#roddacember

[rat-king-reeah]

Roddacember Day ??? Year ???

Was reminded of the originals existence recently and thought it could be fun to redraw and see how much I've improved!!! Aware that it's vaguely Roddacember at the moment so gonna cross me fingers and hope it aligns well with todays prompt haha 😅 enjoy!!

#roddacember 2023 #emily rodda #deltora quest #roddacember #roddaverse #fidelis

[wizardlyghost]

#i don't think i realised before that the entire lief section of book one takes place in like. less than 24 hours lol. #lief truly gets home after sunset learns about his parents' past learns barda's secret gets a sword a cloak a map a belt and a quest #sneaks out of the city with barda wanders into the forest gets caught by monsters gets looted by some random girl almost gets eaten #has a treetop midnight snack sets out again travels branch to branch for the rest of the night fights a ghost almost dies AGAIN #gets saved by the same random girl who was looting him earlier brings barda back to life and finds a magic gem. #by which point it's like brunchtime the next day. truly one of the birthdays of all time. #deltora quest #roddacember #roddacember 2023

[lindalofbroome]

28 - Growth

'But we cannot knowingly leave someone at the mercy of the Granous!' Lief hissed. 'They will ask him their infernal riddles, and when he cannot answer them they will start biting off his fingers and toes. They will kill him, Jasmine!' 'Better that they kill a stranger than that they kill us,' Jasmine said. And Lief knew that she was repeating a lesson she had learned only too well in the terror that was the Forests of Silence. For a moment he hesitated. He knew that he should not let his heart rule his head in this. But then the piteous cry came again, followed by a scream of pure agony. 'No!' Lief breathed. He started forward. 'Wait! I will go back and fetch the guards,' said Barda, catching at his arm. Lief pulled himself free. 'There is no time for that!' he muttered. 'Come with me or not, as you like.' He began to run, and Jasmine and Barda followed, as he knew they would. DELTORA QUEST 3 Dragon's Nest Ch 7 Dragon Hunt

#roddacember 2023 #roddacember #lyn's roddacember prompts #postlyn #postlyn art #emily rodda #roddaverse #deltora quest #lief of del #jasmine of del #jaslief #fidelis #two faced beast #steven of the plains #nevets of the plains #// #this comic nearly broke me i nearly gave up a gazillion times #but despair is the enemy etc etc #lol

[toshitophchan]

Roddacember 2023 Day 12 | Memorable Deception Moment

Deception is either making you go 0.0 or >:O, there is no inbetween

#roddacember #roddacember 2023 #oops its all memes #deltora quest #the rondo trilogy #star of deltora #rowan of rin #either youre deceiving for the lols or deceiving for the trolls #deceiving for the trolls was what they did in the battle for rondo lol

[on-a-quest]

Roddacember 2023 - 17: Solution

For this Roddacember prompt, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of the fact that, for a moment, the DQ trio genuinely thought the solution to the Guardian of the Valley of the Lost's puzzle, and therefore his name, was Eedoe.

Eedoe.

#deltora quest #the valley of the lost #emily rodda #roddacember #roddacember 2023

[sisterofthesouth]

Roddacember Day 9: Symbols and Signs. Or, my thoughts and headcanons on piercings in different Deltoran cultures:

del: it's very common to see people with pierced ears or noses, given that del is a diverse city full of sailors and trade and people from all over. but while nearly every career sailor from anywhere in the world has some kind of piercing, the popularity of piercings in del cannot be chalked up simply to the impact of sailors and trade. many del tribesmembers wear ear piercings proudly because adin himself had his ears pierced during his time with the mere, and earlobe piercings came to be seen as a celebration of del pride and deltoran unification. it later became part of the Rule that the monarch and their immediate family also have one set of earlobe piercings to emulate the first king.

ralads: while it is not unheard of for ralads to wear ear or nose piercings, it is far more common for their clothes to be pierced. sashes, purses, capes, pockets, shirts and tunics will often be pierced with decorative hoops and jeweled studs to accent their embroidery and show off the riches or skill of the wearer.

broome: citizens of broome never wore jewelry during dragon times, especially not women, but as dragon populations waned, non-metallic jewelry (made from bone, shell, wood, etc) became more fashionable. after the total disappearance of the dragons, piercings and jewelry made of gold and other precious metals exploded in popularity and you’d be hard-pressed to find any broome resident without at least one piercing.

opal territory: ear piercings may have been somewhat common centuries ago, but fell entirely out of fashion after the hira rat plague began. because of sanitary taboos, hirans (and noradz residents) never wear piercings. among opal residents outside of hira and noradz, especially those in the more rural areas near the lapis border, occasional ear or nose piercings may be seen due to cultural exchange with the mere, but they hold no significant meaning to those of the opal tribe.

the mere: in the mere if you don't have piercings you're literally cursed lmaooooo. everyone has some combination of ear, nose, or facial piercings, and non-standard piercings like tongue, belly button, and nipple piercings are extremely common as well. piercings may be worn simply for aesthetic reasons, but it is far more common for each piercing and piece of jewelry to have a deep symbolic meaning to it’s wearer. as with mere charm culture, there is a deep history of fortunetelling and superstition within mere piercing culture. many mere will consult a piercing expert or soothsayer to determine what piercing placement, metal, and charm combination will bring them the best fortune. after the unification of the tribes, it became popular for many mere to wear an array of 7 piercings on one (or both) of their ears.

dread gnomes: dread gnomes may sometimes wear piercings, but they do not deal in metallurgy and do not wear piercings for fashion. spikes of wood or bone in the ears or nose are worn to as markers of membership to certain clans or families.

torans: torans do not wear piercings.

jalis: while tattoos are standard jalis practice, piercings among the jalis are uncommon because they are such easy targets to tear out in a brawl. however, it is extremely common for the very old who have grown past their fighting years to wear ear piercings as a rite of passage into elderhood. if you do happen to see a young jalis with piercings, they are either someone very foolhardy and stupid, or perhaps a tenna birdsong storyteller who is not likely to see combat.

#is this anything. one of these days i will do some roddacember art for real #i just always forget and honestly i am not the most creative person #roddacember #roddacember 2023 #deltora quest #roddaverse #yes it’s the 8th where i live but it’s dec 9 in australia and that’s what counts #this post brought to you by the fact that i got my 13th piercing on friday oct 13 and i am not superstitious. but i am a little stitious

[bleeding-star-heart]

Roddacember day 10: Epic

*rubs hands* ooh boy, time to get out all my Deltora Quest memes. How am I supposed to choose just ONE meme? Or at least, that's what I WOULD say were it not for book 8's ending. So here is that meme, recycled for you in all its glory. Lief at the end of Book 8:

I dare you to find a Really Royalty Reveal as epic as that.

#deltora quest #roddacember #roddacember 2023 #emily rodda #roddaverse #sharn

[goawaypopup]

Roddacember Day 5: Magic

Something I like about the magic of Deltora's universe, something that not every fantasy media tries or manages to pull off, is how it's less a scientifically defined thing and more, almost, cultural.

Something like Dungeons and Dragons has spells that aren't just strictly defined, but universal. I can turn bat guano into a fireball by exploiting the laws of fictional physics, and someone across the continent can do the same thing if they learn how.

Other works will have something a little closer, where you have to be one of the people born with special blood. Magic is just something that happens sometimes, and if you're not either a random monster that innately uses it or one of the setting's wizards, you're out of luck.

What Rodda does, though, hits on an aspect of magic that I think is a better use for it than as setting dressing or a plot lubricant: the wonder.

Magic, as a piece of human imagining, is the natural consequence of a world where we have to work very hard to do things. "What if," says the archetypal everyman, "these dishes leapt into the sink and washed themselves, and I could stop using my precious god-formed fingers for things other than reaching for bonbons?"

The natural progression from there is... what if I could do things that I can't do now with any amount of effort? What if I could wipe away sickness with the touch of my hand? What if I could call upon the untameable forces of the natural world?

We all know, in the modern day, that the world is cold and made of smaller building blocks than we can comprehend. Disease is not made of elemental evil, but a multitude of complex problems of human homeostasis that our words and understanding can only capture the very surface of.

Of course, we still tell stories of magic potions that can cure any ailment. This is what magic has always been all about. It bridges the gap between the things that humans find meaning in, and the things that matter to the mechanical universe. A world with magic can have these categories be one and the same.

The way that magic works in Deltora reflects this principle. Magic comes from the land itself, and seems to be invested in rare lineages that have strong ties to it - the dragons and the royal Del line, the Torans, the Maris, the Fellans, the sorceress Tamm and the mud of Tier, all (that we know much about) carry magic because their ancestors found meaning and power in the land. And all of their powers are different, and - for the most powerful, still-united groups - used to maintain the connection with the land, and meet the needs of the people.

There is a spring in the Emerald Territory woods that checks whether it likes your inner motivations, and if it doesn't, kills you dead (via dendrification). There is another spring on another continent, this one definitely untouched by human hands until its discovery, that instantly heals wounds both internal and external, and apparently can restore blood to your body, specifically to allow the local yakbeasts to complete their migration and maintain a healthy ecosystem. We have 8 separate known instances of tribes finding - being gifted - extremely powerful magic stones that allow them to unify and defend their people. These are completely nonliving places - that clearly have motivations like people.

In Deltora's universe, in the eternal dialogue between people and the world, the world is actually talking back.

#roddacember 2023 #roddacember #deltora quest #magic

[zahroreadsthings]

09 - Sign

<- To Ringle

#roddacember #thats my first and possibly only contribution #deltora quest #emily rodda

[rye-the-grain]

Day 1 - Favourite Character

The need to save it drove everything else from Rye’s mind. He found an old washing basket among the ruins and put the goat gently inside it. Then, clutching his burden, he made for home.

The Golden Door // Ch 5 Fate

#roddacember 2023 #the three doors #the three doors trilogy #emily rodda #roddaverse #roddacember #rye of weld #rye #the golden door

[wizardlyghost]

'I cannot run and hide!' he burst out. 'I must find the gems and restore them to the Belt. Without them I am helpless and Deltora is doomed.' Glancing at Sharn's worried face, Jarred took his friend's arm. 'The gems must be found, but you cannot be the one to find them, Endon,' he said firmly. 'The Shadow Lord will be searching for you. You must stay in hiding, and wait.' 'But what if I die before the Belt is whole again?' Endon argued desperately. 'It will only recognise Adin's true heir. It will only shine for me!' Jarred opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it. Soon enough Endon would realise for himself that he had lost the last trust his people had in him. The Belt of Deltora would never shine for him again.

rereading my old friend deltora quest for the first time in too many years and i'm suddenly realising how much this book shaped my view of the world.

like, this passage is from the first part of book one, before the protagonist of the rest of the series is even introduced. lief's initial goal is to find and return the belt to endon's child, but it could very easily have been to return the belt to endon himself, with the shift to finding the heir coming as a twist later in the series. however, on the same page that the idea of the titular quest is brought up, rodda immediately throws out a word-of-god hard no, endon's done, there's no chance of this happening and here's why.

idk, i've sometimes wondered where i got the beginnings of some of my anti-monarchist leanings while being raised in a divine-right-of-kings household, and it's suddenly pinging to me that being obsessed with this series might be somewhere close to the root of it.

#ms rodda i owe you my childhood #a bit late for roddacember day 4 'something you wish was real' but 'magically ensured responsible monarchy' fits that bill :/ #like even if the belt didn't exactly stop the monarchy's corruption at least the post-series-3 monarchy has a precedent #of 'here's what's gonna happen if you fuck around' #roddacember #roddacember 2023 #deltora quest

[lindalofbroome]

09 - Sign

DANGEROUS BRIDGE DO NOT TRY TO CROSS GAP HERE IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE NEXT BRIDGE IS LAST CROSSING BEFORE FORESTS OF SILENCE DELTORA QUEST 3 Dragon's Nest Ch 11 Signs of Trouble

i just think this scene was so funny lmao mostly in hindsight

but also i want to highlight the chapter title, truly one of my favourites for the irony

#roddacember 2023 #lyn's roddacember prompts #roddacember #postlyn #postlyn art #emily rodda #roddaverse #deltora quest #lief of del #barda of del #jasmine of del #rolf of capra #// #omg finally caught up to the current day and can go back to scheduling #like this is scheduled lol #something so freeing about only do silly sketches again 😂 #also roddacember really been a sisyphean nightmare for me this year sigh #im sure i will fall behind again lmao

[toshitophchan]

Roddacember 2023 Day 22 | Abstract Technology

My fave Rodda technology is uh.....it's.....um......Nicks dodgy mobile phone in Teen Power Inc???

#roddacember #roddacember 2023 #emily rodda #oops its all memes

[on-a-quest]

Roddacember 2023 - 29: Time

I think we can all agree that one of the most chilling uses of 'time' in Deltora Quest is the race against the clock to remove the mask from Lief before it becomes permanently fused to his face after the hour. No matter how many times I read it, despite knowing exactly what happens, it never fails to fill me with a feeling of dread and worry that maybe they won't get it off in time 😬

The eerie countdown of the clock in the background definitely builds the tension and desperation.

What makes the moment and the stakes of it feel even more chilling and dire is the fact that as the time passes, as the mask begins to set in place, Lief begins to lose himself, his mind becoming taken over by the mentality of the Masked Ones. His descent into their madness is happening right before our eyes, and Barda and Jasmine's.

And then, at the end of the chapter, with the final strikes of the clock, it all reaches its peak, with Jasmine and Barda desperate, doing whatever it takes to free Lief, even though they know it is going to hurt him badly, even though he is screaming, even though hurts Jasmine to have to cause him such pain, tears streaming down her face as tears the mask from his. It's heartwrenching 😢💔

It's got to be one of the most, if not the most, heartstopping moment in the series. It has me on the edge of my seat, gripping the book tightly, scene playing vividly like a movie in my head every time.

#deltora quest #shadowgate #emily rodda #roddacember #roddacember 2023

[shionshot]

Roddacember Day3:Animal

After reading Colin's story about the sulphur-crested cockatoo in His Name was Walter, I became quite fond of this unique parrot. I found a SNS account for zoos that have sulphur-crested cockatoo and have been liking it for over a year now whenever a sulphur-crested cockatoo is posted.

However, for Rodacember, when I reread her second book as an author, Pig's Might Fly, last month, I was surprised to notice that the book also features a sulphur-crested cockatoo. Sandy's delightful parrot, Pol, was also a sulphur-crested cockatoo. I hadn't paid any attention to them when I read the book before.

So I looked back at the cover of Teen Power volume 12 to see if it was possible, and here it was again, a bird with a yellow crest and a white body. I was surprised to see that Rodda has been talking about the sulphur-crested cockatoo for over 30 years.

This unique talking parrot only appears in her low fantasy or real-world stories.

But if I think about it, it is highly improbable that a bird could talk. That would be like a pig flying in the sky, wouldn't it?

So if this parrot has a role to play in her stories, isn't it an animal that links the real and imaginary worlds? I thought.

From here on out it's just a blurb from me...

Parrots can have simple conversations with people because they are intelligent. I have had cats and dogs, who, unlike parrots, could not talk, but were clearly happy, angry or sad. I could at least understand if they wanted to eat or go outside by listening to their cries.

So if birds can talk to humans, doesn't they also be able to talk to dogs and cats?

For example, if my cat's intelligence is as high as a parrot's and she can say words other than meow, could we have a conversation?

That's what I think Jasmine means when she says that being able to talk to animals isn't magic.

#roddacember #roddacember 2023 #emily rodda #teen power inc. #pis might fly #deltora quest #shion’s roddacember 2023

[bleeding-star-heart]

Roddacember, I finally got around to it

Day 1, Favorite Character: Sharn. From what little we see of her in the first series, it's clear there's more to her than meets the eye. She's sidelined quite a bit in the sequels, which is a damn shame. I mean, think about it: for all we know, Sharn never read the little blue book. Jarred took it with him when he fled the palace, so that's at least seven years where she didn't have the opportunity. She's lived in the palace just like Jarred, so she was exposed to the same indoctrination. Yet, she's more on board with Jarred's plan than Endon is at first-and she doesn't actually know Jarred. Also, when she kills Prandine, she believes he is human. Nobody in the prologue knows about Ols. And yet she, someone who was likely trained to be nothing but a demure noblewoman, kills Prandine anyway, without hesitation. Yes, he was about to kill her-adrenaline and all that. But afterwards, she shows not one ounce of fear, remorse, or shock-all reactions you'd expect from someone who killed only out of an adrenaline rush in self-defense. Jarred and Endon are shocked by Prandine's death, but not Sharn. To quote: "Often in the great hall I have seen little clowns upset big ones from below," Sharn said calmly. "I did not see why the trick shouldn't work for me." She then goes on to explain that she in fact, tricked Prandine, and knew he would fall for it. And the sound of the last part of explanation: "Why should he fear a little painted doll like me?" Is more contemptuous or resentful than anything else. Where Endon and Jarred express genuine fear, the only fear Sharn displays in this entire scene is manufactured for Prandine's benefit.

To recap: Sharn is a woman raised in the palace to be demure, obedient, and unquestioning. Yet she not only rebels against Prandine, she calmly kills him and displays not one hint of regret. Sharn is quite possibly one of the most ruthless people in Deltora.

#deltora #roddacember #roddacember 2023 #deltora quest #roddaverse #emily rodda #sharn