the book that ate our lives

The Book

Random flash
Monday, February 17, 2003
12:19 p.m.

"How does it feel, then?" the old man cackled, waving his lantern so that it swung and dipped crazily on its ring. "How does it feel to be the mightiest of the fallen? Did you never wonder why you took a form that looked--dare I say it--human?"

timeline
Saturday, February 8, 2003
12:20 a.m.

Owing to my tinkering with the draconian language some more, some of the names of the years have to be changed. Nothing major, it's just that adjectives come after nouns, so the names have to be flipped.

D.K. "Denu Kashita" - Ancient Days
V.D. "Venu-on Dentu'ni" - War's Years
A.G. "Anime Gusa" - Great Peace
N.V.D. "NiVenu-on Dentu'ni" - Second War's Years
E.E. - "Eruusu-on Ena" - Rebuilding's Era

As I continue to hammer out the outline, the years of certain events will probably continue to change.

The Wars
Sunday, January 19, 2003
09:42 p.m.

Mmmkay. Babbling and ideas on the Wars.

You have three countries: the demon country, the human country, and the dragon country, in that order. So the human country is sandwiched between the demons and the dragons. This is presumably because the dragons wanted to stay far away from the demons and vice versa, so there was this huge chunk of really nice land that the humans just decided to move in. The countries don't really have concrete borders (as you suggested), so there are big empty spots and overlapping bits.

The demons are greedy and continually trying to expand. This make sense because they've pretty much sucked all the life out of their own land. They can only expand so far to the non-human side because something's in the way (dunno what; desert, mountains, the ocean, whatever), so after a while they start pushing into the human territory. The dragons don't pay it any mind at first, but then the demons start getting far too close for comfort. Then the dragons retaliate, but by that time the demons don't want to let go of what they have and the dragons have a job getting them out. By that time, the human land has basically been ripped apart in the process; most of the humans have fled south, and those remaining have to live in hiding.

Eventually, the dragons manage to drive the demons back to their original borders, and in return for "protecting" the humans, occupy most of what was originally the human country. The new human colonies farther south, where they're pretty much starting from scratch, are ignored. The humans living in the original country are not directly oppressed, but definitely looked down on and treated as inferiors. This is the period of peace.

The demons do strike back eventually, and this time they're much better organized. They even have a leader who's organized the demons into some semblence of a military, much like the well-organized dragon armies. They penetrate quite deeply into the human country (occupied by dragons) and even manage to make their way into the dragon country. The dragons marshal their forces and begin to try and drive the demons back, but it's much harder this time. So it goes back and forth for a while.

Then the humans come in from the south and middle, with all the force of resentful and human stubbornness, not to mention more than five hundred years of technological development. Neither side counted on humans being able to master magic, either. The humans manage to do a fair bit of damage, so that both sides begin to feel a grudging respect for them.

The second war drags on for quite a long time--especially for the humans, who don't live nearly as long as demons or dragons--until finally, someone decides that peace negotiations are a good idea. Dunno who. Negotiations are made, and the Council is set up, with three representatives from each of the three races, creating a total council of nine. As far as I can tell, Stanos takes orders only from the dragon portion of the Council, although they may be working on the behalf of another race. The three races begin a period of reluctant cooperation to forge a "new era," although of course there's still plenty of political scheming going on. And different races have different ideas of what the new age will contain--or not contain.

That's all I have for now. There are some ideas percolating in my head about what dragon government was like before the Wars and during the Great Peace; I think there was probably a King or Queen, with a council of advisors.

Feel free to poke at/fill in holes or make suggestions.

--Kit

Enin's rebirth
Saturday, January 18, 2003
10:52 p.m.

Rachel's my muse! She comes up with cool shit. Anyway, I was telling her the whole thing with Enin dying every winter, and she suggested that maybe the Blind One takes over Enin's body. That explains why everything's dead in winter. Then, when spring comes, Enin gains the power to repel him, and everything comes back to life. Does that work?

--Kit

Miscellania
Thursday, January 16, 2003
10:24 p.m.

Actually, I can't even really remember half the things I pondered and scribbled today. >_< I think a few of them can count as Verses, so I won't write it up here, but I did end up pondering the salute a little. Remember how I couldn't figure out whether to make it left or right-handed? Well, I was thinking, our hearts are on the left side, and the majority of humans are right-handed. So, since dragon hearts are on the right side, maybe the majority of them are left-handed? I couldn't see why not, and that means the salute would probably be left-handed, which works better anyway.

Does this have any implications for Zosimus?

--Kit

Star No Star
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
09:33 p.m.

So, I'm listening to "Star No Star" by Jack Off Jill, and damn if I don't scare myself nearly out of my skin. Not only is this the perfect Gregol/Kohona song, as you pointed out, at some points the "star no star" refrain sounds like. . . well, it sounds like Stanos's name and then a random syllable. Gah.

--Kit

Drugs
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
04:58 p.m.

I think about odd things when walking home from school.

It started with, "Do they have tobacco? If they don't, then what does Gregol smoke?" I'm not quite sure I've figured this out yet, but anyway. ^^;;

The katulba tree has large, broad leaves with a pungent smell that are good for wrapping food in and keeping it fresh. The seed pods are long and leathery, and someone once discovered that they're nice for smoking. You cut or pinch off one end and light the other, and the result is a deep, smooth sort of cigarette. It gives off a strong odor that's acrid and minty (like, um, burning mint), distasteful to some and enjoyable to others. Katulba pods can be smoked right off the tree, but it's more fashionable to buy packs of "prepared" seed pods, dried out, with the ends already cut off and the rest wrapped in paper. A crushed, dried seed pod can also be smoked from a pipe.

There is also a small flowering plant called tuufa whose leaves have remarkable pain-numbing qualities and is often used in surgical procedures. The seeds from its flowers, also, when crushed and heated, form small crystals that can be smoked from a pipe. Its effects are not unlike opium, and just as addictive.

There are, of course, also various plants and fungi that have hallucinogenic properties when ingested and whatnot, and many of them were once or are still used in religious ceremonies. Many dragons probably have an amusing story or a dragonling or two who ran home gibbering about monsters when, in reality, he did nothing but nibble at something that looked edible. There are some where even a small taste is deadly, so exercise caution when foraging!

I couldn't think of anything new regarding alcoholic beverages, so they would have your standard beer, mead, whiskey, wine. Brandy?

And, uh, I think that's it for now. Feel free to supplement this.

Vague timeline
Monday, January 13, 2003
04:09 p.m.

Here are some loose terms I just randomly came up with today in Government. They're like the equivalent of, um, our "B.C." and "A.D." and so on.

K.D. - Kashita Denu, roughly translating to "Ancient Days." This refers to the years before the wars.
V.D. - Venu Dentus, roughly, "The Year of the War."
G.A. - Gusa Amine, roughly, "Great Peace"
N.V.D. - NiVenu Dentus, roughly, "The Year of the Second War"
E.E. - Eruusu Ena, roughly, "Era of Rebuilding."

One century is 89 years. One year is sixteen months. Each month is one moon cycle, which is approximately twenty-five days. This means that there are 400 days to a year. I have no idea how they tell time, although I'd wager it's by the sun or the moon. I haven't devised a system for this yet.

The first war lasts about 54 years. Then there's a long stretch of relative piece lasting for about 560 years. Gregol was born in 52 V.D. Stanos was born in 324 G.A. The next war is considerably longer, lasting 199 years. There's a whole generation of dragons, basically, that's known nothing but the war, and multiple generations of humans. Gregol dies in 521 E.E. Stanos commits suicide fairly soon after, 538 E.E.

These numbers are still tenative; let me know if you spot any problems.

Okay, problems.

The first problem, I think, lies in how big these numbers are. They're not very big for dragons and demons and the other long-lived races, but they're pretty huge for humans. I mean, in the very first war, that's like one or two generations of humans growing up in war conditions. Furthermore, if the peace lasts for 560 years, then what keeps human technology, etc. from advancing enough that they can, like, wipe the other races off the map?

--Kit

the storyteller
Wednesday, January 8, 2003
10:28 p.m.

"Listen, for I speak . . ."

So begins every Verse kept by the storytellers of the Green dragons. At these words, childrens' tounges fall silent, and even the sternest of elders listen in quiet respect. Each teller, a woman without fail, recites for those who have gathered, the teller preceeding her listening and, occasionally, correcting.

The storytellers have two main forms of speaking: Tale and Verse. Verses are akin to parables, or short essays, typically a few minutes long and narrating important aspects of the world, nature, history, and such. Tales are much longer, and are the actual 'stories', as we would call them.

There are many, many Verses in existence, most kept by the Green. It is the way they have always educated their children, as well as any others who gather to hear a Tale. Tales are traditionally preceeded by several explainatory Verses, some of which do not seem to apply to the Tale until a much later point. After the Tale, several verses may also be delivered, containing anywhere from further explaination to moral teaching to the listeners. These will go on until they have run their course, and the teller may signify that she has finished.

"So it is told."

Young Authors Awards 2003
Sunday, January 5, 2003
04:48 p.m.

I just got a thing today from my teacher on the Young Authors Awards 2003, sponsored by Columbia College Chicago. Interested? I know I am. ^^;; I think I may submit "Lessons," but I'm not sure if that's a good idea, what with publishers being picky about first rights and all, so I may write something new.

There are two categories: Fiction Writing, and Creative Nonfiction Writing. Fiction Writing includes short story, novel excerpt, letter story, folktale, story-within-a-story, parody, and dream story. Entries should be submitted in standard manuscript form, no longer than 2,500 words, typed and double-spaced, with a limit of two entries per category.

What do you think?

--Kit

Named stuff
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
10:33 p.m.

I figure I might as well put down the stuff I know about the Named, along with some questions that have been pestering me. Feel free to let me know if you spot any holes, or think that another way would be better.

The Named are a highly rigorous society of Black dragons. They live in a system of caves in the something mountains, the name of which I can't remember right now. Immediate family lives together, with the parents taking on the training of their children. This includes observance of the old ways, upholding clan honor and pride, and basic weapons training. Depending on the skill level of the parents, the child may or may not be sent to be trained "by the clan," whereupon s/he will have two or three teachers, each one specializing in a certain art or weapon.

Women in the Named are treated exactly the same as the men. However, they don't have quite the same amount of upper body strength and tend to favor lighter weapons and polearms. They pick up archery much quicker than the males do.

None of the Named know how to ride a horse. This is mostly because horses are scared shitless of anything that smells like a reptile, and as a result Do Not Like Dragons. But this has never been an issue, seeing as how in the thick of battle the Named deal much more damage in dragon form.

The Named are well-known as a sort of mercenary clan. They don't hold the same prejudices that most of the outside world does and will work for anyone that they deem suitable. "Suitable" means that the hirer must come to the mountain his/herself instead of sending retainers, s/he must demonstrate a reasonable amount of honor and need, and must be able to pay the fee the Named asks. They're generally very fair about this sort of thing, but they choose who they work for and don't shirk at turning someone away. However, once they take on a mission, they'll fulfill it quickly and efficiently, even if it means giving up their lives. There has been more than one orphan among the Named, whose parents didn't return from a job. Those whose parents are away are taken care of in a nursery; the orphaned are adopted by another family or raised by the clan as a whole.

However, even those who generally don't use a sword will carry a small blade of some sort, a dagger or a knife. This is because that is how the Named know when one of theirs has died; eventually, the weapon makes its way back to the mountain. How this happens is still something of a mystery. Some speculate it's simply because the Named are so well-known that sooner or later, someone knows when a weapon belongs to them. Others say it's because the weapons often have a soul of their own, and it strives to return home. Once a weapon returns home, it's returned to the armory until the time when it goes out into the world again, in someone else's hand. This may be anywhere from a few years to a few centuries later.

The Named maintain a very balanced diet. Naturally, of course, it consists mostly of meat; dragons are, for the most part, carnivorous. They tend their own flocks of mountain goats and a peculiar mountain animal called a kudu, which is something like a cross between our llama and our yak. Every part of the animal is used; the hair is woven into cloaks and clothing, the leather into boots, belts, and armor, and the bones for needles, eating utensils, and sometimes decoration. The Named are not very artistic, but several of them are very good at carving. The meat, of course, can be eaten several different ways and salted for traveling. When goat and kudu become tiresome, some of the Named go down the mountain on a hunting party and bring back some deer or bison.

Now for things that have been bugging me that have yet to be resolved.

How do the Named get non-meat products? I'm pondering that maybe there's a weekly "shopping/foraging party," which goes down the mountain and brings back things like fruit, flour, fabric, and anything else the Named needs. This would be rationed out to the families. They must have a sizeable hoard from all that mercenary work, so it probably goes towards buying food.

How do the Named cook in their homes without filling the whole blasted place with smoke? . . . yes, things like this bug me.

All right, that's it for me. This entry's getting way too long, and I need to go to bed.

--Kit

Peanut gallery, aisle X, seat 51.
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
10:15 p.m.

Well, it seems to be all here. So...

Er...

D'aaaar!

-- Dagger

Miscellaneous babble
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
08:13 p.m.

All right! So. First "real" entry? More of a test, really. It's not pretty, but it's functional, and we can tinker with it as we go along. Right now it's important to just have a place to get down ideas, right? Right.

. . . okay, so really, I was sick of getting ideas at school and then trying to remember them all.

--Kit