Just By the Way

Okay, just by the way everybody, Noria is AWESOME once again, and I am not going to reveal any more about Oua and the alligator for now. :) ("It's a crocodile," Noria exasperatedly adds).

Anyway, in case any of you were wondering, I can clear up a little more about the awesome awesome map without giving away too many spoilers.

Number one, deer-horses are not like mammoth-elephants. Mammoth-elephants are not used for transportation in the forests, just as deer-horses aren't used in the mountains. So, remember that.

Number two, the temples are the monarch in the HK. Of course they're just in the central area, but the other places are a bit more "savage" and govern more by "every man for himself" than with a permanent system of leadership. No King, no Princess, no Handsome Prince, no Democratic-Republican Senators. Just the temples - for the priests and priestesses (beginning at age 15) who have Jiaii talent. These people are very good with poisons and medicines and stuff.

Number three, the Rainforest region people are tricky, intuitive, unhesitant scammers, and live by an evolving system where law is contraband, but they are still very loyal, although they will still scam you. The second main area is the North, where it's cold and dry, distrustful and selfish. The third and last main area (these are the people areas, by the way, not the geographical areas, which are outlined in the map) is the Central area, which is the most civilized, lighthearted, educated, wealthy, and religious, and the most complex, although also the easiest to understand. The North and the Rainforest are both smaller and more obscure, and they have that sense where you don't even bother trying to understand them. So we focus on the Central area, which is where Oua was born, and where the Priestess girl will grow up.

Number four, tsibirds are awesome. Is there any more I have to explain?

Number five, the tree alligator - okay, CROCODILE - eggs are found in the hearts of the mangrove trees. I'm not going to specify what I have in mind about that yet, but it's true, and it will be important. By the way, tree crocodiles are awesome too.

And number six - EVERYONE IN HK SPEAKS THE SAME LANGUAGE AND USES THE SAME CURRENCY!!!! This may or may not be true, but by the time you read it, whatever it says will be the truth, so just read it, because good old Noria will edit it before anyone new stumbles across our blog. And hopefully, she will specify what that language and currency is, because I will need it now. Hint, hint.

All right, that's all for now! Wait for the next chapter...coming up soon!

No promises though. :D

Map of the Hourgalss Kingdom

My very first post! Alright, here is a basic map of the Hourglass Kingdom (we haven't come up with a name for it yet, so the HK works until we either change it, or of course we might decide to keep it). The Firelands is ALL of the red area, the Forests is ALL the green place, etc. The white part's the Mountain, and is the fifth country. It is impossible to reach by ordinary means (hint hint). The regions that cross the fat borders are still one region, are very alike socially and economically, and can be considered a mini-country. No more details for you!

Chapter...what is it? 5? Of the Prequel (duh!) If you do not know all this already, remember you have to start reading at the bottom.

The water was murky and dark as Oua evaporated and became one with the overshadowing clouds constantly ripe with rain. She found it much too difficult to collect her thoughts when harbored in a body as vast as the swamps.

Slithering down the trunk of one of the protruding treetops to look out over the water, Oua wished fervently that Whisp was still himself. If only...

Then she was saliva making a guttural quacking noise. It took Oua a while to get used to this. Then she realized that she must have somehow been swallowed. Whisking herself out of another opening, Oua discovered that this accident had been due to the frantic perambulating of one of the tsibirds.

Or at least, that was the best name she could give them. With slightly ruffled feathers, hyena-like backs, curious puffin beaks and big shiny eyes, the creature's call of "TCEE!!! TCEE!!!" might not actually have been its name, but more likely something that meant "WATCH OUT THERE'S A TREE ALLIGATOR COMING AFTER ME AND I HOPE YOU STAY STILL SO IT'LL STOP TO MAKE MINCEMEAT OUT OF YOU BEFORE IT HAS TIME TO CATCH ME!!!"

The tree alligator itself, indeed, was of no harm to Oua, but the sight of the swim-paddle-gliding tsibird being chased by the maniacal alligator was the first laugh she'd had in days. With a slightly rueful, slightly goodnatured, maybe-a-bit-clownish feeling, she spurted herself into the gleaming red eyes of the tree alligator just to see the reaction. After all, if it wasn't a magical creature, it couldn't hurt her.

If.

What she hadn't expected was a magic-tipped spear, lethal to her and any other spirits, to come hurtling out of the air and bury itself in the stomach of the tree alligator.

Before the Sands Trickled: Chapter 4

The wetlands. Yes, that had to be it. The wetlands. Where else could she go? The creatures back at the castle would think she'd flee to the wetlands, water being her element, but Whisp, at the very least, would be smart enough to convince them that she wouldn't possible choose the wetlands, because she would expect them to expect that, so of course she'd choose elsewhere. So they would look somewhere else. The firelands, maybe. The forests? Probably not the plains. Unless Whisp knew her too well by now.

Oua sat down and cried herself dry. It was impossible, the whole affair. Whisp wouldn't kill Terri! It should have been a dream. But Oua was much too practical for that.

No, it had all been real. But it surely hadn't been Whisp's will. The humans must have manipulated him in some way. Tricked him. Decieved him. Whisp wouldn't have accepted a bribe or threat for anything, certainly not to murder Terri. They must have used force of numbers to subdue him and then...and then what?

With terror Oua shuddered and found that her magic was wearing thin. Best to make haste to the wetlands then. Slithering from the crisp white snow into the murky green marshes past the border, Oua marveled at how quickly frosty bare branches transformed into dark swamp vegetation full of obscure life. She'd have to do as best she could here. Then maybe she'd come up with a plan.

And she would, she would come up with a plan. Whisp wasn't a traitor; he'd been betrayed. And even though she had been framed, Oua planned to save him.