When I wrote my last update, I was convinced that the storm was over when it had barely begun.
The past few weeks have been horrible. Crippling pain, hospital bills, apathy, depression, allergies, and so many other enemies to fight with just one person. Even still, just knowing that you are there helps. Every single one of you 37 readers count, every one has occupied a piece of my heart, making it pump energy and life force into this shadow of a person I have been. Now I live again, more exuberant than ever.
Today I have news for you. Let’s begin with something absolutely amazing. The Hunter Saga has been nominated for the Rites of Passage syndicate. Words cannot express my gratitude. Thank you so much for giving me this chance!
I think it is time to reveal our trio of monster hunters.
You’ve already met our young Helene. Born immortal as half djinni and half human, she struggles in the crumbling ancient empires. Fighting both her own demonic side as well as other threats to humanity, she escapes to the barbaric north under a new identity. Her path is explored in Book I - The Demon
Book II - The Witch tells about Caroline. One of the many victims of the Valais witch trials.
Book III - The Wolf is the origin story of Marquis. Also known as the Beast of Gévaudan, a werewolf.
The Hunter Sagabrings these three unlikely heroes together to fight for the humanity in the war where every god has their pawns on the board. No matter what trials I need to go through, this book will once be ready, and get released to the world. I’m certain of it. The story is so great, so epic and so good, I won’t just let it rot in my head. It demands to be written! It demands to be read! Oh the adventures we will embark together.
The daily updates have become not-so-daily, as I’ve experienced some chronic pain related issues during the past week. Fortunately things are looking better, bit by bit. The difficulties have only fueled my passion towards this project and I am more determined than ever to make it great.
The long awaited portrait of Helene. I am going to have to open this up a bit. The Hunter Saga became a thing once I, with my dearest pal, dreamed the unmentionable dream. The self-insert into the universe. As such, two of the characters in the Hunter-verse are in a deep level related to us, yet they have evolved into completely different characters. One of these characters is Helene. Thus, some of you who know me better in a face-to-face basis, may notice some superficial resemblance. Helene of the portrait is around a decade older than the one in the 8th Chapter, Across the Gulf of Corinth. Now that we got that out of the way, I present to you:
350BCE, Delphi, The Half-Breed, Helene
"It is alright. You are dreaming. I was sent here to help."
I wish you a peaceful night. You are important, never forget that. Thank you.
There are now 33 of you, and I appreciate each and every one of you. You matter.
I’m happy to announce the 8th chapter - Across the Gulf of Corinth has been released. It has been 18 days since the project began and gosh, so much has changed. I’ve always been passionate about The Hunter Sagasince the first character design, but never to this extent! It truly is a child of mine, and I’m doing my very best to its success! What started as a frail seed of a dream, has grown strong roots deep in the ground and is pushing through the soil to flourish.
This would not be possible without your invaluable advice, feedback and sharing, dear followers, and I am just repeating the grateful phrases over and over. Even though they may appear worn and meaningless on the screen, they are every time alive and well, shining in my heart. They make me happy and they make me a better writer advice by advice. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Now, in the 8th chapter we get some answers, but not without new questions. Some major plot points might seem obvious but... read on, it gets more interesting. There are many cards to be played and important characters to introduce, so don’t draw your conclusions too soon.
We have a new vision in this chapter! They are always fun to write. We get to know the story of Nereus and Nerites. In mythology, Nereus is the eldest son of titan Pontus (Sea) and Gaia (Earth). Nerites is someone only described by mariners’ folklore, and is the brother of fifty Nereids (nymphs of the Aigeian Sea, modern Aegean Sea). Later in his life, Aphrodite falls for Nerites and that starts a whole new drama in the great Olympian soap opera. God Triton also makes a brief appearance, he is the son of Poseidon and Amphirite, each a deity of the sea. The family tree is baffling. I have sketched it out many times and just when I thought I have it simplified, I discover a new affair and twenty kids. It may not sound like it, but it is a whole lot of fun.
Soon we will get to Epidaurus, soon, and settle down. Or then something completely different will happen and- ooo I’m talking too much! It’s all very exciting! I’m always pleased to hear your thoughts on everything.
Happy to inform you that I slept for a good 13 hours last night. I woke up to a panic about being late from a hamster show (don’t laugh, the Dark Lord got very good grades.) I wanted to un-enter the show in order to work on The Hunter Saga, but found out that the show had a no refunds policy. So off we went. We returned home to discover that I have a stomach-flu going on. Nice.
Anyway! On to the stuff you follow me for. Because there are so many battles during 400-300 bce I have to be super careful to not walk my characters straight into a war zone. So many friggin’ battles. Why? Just chill. Be friends. Stop the racism, classism, sexism, you are fascinating but so messed up.
Corinth has plenty of material to research, and this evening, I’d like to share some of my fresh mythology findings. They are raw and unedited - straight from my research file and not written for publication, so please, excuse my grammar and other mistakes. Here you go:
Ephyra, was founded by Ephyra (an Oceanid) as it’s Corinth’s ancient name.
Sisyphos founded a race of ancient kings at Ephyra.
The Upper Peirene spring is in the acropolis of Corinth, Acrocorinth. Water-hole for Pegasus. It was a gift from Asopos to Sisyphos. Sisyphos knew that Zeus raped Asopus’ daughter Aegina, but refused to tell him before he had the spring. What an ass.
Ephyra was destroyed around 2000 BCE.
Founded by Corinthos, a descendant of Titan Helios (the Sun).
Iason (leader of Argonauts) betrayed his wife, princess Medeia (sorceress, granddaughter of Helios, niece of Kirke) in Corinth around 1300 BCE, when king Kreon of Corinth offered Iason his daughter Kreousa (a Naiad). Medeia killed Kreousa, Kreon, and her & Iason’s children because she feared others would kill the kids cruelly in revenge for the royal murders. Then she fled to Athens in a chariot of Helios’ dragons. What. With his betrayal Iason lost favor with Hera, and he died lonely and unhappy when his rotting ship Argo fell on him. Haha, aw.
Pausanias (200 CE) tells: Briareos (ahekatonkheire) judged a qualm between Poseidon and Helios. His verdict was that Isthmus (neck) of Corinth belonged to Poseidon and Acrocorinth belonged to Helios. Thus the local cult of Helios.
With those tiny bed-time stories, I wish you a good night,
It is amazing that my eyes still are open at 7pm. Last night I slept for 90 minutes in total. My syrian hamster, The Dark Lord Kieran was trying his best to escape his life-sentence to conquer the world. I had bought him a new climbing set, and his highness was very aptly using it to gnaw on the air holes of his plexiglass prison.
One look at him and you can see the evil in his eyes.
I cannot manage in my current droopy condition to create new content. However, I had some excellent advice from my dear friend, and I have edited all the chapters according... to... to... zzzzz.
As might be guessed, I slept in. Missed the alarm. Routine got wrecked as I couldn’t get my pain killers on time. When I rode my bicycle to the grocery store, it started pouring rain. Or as they would say Zeus began pouring. But nevertheless, the evening is good. I realized the vitality of scheduling my days. I won’t let this project derail my other parts of life, especially my education. I need a job badly, and the work on The Hunter Saga is not helping. But neither am I quitting, far from it. Here is my new schedule for all to see:
As you can see, I’m really working hard for this dream, and only the tip of the ice berg can be seen on this site.
Anyways, I have a very special treat for you. No chapter 8, but an excerpt of Chapter 19: A Hunter is Born. Although heavily censored for spoilers, it shows the raw essence of what The Hunter Saga is all about. Why its name is what it is. It shows the road we are travelling, as I don’t want you to be illusioned with the current pace, the first half of the first origin story.
Hoo, it’s 11:49pm and I have to wake up at five! But now, I have the 7th chapter of The Hunter Saga ready, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
It takes long for me to write a 5-minute chapter, but I absolutely have to know what materials the ancient fishermen used and what was the way like from Temple of Apollo to Kirrha. Now I know. So much research in this chapter, so, very much. But it’s like the pain you get from doing just the right amount of exercise, it feels pretty darn good!
Now we’ve been through our first little history lesson. The Siege of Kirrha is truly an interesting one, since the doctor who supposedly did the thing with the water, was, according to one likely source, Nebros, an ancestor of Hippocrates! And presumably this very action was the beginning of the modern day oath every doctor takes. So fascinating! Very gruesome, but fascinating.
I had a mind to have Helene slapped at the one point of the chapter but no. I will still not give up on my ideals. This work of fiction does not and never will promote any such issues as domestic violence, that is what I wish to achieve. Low remarks on characters are unfortunate, but they don’t get rewarded at any time, I’m going to take care of that. And if any of you ever notice something like that happening, I would be glad if you showed me my errors.
I’ve made calculations and according to them, this first origin story will take 20 chapters in total. I think that’s pretty good. I will take that as a goal for the two other origin stories as well, and so we have reading material already for a few hours -- in a nice bite-sized chunks.
The first origin story is the only one I’ll release before publishing, but I will reveal identities and portraits of the other two hunters, so that you’ll know who you will be dealing with.
The cores of Eudoxia and Helene are beginning to unravel. In the other hand, what would you expect from someone Apollo planned to be born. In the other, is he even such a great dude? The curse was pretty awful. And what about the ever lurking djinni. And the djinni-half of Helene. Ooooooo!
Alright! It is now 0:18 and I really need to go to sleep. So, good night! Sleep tight! Thank you for your support,
I was so eager to finally get to finish the 6th chapter of The Hunter Saga, that I had a bit of a hard time at school. Waitress duty isn’t the most fulfilling ones, or doesn’t keep the mind busy the way cooking and baking does.
In this chapter, I took proper time for Eudoxia and Phemonoe to have good closure, and to explore the mind-set of the little Helene. I’m drawing inspiration from my nieces and nephews, and also from myself as the youngest kid. It must be so scary being born to the world in such a unique way, and with all this knowledge, but she doesn’t know any better. Only that she, from the very birth, is different from others.
As something Helene needs to be "closeted" about, being a half-djinni, would for sure make a good source for interesting tales of youth rebellion, though I do not know yet how much of Helene’s early youth I will write about. There has to be a time jump somewhere, but it will be smooth and really just cutting some day-to-day life. I hate those long time jumps where everything is suddenly all different. I’m looking at you, Young Justice. All exciting events will be documented, of course. We haven’t got to the thick of it, not really. But the world is about to get much bigger, already in the next chapter, so hold on tight and do not get the sea sickness!
I have spent my afternoon and evening today editing the previous chapters, adding some things and fixing the errors I made with the help of one dear follower. It is only right that I give his project a shout out. Go and check out his book, The Knightmares! It is a horror book, with a most entertaining and quirky style to it.
I am currently in the middle of writing a new chapter, and one minute worth of text is already available. The chapters I’m releasing this week require a ton of research and double-checking the facts. The Hunter Saga isn’t obviously meant to be a history book, but I feel like the more real and accurate the environment is, the more magical the fantastical things will be.
During the next few chapters we will explore the relationships of the characters deeper, as they are bound to spend a lot of time together to get to their goal. No worries, there will be plenty of action afterwards. Plenty. Oh gods I feel horrible just thinking about the things I’m destined to write soon. But it must be done! I’m thinking about how much do I want to release here, and at the very least, I need to tell this first origin story to its end *shudder*. You don’t become a monster hunter without getting some trauma, that much can be deciphered from Supernatural. Everything is going to be alright, right guys? Why am I sounding like a creepy villain from Goosebumps? Huff!
I feel a lot better today, fortunately the sick feeling passed over as suddenly as it came. The portrait is finished and I think it really succeeds in showing some mystery.
"I as a simple-minded djinni, prefer the peace and quiet."
Here is the Arachnos Portrait, in its full glory:
???, Arabia, The Djinni, Arachnos
Now. I had a thought while drawing this. Instead of a lousy T-shirt, the ones who order the Epic Pack, get a free digital art commission from me when the book reaches the Quill goal. That’s right, anything you want I’ll draw and throw it in the bargain! My strong points are portraits though, so if you’re interested, keep that in mind.
Hmm... Yes. The ones who order a hard-cover book, get a free digital sketch! No colours, just the lines, but the theme again is anything you wish.
Now, tell me. Would you receive a hot burning kiss from this guy? Eudoxia wouldn’t (in this form) but I’m telling you, he gives me a bit of an identity crisis, haha. Hope you like the portrait! With this piece of art, it’s time to write some chapters again for the next few days.
As always, thank you for your support, you are important, and Good Night!
Dear, dear adventurers
When I wrote my last update, I was convinced that the storm was over when it had barely begun.
The past few weeks have been horrible. Crippling pain, hospital bills, apathy, depression, allergies, and so many other enemies to fight with just one person. Even still, just knowing that you are there helps. Every single one of you 37 readers count, every one has occupied a piece of my heart, making it pump energy and life force into this shadow of a person I have been. Now I live again, more exuberant than ever.
Today I have news for you. Let’s begin with something absolutely amazing. The Hunter Saga has been nominated for the Rites of Passage syndicate. Words cannot express my gratitude. Thank you so much for giving me this chance!
I think it is time to reveal our trio of monster hunters.
You’ve already met our young Helene. Born immortal as half djinni and half human, she struggles in the crumbling ancient empires. Fighting both her own demonic side as well as other threats to humanity, she escapes to the barbaric north under a new identity. Her path is explored in Book I - The Demon
Book II - The Witch tells about Caroline. One of the many victims of the Valais witch trials.
Book III - The Wolf is the origin story of Marquis. Also known as the Beast of Gévaudan, a werewolf.
The Hunter Saga brings these three unlikely heroes together to fight for the humanity in the war where every god has their pawns on the board. No matter what trials I need to go through, this book will once be ready, and get released to the world. I’m certain of it. The story is so great, so epic and so good, I won’t just let it rot in my head. It demands to be written! It demands to be read! Oh the adventures we will embark together.
Yours truly,
H.A.
Good evening dear Adventurers,
The daily updates have become not-so-daily, as I’ve experienced some chronic pain related issues during the past week. Fortunately things are looking better, bit by bit. The difficulties have only fueled my passion towards this project and I am more determined than ever to make it great.
The long awaited portrait of Helene. I am going to have to open this up a bit. The Hunter Saga became a thing once I, with my dearest pal, dreamed the unmentionable dream. The self-insert into the universe. As such, two of the characters in the Hunter-verse are in a deep level related to us, yet they have evolved into completely different characters. One of these characters is Helene. Thus, some of you who know me better in a face-to-face basis, may notice some superficial resemblance. Helene of the portrait is around a decade older than the one in the 8th Chapter, Across the Gulf of Corinth. Now that we got that out of the way, I present to you:
350BCE, Delphi, The Half-Breed, Helene
I wish you a peaceful night. You are important, never forget that. Thank you.
-H.A.
Good evening dear Adventurers,
There are now 33 of you, and I appreciate each and every one of you. You matter.
I’m happy to announce the 8th chapter - Across the Gulf of Corinth has been released. It has been 18 days since the project began and gosh, so much has changed. I’ve always been passionate about The Hunter Saga since the first character design, but never to this extent! It truly is a child of mine, and I’m doing my very best to its success! What started as a frail seed of a dream, has grown strong roots deep in the ground and is pushing through the soil to flourish.
This would not be possible without your invaluable advice, feedback and sharing, dear followers, and I am just repeating the grateful phrases over and over. Even though they may appear worn and meaningless on the screen, they are every time alive and well, shining in my heart. They make me happy and they make me a better writer advice by advice. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Now, in the 8th chapter we get some answers, but not without new questions. Some major plot points might seem obvious but... read on, it gets more interesting. There are many cards to be played and important characters to introduce, so don’t draw your conclusions too soon.
We have a new vision in this chapter! They are always fun to write. We get to know the story of Nereus and Nerites. In mythology, Nereus is the eldest son of titan Pontus (Sea) and Gaia (Earth). Nerites is someone only described by mariners’ folklore, and is the brother of fifty Nereids (nymphs of the Aigeian Sea, modern Aegean Sea). Later in his life, Aphrodite falls for Nerites and that starts a whole new drama in the great Olympian soap opera. God Triton also makes a brief appearance, he is the son of Poseidon and Amphirite, each a deity of the sea. The family tree is baffling. I have sketched it out many times and just when I thought I have it simplified, I discover a new affair and twenty kids. It may not sound like it, but it is a whole lot of fun.
Soon we will get to Epidaurus, soon, and settle down. Or then something completely different will happen and- ooo I’m talking too much! It’s all very exciting! I’m always pleased to hear your thoughts on everything.
Thank you, and have a good night!
-H.A.
Good evening, Adventurers!
Happy to inform you that I slept for a good 13 hours last night. I woke up to a panic about being late from a hamster show (don’t laugh, the Dark Lord got very good grades.) I wanted to un-enter the show in order to work on The Hunter Saga, but found out that the show had a no refunds policy. So off we went. We returned home to discover that I have a stomach-flu going on. Nice.
Anyway! On to the stuff you follow me for. Because there are so many battles during 400-300 bce I have to be super careful to not walk my characters straight into a war zone. So many friggin’ battles. Why? Just chill. Be friends. Stop the racism, classism, sexism, you are fascinating but so messed up.
Corinth has plenty of material to research, and this evening, I’d like to share some of my fresh mythology findings. They are raw and unedited - straight from my research file and not written for publication, so please, excuse my grammar and other mistakes. Here you go:
With those tiny bed-time stories, I wish you a good night,
Thank you. You matter.
-H.A.
Dear Adventurers,
Good evening, adventurers!
Good midnight!
Good Monday evening to you, dear followers!
Hello adventurers!
I have spent my afternoon and evening today editing the previous chapters, adding some things and fixing the errors I made with the help of one dear follower. It is only right that I give his project a shout out. Go and check out his book, The Knightmares! It is a horror book, with a most entertaining and quirky style to it.
I am currently in the middle of writing a new chapter, and one minute worth of text is already available. The chapters I’m releasing this week require a ton of research and double-checking the facts. The Hunter Saga isn’t obviously meant to be a history book, but I feel like the more real and accurate the environment is, the more magical the fantastical things will be.
During the next few chapters we will explore the relationships of the characters deeper, as they are bound to spend a lot of time together to get to their goal. No worries, there will be plenty of action afterwards. Plenty. Oh gods I feel horrible just thinking about the things I’m destined to write soon. But it must be done! I’m thinking about how much do I want to release here, and at the very least, I need to tell this first origin story to its end *shudder*. You don’t become a monster hunter without getting some trauma, that much can be deciphered from Supernatural. Everything is going to be alright, right guys? Why am I sounding like a creepy villain from Goosebumps? Huff!
Sweet dreams! You are important!
-H.A.
Excellent evening, Followers!
I feel a lot better today, fortunately the sick feeling passed over as suddenly as it came. The portrait is finished and I think it really succeeds in showing some mystery.
Here is the Arachnos Portrait, in its full glory:
???, Arabia, The Djinni, Arachnos
Now. I had a thought while drawing this. Instead of a lousy T-shirt, the ones who order the Epic Pack, get a free digital art commission from me when the book reaches the Quill goal. That’s right, anything you want I’ll draw and throw it in the bargain! My strong points are portraits though, so if you’re interested, keep that in mind.
Hmm... Yes. The ones who order a hard-cover book, get a free digital sketch! No colours, just the lines, but the theme again is anything you wish.
Now, tell me. Would you receive a hot burning kiss from this guy? Eudoxia wouldn’t (in this form) but I’m telling you, he gives me a bit of an identity crisis, haha. Hope you like the portrait! With this piece of art, it’s time to write some chapters again for the next few days.
As always, thank you for your support, you are important, and Good Night!
-H.A.