#kaslay

“I already told you that you can’t keep showing up here,” Tresha whispered to the air, blinking back tears, struggling to keep her hands from shaking as she threw together a salve from what little remained of their supplies. “For once would you listen to me?”

Andren and Esyin had volunteered to help. They were behind her, trying to help staunch the blood pouring from too many wounds.

There were too many injuries, too many people on the brink of death, more being brought in even hours after the battle had ended. Even someone in Lenesse’s condition only warranted a junior healer; the resources of the healers were spread distressingly thin. Under normal conditions, both Andren and Esyin should definitely be getting examined, but they were still mobile, still functional—their wounds were lower priority.

Scrubbing tears from her face with her sleeve, Tresha turned back to Lenesse with an amount of salve that seemed too little, too insignificant in the face of this. But it would have to do. Somehow.

She shouldered Esyin aside. “Could you start cleaning the needles? I’m going to need them for stitches.”

Esyin’s face was blank, more lost than she had seen him since he was a kid.

She pointed Andren to the wound on her shoulder, taking over to start cleaning the gash in Lenesse’s stomach. “Esyin, that means to burn them and wipe them off with one of the clothes in the corner. Those are the clean ones.”

Lenesse’s skin was scorching to the touch. Fever had already set in, and so had infection. Angry red streaks surrounded the swellings, mud and dirt still caked around them.

Part of Tresha hissed at her that, as a healer, she had a duty to others as well. She couldn’t afford to struggle this hard for a lost cause, not when so many other lives were at stake. She was being selfish, simply because she knew this person and not others.

Lenesse: attracts trouble like a black hole. Wants to make a difference in the world anyway.

Andren: There’s a terrible war going on. He’s going to protect his family through it or die trying.

Tresha: Pacifist, healer, the only one of the group with the Common Sense Braincell.

Esyin: A brilliant strategist, curious about everything. Tries to think his way out of everything.

Narin: Determined to prove that he doesn’t need as much protection as everyone thinks. Never runs out of jokes.

Sir Ralben: Acutely aware of the knife’s-edge their country walks on, and misses his old friend. Takes the idea of mentoring the younger generation very seriously.

King Zerzan: Knows he’s not good enough to pull off the victory Kaslay needs. But he’s going to keep trying anyway.

Lanshir: Arrogant, spiteful, fully believes he’s the only one who can properly lead Kaslay.

Shis: Cunning, selfish, just trying to ensure his own survival at the cost of everyone and everything else around him.

Argior: There’s probably a picture of him under the dictionary definition of “bully.” Likes power.

"Viv": Orphan kid trying to work her way off the streets and into a comfortable life. If slowly.

Sethol: Warm, open; try your best and he’ll help you as much as possible.

Fylon: Happy to have acquired a new friend and student. Now, to figure out what he’s supposed to be doing….

(Species: Byrlyk)

Whumptober, Day 1

For more info on characters and setting, go here

1780ish words

It didn't take Lenesse’s brain too long to catch her up to speed, even as she was still opening her eyes. Bound, sprawled on an icy stone floor in the Nyrthyl stronghold, still damp, covered head-to-toe in foul-smelling swamp mud, as well as various cuts, scrapes, and bruises that stung like she’d been bathed in lemon juice. Where the bog-walker had bitten off a chunk of her flesh burned and ached, itching fiercely from dried blood, dried mud, and the rough-woven ropes pulled tight just below it. 

And before that: the panicked chase, running from Lanshir and his men. The border of the Nyr Swamp. Her brilliant idea that could maybe have given them a fighting chance — because of course no one would be stupid enough follow a quarry into a cursed swamp.

On the plus side, she had been right. No one had followed them.

On the down side, no one had needed to.

I won’t go into too many story details because it’s pretty spoiler related, but Lenesse and Andren are fairly high-ranking military officers at this point. Argior used to be on their side, in their army, but after a series of events he deserted. He was one of the most talented warriors.

His life became a mess on many different levels, and he blames Lenesse and her friends for all of that - particularly Lenesse, who he hates with a burning passion. It’s kind of his main motivation in life at the moment.

At this time, in their country (Kaslay) certain power struggles are going on, and it seems to be that Argior is working with a shadow figure, manipulating events. 

[Long post incoming, but it’s mostly story summaries]

While on one hand this world isn’t as creative as some of my other worlds, this is perhaps the one with the most details simply due to it being my “main” world, the world where a large majority of my stories take place. It is also unique in another aspect: unlike the other worlds mentioned up to now, space travel is a thing here. That being said, the planet where most of the stories take place doesn’t have space travel capabilities (at the moment anyway), so it’s not really something that comes up. There are a few stories set in space, though, unrelated to that one planet.

Any extra worldbuilding will be dealt with in the context of its connected story. What you need to know for now is what exists of the magic system (still in development). Basically, it boils down to a tier system, where every tier higher has new abilities gained. I do not currently know if it’s genetic or if it’s random [side note, in Mirrajers magic is genetic but mirrajing is random]. You cannot switch tiers, as that would be to gain abilities you were not born with any capacity to use. Innate magic exists as well as cast magic, depending on tiers. Bottom tier, the most common type of magic, includes physical enhancements (like increased speed, or strength). There is also some elemental magic, but it doesn’t follow the same ‘four element’ pattern - it mostly just means abilities that are connected to something that exists in nature, like ice, or lightning, or clay. Again, it depends on the tier. Higher tiers include non-elemental/natural abilities, like cast magic or telekinesis-esque abilities.

As for stories, there are, essentially, five longer series and a number of “one-shots” - either duologies or standalone stories - as well as a few short stories.

The first series on the planet Raskarr (or at least the first that comes chronologically) is about a young cripple girl, the daughter of a renowned general and king who believes that she is cursed; more specifically, a curse on him. Despite growing up in that (not so) loving environment, she grows up to be a brilliant military strategist - and the continent’s best chance against the invading army known as the Wolves. [tag: #Klarnbyr]

The next long series is more episodic, generally focusing on a different person/lifetime in each book. The first story is about Redrose, a hotheaded young archer whose family gets killed in a war between Safyre and Qwouse. At first seeking revenge, she trains to fight in the army and engage her enemies on the battlefield; but it soon becomes more than a personal vengeance quest as she is given the responsibility of caring for a small squadron of misfit guerrilla warriors. [tag: #Safyre]

The third (and my personal favorite) is set in the country of Kaslay. The first few books deal with the main characters getting involved in a civil war, caused by a former folk hero turned villain. There’s Lenesse, the idealistic warrior with undiscovered power, hoping that maybe there’s a way for her formerly idolized hero to be redeemed; Andren, a cynic, who’s just hoping to keep his three younger siblings safe in a war that’s too big for any of them; Tresha, a staunch pacifist planning on being the greatest field medic in the army; Esyin, a genius strategist struggling to find his place in his family and the army; and Narin, the wise-cracking youngest who’s terrified out of his mind, but is more afraid of being a liability to the ones he loves - he hopes to someday to be the one saving others for a change. 

Andren, Tresha, Esyin, and Narin are all siblings (order of oldest to youngest). Lenesse is a close childhood friend of theirs, but she is from a different family and has two much younger brothers back home, one by blood and one by adoption. [tag: #Kaslay]

Crossovers are also a thing in this universe.

A standalone (that also happens to be my longest WIP) is set long after the events in Kaslay, in a smaller, more remote country called Nyviu. A boy goes missing, just before a war starts between Nyviu and the FireClan (no relation to the Fire Nation); the only people who either know or care are his cousin and a group of friends. Despite a city-wide lockdown, the group ventures into the mountains to attempt a rescue - but that goes south quickly when they are captured by the FireClan and accused of  trespassing and espionage. However, they just might find an unlikely ally in the person of a young, dissatisfied FireClan soldier who dreams of a future where she can live, peacefully, in a world beyond the FireClan caves. [tag:#Nyviu]

I have the first and a half (rather terrible) drafts of that one done, but I’m currently working on another project that I want to finish before I get back to it.

Moving to space, we have the story of Jarryd, a half-”dragon” (actually an alien) hybrid who serves a sorcerer studying the effects of magic and abilities in different people/species, through... well, let’s call them experiments. Jarryd works as a bodyguard/spy/“talent scout”. While on an unrelated trip, he runs into a girl (Ashley) who seems to have multiple strong abilities - but those abilities clearly don’t conform to what’s known of magic’s tier system. Originally approaching her in order to “acquire a new test subject” (as his employer/grandfather terms it), he unwillingly ends up as close friends with her - which, while it doesn’t initially stop him from doing his job, does lead to him more closely investigate the organization he’s been blindly working for since he was a kid. [tag:#Jarryd&Ashley]

"Well, at least we're still alive!"

*distant crashing*