World of the Southern Lizardmen

In an effort to share more of my work with readers, I've placed a word count meter in the left column of Xenithar's Lair.  It measures my progress in my current WIP, In Chaos Forged, by word count.  I put a goal of 300,000 words on there, as the further I write ICF, the longer I think this book is going to be.

I've mentioned an overall summary of The Hammer of Fire in an earlier post, but I want to elaborate more on the first book, In Chaos Forged.

HOF takes place in southern Misten, about 1200 years after the end of Book 5 of The Legend of Draconite: Ascension.  Between the Ascension and this current time period, a group of Crin outcasts from northern Misten made their way south, led by a religious leader turned heretic who wielded a great hammer and carried a book prophesying of a great hero.



Some fighting occurred between these Crin and the native black-skinned humans, known as mwaneusi.  The mwaneusi chieftain subdued the Crin and killed many of the men, but saved a few of the warriors and made them subservient to his cause as a warlord.  These male Crin became known as janissaries, and were loyal only to the high chieftain.

Over the thousand years or so, the janissary faction grew mighty, growing mostly from father to son, although the janissaries did do recruitment at a certain period to bolster their numbers.  At one point, one of the descendants of the heretic recruited a boy who seemed to fit the descriptions in the prophecy.  However, the boy grew up in the corrupt and violent world of the janissaries, and became power-hungry for the great Hammer of Fire, also known as Mlimamoto.

The boy grew and rose through the ranks, attaining the highest office among the janissaries and crushing any opposition.  It is into this world that our hero, Jivasi, and his cousin, Ndegana, are born.

These two boys spend an idyllic childhood in an isolated fishing and farming community.  Most children their age hope to join a guild or trade in their adulthood.  They worship what they consider good spirits and shun bad spirits.  Jivasi's mother spends time with Ndegana's mother and father; Jivasi's father is dead.

Jivasi (left) and Ndegana (center); early drawings of
their adult stage.

Jivasi has a tender heart, and is eager to please.  He also prides himself in his strength and how well-groomed he looks, unusual for a boy of ten.  Ndegana is more rambunctious and talkative than Jivasi, but is very protective of his cousin, and isn't afraid to point out faults in others.

These two boys are soon unwillingly caught up in the world of the janissaries.  The lives they knew in their hometown are shattered.  Their dreams are burned away.  And while the janissaries beat on their brows physically, emotionally, and mentally, their survival and even sanity pivots around the love they hold for their family.

Emotionally this has been a hard book for me to write, especially when it comes to the interactions between the janissaries and the children.  I've had to find a fine balance between showing how awful the janissaries are without going overboard on detail.  However, I've also been able to show the struggle the boys go through to cling to what they believe to be good.  It's felt good to be able to show that, even when around a lot of people that seem bad, there can still be those that are doing what good they can considering their situation.  There is always hope.

Reading the Wheel of Time series has given me more of a taste for writing adventure.  I've written lots of adventure before, but I've thought more about the details of this world and the people in it, and it makes me more and more excited to write about the Provinces and their human and lizardman races.