Tag: mythology

Categories
fantasy, short, stories

Sammorien The-Moss-Man fan art

One of my readers was so fond of the character Sammorien The Moss-Man from my short stories anthology ‘The Stories They Told Their Children’ she decided to create some fan artwork of him. Check out this gorgeous illustration by Raina Nightingale.

The book featuring Sammorien’s story is available now on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Their-Children-Fantasy-World-ebook/dp/B0BFMM78KS
https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Their-Children-Fantasy-World-ebook/dp/B0BFMM78KS

In addition to being an artist, Raina Nightingale is also a blogger and a fantasy author. She’s written a number of books in a styl she describes as “Dawndark fiction”, set in the fictional Areaer and Alaer universes, where humans live among elves, dragons, griffons and other supernatural creatures. For more details check out her blog:

https://enthralledbylove.com/
Categories
mythology

Lord Makar character origins and inspirations

Lord Makar the grim and extremely light-sensitive god of death appears to be a favorite for many of my readers so I decided to share some information about my inspirations for the character. My main inspiration for Lord Makar came from the god Hades from Greek mythology and a character called Mandos (also known as Námo) the Vala from J.R.R.Tolkien’s ‘The Silmarillion’.

Like both Hades and Mandos, Lord Makar is depicted as a grim character associated with the land of the dead. Another similarity he has to Mandos is that he performs the function of the judge of the dead and the declaration of fates. Lord Makar is the king of the underworld which is known as the Halls of Makar, inspired by the Halls of Mandos. When writing the story of his origins I tried to think of a reason why he would choose that dark place as his realm. Unlike the Greek god he is inspired by, Lord Makar had the freedom to make his own choice without being coerced or tricked by others. This is how I came up with the concept of him being extremely light-sensitive and thus terrified of bright lights which is ultimately what drove him to create his kingdom underground.

I never envisioned him as an evil entity but rather as someone whose role requires a cold and emotionless demeanor when performing his duties. I decided to contrast this by giving him a softer side depicted by his loving relationship with his queen.

While both Mandos and Hades have queens, neither of them were an inspiration for the character of Lady Morae. Unlike the Greek goddess Persephone, Lord Makar’s wife is a goddess of sorrow who was always destined to become queen of the underworld. The pale enchantress Lady Morae is associated with darkness and sadness which makes her the perfect soulmate for Lord Makar. She entered the underworld willingly and remained there out of love for her husband who never did anything to force her to stay.

Categories
fantasy, short, stories mythology

Preface

Ever since I can remember I’ve always had a vivid imagination. As a child and throughout my teenage years I would often come up with stories, though only a few of which were written and many were left unfinished. As I grew up I abandoned the hobby but maintained an interest in mythology, folklore, horror and fantasy particularly the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Andrzej Sapkowski and J.R.R. Tolkien.

The original idea behind these tales has been in my head for many years but though only recently I finally made a decision to write them down. The following set of stories act as an introduction to the culture, traditions and beliefs of the inhabitants of a fictional continent that later became known as The Gragiyan Empire comprised of four provinces: Gragiya, Arhia, Lavinium and Niralis. The fictional Gragiyan and Enai languages are phonetic with each letter pronounced as it is written; names such as ‘Cri’, ‘Dri’ are meant to be pronounced as (Kr-ee), (Dr-ee) and the same goes for nouns such as ‘lietr’ . The names of the races are always referred to in the plural so Erai, Enai and Morkrai may refer to a single being as well as groups of individuals.

Writing these stories has been a very liberating experience for me and in many ways it has had a very positive impact on my mental health. I feel that it’s provided me with a much need source of escapism away from the grim reality that started with the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. I would like to thank my family and friends for their continued support.

Iza Forestspirit