I couldn’t help but buy this photo at Canstock ^^
I know he’s washing himself, but I love that it looks like he’s saying, “For ME?”
The 13 Noble Clans (elf type) Note: The Districts are named after the Noble Clans
Acorn, also called Birthright (argent, royal)
Archer (gilt)
Bitterberry (scorched)
Blackroot (scorched)
Cinder (sand)
Feather (mist)
Fletcher (gilt)
Greenleaf (gilt)
Riverrunner (earth)
Rockchipper (scorched)
Strongbranch (earth)
Sweetnut (argent)
Talisman (argent)
Types of elves:
Argent: silver-haired, pale-skinned, blue, grey, or green eyes; originated in forests; nocturnal
Earth: white-haired, brown-skinned, with brown, violet, or black eyes; originated in veld; nocturnal
Gilt: blonde, pale-skinned (though tan well), with green, hazel, or topaz eyes; originated in grasslands; diurnal
Mist: black-haired, olive-skinned, with brown, black, or grey eyes; originated in jungles; nocturnal
Sand: black-haired, brown-skinned, with brown, black, or violet eyes; originated in deserts; nocturnal
Scorched: black-haired, pale-skinned, with bronze, brown, or blue eyes; originated in tundra; diurnal
Days and Months:
Days: Seed, Sprout, Bud, Blossom, Flower, Fruit
Months: (year starts after Spring Equinox) Auramoon, Songmoon, Blademoon, Trunkmoon, Branchmoon, Leafmoon, Fruitmoon, Nutmoon, Spiritmoon, Bowmoon, Arrowmoon, Needlemoon
Places:
Wydd: the continent Airgead sits on the southern edge of
Vawlet: human country to northwest of Airgead
Hango: human country north of Airgead
Risehr: elvish kingdom northeast of Airgead
Skycrown Mountains: cliffs that eventually lead to the Sea of Milk to the south of Airgead
Sea of Milk: ocean to Airgead’s south
Sea of Stars: ocean to Airgead’s east
Tromsil Territory: a holdover from Airgead’s war with Risehr, a territory mainly populated with humans but under Airgead’s control
Independent Islands of Seithermorn: an extensive chain of islands under human control that separates the Sea of Milk from the Sea of Stars; Airgead is reliant on its strong transportation system to get imports from other continents.
A Brief History of Wydd
The continent of Wydd was originally divided between gilt elves in the southern grasslands and mountains (where Airgead now stands), argent elves in the central forests, and scorched elves in the north. Continually war and raids led to various uneasy truces. Humans have come and gone, and finally came again with a vengeance. When the scorched and argent elves began to need greater resources for their armies, they eyed the breadbasket of the gilt elf territory. In a move to keep the peace, the gilt elves offered up one of their own as a sacrifice to the spirits of the falls (now known as Blessing Falls). However, the sacrifice’s scorched elf lover comes to the rescue; in the resulting finger-pointing, the three groups descended into war.
The argent elves ultimately won, decimating both the gilt and the scorched sides. They take over most of the continent; however, the humans complicate matters. After decades of fighting, the continent is divided loosely into four: Airgead, able to hold on despite its tiny size because of its political marriages and its trading ties; the modern argent elf kingdom of Risehr; the diverse, trade-heavy country of Hango; and the highly developed, business-oriented Vawlet. Although officially Airgead is diurnal in a nod to its original gilt roots, it is actually to align with human business practices. It is in a far more precarious position, both economically and politically, than its royal family would admit. To balance its loyalties, it is unusually diverse, marrying from various noble clans and making international matches as well.
Technology
Elves have long preferred magic to science. However, over a century ago a curious elf named Maeghilde trimmed her ears to pass as human and stole into Vawlet to learn about their technology. She brought this knowledge back to Airgead, and adapted it to work with magic. This put Airgead at an advantage and in the past manufacturing dominated its economy. Elven devices are powered by aura generated by elven sorcerers. As sorcerers must be trained at Seclusions, where they spend decades studying under strict rules, few younger elves want to become sorcerers. This is putting great strain on the aura supply. Companies such as Riagan’s are trying to find profitable solutions; at the same time, humans are increasingly needed to fill in for lower class elves being aggressively recruited into Seclusions. Increased immigration and a changing labour force is making Airgead confront its prejudices and outmoded ways.
The Royal Family
King Eunlaith (argent)
Queen Lina (sand)
Crown Prince Artair (argent)
Princess Mor (twin, gilt)
Princess Ros (twin, gilt)
Princess Sorcha (sand)
Naomhain (gilt) Joined a Seclusion, so no longer has royal standing.
Note: Some of these are friends you haven’t met yet . . .
Ailis: AY leesh
Airgead: EHR geed
Antarrea: an TARR ee yah
Artair: ahr TEHR
Beathan: bee AH thun
Brennus: BREH nuss
Cairbre: CAR BRUH
Donnchad: DAHN ched
Elisedd: EH le suth
Eunlaith: yun LAYTH
Fife: faif
Gema: JEH mah
Hango: HANG goh
Kennet: KEH nett
Lina: lee NAH
Maeghilde: mayg HILL duh
Milis: MEE leesh
Mor: mohr
Naomhain: nowm HAYN
Remiges: REH meh jeez
Riagan: Ree AH gun
Risehr: reh SAYR
Ros: rohss
Seithermorn: say thur MOHRN
Semiplume: say mee PLOOM
Sorcha: SOHR chah
Tromsil: TRAHM seel
Vawlet: VAH lett
Vibeke: VIH beh kah
Wydd: wuth
Zenna: ZEH nah
My latest novel, The Calm Before, is set in the elven city-state of Airgead. I’ll be returning to play in Airgead in future works, so I thought I’d build a little guide for it here.
I’ve been working on a new m/m romance project, an urban fantasy featuring dwarves in a post-apocalyptic setting. Every week I put up a snippet of the rough draft on my tumblr. It’s still quite rough but I’m having fun exploring this new world and these new characters. So far, here are the bits I’ve put up:
I’ve been posting them on tumblr and not updating here, so here’s a catch up on all the links:
Every weekend I post snippets from WIPs and flash fics on my tumblr. If you’re looking for some free reads, check it out!
In the good news department, I’ve just gotten back edits on my first submission to Less Than Three Press. It’s an urban fantasy involving clashes between elves and humans, tradition and progress. I’ve actually been looking forward to getting to work on it again — I’m really attached to the characters in this one, and I missed them while they were away visiting the editor!
You can get to them on the sidebar there. ^_^