Happy Birthday, Blog!

My, time certainly does fly, doesn't it? One year ago today I brought you into this world and look how you've grown! You've changed your looks, your topic and even your name, but you are still you. I'm proud to have stood by you for so long, even though no one saw you. I look forward to another year of filling you with information!

Here's to another year,
Icarus

Ugh...

These past days have been most un-productive. I've done little but wake up, play SilkRoad Online, play with my neighbour and eat (though, I forget to do that sometimes). I've gotten no writing done and have even been neglecting Final Fantasy VII (I'm right at the climax of Disc 1)

The other day I had an idea to blog about, but I forgot what it was. I've got another bit, but I'll use it tonight for my One Year Anniversary post (the official one)

I've not done anything on Winter since the prologue.

Elessic Notes 002

I'm adding a new character to the Elessic Rune-Set. It will be romanised as a Hyphen (-) and will cause the two sections of the word to be pronounced separately, though not as separately as two different words. This is being done because a word I came up with (Eravir) would be pronounced e-RA-vir in the without the mark and as era-VIR with the mark. Eravir is what I'm renaming the Eldian afterlife, (I'm refraining from using the word "heaven" as it is different and the word is overused)

Also, I'm changing the Elvish word for Lantia from Saltaala to Enic (which is the name of the country in Winter) simply because I like it better. The two words are interchangable similar to Elda and Midgard.

The word "Elessic" comes from the Elvish word "Eless" which refers to their race (can be used similarly to the way "Man" is used to mean all humans). Before the Elvish language was fully understood, Humans saw the elves saying that they were "Eless", and then the Noun-to-Adjective English ending was added (-ic) to make it the elvish language. The Elvish word for Elvish is Anquer.

Mahria Continued

As mentioned previously, Mahria's role is serving as Queen of the Faeries. Now, The character is meant to be her, but at the same time it doesn't seem much like her. Queen Mahria is serious and very no-nonsense which is very much different from her real-life counterpart. The personality change came about simply because that's how I wrote her in my head. In the actual story she will serve as a contrast against the overwhelming hospitality of the Elf kingdom (which the characters visit just a few days prior). The elves hold a banquet and shower them with gifts, but when the group arrives at the Faerie's city they find no one at all at first. Mahria is suspicious of people, somewhat secretive and very intuitive. She's really become the real Mahria playing a part as though in a play, rather than a flat representation of herself.

I was going to write something else but I forgot what.

Unexpected Vacation

I just got back from a week-long trip to my Grandparents' house that I did not know I was going on until the night before, But I am back now.

On the trip, I finished watching Gundam Seed Destiny (GREAT ending), re-watched FLCL, did some summer reading, beat a ROM of River City Ransom, watched a lot of Food Network and actually got some writing done. I was only so productive do to my lack of internet.

I had a dream! I'm going to start recording them and posting any interesting ones.

Reading Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath' and his scenery-descriptiveness rubbed off on me while I wrote up a description of the land of Enic for the opening of Chapter two of 'Winter'

More tomorrow

Joy

Today at Church I experienced something so singularly peculiar and ineffable that I feel that I must record it as soon as possible. While singing I felt an overwhelming sense of joy that I can not fully place in words that I know or can create. The sense of supreme happiness was so strong that I could think of nothing that had weighed my mind the rest of the morning. This feeling brought to me a smile so powerful that I scarce could continue singing and at the same time my tongue and cheeks did not tire as they often do during song.

Little more can I say of it, except that I have never felt as such in my life prior, and I pray that I feel so in my days to come.

Mahria

My character Queen Mahria, Ruler of Titania originally came into being some few years ago when my real friend, Mahria, asked me to draw her. Knowing that I was not skilled enough to draw a real person accurately, I drew her as a Faerie, which allowed me to pretty much draw a picture that looked sort of like her, without having to look exactly the same. (see right)

The result was a cheerful Faerie Princess. I always had it in mind to use her as a character in my mythos, but as it evolved she became a major minor character.
She was created to rule the Faeries, who were themselves created to handle the job that the Angels abandoned. This job is to deal with the dead. (unusual job for Faeries, but it works)

In the Elda Mythos when someone dies (completely), there soul begins to fall down through the earth, past the tree of life (Yggdrasil) and down onto the shell of a giant turtle on which the tree grows. Souls are weighed down by their sins in life and their punishment is to climb up Yggdrasil, take a path from there to the city of the Faeries (which clings to the west side of the world, a little ways down) and from there ascend the a staircase up into the sky where they congregate and make stars. (it's a good afterlife)
Because souls are weighted by their sins, the more sinful they were, the harder it is to climb the tree. This gives a good way to purify them.
There is also in the mix, Red Mana (as opposed to the normal, blue, variety). Red Mana bolsters physical strength similar to the way that Blue Mana bolsters mental abilities. Here they diverge, however. Blue Mana can be used in Magic, Red Mana can not. Red Mana, however, has a much more powerful affect on the organisms living in it. While Blue Mana does not cause a cascading increase in mental capabilities, something exposed to Red Mana will continue to grow stronger and more basely powerful (over the course of a long time). Souls that are either too heavy or are unwilling to make the climb stay in this Mana and become more and more powerful, while at the same time mutating in form and thought.
These souls become Devils, powerful beasts of varying form. If a devil climbs the Tree with its new found strength it will purify somewhat on its journey. If it has returned to a natural form, it is allowed to pass through Titania (the Faerie city) an up into the sky. If it is still a monster it is fought and thrown back into Wistil (the land of the dead) Where it must again climb or stay.
The Faerie's job is too keep Devil Souls from entering the World (Elda/Midgard), To ferry souls up to Aravi (Heaven) and to appoint Guardians (Souls trusted to remain in Wistil to give directions to the newly dead - they are protect from the Red Mana in a way that I haven't concreted yet)

I've wasted this whole time on the subject of afterlife in the Elda Mythos. I'll expound on Mahria tomorrow, and after that do a bit on Religion in Elda.

Elessic Notes 001

"Aza" means nameless
"Thoth" means terror or chaos
These are both nods to HP Lovecraft

"Azamin" means "Nameless One" (One, being "person")

Maybe an article about Mahria (character) tomorrow

Musings 001

I think a cat's life must be very like those mornings when you wake up, and it seems as though your bed is swallowing you. You close your eyes and try to go to sleep, but you don't want to because of how wonderfully comfortable you are.

Yeah, Something like that.