Big Question Though: What Would You All Like To See When The Focus Goes Back To Elvaria As I Finish Up

Not Oversimplified Elvaria Lore- Part 2, Classical History(The Age of the New Kingdoms/Creation Era)

Hikarina got the shit going so now more kingdoms will pop into existence in the nest 60,000 years

Åsthenar's island keeps moving and merges with a giant mountain range, so that's their territory and they call it the Gyvorkal Mountains Fulegria becomes Fulegor Adontium but still has their crisis The Hikarinians and Yūregians gave hope to remaining undecided survivors of The Fall that they could find a place in the world, so some began to sail out to the other continents they saw hints of from across the oceans Some feared that those landmasses from across the sea were only islands, and so held off on sailing until someone from the leaving groups returned Some Lunarisians travelled north to the frozen landmass they saw, learning to wield bitter frost to create icy paths through sea They never came back and some hope was lost, but more decided to sail away, believing the northerners had found land The frozen north became Halinskor, and the kingdom that would be established Yukiosa, the kingdom of ice Some Urthalisans sailed east to the continent saturated in elemental energies, learning to tame the capricious sea They created large boats which they propelled with their power, and found new land they called Jin'hu-Guo, establishing Walekria, the kingdom of water Unlike the Yukiosans, after only a thousand years, they came back for the remaining survivors on the now named continent of Yinorael, bringing fleets to ferry them to the elemental continent. Many went with the Walekrians except for a small group of Urthalisans that wished to find their own way, and this lot sailed south to the continent of Kavathanar, finding the half elves that had isolated themselves for many thousands upon thousands of years They chose to join these people in their mysterious ways and over generations would become indistinguishable from them, but never went back to Yinorael Those that went with the Walekrians would gain new power as they traversed the continent, bringing with them new kingdoms. Some Lunarisians found a light in the caves of which they followed to find abundances of minerals, and so they called the land Cevris Astal and established the subterranean kingdom of earth, Föllen Alatsa

Some Solarians felt the heat of magma that reminded them of the sun they once loved, and so they called the scorched land Emorscal and established the kingdom of flame, Flaerna

Some Urthalisans travelled through cavernous darkness along a river that seemed to breathe and found a vast cave of crystals that radiated with the glow of Asurei, and so they established the kingdom of crystal bearing the name of Lustarise, a name shared by the cave system that birthed the kingdom

Those that followed the Flaernans but did not embrace fire traveled northeast and discovered the arid desert, yet they were not satisfied with the scorching heat it brought There was no other land that they felt a call to, and this one they felt was closest to the sun they once embraced, and so they called the land Desaebla and established the kingdom of sand, Dalirna But not all of those that came to the new continent had found a place where they belonged, so they would be guided by observant beings to lands and powers they could call their own Cirania, a benevolent being among the Dysheraln descended from the Dak-Shan of old, decided to lead one of the outlier groups to the land of forests and grasslands, teaching them to embrace the powers of nature despite it not being a legitimate element, and so this land of green and the new kingdom of nature would both be named Floernia The Sky Lords, the four elves that fused with powerful air elementals over a hundred thousand years ago, would come down from the air lands above to lead another of the outlier groups to the land above the clouds, teaching them to embrace the sky instead of the distant sun and moon, and so this land far above would be named Syklari, and the kingdom of air, Avianaen, would be established The final outlier group would find their place in the continent a century later, still clinging to their roots of celestial power from the solar and lunar legacy that died after The Fall Two beings would descend from the dark of night and light of stars to bring the group past a dense forest to the north- Sarkath, The Celestial One, and Qilanar, The Black Serpent They would each bless one half of the group, with Sarkath granting his half the ability to reach towards the stars once more and draw power from stellar energies, and Qilanar granting her half the ability to pierce through the darkness of space and draw power from the inky blackness that embraced the stars These elves would call the land Qisara Kranor and establish the kingdom of Zodiana, worshipping the wyrm-like beings almost as if they were gods Elemental energies still spread throughout the world and Asurei still tainted the atmosphere, so the elves would continue to diverge and gain their own distinct adaptations and appearances to their lands until few resembled the Solarians, Lunarisians, and Urthalisans of the past(except Yūregians and Föllen Alatsans still looked mostly like Lunarisians since they didn't need to change much) However, as thousands of years passed and each kingdom gained their separate identities, they would forget their blood ties from the ages long past to reach for individual futures This would mark the start of the modern era, but also the start of war- a concept the elves had not contemplated since the Dak-Shan were defeated over eight hundred thousand years ago in the distant forgotten past.

Universal Lore- Part 1, The High Realms(Altersae- Anarexen)

Avaas had always been the first of the Four that embodied existence in the boundless cycle, as he represented the very idea of "alternatives" and was The Watcher of all that would ever exist. He was the only one of the Four that could still remember all that had occurred since the very first Cycle- the indescribable joys of observing the first civilizations that advanced to traverse space, the sorrows each time the Cycle was at the time to close and planets could no longer exist, the emptiness in the time between Cycles, and the pain of betrayal in the times where there was a Fifth. The Fifth of his kin would've been the same innumerable age as him, would it not have been the fifth being sealed away some many distant Cycles ago after going mad in the face of inevitability.*¹ Avaas' duty was and has always been first and foremost preservation until it was fated for his duty to end, and in this Cycle it was no different, save for one minor difference. He felt that Nix had become irrational, in a sense, over each Cycle, never learning to become independent from the rest of them, and thus never developing that sense of a "beyond" that stretched past the expanses of nothingness that Nix was. So he assumed that in this Cycle, Nix would be fine on his own and find his way back to them without them to guide him towards the radiance of creation, and would learn that there was more to existence than what he[Avaas] could ever teach him.

Tilisnet of Time and Seclir of Space did not disagree with Avaas' choice, as they too felt that Nix needed the valuable experience of "growing up" after many Cycles where he did not need to. After all, each Cycle started and ended about the same, so it surely wouldn't have been too difficult for Nix to find his way through creation's light as he did in the previous Cycles. But of course, none of them truly understood the essence of Nothingness past "lack of an existence", but Nothingness could wallow and knew misery and fear. Tilisnet, Seclir, and Avaas were furthest from the beings that came from creation, and thus they did not realize that Nothingness could perceive the fear creation held towards Nothingness. They did not know that Nix feared disappearing as creation spread across the many universes, and they did not realize that Nix would judge their choice to find his way alone would be interpreted as abandonment. Avaas, The Watcher of all that could exist, had turned away from the darkness, and was blind to what lurked in the Abyss. In this action did he fail at his foremost duty to preserve, as this mistake would cost this existence dearly. But do not mistake Avaas for an ignorant being, as he had duties to perform that were separate from preservation. As Tilisnet let his sands flow through existence and bring the concept of time and Seclir weaved his spatial threads to create the tapestry of space, Avaas was to oversee the first light of this Cycle as the first universes were born. As one does with a tree did he cultivate and graft branches onto the first universes, creating alternate ones as these seeds of existence sprouted and grew, and quickly in the eyes of the timeless did planets and stars emerge. As The Watcher, Avaas was to witness each of the planets that could potentially develop life, and as The Preserver, guard them until it was their time to fade with the end of their universe. It was a strenuous duty to watch every planet with life across the whole existence of a Cycle, some inconceivable number beyond mortal understanding which was under his jurisdiction. In the past Cycles, he would assume this duty himself without complaint, but early in this Cycle did he feel an unusual air of dread that echoed throughout the existence. For the first time since the Fifth was sealed away, he knew fear.

In order to split his duties to better watch over all the new planets across the universes he observed, he created beings out of the very concept of "alternatives" he represented. The first of these beings was granted parts of his knowledge to pass on to the others, and he asked the first to name themselves. The being would choose the name Anaare, and so Avaas would name the realm created for the beings to roam Anarexen in their honour, and name the beings themselves Altersaeans.

These beings would aid him in watching over and protecting planets with life across the many galaxies and universes in existence, and they were the alternative to him if he were to fail in his duties or some force were to stretch across existence to smother the light of creation and life.

As these beings were the many eyes of The Watcher that gave him more reach into the corners of existence*², they were also the first to notice the creeping darkness that reached toward stars and snuffed out their light, and they would realize that they could try as they might to preserve, but they could not escape inevitability against a force even Avaas did not know.

They would try to hold out against this creeping darkness, sending some tens of them to hold it off of developing civilizations, but even their mighty power perceived as godly by mortals were many times not enough.

Sometimes they were successful in holding off the darkness and the beings that sprung from the rifts the darkness bled through, sometimes they could only buy time as the worlds were doomed and the only choice left was for civilizations to flee to another planet, but in the cases were the Altersaeans could do neither, they could only watch the worlds be consumed and the people be damned to whatever lay in wait in the devouring abyss.

Avaas would take notice as he watched some of the branches of universes begin to lose their light, and he watched as stars would flicker and disappear from existence. The Altersaeans began to report of the darkness that consumed the stars and many mortal lives, and they said that the darkness had felt like a false life- nothingness that tried to imitate the idea of existence but was limited by its own being. They said it had felt familiar, like a distant brother that had lost their way and stumbled in the dark calling for them-

But they said that they also felt afraid of this darkness. This darkness was subsequently natural and unnatural, lonely but vengeful- and Avaas would quickly realize that this was the dread that he had felt long ago, the dread that warranted the creation of the Altersaeans.

He knew all they had felt, as they were a part of him as much as he was a part of them, but he did not want to believe his mind's first thought. It was likely the truth, but as he felt fear, he did not want to accept the truth.

His fear turned him irrational, and so he did not tell the truth to his people.

He did not want to believe that the darkness that plagued the light of creation sprung from his own kin Nix, and so for the first time in his existence did he choose to tell a lie.

This lie was for himself as much as it was for his people.

They all bore witness to the fall of Boriasonde and Tilisnet's sudden disappearance, and Avaas would learn of the increasing amounts of turbulence and breaks in the fabric of space from Seclir, but he continued to hide the truth from his people as he did not want to be seen as a flawed and irrational being, and he himself acknowledging the truth would be acknowledging that he had failed the duty of preservation that he was meant to embody. His own blindness and lack of foresight to Nix's perspective of existence was what would spell the unnatural end of this Cycle.

In this did he realize that he was never omnipotent, and that even the embodiments of the 4 concepts of existence were as flawed as the mortals they presided over.

He could not find Tilisnet even in the in-betweens of universes, and with Tilisnet's creations being scattered around existence, he could not ask them if they had foreseen this.

Something so simple as assuming a seemingly small change would not lead to disaster had led to this, and Avaas still could not accept this.

To this day, the Altersaeans are not aware of the truth, continuing to perform their duties in the belief that the abyss was natural with the passage of time and that it stemmed from the inaccessible in-betweens of universes. They try in genuine faith to their duty and Avaas to protect as many civilizations from this abyss as possible, and their work has thus far held off the darkness well enough for mortals to not be aware of its existence, but this will not always be enough, and they knew as well as Avaas did that this was an undeniable truth. The darkness does not halt for the whims of what it believes to want it destroyed, and it will continue to spread its roots throughout existence- to the worlds with boundless "potential"*³, and so the Cycle may once again return to nothingness.

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¹- Post coming at some point when I feel the time is right, it's in the perspective of Avaas to recount the Fifth.

²-This will be mentioned in the posts for other realms, but despite other realms being part of the existence that makes up a Cycle, no High Realms being can access any realm other than the Lower Planes(where planets are). The Elemental Planes are far too low for their power to reach into as their concepts are entirely separate from that of the elementals, and the realms between the High Realms and Lower Planes are either related to death or are small pocket dimensions limited to regions of worlds that reject High Realms influence.

³- Refer to this post since even though it's a note to self it does somewhat explain what the "potential" is -------------------- Taglist for writing-

@aneci If anyone else would like to join the taglist, feel free to DM me or send in an ask! I will also have a separate taglist for art posts.

okay so may as well start with a very bad oversimplification of lore (Part 1, Dust Era)

Meteors hit desert world bringing good shit Life begins to evolve Lizards Lizards grow big Big lizards become drakes(dragon with no wings and chunky) Big lizard species splits at some point One wants to be bipedal, other wants to fly, third branch is fine with being as is A lot of time passes idfk how much I have no sense of time

Bipedal drakes become drakanoids that look kinda like elves Smart drakanoids are known as Proto-Elves

Flying family starts off with dragons, splits again One flying side is wyrms(arms are wings), one side remains as dragons A lot more time passes and now the Proto-Elves are more smart Some begin to form tribes and some of those tribes are now using very rudimentary magic No mages or anything yet, sorta like medicine men and shamans Those magic tribes start isolating themselves from the non-magic tribes Suddenly angry tree humanoids(treenoids? plantnoids?) called Dak-Shan spring from caves War breaks out and non-magic tribes are not doing so hot Some of the magic tribes emerge from hiding and their magic is like better but not super complex circles and shit Takes 10k years but turns out they're enough to drive back the Dak-Shan and now Proto-Elves can work on civilizations minus regular infighting More time passes(like say 100k years), the non-magic tribes either slowly die out or merged with the magic tribes Some of the magic tribes die out because they stayed isolated or some scuffle happened with borders Remaining tribes now have cities, and soon these cities will become kingdoms, and kingdoms to empires(10k year span)

Will post this weekend

Will it be the completed Boriasonde post? Probably not, I'm at a deadlock at what to write for it and I have two versions.

The other High Realms posts already explain a lot of what happened to Boriasonde and the Tilemgians, so I've been stuck deciding between how the Tilemgians experienced the Tearing of Boriasonde vs what happened to them afterwards.

When the post comes out it'll be shorter than the other three for sure.

i think the near-extinction of people making fun, deep and/or unique interactive text-based browser games, projects and stories is catastrophic to the internet. i'm talking pre-itch.io era, nothing against it.

there are a lot of fun ones listed here and here but for the most part, they were made years ago and are now a dying breed. i get why. there's no money in it. factoring in the cost of web hosting and servers, it probably costs money. it's just sad that it's a dying art form.

anyway, here's some of my favorite browser-based interactive projects and games, if you're into that kind of thing. 90% of them are on the lists that i linked above.

A Better World - create an alternate history timeline

Alter Ego - abandonware birth-to-death life simulator game

Seedship - text-based game about colonizing a new planet

Sandboxels or ThisIsSand - free-falling sand physics games

Little Alchemy 2 - combine various elements to make new ones

Infinite Craft - kind of the same as Little Alchemy

ZenGM - simulate sports

Tamajoji - browser-based tamagotchi

IFDB - interactive fiction database (text adventure games)

Written Realms - more text adventure games with a user interface

The Cafe & Diner - mystery game

The New Campaign Trail - US presidential campaign game

Money Simulator - simulate financial decisions

Genesis - text-based adventure/fantasy game

Level 13 - text-based science fiction adventure game

Miniconomy - player driven economy game

Checkbox Olympics - games involving clicking checkboxes

BrantSteele.net - game show and Hunger Games simulators

Murder Games - fight to the death simulator by Orteil

Cookie Clicker - different but felt weird not including it. by Orteil.

if you're ever thinking about making a niche project that only a select number of individuals will be nerdy enough to enjoy, keep in mind i've been playing some of these games off and on for 20~ years (Alter Ego, for example). quite literally a lifetime of replayability.

(source)

Unsplash -  photography, illustration, & art

Pixabay - same as unsplash

Pexels - stock photos and videos

Getty Images - photography & illustration

Veceezy - vectors and clipart

Gumroad - photoshop brushes (and more)

StockSnap.io - stock photos

Canva - needs login but has lots of templates

Library of Congress - historical posters and photos

NASA - you guessed it

Creative Commons - all kinds of stuff, homie

Even Adobe has some free images

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without plagiarizing! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Please add on if you know any more resources for free images <3

Elvaria before and after The Fall

I’d best be seeing that anti JKR energy for this twilight show too bc Smeyer continuing to profit off the Quileute tribe is not cute

I have blocked and reported 11 prawn bot accounts in the past 2 weeks, this is ridiculous They don't even have funny bios and my account isn't even a month old, wtf

Apparently a lot of people get dialogue punctuation wrong despite having an otherwise solid grasp of grammar, possibly because they’re used to writing essays rather than prose. I don’t wanna be the asshole who complains about writing errors and then doesn’t offer to help, so here are the basics summarized as simply as I could manage on my phone (“dialogue tag” just refers to phrases like “he said,” “she whispered,” “they asked”):

“For most dialogue, use a comma after the sentence and don’t capitalize the next word after the quotation mark,” she said.

“But what if you’re using a question mark rather than a period?” they asked.

“When using a dialogue tag, you never capitalize the word after the quotation mark unless it’s a proper noun!” she snapped.

“When breaking up a single sentence with a dialogue tag,” she said, “use commas.”

“This is a single sentence,” she said. “Now, this is a second stand-alone sentence, so there’s no comma after ‘she said.’”

“There’s no dialogue tag after this sentence, so end it with a period rather than a comma.” She frowned, suddenly concerned that the entire post was as unasked for as it was sanctimonious.