Anyone do any fantasy writing?

[Lief Erikson]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
BTW, just wanted to officially add that I'm open to any suggestions any-one might have, and that if they want to see any of my stuff, to PM me, and I'll be more than happy to show it to them.

Do you have any short stories written? If so, I'd be interested in reading them .

[Lief Erikson]

Anyone interested in bringing up their spiciest character ? Or just the character that they like best?

I think my favorite character in my book, as I've already said, is probably Darkagrin. He's the villain of my books, and the reason I like him best is because he's the smartest.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Sorry, no short stories.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

My characters aren't really that good, but I'll give a couple of examples:

Eigath is the son of King Arsun, and the heir to the Crown of the realm of Canrath. As a youth, he was always scholarly and educated, and interested in the various cultures of the world; in particular, he was interested in the Cthalgar, a tribe of barbarians from long ago whose influence once spanned almost all of the North-lands. He delved deep into tomes of lore and history, attempting to learn everything he could of them. Eventually, he realised that the source of their power had been in front of him all along; their worship of Vilkroth, King of the dark Gods and far greater than the barbarian Gods, gave them His favour, and the ability to overrun their neighbours in their time. After learning of the source of their power, he began to engage in secret midnight rituals, and worshipped the Demon-God in hopes of gaining power. As a natural result, he gained an intense hatred of all things holy to Eltarn, the greatest enemy of Vilkroth; when he took the throne, he changed his name to Gulstan, which in the tongue of the Cthalgar meant Black King.

Fallos was the High Priest of Eltarn during his reign. He was a fairly simplistic man, a bit unusual for one of his rank, enjoying the simple things of life more than riches and wealth. He was a content and practical man, but a bit stern on sticking to the rules. When he first heard the rumours of Eigath, he did not believe them; as such a thing had never happened before, he would not believe it had happened now. The Queen, who suspected her son's apostasy, begged him to heal the unnaturally aged and dying King, but he would not, due to a rule made by one of the High Priests of long ago, that the members of the Priesthood would not involve themselves in matters of politics and succession to the throne. When he realised the truth in the rumours, he was horrified, and by the time he found out, it was too late to save the life of the King. He was terribly shaken, and blamed himself wholly for the whole happening, but stayed true to his faith and beliefs, not compromising them for possible solutions to this which would go against the teachings he stood for. He began to age quickly due to the terrible stress upon himself, and when the Scrolls of Law (along with other artifacts) were laid to rest, he stepped down from the High Priesthood, and lived in peaceful quiet, constantly repenting of his mistakes; he died peacefully shortly thereafter, still blaming himself, but confident that the matter would be taken care of by his God.

Alas, I also wanted to mention Kwinetha, but I have no time. I'll get to her after work.

Pfffft. I've done extremely little history other than the background for stories. All I can think of is the Creation story.

[Earniel]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Written books already? You can't be talking to me. I've never gotten more than c. 50 pages on a book.

My apologies. From what I read about your book it sounded more or less in an advanced stage. I guess I missed the only 50 pages-comment. Sorry.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

No problem.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to:

HEROES OF LISMAN

Tonight's Episode:

Fair Ladies and Damsels in Distress


For our main feature, please give a big hand to Kwinetha!

Ok, I'll stop acting up now.

Kwinetha is the wife of Arsun, and (as a natural result thereof) the mother of Eigath. While not much younger than the King, she is very beautiful for her age (ever see Glennis John [or whatever her name is] in the Court Jester? Think her a few years older, and with a white streak through her hair). She is a very noble and proud person. It was she who first tried to warn Fallos of Eigath's dark ways; it was she who begged him to heal King Arsun, and keep him on the throne. When Eigath ascends to the throne, she stays true to her faith, never once even in name or appearance accepting his apostasy for her own. As a mother, she blames herself for his fall, and any love she may have for him is drowned out in the need she feels to right this wrong. She attempts to convince Fallos to attend the ritual of his coronation and assassinate him then. She remains a constant thorn in his side, and a dominant person in under-ground organizations that remain faithful to Eltarn and oppose Eigath, and is a very influential behind-the-scenes figure in attempts to overthrow or assassinate him. Why he allowed her to remain alive so long is a mystery, unless it were to preserve face or merely to as a form of amusement. Eventually, she did die, on the altar of Vilkroth and under the knife of Eigath. Yet to the end, she never lost her dignity, or her unswerving faith.

And here are a couple of ladies from my other trilogy.
Armine is a young child, only ten years of age, but in her is a simple purity and an undying faith in the works of Eltarn, and trusts him to take care of all things. Because of her tremendous faith, she has great ability with the supernatural, which comes in useful at crucial story times (one in especial).

Tara was captured as a very young girl by a party of raiding Dark-Elves, with the intention of sacrificing her to their goddess Zharha. However, the priestesses recognized within her a tremendous amount of untapped power, almost great enough to rival a deity. Rather than sacrificing her, they bound her with spells of control, and raised her as one of them. She was inducted into their Sisterhood at an early age, and acted as a priestess of Zharha for some time. When she was freed from the spells of the priestesses by Armine, her name and early past were unknown, and she was named Tara, which is Elvish for "Pure lady" (though I will probably change it to the Elder Tongue equivalent) as a substitute. She is tortured by visions and dreams of the atrocities she committed as a member of the Sisterhood, and ever is her face dark and troubled. She views her task (to give her life to put Zharha in her proper place) as a form of penance, or atonement for her terrible deeds. When it is done at last, her first and last peaceful smile graces her lips, as her body lies on the ground.

Any questions, comments or characters from anyone?

[Galenavar]

Here are a couple of my favorite characters I've created...

First, there is Cat. She is the bartender and owner of a tavern in a very unique town. This town attracts all sorts of different "non-normal" folk. The motto of her tavern is "The only place for non-normals. (normals also welcome)". She is sarcastic, yet jovial, very intelligent and has a great capacity for sharp wit. Cat also has, in abundance, the quality every bartender needs, the ability to listen. A natural born counselor, she helps all sort of people with their problems, which leads to some interesting friendships.

One of her friends is Tiger, a 750 year old wizard who looks to be in his late twenties. He is charming with dashing good looks and is a very well mannered and somewhat proper, but he recognizes the value of humor and loves a good laugh. Tiger is my 'tragic' character. He goes through a lot of hardships (for example being forced to kill an old friend in order to save everyone else he cares about), but manages to come out okay in the end.

Another friend of Cat is a late middle aged doctor who is simply called Doc. His fiery red hair, well, the hair that hasn't grayed yet anyway, is a reflection of his personality. Though age has calmed him down he still is a lively, humorous old soul who listens well and is always ready with advice.

Those are a few of my current favorites, though if things go the way I plan, there will be many more interesting developments on some of my other characters.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Thanks for sharing that. I especially like that line.

[Elvellyn]

Gwaimir- How did you come up with all those names? I am severely lacking in creativity when it comes to names. Wait, Im severely lacking in creativity when it comes to...everything.

BTW-I really liked your characters and their stories.

Edit: My brain isn't working today.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

O, I dunno. For Elvish characters, I am developing a language (which will probably not get much further than enough for naming); but for humans, I just make them up. I'd really like to use Old English for human names, but unfortunately I don't know enough about it to.

[Lief Erikson]

I could be wrong, but I noticed a trend in all your good characters Gwaimir. All the good ones seem to have a lot of faith and purity.

And I think I saw another trend, in all your characters, Galenavar. They all seem to have a sense of humor.

Are those just the writing style or because of the way the books are? Don't get me wrong, I don't see it as a problem. I'm just noting what I see.

I liked the character descriptions and stories to them .

It puts me in the mood to tell the stories of some of my characters.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Not all of them. Ironically, of these (except Eigath ), probably Fallos is the one with the most wavering faith (except possibly Tara; in her, the faith is replaced by stern resolve to atone).

[Lief Erikson]

I suppose I'll start with Orsoul.

He's a rather rough and cold individual. He grew up in the town of Carball during the time of the war between the Rainbow Order (My order of wizards) and the dark wizards. That was a huge war spanning many years and was just winding down at the time Orsoul was growing up. He was eight years old when the Rainbow Order got to his village, which was one of the last hold-outs of the dark wizards. There his father, Badaragon, died, along with everyone else of his youth.

He managed to survive and slip away from the village and what happened next hardened him. He was unwanted and uncared for in a wild and sparsely populated area. He lived though, stealing his food sometimes and doing what it took to learn the ways of the world.

He sensed in his mind a calling to return to a place, and it gave him a direction. However he didn't trust this voice and didn't follow it, avoiding obeying its direction because he felt that it would lead him to evil.

When he became older he was able to make his own choices and decide for himself what was right, and regardless of what they'd done to him and his family in the past, he decided that the Rainbow Order had been in the right. So he joined its side and became a wizard.

Because of his history and a darkness they sensed about him, the wizards distrusted him. Another reason for this was that he had a stronger magic with him than any of they did. He swiftly saw their weakness, and new things occasionally came to his mind, new powers that he learned when they came to him. He was contemptuous of the wizards though and didn't teach them these new powers, keeping them to himself. In mockery of the wizards he put on black robes rather than white, he wore the traditional garb of a dark wizard.

He gained some influence in the Rainbow Castle, though his manner and behavior made most wizards shun his presence.

The only one that Orsoul would grant the priviledge of respect was the Leader of the Rainbow Council, which was the government body that had huge influence over the entire world. Because of the friction between Orsoul and other individuals and Orsoul's lack of good behavior, the Council Leader separated him from Elerev by sending him out to the Flame of Darkest Night, to guard it from being used by dark wizards.

The Flame of Darkest Night was one of the three bases that a godlike being had set upon the earth. This was Vorcol's base from which he reached the world. The Rainbow Order had shielded it with magic to prevent it from being contacted or being used as a source of power by dark wizards. They gave it to Orsoul to command the defenses of because it needed someone powerful to watch over it, and they had a plan of how to avoid having any future dark wizards from coming into being.

When a dark wizard touched or accessed any part of the Flame of Darkest Night, the magic would be absorbed into him. When a good wizard touched it, it caused the wizard tremendous pain and the conflict was visible.

Orsoul would therefore use this as a test to discover which kind of a wizard the trainees were, whether they were evil or good. An individual could turn evil afterward and there'd be nothing they could do about it, but if he had dark intentions from the beginning, his wickedness would be exposed in this way.

So that's basically what his history is before The Uirlon Cord begins.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

And yes, as I am a devout Christian (and not nearly so clever as Tolkien ) my books are very much centered on religion, and on faith. I'm pretty sure that in every story, there is at least one priest, Prophet, or Paladin.

P. S. The Prophets are individuals who have been chosen to serve as the voice of Eltarn; they wander the lands of Lisman, speaking His word to the inhabitants. The Paladins are individuals who have been chosen to serve as the swords of Eltarn; some protect His followers, some seek out and destroy Evil; all are appointed warriors with divinely guided (and very often blessed) blades, a great sense of righteousness and justice, and (probably) divine powers or abilities.

[Lief Erikson]

I'll now turn to one of the major villains in The Uirlon Cord.

Baarorg served as an officer in the army of Venaros, a borderland country and one with a smaller rulership that lacked a good deal of control of some of the tribes and barbarian elements in the country.

Venaros was a country nearby a much larger country named Aharvadon. Aharvadon had a great military and was aggressive against the smaller countries that it was close to, because it was in a growing stage and wanted to broaden its influence and control.

Barbarian tribes in Venaros caused offense against Aharvadon and they were quick to react. The Rainbow Council gave their approval of Aharvadon's action because of tribal disputes inside Venaros and its belief that the small country were vicious savages while Aharvadon had strength, unity and order.

Baarorg united tribes with the small government of Venaros because he had once been among them. He knew the terrain, and defeated the enemy at every turn. Aharvadon was forced to give up eventually, and out of the whole ordeal Venaros grew strong and unified. But during this war, Crondarga, the only sorcerer who had survived Carball's destruction, was able to reach Baarorg, poisoning him against the Rainbow Order forever by destroying his family and pretending it was the Council’s doing.

Maddened by grief and rage, Baarorg left his now safe country to seek revenge. Baarorg’s reputation as a master general grew even further when he joined the king of Erena and assisted him by defeating the pirates that preyed on the ships conducting trade between Erena and Hornad, another country.

From there Baarorg began to gather military power to himself in Erena, finally weakening the king severely and becoming in control of the country himself. The king was only king in name.

Baarorg launched an invasion upon a neighboring country on a pretext and the Rainbow Council saw him as what he was, a dangerous and aggressive threat.

But before long, the Rainbow Order declared that what Baarorg was doing was making foes and then defeating them, and it decreed that his army and its worldwide supporters would only be spared from justice if Baarorg was removed from its lead. This was just what Baarorg had been waiting for, and instead of stepping down or being stepped down, as the Rainbow Council had expected him to do, he brought his long carefully laid plans into action and invaded Elerev. His revenge strike for the deaths of his family was brought into motion. He caught the Rainbow Order completely by surprise and advanced through their territories like a deadly whirlwind, destroying two armies that the Council sent out to stop him. Each of them should have been strong enough to counter him, but none were sufficient. In the end he had the Rainbow Council itself besieged.

His victory would have been complete if not for one mistake: waiting on rushing the gate for Crondarga’s magical items. In a great battle outside the very walls of the Rainbow Castle, his host was trapped and finally defeated. Baarorg was banished to the Mountains of Eseren and imprisoned there for fifteen years.

There The Uirlon Cord starts. In the prologue, Baarorg is rescued from his imprisonment by a dark wizard and they begin plotting once again the defeat of the Rainbow Order.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I was posting at the same time as you. Anyway, very interesting, I like his background, quite well written. Exchanging of characters is quite interesting.

[Lief Erikson]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
And yes, as I am a devout Christian (and not nearly so clever as Tolkien ) my books are very much centered on religion, and on faith. I'm pretty sure that in every story, there is at least one priest, Prophet, or Paladin.

P. S. The Prophets are individuals who have been chosen to serve as the voice of Eltarn; they wander the lands of Lisman, speaking His word to the inhabitants. The Paladins are individuals who have been chosen to serve as the swords of Eltarn; some protect His followers, some seek out and destroy Evil; all are appointed warriors with divinely guided (and very often blessed) blades, a great sense of righteousness and justice, and (probably) divine powers or abilities.

Is Eltarn much greater than all the evil gods, as in Christian theology?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

See above post regarding Baarorg.

Yes, Eltarn is the name given him in the Elder Tongue; he is the same god as the Christian God, and Eru.

[Lief Erikson]

Well, I think that about does it for me for the time being as far as writing about characters. I probably shouldn't have given away so much about Baarorg. Though it doesn't come into The Uirlon Cord, I'm planning on writing a prequel that involves many of those events. Oh well.

Mmm, here's one of my good characters. A mermaid named Syrayal. She is going to be in that prequel to, though as a girl at that time. She's a young woman in The Uirlon Cord, and has gone against prejudice in her country to become a tracker. It wasn't considered a good job for women to do. You know how in countries around the world women didn't have the rights that men did? Well, that's the way it is in the mercivilization, somewhat. But Syrayal went against customs and became a tracker.

The trackers' guild didn't have too much problem with it. Though they didn't like the public disapproval, they recognized Syrayal's bravery in going against all her relations and her determination to enter into this profession, so they accepted her. After they'd trained her, she became the first female tracker in Mesashell (The name of that particular mercountry).

After that another young mermaid, Ebrella, who is sixteen in The Uirlon Cord, followed Syrayal's leadership. She was highly scorned by those that knew her also, but not so badly as Syrayal had been. She grew up with the same passion for tracking and had Syrayal as her role model. She was young and tended to be reckless sometimes, not thinking with the cool head of wisdom yet.

But she also was accepted by the trackers' guild, though they tried to keep the two mermaids busy as far afield as possible as often as possible, because of the public's contempt for the two mermaids.

I might have written this into The Uirlon Cord but I forget, that they even made a new women's quarters section in their headquarters in Seashale, the capital of Mesashell.

So The Uirlon Cord starts with Ebrella and Syrayal started off on a secret mission along with a few others, and then things take a surprising and unpleasant shift for them. Their mission goes askew and they are thrown into a political tangle.

After that mission, things get sorted out more, but again, I don't really like going into direct description of many events in The Uirlon Cord.