The Sidereal Rose

Day #3 Final Word Count

2009-11-04T00:38:00.002+08:00

Well the final word count for Day #3 is 16,608. The plot is holding out, just not entirely sure if I can keep up the pace I seem to have assigned myself.

Day #3

2009-11-03T14:11:00.001+08:00

The current word count for Day #3 is 12, 416. Hoping I can maybe hit 15k by midnight.

Day #2 Final Word Count

2009-11-03T14:09:00.001+08:00

The final word count for Day #2 was 10,004.

Day #1 Final Word Count

2009-11-02T00:02:00.001+08:00

My final word count for Day #1 is 5,013 words. Roll on Day #2.

Day #1

2009-11-01T15:27:00.001+08:00

Alright currently my word count is sitting at 2,698. Not bad, and thankfully the kids are sleeping. So far so good. Here's to the next 47,500 odd words remaining.

Procrastinating

2009-10-28T23:48:00.002+08:00

Well I suppose it's only little things that I don't have organised. But all the same it still bugs me. Like what is, Morwenna's pet's name? Grr! Oh well I suppose it'll all work itself out during November.

Counting Down From 5

2009-10-26T23:58:00.002+08:00

A little over 5 days remaining until NaNoWriMo and I feel so ill prepared. I have notes, but I have no real idea of who my characters are, half don't even have names yet.

Frustration abounds. Bring on November 1st.

The Sidhe of Ynys Pryd

2009-10-22T14:42:00.003+08:00

Well I have been gradually fleshing out my alternate world in which my characters find themselves in.

Basically the Sidhe once ruled over the four other groups of Faerie. The Dryads, The Draconai, The Sprites and The Merrow. They had four castles built from marble and limestone. One for each of the four Sidhe courts. Each court having just enough of a change to make it different from the next.

Eventually the Sidhe tire of lording over the other Faerie and shift there world away from the mundane. Inhabiting the "Shadows".

Magic, Towers and Other Things

2009-10-18T16:41:00.002+08:00

Okay so I currently have a million and one threads going on at once when it comes to planning my novel.

I am still trying to figure out what to call a witch, when he or she has strong abilities in two elements. ie. Sea and Sky, Land and Sea or Sky and Land. I need a term that means "mix" or something I think. But nothing JK Rowling-ish.

As for the Five Towers of Faerie (Arcadia to the Sidhe), figuring out what to name them is a real challenge. Figuring out the components of each is only slightly easier.

One thing I have discovered, however, is that my novel this year is being told by two major characters, Morgaine and Morwenna. In a sort of chronicle. Morwenna's part of the story kicks off when she's about sixteen years old. Pre-war. Possibly a few snippets of her life seen before then as well. But Morgaine will mostly be the front runner main character wise.

And a second revision of the Ynys Pryd Calendar is coming up, I might finally have figured out this Sidereal Time mess. How they world 365 days out of 13 x 27, I have no idea. Of course, maths isn't my specialty. So I'm going to have to go over the notes I snatched from the net.... again.

The Five Towers of Arcadia and their Keepers

2009-10-16T20:32:00.004+08:00

And thus, it comes to the Towers, and the beginning of my novel this year.

So far all that is known of the Towers, is that there are five of them. Not three, which is assumed by some.

It is also known that for each Tower, there is a Keeper. And the Keeper of each Tower, belongs to one of the five Faery races.

The Sidhe, The Dryads, The Sprites, The Draconai and The Merrow.

Magic of Ynys Pryd

2009-10-15T22:34:00.004+08:00

The magic of Ynys Pryd isn't all that complex.

There are three major elements, The Land, The Sea and The Sky.

Land magic is the embodiment of Earth. People who have a talent for this particular element know how to capture the following essences of magic and lore.
Gemology
Herbology
Animal Lore
Healing
Fire

Sky magic is the embodiment of Air. People who have a talent for this particular element know how to capture the following essences of magic and lore.
Weather magic
Astrology
Sun Lore and Magic
Telepathy
Night Magic

Sea magic is the embodiment of Water. People who have a talent for this particular element know how to capture the following essences of magic and lore.
Chaotic forces of nature
Moon Lore and Magic
Dreams

Aether/Void is the embodiment of Spirit. People who have a talent for this particular element are a rare breed and extremely powerful, as they also have the knowledge of the other three elements.
They know how to capture the following essences of magic and lore.
Transformation
Divination
Astral Travel

Note: Some witches have been known to be void of any ability. These witches are known as mundanes.
There are also witches that straddle the between. Having strong abilities in two elements.

The Sidhe and the Lesser Fae of the Outlands

2009-10-15T17:43:00.003+08:00

So, having finally worked out who is who when it comes to the Fae that grace my novel this year, I have decided to share them.

The Sidhe: Belonging to two groups, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. 2 subgroups operate under each of these.

Seelie Court- Rose and Emerald Courts
Unseelie Court- Onyx and Ash Courts

Now in the hierarchy of the Fae, it works out something like this

Sidhe
Dryad, Sprite
Draconai, Merrow

Meaning that the Merrow are the lowest of faery beings.

The Seven Houses of Ynys Pryd, Part Two

2009-10-15T17:32:00.003+08:00

Alright, so the place names in my novel have undergone yet another revision, and the map has also. Subsequently I have just resorted to numbering the regions on the map, in case I wind up with renaming some or all of them before November begins.

So we have the following regions:

Annavern
Fellslea
Brinden
Bramblemere
Eadon
Marchmain
Penallon

I'll work out what name for what region later.

The Seven Houses of Ynys Pryd

2009-10-12T21:39:00.003+08:00

In my world there are seven royal houses or kingdoms.

They are:

1. Nysse - Known as the House of Nysse; the people are called, Nyssi
2. Mora - Known as the House of Mora; the people are called, Moran
3. Deira - Known as the House of Deira; the people are called, Deiranni
4. Ceirdwyn - Known as the House of Ceirdwyn; the people are called, Ceirdi
5. Catrin - Known as the House of Catrin; the people are called, Catrinni
6. Mabyn - Known as the House of Mabyn; the people are called, Mabii
7. Annwyl - Known as the House of Annwyl; the people are called, Annites

Introducing Morwenna Caine, Part Two

2009-10-12T00:06:00.004+08:00

Alright, some more about the character of Morwenna Caine.

Turns out she has a younger half brother by the name of Myrrdin. Her father is the King Gwydion of Cierdwyn and her mother is the notorious witch Morgaine. As it turns out the King's wife Cerridwen was found to be barron, so they called upon the services of Morgaine to help them conceive an heir. From this magic Myrrdin was born and thus the Kingdom was secure.

Only when Morwenna's true parentage is revealed do things start to get a little more complicated. Morgaine threatens to undo the magic that brought Myrrdin into the world, making it as though he never existed. Cerridwen pleads with her not to, as she doesn't want to see her only son no longer living. In doing so she comes up with a plan she believes to be fool-proof. As the boy is nearing his ninth birthday, Cerridwen thinks he should undergo his Witch tests to determine whether or not he has any magical talent. In doing so it is determined that he doesn't, due to the fact that he was brought into the world with such potent magic and wasn't conceived in the natural way, none of his witch-genes were passed onto him.

However, during the boys testing a civil war breaks out, threatening the life of Morwenna. It isn't until Myrrdin steps foward denouncing his claim to the Cierdwyn throne that the trouble is put aside.

Ynys Pryd

2009-10-11T23:25:00.005+08:00

Alright so I've decided to go ahead and share the draft map of my world. I have borrowed heavily from reality. But my novel is set in an alternate rendering of earth, so I don't really see the problem. Within my world itself there are 7 main regions where the witches of my world settled and a Kingdom to go with it.

They are: Nysse, Mora, Deira, Cierdwyn, Catrin, Mabyn, Annwyl.

The (dark blue) outer regions are where the native peoples of Ynys Pryd were driven to. They have yet to be named and are currently known as the Outlands.

The ocean is still unnamed at present.

World Building, Part Two

2009-10-10T13:20:00.000+08:00

As I said in a previous post, the calendar within my world is based on a 365 days a year model. Although that's about the only similarity.

13 months, consisting of 27 days with an eight day week. It works out at 351 days, leaving 14 days that I'm not totally sure what to do with, so I am calling them "void" days for now.

There are four months called Earrach, Samhradh, Fodhara and Geamhradh.

The months of the year are named as follows:
Beth, Luis, Nion, Fearn, Saille, Huath, Duir, Tinne, Coll, Muin, Gort, Ngetal, Ruis.

Introducing Morwenna Caine

2009-10-10T12:59:00.000+08:00

So I have at least one main character set in stone, even though she's undergone a name change.

Morwenna Caine is a 16 year old witch, she comes from a long line of witches actually, only she doesn't know that she is a witch until recently that is, when she finds herself in a small town and meets up with some new friends. Her parents are unknown to her, and she lives with her guardian and aunt. But in reality her father in a King and her mother is a witch, named Morgaine.

World Building, Part One

2009-10-09T17:28:00.000+08:00

Alright, so my novel is set in a world known as Ynys Pryd.

Now this world is Anglo-Saxon England meets the modern era, with elements of Steampunk thrown in. It picks up right when England was still in the Heptarchy and ruled essentially by seven small Kingdoms.

One year in Ynys Prid is divided up into 13 months each with 27 days and an eight day week. There are 365 days in the year. The remaining 14 days are void days.