Archive | October 2013

Learning the Blue Sira, a setting Fic

Oct24

See also Learning the Sira and Learning the Aether. Set in the same era (80 years before Rin/Girey) as Learning the Sira

“Close your eyes. Don’t worry about the boat. That is the Captain’s job. Worry about the water beneath the boat.”

Instructor Aarezhnu’s voice was a soothing and melodic chant, one of the reasons Ailetletai considered the ancient woman her favorite Instructor.

Aitai closed her eyes, as she was told to, and thought about the water under the gently bobbing boat. It had a light motion to it; the seas were mostly calm today, but in the Tienbraa sea, nothing was ever truly still.

“Now focus on the blue of the water.” Instructor Aarezhnu shifted her tone, just as the water shifted. Back and forth, back and forth. “Feel the way that Tienebrah flows the the world. Feel the way that the sira shifts, moving with the current.”

The instructor was the only one Aitai had ever heard refer to the Gods in the same breath as the sira. Most people preferred the buffer of philosophy, but Aarezhnu was old, and set in her ways, however fluid those ways seemed.

“Focus on the water, students. The water is where the sira is. The sira is what we are noticing today.”

Aitai didn’t know if the admonishment was meant for her, but she took it as such. Sira. Down into the water. Deeper into the water. There were little currents, like tadpoles playing, up near the surface, but the real sira… that should be further down. Down, down, down.

She found a shining beacon of blue and wrapped her mental hands around it. There, there, the brightest sira she had ever tasted.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/589184.html. You can comment here or there.

On this Date: Addergoole Drabbles of Gregori/The Kraken

Oct24

October 24, 2004

“What about that one?”

Speed was curled against Gregori’s leg in the middle of the Dining Hall, pointing out people he thought were attractive, or tasty, or good potential subs.

Gregori ran his hands through the boy’s hair. He liked him here. It would be nice to not have compunctions about it.

“How about that one?” He pointed at a lovely Tenth Cohort, with dark eyes and honey-brown skin.

October 24, 2013
(See The Black House Stories for context)

If he hadn’t know why Pretty had chosen to live with him…

Yaminah. Yaminah, because her two years under his collar were over…

He was certainly beginning to understand. She leaned against him, her shoulder blades to his.

The enemy was inside his walls, but they would not live. His Pretty had assured his survival along with her own.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/588936.html. You can comment here or there.

A Week of Settings – Day Six: Tír na Cali/Harem

Oct24

Tír na Cali is a monarchical nation that takes up the west coast of what, in the real world, is the United States, plus Baja California. It is ruled by a matriarchal triple bloodline of people who call themselves the children of the goddess, and have psychic powers to prove it.

Slavery not only exists but is prevalent, including in its use as a long-term hostage-taking effort; the Californians steal people, generally teenagers and twenty-somethings but sometimes older professionals in desired field, from the U.S. and enslave them in California.

Most slaves serve as one of a few to a small household, as domestic staff on a larger estate, or, if otherwise intractable or useless, as field workers.

However, at least one elderly-by-normal-standards Lady of some repute has opened up a harem in her family estate, where many attractive young men are kept cloistered and in top physical condition, awaiting anything their mistress or her many female relatives might want of them. A key is their ticket out of the harem and into personal freedom…

…but they have to want it.

The Harem sub-story starts here: Gifted

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/588639.html. You can comment here or there.

The Cup, Part VII

Oct24


After The Cup and The Cup, Part II, and The Cup Part III, and The Cup, Part IV, and The Cup, Part V, The Cup, Part VI, in that Order

The road turned upward at a ninety degree angle.

More importantly, it was still doing so in the morning, so it hadn’t been some sleep-deprived illusion of some sort. No, the road just went upwards.

The sign at the base said, simply, If you really need to know how to visit me, you’ll find a way.

“Isn’t this a little obvious?” JohnWayne frowned at the sign. “I mean, massive display of magic and all, isn’t that verboten?”

“You live with Boom.” His father stared at him in incredulity.

“I’m collared by Boom.” Despite what he’d said to his father the night before, sometimes it still startled him how easily the words rolled off his tongue. “That doesn’t mean that I’m in on their policy decisions. Besides, Boom doesn’t do anything this big on their home territory.”

“Okay, that I can believe. Still…”

“Still, this is ostentatious. Be ready for battle.” Cya’s clipped words were underlined by the hawthorn blade she was sheathing in her boot. “JohnWayne, lock the bus down, and then we’ll go.”

The orders didn’t feel like yanks on his strings anymore, but it was interesting to watch his father’s face, and the way he moved like he was being ordered. You take well to the collar, Cya had told JohnWayne once. He was beginning to understand the ways that one could take badly to it.

He locked down the bus, triggering the Workings Cya kept hanging for that purpose. Meanwhile, however, Pellinore was pacing around in circles, muttering Workings. JohnWayne tried to ignore his father so he could do his own work. The words kept popping up, however, and finally he had to ask. “What…”

“Buffing.”

“Polishing…?”

“You don’t remember the world before the war at all, do you?”

JohnWayne shook his head. “I remember preschool, a little. I remember Mom. But that’s about it.”

“Remember…” Pellinore’s fists clutched, and then, much to JohnWayne’s surprise, he reached out as if to hug.

Cya saved him from that awkward horribleness. “Come on, boys. I’ve found our route.”

Of course she had. What had taken her so long?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/588506.html. You can comment here or there.

One Year Ago / Taking It Outside the Family, a continuation of fae apoc

Oct23

One year ago, I wrote Family Matters to Rix’s prompt (What about the kid no-one wants to Mentor?), for the “The Norm” Giraffe Call.

This story follows after that

Reegan knew what was going on, even if his Mother either couldn’t see it or wouldn’t admit it. And he knew that he was never going to get a Mentor where his mother had been.

He went back to Connell, Sharp-Hands-Flying, the second one to turn his mother down – and if that had happened more often in the past, Reegan wouldn’t have to go through this. But that was in the past, and not the problem right now.

“I’m not going to ask. You already said no, and I get that. I can guess why, too.”

The older man had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry, kid, it’s just…”

“Yeah, I know. But look, I do have a favor to ask.”

He was banking on Connell being uncomfortable enough that a favor would seem like an easy way out, and he wasn’t disappointed. “I can probably do that. What sort of favor?”

“I’ve been talking to people online…” He waited for the requisite glare. “And there’s a small circle of, ah, like-minded people over in Carter. But I can’t drive yet, and that’s a long walk, even for me.”

“It’s a long walk for the Flash, kid, and you’re not that quick.”

“The Flash is fictional. But…”

“You didn’t ask me just for the car, or you would have asked Janus or one of the others. So you’re asking me because you want back-up if this goes south.”

Reegan swallowed. “Yeah…?”

“You’re not quite as good at this as your mom yet, kid. Give it time.”

“That’s not… I don’t…”

Connell patted his shoulder. “Yes, I’ll take you to Carter. Got an address? The Smokey Cafe, maybe?”

“…yeah?” He was quickly losing control of the situation. “You know of it?”

“Well, at least you’ve got a good chance of them being decent people. Come on, jump in. Might as well go before your mom notices.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/588052.html. You can comment here or there.

Brainstorming help requested: planning auction for upcoming Serial

Oct23

I’m making a new setting! (I’m sure you’ve noticed)
Actually, I’m making two, but Edally Academy (Steam!Goats) is going to be my nano project. So that’s the one I’m thinking about now.

Serials take money to start: ad money, art, domain name, possibly server space. Having a seed account will mean I can start out in January with as pretty a setting as I like.

For the below list, the school has nine Houses, covering fields of study.
All of them are named for former students who had mighty achievements.
Several of them, thus, have had more than one name over the years.
The three main characters are each in a separate House.

I’m thinking of offering the following things for auction:

  • Naming rights on:
    • A Protagonist’s House
    • A background Hous
    • a former House name
    • a Head of a House (cameo)
    • a background teacher (cameo)
    • a student (cameo)

     

  • Create an animal that will appear in the story
  • Create a dish of food that will appear in the story
  • Create a ~thing~ or device that will appear in the story

Two questions:
Whoops, three:

 

  1. Do you think this will garner any interest at all?
  2. Do you have any other ideas for auction items?
  3. Suggested starting bids?
  4. Less is more? Or more is more? (i.e., cut this list down, expand on it, or it’s good)?

Also, I know I was wrong, there’s four.

If you have not yet answered What do YOU want to see in Steam!Calenta? and think you might have interest in the serial, please go put in your feedback. <3

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/587847.html. You can comment here or there.

This one at least moved past the architecture for a bit…

Oct22

Unnamed Kink Setting Worldbuilding 2: Inside and Outside

Travel between cities is rare; caravans that do so carry twice as many guards as they do passengers, and are prohibitively expensive. To travel on your own, or with a couple guards, is to risk, in order of likelihood:

* Attack by “bandits;” groups who live in tiny walled settlements and range out as far as they dare in search of prey, whether human or otherwise.

* Death by thirst or starvation if your supplies run out, if you get turned around in one of the wild storms.

* Death by wild storm.1

* Transformation or twisting – or engulfment – by a Lantern.2

* Attack by a Creature3 or a mundane beast.

* Being shot down by the guards of your goal city.

The cities are the primary population centers; farmers live outside the walls, but close enough to flee within them if any of the aforementioned threats attack. Bandits, too, the occasional marauder, and a few tiny, terrifying settlements also exist outside cities, but they account for less than 10% of the total population of the continent.

Inside the cities, the population follows a structure as tiered as the concentric walls, and, indeed, marked by and inspired by those walls.

    1. Wild Storms are just what they sound like, massive storms – dependent on the locale, tornado, hurricane, sandstorm – with the added benefit of sometimes having magic twisted up within them.

    2. A Lantern is someone who lost control of their magic, and are now simply a conduit for the power. The power spurts from them in unpredictable bursts, or sometimes just flows out until the human at the core is entirely lost. The only plus is that Lanterns are generally stationary.

    3. A Creature is, well, a creature, one that has been warped by proximity either to a place of power4

    4. A place of power is assumed to be an opening from the magic to our plane of existence, although nothing but magic ever comes through.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/587761.html. You can comment here or there.

Trolling / For Books, a story for the Real World Call

Oct22

For [personal profile] elliemurasaki‘s prompts to my real-world call:
Farmer’s market.
New job.
Bookstore trawling.
“I’m not sure if this counts as a job.”

Jessica’s mother was frowning. She was often frowning, but now she had her forehead pinched, her lips pinched, her hands pinched… she was holding on to Jessica with every part of her body without actually bothering to touch her daughter.

“You said that about the Farmer’s Market job, too.” She was almost done packing. She opened the bottom drawer of her dresser again. She didn’t want to find she’d left anything behind.

“Standing behind a table selling vegetables all day? It’s not exactly career-forwarding, is it?” Jessica’s mother had a lot of opinions on career, as long as it wasn’t her own.

“Well, one, it was an entry-level position towards a sales job there.” Until her mother had a conversation with Jessica’s manager. “And two, all the trust says is that I have to be working.”

“And I don’t think this counts as a job.”

“The trustees do. And that’s what counts here.”

“You shouldn’t talk to your mother like that, Jessica.”

“I’m sorry.” She didn’t bother putting any emphasis on the words, because it wouldn’t matter anyway. Talking to her mother was like shouting down a black hole.

“Trolling around old book stores… living on the road… no supervisor, no defined hours…”

“But I’ll be getting paid a salary.” Jessica checked the back of the closet one more time, and tucked the old teddy bear she found there into a pocket of her suitcase. “They want my skills.”

“Your skills.” Her mother sneered it, but the sneer seemed to dissolve into something more open. “You don’t have to leave, you know. You could stay here, get another job like the one at the Farmer’s Market. You don’t have to pay rent.”

Jessica checked under the bed again. “I’ve got to go, Mom. I’ll keep in touch.” she kissed both her mother’s cheeks and made sure she had all her bags before she left.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/587495.html. You can comment here or there.

Worldbuilding: The Academy

Oct22

The Empress Edalleddallendu Academy of Higher Learning at Ilelteddez

The Edally Academy was begun approximately one thousand years ago, in the time of the Emperor Eleddeltendel, who started four such academies around the country, naming them all after his ancestors. It occupies a place just outside the old walls of Ilelteddez, (ocean-on-land, seaport), a coastal city between the Arran Cities and Lannamer.

When it was first built, it was a single tower with three outbuildings. As the school expanded, three more towers were built around the first tower.

About 500 years ago, the original tower was torn down. Its foundation serves as the basis of a central courtyard now.

Around the courtyard, nine towers reach 6-1/2 stories into the air. These towers were originally both classroom and dormitory; now they serve as dorm space only.

A ring of buildings, connected by archways, circle the towers. The buildings are about 3-1/2 stories tall, and where their roofs touch the towers, a walkway has been built.

Those buildings now serve as primary classroom buildings for the school, however, the first story of each is now given over to teacher & staff apartments.

Outside of those are another ring of buildings, usually about 1 story tall. They serve as adjunct classrooms, outbuildings, and the like.

The towers themselves narrow as they go up, and are constructed of red stone with grey sandstone accents. They are built around a wide, round central chimney, which vents to the sky. Their windows are narrow, and only in recent years have the Art students begun replacing all of the oiled-cloth windows with stained glass to allow some light – and less air – in.

A spiral staircase circles the chimney all the way up; at the landing for each floor there is a small student lounge around a fireplace. The dormitory rooms ring the floor; smaller rooms on the top floor, larger rooms on the bottom. The school has a drop-out/failure rate such that, while it admits 18 students to each House each year, only nine to 12 graduate.

The first-year dorms – at the top – are three to a room, consisting of a fold-up bed, a fold-down desk, a folding chair, and the Calenyena equivalent of a trunk (rather like a garment bag) each. Bedding and upholstery is in House colors.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/587250.html. You can comment here or there.

On this Date: Addergoole Drabbles of Rozen

Oct22

October 22, 2004

“What are you planning on doing now?”

Rozen hadn’t meant to collect a mascot. Keeping pets in school was one thing, but the world outside was different.

It had turned out, though, that the world outside was a bit difficult. And she’d volunteered. Liked his biceps.

“You tell me.” Not quite a mascot. More of a seeing-eye girl.

October 22, 2013

“Rozen, boss, you can’t fight them.”

Lily was dragging on Rozen’s arm. When Austin had left him, he’d found her: flame-red hair, freckles all over. He liked redheads.

“Lil. Let go.” He pushed her behind him. “Go get my weapons, then you can hide or run.”

“Boss, you’re going to die.”

“No. But you’re definitely not going to.”

He really liked redheads.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/586940.html. You can comment here or there.