#eshda

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Anyway enjoy my little guys. I'm wondering if I should give Alan the dark hair I'm trying out right now.

#sketches #sketchbook #my art #eshda #I'll check later if i have a tag for the four idiots in the blue forest

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Government 10 and History 10!

From this ask game :)

GOVERNMENT - 10 - How are laws made? Who makes them?

Let's be real I haven't thought that one through much besides being fairly certain that currently, the guardians of Aeteris are involved.

I've established that the king/queen's power is, in theory, absolute. I did also establish that they have a council to think things through a little, but they should have the last word.

In practice the monarch doesn't have the last word at all and the guardians of aeteris do whatever the fuck they want. Including making the monarch sign a paper that basically outlaws all of magic- which did happen :)

HISTORY - 10 - What’s a historical event that is important to the story?

Oh, well. In recent history, there's the Bouchemer war of independance !

Basically, as the country was veering more and more towards letting the guardians of Aeteris do whatever they wanted, murdering a bunch of innocents, and annihilating any positive interactions Eshda used to have with its neighbors, the counts of Bouchemer said "fuck this" and waged war against the king. They won.

Because of this, Eshda lost its largest port and - more importantly - there are ways to get illegal goods from Bouchemer into Eshda, if you have the right connections. Like, say, vials of preserved blood for a vampire lord...

#ask games #worldbuilding #my writing #wahoo ! #:D #eshda

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I think one of my favorite facts about Rya is that when the Count of Sombrebois asked her hand in marriage she replied with "Ael, I know we've been BFFs since forever, but becoming a noblewoman sounds like having to do a lot of taxes and that's boring as hell."

#rya #la foret bleue #eshda #ael de sombrebois

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I like to rag on Eshda and make jokes that haha it's the country where you don't want to be but let's be real, it's a lie.

Yeah, the King's Council is a cult, and the cult is the royal guard that will murder people for daring to use magic, a tool that's been here for fucking ever.

But if you're living in the Eshda countryside, these guys are basically a boogeyman. You still have that one spell your great great grandfather invented that wards away pests without poisoning your crops. Sure, you have to be sneakier about it when selling, because you don't want the Guardians in your home accusing you of illegal magic, but who here would rat you out ? They all have something to make their lives easier. Milly's daughter can make fire from her fingers and she is so good at managing its heat you cannot ever refuse anything she cooked, it's always perfect. Belven's son found a book in the attic that explains several ways to light up your way in the dark and all the kids are learning it in secret. The old man Mardak can protect the village's fields against even the most freezing temperatures.

Life isn't bad. It's not bad at all.

Your brother, a traveling merchant, just came home talking about the latest nonsensical news from the capital (an assassination ? In the royal family ? How odd !), and you finally meet the husband he married last year that you couldn't see at that time because you were sick. He's pleasant. Your mother whistles to the birds and tells tales of old where farmers could speak to their cattle - no one knows how to do this anymore, save for the forest spirits of the Northern Pine Forest, but you don't go there. They're angry. The girl who lives next door has agreed to go stargazing with you, and you secretly hope that she likes girls too.

Eshda's countryside is good, it's full of good people, and they're also the ones getting massacred when the Guardians of Aeteris decide that it's been too long since they turned a village of normal people into an example.

#eshda #anyway this is why like. no one gives a shit about Rya's magic monster dog #as long as there isn't a Guardian around no one's going to be scared #'yeah that's Rya's dog ! he's nice. bit big ain't he"

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Continuing OC kiss week with something i technically sketched out on paper yesterday, but redrew digitally this morning, aha !

Anne and Atropa, at about 24 years old, when the future looked bright.

#ockiss24 #art #sketches #oc art #my art #hélianthe et atropa #anne de monthaut #atropa meria #back when they were both mercenaries together... planning to leave Eshda and live in the Empire... mmm #they were young #(i say; being almost their age currently) #this is only a few months before Anne is forced to marry her husband and then she cheats on him immediately with Atropa LMFAO

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the moon for the oc meme please!!!

Eli.

Not sure why Tumblr decided to make the image so blurry ? :/

While those who are part of the Old Church of Aeteris are usually more closely associated with the Sun, Eli's first appearance in the short story The Companions of the Blue Forest is in the middle of the night. There's a silvery-white light, at the edges of a character's vision, at midnight in the middle of a swamp...

Here, let's translate the passage (this short story is in french) (also this passage for now literally only exists in the first draft; my second draft hasn't gotten here yet, i haven't worked on it in. so long).

"Alan was woken up by a repeated, regular sound, slowly approaching the camp. It sounded like a staff if it had been planted in the muddy soil of the swamp at the same speed one would walk. Through the fog, he could see a strange, silver glow around a silhouette that he couldn't yet quite parse.

[...]

When the silhouette was finally close enough, Alan stopped breathing for a second. Tall, with dark brown skin and incredibly long, cascading hair, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Incredibly, she was dressed in a long, flowy, ancient clerical robe, of a pure white despite her walking barefoot in a swamp. She was the one emitting that silvery-white light, like a forgotten spirit walking the earth.

Alan was seriously starting to think he was just dreaming."

Idk, she just feels very moon to me.

#ask games #i have not drawn her in years. not sure i got her hair texture right haha #in fact i think it's the first time i attempt to draw a full body of her ! #she's a secondary character but i love her so much. #i just don't draw the characters from this story very often lol #also there's a huge difference between the Old Church and the Guardians of Aeteris #notably because the Old Church is only named that bc of the Guardians. uh the Guardians are shitheads the Old Church is a dying religion #stuff is going on in Eshda. #literally 3 seconds later Alan gets clocked as a Guardian by Eli #she's not 100% right - he's actually an ex-Guardian he managed to Get the Fuck Out #but she doesn't know that. to her that is a Dangerous Man that you Cannot Trust under Any Circumstances #he's a traumatized 23 year old. #kldfkfjhfdlkhjfdkl #i promise their dynamic is fun they become friends #sketches #my art #also i realize that #i have a tendency to make beautiful people be tall ? #like she's not the only one to be described as tall and beautiful. #i think one of the few people who ISN't particularly beautiful while being tall is Darlok #from that same story #he's a normal dude #he's also Hella Tall and Hella Large #i think he's hot but not particularly beautiful. they're not the same thing you know ? #anyway. why am i analyzing my own tendencies. #also Eli has Secrets :) #foret bleue

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Have I posted Aster here yet ?

#my art #sketches #general eshda tag #aster de neregny

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Happy WBW!

Is there a hierarchy in you WIP? Or some sort of class system? If yes, what is it like?

Heyo !

I'm guessing WBW stands for worldbuilding wednesday ? (<- still doesn't know shit about writeblr weekly events but i think i've like, read that written out somewhere before)

Hm. Going with Hélianthe and Atropa...

Eshda is a kingdom, and under the King/Queen there is a hierarchy for nobility. I have not, as of yet, completely written nor thought out the specifics of said hierarchy, as I'd like to keep things flexible for the first draft + before i do some actual research to, hm, lift ideas from reality.

In a more general way, you might not encounter huge hierarchies unless you're in Eshda's army, in a county/duchy/town specific guard, or a guardian of Aeteris. As a general rule, the average person is under the authority of whatever local noble + their guards, but that's about it.

The guardians of Aeteris, while I don't touch upon them in detail for now in that WIP - as their presence is scarce in the duchy of Monthaut, but a couple of them will appear as secondary antagonists eventually - are... an interesting organization with a strict hierarchy and different branches. There's the main branch, of active guardians who look for illegal magic and are allowed to use any means they deem necessary to either get the suspect(s) to stop doing that or, if the situation is dire, destroy them. In secondary branches, there's their entire administration (whose ranks are the exact same as the active guardians), and the librarians. Now these last ones have a separate hierarchy from the rest, and archive every piece of writing they can get their hands on. You might think they're probably the least harmful ones, but that also means confiscating writings that aren't allowed. They are the active hands of the administration's censorship. Fun, right ? Right. I think I used to have a graph for the organisation a while back, but it's probably in french + outdated. I'll update it with whatever I need if I add onto them during this wip, tbh.

#hélianthe et atropa #asks #thanks for the ask ! :) #wbw #the worldbuilding of eshda is... slightly wobbly i guess ? it gets clearer as i write and is not written in marble #it will not be final until the book is published basically. and anything that ISNT actively written down is up in the air and can change. #:D

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One WIP = One song

For each of your wips, share a song you associate with it. Then tag as many people as you'd like. If you get tagged again, you can do it with a whole new round of songs.

tagged by @isabellebissonrouthier ! As always, if you feel like participating, consider yourself tagged by me :)

I have about 30 WIPs, and I don't think in have always One Single Song that reminds me of each of these, so of course I'm just going to do the ones I think of.

Break of Dawn : Godhunter - Aviators

Memories of the Lost : Memories of the Lost (from the Endless Space 2 soundtrack) - FlyByNo [with which you can play GUESS WHERE THE TITLE OF THE FIC COMES FROM !]

#tag games #i uh #have more wips #but like #literally all the songs i can think of relate back to Break of Dawn #OR to Etynda and Eshda in general #problem : Etynda and Eshda are like. 5 separate wips. #they're a SETTING #not a wip #so it doesn't count #lmfao

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today in i like to hoard stuff for worldbuilding and organising, i've downloaded fantasia archive. will report if i'm still using it in a few months

#maybe it'll be like obsidian and i'll use it in short bursts when i feel like doing worldbuilding #at any rate obsidian is where i'm going for anything eshda related #so i guess i'll try out fantasia archive with break of dawn

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I've been thinking about how I write and... The lack of physical description for my characters. I often vaguely describe one or two things about them when we first see them and never again, unless it's a particular hair color (Rya is often referred to as the redhead but. That's it)

And I wonder sometimes if that means the way I imagine them in my brain will be extremely different from the way other people will.

It's not me complaining about it, because I'm firm in thinking that i don't need to describe people in incredible detail unless there's something specific about them. Like Eli, the one who gets the most description out of everyone in the Idiots In A Forest story, that's because 1) it looks really out of place when she appears 2) Alan is 100% convinced he's dreaming when seeing her 3) she is very beautiful 4) her dress is pure white in a swamp. 5) it lets me slowly imply over a few paragraphs that she's not alive, as she doesn't breathe unless she needs air to speak, and such.

The second most describes character is Gabriel and that's mostly because he has a cane and his clothing style is distinctly from Etynda. The fact that he's old is mentioned like once.

I spend a good chunk of time describing how spooky the forest is though. Like I really enjoy doing that. While I have One or Two words referring to people I'm going to write a Paragraph of Spooky Forest.

Anyway my thoughts about describing things are jumbled because I have no idea how much I over or under describe anything, and I'm just describing at a level that's comfortable with Me Specifically

#also I think Gabriel has been using a cane for longer than he's been in Eshda. I've been toying with the idea. because #why not ? it's a magical world but it doesn't mean disabilities don't exist #anyway Gabriel 100% fucked the Empress of Etynda at least once #also in regards to the last paragraph #these thoughts have been sitting here for a while but this post itself #definitely appeared because of one of Zach's latest posts akdkskksks

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wails. i can't write on that paper why

#brain disagrees today !! it's been disagreeing for like three or four days !!! dude !!! it's the bathroom scene ! #(in which atropa discovers the wonders of plumbing and running water) #(she knows baths are a thing she's taken them before just not in a house where you can Turn a Thing and OOOH WATER) #(it's extremely rare in Eshda)

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Hmm Atropa being the character we follow and know the thoughts of (despite using 3rd person narration, the narrator is either not omniscient or chooses to Not Say Shit about what's going in other people's brains, and i forget what that's called ok) is not a bad thing but this means I have to be careful not to jump in Hélianthe's brain sometimes. And thus have her... make suppositions of what he's thinking, i guess.

#'he seems nervous. wonder why' is going to be a recurring segment apparently #which. he is that's not the question ! it's just hmm #i guess eventually i will show that they've gotten closer because she might be able to guess more accurately #vs not really giving a fuck what he's worried about in the beginning #if that makes any sense ? #i might need to check what my outline was again #also i'm thinking of a scene - about how Hélianthe is still acting like a spoiled child regarding some specific bits - and hm. #i'm not #actually fully certain of where to place it. #but ok who gives a shit right now #Hélianthe is here to groan that I Don't Like The Vibes Of That Duke #(says a man whose vibes are also clearly Off to anyone in Eshda who looks at him) #(before they get used to it) #like he is trying to pass off as human so he's going to need More Blood Than Normal for that to... work i guess ? #it's like. ok so. #i think my problem here lies in worldbuilding and how vampires work #that's it. that's. that's the problem hahaha #1. they drink blood to live 2. they're cold 3. there is something visible that can make humans go 'hm. something is Wrong here' but WHAT #(follow up : how does it relate to blood consumption and hiding in plain sight) #things to think about #pondering. #ok let's go write that first draft now #ideally i'd enjoy being on page 40 before the end of the weekend which means that i'd enjoy doing that this afternoon bc #i'll be at a friends' house this weekend LOL i won't be writing much #hélianthe et atropa

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These idiots in their forest. I've abandoned my children,

#thinking about san and darlok. #are you ever a spy and then you fall in love with a soldier from the country you're spying on #and then you're like oh shit oh fuck if he figures out i'm a spy he'll think i lied about loving him #but also this is a tricky ass situation for me to be in #so you start preparing to leave #because there's other things you can do for your job that don't necessarily involve stealing info from eshda's military #(although let's be real that's pretty useful) #and he... figures out that Something is Up #he connects a few dots. #and now he is stuck in a position where #he's dating an enemy spy. #he has a rank in the army. #he should say something. turn you in. #instead he goes on vacation to his twin sister's place (making sure you know he's there although you're not sure why) #and while he's not there you go okay. maybe now's the time to disappear because we're going to get in so much shit if i stay. #So you start preparing how to fake your death (easy as hell for an ''adventurer'') #and then he comes back and fucking resigns from his post and goes hey. wanna go adventuring together. #and you're like what the fuck #and he's just #:) #(this means 'my sister almost bashed my head in when i told her i was considering throwing away hapiness for a job i dont really like') #('i don't feel like i'm helping anything or anyone in eshda by harassing our neighbors') #('i was just too used to. Doing that.') #('so yeah i'm staying with you') #and like 8 years later you pick up a random 23 year old while working for a local lord #and it's like oh New Little Brother Acquired #and then you meet this weirdo redhead and her monster dog while you go on an adventure to a Dangerous Forest #and it's like Oh Yeah New Bestie Acqu- why the FUCK can she speak Ka'ida ! #[Etynda's official language] #and she just fucking smiles and then you meet her mentor and it's Gabriel Ulpyr of all people.

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mistake: What's the worst mistake your OC ever made? What led to them making it? Have they been able to fix it? How have they moved on?

hide: What does your OC hide? Why do they hide it?

For Hélianthe? 🙏

From this ask game ! :)

Okay funnily enough you picked two questions that straight up give you a plot summary of like, half of the book.

Mistake : What's the worst mistake your OC ever made ? What led to them making it ? Have they been able to fix it ? How have they moved on ?

Not checking if it was legal for him to be in Eshda (his assumption is that it is. Legal to exist. In life. As a normal person would assume !), and being incredibly careless, one might even say sloppy, when deciding to just destroy an entire village for the hell of it (and filling a bunch of bottles with blood to have some advance before needing to kill people next time, but that's not really a long-term thing).

In general, the fact that he didn't imagine he'd stay in Eshda for very long, and just assuming he could leave and get away with whatever the fuck he was up to, combined with his general inability to plan for the far future, led him to be pretty fucking stupid. Pro tip, don't murder a little under 100 people if you don't want the rest of the duchy to be suspicious that there might be magic afoot.

He didn't "fix" much, he's been hiding it. Sweeping it under the rug. He's having A Time doing it. Which brings us to our next question --

Hide : What does your OC hide ? Why do they hide it ?

--three things.

One : The massacre.

Two : The fact that he's a vampire.

Three : The fact that he's a mage.

These two things will straight up get him killed. The first one for justice, the second one because being a vampire is illegal in Eshda, the third one because being a mage without a license is also illegal in Eshda and WILL be an aggravating factor for the two other crimes.

So he wants to not die, and Atropa gave him the possible solution of committing identity theft about it, and he's been doing that. For most of the book. It's very fun ! The narration uses his real name to refer to him while everyone else (except Atropa when they're alone) calls him Nielle, which is the fake identity.

#ask games #thanks for the ask ! :D #hélianthe et atropa #hélianthe #as much as he's around 220ish years old #i do believe this is the worst mistake he's ever made #and that's counting the murders back when he was a teenager #and also the ones while he lived in Forge #because at LEAST he didn't GET CAUGHT back then #so he had less consequences for his actions !

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ISLAND - How many named locations are there in your world?

POND - Describe your favourite setting!

From this ask game !

ISLAND

Good question ! Depends on if we're going with the entire universe I have going on; or if we're walking on Eshda in particular.

One would be "too many for me to remember", the other is "like, ten, because I barely bother naming things as long as this is a first draft".

POND

Mmmh...

I have been thinking about this for a while, and I think... in Le Prix du Sang, my favorite setting is the manor Hélianthe lives in. It's where I get to make him be vulnerable and instantly try to backpedal because he regrets it immediately, it's where he seems like he's in power even though he's absolutely not.

It's a place that is stolen and lonely and he is trying so hard to make it his home, and it will be abandoned at the first occasion.

Once he becomes duke, I'm not sure he ever goes back there.

#i do believe that if someday it is safe enough for him to publicly be a vampire under his real name... he would do it and not look back #he does not enjoy identity theft this much