Most of what is known about the new Sykan faith is by word of mouth. It is a strange time where the celestial beings that once walked Sirin have faded to the edges of society and the secret places of the world, and those who shared the world with the Spehirikin are also now long forgotten. The stories that used to be told everywhere barley even exist on page and seem retired to a small section of the Library of Liretika only.

As the various authoritarian figures of the unlemun world fall to corruption, the Sykan faith has started to emerge in the city of Elmadel as people long for the powerful and unbound beings of the ancient world which were never governed by mortals.

While looking to find ways of summoning ancient beings and magical power back into the world, the Sykan faith seems primarily focussed on self-development and empowerment.  The careful use of hallucinogens is used to induce dreams and trances believed to open the mind and the “inner eye”. As one aware of the dream realms, elementals and arcane ways; it is fascinating to me that unelmuns do seem to be tapping into the different forms of mana.

Perhaps as the Engeline beings slowly fade from the world, a new form of being will evolve. The bloodlines of Spehirkin that were once concentrated in the dawn of life have become watered down and mixed into the blood of the unlmuns. It isn’t impossible to believe that this would allow for even the mundane of this world to evolve from those ancient bloodlines.

The self-titled “Priests of Syka” are often ignored by society and considered insane for their ideas of ethereal realms existed alongside the physical realm, and of celestial beings that created the world from a dream. The story of how the world was created is a fantastic work of art spanning many books titled “The Sirin Chronicles” and definitely worth a read, as it would take far too many words to try and include that here, nor could I do the original work any justice.

The Emperor is unable to directly challenge or prosecute the Priests of Syka, as it is well documented throughout history that the Empirical line is descended from the Engels of Vosundelr, and to cause harm to followers of a path which entails His own heritage would cause him more trouble than it would solve. Many people also suspect that his eldest daughter, Sefyra, is an engel re-incarnate, and she has great popularity throughout Elmadel itself, and the whole of Astasi.

There is speculation that the arcane secrets, which are now only known to the Library of Liretika, are actually spread by Sefyra, and it is she who I have travelled to Astasi to find. Though I’ve yet to meet her, I have discovered that she takes great delight in continually undermining the Emperor in any subtle way she can find. I also suspect the various hallucinogens have been developed by Sefyra who would, if she is truly an Engel, have the inherent esoteric knowledge to create something of such potency.

While those of the Sykan faith are protected to a certain degree by the history of the Engeline line, and by Sefyra herself; any attempt at building shrines and places of worship seem to come to all manner of chaotic ruin and destruction from “unknown” sources. This doesn’t stop the priests from re-building every time however, and their following is growing rapidly with it being whispered about as far away as Nirin.

The image of the wolf has become quite noticeable around the city as the new Sykan faith grows stronger. As the Empirical family name “Leto” means “of the wolf”, the wolf has become a symbol of protection, or a ward even, against the unknown assailants. Ancient statues of wolves are throughout all of Astasi, and as with going openly against his lineage, the emperor is compelled to actively protect anything adorning the image of the wolf.

Among the followers of the Sykan faith are the artists, the storytellers, and the scholars; all who refuse to give up their craft and their work. It seems like the faith has become a spiritual home for them as they are displaced from society by the laws slowly encroaching on their freedoms. What might have started out as people desperate for a source of hope and of guidance has grown into a fully-fledge system of belief based upon our ancient world.

While I’ve previously written about much of what the Sykan faith is now evolving from, I’m intrigued to see how it is perceived from unelmuns who only vaguely understand what Engels could be, and who have never encountered Spehirikin or the wild, untamed magical energies that used to flow freely throughout Sirin.

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Primarily, only beings with celestial blood in their veins will be able to use one of the two forms of mana without any kind of aid, and only engels are able to use both naturally. Historically, unelmuns were never able to utilise either kind of mana, nor could they access the ethereal realms. However, in recent years, and with the help of carefully blended substances and the use of crystals, unelmuns have begun to access the higher powers once associated only with the spehirikin.

Training is usually an instinctive and personal journey for each individual while supervised by a master. This in itself is specific to Elmadel, and the “masters” come from the Guild of Hunters (assassin hunters) which have connections with both Liretika and Tenalue. What is taught to the followers of the Sykan faith is still shrouded and mystery – perhaps as I stay here longer and gain their trust, the priest I have been talking with may tell me more.

Historically, one who studied at Liretika or went to the Acadamy at Ajae Javi would also be partnered with the master most suited to their individual gifts. Several years would be given to intense focus on the understanding and development of their powers. Alongside that, they would be taught a highly detailed history of Sirin, and the genealogy of the unelmuns and spehirkin beings.

Meditation was utilised to learn and develop their inner self and to isolate their talents within them. This was particularly useful to orphans who came to Ajae Javi at a young age and were unaware of their gifts and powers, and for those whose powers were tied to the ethereal realms which can be accessed through both meditation and intentional lucid dreaming.

It was of paramount importance that the spehirikin learnt mastery of their powers, as abuse and misuse of their powers would lead to corruption of the body and various wasting illnesses that would occur from too much exposure to mana.

I imagine the way of the Sykan faith follows a similar training system, with the addition of hallucinogens being used to open portals within the mind that are a natural part of the spehirikin psyche. I still feel there must be something else. Daemuns and demuns, though born from unlemuns, were created within the dreamworld. They were gifted to chosen unlemuns, and their blood was infused with the aura of a specific crystal – which denoted their appearance.

In the time that engels walked Sirin and were the rulers of both Kata Jinja and Vosundelr, they were always looked up to and revered for the celestial heritage and magical abilties – and even though the engels of Kata Jinja brought about their own destruction and were destroyed by their own powers, the spehirkin that followed, though of lesser power, were still above unelmuns.

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The Sykajume: Celestial dragons known as ajukaras
Unelma – dreams, life, creation.
Anje – science, medication, transformation
Raketselka – chaos, destruction, death
Sarasan – protection, patience, time
Aetshiran – spirit, wisdom, intuition

Realms of Existence:
Sirin – the physical realm
Unelmalin – Dreamworld (light)
Fethralin – Dreamworld (dark)
Shynasekae – Underworld (realm of the dead)
Liretika – While primarily bound to Sirin, Liretika itself crosses multiple worlds.

Classes of Spehirikin:
Daemuns/Demuns – demi-celestial beings born from unlemuns.
Engels – Notable characteristics: Pearlescent skin; white, silver, or pewter hair; glowing eyes – the colour is dependent on their soul.
Jume – Living stars.
(Kata, Vae, Syka – Jume which have been identified.)
Kaelin – Daemuns or demuns with lesser magical ability that lend themselves to crafting items of profound power instead.
Spehirikin – demi celestial creatures. A broad category covering both Mejran and Talvaen creatures.
Unelmuns – The mundane mortals of Sirin.

Sub-Classes of Spehirikin:
Mejran – the life born from Tseva; the First Engel created from the Unelmalin. Associated with new life and creation.

• Daemuns – demi-celestial beings of light energy born from unelmuns.
• Wolves
• Syndal
• Trolmaus – highly mischievous mice with hyper-intelligence and magical ability

Talvaen – the life born from Lilin; the Second Engel created from the Fethralin. Associated with death and destruction.

• Demuns – demi-celestial beings of dark energy born from unelmuns.
• Astasian Foxes
• Butterflies
• Dreamweaver
• Khavinas

For those who take to the “Path of the Sykan”, several guiding principles have come out on how a person should behave, with the first two being more of a mutually agreed and unwritten law that has arisen to directly oppose the Emperor’s impositions against creativity and anything born from emotion.

The freedom of other’s should be respected.
The fight for justice and freedom of speech should always be above the law.
One should always be accountable for their own mistakes.
One’s body is inviolably their own.
One should think and act from compassion and empathy.
One should refrain from wrong speech, and from false speech.
One should refrain from taking any life.
One should refrain from the misuse of substance and sense.

While the taking of life is something the faith advises against, meat is still a huge part of the followers’ lifestyle and diet. Hunting is a sacred and ritualistic experience where they will go out with wolf dogs and embody the spirit of the wolf. The killing must be quick and clean, and whoever made the kill will give thanks to the prey and offer words of guidance for the soul to move on. Reverence is given to the fallen creature from the moment of its death right up until all parts have been used.

Letter to the Metsaeri
Journal Entry (from M)
Family Life in Elmadel and Astasi
Notes

Original article: The Path of the Sykan.

Five children grew up, as did five great celestial dragons. Though young by soul star standards, the five young Sykajume had finally reached an age where idle play and fancy became more directed and structured. The strands of fate had reached out to them, calling them to walk their paths with guidance from the ajukaras.

For Anje and Unelma, that meant their days or nights were spent beneath the suns and stars of the cosmos, their fates tied together. Sarasan would travel with their father, Hiran, and was as rarely seen. Aetshiran went to the great caverns, following a similar path to Kaeseltra. 

Kaeseltra spent a vast amount of time in the Great Library with Shynae. Occasionally, she was joined by Aetshiran in the deep underworld of their home. They seldom spoke though, as they both studied in diligent silence. She was often aware of Shynae and Vizvakaeru, Aetshiran’s ajukara, staring at each other from time to time, deep in silent conversation.

She wondered if the celestial dragons knew of their partners’ fates and that was the nature of their concealed thoughts to each other. Normally, they would speak in the language of crystals or otherwise make such a raucous din of chirruping whistles, growling and purrs. 

Both she and her eldest brother were studying The Book of Life, she was certain. Though never at the same time. It seemed the ajukaras made certain there was never a conflict or crossing of paths within the Great Library. Certainly, they never seemed to be in the same space or needing the same book at the same time. Maybe they were not meant to know the others’ paths.

She sighed, turning another page and despairing at the tiny handwriting that continued on. It detailed more instructions for the channelling and manipulating of energy. Different breathing techniques seemed the major factor in energy work. It was followed by the addition of music, and then by sound to tune the energies. Sometimes the addition and blending of colour would be called upon too.

The worst thing about her previous lessons was the arduous task of learning every single aspect of the language of crystals. On most occasions, the language was a subtle one. It was understood through the merging of minds, the transmittance of emotions and the sharing of memories and imagery.

For Kaeseltra, she’d had to learn of every crystal and the possible variations. She’d had to decipher and learn the energies and messages of all those crystals, particularly their symbols. It had taken countless years of single dedication to work through the enormous tomes. Times that produced new information when being read a second d discovered after Shynae had instructed her to read them over.

On the plus side, she’d had to study music and dance as well, that was something that had become a favourite pastime. It was something she shared with Shynae whenever they rejoined their sibling back in the glowing ambience of the gardens. Now, the dancing had become a technique they used in their lessons. At least once a week they worked on connecting their energies together, though they were yet to join to two in practice. Kaeseltra would sing or hum as she entered a trance. Shynae would whistle, creating an ever-changing song imbued with power and magic, and they would dance and spiral together.

“I wonder if your ajukara was born a wyrm because he already loved your voice and wanted to dance?” Anje had once asked as their dragons grew. The other four had grown into large, bounding four-legged creatures that resembled lions. All with huge bird-like wings, the plumage rich with fascinating colour that shimmered under the lights.

It was true that celestial wyrms were a rare occurrence, but that made Kaeseltra love Shynae all the more. There were many tales of former soul stars that had done great things when paired with a wyrm. It made her excited to think that she too might join with the legends with whatever her destiny could be.

Kaeseltra’s daydreaming and speculation were interrupted by Shynae; and a strange, gekkering sound. It was something he did whenever her student was not paying attention as she should be.

“I’m sorry Shynae. There’s only so much I can read about how to breath before my mind wanders.” Kaeseltra whispered, aware that Aetshiran was giving her a condescending look already. Shynae seemed to pick up it too, his eyes losing colour as he closed his mind off to Vizvakaeru who was also trying to glean any details she could.

Shynae’s vision cleared. Deep pools of iridescent light staring deep into Kaeseltra’s soul before he turned and leapt into the air. His serpentine body undulated through the air towards the training grounds. As Kaeselltra followed, she could hear the rustling of both Aetshiran and Vizvakaeru ceasing their own activity. All pretence of maturity and seniority lost as they too came flying behind her.

Neither of them had ever yet done anything practical with their learning. A blend of excitement and anticipation coursed through Kaeseltra as she came to a halt in the middle of the flagstone courtyard. Shynae had landed atop a great stone that protruded through the middle of the floor. Silver talons clawed into the glowing veins of crystal that moved like lava within. It was engraved with countless symbols of crystals that sparkled all over, some Kaesetlra had learnt, and many More she hadn’t. 

The stone was the source of power to the Sykajume. There were many of the great stones throughout their domain, each serving a different purpose. This one, she knew, would help her connect with her powers and give her a boost with her lessons while also offering protection.

There were lesser stones around the courtyard; four cardinal stones at each corner, and another four between those. Those stones would limit the power she could utilise, preventing her powers from overspilling. It would have diabolical consequences, both to herself and far-reaching should she lose control.

“Your first lesson as an Architect.” Shynae’s mind spoke to Kaeseltra, it’s talons still reaching into the crystalline supply of energy. “Create something.”

For a moment, Kaeseltra froze and forgot how to breathe. She hadn’t expected Shynae to drop her so far in the deep end without any order or instructions. Then she took control of her thoughts and silenced her mind, reaching out for the mental connection to Shynae who was waiting patiently.

She started with a single, clear note, letting it start to rise and fall as her mind connected with Shynae. The dragon remained atop the stone. His talons clicked against the unyielding stone and set the rhythm for Kaeseltra to follow. As she sung, her mind started visualising a simple droplet. Starlight was overflowing from the little seed and she separated the colours she wanted from the light. Brilliant pink, gold and the subtlest wash of indigo. She let the energised light flow through her, charging it with her soul and song before directing it back into the little droplet. 

With one final note, her hand came to breast height, fingers opening like a flower where a brilliant orb of light flashed into existence. It was so bright it forced Aetshiran to close his eyes and look away. Shynae and Vizvakaeru leant forwards towards the light, however, their eyes unblinking.

When the light faded, Kaeseltra’s fingers closed around a small droplet of warm crystal. She’d captured the brilliant pink with indigo slowly moving throughout, while gold flashed like stars across the surface. She smiled, seeing the perfect reflection of their sky captured inside of a jewel, a seed of potential.  Shynae flew over to her, catching her before she fell and wrapped around her slight frame as he lowered her to the ground.

“Is she okay?” Aetshiran asked, rushing over to his sister’s side.

“She’s just sleeping,” Vizvakaeru whispered to his mind, Shynae nodding. Aetshiran let out a deep breath, the deep wrinkles of concern relaxing as he crouched down so he could pick her up. Vizvakaeru nudged the back of his leg with a soft chirrup, gesturing for Aetshiran to place Kaeseltra on her back.

Original article: The Lost Chapter II : Lessons in Architecture.

I finally came up with new titles for Sykajume and Vaejume after a year over back-and-forth over different titles. This mostly came up as an issue when I was speaking to someone from a marketing background and was advised to change the titles to something different – which made a lot of sense as the other three books in the series sound nothing like the first two; so they are now titled A Dawn of Dreams and Dancing Shadows respectively, and I will be starting to put chapters on here for them ASAP.

I’m due to go to Pershore end of August and have something really exciting to look forward to at the end of the month. I’ve also got my mum coming back to Wales with me for a couple of weeks just after that, so I don’t know how much I’ll be posting for that time as I’m going to be totally KOed by it all. I did plan to get a stock of content done through August that I could then just post during September…and yet here we are, steaming through August and I’ve managed one post. Best laid plans and all that. Anyway, I recently discovered Cream Soda and have a new vice to back up the coffee…

New Content that’s been added:
The Wolf and the Mage – a short story I wrote over 10 years ago that was the inspiration to Aengal and Vaejume in the Sirin Chronicles. (Recently edited to tie in with the world of Sirin directly.)
The Lost Chapter – This is something new that I’m working on which looks into the younger Sykajume, long before the main events of The Sirin Chronicles.

All though I do have a few promised posts on wolves in the works, I figured after two…I should probably give it a breather. Unless people want wolf spam…

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{Life aside from writing – TL;DR – Life update & PIP/DWP, existential crisis, etc etc, a brief review of 1984 by Orwell}

Things are still somewhat crazy over here with things going on in the background – I’m still dealing with PIP and DWP (that’s been going on since March), and I’m battling constantly to keep on top of my health issues and depression. I’ve had to deal with a continual existential crisis, brutal self-evaluation and utter despair at the no-hope situation of my life, and it really takes it out of me.  I feel torn constantly – do I share my life as a writer with the world and only show the refined side of everything, or do I share the reality? Some days I feel like I’m fighting fate itself just to exist.

Lately, I seem to be suffering the presumptuous nature of various jobsworths in the system of DWP and ignorant people who simply look at the surface of me and judge me to be fine. I’ve now got to deal with my PIP claim at Tribunal, which will be the 4th time of having to completely rip myself apart and fight to be heard over the report of the under-qualified assessor (who’s job is basically to blatantly lie and screw over the claimant.) So advance apologies if I fall off the world again for a bit – I’ll be sitting in a corner listening to Lullaby by Nickleback on repeat.

None of this particularly helped by my reading of 1984 by George Orwell recently which, considering it was written in the late 40s, is freakishly close to the reality we now live in (all be it nearly 40 years after the fictional prophesied ’84’). It’s like our various governments use the dystopian fiction as a guidebook to ruling a country…

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If you enjoy what you find here, please consider buying me a coffee to keep the coffee vampire awake and writing.
=^.^=
♡

Original article: A Dawn of Dreams and Dancing Shadows.

Each Sykajume was paired with a celestial dragon, an ajukara, a being of stars and magic that provided the Sykajume with their powers and learning of esoteric secrets.

She didn’t really understand how it worked, or why, and nor did it matter much to her. She knew her parents were some kind of architect, and that she would finally have her own dragon at last.

Her mother was carefully perched at the edge of deep black celestial waters, her fingers reaching out for the albino serpentine creature that was still blind, its little wings keeping it afloat as it squirmed and writhed about like a slippery eel. The other infant ajukaras were crouched around the hatchling pool, chirruping and whistling to their fellow sibling with just as much fever and excitement at the meeting as Kaeseltra has. She knelt beside her mother and reached her small hand out as far as she could reach, almost falling in and gasping at the icy touch of the water. 

She often came to assist her mother with the birthing and nurture of the ajukaras and lesser dragons. Her mother was the only one who could withstand the water, and Kaeseltra would normally back away from the water shivering violently to watch from a safe distance among a deep pile of furs, attending to the newborns and checking them over before later taking them to the eyrie.

This time, however, she preserved against the cold breath of the water and the chill seeping into her bones as she too called out to it. She’d spent the last five months sleeping in the crystal cavern, and every spare moment of the day watching over the luminous egg, telling it stories or singing lullabies to it, or otherwise coaxing it to hatch.

The other ajukaras had hatched out just before then, and we’re already developing the individual markings and colours, and testing out their rapidly growing wings. Kaeseltra had often worried that maybe this little ghostly egg would never hatch, and often she would climb into her father’s lap whenever he joined her in the cavern, and he would tell her again not to worry, that his own ajukara had taken nearly two years to hatch.

He was away, busy herding dragons through the fields of stars or searching for any vaejume that might encroach on their rich pastures. They never knew how long his work would take him away, and she hoped he would be back soon so she could introduce her ajukara to him.

The little creature finally managed to manoeuvre itself in the right direction and made its way into her mother’s embrace. Kaeseltra sat back on her heels and watched patiently as her mother held the dragon up with the same story van expression she reserved for her own children and whispered something to it, a spell perhaps, Kaeseltra knew better than to ask. Hatching dragons was the power given to her, as protection of the Sykajume constellation was her father’s.

None of the children knew what their destiny would be yet, only years of teaching from their celestial dragons would reveal their fates. They often discussed it though, and dream of what they might become. Unelma hoped to become a chronicler and travel all through the heavens studying and writing about what she might find, Anje wanted to grow and cultivate the crystalline trees if their home, and more than anything, Kaeseltra longed to follow in her mother’s footsteps and eventually take over the hatchling pools, or maybe even one of her own. As to what Sarasan and Aetshiran wanted to become, no one knew. They were often goofing off and preparing pranks to deploy on everyone else.

At last, her mother turned to Kaeseltra with her glowing smile and handed the baby dragon to her, its skin silken and glowing with the faintest rainbow colours through the skin. It made soft chirruping noises as it swayed its head, almost purring, and Kaeseltra pressed her face lightly against it, sighing in delight as she finally embraced her ajukara after so long.

“Shyna” she whispered to the ajukara, naming it spirit for its spectral colouration.

{Next Chapter: Lessons In Architecture}

Original article: The Lost Chapter I : The Hatchling Pool.

The Lost Chapter is a novelette based in the House of Sykajume a long time before the events of The Sirin Chronicles.

Chapter One | The Hatchling Pool
Chapter Two | Lessons in Architecture

Original article: The Lost Chapter.

I now know I need to go back to the beginning and revise both Sykajume and Vaejume. (I know, I know, heresy). This will avoid future plot-holes forming and becoming gaping chasms. There will also be a title change for both of the books so they’re in line with the future books of the series.
Edit: New title for the first two books are A Dawn of Dreams and Dancing Shadows respectively.

I’m also going to change the way people can read The Sirin Chronicles. Instead of my books being available to buy on Amazon and the early stage drafts of my WIPs being available on Tablo, I’m going to bring all the content here – though I’m not 100% certain on the format yet.

Future WIPs:
A Dawn of Dreams  {revision}
Dancing Shadows {revision}
Fallen Star
Ghosts
The Last Carnation
The Anathema

I am also trying to figure out extra content I can offer. I’d love to come up with a video series if that can be done and to do more with artwork. Though I’m not really an artist, all I got is word art and cartography…. What do you think? What would you like to see more of?

If you enjoy what you find here, please consider buying me a coffee to keep the coffee vampire awake and writing. Thank you for all your patience and support. =^.^=

Original article: What’s To Come with The Sirin Chronicles?.