My Aching Hand

I've been scribing and scribing... only not for fun... for work. Totally not fair. I must not work out enough because my arm muscles are aching up a storm.

Distracted Mother Terees

Poor Mother... I think she's losing some of those straggling bits and pieces of her fractured memory. Must be stress. She needs a nice long vacation in Solaris or some backwoods place no one can find her.

Things have been rather quite in the Shadow Guard of late... I believe Ryna is off getting herself into trouble in more ways than one, but I'm not scheduled to check in on her for a few days. I think Shanyaks is on Ryna-watching duty for now. That could mean more trouble than help.

The days feel all sorts of off. I want to finish recording Jaedin and Jira's quest but there just doesn't seem to be adequate time. I am tired in body and soul and I know not why yet. The reason will come soon enough, but not knowing is terribly disconcerting.

Who would you like to have dinner with?

Quont, Mernac's God of Lust: Question of the Week – 9

Arleas - *grumbles* why can I only pick one? I would love to have a pleasant dinner chat with Traesha. If I recall correctly, the last conversation I had with her had us on the opposite sides of weapons after she'd tried to seduce my Shadow Guard brother, Shanyaks. See, now such hostilities aren't always the way things need to go. Just a nice dinner, no swords, would be lovely, for she is a wonderful person. We probably would have come to sword blows too if Ryna hadn't gotten all jealous and shown up then. Kidding, sis, you know you don't always have to practice Complete Attraction on poor Shanyaks.

Terees - I'd like to meet with my brother Quont. He's always been good with making anyone feel special. That quality has not diminished over the seasons. There's still good in him, as there is evil in me, and so holds the balance in all the Mothers and Fathers. My deepest desire, that which drives me, is to unite the gods once again, like in the days of old. I must find the balance, and I feel Quont would have some answers I seek. He, of course, would probably try to tease out the little sanity I have left and dig for answers to our plans - that is the grand plans the Mothers have for Mernac - but fair is fair and flowing information might just mend some of these millenia old schisms.

Me - Rick. Oh wait, did that:-) Again. Well, then I'd have to say The Other. There must be balance, dontcha know.

Why Keep Coming Back to Mernac

Quont, Mernac's God of Lust: Question of the Week – 8

My Answer: Oh a thousand answers could be had here. Friendships is definitely a large part of it. I think the control freak in me likes the idea of shaping a world. I had never been much interested in fantasy, aside from the occasional Harry Potter book. I heard this strange little site ran free writing contests so I figured it must be some sort of scam:-) Well, I soon discovered it wasn't a scam, but it sure sucked me in pretty good.

The opportunities to receive meaningful feedback on work and continually improve my writing, that brings me back. First the forums hooked me with the responsibility of being a Beta Tester... ooohh, title. Then, Shadow Dragon took me on as a Disciple and I joined the Shadow Guard... ooohhh, better title. Then, all of a sudden I became Terees, Mother of Wisdom and Harmony... oooohhh, bigger title still. What's not to love? As Traesha would say, whoo hoo:-)

Arleas's Answer: There's this small matter of I can't die, so I might as well stick around.

Terees's Answer: I feel this endless sense of responsibility for the people of Mernac. We, the gods and goddesses, helped shape this world, our troubles spilled onto the world, and now the duty to fix things also lies partially with us.

Quest for Celnadon reaches 80000 wds

The story is nearing the last quarter, I believe. So much to tell, so little time. I hope the Tienores and Mistelek's do not mind the delay, but this story must be told right. So much happened, to capture everything would surely take many seasons, but I shall do my best to get it told in a timely fashion.

This story is taking me much longer than the others. I wonder why, but I should not. Each chapter flows as normal, but so many other things clamor for my attention, I hardly get to breathe, let alone record. Using the Thought Recorder Spell would just plain be cheating, so I'll hold off on that until I get truly desperate.

Quest for Celnadon progress report

Chapters 1-21 are in good order. Chapter 22 should be finished tonight. By finished, I mean the first draft is done and it's readable. I still need to proofread the book as a whole. Chapter 23 and 24, 26, and 33 are also in good order, or at least well on their way to done.

I still need to start Chapter 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34 and the Epilogue. While that seems like a whole lot, I'm not sure how many of those chapters will actually be written. I don't know how much space I'll need to tell the rest of the story.

Jaedin and Jira still need to search and search and search, if they're ever to find a cure for Celantrophy.

On Memory Loss

Mother Terees's connection to me usually floods me with memories, but sometimes there are terrifying blank spaces. To know I should know and not know hurts. I feel incomplete. Once upon a time, I was mortal, with a normal person's capacity to remember, but since joining the Shadow Guard, I either know far more than I'm supposed to or far less than is comfortable.
Terees asked me the other day what I thought she valued most, for she could not even remember what she was supposed to seek in her One Book Quest. It took me four days of hard thinking, but I believe I've conquered this self riddle: Memory. It cannot be the whole of the answer, but it certainly must be part of it.