My Paracosm Story: The Locations Part II

In 2023, I made a blog post about some of the locations in the story I've wanted to write since I was 11. I said I would make another post about some more of those locations eventually, and then proceeded to continue to have ADHD and get distracted by my obsession with Zeki Müren, my top albums from every country project, Oz, Spirit Island (if you know you know), and other things. Shocking, I know.

In this time, I've learned that there is a term for this world that I've obsessed over for over twenty years, which has served as a space for sorting out my emotions, life experiences, and obsessions: it's called a paracosm. There is a reason to be careful here: it's hard to make a paracosm story good (at least, so it seems after the recent-ish Milo Winter drama). There's a lot of emotional baggage, the difficulty of accepting criticism and so on. I hope to make it good anyways, at least to my own standards (which are probably unpopular for other reasons, namely my sensibilities are painfully antiquated and corrupted by The Tale of Genji and War and Peace). I'm thinking of writing a future post about my paracosm's history and what it means to me, but that's for later.

So, without any further ado, let's get into the worldbuilding! If you want more context about this story -- the general idea, what it means to me, etc., read the first few sections of the post linked above.

The Other Side of the Story

The locations I shared in the first blog post were all places that the Dragons of Light inhabit over the course of the story. But what of their enemies, The Dragons of Dark? Who are these people?

Well, first of all, a recap: "The Dragons" are members of an ancient lineage of humanoids who can turn into dragons. There are eight in total, one for each of the gods of the Harium pantheon (excepting the demiurge who created them all), and they are believed to be avatars of these gods on earth and responsible for upholding peace in the world. The Dragons of Light and Death (four of each) were previously only separated by naming convention. Once upon a time, all eight of them worked together.

It was Iliara, Dragon of Death and de facto leader of The Dark (due to pure ambition and bossiness), who felt that The Dragons should forgo their positions as keepers of the peace and become an imperialist power in their own right. This, she argued, was the best way to maintain peace: conquer everyone and everything so that, united, they have no reason to fight each other. The Dragons of Light disagreed, and thus a schism was formed and a war was fought, leading eventually to a tentative and uncertain peace.

The story focuses on the children born after that war. On the side of The Dark, that's Alariis (Iliara's daughter, Dragon of Death), Nutanoth (Moon), Effriehl (Fire), and Garofh (Storm).

Their upbringing was vastly different to that of The Light. After the war, the older generation of The Light scattered and barely made efforts to talk to each other, The Dark stayed close. Iliara made them stay close. Thus Alariis, Nutanoth, Effriehl, and Garofh all knew each other and visited each other. Since their youth, Iliara has prepared these children for war -- but most of all, her own daughter, Alariis. It was always the plan to expand the empire, to put down all resistance, including The Light's.

These four teens are about 14 years old (hah) when they participate in the attack on Dezra that displaces The Light and starts Book 1, but they aren't introduced as POV characters until Book 2, when the war becomes focused in the north. Their lives alternate between the aggressive pursuit of war and the relative boredom of downtime in the winter. They are closely surveilled -- Iliara is extremely careful about any sort of impropriety -- but they still manage to get away with mischief, romance, and grim schemes.

I should be clear: The Dark are not exactly antagonists. When I first started writing this story at age 11, they definitely were. They cackled as they created grotesque monsters to send after our heroes and loomed over Palantír rip-offs. However, I was quickly drawn into their characters and stories. Since then, they have merely been protagonists, main characters, whatever, on the other side of the war. After all, they're only teenagers. Is this the life they would choose to live? Are their various rebellions against Iliara's iron fist not proof that they would do better if they could?

The Locations

 

The map above shows where each of these locations can be found (and, if you're willing to squint, the biomes they're found in, because I'm Normal (TM) about writing). I've done my best to draw these locations, but I'll self-consciously admit they are a bit wobbly: my hands are perpetually shaky because I have the constitution of an ancient chihuahua and I don't practice drawing as much as I used to because I have the constitution of a mummified monkey corpse. Nonetheless, I am proud of myself!

1. The Palace at Dezra

Hmmm, this seems familiar. Didn't I cover this in the last post? (Please feel free to brush up on the historical peculiarities of this massive sandstone building there!) As previously mentioned, the start of the whole story is The Dark attacking and taking the city of Dezra, where our initial main characters have been living. They spend some time in the Palace, off-screen, after the city is captured, living in the rooms that were so recently inhabited by their enemies. The Light left in a hurry and couldn't take everything with them -- clothes, notes, trinkets, and secrets. Through these leavings, The Dark interact with and wonder about their enemies.

After the war season of Book 1, The Dark also spend a good portion of Book 2 in Dezra. This is on-screen, and the first time they've spent any significant amount of time in the Palace and city. While they're there, they have to endear themselves to the conquered populace by engaging in cultural practices, such as the Alydyni bond -- a formalized and ritualized friendship between teenage girls. This practice launches our characters into the Dezran social scene: a world of festivals, dances, romance, friendship, and, of course, stealing booze.

It's not all fun and games, though. Dezra is restless under The Dark's imperial rule, and insurrection brews in the streets, sometimes bursting, with violence, into the Palace's halls.

2. Monmar

If you stand on the shore of the inmost reaches of Ledk Bay, or on the docks of Vaerlend's capital city, Sufremané, you will be treated to an odd sight: near the horizon, a fortress seemingly grows directly out of the waves. As the tides recede, they leave behind expansive sand flats and tide pools. The castle and walled town of Monmar can be reached on foot, but beware: Etnuet has two moons, and, depending on their position, the gap may only be traversable for a few hours before the tides come in. People have died for misjudging the tides or the weather. Sometimes, Monmar is cut off from the mainland for days -- longer, if the weather is bad.

Monmar is, perhaps obviously, inspired by Mont-Saint-Michel. I used images of the island for reference when drawing Monmar. However, an island like Mont-Saint-Michel would be covered by Etnuet's ferocious waves. Monmar only survives due to its rocky cliffs and is made further habitable by the engineering wonder of its high walls (no I don't know how they were constructed), which hold back the tides on the island's south side.

The castle is built, more or less, along the lines of a motte and bailey, with a highly fortified keep and a larger space enclosed beyond it. The town dozes in the bailey -- between the sea walls and the keep's walls. It is sustained partially by imports from the mainland and partially by small scale agriculture and goat herding -- goats being hardy enough to eat even the halophytes that grow beyond the sea wall. The keep features a courtyard which opens directly onto the rocky cliffs on the northwest side of the island. This scenic courtyard is used for activities as various as relaxation, weapons practice, drills for the guards, the slaughtering of livestock, and mass executions.

This rocky island has played many roles throughout Etnuet's history: a haven for dragons, a multispecies sacred site, a highly contested strategic point in war. These days, it is a possession of the Vaer Empire, the primary power under control of The Dark, of which Iliara is the empress. As a child, she spent little time at the island castle, but after the war she fought in her young adulthood, she chose Monmar as the primary home for herself and her child. Paranoid and highly tactical, she viewed it as the safest place for her precious heir.

After the drama and danger of Dezra, Iliara opts to take all of the younger generation here for the next winter. The castle itself is small and claustrophobic. The teenagers are closely surveilled, unable to escape into privacy and unable to escape each other. And, though the intention is to let in no enemies, it must be admitted that Iliara doesn't have the most accurate sense of who is safe and who isn't.

3. Sevemstempai

Only one member of The Dark's younger generation -- Garofh, the Dragon of Storm -- goes here, and that's because he was born here and his mother and sister still live here. This image depicts not the settlement of Sevemstempai but the reason the settlement exists: a place of worship called the Sevemsp. But to explain what the deal is here, I have to explain the local climate -- of course.

As mentioned previously, Etnuet has two moons. The gravitational pull of these two moons is higher than that of our moon. Thus, the tides are higher, and the weather conditions around the equator are stormier, especially because of a relative lack of continents around the equator.

Thus, in the south of Etnuet, there are unique biomes called stormforests. The backbone of these ecosystems are trees that have evolved to weather the constant and sometimes massive storms that hit the southern coasts. The trees are short, usually no more than 10 feet tall, and together they form a flat, ceiling-like canopy that is less likely to be disrupted by rough winds. They have thick, winding buttress roots, which sink deep into the perpetually wet soil. The species that populates the Guyai Stormforest, where Sevemstempai is located, is called gawapi, and provides food (from the fruits), textiles (from the leaves, made into jute), and shelter for the human inhabitants. These trees are also unique for the way their leaves are arranged: in a sort of spiral that catches and funnels the water so it falls through the canopy in sparse streams, directed away from the root ball, keeping the soil under those central roots relatively dry and sturdy.

The human cultures here are deeply affected by their environment. Most groups are nomadic due the impossibility of agriculture. Sevemstempai is one of a handful of permanent settlements in the entirety of the Guyai Stormforest. This is made possible by its importance as a religious site, where groups come to worship, bringing goods to sustain the permanent population of about a hundred people.

The Sevemsp's name translates more or less to "portal to the sky." Most people who live here never see the sky or the full light of the sun. It is considered dangerous to do so, even on the rare days where the sky is clear, for down here is safety and up there is the wrath of supernatural forces and the spirits of the dead. Only priests and a sacred class of necromancers, bursata, are permitted to see the sky, and this only if they cleanse themselves before and after.

The Sevemsp is built around a tree that died but has not yet fallen. It is now bolstered by magic and other human ingenuities, but its resilience is regarded as a miracle. Thus, one can go to the center of the structure and, past the naked branches, see the sky. Offerings are also burnt here, where the smoke can go directly to the spirits above. Of course, I drew the above picture before I made the decision that the outside of the Sevemsp is hung with woven, weighted curtains, which prevent anyone from glimpsing the strange light that comes directly from the sun. (I would love to redraw it some day, but am currently having disability issues preventing me from drawing at all).

Garofh's mother is one of the most important priestesses at the Sevemsp. His father married her reluctantly, for political reasons -- namely so Iliara could have access to the unique necromantic powers of the bursata and recruit them for her wars. She wasn't the first to have this idea, which is why, during the height of a previous empire, a portal was installed in the Sevemsp and has since been incorporated into religious observances due to its emanation of mind-altering and prophetic effects.

Thus, Garofh grew up under the low canopy of trees, sleeping next to fire pits and listening to the droning of insects at night, wearing few clothes, and overall existing in a religion and culture vastly different from the ones he inhabits as a teenager. He has adjusted remarkably well, but when he returns home he slides right back into that way of life. However, his visits in the course of this story are marked with tension and anxiety: he learns that his family, which was never close, isn't what he thought it was, and that The Dark's meddling in the practices of the bursata have had some disturbing results.

4. The Keredlem in Limerian

This is another location  visited by only one of our main characters -- Effriehl, the Dragon of Fire -- and I wish the narrative spent more time there. But I'm proud of my work and must share it.

Limerian is a city on the southern tip of the volcanic island of Lirian (I know the names are confusing, I came up with them when I was 11 and I can't let go of them, alas). The culture that developed here is a unique one, not forming agriculture due to the presence of a fertile river valley or the influence of other cultures, but as a result of religious necessity (something which was inspired by my researches into the Maya).

The volcano on the southern end of the island, Houl Zeithara, is active and is believed to be inhabited by the god, Jhulainaida. This god is easy to anger and treats human lives lightly, readily killing if his appetite for burning and smoke isn't satisfied.

Early humans on Lirian burned animals and certain aromatic plants to please Jhulainaida, but eventually figured out that they could burn more, and keep him happier, if they became sedentary and farmed the necessary plants and animals. Thus, agriculture on Lirian was born -- growing food was almost a second thought.

Effriehl grew up in the Keredlem, a religious building that was built after Houl Zeithara's last large eruption about a century ago. In the aftermath of that eruption, the king was overthrown and the formerly powerless group at the head of the Lirian religion, Ojkues Nane, rose to power as a political force and puppeteer of the next dynasty.

The Keredlem was built to house the operations of Ojkues Nane, with its imposingly high walls and flame-like onion domes made of brightly burnished copper. The towers at each corner are where incense and animal sacrifices are burned, day and night. The walls are decorated with larges bas reliefs depicting scenes from old Lirrin stories, such as Jhulainaida's marriage to his wife and the first two humans who spilled their blood and became some of the plants that are sacrificed today. Within the mysterious bowels of the Keredlem are the extensive records regarding the acquisition of incense and animals, as well as the ancient megalithic structure around which the Keredlem was built -- the original center of the Lirrin religion. Now, none can see it but members of Okjues Nane.

Effriehl's blood line, the Effar family, the Dragons of Fire, has been entangled with the religious class of Limerian since the start: the original Dragon of Fire was, before his transformation (it's a long story), a low-ranking clerk who defected in pursuit of dreams of world peace. Effriehl was technically born into priesthood, and attended religious ceremonies from a young age. She still must return for certain important ceremonies, which is why this location appears in Book 3. During this trip, she also visits her ailing mother, who she is now rarely allowed to see thanks to Iliara's domineering. Removed from the social situations and dangers that come from spending time with the rest of The Dark, Effriehl reflects on what she wishes to do to correct things -- and perhaps decides on some unwise courses of action.

5. The War Camp at Haleah

In my previous post I described Haleah, where The Light spend the last two books. Well, The Dark also spend the last segment of the story there -- on the other side of Haleah's walls. After Haleah throws the yoke of Iliara's rule, Iliara must of course regain the city. It is, after all, a major connection point between the northern lands Iliara controls and the southern lands of her allies -- the remnants of the Adjellien empire.

After a march beginning, perhaps inadvisably, in the early spring, The Dark fight off the Haleahens and set up camp outside the city's wall. The obvious site for their camp is, of course, the ruins of an old fort. The original fort was captured and used as a base for The Dark in the previous subjugation of Haleah, then torn down on Iliara's orders so it would never be used in future rebellions.

As it is, the ruins provide little strategic value, but the benefits of the fort's site remain: the hill is sizeable, steep on one side, and close to a tributary of the Iriligen river, providing water for the army. Note, also, the tidy grid layout. Much like the ancient Romans, Iliara always ensures that the army camp is laid out to the exact same plan, making it easily navigable in the event of an emergency.

The younger generation of The Dark have never participated in a lengthy siege before. Their time here will be marked with discomfort and boredom mixed with routine violence and death. The intense heat of Vehol summer beats down on the tents, then the cold rains of winter come. Disease spreads through the camp, and skirmishes and plundering are frequent. In these conditions, the teenagers' relationships with each other begin to fray and fall apart, marred with scheming, grudges, abuse, and the introductions of new responsibilities they've never had to face before.