World-of-Dira on pinakidion

Remind Me Later

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Mavinian Ciphers

Sat, 25 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Cult of the Titans

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000

System of Measurement

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Swords & Arrows

Sat, 10 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Kwemara - The Celestial Killers

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0000

The ancient Ikan poet Gajus tells of a land in the far east where they do not worship the Gods or the Titans. Instead they worship a Creator whom they regard as Father. They also live to serve the emissaries of the Father-Creator called the Kwemara. The Kwemara have another name, the God-Killers.

As with all ken, in begins with their story of the creation of the universe.

When the Celestial world was created, the children of the Creator soon rose to fight each other for control. Their hostility was so great, that they killed their father, the Great Creator. Upon his death, the two sides ended their conflict to finish the work of creation. The Titans, like their father, finished creating the wonders of the universe: planets, comets, stars. As they completed various sections of the sky, they set the heavenly bodies into motion. They created increasingly fanciful worlds trying to outdo each other. When they finished their work, they set themselves to indulge and enjoy the works they created.

To keep the peace, the Gods created a precious few worlds preferring to avoid conflict with the Titans, at least for now. For thousands of years, it appeared that they would not create at all, but instead withdraw into their few worlds and prevent the celstial war from starting again. However, the Gods were creating, but they, like their father, were creating the ken of the universe.

For a while, there was a tense peace in the universe.

However, the Titans were not happy sharing the universe with ken. Most of their hatred came from the fact that the Gods created ken. The Titans then began to enslave all manner of ken and subjugate the creation of the Gods.

This was exactly what the Gods predicted the Titans would do. Their secret was that they created ken to strive for something outside themselves. For most ken, that something was power. Some strove for knowledge, others strove for art, a few strove to understand the Father Creator. The Gods also created ken to embrace freedom and abhor being controlled.

Esbrus - The Capital of the Republic

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 00:00:00 +0000

The center of the Hesberian Empire lies in its own province south of Tecia marked by gently rolling hills. The heart of the city lies between the two rivers, Bristus and Dejperus. According to the last census, Esbrus is home to 200 Senators’ familes, 22,314 Equestrian Families, 157,922 families of Freedmen, 62,817 Merchant families, 700 registered ‘Magicians’,20 Ganarii Merchants, 110,092 Ken Families (Citizens), 602 Families of Ken (Non-Citizens), and 35,000 Soldiers. (Approxiamtely 1.8 million people)

Menajen's Folly

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Ilosian remix - rough draft

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Lingua Franca

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Waiting for the baby to arrive gives me some time to work on Dira in a bit of a different way. I work on it to keep myself occupied while my wife is asleep or a way to release from the day. My boss and I are trying to get a lot done for actuaries before I leave to spend time with mom and baby, so it’s sometimes hard to get a break from my work life and not take it home.

In Dira, I want to make sure that the various cultures are not two-dimensional. To that end, I figure that if their language is more detailed and fleshed out, more can be inferred about their culture. For now, I don’t want to necessarily create a language from scratch, though I have some tools that would help me do that. I want the Hesberian to feel somewhat Roman. So I decided to use Latin as a base to make a language. I added a sound or two and eliminated some others, but the result is something I hope will vaguely sound Latin, thus feel a little Roman.

The Old Gods

Sat, 10 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Eristotle’s later philosophy spoke of the prime mover as the first cause of the universe. He called this prime mover, the Brejnum. The Brejnum was known long before Eristotle, but only as the unknowable, inscrutable creator of all things. Although worship of the Old Gods is common, worship of Brejnum is uncommon. It is mentioned in the invocation of the Senate each year and in the election of the consul. It is traditional for the consuls (and before them, the em porers) to call on Brejnum to be the first cause of justice for the people and the preservation of the republic.

Magic in Dira

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 00:00:00 +0000

To talk about current learning in regards to Magic, it is important to give a brief history of the thinkers and philosophers that make up a large part of Hesberian thought. Eristotle laid the groundwork for the physics of magic. Onhedius did much to frame the ideas behind curative magic. Despite the facr that both lived hundreds of years before the existence of magic, modern thinkers found that many of their concepts still hold true. Not everything about magic is understood. Despite the presentation of modern Hesberian thought presented here, there are exceptions to the rules that no one has been able to adequately explain. Since magic is a relatively new science, it is not as thought out as mathematics or physics.

Rename and Reshape

Thu, 18 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Hesberian Gazetteer

Fri, 05 Aug 2005 00:00:00 +0000

History of the Republic III - A Near Fall

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000

After the administration of Cajus Tigius, the senate named a new consul in late 5883. The economy was sluggish and Cajus’ military reforms caused some grumbling, but considering the cataclysm almost forty-six years before, Hesberia was considered stable.

This stability gave them adavantage when the military pushed to reclaim eastern lands. Many of the former provinces fell into chaos. Some areas formed city-states while other areas were without both law and order. This chaos prevented some eastern warlords from taking advantage of magical aspects of warfare. Against a more trained and organized army, these warlords fell quickly. Military reforms begun by Awrelius and continued by Cajus transformed the Hesberian military from a plodding infantry heavy force, to a quick, mobile force capable of attacking airborne and ground troops.

History of the Republic II

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Sulemus Budimus

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 00:00:00 +0000

History of the Republic

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Eferians - Draft

Wed, 11 May 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Learning About God through Creation

Sat, 23 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0000

The Nekorians & Namtemorians

Mon, 07 Mar 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Nekorian translates to “the magical ones” Namtemorian translates to “the mundane ones”

Not taken seriously by even the most superstitous of scholars, the magical ones are the subject of stories to scare children in civilized lands. Most tales involve the Nekorians terrorizing villages by causing people’s own furniture to attack them. As such, many in the Hesberian Empire, if they think of them at all, describe them inaccurately as ghosts.

Gnosceti

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 00:00:00 +0000

The sons of knowledge

The Gnosceti are considered a myth by many intellectuals and orators in elite Hesberian circles. Stories of their deeds and powers are considered nothing more than ghost stories used to scare small children.

Hesberian City Markers

Tue, 21 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Been a few days

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 00:00:00 +0000

But I’m still around. There’s been some furious attempt to finalize the Study Series only to discover that now may not be the right time for it.

I may still publish it, but there’s little reason to now. I never thought that I’d be ahead of the curve on letting go of some things in the past. Oh well.

In the meantime, I hope to do more with my fantasy world and on a class about the Synoptic Gospels this winter.

Mavinian Deck of Cards

Fri, 26 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Mavinian Traders

Fri, 26 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Human Creation Myth

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000

THIS IS IN REGARDS TO THE WORLD of DIRA

From the book The Human Way written by Bermal (also called Semzenos)

Various human tribes have their own creation myths. This one seems to be the most popular among the humans living in midcontinent, even in areas where there are no magics. When nonhuman species study humans in an academic approach, this is the story considered to be foundational in understanding the human way of thinking. This is likely because of the great Hesberian Empire that controlled most of the known continents before the discovery of the first magic. Traces of the Hesberian Empire are seen in most human lands through the existence of ancient temples dedicated to Luma, though few of these are in use.

New section on website

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Ilosian(Elves) and Duwergan(Dwarves)

Sun, 12 Sep 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Almost a Post

Fri, 20 Aug 2004 00:00:00 +0000

The Gainar

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 00:00:00 +0000

The Gainarii - part two

Mon, 16 Aug 2004 00:00:00 +0000