Busy busy summer

For a while I've been slumped on writing for Arrow Child. It is one of my major works, and I've been distracted for the past few weeks by the activity of my guild. Now that PAX is ending I have had some more time to think and consider what I want to have happen with the book. The first aim is, the book needs to move forward and I want to flesh out more on the Amazon peoples. One thing I've been meaning to cover is their social dynamic within the family.

A good example of the issue with family dynamic is Eleni. Young Eleni Alkaiel left her family after graduating Primary School and spent the past few years at Oxford. She rarely left more than for a few weekends to visit her family. At this point she stopped speaking Amazo, she didn't say her prayer songs and well ended up angering her grandmother. In Amazon life, your mother's mother is the leader of the household. Each household then general shows respect to the elected mother of the bloodline. Bloodlines tend to be very close in connection, consider themselves expanded families it isn't uncommon to hear Amazons refer to each other as cousin even if they are bar related.

The sense of family comes from the feeling one get's by having joy in the blood they care. Amazons though they do say "Blood matters not, family is all that matters" do consider blood as a basis of family. This solidarity comes from the honor one has by claiming relation to one of the Honor Dead. The descendants of Alkaia show respect for the sacrifice she had for her people, and the same can be said for those descended from the Thirteen who died for Penthesilea. Each act of their ancestors is carried in song and by showing honor for their blood they keep the dead alive.

So when one walks away from all of this an issue arises. They are not traitors but the did disrespect their ancestors. To cause a loss of respect for the Honor Dead means to not sing for them and help keep them alive in the memory of the nation. When Eleni turned her back on her family she turned her back on the memory of Alkaia and all Alkaiel Amazons who have earned the right of Honor in Death. A complicated issue, that can in the modern day lead to several Amazons feeling disenfranchised by their family. Note, this is not a permanent thing, but it can cause friction. Amazons are not expected to treat the Honored Dead as gods, yet they are asked to sing for them.

To not sing is to lose memory and to not acknowledge the sacrifices and services the dead have done for the nation.

A long time of hiatus

I've been on a long hiatus as of late and it's had me thinking of Amazons. For the past month or so what is really making me wonder is who Eleni Alkaiel is. Often I envision this young college girl just trying to create a life for herself. Eleni is an enigma at times and makes me wonder what she is going to do.

So what I've been doing for a some work on an upcoming mass update to the Amazon language. To be honest it is massive. This word list is going to be probably about 1000 words long with then a whole bunch resolving derivatives from the original word list. I'm hoping to then work on a grammar to help explain the rudimentary systems of how to speak the language.

More coming soon.