Aug 10, 2016

Hello, all!  First off, thank you for suffering through the final countdown of updates.  If nothing else, I hope y’all are enjoying the fluff about the races and feeling good about yourselves.  I write because not writing feels almost physically painful; it’s an itch that MUST be scratched.  I publish because I genuinely care for people and think these stories, the short and the long, may well help them to thrive.  

Whether the words help you to thrive or not, I do wish y’all the absolute best.  Things can be daunting and Life, well, she’s not all-powerful, though she often seems that way.  I’ve mentioned that this story is about surviving abuse when fighting and fleeing aren’t options.  We’ve all had moments like that:  the job we can’t afford to quit, the parent or friend who relies on our care and is not the least bit grateful, the car repair bills that cripple us yet cannot go unpaid...   We come out stronger.  I came out of my ordeals, at first, much more soft spoken and afraid.  Then, as the despair lifted -- I was still living with these hardships -- I found my joy.  It filled me and sustained me and left me much stronger than if I’d never fallen in the first place.

When I was writing this story, that was my intended takeaway.  There are eleven more books in the series, eight of which are fully written.  The last three have important scenes completed and just need the story to fall into place like a cloak around a rider.  Each one has a slightly different emphasis.  Each one was written to be a story of internal growth and healing, even if they are filled with casual traumas.

Anyhoo, here are the overviews for two of the Civilized Races (known to the Feral races as Soft races).  Hope you like ’em!

Gnomes

Gnome, like halfling, refers to a great number of different wingless fae.  The most common variant, the Bwecol, has large heads, heavily rounded features, a gift for manipulating the arcana associated with a specific sense and lives for about two hundred years.  They usually form intricate family ties, all linked to an industry based in their favored sense.  Those gifted in the arcana associated with taste usually band together to form large city or nationwide restaurant chains, while those associated with touch may run the textile industries.

While Civilized Races see gnomes as aspiring entrepreneurs with properly cultured lineages and customs, the race is highly opportunistic and dastardly to those it perceives as enemies, regardless of whether this enemy is Civilized or Feral.  Poison is common, as are layers of forgery and extortion.  The common scapegoat, should blame be placed on a gnome, is whatever halfling family is closest or easiest to target.

All Bwecol gnomes will offer refuge to other Bwecol gnomes, regardless of allegiance, but they expect a favor or sum paid in response.  Additionally, if a young gnome manifests a power not associated with that of its parents, it is given as a fosterling to a family harboring that sense.  These fosterlings are given false documentation declaring an appropriate lineage and often never, themselves, realize they are not natural born to their parents.

Gorgons

Gorgons are a race of predominantly cold-blooded bipeds who exhibit several distinct traits.  First, atop their heads are a number of serpents, most of which are venomous, which writhe constantly and provide a peripheral awareness that is rarely duped.  Second, their skin is lightly scaled.  Additionally, they have forked tongues, elongated fingers, and have about sixty vertebrae, differing in exact number by bloodline.  

Most gorgons are born female, and many do give birth to live young, though some will lay eggs.  This is largely a matter of choice, as the female can induce a shell to form over her two offspring or can simply carry them to term, depending on the temperature she keeps her body at.  The children are raised to be nobles, even if that is not the station held by their mother.

Males of the species often pass for females in polite society and are contracted discretely when a female wishes to conceive.  He then has nothing whatsoever to do with raising the resultant young.  In both genders, much heed is given to the health and robust appearance of skin and cranial serpents.  Most individuals choose to move slowly and gracefully, though this is by no means their only choice.

Hybrids of this species are an unfortunate bunch, often looking sickly or mutated as the internal workings of both parents compete in differing areas.  Generally, they are sterile except with other gorgon hybrids and are often cast out to die young. Their arcane affinity is with transmutative energies and, with direct eye contact and concentration, most adults can turn their foes to stone.