Matters of the Tongue

It seems like ages since I set out to write a post on the languages of Sinduin’s universe [download link at the end of this post].  The irony is that the subject is very simple: there is only one natural language.  Over there in the other dimension, if you are capable of speech, then you’ll be able to speak this tongue, and even if you hear a “new” word for the first time, you’ll readily recognize it to “fit” the object so named.  It’s similar to the way in which the Ancient Hindus or Jews thought that their sacred tongues (Sanskrit, Hebrew) were the natural ones and every other speech either a perversion or an invention.  Except that within the vast icosahedron that is Sinduin’s universe, the “theory” has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Modal Robes: Malsain and Martopion

Since I posted a pic of Sinduin dressed in the standard Mode Karhalaun robe in my last post, I thought it was unfair not to do the same for the other two Modes I focused on back then.  So I’m doing on this post.  The first pic is of Sinduin dressed as the head of Mode Malsain:

Some Notes on the Common Structure of the Modes

Still working on the war record of Ransain, I realized I would have to do an excursus on the Modal system in the Empire.  The more I scribbled about it the more the notes grew in size, and so I’ve decided to dedicate a whole post to this topic.  This way when I finally get to write about Ransain’s relationship to the Highborn, the curious reader can easily come back to this post and get a sense of the context.

The Silver Planet.  The Tetraluminous City (yellow), the Zeburaja nation of Oxytania (yellow) and the territories of Mode Karhalaun (green).  The red lines mark off the planetary poles, which are reserved for the Communication Grid.  It is a horrible angle, but I wanted to give a sense of where Karhalaun lies in relation to Oxytania and the Tetraluminous City.

My treatment will be synchronic, not diachronic.  I will not cover the origin of the Modes, their development, and their gradual fall from power.  I will simply cover their structures in general terms, taking advantage of the fact that the Modes haven’t changed much in form from Ransain’s day 2,500 years ago until today.

Imperial Battle History 10: The Midnight War

This is not the conclusion to Ransain’s Wars that I owe the site.  I’ve still to sort out some elements in that history, so I instead I will talk about another, unrelated conflict in Imperial history: the Midnight War.

The single (artificial) horn identifies this Aretine as a low-ranking noble.

Though defeat during the First Dolentian War (4967-54 BC) came as a great shock, Imperials recovered quickly and took up with gusto the task of expanding their borders in the regions of space allotted to them by the Merciless Myriad.  The Midnight War refers to the conquest of the Aretin System (4880s BC), a significant event for a number of reasons:

Quashing the Targa Rebellion

I’m just horsing around with my new wallpaper.

That’s all, I just wanted you to see it.  What?  You want me to tell you a bit about the scene?  Oh, it’s nothing to write home about.  What?  You insist?  Alright, alright, I guess I can spare a few words…

Merry Xmas (+ A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words…)

A million or more even, if you’re not that good of a writer.  I’m putting this on my About page.  Click on it to read:

Merry Christmas World~

P.S. The wolf pic is from the wonderful ~ITSDura.

A Series of Shocking Announcements

Imperial Battle History 09/10: Ransain Rises

Ransain

None of the so-called Hundred Wars* involving Ransain (born 864, died 365 BC) bore the gravity or the import of the Unity War or the Dolentian Wars.  To put it bluntly: the Empire would have survived if Ransain had never existed.  And yet as a personality, Ransain left an imprint on her people that remains unparalleled in Imperial history before or after her.  The Empire would have survived, but it wouldn’t have been the same.  And whatever the future holds for Imperials, it is certain that Ransain’s mark will remain on it.  The ambitious children of Sinduin’s time still grow up wanting to be Ransains, after all.

Imperial Battle History 08/10: End of the Merciless Myriad

Barely three years after the end of the Third Dolentian War, the Council made an announcement that surprised all: they had discovered how to prevent a Dolens from being reborn.  Not right then, but years past.

Testing had begun back in the 3050s BC, on the unfortunate hostages of the flayer field attack at the inception of the conflict.  The treatment involved cutting up a Dolens’ body into eight pieces, no more and no less, and keeping these pieces apart from one another.  Each piece had to be kept at least one Dolentian mile from all others, this being in fact the very origin and significance of the “Dolentian mile” standard used by the Merciless Myriad.  What led the Empire to do research along these lines remains a mystery, but it is evident they kept their discoveries secret in the final years of the war to lull the Myriad into signing a peace treaty.

Rwandan Danguang and India’s Silver Planet

The other night I was at a  bar scripting / storyboarding future SS episodes, when something disturbing caught my attention.  The word Danguang, name of an important alien species in the story, was totally wrong.

The Danguang are supposed to be very advanced aliens living in the Storm Systems at the edge of the Empire-ruled universe.  The males are all called Dan and look like over-sized Pugs.  The females are all called Guang and look like youngish Humans (of the Chinese variety).  Danguang are very refined and cultured and they assert wholeheartedly that they are responsible for the creation of the universe.