Naiads

In one of my worlds there is a major character who is a sort of water nymph. She is slender, fair, and beautiful. Water nymphs, or naiads, have lovely blue makings on their face and arms, and blue-tipped ears with two points. Anyway, here's a drawing of a nymph named Rimstone from "The Woods of FairaNoran", one of my in-progress books. It's not as clear as the original, but that's because it changed when I tried to scan it.

 

Ti Etro, Vytra and beyond! This next post introduces a creature which lives mainly in Eastern Vytra woodlands. The boquim (boe-quimm) is a furry critter with (yes, unlikely as it may seem), six feet. It has sort, small legs and a round body, a furry tail, strawberry-shaped face, and tufted ears. Their paws are usually concealed under the body as shown in the upper right diagrams above. When they want to run or walk quickly, their paws come out and can be seen. 

Also, their fur extraordinarily changes color according to their moods. 

Grey = Sleeping

Red = Angry

Green = Sick

Blue = Sad
Yellow = Confused or curios

Black = Bitter, grumpy, or gruding

White = Frightened or afraid

Pink = Embarrassed or shy

Purple = In love

Brown = Cheerful or pleased

Orange = Begging, pouting, or whining

Gold = Content and at rest

Silver = Tense or anxios

Turquoise = Blissful or wonderfully joyful

Tan = Surprised or shocked

Those are all the basic boquim colors, even though when going through more than one emotion their fur can become dappled or start changing colors confusingly. Boquims are talking creatures and have often said how annoying it is to hardly ever be able to hide your feelings. 

Some older and very experienced boquims can change color with difficulty to hide emotions or camouflage from predators. Predators which hunt the boquim include weasels, martins, stoats and ferrets, ilkrass and snakes, bobcats and eagles. 

Boquim live in shady, fertile woodlands or fields and make their nests in tall grass, hidden from view.  Their diet consists of plants, leaves, and bark, and sometimes insects. These six-legged mammals make great pets and are friendly and unafraid of any who do not plan to eat them.

Yay! My mom helped me scan some drawings onto the computer, so I've finally got my first picture on my blog!
        Like I promised in my last post, I've got a sketch of a Thelbian Mermaid by Bronze the Sling. In this species of mermaid, the scales actually extend up the back bone, and there are two patches of soft scales under the arms. The mermaid's forearms have a small, wide-span fin for steering and propelling through the water, and the fingers are webbed. Just below the backbone, the tailbone extends into a thin fin, which works as a rudder and is also useful for steering.
        The two large fins on the upper sides of her tail are flexible and fan-like, and ripple like the fins of and eel, making in easier to glide along and maintain balance when floating upright in the water. The strong, streamlined flipper is the main propeller for moving swiftly underwater.
        The silly fable of merpeople growing legs if they become dry is complete fur and feathers (or nonsense).

This an image of a sky wisp, a cloudy creature that lives up in the sky. Sky wisps can vanish in to thin air, quite literally. They are usually sky blue or cloudy white, but if they want to can become visible. They are very solemn and should be respected, because powerful ones can make fearsome storms. Whole cities rest in the clouds, wispy cities of white, and sky wisps darting to and fro are often mistaken for puffs of cloud being blown in the wind.

A Portion from the Journal of Bronze the Sling

"June 3, Seasontide 534

Today on a ferry ride through the Thelbian Islands (There are a few montu colonies there and I was able to get a ride on one of the boats, small as they are), I was passing over a bank of underwater seaweed when I met a young Thelbian mermaid. She was feeding her pet sea turtle, evidently, and it was enjoying the seagrass very much. She was at first wary of my approach, of course, but curious as a dolphin. The montu captain stopped the ferry and waved down at her; she probably knew him because immediately she swam up alongside the boat and peeked her head out of the water. I learned that her name was Coral, and that she lived in the bank with her family, along the coastline. She readily posed for me as I tried to draw her, which is what I'm doing now. I just wish she'd hold still!"

Hopefully I'll be able to get a hold of the drawing soon, and I'll put it on my blog. Pictures coming soon!

The Riding Cliffs

A ridge runs along the sea on the north side of Vytra. Cliffs drop into the billowy waves fifty tail-lengths high. Scary as it may seem to a land-dweller, slave to gravity, it is a favorite practicing spot for young gryphons. At first young gryphons will take off from trees, because they have not yet learned how to fly from a standstill.Once trained to stay in the air for a reasonable amount of time, a fledgling gryphon will go with their trainer to launch off the cliffs into the sky. With open spaces and easy thermals to ride, it's the perfect spot to train because if you fall, it's just a wet swim back to shore.

Welcome to Vytra!

Hello, everyone! My first blog! Let me tell you a bit about Vytra!

Vytra (vie-truh) is a country in the vast world of Daedoa, a different world than our own. It is surrounded by an ocean, sticking out from the mainland. Nearby are the countries of Misquis (miss-quiss), Jyriss (jie-riss), and Berinian (burr-in-ee-in). The creatures there are talking animals, gryphons, dragons, montu (mon-too), boquims (boe-quim), plebbs, unicorns, nymphs and naiads, quicorns (qu-ie-corn), flying horses, drees, and sky wisps. There are even plants there which can't be found in this world, Earth.

Opening the Door

Welcome to Vytra! Open the mysterious door in the tree and step into a mythical place where almost anything can happen! My name is Bronze and I live in Vytra, a country by the sea deep in the world of Daedoa. Come with me and let me tell you all there is to know. Enjoy!