#collection.queries

thanks for the ask!!!!

the real and alternate title is "Lupa and the Dog"

The wip isn't really all that developed (if you've read my prev ask then you can see the pattern with my wips lol), but it basically came about after I watched one too many spy/assassin movies and wrote down this little excerpt in the notes app

To say that the events of my life could be categorized by before-Lupa and after-Lupa is false. Largely because anything before-Lupa is merely irrelevant. Nonexistent. A speck of a fragment of a grain of sand. There is no me-before-Lupa because I had only begun to exist on the night Lupa reached her hand out and poured life into my bleeding husk. And the other reason... well, there can be no before-Lupa and after-Lupa, because there will never be a me-without-Lupa. And since there is no before or after, we are left only with the beginning. I was eight when I first met Lupa.

The story centers around the relationship between the titular "Lupa", a highly-skilled assassin working for The Duchess and the unnamed narrator who she's forced to train as her successor. Though... "Lupa" is less of a name and more of a title, really, so they're both nameless in that regard.

Conceptually, the wip was meant to be in dual POV. on one end we have the unnamed narrator ("the dog") recounting their life being raised by Lupa and their growing obsession with their mentor (they want her praise, her attention, they want to surpass her, they want to BECOME her.) And then on the other you have the pov of "Lupa", decades older, retired, and presumed dead by the duchess she once served but now being hunted by a monster that she had a hand in creating.

So...yeah, what if shifu and tai-lung from kung fu panda but they're fantasy assassins and fucked up

Happy STS and thank you for the ask!!!

The "ill omens" part is, honestly, up to interpretation. As much as Fenice and much of society internalize her being an omen-bringer/harbinger of misfortune, much of that reputation is really rooted more in superstition than it is fact.

When the Trinity came together to fashion humanity from the earth, life-giving Meidther used a drop of her own blood to bring Their creations to life, and in doing so blessed them with a fraction of Their own divine power. This was what the magi called arcanum, though to the layperson it was known as simply magic. Though only few would be able to wield this power beyond the simplest of spells, everyone that walked the earth and drew breath had some measure of magic running through their veins, for it was proof that the goddess gave them life, proof of their creation at the hands of gods. But in rare occurrences there are those who would be born without that divine blessing of magic, and in their weak and sputtering wails would soon perish in its lack. Deadborne, those pitiful creatures were called. The ones born already destined for death. Incomplete creations, some called them. Divine mistakes. That was until enough people realized that the birth of a deadborne oft times preceded some great change, a disturbance in the status quo, and from then on decided to call them something different. Omen-Bringers. Harbingers of Misfortune. The birth and death of a deadborne spelled certain calamity in the future.

-- When Comes the Dawn, Chapter 5: Pitiful Creatures

The superstition goes that a deadborne in the family usually means some great change/upheaval to come in the future. Kind of like a human canary in a coal mine haha. Whether one would interpret that as an "ill omen" is really up to the person.

(Not sure about the question of bad vs ill omens though? At the very least I use them to mean the same thing).

🌧Rain: What is one thing that can immediately ruin your character's mood?

For Nike it's his in-laws.

Congratulations anon! You somehow managed to do the impossible: make me worldbuild WCTD's magic system

I need you to know that this one ask consumed me for a day and a half and ended up spawning a near 1k word page in my wip notion.

Genuinely glad you asked this. No I am not ok

Anyway, here's the highlights of that doc

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While there are various theories and schools of thought about the subject depending on where you grew up and who you ask, there are a few universal characteristics about magic that everyone considers to be true (with exceptions).

All human beings are born with a mystical energy that gives them life***

Imbuing this energy into a target allows it to be controlled; this act is called THAUMATURGY (i.e. magic)

***The notable exception to this are deadbornes, which are humans that are born without this mystical energy (ichor). Though considering that almost all infants with these condition die during or shortly after delivery, it can be said that existence of deadbornes is the exception that proves the rule. As of yet, the etiology of this condition is unknown.

The earliest and oldest demonstrations of thaumaturgy centered around elemental magic: earth, wind, water, fire. The elements are considered to be the rawest form of energy manipulations. As these elements are present in abundance everywhere, they are the easiest to become ‘in-tuned’ to.

There is, however, no universally agreed upon origin of this energy or understanding of how it works. In the Raian continent alone, many scholars have spent lifetimes studying how this mystical energy works and experimenting its limits. A great amount of the current treatises on magic are based around the works of the long destroyed Il’Saharin House of Wisdom. The House of Wisdom referred to a guild of libraries and scholars during the second Saharin Dynasty in central Raia. These scholars amassed and translated a large collection of books and scrolls from all parts of the globe, with a particular focus on magic. This centralized hub of information is what contributed to the Saharin Kingdom’s golden age of arcanum, as the works its scholars produced would greatly influence Raia’s understanding of magic.

One of the most prevailing theories that caught on is that this mystical energy was divinely wrought. According to Trinitarian lore, the goddess of creation Meidther used her own blood (and in some versions, cuts out her own heart) when imbuing life into humans. Among cultures that prayed to this pantheon, this myth is what influenced the idea that this mystical energy is similar to, or flows parallel to, blood. And so they called this energy ICHOR.

Maybe right about now you're thinking "okay you've said all this, but you still haven't explained how magic actually works." This is because I still don't know. Not fully, anyway.

The basic concept of thaumaturgy is that a successful spellwork is done by enacting the right set of commands (spells) imbued with sufficient enough energy (ichor). Though these concepts are non-quantifiable, many teachers like to simplify this idea for new students with the equi ation W = C+E (or if you are in Aetier, W=S+I).

Beyond that, the use of thaumaturgy is further divided into three schools of learning: Exoturgy, Somaturgy, and Lexiturgy.

EXOTURGY is the command and manipulation of objects in the environment. It is the oldest of the three as well as what comes to mind when people think of the word magic. The largest field of study centers around elemental manipulation.

SOMATURGY is the manipulation of the cells, flesh, and energies of the human body. Much of somaturgy lies within the context of healing sickness and wounds, though there have been some recent interest in its application toward body augmentation (e.g, temporarily strengthening bones and muscles, and inhibiting pain receptors).

LEXITURGY is the use of physical script inscribed on an object to host a particular series of commands (i.e. enchantment). It is the youngest out of the three schools, having only existed within the past couple of centuries, and has revolutionized the way magic is thought. It is highly experimental but its potential applications promises to not only make magic more accessible to the untrained, but to expand the limits of how and what kind of magic can be performed.

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And that's a wrap! (for now). Trust me when I say there was more but most of it is extraneous stuff that probably won't feature much in WCTD

Special thanks to Nicole for opening my eyes to the unfortunate thing that is magic academia. Please let me out of this hell

Thanks for the ask anon!!!

I did have a map for WCTD, but it was so old and outdated that Aetier was still a kingdom that bordered fantasy fake Germany. So to answer this ask, I went ahead and made a new map! (Shout out to Pris @serpentarii for sending the map tutorial they use, I owe you my life). It's not super duper accurate, just because there are details I forgot to add, and I'm still squinting at the general shape of the borders, but its mostly correct.

When Comes the Dawn takes place on the continent of Raia, primarily in the Aetierian Empire. Below is a map showing Aetier and its two plot-significant neighbors, the kingdoms of Hesperia and Leohthal

The empire owes much of its prosperity to their control over the Iphegenian Sea, considering as its a gateway of trade between the continents of Raia, Ior (to the east), and Ostri (to the south). The Empire's capital, Kaelstanopoli (not marked), was at the center of this trade route.

Important geopolitical developments for WCTD though is Hesperia coming under Aetier's rule during the Hes-Aei war (though most people in Aetier just call it Dantalion's Hesperian campaign).

Below are pre-war (before the book) and post-war (when the book starts) maps of Aetierian territory.

Fun fact! Hesperia and Aetier used to be one country, with Hesperia being the empire's "birthplace" and eastern/south-eastern Aetier being the financial capital. Hesperia's secession from the Empire occurred during the Era of Three Crowns, a period of civil war where 3 vi Aetier heirs (Anastasia, Theophanes, and Karas) waged war against one another for the throne.

Long story short: Anastasia defeated Theophanes and declared herself Vasilier. Karas seceded his territory from Aetier and became king of Hesperia. Both groups were too exhausted with fighting to continue on (though the rivalry between both countries persisted through the centuries).

Short answer? Dantalion wanted to see if he could do it and get bragging rights

Long Answer?

As mentioned in the last ask, Hesperia seceded from the empire during the Era of Three Crowns (E3C). Neither Karas of Hesperia or Vasilier Anastasia could gather enough resources to prolong the king's game even if they wanted to. But the loss of Hesperian land was a stab in the gut for the Aetierian Empire, because that land was their birthplace. It was their roots, their beginning. It was the place Kaelstansa the Great (their first ruler) was born and bled and died in.

Losing Hesperia was like losing a piece of their history, and Aetier wanted it back.

After Anastasia's death, many vasiliers have tried staging campaigns in the name of reclaiming Hesperia and re-uniting the Empire with varied degrees of success. And at some point, it also became about pride and bragging rights, of making your place in history and shouting "look! I have done what others before me have failed to do!"

Thanks for the ask @inky-duchess !

Fenice + 3. Is there something about your character’s appearance that they would change if possible?

She'd love it if she didn't appear so sickly looking, being a super pale red-head doesn't help because without proper sun protection she'll probably turn red in the sun in less than an hour. And maybe if her appearance looked less fragile people would take her more seriously

Fenice + 7. Is there someone your character tries to look similar to?

Fenice tries to look like her father, Dantalion. Not in physical appearance but moreso in outward demeanor, I'd say. Fenice takes after her mother, Titania, a lot in terms of physical features but the only trait she inherited from Dantalion is the silver eyes. Dantalion is someone Fenice has wanted to have a connection with since she was a young girl, but in adulthood realized that she really doesn't know how to connect with him. Emulating him is her way to try and forge that connection and to endear herself to him, in some small way. Little does she know that it only does the opposite.

Thanks for the ask @inky-duchess!

General + Violet - Do a voice claim for your OC

I'm not kidding I have no idea what any of them sound like 〒▽〒 They sound like the voices in my head but if you ask me what actor or person they sound like then I will immediately forget the voice of everyone ever