A little bit of World-building

The appendix to The Lake trilogy and some more world-building bits

Of Birdlings, Snakelings, Wolflings and other folk of the Three kingdoms: Avem, Hebeny and Autumna.

Those times are long gone, when folk gazed into the world with eyes full of childish wondering. Foreverold - creator of all folk, gave them gifts of natural magic. Some folk dreamed of flying - the Foreverold granted them with the magic to become birds at will. The folk were called Birdlings. Healers they were, not keen on fighting, nor warcrafting. The Foreverold granted them Prophecies to know what future beholds, for he found Birdlings worthy of knowledge hidden from the eyes of evil. Birdlings were frail and handsome, with hair red or black, their bird-like beady-eyes shone brightly in their pale, red-cheeked faces. Houses they built in the mighty Blackwood trees, Nidum was their capital in the land of Avem. A Blackwood tree crown with green and red gems they gave to their king or queen.

Though most of them honoured the gifts of the Foreverold, but some chose not to keep them, and lost their will to fly. Banished from the Birdling kingdom of Avem they were driven North to build a kingdom of their own - Hebeny, the Kingdom under the Blackwood forests. The banished were joined by other folk without the gift of magic. Their wealth grew as Hebenians began to sell the precious Blackwood trees to the kings overseas.

Some wished to know the deepest secrets of life and death, they were granted with the magic of Wolflings - they could become wolves at will, their keen eyes saw the spirits of the dead, and helped them move across the border of life and death to join the Foreverold. Living in the shadows of Northern Blackwood forests, they forgot their human nature, and all but one became wolves - the King of Wolflings remained faithful to the will of the Foreverold, he and his kin kept their human nature alive and for it, were granted with the gift of Prophecies.

Snakelings were a mysterious folk, living on an island in the vast lake of Autumna. To them the Foreverold gave the wise, cold-blooded nature of the snakes. Some say - cold and ruthless folk they were. Estranged from the warmth of love and sympathy, but… some of them proved to be courageous, kind and loyal to their friends and passioante lovers to their loved ones. After the cunning Snakelings suffered from the curse of The Lord of the Lake, they lost their magic for a thousand years, until the Foreverold turned the tides and a new Lord brought the Lake back to life.

The sunny island of Thilia was inhabited by golden-haired, blue-eyed folk. Kind they were, and warm-hearted and the ancient stories stated that the Thilians came from the sun. The golden linden trees of Thilia bloomed all summer long and made the air above Autumna lake smell even sweeter. After the Lake’s demise, some of the Thilians found refuge in the land of Hebeny and built a new home there - Thilia valley, where the golden linden trees bloomed once again.

Of all the creatures the Foreverold had created, Autumnians were, perhaps, the strangest ones of all. Nobody knew their real name, nobody dared to remember, until they had forgotten it. Dragonlings they were. More ancient than the forests, before the first seed of a Blackwood tree had touched the soil. There was the lake of Autumna, inhabited by wondrous creatures, with fire in their souls. Half-dragons, half-men they emerged from the sea, they could swim as well as fly, fire and water obeyed their will, and the Foreverold took pride in creating such magnificence. 

The Dragonlings were well-aware of their own strength. Tall, dark-skinned with hair of coal-black and fire in their eyes, they were kings no others could ever compare. They turned to dragons at will, no boundaries could hold them, there was nothing they could not obtain. Dragonlings settled near the Autumna lake, called themselves High kings, and soon enough they deemed themselves higher than anyone or anything.

The Foreverold took away their power to become dragons and command fire as a cost for their vanity. But the fire remained. A flame of the dragon burned inside their souls, and once awakened, it would never go out. It burned them from inside, the only remedy was pleasure, it fed the hungry flame for a short while, then it asked for more. The desperate Autumnians begged the Foreverold to relieve their suffering, he helped by leaving them power over water - it would drown their burning urges. The water saved all of them, but one – their Lord’s kin stayed unchanged, both cursed with fire and gifted with power over water. The Lord of the Lake or the Autumnian Wizard – the folks called their ruler. He who cursed the lake and brought the land of Autumna from its depths; and the Damned land was born.

The Damned land of Autumna was filled with frightening creatures and monsters - giant, bloodthirsty wolverines, with their eyes of glowing-red. Fishlings - stupid folk half-men half-fish. Lizards as large as small horses with razor-sharp teeth and venomous bites that brought death within a day and a night. They say Snakelings were the only ones to withstand the poison. They kept the giant lizards as cattle, rode them instead of horses and sold them to Autumnian soldiers.

Wondrous and terrible tales folk told of the Damned land of Autumna - the land of Marshes and moors, covered in treacherous pools and man-eating lakes. The Autumnian folk living there became as dark, treacherous and crude as the land itself. Some said Autumnians were men of dark urges. Others objected - Autumnians were men of passion, the craving for all the pleasures life in the Damned land could offer.

The Foreverold gave the Autumnians a treasure inside their swamp land - iron ore. Blacksmiths they became, with mastery the world hadn’t seen before. Autumnian swords and armour were better than any other - lightweight, yet strong. Only Snakelings could surpass them in the mastery, but the strange little Snake-folk kept to themselves and hid their secrets from Autumnians.

Swords and axes found their way to war, Autumnians were in desperate need for wood. The Kingdom beneath the Blackwood forests - Hebeny, became a bloody battle ground, until finally Autumnians suffered defeat, and the last Lord of the Lake restored the order, revived the lake, and washed the monstrous dirt away from the land.