Turkey day is done

Time for the coma to begin. Spent the day at the office. Looking busy catching up on school work and dreaming of the Nano that I let slip away. Ah well there's always next year. And I will continue with the story I am working on. I have an ending in mind which never happens to me. So I want to write until I can stick The End at the back of the book. It'll be a new experience for me and one that I need to reach. I can't keep starting stories and not finishing. When this story is finished I will get back to DuskHaven. After that who know what will be next. I figure those two stories should take me through the end of next year. I'll have to come up with something new for Nano as I want to do something fresh for it again. Not a lot else to say today. I hope both of you out there had a happy thanksgiving and we'll see you tomorrow.

A sad and lonely blog

I was going through my links today when I saw my sad little blog sitting there crying out for an update. So here's the scoop for the folks who actually check this. (Both of you) I am still here and I am still working. DuskHaven took a backseat to School and Nano though. Nano has been fun if unproductive for me. I didn't realize how distracted I'd be with school and family so here we are 4 days from the end and I only have 15K written. It's all good though as I like most of that 15K. I'm turning a short story I wrote earlier this year into a full novel. So far I like where it's going and I think I have an idea of where it will end which is a novelty for me.

Anyway one of my former co-workers has started blogging daily about what's going on in his life just to get back in the habit. I think I may try that as well. DuskHaven will return and more will be written about it but for now I think this blog will go more general purpose so I actually keep it up.

That's all for now campers. We'll see you tomorrow on Turkey Day.

Back in the saddle again

Well I managed to blog once from Georgia then drop off the face of the Earth for the rest of the trip. Our Condo in Florida did not have wifi as advertised. The Clubhouse had wifi and we were unfortunately 2 or 3 houses too far away to sneak on it from home and frankly I was too tired most nights to even consider walking down there too post.

Let me sum up Florida for you in three words. "Death by sauna." Holy cow but it was hot and miserable there. My hats off to anyone that voluntarily lives there because I'd sooner lick a cat then move there. High 90's and humid is a miserable way to be. Especially when surrounded by a million billion tourists at the happiest place in the world. Disney in June is not the happiest place in the World. Sorry Mickey but when I can't move without hitting someone that's no longer a theme park that's some kind of prison camp. The rides we managed to get on were still a lot of fun and the fast pass system they have there is excellent. I highly recommend getting the fastpass tickets. Just be sure to plot out what you want to ride on most as they go fast.

The rental house was nice if a bit rundown in spots. The maintenance folks claimed it was all from some epic party held in the house the week before we arrived but the variety of damage and wear made that a little hard to believe. It was really nice having a house to go back to in the evening rather then a hotel room. Having a fridge and stove made life so much easier and cheaper too. Hit the Walmart on day one for eggs, bread, and milk and you have a cheap breakfast for the week. We had a few dinners at the house as well which were all excellent.

For one of our big nights out we went to see Medieval Times. I guess I'd recommend this as a see it once type of thing. Tickets are expensive but the show is a lot of fun. Eating with your hands is always a plus too. The jousting and fighting looked a little too staged to me but then again you can't have people getting hurt or they'd shut the place down. I just wished they hadn't tried to stage a single person fighting against multiple opponents. The one on one fights and jousts looked decent but the group fight looked badly staged. Ok I'm going to wait for Bob to swing then I'll step forward to swing after he turns my way. Heck I can't fight and I could have stabbed the guy through a dozen times during the battle. Otherwise it was fun though and the food was very good with good sized portions as well.

On our drive back we split off from the rest of our group and took I-75 North so we could stop in Chattanooga and see Rock City! I hadn't been there in probably 15-20 years and my wife and kids had never been. Yes it's totally a tourist trap but a very well done tourist trap. I love the psychedelic version of classic kids tales and of course the views from Lookout Mountain are outstanding. My family was not so adoring of the Dayglo gnomes and crazy displays from classic fairy tales but then they didn't grow up seeing them on every trip to Florida. Maybe my younger son will like them if I get him there at the right age. At a year old he couldn't really let me know what he thought of it all. :^) Anyway I think that's enough trip round up from me. Next post I'm back on DuskHaven. Oh yes in case you're wondering what took so long I had to finish my studies for my final MCSA test. I passed and now can add more letters after my name. Now I have 2 glorious months free of after work studies before I start school in the fall. So it's time to get cranking and get some serious work done on DuskHaven.

Hello Georgia

Well I'm trying to blog on the road again.

We just finished a marathon fourteen hour car ride and are here in Savannah Georgia. I'd tell you how it was but I can't see straight enough to look. :^) We're staying in Best Western again but this time it's ridiculously nice. The rooms are all suites as far as I know. Sadly we won't get to check out the pool as we're on to Orlando tomorrow morning. From what I could see though it's not a terribly big pool but decent enough.

In the course of today I've seen both ends of I-77 and frankly I like this end better. :) The drive through West Virginia is a bit harrowing at times but also beautiful. The two tunnels as you leave WV are the icing on the cake. But the geek in me couldn't help but think of North Pass out of Dun Morogh into Loch Modan in World of Warcraft. I'm such a geek.

Tomorrow we're on to Orlando and some big ol' rental house which should be fun. There's a whole family group meeting up there so good times should abound. Wifi is supposed to be available in the house as well so hopefully this will not be my last post for the week. I hope to get some plotting done on DuskHaven and get rolling on it again.

Speaking of writing I have finished another short story called Magic of the Highways which I will post if I ever get the permanent website finished here. I hope to draft my wife to help with grammar checking as mine is pretty appalling. I think my ideas are decent but my writing leaves something to be desired.

Till next time Rolard out.

Fire Magic and some tweaking to Light Magic

After reviewing my post on light magic I think it will stand on its own other then one addendum.  Knights cannot create food and water from nothing.  There needs to be a source.  In Rolards case he has a small number of travelers biscuits and a water skin.  He breaks off a bit of the biscuit and pours a dash of water.  He can then copy that food into a decent sized portion for one person.  He cannot copy the copy of the food as it simply will not work.  So he is cheating the laws of thermodynamics but not completely destroying them.

On to Fire.

Fire magic is far less understood then the Magic of Light or the power of the EarthSeers.  Mostly this is because there is no formal school of magic surrounding it.  There were a few books written by the more powerful practitioners but many of those were lost in the fall of DuskHaven.  While Fire magic runs in family trees it is far more likely to skip generations then the other magics.  It is also more likely to "pop" up in a child when no one in the family recalls another with the Spark.  Because it has such a scattered history and is so rare it is often misunderstood and to many a Spark is almost as evil as one who works with the Magic of Darkness.

Rule 1:  A Spark can control temperatures both up and down though they have difficulty taking temperatures below freezing.  They can do this to an object they are directly touching.

Rule 2: A Spark can set an object on fire.  Once they release the object the fire created this way will burn them as well.  So a Spark could create fire in their hands using cloth or paper.  But after lighting a fire and stepping back they are vulnerable to the flame as well.

Mechanics: Changes in temperature are done much like a heat pump moving heat around from one object to another.  Setting an object on fire is done internally the fire is drawn from the user and can have unintended consequences.  Lighting a small fire a torch or campfire for example will have no noticeable effect but trying to light a large fire at once such as setting a bonfire into flame in one go rather then using kindling can drain the caster immensely.  It drains the spirit and will of the caster, this effect is usually temporary though some Sparks have been known to use their powers so irresponsibly that their very nature was changed.  It is from Sparks like this that fire mages gained much of their bad reputation.

Drawbacks:  The loss of spirit and will is usually enough to keep Sparks in line.  There are very few Sparks in existence now.  Besides Gretta there are perhaps half a dozen known scattered through the Border and Inner Kingdoms. 

This... is... Frankenmuth!

This is a bit of an odd post for me. I'd never considered blogging on the road before. But I'm laying in bed at the Best Western in Saginaw Michigan and they have wireless Internet and I have an Asus EEE so why not.

Well that didn't work. I wrote the above sentence and fell asleep. LOL!

Anyway Frankenmuth was a lot of fun. I hadn't been there in a good 7-8 years and my kids had never been. We ate WAAAAYY too much chicken at Zhenders and thought about buying a cuckoo clock. Turns out my Grandmother had an old cuckoo clock that she gifted us with when we left. It's not as fancy as the ones in Frankenmuth but it's a family hand me down. Now to get some weights for it and get it running again.

On a side note if you decide to visit Frankenmuth let me strongly urge you to stay somewhere other then the Best Western in Saginaw. The AC was broken which made the room really warm the whole time we were there and outside it was only 55'ish. I'd hate to see it in the summer. The indoor pool was the only nice part of the hotel and it was only nice in the morning as by early evening it was full of rowdy teenagers and half drunk party-goers. It was cheap though and lived up to the you get what you pay for rule of life.

Now for some Frankenmuth details. Zhenders.... ahhhhh I could write a short novel on the joy that is their chicken dinner but I shall try to limit myself a bit here. Zhenders is well over one hundred years old now and is the largest independent restaurant in the US. They have ten dining halls and serve over ONE MILLION meals in a year. That doesn't seem like much compared to say McDonalds but you have to remember this is entirely scratch cooked amazingly tasty food. Nothing is precooked or reheated. The family style chicken dinner costs $18.95 and I highly recommend you go with it if you will only eat one meal here. I've never had anything else but I only get up there every few years. If I lived closer I'm sure I'd branch out into their other dishes as they look delicious as well. The family dinner starts with home-made (get used to seeing that word here a lot) liver pate and cheese spread served with real french bread. Coleslaw, Cottage cheese, Chicken Noodle soup round out the appetizers. Oh and did I mention they're all home-made? Good. Just to note I hate Coleslaw and I ate the coleslaw here. It's that good. The main course is their famous deep fried chicken with home-made (there's that word again) mashed potatoes, dressing (stuffing), cranberry relish, noodles with a butter and cracker topping, and some more awesome bread. Finished off with a small bowl of ice cream. We went for lunch and let me tell you I needed the walk afterwards. Expect to wait in a line to get in. We were there on an off weekend and waited about 5-10 minutes for lunch but if you try to go on a busy holiday weekend like mother's day don't be surprised at a 2+ hour wait for dinner.

Just a minute or two drive South of Frankenmuth you will reach Bronner's Christmas Wonderland. You'll find signs for Bronner's as far South as Key West. (Head North on I-75 1500 miles or so and it's on the right.) We only spent an hour or two here but if you like Christmas stuff then you will easily spend a day here. My only regret of the trip is we were too wiped out in the evening to drive back down and look at all the lights here. Acres of Christmas lights, bulbs, trees, and decorations await in one of if not the largest Christmas store in the world. Cool place.

Well I didn't accomplish any real writing on the trip but I'm hoping to be back at it shortly. If you read two posts ago the Writing Excuses guys are working on magic systems again and after listening I think I'm OK on Light Magic but I need to really think about my other magic abilities. I think my main control on it will be its relative scarcity. Magic runs in family lines and can come and go along the generational lines.

Magic of Light

First Rule:  Light can intimidate and scare humans but it will not directly hurt them.  In most cases it will in fact heal them.

Second Rule: Light will hurt and kill demons.

Mechanics:

Those gifted with the Light usually realize it much later then those in other schools of magic.  Many are in their mid to late twenties before recognizing the talent.  A few recognize it as early as thirteen but that is highly uncommon.

The Light is "visible" as a bright shining beam that starts behind them somewhere and disappears ahead of them.  It is non directional.  Whatever direction the user is facing that is the direction the beam appears to them.  It is only "visible as the beam when the practitioner has their eyes closed and is deeply focused.  Prayer is often used to clear the mind of thought and to bring on the focus needed to observe the beam.  While in this state questions and thoughts may receive hints as to the correct course of action to take.

When in combat many of the Silver Knights will become bathed in a shining suit of armor that helps protect them from demonic blows.  Again it does not stop blows from humans and does not help greatly against a demon wielding a weapon as it does not stop weaponry.  Their swords will also often be bathed in the light which greatly aids them in their fights against the demonic hordes.

Less common abilities include shooting balls of light at demonic foes and summoning a hammer made of the Light itself.  This hammer is unusual in that it is a real physical object and as such it will harm both human and demonic enemies.  But harm given to a human usually results in great pain to the wielder as well as the Light reacts harshly to being used in such a way.

The Light can also be used to heal wounds and cure diseases as such Silver Knights are usually treated with the utmost respect.

Amongst the rarest of Light magic is the ability to purify and create food and water.  Only a handful of Knights have had this ability.  Rolard has it to a lesser extent in that he is able to use the Light to copy and existing food stuff.  Usually a bland travelers biscuit but there have been reports of Knights in the past who could create entire banquets from nothing.

Drawbacks:

For the most part Light magic is benign and causes little suffering directly to its wielder.  But on occasion wielders will receive unwelcome visions of potential futures.  Unfortunately, in almost all cases these visions come too late to avert the fate they show.  But not always, so the Knights always pay heed when one of their number has a vision.

Writing Excuses

If you're doing any writing you owe it to yourself to grab the Writing Excuses Podcast. 15 minutes long because you're in a hurry and they're not that smart. This is an excellent series brought to you by three wonderful authors. The authors of the series are Brandon Sanderson author of Mistborn, (Yes he's the guy finishing Robert Jordan's Magnum Opus The Wheel of Time) Howard Taylor of Schlock Mercenary fame, (If you're not reading it get out of here and go check it out) and Dan Wells a horror novelist. Sadly I have not read any of Dan's work but from hearing this podcast I soon will. They cover in fifteen minute nuggets, topics ranging from how to get published to how magic systems work. At the time of this entry their latest podcast on Magic will soon spark a series of new articles here. All three are brilliant speakers and the podcast never feel tired. As an aside I also try to listen to Webcomics Weekly but their hour long format and less organized presentation makes it fun but not as informative in my opinion.

The latest discussion on magic in Writing Excuses has really gotten me thinking about how I want magic to work in DuskHaven. My main characters all use magic and at this point it's been fairly nebulous. I have rules but nothing firmly defined. I plan to rectify that tonight. Well I'll start on it tonight. I plan to stick to the six major schools of magic that I defined earlier. Light and Earth are currently the two systems that need the most definition with Fire coming in a close third.

From listening the Writing Excuses group and thinking about what I read they're spot on as to why main characters need rules if they use magic. Without rules readers are left confused as to what abilities the characters have and lack the sense of suspense as they expect magic to solve every issue.

If Rolard was not my main character I might leave things more ill-defined but I can't imagine doing the story from another perspective right now. Although the notion of an Everyman or perhaps an Everywoman is intriguing....

Now I'm rambling and I hate seeing that in other blogs. So to wrap up for today a well defined magic system for your main characters good, rambling in blogs bad.

How to plot

I've been struggling with plotting lately as all my previous work has been done braindump style during Nano frenzies.  Now that I'm actually trying to plot out a full story I'm getting stuck on the details.  So I've done some web searching and I think I'll be going this route. How to plot a novel this article is by Simon Haynes author of the Hal Spacejock series and creator of the amazing ywriter software.  I've been using Freemind for plotting but now I intend to get serious about it.  I like the idea of putting all your setting items on one side and plotting on the other.  Simon has a sample freemind file on his site that's a nice template for getting started.  Grab the file from his plot page.  After some plotting is done it should be easier to move into ywriter.  In the past I usually have one monolithic file with everything in it which makes revising a pain in the butt.  But with the scene based ywriter it's easy to move whole sections around.  I intend to write DuskHaven entirely in ywriter so we'll see how that goes as well.  I'll report back on it occasionally as I make progress.

 

Not a lot of other news right now.  I cleaned my house this weekend which always helps to clear the mind and I actually remembered to grab my notebook and jot down notes on new story ideas that came to mind.  Whether they go anywhere or not who knows but at least I'm starting to write them down which is of course step one. 

First Small Map

Well here's a small view of the first map I drew up for DuskHaven. Raise your hands if you see the problem with it.

That's right, the map is backwards. DuskHaven is in the West not the East. Whoops. That's what happens when you don't pay attention to what you're doing. I'll be working on a new map of the Borderlands as well as the larger map for the continent and world in the next couple of days.

The generalities are there though. The dashed line represents the limit of demon incursions prior to the fall of DuskHaven. With the loss of the lantern all of The Green Fields have fallen under demon control and the demons are at the gates of The Borderland kingdoms now. The demons do not move as an organized army except when led by Lord Danrael. This has allowed villages months and even years in some cases to evacuate to the East. Several larger villages close to the Border Kingdoms are still standing though they are all very weakened. The area around Delora's farm stood against the demons for twenty years after the fall of DuskHaven and the farm itself has gone curiously unnoticed for the remaining ten.

As the largest growing area in Arquel the loss of the Green Fields is having repercussions even as far away as the Inner Kingdoms. Home to corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco these fields produced much of the best food in the kingdom. They were also home to enormous cattle and livestock farms. The border kingdoms have felt the loss most heavily as they deal with the influx of refugees while trying to hold back the demon forces.

And... We're back

Well it's been a week off here. I've been working on laying out the plot for the full story of DuskHaven. I don't know if I can wait till November to start on it. I will be working on The EarthSeer's Daughter tonight but I need to tighten up the plot there as well.

So let's talk about time. We know that DuskHaven fell 30 years prior to present day. In DuskHaven that would be 2143 but in the Inner Kingdom of Astel that would be 4598 and in Darset 4385. The Border Kingdoms and The Green Fields all adopted DuskHaven time over the years so that's the time we'll use. DuskHaven time starts with the founding of the city and lighting of the lantern. DuskHaven was a new city when the lantern was lit. It grew up and around the center point of light. The location was chosen because it was as close to the oncoming demon mobs as the armies at the time could safely reach. Initially they had planned to place the city another 200 wheels west where there is another natural narrowing of the continent but they were stymied by the speed of the demons. Luckily for the inhabitants of the Green Fields the lantern was strong enough to keep all but a few demons from coming through. The Silver Knights and local militia were able to deal with the few that did cross through.

So we have DuskHaven founded 2143 years ago.
Lord Danrael's fall was in 1483 or 560 years ago.
Rolard Grolgamon was born in 2082.
DuskHaven fell in 2113.

I'll get the dates for the other major cities on here today or tomorrow.

Plotting

No story blog today. I need to do more plotting and world building before I post more story items. In website news I've been debating what my goal should be with this site and I'd like to make it the central archive for all more story telling. As such I have purchased Duskhaven.info and plan to migrate over to that site soon. Right now the debate is where do I host it. I'm thinking of just getting a low end account at GoDaddy and continue to use blogger as the front end to the site. The link section can handle my static sections I think.

Speaking of other works let's discuss those a bit. DuskHaven is my new darling but my first story is a sci-fi romp called Flight of the Amadeus. The story centers around the crew and passengers of the colony ship Amadeus. Trouble and tragedy await them. It should be fun. Amadeus is part of my own little Known Space Universe. I haven't yet come up with a good name for it so I'm borrowing the name from Larry Niven. The Universe is full of other races and mankind is a small fish in a big pond right now. The first story takes place over several decades as the Amadeus journeys towards their new home. I started it in 2006 during my first Nanowrimo and expanded out one chapter in 2007. I've managed to write myself into a corner as I haven't plotted out enough in advance and have been making it up as I go along. While that technique can work great for Nanowrimo it doesn't work so well when you want to actually finish and attempt to publish a book.

I'm currently looking for a good plot tool. I use OpenOffice and Microsoft Word interchangeably for typing depending on whether I'm on my Linux based Eee or on my Office machine running Windows. I've also used Roughdraft for writing which had the benefit of being much simpler then Word or OpenOffice. But for plotting I've struggled with yWriter quite a bit as well as Celtx. I think either could work really well but I have a hard time filling in all the details that I've already written about. Characters and places that I know I don't want to go back and fill in the blanks even though it would make things easier in the long run. Doing a wiki has also been suggested and I think that idea might work really well along with this blog site, It's something I'm looking at at least.

Let's see what else can I tell you that you don't already know and might actually care about. I'm a Capricorn and my favorite color is blue. Oh wait wrong kind of details, The character Rolard was my Paladin in World of Warcraft which is probably not too surprising to the three of you that actually read this site. I used to make up my own stories for him while bored and waiting on the Griffins or waiting after a Lucifron kill in MC for late comers to catch up. Watching a dancing druid gets old after a while believe it or not so stories helped fill the time for me. DuskHaven itself must have been percolating in the back of my head for a while because it all came together quickly when I sat down to write a fantasy story. DuskHaven has it's roots in Stratholme and the Eastern Plaguelands I'm sure. But I've been trying very hard to not let this turn into WoW fanfic and I hope I succeed with it. Enough for today no I need to try to plot for the second short story in the world The EarthSeers Daughter which I am not convinced is the best choice for the second story but I liked the idea of it so I'm running with it.

Rolard of DuskHaven

Time to introduce our leading man. Rolard of DuskHaven also known as Rolard Grolgamon is the Captain of the Guard amongst the Silver Knights. His command was charged with defending the Grolgamon family and the lantern itself. The failure of his command weighs upon him at times but as there was nothing he could have done to prevent the fall he has set it aside.

Rolard was born thirty-two years before the fall of DuskHaven. He is the son of Rolstan and Dilera. His father was also Captain of the Guard before him. He fell in battle just a few months before the fall and Rolard was named as his successor. Young for the post Rolard was looked down upon by many but his skill in the light made him one of the only choices for the post.

Rolard stands roughly six feet tall and in his younger days had dark brown hair down to the middle of his back but as he's aged the hair had gotten shorter, grayer, and has started falling out, In the present time he is mostly bald on top of his head with slightly longer then shoulder length gray hair. His eyes are bright blue and some have said intimidating at times.

His armor and sword are both passed down to him from his father. The armor is actually from his grandfather and the sword is now in its fifth generation of silver knights. The blade is slightly over three feet long and double edged. A traditional European longsword in design. It has proven its worth in countless battles with the demons. While objects do not possess magic on their own this sword has been in the hands of a skilled practitioner of the light for so many decades and centuries that it respond almost instantly to commands. In battle against demons it is often illuminated with white fire. It had been known to burst into flames without it's wielders command when fighting demons, The armor is steel with embossed patterns and sigils covering the breastplate, guards, and gauntlets, His helm was a full plate helm with movable visor though it was lost in his flight from DuskHaven. He prefers to fight without a helm but when the situation calls for it he carries a plain steel helmet with a basic nose guard. His shield is embossed with the rampant lion of DuskHaven on an Argent background.

He is a fairly stubborn man and has had to fight his way out of several situations that could have been solved diplomatically. He has dedicated the last thirty years of his life to raising an army to lead to DuskHaven and retake the city. He hopes that he can relight the lantern and drive back the demon hordes. His skill in the Light may be sufficient though he expects that the act will cost him his life. He views this as an easy sacrifice though if it means the recovery of his city and home.

Dornet

Let’s finish up the tour of the border kingdoms today. Dornet was founded soon after DuskHaven by the Inner Kingdom of Darset which feared that Galashin would support Arsel as they had rejected the advances by Darset to become an ally. With the founding of Dornet, Galashin did form an alliance with Arsel but rarely asked them for help. Dornet like Darsel is founded along Eastern lines with a strict hierarchy and a warrior class which controls most of the cities affairs. They are the least prosperous of the Border Kingdoms but their prowess on the field is nearly unmatched. (At least in close combat) Their Warriors for the most part use the Axe and Hammer in combat. They have little ranged support and look on Galashins forces as weak. This is despite defeats in combat due to the effectiveness of the longbows of Galashin.

The city of Dornet is built on a mesa that rises above the surrounding plains. On the Western edge they have built a great wall facing the Green Fields and the demon menace. On the other three sides the wall is far shorter but they have smoothed out the cliff face itself into an unscaleable wall. During the first siege following the fall of DuskHaven the demon forces surrounded and harassed Dornet for weeks before being thrown back by the combined might of the Border armies. Dornet’s only fear of siege is starvation. They are able to weather months of siege but if it drags out longer they do not have access to the ocean like Shinon or to the river Nehal like Galashin does. With the fall of DuskHaven, Dornet is now home to best armor and weapon smiths in the Western world. Even the Inner Kingdoms come to Dornet for weaponry for their elite forces.

During the past thirty years there have been several revolts within the city as the lower classes seek reform for the strict control that the leadership has over them. These revolts have been brutally suppressed. As a result the city has been shrinking steadily in size as many of the lower classes leave for the other border kingdoms. Shinon and Galashin have been glad to take them in to swell their ranks. This fact has rankled Dornet’s leaders greatly and without the ever present threat of the demons they would have likely gone to war again with their neighbors.

Galashin

Galashin is the oldest of the Border Kingdoms and predates DuskHaven itself by almost a thousand years. Galashin even predates the wars between the Inner Kingdoms and was in fact one of the four major civilizations in Arquel prior to the demons awakening. It controlled several thousand wheels of land stretching to the West. DuskHaven stands on land that was once Galashin controlled. When the great rift happened and the demons were unleashed they quickly overran the civilizations in the West and moved towards Galashin. When the people who would become the Silver Knights approached the king of Galashin he quickly agreed to cede the lands in the West to them if they could stop the demons. DuskHaven was founded and Galashin honored their agreement by cedeing DuskHaven and much of The Green Fields. In the years following the founding of DuskHaven Galashin continued its slow decline. Dornet was founded by a splinter group from the capital itself. The king at the time was only a child and the ruling council decided it was better to let Dornet go then to force a war on their young king. A center for music and the arts Galashin has remained the center of culture in the West. DuskHaven had more scholars but the artists and musicians make their home in Galashin keeping it a colorful and festive city almost year round.

When DuskHaven fell Galashin found itself facing the demons again. Bargains were made with the demons which were quickly broken and Galashin has been forced to become a real military power again or risk destruction. They have formed an alliance with their longtime rivals Shinon and Dornet to hold back the demon advances. The Green Fields were allowed to fall to buy them time to fortify their defenses and for thirty years they have held back the demonic forces. With The Green Fields gone however, the demon attacks have been stepping up in recent years. The central thrust of the demons has fallen on Galashin and they are holding it back as best they can.

The military in Galashin is organized around ranged attackers. The bowmen of Galashin are renowned throughout Arquel for their skill and courage. They are supplemented with Sword and shield units which take up positions around the archers in battle. They have been known to devastate entire demon legions with one salvo from their longbows. For now the archers have held back the demon forces but they have been unable to push them back towards the West.

Magic

Ok back to DuskHaven today.

There are many “schools” of magic in Jindarin. Most are not well organized but are instead passed down through the generations along family lines. Here is a breakdown of the more well known “schools” of magic.

Light

The Church of the Light is one of the exceptions in that they have or rather had one centralized training location. Most users of the light realize their potential in their late teens and early twenties. Usually they will be unaware of their gifts prior to that. Outside of DuskHaven where they did regular testing it is only by chance that a person will realize their connection. Training consisted mainly of mental exercises. Clearing the mind to “grasp” the beam of light within them was the primary focus. With DuskHaven gone there are currently no known practitioners of Light magic save the Silver Knight Rolard.

Earth

The EarthSeers are the oldest organization of magic on Arquel. They can trace their history back to the earliest days when Man was first brought fourth from the Abyss. The EarthSeers are extremely secretive about their practices and little is commonly known about them. The Speaking Holes that the EarthSeers can communicate with are their most public feature. These Holes are scattered about Arquel and most major cities have one. They are also found in the countryside though unless they are guarded they are often filled in by superstitious people. The EarthSeers are usually trained in Mournwood which is located far to the East of the Inner Kingdoms. If they pass and survive the training an EarthSeer is expected to break all human ties with family and friends. They are the guardian of their Speaking Hole. Once established there they will live by that Hole for the rest of their lives. They are not banned from human contact though and oftentimes will marry and have families of their own if their children grow up to show the talent they are sent to Mournwood and usually never heard from again. It’s a lonely life for the Seers. But their communication with the Earth and their ability to use that power to gain favors from the Earth holds them in good stead.

Fire

Sparks as they are often called are able to control not just fire but temperature. Little is known about them and their abilities run almost strictly in family lines. They tend to stay hidden as control of fire often leads to rumors of demonic powers and evil. A few Sparks that have gone public have done so only under the protection of a powerful patron. A few have travelled to DuskHaven to study in the library there.

Water

Shinon because of their port status supports a small school dedicated to water manipulation. There are only half a dozen or so practitioners there at this time and none with any great level of control over water. They keep trying as the city keeps funding them.

Air

There are no known practitioners at this time though DuskHaven’s library has hinted at powerful mages able to control mighty winds and even remove the breathable air from an area. It is believed that most or all of them perished when the Demon hordes were unleashed thousands of years ago.

Darkness

Practiced by the most powerful demons this magic is a counterpoint to the Light wielded by the Silver Knights. At this time no humans practice control over the dark arts. The last to do so was Lord Danrael. After his fall the practice was banned in all corners of the continent. Even a whisper of its use can bring down an inquisition.

A Change in Plans

I had planned to blog today about the various kinds of magic in Jinadar but a walk changed my mind. I'm sitting on top of Fort Hill in the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks typing this. Technology is good. A couple years ago I wouldn't have been fit enough to get up here and if I was I wouldn't have had a computer light enough to carry with me. My Eee PC fits the bill nicely though. The screen is sadly almost unreadable in this light so I'll have to do my editing in a local Panera or Arabica but I can do the writing here and now. The Cleveland Metroparks are really one of the nicest places to be on a day like this. The sun is shining and it's about 72 degrees out here. I'm playing hooky today because I have spring fever. I guess that means a break from writing as well. Or at least writing about DuskHaven.

Speaking of that, I think I shall have to take a break soon and get back to my sci-fi work. The poor crew of the Amadeus is languishing with a Saboteur onboard and alarms going off all around them. But that is tale for another day.

I think DuskHaven will become the home for all my writing. I've considered finding a generic domain for all my work but it becomes difficult to obtain a decent URL. But DuskHaven is fairly unique. At least I like it. :) Anyway I think I'll register DuskHaven.info today and see about moving the blog over to it in the next few days. Sadly some schmuck is sitting on DuskHaven.com and I'm not paying someone for the site when it's not even in use. Maybe If I can land a book deal I'll think about it but not now. :^) Anyway I think it's time to head down the trail and towards home. Till tomorrow, I wish you all a good day.

Shinon

The three borderland citadels currently guard the inner kingdoms from the demon hordes. After DuskHaven fell all three cities sent their armies into The Green Fields to try to protect the farmlands and to retake DuskHaven but the armies were quickly routed by the demon forces and The Green Fields were slowly swallowed by the Wastelands. The last families and villages in The Green Fields were abandoned nearly ten years past and now the border sits just a few wheels to the West of the border citadels.

Shinon is the smallest and youngest of the border kingdoms having been founded just three hundred years ago, prior to that Shinon was just a large port city on the Arnasian Sea. The Shinon family was one of the most prosperous merchant families in the Borderlands and as their wealth grew so did their ambition. Panrol Shinon the family patriarch at the time solicited the help of the armies of Arsel to support his bid to declare independence from Dornet which looked to Darset for support. Darset saw this as another chance to attack Arsel while their defenses were scattered and would not help. Dornet was forced to acknowledge the independence of Shinon but was granted a tribute of gold and ships for not pushing for a far bloodier war. The fact that Galashin remained neutral during the fight but used Shinon for much of their sea traffic helped persuade Dornet to accept a settlement.

Since then Shinon has grown into an even more prosperous seaport and the Citadel of Shinon is a marvel of modern design and defense. The Demon hordes after pushing hard once here have concentrated their attacks on the older citadels of Galashin and Dornet. Shinon has ridden to the aid of the other border cities on several occasions and landed raiding parties deep behind the demon forces to harass them from the rear. Their standard is the blue falcon. After the fall of DuskHaven, Shinon has played host to the last known EarthSeer. Malom died several years past and no new EarthSeer has arrived to take up the post. The Speaking Hole of Shinon is kept under guard as evil lights have flared within it over the last few years and plans have been made to fill the hole in soon if no new EarthSeer arrives to tend to it.

Time to Pay the Reaper (Lord Danrael)

Here in the states it’s tax-day and that means pain and suffering for most of us. So today seems like the day to begin talking about the downfall of DuskHaven. The “person” responsible for the fall goes by the name of Lord Danrael. Lord Danrael was one of the pre-eminent Silver Knights More than five hundred years ago he was the next in line to be Knight-General of DuskHaven and the last of the Reganos family. He excelled at everything he did and soon was in command of most of the Knights that patrolled outside the city walls. He began a campaign to push back the Wastes and reclaim the land lost to the demons. Many had hopes that he could reach the source of the demons and drive them back into it and seal them away. But as he ventured further and further from the city his attitude began to change. He began to act less like the noble knight and more like the savage demons that he fought with. Finally he went alone into the darkness when his men refused to follow him further. He was not seen for many months and most thought he was lost. When he was seen returning to the city a party of the cities leaders went out to meet with him.

He spoke of the wonders he’d seen of pools of liquid night and demons who spoke with him. He claimed the demons wished for a truce and to establish relations with the city. He wanted the lantern to be extinguished so the demons could come forth and meet with them. The city leaders refused and he fell into a rage. He drew forth a sword as black as night and commanded them to extinguish the lantern. The Knight-General with tears in his eyes said he had no son. This being in front of him could not be his son Danrael. He proclaimed his son banished and ordered him to go back to the Waste that he now loved. Lord Danrael slashed at his father but his father held aloft a Hammer of Light and blocked the blow. Both weapons burst at the impact and the Knight-General collapsed upon his horse. Lord Danrael swearing revenge upon the city of his birth spun and rode back into the waste. The Knight-General ordered his men back into the city and forbid the Knights from patrolling within the wastes in the future.

Church of the Light

Like the Silver Knights the Church of the Light was founded with the lighting of the Lantern. Some would argue it is more a school magic than a religion but their Pastors would argue otherwise. The Church exists to train those capable of wielding the light to act as servants of the lantern. They have no other chapters or schools in other cities. They exist solely within DuskHaven but within the city they are a force only slightly less powerful than the Knights themselves. They act as the caretakers of the Lantern while the Knights act as its guardian. The highest orders within the Church are said to know the secrets of how the lantern was initially lit, though that has never been confirmed and any documentation on the act has long been destroyed. The official head of the church is the Knight-General of the Silver Knights but that position is mostly honorary. The Knight-General rarely interferes with day to day business within the Church itself. The true head of the church is the Light-Giver of DuskHaven. His position is for life and upon his death the Knight-General will appoint a new Light-Giver after reviewing the records left by the previous Light-Giver.

The Church oversees many of the secular functions of the city. These include running the schools, performing marriages, and overseeing the counting of crops and livestock yearly. They also maintain one of the finest libraries found outside the Inner Kingdoms. Their section on the various kinds of magic is one of the finest known and mages of the various arts would travel from all over the continent to study there.

The church trains both their own members and those members of the Silver Knights capable of wielding the light. Most members of both orders are secular and incapable of accessing the light. Of those with the ability few are capable of truly wielding the light as a weapon or tool. Those that can wield it quickly rise to positions of prominence in both orders. The upper hierarchy of both orders is made up almost exclusively of these individuals.

The Silver Knights

The Silver Knights were formed at the same time the lantern was lite. They are its guardian and thus the guardians of all. They were given tremendous powers to go with their responsibility. For more then two thousand years the lantern stood over the western border of the world. Over time the Gralgamon family of knights took power in DuskHaven and has led the city over the last 400 years prior to the fall. The Knights are not a particularly religious order. Most are members of the Church of the Light but it is not a requirement to join. They receive the highest level of military training available and they recognize their weaknesses. As an order they are trained to stand against the disorganized demons of the Wastes. As such they have evolved their training along those lines. Most wear heavy plate mail and wield either Swords or large Hammers as weapons. Few receive additional training to fight in lighter armor and use lighter weapons including lighter swords as well as distance weapons such as the bow. The secondary troops use distance weapons almost exclusively. Bows, Crossbows, even slings are used to repel the demons. They have training with the spear as well in case the demons get too close. Unlike most medieval organizations the Knights recognize and respect the skills of the secondary troops and praise them for their deeds.

The very highest order of Knights are those connected to the Light. This is not a figurative term. Those connected to the light can “see” a beam of light within their minds and can make use of it against their foes. Common abilities include shielding the user in a suit of glowing armor, and shooting balls of light that can kill a smaller demon with one hit. Less common is the ability to “create” a Hammer of Light which can be used as a melee weapon or thrown at ones foes. It will return to the knights’ hand afterwards. Usually there are approximately 300 knights in armor at any time within the city with another 300 or so out on maneuvers along the borders. The secondary troops are mostly volunteers from within the city ready at a moments notice they number another 1500 or so men. The Knights have accepted a system of honor as the cornerstone of their beliefs without it the feel the lantern will falter. They may be right as the light has flickered in times when one of their numbers fell from the light and turned to darkness. Chief among these was Lord Danrael but his is a story for another day.

Most of the Knights were born and raised in and around DuskHaven but a few of their number have come from as far away as the Inner Kingdoms. These tend to be those able to wield the light as they will feel compelled to come leaving all that they knew behind them to fight against the demon hordes. No stigma is attached to those from outside. As long as they are willing to fight and able to take orders they are accepted into the ranks.

DuskHaven

It’s time to introduce our site name today. DuskHaven is the last human city in the West of Arquel. Beyond it lays more than a two thousand wheels of desert and Mountains. These seemingly lifeless areas are home to countless Demons and Creatures of the Underworld. Where they came from originally is unknown though ancient legends speak of a war that split the Earth open and from that crack they came. What is known is that they were well on their way to conquering all of Arquel when the Twilight Lantern was lite in DuskHaven. The Lantern contained the power to drive the demons back and so DuskHaven stood as the Sentinel on the Western border of life and civilization. DuskHaven was a large city with nearly ten thousand inhabitants within the boundaries of the city proper and more then twice that living in the surrounding fields. Besides its obvious military pursuits DuskHaven was also home to the Western most Speaking Hole known and several smaller colleges of magic. The Pool of Light at the cities center glowed with the light of the Lantern day and night and architects from as far away as the Inner Kingdoms would come to study the Government and Religious buildings surrounding the pool.

Built over the span of two thousand years DuskHaven shows influences from both Eastern and Western religions and architectural styles that culminated with the Temple of Light. The building housing the Lantern itself is quite plain by contrast as nothing has been touched on it since it was lite. It stands at the Western edge of the Pool with the Temple dedicated to it rising above the Eastern end. To the North are the barracks and training facilities for the Silver Knights and city guard and to the South lay the seat of Government for DuskHaven and the surrounding lands. The city government was divided into two branches with the head of Silver Knights in command of the military forces and an elected Prime Minister commanding the civilian branch. The Knight General of the Silver Knights acted as a defacto King over the lands but usually constrained his rulings to military matters. But the final decision of the Prime Minister could be overruled by the Knight General. The Knight General was also the head of the Church of the Light though again he left most day to day decision making in the Church to the secular branch of the order. Two Silver Knights who had access to the Light always stood on guard over the Lantern along with half a dozen of the secular lay members of the church. They were also connected to the Light and acted as the caretakers of the Lantern ensuring its constant vigilance over the surrounding lands.

We’ll go into more details on the Church and Silver Knights soon.

Why am I doing this

Today's update will shift away from DuskHaven briefly to talk about why I'm doing this. For the last few years I've had story ideas floating about in my head and I'd write a couple pages all excited. Then I'd read them back and go "Yuck, that sucks,” and crumple them up and toss them. Then in 2006 I heard about NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month is a non-profit organization with the goal of everyone writing a 50,000 word Novel during the month of November. I thought what the heck what have I got to lose. By forcing you to write quickly you won't be writing the next great novel but you will be forced to keep writing. I had no expectation of cranking out 50,000 words as that's 1,667 words a day. But to my surprise I loved it, I was not writing every day but when I did write I was writing with passion.

To my utter surprise I crossed November 30th with just over 50,000 words done and a sense of massive accomplishment. Then I reread my story. It wasn't great but there were scenes that I really liked. I took much of 2007 off and debated what to do that November and in the end I decided to expand one of the scenes that I really liked and try to make a full length novel out of it. The Flight of the Amadeus was much better written (IMHO) then the story that preceded it. While I didn't get 50,000 words I did get 31,000 much more coherent words. I then joined a group called NaNoWriYe or National Novel Writing Year. A much smaller group these were people that want to write year round. Unfortunately their current website is pretty unstable but they are a great group of people. During the first two months of 2008 I have continued my sci-fi novel with some success. But in March I needed a change and so I started DuskHaven. I have enjoyed every minute of writing it and I want to share it. I will be posting the first short story set in the world later this month and I hope you all enjoy it. My year long plan is to continue to work on my science fiction but take breaks every couple months for another DuskHaven short. I plan to do my November NaNo in the DuskHaven world and these shorts plus all the character and place descriptions that are going up here will help tremendously. I hope you all enjoy it as well.

World Info

As we get the site organized I'll start posting daily with details of the world. Today's post is a world overview.

The world of Jinadar is a slightly smaller but denser world from our own. Gravity and temperatures are fairly similar. The star it revolves around Shinta is a smaller whiter star than ours and Jinadar moves in a smaller orbit around it. Hopefully we'll have the first map online in the next few days. Jinadar has 4 major continents and several chains of islands. Arquel is the continent we will be centered on for the foreseeable future. Arquel is the home of the Inner Kingdoms of Arsel and Darset. Which have been in a state of underground war for centuries. They occupy the Central and Eastern portions of the continent. To the West lie the Borderlands of Shinon, Galashin, and Dornet. The border cities cross one of the narrower parts of the continent. Beyond them lay The Green Fields one of the most prosperous farmlands in the world. And to the West of that lies DuskHaven. Beyond DuskHaven are the Wastelands occupied by the Demonic forces of the underworld. DuskHaven is the sentinel city guarding the lands to the East.

Hooray we're online!

Hello all and welcome to the online home for Tales of DuskHaven. I'll be your innkeeper during your stay here. This is a world that I've been working on for some time. It is a fantasy world that is teetering on the brink of destruction.

Thirty years ago the Twilight Lantern in DuskHaven was extinguished by the demon hordes. It had guarded the Western boundaries of man for more then two thousand years.

The main character of these stories, Rolard, is the last of the Silver Knights, guardians of the Lantern and DuskHaven. He has traveled all the years since the lantern was extinguished searching for those that would help him reclaim his homeland and relight the lantern to drive back the demons. Over the next few weeks I hope to put together a glossary of the people and places in the Borderlands and I'll be posting the first short story set in the world.

So welcome again and let me know if I can do anything to make your stay more comfortable.