Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with Greg was a blast. Oh Yeah... Greg is my dad's little brother. It was sooo awesome.

My cousin Jake and his newly-wed Lindsey came over too and we all got Tapenyacki together.

It was quite a good time. We also got on the x-box 360 (that my mom's about ready to break) and had 2-2 team deathmatch. Me and Kaden would win the most, but over all it was pretty even.

Whoa!!!!

Orca

Name: Orca
Religion: Painist
Military: The Horde
Race: Orcan, Troll, Goblin, Ogre
Capital: Xl'rieg
Other cities: Tron, Drorg
Current Leader: Horrar the Horrible
Military Leaders: General Roth Wringworm, General Narc'ish Flamescar
Native Animals: Trolls, Warwolves, Reptilian Horses, Vampirebats, Megalodon, Tiger sharks, Hammerhead Sharks, Great White Sharks
Motto: "Pain is Power"
Native Terrain: 12% Acid Geyser Plains, 28% Fiery Bogs, 60% Mountains
Interesting Aspects: Geysers of super-heated acid ravish the land enabling nothing to grow. Orcs mainly stay in their caves year-round and only come out to go to war. They stay in their caves breeding, training and waiting for a time to strike. No non-orc has ever gone into their caves and come out alive.
Random Fun Facts: All orcs begin as Goblins then warp into Orcs then Ogres and then Trolls
. They advance species after killing a set amount of enemies in battle. Often times when battling Orcs, armies will find the same or even more terrifying foes at the end then in starting.

All Hallow's Eve

Halloween was a blast. As you can see Sophia was Snow White, Kaden: Al Capone, Mom: Cleopatra, Dad: Julius Caesar and me a mercenary/assasin/SWAT/Black ops/Rambo dude. We had a trunk-or-treat, 2 parties and Trick-or-treating to get done. and I had 2 1/2 completed. I made it to 1 party and the Trunk-or-Treat because we were late to the 2nd party and I had a young mens fireside activity to go to so I missed TOT. All in all not bad.

Anitopia

Nation: Anitopia
Religion: Suntor
Military: The Anitopian Ape Army
Race: Mixed Primates (Anitopians)
Capital: Preditorma
Other Cities: Animillia, Ecoplania, Habitar
Current Leader: King Gorchimp, Supreme Silverback of the High Gorillas'
Military Leaders: General Oranguton, General Lionkill
National Motto: "Mess with nature, and it'll mess with you!"
Native Animal: Lions, Elephants, Water Buffalo, Crocodiles, Zebras, Leopards, e.t.c.
Native Terrain: 40% grass plains, 30% Savannah, 15% forests, 15% mountainous deserts.
Interesting Aspects: The Anitopians, being one with nature, can speak any animal tongue. They also are friends with most animals.
Random Fun Facts: The Anitopians were created when, after the Belgasians disappearance a great amount of magic stayed on the land and gave some primates the gift of tongues and knowledge to a certain degree. The Anitopians religion also comes from their creation, they believe in the great Primate god Suntor. The word "Monk" comes from their religion and them being monkeys.

Birthday Blast!

On the thirtieth I turned 12 and had Wyatt my best friend over. I got birthday donuts, a movie, money, a nerf sword, tactical vest, belt blaster, two lightsabers, two Artemis Fowl books, a t-shirt and a spot in the deacon's quorum. My parents also went on a trip to New York and saw the Brooklyn Bridge, Museum of Natural History, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, the Jets v.s. Vikings game, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, Empire State Building, Long Island, Ellis Island, Little Italy, Chinatown, Metropolitan Art Museum, Ground Zero, St. Peters Church, St. Patricks Cathedral and two Broadway shows. The whole time they were gone we were being baby-sat by our Cousin Carly who took us to the Arizona Science Center and the Childrens Museum of Pheonix. It was really fun and they got a ton of cool pics the best part is that this Sunday I get the preisthood from my dad.

Woodsor

Nation: Woodsor
Religion: Terrianism
Military: The League of Pine Protectors
Race: Elven
Capital: Wildor
Other Cities: Birchwood, Pinewood
Leader: Duke Broadleaf the Great
Military Leaders: General Quiverkill, General Silvanic
National Motto: "If we don't end war, then war will end us."
Native Animals: Grizzly Bears, White Horses, Terrians, Timber Wolves, Wild Boars, Hunting Falcons
Native Terrains: 100% forest
Interesting Aspects: Some of the oldest trees in Woodsor, some that no living creature has ever come in contact with, filled with the elves magic, have become alive and have took up the title of Guardians of the forest or Terrians.
National animal: Timber Wolf
Random Fun Facts: The Elves worship no god or goddess except the Mother Earth, who they refer to as Terra. They are extreme environmentalists and can become freinds with almost any animal. Elves are the best archers in the land.
National Colors: Mixed Greens

Skullcron

Nation: Skullcron
Military: The Black Scourge
Race: Undead
Capital: Skullkronia
Other Cities: Skeletar and Plaugemor
Current Leader: ???????
Military Leaders: Kronos the Desecrator of Light, General Spikeback, General Darkblade
National Motto: "Z scourga, z murda, z oblivato!" (We burn, we kill, we destroy!"
Native Animals: Dragons, Barracuda, Night Mares, Ceberus, Komodo Dragons
Native Terrain: 17% lava, 4% acid rivers and lakes, 79% volcanic rock
Interesting Aspects: Rivers of lava and acid.
Random Fun Fact: In Skullcron the volcanic ash produced by the volcanoes is so thick that you'd have to be dead to live there. The ash also blocks out the sun enabling it to stay dark forever.

Melvia

Nation: Melvia

Religion: Maelvinism

Military: The Melvian Opposition

Race: Humans (Melvians)

Capital: Melva

Other Cities: Melshire, Mellington

Current Leader: King Melvanis the Magnificent

Military Leaders: General Robin Swordson, General Ulysses Warshield

National Motto: "Freedom isn't free"

Native Animals: Mustang Horses, Giant Eagles, Rhinoceroses, Cheetahs, and Swordfish

Native Terrain: Melvia is 71.4% plains, 3.2% tropical regions, 17.2% mountains and 8.2% forests.

Interesting Aspects: 100% pure fresh water lakes and rivers.

National Animal: Horses

Random Fun Facts: The word "maelstrom" literally means "of Mael's fury" the god of the Melvians. The letter "M" was invented by the Melvians.

National Colors: Silver, Blue and Gold.

More in Depth

Hi everyone, for those of you who read my last post and thought to yourselves, there are a ton of names to remember this will help you. Sort of like a sip of Pepto Bizmal after Thanksgiving. This will also help you see things the way I do. I know that most of the names give it away and tell you pretty much the place but that's why I chose them. So here are some quick pictures of the Ten Nations of Belgasia. (Ten because of Skullcron) Enjoy!

Melvia

Dwelven Cur

Orca

Canopia

Mythonosis

Skullcron

Icentine

Deseron

Anitopia

Stay tuned for seperate posts about individual nations in two days!

My Book

Okay everyone, I think it is time to tell you the point of why I am doing all of this; the blog, the pictures and the title. Well I'd like to start with one of the books I am working on. It is about a Melvian 16 year-old human boy named Maxwell. When his father is murdered and his city razed by the skeletons, Max sets out on a quest with an Elven Princess named Kaera, another human named Erik and later Samuel the Faun. They embark into dangerous lands to find how his city was attacked so quickly and unexpectedly. Here is a sneak preview of the Introduction... enjoy!



Introduction

001 B.B.D.
A long time ago in a peaceful land far away there was a king and his son. The king known as Belgasia the Creator and ruler of all was a fair and powerful king, so powerful in fact that he was a god, not just one of your average every day gods but a true god. His son known as Prince Augustus De Ravenous was a quiet non-social boy possessed with extraordinary intelligence, who Belgasia adopted and called his own. He also acted as Belgasia’s apprentice learning magic, knowledge and the way of the universe. For a millennium they ruled their people, other wise called the Belgasians who believed the peace must stay and vowed never to fight other countries. And of course why would they need to? They had everything they could ever want. For years their plan lead them in up rise but then suddenly the great nation vanished, never to be seen or heard of again. Was it plagued, destroyed or wiped out by another nation, no one knows. No trace of their disappearance was ever discovered and all there is left of their ancient culture is temple ruins, sculptures and parts of artifacts. For centuries the land remained empty until it was discovered by merchants, pirates, and explorers all looking for gold, land, power, fame or simply a place to live. So the land was inhabited by nine new nations all taking a piece of Belgasia and calling it their own.

For awhile these nations lived in harmony and were called the Nine Great Nations of Belgasia, each with different cultures, beliefs, and fighting styles. The inhabitants were the Human race, owners of Melvia, the Woodland Elves, keepers of Woodsor, the Mountain Dwarves, holders of Dwelven Cur, Ape-People, possessors of Anitopia, Ice-Warriors, protectors of Icentine, barbaric Orcs, conquerors of Orca, Desert Nomads, landowners of Deseron, an alliance of mixed mythical creatures’ ,proprietors of Mythonosis and Jungle Tribesmen, chieftains of Canopia.

Suddenly war broke out, started by an exiled Melvian necromancer who was banished because of his growing power in the dark arts. Furious because of his expulsion he vowed to enslave all of Belgasia and found himself an expanse of land abandoned because of lack of proper soil, sunlight and water. He then summoned forth a great army of Skeleton warriors, horses and all things vile and marched forth to destroy all and called his new nation, Skullcron. The Orcs, seeing a great slaughter coming joined forces with him and began their dark campaign. Mythonosis soon fell and its inhabitants were enslaved or went into hiding and after that Anitopia followed. Deseron, Canopia and Icentine joined in fear of being destroyed and soon Skullcron was outnumbered by its allies, and seeing this, the necromancer made more soldiers and put less of his on the front lines to weaken his allies so after he conquered all he could easily sweep them away.

Meanwhile the remaining nations formed an alliance and made one last final stand. Elves, Dwarves and Men all fought bravely fearing the end, the elves with their bows and elegant swords, the Dwarves with their axes and heavy mattocks and men with their cavalry and war machines. How they fought with their fate balanced on the edge of a knife, hoping that that knife would plunge into the enemy and give them victory. The fight was not going well for the defenders until suddenly the allies of Skullcron caught whiff of the treachery the necromancer had planned, turned around and attacked Skullcron. The Orcs though remained true and stayed with him. With all of its strength allied at last the defenders took back the land that was corrupted from them drove the Orcs to the point of extinction. Then at last they attacked the very borders of the necromancer’s dark realm, and the necromancer with his armies diminished was killed by a spell gone horribly wrong.

With the war over everyone went back to themselves all except the defenders, they had made an unbreakable friendship and forever elves, dwarves and men would live together, work together and fight together. This friendship was called the Alliance and for years to come the land lived in peace and harmony until now…

The 12 Labors of Hercules

We all know who Hercules is, right? Big, muscular Greek hero who had super-man strength and killed tons of monsters. Well, for those unfortunate few who don't, he was pretty much what I just said. For the writing class that I have been taking lately we had to write a short story or summary on whatever we choose in our own words. I chose the awesome legend of The Twelve Labors of Hercules!!! Here it is... enjoy :)

Hercules driven mad by the goddess Hera, madly murdered his wife and children. To pay for his crime, Zeus the Chieftain of the Olympian Gods, commanded Hercules to serve his cousin, King Eurystheus 10 labors or task. First he was to single-handedly kill the Nemean Lion, a legendary lion with a fur coat that was indestructible. Next he was to destroy the Lernaean Hydra, a terrible lizard beast with 7- heads. He and his servant Iolaus, soon realized that this beast might be too much! Every time one of it's monstrous heads was severed, two more grew in it's place. Iolaus then came up with a brilliant idea to burn each head before they could multiply. His plan worked and they brought one of the heads for proof to Eurystheus. Unfortunately is scared Hercules's cousin so much, he ordered that a brass pot be stuck in the ground so that every time Hercules came with his demon trophies he could happily hide inside without fear of monsters.

He easily captured the the Golden Hind of Artemis, the Cretan Bull and the Erymanthian Boar. The king then ordered him to clean the Augean stables, the home of immortal cattle. Hercules achieved this by redirecting two nearby rivers crashing into the stables, instantly washing away all the waste. After that he exterminated every last one of the Stymphalian birds, man-eating birds with beaks of bronze, metallic feathers and toxic dung, all with only a pair of magic symbols and one arrow. Next he tamed the mares of Diomedes, four mythical man-eating horses with an appetite. He then met his match against the six-armed, six-legged three-headed giant, Geryon when he tried to herd his red cattle. Later he left to retrieve the girdle of Hippolyte, the Queen of the Amazons. He succeeded only to arrive back to his cousin and find that the Hydra and the Augean Stables didn't count towards his penance. The king went on how he had help from Iolous and the two rivers. So Hercules went out to steal the Golden Apples of the Hespirides. He traveled to the former-Titan general Atlas, who was condemned to hold up the sky forever by Zeus. Atlas swore on the river Styx that he would return with the apples, since he was the Hespirides father on one condition... That Hercules would hold up the sky while he was gone.

Atlas returned hours later, all the time Hercules was almost crushed to a pulp by the sky, the apples in hand. Devastation then struck when Atlas refused to take back his burden. Hercules then wittily told him to hold the sky for a moment while he fix his toga to make it more comfortable. Atlas agreed and cursed Hercules for tricking him. Eurystheus finally told Hercules of on final task, to tame the Ceberus, a giant, black, guardian dog belonging to Hades, the Lord of the Dead. To do so Hercules travelled to the underworld to convince Hades to let him borrow his beast. Hades agreed to but told Hercules that he must use no weapon of any kind against him. Obviously by now you would guess that Hercules wins, well... he does! With his penance payed, his trophies mounted above his fireplace and the gods pleased, Hercules lives happily ever after. The End

That was then...

23 months. 23 month of total awesomeness. Planning, writing, moving houses, editing, drafting, and more writing. 23 months since my last post. Some would say that's a long time, others would say that's too long, me though, I say it's too short. In that time period I have become a better writer, illustrator, thinker and more specifically a better author. From reading countless books on how to write books, temper tantrums of the Sophie proportion and of course the "big move" life these past months has been pretty normal for us Washburns. These pictures show the time period of then to now.


Partying with family in Utah. Summer 2010

(More Partying...)

Going to the circus, homeschooling and researching. Spring 2010

Wild man with trophy. Summer 2010

Sophie and her friend Adi at sleep-over. Summer 2010

California Beach Trip, summer 2010

Family pictures, Utah, summer 2009

Breaking down on the way back from Camping, 2010

Kaden's 8th B-day summer 2010