J.B. Norman's Blog, page 356

Recommendation: Ranger’s Apprentice

Ranger’s Apprentice is a series about a young man drafted by New York’s hockey team who, essentially, gets taken on as the sidekick of a character who’s basically Aragorn.

Now, that’s a good person’s sidekick to be, because Aragorn is awesome.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

More information here, here, here, and here.

This recommendation feels kind of overdue, not necessarily because I think Ranger’s Apprentice is any sort of masterpiece of triumph of the genre, so much as because as it’s a pretty decent series of books.

You should know where I’m going with this.

Exactly.

For a (Greatest Living) author, I seem to be having trouble finding books to recommend.

Mostly, it’s a two-part problem. One, I’m trying to keep my recommendations at least tangentially related to the style and setting of Realmgard. And, two, I’m trying to keep my recommendations at more or less the same reading level as Realmgard, which is turning out to be an issue, because I didn’t read much older kids’ or YA books when I was at that age.

Anyway, I finally have another book series that fits those criteria in Ranger’s Apprentice (why is there no “the”? Shouldn’t there be a “the”?)

Honestly, Ranger’s Apprentice isn’t a great series, but it is a good series. And sometimes, just “good” is good enough.

The world itself feels a little under-cooked, both resembling Every Fantasy World Ever and having all of the various countries in the world having names borrowed from real life: the equivalent of France is Gallica (the Latin word for “Gaulish“), Ireland is Hibernia (also Latin), Italy is Toscana (the Italian name for Tuscany), Japan is Nihon-ja (Nihon being the Japanese word for Japan).

Close enough.
Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com

Now, I don’t necessarily mean this as all that much of a criticism. I’ve done the same thing in some of my writing, because names are hard. It’s also mitigated by the fact that the series’ focus isn’t necessarily on the big, broad international scale.

Sure, the countries end up fighting pretty major wars with each other, but the focus of the series is primarily on the individual characters.

The character archetypes are all pretty familiar: the orphaned hero destined for greatness, the tomboy princess, the hero’s stoic mentor, the cartoonishly evil overlord, angry vikings, unstoppable steppe warriors on horses.

But why mess with what’s worked for the history of the genre? And, they may not be all that novel, but the characters are still well-written and their adventures are competently delivered.

And, perhaps most notably, author John Flanagan has clearly done his homework when he writes about most of the elements of real, day-to-day life in a Medieval world.

He pays a lot of attention to the details of things like combat, the logistics of fighting a war, and the particulars of culture and government. He also pays attention to a lot of the details of a lot of fairly specific, specialised things like archery and sailing.

The broad strokes of the world may feel kind of underdeveloped, but the ground-level view of the characters and their daily lives is well-done and presented with a lot of attention to detail.

That’s probably the series’ greatest strength and the thing that manages to stand out in the genre that it otherwise cleaves so closely to.

My biggest complaint, such as it is, is that the series’ major story arcs are delivered across multiple books — the first three books, for example, all detail the same ongoing battle with the same one bad guy — who, incidentally, has a crew of bear-ninjas who scare people to death.

This means that you can’t really read just one book and come away with a satisfying conclusion. This is perhaps a necessary evil with the intended audience — reading 200 pages three times is probably easier and more appealing to a ten-year-old than reading 600 pages once.

The overall story arcs are solid, but some of the individual books can feel kind of frustrating in how bad they get hit by Middle Part of a Trilogy Syndrome and are subsequently unable to function as standalone stories.

On the plus side, the publisher seems to have recognised this and it’s pretty easy to pick up the series in multi-book packs.

Which is what I did, and which probably made the reading experience a lot better, because I could treat the three-book story arc as a single entity and just immediately start reading the next one. I’d probably recommend going this route.

So, to conclude: Ranger’s Apprentice, good, not great, but good enough can be good enough. Also, much attention to detail.

Probably not a gourmet dining experience, so to speak, but at least a good, solid home-cooked meal. And sometimes, that’s all you’re looking for.

This, but it’s books.
Photo by Ryutaro Tsukata on Pexels.com

Go read them.

(Re-?)Recommendation: Redwall

I was sure I’d talked about the Redwall books before, but I can’t find a post about it. Thinking about it, I may have just made an offhand recommendation about them on my Facebook.

Either way, Redwall is books.

I’m going to talk at you about them.

You can read more about the series here, here, here, and here.

In fiction, animals acting like people is nothing new, whether it be in famous cartoons, comic books, or even Medieval European folklore.

Redwall was by no means the first story to have its animals go Medieval (as evidenced by the fact that people were literally writing stories about it during the actual Middle Ages; see above).

However, Redwall, authored by the late Brian Jacques, was going Medieval with enough aptitude and success to get 22 books and nearly 30 years of mileage out of the concept.

Picture this dude, but with a sword.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Now, Redwall, strictly speaking, is a Fantasy series, what with being set in a world of talking animals and all. But once you get past the fact that everyone is animals, there’s not really that many Fantastical elements to books.

It’s less like the obvious, overt Fantasy of something like Lord of the Rings (which itself admittedly does have a fairly specific, understated nature and subtly to its magic) or the Dungeons & Dragons books (which do not), and closer to a straightforward historical fiction where everyone just happens to be animals.

Picture these dudes, but as mice.
Photo by Rene Asmussen on Pexels.com

Any Fantastical elements that do exist are never really made explicit, and anything that could be the result of supernatural influence could just as easily be a happy coincidence.

And all of the Fantastical elements that are present in the books are more or less consistent with real-life Medieval beliefs and superstitions about things like ghosts, and prophecies, and destiny.

For example, throughout the series, it seems like the ghost of Redwall’s founder and greatest hero is still protecting the place, his sword might be magic, there’s a big, evil snake who is probably just a big, evil snake, but is presented as some kind of fairytale monster or demon.

The short answer is that none of the Fantastical elements necessarily are supernatural, but are happening in a world inhabited by characters that definitely believe in the possibility of them being supernatural.

Like I mentioned, there’s 22 Redwall books. I think I’ve only read three or four of them, but that’s still enough to recognize certain patterns, which in turn is enough for me to leave you with a helpful warning.

Redwall will emotionally destroy you.

Technically, they’re kids’ books, but they are brutal.

The books are full of battles full of characters getting killed and horribly wounded, the aforementioned big, evil snake eats people alive, the villains tend to ludicrously evil — and not usually in a cartoonish, over-the-top way. The villains are not only irredeemably, stupendously evil, but also frighteningly plausible in the nature of their villainy.

Also, at least one major character get brutally and/or unceremoniously murdered per book. On the plus side, a lot of the villains also get brutally murdered, which can be pretty cathartic.

Yeah, it’s pretty grim of a series full of talking mice and weasels.

Please accept this picture of a baby penguin with my apologies.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

There was also a Redwall cartoon from the era I was a kid that adapted three of the books: Redwall (the first book, about a mouse named Matthias), Mattimeo (the third book published, but the next in chronological order, about the son of the main character from Redwall), and Martin the Warrior (a distant prequel to the later books, detailing, well, take a guess).

And, good news in that regard, it can be watched on YouTube via the official Redwall channel with minimal hassle.

Gooder news: it’s a Nelvana show, which means it’s CanCon!

Though I would like to pre-emptively apologise for when you are emotionally devastated when a character gets brutally murdered.

A Very, Very Fine (Publishing) House

Kind of a slow news day here in Realmgard, so I thought I’d take a moment to do a favour for some good people.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve been working as an editor for a publisher local to the Ottawa–Gatineau area called Renaissance.

Now, I’d like to think I’ve made my feelings on CanCon quite clear. So, obviously, being able to help in the production of CanCon is kind of a big deal for me.

All of this is to say, do check out Renaissance, and consider buying some of their stuff. Ideally multiple copies. Ideally of the stuff I edited.

And also, especially check out this devastatingly handsome babe of an editor working for them.

RealmgART: The Ten Most Worthy Women, Part 2

So, in the interest of my readers’ sanity brevity, I decided to break my look into the depictions of the Ten Most Worthy Women into two sections.

You’ve already seen the first, and now here’s the second part, the other half of the Ten Most Worthy Women.

Sibylla — Mistress of Secrets

“Sibylla” is the Latin word (via the original Greek “Σίβυλλα”) for a female prophet or oracle and has come down to English in the word “sibyl“, which means, well, exactly the same thing. It’s also become a .

The most famous Ancient oracle is the Pythia, the oracle of Apollo at Delphi; there’s also a Delphic Sibyl, doing the same thing at the same place as the Pythia, but is a presumably legendary figure who predates the establishment of the role of the Pythia.

The sibyls play important roles in Roman mythology, particularly in the stories of Aeneas (a survivor of the Trojan War and legendary ancestor of the Romans) and subsequent early history of Rome. The most important of these was the Cumaean Sibyl, who aided Aeneas in his journey to settle Italy and whose prophecies were consulted at pivotal moments in Roman history.

Sibylla is depicted as a fairly typical Fantasy genre wizard, though modelled (poorly) after a painting of the Cumaean Sibyl to make the mythological inspiration clear. She has a pile of the magicological books that she wrote with her, along with a wizard hat just to make the association with magic painfully obvious.

As mentioned, Sibylla is Fulminata’s sister, so she is depicted with the same hair, eye, and skin colour.

Thalatta — Errant Soul

“Thalatta” is the Attic form of the Greek word for “sea” — in other forms of Ancient Greek the pronunciation is “thalassa”, with s’s (technically sigmas) instead of t‘s (technically taus). A good name for a sailor, and maybe just a little too on the nose.

Thalatta probably has the most anachronistic appearance of the Ten. If the Amazons, especially the Ten, are supposed to be Classically Greco-Roman, she ends up looking more like a Golden Age pirate than an ancient pirate. I was aware of this and decided it didn’t matter.

Plenty of depictions of historical figures are deliberately anachronistic to cater to the artistic styles of the times — medieval depictions of King Arthur (likely not a historical figure, but inspired by figures from around the fifth and sixth centuries AD) and even the Trojan War (traditionally dated to 1184 BC) have characters wearing full-on Late Medieval plate armour and jousting (popular from the 11th to 17th centuries) at the each other. And, of course, most artwork of Biblical figures has them looking like Renaissance-era Italians.

Which is why Thalatta is depicted with a modern ship’s wheel and anchor. That’s really the most straightforward iconography to convey “sailor”.

She’s also got her flag with her, which depicts a mythological creature called a hippocampus, basically a literal Sea-Horse. Again, that kind of flag is probably something more appropriate for a Golden Age pirate (and overblown by Pop Culture in general), but, hey, it’s meant to be a depiction from centuries after the fact, and it’s a Fantasy world. It doesn’t have to be historical, it just needs to be cool.

Galea — Daughter of Learning

A galea is a kind of Roman helmet and, as it happens, also a genus of rodents. To clarify, she’s named for the helmet.

There’s no real connection between her name and her historical function, expect maybe the not completely illogical thought process of “smart, brain, head, helmet”). It was an attempt to cling to the idea of Amazons being named for weapons and armour I mentioned earlier.

Galea is an educator, so she’s holding a quill and book. She’s also got an owl, associated with wisdom and intelligence directly, and in their capacity as the sacred animal of Athena — fun fact, the Athenian army would charge into battle hooting like owls.

She’s also also standing next to a wolf, which makes sense in a roundabout way. Aristotle’s school was called the Lyceum, named for Apollo, specifically his association with wolves (lykos in Greek). Again, it’s kind of a laboured association (“learning, school, lyceum is a kind of school, lyceum comes from ‘wolf'”), but it’s not completely unreasonable.

Like with Fulminata and Sibylla being sisters, Galea is Eudaimonia’s daughter, so she has the same hair, skin, and eyes.

Eurydice — Best Artist

“Eurydice” is another fairly roundabout mythological reference.

Etymologically, it means something like “broad justice”, but that’s not important.

The reference is to Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus. Orpheus was basically Greek mythology’s greatest musician and poet. He was famously unable to guide Eurydice back from the underworld after she died prematurely. On a marginally lighter note, they were apparently reunited after his own death.

Fundamentally, this Eurydice has the mythological Eurydice’s name and Orpheus’ talent.

I still don’t consider myself very good at drawing, but I am definitely getting better at laying out poses for my characters. Eurydice not only has the most involved, active pose of my drawings of the Ten, but I think she might have the most dynamic pose I’ve ever managed to draw period.

As an aside, I really hate drawing hands.

Eurydice is dancing and playing a flute and is depicted beside a harp and comedy and tragedy masks to represent her artistic talents.

Bellona — Most Righteous Commander

Bellona is the name of a Roman war goddess associated both with valorous deeds and sowing terror among the enemy.

“Imperatrix” is the feminine form of “Imperator“, which is the word that gets translated as “Emperor”. Conceptually, it’s a bit more complicated than it. Literally, it means something like “person who holds imperium”, a Roman concept I tried to explain when taking about Theophano. People other than the Emperor could be considered an imperator — generals leader their armies, for example.

However “Imperatrix” can or should be translated, the depiction of Bellona is meant to at least invoke historical Emperors. She is wearing purple robe, purple being associated with Roman and Byzantine Emperors (and their children). Though the historical colour actually used by them is redder than what Bellona is wearing, and, incidentally, made from crushed snails.

She is wearing a golden version of the leaf crown Roman Emperors are commonly depicted as wearing, and holding an orb and sceptre (topped with that is supposed to be a phoenix), common parts of the royal regalia of historical monarchs. Both are meant as symbols of rulership and authority, both in real life and in the picture.

Bellona is standing between two sets of five banners, arranged in V‘s to represent the Roman numeral for 5 — Realmgard Elves being Roman, it follow they would use Roman numerals, at least historically. This is meant to represent her role in establishing the ten cities of the Amazon Decapolis after relinquishing her queenly authority.

And there you have it: the ten best Amazons, and about eight million words to explain them.

Pretty cool, yeah?

Not a good time, man.
Photo by Robert Nagy on Pexels.com

RealmgART: The Ten Most Worthy Women, Part 1

After posting the the pictures of the Ten Most Worthy Women, I’m ready to get into the promised overly-detailed explanation of said pictures.

Yay.

So, yeah, come for the pictures, stay to learn more than you’ve ever wanted to know about a group of fictional Elf women and maybe also something about real-world Greco-Roman history.

Kyniska — Lady of Cavaliers

Kyniska is modelled after an ancient Macedonian cavalryman, specifically as depicted in the Total War video games, though with a few fantastical touches. She is depicted with her team of champion horses, specifically four of them to reflect that the quadriga, the four-horse chariot was the most common racing chariot in Antiquity. She is also depicted with a champion’s laurel wreath.

Laurels have become the iconic image of victory in ancient competitions, but depending on the patron god of the games in question, different wreaths would be awarded as different plants were associated with different gods.

Of the Ten, Kyniska is probably the most obvious reference to a real person, specifically the Spartan princess of the same name (though the Wikipedia article does use a more Latinised spelling with C‘s instead of K‘s; the original Greek is “Κυνίσκα”).

Like the Amazon, the historical Kyniska was known for her champion horses. In fact, the historical Kyniska was an Olympic champion, this despite the notable handicap of women not being allowed to compete at, or even attend, the Ancient Olympics. The rule was that if your horses won the race, you were considered the champion. Hence, Kyniska was able to be considered the winner of a race she would not have even been allowed to watch.

Fulminata — Thundering Conqueress

The name Fulminata means something like “endowed with thunderbolts” and was the name of a Roman legion.

She is depicted in the armour of a triarius, one of the heavily-armoured veteran soldiers of the Roman Republican army. The triarii were the last line of the army and didn’t usually even engage with the enemy unless things started going real bad.

Thus, a situation that nearly ends in disaster was referred to as having “come down to the triarii”, one of my very favourite phrases that I legitimately try to use as often as possible — e.g., “Wow, I got my Pop-Tarts out of the toaster just in time to keep them from burning. That really came down to the triarii!”

Moving on, Fulminata is depicted with her vexillum, a military banner based on historical Roman designs (or at least modern recreations of them). Hers has thunderbolts (despite the obvious connection to her name, thunderbolts were also a common Roman military insignia in general) and an A for Amazones (i.e. “the Amazons”), and a golden phoenix, the Amazon equivalent of the Roman aquila. The Roman legions were extremely protective of their aquilae and to lose one in battle was considered a major disaster.

Finally, Fulminata is depicted with a gorgon’s head on her shield, a fairly common image on Classical shields, likely due to the association with the Aegis — either a breastplate or shield carried by Athena, upon which the head of Medusa was transposed after she was killed by Perseus.

I think the drawing of Fulminata is my favourite, and not just because I could get away with only drawing one hand for her.

Eudaimonia — Queen of the Wise

In Classical philosophy, “eudaimonia” is what philosophy is intended to achieve. The word is usually translated as “happiness”, though as one of my Profs was fond of telling us, they don’t mean it in the sense of the emotion.

The literal meaning is something like “good-spiritedness” (despite what another one of my Profs may have insisted) and a more helpful translation is probably something like “thriving” or “fulfillment”. A lot of current philosophers are starting to recognise that there isn’t really a good English word for it and just leave it untranslated, which has its own set of problems.

But that’s neither here nor there.

All that aside, it seemed like a pretty good name for Realmgard’s ultimate philosopher. She is depicted with two pages of a book which read “Knowledge is power” and is holding a set of scrolls, that are presumably full of all sorts of high-minded philosophical rhetoric.

There’s not really a lot of details to get into in terms of her design. The colour scheme of her clothes doesn’t really have any deep symbolism, it just looks good, though the things on the hem of her dress are supposed to be a meander (also known as the Greek key) pattern.

Lorica — Burning Hammer

“Lorica” is the Latin word for body armour. The most recognisable type of Roman armor is probably the lorica segmentata, which is pretty much the only armour Romans are ever depicted as wearing in Pop Culture regardless of historical accuracy. In real life it was only utilised from the first century BC to the third century AD. For reference, Rome was founded in 753 BC, the Western Roman Empire fell in AD 476, and, taken to the logical historical extreme, the Byzantines continued calling themselves Romans until 1453.

My original plan was to give all my Amazons names that were either weapons or armour, which is why Falcata is a kind of sword. I quickly learned, however, that there aren’t enough weapons and armour that make good names for an entire society. Either way, “Lorica” was a good name for the Amazons’ best blacksmith.

She is depicted at her anvil flanked by piles of the things she forged: a helmet, breastplate, and pair or gauntlets to the left of the image, and a shield, spear, and sword on the right.

I gave all the Ten two-word titles and I’m particularly proud of Lorica’s. As stated, “Malleus Ardens” meanings “Burning Hammer”, which is not only an awesome title for a blacksmith, but also a mostly-deliberate reference to Pro Wrestling.

The Burning Hammer is one of the most infamous moves in Pro Wrestling, associated with (but not, as I understand it, actually created by) legendary Japanese wrestler Kenta Kobashi. The Burning Hammer was presented as one of the most devastating wrestling moves ever, so much so that Kobashi only ever needed to resort to it a mere seven times.

Not surprising, given that it pretty much amounts to just straight-up dropping the other dude on his head.

But even without the connection to the Sport of Kings, odds are probably about even that I still would have called Realmgard’s most famous blacksmith the “burning hammer”.

Theophano — Broken Sword

“Theophano” means something like “divine manifestation” and comes from the same root as (and is more or less a synonym, at least in the most literal sense) as “ephiphany“.

It is the name of several Byzantine Empresses and one Holy Roman Empress of Greek origin — whom I’m pretty sure I’ve married in at least one of my Crusader Kings playthroughs.

There’s no immediate connection between the name and her role in Amazon history (like, for example, how Lorica is a good name for a blacksmith, or Eudaimonia is for a philosopher). It’s just a Greek woman’s name that I happened to like.

She is holding the scales of justice and a broken sword, a symbol of mercy and forbearance, as seen for example, in the sword used in the coronation of British monarchs. Basically, what I’m going for is the idea that the development of a justice system meant that the Amazons no longer had to go around stabbing each other to resolve their conflicts.

She is standing next to a curule chair, utilised by Roman magistrates and signifying their imperium — it’s a complicated thing to explain, but it’s basically the legitimate right to exercise legal, political, and/or military authority (in Rome, there wouldn’t much of a distinction between those three things).

The twelve bronze tablets may call to mind the Ten Commandments, it’s actually supposed to be a reference to the Twelve Tables, the Roman law code which was publicly displayed inscribed on bronze.

Her robe is sort of a combination between a peplos, the common clothing of Greek women in the Classical period, and a toga praetexta, a Roman’s magistrate’s robe marked with a purple stripe. Basically, it’s meant to further demonstrate her association with Amazon law and governance.

I could explain how decent women didn’t wear togas in Rome, so I therefore had to get creative with my drawing, but the real explanation is that this was much, much easier to draw than a full toga.

And, man, I nerded out way harder and thoroughly than I hoped. So, yeah, I think I’m going to break this into two parts.

Trending Upward

It’s been 11 days. I’ve already gotten more years in 2021 than I did in the first year I ran this blog, and it looks I’m easily on pace to surpass my next two highest yearly totals after that. We’ll have to wait and see if 2021 will be my best year ever, but I’ve got a good feeling.

Thanks for the ongoing support, everybody.

RealmgART: The Ten Most Worthy Women, Just the Pictures

As promised, art has happened.

Specifically, I spent the weekend working on art of the Ten Most Worthy Women, who, as previously established, are the greatest heroines of Realmgard’s Amazons.

I had a big, huge explanation ready for each of the pictures, basically treating this whole enterprise as an excuse for me to put my Classics MA to good use (Go, Horses.)

And now, I’ve got good news and bad news, though I’m not sure which is which. I guess I’ll let you decide.

News the first: I’m still going to do that. News the second: just not now. I figured I’d show the pictures first, then post the big, huge, painfully-detailed, shockingly thorough write-ups for later.

… he says in order to avoid a big, huge painfully-detailed write-up. Man, I’m bad at this.

Anyway, here’s pictures:

Art has happened, explanation to follow.

Update: Art is Happening

Pictured: Not Me.
I’m neither that talented nor that good at tying up my hair.
Photo by Valeriia Miller on Pexels.com

So, I’ve been working on my RealmgART of the Ten Most Worthy. It’s going well and it’s a lot of fun, but, man I should have given the Amazons fewer than ten famous heroines.

That’ll be done and ready soon. Optimistically (perhaps undeservedly so), later today of tomorrow. Realistically, early this week.

I also need to decide if I’m going to do it as one a big post, or post the Ten in two groups of five for the sake simplicity, or do it some other way — how about 20 posts of half a picture each?
No?
Objection noted.

RealmgART: The Triumph of Styracosaurus

In a Realmgard context: the much-lauded victory of legendary hero Quintus Marcellinus Styracosaurus over Realmgard’s most infamous root vegetable, the Turnip-Thing of Aquae Celeres is a popular subject for art, songs, stories, puppet shows, and party games.

This depiction utilises the long-standing tradition in Elven art of “crossed-out eyes and stuck-out tongue means dead”.

The inscription translates to “The Dread Turnip Was Slain.”

In an Earth context: this picture represents a major milestone in my artistic career: drawing the same character twice and having him look the same both times.

Right away, I knew exactly the pose I wanted for Styracosaurus, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen it before.

Funny story (or maybe not, depending on your religious convictions), it took me way to long to remember that the pose is pretty common in depictions of the Resurrection of Jesus — for example, here and here.

There’s no real deeper meaning to that inspiration, I just think it’s a good victorious hero pose.

A couple more notes about Styracosaurus: first, my original depiction of him was inspired by the Augustus of Prima Porta, due to the fact that Realmgard Elves are basically Romans. Second, yes, Styracosaurus is a kind of dinosaur in real life.

Encyclopedia Realmgardica: The Ten Most Worthy Women

Not actually Amazons, but thematically fitting.
And, incidentally, that’s the Erechtheion, one my favourite Greek temples honouring one (or two) of my favourite Greek mythological figures.
Photo by jimmy teoh on Pexels.com

Regarded as the foremost heroines in the history of the Amazons, the Ten Most Worthy Women have been memorialised by later generations of Amazons as the eponymous figures of the ten cities of the Amazon Decapolis.

Known in the Elven language as the “Decem Dignissimae”, the Ten Worthy Most Women are:

Kyniska, remembered as a peerless cavalier and a famous breeder and racer of champion horses. Won battles and races all over Realmgard. Many later famous horses are descended from the horses of her herds.



Fulminata, a general of the Amazons who decisively repulsed an massive invasion of the Amazon lands. After her retirement military affairs, she wrote numerous treatises on warfare, and one about landscape painting. Her tactics and books are still widely studied.



Eudaimonia, widely regarded both as the finest philosopher ever produced by the Amazons and a hugely influential thinker and scholar throughout Realmgard at large. Established the first library in Amazon territory and travelled far and wide to fill it with books.



Lorica, unanimously praised as the greatest female blacksmith in the history of Realmgard and lauded as one of the greatest regardless of gender. She forged weapons and armour used by many famous Amazon warriors. Her surviving works are viewed as priceless masterpieces and have been the object of attempted thefts, duels, generations-long feuds, and nearly a few wars.



Theophano, famous for her role in mediating disputes that arose between Amazons and remembered for her role in the development of the Amazon law code. Said to have single-handedly prevented a civil war among the Amazons with her patient good humour and ability to foster compromise.



Sibylla, the right-hand woman of her older sister, the aforementioned Fulminata. Used her magical skills to great effect during Fulminata’s campaigns, playing a pivotal role in several battles. Famous in her own right as a prolific magicological scholar and innovator.



Thalatta, said to be the first-ever Amazon shipwright and sailor. Built the Imperatrix, the ship that made her famous. Remembered as an explorer, merchant, and skilled naval combatant. Several prominent female pirates have subsequently claimed her as an ancestor.



Galea, the daughter of the aforementioned Eudaimonia. Continued her mother’s scholarly work and founded numerous school and academies to complement the Amazons’ physical and martial training. Her teaching methods have spread throughout Realmgard.



Bellona, the last High Queen of the Amazons. Known to be just and honourable as both a monarch and a military leader. Abdicated and ceded her power to the local community leaders and helped re-organise the government, creating the Decapolis in its earliest form.