Ravek Hunter's Blog: Ravek's Ramblings, page 3

Supercon Booth

All set for Supercon!
Hope to see you there. Booth #2119

SUPERCON

Come visit me at Supercon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from July 12th - 15th. BOOTH #2119

Free T-shirt with every purchase of a paperback version of The Fallen, Saving Eridu and Red Wizard of Atlantis! And enter to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card!

Visit www.WorldsofAtlantis.com for more info and a schedule of book signing times at the booth!

Audio Books

Audio samples for Red Wizard of Atlantis, Saving Eridu and The Fallen are now available at:
https://www.worldsofatlantis.com/audio/

Full-length audiobooks will be available this Fall!

Atlantis Part 4

The City of Atlantis

The city of Atlantis was the most wondrous, if not largest in the world. The main island was approximately two leagues in diameter. Almost from its shoreline, the island raised to a massive pinnacle in the center of the island. The Dwarves of Tirnan Yog identified this elevation as a dormant volcano several millennia old with a thick crown at its apex. Atop the apex was where the massive High Temple of Pontus was located. Its central courtyard could hold over five-thousand people for the most important religious ceremonies including the coronations. Just below rested the palace complex, government buildings, military complex and lesser temples. Closer to the base of the island was magnificent homes owned by government officials, wealthy families and merchants, embassies, and so forth. At the base of the island were four ports, each located at the cardinal points of the compass. On the opposite side of the island and at the same elevation as the Emperor’s Palace, the Imperial Order of Wizards had a compound of many towers of different heights they called the Enclave.

Less than a quarter of a league from the island's perimeter lay the first ring of earth surrounding the entire island. This ring was also about a quarter of a league-wide with sixth of a league gaps breaking the ring at its cardinal points. This was also where the ports for this ring were located. There were two long bridges connecting each ring segment with the central island. On the inner ring were more affluent homes, merchants, taverns, temples, libraries, and more.

A quarter of a league from the first ring lay the second ring, also a quarter of a league-wide with two bridges from each segment to the inner ring segment and sixth of a league breaks at each cardinal point for ships to traverse through. There were also ports at these points as well for this wider ring of homes, merchants, taverns, etc. similar to the inner ring except a little less affluent.
Nearly a league from the outside edge of the mid-ring was the final ring around the city. This ring was a quarter of a league-wide like the others and heavily fortified with thick, high walls, regular towers and protected waterway entry at the cardinal points that could be completely closed and secured with a series of massive doors. These protected waterways were also about a quarter of a league wide. The outer ring was the most heavily populated by humans. There were homes, taverns, temples, public buildings, merchants, buildings for trade and storage and much more. Foreigners who visited the city often stayed in the outer ring as well unless they were wealthy or emissaries. As with the inner rings, there were two bridges that connected each segment of the outer ring to the middle ring and ports near the waterways exiting the city at the four cardinal points.

The wide circle of water between the outer and middle ring were often used for naval exercises, water sports, and water-based races.
The outer wall of the city was built from massive bluestone enchanted by the Wizards to provide additional protections. This enchantment caused the wall to glow with a silver/blue light at night and appeared polished silver during the day. The walls of the High Temple of Pontus appeared the same. The walls, waterways, and rings were patrolled by the city guard with many satellite stations throughout the city (especially near higher crime/human populated areas). The central island was secured by the Royal Guard and everything outside the city was patrolled by the military and navy. The waterways of the city had additional patrols by intelligent aqueous elementals called Oceanides who would assist or defend as the situation required.

Finally, the island and its rings were situated within a wide natural harbor on the southeast coast of the Atlantis continent.

Atlantis Part 3

Atlantean Society
Every Atlantean belonged to a “House”. The House was generally the family the Atlantean was born into and each individual was known by the house they were from; such as Qellel of House Mekali.

Some houses were more powerful, wealthier, or wielded more influence than others. The Atlantean society was based on a free enterprise system with significant government regulation – no House was allowed to control the majority of trade, industry, money or land. Not even the House of Atlas, the Emperor’s house. The Atlanteans believed in a balanced society where there was no poverty and every House was either wealthy, well-off or somewhere in between. All Houses were urged to diversify their interests in as many different trades, agriculture, military/government service, etc. to balance their own self-interests.

Any Atlantean could own land. The government encouraged this with a Land Council that would award a large parcel of land to each Atlantean when they reached the age of eighteen to do with as they chose. If a member of the House died, the Council would determine how the assets were distributed. Sometimes the land would go to the House of the deceased person; it was also possible some portion would revert back to the government, depending on how it would affect the balance of Society. All Atlanteans accepted the extensive regulation as a benefit to all of their people that removed the possibility of greed and corruption.

Socially, men and women were equal in every respect. Every citizen could own land and rise to a governing or leadership position. Only a natural Atlantean could be a citizen of the Empire and considering that no other species had been able to procreate with an Atlantean, it was fairly easy to determine their heritage. Still, it was not completely unheard of for an Atlantean to take a Sylvan, or even a human, as a mate, even if it was to be a childless union.

Atlantis was an Empire of laws that were strictly enforced on their own people and any foreigner that traveled or lived within their territory. Laws were complex and fair. Anyone accused of a crime had the option to be represented by a legal official to assist in a proper defense. Sentences for guilty parties ranged from small fines to confinement or even banishment. Only the most dangerous criminals were imprisoned for life. A prison sentence for a human generally meant they would be sent to a labor camp to work in agriculture or the mines until their sentence was served. Every Atlantean, from ruler to a commoner was considered equal under the law with the same rights and liberties. Crime was very rare in Atlantis and in almost every case, offenses were committed by non-Atlanteans; especially humans.

The non-Atlanteans that lived within the territory of the Empire were afforded the same protections and subject to the same laws as a citizen. However, they were unable to hold any position that elevated them above an Atlantean or to own land other than a residence or structure for trade. The Atlanteans did not mind foreigners in their Empire, they need them to fill critical service and labor roles they preferred not to engage in, as well as to facilitate trade beyond the Empires borders.

Red Wizard of Atlantis - Out Today!

My third novel, Red Wizard of Atlantis, officially launched today! I hope you will take a peek at it, pick it up and be one of the first to review!

Thank you for your support!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Atlantis Part 2

When the children of Atlas arrived on this earth, it began the Fourth Age of the Golden Aspen according to the Sylvan Chroniclers. More precisely, it was Sylvan Year (SY) 3487 or approximately 15,000BC, during the time of the Younger Dryas (mini-ice age). Much of the northern hemisphere was cold and dry, even in the summertime, with glaciers creeping as far as three-hundreds leagues further south than they were today.

Already, the Tuatha De were well invested in world civilizations, the Dvergr Dwarfs had been in Tirnan Yog over two-thousand years and the Sylvan Elves who were fated to share the Emerald Isle with the new arrivals. Then there were the humans. Barely mucking around in mud huts, developing early agriculture, they were making the transition from hunter-gatherer to agrarian based civilizations. They were the only true natives of this world, except for the Neanderthals, who were nearly extinct, living in small tribes in the most remote areas of the Wilds as far away from human settlements as they could manage.

The Atlanteans brought a new and unexpected dynamic that would change the world forever. Powerless to return to the stars, yet still a very advanced society, they would grow to dominate the world-stage in less than fifteen-hundred years. From a place that would be someday known as Sirius, they looked alien even to those with exaggerated humanoid features like the Sylvan and the Dwarfs.

The physical appearance of an Atlantean was very striking. They were typically tall with males averaging 7’, they were very lean and muscular with a tiny waste, wide shoulders and deceivingly thin arms and legs. Their facial features were sharp with high cheek bones, oversized, almond-shaped eyes and generally clean cut. Their hair was almost always brown or black. Most unusual was the blue tint to their pale skin and elongated skulls that curve slightly back at about a 110 degree angle from their neck. Otherwise, the rest of their anatomy was much like a typical humanoid. They liked to dress in tailored clothing in natural earth tones. The men preferred sharp angles in an almost military fashion. The Women enjoyed tight fitting gowns with a little more color. Although physically the same as other humanoids, the Atlantean was unable to produce a child with any other race, it was unknown why this was the case. As strange as they appeared, even the dwarfs found them beautiful to gaze upon.

In addition, they were powerful in the magical arts. The Atlanteans brought with them strange red crystals that they coveted above all else and carefully protected them from outsiders. The crystals were known to provide the energy for their magic and they built a network of structures across the globe to house them so that they would always have access to their power wherever they went. Sometimes the buildings looked like towers, most of the time they resembled pyramids, but always they blended into the architecture and style of the culture where they were based. Somehow, the Atlantean wizards learned how to convert their crystals into liquid metal and they coated the places they revered the most with it. The Emperors Palace and the Temple of their strange god, Pontus, were liberally covered with orichalcum metal. The reasons for this were obscure, but the Sylvan Elders speculated that even in metallic form, the orichalcum still projected power.

The Atlanteans were a wise and gentle people from the beginning. They respected nature, only taking what they needed and planned for their future needs by reconstituting the environment to minimize their disruption. The Sylvans, unsure if they wanted another civilization growing on the Emerald Isle, came to understand the Atlanteans and gifted them the southern half of the island that they never planned to settle themselves. In time, the two cultures developed trust and flourished together.

Over the centuries the Atlantean Empire grew powerful if not expansive. Their philosophy was not rooted in conquest and domination of foreign lands. They preferred a passive approach. In every developed and developing human nation, the Atlanteans were present, perhaps unseen if the culture was unaccepting of their mild assistance. Some societies worshiped the Atlanteans as demi-gods, others considered them “Star-people” and still others saw them as they were. Regardless of the circumstance, the Atlanteans goal was always the same – assist with peace and prosperity. That meant teaching advanced agricultural techniques such as irrigation, diverting water flow with dams and reservoirs, farming, domesticating animals, and so on. Politically, they would help leaders develop trade partnerships with their neighbors, peace treaties and civil laws. The Atlanteans would never take sides in a conflict or disagreement between nations unless a tyrant was threating to destabilize a region or mistreat their people.

The Atlanteans quietly spread the benefit of their influence to every part of the globe, except one – the subcontinent of Mu. Numerous small kingdoms inhabited by a race of reptiles in humanoid form that walked upright and wore clothes and armor, just like humans. They had forward-facing eyes, long snouts filled with sharp teeth, scaly green or brown skin, and thick tails that reached to the ground. The problem was that they were very aggressive by their nature, and bent on conquest and slavery. Worst of all, they had a taste for human flesh. Fortunately, the reptilians mostly fought among themselves and on the rare occasion that they left their home to prey upon human settlements outside their borders, the Atlanteans would choose sides against them. The reptilians were a problem the Atlanteans hoped very much to contain.

The Atlanteans have a very close relationship with the Elves of Avalon, The Tuatha De and the Dwarves of Tirnan Yog. It was not unusual to find dwarves, elves, and humans from all over the planet mingling in the Cultural center that was Atlantis. All were welcome and all were treated with respect as long as they follow the law.

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Copy Edit

I received a few dings in reviews for my novel, The Fallen, the past couple of months because of editing issues. Unfortunately, the criticisms were largely correct and it made me realize I couldn't rely on Grammarly to be my copy editor.

To my great fortune, I found Kristy Stewart of LooseleafEP.com and she did a terrific job of going line by line through the entire manuscript cleaning up all the little bugs. Now, I am confident that The Fallen is the quality work that I intended it to be and look forward to using her services for many of my novels in the future.

Atlantis Part 1

It was from the stars they came, out of the vast darkness of the Primeval Cosmos falling from the sky in a wingless creature. Consumed with fire and thunder, it crashed to the earth and plowed a long rift upon it before coming to rest on the lush green grasslands. The beast lay shattered and bent, yet still many crawled through the smoke and death out of the mouth of what remained and onto the land they would call their home. Although none could remember who they were or where they came from – they knew that they were alive. However, the silver beast that brought them was dead and they had no knowledge to heal it. Thus they removed its shiny scales piece by piece to make their own shelters from its body while they buried their dead.

They were a people determined to survive and make a place for themselves. From the entrails of the beast they also brought glowing red crystals. The crystals provided light and vibrated with a hum at a frequency that soothed many of them to their soul. Those crystals they carried to a safe place deep in the empty caverns of a long-dormant volcano in the spine of the island they were soon to settle. Eventually, they would understand that these crystals gave them power, and they endeavored to learn what they could of them.

In time they gave themselves a name. They called themselves the followers of Atlas, the one who lead them here and gave them hope for a new future. In time, the strange blue people became known as the Atlanteans who dwelled in the place called Atlantis. . . And they thrived.


Recorded in the Fourth Age of the Golden Aspen by Watcher CrellianRafkarSil of Avalon

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Mythology of Atlantis

The mythology of Atlantis places its origins in the stories Timaeus and Critias written by Plato almost twenty-five-hundred years ago. Plato claimed that the details of Atlantis were first discovered by the Greek Poet, Solon, on a journey to Egypt over a hundred years earlier. There, Solon is said to have visited the temple of the Creation Goddess, Neith, in the ancient city of Zue where he received the story of Atlantis from translations of hieroglyphs carved into a pair of pillars. According to Plato, Solon retold the story of Atlantis to the grandfather of Critias, who passed the story down the family line.

Plato introduces the civilization of Atlantis in his first book on the matter, the Timaeus, which he wrote in 360BC. He described a vast island, larger than Libya and Asia combined beyond the Pillars of Heracles, which we know today as the Straights of Gibraltar. The Atlanteans, he said, were ruled by many kings in confederation with each other and that their society was the opposite of the high ideals of the Athenians of the time. Plato described Athens as a perfect society, similar to the concepts that he described in another of his writings known as the Republic. In contrast, there was Atlantis, although powerful, it was morally corrupt and imperfect culture.

The next time Plato wrote about Atlantis was in the dialogues of Critias, which is also the name of the main character. Here, Critias described the Atlanteans as the seed of the deities Poseidon and Cleito through their offspring of five pairs of twins, one of which was Atlas, who was given rule over the main island. The other twins ruled island territories around it. In the beginning, the people were law-abiding, gentle, virtuous and wise. And then, as their divine nature began to fade, they became corrupt, resented their gods and followed the lure of human nature. They spread their corruption to the lands they conquered, enslaving their people and plundering their resources for their own enrichment.

Critias went into considerable detail about the city of Atlantis, including the three alternating rings and canals that encircled the main island where the Temple of Poseidon dominated the summit of its highest elevation. He spoke about the legendary metal, Orichalcum, which covered the walls of the inner circle and was used extensively in the temple itself. The middle and outer rings were likewise covered with brass and tin, respectively, in an audacious display of wealth and power.

The tale comes to an end when corrupt Atlantis attacks virtuous Athens, only to be defeated, their navies sunk and their conquered lands liberated. Zues, displeased by the immoral behavior of the Atlanteans, caused an earthquake that broke the island causing it to sink beneath the waves in a final deluge within a single day and a single night. Critias placed this final, tragic event at around 10,000BC, nine-thousand years before his own time.

Interestingly, there is one earlier reference to Atlantis prior to Plato. It is a writing called Atlantis by the Greek historian Hellanicus of Lesbos from about one-hundred years earlier. It concerned the family history of one of the daughters of Atlas and although very little of it has been recovered from history, bore no relevance to what Plato described in his writings. It should be noted that in Ancient Greek, Atlantis translates as “of Atlas.”

Since the time of Plato, there have been many theories about the factual nature of Atlantis. From the visions of Edgar Casey to the postulations of Ancient Alien theorists, a rich, almost cult-like belief that Atlantis must have existed at one time, in some form, has found acceptance by the masses. Even if it is just wishful thinking, the world we live in today is constantly surprising us with discoveries that bend the established account of history to the extremes of imagination. The recent unearthing of a civilization in South America that pre-date the Olmec, the city structures off the coast of Cuba, and Gobekli Tepe in Turkey are just a few that leave leading archaeologist and historians confounded.

In the Worlds of Atlantis, where my novels are based, all of these views are taken into account and used as a foundation to build this vibrant world. A world dominated by the origin stories of mythology and legends passed down from generation to generation through oral traditions. It is surprising how stories change over the centuries and even more surprising how so many cultures share common lore. This is what one will find between the pages of these books. Ultimately, it is my hope that I can immerse the reader into the stories, entertain, and provoke further thought by bringing to life historically accurate and rich details of the culture that frames the narrative of the time period in which each novel is based.

The Worlds of Atlantis is the setting for my novels Red Wizard of Atlantis, The Fallen, and Saving Eridu with many more to come.

Connect with Ravek Hunter

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