I create a decent amount of music playlists for my own personal use for inspiration to get the mood of the comic how I want it, and have decided to share them. Feel free to click on the vibes link up top if this sounds interesting to you. At this point I’ve uploaded 8 of the over 20 playlists I have compiled, and will add more occasionally.
Part of a tooth came out that time. Ruyo’s hand smeared the splatters of his own blood on the gravel as he still kept trying to rise to his feet.
Bruised and scraped from the attacks of four separate pairs of boots. Hard to make out anything they screamed at him amidst the onslaught.
Wheres your fire, flamer??
She gonna rescue you now??
Robalem piss on such wastes of his name!!
He got the jist.
He hated everything about these effonos. Their stupid faces. Their stupid clothes. Their stupid– ridiculous– accents–
This stupid country! He hated it! He bit his lip in force as another streak of blood dripped to the ground. Ruyo looked the big guy straight in the eye as he smirked in defiance. He hocked a bloody mass of bile and let loose.
Square in the eye.
–
It wasn’t dark yet. Must not have been too long. Did he even really pass out? He remembered lying there for ages.
God, what an ache.
A few locals passed by in the distance, meeting him with hurried glances. None of the assholes even bothered to check him. Though labored, he climbed to his feet out of pure spite.
–
Gramma and Oliye both gasped as he limped his way into the tent. His younger cousin hurried off for a bowl of water and a rag as he painfully sat down on the floor to avoid getting the mats bloody. Would never hear the end of it from Gramma if he did. Thankfully, she was more concerned about him in this moment.
It didn’t take long for the truth of the encounter to make its way to the surface.
It’s true, Gram! It’s bad enough that I have to defend myself from those pissants, let alone you!
She sighed as she kept dabbing crusty blood off of his cheek. What a mess of a situation.
Language. …Ru, have you ever tried… well… mm. …not egging them on…?
He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he glanced all over in frustration. No one was on his side! Gramma put a hand on his shoulder.
All I’m saying… is there might not be anyone that could handle… the way you present.
You mean what I present.
–Wh–
Gram, you know what I believe! Oraq rose! But She is coming back! She can’t not care about her motherland when it’s in so much trouble!
Gramma looked to the side, silent.
It was Her home! She was a person too! How could she sit by right now? She can’t! There’s no– way!
…But do you have to tell every effono you see?
We know one person for certain who ascended in this life. Effonos know the call too. But they can’t handle it because She wasn’t Avato!
Oliye piped in with her gentle voice from the stool in the corner. It only sounded irritating right now.
They’re not ready for the truth, Ru…
He glared at her, furious nearly to the point of tears. She froze for a moment before scampering away, upset. Gramma would console her later…
Ru, you know the call of the Flame.
I know.
But we can’t expect… well. …Someone to carry us. On that road.
I’m not! I’m still… walking! I just want– I just… I only want Her to help us!
The old woman locked gazes with her grandson. He saw only pain and empathy in her weathered eyes. She sighed one last time as she looked to the floor.
Dear… if someone has found perfection… if they had just washed their hands… why would they stick them in the mud again?
He knew deep down Gramma loved him. But he couldn’t handle her right now. To him, his best advocate was throwing him to the wolves. He rose to his feet once more and calmly stormed out. She didn’t follow.
He didn’t care what anyone said. Oraq had to come back. She is coming back.\
And She’ll make them pay.
“For trillions of years we have walked this world, unaware of our past. In a trillion more, we shall walk it again. We now know it is the cycle of things. To unite the world under our banner as it once was – so it shall again be for untold ages to come. One color as our descendants again conquer the ages of trillions.“
Sinii Kadal, first Envoy of the Renaul State, -306y
Widely known amongst scholarly circles, Arregur Siovak’s famous map has been proudly displayed in the Gold Annex of the Grand Chroniclorum since the reign of Didak II. Though battered by years, thanks to the Archive’s preservation efforts the chart is still vibrant enough to captivate the mind of thousands of hungry inquirers each annum.
For most, this is far more between the pillars than they will ever see in a single lifetime. Mankind will surely one day reach the heavens to see the world from this perspective, but until that day arrives, the great Siovak’s work is the best substitute.
Duplicates like this one have been penned since our forefathers rode mighty on the plains, but still demand a hefty price. For the commoner, such a lavish view of the world is honestly excessive.
Nearly seven hundred settlements are marked, and there is no doubt that Siovak traveled to many of them in the flesh. Indeed, many of these cities have reached a legendary status amongst Avatos, with only the most hardened and grizzled travelers hoping to reach them at all. But for even them, wars and hostility of the nations may relegate the grand chart as the only way to observe them, if they even still exist at all. The heavens know that man’s impact in a lifetime is brief and volatile, and no end of cities have been attacked and left to crumble in the sands of time inside our nation. Doubtlessly the same must be said of other peoples, even to the ends of the world.
Perhaps a more existential question is to how long this map will be accurate. Cities and borders are one question, but how much has even the land itself eroded and shifted throughout the cycle? Even since the penning of Siovak’s account it is difficult to quantify. Add the siege that a thousand generations of earthquakes, floods, and shifting rivers can inflict upon even the hardest stone. Even if the chart and generations of copies survive that long, who alive today can attest to their reliability? Will even the world itself fade away or be reborn before this cycle comes to a close?
Eventually, even Siovak’s seemingly immortal tome will likely fade to the ravishes of the cycle. Whether that happens in billions or trillions of years, whoever will become Siovak in the next iteration will surely muse over these same thoughts as well.