#arnora wip

[sageblogsthings]

Heads Up, Seven Up Tag

Thanks @lysander-xp for tagging me! I didn’t forget about this i’ve just been crazy busy with uni lol

Rules: post the last seven sentences of the last WIP you’ve worked on and tag seven more people to keep the challenge going!

Dorian walked through the lower town, passing shop after shop as they closed for the night, until he finally came upon an old, seemingly abandoned shack. A rusty sign dangled by a single chain above the door, the slightest breath of wind threatening to knock it loose. Squinting, Dorian could just make out the lettering on the sign: The Culterus’ Cup. With a smile, he leaned on the door, not so much pushing it open as pushing it aside, its hinges broken long ago. Warm light from the street-lamps outside filtered through the doorway, but was immediately swallowed up by the murky interior. The smell of dust, drams, and desperation seeped through the doorway and settled around Dorian’s boots.

Ah, the smell of alcoholics in the evening, he sighed. Seem’s like nothing’s changed.

ok so it’s 8 sentences but whatever

imma tag (no pressure!) @magicalwriting @riaisntwriting @thenataliawrites @leave-her-a-tome @milothenovelist @cay-writes @thewritingpikachu

[miqobeastmaster]

OC Blog locations - RP/OOC

Ra’harl Bradford (@smolbeastmaster)

The miqo’te beastmaster, born and raised in Limsa Lominsa, blessed with the gift of the Echo. This miqo’te grew up in the home of his tactician mother, Keaira, spending everyday studying and taking lessons to follow in his mother’s footsteps one day. However, when he was old enough to go out on his own, he moved to Ul’dah to work for the Immortal Flames, leaving his mother and her harsh influences on him. After some time working for the Immortal Flames, he took some time away to go to Coerthas to take lessons in the way of the Lance, where he would meet his future husband, Aldis Pikeman. It was by Aldis’ influence that he left his career back in Ul’dah, seeking to further his control over the Echo he was blessed with. Shortly after taking time to practice his abilities of communications with Eorzea’s creatures, his fiance was struck with Fenrir’s aether, turning the highlander into the person he is known as today. Ra’harl accepted the newly transformed man with open arms, going on countless adventures with the werewolf. They both left home behind to find comfort and train the werewolf together, making a home for themselves in the Dravanian Forelands with their ranch home, raising and caring for many creatures they have come to love. As for their current story, they currently plan to move to Yanxia, making a new home in Namai so that Aldis can learn more about the Lupin people.

Type of blog: RP/Art Reblogs/Ask Prompts/Character Development

Grim Mulliner (@grimlykitsune)

A young midlander male, born into a proud merchant family, only to be raised to be business savvy and a civilized hyur of society. He grew up in Gridania with his family, where his birth mother and father were happily married for a number of years before his father remarried for the sake of his business. Grim was too young to truly remember his mother for she had left him at a young age, unable to take him with her when she left her husband. The hyur was raised by his new step mother, raised and taught the things they expected out of him when he wuld become a full grown man. However, he had his own plans for himself once he was finally old enough to live home, never looking back to the place he grew up. It was his journey to discover himself for what he truly wished to do with his life, not the one others created for him, as well as seeking out his mother, who was rumored to be resided somewhere in the City of Kugane. In pursuit of finding his mother, he came across a strange shop one day, filled with weird objects and concoctions, seeking information about a young conjurer woman that went by the name of Agnes. However, to without any recollection of what happened after he entered the shop, he awoke some time later with a new appearance, spotting some new fox ears upon his head, the works of some unknown magicks that was in the shop he had visited. When trying to return to the shop, it had disappeared, leaving the midlander the way he was, leaving him to adjust to his new appearance and functioning ears. To this day, he is still seeking his mother, chasing after clues about where she may be...

Type of Blog: RP/Art Reblogs/NSFW content/Ask Prompts

Grim Dhalmelneck (@elezengrim)

The old elezen version of Grim I had before taking on the full time appearance of a midlander. He is happily in a relationship with his younger partner, Kai, a miqo’te that was friends with Ra’harl in the past. Although he doesn’t exist in the game anymore, he still exists in other AUs I do with friends and I still very much roleplay with him when I feel like it. Do be warned, he is a huge whore, but he is still caring and a bit of an influence on others to get the thing he wants. 

Type of Blog: Art reblogs/NSFW content/Occasional RP

Katsukane Ejinn (@katsuforelands)

A young feral Au Ra that was raised in nature by the creatures of the Forelands. Growing up, he never really spoke words, only communicated by growls and hisses when exchanging ‘words’ with his ‘friends’. Around the age of 10, he was discovered by a wandering hunter of Tailfeather, scared by the sight of a feral Au Ra child, thinking he was an actual hostile creature. After taking a moment to actual see what was there, the hunter realized it was a child. He tried to bring the Au Ra back with him to Tailfeather, but the young Katsu ran away from him as he approached him. Time to time, the hunter would venture out to find the young child to become friendly with him and earn his trust. Eventually, the young Au Ra came to trust the stranger, feeling like he wasn’t the only other person out in the Forelands. The young hunter took the child back with him to Tailfeather, teaching the child the proper ways of hunting and teaching him how to speak words so that he may actually communicate with the other residents of the small colony. After years of growing up with the people he called his ‘family’ and the passing of the hunter that took him in, Katsu left his home to live in the wilderness of Ishgard, traveling and hunting by the rules he was taught by the hunters. He has had close calls with many of Eorzea’s hostile creatures, adorning his body with scars, taking parts of his hunts as treasures and trophies for his own collection. If you are lucky, you may come across this Au Ra one day in the Forelands, bringing back food and wares for the people that raised him.

Type of Blog: RP/Art Reblogs/ASk Prompts/Character Development

Arnora Fletcher (@shyguardian)

A young hyur midlander woman, raised in the City of Ul’dah, coming from a long line of guardians for the pilgrimages of people. From a young age, she had the choice of what kind of combat she wished to use as her specialty, taking on the art of hand-to-hand combat. As part of her training when she became a young adult, she was to find a person of her own choosing to take on the role of their guardian (a.k.a bodyguard). She met many people along her journey of training to become a proper bodyguard, from the protection of guiding adventurers through dangerous areas and helping the less fortunate people with their other issues. However, finding or getting herself to do these kinds of things come with their own problems since she has a hard time approaching people with her shyness. She is often paid back with sweets, often by men who wish to pursue her, but these kinds of exchanges often end badly for the men with a bruised ego, but as well as some physical bruises. Feeling like she has done all she can in Eorzea, she traveled to Othard, hearing things from member of the Scions. Upon her arrival in the Azim Steppe, she was introduced to Hien by Cirina, lost for words by the eager and energetic prince with his curious nature. She had never met someone like him before, making her rather shy around him in his presence, trying to hold herself back from her physical response around men. Arnora is slowly becoming more comfortable around the other members and Prince Hien, trying her best to become an actual woman around him and show her true self with him. 

Type of Blog: RP/Art Reblogs/Character Development

As well to help prevent a random assortment of reblogs that doesn’t possibly relate to any of my characters, you may also follow my OOC blog, @oocsmol, to see some things that I enjoy personally, rather than something in character.

Type of Blog: OOC posts/Reblogs/Occasional NSFW content

[sageblogsthings]

wait omg all of this is so up my alley if u have a taglist or make one in the future could I be added to it? ���👉👈

vague plot and aesthetic thoughts for SoA: Starfall

they’re trying to stop some sort of apocalyptic event in a high fantasy world, althea, that has something to do with collecting certain shards that are linked to the stars

everyone hates everyone else at the start, and the entire group of seekers have to deal with culture clashes and false propaganda and corrupt politics and morally gray zones. no one is correct and everyone needs to learn from each other

necromancy plays a big part in it because i’m a sucker for that, and also elves, and also illegal blood magic

so many fucked up family histories

everyone has a tragic backstory

it’s incredibly self indulgent

healing magic that is fueled by highly dangerous compounds

frame you by tiger’s jaw is the anthem song for every character

everyone wears elaborate fantasy style outfits because i need to practice drawing more detailed clothing

old forgotten gods that have physical forms 

no one has a single healthy coping mechanism, please everyone in this whole group just needs to go to therapy

scottish inspirations

actual interesting fantasy land designs

a very specific vibe that i can’t quite put into words yet

[bijouxs]

LOVE, AT FIRST SIGHT AND SO FORTH

norwegian wood - murakami, 1987

glass of water - mark adams, 1979

arnora - kitblogsthings, 2020

an editorial for visionaire #12 fall - tiziano magni, 1994

ever want to crawl - nikki giovanni, 1996

this is a gift for @kitblogsthings who’s wip, “arnora” (which can be found here!) is something really special and i can’t wait for you guys to hear more!! enjoy kit 🎄❤️!!!!

[lonelylibrary]

4 and 24 for the ask thing :)

Thank you for asking!

4: Favorite character you’ve written?Oh well. I really enjoy writing Arnora from my main WIP Viltha, she is such a lovely woman and so, so strong!But I love most of my characters. I think I’ll really love writing a character of a WIP you don’t really know anything about yet, her name is Ana.

24: Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?Yes, yes and yes. I absolutely adore researching things and sometimes I get carried away. I am basically an expert on the biome of Taiga, on volcanoes, on herbs and the list goes on. It’s one of my favourite parts of writing.

Ask me questions here.

[anoradraws]

1) Character Study screenhsots of my SoD character, Arnora Sterkinsen Arnora Ingvaldsen and her sand wraith dragon, Desert Ray.

2) Desert Ray hatched in front of Arnora Sterkinsen Arnora Ingvaldsen; one of a few screenshots I entered that won a position for the Friendship Festival album back in Spring, 2016.

3) Viking Hideout entry that won the 2016 Hideout Contest back in January that same year.

4) My sketch art of Arnora Sterkinsen Arnora Ingvaldsen and Desert Ray battling the Death Song; this won the Fanart Saturday event back in December, 2016. (Colored version is still undergoing a WIP)

[sageblogsthings]

Arnora wip

Here’s a tiny piece from Dorian’s next chapter! I was gonna wait to post the whole thing but I think this chapter is gonna be a long one and I just love Matthias so here ya go

He walked into the impossibly dark building, eyes squinting through the dust and cobwebs in search of a familiar face.

“Well my eyes must be failing me in my old age, or my mind is starting to go,” the voice brought an immediate grin to Dorian’s face. He wandered vaguely towards its source, dodging tables and uprooted floorboards by memory alone.

“Matthias,” he grinned. “It’s really me, somehow I’ve managed to not get myself killed.” He finally reached the source of the voice: a stout, rounded man with crinkled grey hair and eyes. His head barely cleared the bar behind which he stood, but he emanated such an aura of authority and confidence that you barely noticed.

“Hmm, small wonder that is,” Matthias grunted. “And not bound to stay that way for long from what I hear,” he peered at Dorian over golden spectacles in a way that was part concern and part disdain.

“Ah, so you heard about that?”

[sageblogsthings]

WIP INTRO // THE CRIMSON MOON

book one of the arnora duology by kit fenmore

Info: high fantasy + epic adventure, 3rd limited POV present tense, interludes in 1st referral POV present tense, planned 120k but who knows

Themes:  found family + trauma and learning how to heal from it or at least live in spite of it + morality and moral ambiguity + power and corruption + nuanced villains + redemption + time magic and unintended consequences of the magic system + playing with the fabric of reality because that always ends well

Aesthetic: hemlock crushed under leather boots + an alchemist’s shop lit by candlelight + letters sealed with poison-laced wax + the rustle of a raven’s wings at twilight + gold-encrusted daggers on wooden bar-tops + the rush of whitewater in a thunderstorm + crying in the rain, the only other sounds the lonely hoots of an owl and the rustle of raindrops on ferns + the smell of lavender fields in autumn

Summary: After Vanna Landry is imprisoned for attempting a spell which has been outlawed for centuries, they must work with an enigmatic assassin to escape before both of them are sentenced to death. While escaping, they uncover diagrams for an extremely risky and highly illegal ritual, penned by the ruler of Aemorn herself. A ritual which, according to the exiled time magister who shows up a bit too conveniently, would distort the Pillars of Time themselves. A ritual which would seemingly benefit no one. With questions piling up and time running out, Vanna must team up with the ex-time magister she barely trusts, the assassin who she should probably trust a little less, a thief who got kicked out of his thieves' guild, and a mercenary who has never killed to stop the ritual before all of reality ceases to exist.

Updates: i will put snippets and update posts on here occasionally, but i’m much more active in my discord server! if you’re interested in joining feel free to dm me! :)

- taglist and transcript under the readmore -

Taglist (ask to be +/-)

some of these are from my old taglist so if you would like to be removed just let me know i don’t mind at all! :)

@dallonswords | @isherwoodj | @florraisons | @childhoodlovers | @bijouxs | @ziyin | @moonhungers | @piyawrites | @avi-why | @svpphicwrites | @alicewestwater | @ladywithalamp | @shaded-radon | @discreet-writer | @sunwornpages | @abalonetea | @the-bard-writes | @midsummer-writes-dream | @morganwriteblr​ ​| @aphaimaniis | @stephwriteswords | @ninazeniks ​| @araliensmagica | @fuyugomori | @ryns-ramblings | @mjayatlas | @marimos | @strangerays | @chauceryfairytales | @snowinks

Transcript:

Xalia strode down the marble halls, the soft leather of her shoes meeting each tile with a cacophony of echoes. This was not the first, second, hundredth time that she had walked these passageways, and yet the chill she felt when contained within their depths never seemed to subside. The looming corridors and billowing curtains always seemed to hide sinister whispers that breathed down her neck and pricked at the tips of her ears. Perhaps it was the High Council, with their unnerving masks and owlish eyes, seeming to know and perceive all — or perhaps it was the knowledge that every time she stalked back towards the exit, she would carry the weight of another’s life on her shoulders, a life that she had to take.

[ziyin]

@moonhungers’ Anchor-Point is a masterclass in surreal, oppressive atmosphere, lush, lyrical prose, complicated characters that do not hesitate to show off their dark sides, and one of the best depictions of obsessive rivalries I’ve ever seen on writeblr. 

@aphaimaniis’ The Maple Society is a wonderfully spooky, melancholy WIP who’s got it all. Spine-tingling premise involving curses, deep lore and secret societies, with a dash of dark academia elegance? Check. Characters so real you can touch them? CHECK. One of the most complicated families I’ve ever seen on writeblr? CHECK. 

@childhoodlovers’ And Also With You has ghosts, a compelling mystery, loveable characters, and an excellent exploration of faith. The creeping, oppressive horror atmosphere of this WIP is unmatched, and Roman’s poetic prose is sure to take your breath away.

Other WIPs worth making a shout-out to: @kitblogsthings’ Arnora duology, @svpphicwrites’ Fractured Dawn, @ladywithalamp’s Operation Eclogues, @dallonswords’ Revelations, Revelations, @kishons’ Cosmopolitan and @cassettefuturist’s Wormwood.

Spread some cheer! Make a post talking about one of your favorite wip’s made by ANOTHER writeblr!

[sageblogsthings]

💛💔 for arnora? -@fiercely-raging-writer :)

thank u for the ask! :)

💛: what is the title based on?

answered here!

💔: give a brief character bio of your 3-5 MCs

*slaps wip* this bad boy can fit so many MCs in it!! there are seven pov characters in The Crimson Moon, but the chapter distribution between them is not at all even lol so I'll do the main 4 protags and main antag! my brain is a pile of moosh atm so forgive me if these are utterly ridiculous lmao

Vanna Landry: before the novel, Vanna worked a healer's apprentice. At the start of the novel, she winds up in prison for attempting a ridiculously illegal spell. Unbeknownst to them, this display of magic attracted the attention of not only the Grand Aetas Verena, but also the Time Magisters themselves. This adhd-ridden ball of anxiety is not at all prepared for what this book is about to throw at her, sorry Vanna ily <3 Also, they are 1000% likely to infodump to you about poisonous plants, and need lots of hugs and also therapy. tbh all of my characters could probably use hugs and therapy oops

Xalia Arcaneaux: formerly an assassin for Verena, though she only did it because she was blackmailed into it and hoped that working for Verena would give her to resources to determine the cause of her fiancée's mysterious death. She also has a pair of daggers that are enchanted! The cool part is that they can turn into wings, the less cool part is that they whisper to her and are lowkey emotionally abusive rip

Dorian Vispillo: love of my life, source of my genvy, billowy pirate shirt and way-too-tight-pants wearing thief <3 he was kicked out of the Thieves Guild for ~reasons~ but has earned himself quite the reputation as a freelance thief. A reputation which has attracted the attention of the Grand Aetas herself.

Mikah Amaltyk: looks like he could kill you, technically could kill you, but is actually a cinnamon roll. He's technically a mercenary, but has never actually killed anyone. He was blackmailed into accepting a mercenary contract to kill Dorian (attempted murder is the best meetcute change my mind), but soon discovers that the circumstances surrounding the contract are suspicious at best.

Verena Vitralis: the main antagonist, Verena is planning a ritual which (if performed incorrectly) could destroy reality itself. She is cunning, manipulative, and completely an ends-justifies-the-means kind of person. And in this case, blinded by rage and grief, the ends to which she strives are justifiable through any means she can think of. go girlboss destroy all of reality <3

writer wip asks!

[sageblogsthings]

to celebrate The Crimson Moon reaching 30k as of this morning, i thought that i would share the progression of the opening lines of the book, and talk a bit about how the book has grown and changed in the last year! on july 27th it will be exactly a year since i first started writing this and wow i’m not getting emotional you are aha whaaaat

*cough* anywayyysss!!

draft one: please oh god don't judge me

ok i'm not going to talk negatively about my past writing because it got me to where i am today but. [marge i am looking away meme] if you can't tell, i wrote this when i was going through the existential crisis phase of uni and just wanted to live in the woods, i say like i would not currently move to the woods in a heartbeat asdklfja

at the time that i wrote this i was really happy with it because the writing was fun and, as a result, easy! at this point i was just writing in my down time from uni, and i didn't know what the plot was or what my plans were for the book as a whole. because this was just something i did in my down time, i think my writing took on more of a conversational, stream-of-consciousness tone, and that's part of what made this draft (or start of a draft, i only got like 12k in i think) so easy to write. but eventually, as the plot started to come together and i started to gain more inspiration from sff writers as a whole, i realized that this book wasn't heading in the direction i wanted it to. it wasn't just something to do in my free time at that point, it had taken on a life of it's own. and thus, draft two began.

draft two: electric boogaloo

ngl these lines still slap and i love them. there are definitely things i would change, but these lines will be in the current draft of the book, albeit not in the first chapter and altered slightly. when i started this draft, i didn't have an outline but i had a very clear, cinematic image of how i wanted this chapter to go. i think having that before i started writing helped a looooot, both in terms of prose and just being able to convey aspects of the setting/character in the first paragraph. as i continued writing this draft though, i realized that some of the character arcs didn't make sense or were getting a bit messy, and that, based on the story i wanted to tell, it didn't make sense to start with Xalia. while there are six main pov characters in this book, Vanna really is the main character and i wanted that to be clear.

draft three: this time it's personal actually good

these are the current first lines of the book, and honestly my favorite so far! starting off with Vanna rather than Xalia definitely gives the book a different feel, and it's one that's more true to the vision i have for it. in my opinion, this opening does a much better job of setting up some of the book's themes, which admittedly i'm still figuring out lol. grief and loss are major components of all the character arcs, and are integral to the plot itself. switching to present tense has also been a LIFE CHANGER for me. it's funny because, on the second stab at this book, i kept slipping into present tense, but forcing myself back to past tense because i thought present tense sounded weird. turns out it only sounded weird because it was surrounded by past tense, and now that i've written 3 chapters in present tense i can solidly say that this is the way the book was meant to be written. it just feels like my book now, and i'm so happy with where it's headed!

i also made an outline for this draft of the book, and while i've already deviated from it somewhat to work out plot holes or increase ~foreshadowing~ in certain scenes, getting all of the events out of my head and onto paper has really allowed me to just write because i know that i have a document to refer back to if i get stuck on where the story is headed. making the outline also really pushed me to think about character backstories, most of which i had previously established, but now they've changed a lot to fit together more cohesively and integrate with the plot more clearly. i've also changed a lot of the character designs, and as a result of changing the appearances and backstories of a lot of the characters, i feel a lot closer to them and the story itself. the characters have well and truly taken on a life of their own, and now i'm kind of just along for the ride, telling their stories and loving every second of it!

ALSO!! the last big change with this draft, which i just implemented literally this morning and am so so sooooo excited about, is having first person referral, present tense mini-chapters/interludes! it gives the book a really unique sound and ties into the plot really nicely i think! i feel like the structure and form of the story are finally tying into the story itself and it's driving me insane a little bit askdfjka

as of right now i'm not ready to reveal who the pov and referral characters are in these chapters, because i'm debating between a couple ways of doing things and if i go one way that would end up being a pretty big spoiler! that being said, i got really hyped up about it earlier today and rambled in the spoilers section of my server so if you do want that sweet sweet spoilers content....join my server! ;)

also. i hope u all know that i almost deleted that first snippet about ten different times but transparency in writing and all that, i really do want to show how much this book has grown and changed! even if it's going to cause me immense psychic damage to type up the image description for this but i digress

i think that's all for now, and thank you so so much if you read all of that! the love and support this project has received and continues to receive absolutely blow me away, and i can't thank you enough for being part of the journey! <3

the crimson moon taglist (ask to be +/-)

@dallonswords | @isherwoodj | @florraisons | @aetherwrites | @childhoodlovers | @bijouxs | @ziyin | @moonhungers | @piyawrites | @avi-why | @svpphicwrites | @alicewestwater | @ladywithalamp | @spencers-tomes | @discreet-writer | @sunwornpages | @abalonetea | @the-bard-writes | @x-writes | @morganwriteblr​ ​| @aphaimaniis | @stephwriteswords | @ninazeniks ​| @araliensmagica | @fuyugomori | @ryns-ramblings | @greyjaywrites | @marimos

image descriptions below the cut

[header image description]

the background is a dark castle with a checkerboard-patterned marble floor. the hallway fades into black, with the hint of a figure standing in the doorway. white text across the image reads "The Crimson Moon" in a large, all-caps font, and below that reads "wip update post" in thin, lowercase text.

[image description for excerpt one]

I lay on my back, gazing up at the sky. The weather was absolutely perfect. I could hear the crickets singing, the birds chirping, the brook babbling, all that good poetic shit.

I came out here often, just to get away and pretend like I wasn't a part of the fuck-all society I lived in. How could humans be so ignorant? We live in a world with this, I gestured expansively in my mind at the field around me, how can we not see how beautiful it is? How perfect it is? How imperfect we are by comparison?

[image description for excerpt two]

Xalia strode down the marble halls, the soft leather of her shoes meeting each tile with a cacophony of echoes. This was not the first, second, hundredth time that she had walked these passageways, and yet the chill she felt when contained within their depths never seemed to subside. The looming corridors and billowing curtains always seemed to hide sinister whispers that breathed down her neck and pricked at the tips of her ears. Perhaps it was the High Council, with their unnerving masks and owlish eyes, seeming to know and perceive all — or perhaps it was the knowledge that every time she stalked back towards the exit, she would carry the weight of another’s life on her shoulders, a life that she had to take.

[image description for excerpt three]

Vanna’s mother always tells them that grief is a sharp, biting thing; something that latches its teeth around your stomach until you double over with the weight of it. But for Vanna, that’s not quite right. There isn’t something hidden and tucked away behind the confines of their gut because there isn’t anything there at all. As they walk towards the town well — a spell book in one hand and emptiness in the other — they think that their mother got it wrong trying to describe grief in terms of presence. Grief, to them, can only be absence. The absence of light, the absence of a smile, and the absence of a palm which had curled so perfectly into theirs.

[sageblogsthings]

the magic system in Arnora is centered around time magic. the space-time system upon which all magic is based is symbolized by three pillars: Pillar the First, Pillar the Second, and Pillar the Third, which roughly translate to our conceptualizations of the past, present, and future, respectively. each of these pillars has a deity associated with it, as well as several schools of magic. each school of magic is ultimately a class of time magic, but very few who practice these classes can manipulate time magic itself. those who can are tested to become Time Magisters, tasked with looking directly into the fabric of reality to keep the Pillars intact.

conjuration | destruction | evocation | abjuration | necromancy | blood magic

Pillar the First is protected by the snake guardian Anteaonis. those who pray to Anteaonis typically practice at least one of the above schools of magic. however, one does not need to worship a deity associated with a pillar in order to perform magic related to that pillar, it is a ultimately a matter of choice. performing magic related to this pillar involves calling upon knowledge woven into the fabric of time and using that knowledge to harm or benefit someone or something in the present. for example, conjuring a flame requires reflecting on experiences with fire in the past, forming a vivid picture of fire in one’s mine, and bringing that picture into the present.

characters under this pillar:

Xalia - conjuration and destruction

Mikah - evocation and abjuration

Verena - necromancy and blood magic

illusion | enchantment | teleportation | summoning spells | portals

Pillar the Second is protected by the bear guardian Hodiesus. Hodiesus oversees the use of spells which alter the appearance or current state of things. mastering magic in these schools requires living in the moment, and looking past the appearance of things to understand the nature of the Pillar itself. the most complicated Second Pillar spells involve creating portals. portals that span the Pillars themselves and transport one to not only a different place but also a different time are incredibly complex and can only be created effectively by Time Magisters. creation of such portals by someone who is not a Time Magister is incredibly dangerous and can result in that person becoming a Cortratum. Cortratum are shells of beings whose vitality has been drained by peering directly into the timeline, essentially shredding and corrupting their soul. another type of portal is the transmutation portal, which is where an object such as a wall or mirror is transmuted to form a door which can then be used to take someone to a different place, but not a different time. such portals are much easier to construct, harder to track, and do not require a mastery of Time magic to create. there are several other types of portals, but i will make a separate post on those!

characters under this pillar:

Dorian - illusions and enchantments

Silaesan - technically he is an embodiment of all three pillars since he is a Time Magister but Pillar the Second is his primary magic type

white magic | green magic | alchemy | transmutation | divination

Pillar the Third is protected by the owl guardian Noctualim. use of Third Pillar magic involves peering into time, if only for a moment, to see Fates which may come to pass, and pulling one of these Fates into the present like pulling a thread through a tapestry. for this reason, those who can perform magic under this pillar are more likely to have full command of time magic. this is also why Noctualim has become a symbol for the Time Magisters themselves, even though the Magisters command all three Pillars of Time. because those under the Third Pillar typically have the closest connection to Time magic, they are also the most likely to become Cortratum. there are also those who turn away from their connection to the Pillars entirely, and attempt to perform Time magic outside of the Pillars, shaping reality to their will alone. such mages are incredibly dangerous, and are called Nihilimancers. nihilimancy is the only form of magic in Arnora which is completely banned.

characters under this pillar:

Vanna - green and white magic

Tilaraen - their magic gets a bit complex but their primary skills include alchemy and poison making, transmutation, and divination

Ari - transmutation (metal artificer specifically)

the first Time Magister

the first Time Magister was Astraea, or that is what they have come to be known as. Astraea is the name of the universe in which Arnora is set. They were the first person to master Time magic, and legend has it that when they died they faded and became part of the constellations themselves, thus why they were posthumously named after the universe. very little is known about them or how they were able to attain such a close connection to the Pillars, and no one in the millennia since their death has come close to reaching the same level of ability.

i will make separate posts on Time Magisters, portals, and Arnoran religion specifically because that gets a bit more complicated but i hope that this explained some things for now! if you would like to hear more of my mad ramblings about the magic system feel free to hop in my inbox or wip server! :)

arnora taglist

@radiomacbeth | @aetherwrites | @ezrathings | @avi-burton-writing | @svpphicwrites | @spillme | @isherwoodj | @melpomeny | @alicewestwater | @ladywithalamp | @spenceberri​ | @haldimilks | @alexsidereus | @chloeswords | @discreet-writer | @sunwornpages | @bijouxs | @zielenbloesem | @abalonetea | @the-bard-writes | @themillionthdraft | @sirius-xthem-writing | @piyawrites | @morganwriteblr​ 

[sageblogsthings]

✏ 📝 ✈ !!

thanks for the ask! :) i'll do lines from The Crimson Moon for this one, since that's the project i'm currently drafting!

✏️ Share the first line of any chapter

(i think i've shared this line on my blog multiple times at this point but it never gets old to me lmao)

"You know, if you wanted to take my breath away you could have just asked me out," Dorian grinned as a cutlass was pressed to his throat.

📝 Share the first line of your project.

i'm currently rearranging some of the chapters so this is likely to change but right now it's this:

Vanna’s mother had always told them that grief was a sharp, biting thing, but walking towards the town well — a spell book in one hand and emptiness in the other — they weren’t so sure.

✈️ Share a line where a character is traveling somewhere.

might not make sense out of context but here we go lol

Before Xalia could ask what she meant, Vanna strode towards the wall and vanished — the only trace of her a slight rippling of the golden threads.

wip excerpts ask game

[sageblogsthings]

💖

thanks for the ask, ren! ^^

💖: are you planning on publishing it? if so, how?

Lovely question! i have no clue! 😂

A big part of the reason i started the arnora duology is because i didn’t see myself (as a queer, disabled person) represented in a lot of fantasy content i was consuming, particularly the stuff i read as a kid. I felt like i could take inspiration (and a bit of spite lol) from those works and turn it into something fun and magical that resonated with me, and hopefully with others as well! There are a looot of other reasons i started writing this, but that one ties most into my publishing goal, which is to keep the books free to read in some form or another. I’m not too familiar with the details of publishing (tradpub or self-pub) bc i’m a stem major and never really needed to know that lmao so i’m kinda just absorbing knowledge from my writer friends atm and will figure out the rest once the books are finished!

Because i'd likely be publishing this when i'm in grad school, it's also hard to say what i'll have time for y'know? Self-publishing sounds so cool but also like a TON of work, but then tradpub is like a whole other language to me and Public Perception my detested lmao. I've considered releasing it on wattpad as well, but idk if i'll actually go that route. What if i just dropped it on tumble as a google doc aslkdfj problem solved!!

Anyways, the incredibly long-winded answer to your question is that i have absolutely no clue, but that i would love to have the books freely available to anyone who wants to read them, particularly those who may feel a bit overlooked by the sff genre as a whole. I just want my books to feel like a cozy place that people can curl up to and feel seen, so whatever publishing route allows for that to happen the most is what i'd like to go with! :)

writer wip asks!

[sageblogsthings]

Writer wip asks: ❣ 💜 💞

thanks for the ask! ^^

❣️: which scene has been hardest to write so far?

i'm not sure if this question means hardest technically or hardest emotionally, but i think i'll answer for the latter because this book is just pain,,,suffering even,,,agony if u will.

the scene i'm currently writing is one of the most emotional in the book, and i've been procrastinating writing it for almost two weeks now asdlkfj oops

without giving spoilers, i'll just say that it involves Vanna's past coming back to haunt her. A big theme of this book is grief and different ways of coping (or not coping) with it. In Vanna's case, they are having trouble escaping the cycle of grief created by the death of their brother, and in this chapter that cycle reaches a breaking point.

💜: where are you in the writing process?

I'm currently drafting! This is actually the third?? attempt at the first draft i think? This is the farthest I've gotten into any draft though, it's at almost 34k right now. I'm about halfway through part two, and there's three parts of the book, but I have to go back and rewrite part one because I decided to change the tense so I'm like halfway-ish but not really lmao

💞: which future scene are you looking forward to writing?

answered here!

writer wip asks!

[sageblogsthings]

Hi! For the WIP asks, how about 💛(what's the title based on?) and 💞 (future scene are you looking forward to?)

hi there! thanks for the ask :)

💛: what is the title based on?

The title of the duology (The Arnora Duology) is just named after the world it's set in atm. That'll probably change at some point, I just haven't thought of anything else yet haha. The title of the first book, The Crimson Moon, references the symbolism associated with the main antagonist, Verena. The second book, The Golden Fates, I can't talk too much about without giving away spoilers for the end of book one, but I'll just say that it is sort of an inversion of the first book's title!

💞: which future scene are you looking forward to writing?

SO MANY!! I'm writing the middle of part two right now, and things start getting really fucky around the end of part two/beginning of part three. I think I'm most excited to write the sort of "boss battle" scene as it were lmao because a lot of incredibly messed up stuff is revealed that none of the characters knew about. Since one of my characters is a Time Magister (meaning that he can divine past, present, and future), there are parts of the book where he borders on omniscient, so I think it's gonna be really fun to knock the arrogant lil smirk off his face for a moment >:3

writer wip asks!