Paksworld

Though Paks is not a POV character in this group of books, she’s still a catalyst and, as such, quite busy.  I don’t know everything she’s been up to, but some of it I do, and it’s been fascinating to see how she operates, as a paladin.

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Those of you who’ve read Diana Wynne Jones’  The Rough Guide to Fantasyland know that the typical food of fantasyland is stew.  Maybe with bread.  Maybe, if you’re really lucky, bread and cheese both with stew.  Or alternately.

I’m not a foodie (lack the qualifications), but I do like to eat, and when I started writing the Paks books, I didn’t know about the “stew” convention.  Even though there’s some stew, it’s because I felt it fit that location (and pocketbook) and I had great fun inventing other dishes.   Food preferences and eating styles reveal character and offer multiple thorns for plot and character and setting to attach.

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Drawing fantasy maps always brings up the question of how far is it really from here to there…from, say, Halveric Steading to Chaya, or Fiveway to  Valdaire?  Eager readers may try to figure out the scale of a fantasy map and thus determine what the real travel distances and times “should” be.

For some of you, what I’m going to talk about is familiar–you yourselves have done long hikes, ridden long distances, and so you know what goes into “a day’s travel.”  But for those who haven’t, here’s why the map is only a rough guide.

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Last night, I started playing with my map image in the computer.  What would happen if…???   Well…first of all…I got it to black on white and not black on gray.  Then…how about a nice, aged-cream background so it looks old?  And wait, wouldn’t it be nice to have it kind of smudgy, like a map that’s been used a long time?   A little airbrushing with two different colors, using a tool that let me control density and opacity brought that out nicely.  I thought of trying to add, say, a blood-stain, or a blotchy mark from spilled wine or ale, but that would take more skill than I have with the mouse as a drawing tool.  It occurred to me (but I haven’t take the time yet for this, which will require going back to pen & ink, as I would have to for the “liquid-stain” effect)  that I could “distress” the edges of this strip map, too, as if it were torn or cut from a larger map for the convenience of someone who needed only that much.

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I’ve mostly-inked the “strip” of territory that’s in Oath of Fealty.   For those familiar with the Paks books, that includes the part of Aarenis from Andressat north–east boundary roughly Cortes Cilwan, west to the Westmounts…then north over the pass at Valdaire to include Tsaia from just west of Vérella east to include Lyonya to just east of Chaya.   Because Tsaia extends  north of the Honnorgat River and Lyonya doesn’t, this means part of Pargun is also showing.

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Since Holy Week kept me away from writing or posting new stuff last week, it seems appropriate to share a little background material on the holidays and celebrations of the Paksworld universe.   (The main religious background material is here for those of you just joining the party.)

The biggest–recognized in all the religions though celebrated differently–are the four big astronomical markers: the Eveners (spring and fall) equivalent to our Equinoxes, and the shortest day/longest night (Midwinter) and longest day/shortest night (Midsummer.)

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This snippet is from a passage that will not appear in the book–my choice, not an editor’s cut, so the scene was never fully fleshed out.  You have conversation, nothing else.   However, as a snippet, I don’t mind sharing it with you.  I believe, when the book comes out, you will agree that this and the extension of it (several more pages full of spoilers) were better left out.

Location:  Verella, the Verrakai house in town.  Time: 14 days after Kieri Phelan left Verella for Lyonya

Speakers:  Duke Haron Verrakai and his brother.

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Most of the background stuff for Religions and Characters is now up at the Paksworld website.

The character list is not complete for past books (has none of the Gird/Luap characters but Gird himself, for instance)  but also…it will grow with the story.    It should, however, be useful now.

If you prefer a perfectly alphabetical list,  copy that one, yank out the division titles, and have at it…she says wickedly.

Religions

Characters

Comments are welcome, but the lists aren’t likely to be changed (added to, revised, whatever) for awhile, as both my web-guru and I are facing a very busy month.

I went back to the scene that was giving me such trouble days ago and saw that what was missing was the other part of what they discussed (besides having the wrong number of dead people–hate it when that happens.   If A says there were six killed, and B says four, and both were there and neither lied…the writer has had a lapse between pages.   Which is better for the plot?  Pick one and stick through it in all subsequent scenes.)

And that was magic stuff.    A doesn’t know that B has magery of the old type.  B doesn’t know that A has some elven abilities and a whopping dose of taig-sense.   B doesn’t know what taig-sense is, and A only knows oldstyle magery by repute.    These are not the same but there are overlaps, and of course similar objectives…people want power so they can accomplish something with it, and those who have power (want it or not) must learn to use it to accomplish things.

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Not on my birthday, thanks to Stuff, but in honor of.

In the far south, beyond the barren hills of sand that edge the coast, in the dry and rocky slopes that once supported three white towers near a great city, the Guardian of Guardians lifts a hand and the prayers cease. No voice disturbs the hiss of wind on rock and sand; even the children playing among the ruins are silent.

All look north, north to the coast few of them have seen, and beyond to the lands no Guardian has visited, across the Immerhoft Sea, beyond the forests and fields now called Aarenis, beyond the high gray mountains beloved of dwarves and the hills of the gnome princedoms to the lands where magelords live, who once lived here.

“Yes,” the Guardian says. “The veil is torn; the life of the land is revealed.”

……

A clue to those who were wondering if this new story would answer any questions left from the old ones…(evil grin)  Depending on editorial whim, this may or may not be part of a prologue to one or another volume.