Guest post
Today the author wrote a guest post and I am most happy to share it with you. Enjoy!
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The Creatures of Aronia
The Watcher of the Night Sky (part one of the Aronia Series) and The Faelti (part two) are set in a fantasy land called Aronia. There are many kinds of fantasy creatures in Aronia, some of which readers are all too familiar with, such as dwarves, pyskes, and fae. When creating my version of the fae, my original thought was to combine elves and elemental powers. But I wanted to write about creatures I hadn’t read much about, and since elves were overdone, I looked further into mythical creatures and found interest in the fae.
The fae are amongst the most beautiful beings to live in Aronia. They have the ability to decrease in size, to around nine inches tall, and have wings that are only present through choice. The wings have an elemental association, which means that their appearance matches their power. There are three different fae tribes. Members of the Tuuli tribe can manipulate the weather; members of the Maa tribe can manipulate the earth, and members of the Vesi tribe can influence the water. Independently, a fae’s power is quite weak. As a group, they become alarmingly powerful.
The fae live in isolation in Aaravale, the largest island of the Kelluva Isles. While researching and brainstorming fae and elementals, I considered what I’d learned about human culture and behaviour. Fears of the unknown and peculiar. I drew on my studies in psychology and my own experiences as a foreigner in Korea to develop their aversion and fears of others and thus came their detest of the fire manipulators and their labelling them as faelti.
The word faelti means corrupted or one that abandons in Kieli, the language of Aaravale. The development of this ability is seen as a curse from Mother Nature by the fae. They won’t acknowledge any possibility that the ability is natural. But there is always a chance that a fae infant will develop the ability to manipulate fire. The fae detest this ability so if it becomes evident, the child is rejected by society, hunted down and even killed. Some have been lucky to escape and flee to Aronia.
The faelti, like the fae, are among the most beautiful beings in Aronia. One of the biggest differences between the fae and the faelti is that the faelti have incredible blue eyes described as a rainbow of blues. Their elemental power is to manipulate fire (palo in Kieli), but it has to be present for them to do so. Although their wings have the appearance of fire, they are like an illusion and cannot be manipulated.
Another creature connected to the fae and faelti is the sudenkorento. They are a product of my moving to South Korea and seeing dragonflies for the first time. I lived in a countryside town, and so I was utterly astounded by the number of dragonflies there. Every day I was dodging them on my way to work and I was fascinated by the way they flew. Just seeing them while having the story in my mind was enough to join the two together and create the sudenkorento.
They are a mix between dragons and dragonflies and are so named using the language Kieli, which is the language of the fae. Each of the fae have their own sudenkorento – a gift given to them upon the birth of their powers. They are a sacred creature, considered similar to a brother in status. The sudenkorento can shrink in size as well as engorge to a size large enough to be ridden. They have a similar appearance to dragonflies, though look more aggressive, and come in a variety of colours and designs.
Thank you, Rachel Pudsey and LoveBooksGroup.
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