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"The Sum of Things" index post
Oct. 2nd, 2003 01:00 am---------------------------------------------
The Sum of Things: Index Post
---------------------------------------------
"The Sum of Things" is an unfinished rough draft of a long and complicated fantasy novel. It is, to borrow a phrase from Jim Butcher, 'swords and horses' fantasy, dealing with the internal politics and external wars afflicting a disintegrating empire.
The nation of Kanos was constructed first as a sort of federal alliance of several smaller nation-states in Alland and Auvern, to be governed by an assembly of the aristocracy and ruled by a queen. Royal inheritance goes by blood descent from House Mordrin, but the queens must be elected by the Assembly of Nobles, which is now largely controlled by the Inner Council. Kanos grew quickly in its early decades, absorbing the rest of Alland, Corthia, Orifan, and Damiland through conquest and marriage alliances, but in the past half century it's begun to decline and pull apart.
The current queen, Ithova Keranae Altus-Mordrin (called Ranna by her family and close friends), is trying to reverse this centrifugal spin. She also faces external threats in the form of Dorin Rhae, whose rulers think half of Orifan should rightly belong to them; Halo, whose people have fought a centuries-long intermittent holy war with Kanos and its southern neighbors; and the western barbarians beyond the Gates of Auvern.
Ranna's unlikely aid comes in the form of Talin ben Cilvar, the son of a minor Orifani lord, who is the first person to be swordborn since Daluran Silverblade, whose strength and reputation allowed Deyrilea Nishal Mordrin to create Kanos out of that initial alliance between Auvern and western Alland.
Anyway. It's a long and complicated story, as I said, and I haven't worked seriously on it for several years, but I do mean to finish it someday.
The version currently posted on my livejournal is a very rough draft; not all of the character development or world-building is still accurate to my current draft.
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 1
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, parts 2 and 3
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 4
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 5
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 6
Chapter 2: The Widening Gyre, parts 1 and 2
Chapter 2: The Widening Gyre, part 3
-----
Sidestories
Defender of the Faith: 600 words, April 2009. Over a thousand years ago, Shemoni Kikalava fought a ritual duel with Jonoma Topio, the swordborn conqueror of the north, to determine the legal status of a new religion in Halo. [15-minute fic]
The Sum of Things: Index Post
---------------------------------------------
"The Sum of Things" is an unfinished rough draft of a long and complicated fantasy novel. It is, to borrow a phrase from Jim Butcher, 'swords and horses' fantasy, dealing with the internal politics and external wars afflicting a disintegrating empire.
The nation of Kanos was constructed first as a sort of federal alliance of several smaller nation-states in Alland and Auvern, to be governed by an assembly of the aristocracy and ruled by a queen. Royal inheritance goes by blood descent from House Mordrin, but the queens must be elected by the Assembly of Nobles, which is now largely controlled by the Inner Council. Kanos grew quickly in its early decades, absorbing the rest of Alland, Corthia, Orifan, and Damiland through conquest and marriage alliances, but in the past half century it's begun to decline and pull apart.
The current queen, Ithova Keranae Altus-Mordrin (called Ranna by her family and close friends), is trying to reverse this centrifugal spin. She also faces external threats in the form of Dorin Rhae, whose rulers think half of Orifan should rightly belong to them; Halo, whose people have fought a centuries-long intermittent holy war with Kanos and its southern neighbors; and the western barbarians beyond the Gates of Auvern.
Ranna's unlikely aid comes in the form of Talin ben Cilvar, the son of a minor Orifani lord, who is the first person to be swordborn since Daluran Silverblade, whose strength and reputation allowed Deyrilea Nishal Mordrin to create Kanos out of that initial alliance between Auvern and western Alland.
Anyway. It's a long and complicated story, as I said, and I haven't worked seriously on it for several years, but I do mean to finish it someday.
The version currently posted on my livejournal is a very rough draft; not all of the character development or world-building is still accurate to my current draft.
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 1
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, parts 2 and 3
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 4
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 5
Chapter 1: I Will Show You Something Different, part 6
Chapter 2: The Widening Gyre, parts 1 and 2
Chapter 2: The Widening Gyre, part 3
-----
Sidestories
Defender of the Faith: 600 words, April 2009. Over a thousand years ago, Shemoni Kikalava fought a ritual duel with Jonoma Topio, the swordborn conqueror of the north, to determine the legal status of a new religion in Halo. [15-minute fic]
