The Silken Spirit and A.I Constructs

A few days ago I was in work, tapping away at my desk as per usual listening to a bit of Morcheeba (Trigger Hippie, great song) ticking off my list of jobs, looking forward to my break which was in fifteen minutes or so, but then my phone buzzed, it was a friend of mine; He didn’t begin with ‘Hello young man,’ or ‘You alive?’ or ‘How are things, you good?’ like he usually does, instead he opened with a question, and that question was: –

‘Do you have a description of one of your characters?’

He’s always been a supporter of my work, whenever we get together for a drink or ten, he always asks about it, and a wholesome conversation typically follows, but never has he reached out so directly before, which honestly rose a little suspicion in me. I replied, quite innocently with: –

‘Dude, I’m up to my perfect ass in character descriptions.’

‘Send a description over, there’s a good lad.’

I wasn’t replying in that way just to be comical; I actually am sinking in character descriptions at the moment. When I want one drawn for example, I send the artist a brief, and the brief is broken up into three parts – First comes the overview, the biography of that character, a list of things starting with the obvious, their name, his or her origin, age, race, occupation, height, weight and so on. Then comes a paragraph of their place in the world and within the story. I share their motivations, their history, their fears, their strengths, weaknesses, and hint at their journey’s arc. It’s all written from a third person perspective but the idea is to give the artist more than just a cold list; Sometimes character artists need a little more than the obvious, sometimes they need to enter the headspace of said character to nail facial features, stature or pose, the more someone has to work with the better the sketch is usually, plus this opens the door for them to add a personal touch. As I keep saying, the people I hire are creative too, and instead of dictating to them at every step of the way, I encourage them to embrace their own artistic flares and take a risk with what they see in my ideas. This is important. Finally, the third part is the key notes; The key notes are descriptions that HAVE to be included or acknowledged in the drawing, for example, if the character has curly hair and green eyes, if he or she uses a particular weapon or is adorned with a scar, these things must be considered and cannot be altered in anyway, they’re hard rules so to speak and not things up for debate. Occasionally, the artist will require some reference images or sketches from myself to assist them, all my characters are unique, but some are more so than others, and giving the artist something more to get them on the same page as I am, is necessary. Once he or she has everything they need, they’re good to go, they’re instructed to message me at any time if they need anything more and they’ll get back to me in a few weeks’ time, with a first draft, followed with a second and third; Typically, we’re on our way to completion after the second interaction but there have been instances when we go into the fourth and fifth draft. Once the drawing is completed, they send over the completed file, I send over their payment, we shake hands, and we get on with our merry day. The work, when published is credited by both myself and the artist, and often features in an article such as this, and that’s it, that’s the process behind character concepts. It’s no great secret or mystery as to how this all comes together, it’s just a simple matter of relaying your vision to someone who is visiting your world equipped with different skill sets, and I try to employ the same methodology and principles when working with outsiders, whether they be character artists, landscape artists or musicians, the goal is to give them something to work with, something which coherently translates and can be adapted accordingly, as close to the books as possible. So, to continue with the story, I sent over a slightly edited version of one of my character briefs to my friend, I sent him the description of Chloe Augustien aka The Silken Spirit, and within two minutes, he messages back with not one, but several concepts of a fully rendered, fully realised, beautifully interpretation of Chloe. It’s hard to convey how I felt in that moment, on the one hand I was astonished, enthralled, and overjoyed at the concept of not having to pay for art anymore, to get not one but several incredible interpretations of characters who have been floating around in my head for an enormous amount of time. Where normally it would take weeks sometimes even months to receive one drawing, now I could get many in a matter of moments, tweaked to the highest degree and depicted in whatever setting my imagination would allow. Fucking marvellous! However, what I have learned in all my years doing this and as a human bumping around on planet Earth, is that everything comes at a cost whether it be in the short or long term, there is no free lunch, nothing is too good to be true and cutting corners negates the grind necessary to become something of a success, whether it’s in the public eye or from within yourself. I hate to quote Star Wars considering what it has become over the years (a diabolical unforgivable sloppy mess, a disaster that stains the film industry), but the original trilogy, Empire Strikes Back specifically, relays this lesson perfectly; Rushing, and taking the quick and easy routes might pay off in the short term, but often ends in chaos. It’s actually the practise of patience, hardships and setbacks that exist in the journey that really make you what you are. This is what I would like to talk about today, not only the grind but what has only been perceived and speculated upon in regards to A.I is now fucking here, the technology to create whatever I want is literally at my fingertips; What this means for not only myself, but for creatives and the industry moving forward from now on, is worth a mature analysis, and I’ll do my best to articulate how I’ll be conducting myself in the future. But first, I’d like to talk about the most recent character sketch of Chloe Augustien, someone who was mentioned I believe only once in Episode One-The Utopian Dream but is fully introduced in the first third of Episode Two-Rise of The Black Doves and comes into her own in Volume Five. This is article 100 called, The Silken Spirit and A.I Constructs, do grab yourselves a drink and let’s get started. Hope you enjoy.

Chloe Augustien is an interesting and important character in The Ancestral Odyssey series, it might not appear that way to start with, but overtime she finds herself thrust into the wars between the mortal and the immortal worlds. She not only represents someone who struggles to find her own place in Equis, something that I think we all can relate to, but she becomes the centre piece after having gone on that lonesome journey of self-discovery, becoming a figure of extreme importance between multiple factions that bicker over her fate. The irony here is that she starts as a nobody, a petty thief with a tragic past who associates with thieves, The Dark Rogues, who embellish independence and freedom; She breaks away from said guild when they begin to form certain alliances, when they begin to loosen those wild and free ideas that attracted her to them (Draygo specifically) in the first place, they becoming an army in that of themselves, something to be commanded and moved about at a moment’s notice. Chloe abandons them, to live a life where she can feel in control and pursue her own purposes as once promised by Catherine Quistel (leader of The Dark Rogues), but before long she’s dragged back into these old feuds that she sort to escape from, where not only her destiny is bickered upon by almost every faction in the human world, but is realised in the demonic landscape also; Chloe going from just another girl, to a highly significant piece on the board of war where everyone wants her dead or alive. Initially, I thought this story would suit Draygo Dumear’s character arc, Chloe’s Dark Rogue partner in espionage (or I should really say ex-partner), but as the story began to unfold, taking on a mind of its own as it always does, Draygo’s path became one of redemption, he is after all nicknamed The Redeemer. Throughout the series, in Ep2-Rise, he redeems his competence in the eyes of Riagel, in Ep3-Seeds he is on the path to redeeming his allegiance in the eyes of Catherine, but redeeming himself in the eyes of Chloe Augustien, is something I consider to be his ultimate redemption arc, one that may require him to make a difficult choice. I’ve already mapped out the story between Draygo and Chloe, and it’s to me one of the strongest journeys in the series, not only is it realistic in the ways of human relationships, but it speaks to people about the importance of friendship and loyalty. The map/guideline branches off toward the end, it can go one of two ways in this moment, but this is a brilliant problem to have, a writer’s dream so to speak, because whichever way I decide to take this story come the time, I believe readers will be left satisfied. To learn more about Draygo Dumear and The Dark Rogues as a whole, I did write an article in December of 2020, it’s number 62 called, Weapons of Redemption. It’s a great read and covers plenty of the groundwork for The Dark Rogue story, but I must warn you, when I re-read it in preparation of this article, a few facts have been altered to fit a more compelling narrative. This is a common problem with us pesky writers, we’re always evolving, what ideas we had six months ago might not be the same when you fast forward, likely they would have grown into something stronger, into something that makes more sense or have been dropped entirely, it happens.

Interestingly, when I think back to the development of Chloe, a development that stretches back well over a decade now, originally she was going to be one of the myths of Equis, something that the humans call, The Forest Stalker; She was in the beginning going to be a hulking, humanoid, male hunter similar to that of the famous Predator creature, that appeared in the 1988 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, a being that hunts other apex predators down for sport or (given a slight fantastical twist) those foolish enough to tread on his hallowed ground. The Forest Stalker was to be a champion of a once sophisticated tribal race, one that valued honourable killings, glory in the battle and the right to mate with alpha females. The forests of Equis which were much larger in the ancient times, were not only where this species cultivated their ritualistic societies, societies that worked in harmony with the ecosystems, but they acted as their arena as well, each tribe having carved out its own unique territory along the forest’s boarder, while the giant fenced off centre was where the battles and competitions would take place between the mightiest of warriors – Organised tribal warfare was a term I used when summarising their law of the land. The concept was that over time, the greatest male warriors would rise victorious over other males in the arena, and in turn would earn their right to pass on their genes with the strongest and most beautiful of females from the tribe (or tribes) they just defeated, and through an orchestrated yet natural selection process, over time only the strongest would survive and be able to breed. The tribes would eventually merge into one, and the gene pool would be at its most powerful. This is a very loose idea I must admit, and it clearly wasn’t something I continued with for obvious reasons, for one it’s far too close to that of the Predator lore, and second it just jarred with me for reasons I cannot put my finger on; Whether this idea has just been played out far too often or because I massively prefer the Alien (Xenomorph) over the Predator, I don’t know, but I dropped The Forest Stalker almost completely and at one point, I never thought I’d come back to its broken remains, but I did many years later, and what was left, what was salvaged from amongst the wreckage, were the best parts of the initial idea; A hunter that resided in the depths of the forest, something camouflaged that lived in harmony with its environment and something that appeared ethereal in nature, beautiful when you caught a glimpse from a distance but deadly when up close and personal, hence The Silken Spirit was born, and it sewed itself so eloquently onto the character of Chloe Augustien, it was too delicious to ignore. The seed as it were had ripened into fruit – I left the honour killings on the floor and replaced it with a poacher who poaches poachers after having given them fair warning, and I dropped the survival of the fittest regime with something far more relatable and innate, something that resides from within all of us, especially women. Once I had a base for the character, someone who desires freedom and independence over a constant career, someone who much like Draygo takes issue with authority, favours darkness over light, adheres to dishonour over honour, tactfully selects the stealth option over outright brawling and employs ingenuity over outright power, once all of this had been established I could really roll-up my sleeves and go to work, giving life to her characters personality and aesthetic, one who embraces the traits of something that could be mistaken for a phantasm, a phantasm stemming from the fact that demons are after her, yet still she cloaks herself in a malevolent persona. Chloe is awesome, she’s resourceful, intelligent, observant, brave, logical, warm with those she trusts, deadly to those who cross her and knowledgeable about her forest environment. Unfortunately, she sometimes fails to appreciate and respect dangers, often feeling like she can survive alone and live a life consequence free, despite her lawlessness actions however justified they appear to be in her world, a world fortified with a Dark Rogue mindset, she does have an ego and a tendency to go too far. Chloe’s greatest hindrance comes from an incident rooted in her past, she suffers mentally from a trauma no one should bear, and due to tragedy, one that beset her in her youth, she was forced to cultivate a mentality that helps serve as a blockade even to the strongest of telepathic demons, who are unable to enter the space in her consciousness – This blockade, does not only serve as neuron camouflage that keeps demonic forces at bay, but it’s so strong she sometimes forgets her empathy, and needs reminding from time to time that she is after all a deeply caring, loving person. Equis has a way of exploiting the goodness in people and warping it into questionable acts that mirror a sinister nature. Conveying this wonderfully complex character to my artist, Evelyn, was a challenge, but one I feel was successfully achieved, and I started by describing one of Chloe’s defining features, her Silk Spinners.

The Silk Spinners are essentially complicated devices that attach to the forearms of the wearer, they’re metallic casings that ride up to the elbow, but it is what they hold and contain that is important. On the right, this device has the ability to fire projectiles attached to a line of silk or otherwise depending on the situation. It fires something similar to that of crossbow bolts and can do so at devastating speeds, speeds that can punch through armour at short distance and break chainmail at medium distances. Those fired attached to a line of silk, however, can be retracted, acting as a sort of arm extension and retriever; It’s important to note that because of the rights dual design crafted for offence, it can only hold two cylinders of silk. The left spinner’s sole purpose is a propelled grappling hook, it harnesses a variation of grappling heads depending on the user’s location, and can hold up to four cylinders of silk – This mechanism has a longer range than the spinner on the right, but combined, when the wearer has both equipped, these Silk Spinners of a unique design, when used with as much professionalism as Chloe is capable of, can run rings around units of hardened soldiers and even the most experienced of fighters. The source of this equipment is of course the silk that is fed and retracted through the device’s mechanics, for it is special silk that is not on the market or in trade with lone dealers, nor can it be simply harvested in nature without the secret knowledge to its ingredient – And those secrets only Chloe Augustien is privileged to after many years of trial and error. The secret comes from a particular forest spider called, the Burrow Spider, famous for its large size, its broad diet that consists of both insects and rodents and its creation of impeccably strong web, so strong that it can even trap and entangle some birds. Chloe knows this and went to work, she adopted a Burrow Spider and named it after a good friend of hers, someone she no longer is in contact with due to her decisions to make her feel less lonely – Burrow Spiders might be extremely poisonous but they have never been known to attack humans or be aggressive unless severely provoked, in fact they make incredible roommates and ward off intruders that seek to disrupt the equilibrium in the space; This is where they get their name from, once they burrow in they are burrowed for life mother fucker, becoming faithful companions. Unfortunately, this positive message is lost in translation, drowned out by the stories of their impressive size (as large or larger than a dinner plate), their monstrous appearance and the highly poisonous toxin stored in their venom sacks. Chloe, utilises the spider’s ability to make strong web, she feeds her eight-legged friend a diet of carefully selected moths and rare insects that not only keeps spider happy, healthy and loyal, but increases production and the overall resilience of the silk, which when weaved intricately together by an experienced seamstress that Chloe’s mother was, who passed on her knowledge to Chloe when she was a child, one can create a material as sharp as wire, and as strong as a metal chain – This is what Chloe threads through her spinners, this is the root power of her alias, the Silken Spirit, a Forest Guardian, a shadowed protector, who like the Burrow Spider, maintains the equilibrium to Equis’s largest forest. One way in which she enforces this equilibrium, is by poaching poachers, those who wield someone else’s technology to dominate the wildlife in their own habitat; Chloe, ironically uses a superior technology, one created by both man and nature and turns it on those who abuse harmony, are self-serving and care for nothing but profit through cruel exploitation. Chloe/The Silken Spirit does not only hunt the hunters, but sometimes lures poachers into the domains of the apex predators and lets nature take its course. Chloe has been accused of being cold, with a heart made of stone, she’s learned to shrug these accusations off, however, coming from specific people, wake-up calls can cause her to slow down and warm to the side which comes most natural to her, someone loving, someone kind, thoughtful and fiercely compassionate.

There is more to Chloe’s character and her journey throughout this series, she really goes on a wild ride, bouncing from one location to the next, encountering all sorts of characters and creatures, re-equating herself with former friends and partners, growing not only in herself but adapting her armour and gear as she travels, a trait the Dark Rogues embrace. I’ve a very vivid vision with how her story is resolved and honestly, it brings a tear to my eye when I think about it, I really do feel like I explore this character thoroughly, there is plenty to work with and a fair portion that allows me to touch upon some sensitive issues, that speak to the human experience, not only in this fictional world, but in ours also. I’ve been rather selective with what I’ve chosen to share here today, because for those of you reading this, coming at this Odyssey with a fresh outlook and might want to indulge, I don’t want to spoil it. I hope you liked my description of Chloe Augustien, also known as The Silken Spirit. To see her first rendition, the concept is found in the Gallery on my website and is among the most recent posts on my X / Twitter page. Please check it out if you’ve a spare few minutes, I would love to hear what you think, it would mean a lot, not just to me but to the artist, Evelyn, who is now working on Mumbi Kahina, who also goes by the name of, Lady Nightshade. You can expect an article written up about her and her role in this Ancestral Odyssey soon, she really is a wicked character who makes her first appearance in the first third of Episode Two, I’m looking forward to that. This is where I would usually sign off on the article, I’ve covered Chloe rather extensively, set up for future projects and essentially brought you up to date, but as you’re aware this segment has an addition, something that NEEDS covering for it is important, it changes the creative space and industry, and once again, as if the squeeze to be productive wasn’t already tight enough, it just got a little bit tighter (how great). This is something that has always been lingering on the horizon, something that has always been in the back of my mind, but now it’s here, I’ve quite literally access to the app on my phone, a piece of software capable of rendering any image I’ve ever wanted, say hello to A.I Generated Art everybody…fuck!   

I feel like the best place to start is with the positives, because there are some to highlight; Bear in mind that I’ve only had access to this software for a few days and I’ve only had a play for an hour or two a day, just to see what I can come up with, but the first thing I noted was the user friendly nature of the software – There is a hiccup in this positive footnote but generally, it is so easy to use, for people who have grown up with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign and for those who have not, you won’t struggle. All you do is you need to input a description of the character, the scene, structure, or environment, you hit process and within a short load, you’ll be met with an array of interpretations from said description. You can proceed to use filters, insert settings, you can even add additional content to overlay what you already have and the program will run it all through, almost instantaneously, it’s so easy, it’s so efficient and in moments you have produced a series of images/concepts that would otherwise take weeks perhaps months to finalise if it had been left to a lone human being. It is pretty extraordinary, especially for someone like me who has fallen into a steady routine, a routine that I described earlier, one that is timely and costly, but thanks to this new software I can save insane amounts of time and huge amounts of money…Don’t worry, we’ll get there, but on the surface, this is a fucking game changer. The hiccup, I suppose will not affect the casual artist/creative, I am sure the A.I software will be able to meet their demands and more-so, going above and beyond each and every time, however, I personally did hit several snags along the way – I experimented with some of my already established catalogued designs, inputting the software with the descriptions I sent Will Towns and Evelyn, and oddly enough I got some very varied results. Zoe Nebrie for example, a relatively simple design, a twenty-eight year old girl from Krondathia who has brown hair, green eyes, white skin, is of average lady height, has a multitude of jobs due to her financial situation, and is often spotted by other protagonists, running from place to place, this running in turn has strengthened her legs, legs which are naturally long. Zoe also has a silver finger strapped to her hand, which raises (I hope) some intrigue into here circumstances. To learn more about Zoe Nebrie, I recently wrote an entire article on her, article number 98 called, The Girl You’d Want To Marry, it was fun to write and seeing as we’re here, I have re-read that article recently and ironed out all of those (admittedly hilarious) typos, it happens guys please don’t hate me. Zoe’s more important than you might realise, it’s all covered in that article, I do hope you check it out. With that said, her description was not captured very well by the A,I, certain parts were mirrored beautifully, such as her hair and general physique, but her outfit and soul behind the eyes was somewhat lacking, plus her clothing didn’t seem to fit well with her character. But it wasn’t until I introduced the A.I to our Silken Spirt, where things got really interesting.

Like the experiment I ran with Zoe Nebrie, I input Chloe Augustien’s description in the exact same way, a paragraph which matched Zoe’s in length, and I would say was the same level of detail, the only thing I left out was the intricacy of the Silk Spinners; Eager to see the results, I hit the process button and well, see for yourself. The images that you’ve likely seen at the top of this article, the images on the left, is what the A.I made of Chloe’s face, and it’s beautiful. The only thing I would have added was a little more wear in her face, she is after all almost 42 years old, she’s led a hard life and has spent the last few years living in the depths of one of Equis’s most dangerous forests. With all of this considered, it is not unreasonable to think she’d have been touched by a little age at this point, but for the most part, this image matches Chloe, however, the moment I added her Silk Spinners into the equation, the A.I did something insane, and again, if you’ve seen this blogs title image which can only be viewed by going through this blog directly or on my X, you’ll see exactly what I mean – The A.I reflecting and contorting Chloe into a faceless, angelic demon, using her original concept and warping her entire physique into a technologically advanced deity, the software unable to properly marry her spinners with the woman, her arms coming straight out of a dystopian, cyberpunk hellscape, eerily revealing to me one of the story branches I have in mind, one that’s potentially in store for Chloe’s character arc later on down the line.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding A.I at the moment, and if you’re reading this, if you’ve got this far, then it is very likely you’re a creative too and are aware of the problems orbiting the subject. I’ve covered some of these problems in past articles, one of which was my largest essay I’ve ever written, called, The Exploration of Soma, and I’ve verbally talked about it in a documentary, one that I made a few years ago about the making of Episode Two-Rise of the Black Doves. As it stands now, in 2023, I am all in favour of A.I being used as a tool to write news articles, I doubt it can write stories authentic to the human experience, but that is another subject for another time; To my understanding, it should be able to decipher what is true and untrue, it can do years and years’ worth of research in seconds while maintaining a non-bias framework, writing up error free informative articles in a short space of time, and that I believe is important, especially in today’s world where no-one trusts the mainstream news (for good reason) anymore, where everyone decides for themselves what is fact from fiction and is unwilling to admit when they’re wrong, and I say this (obviously) from a human perspective. Everyone, including myself is prey to this, we need (dare I say) an authorial voice on the truth while taking into consideration context on a case by case basis; From a certain philosophical perspective, in this Godless era we’ve entered, we need a “God” to dictate to us truth, and because A.I, the singularity has been dubbed by many in most if not all scientific communities to be God once it’s set free, maybe just maybe, this is the solution to many of our problems we’re facing today, the problem of fake news, psychotic conspiracies and miscommunication. When it comes to A.I creating art, we must understand that the A.I is not coming up with anything from scratch, from the description you input it hunts down anything relevant to the details, mashes it together and blends it beautifully with software that humans painstakingly put together for decades upon decades, and the sad reality is that these artists whose work the A.I has pulled from, are not receiving royalties, when I think they absolutely should. It gets scarier when I analyse my own creative process, for I nor anyone else on Earth can come up with anything 100% original; What I do, and I have described this far deeper in essays prior to this one, is that I cherry pick from the things I love and am inspired by, I mix it all up with a dash of my own unique experiences (I call this my Duncanisms) and translate it in a way that is best understood, going off of what my skill level as a writer will allow – That’s how I work in a nutshell, not everyone can do it, understand it or has the discipline to knuckle down and work at it, it does come from within, the real originality comes from inside and you’ve seen the results if you follow me. Does it appeal to everyone, no, can it be improved, yes, is it something to be proud of, does it tell a good story and merits the chance for fruition, yes! But the fact of the matter is that A.I does exactly what I do arguably faster and better, but without the necessary grind and the ingredient of …fuck’s sake… The ingredient of the individual’s soul!   

I understand I’ve opened up a can of worms toward the end of this segment, I am aware it is a hot topic right now and can stir up a lot of emotion, but in truth is that if we give over our creativity to A.I, we are giving over a piece of ourselves that is innate in us and makes us into what we are, to surrender this so candidly, to so easily rely on a machine to do the work for us, comes at a cost, a cost I cannot equate nor fathom right now, for a world without artists from every spectrum, is a world I do not want to be part of, not now and not ever. Instead of arguing with one another, instead of cutting corners with A.I, I say we approach it maturely, I say we embrace the new technology simply as a helpful tool, something that can inspire, perhaps aspire and something we can have fun with, while leaving the real work in the hands of those who have a passion for creativity, where it truly belongs, in us. We must continue to encourage and cultivate artists, show them that they’re not replaceable, that they’re needed more than anything – Sure, the outcomes might not always be perfect, humans do make mistakes, sure it might cost entrepreneurial types money and time we do not have an abundance of, but you know what, speaking from a place where I could really REALLY fucking benefit from the use of this advanced software, I’d rather grind, I’ll take the long way around, because there is a beauty (however frustrating) to be found in the journey, for once you achieve your goal, once you arrive at your desired destination, all you have to look back on is the road behind you, it’s something to value, something to reflect on, to study all the lessons learned along the way and in turn grow from, as an individual and as someone whose acquired talent. Instead of being seduced by a bypass so hack-handily with the downloading of an app, instead of taking the easy route succumbing to something that this modern era has artificially created, instant gratification! You remove the hardship which is integral to build yourself. So, I’ll repeat, approach this new technology with cautious curiosity, adopt the attitude that this is merely a tool and NOT an indication of skill level, for not everyone is creative, not everyone can write a book, take a picture, compose music or shoot a film, true we all can think and imagine wild things and dabble with the technology, but just because you use A.I to reveal your thoughts does not mean you’re in anyway a creative or someone built for this life, because if you think this way you’re faking, you’re gravely mistaken and your inevitable fall will come hard and swift revealing you for what you really are, someone who tried to cut corners and that is not admirable – What IS admirable is the all go no quite mind-set, people who are dedicated and passionate about their chosen craft. It has taken me two decades to be able to confidently say that I can write on an effective level, most people can put words together but this does NOT make them writers, in the same way most people can cook, sing a tune or make shorts on their mobile phones, this does not merit them the title of professional or in any way give them clout in the industry, talented perhaps, but you have to fucking earn it! You have to do the work there is no other way! As I said, it has taken me years of practise to write effectively, years of trial and error, years of failure with little to any success, but over time, through the grind that’s fuelled with passion, eventually you begin to look at sentences differently, your vocabulary broadens, you employ stronger more potent words to describe or detail whatever it is you’re engaged with and you get better – I kick myself for not having learned these necessary lessons sooner and the same goes for most artistic people; Mr Will Towns for example, the guy who drew up some character concepts for me, did not practise for a bit at his desk and say ‘I’m a pro character artist’ nor did he have an interest in drawing, download an app that translated his designs and then label himself as a professional artist, fuck no! He had to grind too, he had to fail and only after many, many years of pushing himself did he fall into the position he’s in now, and I am so proud of him, same goes for Atlas Audio, same goes for Kate, Evelyn, Oliver, Ashley, Bojan, Jilaine and Alex, I’m proud of anyone who sacrifices their spare time to improve themselves, to work on something whatever that might be, because that is what it takes to define yourself as a combatant over a spectator. One of my most cherished articles is article number 66, it’s called, Be a Combatant not a Spectator, again, if you’ve some spare time, I’d appreciate the read, but if not, cheers anyway. So, to summarise, I believe this new A.I software, as brilliant as it is, will become a stigma, it will stain all works in the future which is why I’ve decided to stick to the hard work, work that might not merit 100% perfection, but at the very least will be branded with a human signature, and that is far more important than producing artificial results.

No A.I was used in the process to create The Silken Spirit.

Guys, thank you so much for reading today. I’d like to thank Evelyn once again for conceptualising Chloe Augustien, I think she did a good job, it’s not what I expected and I don’t think it does her justice, but at the very least, Evelyn, a human being achieved something; I look forward to what she will make of Lady Nightshade and so on, do keep up the great work Evelyn, you’re appreciated. Right, well well well, this was my 100^th article, it feels good to have reached this milestone – I did have plans to release a sort of statistics essay, you know something of an evaluation, but I just got tied down with too many additions such as character concepts, editorials and music videos, which all needed and deserved fair coverage, overall being busy is a good problem to have but it would have been nice to have met the 100 mark with a chilled out report of everything I felt was a triumph, to point out all the things I’m proud of, all the things I sucked at and what I’d like to cover in the future, what the next one hundred will look like. That being said, I want to take some time away from Taoteque Articles, I’ve been pushing them hard for a while now and they really are a marvellous outlet, not just for me but for you guys as well, I’ve noted a rise in readership and interest and for that I thank you, but I’d like to apply the breaks for now and focus more energy on new content for Episode Three-Seeds of War, to complete Chapter Five which is called One Thousand and One. I do need to focus on it because honestly, I miss being wrapped up in the creation process of writing, I miss the characters and just losing myself in this world; I’d like to continue with this Odyssey, while editing Volume Five with Joyce of course and networking with others in the hopes to get something of a film made, whether it be animation or if there is still life left in the Live-Action idea, all I can do is keep knocking on doors and refining the material. Unfortunately, to celebrate this milestone I was going to go to Amsterdam, to have a massive blow-out in an Airbnb, but I cancelled a few days ago to conserve funds for another project. Anyway, I’ve had a blast doing this and I will be back in a few weeks with something new, it’s likely that this will be my last post for 2023, so I’ll see you there with a fresh outlook. With that being said, please take care of yourselves everyone, now more than ever, I’ve seen the atrocities going on in the world today, I’ve purposefully chosen not to write about said events in my most recent articles but do know that I am not blind to what has been happening – I’ve witnessed the insanity and it’s almost impossible not to be affected by it. The journalist I’ve been following who has been on the ground, his name is Douglas Murray, I’ve been a supporter of his for years and recently, he has been doing a tremendous job relaying the news and cutting through the mess we’re all plagued with, I wish him well and will continue to learn from his work; But stay strong guys, look out for one another, watch each other’s backs, keep working on yourselves and the things that give you meaning, don’t cut corners, take the long way round, do the work, call your friends, talk to your children regularly if you have them or chat with your parents / guardians once in a while, they’ll appreciate it, take care … Oh and don’t forget to send me a billion dollars so I can invest in an Iron Man suit. PEACE!

E-mail – taotome@outlook.com   

X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque  

Official Website – www.taotequevault.com

Donation Page – http://www.taotequevault.com/support  

YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ

Bitchute – www.bitchute.com/channel/x9K5vwi2SsNu/  

Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6    

Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6

Trigger Hippie by Morcheeba – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylyG8UM78TQ

Oats in the Water by Ben Howards – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaH4W1rY9us

D.W.Gill

A Path Sewn by Fate: The Masters Library

Hello everyone, welcome back. Today is an exciting day, it’s exciting because I’ve not only got some rather interesting news, which I’ll be sure to share with you toward the end of this article, but I’ve a new concept art on display, a depiction of a scene plucked straight out of Episode One-The Utopian Dream, fully realised, and beautifully rendered. I conceptualised this piece myself, going off of the literature found in the first book, and relayed what I envisioned with a new artist from America. She’s very talented, has an eye for detail and I enjoyed working with her; Her name is Ashley and we’re already talking about the next project which is called, The Thief’s Priestess, but unlike most others who I seek out personally, she stumbled upon me, she had seen what I was up to online and reached out to me first, wanting to be part of the project which was very touching. I’ll admit, it is nice to be recognised from time to time, especially in this day and age where people’s attention spans have been somewhat hijacked, turning most people into zombies with bent heads lost in their phones; It’s a shame this has happened and I do worry whenever I go out, I see people hypnotised by their screens, but in this case, I cannot complain, for it was one such company related to Big Tech which I use, where I was discovered, so there are positive ways to use the tool that is social media, what matters however, is the work and what you contribute – The more you do, the more love and effort you pour into something, the more time you give over, like with anything the richer and healthier it becomes and eventually people start to notice. Anyway, before I get into the meat of this article, I am happy to announce that The Ancestral Odyssey series thus far is now on shelves, I spotted my babies ugh I mean books a few days ago while on one of my walks into Oxford city centre, in the fantasy section in Blackwell’s, next door to the science fiction domain, I even made a short video and posted it to my X account, it’s beneath the video of the cat chewing on a watermelon; I do not mean to toot my own horn here, but the books look great up there, big shout-out to whoever drew the sword in chalk, looks really cool, I know the sword wasn’t drawn for me but regardless, it looks awesome. With that being said, I have been contacted by a few people since who are confused about the layout of this series – I have answered this question before, multiple times on this blog and verbally, but because it has been brought up a couple of times recently in my DM’s, I figured it best to review it again, after all, I cannot expect new visitors to read an entire article or sift through a whole blog dating back to 2015, looking for one particular piece of information, so I best get used to it until all 8 billion of us understand what I’m up to. The order and the layout of this series is as follows: – The entire series is titled, The Ancestral Odyssey; Episode One is called, The Utopian Dream, Episode Two is called, Rise of the Black Doves, Episode Three is called, Seeds of War, Episode Four is called, Rainbow Dawn and Episode Five is called, The Chosen Kindred. Each Episode has three Volumes (a beginning, middle and an end) starting at number one, and it progresses this way until the end of the saga. That’s five Episodes with three Volumes each, this makes fifteen Volumes in total when all is completed. Currently available online (both physical and digitally) and now on shelves are Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4, Volumes 5 and 6 have been written but are being edited by myself and a lovely young lass named Joyce, who is from Lebanon; We hope to have Volume 5 finished in the first quarter of 2024, and because Volume 6 is significantly shorter, it won’t take as long, so maybe, just maybe, we can see Volume 5 and 6 released in 2024. I cannot stress the impact Volume 6 will have on supporters of this series, it really was a thrill to write having my hands literally shaking it was so intense, the aftermath of what unfolds is something I am still coming to terms with as I write new content, getting into the headspace of the characters who were directly affected is a challenge I’ve not contended with before, but a good challenge to have. That’s it for the layout, putting it as simply as I can, someone I know recently described it thusly; “Your Episodes are like seasons to a TV show, and each season has three episodes, right?” That’s indeed correct. I like this analogy, I can understand someone coming in fresh getting a little confused, but it’s really not difficult to fathom, bear in mind the only reason it is constructed this way is to accommodate the size of this story, Episode One set the standard and because I wasn’t willing to chop it up, I have to adhere to the model template, because consistency matters. The Episodes and Volumes are also colour coded, for example Episode One-The Utopian Dream, is royal blue, Rise of the Black Doves is blood red, Seeds of War will be spring-green, Rainbow Dawn will be lilac purple and The Chosen Kindred will be Kings gold. There is also the Mythorigin, a collection of seven short stories that are prequels to The Ancestral Odyssey, Imp, Banshee, Witch, Driad, Vampire, Siren, and Druid. I’ve done my best to order everything accordingly in a way everyone can understand, but beyond that there isn’t much more I can do. Moving on, I do have more character artwork coming, after having completed Zoe Nebrie, with another new artist, Evelyn, she is now working on bringing Chloe Augustine to life, The Silken Spirit who is first mentioned in Episode One right at the end, in a conversation between Riagel Tyorn and Draygo Dumear, and makes her first real appearance in the first third of Episode Two. Evelyn received a detailed brief from me about three weeks ago, it will be an absolute treat to see Chloe Augustien drawn as a colourful concept in her Silken Spirit attire because she is wonderfully unique, you’ll soon see why. I’ll be sure to write more about Chloe in the future, it’s interesting actually because initially, back in my College and University days when this project was still in its infancy, Chloe was going to be a grizzled wild-man shrouded with the rumour of being more bear than a human; This loose idea made it into the first few drafts of Episode One, Jerhdia O’Nen, one of the main characters in The Utopian Dream had some explanatory dialogue wrapped around this gloomy character, but was later changed and evolved into Mrs Augustien. I know she is still being sketched but check the websites Gallery if you have a minute or two or go to my X account if you’ve a moment, everything is posted there. In other news, Joyce is editing Chapter 36 – Hexagon, whence she is done she’ll pass it over to me to look over, and only when I’m happy with the body of text does it go down as completed and we can move onto the next. It’s a long, tedious and costly process, especially if you’re a chump like me who is aiming high, looking to turn this into a self-sustaining career, results do not instantly come and as creators in this field, you often question yourself as to whether you’re investing your time in the right thing, and believe me when I say, there are moments when life can get seriously dark and hopeless, but all that clears away like the passing of a storm when you do start to see the work taking shape, when it seems to take on its own identity; As writers, the material adopts its own plethora of emotions and feelings, it even associates itself with its own colour, this happened with Ep1-Dream shortly after the writing phase finished and the same is true for Ep2-Rise; The initial feelings you get the moment you think of them as individual pieces give the work a unique presence. It’s very strange but I’ve talked to other artists about this (dare I say) phenomenon, and I know I am not the only one who experiences it. Anyway, enough babble, time to cover the creation of this last concept, the music and what is to inevitably follow. So, grab yourself a drink dear reader, I’ve gone with a raspberry, cherry and apple smoothie, there are also some seeds floating around in there, it tastes funny but I’m sure it’s okay…?…Yeah, it’s probably fine. This is article 99, A Path Sewn by Fate, one away from the big one hundred, I hope you enjoy it.

To start with this is a big relief, this is something that I’ve been meaning to get off the ground for a long while, but for one reason or another, whether it’s struggling to find the right artist for the job, funding issues, time management or squirrel espionage, life gets in the way of passion projects and slows you down; Often in times like these you have to practise patience, you have to grind through the mundanity of the day-to-day until you find yourself in a practical position to tackle whatever it is you want to achieve, and for me, in this case, the project was to bring a moment from a scene found in the books to life, in the same way I would one of my characters, but this requires a different type of artist and another methodology to utilise. The scene/moment in question comes from Episode One-The Utopian Dream; One of our two lead protagonist, the 23^rd Star Caller, Isabelle Verano who endures a lonely life-style, spends a lot of her time reading, she reads during long journeys as she travels by carriage from place to place, she reads in her quarters and in libraries (obviously) uncovering secrets, learning about law and order, understanding new Glyph/Magic schematics and revising ancient texts. As a leader and woman of holy power, her research must be routinely, her studies daily and her knowledge as sharp as a Dark Rogues dagger. One library she favours over others is The Old Library, managed by a close friend of hers and mentor during her time as a youth, Master Eran Othrium who lived in Imrondel City, Krondathia’s capital before its fall to The Dovidian Covenant, in 1511. Because independent study is a big part of Isabelle’s journey in Episode One – She who leads a more spiritual path in direct contrast with General Lethaniel Presian, our male protagonist who is of the more physical persuasion – And because sobering realisations come from old texts, texts Isabelle is not meant to see and learn from, I thought The Old Library would be appropriate to conceptualise. If you’d like to see it, the image is in my Gallery section on the website, and it is currently adorning the top page of my X. As I’ve already stated, the library does feature in the first book a handful of times, Isabelle visits often, to confer with Eran and meet with Adarmier Elpin, so readers I think will be pleased with what they see here. The concept is not perfect, and I will get into the issues I have later, but overall, this is a rather authentic adaptation from vision to page. Where Ashley and I started was with the text in the book, it all starts with the text, it took me a while, but I wrote Ashley a very detailed brief of the project as a whole, and what I wanted her to digitally re-create. I backed up my instruction with a quick sketch myself, a simple black inked drawing marked with labels on a notepad using suggestive lines, this was more than enough to give Ashley a good understanding of scale and where things (such as furniture) were located. Even though my description was vivid, never did I want to constrict Ashley, and this is important to note; Throughout the making of this piece, I made it abundantly clear that I wanted to hear/see her ideas, I wanted her to use her own creativity, her own imagination and bring something unique (if possible) to the table for discussion. Simply put, I wanted to learn from her. I certainly have a vision for this scene and the world of Equis, absolutely, but because we’re world building, it’s important to recognise that I do not know everything, that my own creativity can be layered with someone else’s touch and as a result while careful to consider your own wisdom on the subject, the work improves as a whole. The concept of the library was completed in stages, rough drafts were drawn and sent my way, a conversation would follow, and we’d work accordingly; For the most part, Ashley built upon my initial layout, and I’d advise as the drafts with additional add-ins came in, some I’d approved of, others I did not and would suggest or come up with something else given some thought. The idea behind my thinking was that this was a weathered, lived in space of study, the library has after all been around for hundreds of years, growing hand in hand with the rise of Norkron culture, and I wanted to instil this growth into the aesthetic and into its foundation, but at the same time I had to recognise the coming of a new age, one that you’ll be fully introduced to in Episode Two, the age of industry that’s on the horizon, holy city or not you cannot stop the inevitable transformation of architecture, one that was birthed from a nest of enchanted earth, faith, religion and spiritual practises that organically (however unwilling by the beliefs of some) sews itself unto a dark steel, abstract, steampunk inspired, society, one that is leaning into secularism, a people who are letting go of its holy roots and encouraged to look elsewhere for its source of strength, a strength that once came from the hands of Gods replaced by the iron fist of men. Even though this age of industry is two decades away from taking full affect, it is talked about briefly between High Councillor Truth and Isabelle in The Utopian Dream, so I wanted to honour this, to hint at its coming and be faithful to the material. Krondathia, is after all largely inspired by the British and Roman Empires and its legions; The Norkron’s talk with proper articulated accents, some are stronger than others, the character of Ermak Idsen, the Captain of the Cuethen Capes puts emphasis on this, while Lethaniel and most others speak in more of a relaxed, modern terminology, to suggest a younger generation is being cultivated out of the era shift. It has been pointed out to me that my writing has a modern edge to it, and seeing as I’m here, talking about it now, I feel it a good time to address this choice because arguably it is a strange one given my selected genre: –

Episode One was written, re-written, revised, trashed, drafted and edited numerous times starting in my early twenties all the way to my late twenties, even after publication it was pulled off the shelves and replaced many times, the most recent time being during the 2020 lockdowns, updated with newer, more literary accurate editions of the work – Simply put, it was a mess, I make no excuses but I’d ask this to be considered when judging the work, I was new to this game, I was broke (still am, that hasn’t changed), I was working a creatively bankrupt job (that too has not changed) and was dealing with extremely limited resources and knowledge. The use of modern language cannot be edited out at this point, it is now part of the beating heart of The Ancestral Odyssey, and even though it’s still something widely accepted, had I access to a time machine, I would go back and take more care with the language the characters use, but unfortunately, my attempts thus far to travel back in time have resulted in a busted microwave, a tinfoil helmet and a wrecked kitchen. I have taken measures since Episode One, I will continue to work with the language I’ve ingrained into the story because as I keep saying, consistency matters and will use a more Shakespearian dictionary when it comes (if it comes) to writing the Mythorigins. This at the very least will show a progression of one era to the next, and also, when it comes to flash backs, anything that comes before The Utopian Dream, I’ll be sure to construct an older dialect; That is the best I can do given my situation, I still am proud of Ep1, I do like it and believe it’s worthy as a foundation on which to build a series, but as I keep stressing, I recognise its flaws and will do my utmost to improve and rectify if possible such errors; Sorry to digress, back to the topic at hand: –

Norkrons are raised in the same way the English grew their civilisation, a civilisation that went on to change the face of the entire world; Their battle strategies are meticulously planned, they’ve a rich history of conquering in an ordered yet clinically lethal way, each man inspired, imbued with a sense of allegiance to their Father Eldor and Mother Star Caller, fighting in and for their names who wish to bring about a utopia for all, by the guide of the Gods, they will achieve this, as prophesised by the prophet Star Callers set in motion by the first of them, Regina Corah. This is Norkron philosophy birthed at the end of the second age, this is what they believe in and this is the reason as to why they’ve become a force NOT to be reckoned with – They do not only train men into fighters, they instil in them a holier than thou purpose, they’re not merely fighters in an army, they’re crusaders on a mission, marching toward a paradise, a perfect world that each feels responsible for, and with their brothers, with sword in hand, they will rinse Equis of chaos, rid it of its imperfections and injustices and bring about order, an order they carved during the first age, The Age of Six, where six tribes once united after The Pioneers triumph over the giants, broke apart and went to war over land, resources, a way of life and ultimate authority. What contributed to a Norkron victory was their understanding of a fair, learned community and a strong bond with one another, this paved the way for the family unit to thrive, who embraced a rich upbringing in a culture that required their sons and daughters to adopt a sense of duty, to become skilled, resourceful and above all else, educated and thus as I said before, it all starts on the black on white, it all starts with text that gifts people with knowledge, and I quote: –

‘Knowledge is power.’

-Frances Bacon

The Old Library IS a place of power, and I tried my very best to articulate that presence in this concept. The image itself is very well done, and when I’ve more like this catalogued, they will become the headline images when you open the website, which reminds me, I need to update the site, some of it does need a tweak, I’ll be sure to reach out to my web designer in the next week and give it a lick of paint. The old twitter logo can go and be replaced with X, the Latest sections text needs to be consistently sized and new photos of the books need to be taken. This might surprise you but I do not actually physically own copies of my own work, I’ve got a Hardback of The Utopian Dream floating about and I am borrowing Volume 4’s Paperback, but that’s it, I also need to get these books into libraries, I’ve the means to do so but as I said before, I need to wait till I’m in a position to focus on it; All this work that seems to just materialise, has a way of overwhelming you, leaving you with the feeling you’re getting nothing done.

One of the most striking things about the concept of The Old Library, is the cat in the window; I love that Ashley included it, granted it was emphasised in the brief, but not a lot of focus was placed upon it, so it was up in the air with whether or not it would feature; You can only see the felines silhouette in the window but this is an important detail, for if you’ve read Ep1-The Utopian Dream, then you’ll know, but if you haven’t, pucker up for a spoiler – The cat is special, the cats name is Pandora, she’s a silver tabby with green eyes and she belongs to Isabelle Verano, who is also present in this concept, she’s perfectly captured in a way how I envision her, but we’ll get to her in just a moment. Pandora is unique in a way that is integral to the story, for you see, everyone from Prince to pauper in this world, is born with something called a Counterpart, and a Counterpart is essentially another you in another form, watered down by time, space and species. This idea stems off what the Buda believe, the belief of reincarnation; In Equis (as is with the real world) we are all made up of star dust, and it is believed that your consciousness existed in a past life, inhabiting a different body or bodies before finding its way into the human avatar you are today, of course the Counterpart prior to being a human, did not know it was one day going to be a human, it needed to ladder its way toward this sentience, but that is the idea, an established connection is in place with the past. Star Callers in the present day, are naturally sensitive to otherworldly forces, beings who possess mild telepathic abilities, depending on the nurture of the girl in question, she can hone these techniques, learn to focus her mind’s eye, and glimpse the future. So, there is a spiritual tether here worth considering, a lineage with the world we as human beings may have actually had or have lost over generations of neglecting our ties to the Earth that birthed us. Whether you believe such things are true, are not true or if you’re simply unsure, I think it is an interesting avenue worth exploring given a fantastical Duncanism spin, and thus far it has opened the door to some rather thought-provoking ideas – One thus being the Counterpart idea, Star Callers able to tap into this connection via a learned meditation technique called Inner Peace and can communicate/astral travel to the past when they existed in a different time and in a different form, to when their connection is strongest. Clearly, this can only be done going backward in time; Star Callers would use this practise when no other resource would be available to them, which is a rarity given they’ve access to the entirety of the Norkron empire which bleeds into corners of Ledera, pockets of Pura and small provinces in Jureai, but on the off chance they did find themselves totally alone, this was an option, and the information gleaned would be of the purist form providing exemplified insight. This technique, Inner Peace is used in Episode Two-Rise of The Black Doves, in a chapter called, Landing in Limbo, where you get to meet each Counterpart of the Star Callers and it makes for a truly thrilling read (in my opinion) and a flowing write as the author, it’s a chapter that expands upon the history of this mythos, the age of Equis while exploiting intrigue into other races and cultures that existed before humans. For example, when the 28^th Star Caller, Kina Serisa uses Inner Peace, and travels to the universe within herself, one that exists within the vault of her memory bank, buried deep between the layers of time catalogued by the ages, she visits a kingdom of jagged earth crafted in the shape of a coffin, a palace of unkempt stone pillaring into the clouds, she makes her way inside and meets with a bat like figure, something with a somewhat similar shape to that of a human, only more within league of a bat. This is Kina’s Counterpart, a bipedal bat creature that existed in a time when the Equis we know hadn’t yet taken shape, a creature that could well be the seed of the vampiric stories which undertone the spread of an ethos in distant villages, people who’re divorced from the progressive life in the cities, separated by the current affairs in Xiondel, Imrondel and Davune, people who did not take this ancient mythology for granted and made efforts to pass the seeds of such stories down from generation to generation for there is meaning, knowledge and wisdom harboured in such tales, tales that indeed make us what we are as a people; Unfortunately, such simple types of people who care only for the harvest, the growth of their families and community, could be considered by the wealthy city types to be ill-educated, backward and dangerously superstitious, when in reality the opposite is true, and it is the simple folk who maintain their beliefs in the ancient world that are enriched and it’s the city folk who’re are lacking substantial vision. Kina’s twin, Kayna, the 29^th Star Caller, when she uses Inner Peace and enters the fragmented world between worlds, falls into a drowned Equis, one where the sea kingdoms have swallowed the landmass and beneath the glassy, watery surface, exists the Nymph’s, and one such water Nymph blows a bubble of air for Kayna to breath in as she is taken down into their world. The 27th Star Caller, Donna Mu Klade lands in an Equis during an ice age or she perhaps could be visiting the tops of icy mountains and frozen plateaus, where her Counterpart is a Yeti, curious this is because Donna is a pyromaniac, someone extremely proficient at wielding fire, so to see her in this setting was not only curious but a testament to how old Equis is, that a part of her originates and resonates in a creature adapted to withstanding freezing temperatures; Isabelle, on the other hand did not have this option available to her while she was in power, Isabelle is unique, for her Counterpart, Pandora, exists in the same space and time as she does, and Pandora the silver tabby occupies the present. They are essentially the same in two forms, whether they know it or not they are spiritually bound. One way to show this in the text and in this artwork, is obvious, Pandora goes where Isabelle goes, she follows when she can and never leaves her side when Isabelle is nearby. I love that Pandora is present here, even if it is only in the shape of a silhouette, seeing her gives me a tingle. Believe me, Pandora’s journey is not over.  

Fun fact, I took a short break after having written that last paragraph, I sat back down ten minutes later to continue and realised, I had dedicated a whole page, a little over one thousand words approximately to a silhouette of a cat! Don’t get me wrong, cats are fucking fascinating but damn, there is something wrong with me! ‘A picture really is worth a thousand words’ I suppose, which is an old adage originating from China I believe, but is something I seem to agree with more and more. Anyway, earlier I praised Ashley’s rendition of Isabelle Verano, because it is remarkable – I remember a year or so ago, I had only one image of Isabelle beyond that of what I saw in my head, and that was of her holding her long staff Violethelm, with her back to the frame while wearing a red dress standing in a wide round chamber under the shadow of one of the twelve Celestials. If you visit the Gallery on the site, you can find this image digitally painted by Bojan Sucevic, Who I have (unfortunately) lost contact with, he might still be floating around on Deviant Art, that is after all where I found him and his work, but I’ve not heard anything back from him in a very long while. For the longest time I was itching to see a full-bodied version of Isabelle and eventually after many years that rolled by after my travels in Australia and Thailand, it came, captured beautifully by Mr Will Towns, and honestly, this was how I imagined her to be, sleeved in her classic, royal blue Star Caller long coat, her chest and arms protected by her Elemential armour just as it is described toward the end of The Utopian Dream. Her hair, beautiful and blonde graced with a natural wavy buoyance and her eyes, lit with an emerald-green sparkle that reflects her fire and power. Isabelle IS (quite possible, very likely) my favourite character of the series, she’s not the character I identify with the most, that honour belongs to the dishonourable, the rude, the abrasive, obnoxious, foul-mouthed, dangerous, spontaneous, anti-authority, speedy, ill-observant, misunderstood Dark Rogue thief, Draygo Dumear, who has been talked about multiple times on this blog, you can even view his weaponry, his armour and concept in the Gallery. Isabelle, however, has a special place with me and here’s why; She was hastily put together in October 2007, which was the year and month the book of Episode One-The Utopian Dream was officially started, bear in mind however, it was titled something completely different back then. Making a character so swiftly, wasn’t something that came natural to me, while other characters had many months some even many years of developed backstories ripe for the page and ready to go, Isabelle seemed to come out of nowhere, it’s as if I had just fired someone, a trusted lead with experience and replaced them with someone with little to no experience, little proof she was up to the task and may have been a giant mistake…I was wrong…Working with Isabelle happened slowly, her traits growing as progression in the book was made, in the same way you find yourself working alongside a brand-new co-worker, getting to know them takes time, this was what it was like writing Isabelle in the beginning; It started slow but within a month or two I found myself warming to her and before long she was entrusted to carry the first Episode on her shoulders, sharing the duty with Lethaniel, the pair not only succeeded, but they have become legacy characters, characters who when I think of them in the present moment, remind me of old friends I made in primary school. In a way these two (more so Isabelle) married well with my own naivety when entering this new domain of writing, a realm I had no proper concept of before I made the decision to take this once small College project one step further and do what I could do to adapt it into a book. Evidence of this can be found in both protagonists, Lethaniel is after all a newly instated General, granted powers over Krondathian forces and charged with massive responsibilities, and Isabelle coming to terms with the fact that she knows little about the world she was born into, someone who is somewhat separated from the outside world, she’s overly protected, overly cared for, constantly serving Krondathia and although extremely powerful with her magic, she lacks what all of us strive for, crave and sometimes take for granted, freedom. In summary, Isabelle was my first real voice I crafted in The Ancestral Odyssey, it was through her where I found the appropriate lens to see Equis through, I found a voice in her, determined the struggles between the rich and powerful, the more unfortunate and everything in between were viewed through her eyes. She was as much my guide through this first instalment as she was/is yours and when removed from the picture come Episode Two-Rise of the Black Doves, you get to see and experience what it’s like not to have your hand held…Fucking chaos! Enter Cephie Melias and the rise of her Black Dove Elite, witness the ascension of Saphuries and her demonic Monarchy, watch Krondathia’s greatest city be crippled by a rogue organisation calling themselves The Balance, led by a merciless, fearless, masked leader within the same league as Lethaniel and Thao; See the dissolution of a culture once dependent on faith replaced with the cold steel of cogs and gears – It’s about to get wild. Rise is an absolute riot with some truly action-packed moments while hinting at a menacing undertone just bubbling under the surface, a book that (I hope) you’re excited to read but at the same time will yearn to end, for the finale is fucking relentless, it’s emotionally draining, devastating, thought provoking and I love it! The first third (Volume Four) re-establishes the stage, sure, this was something that had to be done after the twenty-year gap in the story, and necessary for older and newer readers who’ve just entered this series, but come the midway and final ten chapters, you’re in for a ride, a stark shift as to what you’re used to not only with my series, but dare I say any other out there.

This was what I set out to achieve, not only with Ep2 but generally, I forget sometimes why I began this project and have to remind myself during those lonely nights, when the day is almost over, when it’s dark and there is nothing left to do other than think about tomorrow, I ask what I want to achieve here; To answer that, what I want, and what I’ve always wanted, was to give people something different, to tell a unique story that sets itself aside from others, one that would forge its own category, one that would carve its own space in its own pocket dimension where it can thrive, because honestly, that’s what I feel like most of the time when navigating the world you, I, us, occupy. I’ve ranted about this problem before, so I will spare you most of the hammy details, but in short, there is no building for me to go to, no business I see myself being comfortable in, nowhere where I can truly relax and put to use the niche talents I have – To accomplish good creative work. I always have to force myself to fit in, always have to hold my tongue and worse, allow people to treat me like dirt just so I can get by, and after a while, after twenty-years (yes, twenty fucking years) of taking this punishment with no significant sign that the winds will change, you do occasionally lose sleep, you sometimes skip meals, you go for days without saying a word, you book random get-aways just for yourself despite not being able to afford them, you fall out of balance not just with yourself but with others and no one really understands why, because for most people, the world caters to them, it was built for them, they feel at home and have done from their earliest memory but, I don’t and haven’t; And then I’m struck with a bittersweet reality, a glass wall I’ve charged into hundreds of times but cannot shatter, the reality that I’ve no choice but to keep going, to keep writing articles such as these, to keep writing new content and making art with others in the hopes that one day the wall will buckle and break, and on the other side will be a light, a light I’ve never seen before; This is my path, a path so to speak sewn by fate, one that ties me to Isabelle and some of my other characters in ways I never thought possible, with those who are struggling to find their purpose in a world edging its way toward oblivion, yet still they try, and so must I – The answer to this struggle, the only way to get there is to keep doing what I believe I’m good at, and that is to focus on the skills everyone keeps telling me are unnecessary, and create a new category, a new genre of book! Whether people feel the same way at this point, is not up to me, once you publish something the art is out of your hands, but I really do hope you get excited for Episode Three-Seeds of War, Volumes 7, 8 and 9, which are being written, granted they are being written slowly because this is becoming something of a monumental challenge, but they’re coming all the same. Recently I tightened up chapter three of Volume 7 and re-wrote the beginning of chapter four which is now part of chapter five. I’ve a long way to go but as it stands right now, it’s looking pretty hot.

Getting back to Ashley’s image, the challenge here was the authentic depiction of Isabelle Verano, shown in a light you’d come to expect, as in we needed to see Violethelm, for this long staff IS symbolic of a Star Callers power and testament to her Glyph Wielding authority; Rarely does she go anywhere without it. We would have to see the long coat, this is classic Star Caller attire, a tradition that continues in Episode Two and Three and of course, she wouldn’t be wearing her armour when her intention was to visit the library, so a more casual fit would have be to set in place, and this was interesting, for I handed this task over to Ashley, yes, I’d given her some pointers but ultimately, I let her decide on Isabelle’s wardrobe. Based upon what she had learned from the world of Equis, Ashley gave Isabelle the justice she deserved and this all might start sounding overindulgent, who cares what Isabelle is wearing, right? But the devil, is in the details dear reader, everything has to be serviced, everything needs thought and careful consideration to be applied, if you’re going to cast the spell of believability unto your audience, this is what it is all about, this art (most art in fact) is about casting spells, to draw in people to another world offering up not only an escapism, but an authentic re-creation of an avenue that exists in the province of your imagination – This is the reason bloopers in movies and TV shows are so funny, when someone flubs their lines or leaves a Starbucks coffee on the table in full view (Yes Daenerys Targaryen I’m looking at you) the spell is broken, the aura is dissolved and the audience crashes back into reality realising they’re just watching people playing dress-up.

This is why woke culture is so insidious and so fucking poisonous to anything and everything you can call art, it masquerades as being this force for good, it aggressively promotes underrepresented demographics and communities that have suffered oppression and foul play in the past but at the cost of the art itself, and you know what, as for the inclusion of others, I’m all for this…Let me be crystal fucking clear, I am all in favour of seeing said otherwise untold stories being told by men or women who have not had a fair hand dealt – Whether they’re fictional based stories or retellings of historical events, I’d welcome this, because having empathy is being able to empathise with someone who isn’t you; In my case, I do not need to see or have a white male in the picture in order to relate to what is being conveyed, I can empathise with people who aren’t me, whether they be someone from a distant country, another man perhaps, woman, child, alien or otherwise, so long as the story is written well and is compelling enough to keep me engaged, I am interested – After all, one of my favourite games of all time is Final Fantasy VII (for the PS1 released in the late 90s), and that game at its core, is about a group of strangers from all corners of the world, coming together in one final act to stop a greater threat, and only united while dealing with their demons along the way, do they triumph and see in a brighter future, not just for themselves but for those who stood next to them in that final fight, and it’s execution is perfect. Speaking of FFVII, I very recently picked up my old playthrough, one that I started about a year ago, I’m about half way through, we’re at the part where Cloud is missing from your party and Tifa takes charge; She eventually follows a clue to his whereabouts by accidently overhearing a conversation in the village of Mideel, and even though I knew what was going to happen, that moment when she finds Cloud again after so long, it got to me. It wasn’t necessarily Tifa’s pain that pulled on my heartstrings, it was actually the reactions of her friends, for they in this moment have to not only deal with the absence of Cloud, but Tifa also, two of their strongest members, and that moment is beautiful, empathy is beautiful, something which I believe is severely lacking in today’s society and something we need fix real fucking quick! I’ve been accused of horrible things in the past, by people I know personally which does cut me up more so than when some overweight chump with blue hair online does, and honestly, I do sometimes self-reflect because I don’t want to be anything close to nor associate myself with people who hold such gross views, and what I’ve come to realise is that most people who call you horrible things, aren’t arguing from a place of intellectual honesty, no, they just don’t like you for whatever reason and want to tear you down to their miserable level…The thing is never the thing…I used to respond to such hatred with the fact that some of my favourite characters of all time are in fact women (my own work aside which does prioritise the female), I love Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil games, Chun-Li from Street Fighter is my go too fighter, Trinity from the Matrix trilogy is so fucking cool especially when she gets on the motorbike, Ellen Ripley from Alien is iconic, Regina from Dino Crisis 1 and 2 is the Queen of sass, Cortana in Halo I believe made that franchise into the juggernaut it is, Snow White in A Wolf Among Us is the reason I am excited for the sequel and of course Tifa Lockheart, in FFVII is for me the female face of Square Enix’s greatest story. This is just to name a few, there are others in the fictional world and in the real world, women I adore, but I realised the best strategy to adopt when someone throws such ridiculous hurts your way, is to ignore them, let them rant and rave while you get on with your mission. Side note, I’d also love to see a modern-day re-telling of Alexander the Great (he being one of my favourite historical figures), Hannibal Barca and Shaka Zulu and see them told as accurately as possible using current day technologies, I’m genuinely interested in seeing other stories that come from minds and histories that are not from mine. So, I am all for seeing more brought to the table, what I am NOT in favour of however, is taking pre-established characters, timeless stories and God forbid real life historical events, and distorting them to fit an agenda! It’s the death of creativity when you do this, suddenly the politics becomes more important than the authenticity of the material, the authorial voice is side-lined if not removed entirely if he/she has not the right beliefs and opinions, and what is worse, rules have been enforced to see that everyone adhere to this message despite what story is being told, and thus the soul of the art is dissolved and it becomes a husk all to push ideology – Furthermore, quotas must be met before artists such as myself, can even ask for the chance of funding, or the hope to be represented by a Literary Agent; The art is not what matters anymore when it goes woke, it becomes a skin-suit for a political manoeuvre bending to the horrors of modernity, and I don’t respect this, I cannot nor will not get behind it, this is my enemy, I don’t like it when I see something I love being hollowed out, it’s shell being used as a way to try to puppeteer me/others, and the only reaction I can muster when faced with this degradation is, fuck off! Wokeness is a sickness in our society, a sickness clothed in colourful flags and carefully worded slogans designed to alienate and divide – In my view, it’s the ultimate villainy, it is not progressive it is regressive and the people pushing this are often guilty of the things they accuse you of, they’re insufferable, they’re not interested in reading blogs such as these or have any love and care for the franchises they’re applauding as they go down in flames. The establishment media would never dream of doing what it does to cultures like my own to the underrepresented cultures it is trying to uphold, but somehow it is perfectly fine to bastardise the history I am part of in an explicitly one-sided rule for me but not for thee. I describe wokeness as anti-art, for the moment you bring in 2023 politics or try to modernise your work with current day affairs, people who have braincells and a respect for history, they tend to react negatively and implode, should they speak up they’re called everything horrible under the sun, lumped into despicable categories that negates debate by the so called tolerant, empathetic left, all for simply wanting to see their art respected and preserved as it was intended by the creator. As I said in posts prior (The Last Bastion, article 84 which is the best of them, please check it out when you’ve got time), it’s all about fidelity to the work, it’s all about casting a spell and maintaining that illusion that is authentic and real to the piece, seeing that it comes from a genuine place of passion and vision, and all you have to do if you are an artist, if you are an aspiring creator no matter what the field you work in, all you have to do is focus on the details; As the late great Christopher Lee said in one of his many interviews while promoting The Lord of the Rings films decades ago, and I cannot remember the quote word for word because it has been over ten years since I last listened to it, but he did say something along the lines of you must know the work in every detail and be sure to get it right, and when hearing that for the first time in my earlier days, it resonated with me, it became an obsession of mine to know the world in which I was creating to the highest degree, and this, leads me into the architecture of The Old Library itself because it is loaded with details that need to be addressed.   

What I learned when writing about fictional cities and at certain times fictional landscapes, is that it’s best to draw inspiration from the world around you and apply reasonable embellishments to enrich your ideas. Human history, the ancient times are fascinating, but it is difficult to read about, more often is the case that people back then lived very hard, very short lives, on the one hand you want to capture the difficulties that in turn gives your world a sprinkle of grit, but at the same time you do not want to remain so firmly attached to what event or period of time that inspired you; In other words, be inspired by what fascinates and what draws you in, you’ll elicit drops of passion that readers will be able to pick up on, but don’t be afraid to colour in the grey, that’s what’s so freeing when working in fantasy, so long as you’re adult about where you apply your fantastical make-up, you should through this process create something curious and unique. So, in this case, we are mapping out what Eran’s library looks like based upon what is written in the books, that’s a good place to start I’d say; Do your best to envision the descriptions, sketch it out as best you can if possible and bundle it all together in a well-worded, coherent e-mail or if you’re talking over the phone, articulate what you see without bloating the conversation, this technique is something I need to practise because given the right prompt and I can talk for hours – In short, stay on point and try to be as brief as possible without derailing, your co-workers do not need to know EVERYTHING, they need to know what they need to know. Because the Old Library is located in the holy city of Imrondel, that was at the time Krondathia’s capital, we know that a religious element is mixed into the foundation of its structure, Krondathia/Norkron culture is also inspired by old England that propagates the internal and external design. When you, as the artist combine your vision, your wisdom and marry it well with what inspires you, you not only tantalise your passion for the craft, but you give he/she who is working for you something wholesome to sink their teeth into, something that gets their brains working and their creativity flowing, and we are only in a library! I cannot wait till I work my way into pieces that depict Heavens Ankle, the unconquerable mountain in the far northern reaches of Maire, I’d love to see the industrial Silo, located inside the industrial Hex complex built over the black swamps, home to the largest vaurodile (crocodile like creatures) in the country of Klaw, or the Amber Isles, formerly known as The Islands of Edithia, that were lost due to the eruption of a volcano infused with Glyph magic that blanketed the islands encasing them and its inhabitants, in crystallised amber, this was inspired by the tragic events of Pompei. These are just a few of so many locations I’d love to see one day, had I the funds, concepts of locations, characters and new pieces of music would be released (I’d hope) on a weekly basis; I’d catalogue ALL of the work, build an impressive portfolio, draft several scripts and present it to film studios in an attempt to get it made into a series of films or (second best), five seasons of a TV show – This is of course is only a dream at this point, if I can complete the series of books I’d consider my mission in life successful, but the idea, the fantasy of working on a visual playing field with actors, blacksmiths, set-designers, wardrobe, hair and make-up, computer animators, musicians and every form of conceptual artist out there who is involved from the ground up, that would be heaven on earth for me, I cannot think of anything better to wake up and ride to work to, I’d be sure to be on set every day from dawn till dusk and if not the set itself then I’d be in the offices or revising the written work. I’d want to meet everyone involved personally and together, hopefully we’d solidify not only a great project we can all be proud of but create warm memories that will last a lifetime. Speaking of music, this Old Library art was created to sync with a track I’ve been holding onto for quite some time, and I am very excited to talk about it today. Instead of just playing the music or presenting the concept, I decided to connect the two and produce a video and a theme all in one, and music is and I cannot stress this enough, vital to the process.

I love music, I could not live without it, it is integral to the creation process, it’s the ultimate stress reliever and this project as a whole, would not be anything without the ingredient of music, it’s SO important – It can create a conduit to the world I’m creating, thus far working with musicians has been an utter delight and music is indeed responsible for the inspiration and fruition of many scenes, even some characters if I’m being honest, that is how Seridox came into being and the ptriva sprinter Three, just to name a couple. I’m not here to repeat my love of the craft however, despite not being able to play an instrument I still have huge respect for those that do, a huge respect. I’ve written about the importance of music extensively in articles prior to this one, articles which I hope you will check out if you have a spare ten minutes because a lot of care and a lot of time has been poured into them; The most recent one, is article 93 called, The Loudest Note, which was a pleasure to write by the way, very therapeutic I seem to remember and just flowed. I’ve another written called, The Storytelling Medium, which is article number 72, it covers the making of Isabelle’s Theme composed by the same musician who composed this latest one, one that we’re about to get into. There is article number 85 called, A Shade of Red (Ep2’s general theme) and article 67 called, The Ghost of Regret (Ep1’s general theme). These last two tracks just mentioned, Shade and Ghost, were composed by a small, up and coming music studio called, Atlas Audio. The couple of lads who run this business are true gentlemen, really nice, very chatty, super talented guys, with a drive similar to mine, passion first, passion second, business third; Collaborating with them has always been insightful and always a genuine pleasure, I wish Julian and Adam the very best in their business and will be calling on them again when the time comes to making a general theme for Ep3-Seeds of War, it only seems right that Atlas compose five general themes for the five Episodes, as I keep saying, consistency matters, I want these words on a t-shirt. I will be writing to them soon, probably when I am deeper into Ep3, I’ve had some ideas orbiting for quite some time, ideas of how I’d like it to sound, expressed through other musicians of course, in fact, I love dedicating a day to finding new music, music that inspire new unique themes, I try to imagine what it would be like to marry certain tracks together, in the same way I’ve blended the genres of epic fantasy with horror in Ep2, I do try to mix an appropriate piece that fits with Ep3 with another. Sadly, I can only get so far with this method, I do not possess the right software, nor do I spend enough time in the music world to experiment, so it usually stays as a mere concept before I pass it onto an actual musician. Oddly enough and to my surprise, for the Seeds of War general theme, I keep coming back to Mad World, written and composed by Gary Jules, but more specifically, I keep listening to a cover of the song by Jasmine Thomas, which is so, so, so good. In my themes to date I’ve not had any lyrics, but I am thinking of incorporating some in this next project. I’ll leave a link to Jasmine’s cover/video below, Jasmine truly has a wonderful voice, she sings it so delicately and I think I prefer her take to the original; Plus, the way she walks around in the video is sexy as hell, a woman with a good walk just kills me in all the right ways. Also, because Ep3’s underlining core theme is Journey, I have been listening to music written by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who wrote the music for one of my favourite films, The Revenant, a film based on true events and real people, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Beyond the films fucking stunning presentation, every shot being poster worthy I kid you not, the music is haunting, conveying the heart of the story which is – Mans relationship with nature. It was sad to learn that Ryuichi passed in March this year, but I’ll continue to listen to his work because it is resonating with me, unearthing memories of the time I spent travelling Eastern and Western Europe, particularly Bosnia when I was caught in a blizzard halfway up Dragons Reach mountain, and all I had for company was a stray dog, with nothing but a valley caked in snow, or when I was on the boarder of Albania scaling down a cliff face to the setting of the sun, I was truly alone and I’ve never felt more alive, and music is the only portal to find those sensations of life.

This music however, the music that goes with Ashley’s library concept, was written, produced, and composed by a local music teacher, the same woman who composed Isabelle’s Theme, released on the 18^th of January 2022. This new one is called, A Path Sewn by Fate and it’s…Amazing! It’s fucking amazing! Forgive me for using such a cliché, such a run of the mill adjective that deserves so much more, but trust me, when an author is a bit lost for words, if you’re able to stunt him/her (especially me who needs to learn how to shut the fuck up once in a while) it’s usually a very good thing, and Jilaine, once again, as she had done so in January 2022, left me searching for the right vocabulary to best attribute to her work. A Path Sewn by Fate, is brilliant, I’ve listened to it about a hundred times in the last week or two, and this goes for ALL the work Jilaine has ever so kindly done for me, work that is not even out yet but I’ve listened to while driving, while taking long trips to London by coach, listened to during my walks to get late night coffee, even while working…Yeah…I snuck her five tracks into the office on a memory stick and play them as often as I can when at my desk, because I NEED that escape, I NEED that window to look through otherwise I’d wither on the vine. The music is able to take me to those places we find Isabelle in the book; A Path Sewn by Fate invokes the melancholy of study which is prominent throughout our Star Callers journey in Ep1, balancing the already enriched theme that you can tell is tethered to Jilaine’s earlier work (Track one: Isabelle’s Theme) which is we both agreed, key; Key in the ways that each track had to sound related, so if you were to hear one and then another at a different time, you could make the connection between the two, that they were part of the same family and not so different you could associate them with other outlets. Differentiation is important the deeper we get into this Ancestral Odyssey, each (but not all) character has their own signature music/song, and from that base others can be diluted from it depending on the context and where that particular character is in their journey. Another thing to point out worthy of praise, and you’ll note this as these tracks are released, is the level of care put into them, the attention to details included subtle or otherwise is something I applaud, adding emotive layers of thought and bulbs of passion that I struggle to find in most forms of entertainment today. In this case, the Old Library is built in the heart of a holy city, the people belong to a faith and the inspiration was taken from old England, and England was once heavily rooted in Christianity. This is reflected not only in my words and Ashley’s concept, but also within Jilaine’s music; When the track starts, it sounds as if the music is being played in an open hall, something you’d hear when walking into a Church or Cathedral, the hymn which is vocalised beautifully by Jilaine, can be that of what a choir would sing and the rising and falling of the notes caresses Isabelle’s Theme brings it home, it’s gorgeous – So much is conveyed in such a small amount of time, everything from the depth of a religious culture, the architecture in which it was birthed and the spirit of our protagonist Isabelle, in fact this opening is so genius I honestly start to question how creative I actually am and feel like an idiot in comparison with Jilaine. The way she drops in the piano like the falling of rain, the slow wind of Isabelle’s tune steadily rising from the gentle whirl as if she’s getting lost in the time at study; You can almost see (yes, see when you close your eyes) the seasons change, you can clearly visualise her sitting at a table before one of these arched windows, being brought tea by Master Eran on a silver tray, helping a student with their studies as piles of books gradually cage her, a metaphorical emphasis of the weight of her purpose and responsibility, shackling her in place. I can see her wardrobe change to fit the weather and the weariness brought on by the curse of knowledge etching onto her pale face and setting shadows under her eyes. It’s just a beautiful piece of music, what more can I say about it, thank you Jilaine for being you, don’t you dare change, thank you for bringing something to life with (from what I can tell) a simple set-up, if you can produce such work while torn with so many other responsibilities, I can only imagine what you’d be capable of given more resources. I look forward to bringing a visual aid to your other three pieces of music, I look forward to writing future essays about your music, it’s incredibly special and I hope you bring as much love and care you did for mine, for others in the future. It’s a shame I cannot continue writing about this, because I want to, I really want to talk about the other tracks, The Thief’s Priestess, Isabelle’s Calling and, The 23^rd Star Caller, but unfortunately now is not the time, now is the time to pitch another brief to Ashley, and that brief will be called, The Thief’s Priestess.  

Just to add-on to this musical segment, I need to bring your attention to a new creative I’ve been following online; His name is Jesse, he’s a musician and he covers/critiques video game soundtracks on a YouTube channel called, Jesse’s Auditorium; He even listens to tracks live, so you get an authentic reaction and it’s so fun to watch, especially when he finds something recognisable and loves it. Usually, I do not watch reactive content because it’s typically a giant waste of time, I do not need help reacting to something, reactions come naturally to me, but because Jesse is a musician himself, who not only listens to obscure musical categories which I happen to like myself, he adds a valuable critique from a place of knowledge and wisdom, plus he comes across as a genuinely interesting, funny guy, someone you could have a good time with on a night out. The other day I was scrolling through his library, and I saw him cover one of my favourite songs of all time, coming from the opening of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, and it’s called, Ozar Midrashim, composed by Kurt Harland of Information Society. If you’ve a love of epic music, if you’ve a passion for making music, if you like dark fantasy, gothic environments and punishing beats, I suggest you listen to this track, I suggest you watch the original intro to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver for the PS1, and I suggest you watch Jesse’s critique of the song itself, it had me grinning from ear to ear because he had never heard this before, he was coming at this from a fresh outlook and I saw his face change multiple times when the track shifts its gears, adding layer upon layer of powerful energy behind each thundering boom. I enjoy watching this so much because it is how I felt when I first heard this track, taking me back to a time when I hadn’t even finished growing. Because I am a huge fan of the Legacy of Kain series, they are seriously some of the best stories ever told in my view, written by an absolute hero of mine, Amy Hennig, a writer I aspire to, Jesse’s critique was spot on, meaning the music had done its job to tell a story in that of itself, it had succeeded in blanketing you in the atmosphere you’re treated to in the game and it makes me ever so happy to know stuff like this exists and is appreciated by chaps like Jesse. He also covered a Final Fantasy XI track called, You Are Not Alone, and again it’s so relatable, touching on something so personal but an absolute joy to watch. I’ll leave the appropriate links below for you to check out, but if you’ve got a moment, scroll through his channel, and if you’re a gamer or just a general lover of music, maybe there is something you’d like to see him cover, it’s really good stuff. I’ll leave you with a quote from Jesse that speaks to what I’ve been talking about for ages, which is comforting:-

“I thought it was going to be a bunch of creaky noises and air, stuff like that, and there was creepy noises but they incorporated them into the music. What kind of genre is this?”

-Jesse

Ashley worked incredibly hard on this concept, I applaud her for being able to step into this enormous world, capturing it in the way that she did given but just one brief, and as long and as detailed as the brief was, it was still only one page and to date, I’ve written thousands of pages not including all the information found on this blog. Side note: I had planned to make my 100^th post on this blog a sort of statistic report where I will share all the things I’m proud of, all the things I’m not so proud of, I’d like to cover what I’d like to write about come the next one hundred articles because I do have some interesting topics worth sharing, this will however take some time to write, and given my schedule in the next few weeks, it will only take longer, by which time I likely would have already written up significantly shorter posts about the next couple of characters (Chloe and Mumbi) who are right now under conception, so moving forward I am still coming up with a way to work around this issue. Apologies to digress, but I thought it be good to mention: Back to Ashley. There was a lot to get through, it was a timely process and not everything was figured out right away, for instance, what would fill otherwise baron spaces and although it’s not about cluttering up the space for the sakes of just to fill it, but I did catch myself considering things that I had previously not garnered enough thought. The layout is brilliant, the scale is proportionate, the culture is clearly translated having been adapted by inspiration melded with vision. Isabelle and Pandora are captured beautifully, the lighting is gorgeous – The arched windows framed into the western wall was done this way for good reason, for the building itself was erected at such an angle to capture the sunlight that rises in the west. The suggestive idea that the oil lanterns could be lifted off their metallic hooks and carried around serves a functioning purpose, it being obvious, there is no electricity, so this follows in logic. The books themselves convey a sense of age with their leather-bound jackets sewn by hard working hands, as well as the room itself shows you its authenticity. Something I love personally is the indication people have been here, the mess on the table, the cracks in the wood, the dust in the air, it gives so much life to an otherwise still digital painting, a dynamic that when present we often take for granted but stands out like a sore thumb when it’s absent. I love the carpet, yeah I cannot believe I’m about to detail the carpet, I feel like I’ve aged ten years but it’s something interesting to cover; For you see I researched what ancient cultures worshipped the stars, I looked into Aztec and Egyptian art, whence I expressed my finds to Ashley she melded the two styles together to create something intrinsically unique, something that speaks to my fictional Norkron culture for they too worship the stars. This is a space I can see existing in real life, this is (for the most part) true to what you’re treated with in the books, it’s a testament to Ashley’s talent as an artist who I am certainly keeping on for future projects, and marks the first step in a series of artworks, the first one linked to Jilaine’s music, and what will follow will be depictions of more characters in favoured settings, depictions when men meet monsters and portrayals of everything weird and wonderful. The best is yet to come.

It’s a shame I have to do this, but it is part of being a creative, and that is recognising what didn’t work, whether it be slight or something quite large, you must cover it otherwise you’ll never grow; The idea is not to have any minor or major flaws at all, in truth you should iron out as many issues you come across as soon as you can BEFORE the work cements itself, but despite my meticulousness, there are a couple of things I’d tweak if I were to do this again. The first one being is the staircase, in the book it’s a steel, spiral staircase with a worn, turquoise tint, and it rattles whenever someone ascends or descends. In Ashley’s interpretation, it’s clearly more integral to the buildings structure, a staircase that has always existed when it was being constructed. Ashley’s interpretation is fine, although the reason I designed it thusly was to suggest that the library was once only one floor, but as time moved on and more knowledge was being accumulated, another few floors would be integrated and the spiral staircase would be jarringly inserted, standing out but symbolically representing the libraries grand extensions. This leans me into my next flaw, and that goes for the number of floors; In the book there are three floors and an attic space, in this concept there are only two floors. This issue came to my attention quite late, honestly, I should have picked up on it and hammered it out sooner, but it is something that slipped through my net. As vigilante as you can be as the visionary, sometimes things just get by, I promise to be more diligent come future projects. That’s it for flaws, I’ve no criticism of Ashley’s ability, I think she’s given Eran’s Old Library the justice it deserves, she certainly hit way above a standard and as we continue to work together, inevitably the art will get even better. The flaws I’ve listed are my responsibility and not huge flaws at that, nevertheless, I have to be critical of myself and with others, because as I’ve said before, by recognising your mistakes, by accounting for your errors which are inevitable, you’ll make less in future works.

Guys, thank you so much for reading today, as always it is greatly appreciated. To view Ashley’s interpretation of The Old Library, you can do so by visiting Ashley’s site and/or visiting my own simply by entering the Gallery or the Video section. To listen to Jilaine’s music, A Path Sewn by Fate, you can via her SoundCloud, she is the producer and composer of this music and deserves so much of the credit for creating something beautiful, she belongs on a lit stage in a golden dress performing in front of millions. Links to everyone’s work is listed below. Big thank you to Mr Alex Hunt for stepping in last minute to cut the video together in a creative way and add those nifty effects, it is greatly appreciated, thank you so much. I’m positive these wonderful people would appreciate a message regarding their input, kind words do go a long way, heck, I’ve printed out some kind letters written to me years ago just to remind me that I am (sometimes) a nice person doing something good for the world. If you do decide to write to any one of them, please be respectful about it, save any hatred you have for me, I’ll be sure to ignore it and work EVEN harder. You’ll notice in the links below I’ve left a direct link to my Donations page on the site, the reason I’ve done this is because I have started to look into the possibility of an animation being made, instead of the short film I was planning which was in hindsight overly ambitious, will be the same script only executed through animation; I have reached out to a few people, I’ve spoken with one animator thus far who works for BlueFlag Animations, we had a brief but insightful conversation about what can and cannot be accomplished, and what I gleaned from that one interaction was that there is little to nothing that cannot be achieved through animation, which was very encouraging; What wasn’t encouraging was the price tag it came with, and because I am still researching this avenue and am still new to the idea, I am hesitant to jump to any conclusions, but it would appear still to be out of my depth financially, we’ll see. I am expecting a few more quotes back within the next few days but my guess is it’s going to be expensive. I’ll front as much money as I can, but a helping hand goes a long way, just be sure to leave your name or alias so I can credit you if and when this happens, and even if it does not happen, I’ll credit you on the work you helped build. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still love to direct my own, live-action short film one day, I’ve still a fire for it, I’ve just not the financial backing to see it through and this strike has been working against me since day one – An animation might not be what I wanted initially, but I am warming to the idea. Anyway, no pressure to donate, no pressure to purchase my work, I’d love your support but reading this article is more than enough. Speaking of film, the lovely Kate Peel who assisted me on my films production when it was in full swing, recently had her work on display which was so awesome to see and hear about; Someone noted her accomplishments and scheduled an interview with her; As it turns out, a piece Kate had worked on for me was on display which was mentioned in said interview. I’ve shared a link for you below, from The Flux magazine that reveals the whole conversation, it’s a great read, I honestly wish there was more of it – Congratulations Kate on all her success, I look forward to seeing what comes next. Work on Volume Five is still underway, in the time it took to write this article I was messaged via WhatsApp by Joyce, my editor, who is nearly done with Chapter 36 – Hexagon, and will be requiring Chapter 37 – The Sire and the Stranger, next; So, upon publishing this article I will be editing further. Thanks again everyone, especially to those involved in this latest edition, do take care of yourselves and I hope you’ll come back for more upon my next entry, which will be article one hundred, one fucking hundred, a milestone in itself and something I am very proud of. Peace.  

E-mail – taotome@outlook.com    

X (Twitter) – @MegasTeque  

Official Website – www.taotequevault.com

Donation Page – http://www.taotequevault.com/support  

YouTube – www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nc_VEmC27AIz6pP51UVkQ

Bitchute – http://www.bitchute.com/channel/x9K5vwi2SsNu/

Author Page UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6    

Author Page US - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01JMZ2BE6

A Path Sewn by Fate (Direct Link to Video) – https://youtu.be/c3MgNYB8gss 

Jilaine’s Soundcloud (Producer and Composer of: A Path Sewn by Fate) – https://soundcloud.com/jilaine26

Ashley’s Artwork / – http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089622653877   

Atlas Audio Official Website – www.atlas-audio.co.uk

Jesse’s Auditorium – Final Fantasy IX: You’re Not Alone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NcJ0H8X6jA&t=580s

Jesse’s Auditorium – Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – Ozar Midrashim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs4aqwBjl88

Kate Peel, The Flux Review: Full Interview – https://www.thefluxreview.com/kate-peel-interview/  

Jasmine Thomas, Mad World Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXtj4TkTvS4

D.W.Gill