Book Update – 04/03/2019

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend or are still enjoying the weekend depending on where in the world you’re reading this from.

It’s time for another update on how the editing for Encyclopedia Sarcadia is coming along. I’m very happy to announce I’m way ahead of schedule! I gave myself the aim to have the section on Tenebris edited by the end of the week. I surprised myself by achieving my goal on last Thursday, which means I’ve started editing the section on Vampires earlier than what I anticipated!

“So, what’s a Tenebris?” I hear you ask? Allow me to give you all very quick rundown.

Tenebris – The Realm of Darkness

Tenebris is my universe’s version of Hell. It’s a vast, endless battlefield shrouded in shadows. Tenebris is inhabited by multiple races of evil, vile beings and creatures collectively known as “Tenebites”. They constantly fight and murder one another unless they’re battling the armies of Caelum, (my universe’s version of Heaven).

Some of these Tenebite races include:

• Daemons
• Orcs
• Lycans
• Succubi
• Ogres

Elysia – The Dark Mother

Tenebris is currently ruled by Elysia who was originally from Sarcadia. She used to be a devoted servant of Sarcadia’s deity, Atriarch. The two copulated and, unbeknown to Atriarch, Elysia fell pregnant with his child. Her claims she bore their God’s child angered her church. Her blasphemous statement resulted in her being severely tortured and left for dead in a forest.

Elysia and her unborn child survived her punishment and she would go on to give birth to a healthy baby boy. However, Elysia immediately committed infanticide in front of Atriarch as revenge for not coming to her defence. Atriarch killed Elysia and damned her to an eternity in Tenebris.

Elysia would become corrupted by the realm’s power and she would eventually be transformed into the demonic entity she is today. She would dominant all Tenebite races and wage a bloody war on Sarcadia. Elysia extract further revenge on Atriarch by turning his favourite son, Octavian, into the first vampire.

Werewolves

Werewolves exist in Sarcadia and derive from the ancient Lycan Tenebite, Xensaroch. Werewolves in Sarcadia aren’t humans who can transform into beasts. In this universe, werewolves originally were wolves who were turned into humans by Xensaroch. Most of the werewolves in Sarcadia maintain their human form and only morph into their Lycan-like bodies when necessary.

The strength, agility, and look of a werewolf is dependent on where in Sarcadia they originate from. For example, werewolves from Rykhart are the tallest and strongest, while werewolves from Un’Kabaal are slimmer but are the most agile.

Witches

Witches also exist in this universe – further contributing to the chaos caused by Vampires, Werewolves, and other sinister supernatural beings. Not only do they worship Elysia but they also worship the ancient Tenebite, Belzabardos. It’s through the “Chatterer of Secrets” that one gains unlimited knowledge of the dark schools of magic.

There are different types of witchcraft one could study. You could spend your life learning how to raise the dead as a necromancer or, you could learn how to summon a Tenebite to do your bidding.

I could go on, but I only wanted to provide you all with a bit of a teaser! I promise you there’ll be a lot more information on the subjects I’ve mentioned and much, much more once the encyclopedia has been edited.

At the pace I’m going the final product shouldn’t be too far away if I don’t get distracted… which might happen a bit more as a kitten will be joining my home soon! I can totally see this website being transformed into a shrine dedicated to my cat!

That’s all for now! If all goes well by this time next week, I should have another big update for you.

Until next time, be safe and take care!

W.F. Thorne

Whatcha Writing There, Thorne? (16 Apr Book Update)

Howdy Thorne! Been doing much writing lately?

Indeed I have, good sir, and it’s been a productive week. The end is in sight as I push into the final stretch of Encyclopaedia Sarcadia.

The final stretch, ey? Can you finally see the light at the end of the tunnel?

I can see the light and it’s getting brighter as I push beyond 90% completion of the first draft. As I mentioned previously, I need to touch up on Sarcadia’s timeline as well as write up minor entries of the encyclopaedia which focuses on important figures and events throughout the planet’s history.

We’re almost there! How exciting! What new entries have gone into the encyclopaedia lately?

The final sections relating to Tenebris has been completed. I’ve added information regarding some of its notable residents, such as Gollentore, Xensaroch, and Nekvourntis. On the surface of Sarcadia I’ve added in some important werewolf figures such as Grigori Whiteclaw and Theron Bendoro, as well as included information on drugs and diseases one might encounter.

That seems like a lot of work. Tell us more about these Tenebites and werewolves.

I would but I think each might need their own post. There’s a bit of information to take in on each person, so a quick summary of all five might wouldn’t be ideal…

Why do I feel like you’re about to give us a teaser?

You know me too well! We’ll keep this short and sweet, so which two would you like me to quickly talk about?

Damn you! Well, how about we talk about Xensaroch and Nekvourntis?

Xensaroch was an ancient Lycan who’s responsible for the creation of Sarcadia’s werewolves. Like all Lycans, Xensaroch is a large, anthropomorphic wolf who was tasked by Elysia, the Master of Tenebris, to turn Sarcadians into Lycans. Instead, Xensaroch scouted for the world’s best wolf packs, transformed them into humans then granted them the gift to shift into an anthropomorphic wolf form similar to that of a Lycan. Though she was impressed with the result, Elysia saw Xensaroch’s act not to transform humans into Lycans as a sign of disobedience.

What’d she do to him?

She had him tortured and executed.

Damn. Elysia’s hard to please. What about this Nekvourntis chap?

Nekvourntis was another ancient Tenebite who rightfully earned the nickname “the Blood Tyrant”. He was infamous for his indiscriminate butchery and insatiable thirst for blood. The Dark Realm’s most powerful beings would temporarily put aside their differences to imprison Nekvourntis and starve him into a comatose state. The Blood Tyrant would be revived many centuries later by Elysia, who used him and his blood to develop a curse which would see the creation of the vampires.

And once Elysia got what she needed, she killed him?

No. Someone else did. But I’ll save that for another day.

Curse you and your teasing! Shall we talk about drugs?

I’m not sure this is the right forum for this discussion…

I mean the ones in Sarcadia, not the real-life ones. You mentioned you wrote about drugs and diseases.

Oh yeah! Sorry, my brain’s been in overdrive. I could briefly talk about some drugs and diseases. The most common drug in Sarcadia is known as “latisium”. It derives from a purple flower and can be smoked or baked into food, such as cakes and desserts. Users experience a euphoric relaxation accompanied by an increased appetite, enhancement of taste buds and hearing, and sometimes fits of laughter. In a nutshell latisium is world’s version of marijuana, only it’s legal everywhere.

I’m pretty sure some readers like the sound of that! How about diseases? What disgusting, gruesome things do people suffer from in Sarcadia?

I’m a little disturbed b your enthusiasm but I can confirm one nasty, common disease infecting people does by the name of “the Rot”. It starts off with one’s fingers, toes, or nose becoming numb and over time, blood stop flowing to these parts. They turn black, rot away and eventually fall off. In many cases hands, feet, and facial features decompose and must be removed. Those suffering from the Rot eventually die when their kidneys, liver, brains and other organs begin to decay away as well.

Ok, you can stop now. I’m officially done being excited.

Serves you right for being that excited to begin with. In any case, I’m happy with how things are traveling. I’m going to focus as much as I can on writing this weekend. If all goes well and I don’t get too distracted, I should soon reach close to the end of the first draft of Encyclopaedia Sarcadia.

Sounds like a plan! I’ll let you continue with your writing journey. Have fun!

I shall!

Whatcha Writing There, Thorne? (2 Apr Book Update)

Howdy Thorne! Been doing much writing lately?

Indeed I have! Last week has seen a lot of work go into Encyclopedia Sarcadia.

How far are we from the completion of Encyclopedia Sarcadia?

Still a little way to go. If I had to give it a percentage I’d say there’s about 10% of the encyclopedia to complete. Though it might seem like I don’t have much more to write, there are still some sections I haven’t started yet.

What’s there left to complete that you haven’t started yet?

Sarcadia’s timeline needs some more work and they’ll be sections of the encyclopedia which will expand a bit on important people and events throughout the world’s history. At this stage I don’t anticipate these sections will take too long to complete, but the way my brain works the world and its lore is forever growing and expanding.

What new additions have been included in Encyclopedia Sarcadia since the last update?

Last week I added information regarding various races and supernatural creatures. We now have ghouls, ghosts, reptilians, draconians, blood fiends, the Discarded, the Dolls, and most importantly – werewolves.

That’s a lot of new additions! Let’s pick a few and talk about them briefly, shall we?

Sure thing. What would you like for me to talk about?

Let’s talk about ghouls. Are they zombie-like creatures?

Not really. A ghoul isn’t some type of demon in the world of Sarcadia. A ghoul is someone who’s unfortunate enough to have been “half turned” by a vampire. Part of the process for a vampire to turn a human involves the vampire allowing the human to drink several mouthfuls of their blood.

If a human is only given a small amount of vampiric blood, let’s say a sip, they will not undergo a complete transformation. Instead they’ll become a ghoul, a creature which isn’t a vampire nor is it a human. They become a weak, skeletal-like version of their former-selves left to suffer for an eternity.

That sounds terrifying for the ghoul. Let’s move on to reptilians and draconians.

Reptilians and draconians are two reptile-humanoids who primarily live on the swamp continent of Stagnum. Most reptilians aren’t hostile towards humans and frequently engage in trade with the coastal towns and villages throughout Sarcadia. They’re much slimmer and weaker than their draconian cousins, but what they lack in strength they make up for in agility.

Draconians are larger and stronger than reptilians. They despite their weaker cousins though not as much as they detest humans. They will attack any person foolish enough to venture too close to their encampments. It’s their aim to one day regain control of Stagnum, to remove the human presence from their homeland, and to re-enslave the reptilian population.

They sound dangerous, but not as dangerous as werewolves. Let’s talk about them, shall we?

Sure thing. I’ll keep it short since there’s a lot to talk about. Unlike the common werewolf found in movies and novels, werewolves aren’t the result of a curse nor are they human. They were created by the ancient Tenebite known as Xensaroch, the Tyrant of Lycans. Xensaroch scouted Sarcadia for its best wolf packs. The wolves the Lycan Tyrant deemed worthy were transformed into humans, who could then shift into anthropomorphic wolves.

The breed of a werewolf varies per continent. Some werewolves are large and strong, while others are small and swift. Some wish to co-exist with humans, while others seek to butcher them in honour of their Lycan Tyrant.

That sounds very interesting. I wonder what role they’ll play in the Cardinal series.

I guess you’ll need to wait for the novels to come out to find out.

I guess we will but until then, it’s best you get back to work!

Photo Credit @minan1398