#paixandria

[valoisfulcanellideux]

Spent an enjoyable evening editing a pre-built home in the Sims 3 custom Al Shibalba world, trying to make it a little more Paixandrian (my version of Pixandria). Moved in my Paix al-Lareiff and Mhenheli al-Q'isaraf sims in while I decorate.

I'll probably remove those two extra black domed roof pieces on the front, as they look top-heavy. Not sure what I'll put in their place yet.

I also need to dig out and install a lot more of my Arabic-style CC, but I've been having fun with this.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

Oh, this is gorgeous! Reminds me of Paixandria <3

A little stroll in the city of Jabasan

[valoisfulcanellideux]

So yesterday's post was mostly me gushing about this beautiful commission from @floweroflaurelin for These Stones Remember, and I only realised after the fact that embedding it in the middle of a text post meant that it was:

too small for many of the details to be appreciated

hidden for those who have 'collapse long posts' enabled on their dash

So I'm posting it again, but this time it's actually an image post in its own right. And - because I am NOT OVER THIS - I want to go into detail about, well... the details.

This is going to make most sense for people who have already read These Stones Remember, but maybe other Pix peeps will find something in it, too.

So let's go behind the cut, and look at some of those details, because boy did Sabira include some lovely little nods to the story! (Warning: There may be spoilers.)

The light of the Vigil

Not only does the warmth of the Vigil's light reflect from each character (with the exception of Malin, because they're already lit from within by their own soul light) but she also reaches out to touch each character with those tendrils of light emanating from her spire. And in the story Paix becomes the living embodiment of the Vigil once the Great Caravan leaves the ruin of Paixandria, so the Vigil truly does touch every person he comes into contact with.

Malin's 'soul energy trail'

Malin (for those who haven't read the story) is Pix's ethereal cat companion, who is made of soul energy from the gratitude of everyone Paix/Pix has guided or helped in some way over the course of 2,000 years. But Malin is not only a companion; they are also a protector and guardian of their eternal/immortal friend. Thus the trail of 'soul energy' that emanates from their tail in the illustration wraps around not only Pix and Paix, but also around the sword of the statue, which represents protection.

The Silver Ant

The Silver Ant is the old Paixandrian name for a long-period comet whose orbit sees it visiting the world every 200 years. In the illustration we see it visiting the past (left side of the image) and the present (right side of the image).

The split between past and present

On the left we see the past; golden and warm. The glorious city, the ivory and copper tones of Paix's raiment, all the regalia of royalty (crown, trident, cloak, ring), the faithful and devoted presence of Chaperone Mhenheli. And on the right we see the present; blue-toned and holding a heavy weight. The ruined city, the blue of Pix's shirt and the teal of Malin's form. Even the statue - though she's built that way in canon anyway - mirrors this, with her feathered wing in the warm past and her skeletal 'sextant wing' in the present.

The expressions

I have to point this out, in case you've not picked up on it. I described modern day Pix to Sabira as follows:

In the story, he is the same person as Paix; just 2,000 years later. So hair colour, general facial features etc would be the same. His eyes are more weary, though, because he's carried the guilt of what he did back then for those 2,000 years.

LOOK AT THOSE EYES

Modern-day Pix's expression is warm and open with a faint hint of a smile, but his eyes are guarded and weary. They're even a little bloodshot. Contrast that with the placid serenity of his past younger self, his clear kohl-lined gaze lifted as if looking up at the Vigil.

People, I AM EATING THAT DIFFERENCE UP WITH A SPOON, IT'S SO GOOD.

The royal regalia

The symbols of the Copper King's reign are:

the copper crown

the ring

the trident

the regalia cloak

The copper crown is Sabira's original design (which, in fact, inspired my description of it in the story) except my version has the two copper nodes exchanged for a tiny glowing conduit that lights his face, and an emerald. Both of these rest in their corresponding 'cradles' on the crown (shh, it's magic) until worn by the rightful king, at which point they both move into their 'hovering' positions. Looking at the image above, Sabira has even captured the glow from the conduit, reflecting from its surrounding cradle.

I gave Sabira free rein with the design of the ring, having only ever described it loosely in the story as a copper band surmounted by a cut emerald. And I was delighted with their resulting design, which mingles the shape of many candles (or even the surrounding pillars of the Vigil) with the conduit cradle, and then the emerald.

The regalia cloak and trident are both Sabira's own beautiful classic designs, which most (well, all) of my followers who like Pix will already be familiar with.

And, lastly, one other little detail so small that you probably didn't even notice it unless you zoomed in closely...

The earring

Paix's deepslate emerald teardrop earring (no connection to Max's earring at the end of the story) was his own personal thing. We all know how Pix canonically loves his deepslate emerald, so I figured that I'd have him wishing the ring had that stone in it rather than a pure, cut emerald. Instead, he opted to wear a deepslate emerald earring. He wears small copper hoops in both ears, but from the left one he also has the teardrop earring.

But look closer, at both his earring and at modern-day Pix:

Can we all just please admire the fact that modern-day Pix has a piercing hole because he once wore those earrings, and that the weight of the deepslate emerald earring worn by Copper King Paix actually stretches his piercing hole a little?

Details, people. DETAILS. This is why Sabira is the fucking BEST. GAH!

Anyway, this took almost my entire lunch break to write, so I'm now going back to work xD

[valoisfulcanellideux]

The shining and beautiful jewel of the sands that he had helped build and raise into a vibrant, lush, and welcoming oasis amid the unrelenting heat of the desert.

---

“The sands return. Slowly they will reclaim these walls and gardens and streets, and I will watch over all as Paixandria sinks into history until only the mountain remains. This great city will be but a memory; a jewel of the sands that will one day be forgotten by all save one.”

---

She drew ahead, vision speeding over the dark forests that surrounded the Mythish lands. The air grew warm, then hot, and the ground became sand. Great dunes rose around her, and up ahead there glittered in the darkness the pale jewel of Paixandria.

---

He knew the direction this balcony faced. No matter where he was in the world, Paixandria was like a lodestone to his heart. This balcony faced the Jewel of the Desert.

---

Quotes from 'These Stones Remember'.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

If the ruins of Paixandria had been discovered in 1910...

[Screenshots taken in the Sims 3 custom world of Al Shibalba, which I've been having fun customising to be a bit more like Paixandria, from my story These Stones Remember]

Alternate image edits behind the cut.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

These Stones Remember - XL

"Love is the one thing that we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. Maybe we should trust that, even if we can't understand it." — Dr. Amelia Brand, Interstellar

The low scrape of stone against stone indicated that the doors had begun to move. Heads looked up from wooden bowls, dishes, and cupped hands, but not a soul stirred otherwise from their meal. A chink of sunlight speared the sandstone floor of the Anthill, broadening as the doors rasped along their deep channels. Once the gap was wide enough to allow two men to pass through side by side, the guard captain ordered a halt and his men stood down, rubbing aching shoulders. The sky was a brilliant pale blue, as it had been on so many beautiful early mornings in the glorious city of Paixandria. On such mornings, the air was always clear and still cool from the night’s chill, the gardeners had already watered the lush gardens, the banners and awnings had flapped and cracked around the souk as traders set out their wares, and the sounds of a city rising from its slumber had slowly filtered into the world like a blessing. Mhenheli stepped through the open doorway and into the blazing bright sunlight. He faltered, Menet’s hands steadying him from behind. His eyes blurred with tears. His lips trembled. His hands shook, wrapping tightly around the candle; his lifeline. Paixandria was a scorched, broken, smoking ruin.

Read it in full at AO3: These Stones Remember - XL

Artwork by Sabira/floweroflaurelin (used with permission) - see my pinned post for links to their work.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

These Stones Remember - XVII

"How lucky I am, to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." – Winnie the Pooh

The cup was almost brimming with liquid, and so Pix lifted it carefully, keeping his hand as steady as he could. Raising it to his nose, he inhaled its scent, and memory flooded his lungs with lightly-spiced sweetness.

Paixandrian honey wine, fermented with imported vanilla and nutmeg; a delicate drink that had enough alcohol content to induce pleasant warmth, but not so much that it compounded the possibility of dehydration in such a hot and dry environment. He had indulged but rarely - usually when visited by dignitaries who were always offered the best that Paixandria had to give - and preferred a cup of simple cool water to slake his thirst.

But here and now, oh, he needed to indulge. He closed his eyes and - without caution - drank deeply.

A thousand years tore away from him, and then a thousand more slipped from his knowledge. Warmth poured into him, swirled in a dry breeze around him, ruffled through his hair, pulled at his clothes, touched his cheek, caressed his suddenly-damp forehead.

“Another?” a soft voice asked behind him.

Read it in full at AO3: These Stones Remember - XVII

Artwork by Sabira/floweroflaurelin (used with permission) - see my pinned post for links to their work.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

These Stones Remember - LVII

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." — Albus Dumbledore

**Content warning for this chapter: Animal death**

Life finds a way. In the most desolate of locations, there is always hope. Even down here, on the scorched and razed ground, small tendrils of green began to nose cautiously toward the sun, speckling the darkened earth with a hazy sheen of promise. Five days ago a heavy rainstorm had rolled in from the east. Distant thunder had rumbled around the mountains but came no closer, instead sending lowering clouds to blanket the plains where the Great Caravan had been re-settled at the central point between all the lands. Rain had poured down for hours, running off the waxed cloth that covered the tents, cleansing the ground, and washing away the stink of smoke and burning. In the days since - just as it had in the desert around Paixandria - life had reminded the living that it was still around. Dry, long-buried seeds cracked their now-swollen shells and sent out pale green shoots in hopes of finding sunlight. Silenced birds that had flown to the safety of the untouched forest gladdened the skies with distant trills, moving ever closer after the rain had cleared the air. And every now and then, sometimes hobbling or limping, sometimes pulling small hand-drawn carts laden with precious salvaged possessions, small and straggling groups of people approached the encampment of large tents from all directions and were welcomed with open arms, a hot meal, and the comfort of safety and shelter.

Read it in full at AO3: These Stones Remember - LVII

Artwork by Sabira/floweroflaurelin (used with permission) - see my pinned post for links to their work.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

These Stones Remember - XXXIV

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot

The quiet of noon descended over Paixandria; the time when most sought some form of shade, either indoors or beneath awnings that cracked in the breeze that blew hot and dusty across the sands. Some headed for the souk, taking shelter beneath its multitudinous bright canopies and seeking out the water carrier if he happened to be there, or the sha’haaki who delighted their customers with spectacles of pouring spiced teas from great height into ornate little copper cups. Mhenheli watched as the toymaker paused before the palace entrance - not yet leaving through the doors that had already been opened for him - then turned toward him. “The terrible vision the king had,” the toymaker began hesitantly, his fingers twisting around the tie of his raggedy old bag. “Will it come to pass?”

Read it in full at AO3: These Stones Remember - XXXIV

Artwork by Sabira/floweroflaurelin (used with permission) - see my pinned post for links to their work.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

[plotting chatter] So, about that 'hunt'

I've said throughout all my comments on this story that we won't be meeting any of the other emperors, since I wanted this to be wholly focused on Pix's character.

However, I'm now plotting the 'hunt' that - in my story's world - takes the place of the canon dragon fight and is the reason why Paix flees Paixandria in the night. And I've realised that I simply cannot write that section without making reference to and including some of the other emperors, with dialogue as well as actions. This will also help me to explain some of what's going on, without the risk of ending up in an expository info-dump.

I'm expecting the main characters that we'll be seeing action and dialogue from will be Gem, Sausage, and fWhip. That means I need to think of two more in-universe names. Sausage at least has an in-universe name (Ser’Zhege) but I need names for Gem and fWhip as well.

This, in turn, means I need to at least consider their style of linguistics and syntax, so I can come up with something suitable for each that fits with their general empires. I've already mentioned in the story that the Grym language is guttural, so fWhip's in-universe name will possibly be more Germanic (or maybe Slavic) in origin, depending on what sounds right but still looks like his in-game name. No idea of Gem's yet, though.

ETA: Names have been procured!

[valoisfulcanellideux]

howdy! i'm working on a mapping project right now and figured there's like, a 75% chance you named the rivers around pixandria at one point. if so, do you mind if i borrow them? linguistics is. not among my skillsets lmao

I actually didn't name the rivers, at least not in These Stones Remember, mostly because they didn't exist in the story! The desert around Paixandria was vast, and I didn't include any rivers.

That said, lemme have a think for you, since I do love coming up with names for places. Let's take a look at the S1 map:

Pixandria nestles in the middle of that upward loop of river near the top of that image. The pale green above it is the savannah village that is partially encompassed by the Anthill, which is so huge that it actually covers part of the river (a river runs through it - literally).

So, using the technique I employed to come up with names for Paixandria, I would think that the people of the desert would have a name that meant something like "life-giver surrounding". Since I used Arabic as my base language for Paixandrian, I'll take the Google Translate words for those (they don't have to be 100% the correct words, if you're someone who speaks Arabic! I just use the words as a jump-off point for inspiration) and we have the following:

life = haya giver = mueti surrounding = almuhit

Picking little bits of each word and smooshing them together, I would say that the Paixandrian for that river is Aya'Muhet, meaning "life-giver surrounding".

If you like it, please feel free to use it :)

[valoisfulcanellideux]

These Stones Remember: a little something to chew on

Last night, between about 2:30 and 4:30am, I was nattering into my phone's voice recorder, trying to get my head around some of the timeline stuff in These Stones Remember. I've always found that the literary equivalent to rubber duck debugging tends to help me when I'm figuring something out, so either I type or write out my thoughts as they occur, or (on the occasions when I don't think my fingers will be able to keep up with my brain, or - as in this case - I'm lying in bed and unable to sleep) I record my thoughts on my phone.

This may get a little spoilery with regard to the different timelines, so I'm putting it behind a cut, but here are a few brief notes about the Ancient Capital and Pix's timelines.

Archaeologist Pix who arrives at the Ancient Capital is a direct 'end point' from the Copper King who slew the dark elemental, abandoned his people, etc etc. Archaeologist Pix is who the original Copper King became through linear progression; the forward-only motion of the Arrow of Time. If you think in terms of chess pieces, the original Copper King is like a Pawn; he can only move forward in time.

However (part 1) - that original Copper King never led his people out of the desert, never searched for survivors, and thus never founded the Ancient Capital.

So Archaeologist Pix arrives in a place that technically does not exist. It does not actually exist until he gets the second chance to go back and rewrite history, refusing to take part in the fight with the dark elemental, saving his people, and leading the exodus from Paixandria. (For reference, in my head and in my notes I call that version of him 'Copper King Redux', or just 'Redux' for short.)

However (part 2) - at some point in time the Ancient Capital does exist. That spot in the savannah - like Pix - has multiple histories. And when the two of them meet, time gets a little bit… slippery.

Before he arrives at the Ancient Capital, Pix is also a Pawn: moving forward only (obvious, since he's a continuation of the original Copper King timeline). But once he's at the Ancient Capital his movement ability becomes that of a Rook, moving forward and backward and side to side anywhere along that back and forth timeline movement.

So - like Schrödinger's cat - the Ancient Capital both never existed and always existed, until such time as Pix arrived there. (That's one of the reasons why I had Malin - a cat - talking about 'Time Magic' to the point where Pix understood how he could be seen by people in the city's past when - to his knowledge at that time - he had never visited there. "I was both there and not there…" Pix said slowly, "until I was observed. Why am I not surprised that it took a cat to remind me of that principle?")

Likewise, one might wonder how - when he only attained immortality through the Grace of the Vigil after saving his people - did Archaeologist Pix (who, remember, is a direct end point of the Copper King who never founded the Ancient Capital) is already immortal and over 2,000 years old when he arrives at the Ancient Capital. Well - like Schrödinger's cat - he both was and wasn't immortal at the same time. The promise of immortality was always in his history somewhere, and because it was needed in order for him to travel to the 'time-slippery' place (the Ancient Capital) where he could go back and rewrite history, he starts out as immortal. It's basically confirmed when he rewrites history and saves his people.

In short - and this is an absolutely KEY point of the story - Paix is the sum of all his histories.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

These Stones Remember - XLVII

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby." — Langston Hughes

“I think I am ready.” Mhenheli looked up from plumping up the pillows on the king’s bed. “Onorait?” Slowly, his master walked over to the bed. Mhenheli straightened, watching him. The king’s step was now steady and firm, if still not quite returned to its former motion of purpose. “I want to see the sky again,” the king said softly. “I want to see my city, no matter how damaged it is. I want to feel the sunlight that shines upon it. I want to breathe its air again.” Mhenheli swallowed. He had dreaded this moment, knowing what the once glorious city of Paixandria now looked like, and fearful of what that sight would do to his master. “Fetch me my coat and my trident,” the king murmured.

Read it in full at AO3: These Stones Remember - XLVII

Artwork by Sabira/floweroflaurelin (used with permission) - see my pinned post for links to their work.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

Found my music for the exodus from Paixandria and the great caravan. This entire soundtrack is gorgeous, and giving me so much inspiration.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

Writing this chapter is proving to be like pulling teeth without anaesthetic

Because in this chapter the citizens of Paixandria are going to open the Anthill's great doors and walk out to see what has happened to their beautiful city after the maelstrom.

They're also going to find out what happened to their king. But first... I need to sob a bit about Paixandria itself.

[valoisfulcanellideux]

AMA for These Stones Remember

I'm about to publish Chapter 20 of These Stones Remember. To celebrate this number, I've decided to open up an AMA for the story as it stands right now.

I'll answer questions about any of the characters that we've met so far:

Onorait Paix al-Lareiff - Copper King era

Onorait Paix al-Lareiff - Archaeologist era

Onorait Paix al-Anhraar - Paix's father (original character) - the astrologer

Onorait Paix al-Zhaanti - Paix's grandfather (original character) - the singer

Onorait Paix al-Talamah - Paix's great-grandfather (original character) - the scientist

Onoraiti Paixi al-Tarshaka - Paix's mother (original character) - the dancer

Malin (original character)

Chaperone Mhenheli (original character)

Nehle-aalh (original character)

Guildmaster Teng-ahtk of the Redstone Adepts

Guildmaster Maah-em Behro of the Redstone Adepts

Guildmaster Impeh al-Sheveh of the Redstone Adepts

Grand Master Ehto al-Selahb of the Redstone Adepts

Astrologer G'tehm ah-Shker

Dr Kay Ralis

Or if you have any questions about the places or the worldbuilding I'll do my best to answer those, too. Examples might include:

The Ancient Capital/The Statue

Paixandria

The Vigil

The Anthill

My only caveat is that I won't answer any questions that would spoil future plot.

Anons are on, so ask away :)