Note, replies by Vincent = Reply by me b/c that's my actual name :P

Kayo Hinazuki

To Edana: Would you sacrifice Frances to win the war? (i.e. suicide mission)

Edana shook her head, her fists clenched tight. “Never. I know it’s not a good thing, but I can’t do it. I would rather take her place.” Shifting uncomfortably, Edana pinched the bridge of her nose. “What worries me the most is that she’d sacrifice herself to end the war. I have seen how much Frances has come to believe in herself, but I’m worried she might not know when to stop giving.”

To Frances and Martin (separately): If you could build your perfect city, what would it look like?

Martin’s eyebrows shoot up and he zips away for a moment. Feet thumping against the floor, he returns with a rather large canvas.

“Right here! So like, Esther-mom and Rachel-mom are trying to incorporate some of the things we learned from the Otherworlders into like building a better castle town and I made some drawings.”

Ginger snorted and nudged Martin. “Martin, the readers want to learn about what you’d like, probably not the entire plan.”

“I’m getting to it! Basically, if I had to build a perfect city, I’d make sure it has nice walls, running water, nice straight streets that are easy to navigate. It’d have enough housing, good sewage systems and amenities for people to go to like shops, a large marketplace. Honestly, I got a lot of good ideas from Erlenberg with its very urban layout.”

Ginger frowned. “So what’s the driving point with the city then? Have everything and anything?”

Martin nodded. “Yes. I want it to be a place where you can live, see people, do business, have some fun and just have everything close to you. A convenient place where you can go about your day with the greatest ease.”

“That does sound rather nice,” said Ginger, pursing her lips.

Frances clasped her hands. “I don’t think I could make a perfect city, but um… I’d like to live in a city by a river. Everybody should have a house and clean, wide streets so they can talk to and walk with their friends. I’d like everybody in this city to have a job, small or large so that they can earn a living and have a purpose. Nobody would be left behind, or left downtrodden.”

Frances smiled. “If it’s possible, I’d like some houses to share a common space, like a garden. The idea being that each family or group has their own little community they can hang out with. I’d like that kind of house so that wherever I live, I’d be with some people, but can still have my privacy.”

Edana pursed her lips. “I quite like that idea, Frances. It’s like, a city of small communities, all connected to one another and joined by purpose.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how I would design that, but I’d like people to feel like they belong in a perfect city,” Frances said.

To demon king: What is your biggest regret?

Warning, Spoilers

The “Demon” king Thorgoth sighed. The troll, sitting on his throne, steepled his fingers.

“My children, Timur, who you know of, and Titania, who you have met, but have not been introduced to, are my greatest regrets. I failed to turn them into acceptable pawns. One is an idiot, the other has rebelled. I should have been far harsher on both.”

To Ayax: Do you believe in free will?

Ayax nodded. “Yes, I do. I don’t like that people abuse it, but I do believe in it.”

To Ayax: What do you think the purpose of life is?

Crossing her legs, Ayax frowned. “To just live a good life. To do something that you find helpful, or are proud of. To be happy with someone. It’s different for everybody of course. I wouldn’t say life is what you make of it, but I think that you kind of have to find a purpose.”

To Edana: What is your favorite animal for a pet?

“I’m not a pet person.” Edana grimaced. “Animals don’t like me.”

Frances arched an eyebrow. “Mom, that’s not really an answer, though.”

Edana groaned. “My favorites are dogs and birds, but I think the dogs can smell the smoke off me and so they find me strange. Birds are better, but I really don’t like cleaning up after them, even if I have magic.”

To Edana: What is your favorite story of your religion?

Edana smiled wistfully. “The favorite story of my religion. Well, there’s the ascension of Amura and Rathon to godhood, and the corresponding miracle at Londal.”

“You see, Amura and Rathon were once humans in Durannon who fought the Alavari. They weren’t otherworlders, but skilled, if somewhat unremarkable, mages. Now, we know very little of the Third Hero War three hundred or so years ago, but that’s when they ascended to Gods. The Alavari had attacked the Temple of Heroes, trying to get to the altar within and break it. Mind you, we don’t know what would happen if someone broke the altar, but a longstanding theory that if the altar was broken, the Otherworlders would be forced to return back.”

Edana coughed. “Then again, there’s another theory that if the altar is broken the Otherworlders won’t be able to go back. In any case, the Alavari have always tried to break the altar, and we don’t want to find out what happens if the altar breaks, and that is why the White Order exists. Amura and Rathon weren’t part of any particular order, though. They were magically gifted people just trying to do their best in the world.”

“In any case, they defended the altar from a horde of Alavari attackers, but no matter what they tried to do, they were losing. In a last, desperate attempt, they decided to cast a joint spell, using the magic of the altar itself and created the first of the two cases of true song magic, that is, magic that includes both song and lyrics. Rathon provided the lyrics of the song in the demon language, or as we know, Words of Power. Amura provided the actual song itself. In doing this, they would sacrifice their very bodies, using them as fuel for the spell.”

“In great pain, they cast their spell and disappeared, literally ripped apart by their own magic. And yet, in a flash they’d managed to transcend the fabric of reality and thrown the Alavari back out of the temple.”

“This wasn’t the only miracle they did. For the war dragged on, and while the pair’s sacrifice was commemorated, they weren’t worshipped. That changed at Londal.”

“Before the Battle of Londal Hill, the founder of the Human Kingdom of Erisdale, the mysterious Lady Grey, was facing what seemed like certain doom. She had Otherworlders, but the Demon Queen’s army outnumbered her five times to one. Lady Helen the founder of the Kingdom of Lapanteria and Lord Lu Brun, the founder of the Kingdom of Roranoak were with her as well. All were formidable warriors and good people, but they seemed to have met their match.”

“That was when Amura and Rathon appeared to the three and told them to have their soldiers to spend time with their families and loved ones if they could or to mend old grudges if they couldn’t. If they did, they would gain victory.”

“The soldiers did but Lady Helen, Lady Grey and Lord Lu Brun had no family left. The Alavari had killed them all, and so celebrated with one another. It is said that they shed much tears of joy and grief that night. The next morning, their army marched.”

“Whether this was because Amura and Rathon blessed them, or because the advice was just good advice, we’re not entirely sure. What we do know is that human army fought harder than it ever had. Despite being outnumbered five to one, they held the line.”

“They held long enough for Lady Grey, Lord Lu Brun and Lady Helen to actually, with Amura and Rathon’s aide, invoke the second case of song magic. Together they combined their magics and managed to defeat the Alavari Demon Queen, an Orc Warchief whose name has been unfortunately lost to time. With the Alavari defeated, the Otherworlders returned to their world, or chose to stay in Durannon, and the three went their ways and established the Kingdoms of Roranoak, Lapanteria and Erisdale.”

“So those are my two favorite stories from my religion. I think they still are my favorite because they’re tales of people trying to do the right thing and being rewarded by it.”

Coulykos

Elizabeth - What are the best and worst memories you have of Durranon at this point?

Patreon Spoilers:

Elizabeth covered her eyes. “The worst memory has to be the moment after I realized Ginger hurt herself trying to save me (Chapter 104).”

Elizabeth purses her lips. “As for the best memory, it’s more of a series of good memories. I’ve always enjoyed the time we three spent at Conthwaite, minus the part when Frances was briefly kidnapped. It felt like a moment of peace before the intrigues and later siege of Erlenberg started. There we hiked around the barony, ate, talked, did nothing important. Yet, it’s that time I miss.”

Martin and Frances scooted closer to Elizabeth. Martin gave her a half-hug, whilst Frances just wrapped her arms around her friend. Elizabeth giggled. “Thanks guys.”

General: Vren, did you enjoy writing the House of Light sequence?

Vren55 (oh you know what, just go by my actual name Vincent): Yes, I very much enjoyed writing that sequence. Fractured Song does get worldbuilding, but it’s such a character-focused story rarely do I have the chance to just explore the world in Frances’s eyes. Not that I think readers won’t enjoy just watching Frances explore things and learn about the world, but again, the main plot is the war, defeating Thorgoth, Frances and her friends learning and growing as people. There’s thus not a lot of time to just worldbuild and think about mechanics.

There’s more to this, but it’s tied to the next question.

Do you like the idea of the real courtesan/geisha as opposed to the limited popular one?

Vincent: This is going to be a bit of grandstanding/explaining my own opinions so I pardon me on this one.

(EDIT) Coulykos has clarified the question, but I'll leave the original one up for posterity below. Basically, yes I prefer the real image of geishas as opposed to the popular one because IMO/based on my own reading sex workers have other skills other than simply for the one their best known for. It's not uncommon for many people to hire a sex worker and end up just talking to them. They often are asked to shoulder the emotional burden of clients aside from the... physical burdens.

(The original answer, which I answered based on me interpreting that Coulykos was asking whether I preferred the real image of geishas as multi-skilled women who performed different kinds of entertainment including sex work, or preferred the image of them as more common sex workers)

I… I have no actual preference to be honest and I don’t see the difference between “real courtesan/geisha” as opposed to limited popular ones. Basically, the question you asked Coulykos demonstrates the problem with our societal understanding of courtesans/gieshas/sex workers in general. Sex work has existed in human society since society was society if Roman brothel art was any indication. Now, there are certainly different understandings/traditions of being a geisha/courtesan that I drew more when writing Renia and building the culture around Erlenberg’s Houses of Light. However, since sex work has existed for so long and in so many different forms, I don’t really see it framed as “real courtesans” versus the common “limited” prostitute. After all, in my opinion, sex workers are human too. They just provide a different kind of work in different ways.

How does this tie into Durannon and how I portrayed sex workers in Durannon… well, Durannon is ultimately a fantasy-land and as an author, as much as I like it to be realistic in certain ways, I couldn’t bring myself to recreate social-cultural systems where vulnerable people are exploited for sex and have no legal protections (NOT ALL SEX WORKERS ARE VICTIMS THOUGH, JUST FYI). Thus, when creating this “culture” for Durannon I made certain decisions to write sex workers like courtesans as being a profession in this world with explicit legal protections. Frances just so happened to visit a more high-end club because she has some wealth.

How many different sentient races are there in Durranon?

So, assuming you mean species instead of race, counting down from what I’ve established, there are: humans, trolls, ogres, centaurs, goblins and harpies. That makes six. There were the “demon” race in legend and so that makes technically seven but um… they’re not around anymore :)

If you’re talking about races… the humans have a couple that I haven’t quite established yet because it hasn’t been important to the story. The main ones are “Erisdalian,” “Roranoakian” and “Lapanterian.”

Are there any aquatic races/cities?

I could introduce them/create them, but at the moment I don’t have like a specific aquantic arc planned. Problem being that introducing one would really mess up the power paradigm going on as can you imagine a race being able to just pop from the water and attack things?

Are there halfbreed human mixes?

Vincent: Yes! Edana’s grandmother was a halfbreed troll-human hybrid, which is why Eleanor has so many troll traits like pointed ears. The thing with the halfbreed Alavari-human mixes is that you really need to like continue the DNA line or else it breeds out quite quickly if you understand what I’m getting at. Eleanor married Paul (a human) and had Edana and her siblings, and by that generation none of them have evident troll traits.

They’re also generally confined to Erlenberg where Alavari and Humans intermingle enough and to friendly enough extents that they get busy with one another.

Um, spoiler alert.

I do eventually have thoughts about if/when Frances and Timur become a thing, what their kid would be like and so potentially you might see a troll-human hybrid :P Oh God Frances as a mom…

Is there any magic that doesn't have a vocal component?

Vincent: No. Not in Durannon anyway. There are schools of magic that are movement-based (kind of like the bending in Avatar: The Last Airbender), but then the vocal component is fulfilled by the breathing of the practitioner and the rhythm to which they breathe

Does the summoning ritual have to be done at the temple to successfully pull in otherworld heroes?

Vincent: Yes, it has to be done at the temple or else they can’t pull the Otherworlder Heroes to Durannon.

Has Alavari ever attempted to do the summoning in the past?

Vincent: *grins* Yes.