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 I

Anira is full of different peoples and nations, but the ones we’ll concern ourselves with here are those directly involved in the outbreak of war in The Rise of a Legend.  Warning: certain details may be subject to change.

The Tri-Alliance

The Tri-Alliance is a military coalition comprised of the neighbor nations Cineach, Auden, and Correthae on the Raydan continent.  The alliance was first officially formed roughly two centuries before the events of TRoL, against the Rioti’ordan Domain in one of their several wars of conquest.

Cineach

Official name: Republic of Cineach

Flag: white tri-ray star ("knotted flames") on navy-blue field

Capital: Stess (population approx. 450,000)

Official language(s): Aniran, Evayan (native language)

Demonym: Cineachan(s)

Ethnic groups: 50% human, 48% Evayan (largest Evayan population [3,840,000] outside Aodh), 2% misc. races due to commerce

Population: approx. 8,000,000

Government: constitutional republic

Head of State: traditionally Cullan (literally "Chieftain," but translated to "Governor")

Legislature: traditionally bicameral Oireacht na Senans ("Council of Senators")

Overview: Cineach is one of Anira’s oldest nations, and the homeland of the original Árd Ríon, or High Queen, of Anira.  So in YBK 15, the head of one of the largest clans—Meldia—brought his family and his friends’ families and their neighbors together to form a unified entity that they called Cineach.  In Old Evayan, the word literally means “born of fire.”  (Unfinished data draft)  The race known as the Evaya is strongly tied to Cineach as their homeland, the origin of their language, art, and overall culture.  Cineach has also long been recognized as a land of freedom and opportunity (as well as the breeding ground of many of the finest horses in the world.  As a result, the first race of the Ríanyan Stakes is held just outside the capital Stess, the Stessian Grand Run).  Cineach was formerly a constitutional monarchy, with her Rí Ruirech (lit. “Provincial King”) bowing to the High King and Queen as the direct sovereigns of Cineach, a political situation unique to that nation.  However, with the fall of the High Kingdom, the last Ríon (queen) Ruirech stepped down from her throne and helped the Oireacht form the Republic of Cineach, the oldest lasting republic in Anira.

Auden

Official name: Kingdom of Auden

Flag: gold eagle with wide wingspan on russet field

Capital: Denster (pop. 500,000)

Official language(s): Aniran (Evayan fairly widespread but not official)

Demonym: Audenian(s)

Ethnic groups: 83% human, 15% Evayan, 2% misc. races due to commerce

Population: approx. 8,500,000

Government: constitutional monarchy

Head of State: King or Queen (currently Queen)

Legislature: Assemblage of Ministers

Overview: Auden is a younger nation than Cineach, having been formed out of smaller kingdoms that were fought over repeatedly in centuries gone by—however, it was in this land that the oldest human families lived before spreading out across the world.  Auden is Cineach’s ethnically-closest neighbor, with a large portion of Audenians holding a strain of Cineachan blood.  The nation is also ideologically closer to her neighbor than most other nations, in matters of politics, religion, and ethics.  Auden has the unenviable distinction of being the only nation facing Eyráne, homeland of the Rioti’ordane, across the Kidrin River—and has long lived in fear of being the Rioti’ordan Domain’s next target for conquest.  Auden is called a kingdom but is technically a small empire, with several southwestern territories.

Correthae

Official name: Realm of Correthae

Flag: silver crown with an inscription in white below the crown on a pale green field

Capital: LuMiare (population approx. 900,000)

Official language(s): Correthaen (Aniran widely spoken but not official)

Demonym: Correthaen(s)

Ethnic groups: 94.5% human, 5% Evayan, .5% misc. races due to commerce

Population: approx. 9,000,000

Government: feudal monarchy

Head of State: King or Queen (currently King)

Legislature: House of Lords

Overview: Correthae is about the same age as Auden for similar reasons, and is ethnically separate from Auden and Cineach.  Correthae is the only member of the Tri-Alliance that does not hold Aniran as an official language, and is the largest nation by population.  The country is one of the wealthiest northern realms, with the economy fueled by mining, artisanship, and the medieval stock market—and Correthae is also said to possess some of the finest culinary artists in Anira.

Yleka

Official name: Province of Yleka/Free State of Yleka

Flag: white star on a black field

Capital: Stalabeck

Official language(s): Ylekan, Raydan (Aniran widely spoken but not official)

Demonym: Ylekan(s)

Ethnic groups: 92% Ylekan, 2% Raydan human, 1% Zharatzhan, 5% mixed

Population: 2,600,000

Government: League of Raydan Provinces (empire)/Council of Representatives (republic)

Head of State: Kevsik of Rayda/none yet for the Free State of Yleka

Legislature: Council of Representatives

Overview: Yleka is not a member of the Tri-Alliance, but it is because of Yleka’s declaration of secession from Rayda that the coalition has been renewed.  The northern nation-state is not large, but it is the only home of an entire race of humanoid people, the Ylekans.  They have been under Raydan domination for centuries in payment of an old debt, but with growing tyranny from Rayda, the Ylekans have chafed more and more under their submission until now, when they are declaring their independence at last.  “They are known for being hardy and industrious, and, of late, have rivaled the Rioti’ordane in their militant nature” (TRoL Glossary—Races).  Yleka lies on Cineach’s northern border.

Aodh

Official name: State of Aodh

Flag: gold phoenix on a royal blue field

Capital: Dún Sairse

Official language(s): Evayan/Cineachan (Aniran widely spoken but not official)

Demonym: Aodhan(s) (also known simply as Evayans)

Ethnic groups: 94.5% Evayan, .5% human, 5% mixed

Population: 4,750,000

Government: constitutional republic

Head of State: Cullan

Legislature: Oireacht na Senans

Overview: A nation never even actually seen in TRoL, Aodh is nonetheless important, not only as the homeland of Gwilym Fire-of-Skies but as a staunch Cineachan ally.  Aodh is the one nation in Anira that is strictly Evayan, and was created less than a hundred years ago in the southern deserts.  Since then, Evayans from all four corners of the world have flocked to Aodh to unite under one banner, hoping to grow strong enough to be a world power in their own right in the inevitable war.  Aodh’s hot desert/steppe climate is a startling contrast to the wet, temperate, green North to which most Evayans gravitate, but they endure and thrive here, nevertheless.