Aloes in Afrikaans

I had an accidental name idea. I was using iNaturalist to help identify a friend's potted plant--which it thought may be a Lace Aloe--when I scrolled down under taxonomy to the Names section and saw that one of the names for the plant in Afrikaans was Baardaalwyn. That kind of felt like it went in with the other host of God and Archon names I've compiled so far, so I threw it down on dot paper and started playing with the construction. After scratching out a few variations, I decided, for now, Bardinwal will do, and while I was excited to throw it into the mix of religious icons, the little voice in my head threw an article in front of it and decided calling something "the Bardinwal" would sounds a bit cooler. This got me thinking... it would be a good replacement for either Buordo or Burcumsy in Malidine. I'm leaning on Burcumsy, as then "the Bardinwal" could refer to the high place south of the Folstroms that the city sits upon.

I've been trying to edit Rethwara's name into sounding less taken from Hindu terminology. It wasn't meant to be, but I think my subconscious voice may have unintentionally drew inspiration too directly from it. Being already a god with the suffix -war, I thought I'd drop the -a in similar style and altered it to Othwar for the time being. Still, I'm not yet satisfied and it'll go under the knife again. Laakin-Taakin will definitely get played with again, too. I hate it.

I've slightly updated the Archon of bones from Visko (based on a childhood character Viscombris) to Voskos, sounding more Jhordo-Sasni. 

I really want to look back through more childhood characters and locations and see what can't be upcycled. 

I'm trying to fix my laptop at the moment, which is where I've been doing most of my writing and all of my drawing. I'm recovering from surgery, though, so I haven't felt like giving it my all. When I get it going again, I want to settle back into art and get used to Photoshop again, since it came free for three months with the laptop and I'll end up paying for the subscription soon, to my own chagrin. I want to dig out my childhood sketchbooks and redraw the silly old doodles in them for shirts and grackles. 

Oops, Talking About Childhood Again

Four Archons got baby names over the last hour using a list of interesting syllables and a list of used syllables and patterns in the religion already. Wind has been named Rethwara, Force/Speed has been named Zulstaad, Fresh Water has been named Phreist, and Duality/Opposites has been named Laakin-Taakin.

That last one stands to be respelled the most. The brainstorm list went like this:

Lakhusak -> Lakindol -> Lakindolus -> Lakhindakh -> Lakindak -> Lakhinda -> Lakhindo -> Lakin-Dakin

I've decided I do like the notion of an evenly spelled, hyphenated name for the architect of extremes. There is a set of Mongolian names that have fascinated me for over a decade, Enebish and Terbish. From the current wikipedia article on Mongolian Names, under the category Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period: 

"A distinctive type of Mongolian name that flourished in this period and is still common in the countryside is the avoidance name, designed to avert misfortune from the child: Nergüi “No Name”, Enebish “Not This”, Terbish "Not That"."

If I recall from somewhere else I'd read (over a decade ago now, so I may be mistaken) the names were "Not this one" and "Not that one" to keep bad spirits from harming or taking the vulnerable children. 

Anyway, it helped drum up the idea for Laakin-Taakin, at least in Jhordo-Sasni language sets, to mean "Near one-Far one." 

Phreist is going to share Its name with a major river in the world. Right now, the thought is either the river formed from all of the smaller rivers of the High Plains that merge and run down the Veltimakos Valley into an unnamed inland sea, or the one that ran from the Folsts (formerly out of an underground kingdom) and cut through Malidine, the one Burcumsy (still pending rename) is designed around. "The Phreist" will carry a similar weight to "The Ivid" either way.

Zulstaad sounds a lot like an old character I'd had in my childhood, a somewhat evil black dragon named Volstaad that had probably been based on the dragon with the dagger in its chest from Tomb Raider II (which is a really weird sentence, come to think, and I had to double check via google that I was remembering the cinematic from the right game) combined with the dragon in the chasm at the end of R.A. Salvatore's second book, Streams of Silver, which I think was named Shimmergloom? Dang, he was. I haven't read that book since sixth grade. Anyway, he was a very dragonly dragon of dragonly darkness that could talk and was kind of an important pet to the cast of baddies. I guess what I'm getting at is that he was a childhood relic that wasn't on the table for reuse at all, but I like that the suffix of his name got to resurface when I needed inspiration the most. Maybe Viscombris, the Possessed-Bone-Golem-Wearing-Armor general that commanded Volstaad, will make an appearance. I do need a name for the Archon of Bone. He certainly won't be the same character if he does.

[Edit: About ten minutes after hitting the Publish button, I've decided a perfect alpha name for bone archon will be Visco.]

Anyway. These names are in alpha. The whole world is in alpha. 

I've been playing a lot of Guild 3 at the moment. I've never played any of them, but a bundle of all the past iterations just went on sale, so I grabbed them, too. It's a weird game for me to be playing. It's like Sims Medieval had the fun parts sucked out of it and replaced with a business and economics simulator, and then had a little Fable humor dusted on it here and there. Business and economics have never been of interest to me, but after playing it a few times, it's got me begrudgingly hooked and I keep going back to it like the achievement whore I am. 

It's had me thinking about family dynamics in the old world, though, and how different family dynamics are across cultures even today. Marrying people in and out of families in the game reminded me a lot about the blog post I'd written years ago about the Atavan Caste System. I'd like to revisit that and see if anything needs improvement. I'm only just scratching the surface of Erihan's potential. That culture has gone through several major overhauls, and I've barely started on the current version, but it is a very family centered culture on top of being more matriarchal. The Jhordo-Sasni are also matriarchal but are less interested in family and more concerned with trades and ability. They've been in a fog of mystery for a good while. It's good to have something to look forward to working on, though.

Soiled It

 Yeah, I already changed something and need to re-share the graphic. Tap to enlarge.

I swapped Concept to Law while I had the chance. The Archons had a redundant section cut out and are left with Name - Title (if applicable) and Domains. The major change is that Aowar's children are no longer Fauna, Flora, and Fungi, but Flesh, Blood, and Bone (which is a reversion to an earlier idea, but expanded upon.)

By Flesh, I don't mean only skin. Jarn, formerly Fauna, will preside over Flesh, Muscles, Strength, Organs, Leaves, Bark, Fruits, Produce, Fungi, a.o. If it's biomass that isn't hard or fluid, it's Jarn's domain. Speaking of, Blood isn't only that, but reigns over blood, saliva, taste, mucus, phlegm, excretion, semen, amniotic fluid, pus, sap, juices, a.o. 

You may point out, "There's already an Archon for saliva. You called It odd and brought up the Roman god of mildew." Yeah, well, Aowar won custody of that one and gave It more things to rule over. Ividnon's children are now Oceans & Seas (Shamaal), Ice, and Freshwaters (Rivers, Lakes, Springs, Ponds, Bayous, Swamps, you name it.)

Anyways, Bone is, of course, not only Bone, but also wood, teeth, shells, exoskeletons, fossils, horns and antlers, beaks, any part of an animal that's considered hard and be left over after the body decays (or take much longer than the rest, in case of woods.)

Oh, Birth got a name. I found an old document with names I wanted to use, and the only really good one was Enandurai. It fit a few of them, I thought, but we went with Birth. That's one less name to come up with. Probably just over twenty to go, still, along with around thirty titles to give out to make them sound holier than thou. (Although, there isn't much joy to be had from being called the Eulogist.)

Visual Layout of the God System

 I know, I said I was tired of thinking about the Gods and Archons and such. I wanted to share two mind maps I've put together to show what the hierarchy and categories actually look like compared to Thrum. First is a simplified form.

This simplified view replaces the names of holy entities with what they represent. Prima Materia represents Thrum, the core perfect state of the universe. Each entry outward is an emanation. The first emanation split Thrum into (in this order) Law, Energy, Matter, and Life, which I had written in as Mortality here. The second emanation split those concepts into three lesser and more specialized domains, and these are where the Gods are born. Things break down in the same order, where Law became Time, Order, and Entropy before Energy became Light, Motion, and Sound. The third emanation further defined these concepts into three more smaller pieces, such as Body becoming Fauna, Flora, and Fungi. These children are the Archons. Now, for a copy with names included and a better description of what they represent.

Hopefully it'll allow for zooming in once this entry is published, because the preview isn't.

Everything isn't in a chronological order (order of creation or calendar order) on this mind map, but everything is in the right category. Spaces with ??? are beings that still need names (I've only expanded the archons from twelve to thirty-six over maybe the last two weeks?) Some words are a little different on this one, too. (I've noticed I've called it Concept instead of Law here. It's the same thing, but I prefer Law now.)

Spring and Winter are represented while Summer and Autumn are not. Those are more symbolic associations anyway, as Cern presides over the motion of the seasons. Saliva is probably one of the more odd entries on this list, but if it seems too odd, remember that Romans had a god for mildew.  I've been toying with the idea of putting Shaegon over Arcana, too.

Someday, I'll draw this out with a cleaner transparent background and actual graphics. These are cropped screenshots from FreeMind.

A Ramble About Malidine

 I've already very slightly reorganized the decans within the calendar. Their elements/Gods remained the same... I think it was only swapping two of the Earths and two of the Sounds. 

Let me tell you something, though.

I'm sick of the decans/archons. I'm desperate to think about something else. I'm actually itching to draw and, after rereading the Mirror of Stone short stories and the partially made Bolin's Folly story, write. Production over worldbuilding.

I'm only frustrated that today is the last of my two days off and, due to work exhaustion collapsing me into a midday nap and a therapy appointment that wasn't cancelled until the last moment, I lost most of my other one. 

I had a neat idea, though.

I'm imagining a third era city built into and/or over a second era quarry that may or may not have been produced by a first era machination. If built over, I could see the lower being the slums. Anyway, it would be like an abandoned quarry that has filled with water over time. Travelling the lower pools would require small boats and long poles. 

Burcumsy was supposed to be a city built on three plateaus with slums between them (think similar to Thunder Bluff from World of Warcraft but before it was cool--aka because I was a kid and it didn't exist yet) so this could be a really cool replacement. Imagine, it could chain into the Malid "prison pits" that are still guarded by reworked mechs from the first/second era. It would be nice for Burcumsy--whatever it would end up being called--to have relevance again. It was an important city for Malidine in the past. Malidine itself is hardly relevant anymore, because of so much retired (mostly high fantasy) content. Burcumsy was initially important due to a river flowing out of one of the only entrances to the "Dwellings," an underground nation that I've passed on to my cousin and his fantasy domain. It was the only route of trade between the two nations.

Outside of the topic of that city, there was once an "Illusory Forest" that was this dense forest permanently blanketed by a very thick mist. It sat directly in the center of Malidine and had four rivers running from it in fairly cardinal directions--or running into it, rather. I just recalled the river that passes Burcumsy did ultimately flow into that forest and out of it to the south. The forest itself was guarded by Arkvunda, who is now Aowar, the God of Body. Back then, she was a serpent with strange legs that she used as footing on trees as she wound through the misty woods, permanently guarding what was in the center. The ruin in the middle was Calle Dhima, which will still exist, likely in Malidine. The magic corruption from the original first era ruins kept the crater filled with water and frozen. The three tall buttes that stood around the ruins were stuck in an unnatural arctic limbo. Those buttes now exist in the bay at the mouth of the Heskegi river, a less unnatural arctic terrain for them. I don't know what will keep people out of Calle Dhima now or if they're unknown like they once were.

A later development were the Kespol trolls, but trolls have been moved to their own realm and entirely separate saga. They certainly don't live in Malidine anymore. I'm not sure if their swamps will remain, though. They were added to Malidine as part of old migration maps I had drawn out.

--- 

For the last few hours, I've been distracted reading about ancient mineral usage. I just learned about Chinese oracle bones and cinnabar's use not only as ink, but as sculpted, beautiful "ink sticks." This world is amazing.

The First Working Calendar

It's been unpalatable chaos at work and I haven't been able to work on much aside from scribbling about on my lunch break in a dot grid notebook I bought up just before tax free weekend obliterated the school and office supplies. Tomorrow starts my weekend and it seems my muse chose this evening to work miracles. I just sat down and almost effortlessly compiled the world's first working calendar. It isn't complete with moon phases and holidays, and none of the months are named, sure... but it has solid framework and I'm going to copy-paste it from my unpublished site here to (hopefully) make sure nothing happens to it.

Here's the paste:

Birth and the Archonical Year

There are twelve months and five to six unaffiliated days within each calendar year. Each month contains thirty days, which are further divided into three sets of ten days. Each of these ten day segments is a week and is devoted to a different Archon. Being born within that week determines which Archon the mortal's soul must learn from the most to be properly purified. On Earth, these years would begin on March 21st.

In Calendar Order:

1. Month One

1. The Archon of Birth [Time, Law]

2. The Archon of the Sun [Harskael, Light, Energy]

3. The Archon of Minerals [Urwal, Earth, Matter]

2. Month Two

1. The Archon of Flora [Body, Life]

2. The Archon of Duality [Balance, Law]

3. The Archon of Force [Motion, Energy]

3. Month Three

1. The Archon of Water [Shamaal, Water, Matter]

2. The Archon of Perception [Rubalkai, Thought, Life]

3. The Archon of Chaos [Entropy, Law]

4. Month Four

1. The Archon of Rhythm [Sound, Energy]

2. The Archon of Weather [Bismodus, Air, Matter]

3. The Archon of Instinct [Emotion, Life]

5. Month Five

1. The Archon of Direction [Time, Law]

2. The Archon of Color [Light, Energy]

3. The Archon of Soil [Earth, Matter]

6. Month Six

1. The Archon of Fungi [Body, Life]

2. The Archon of Multitude [Parkareth, Balance, Law]

3. The Archon of Gravity [Motion, Energy]

7. Month Seven

1. The Archon of Taste [Water, Matter]

2. The Archon of Knowledge [Groth, Thought, Life]

3. The Archon of Paradox [Entropy, Law]

8. Month Eight

1. The Archon of Voice [Adinathi, Sound, Energy]

2. The Archon of Wind [Air, Matter]

3. The Archon of Empathy [Emotion, Life]

9. Month Nine

1. The Archon of Ending [Eril, Time, Law]

2. The Archon of The Moon [Light, Energy]

3. The Archon of Metals [Earth, Matter]

10. Month Ten

1. The Archon of Fauna [Jarn, Body, Life]

2. The Archon of Fates [Balance, Law]

3. The Archon of Cycles [Cern, Energy, Motion]

11. Month Eleven

1. The Archon of Ice [Water, Matter]

2. The Archon of Creativity [Thought, Life]

3. The Archon of Arcana [Entropy, Law]

12. Month Twelve

1. The Archon of Vibration [Sound, Energy]

2. The Archon of Breath [Air, Matter]

3. The Archon of Intuition [Eudis, Emotion, Life]

Those born in the last five to six days (six in a leap year) are said to be souls that are quite young or unrefined and are said to be looked after by all Archons.

About Gods in the World

Gods, as they are right now, are not sentient things, but rather massive constructs made by the first advanced species on this planet. The species has vanished so long ago that only what they've built out of a certain strange material still exists. Some of it was made to provide some kind of service to the race in question and still continually functions without their presence. Those things seem to be worshiped as Gods by the newer races that have evolved to fill the gap that the first species left.

There are a lot more Gods than there used to be.

Once, there were only six deities, three greater and three lesser. Now, there are [checks notes] twelve. Even at half capacity, I hadn't placed all of the "God Mechanisms" into the world. It's a lot to do. The religious of the world share the same religion, but they have wildly different ideologies and cultures. Some have preferences and have named their nations after their favored God (which usually has something to do with the presence of the deity within their land, such as Ividnon birthing the Ivid and Jhordone patrolling the high plains of Jhordona.)

Speaking of, that's the two easy ones I've had set in stone for the longest time. The other I know the whereabouts of (somewhat) is Kurdah, who is said to be "slumbering somewhere deep beneath the Folstrom orogeny. I'm using pretentious jargon for a reason--the Folst is a massive, nasty region of tectonic mayhem. Whether Kurdah truly is asleep under there or is actively "raising the Folsts upon Its back" as the popular story goes is up for debate, but the intention was to shroud It in a veil of mystery that may or may not ever be revealed.

That leaves nine more to sprinkle about.

The other three of the older Gods had locations, but their actual forms have been retired, which means they may be placed somewhere else when they've been redesigned. Well, one has also had Its original homeland taken away, too. Jeohan, God of Light (formerly fire,) has always been dominant in Erihan. It--or, He, at the time--was a large bipedal strange entity that wandered the nation like a lumbering giant. Gods do not function like this anymore, but Jeohan should be in Erihan. Aowar, formerly Arkvunda (and a She,) was a winding serpent-like creature with many smaller arms along Its body, which were used to wend through the trees and grab them for stability. There is no more "illusory forest" for It to guard, as It was just a sentry protecting a dangerous ruin (Calle Dhima.) This may still factor into Aowar's placement, since that ruin does still exist and would certainly be dangerous. It just may or may not be in the heart of Malidine as it once was. Unfortunate Probihan was an "amorphous mass" that slid over the Nokan homeland of Wai Nokan Tire like a magical translucent slug. It not only needs a new home, but a new body and purpose, too, because the Nokan folk have been moved to Wasakha and beyond.

Actually, Balki existed in Atavai, but in the spirit realm. Balki can probably stay in Atavai, but certainly needs a new identity.

Never had any idea about any of the others, especially the two newest, Ordea and Ta'al. Motion could be interesting. Sound? Can you imagine a God of Sound that's just a massive floating foghorn sounding off? I can come up with something cool. I've got some notions.

I have a notion about Jeohan, too.

Imagine a mechanism shining an insane amount of light from atop a mountain across a barren tundra, piercing the night with a strange white light. I can see low wintry clouds behind it, also illuminated when low. I can see an aurora composing a backdrop behind it. Jeohan is the God of Light, now, and It happens to preside over a people who live in a land of midnight sun and near twenty-four hour spans with no sunlight, depending on the season. The original mechanism could have been employed for that very reason by the first era, too. Jeohan's light may even grow plants in the night. I can see the God drifting between locations, too, perhaps seasonally. It could come to rest over Alphite in the summer season, maybe deactivating until the long span of dark winter returns. Maybe It never deactivates, but doesn't hurt the mortal eye, either. This is a fantasy domain, after all.

A lot of thoughts going on right now. One of which is whether I like that spelling of Alfeight better. I made it up because I'm tired of typing it the old way and it's flagged for rename. It'll do for now.

They Multiply Like Rabbits

 I did it again. I recently updated religion to have twenty-four Archons instead of twelve. 

We're at thirty-six, now.

Every God will have three children, or chosen Archons, who will help to build the world at their command in the creation story. Afterward, they will exist among races of mortalkind with avatars and represent their chief deity.

Jeohan, the Light God, has a child for the moon, the sun, and color. Harskael is Archon of sun and fire.

Kurdah, the Earth God, presently has a child for stone, metal, and jewel. Urwal is the Archon of stones and non-gem minerals.

Jhordone, the Air God, presently has a child for weather and scents. A third slot is under development. Bismodus is the Archon of all forms of weather.

Ividnon, the Water God, presently has a child for water, ice, and taste, as taste is seen as being paired with saliva. Shamaal is Archon of water.

Ta'al, the God of Sound, has a child for rhythm, voice, and vibration. Adinathi is the Archon of language and speech.

Aowar, the God of Body, has a child for fauna, flora, and fungi. Jarn is the Archon of fauna and is responsible for all variety of non-civilized animals.

Ordea, the God of Motion, has a child for speed and rest. A third slot is under development. Rest is associated with gravity. 

Probihan, the God of Instinct, has a child for emotion, intuition, and morality. Morality may be too similar to intuition. Eudis is the Archon of intuition.

Belgor, the God of Time, has a child for beginnings, ends, and the eternal. Eril is the Archon of ends and governs death and finality. Cern is the Archon of the eternal and governs the unending cycles such as seasons and the motions of the stars.

Akra, the God of Mind, has a child for perception, memory, and dreams. Dreams may replace morality under Probihan. Rubalkai, the Wandering Eye, is the Archon of perception and is every watchful of mortalkind, said to enforce the Gods' will with mortal death and punishment upon the soul. Groth is the Archon of memory and gifted mortalkind with written languages with which to catalogue history.

Balki, the God of Entropy, has a child for chaos, paradox, and arcana. These terms are in a state of flux at the moment.

Gorojin, the God of Balance, has a child for duality, harmony, and fortune. Parkareth is the Archon of duality and governs not only extremes, but the spectrums and varieties between them.

Of note, I've moved Rubalkai from Balki's custody to Akra's. 

I'm going to have a lot of naming and decision making to do.

Other notes:

Archons are worshiped as heavily as the Gods themselves. They are often worshiped in trinities by certain professions, such as Flora, Harskael, and Bismodus for luck in farming. Always present is a smaller idol to Fortune.

I'm not sure which Archon will be associated with the tide. Classical cultures are smart enough to understand the tide is tied to the moon somehow, and the moon is a child of Jeohan. Tides are a predictable perennial system, however, which is Cern's domain. And of course, Shamaal oversees the oceans. It could be an association with this trinity.

The painted forest of Atavai is locally known to be the product of Flora and Color's marriage celebration. 

Fungi is now its own child. I've decided not to leave it to the philosophers, after all.

Rest is associated with stillness and gravity is said to be Rest beckoning all things to come to a stop.

Birth defects and freakishly bizarre events are attributed to Chaos, Balki's child, but illnesses are Eril's domain.

Ordea is proving to be the most difficult to wrap my head around dividing into three. Jhordone isn't much easier.

Emanation Consolidation

Quick Overview of Changes

It's been awhile. I'm overhauling the Gods and Archons again. I had been thinking about it for a bit, but I uncovered a note where I had not only added a God, but named them as well, so I must have been on this path for awhile. Sadly, I doubt I'll be able to find any other notes on it. Here's a breakdown of the changes.

•  No lesser and greater Gods this time, and the months will be named according to the twelve Gods, not the Archons. 
• Only Archons will have avatars with which to speak with mortalkind, as mortals cannot handle the presence of the Gods themselves. 
• Archons themselves will be upped from twelve to twenty-four to make them more numerous and feel truly lesser or like "children" of their master God.
• Archons will have a much stronger influence over mortalkind in the third era. Previously, they had a stand back and watch approach. After the second era collapse, they'll more strongly govern civilization to keep it from happening again.

God Heirarchy

Thrum, the Prima Materia

The four faces/hands of Thrum - Matter, Energy, Law, and Life

The twelve Gods - Earth, Water, and Air for Matter, Light, Motion, and Sound for Energy, Direction, Balance, and Paradox for Law, and Body, Mind, and Emotion for Mortality.

The twenty-four Archons 

• Named:  Harskael* for Fire, Urwal for Minerals, Bismodus for Weather, Sharmiil* for Fluids, Adinathi for Voice, Groth for Thought, Eril for Death, Rubalkai for Arcana, Jarn for Fauna, Cern for Perception, Parkareth for Harmony, and Eudis for Intuition.
• Unnamed: Metals, Ice, Music, Chaos, Flora, Emotion, Scents, [light], [motion], [motion], Birth, 

The Emanations (Basic Form)

All things existed at once as one incomprehensible entity by the name of Thrum. This state of existence shattered, called a gift by some and a tragedy by others, creating the first emanation of Thrum. This pulse split Thrum into four primordial entities, sometimes called the Hands or Faces of Thrum: Matter, Energy, Law, and Life. This emanation spread to the boundaries of inconceivable existence.

The emanation echoed back and Thrum gave out the second emanation, further dividing existence into understandable parts. Each Face or Hand begat three Gods. Matter became the Earth, the Water, and the Air, giving birth to Kurdah, Ividnon, and Jhordone, respectively. Energy became Light, Motion, and Sound, birthing Jeohan, Ordea, and Ta'al. Law became Time, Balance, and Paradox, birthing Belgor, Gorojen, and Balki. Life became the Body, the Mind, and the Pathos, birthing Arkvunda*, Akra, and Probihan.

As the pulse made its way across existence, before it echoed back to Thrum, these Gods fought for dominance. There are places in the world said to be remnants of this fighting, such as canyons believed to be where Jeohan struck at Kurdah and missed, gashing the Earth instead. This volatile state was interrupted as the echo made its way back to the core and Thrum let forth the third emanation. This emanation further divided the definition of the world and created the Archons. Each Archon shadowed a deity as a tutor and extension of them, expanding upon their chosen master's domain. Because Parkareth expanded on the notion of balance and opposites to have spectrums and diversity as well, the other archons were able to add a variety to the world, such as Urwal creating a vast array of minerals and gemstones out of the Earth and Jarn weaving Body into all manner of animals. The conceivable world was complete, and when the pulse echoed back, it came to rest. 

...unless you're one of those heretics that believe the world is on its fourth emanation...

Heretics tend to explain the emergence of magic and spiritual powers as awakening in this theoretical emanation.

To see the old description of things, see this entry.

Reincarnation

Opposite of the world as we know it is the spirit realm. This is the realm where the soul is returned to Thrum or sent back into the waking world with a new life. It is believed this is the realm entered by shamans across the world. Almost every God (according to their Archon's avatars) has forbade any entry into this realm for the safety of the mortal involved. Rubalkai is expressly concerned with enforcing this, and is monikered "the Wandering Eye" for Its vigilance traveling and seeking out heretics from the shadows.

Death occurs in the waking world when Eril, the Archon of Death, harvests the soul, the particle of Thrum in every living being, and brings it before Eudis to be judged. A pure soul is allowed to rejoin and merge with Thrum. A soul not yet ready to rejoin the whole is given to the Archon of Birth* to be remade into the waking world again. Purity is obtained by the mortal by following the guidance of the Archons, adhering to their teachings and overcoming their difficult and often unseen trials. It is said that it takes an unimaginable number of lifespans to reach Thrum.

The Gods and Archons monitor mortalkind, guiding them along a path of purification until they can return to the whole. When enough of Thrum's fragments are returned to the whole, Thrum will be powerful enough to draw all of existence back into itself and all will be one with everything again. The Archons encourage explicit attention to their teachings and wishes to further their soul along, giving mortals incentive to submit to their will.

The Avatars

Each Archon is tied to a body chosen or given to them. These individuals retain their identities unless special conditions are met, in which case the Archon takes over, allowing them to communicate with mortalkind. Aside from a semi-annual meeting of Archons (how many years apart as yet undecided,) these situations are very rare. This is how the divines were able to communicate religion to the initial peoples of the world.

Character Practice: Gen. 1 Koldrogan Series

I've been drawing my head off recently, with some writing mixed in. I'm feeling great. I’ve been trying to put a face to all of the characters from Generation 1 of the Koldrogan storyline. Granted, a few didn’t make it on the list, and there will undoubtedly be more as the story progresses, but I managed 16 before really finding the need to move onto scarier things, like poses and expressions.

I’ll post the main picture and then split it up row-by-row for the who’s-who.

I'm one proud pappy.

So, row one, from left to right...

1. Dugalan Koldroskaro [Name roughly means “Spirit of Honor” and “One From the Plains Tribe”]: Antegga’s cousin and Kundabren’s right-hand man.
2. Svoga-Doga Kundabren [Names mean “Stone-Warden” and “Wiseblood”]: Antegga’s self-proclaimed big brother and right-hand man. Calling him Svoga-Doga is a no-no unless he REALLY likes you. Narrator of the story, as he is chronicling Antegga’s story throughout their lives.
3. Antegga Koldroskaro [Namemeans “Heartsong” and “One from the Plains Tribe”]: THE main character. I could go on for days, but I won’t until I have better drawings. Future warlord of Koldrogan. Also has a lion doll.
4. Goldona Borseto [Name means “Earth Daughter” and “Windspeaker”] A main character. Kundabren’s sister, who took her mother’s surname out of spite to their father, whom she loathes. She also loathes Kundabren, and the feeling is pretty mutual.
5. Kuldinaro Koldrogano [Name means “Sentimental One” and “Of Koldrogan”] A roaming shaman and loremaster who collects folk tales, songs, and current news as he travels. Friends in many places. Pacifist if he can possibly help it. Apparently looks like Jesus without his headdresses and paints on.

Second row, left to right:

1. Malgra: The only character whose name I do not have a meaning to. Also, the first picture drawn of her. Original shaman of Antegga’s hometribe, exiled when he takes command of it. This turns her into the closest thing to a villain on this list… terrifying shamaness. TERRIFYING.
2. Tambra: Not Golboren at all, but Nebaiche-Sivlan, from the far north of the globe. Brought over as a slave from another contenent by Mehega’s group of characters to guide them to the great fire spirit of Koldrogan, because he spoke enough Golboren to translate for them. Caused so much trouble that Teluro “sold” him over to Antegga just to be rid of him. He’d become the blacksmith and Kundabren’s dungeon buddy. (In the assistant torturer sense, not kinky LOL)
3. Brenugan Kuto [Name means “Blood Raven” “Of the Clouds”] Looks hilarious without his warpaint. The most terrifying warlord in the east… None dare challenge him. Likes to feel the blood of the enemy run down his chin when he bites them at the neck.
4. “White Wolf” [Actual name is Ruroga, meaning Blizzard] This is the first picture drawn of him. A Charro, sort of a crazed feral druid. He is Golboren, but born albino. He is also mute, but that was his own doing. His hair was supposed to be matted/dreaded somewhat. Looks funny without sticks, dirt, and berries covering him.
5. Begruni [Name means “Wolf Mother”] A witch, meaning mastery over the spirit world AND the supernatural. She came out looking too young here compared to the others. Anyway, she’s Malgra’s sister. They’d like to see each other dead, but their rivalry is more serious than Kundabren’s and Goldona’s. Also, she keeps Ruroga captive, but they love one another.

Third row, left to right.

1. Garudan Koldroskaro [Name means “Spirit of the Hunter” and “One from the Plains Tribe”] Father of three of the character’s on the list, including Antegga. His tragic death starts the whole story in motion. This is the first picture drawn of him.
2. Nakna Koldroskaro [Name is a profession similar to “Shieldmaiden”] Garudan’s wife, mother of Antegga and his sisters. The actual villain of book one. This is the first picture drawn of her.
3. Antegga’s older sister, who is currently in the market for a good name. Strong, stern, but loves a good laugh and a good drink. Supports Antegga despite knowing she could oust him and command the tribe for herself. This is the first picture drawn of her.
4. Suri Koldroskaro [Her name meaning is still under development too, actually] Antegga’s younger sister. Eager warrior, but hyper and undisciplined. She swears she’ll wed Kundabren some day, but he is as far from interested as possible. This is the first picture drawn of her.
5. Kaigavan Kundabren [Name means “Lion Cub” “Wiseblood”] I really didn’t do him justice, but he did come out looking like a cave man… cave troll. So that’s good. He’s kind of bitter. His wife bit his ear off and left him. Oh, and he’s Kundabren’s father and an important elder spirit that shamans make pilgrimages to visit.
6. Kundabren’s mother, also unnamed. Looks like she will burn your village to the ground, lol. Her kids definitely took after her… which really gripes their father. She runs a particular ancient syndicate of spies, scouts, assassins etc in Koldrogan… like, completely. Sweet on the outside, but not the woman you want to offend. This is the first picture drawn of her.

I can’t wait to get better with poses. I’m FLIPPIN’ TERRIFIED though. I’m a stiff, unanimated person, unless Heavy Metal Perse is playing apparently, then I have to fight to contain myself. Naturally, this means my poses come out stiff and inexperienced. I did do a pose sheet recently though, as well as this picture of Kundabren:

I drew that and didn’t finish it because 1. those pauldrons are really not Golboren but I didn’t have the heart to erase them, 2. I can do way better than that on hair, and 3. the pose is ambiguous at best. The arm seems wrong, the hands are way too small, feet are too small, his body is FAR too lean, like, I WAS SO WORRIED GETTING THE POSE RIGHT that I forgot the person I was drawing was supposed to have some freakin’ muscle. Like, Kundabren gets some thick muscle for a good long time… not ugly ripped comic hero, just naturally bigger.

I lose my head is what I’m saying, lol. I want to make an outfit and height chart and practice expressions, but anxiety. I’m sure as hell about to dive in, though. Maybe I should start with what I AM cool with… headbanging and moshing poses. LOL no, no… maybe.

OH YEAH BEFORE I GO.

Here were the sketches that came before the drawings :) ANTEGGA LOOKS MORE LIKE HIMSELF IN THE DAMN SKETCH. I was like… damn.