Prophecy

Foreground digital painting of character i-Aten Elena drawn © Amanda Grace Shu 2016. Background image source credit to Frank Vincentz via Wikimedia Commons.

It's time to introduce you to a new character in the Kevarya Universe, one completely unrelated to the Royal Family with which A Winter's Ball was so concerned. Their name is i-Aten Elena, or just Elena, and they provide the first hint of magic at play.

Now a note about Elena. Elena is what's known as genderfluid, a term which may trip up some people. Genderfluidity, according to Genderfluid Support, can be defined as "the feeling of fluidity within your gender identity; feeling a different gender as time passes or as situations change; not restricted to any number of genders." Elena uses singular they pronouns (they/them/theirs). Is this grammatically correct? Yes, of course it is. The singular "they" was even named the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year in 2015. Pronouns have changed from plural to singular before, and since language itself is constantly changing, the idea of what is grammatically correct is rather, shall we say... fluid. Like gender. Or, for example, the nature of Time Itself.

Speaking of which...

Prophecy

Kevarya: A Map of the Known World

"Amanda! You're posting again! It's been over half a year since you last posted something, we were so worried! What have you been working on instead of indulging your (possibly imaginary) blog readers with new writing?"

Mostly: screaming in mild terror as life throws a varied and numerous assortment of challenges and responsibilities at me. But otherwise: worldbuilding.

You may vaguely remember the Kevarya Universe, in which A Winter's Ball and Copper and Stardust take place. Perhaps you've wondered, what even is "Kevarya," and what are those characters in A Winter's Ball talking about when they bring up "Galara" or "Yenoui" or "The Southern Lands"? What does this new fantasy world of Amanda's look like?

Well, today I give you the answers to those questions, in the form of a map!

If you want to zoom in to take a closer look, here's a full-sized version.