/ Malachi Gibson – Author Blog

3,000 words in/Life Happens

Thursday, April 21, 2022

6%...

It really doesn't feel like much, but it's more words than I've written for any recent projects.

How I am feeling about the content: It's usable at least, I have a few lines and ideas that are definitely going to stay in until the final edit, even if I move them to a different scene.

Speaking of this scene, I feel it is going to last too long. Besides the length of it, I hadn't quite thought of the repercussions for severely injuring a large predator. But hey, this will make for a great trial for him/them to overcome.

I feel like my supporting character is becoming the protagonist, the past 1,000 words have been entirely in his POV. I do really love all of my side characters (4 so far).

As i'm writing, I keep neglecting the mission of this book, that is to make it more true to nature than other books of this genre.

How I am feeling about it all: I haven't been as consistent as I'd like to be, and I'm not doing very good on my platform building.

Life Happens

A large part of why I haven't been as consistent as I could be is because life happened. I haven't been in the best place to write, and stress has zapped my mental energy, so I got stuck in a rut of depression and ended up binge watching Karens on Youtube.

Looking back, even though life was hard, there were still things I could have done to help me with my mental energy:

1: Take better care of my hygiene. I haven't shaved in weeks, brushing my teeth isn't a high priority, and all I want to do when I get home is sleep. I don't know what it does for y'all, but for me, if I feel clean, I'm more likely to be happy, and the happier I am, the more mental energy I have. Philautia has a way of doing that.

2: Cleaning my room. Same as no. 1, even though I'm awake at home for max 4 hours (and I really shouldn't be staying up that late (no. 3)), your surroundings make a huge impact on your mood.

3: I should be getting to bed earlier. Now there's nothing I can do if my family tells me to do chores at 8 PM, but when I'm able, I should be going to bed at like 7 or 8, that way I don't end up sleeping in the car at 6 AM.

4: Pray. My faith is a huge thing for me, and if I'm not building it constantly, I end up feeling like garbage. In the past 6 months, there was no better time than when me and my roommate were praying every morning and night. When I pray, I no longer have an Internal Locus of Control (which according to most is a good thing, and it is, but when you're overwhelmed, it can be a real pain getting out), instead I am looking to an outside source for strength, so it's not all up to me.

I think that's all I have, ciao!

-Malachi-

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

I'm 2,000 words in. Do you know what that means?

I'm at the 4% mark for my 50,000 word count goal.

How I'm feeling about it:

Thanks to my writing mentor, I was able to get a rough plan for how I want this to go.

I've never had as much fun writing a side character as I have these past two weeks. Developing Idney V. has been a wild ride full of cackles and kidneys.

Writing animal non-verbal communication is getting hard as I'm adding new species to my story, it requires a lot of knowing how the animals work, and a good bit of imagination (especially for Idney).

I completely flipped the feeling of the story, I'm not focusing enough on the description of the setting, and it make's things a bit confusing for the reader.

My favorite quote so far:

Idney stopped short and looked at Chaiyæm in complete shock, “it’s the Kidney Dance you nut.”

My favorite thing that was said in regards to my story:

There just aren't good pictures of kidneys out there.

~~Art courtesy of Jessica Stephens, a fellow YDubber. You can see her awesome blog here.~~

-Malachi-

P.S the drawing is a charterer concept that I REALLY want to implement.

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

I made banana peel bacon.

Yeah, that's pretty self explanatory... most people who heard me say that have offered a handful of colorful expressions ranging from "gross" to "why?" to "yum."

So, I present to you, Method of my Madness Extra #1!.

-Malachi-

Why would anyone in their right mind eat banana peels? Well, that's a long story.

~~Photo by Julia Kuzenkov on Unsplash~~

I was eating kiwis on the couch and my friend, Mr. Crouch (he's still a teen), said that it was weird that I was eating them with the skin on... at which point I had to give a good reason for eating the skin (of which I had none at that point), so I googled it, and found out that kiwi skin supposedly has fiber, folate, Vitamin C, and vitamin E.

He rejoined with, "that's like eating banana peels."

SO....

We looked that up, and after learning that banana peel is high in potassium, fiber, and antioxidants, we looked up how to eat them, and we ended up with banana bacon (without a recipe) and blueberry peanut butter banana peel smoothie (also without a recipe).

We experimented a little with the bacon:

The control group was a strip of banana peel that we did not peel the white stuff off of.

Then...

We had three that we did scrape the white stuff off of:

Another control,

One with Cayenne,

And my personal favorite, the one that I dipped in honey butter (made without a recipe).

Anyways, it is now a thing, and a great conversation starter!

Over and out,

-Malachi-

~~P.s. Both controls had garlic and salt xP~~

Monday, March 7, 2022

Nothing insults wolves of the Wolin's Paw Pack more than an insult to their breeding.

~~Photo by Thomas Bonometti on Unsplash~~

This was really the focal point for coming up with my post about Wolf Culture. So, I might as well elaborate on the madness behind this, -Malachi-

All a wolf pack is is a large family of wolves. The "Alpha" pair are the parents and the only ones with the right to reproduce.

How I came up with them hating illegitimate breeding is merely a tie between that point mixed with a hint of the aristocratic class in the 1800's.

The caste system that I described is based on the structure of a wolf pack which is usually based on strength and age, but considering my wolves are intelligent, I made it like this:

At the top are all red wolves, next are those with only one color or red mixed in, then those with mostly one color, and finally, those who are a mottled mess.

If you guys want to hear why I chose red, you can either do some fancy guess work or tell me to write a Lore post.

The whole, Alpha and Omega social structure thing is a construct of Rudolph Schenkel in 1940, and was supported by David Mech in 1970, but David has since reverted his theory.

The Alpha/Omega structure of a wolf pack is what happens to wolves in captivity, but in reality, wolves don't quite act that way in nature.

I chose to keep it with the Alpha/Omega structure because it is 1: what people are familiar with, and 2: it is more in line with the culture of this more "civilized" pack.

Concerning 1: Since I want to accurately portray animals, I plan on having a pack that has a social structure closer to that of a wild pack.

Saturday, March 5, 2022

Chaiyæm smirked and snarled back, “you finally have some of Wolin’s blood, good job Demerin.”

Demerin licked at the blood trickling down his face and growled low, “leave Chaiyæm, and never return.”

For now, I have very little wolf lore, but I'll put down what I have for Chaiyæm's pack.

~~Art by Incognito Classified, a fellow YDubber. You can see her shop here.~~

Wolin's Paw Wolf Pack

This pack is one of the largest wolf packs, consisting of three families, all ruled by the male and female of the most prominent.

Nothing insults wolves of the Wolin's Paw Pack more than an insult to their breeding.

A wolf of illegitimate breeding is of the lowest caste. They are the rejects and runts of the pack, scorned and abused at every turn. They are most often the ones who become wanderers and thieves of the wolf world.

Wolves of the mottled and multicolored sort are spurned almost as bad as an illegitimate pup. The only reason this rule can be broken is if they have red anywhere in their coat. The wolves of Wolin's Paw Pack regard red above anything else, kinda like how Hitler preferred blonde hair and blue eyes.

The wolves of pure coloration (meaning all one color) are the most favored upon the supposition that the purer their colors, the better genetics they have.

According to tradition, every Alpha of the pack, all the way back to Wolin himself, has had red in their coat.

I’ll make a post explaining a bit more of their Lore in the future, and if I get enough traffic i’ll do a special side project to explain who exactly Wolin is.

Friday, March 4, 2022

Whenever I get bored with writing, or want to liven things up, I start to play games with it. This is one of those games, -Malachi-

The instructions for this game are simple, write the longest sentence you can (it's okay if the grammar isn't quite up to par at this point).

First Run:

The dancers’ bare, travel-hardened feet pound out of rhythm, out of sync on the hard packed street while four minstrels singing different tunes on apple laden carts are guiding the dancers one by one into their rhythm, into their tune, and slowly as the sun sets, the minstrels intertwine their songs, and suddenly, when the sun's last rays disappear over the cottage covered hill, they all STOP.

After you write your crazy long sentence, break it up into several pieces and make each of those sentences into two. EG:

The dancers’ bare, travel-hardened feet pound out of rhythm, out of sync on the hard packed street

Becomes.

The dancers’ bare, travel hardened feet pound out of rhythm, out of sync on the hard packed street. The dancers’ bonnets, caps and loose pigtails jiggle and flop without reason to stop.

After you do that, add one long sentence to the end, then repeat until satisfied. Feel free to ignore the first parts after you get a few runs through.

Second Run:

The dancers’ bare, travel hardened feet pound out of rhythm, out of sync on the hard packed street. The dancers’ bonnets, caps and loose pigtails jiggle and flop without reason to stop.

Four minstrels singing different tunes on apple-laden carts are guiding the dancers one- by- one into their rhythm, into their tune. Each one is singing their own bold adventure or touching love song. Slowly, as the sun sets, the minstrels intertwine their songs to sing a similar chorus or the same catch phrase. They strain their brows to keep their tune perfect for the occasion.

Now the whole crowd stomps in rhythm with the minstrels singing in sync. Suddenly, as the sun's last golden rays disappear, they stop.

Now all eyes are turned to the doorway where the young battleborn knight takes his bride’s gloved hand and leads her through the sunset silence to his coach where together they head to the west, followed by a procession of candle bearing peasants, all drifting to the village square lighted by fireflies from the starry fields where the marriage feast t’will be held.

~~Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash~~

Thursday, March 3, 2022

I'm 1,000 words in. Do you know what that means?

I'm at the 2% mark for my word count goal of 50,000.

How I'm feeling about it:

I'm getting confused about where I want to take it. This is probably the biggest problem I have in my writing. I feel super excited about a project until I realize I have no plot, then things get rocky unless I get a plot out.

As a discovery writer, I have the hardest time plotting or outlining my novel. We'll see how that goes after I go ask some friends for help.

As for the writing itself, my body language for the animals is solid, save the fact that many non-verbals can't accurately be translated through text. For example, this sentence can be taken many ways:

He flicked his tail high in contempt at the secret escort.

When I had a friend read through it, they said that it was amusing to imagine. What they saw was more of a skunk flashing its tail (a warning), rather than a wolf holding his tail high (a gesture of superiority).

My action scenes are too fast-paced, and leave the reader wondering who's who and where they are now. Also, since they are wolves, I'm wondering whether I should try to keep it more accurate to the way wolves fight or if I should keep it the way it is for sake of entertainment. ~~If you have thoughts, please comment below!~~

I love my character dynamics, but my character portrayal is weak.

I absolutely love a side character that me and my roommate brainstormed. I'll develop him some more and write a post on him in Interviews or Me Geeking.

-Malachi-

~~Art Courtesy of Mackenzie Ren, a fellow YDubber.~~

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

If you were to follow the bloodstained tracks as far as they go, you’d be lucky enough to find the limp body of a warrior laying on the icy ground with the light snow settling on his bloody coat and face.

Thus, the first chapter of the first draft ends.

My goal with this book is to break the rules of traditional anthropomorphic (animal fantasy) books, those being:

Every anthropomorphic series that I can name has magic in it in some shape or form, I want to change that by keeping all magic out. This way those who have a distaste for magic can enjoy a fun genre of fiction without guilt.
Very few, if any, are accurate to nature. I want more than anything else for this book to be accurate to the size of the creatures (no more mice killing wildcats) and their physical traits (you can't ambush a wolf easily because of their sense of smell).

I'll be writing this every day, and along the way I'll make posts about the Madness of my Method and of course, some of my favorite things within the writing itself: the places, the characters, and the snippets.

Signing out for the night,

-Malachi-

~~Art courtesy of Jessica Stephens, a fellow YDubber. You can see her awesome blog here.~~

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Dang, it’s been a while since I posted.

Well, since you last heard from me (unless you’re a YDubber),

I’ve added to my list of chaotic things I’ve done, those being: I broke the curse and didn’t drop Bronwynn when we danced.

I got hives, burnt my hand, dislocated my knee, and I stopped picking up dead chickens.

I felt convicted about my previous worldbuild (PM me if you’re on YWW and want to learn more) and so I stopped that one and began afresh with a new world.

I learned how to make a throwing knife.

I made banana peel bacon.

Then, most important of all, I started courting Bronwynn.

-Mariachi-

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Community:

Community is by far one of the most important tools to your writing journey. Nothing else remedies quite so well as having multiple eyes on your work, multiple brains on your problem, and multiple hands to lift you up when you are feeling down. -Malachi-

Today I'm not talking about writing help specifically, it does help with writing but is something entirely in its own category. ART. I can doodle, but when it comes to developing characters, developing places, and the like, it does wonders to have a good hand at sketching. So, I employed (they both volunteered and I found it) two people from YWW to help me.

One disclaimer when it comes to working with people, in general, is that half the time they won't understand it as you do. Hence, one-half of these are accurate, the other is not. But I'm not shooting for how accurate they are or aren't here, I'm trying to explain what it's like, and how amazing it is to have someone who is willing to put their time and effort into helping you.

First up is a drawing by Meghan Fedor (AngryArtHermit on Instagram). This is a drawing of a character from a project I decided to put down so I could do the current rewrite. Meet Galahad...

The next was the crest for Ether Pendragon by Justin Black...

Et Finis - Malachi-

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

This article was written not by me, but by a fellow YDubber, AJ Hann. An FYI for my readers, just about every stereotype bothers me... so... without further ado, GET READING. -Malachi-

This Bothers me: Introvert Edition. Our generation has witnessed the rise of a seemingly harmless trend. One that has always bothered me, but I never really thought about why.

Introverts, and extroverts. If you’re the type of person who enjoys social experiments, you can ask anybody under the age of forty, and most, if not all of them will tell you that they are one of these two things.

This form of categorization has become the norm. Everywhere you turn, you see personality tests, stereotypes, memes, fun facts, trivia, etc. “Are you an introvert?” “10 signs that you are an extrovert.” “What introverts are really thinking.” “Extroverts be like.” And on and on and on. There’s no denying that this has become a big deal.

But it’s all in good fun, right? Isn’t it important to know your personality type? What’s the harm in it?

I don’t think that-- in and of itself-- taking a personality test is harmful. I’ve taken a few myself. They’re interesting, maybe even entertaining, but the problem arises when you start to give it importance that it does not have.

Say you’re one of those people who is not comfortable in social settings. You don’t really want to talk to people, you’d rather just listen. You don’t like being the center of attention, and after a while, you get tired of people and want to go home. Does this mean that you are an Introvert? Yeah sure. Is that important? Not even a little bit.

There is a simple principle that applies to this. When you put yourself in a box, when you take all of your complex, unique self and stuff it into a generic category, it becomes all too easy to treat your personality like a condition.

A person could say, “I shouldn’t go to this party because I have cancer, and it would be too exhausting.” Nobody would argue the validity of that reasoning. Or a person could say, “I shouldn’t go to this party because I’m an introvert, and it would be too emotionally draining.” And by today’s standards, that would be an equally valid reason. Do you begin to see the problem?

Your personality is not a disease. It is a gift from God, custom made just for you. And by God’s grace, whatever challenges that come with it are not insurmountable. It is not something to be exploited at your pleasure.

And yes, it is a challenge. One that I face myself, honestly. I’ve been told time and time again that I’m an introvert. I never bought it, because I can be as social as the occasion calls for without breaking a sweat. A lot of times I don’t feel like it. I often want to curl up in the corner and shut everything out. But I don’t. I suck it up and do what needs done because that’s what life is about.

Most people, at some point, will need to decompress, and some people do that best alone. Jesus Himself often retired to the wilderness to get away from the crowds and pray. It is a beneficial, and sometimes necessary practice.

Having those feelings isn’t wrong. Letting those feelings define you, and control you, and influence your decisions is wrong.

Now, let’s say that, for whatever reason, you are listing ten random things about yourself. Should, “I am an introvert/extrovert”, be on that list? No. The entire concept is a worldly, cultural construct that has zero relevance to, or bearing on, how you live your life. It should never, ever become your identity. And it should never be used as an excuse.

“But studies have shown that when an introvert tries to be extroverted it can mentally damaging…”

Well, why are those your options? You don’t have to be one or the other. Just be a competent adult. Do what the situation calls for. Take responsibility for your actions. And don’t let your fears, or personal tics, or social preferences get in the way of your life.

There are going to be times when you’re being pressured to hang out with your friends or go to a party, or some such nonsense, and you’re not going to want to. When this happens, all you have to do is say, “I don’t want to.” You don’t have to blame it on your self-imposed problems.

Fact is, the whole premise is faulty. I’ve heard accounts of people who used to be introverts and are now extroverts, or vice versa. The mere fact that you can change it on a whim indicates that you made it up in the first place.

The most exceptional people are the ones who see a problem for what it is, and, rather than use it as an excuse to be irresponsible, endeavor to solve it.

Challenges are not there to make us insecure. They are there to teach us, to make us stronger, to help us grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

As far as problems go, I wouldn’t say this one takes the cake, but it certainly isn’t treated as it should be. With suspicion. The Church should always be suspicious of the wildly popular. As a general rule. Because, if the World is all for it, it’s hardly going to be beneficial to the Church. This is what history shows us.

Aug/30/2021

AJ. Hann

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Method of my Madness #3:

I'm surprised I hadn't started this yet... I'll not do a method for my Dragon's Blood post as I can't remember my method XD. If you are here now, then chances are you know I started the rewrite of my book (finally). -Malachi-

So, I started the rewrite... so?

I want to walk all of you through the entire process, start to finish, not as someone who only ever copies and waters down good advice. I rather want to walk you through as someone who is actually a writer, and who struggles with things you may struggle with.

I am a pantser (someone who writes by the seat of their pants, not literally!). I have a very hard time plotting and outlining my stories, and thus end up quitting the book after my discovery writing comes to a halt.

It does help me that I've had this story developing for a very long time and have a ton of scenes and such, but I threw that out the window.

I almost trashed the entire thing. I started with just a basic character arc, a lie, and a truth. I stated the lie for my two characters (my book follows two entirely separate characters). So I then had a lie about my character and the truth. All I needed was to draw the line between the two.

I didn't do a complete, scene-by-scene outline, rather I drew some major plot-changing scenes that would connect the dots. My method for doing this, I came up with on the fly.

I set 4 points.

Then I filled them in as if they were:

Intro:

Rising action:

Climax:

Denouement:

To be honest, I know I will have to carry the story much farther than their character arcs, but I think this is a good thing as it will allow the readers to see the characters in their best form (instead of them finally clicking and the author just goes... "Okay, that was the point of me writing this, goodbye. No, no need to answer your questions).

This one was pretty short, so I won't do bullets this time (besides the fact that they never show up). -Malachi-

Monday, September 20, 2021

Dragon's Blood:

HEY y'all, I figured I'd put up another thing I have in my worldbuild. I'll post this now, but probably update it sooner or later. -Malachi-

Dragon's Blood:

In the times of legend, it was stated that Dragon's Blood comes from a very specific tree that grows in their gardens. The trees were called (in translation) "Fireproof".

As their roots grew, and took much from the earth, they also took in the mineral of Dragon's Blood.

As the tree has no use for this foreign material, it bled it out in any way possible, but primarily through the leaves.

Dragon's Blood has many of the same properties as Mercury. It's weight and density are almost identical, and it does not conduct energy.

When heated, its properties change in a drastic manner.

It cools everything around it to a degree that even fire will not burn (hence the tree's name of Fireproof).

It becomes lighter when heated.

When heated, it changes from black, to orange to bright red.

Due to the expelling of positive electrons when near a heat source, it is often associated with Saint Elmo's Fire.

When cold, it attracts positive electrons.

If ingested or absorbed in any way, it speeds the process of the refusal of foreign materials.

When absorbed by any non-living thing, it speeds all processes such as crystallization, often resulting in gems six feet tall.

It is not often found in anything with high concentrations of carbon.

It speeds up healing a massive amount.

-Malachi-

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Godwin raced through the outer gate and leaped off of his stallion, sword in hand, he charged into the great hall where he beheld a treacherous deed that had taken place but spans* before. The king, the rest of the royal family, and the castle staff lay motionless on the now crimson marble floor.

Sooo... I found this while I started to do a rewrite for my trilogy. I figured this would be a good time to start my next worldbuilding post (procrastinating from that massive project). -Malachi-

In my book, I have a few measurements and all the jazz different from our own. The span is equal to 80 minutes. Where I got this idea... well, y'all know I'm big on the bible, so I got this from the book of Enoch (chapter 72 verse 10, plus more sections where it's mentioned). Well, it says that the day is equal to 10 parts and the night to 8 (so 18 parts?). If the day were made up of 18 parts, and our days are made up of 24. Multiply 24 by 60, then divide by 18 to get 80.

You all are probably wondering what's up with the birdies I have on the covers. If you weren't... well... that's just sad. You can read that post here:

The first creature I did was the kinghawke. This was definitely the most in-depth creature build I did. I did a ton of research on hawks and other birds of prey.

Why did I research before developing them...? I didn't want to turn off every bird lover by telling them this fancy new creature I made has three wings. No bird has three wings. I'll go through some of the points I made about them. A lot of my research was also done for other birds to know if the changes I was making were logical for birds in general.

They have glossy wings. Ducks have glossy/waterproof wings.
They live in massive colonies. There is a group of flamingos in East Africa that is over a million in number.
Their average lifespan is 22-30 years. Most hawks live for 20 years, bald eagles live for 20-25 years in the wild. The oldest living bald eagle was 47.
As they grow, their markings change. Bald eagles actually aren't bald until they are like 8 years old.

So, they are perfectly logical overall with maybe a few instances where the rest of the logic allowed for a bit of creativity.

The bit of creativity I added was that they are willing to be in a symbiotic relationship with cats and dogs. This although not unheard of for parrots and such, isn't anywhere near the norm.

My jumping rock brocket was only changed slightly.

More bullets for my friends who dodge bullets:

Research before you create your creatures.
If your creature is mostly accurate, then this allows a bit of room for your own creativity to add something new.

In the third part of the Book of Legends, I described briefly what was going on during the reign of each of the Gawins/Gawains. A lot of it was just "pulled out of the hat" to help me understand the world better. The main reason I did it was to back up the plot for my book. In my book it was necessary for me to have the things mentioned in the reigns of Gawin II, Gawin III, Gawain X, and Gawain XI.

Bullets:

Back up your plot with historical happenings to make your world more interesting.

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

I believe I have 5.5 creatures unique to this world. I'm going to skip the Fiesero this time as my drawings are terrible and you won't likely understand the description. I'll do my best to copy my notes word for word, but may add some or take some away. -Malachi-

Kinghawke:

The first creature to note is the Kinghawke. This is the bird you see on all the crests for Gawin's lineage.

The kinghawke's wings are glossy with a waterproof finish that helps them in the catching of their primary food source (Ivory Kitch). They can hold their breath for five minutes, or more if they release the air trapped under their chest feathers.

They are typically much tamer than typical birds of prey.

They are very social birds and often have colonies of a hundred strong or as numerous as 3,000. The entire colony is led by one kinghawke which took control from another in challenge.

Due to the size of their colonies, their young have a much higher chance of survival than other birds of prey.

Their average lifespan is 22-30 years.

Sometimes huge battles commence between two or more colonies. The kinghawkes will use weapons such as stones, sticks, or whole bushes as weapons in these battles.

They are very agile.

As they grow, their markings change considerably. They are born all white and so live for much of their lives. Until their third year, they are generally all white and round-headed. By their eighth year, they usually have a single point on their crown and no or faint markings. Some birds stay in this state until they live out their lives. By their twelfth year, 30% have their white point turn black and have common markings on their wings and tail. Most birds are completely developed by their twelfth year, but some are developed by their fifth. A rarity in their kind is a two-pointed crown, let alone a tri-pointed crown. 4 pointed crowns are unheard of and are merely wives tales. For the kinghawkes that have markings, their markings become more and more unique as they grow older.

More rarities: Bejewelled crowns (meaning speckled); Markings on the back are extremely rare; All white with two or three points is super rare; All black is rumored in the land of Tago, but the scholars speculate that it is another breed entirely.

The more markings, and the more distinct they are, implies a kinghawke of great vigor.

After a contest for dominance where the ruler loses and is not dead, the new leader will often care for the crippled bird which acts as the new ruler's tutor.

They prolificate on every possible coast and large colonies are rarely found inland. Small colonies of under 50 are found as far inland as Hakon wherever is a cliff for them to nest on, very small parties of 2-15 are found all over.

They are known to live symbiotically with other birds of prey, smaller birds, and even cats or dogs. They hate crows and ravens and kill on sight.

Among their chicks are sometimes found a dwarf (I said dwark in my notes!) kinghawke, otherwise called a sentry hawk. They bear much of the same markings except that their feathers are tinted blue and have lost their waterproof finish. They are fed their entire lives by their larger parents (well, fed until their parents die).

The sentry hawk's wingspan is 2-4 feet.

The kinghawke's wingspan is 5 feet to as large as 7 feet.

Interbreeding between sentry hawks and kinghawkes is rare, but not unheard of.

They have a very broad language of whistles and caws with which to communicate.

Every kinghawke has a name (a specific whistle or caw) by which they are recognized. The chicks are often called a their parent's name.

Mason's finch:

The birds that the kinghawkes live with most often are the mason finches, or to some, the king's butler. They clean the nests and caves of the kinghawkes, resulting in a lower number of parasites.

They live in small groups of up to 20 pairs and when comes to be nesting time, all 20 will make one nest together and proceed in order of strength until the last nest is made.

They primarily eat compacted pomegranates (need a new name, and will likely be in a future geekfest).

A quarter of all the group will fly out and listen for an exploded pomegranate. When they find or hear one, they'll rush back and tell the others that stayed back to forage.

Their beaks can break soft rocks to make the edges necessary to construct their castles.

Their nests are often constructed of small stones pasted together with mud.

Jumping rock brocket:

I actually don't have anything written down besides they can jump up to ten feet.

Their typical measurements are 30 inches from hip to nose. They are 15 inches tall, and their antlers are 2 feet tall. Their antlers have a small hook on the end to pry up small plants that are out of their reach.

They live in the cavernous mazes (ooh I see yet another rabbit trail I could take y'all down).

Ivory Kitch:

Ivory kitch is the primary food source for the kinghawkes. They school in massive groups with upwards of a million members. Their primary domain is right where the cavernous mazes sink into the sea, which is also the primary dwelling of the kinghawkes.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Dedications:

First off, Nikodemas Field. You really helped me rise to the next level in my writing.

Gracie ~~Cathey~~ Field (congrats btw); for telling Nik to contact me.

Kadyin Cathey: Alpha reading your book helped me a ton.

Mom; for introducing me to IEW, YWW (which if you are a writer and didn't come from there, it is the best thing that you can do for your writing), and for letting me write despite, well, that's not necessary here.

Jack Carachat; for knocking it into me that the only way to reach for your goals is to work at it untiringly.
Ben McDaniel; for teaching me to play to the whistle and to not complain (even though I've failed on that one time and again. Also for believing in me.

Zech and Zeph Stelzer; for being patient with me even though I crashed the tractor, got the truck stuck in two feet of mud, hit the semi, dumped the feed all over the road, and well, all the other mistakes I've made.

Ethan and Peter Stelzer (and your brothers); for helping me become more confident in who I am and what I can do.

Maddy Hill; for being there for me when I needed a friend most. Even though we don't talk much anymore, you're still one of my best friends.

Rue Arrow; So much sis, nobody has pushed me and believed in me as much as you, and that means a ton. Thanks for being my mentor, and for all of the theological discussions.

Luke Crouch; thank you for everything, for being in my life, and for saving Bronwynn for me 😉 You're one of like 3 people who I trust in all 3 types of trust.

Yah; for putting me in the life i'm in.

~~Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash~~

Monday, September 6, 2021

Method of My Madness Part One:

This post is reserved for an in-depth (hopefully) description of my worldbuilding efforts, and the method behind my madness. -Malachi-

In the beginning of the Book of Legends, I have the genealogies. Now, this was not necessary as most of my worldbuilding is done without a ton of history. I always have a bit of history. In the Gauntlet (possibly I'll add a link someday), I had to have a bit of history to explain the three main parts of the world -- the university, the gauntlet, and the maze (it was totally not cliche). A large part of the reason I wrote the Book of Legends was so that I 1: had a better idea of the history, and why the things are the way they are, and 2: so I could have a foundation off of which I could grow branches off of my series.

The first thing I think when I see stuff like this is, "This person is putting their story in a box, making it so that they don't have any more space to explore." I don't think I'm putting my story in a box. Think about it this way. In the second section of the Book of Legends, I have something like 500,000 people to choose from as a character in any story I wish to write. In the first section I have about 40 generations, and maybe 3 people per generation, so 120 in the royal line. Is that not plenty to work with?

Now, as for the names, most I got from my head, the Bible, or my favorite name generator. A few key players like Alistair, Bennet (oops, you haven't met him yet 😉) and Gawain were hand-picked for their meaning (most of my main characters are picked based on what their name means). Ghoti is a name I got from Aperture's video "The English Language is a Giant Meme."

In my second part of the Book of Legends, I said that I used a growth calculator for developing population growth. These are helpful in developing histories. Hard times often result in a lower life expectancy, and a lower birth rate (with some exceptions). Good times often will spike the birth rate and life expectancy and depending on the culture will go to a low climb (The US is at a growth rate of .7% which is very low compared to some countries). It also helps to get a rough idea of what your character is going into (it is a very different thing if they are going into Boston rather than Unalaska or if you are going to Wyoming rather than Kentucky).

Try to dodge these bullets:

You always have to have some history in order to have a rich world.
Historical 'texts' can be very helpful in developing your world, even if they take a ton of time.
Historical texts can help you rabbit hole... if you like that kind of thing.
The Bible is a great place to get names for a fantasy world.
If you can't think of names, name generators always help.
If you still can't think of a name, search 'baby name meanings' or something like that and start searching the attributes for your characters.
If you are developing a history, try plugging your population into a growth generator. Otherwise, it might not be very realistic as your reader is wondering where these 50,000 people came from in the past ten years of the story.
Model the growth of your world's population with real countries or kingdoms that are similar to yours.

I'll probably stop for now... Next time I'll try to explain the method of my madness for the third part plus some.

-Malachi (again)-

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Part three: Book of Legends:

If you missed it, see part one and two. -Malachi-

During the reign of Gawin II: Gawin II had mighty sons; Forest and Aequor went east to explore the stone desert and the mazes beyond it. In the desert, they found a spring, and Aequor built channels for it to run through, and together they built a city with the stones. When Tago was young, he loved to watch fire. When he was of age, he learned smithy and went North to build a city in the shadow of the Megali. And to this day, the best tools and blades come from the North.

During the reign of Gawin III: Theobald had sons, and they, along with their father, were not. Romaleos, the son of Aequor was under the tutelage of the aging Gawin II. And he was in court. And he followed the river Afon and built Lochdale on the point at which it falls. And Kauri descendent of Alkyl followed the Dakugurasu and was not. And Tago ruled over the region of the great north and the volcano therein.

During the reign of Gawain IV: The descendants of Aryl are more in number than those of Ether and Alkyl.

During the reign of Gawain V: There is trouble in the land of Tago. And Jakke defended the people of Tago who were in the crossfire.

During the reign of Gawain VI: There was a great earthquake that shook all the land, and the generation of firstborns of Darsengle through Aryl are not.

The land of Tago is ruled by a descendant of Tartu.

During the reign of Gawain VII: Since the coming, there has been a great puzzling castle on the cliff edge of the mazes. The descendants of Tartu came in great numbers to assault the castle. Hoping to gain an important military position in the land of Aequor. As they entered the cavern the small people living there put up a great struggle but they couldn't stop the oncoming rush of soldiers, so they hid in the old castle throwing rocks at the army below, by the time the soldiers busted through the gate the pygmies were in the tower in the back of the castle which overlooked the vast world below. When the soldiers finally opened the bolted door and stormed up the tower they became very afraid because the Pygmies were gone. A few days later there was a rumor of several small people heading North-East from Skull Cove.

During the reign of Gawain VIII: The land was in peace with some trouble still in Tago.

During the reign of Gawain IX: Trouble is arising in Tago again.

During the reign of Gawain X: It was over 300 years from Darsengle to Darsengle. Darsengle and Gawain XI were very mighty.

During the reign of Gawain XI: Maliztmarr came to power and challenged the crown.

Part two: Book of Legends:

If you missed it, see part one here. I used a growth calculator online for the numbers... it really helped in cataloguing and predicting the kingdom's development and growth. The population growth of countries varies greatly, from -2.46 in the Cook Islands to as high as 5.05% in South Sudan. The United States is at a growth rate of .7% -Malachi-

During and after the time of the coming, the Vindex were 800, and the Vinderoi were 200.

During the reign of Gawin I, which is 30 years after the coming, the census of the Vinderoi counted 369 (A growth rate of 3.38%).

During the reign of Gawin II which was another 25 years, the census counted 2,500, the Vinderoi are no longer counted (a growth rate of 23.1%).

During the reign of Gawin III, which was another 25 years, the census counted 10,000 (a growth rate of 12%). 2,030 of that lived in the land ruled by Forest and Aeqour. 5,782 lived in the land ruled by Gawin III. 2,288 lived in the land ruled by Tago the troublemaker.

During the reign of Gawain IV, which was another 25 years, the census counted 3,500 in the land of Aequor (A growth rate of 2.9%), 12,440 in the land ruled by Gawin IV added to the 300 in Lochdale (a growth rate of 4.81%), 4009 in the land of Tago (A growth rate of 3%).

During the reign of Gawain V, which was another 25 years, the census counted, 4,390 in the land of Aequor (A growth rate of 1.01%), 18,730 in the land ruled by Gawain V (a growth rate of 2%), 4,000 in Lochdale (a growth rate of 49%), 8,043 in the land of Tago (a growth rate of 4%).

During the rule of Gawain VI, which was another 25 years, the census counted, 5,230 in the land of Aequor (a growth rate of .76%), 20,000 in the land ruled by Gawain VI (a growth rate of .27%), 10,940 in Lochdale (a growth rate of 6.94%), 10,092 in the land of Tago which is ruled by an Alkylite (a growth rate of 1%). The total census is 46,262 (a growth rate of 3.51% since the coming).

During the reign of Gawain VII, which was another 25 years, the census counted, 4,983 in the land of Aequor (a negative growth rate of .19%), 27,408 in the land ruled by Gawain VII (a growth rate of 1.27%), 16,983 in Lochdale (a growth rate of 1.77%), 12,540 in the land of Tago (a growth rate of .87%).

During the reign of Gawain VIII, which was another 25 years, the census counted 7,620 in the land of Aequor (a growth rate of 1.71%), 34,762 in the land ruled by Gawain VIII (a growth rate of .96), 18,940 in Lochdale (a growth rate of .44%), 15,690 in the land of Tago (a growth rate of .9%).

During the reign of Gawain IX and Berenger, which was another 25 years, the census counted 13,406 in the land of Aequor (a growth rate of 2.29%), 40,903 in the land ruled by Gawain (a growth rate of .65%), 28,050 in the land ruled by Berenger (Lochdale and Portsmouth) (a growth rate of 1.58%), 19,700 in the land of Tago (a growth rate of .91%).

During the reign of Gawain X, which was another 25 years, the census counted, 17,909 in the land of Aequor (a growth rate of 1.17%), 59,900 in the land ruled by Gawain X (a growth rate of 1.54), 40,903 in Lochdale and Portsmouth (a Growth rate of 1.52%), 34,502 in the land of Tago (a growth rate of 2.27%).

During the reign of Gawain XI, which was another 25 years, the census counted, 25,980 in the land of Aequor (a growth rate of 1.5%), 73,400 in the land ruled by Gawain X (a growth rate of .82%), 65,830 in Lochdale and Portsmouth, 58,040 in the land of Tago (a growth rate of 2.1%).

During the reign of Maliztmarr the tyrant, which was another 10 years, the census counted, 30,004 in the land of Aequor (a growth rate of 1.45%), 80,970 in the land previously ruled by Gawain XI (a growth rate of .99%), 42,806 in Lochdale (a growth rate of .53), 32,040 in Portsmouth (a growth rate of 2.43%), 70,950 in the land of Tago (a growth rate of 2.03%). And the total census was 256,770.

During the reign of Alec the Black whose reign lasted only one year before Gawain XII was coronated. By Gawain's coronation, it was another 15 years, the census counted, 15,090 in the land of Aequor (a negative growth rate of 4.48%), 46,000 in the central region (a negative growth rate of 3.7%), 34,092 in Lochdale (a negative growth rate of 1.51%), 60,810 in Portsmouth (a growth rate of 4.36%), 20,800 in the land of Tago (a negative growth rate of 7.85%). And the total census was 176,792 (a negative growth rate of 2.46%).

Part one: The Book of Legends:

This is a part of the extensive notes I have in my world build. It will be followed by many more parts, and some entirely separate ones. All the numbers next to the genealogies are a note to self for a generation count. For most of the names is used the Bible, my head, or fantasynamegenerators.com. -Malachi-

Before the famine, there lived 20,000 aside from Vindex. And of those who lived through the famine were 310 with 200 (39 men, 44 women, 53 boys, and 64 girls) through the tunnels to a new beginning.

And these were the names of the men who went through the tunnels to the new world: Darsengle and his three sons, Ether, and Aryl, and Alkyl, and Krait, and Jakke, and Ademar, and Drest and Daw the twins, and Serell, and Giraut, and Lanslet, and Audens, and Ivrit and Tranio are all of those related to the royal line. And Molacus, and Dercillus, and Virichi, and Tallius, and Dano, and Lazar, and Tuvya, and Avichai, and Efran, and Janos, and Honi, and Mal’aki, and Borvun, and Euclio, and Magnus, and Sosicles who is related to Vindex and is slight of build. And Romarich, and Meinrad, and Malte, and Friso, and Friedger, and Brutus, and Guido, and Devus.

Jakke begat his firstborn Aaron and Darsengle and Tranio.

And Aaron begat Qenaz.

And Qenaz begat a daughter, the beautiful Queen Anaea.

These are the names and genealogies of Darsengle through Ether: The beautiful queen Anaea married her second cousin Ether Pendragon who is a grandson of Darsengle and the sons of them were: The firstborn, Ether II, Gawin, and Aryl. And Ether II died without an heir and assumed the crown to Gawin, who’s seed to this day is princely. 1

And Gawin begat his firstborn Gawin II, and Ether III. 2

And Gawin II brought forth mighty sons, his firstborn Gawin III, and Theobald, and twins: Forest and Aequor, and Tago the trouble maker. 3

And Gawin III ruled over the great forest and the plains. And Forest was strong and Aequor was smart, and together they conquered the great stone desert and built garden cities therein, which is by the castle in which Vindex habitates.

And Tago ruled over the region of the great north and the volcano therein.

And Gawin III begat Gawain IV. And this is the fourth generation of Darsengle through Ether.

And Theobald begat Theobald II, and BeiWulf, and Madai. And they were no more.

And Aequor brought forth Ischyros and Romaleos. And Romaleos was brought to the court of Gawin III and built Lochdale.

And Gawain IV brought forth Gawain V and Jakke. 5

And Gawain V brought forth Gawain VI, and Cadel, and Arwyn, and Osric. 6

And Gawain VI begat Gawain VII. 7

And Gawain VII begat Gawain VIII. 8

And Gawain VIII brought forth Gawain IX and Berenger. 9

And Gawain IX brought forth Gawain X. 10

And Gawain X begat Gawain XI, and Anno, and Darsengle the younger. And it was 309 years from Darsengle the older to Darsengle the younger. And this is the eleventh generation of Darsenlge through Ether.

And Gawain XI begat Gawain XII, and Atlas. 12

And these were troubled times. And Gawain XII married Rhoslyn who by birth is of Aryl through Ramol, the third son of Darsengle. and They begat Gawain XIII and Alistair the other, and Atlas II. 13

And Gawain XIII begat Gawain XIV and Alistair II, and Atlas III. 14

And Gawain XIV begat Gawain XV. 15

And Gawain XV begat Gawain XVI 16

And Gawain XVI begat Gawain XVII 17

And Gawain XVII begat Gawain XVIII and Alistair III, and Atlas IV, and Berenger, and Jakke, and Ether Pendragon the IV. 18

And Gawain XVIII and Alistair III were not. And this is the nineteenth generation of Darsengle through Ether and Gawin. And this is the last generation of the firstborns of Darsengle through Ether and Gawin.

And these are the names and genealogies of Darsengle through Alkyl: And Alkyl was wroth with his brother for he loved Anaea, and he begat Darsen and Aryl. 1

And Darsen begat Not, and Kepha, and Kae, and Atua. 2

And Not begat Kauri and Maqali. 3

And Kauri was not. And this is the third generation of Darsengle through Alkyl.

And Maqali brought forth Jetai. 4

And Jatai lived in the northern region which is ruled by Tago.

And Jetai brought forth Galdan, and Dano, and Tartu. 5

And Galdan was not. And this was the fifth generation of Darsengle through Alkyl and Maqali.

And Dano Begat Nekun, and Ren, and Xuan. 6

And Nekun brought forth Yuan. 7

And Yuan begat Takeda, and Aya. 8

And Takeda begat Akita, and Kudo, and Sugi. 9

And Akita begat Darsen and Not. 10

And Darsen brought forth Atama who is named after a great ancestor. 11

And Atama brought forth Niruthen. 12

And Niruthen begat Kobikhan, and Kanansri, and Viruchan. 13

And Kobikhan begat Tulget, and Kanno. 14

And Tulget begat Maliztmarr the Tyrant. And this is the fourteenth generation of Darsengle through Alkyl, and Maqali, and Dano. And Maliztmarr begat Alec the Black. 15

And the years of Alec Black before his death were 142 and he was like a young man unto the day of his death at the hand of Gawain XIV.

And these are the names and genealogies of Darsengle through Aryl: And Aryl begat Aryl II and Darsengle II. 1

And Aryl II begat Aryl III, and Darsengle III, and Kef. 2

And Aryl III was not. And Darsengle III begat Darsengle IV, and Arryle. 3

And The sons of Darsengle through Aryl and Darsengle III were mixed with their clan members and were wanderers. And this is the third generation of Darsengle through Aryl and Darsengle III.

And Darsengle IV begat Maqi named for a far cousin. 4

And Maqi begat Ramol. 5

And Maqi begat Heti, and Ghoti. 6

And Heti and Ghoti were swallowed by the earth. And this is the sixth generation of Darsengle through Aryl and Darsengle III.

SLIDER

Thursday, April 21, 2022

6%...

Life Happens

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Monday, March 7, 2022

Saturday, March 5, 2022

Wolin's Paw Wolf Pack

Friday, March 4, 2022

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Thursday, September 23, 2021

Community:

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Monday, September 20, 2021

Dragon's Blood:

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Dedications:

Monday, September 6, 2021

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Part three: Book of Legends:

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Part two: Book of Legends:

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Part one: The Book of Legends: