Not Gilligan's Island

Here is my first sketch of the Island of Rheza.

Rheza itself is a collection of the main land and several small islands inhabited by the Rhe'zan people.

It is to the west of Arbea Major, the continent where the majority of Emersus Project takes place. Book 2, Spirit Shear, takes place on Garz Isle (bottom right corner).

The islands in the middle are the "disputed territories". These are the main source of disputes between Rhe'zans and humaneks and is where the majority of conflict between the two races take place. The reason for the conflict is a lot older than anyone can remember but the most modern of reasons being the vast resources of precious metals that can be found on the chain of islands.

The reason humaneks consider Rhe'zans to be ruthless because, in addition to defending/attacking in the disputed territories, they have often mounted assaults on areas of Arbea Major. However, within the disputed territories there is a permanent humanek military instalment at Port Lintz.

Enjoy!
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Cat commandos

Here's a final look at the Rhezan people:

This guy should have a tail

They're definitely a feline species and will have tails. I've based the look of their facial masks and stripe patterns more on the look of a golden tiger than any other big cat. I think it gives them the fierceness but I find the colouration of the golden tiger to be quite elegant.

The Rhezan's have various classes. The ruling class, the cleric, warrior and working class. All classes are identifiable on sight. 

Ruling and mystic classes have long chin hair (nemil) and manes. The ruling class are set apart by a patch of fur on their forehead that looks like a crown. Clerics (including mystics, clergy, traders and craftsfolk) keep the long fur on their forearms shorn and their nemil braided depending on their area of work. 

Cleric

nemil alternative braiding

young royal

Warriors have long manes braided down their back but must keep their nemil trimmed. They also have the long fur on their left arm short for the use of shields in combat. The working class keep all hair trimmed and are not allowed to grow long manes (longer than shoulder length). 

 

With all the classes, the length of their hair is born of necessity. With workers, working in the sun and dealing with machinery, a lot of hair would only be a hinderance. With clerics it would not do to have the hair on your arms (or chin) falling into inks or potions constantly. But the nemil is a symbol of wisdom so they often keep it braided and tucked it into their collar when working.

Farmer's close crop

Mangy old farmer

 


Female Rhe'zans do not belong to any class as, in their society, woman are revered as subordinate to men. However, women of working classes sometimes do keep their manes cut short for ease. They do not have forearm hair at all and have less broad shoulders than males. They also have different colour manes to males.

Enjoy!
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Mapology

Mapology is not a word... at all.

But what do you call it when you develop the mythology, language and culture of a land by creating a map?

I'm updating the first map of Arbea Major which is in 'Black Star' (see initial sketches of the continent). However, as the story of Emersus Project grows so does the world in which Gemmy lives. But, to really give the world a coherent depth I've had to expand it in ways that might seem superfluous but actually have a deeper impact on the world I've created on the whole.

For example, the language of the people in the North is Germanic, where as the further south you go they become more Latin based. And as the story and world expands out to the western isles of Rheza, they have a language all their own. Oh, and and if we cross the ocean to Arbea Minor languages there have a Nordic quality. So, how does that influence naming conventions of towns and places of importance? How do culturally important sites come into play?

It's all very exciting and fun and the favourite part for me was asking friends to help me 'name that place'. I got so many great suggestions that I couldn't decide which ones to use so I've just chosen to use all of them. But this presented a challenge of how each suggested name fits in with the phonemes of the cultural linguistic landscape. So, throw in some creative spelling and invented mythology and all the places make sense.

Even more fun is through this exercise I've created stories and histories about each of the places on this map. They'll also come with the history that my friends have imbued them with for whatever inspired them to come up with the names.

My favourite invented sites are the 'faels' which are historic sites much like Stonehenge, one of many prehistoric standing circles found all throughout Britain. I had an idea for these sites but not a name for them. These are marked on the map with squares. The names were inspired when a mate suggested the name 'Gabbro' which is a type of volcanic rock.

And fear not, friends, there is more mapping to come! I still have yet to draw out in detail the island of Rheza and its landmarks and cities. So if you don't see your name suggestion here it will be included some where in the story. My biggest challenge was the suggestion of 'Fearweebo' but I nailed it!

Enjoy!
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Gemmy and Sem class photo

So, one of the big changes in the book is haircuts!!

I love doing fresh drawings of the characters before I start writing about them. I feel when you're sixteen how you feel on the inside and the changes that are taking place are reflected on the outside. Not so much style, but your attitude, and both Gemmy and Sem have plenty of attitude. Although, by the time I finished 'Black Star' I'd already started leaning towards these changes as demonstrated in the book's frontispiece.

Anywho, after much ado with, at his mother's insistence, Gemmy gets a 'proper' haircut. It's a bit 90s Joey Tribbiani from Friends, but hey, they live in a world with anthropomorphic cat and salamander people. However, despite the respectable trim, he's still less than meticulous about keeping it neat and can't manage to get his cow-licks under control.

Sem on the other hand stays true to form with a less than planned hair style. She's let it grow out, more out of indifference than anything (plus it's easier to put into a pony tail on the sparrein field). But she still proudly sports a self-sheared fringe to keep her hair out of her eyes. Our girl stays as laissez faire as ever. Although she's still not kicked the bad mascara habit.

Enjoy!
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Do you believe in magic?

If each of the books has a theme, Black Star is definitely 'science' and Book 2 is definitely 'magic'. With this in mind I've decided on a working title for Book 2 - Spirit Shear. 

In Arbea, magic is referred to as 'mysticism'. The symbol for magic is a composite of the Arbean glyphs for power and 'spirit shear' which is a combination of the symbol for 'heaven' and 'destruction'.

The concept of 'spirit shear' comes from the archaic idea that the use of mysticism is some how drawing on the power of the gods. 

Enjoy!
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Market of Garz Isle

In Book 2 - Gemmy and Sem travel to Garz Isle for the summer. It's part of the 'young citizens' programme' that is supposed to get city kids out into the more rural territories of Garz. You can imagine that neither are that impressed.

Here's a written impression of the market in the town where they're sent to, Gaz City, the capitol of Garz Isle. It has a lot of character as it's a mish-mash of the humanek and Rhe'zan who originally inhabited the island. It makes me think of my visit to the souq in Marrakesh.

I could write these scene impressions forever but I try to keep them to two pages in my writing journal. They're pretty much scaffolding for the book - ie it's just for me to have in my head as I'm taking the characters through the places.

Enjoy the Gaz City market:

"Everything is a hazy yellow - the colour of sun-blinkered sand. Even the air smells of it - sand and heat and ocean breeze and fish - everywhere you go there is an underlying reek of fish. Some places it's more pervasive than others, but it is always there, like a memory.

"There is a large square. In the centre is a parched grand fountain, the statue atop it of some winged god. Most of the buildings are made of adobe and no more than two stories high save for the impressive state house with its third story, large dome and aviary. Their unpainted pale yellow façades hum in the sunlight. Those that are painted are brightly coloured - sky blue, white, buttercup yellow - like play things - sweet shops and bakeries all inviting the customer with their eye.

"Behind the line of respectable shops there is a market street. It is wide enough for a compliment of four elephants to march down side by side. It is crowded with makeshift shop fronts and market stall all selling unique items.There is a well worn path of packed clay that paves the market with a shallow gutter running it's length. It's collected the spoils and spills from the stalls and has a fetid reek that fades into the back of your consciousness the longer you stay. There's no hint of rain, only the a damp warmth that keeps everything coated in a thin film of moisture. It's hot and unpleasantly cramped despite its width, crowds jostling back and forth. It's the type of place you would fear pickpockets if thievers weren't so severely punished.

"The meaters, fishers, weavers and merchants of every type, reputable or not, create a tapestry of sounds and smells as they boost their wares. They stand on guard, swatting constantly at the flies. There are the tiny nits that are harmless but the larger blue flies hover and bite and must be kept at bay.

"Down an alley there is an overhead causeway that connects two buildings. The intersection of the buildings forms a small square of it's own - the wanders close - where sellers peddle charms of shells and polished stone, glass bottles filled with rotten liquids and animal limbs to hang 'round your neck for love or fertility. There's a powerful smell of something sweet - incense - flower petals mixed with the heavy musk of reed bark used to invite benevolent spirits. There are many closes here on this mile long market that encloses the main square. These are where the physics, mercenaries, toxickers and other non-prescriptive services huddle together, each their own unique bloom of scents adding to the already powerful bouquet of the market."

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Jungle book

No shock, book 2 is set on the island of Rheza, the wild country. That means, lots of jungle (no swinging on vines with monkeys, I promise) and Gemmy faces an even bigger problem with the landscape: humidity with curly hair!

When I need to get my head around scenery I do an exercise where I write a short story about the surroundings. I pretend I'm a ghost who's just woken up in this unfamiliar place. What do I see, hear, feels, smell (no, I'm not planning on tasting things in a strange landscape)? So, what does this jungle look like:

"Green everywhere. Trees taller than the largest city building. You can't even see the shape and size of the leaves, just a green sky with sun coloured stars. Large sheets of decaying leaves lay about in heaps of damp peat that reeks of rain and nascent soil. The tree roots grow like doorways creating palaces for beasts and spiders and water reserves. Jaggy loops pop up here and there reminding you not to spend too much time looking up.

Below the dense canopy there is space between tree trunks. Coiled vines hang between them like a network of wires, the trees talking to one another telling the news of the day.

Copses of smaller (twice the height of a person) hedge like trees grow thickly, with small dark green leaves and spines. Tiny birds flit between the branches - nest colonies like tower blocks, rival gangs fighting out in the open - carnivorous monkeys pick up the fallen wounded and feast. They howl in triumph as they collect the spoils of avian warfare.

A large plant spire rises in the distance, six metres high. The putrid stench reaches you from 1,000 paces. It is read and violent looking, swarming insects create traffic crawling in and out of the pucker at the top. When it blooms the jungle will be a graveyard. Towards its base the bud fades and sickly yellow-green flaps peel away, the years of the plant counted in discarded blooms - it's ancient. It reaches the ground in an explosion of wild twisting roots and large propeller shaped leaves.

Away, there is the soft cheep of frogs and the squawk and screech of birds invisibly high in the trees. The sound of running water is missed - there are no rivers here. But there are murky bogs that are feeding-grounds for reptiles, insects and small snuffling mammals that dig about for larvae - Pogos. They have small round bodies covered in wirey brown hair with green reticulated stripes. Their short legs barely hold them away from the ground. From their fat, smushed faces slinks a thick prehensile snout that swashes about in the mud, all the while their tiny greenish ears dart about from atop their head probing their surroundings for trouble.

Large plants crowd the jungle floor with leaves large enough for a child to lay on. They sweep the air on long stalks. Thin vines grow symbiotically using the leaves to send out pollen from their large pink flowers. On the petals there are pink frogs the size of a thumbnail. There is a barely visible diamond on their back traced with a thin line of brown. They hop away onto a leaf and their colour gently shifts to green. These are the edible male Warri Cane. On tree trunks sit the larger female counter parts, glowing with pride. Their toxic brown bodies boast a vicious yellow diamond with a blue iris - the eyes of the jungle."

Enjoy!
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A quick sketch of some of the flora and fauna

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