(Originally posted on December 19, 2014. Only covers Legends of Windemere for a bit, but it was still interesting.)
City in Narnia
This location has yet to be visited in the books, but it has been mentioned. Ruled by Queen Ionia, Darkmill is a City of Magic and the Eastern Sister City. By City of Magic, I mean it is created from the aura of its ruler. A powerful caster uses his or her aura to create the city and it remains in existence as long as that person is alive. Once they die, all of the buildings and other structures vanish until a new ruler claims the crown and builds a new city. This typically has a new name too, so cartographers are not fans of this city system.
Darkmill isn’t really about the laws since those remain the same throughout the incarnations unless the new ruler changes a few things. In fact, Darkmill tends to be the most independent of the Serabian cities. Many people forget that it is even part of the kingdom since it has a Queen and tends to stay out of the main politics of the region. The laws of Darkmill are kept in a magical tome that always survives the loss of a leader and has the name of the city inscribed on the cover. The knowledge within is immediately revealed to the new ruler through the enchanted crown, so there is very little issue with the transition.
Now, you might be wondering why such a city is under the Serabian Kingdom instead of working on its own. Well, that’s because of the nature of the city. A new ruler is not always an automatic thing for Darkmill and there have been times where a year or two will pass before the appearance of a caster worthy of the crown. Not every caster can do this since it takes a lot of power, so a system is in place to protect the citizens. There are only 50,000 people in this big city because of the risk of losing your home. To help these people, Darkmill has an agreement with Gods’ Voice and they have created a fund to house the homeless citizens around the kingdom. This money is collected as part of the taxes from Darkmill and builds up over time.
For anyone wondering, there are ways to rebuild and alter the buildings created from the caster’s aura. Natural products are used to make the changes and they are ‘absorbed’ into the aura section. One could say that they bond and take some of the pressure off the ruling caster. These parts vanish along with the original, which tends to leave only personal belongings.
(Originally posted long ago on ‘World Pangolin Day’. I feel like people need to remember they exist considering how much poachers love them. Really hope they can be saved.)
I find these animals fascinating. Never knew about them until my son started watching ‘The Wild Kratts’ when he was around 4. I mean, I knew there were armored anteaters out there, but I didn’t know much more than that. So, I had to make a post about the pangolin even if it’s a day late. I mean, they’re on my list of animals to post about anyway. I promise the orangutans will be here in 2 weeks.
Pangolins are the most illegally trafficked animal in the world. For example, in 2019 it was found that 1,000,000 pangolins were trafficked over a 10-year period. That’s one trafficked pangolin every 3 minutes. That’s insane.
Also, keep in mind that trafficking is the only reason they’re endangered. They’re not suffering from a plague, losing their habitat, or being taken out by an overpopulation of predators. Well, that last one is kind of true because humans are the predators. Some countries believe pangolin meat is a delicacy and that their scale have medicinal properties. While the USA doesn’t do that, we do have a demand for their skins to use for leather products. Guess if it has scales, an American will try to make a boot, belt, and/or purse out of it.
Here’s a great site for more information: SAVE PANGOLINS!
Now for pictures of the 8 species. 4 are found in Africa and 4 are found in Asia. I couldn’t find population amounts, which worries me. All pictures found in a Yahoo Image Search.
AFRICAN SPECIES: BLACK-BELLIED PANGOLIN (ALSO CALLED THE LONG-TAILED PANGOLIN)
AFRICAN SPECIES: WHITE-BELLIED PANGOLIN
AFRICAN SPECIES: GIANT GROUND PANGOLIN
AFRICAN SPECIES: TEMMINCK’S GROUND PANGOLIN
ASIAN SPECIES: INDIAN PANGOLIN
ASIAN SPECIES: PHILIPPINE PANGOLIN
ASIAN SPECIES: SUNDA PANGOLIN
ASIAN SPECIES: CHINESE PANGOLIN
There’s all 8. Now for a cute video:
This is the only full week I get between the summer session and the next school year. You can only imagine all the fun and excitement I enjoyed. So much relaxing, writing, and . . . If you’ve read my blog long enough, you know my luck doesn’t go that way. Not when I stay home, so hopefully the father/son trip we’re doing for the next few days will help me regain some energy.
Now, I did make some progress with Darwin & the Deadland Queen. I finished chapter 4 and did the first section of chapter 5. This required a bunch of stopping mid-chapter and coming back the next day, which I hate. Part of me feels like the sections are terrible because of this, but I took an evening to look them over. They aren’t really that bad. I think one issue I’m having is that people aren’t hoarding information, so Darwin and his companions are able to get answers fairly quickly. I tried a few times, but I couldn’t come up with any rational reason for people to be standoffish. I think having a happy, friendly, kind character in the vicinity diffuses people enough that they want to help. At this point, I think one of Darwin’s unsaid ‘powers’ is putting people at ease and making them want to help. Up there with Clyde probably having low level telepathy and not noticing.
I’m bringing writing gear for the trip since my son wants to work on his art. One day is a big outing to a museum while the other is a morning walk through a preserve then a relaxing afternoon. Torn between trying to work on Darwin & the Deadland Queen or Coven of the Gray. I’m bringing what I need for both. Depends on how I’m feeling in the moment. My goal to finish the first 1/3 of the novel before the school year starts isn’t going to happen, but I think I’m only going to miss it by 1 chapter section. Maybe I’ll get lucky and I can finish chapter 5 during the 3 days I have between superintendent conference days and kids returning to school.
This all sounds positive, which is good. Much of the chaos involved custody situations since the whole thing is in ‘flux’. So, it isn’t easy for me to predict when I’ll have time to write and when I won’t. Starting to figure out how to juggle everything though. I also had to get ready for school since I go back the day after we return from our trip. That really just meant a haircut. Throw car trouble into the mix, which I’m so glad got fixed before we had to leave. Oh, there was also a major storm that resulted in flooded roads and coastal tornadoes. I don’t live on the coast, but my son and I didn’t get out of the mall and home before the storm hit. The weather app told me I had an hour more than I actually did, so it started as we stopped out into the open. Clearly, we made it home, but one road had me worried because the water was really high due to clogged drains.
Really wasn’t much else to talk about and I’m not planning a ton for next week. It’s mostly trip and week with only one day to rest. Plus side is that there isn’t going to be much in the way of Pokemon events going on. I still plan on going out once a day, but I won’t be pushing hard in the game. Honestly, I’ve reached a point where I can pull back a bit. I’m almost at the level 80, which is the highest one right now. The only issue is that this has become my only exercise. Might start adding 20-30 minutes of stationary bike into my day if possible. Not sure if the 10,000+ steps a day AND biking 7-10 miles a day will help with weight loss. Trying to cut down on what I eat and limiting junk food, but nothing is making a dent. That’s a hurdle for down the road though.
Goals of the week:
(Originally asked on January 21, 2016. Probably have done it again since, but editing is always a fun topic to bring up.)
Yahoo Image Search
Part of me thinks I already did a Questions 3 on editing, but I’m too lazy and tired to search for it. Probably because I’ve been scrambling to edit this week. Not easy to do when it’s so cold that I want to hibernate and the most comfortable position I can find is kneeling next to the bed. Honestly, I’ve seen a lot of authors are in editing mode, so maybe this will be more fun than I realize. Let’s move on to the questions.
Answer for 3: I feel like I should answer this to be fair since I’ve answered the other two several times over the years. I think the backwards spelling is appropriate because you’re washing out the mistakes and stinky stuff from your manuscript. Like how the tide going out will carry stuff away. Then again, you could be left with a dead whale on the shore and that’s just upsetting. (I also now realize there’s a detergent called Tide. That works here as well.)
Anchorman
(So, this is a poem depicting a scene in Beginning of a Hero. It was one that kept evolving with giving more to secondary characters and leading up to Luke Callindor making a big mistake. There’s some childish humor in it too, but I think it works given the setting.)
Divided in pairs
By the stern instructor
Forced to depend
On the skill of another
Teamwork
The crucial skill
Essential to survive in battle
The drill is simple
Two on two
An even match
Yet for some
The difficulty rises
When paired
With a rabid rival
He is fast
While she is strong
A perfect pairing
But neither one
Can stand the other
And their foes
Are their mirror image
It starts off foul
Arguing
And working alone
Tempers flair
When she uses him
As a blunt weapon
To smack the larger boy
Their teacher shouts
And threatens
Promises of labor
In the distant swamp
Filled with mire
And monsters
Feared by all the class
A change is sensed
They work together
Keeping the others
Off balance
Until the moment’s right
And they divide
To battle one on one
She wrestles with the big man
His massive strength|
Against her corded muscle
Both backed
By Giant’s blood
Pummeling each other
Like warring bears
Her ally has the girl
The princess of the class
She backs away
From his flurry of attacks
Stumbling like a fool
Yet mysteriously
Always out of reach
The big man cries
As his knee is buckled
His partner runs to help
Forgetting
Where she is
And that the fleet-footed boy
Is standing in her way
He reaches out
To grab her arm
Missing as she weaves
Yet his hand is full
Of her simple shirt
That tears away
And ends the day’s lesson
(Originally posted on April 8, 2015. Do not follow list if weather or situation puts self at risk of harm.)
Yahoo Image Search
(Originally posted on December 18, 2014. Only covers Legends of Windemere for a bit, but it was still interesting.)
Waterdeep from Forgotten Realms
The Central Sister City is where Duke Solomon, ruler of Serab, lives and makes the kingdom laws. Again, this is a rather basic system with a ruler and his advisers. I’ll get more into that later, but first an explanation of the Law Archives.
Gods’ Voice is one of the few cities that survived the Great Cataclysm and the only one to retain its rulership during the chaos of the following years. That’s why it became the center of the Serabian Kingdom and has such an oddly shaped territory. The chaotic regions that weren’t part of the jungles, plains, mountains, barbarian territory, and desert were absorbed. They were placed under the former laws of Gods’ Voice and the residing Duke created his first council. This resulted in a year long meeting to create new laws and revise the old ones. Every region and species got a say, which is why you see such a mix in the cities. You also have strange laws that stuck around for some reason such as ‘The Throne is responsible for any damage done to an administrative office by the forces of an enraged barbarian’.
As for the Duke and his advisers, they rule until their leader decides to retire. When the Duke steps down and hands the throne to his successor, his closest advisers retire as well to make room for the next group. There is a period of training their replacements to make sure they know where everything is and they are always on hand to help. The idea is to always make room for the future and for a ruler to have those he/she has trusted for longer than they have ruled. This may also stem from a few incidents in the past where retained advisers attempted to push former agendas that were no longer viable.
(These guys really do live up to their title.)
Hello again for another animal. This one is the ‘World’s Happiest Animals’ because they always seem to be smiling. They aren’t afraid of people either, so there’s a trend to get a selfie with them. Of course, they live in Australia, so you can’t do it that easily unless you’re a local. What are they?
The Quokka
Now, this is a type of wallaby, which means they’re a marsupial. They are considered vulnerable for the following reasons:
Here’s a site with more info. QUOKKA!
Since they’re a type of wallaby, they’re a subspecies themselves. So I won’t have different types. Means more pictures of them in general. Enjoy. (All images found in Google Image Searc.)
And let’s not forget some videoes. The second one is very informative.
Legends of Windemere 