Kevarya: Kevaryese Language

Image description: a pair of eyeglasses resting on and magnifying a handwritten alphabet in medieval-style calligraphy.

I'm a bit of a language nerd. (If you know me in real life, you're probably rolling your eyes and calling that an understatement.) And now, like J.R.R. Tolkien before me, I have combined my passion for languages with my passion for fantasy worldbuilding and writing to create a fantasy language of my very own! And now you lovely readers get to experience firsthand how deep the rabbit hole goes. Here's a page full of information on the structure of this fictional language that only I know!

Skip to the "Common Phrases" section if you just want to learn some cool made-up words without getting bogged down in linguistics jargon.

Ver ath Kevarya allai!

Cross-posted to WorldAnvil on 9/1/18.

KEVARYESE LANGUAGE

Kevarya: An Introduction to the Kingdom

Image description: a cross-section of the map of the Kevarya Universe. 
Design and photo edit by Amanda Grace Shu.

I'm back! Yes, after a long and arduous journey through Camp Nanowrimo (total wordcount: 55,447), I have returned with the greater part of a novel and some new worldbuilding information. So who's excited to hear me ramble about the history of a country that doesn't exist?

Anyone?

Well, I'm excited, anyway...

An Introduction to
THE KINGDOM OF KEVARYA

Kevarya: Tales from the Family Tree

Image description: a four-generation family tree showing the genealogy of the main characters in my Kevarya Universe.

If the world of fiction has taught me anything, it's that every high fantasy universe needs a cool fantasy map and an extensive genealogy of its big, screwed-up royal family. Since Kevarya is, at its heart, all about a big, screwed-up royal family, here is my attempt at a family tree, along with some entertaining anecdotes about various members who will likely have no impact on the actual plot of the novel.

Now, without further ado, here's...

Tales from the Family Tree

Kevarya: An Introduction to Magic

Image description: a silhouette of a raven in flight, magically vanishing into smoke, with a background of swirling nebulae and stars. Photo edit by Amanda Grace Shu.

Last week I promised you all some magic, so here's a look at the magic system of the Kevarya Universe. What happens when a powerful metaphysical force, unbound by the laws of nature, develops a mind of its own? Find out in An Introduction to Magic.

Kevarya: Updated Maps (Interactive!)

School is out for the summer, which hopefully means more content on a more regular basis for you, my wonderful readers!

It should surprise no one that I love worldbuilding, so when I discovered WorldAnvil, I was delighted to find a platform that would allow me to share all the pointless miscellaneous details of my fictional universe with the world! One particularly exciting tool I discovered was an interactive map feature which allows you to upload images and add tags to it, much like Google Maps, to give brief descriptions of the major cities and landmarks. Thrilled, I updated the maps I had put together in Photoshop over a year ago (really? it's been a year?), and annotated away.

Here are the results, along with the non-interactive new map designs.

The Northern Continent: Interactive Version Here

 The Southern Continent: Interactive Version Here

Thanks again to WorldAnvil. Any Kevarya-related article or piece of writing I post here will also be cross-posted there. Next up: a look at magic and mages in the Kevarya Universe. What happens when metaphysical energy gains a mind of its own?

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.