Sunday Special #24 – The Wyr: an introduction

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Every Sunday I run a Special relating to my writing endeavours and the world of Aeyuu, which is the stage for many stories developed further through the Tales from Aeyuu Patreon. These Blogs are closely tied with my novel-to-be, The Age of Silence, which is basically a story about Love, Sacrifice, and Death.

Previous Special Arcs:
0. TAoS Themes (3 journals)
1. The Syrilae (7 journals)
2. The Necrolore (6 journals)
3. The Denumbra (2 journals)
4. Vampires (5 journals)

Today, we'll discover more about a race as ancient as it is ill-known: the Wyr.

Scraps of history

If you ask a Wyr, they will say that their race has existed for as long as there has been Humans in the world; yet if you were to ask a Human, they would say that the Wyr have only existed for several centuries at most. Until the War of Fangs, a great civil war that opposed Vampires and Wyr on Human territories, what few Wyr had lived hidden among said Humans avoided coming forward. In a land where beasts are killed for their fur and meat, the Wyr know better than to reveal themselves - not only for their own sake, but for the sake of true animals that might get caught in the crossfires. Human greed is something the Wyr have never understood, but learned to contend with while settling on their new homeland.

According to those rare Wyr who preoccupy themselves with past facts, the Wyr originate from the great tundras far to the south-west of the Human lands. Their home was colonized centuries ago by Elves fleeing the Human rules, after it was decreed by Human sovereigns that Elves ought to be killed on sight. There the Elves built a new home, the now prosperous Malmernian Dominion. Many Wyr decided to live in this society, and live there to this day. Those who fled the invaders in search of peace found thus their way to the Human lands, thought of when discovered as a new race. Most everywhere, Wyr acclimated and blended in with Human society.

What is important to remember about the Wyr, which many a Human who have met them will corroborate, is that though born in all aspects a Human, a Wyr thinks and acts quite like an animal at heart. Wyr are born Human, but with a beast's spirit; as such, they are not prone to bursts of emotion, but rather act according to instinct and rationale. It is this trait that sometimes accidentally reveals them to potential threats. A Wyr may not be as strong as a Vampire, nor a cunning tactician like trappers and traffickers; they may very well only be able to rely on the reflexes and might of a beast.

And beasts the Wyr are, in nature but also in form. Wyr are natural shapeshifters, descending from one of three great lines: wolves, who by nature are more rational and independent; wairs, native felines of the Human lands, who are caring individuals; and bears, a rarer breed, often independent individuals who harbour a deep sense of duty towards Wyrkind, and strive through all means necessary to balance Wyr prosperity and natives' rights. Little truly is known of potential rulers among Wyr, but the Wyr themselves claim to have no rulers - not as Humans understand. There are no kings or queens, only understanding. And, if need be, deep disagreements are resolved with claws and fangs. Always out of sight of Humans, as the affairs of the Wyr concern none but them.

With the centuries passing and the Imperial Wyr forgetting whence they came, they have made Human history as part of their own. Unlike Vampires, the Wyr care about laws and rules, and will abide to those rules that do not contradict their primary instincts. As such they are often well-liked, be they deemed aloof or strange, and are productive members of a society always in need of loyalty and manpower. With their rational and logical thinking, Wyr are prized assistants to alchemists and healers alike, and it is even whispered that the Wyr are at the source of certain scientific advancements such as guns and precise time management.

Yet, in the darker corners of the world, it still does happen that a shifted Wyr dies skinned alive, mistaken for a common animal. This, the Wyr understand is a small price to pay for all that mankind has to offer.

* * *

And that is all for this week. Next week we'll explore the three major Wyr lines, as well as note a few exceptions to established rules ;)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next Sunday Special, same Blogger channel :D

Enjoying the world of Aeyuu?

Please consider Supporting me

on Patreon. Thank you ^^

Sunday Special #23 – The War of Fangs

 Patreon ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Wordpress ~ Youtube

Every Sunday I run a Special relating to my writing endeavours and the world of Aeyuu, which is the stage for many stories developed further through the Tales from Aeyuu Patreon. These Blogs are closely tied with my novel-to-be, The Age of Silence, which is basically a story about Love, Sacrifice, and Death.

Previous Special Arcs:
0. TAoS Themes (3 journals)
1. The Syrilae (7 journals)
2. The Necrolore (6 journals)
3. The Denumbra (2 journals)

Today, we explore an important event in the history of mankind: the bloody war that opposed Vampires and Wyr.

The War of Fangs

How and when this War truly started is a fact historians still disagree on, but one thing is for certain: it is one of the bloodiest wars Humanity has ever known, as it originated on its own lands and suddenly opposed creatures that had long lived hidden among them. This war, which officially started several centuries ago and ended about a couple of centuries later, became known as the War of Fangs.

Another aspect of this war, which historians do globally agree on however, is that the Vampires started it - for reasons incomprehensible to most Humans. What drove the Vampires to come out of hiding? What made them attack on sight those people whom they saw for the Wyr they truly were? According to rumours garnered in taverns and seedy brothels, Vampires sought what the ambitious can only understand: more power. And they may have found it in the blood of the Wyr.

History reported cases of monstrous beings, abominations that seemed born to man and beast at once and only demonstrated proficiency in the killing of anything and anyone crossing their path. Rumour, and some of the Wyr themselves, explain away these beasts as mutated Vampires who drank too long and deep of the Wyr blood. Mutations imprinted upon a Vampire's essence, that eventually led to madness and death. It is believed none of these rumoured abominations remain to this day - if ever they existed. Humans, who only live about 40 years of age, may only rely on history as it is passed down to their generation, or on the stories told to them by the long-lasting. And few Humans nowadays believe in more than the existence of Vampires, as all non-Humans have been banished from the Sommerdiev Empire, and Wyr know well how to keep themselves hidden in plain sight.

But this war rang in a new era for the Humans. Caught in a bloodbath between forces no Human could withstand, they began to figure out ways to try and keep themselves safe. Toxins, weapons, traps - Humans developed a certain ingenuity that they'd lost after the distant Elshir stopped invading their lands. What they lacked in strength they made up with weapons like guns and hollowed-out blades filled with poison. In time, Vampires realized they were fighting a losing war, and returned back to the darkness from whence they'd come.

This rang in a new era for the Wyr as well, who started proliferating among Humans.

* * *

And that is all for this week. Next week I'll start talking about the Wyr, who are essentially werewolves - but not only! ;)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next Sunday Special, same Blogger channel :D

Enjoying the world of Aeyuu?

Please consider Supporting me

on Patreon. Thank you ^^

Sunday Special #22 – Non-Human Vampires

 Patreon ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Wordpress ~ Youtube

Every Sunday I run a Special relating to my writing endeavours and the world of Aeyuu, which is the stage for many stories developed further through the Tales from Aeyuu Patreon. These Blogs are closely tied with my novel-to-be, The Age of Silence, which is basically a story about Love, Sacrifice, and Death.

Previous Special Arcs:
0. TAoS Themes (3 journals)
1. The Syrilae (7 journals)
2. The Necrolore (6 journals)
3. The Denumbra (2 journals)

Today, we explore a little known aspect of Vampirism: the turning of non-Humans.

Non-Human Vampires: myth or reality?

Alchemists across the Sommerdiev Empire seem to agree that only Humans can potentially be turned into Vampires, for some unknown reason. It has been speculated that the magic in their blood acts as a protective barrier against the toxin, rendering them immune. Yet recently, in the once-great city of Demure, not far south-west of the capital, Silvadill, rumors have spread of a Vampire assassin with characteristic blond hair and long pointed ears.

This impossibility, though not unheard of in the southern parts of the Empire, is a case of such extreme rarity that most alchemists believe it to be nothing but a tall tale created to frighten the adult children among them, quite like stories of the mythical Denumbra. Only Elves and Vampires themselves give the tales any sort of merit, yet none whom concerned alchemists have met ever declared encountering an Elven Vampire. According to the Wyr, a race of animalistic shapeshifters, the only reason no one would recognize a Vampiric Elf is because they lack the proper instinct to do so.

As animals in Human shape, Wyr possess keen senses that allow them to detect attitudes and specific scents that even Vampires may overlook due to their volatile nature. Merchants and historians whom Wyr have trusted with information declared that, though extremely rare, Elven Vampires were a fact not to ignore. During the bloody war that opposed Vampires and Wyr a few centuries ago, those were the pawns that slaughtered, the nightmares made flesh. Stories speak of such Vampires always Hungering and thus impossible to reason with; strength greater than any other Vampire's, and a bloodlust satiated on man and kin alike. But not a modern Wyr can say they ever met an Elven Vampire. Still, they trust in the history portrayed by their kin, as Wyr aren't keen on exaggeration or lie.

Surprisingly, even the alchemists of the Necrolore-filled country of Korinda believe non-Human Vampires to be a myth, if not a drunken joke. With how often Korinda was invaded over the centuries by the western Elshir, the odds of not a one being a Vampire disproves in their opinion this theory.

Whether truth or lie or drunken hallucination, the term 'Vamp-Elf' sometimes gets coined among Humans as derogatory slang used to insult either Vampires or Elves, or both at once. The stereotype being that Vampires are crazy mankillers and Elves prissy wimps. Of course, such a term is only used among Humans themselves, and never towards the creatures they so inadequately defame.

As far as Humans know.

* * *

And that is all for this week. With working so much on my novel Fates, which is completely separate from Aeyuu, I find it a bit hard to get back into my own favourite world at times. But, I still somehow manage to learn new things when I do travel there ;)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next Sunday Special, same Blogger channel :D

Enjoying the world of Aeyuu?

Please consider Supporting me

on Patreon. Thank you ^^

2018 Guideline - What to expect artistically from me

And a picture says a thousands words, so:

The difficulty for me is keeping an eye on all my sites, on the day we are, what I should upload, etc. I'd already tried and work out a posting guideline for myself last year, and figured it was about time I structured it a bit. As you can see, the 'plan' consists of few updates - this to allow myself to easily stray from said plan while still ensuring I always do the minimum required of myself. Now I'll have a list to look at whenever I do/write/make anything and know where to best share the news. Each site has its own identity and, thus, purpose in life. With the main goal, obviously, being to get my writings out there.

That's for the behind-the-scenes structure. Now, for the contents.

1. A self-published book. Sometime this year. And I don't mean the sort of 'sometime' that ends up being 'never'. My editor is already booked for April and I've still many chapters left to write for my NaNo novel, but with a deadline in sight I know it'll get done. It has to. Very literally so.

2. More Tales to read. Which is dependent on how well I can self-edit my stories, and how much time I can devote to it. Hence why I decided to break my own routines and set my alarm clock every morning. Nope, I didn't do so before today. And I can't count the times I complained to myself for getting up too late and missing the entire morning - which is when I'm basically wired to work on 'all the rest' (as proves this blog entry).

After taking a small vacation with friends, a few things changed in my mind. One of which is that it fully dawned on me that I need to take this writing business seriously. It's not a hobby: it's a job. And you get up at a set time to go to work. There's a lot I still intend/need to do in order to expose Aeyuu as well as I can, meaning,

3. Refurbished Wordpress. Honestly, I haven't done nearly enough with it since creating it. The plans are there, but the energy/desire was lacking. I'm pretty good at donning blinds and trapping myself in my own trains of thoughts. Usually, if not always, because of fear and/or a lacking sense of worth or purpose. I've been very concerned about finances last year, and I still am; but, I've noticed that since I've become more generous with updates, with sharing my works, that activity has picked up a bit everywhere. I get likes from unknown people on Instagram, for instance. Even Wordpress has seen some visitors! These little peaks are invaluable to me, as is the fact a DA friend has told me they're looking forward to buying my upcoming novel. So, to stay true to myself, I need to share a lot more. This is what has always paid off the most in my life. I can't let fear dictate my future.

4. Patreon overhaul. I already made the biggest change by setting Tale updates at a single $1 tier. This means you can read everything new in a month for $1. I made this change in the spirit of sharing, and to distance myself from retail.

Because: I hate retail. I abhor retail. I've worked retail for years and absolutely detest it. Yet that's exactly what I was doing with the Patreon tiers I had, and I decided I'd had enough. I'm not selling my works: I want them shared, and for people to hop onto that train because they enjoy them and want to show their support. $1 is $1, and all little bits help.

Making that change has also freed up a lot of my mind. Before, I was always fretting to create enough to warrant the tier prices; now, I write what I write (which is usually quite a lot, as I have a personal 20k goal each month), and people can support if they feel so inclined. I no longer stress over creating for Patreon, but for me. All that's left is changing the About section and fluffing up that figurative pillow to make it better.

5. Maybe more art. I say 'maybe' because I know myself. I'm primarily a writer. But, I do like to dabble and try things. And got inspired by a few artists on DA to keep improving my lasso drawing. What does that mean?

Basically: use my brain's strength, which is simplicity. I love clean silhouetted artwork, always have, so it makes sense to try and have some fun with it. Drawing stresses me because it takes way too long; this way, time used is drastically reduced before getting something workable.

I also still have drawing courses to continue. I gave up on them over a year ago because I got bored of the exercise subject. But, I figure I don't have to follow the courses in perfect chronology; I can go as far as I can/need with one exercise until I grasp its essence, then move on, and return to it later. That's how I learned to use the lasso tool and to start understanding how I can benefit from it. Sometimes, you need to accept you can't do what others do - but you can still find workarounds to reach the same goal.

And that's it in a big nutshell. The biggest plans for 2018. With the Patreon overhaul a big priority, Wordpress updates close second. And writing Fates, of course. It's gonna be an interesting year. :D