Background on Ean, The False King and Scions of Magic

So the awesome and supportive Tori_Tore, a reader of this blog asked a really great question about Poisoned Wells and the False King in particular. I realize that the story I am presenting to you has thrown you into the world of Dali and there are characters and story lines that have been established in pieces that have come before this story.

I am definitely open to answering all questions. The reason why I am not going to post the actual novels up on the site is because I’d like to get an agent and some agencies don’t want material that has been on blogs or in lit journals. But I wanted to create a fan base for Scions of Magic. Hence, my idea to create a limited edition story for the blog.

With that said, I’m going to try to fill in the blanks for you. So your questions definitely help me do that. So back to Tori_Tore who wanted to know some info about the False King. This is what I wrote in the comments:

The False King actually presents himself in the Salt Water War which was a battle against the tyranny of the King of the Golden Kingdom. This is actually a lost story in the Dali and there are only bits and pieces left. But in this war there was a scholar Ee that was to become the King Magician and he met Saravia. The False King found an opportunity to steal Ee’s body and position–he threw Ee’s consciousness out and took his place. Ee managed to keep himself intact through the process of reincarnation using magic and thus became Ean. The False King usurping Ean’as original position caused tahra to flare up and the Dali began to become brittle. So Ean has reason to be angry with the False King. But as we see in this story, the False King has been punished by the universe already. Actually, I’m going to make this comment a post tomorrow as well as discuss where the Fae and Elves and shifters fit in this world.

Originally, Scions of Magic was a bedtime story I created for Yans. Lots of our interaction has always been via text. Early on, we established bed time rituals, and if I couldn’t sleep, he’d tell me a bedtime story. I love getting stories made just for me, especially at night when I am trying to fall asleep. So one Christmas, I decided to create a story for him. I typed up the story, printed it and made a storybook for him. Honestly, I don’t really know if he’s ever even opened it.

But the story–The Salt Water Chronicles of the Golden Kingdom inspired me to create Scions of Magic, which now has 3 novels, some short stories and this serialization (All of which I am constantly editing and making beautiful in the hopes an agent comes along). In the bedtime story, I used archetypes of characters that I had been developing and nurturing in my head for years. Even Windflower and Southwind make a cameo.

So after dipping my pen for the bed time story and realizing I could create this world, I decided to write the novel. I was hesitant because I mostly worked with short stories and my attempts at novels always ended up with me getting to page 50 and not knowing where else to go. I would hit a certain point and I would revise and draft but I would lose the sense/passion of the story. The plot and the characters didn’t connect.  I was forcing events to happen to my characters. However, Scions of Magic bubbled out of me. I knew these characters, I loved them and I knew I could trust them to take me into this story and this world.

Ean, like I have mentioned in earlier posts, was created because of Yans. I was disheartened with Yans’ actions yet loved the man he was/is. So writing this was my way of dealing with a a difficult situation. It’s my way of grieving as well as searching for the joy of my inner self.

I think that after Poisoned Wells ends, I probably will share with you the original bedtime story, though the Scions of Magic world has shifted and changed and grown. And characters have become well rounded.

As for the Fae and Elves in the Dali:

Elves are very tribe centered and they are very closed off from the rest of the Dali. They are keepers of woods and forests, of wild magic. They rarely have interactions with anything outside their sacred forest areas. There have been a few who have ventured out, traveled. One was captured in the Dazin for experiments but he managed to free himself. Elves are very stoic, it is rare to see one smile–they only do that in the privacy of their tree house with their very, very close kin. They have wild magic but really they are trained warriors, healers…they use the earth.

Fae are an unruly bunch. They all stem from the elements: water, earth, fire, air. However their magic is unique and different based on the fae.  In the old days there were royal houses, but those were eradicated to avoid any rebellion against  Queen Titania. For the most part, fae can’t lie, but many are tricksters and they want to live forever. They spend an enormous time trying to avoid death, much like Ean who spent his time as a child with Queen Titania–he was given to her as a gift, but is soon sent to the Dazin to live a “normal” life. Fae are known to have internal strife in land of Fae, particularly with the Water Fae Clan. Water Fae are more aggressive, they enjoy war, bloodshed and torture. The Queen is water fae so their numbers have grown. Unlike Elves, the Fae have an Awakening which is like puberty but they either grow into their magic or they aren’t strong enough so they de-evolve.

I hope this helps. Again, I love questions because when I am answering them, I am also figuring out the world and how to explain it into words as well as deciding what should be included in my revisions.

Look out for the next installment of Poisoned Wells some time next week!