Tag Archives: A-Z Wilds Duology Challenge

How to Offend a Houndmaster

17 Tuesday Nov 2015

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Originally I was going to title this as Offensive Checklist, however that title truly stinks even though it actually begins with O. But this is O. I promise. It just sort of starts with H… This is a page out of a fictional ambassadorial reference notebook.

HOW TO OFFEND A HOUNDMASTER

Important Notes Concerning Houndmaster Interaction

*Never touch a houndmaster’s dogs!*

This can’t be stressed enough. If there is even a shadow of a doubt as to whether the dog belongs to a houndmaster’s pack, don’t touch. Generally the dog will react unfavorably to you, making it possible for you to lose a hand. Even if that does not happen, the houndmaster will take the act as a challenge. Be prepared for a fight if you make this mistake.

*Do not threaten/joke or otherwise mention the
possibility of taking a houndmaster’s dogs!*

While the occasional houndmaster might ignore you, most will react unfavorably to even the slightest comment about someone else taking over their pack or stealing their dogs. Again, the houndmaster in question will likely take this as a challenge and instigate a fight. Continue reading →

Nebraean Maps

16 Monday Nov 2015

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Song For The Wilds eBook CoverMaps…ha. You probably wish I had some professional artist create something resembling my countries. In fact, after looking at my photos, you’ll probably wish for someone whose handwriting you can read :P

Okay, in all seriousness, I drew the maps solely for myself to get a sense of direction when I was writing these two novels. These ones were more for Song for the Wilds (Book II) since the bulk of that novel takes place in the plane of Nebrae. The scribbles I used for Haunt of the Wilds will be shown on Nov. 25th for V for Virdaemn Maps.

This first map I drew was to give myself an understanding of how big the wilds territory was. I’m awful when it comes to pictures so hopefully these come out okay enough to see. Continue reading →

Lone Hound

13 Friday Nov 2015

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By the start of Haunt of the Wilds, De’vii has eleven dogs, but he didn’t always have them all. This is a tiny story about how one of his dogs, Ast, joins his pack. She’s the gray crazy one. Three of the dogs in the novel do not make an appearance in this small story, two because they aren’t born yet and one because she’s not with them.

LONE HOUND

Long before the dog attacked, De’vii sensed something trailing them. She kept downwind, hidden within the foliage, never pushing too close, even when Fel looped back searching for what hunted them.

They all felt a presence though. Even Sif, and she was still tiny enough Rid and Wress flanked her, unwilling to allow whatever might attack them to go for the smallest of the pack. De’vii hesitated for all of a moment, then allowed the confidence within their collective consciousness lull him into complacency, sure in the knowledge that were the dog to attack, they could handle it.

So half the day was spent hunting, Sif getting her first chance at a solo kill while the rest of the pack guarded her back. She ended up needing help—the spindleleg too fast for her still-growing legs—but with a well-placed bite from Fel to the creature’s foreleg, it slowed enough she managed to take it down.

Her rush of satisfied achievement enveloped them all. De’vii laughed out loud and sent back his own pride within the pulse of glowing praise from the rest of the dogs.

And right then, right when Sif stood over her first solo kill, her little teeth blackened with blood and her splotchy coat speckled with debris, was when that lingering damn wild dog decided to attack. Continue reading →

King Leamain

12 Thursday Nov 2015

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K is for King Leamain, the man given responsibility for first treating with houndmasters and bringing a portion of them north out of the wilds. This bit of history marks why there is a disconnect between the wild and civilized sides of houndmasters–those who refuse to work with other races and those who have come to live among them (mostly) peacefully.

This bit of history is important for a second reason as well, because two of De’vii’s dogs are named after Leamain and his sister Katarita.

KING LEAMAIN

During the Maddened Age, when the giant wurms still claimed a wide swath of territory across the continent of Nithe in Nebrae, natural selection had created races adept at surviving.

Some fought. Others hid.

There were the animas, who could, and would, call upon the drakes to protect them from the wurms. The crakfins, those luminescent people who made their homes in the craggiest of the cliffs and took to the water when the wurms lumbered past. The renpters, who could rip their own skin off and feed the cursed flesh to the wurms and use the wurms’ bodies to build walls of rippling flesh. The batarai, with their long, thin bodies and frail wings that took them to heights the wurms couldn’t reach. Then there were the black widows, eager to steal every talent and ability they stumbled across, giving them a range of advantages.

And, of course, the houndmasters who reigned in the deepest, darkest of the forests and who took great enjoyment out of bringing down the wurms who dared cross into their territory.

The humans who were first thrown into Nebrae through an astral portal did not have thousands of years of genetic disposition to fight the wurms. They brought skills that were different and useful, yes, but without the specific focus that would give them immediate advantage when the wurms attacked. This meant many of the first humans, criminals tossed into Nebrae from their own plane, became wurm fodder. Continue reading →

Job Board at a Doghouse

11 Wednesday Nov 2015

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AS SEEN ON A JOB BOARD IN A DOGHOUSE IN CRAFTON

PEST CONTROL

“Hoppers are overwhelming the farms in the foothills again. Will pay per set of ears. You keep the skins. Multiple farms in need, see back for addresses.”

“A feline has taken up residence outside my fences and is consistantly eating from my herd. Houndmaster and pack can keep skin and will be invited to stay within our house. Dogs welcome.”

PEOPLE
Written underneath are the words:
who can’t help themselves

“Tracker: Looking for a pack to help find a runaway. He is thirteen, human, has been taught fundamentals of masking trails and is potentially suicidal. Full offer on back is for his safe return. Will pay half of offer if you can retrieve his body if he has done the unthinkable. Please hurry.”

“Messenger: Need a runner for between the mines. Younger houndmasters preferred.”

“Tracker: Need help finding a thief. Room has been locked off and untouched so scents are preserved.”

DANGEROUS

“Hunt: A large hellion drake has come south out of Feloc’s Canvas. We are looking for multiple houndmasters to help take it down, preferably those who have worked together before. Amount on back is first offer. Pay can be negotiated.”

“Hunt: Murderer. Skilled swordsman. Has fought houndmasters before. Double pay if he is brought back alive to be executed. Dead works too.”

“Escort: I need to safely get to the Ruins of Matoxi for research. Will be staying approximately twelve days, then needing help returning safely to Crafton. Will pay all travel expenses plus hazard pay. I have a mage on retainer who can help mask us from drakes if activity is spotted. Experienced houndmasters only.”

PHP
(Pack Helping Pack)

“Three houndmaster pups needing a good home. Their dam and sire were killed on a job up near Feloc’s Canvas. Oldest is nine—she has three dogs and is capable of hunting common game. The two younger are six and five. Neither has started on their packs yet, but both are in shape and obviously were well-cared for by their parents.”

“Sick dog needing specialized medical care. Have to go south and need a second houndmaster to help support my pack on the trip. Can pay.”

“Lost pup. Last seen playing near the downtown emporium outside the mage arena. Too many scents made it impossible to track her down. Sketch included. If you have any info on her, please give it to the doghouse owners. She is lost and scared and isn’t communicating effectively within our consciousness. Please do not contact me solely to mock me—I already know I messed up.”

Scrawled across the bottom of the board, some of the words partially hidden by overlapping jobs, was: Contact doghouse owners for more information on any job. Sample contracts available for select jobs.

And hanging below that, written by a left-hander if the slant was any indication, was: We reserve the right to not post requests by those who have abused houndmaster or dog in the past.

This was for J in my A-Z Wilds Duology Challenge. Just a few sample job board offers as an idea of what might be found on one. They are usually posted in doghouses within the cities so they are only part of civilized houndmasters’ lives. This is a teaser for my upcoming novel, Haunt of the Wilds, now on pre-order for .99c.

Inflorescence Within the Wilds

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

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One of my favorite things about writing fantasy, and probably the biggest reason why Song For The Wilds eBook CoverI love it so much, is world building. I’m a huuuge fan of stories that don’t simply rely on reader expectation and instead go beyond the norm to create a world with its own rules. I’m especially happy when the stories set within the world actually follow the rules the author sets down.

I don’t feel as if it’s too hard either. A detail here. An original animal/race there. Historical tidbits. Hints of conflict in places outside of immediate setting can open the reader to the world on a macro level. Tiny details within the setting would help build up the world at a micro level.

World-building is just straight-up fun.

Of course, it’s best to temper it so words you’ve been using for months or years don’t completely confuse readers, but that’s one of the reasons I like to mix made-up names/words with everyday words since that seriously helps to ground me when I’m reading fantasy.

One of the things I did in Song for the Wilds was to create a couple of new plants. They don’t exactly have huge parts in the novel, but it was fun to do to give those tiny extra details to help create the houndmasters’ home. I didn’t do animals so much except for during my extra teaser stories, but that was because the duology was already damn long and I’d already introduced so many places and people and I didn’t want it to get too confusing. Plus, they would have just been throwaway mentions and that just wouldn’t do. Also, dogs kind of have the spotlight, what with the houndmasters, and I didn’t want to take away from that either.

So for I in my A-Z Challenge, I’m doing a weird take on a botanical listing where I wrote tiny snippets (with random houndmasters as POV) in order to give an idea of each plant.

Blackflower Vines

When I was young, I used to run through the vinery, letting the blackflower vines snake across my shoulders, leaving them oscillating in my wake. As I grew older, I learned how to soften my passage, my dogs keeping their barking to themselves as they growled and snarled within my mind, raging for the kill, their bellies seemingly in a constant state of need. Continue reading →