A third of the way through with book three, and thanksgiving is just around the corner. That leaves me with just 7 months to finish book three in order to achieve my goal of a book a year.
Today I would like to show a bit of the timeline for our story, this should answer some of the questions people have about the books or events leading to particular events in the books.
2,000bce-500bce Humans and fantasy creatures are living in harmony
500bce-100bce Humans start to look at the fantasy creatures as demons
100bce-100ce Fantasy creatures go into hiding to avoid being attacked (lost ones leave their kin)
100ce-1900ce Fantasy creatures remain hidden from humans
1940ce Testing of a new weapon kills first dragon in over 2,000 years
1942ce ElraNoch is destroyed by a fiery bomb poisoning the remains of the city
1943ce Thousands of Elves, Dwarves and Trolls are killed as the humans wage war with each other
1974ce Hundreds of unicorns are slain as jungles are set on fire
2000ce Elves and Dwarves hold council to decide how to stop the killing of innocent creatures
2012ce Dragons and trolls join the council meeting for survival
2013ce War between magic and technology begins
2520ce ElraDrest is destroyed by poisonous gas
2823ce ElraSae is destroyed using long range weapons
3453ce ElraFre and it's forests are killed off by the humans
3674ce Large groups of humans start to side with the Elves
4713ce ElraMont is finally destroyed by technology
4713ce After their victory the forces of technology drink too much and are slaughtered by Trolls
5123ce-01me Technology is officially destroyed
1430me ElraNoch returns to the world of man
1442me The great spell destroys all life in Elranoch and The Heart of The Forest is stolen
4213me The Heart is returned to its resting place and the Elvin goddess restored
This is a basic timeline of how things happened leading up to book two, of The Draken Trilogy. As I work on book three, I will continue to flush it out some more.
Here you can find some short tales and other tidbits of information regarding my various writing projects.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Dragonkin what are they?
Having studied dragons for many years, I finally met my first dragonkin today. He himself does not know what he is, but one of these days he will discover the truth. When I talked to my Dragon friend and asked about the crossbreeding of dragons with other races, he laughed and answered that it was possible but rare.
You see it takes a very powerful human spell to change the shape of a dragon, and even then the dragon must be unaware of its being cast, or willing to make the change. Once the spell has been cast the dragon must maintain control of his emotions, or run the risk of breaking said spell. This happens most rapidly when they are changed against their will, usually the caster dies shortly after this as the dragon tears him to pieces. The other side of the coin are the dragons that willingly make the change, they sometimes go years without anyone knowing they are a dragon, even forgetting it themselves.
Once a dragons shape has been changed into that of another creature though, it has the ability to breed with others of that creature type, usually humans for some reason. The dragonkin I met today was interesting, he never met his father, and his mother died at birth, leaving me to believe that it was his mothers death that caused his father to return to dragon form. Sadly this young man has a spell on him that hides his nature, but I can see that spell is weakening and soon he will break free of it and discover what a great gift he has.
You see, dragonkin have an unnatural strength, making them much stronger than they appear. They are a touch taller than normal members of their non-dragon race, and tend towards the lean side, often appearing weak due to how thin they are. They have very fine scales that cover most of their body, rarely over on the neck or face. The scales themselves are just like dragon scales, being highly resistant to fire and very good armor. The teeth are a bit sharper than a humans, and their finger nails are more like claws.
Most of the time when a dragonkin is born, the dragon parent will take it to the elves to be raised, as the long lived people swore long ago that they would protect any dragonkin they came across. If the humans discover a dragonkin they normally will kill the child, if they can, and then proceed to kill its parents. The end result of this is the dragon breaking the spell holding it in its altered shape, and an entire village or city being destroyed.
Upon investigating the matter a bit more, I was surprised to find out that there are a few human kingdoms being run by dragonkin these days. One would think that after being hunted by humans for most of their lives, they would be tyrannical rulers, but for some reason they are very loving rulers instead. Currently I know of two kingdoms that have dragonkin kings/queens, both of them adored by their subjects for the most part.
If the one I met today is any indication of his kind these crossbreed children of the dragons have a very forgiving nature, but a very strong sense of justice.
I also asked why a dragon would change willingly into a human, and got an interesting response.
"Love, pure and simple. Whether it be of a human or a village, invariably it boils down to love."
I guess that is why they always return to dragon form when their spouse dies.
I must thank Roult for taking the time to answer my questions, if anyone reading this should have any question, please feel free to ask them.
Signed,
Valarious the Historian
You see it takes a very powerful human spell to change the shape of a dragon, and even then the dragon must be unaware of its being cast, or willing to make the change. Once the spell has been cast the dragon must maintain control of his emotions, or run the risk of breaking said spell. This happens most rapidly when they are changed against their will, usually the caster dies shortly after this as the dragon tears him to pieces. The other side of the coin are the dragons that willingly make the change, they sometimes go years without anyone knowing they are a dragon, even forgetting it themselves.
Once a dragons shape has been changed into that of another creature though, it has the ability to breed with others of that creature type, usually humans for some reason. The dragonkin I met today was interesting, he never met his father, and his mother died at birth, leaving me to believe that it was his mothers death that caused his father to return to dragon form. Sadly this young man has a spell on him that hides his nature, but I can see that spell is weakening and soon he will break free of it and discover what a great gift he has.
You see, dragonkin have an unnatural strength, making them much stronger than they appear. They are a touch taller than normal members of their non-dragon race, and tend towards the lean side, often appearing weak due to how thin they are. They have very fine scales that cover most of their body, rarely over on the neck or face. The scales themselves are just like dragon scales, being highly resistant to fire and very good armor. The teeth are a bit sharper than a humans, and their finger nails are more like claws.
Most of the time when a dragonkin is born, the dragon parent will take it to the elves to be raised, as the long lived people swore long ago that they would protect any dragonkin they came across. If the humans discover a dragonkin they normally will kill the child, if they can, and then proceed to kill its parents. The end result of this is the dragon breaking the spell holding it in its altered shape, and an entire village or city being destroyed.
Upon investigating the matter a bit more, I was surprised to find out that there are a few human kingdoms being run by dragonkin these days. One would think that after being hunted by humans for most of their lives, they would be tyrannical rulers, but for some reason they are very loving rulers instead. Currently I know of two kingdoms that have dragonkin kings/queens, both of them adored by their subjects for the most part.
If the one I met today is any indication of his kind these crossbreed children of the dragons have a very forgiving nature, but a very strong sense of justice.
I also asked why a dragon would change willingly into a human, and got an interesting response.
"Love, pure and simple. Whether it be of a human or a village, invariably it boils down to love."
I guess that is why they always return to dragon form when their spouse dies.
I must thank Roult for taking the time to answer my questions, if anyone reading this should have any question, please feel free to ask them.
Signed,
Valarious the Historian
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Trolls and Dwarves
"Believe it or not my friend Trolls are not your enemy. Yes they can be very violent, but nowadays they are not quite as violent.
What happened to them you ask? Well let's see if I can explain it. Back when the Dwarves and Elves went to war against man, we signed a truce agreement with the Trolls so they would fight alongside us. As many of our forefathers said, we finally had a use for such violent creatures. The war lasted quite a long time, and during that time the big, thick skinned beasts learned to listen to the orders us Dwarves gave them.
After the war, we figured they would go back to fighting us, but instead they turned to our leaders and asked for guidance. Needless to say our leaders didn't take long to say yes and started teaching them. Granted, they are not very intelligent, but they know how to follow orders and can adapt very quickly if a situation turns bad. The Trolls also have shown to be the most loyal allies my people have ever had, they so much as see an enemy come near one of our farms and they rush forward to protect it.
Pardon me, but I must get out to the field in order to assist in bringing in the harvest."
THE TROLLS SIDE:
"Dwarves? Ah, you mean friends. They nice, tell us where go, feed us, and make good drink. Always take good care us, but not good fighters. You want fight? Me show you how fight."
Well, as you can tell after talking to a Dwarf, and quite a few Trolls, the relationship is working out nicely between the two races. I will admit, I didn't quote the troll perfectly, as he was very difficult to understand.
Hopefully the next time I visit I will be able to get into the Dwarven city a opposed to doing my research outside in the rain. I am really quite curious as to the activities in one of their cities, but being as secretive as they are I will just have to be patient.
Signed,
Gregory the Grey
What happened to them you ask? Well let's see if I can explain it. Back when the Dwarves and Elves went to war against man, we signed a truce agreement with the Trolls so they would fight alongside us. As many of our forefathers said, we finally had a use for such violent creatures. The war lasted quite a long time, and during that time the big, thick skinned beasts learned to listen to the orders us Dwarves gave them.
After the war, we figured they would go back to fighting us, but instead they turned to our leaders and asked for guidance. Needless to say our leaders didn't take long to say yes and started teaching them. Granted, they are not very intelligent, but they know how to follow orders and can adapt very quickly if a situation turns bad. The Trolls also have shown to be the most loyal allies my people have ever had, they so much as see an enemy come near one of our farms and they rush forward to protect it.
Pardon me, but I must get out to the field in order to assist in bringing in the harvest."
THE TROLLS SIDE:
"Dwarves? Ah, you mean friends. They nice, tell us where go, feed us, and make good drink. Always take good care us, but not good fighters. You want fight? Me show you how fight."
Well, as you can tell after talking to a Dwarf, and quite a few Trolls, the relationship is working out nicely between the two races. I will admit, I didn't quote the troll perfectly, as he was very difficult to understand.
Hopefully the next time I visit I will be able to get into the Dwarven city a opposed to doing my research outside in the rain. I am really quite curious as to the activities in one of their cities, but being as secretive as they are I will just have to be patient.
Signed,
Gregory the Grey
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A little history on the Elves of The Draken Trilogy
Little known to most people, the Elves are actually of five different races. While they all share the similar characteristics, such as being tall and having a very slim build, rarely does one weigh in at over 120 pounds. At the same time, they have some distinct differences.
The elves of the forest a very agile and usually have a slightly greenish cast to their hair and eyes. Their magic is generally focused on growth and healing, as they constantly try and repair the damage done to our world in the past. They are healers first and foremost, but very dangerous enemies if you upset them, being that they can poison entire armies with just a few berries. Although, seeing their eyes flash like bright emeralds when you upset them is almost worth the trouble.
The elves of the sea are excellent swimmers and in general have a blue tint to their hair and vibrant blue eyes (looking into the eyes of their princess, was like looking into the ocean depths). The sea elves have the ability to see magic, whether it is an illusion, or a spell cast on a person or item. They also have the ability to manipulate spells that are cast in their direction, woe to those who think a simple fireball will hurt one of them. Interestingly enough they don't appear to have any offensive magic, but if they are in the water you can be sure there is some sort of underwater monster there to protect them.
The elves of the mountains are the heaviest of the elves and the best warriors amongst the Elvin people. In general they have brownish blonde hair and brown eyes, and almost always are wearing armor (which is quite fetching on some of the young women). These elves have an amazing power over weapons and armor, they can make it do almost anything they wish it to, from being the lightest weight chain armor in the world, it can be altered to withstand the breath of the most fearsome dragon. Swords made by these elves are amazingly sharp and their shields can stop almost any weapon. The draw back is that the magic only works when an elf is using the equipment, unless it is specifically made for another race. Just a warning to young men out there, just because you may face a woman on the field doesn't mean you are going to win.
The elves of the desert are the most volatile of all the elves, with their red hair and bloodshot eyes, you just know they are crazy. The flicker of a candle flame reflected in those eyes is all you see when they cast a spell your way. Their magic is focused in flame, and can be very destructive. Granted it can also be used for quite a bit of good as well, they made a great roast using magic to cook it after all. I must warn you though, these elves are extremely temperamental, so please try not to upset them or you may find yourself looking for a bank of snow in the middle of a desert.
The last of the Elvin races are very different than the others, they are called the Lost Ones, as they have lost their path to their goddess. These elves have nearly black hair and cold dead eyes. Their magic is that of the soul and when they turned their back on their goddess it turned into death magic. Granted some of them are in the process of returning to their goddess and are once again using their magic for the greater good. These elves have a power over souls, guiding the souls from the dead to the realm of their goddess, or in the case of those that still do not see her, trapping the souls in the skeletal remains as a servant for all eternity. I regret I did not get too close to these elves as they are more aggressive than any of the others and i did not want to become a slave.
Now you know a bit more about the elves than you did before you read my memoirs, but let me take a moment here to apologize to any of the elves I may have offended while researching their races for this report, as I am not sure if this report in and of itself will offend them. Thankfully I am recovering nicely from all of the injuries inflicted upon me in my duels with various elves and I must thank them for teaching me the consequences for my transgressions of their honor. I hope the mountain elves will be kind enough to allow me to return to their home and the young woman I fell in love with.
Sincerely,
*the signature is illegible and has a few drops of blood at the end leaving us historians to believe the original writer was killed when he finished this report*
The elves of the forest a very agile and usually have a slightly greenish cast to their hair and eyes. Their magic is generally focused on growth and healing, as they constantly try and repair the damage done to our world in the past. They are healers first and foremost, but very dangerous enemies if you upset them, being that they can poison entire armies with just a few berries. Although, seeing their eyes flash like bright emeralds when you upset them is almost worth the trouble.
The elves of the sea are excellent swimmers and in general have a blue tint to their hair and vibrant blue eyes (looking into the eyes of their princess, was like looking into the ocean depths). The sea elves have the ability to see magic, whether it is an illusion, or a spell cast on a person or item. They also have the ability to manipulate spells that are cast in their direction, woe to those who think a simple fireball will hurt one of them. Interestingly enough they don't appear to have any offensive magic, but if they are in the water you can be sure there is some sort of underwater monster there to protect them.
The elves of the mountains are the heaviest of the elves and the best warriors amongst the Elvin people. In general they have brownish blonde hair and brown eyes, and almost always are wearing armor (which is quite fetching on some of the young women). These elves have an amazing power over weapons and armor, they can make it do almost anything they wish it to, from being the lightest weight chain armor in the world, it can be altered to withstand the breath of the most fearsome dragon. Swords made by these elves are amazingly sharp and their shields can stop almost any weapon. The draw back is that the magic only works when an elf is using the equipment, unless it is specifically made for another race. Just a warning to young men out there, just because you may face a woman on the field doesn't mean you are going to win.
The elves of the desert are the most volatile of all the elves, with their red hair and bloodshot eyes, you just know they are crazy. The flicker of a candle flame reflected in those eyes is all you see when they cast a spell your way. Their magic is focused in flame, and can be very destructive. Granted it can also be used for quite a bit of good as well, they made a great roast using magic to cook it after all. I must warn you though, these elves are extremely temperamental, so please try not to upset them or you may find yourself looking for a bank of snow in the middle of a desert.
The last of the Elvin races are very different than the others, they are called the Lost Ones, as they have lost their path to their goddess. These elves have nearly black hair and cold dead eyes. Their magic is that of the soul and when they turned their back on their goddess it turned into death magic. Granted some of them are in the process of returning to their goddess and are once again using their magic for the greater good. These elves have a power over souls, guiding the souls from the dead to the realm of their goddess, or in the case of those that still do not see her, trapping the souls in the skeletal remains as a servant for all eternity. I regret I did not get too close to these elves as they are more aggressive than any of the others and i did not want to become a slave.
Now you know a bit more about the elves than you did before you read my memoirs, but let me take a moment here to apologize to any of the elves I may have offended while researching their races for this report, as I am not sure if this report in and of itself will offend them. Thankfully I am recovering nicely from all of the injuries inflicted upon me in my duels with various elves and I must thank them for teaching me the consequences for my transgressions of their honor. I hope the mountain elves will be kind enough to allow me to return to their home and the young woman I fell in love with.
Sincerely,
*the signature is illegible and has a few drops of blood at the end leaving us historians to believe the original writer was killed when he finished this report*
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The great cats and their place in the story
"What's that son? You just saw a cat the size of a horse?
I can't tell you how many time I have heard people unfamiliar with the mountains make those statements. Let me start by explaining about the the forest cats, we can build up to the larger cousins the hill cats and mountain cats as we go along.
Forest cats area beautiful race of cats, sleek of fur and shiny black. They are a bit slimmer than your hunting dog, but almost of a size. The amazing part is that they weigh a good bit more than your hunting dog, and in some cases twice as much. They come up about mid thigh on the average man when on all fours and are a holy terror when defending themselves. The cats are fairly intelligent or so I have heard, but thankfully have never witnessed. One of the most beautiful sights described to me by a hunter was of the sleek black cat darting between the tree trunks in the forest.
Now the hill cats are about twice the size of their forest cousins, and have grey fur. These cats are very agile, and appear to have a very high pain tolerance. One of the hunters once said that it took three men to take one of these large cats down, and even then only on man survived. They are amazingly quick and strong. Their primary source of food in the hills are the wild sheep, although I have heard that on occasion one will wander into a small village or a farmstead and take a child or two.
The mountain cats, now that is an interesting cat. They are the size of a horse, and can eat an entire horse at one sitting. I have noticed that amongst the mountain cats, there is no consistent fur color, it varies from cat to cat. Interesting part is that in the southern mountains there is a tribe of people that have actually trained the cats like we train our horses, and as such they ride them from place to place.
Out of all three cats, the mountain cats are the least aggressive for some reason, while the forest cats are the most aggressive. If I didn't know any better I would say that their size determines how likely they are to attack you, at the same time I would walk up to a mountain cat and try to put it."
Author Unknown, found on a scrap of cloth in a cave in the northern foothills.
Items found with note: Bones, apparently human
A Broken Spear
A bent sword
What appears to have once been the hide of a hill cat
I do believe he was the third hunter to face the hill cat and apparently he did not survive.
Sir Malaross Head Lore Seeker
I can't tell you how many time I have heard people unfamiliar with the mountains make those statements. Let me start by explaining about the the forest cats, we can build up to the larger cousins the hill cats and mountain cats as we go along.
Forest cats area beautiful race of cats, sleek of fur and shiny black. They are a bit slimmer than your hunting dog, but almost of a size. The amazing part is that they weigh a good bit more than your hunting dog, and in some cases twice as much. They come up about mid thigh on the average man when on all fours and are a holy terror when defending themselves. The cats are fairly intelligent or so I have heard, but thankfully have never witnessed. One of the most beautiful sights described to me by a hunter was of the sleek black cat darting between the tree trunks in the forest.
Now the hill cats are about twice the size of their forest cousins, and have grey fur. These cats are very agile, and appear to have a very high pain tolerance. One of the hunters once said that it took three men to take one of these large cats down, and even then only on man survived. They are amazingly quick and strong. Their primary source of food in the hills are the wild sheep, although I have heard that on occasion one will wander into a small village or a farmstead and take a child or two.
The mountain cats, now that is an interesting cat. They are the size of a horse, and can eat an entire horse at one sitting. I have noticed that amongst the mountain cats, there is no consistent fur color, it varies from cat to cat. Interesting part is that in the southern mountains there is a tribe of people that have actually trained the cats like we train our horses, and as such they ride them from place to place.
Out of all three cats, the mountain cats are the least aggressive for some reason, while the forest cats are the most aggressive. If I didn't know any better I would say that their size determines how likely they are to attack you, at the same time I would walk up to a mountain cat and try to put it."
Author Unknown, found on a scrap of cloth in a cave in the northern foothills.
Items found with note: Bones, apparently human
A Broken Spear
A bent sword
What appears to have once been the hide of a hill cat
I do believe he was the third hunter to face the hill cat and apparently he did not survive.
Sir Malaross Head Lore Seeker
Friday, October 8, 2010
A bit about dragons
So, you want to know about dragons huh? Well, where do we begin? They're big, vicious and very cunning, at least that is what the ignorant will tell you.
The truth is, dragons are great people. Once you have befriended one, you have a very good friend who will make certain you are safe to the best of his ability.
The tales are true about their size though, even hatchlings are big, standing almost six feet at the shoulder. They start out a bright flame red in color when they are first born, and the scales get darker with age, until they appear black. Once the scales have reached their darkest color, they start to develop white around the edges. Eventually they will turn all white if the dragon lives long enough. To date I have only heard of one dragon that has lived that long, and nobody knows where he has disappeared to.
Dragonfire, one of the most dangerous weapons in the world, it is actually a form of liquid. To this day we are not sure exactly what produces it, but we do know that the dragon can choose how hot it is when he breathes it. We also know that it can melt metal and stone when the dragon desires it. The dragons teeth and claws are amazing, able to slice through steel and stone with great ease, they make for very valuable weapons, although most dragon hunters fail to survive long enough to acquire one. Most people don't know that young dragons will lose their teeth when they are around 150 years old, and it is these teeth that are most often given to close friends of the dragons. The scales too are prized amongst man, for they offer some protection from fire and can turn most blades aside, if properly made into a suit of armor. Man has discovered though that the scales of older dragons do not work as well as the scales from young dragons. (this may have something to do with the size and thickness of the scales though) Dragon scales can be dyed, but it does take a special type of dye to change it's color.
How does a dragon fly?
Oh, that's an easy one, they have a form of magic that allows their body weight to diminish when their wings are spread. This magic is tied into their nature, which is magical to begin with. Some dragons fly in the manner of large birds, while others appear to swim through the skies. You should see the water dragons when they are in the air, they resemble overgrown snakes with wispy wings.
Dragons are like humans in a lot of ways, they are highly intelligent, have individual personalities, and you never know if they will side with you or against you, although a dragon is not likely to stab you in the back like a human would.
What you may not know is that the numbers of dragons dropped dramatically many years ago, and now we only have around a hundred of these great creatures left in this world. For some reason they appear to be gathering in the mountains outside of our kingdom, there have been over a dozen different dragons spotted over the mountains. A few months ago a hunter reported seeing a group of them flying together, I wonder just what is going on.
I hope this answers your questions about the dragons, if not feel free to ask me for more.
Sincerely,
Valarious
Monday, September 27, 2010
DEMON STEEDS
Well, I started this out from the phone, but it didn't work too well, so now I am going to post it from the desktop.
Today we discuss the horse???? Midnight.
Midnight is not quite a normal horse, some call him a demon steed, others call him a dark unicorn, but all fear his kind. The reason behind this is that he is a carnivore, now that in and of itself is no big deal, but add in his ability to read the surface thoughts of people and you have a devastating combination.
The question is why would such a powerful creature associate with a simple human? Simple, Lyam saved him from an old trap.
Were did the demon steeds come from? Simple enough, they came from unicorn stock originally. When a unicorn was captured by a man that sought to turn it into a beast for war, the creature went insane. As the creature became violent, it's fur darkened and grew rougher, it's horn melted back into it's forehead and the teeth became jagged.
A servant to this evil man saw what was happening and tried to warn his master, only to be slain for his impertinence. The now former unicorn saw this and kicked out at the walls of his cage, his now sharper hooves digging into the wood and snapping the rope holding it all together.
As the walls fell apart the beast charged the man and attacked, getting his first taste for blood. Soon he killed off all of the men that were in the area and drove the regular horses ahead of him into the nearby forests.
That was how we came to have demon steeds in the world.
You can find out more about these unique animals in the Draken Trilogy.
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