Some things you didn't know about the World of Vimar

I am posting some information about the World of Vimar where The Wolves of Vimar takes place. I hope you will find it interesting. I am also including a map of ther continent of Khalram where the action of the first 3 books takes place.

The World of Vimar

Vimar circles its sun in almost exactly 360 days. This leads the people to have divided their year into 12 months of 30 days. Since it is not exactly 360 days, but in fact 360 days and 4 hours, this means that every 6 years an extra day is added to the year. This is added at the end of the year and is called the Day of the Gods. It is a holiday for everyone and as it comes just before Grillon's Day, also a holiday when the New Year is celebrated, everyone looks forward to this time.

Because all the important astronomical timings are 6 or multiples of 6, the people of Vimar have come to believe that six is a holy number. Thus when they came to devise the timings of the day,
they decided to divide it into 24 hours, much as we do on Earth, However, they begin to count their day from the time of dawn on the 2 equinoxes, unlike Earth, where timing is taken from the mid-point of darkness at this time, more or less. Once every place began their day at dawn, regardless of time of year or place on the planet, but this became somewhat confusing as trade increased, and so the standardised time began. Thus what on Earth would be 6am, on Vimar it is 0 hour, and Earth's 12pm is Vimar's 6th hour.

Vimar has 2 moons, Lyndor and Ullin. Lyndor is slightly nearer to Vimar than Ullin and appears to
be a gold colour. Ullin appears more silvery. It is considered propitious when the moons are both
full together, and if both moons are dark, that is considered to be the least lucky time for any
ventures. The best times for starting any venture is when both moons are waxing, and conversely,
if they are both waning, that is a bad time, although endings are good at this time.

The world has 2 large continents, The one featured in the Wolf Pack is the continent of Khalram.
Grosmer is the largest country on this landmass and has a climate ranging from Mediterranean in
the south to cool temperate in the north. To the west, beyond the Western Mountains is a vast
plain on which live the nomadic people known as the Horselords for their mastery of the beautiful
 horses they rear. It is said that a huge ocean lies beyond this plain, but no one knows for sure.
Beyond the Mountains of Doom in the east are the lands of Pelimar, a loose coalition of city states,
Erian, ruled by an elected Master and the elven land of Rindissillaron. The lands to the south are
largely unknown to the people of Grosmer, Pelimar and Erian, although trade does occur occasionally. The Great Desert is largely to blame for this lack of contact.

There is a large, mysterious continent to the far east also that occasionally comes to the attention of the people of Khalram because of the Raiders who come for plunder and slaves.

Once, the elves and humans  all lived together in Khalram, but soon they began to fall out and so
the elven land of Rindissillaron was founded in the east of the continent. Here the elves could live in
the way they wished, close to nature and disturbing the natural world as little as possible. The
dwarves have always lived in the mountains where they can dig for the ores and gems they are so
good at working.

The other races, such as orcs and trolls, were banished to the far north, as far as the mountain range
known as the Roof of the World and even beyond, it is thought, although no one has ever managed
to cross this range and return.

How well can you spell? Go back to school and take our spelling test to find out - BT

How well can you spell? Go back to school and take our spelling test to find out - BT

I got one wrong! Dreadful for someone who likes to call herself an author.

9 Commonly Confused Pairs of Words.

 I am posting this on here and also on my Wordpress site, as yet incomplete. If you want to make a comment, please visit http://aspholessaria.wordpress.com/ since I can't receive comments here.

There are a number of words that are frequently confused by people. In this post I hope to clarify nine of these pairs.

 Bought and Brought.

Brought is the past tense of ‘to bring’ and means to fetch something.

e.g. The dog brought the ball back to me.

Bought is the past tense of  ‘to buy’ and means to purchase something.

e.g. When I went to town I bought a new blouse.

The mistake is always using brought for bought and never the other way round.

 Fewer and Less

This is a very common one. So many people will talk about ‘There were less people at the match than last week.’

It should be ‘There were fewer people at the match than last week.’

Less is used for things that you measure (like weight, temperature, volume,etc)

Fewer is used for things you count (like people, goals, items in a basket at the checkout, etc)

A simple rule of thumb can be: If it only comes in whole numbers, then it’s fewer, but if it can be in fractions, then it’s less.

 Literally and Virtually

Literally means that it actually happened.

e.g. It was literally snowing a blizzard.

 In this case, there would be no visibility to speak of and snow falling as if it were in the Arctic or Antarctic with a strong wind blowing it almost horizontal.

Virtually means it is not actually that thing. It is used when a metaphor is used.

e.g. The footballer was virtually flying down the wing. 

If the speaker or writer said ‘The footballer was literally flying down the wing’, that would mean that he had somehow sprouted wings!


 Infer and Imply

I recently heard a broadcaster on the radio use infer when she meant imply. These people ought to know better. Most, I assume, are journalists, or at least have a ‘good’ education with a degree. They should know the difference, and if they don’t, in my opinion, should not be in the job.


Imply is what someone says when they want to suggest something without actually saying it in so many words.

e.g.‘He implied that he was going to come with us.’

Infer means that someone has drawn a conclusion from a statement.

e.g. ‘From what he said, I inferred that he was going to come with us.’

  Lose and Loose.

This is one for the written word.

Lose is when you misplace something.

e.g. You are going to lose your purse if you don’t put it away.

Loose is when something comes undone.

e.g. My shoelace has come loose.

 Tragedy and Travesty.

A Tragedy is something very sad.

e.g. It is a tragedy that he died so young.

A Travesty is to make something ridiculous.

e.g. The dogs runnign onto the pitch made the football match a travesty.

 Effect and Affect

Effect is a noun. It is the result of something.

e,g, What is the effect of mixing red and yellow together?

Affect is a verb. It says what something does.

e.g. How did the accident affect you?

 Popular and Common

This is one I heard from young people when I was teaching.

Popular means well liked by a lot of people.

e.g. Dean was always full of fun and so was very popular with his team mates.

Common means that there are a lot of them.

e.g. Herring gulls are very common in Brighton.

In this last incident, many pupils would say that the herring gulls were very popular, but if you asked the car owners of Brighton, I think you would get a very different view.

 Defective and Deficient

Defective means that a thing is broken in some way.

e.g. I sent my new vacuum cleaner back because it was defective. It was failing to pick up the dirt.

Deficient means that there is something missing.

e.g. The new wardrobe I bought was deficient. There were not enough screws to put it together.



.

The next episode of The Wolf Pack in which the friends are attacked, and there is a surprise in store.

CHAPTER 22

ATTACK

The attack came just before dawn. Fero and Thad were on watch. Carthinal had suggested that the watch should be arranged as far as possible with one person with infravision and one without. Fero, he decided with his ranger training, was almost as good as an elf or dwarf. Carthinal watched with Randa, Basalt with Kimi and Davrael with Asphodel, leaving Fero to watch with Thad.

The night was just beginning to grow lighter when Fero thought he heard a sound in the bushes to his right. He stood, drew his sword, and looked over towards them, signalling to Thad to be prepared. Then, before he had time to take a step, the bushes parted and a wolf rushed him. He shouted to wake the others, and at the same time, swung his sword to injure the animal. He only managed to catch a glancing blow, and then his sword slid off, but he had managed to slow the wolf down. He heard rather than saw the others coming to their feet. The wolf, far from being afraid, as Fero had expected, was coming again. Again he slashed and again made contact. This time the animal fell at his feet, its lifeblood seeping into the ground from the severed jugular. Fero heard the sound of Carthinal chanting and knew that there were other wolves.

Basalt’s battle cry was heard over the sounds of fighting. Then he heard a sound from in front of him. Another wolf appeared. This was an enormous animal. Much bigger than a normal wolf. This was going to take some killing. The huge animal looked at Fero with an evil intelligence in its yellow eyes. Sounds of the battle were raging around him, but he scarcely heard them any more, giving himself over to his own task. He swung his sword again, but the wolf seemed to anticipate him and moved off to the side. They circled each other like two fencers. Fero feinted to his left and the wolf moved away. Fero then changed his thrust to the right and caught the wolf, cutting it on the side of its head.

The animal then backed away, but it suddenly changed tactics and sprung for Fero’s throat. He put up his sword to protect himself, but the huge beast dropped, a bolt sticking out from its ribs and a throwing dagger from its eye. Fero turned, sword still raised until he saw that there were no more of the beasts alive. The others were all standing panting and leaning on weapons. Asphodel was tending a bite on Davrael’s arm and Kimi was trying to calm the terrified horses.

‘There was eight of the bleeders,’ Thad told him. The young thief was shaking visibly now that the action was over. ‘There were another like that bloody gynormous one you was fightin’. What remains of it’s over there. Carthinal killed it with ’is magic. Two silvery bolts of energy from ’is fingers, like. It were real cool.’ He looked at Carthinal with admiration.

‘Those big ones were dire wolves,’ Fero told them later when they had cleaned the blood from themselves as best they could, and while Asphodel was tending the wounds of those who had been injured. ‘They don’t often come this far south, especially at this time of the year. There was something else too. Dire wolves are more intelligent than normal wolves, but these seemed even more intelligent than the average dire wolf. The one I was fighting seemed to have more knowledge of sword fighting than it should, and the fire didn’t seem to put them off either. There’s something strange going on here.’

‘Let’s move on before breakfast. I don’t think I could eat with these bodies around.’ shuddered Asphodel, and the others agreed.

So they broke camp. The horses calmed down once away from the smell of the wolves and blood, and the little band trudged on down the road.

‘You fought well,’ Carthinal said coming up beside Randa where she rode a little distance from the others.

‘I told you I could use my weapons, half-elf,’ came the reply.

Carthinal turned to Thad. ‘You too, lad,’ he said.

The boy seemed pleased with the praise. ‘I did good with th’ throwin’ dagger didn’t I?’ he replied. ‘I got him right in th’ bleedin’ eye. ’Ave I earned me place in your company, Carthinal?

 ‘Yes, you did well with the dagger, and with your sword before that,’ Carthinal told him. ‘It took some courage to get up close enough to those wolves so you could use it. As to earning your place, I will think about it and discuss it with the others.’

Thad smiled and then looked away almost shyly.

Eventually, they found themselves in a clearing where there was a small pool of water surrounded by bushes. A stream fed it from the north and left from the western end of the pool. They decided not only to break their fast here, but also to bathe and rest for the remainder of the day after their ordeal.
‘I suspect it’s not our last fight though,’ Carthinal warned them.

Davrael took the horses to the pool first to allow them to drink, and Asphodel filled the water bottles that were empty. They decided that the girls should bathe first, and the men would prepare a fire. It would be cold in the water, and they would need a fire to get warm since there was little warmth in the sun as yet. Asphodel, Kimi and Randa set off and soon sounds of splashing and squeals could be heard from behind the bushes. Soon the three reappeared, dressed in their armour, but with hair dripping wet and hanging loose. Fero stared at Randa with open mouth. She had not had her hair down since she had arrived, it having been in her helmet or bound around her head. Basalt heard a slight intake of breath. He looked at Fero and noticed the expression on the tall man’s face. Fero saw the dwarf looking at him.

‘Such hair!’ he breathed. ‘It’s like moonlight rippling over the sea. Never have I seen such beautiful hair.’

‘Yeah!’ replied the dwarf. ‘A pity she’s not as beautiful in character as her hair.’

Fero sighed and drew his eyes away from the girl. ‘Yes. A beautiful exterior, but inside she is ugly. Maybe an adventure such as this would change her. However, Carthinal seems determined to send her home.’

‘I wouldn’t bet on her going, my friend. That young lady is used to getting her own way and can be as stubborn as we mountain dwarfs,’ was the reply as Basalt remembered their tussle of wills in the library over who was to go down to the secret room first.

Carthinal, Fero, Basalt and Davrael then moved to the pool. Davrael noticed that Thad was sitting by the fire and making no move to go with them.

‘Come on then,’ he called to the boy.

‘I don’t need a damn bath. I’ve got the flippin’ blood off,’ the boy replied in a rather surly manner.
‘Oh yes you do. You owe it to us. We don’t want to be smelling you for the rest of the journey,’ Basalt told him.

‘Nor tempting any more wild animals. They will be able to smell you for ten leagues at least.’ Fero told him, smiling.

‘No!’ There was almost panic in the boy’s voice.

 ‘We’ll have to strip him and throw him in then,’ Fero and Bas advanced menacingly towards the thief.

‘Stop! I can’t bathe with you.’ Thad was nearly in tears.

‘What’s the problem, Thad?’ asked Asphodel gently, signalling to the others to stop teasing.

‘Promise you won’t tell anyone?’ he looked at them all. ‘All of you! Promise! Swear by Kassilla?’
They all looked puzzled, but then, one by one they all agreed not to tell whatever Thad was about to reveal.

‘I can’t bathe with you guys because I’m not a boy, I’m a girl!’

The silence that this announcement met was thunderous.

    Then Asphodel said, ‘All right. You men go off and bathe and Thad can come after on his, er… her own. Go on then.’ This last as no one had moved.

After they had all bathed, they sat around the fire to get warm and Thad said, ‘I think I’d better tell you the real truth. I didn’t leave ’Ambara because o’ my bleedin’ fence. ’E still, like, don’t know as I stole the damn horse thingy back. I’d better begin at the beginning.’

‘A good place to begin,’ remarked Basalt, gaining himself a glare from Carthinal.

She were one of Madame Dopari's girls, right? From what she told me, she was bloody good at ’er job. She ’ad a number of regular clients, right, and was makin’ damn good money. Mother were gettin’ large tips from some bloody rich clients, see? Then she made a mistake. She forgot to, like, take the ’erbs to prevent a soddin’ pregnancy.

If the girls become pregnant, they either have to, like, get rid of the baby or leave, right? Mother decided to leave and ’ave me. OK? She ’ad money, and could live well. So she thought. The money didn’t last long, o’ course, and so we ’ad to go to live in the bleedin’ Warren. Mother ’ad to return to whorin’ to keep us alive. She don’t know no other way to make money, see. But the whores in th’ Warren don’t earn much of a livin’, no matter ’ow good they are. Rich clients go to places like Madame Soddin’ Dopari’s, and th’ poor can’t pay much. Some clients was a bit rough too.

‘One day, when I were about nine or ten, I over’eard a conversation in which Mother’s like:  “When Thadda’s a woman, I’ll take ’er ter Madame Dopari. She c’n then earn enough money fer us t’ live better and’ I c’n stop being a ’ore.”

‘I knew what me mother did for a livin’; there were only a thin wall between ’er room ’n’ mine, right? I c’d ’ear everythin’, like. I couldn’t bear ter think o’ that ’appenin’ ter me. Not for soddin’ money, like. Takin’ any man who bleedin’ well comes? No! That’s not so cool.

‘Then one day, just after me twelfth birthday it ’appened. I had me first bleedin’, an’ so I packed up a few things an’ left, right? I called meself Thad, cut me ’air to look more like a damn boy, wore boy’s clothes, an’ disappeared into th’ Warren. OK? (That’s quite easy y’ know.) For a while I begged.

There’s good pickings near th’ temples for beggars. People feel so guilty and all that. Want ter salve their consciences or summat. Then I were found by a man, whose name don’t matter, an’ ’e taught me ter be a thief, see?

‘Just afore you left ’Ambara, I learnt that Mother ’ad found out that I were posin’ as a boy, like, an’ that I were now a bleedin’ good thief, right? It wouldn’t be long afore she found me, see, an’ so I went to th’ inn ter look for you, but you’d already left. I followed and ’ere I am.’

‘Carthinal,’ said Asphodel, turning to the half-elf, ‘You can’t send her back! Not if her mother is going to find her and send her to that...that place!’

‘No. No, I can’t, you’re right, Asphodel.’ He turned to the frightened, young girl. ‘Thad, I will not be responsible for you being forced into prostitution. I’m not happy about the dangers you’ll face with us, but I will not send you back against your will.’

‘Also,’ said the girl shyly, ‘Me name’s Thadora. Me mother called me Thadda sometimes when I were little. You c’n call me either, but I would like to leave Thad be’ind now. He don’t exist no more.’

Elven Evening Hymn from The Wolf Pack.

Some notes on the Elven language.

The elves speak their own language. It is a very beautiful, liquid language with no harsh sounds and many sibilants. Few who are not of elven heritage can speak it. 
Pronunciation is as follows:
ll sounds as ly, like the Spanish ll.
r is slightly rolled and rr strongly rolled.
b is pronounced softly as is d and g.
f is always unvoiced.
o is always ‘oh’ and u always ‘you’.
 j and k do not exist in the language.
Diphthongs are always sounded as separate letters. E.g. ‘io’ is pronounced as ‘ee-oh’.
Construction is similar to Latin, with the verb at the end of the sentence and adjectives and adverbs following the word they govern.
Nouns form the plural by adding ‘er’ and the female gender by adding ‘i’.
e.g.  tree        singular pressil         plural    pressiller
       elf (male)    Eldiss (singular)    Eldisser  (plural)          
       elf (female) Eldissi (singular)   Eldissier  (plural)
Verbs are regular, and there is only one conjugation.





Elven Evening Song


Ah equillin ssishinisi
Qua vinillaquishio quibbrous
Ahoni na shar handollesno
As nas brollenores.

Ah equilin bellamana
Qua ssishinisi llanarones
As wma ronalliores
Shi nos Grillon prones.

Ah equilin dama Grillon
Pro llamella shilonores
As nos rellemorres
Drapo weyishores.

Yam shi Grillon yssilores
Grazlin everr nos pronores
Wama vinsho prolle-emo
Lli sha rallemorres.


Translation

Oh beauteous star
Who heralds the evening
You tell us all
That Grillon guards us

Oh Grillon’s star
As you sink westwards
Return again
To guard the dawn.

Ensure that Grillon
Through darkness keep us
Safe from all evil
Until the morn.

Read an interview with Carthinal's magic teacher to find out more about him.

Mabryl Interview

I encountered Mabryl one day as I was walking through Bluehaven. I had heard of his adoption of the promising young mage, Carthinal and I decided to ask him a few questions for the local newssheet, The Bluehaven Herald. Here is the result of my interview.

Me: How did you come to meet with Carthinal?

Mabryl: He was part of a feral gang of children when I met him. In fact, I think he was their leader. I spotted him first watching a young mage in the market place. He was obviously looking for someone's pocket to pick in the crowd watching the mage. He suddenly stopped and seemed quite taken by the display.

Me: I didn't know mages gave public displays of magic.

Mabryl: It's not usual, but sometimes if an apprentice fails the test, they will become entertainers using what little they know. It impresses the public and does no harm.

Me: Why did you take an interest in Carthinal?

Mabryl: I didn't at the time. It was only later that I saw his potential. I was rounding a corner in and I spotted him in an alley. He didn't see me, and I noticed that he was trying to copy the movements and sounds of the simple spells the mage had done. I stood watching him for a bit, not expecting anything to happen, when suddenly a flame rose from his finger. It was only fleeting, but it told me that the boy was exceptional. Very few can master anything without considerable training, and yet here was a boy who had only watched a performance, yet had managed to twist the mana to make a very small, short lived flame.

Me: What did you do?

Mabryl: I approached the boy carefully; he was one of the criminal classes after all. I spoke quietly and told him I would like to train him in magic as he obviously had some talent. He backed away, believing me to be trying to capture him for the guard, swore most foully, and told me to go and leave him alone. Of course. I couldn't leave such a talent, but to try to force him would be counterproductive, so I left him there and went on my way.

Me: When did you meet him again?

Mabryl: I sought him out after that. He was still very suspicious. Eventually I decided to let his curiosity work for me. He was still trying to get the little cantrip right, but couldn't get more than the fleeting flame I'd already seen. I told him I would train him if he came to my house. After a few weeks, he came and stood outside. I bided my time and did not approach him, but opened the door for him to enter if he wished. It was like trying to capture a shy and wild animal. However, he eventually he came in and asked me to teach him.

Me: Was he a difficult pupil?
Mabryl: Difficult isn't in it. He was wild and found the discipline necessary for the practice of magic almost beyond him, He wanted to learn everything at once too. First of all, before any magic could be learned he had to learn to control himself. That was a difficult task for both of us. 

Me: How long did it take to tame him?

Mabryl: I'm not sure I have, even now. He still has his temper. He is also still too fond of the girls. He is so attractive that they find it hard to resist him. I have tried to instil some sense of right and wrong in him, but I'm not sure how far it has penetrated. I've told him that he should not toy with the feelings of young girls though. I only hope it has penetrated somewhat.

Me: You had high hopes for him at first. Do you still feel the same?

Mabryl: Yes I do. He must learn to control himself more, of course if he is to become as great a mage as he is capable. He has an instinct with the mana. He is one of the rare few who can actually see it when he is weaving it.

Me: I believe you have adopted him.

Mabryl: Yes. I have never married and have no heirs. I have grown very fond of Carthinal. In spite of his faults he is a very personable young man with plenty of charisma. He will inherit everything I have when Kalhera calls me and I leave this life.

Me: Thank you.

Mabryl: It was my pleasure.

Grovelands Orchard Park Volunteers

Oh dear. A day late again. Sorry everyone.

I've been doing Camp Nanowrimo this month, and have failed miserably. For those who don't know, Nanowrimo runs in November and the aim is to write a 50,000 word novel during that month. I managed to do that, but this month, at the virtual camp, I set myself the target of 15,000 words and have only managed 11,500 or there abouts. How did I manage it in November?

I started a new novel at camp and so have been neglecting my current one, which is about a boy taken as a slave by the Romans. He is bought by a Roman merchant married to a Briton and brought to Britannica as a present for his wife.

The boy has a hatred of the Romans and wants to escape in order to get his revenge, but escape is difficult and the Romans inevitably recapture escaped slaves who are then branded.

I am getting on not too badly with it, but I must get back to work if it is to be finished and publisherd in a reasonable time. If anyone has read Book 2 of The Wolves of Vimar, The Never-Dying Man, you will have seen an extract from the book in there.

I am also working on Book 3 of The Wolves. That is well on the way and I hope it won't be too long before that is out too.

So much for my work. It is Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK next Monday and so I will be busy in the local park. It is a small park, just behind my house but 12 months ago I decided that it was becoming rather unkempt and so I contacted the local council about it, asking why the other parks were kept well, but not this one.

A local councillor came to look at it. He'd been dong some research and it seems that when the land was sold for the housing development, the owner gave the land, which had been the farm's orchard, to be made into a small park. The council laid the paths and dug some beds and then handed it over to the community to look after, them being responsible only for grass cutting.

The park was looked after by some elderly ladies, so I was told, but over the years the community aspect has been forgotten and as it was not under the council's jurisdiction it had become a haven for brambles, nettles and self-seeded ash trees. Steve, the councillor has cut down three of the self-seeded ash trees, and myself, along with my husband and a few other neighbours have been working in the park and have made serious inroads into the undergrowth.

We have cleared a lot of the brambles and stuff and seeded the beds and re-planted. Mrs Coldman, the previous owner who gave the land, had also been far-thinking enough to leave some money for the upkeep. Therefore next Monday is Planting and Tidying Day. We hope it's fine and that people will turn up to help. On our Autumn Planting Day we had a good turnout.

There are, however some downsides and they are:
1) Dog walkers. While the majority of people who use the park have made very positive comments (but not volunteered to help!) there are a few dog-walkers who think it's a good place to leave their dog mess. No excuse. there are 2 bins for the stuff.
2) Kids. While it is good to see the young people using the park, and we would not want them to stop, we do wish they wouldn't pull the buds and heads off flowers.
3) General idiots. As it was an orchard, there are a few fruit trees planted to remind people of this, and a couple left over from those days (a damson and a plum) unfortunately, some people think (and it's not just kids) that it is a good idea to pull the forming fruits off and throw them for their (uninterested) dog. Do they not realise that if they left them they could come and pick a nice apple, pear of cherry and eat it?
4) Thieves. We bought 10 yellow roses. People said how lovely they were. Too lovely it seems. 8 of them were stolen! That cost Mrs Coldman's legacy nearly £150!

Still, most people are nice and appreciative.