My website is too nice to only have *checks notes* no readers. But in all seriousness, I understand that the world is crazy and the internet isn't what it used to be, so...if you see this post, consider yourself blessed by the fleeting fairies of fantasy!
A Dawn from the West is an epic fantasy web novel and audio drama that's free from AI and LGBTQ+ friendly! I've painstakingly written the lore and stories, drawn the characters, and even composed the music you hear in this video! I work hard and just want others to enjoy the world of Älthren, too.
My mom keeps joking that she wants a pink pony named Sparkles, so for Mother's Day I made her one! Plus an additional version with an info card referencing a few old vines (and one other thing) XD
Lira Noleni in her formal mage attire! She doesn't often have need to wear them, but when she does, they serve as a visual representation of how far she'd gone into her magical practices, showing other mages how powerful she is.
Takeya is an energetic dragon with an earnest demeanor; seemingly genuine and easy to be around. He is not one particularly deserving of trust, however; he is largely out for himself, and his mind is always busy thinking up a new plan for the next great thing to get his claws into, and he's not afraid to drag others into his little schemes.
This is one of those drawings that I was going to make super cool looking, but lost all motivation for it partway through and ended up not rendering at all XD (Mainly because technical issues lost me all my brushes while working on it, RIP) My boy Eskil enjoying a fun ride with one of the horses around his home on a chilly winter morning.
Leona is softspoken and polite, especially so while she's working. She is among the many staff members who maintain the Bloodfell Estate, often taking a nocturnal shift to tidy up quietly while the majority of residents are sleeping. She isn't afraid to speak the truth, even if it isn't what people would like it to be, and she will go above and beyond for the people who have so kindly taken her in and those she cares for; whether that means taking extra care in making the room look just right, or ripping someone's insides out for them. She is often among the first who are called upon to clean up when there is a gruesome mess somewhere on the property, as the gore doesn't bother her.
New SSO OC just dropped! My other OC, Ash, once again has gotten into something they absolutely should not and messed with the laws of nature to bring a very old sorceress back from the dead, Blake Shadowbrooke.
(Small content warning for implied death in the beginning)
Blake felt no pain as she laid immobile on the bloodied floor, unfocused eyes staring up at the high ceiling above. For a brief moment, she wasn't all there as her life flashed before her eyes. This rivalry had hung over her head her entire life. It consumed her, after all these years, and now it was the end of her. Surely she had plenty of joy in her life, but that happiness never could reach its full potential, not as long as the Allencourt family still walked the earth. Was it worth it? Was this really worth dying for? Could she have lived a better life had she just tried to forget and walked away?
Her head turned, blurring vision fixed on her killer as her body grew numb and cold. The other had paid her no mind at all. Rather, she had knelt by one of the corpses of her family members, crying over them. Just as Blake had done when she found her own family like this.
What had she done?
Blake found herself gasping in a breath of air, the scenery suddenly changed. Her eyes focused easily and her body filled with renewed vigor, her mind alert once again. Her skin buzzed with a strange sensation, like electricity awakening the senses.
Sunlight streamed in through a curtained window nearby, the walls and ceiling in her immediate view indicating she was likely in some kind of log cabin. Standing over her with such delight on their face, an unfamiliar human with little colored streaks in their black hair, glowing green eyes fading down to a natural grey.
"It worked!" they exclaimed with a grin, turning away quickly to grab something outside of Blake's view.
"Who are you?" Blake inquired with a faint groan as she sat up, freezing when she looked down at herself. Apparently she had been laid on a wooden table, her clothes entirely gone. Her skin looked slightly off in color, as though she had been sickly, and marring her complexion across her body were thin, darkened lines resembling cracks in porcelain, especially where the sword of her killer had pierced her body.
Blake looked herself over with wide eyes, thumbing over one of the marks. It'd taken a moment to connect the dots, but she recognized this. It was neither a wound nor a scar, but rather, a flaw. A sign of amatuer necromancy, where the body failed to be repaired and restored as it had been in life. They brought her no discomfort or physical detriment, thankfully, as they were merely an aesthetic infraction.
The stranger draped a blanket around Blake's shoulders to cover her up, cautious excitement in their eyes.
"I'm Ash," the apparent necromancer introduced themself, keen to move on from the subject. "So, uh, how are you feeling? Is there any pain?"
"No…" Blake murmured, running a hand through her hair as she processed all of this. "Where are we?"
"Firgrove," Ash answered, offering a smile. "I would have brought you back in a uh…nicer spot than this, but transporting a full skeleton isn't as easy to discreetly do as you'd think," they chuckled somewhat, turning to grab some folded clothes to offer her. "I got you some clothes, they should fit, hopefully," they went on, "I imagine you have a lot of questions, but I figured you'd want to get some clothes on first,"
'Skeleton?' Blake thought to herself, blinking at the other. 'How long has it been?'
She nodded politely and expressed her gratitude as she accepted the clothes, Ash directing her to a bathroom to get changed in. Blake saw little point as the human had already seen her naked, if only for a moment, but she obliged nonetheless.
Blake found it rather jarring for a humble log cabin to have a lavitory inside the home, and one so immaculate at that. The bathtub was easy enough to recognize, though it took a moment for her to recognize the more foreign appearance of the toilet and sink.
Catching a glimpse of her own reflection, Blake startled back. Staring back at her were eyes completely black, with no signs of a visible pupil, iris or sclera, and more marks across her face, primarily around her eyes. A frightful sight her face was, no wonder that necromancer seemed a little nervous upon being addressed.
'This really was your first time raising the dead, wasn't it?' she thought with a shake of her head, moving closer to look herself over in the mirror. 'Silly, naive necromancer, why did you choose me?'
Blake would step out of the bathroom fully dressed in an outfit of black and gold. Indeed they fit her quite well, either by convenience or this Ash person had put a fair bit of thought into choosing such fine apparel for her.
"Now, young necromancer, I must inquire as to what has driven you to raise me from the dead," Blake said as she found herself a place to sit down.
Ash did their best to hide how giddy they felt being addressed as a necromancer. Something about it just felt so grand to them. It's not a title to be flaunted - they could get into some serious trouble if the wrong people found out - but that, in part, was why it excited them so much.
"I read a lot about you in some old journals, that you were the best assassin in Jorvik during your time," Ash began, a spark of excitement in their eyes. "And even better was when I read about your studies in so many magical fields," they grinned, leaning closer to speak more quietly. "Is it true you were able to communicate with interdimensional beings?"
Blake had to wonder who on earth would be writing about her. It couldn't have been her own journals, she wasn't one to boast being the best at anything. One of her old employers, perhaps? Though on the other hand…she never did tell anyone of her studies, someone must have found her notes after she had perished.
"Yes, I communed with several beings from planes beyond our own, and learned their languages both spoken and written," Blake confirmed, "Is this something you also pursue?"
"I mean— maybe," Ash chuckled, "There's just…so much knowledge that you took with you to the grave, and no one's ever rediscovered the things you did. I want to learn what you learned, get it all on record and stuff," they went on with more apparent excitement.
"A scholarly motive, then. How admirable. Here I was beginning to surmise that you wished to use me as a weapon," Blake mused.
"Oh no no no, if I need to off someone I can do that myself," Ash laughed.
"You are an assassin as well?" Blake questioned, quirking a brow.
"Wait no— just uh—"
"Just a murderer, then?" Blake found enjoyment in teasing the other a little, lips quirking into the faintest hint of a smile.
"Listen, I don't do it for fun or anything," Ash quickly explained, glancing away sheepishly. "There's just some stuff I gotta keep quiet, I could be in some big trouble if anyone found out,"
"Calm yourself, I understand," Blake nearly chuckled, finding amusement that Ash would feel such a need to explain themselves to an actual assassin of all people. "We do what we must. I found the need to keep my own studies clandestine as I began pushing beyond that which has already been discovered."
"Right, me too…" Ash mumbled with some relief. "So you're…okay with that? Teaching me, and maybe helping get everything on paper?"
"I would be amenable to that," Blake agreed, "I do confess, it would be…nice, to create a legacy consisting of more than a body count,"
A Dawn from the West, Chapter 15: Light and Shadow
Preview below ⬇️
This epic fantasy web novel of mine is completely free to read, btw. You’ll just need an account after chapter 3. It’s also anti-AI and LGBTQ+ friendly.
If you are disgusted and scared of most insects, I couldn't recommend more highly just. Learning more about them. Just about a few guys that exist in your area and are completely harmless parts of the ecosystem. Most insects are just little animals doing their thing.
Your immediate disgust response is likely to be a learned thing. And it's good to be cautious, but when I was really scared of bugs I know it was mostly fear of the unknown that was creating a lot of the bad feelings. There was no reason to hold onto those bad feelings and make my life worse frankly. If you wanna get better about this and appreciate a huge part of the natural world more, you can totally just make that choice, and work on it little by little!
this entire post is something i want to beam into everyone’s brains because it’s so true, and that’s exactly how i got over my fears (and now am obsessed with bugs).
but this also brings up a super important point that people don’t mention a lot.
liking bugs greatly improves your quality of life and i cannot stress this enough. so if not for the environment, and for the buggies themselves - then why not for you?
literally any activity done outside is almost guaranteed to have you encountering bugs. heck, even when you’re not outside you’ll be around them. what a joy it is to go hiking, or to garden, or to sit in the grass - and be in awe of all that is around you. all. of. it.
i’ve genuinely never been as in love with this planet as i am now that i love, and know so much about bugs. it gives you hope, and peace.
a bad day? it’s okay, little buddy in the corner. little guy in a flower. tiny creature on a leaf. funny rascal buzzing around your face.
it eases loneliness for me. i feel like there’s friends everywhere. things that appreciate my simple, easy kindness.
now i can sit at the table under the tree on my campus - the one that hardly no one will sit at (it’s always covered in ants). because i love ants, and i know that when given respect and care that they will gently enjoy me as a big bug jungle gym.
i can sit in my garden and coo at the wasps as by buzz by, i can carefully get close and watch them sniff about in the flowers and clean their gorgeous, intricately built exoskeletons.
i can dig in the soil and scoop up a little burrowing roach and feel so much love in my heart for that tiny, lovely, sweet animal.
i can lay in the grass and be in peace.
it really isn’t about the individual, you shouldn’t help and love and care all for yourself. but at the same time, you can - as a bonus. or maybe an incentive. the world is truly amazing and learning about all it has to offer outside the craze of the human bubble can bring so much peace to you, and your little buggy friends!
