April A-Z Blogging Challenge: S is for Sky

The Meme Master Post

S is for the shore, and the sky, and the storm

I was going to do another piece of Things Unspoken for this, but:

a) I just posted one, and I like to wait for feedback before posting the next.

b) I’m waiting for a city name and it seems weird.

c) I’ve written about Nereids and Octopi and am a bit tapped on oceanic things

d) Sea-and-sky will always be Kailani to me.

(I am writing this in Written Kitten Sky, and this is the pic as I begin)

So I’m going to talk about Addergoole and Kailani.

Kailani was, as far as I can recall, the first character I came up with for Addergoole. Her name was almost certainly the first – it means “sea and sky” in Hawaiian, a name picked to suit her perfectly.

In the world Addergoole is set in – the Faerie Apocalypse – the names fae fathers give their children have, or are supposed to have, great meaning and significance. Every father spends some time in meditation – some take this duty far more seriously than others – contemplating their child’s future. Even those who have not a bit of foresight will often gain some insight during this ritual, and those who take their duty seriously will use that insight in naming their child.

(Some don’t. Aelfgar, for instance, who names his children things like “Elf-gift” (Aelgifu); Shadrach, who named his first two children after himself: Chander, Chandra).

Kailani’s father knew what he was doing with her! Sea and Sky is a perfect name for this relatively stormy personality. She has a strong affinity for the water and the wind – both in terms of personality and in her magic. Her physical skills – dancing, fighting, riding – have a fluidity about them given to her by the water and the wind. And she will see calm at first, utterly laid-back, and then the storms will roll in and she will blow her top.

All of the main characters – and most of the background characters – in Addergoole have some story behind their name, but I’m the fondest of Kailani’s, even now.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/931613.html. You can comment here or there.

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