Karmyn La'Freniere is an elven Wyrecrafter, basically a magical scribe whose canvas is dragons.
The I, Karmyn series depicts the major events in Karmyn's life from her perspective. This, the first book, contains her life between the ages of 13 and 26. But, age is relative because on Primlearth elves are physically children until after age 30.
I have 3 master's degrees and am unemployed. I began writing in late 2010 for something productive to do with my time. I've completed one fantasy novel (unpublished) and have several others in progress.
I've included four interludes in this novel. The first three are kind of like musings, similar in some ways to the flashback introductions, except they're longer, more detailed, and describe different settings. Not explicitly necessary to the story, they're used to help set the tone and further immerse the reader into Karmyn's world. The fourth interlude is a side story which has both historical significance and a direct impact on the series. This is an excerpt from the first one.
Book Excerpt
I, Karmyn Version 1
It was early morning, sunrise about an hour away. The city wasn’t any different than usual. Streets made of large, continuous pieces of smooth stone, unnatural and stretching for miles. It was genuine stone, a nice dull gray, but not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Built by the civic-crafters originally, thousands of years ago, and re-smoothed every couple years.In reality, the roads were durable. Horses, oxen, and wooden wheels are no match for rock. One might think the construction was done merely to cause havoc and keep people employed.This road, the main thoroughfare, was an expansive 50 feet wide; the final 10 feet on either side intended for horse, wagon, and platform parking. At this time in the morning, the streets were empty. Very soon they’d be bustling with throngs of carts and people on their way about business. But, for now, it was peaceful.Small, foot paths branched off every so often towards the many buildings lining the street. Each path was either a different color or different material, depending on what door it led up to. Some were a smooth, natural colored cobblestone; others were a richly colored brick. Between pathways were manicured landscapes of grasses, bushes, flowers, fountains, statues, fences, hitching rails, etc.A large perpetual lantern post stood every 15 feet, lights 10 feet off the ground and glowing an iridescent yellow. Practically speaking, they were a decorative item, considering we can see in the dark.My good boots made no sound as I walked along.The weather was temperate, maybe 50 degrees. There was a light, 5 – 10 mph breeze coming from the south. My fine cloak would’ve kept me comfortable even if it was colder. As it was, I left it blowing in the breeze. Our physiology is more than sufficient to handle this climate without discomfort.Houses of nobility were the first buildings I passed after proceeding thru the castle wall’s gates. These houses were multiple stories tall, sat on individual plots of land, and had their own minor fortifications. They were nothing compared to the 100 ft high behemoth guarding the castle, except in that they looked like miniaturized versions of it.Fortified individual plots turned into unfortified, but well-manicured individual plots, which turned into high-end townhomes, which turned into merchant shops. Alleyways separated the former; whereas the latter two styles had shared walls, the only ground level separation coming every block, as a cross street passed by. The further from the castle I travelled, the shorter the buildings became, and the less uniform their architectural detailing.The only consistency between every building was the construction material. Like the levitation platforms, elven structures were cast from a type of magically-stabilized glass-ceramic. These glass-ceramics were twice as strong as reinforced concrete at a quarter the thickness; their durability guaranteed so long as they were properly tuned to the city-wide magical grid.The grid acted as a crystallizer to the amorphous (non-crystalline) precursor – itself a type of liquid magic. Working with the precursor was like working with soft, malleable clay capable of maintaining its shape over extended periods of time. As such, fantastic feats of design were possible; as were variable buildings – the entire buildings were easily re-workable; redecoration involved more than changing the furniture.With these noble and high-end merchant houses lining the streets, safety wasn’t an issue. My accidental construct vandalism was about the worst thing that happened in this part of the city. Even so, I was careful to make sure the pin identifying my position within the SOPAC was clearly visible. Among other things, it gave me some leeway in dealing with curfews and the like, which I was technically in violation of. Most members of the street patrol could easily identify me from a distance, even with the lamplight, so I was rarely confronted.
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