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| Site Design & Written Content (exclusive of quoted material) copyright @ by Kathryne Kennedy, All Rights Reserved |
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| The History of THE ELVEN LORDS |
| The link between the world of man and Elfhame had sundered long ago, the elven people and their magic fading to legend. Tall beings of extraordinary beauty, the fae preferred a world of peace. But seven elves--considered mad by their own people--longed for power and war. They stole sacred magical scepters, created their dragon-steeds, and opened the gate to the realm of man again and flew through.
Each elf carved a sovereign land within England, replacing the baronies that had so recently been formed by William the Conqueror. They acquired willing and unwilling slaves to serve in their palaces and till their lands. And fight their wars. Like mythical gods they set armies of humans against each other, battling for the right to win the king, who’d become nothing more than a trophy. They bred with their human slaves, producing children to become champions of their war games. The elven lords maintained a unified pact, using the scepters in a united will to place a barrier around England, with only a few guarded borders open to commerce. Elven magic provided unique goods and the world turned a blind eye to the plight of the people, persuaded by greed to leave England to its own, as long as the elven did not seek to expand their rule into neighboring lands. But many of the English people formed a secret rebellion to fight their oppressors. Some of the elven’s children considered themselves human despite their foreign blood and joined the cause. And over the centuries these half-breeds became their only hope. |
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| Map of THE ELVEN LORDS' Sovereignties |
| Character Cards for THE FIRE LORD'S LOVER |
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| The following is copied from my notes for the world of THE ELVEN LORDS. It’s how I develop the world, keep track of the logistics, and was also a part of my proposal for the series. It has evolved since then, and will continue to do so as I add new adventures to the series (note that some of my elven do not have names for their dragons, etc., because I may not have introduced them in any books yet. I like to save some stuff for future inspiration.), but the basic groundwork must remain the same from book to book. Please understand, these are my personal notes, and so they’re not meant to be neat and tidy.
Elvenkind: one word Dragon-steeds: hyphenated Half-breeds: hyphenated The Elven Lords series In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England and divided the land into great baronies, dotting the countryside with castles to control the still rebellious Saxon population. Had England not been invaded by another force, William might have brought England under a unified rule. The link between the world of man and Elfhame had sundered long ago, the elven people and their magic fading to legend. Tall beings of extraordinary beauty, the fae preferred a world of peace. But seven elves--considered mad by their own people--longed for power and war. They stole the powerful scepters of Elfhame, created their dragon-steeds, and opened the gate to the realm of man again and flew through. Each elf carved a sovereign land within England, replacing the baronies that had so recently been formed. The five elven men and two women acquired willing and unwilling slaves to serve in their castles and till their lands. And fight their wars. Like mythical gods they set armies of humans against each other, battling for the right to win the king, who’d become nothing more than a trophy. They bred with their human slaves, producing beautiful children with magical abilities of their own, careful to destroy those who might prove to be too powerful. From those that survived the culling, they chose favorites to become champions of their war games. The seven elven lords maintained a unified pact, using the scepters in a united will to place a magical barrier around England, with only a few guarded borders open to commerce with the rest of the world. Elven magic provided unique goods and the world turned a blind eye to the plight of the people, persuaded by greed to leave England to its own, as long as the elvenkind did not seek to expand their rule into neighboring lands. But many of the English people formed a secret rebellion to fight their oppressors. Some of the elven’s children considered themselves human despite their foreign blood and joined the cause. And over the centuries these half-breeds became their only hope. This is the full history; I cut it for the prologue. The Seven: Similar in beauty, except their eye color matches their talisman. Each of the seven has stronger magic related to their scepter. The elven have divided England into seven sovereignties and have altered the land according to their primary magical power. They all appear to be about 35 years old. TAKES THREE ELVEN TO MAKE A SPELL THAT ONE ALONE CANNOT COUNTER. Mor’ded: Black scepter-fire./fire lord/Black dragon-steed: Ador red eyes spouts fire Sovereignty of Firehame: S Central England (including London)/Red Uniforms/blue-robed healers Firehame palace, next to Thames, replaces Houses of Parliament Bldg. See map for other tweaks of place-names. White fire, cold, harmless, for light. Blue fire, heals Black fire, burns in the mind, most powerful Gray fire, neither hot or cold, an impenetrable wall of flame Red fire, burns powerfully, can be used to spy Yellow flame is gently warm. Orange much hotter. Green fire, a link to the undead realm. Fire creatures, little intelligence. Flame trees. Breden: Blue scepter-excels in magic of sky and water./storm lord/Blue dragon-steed: Kalah blue eyes breathes lightning Sovereignty of Dewhame: SW England Dewhame palace, Bath in Somerset. Water sprites. Only Breden can call a storm, his offspring can alter water in small ways, exception is Cecily. Mi’cal: Green scepter-plant and tree-responsible for changing the English countryside./the verdant lord/ Green dragon-steed green eyes breathes a mist that sprouts vines with thorns, trees, etc.: Sovereignty of Verdanthame: E England Verdanthame palace, Norwich in Forfolk Skilled weavers of cloth. Roden: Gold scepter-air-excels in glamour, illusion & invisibility./lord of illusion/All elven lords can see through illusion (except as noted above) but not humans unless half-breed. Gold dragon-steed gold eyes breathes misty smoke of illusion : Sovereignty of Dreamhame: W England Dreamhame palace, Shrewsbury in Shropshire Glamourist, Illusionist Lan’dor: Silver scepter-metal-creates magical blades and weapons./warrior lord/ Silver dragon-steed silver eyes touched with red, breathes molten metal: Sovereignty of Bladehame: N Central England Bladehame palace, Darlington, Darlington (city & borough) Skilled makers of gold, silver jewelry settings, get their gems from Stonehame. Annanor: Brown scepter (female)-earth-excels in quakes and chasms./earth lady/ Brown dragon-steed brown eyes, roar that shakes the ground: Sovereignty of Terrahame: NE England Terrahame palace, Oakham, the county town of Rutland La’laylia: Violet scepter (female)-gems-she made the crystal stone that uses the scepter that allows the elven to communicate with one another. The scepter fuels the crystal, it slides into a hole on top of it. Use quartz, common everywhere./lady of stone/ Violet dragon-steed lavender eyes breathes smoke that turns things to stone: Midaz Sovereignty of Stonehame: NW England Stonehame palace, Appleby, Westmorland—made entirely from amethyst. Skilled gem cutters, close trade with Bladehame for the making of jewelry. Time period books take place in: Eighteenth century, from the Georgian to the Regency eras. My hero/heroines will primarily be half-elven, which means they will have some magical powers and extraordinary beauty and grace. The first book will center on Mor’ded's bastard, and his struggle to contain his growing magical strength, his involvement with the secret rebellion, and his love for the assassin trained to kill his father. Notes: Elven do not reproduce as easily as humans. Power of several people cannot be combined. The only way to combine powers is with the scepters. Elven do not often work together, except to keep barrier around England (and first time, when they entered our world). There have been exceptions: Sebastian’s ring in book two, crafted by La'laylia’s gems and Roden’s gold and forged in the black fire of Mor'ded. The resulting spell would fool an elven, since three powers went into the crafting of it. Otherwise, elven’s magic is equal, could not get the better of the other and they are VERY careful to not craft anything that would be a threat to their balance of power. Scepters have a degree of awareness, they are linked to the dragon-steeds, and they want to go back to Elfhame. If you don’t have the power required to wield a scepter, it could destroy you. The main reason the elven won’t let of any their children with strong power live is that they don’t want anyone wresting control of the scepters away from them. The elven don’t marry, but their female children have married into titles, and their male children married titled women which gave their male children titles. So, there are titled and non-titled people who have elven blood, and a bit of magic. The elven watch for any offspring of their children for too much magical ability as well, telling them that they are being sent to their wondrous homeworld of Elfhame. They are presented at court at puberty, when any manifestation of powers begins. The elves use the scepters to gage magical power but they begin to suspect that the scepters have a sentience of their own, so they often check to make sure their children aren’t hiding their powers from them, by attacking them with magic. Trials are held thrice a year. This will call up the child’s own magic in defense. The aristocracy clamor to make matches with elven bastards, hoping to gain influence with the Imperial Lords. A champion is rare; most children are born with either too much power and a threat to the elven lord, or too little, like most of the nobles at court. An elven’s innate magical abilities. Some of these are passed on to their children (children receiving these traits are not sent to Elfhame): Extraordinary strength, grace and speed of movement. Looks: faceted eyes, glimmering silver sparkling in their hair, pale smooth unblemished complexion, straight even white teeth, beautiful features, tall perfect physiques, long elegant ears with a slight point at the top. Extraordinary talent in singing, art, dancing, fighting or musical ability (result of first item). The ability to heal (non-lethal wounds or ailments), or soothe mental stress. The ability to make plants flourish, or calm a beast. The ability to find water, lost items, or glimpses into the future-predict someone coming etc. A small power of magic from each scepter’s powers; so, a child could light a candle, or perform a small illusion, but not do anything on a grand scale. Suggested: REVEALED IN BOOK 2: Where the magical power comes from. Suggested: REVEALED IN BOOK 3: The key to opening the door to Elfhame. Titles & Precedence: (My own addition) Imperial Lord/Lady: “Your Most High” or “Elven lord” Children have no title unless they marry into one. The elven created this new title for themselves which precedes even the king. King/Queen “Your Majesty” “Your Royal Highness” Monarch’s spouse, children & siblings. “Your Highness” Nephews, nieces & cousins of sovereign Duke/Duchess “His/Her Grace, the Duke/Duch of geographic locale Eldest son subsid title, other children “Lord or Lady before Christian name & surname” Marquess/Marchioness “Lord & Lady of geographic locale, so Marquess of Derby became Lord Derby and same for wife.” Eldest son subsid title, other children “Lord or Lady before Christian name & surname.” Earl/Countess “Lord & Lady of geographic locale” Eldest son subsid title, ‘Honourable’ to younger sons, “Lady before Christian name & surname” to daughters. Viscount/Viscountess “Lord & Lady last name (no ‘of’) or Visc/Viscss last name.” Eldest son subsidiary title if any; otherwise he & all children are honourables (Miss/Mister) Baron/Baroness “Lord/Lady last name ‘Baron & Baroness’ are rarely used”. All children are ‘honourables’ (Miss/Mister) /no subsidiary titles. Baronet/Baronetess “Sir first name/Lady with husband’s last name” (Sir Thomas Wilks or Sir Thomas/Lady Wilks) Children not titled. Knight “Sir first name/Lady with husband’s last name” Children not titled. Library research books: Costume in Context/The Eighteenth Century by Jennifer Ruby ISBN 071345772 Private Places/Life in the Great London Houses by Christopher Simon Sykes ISBN0670809640 A History of Fashion in Costume/The Eighteenth Century by Anne Rooney 0816059489 Books I own: Daily Life in Eighteenth Century England by Kirstin Olsen 0313299331 The Hanoverians by Jeremy Black 1852854634 The Story of Britain by Rebecca Fraser 9780393329025 |
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| Notes on THE ELVEN LORDS Series |