September Update – Yet More Refining

Howdy!

Summer is almost over, which means my brain can, in theory, stop going on strike any day now. Or, well, it could if not for the fact that I’ve got a month full of deferred dental and medical maintenance to deal with. It all needed to get done, but I’m also very ready for a few weeks of that just… not happening. Still, I keep plugging away at various projects. They’ll get done when they get done and I’m determined not to rush them.


The Refinery

Gil Girau Chronicles – Quality control pass on book 1 is more or less done, we’re in the final polishing and branding stage and I’ve found myself in need of more art than I expected. The general wisdom is don’t draw your own book covers but you know that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m at very least going to draw my own maps. Book 2 is in progress off and on, but I’ve come up against a worldbuilding-shaped wall, so I’ve mostly been working on filling in the gaps in my own knowledge. There might be appendices in the works — at very least explanations of The Creatures that appear as well as various words in various languages. The silver lining is that I’ll be a lot more prepared to tackle my next series without it taking four or five years to get a book out. I hope.

Salt 2 – Still in the quench bucket. I’m resisting mightily the urge to make a resource map for the continent because that’s the kind of nerd I am.

Raw Materials – I mentioned “Project: Strongholds” and “Project: Contact” last time, but the bin where I keep my free-floating ideas just keeps getting more cluttered. This is a good thing! I’ve taken the Sanderson approach to idea wrangling – write everything down, organize it vaguely, come back to it later and see what fits together.


Back to work with me! Or rather, balancing work and rest while my face (and also nervous system) heals. Stay hydrated, take care of your teeth, and keep on keeping on, y’all.

July Update – Books Keep Booking

Howdy!

I missed a couple of months in there but in my own defense, we had a great deal of Stuff Happening around the house as well as personally that made it difficult to work on writing, which meant there wasn’t a whole lot to update. Am I writing this now to procrastinate doing more writing because it’s supposed to be unconscionably hot today and my brain tends to go on strike in the summer? Perhaps. But it has also been since March since I said anything.

A Peek Into The Refinery

Because I like visual metaphors and writing books is sometimes like working with clay. Or metal. This is an experiment, but the contents are more or less the same as they have been.

Gil Girau Chronicles – Book One is, in theory, fully drafted at a rough total of 115k words, awaiting a quality control pass and final polishing/branding. This is by far the longest I’ve spent on a book and I suspect it’ll show. Book Two is on the workbench as we speak – I’ve reorganized the plot somewhat and am currently making sure my outline and notes are folded together properly before I stick this thing back in the fire and get going with the second draft. Book Three is in the smelter, so to speak. It currently exists as a bullet list and an explosion of digital sticky notes that I will hopefully be able to organize better once I shape up Book Two.

Salt 2: As You Do – Sitting in the quench bucket while I hammer out the dragon story. It’s also stuck in line behind a cat for the moment.

Raw Materials – I have two projects for which I’m slowly gathering ideas while I work on other things. They’re currently labeled “Project: Strongholds” and “Project: Contact.” One of them has most of a cast and part of a plan, the other has maybe a protagonist and many vague ideas. Both are fantasy, both are set on Uthir, though the world will likely have a different name in each of them. Different time periods, different cultures, all that jazz. Mainly, I’m listing these for my own records – “yes, I have been planning this story for [many] years.”


Now, back to work with me. These words ain’t gonna write (or, in some cases, build) themselves. Stay hydrated and keep on keeping on, y’all.

December Update – Rolling Right Along

Howdy!

In theory my last update was in August, but for some reason unknown to me it doesn’t actually show up on the main page. The update before that was in June, so either way it’s been a minute. I’m still poking plots with sticks, as one does. My gratitude is endless for the fact that 2023 has been by and large a quiet year, after having three (four or five, really, in my personal case) years in a row of complete and utter chaos. Do I feel like it’s the calm before a very large storm? Maybe I do. Am I wrong? We won’t know until we get there. Is this just me having a hefty helping of paranoia? Most definitely.

What Am I Working On?

Gil Girau Chronicles – Book One (Urien of Escathir) is complete, currently in revision to add in things I’ve come up with in the course of further building up the world around the characters. Book Two (Shadows of Salrohis) was my NaNo project, and I got about 60k words into it before a good friend pointed out that a main villain needs work and the scenes are all out of order. So I’m rewriting parts of that one already, but it’s in progress. Yes, I am working on two books at once, sort of, with Book Three (Dragon of Gil Girau) in the noodliest stages of planning. The NaNoWriMo burnout is a little bit strong with this one, so rewrites, retcons, and revisions have been my focus over the course of December. I hope to have Urien of Escathir out sometime next year. Hopefully. Finally. I’ve only been working on it for two whole years. (Technically three, but I’m not going to count the proto-draft.)

Salt 2: Electric Boogaloo – Yet again on standby. This is in part because I’m waiting for my father to get the cat off his desk (if you know you know) and in part because I’ve been so focused on my own work. I haven’t looked at my draft of this in a while and having learned a lot about writing from spending two years mucking with Gil Girau, I’m a little bit afraid to.


2024 is just around the corner. I don’t know how this happened, and I’m reticent to say anything about how I expect it to go. We won’t know until we get there and the last ten or so years have shaped me into a person that very much doesn’t want to make plans and promises that could very easily be snapped away by circumstances beyond anyone’s control. My personal mantra is slowly becoming “we’ll see.”

And so we will. Take care of yourselves, y’all, I’ll be around. Lurking quietly and poking plots with sticks.

August Update – Summer Slump

Howdy!

The Summer Slump has me firmly in its clutches, but at least this year I’m aware of it. I was doing alright while it was June and rainy, but now that it’s just sunny and hot for most of the day… it is now Tired Hours. Luckily I found a partial solution this year: closing the curtains earlier in the day. A simple thing, but apparently the light is what gets to me.

This doesn’t mean I’ve stopped working though, just that things have been moving a bit slower and that I’ve been more distracted. I did a smart this year – rather than trying to put more things on my plate, I’ve been focusing on what I’m already working on. A lesson one would think I’d have learned by now, but I don’t call myself a late-bloomer for no reason.

What Am I Working On?

Gil Girau ChroniclesWe’re in the home stretch of the rewrite! Couple more chapters to go. Still no release date on it but I’m hoping to have it at least done, if not scrubbed down, sanded, and polished before mid-October, when I’ll be ironing out the plot of the second book to write for NaNo. I know the broad strokes but there’s a lot of discovery writing happening with these characters, too. Tending the garden as I go, with this series.

Salt 2: Electric Boogaloo – Still on standby, but I’m expecting to send in my clunky little half-draft for review soon. Happy Salt-iversary, y’all! Sukhetai and Tanan have been chilling out for about two years now due to Life Happening, but we’ll get there eventually.

Grifters – Skyrim is the gift that keeps on giving, and I keep on playing! Figured I’d slap this one in the update because the series recently passed episode 50 and we’re about three episodes away from the end of Act 1. Which means I have some screenplays to write. It’s going to be another long series, but hopefully not quite as long as Dawnbreakers. (Who knows, maybe ES6 will be out by the time I’m done.)

Other than some off-and-on worldbuilding and creature design to help flesh out the Gil Girau Chronicles as needed, that’s all from me! I’ll see you in… probably two-ish months, if the pattern holds.

Keep on keeping on, y’all!

June Update – Happy Pride! And Monsoon Season.

Howdy!

Happy Pride Month AND Jurassic June! I had no idea the latter was a thing but honestly, I’m loving it. (Most of it, anyway.) Prehistory and queerness can coexist and that’s half of Uthir’s design bible in a nutshell. Prehistory, queerness, and dragons.

It’s not technically Colorado’s monsoon season but it sure does feel like it. It’s been raining (and hailing, mostly hailing, actually) since mid-May and honestly, if not for flooding concerns, I’d be here for it. At least where I am, anyway – I’ve seen the hail and flood damage in some places just to the south and it is No Joke.

You know it’s been a boring few months when all I talk about is the weather. (In fairness, I find weather interesting.) The most excitement I’ve had in the last couple of months was Reed Timmer driving the Dominator up through the Front Range and Prehistoric Planet dropping a season 2. (Deserts and Badlands are my favorite episodes. Nobody mucks with Dreadnoughtus.)

After the last few years, I’ll take boring! Boring good.

What Am I Working On?

The Gil Girau Chronicles – The series formerly known as the Surveyors’ Guild Chronicles. Renamed partially because the Surveyors’ Guild doesn’t play quite as big a role in the second and third books (this will be a trilogy, as one does) and partially so that I can use that series title if I do a “so here’s how this guild was founded” story. I’m currently rewriting GGC Book One. Not all of it, but I realized I needed a few new scenes and was rushing a couple of developments. It also felt slightly aimless after a certain chapter, so I’ve adjusted some reasons for doing things. It’s going slowly – I’m writing little chunks at a time rather than trying to NaNo it, but it is, slowly, coming together.

Salt 2: Electric Boogaloo – Still on standby. I happen to know that a certain cat is in progress so it shouldn’t be too long, now. I may have to speedrun Urien’s book so that I’m ready to do rewrites after I slide this half-draft-half-outline to my dad.

And that’s about it. I’ve always got other ideas brewing but I’m doing my best to focus on just Gil Girau right at the moment. (That and Skyrim, but that’s ongoing.) Nagoa is patient, though his feathered, sickle-clawed sidekick might not be. I’m trying not to think too far ahead of myself here. See you in a few months, probably! (Ha-HAH past-me, I did make an update before July.)

Keep on keeping on, y’all.

April Update – Duck Herding

Howdy!

How’d it get to be April already? Last time I checked it was November. And then I blinked. I’m going to assume I’ve just been in autopilot and decompression mode since then.

NaNo update – I completed NaNo! My final total was 67,805 words. The only problem is that I did not actually finish the book. I got pretty close to where I assume the end of it is, but I’m to this day still poking at the first draft. More on that later.

Decompressing – The last few months, I’ve been watching my dad get his strength back, if not his taste buds. He’s back to writing and walking and baking bread. (It is really good bread.) I couldn’t be more proud of him. It’s been a weird year. I hope I’ve learned something from it.

What Am I Working On?

The Surveyors’ Guild Chronicles – That’ll be Urien of Escathir and the rest of the trilogy. (Tentative titles: Shades of Salrohis and The Dragon of Gil Girau.) Titles are very much a WIP, much like the rest of it. I think I’m a few hundred words away from the end of the first book, as of writing this. It’s had a few setbacks. For example: a character that I thought was going to be a POV character ended up… not? Which means I need to rethink my outline for the rest of the series. I may not need to change much, but after a certain point this draft feels… a little bit meh. I’m looking for ways to diagnose the problem and tighten up the plots as we speak. (And watching a certain writer’s BYU lectures on YouTube, which has been very enlightening.) I’m learning a lot.

Barbarians 2: Electric Boogaloo – I’ve still got my half-a-draft sitting in my documents folder idling. Dad’s on a roll with his new stuff and I’m waiting for him to get the cat settled before I chuck this in his direction for Tan and Wazor’s half. My hope is that I’ll have Urien’s first book out before then and will be able to apply what I’ve learned to what I’ve got going on in Iron. (Title WIP.) Sukhetai is my problem child. I will find a way to make him Better.

Nagoa – I’m definitely not already planning Strongholds of the Sun or whatever Nagoa’s series ends up being called. I’ve done test writes of him with a friend and… Oh Boy. He’s fun. I’m excited to see what kind of story I can tell with him and his crew. All I have right now is a cast and a setting. I could discovery-write a first draft, just chuck ’em all into the jungle and see what happens, but I am very much an outliner. His “noodling” document currently consists of a bunch of names and ideas for what might be cool. Same world as Urien’s story, which means I can use the same magic system, but this takes place about a thousand years prior and on a different continent. With dinosaurs. As you do.

Other Noodling – I’ve started a folder full of ideas. Physically. It turns out my brain works better if I can see stuff in front of my face, which I learned when I put up a white board of sorts next to my desk so I could take temporary notes. I now have an actual folder with loose-leaf paper in it where I’ve started collecting story ideas. I’m excited. Stories will Happen. (Assuming I can get Urien’s hammered into shape.)

That’s all from me! Tune in in July when I remember again that updates are a thing I’m supposed to be doing. 😀 Which is mostly a joke… but we’ll see. Keep on keeping on.

Unlimited!

Hello, my friends!

I’m typing this in the middle of a rather severe thunderstorm but I’m very pleased to announce that all of my books are now available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited! The Tales from Liserna trilogy has been updated, finally, which means all of the dialogue tags and bugs have been fixed (the ones I had knowledge of anyway) and I can get on to other things.  Namely, finishing the second Redgate book.

I’ll let you all know when next I have stuff.  Slowly whittling down the pile of projects. Slowly.

See you when I see you,
-Ej

Character Tip: The Well of Nope

You ever have characters that, no matter what you do, you can’t seem to find a decent conflict for them? Maybe they’re a major support that needs a subplot, maybe it’s a main character who wants nothing to do with the story being told, or maybe it’s a character that should have a bigger role in the story but nothing is working.

Enter, the Well of Nope. Also known as the giant list of things that your character never wants to do, be, or witness.

There’s a phrase that I keep in my head when I’m writing, especially when I’m planning a story: “Never name the well from which you will not drink.” Not only useful to remember for character development, but decent life advice as well. Never say never, as in, never say you’ll never do something. This can have unintended side effects. For instance, when I was in school I constantly told myself that I’d never be an author because I don’t tell good stories. Esper and the rest of the Five Realms happened. I also told myself I’d never be a good multiplayer gamer, because lots of information overwhelms me. Overwatch happened.

So, what would your characters “never?” This question actually goes deeper than one might think. As an example: a young man never wants to become like his father. Which begs two questions: What about the father does he hate, and what is the father actually like? Answering those not only gives insight into the boy’s psychology, but also provides a direction and potential for growth. Let’s say the boy dislikes his father because he ignores his son. That would, of course, be from the young man’s perspective and not the objective truth. The flip side to that is that the father is a hard worker and wants desperately for his son to have a better life than he did, so he throws himself into his work.

That would mean a potential path of growth for the young man might go something like this: The son has grown up and made a name for himself, but now he has a young apprentice. He keeps working, but when he realizes that he’s ignoring said apprentice, he faces one of his “never’s” from the Well of Nope. From there he can confront that issue while maintaining his hard work, eventually becoming very much like his father, but not just the negatives. The end point might be that once he’s made peace with the fact that he is his father’s son, he realizes he is better able to manage both his work and his apprentice. He ends up knowing when to work and when not to ignore, and resolves whatever conflict stemmed from the neglected apprentice.

Marcus, from The Redgate Chronicles, also has an example, and one that illustrates how the Well of Nope can also be used as a massive catalyst. Because of his appearance, he believes he’ll never find love. When that belief is proven false, it gives him both hope and an exploitable weakness. It leads to him both screwing up in the worst possible way, but also to him trying again. The massive screw up? Changes the world forever, and leads him toward encountering and subsequently dealing with even more of his never’s.

While single never’s can have far reaching consequences, there are usually multiple answers to this question. Esper has a long list of never’s that he confronts throughout his story. All of them are double-edged swords, bringing both complications and boons. See how many answers you can find to that question, and pull them apart to see how the result would affect the character, both negatively and positively. How many of those can you weave into the plot? How many would change its course entirely?

From which wells would your character never drink? 

Think about it.
– E.J. Lowell

The Five Realms – Senabyss

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The surface of Mars as seen by the Curiosity rover; my inspiration for the deserts of Senabyss. (via Reddit)

Synopsis

Often called the Dark Realms or the Demon Realms, Senabyss is, by most accounts, a desolate place, full of creatures that don’t belong anywhere else. Unlike Liserna and Oberun, Arcturus and Senabyss aren’t so much harmonic opposites as they are harmonic equals. Beings from either realm can exist in the other, but it takes a great deal of energy and willpower to get from one place to the other. As could be guess by the common names for this Realm, the denizens are collectively called Demons. Two languages are spoken by the Demons, depending on the class they fall into: Infernal, which is the more common tongue, and Abyssal, which is spoken mostly by the Archdemon’s court.

Lands

The main Realm of Senabyss is ever-changing, with tempestuous seas and raging storms stirred by the high levels of volcanism, and massive tidal shifts. The earth is iron-rich and gives the ground a reddish tinge no matter where one looks, but which is especial evident in the vast stretches of desert in the rain-shadows of almost perpetually smoking mountain ranges. Anything living in this Realm is hardy, adaptable, and generally shares a chaotic attitude that mimics the natural order of the plane. The Demons manage to live in a tenuous symbiosis with their surroundings, but most established cultures are focused only on one thing: survival.

However, the main Realm is only one part of the Dark Realms. In the skies of Senabyss, an even more desolate sight can be seen: the remains of a once-glorious domain, a world broken to its core, trailing pieces of itself across the cosmos. It is the pull from this dead world that influences the tides of Senabyss, and many legends exist about it. The Shattered Realm, the Darkest Realm, is rarely discussed, save for being invoked as a manner of speaking. To all conventional knowledge, nothing lives there, and if there are still remnants from the Realm’s former living days… everyone hopes they don’t exist.

Countries

There aren’t so much established countries or kingdoms on Senabyss as there are tribes and clans, sometimes bands with no more organization than an average family group. Most Demons see any kind of order as unnecessary, since it will likely not survive in the harsh environment, anyway. That’s not to say that the people of the Dark Realms are barbaric, in fact they resort to trade more often than bloodshed, much to the surprise of foreigners.

The exception to the rule is the Archdemon’s Court. In one seemingly static, calm place in Senabyss’s otherwise difficult landscape, one Demon rules over a collection of underlings, officers, Knights, and Lords, usually with an iron fist. The first was Tharenor, who created the Realm in the beginning, and after he stepped down, Asmodeus took up the mantle. There have, of course, been various uprisings against whichever Lord of Chaos sits upon the throne, almost all of which ended in the challengers swearing fealty to the Archdemon. However, in recent history, there has been at least one successful revolution, by a Far-born with unusual talent.

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Archdemon Asmodeus, a Firbolg and trickster extraordinaire.

People

The native races of Senabyss are a chaotic, eclectic lot, changed and shaped by the power of the Realm on which they live. They are the most likely to venture out into other worlds, most usually Omnia, simply because they can withstand whatever the relatively peaceful environments can throw at them. Most pure-born Demons are fire resistant, and can withstand intense heat, cold, and toxic conditions. However, nobody knows how long the natural lifespan of a Demon is. For all of their adaptations, most die either from accidents, environmental catastrophes, and each other. The most common types of Demons include Firbolg, Fomorians, Imps, Gargoyles, and Far-born.

  • The Firbolg are what most think of when they are asked to imagine a Demon. They are also the most Human looking, and stand around 6 and a half feet tall on average. They possess a wide variety of traits that set them apart, the most common being horns, tails, and scales. Some Firbolg bloodlines also grow wings, or have other abnormalities like several pairs of horns or multiple tails. For as long as Senabyss has existed, the ruler has been a Firbolg, or a Far-born, and as such the Firbolg are the most likely to speak Abyssal.
  • Fomorians are large, ox-like humanoids, standing well over 7 feet tall and built to take heavy damage. They have wide jaws and tusk-like fangs, and usually sport at least two pairs of large horns. They usually speak Infernal, because it’s an easier language for them to physically produce, but some have learned Abyssal to be able to conduct business with the Firbolg.
  • Imps are gaunt, devious, and the smallest of the Demon races. They stand 4 to 5 feet tall, and have long arms that end in claws. They hunt in packs, teaming up in scores to take down prey or enemies. They aren’t the smartest of all races, and tend to swarm rather than have any manner of tactics. Imps are often employed as mass foot soldiers in Senabyssian armies, sometimes to devastating effect.
  • Gargoyles are massive, lumbering brutes that tower over the other Demon races, even without standing up straight. They, like the Imps, have very long arms, but the Gargoyles’ are thick, built more like tree trunks than useful appendages. They walk around on their knuckles, hunched over, and don’t speak much of any language. However, they are intelligent, possibly even more so than the Imps, and know how to use their massive presence to their own advantage. The Gargoyles are on good terms with both the Firbolg and the Fomorians, and are actually the most peaceful race, relatively speaking.
  • One of the main ways Demons multiply isn’t by actual reproduction, but by contamination. The Far-born are members of races from other Realms, who have become become so affected by Demonic corruption that they begin to resemble one, themselves. They mostly come from Omnia, since Humans are the most easily affected by any manner of magical change, and while some choose to live out their lives on their home plane, many do flee to Senabyss. Those who master their Demon blood are often looked on with respect by the Firbolg and the Fomorians, and there have even been Far-born Archdemons in recent history.

I hope you all enjoyed this overview of the Dark Realms, and the people who inhabit it. Next week, I have to backtrack a little bit, because there’s a race in Oberun that I missed. Good job, self! Hope to see you then.

– E.J.

The Five Realms – Arcturus

Arcturus

Synopsis

The Astral Realm, the Divine Realm, home to gods, Gaurdians, and floating cities of light and magic. Unlike Liserna and Oberun, Arcturus and Senabyss aren’t so much harmonic opposites as they are harmonic equals. Beings from either realm can exist in the other, but it takes a great deal of energy and willpower to get from one place to the other. Beings from Arcturus are generally called Immortals, because they tend not to age or die. The languages spoken here are Archaic, used as the common tongue by the Celestials, Eionic, which is the language of the long-dead Dragon race, and used mainly by the Alkali when speaking to each other, and Primordial, a primitive language spoken only by the tribal Groundlings.

Lands

From anywhere in Arcturus, you can see the stars, even in the daytime. They flicker through the clouds in bands of vivid pastel shimmers, and are even more beautiful at night when the auroras light up the entire sky, both above and below the High Cities. Most civilized places on Arcturus are situated on islands that levitate above the landscapes and seascapes below, suspended by the innate and powerful magic of the Realm. There are very few places on the Ground that are settled and civilized, because of the extraordinarily high concentrations of wild energy that flow through the ground and water, and permeates the air. This incredible power has adverse affects on those of a more fragile nature, thus leading to very little contact between the Ground and the Cities.

The sea is similarly avoided by most Isle dwellers, despite the plethora of edible creatures that can be plucked from it, but the Clestials have come up with their own technology and systems to harvest resources from around them. They are a very sustainable civilization in general, with greenhouse farms, atmospheric water harvesters, and alchemy machines that help keep everything in working order. They’ve imported plants and animals from other Realms, and over the years they’ve adapted to the strange environment. Most plants in the Cities are used for food, while most animals are kept as pets, transportation, or for shearing to make fibers used for clothing and decoration.

Countries

  • The Ground

    The main landmass of Arcturus, which consists of vast stretches of mountains, valleys, deep chasms, forests, deserts, and grasslands, all shrouded much of the time in veils of mist and fog. Veins of magic in the rocks result in alloys and materials unique to Arcturus, as well as creatures that resemble nothing else on the Five Realms. Surrounding the Ground is a massive ocean, called the Astral Sea.

  • The Middle Isles

    Low-floating islands populated mainly by the Alkali, in small towns and cities. They trade different forms of salt as their main form of currency, and don’t have any one ruler. They are mainly self-sustaining, with some groups of harvesters flying down to the Ground to gather components and other miscellany, via the use of special suits constructed to withstand the huge power of the land. Because they are generally below the clouds, the Middle Isles do get rain and snowfall, resulting in rivers that cascade in waterfalls off the sides of the islands.

  • The High Cities

    The towering, sprawling cities of the Celestials sit upon the highest floating islands, in the midst of the clouds. They have become alchemically and magically advanced, constructing large converters that harvest water and other minerals from the atmosphere, and a network of Stangs that allows them to travel from city to city easily. The capital of the High Cities is Æspherium, the City of Hope, from which the Kings rule Arcturus. For most of recorded history, only one of the two seats has been occupied, by the god of Sun and Summer, Dinmora.

People

The native races of Arcturus aren’t as widely varied as the other Realms, in terms of number, and tend to keep to themselves. They are the least likely of any Realm to adventure into the others, so seeing an Immortal anywhere outside of Arcturus is practically unheard of. Immortals include Celestials, Primordials, Archons, Ephemerals, and Alkali.

  • Celestials stand an average of just over 6 feet tall, and are built slim and willowy. Their skin shines as though it was made of starlight, with some even having brighter pinpricks in constellations, just as Humans would have patterns of freckles. Their hair tends to be fine and silky, and, like their skin, varies in rich, metallic tones, from silver-pale to obsidian. Their eyes tend to be vivid and multi-toned, with heterochromia being the norm. Celestials are by far the most common race in Arcturus, as well as the oldest.
  • Primordials stand from 5 to 6 and a half feet tall, and are generally built like highly muscular Humans, with two glaring exceptions: their skulls and faces resemble that of a Dragon more than any other race, and they have an extra pair of arms. Primordials make their homes not on the floating islands of Arcturus, but on the ground, where they’ve built up tribal societies around the patterns of magic in the rocks, rivers, and trees. They are very much in tune with this energy, and it has shaped them in return, possibly being responsible for the strange appearance of these creatures.
  • Archons stand about 7 to 9 feet tall, with long features and slender bodies. They have subtle, smooth scales on their skin in brightly colored and intricate patterns, that change as they age and go through important events in their lives. These patterns can also be color-changed to communicate to other Archons, though they also speak the common tongue. Some Archons live and work alongside the Celestials in their floating cities, but others have formed loose-knit communities around the outskirts, and sometimes on nearby islands, accessible through various means.
  • Ephemerals are serpentine beings that possess a humanoid torso and face, but their lower bodies have long, snakelike tails instead of legs, and whose arms, tails, and backs are patterned with a wide, colorful variety of feathers. From head to tail, Ephemerals are generally around 10 feet long, and use their feathers for a variety of purposes, including limited gliding. They form wandering bands alongside the Primordials, trekking along the ground in search of resources and trade.
  • Alkali are a small race, standing only 3 and a half to 5 feet tall, and are the only race in Arcturus who speak primarily Eionic. They live on the scattered islands that float between ground level and cloud level, rather than above, like the ones the Celestials live on. Their skin and hair come in a wide variety of shades, usually metallic or vibrant tones. They have the largest variety of efficient airships in the Five Realms, and often times the most contact they have with the other races is trade, though the Groundlings prefer to walk, usually, and the Celestials prefer teleportation via the various Stangs in each city.

 

03 - ChampionCut
From the in-progress Five Realms Oracle deck.

Celestial Guardians are extraordinary individuals, usually from other Realms, chosen by the rulers of Arcturus to defend the Realm and its people, as well as perform tasks in their Realm of origin that serve to keep the peace between all Five. They are given wings, like those of a large bird, to symbolize their position and rank, which can be summoned and dismissed at will. Celestial Guardians can only be chosen in times of impending chaos, and only if two or more rulers (or deities) agree on the decision. With Dinmora being the only ruler for hundreds of years, after Luscerann stepped down, he’s had to get creative in finding other deities that agree with him. However, because of the infrequency and importance of these Guardians, there have been rare occurrences in which one is called back from even Death to serve.


Thanks for reading through this exploration of Arcturus! It is by far one of the more mysterious Realms, if not the most so. In the next installment I’ll be diving into the Dark Realms, and as always, let me know if you’d like me to write about anything in particular!

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