whom this book would certainly be much less than what it is now.

I am currently progressing through Chapter 9 and tackling a scene that I might move to a later chapter, due to a character who originally first appeared in Chapter 1 and now does not appear until much later.  *sigh*  Shifting dynamics…

What IS The Phoenix and the Dragon?

 What IS The Phoenix and the Dragon?

The story is fantasy, certainly, but its future audience will discover that The Phoenix and the Dragon (PaD) series is not as a “normal” fantasy by any means.

Prototypes of PaD certainly drove for the genre of High Fantasy, the most epic type there is, best exemplified in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  TRoL may still be considered High Fantasy by some people, but it’s certainly less magical that it used to be.  Probably the greatest reason for this development was the transformation of the Rioti’ordane.

Readers of this blog may recall my comparison of Uruk-hai becoming Numenorians.  That conversion changed everything.  The epic emphasis of the story turned from magic to, incredibly enough, politics.  In a very large sense, politics is what the war of PaD is all about.

And PaD is all about this war.  This is a series chronicling a huge, worldwide war in another world set in its own Middle Ages.

This is a story that could almost be considered historical fiction—simply put, it’s the history of a fictional world.  And yet, there’s still an aspect of fantasy, still an aspect of the supernatural.  In fact, the supernatural is perhaps more important now than ever, because Providence has a visible hand in the motion of events.

Some characters in TRoL have telekinetic and telepathic abilities simply as genetic trait of their races.  This is considered a less magical and more practical matter—it’s simply natural for these people.  Something akin to magic is touched upon in the later pages of the book, but even this is very far removed from spells and wands and even Rings of Power.

The Phoenix and the Dragon is still an epic.  It is also a war story.  And this epic war story not only concerns itself with the fates of nations, but with the hearts of the men and women that shape the war.  War brings out the best and worst of men, and this story is going to give you that.  Despite the different non-human characters, this is a very human story.

I dearly hope that you stay tuned for more, and that you’ll be willing—and maybe even excited—to read the first installment of this epic when it’s finally released.

The Players in the Game, Part II

The Rioti’ordan Domain

The Riot’ordan Domain is an empire, unquestionably Anira’s greatest superpower.  The Domain possesses many territories and several allies—the most important of the latter is Rayda.

Eyráne

Official name: Homeland of Eyráne

Flag: rearing gold dragon spewing red flame on a black field

Capital: Atar’ante

Official language(s): Rioti’ordan (Aniran widely spoken, as well as Raydan and Correthaen)

Demonym: Rioti’ordan (singular), Rioti’ordane (plural)

Ethnic groups: Rioti’ordane, Dragons (less than .0001%), mixed due to empire (less than .05%)

Population: approx. 20,000,000

Government: constitutional empire/parliamentary monarchy

Head of State: His Royal Majesty and Heir of the Great Prince, King of the Rioti’ordane

Legislature: High Council

Overview: Eyráne is the heart of the Rioti’ordan Domain, the home of the Rioti’ordane.  “They wanted to swallow up Anira with their grand military, their twisted beliefs” (TRoL—Prologue).  The Domain has long been the most militant of nations, holding the largest empire in the world.  Long since allied with them are the Dragons of Karanai and the Roesh of Roesha, the latter a race of minotaur-like people.  Many Rioti’ordane who subscribe to the Dominionist beliefs wish only for material power over the world, but there are many more Rioti’ordane who see the coming struggle as a holy crusade and their future worldwide power as their God-given destiny.  Not all Rioti’ordane hold these beliefs, however: there are still many more that have a much different sort of faith in secret—and this Remnant will be incredibly important in the years to come.

Karanai

Official name: Dependency of Karanai

Flag: the two moons (gold and silver) in crescent stage on a black field

Capital: Zhihkohn

Official language(s): Dragon, Rioti’ordan

Demonym: Karanaian(s)

Ethnic groups: 25% Dragons, 75% Rioti’ordane

Population: 100,000

Government: democratic republic answerable to an empire

Head of State: Lord of Karanai

Legislature: Assembly of Elders

Overview: Karanai is the homeland of the Dragons, long an ally of the Rioti’ordane and now codependent with the Domain.  The name Karanai is a Rioti’ordan word, for the Dragon’s name for their land is too difficult for humanoids to pronounce.  The Dragons mostly govern their own affairs via the Assembly of Elders, the patriarchs of the race.  The Lord of Karanai is merely the governor of the Rioti’ordane living in that land, and he remains answerable to the Assembly as well as the Rioti’ordan King.  There is a lasting bond of love between the two peoples, as well as an incredible advantage to the Domain, which is the only nation in Anira to have its own “air-force” due to Dragons in Domain military.  General Acvez, commander-in-chief of the Army of the Domain, is the son of the current Lord of Karanai, and being his father’s only male heir, is destined to become the Lord of Karanai himself.

Rayda

Official name: League of Raydan Provinces

Flag: pale gold sun radiating seven beams on an ice-blue field

Capital: Petensja

Official language(s): Raydan (Aniran and Correthaen spoken in different regions)

Demonym: Raydan(s)

Ethnic groups: 98% human, 2% misc. races due to commerce

Population: approx. 9,000,000 (in homeland)

Government: empire

Head of State: Kevsik or Kevsiki (currently Kevsik [often translated “emperor”])

Legislature: Kevsiketade (roughly translated to “emperor’s council”)

Overview: Rayda is one of the most northern nations in Anira, and a fair percentage of the vast land lies in tundra above the arctic circle.  By reason of its cool summers and inhospitable winters, it is sparsely populated—could every acre of the land be inhabited, it could hold far, far more than 9 million people.  Rayda, despite its longstanding empire of trade, has not until more recent years become a world power.  Rayda, bountiful in natural resources, holds a trade alliance with the Domain, which can provide military assistance should Rayda require it.  Rayda’s possession of Yleka and her alliance with the Domain are the primary reasons for the commencement of the imminent war.