Since the winter of 2004, when I was 11, I have been working on a story. At this point, few people know what it actually contains -- the days of reading each others' stories off binder paper are long gone. I rarely talk to anyone about it in detail. I don't think my husband even knows much beyond the basic premise (though he did help edit this blog post!).
The reasons for my secrecy have been manifold -- I'm naturally secretive about my inner worlds, it's not finished and remains more theory than actuality, someone could steal my oh so wonderful ideas, blah blah. WELL, SCREW ALL THAT! I've changed my mind.
After the mental health collapse that was brought on, in part, by Twitter and the travails of the publishing industry, I had to do a little reflecting. The idea of compressing this story into a publishable format was gnawing on my soul. Less than 100k words, fewer POVs, "standalone novel with series potential," choosing one or two themes...nope, I don't think I want to do that, at least not yet.
I have lived in this story for 19 goshdarn years, and I have never written out the whole thing the way I want to: with as much diversion, detail, and development as Middlemarch or The Tale of Genji. How can I bear to shove it into a neat little box before I've experienced it the way I want to?
So! Maybe I'll experience it alone, or maybe, somehow, I'll someday be able to sell it in some form. But I can be less alone if I share some of the details with the world.
The Pitch
The ultra short version is this: "Four teens who can turn into dragons are exiled from their home and dragged into a war started by their parents."
The unhinged comp title version is this: The close character examination and teen drama of Skins and Euphoria meets the detail and set piece battle sequences of War & Peace in the intricately realized high fantasy world of Etnuet.
The longer (but still insufficient, so just imagine me saying "basically" and "more or less" in every section here) goes something like this:
Linymua, Sorora, Driana, and Malarain are the heirs of an ancient lineage of humanoids who can turn into dragons, termed the Dragons of Light -- one each for the gods of Life, Sun, Water, and Wind. They have never met their counterparts, the Dragons of Dark, because of a schism formed and a war fought by their parents over whether or not the eight Dragons, in their holiness, should pursue imperialism.
At the pivotal, naturally tormented age of 13-14, the four girls, along with Malarain's mother, Marar, and Malarain's defenseless human cousin, Rillen, are exiled from their home in the canyon city of Dezra when The Dark, led by Iliara, launch a surprise attack. As the city falls to The Dark's control, our characters flee for their lives. On a globetrotting journey of strife and angst, they must decide whether they'll run forever or fight back against The Dark.
There is, however, another side to this story. The Dark's younger generation are all teenagers too, caught up in their own struggles, dramas, and obsessions. After Book 1, I plan to show this world isn't as dualistic as it may seem by showing what Alariis, Nutanoth, Effriehl, and Garofh are going through and what the war means to them.
The Locations
So the real reason I'm here is because for a few months now, I've been drawing pictures of and fleshing out the various locations in the world of Etnuet where my dear characters will spend time. I figured sharing this information and art would be a fun and accessible way to give a glimpse into this world.
Now, I know my art skills aren't the best. I have terribly shaky hands, ADHD and a host of other problems, so straight lines aren't the easiest for me, and details are a struggle. But hopefully these drawings are sufficient.
I plan to continue this series with the buildings The Dark inhabit over the course of the story -- when I finish drawing them! For now, we will chronologically explore (most of) the settings visited by The Light over the course of the series.
Behold! A map of Etnuet that combines its topography, drainage systems, and biomes! And the locations to be described below!
1. The Palace at Dezra
The city of Dezra existed in a lazy bend of the Daiev Canyon long before the area was colonized by the Adjellien. It was originally inhabited by humans -- called the Tetchik -- and some dragons (which, in my world, are a sentient species capable of participating in society). The humans lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle, migrating between the canyon bottom in summer and the plateau in winter.
The Adjellien are a long-lived feather-winged people that historically have had grand imperialist ambitions. When they conquered the area, they built out the city as a sedentary establishment and constructed the Palace of Dezra on a mesa that was separated from the canyon wall by erosion, called the Sky Island.
The reason this is important is because The Palace at Dezra, having been built by the Adjellien, is a structure informed by imperialist design, which has been altered since the Adjellien Empire collapsed.
The Adjellien have a fascination with geometry and symmetry. The Palace was built to be maximally auspicious: as perfectly symmetrical as they could make it, made from "masculine" shapes, namely squares and triangles. It's a gargantuan construction, built to be a bureaucratic hub (as it is today). Several architectural features cool the Palace in the blazing hot summer: four wind towers, which conduct cool air from above into various rooms and atriums throughout the building, along with the flight well in the center and the four triangular courtyard gardens on the ground floor.
The square-rotated-in-a-square design is common in Adjellien architecture, as it results in built-in landing platforms. The flight well, with its own square-in-square pattern, also provides more places to land. Thus it is highly accessible to flighted people, from whom the Adjellien saw no threat. During their reign, there were no stairs inside the building, making the upper levels -- where the most important functions of government were performed -- inaccessible to those who can't fly. The walls were also intended to keep out the rabble on foot -- a winged person can easily fly over.
Since the overthrow of the Adjellien Empire, stairs have been put in, but no one could every figure out how to make the Palace more defensible. Thus, it falls to The Dark without much resistance when they march on the city.
This is where my four teenage dragon-girls start the story. Two of them grew up here, two of them were transplanted later. They live in the upper levels with Marar, Malarain's mother, who is the enzi (sort of like a governor) of Dezra and the only semi-responsible adult looking out for them. Though they can look over the city -- its grid streets, its marketplaces, the dwellings built into the canyon walls -- they can rarely go into it. Marar will not allow this.
Marar also keeps them sheltered from the secrets of her past. Though she knows that war is inevitable, she hopes against hope that she can save the children from the harsh experiences that marred her own youth. Maybe, if they're lucky, Iliara will wait just a little bit longer.
So the young ones spend their time in their bedrooms watching boats on the river and storms in the sky. They hang out in the atriums, the gardens, attend festivities in the grand Hall of Pillars, trying to decipher from eavesdropping and careless words who Iliara is, what became of The Dragons of the Dark, what happened during their parents' time, and whether this boring life will ever change.
2. The Tree Apartment in Ruon
After our protagonists escape the attack on Dezra, they travel to Ruon, capitol of the Naldoros, a somewhat unified species that are distantly related to humans. The Naldoros are evolved to live in the forest. They dislike wide open spaces and are sensitive to light, so their cities are adapted to be as integrated with the forest as possible.
The Naldoros have mastered the art of altering and encouraging the growth of plants with magic. Dwellings, such as the one pictured here, are formed by growing several saplings together, twining them into one large tree over the course of decades. Most trees can host anywhere from 2-4 apartments, which are grown directly from the wood of the tree. Even the furniture -- what little there is -- is grown from the tree, and is alive.
There are inherent issues with people inhabiting a living structure -- they damage the bark, introduce contagions, apply pressure and weight. Some features, such as doors and fireplaces, require introducing foreign materials into the tree's structure. As such, in most homes, the only true door is the front door, and the windows are small and glass-less (though they may be sealed with wooden shutters, which aren't attached to the tree itself). These trees are closely tended to by a government commission, which treats them for infection, prunes them, directs growth to repair damage, and so on.
Many other species would find innumerable faults with the way of life enforced by these tree dwellings. They are often cold in winter (the Naldoros are cold-resistant and don't mind), there is little privacy, dwellings are sometimes shared between families, and much effort must go into the upkeep and care of the structure. Also, housing must be planned decades in advance, meaning the government must be able to closely predict the growth of the city's population, the decline and replacement of dying trees, and so on.
Naldoros values have grown around these circumstances. They value adaptability, caution, care of their surroundings, and community. Such values can be seen in the autumn leaf-raking festival, in which everyone aids in the monumental task of keeping Ruon from drowning under fallen leaves. There is, of course, copious drinking and partying once the work is done.
The issue of housing is centralized in every way, to the point the government guarantees housing for every person in the city of Ruon. To the Naldoros, it is shocking imagine that there are cities where shelter must be paid for, and those who can't pay must do without. They adhere to this ideal even if it means sometimes cramped conditions and little choice in the specifics of their homes.
Our beloved main characters, however, are not used to these notions, and certainly aren't used to such cramped quarters. From the moment everyone moves into the apartment, Marar's struggle is figuring out how to keep the teenagers from erupting into drama as they adjust to their new surroundings and face the long, cold winter in a unfamiliar place. As arguments and betrayal tear through the group, their sleeping arrangements, and their interactions around the grown-in dining table, evolve.
3. The Great Tower of Serriilynest
We've got two pictures here: one of the Great Tower with its defenses, and what it would look like without them. The defenses address an age old question: how can one create a fortress against aerial assault, especially if it must cater to an aerial species?
The Carnilgenien approach relies on heavy use of hipyadan, a kind of magic generator, which are used here to levitate massive stone rings, one nested within the other. When decoupled, the rings provide an almost complete encasement of the Tower, with slits left between some layers, allowing for patrol, surveillance, limited passage to and fro, and fighting around the openings between rings. The occupants of the Tower, living off the massive stores of food below, must then live in almost total darkness, telling the time only by the slivers of light that make it through the walls.
Observant readers will notice that the design is similar to the Palace at Dezra, just extended upwards. This might be because I'm unimaginative, but my justification is that it's because the Carnilgenien once lived alongside the Adjellien, until they were persecuted and forced to flee. In that time they picked up some tricks, such as the square-in-square building design, which allows for winged people to land and take off from the triangle platforms at the corners. However, the platforms here are tiny, creating a bottleneck for flighted invaders.
The Great Tower passes through the many layers of the city of Serriilynest, from the lower layers, where the poor live in shadows, to the mansions at the top. The bottom level of the city bristles with memorials to the dead. The Carnilgenien cremate their dead, but create memorials for the bereaved to visit. Thus, the ground around the base of the Tower is where the memorials for the members of the two royal families, along with certain members of the government, are placed.
Our protagonists come to Serriilynest because they learn that The Dark have plans to attack the city and seize its store of back-up hipyadan. They join in the defense of the Serriilynest, and so join in its society. They attend celebrations and the ceremonial declaration of war in the super vertical Great Hall in the bottom level of the Tower. They must transform into dragons to fly up to the second segment, to their tiny rooms and the moments of privacy they provide.
Above them, in the top level, live the two royal families, who rule Serrilynest together, and the intriguing Prince Nalran, who is not set to inherit the throne. He brings his wit, friendliness, and handsomeness into the group, changing their dynamic yet again.
Before long, war comes knocking on Serriilynest's door, and the Great Tower's defenses are put to the test. It's anyone's guess who will win the day: the Carnilgenien and their allies behind floating walls of stone, or Iliara's renowned tactical genius.
4. Purunsdana Fel, Seat of the Oshgai Monarchy
Purunsdana Fel is a castle in the northwestern city of Lunanon, and the seat of power for the Oshgai theocratic kingdom. The bulk of the building is actually underground, in a maze of tunnels bored straight into the stone of the Lunanon cliffs. This makes Purunsdana Fel highly defensible -- which is what brings our characters here. Thus they move the front of the war from Serriilynest to Sorora's home city, which she left after her mother was assassinated about five years ago.
The main building, which is similar to a manor house, was built long ago, when there was no unified Oshgai kingdom. Small, and more defensible than comfortable, it was the home of a local warlord. Over the years, as the area's governmental situation evolved, the building was expanded, the walls heightened, and the uncoordinated mess of tunnels was magically dug into stone below.
This accounts for Purunsdana Fel's haphazard appearance, including the metal ventilation pipes popping up everywhere like mushrooms. The windows -- which are strengthened and enchanted against Etnuet's extremely high tides -- are a more recent addition, so the rooms of the ruler, the steward, and certain favored people, can look out at the sunrise over the sea.
At the base of the cliffs is a natural grotto, now connected to the castle to serve as a harbor. The entrance is enchanted against high tides. These enchantments must be refreshed daily. The effect of the high tide rushing against an invisible wall of magic is so stunning that inhabitants of the castle often come down to spectate. The grotto also serves as a dwelling place for the wisiu, plesiosaurus-like relatives of dragons that direct ships across Etnuet's wild seas. They are friendly and like to receive pets.
During the long, dark winter spent in Purunsdana Fel, Sorora must confront the memory of her lost mother, and settle into the throne that awaits her. Standing in her way is her uncle, Basiehte, who has grown comfortable as Steward of the Oshgai in the past five years. She and her friends suffer their various crises and dramas in the castle's dark halls, gossip in the solar, which catches the morning sun, and watch the waves that rise, like emotions, almost up to the library's wide window.
Benivala's Mount and Riverwatch Hall in Haleah
Now we're getting into some late series locations. By the time our protagonists get here, they will be about 16-17 years old. Depicted here are the hills in the upper districts of Haleah, a mountainside city state with an unusual government and an intricate upper class social scene. The actual building they inhabit is on the far left there -- I'll get to that later. Also, though it's not depicted here, but I imagine these buildings being adorned with a rainbow of pastel colors and intricate details -- Modernisme style.
At the moment, I'm talking about the two buildings in the center: Benivala's Mount at the top, overlooking the city of Haleah, and Riverwatch Hall below it.
Benivala's Mount is named after Haleah's philosopher king of yore, widely considered to be the greatest ruler Haleah ever had. Benivala speculated on many subjects, but especially the imperfection of every form of government due to one issue: the varying quality of the people involved.
Did this mean he wanted his personality to be replicated and preserved in a magical device to be consulted by a ruler that was to act solely as a medium for Benivala's opining? Well, the documentary evidence isn't clear one way or another, but that's how Haleah is governed now, with the addition of some more democratic governing bodies. The device resides in Benivala's Mount, which also serves as a meeting hall for the aforementioned democratic bodies.
The building itself is perhaps more gaudy than Benivala would've liked, but he would approve of its position atop the hill. Benivala wrote that the pursuit of philosophy and virtue is like a pilgrimage up a mountain: as one strains to reach the top, they drop the unimportant frivolities that weigh them down and, in the high, clear air, they can reach their inner self. Hence, in theory, all members of the government are required to perform a version of this pilgrimage every time they attend their sessions.
However, there are always ways around the austerities required by virtue. Where Benivala's Mount once stood alone atop the hill, it is now surrounded by the houses of the wealthy families that tend to participate in the government -- shortening their daily trips significantly.
Riverwatch Hall was built some time after Benivala's Mount. Benivala emphasized the importance of social interconnectedness in a city, the ability of classes to converse with each other in spaces designed for everyone. So, naturally, it made sense to erect a building in an area mostly accessible to the rich to serve the social needs of all.
Riverwatch Hall serves as a gathering place, dance hall, library, and, most importantly, as a place to view the Iriligen River on nights when it shines under Etnuet's two moons. The river has been the subject of much poetry, and, on the nights of river-viewing parties, is revealed to the assembled crowd with much ceremony, to be met with gasps of awe and wonder. From Riverwatch's vast windows, the river can be seen from afar, meandering across the Fohl Grasslands like a ribbon of moonlight.
During the protagonists' time in Haleah, Riverwatch Hall and its many parties becomes the focal point of their social life, which grows so important to them as to rival the war itself. Alongside the friendships and laughter, there is also the excitement and danger of budding romance and sexuality, and all the complications these bring to those who are arguably too young to be involved in such things.
Speaking of things our characters are too young to handle -- come spring, The Dark's armies march on Haleah. When they arrive, they can be seen from the Riverwatch Window, their camps a blight on the landscape, an ever-present reminder of the war these young ones have tried to forget.
The Linixala House in Haleah
This is the building that the main characters actually inhabit while in Haleah. It is the private residence of the Linixala family, AKA the Dragons of Life. Linymua's mother lived here before her death, when Linymua was just a baby.
The Linixala family hails from Haleah originally, though they were of common standing until one of them became the Dragon of Life and aided with the overthrow of the Adjellien empire in the area. Since then, their name has been important, and they earned themselves the money and the right to build a fancy house close to Benivala's Mount.
The Linixala House was built not only for the Linixala family, but also as a place that could shelter all of the eight Dragons and their offspring. The dream was for it to be a place where new generations could be taught and raised together. Due the schism between The Dark and The Light, and then Iliara and The Dark's takeover of Haleah about twenty years ago, this didn't work out. However, Iliara's decision to spare the Linixala House has many implications -- doubtless she hopes that some day, unity can be achieved and the building can serve its purpose at last.
The intentions remain in the architecture. The tower to the left is the section that provides housing for the Linixalas (and beautiful views of the river and city), while the rest of the house is dedicated to rooms for eating and entertaining, rooms for guests, an extensive library, servants' quarters, and a defensible underground bunker and food stores. Gardens surround the building, with plenty of eucalyptus trees, and there is space for weapons training in the back.
When Linymua and her friends arrive at Linixala house, it has not been inhabited by a Linixala for about sixteen years. The servants remember, but Linymua does not -- she hasn't met anyone from her own family since she was a baby. The Linixala House serves as a home base for the youngsters while they navigate the Haleahen social scene. After the parties at Riverwatch Hall, the get togethers at so-and-so's place, the politicking at Benivala's Mount, they retreat to their new home and get to contemplate what it meant when someone said this, when they smiled like that, and so on.
As time goes on, the Linixala House will start to feel like a prison with a scenic view. Though the river, the valley, and the mountains can be seen from the windows, they are framed by eucalyptus leaves that hang down like bars. The world outside is inaccessible due to social and political obligation and the siege that grinds at the city of Haleah. For about two years, our protagonists will peer out these windows over the city where everyone knows their names, and over the field before the city, where, before long, the final showdown will occur, deciding the fate of Etnuet.
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That's it for now! I'm not sure when I'll be able to put up the locations from The Dark's side of the story, as I haven't finished the drawings for that. I might get to some character descriptions or a retrospective view of what this story means to me, etc. first!
Also, this is not a complete renunciation of potential publishable work. I'm still shopping around some short fiction. Also, I have previously talked about a story idea involve a faery girl in an Ordovician world (since this to the tune of "Barbie Girl"), and that's still something I plan to work on -- maybe even this November if I don't have another mental breakdown! So stay tuned for details on that too.
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