The Six Races: An Overview
This is Part 1 of the bonus material earned by the February 5, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl reaching the $300 goal. It introduces the six races in the series A Conflagration of Dragons. Read Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
Overview
A Conflagration of Dragons features six humanoid races. (There are no humans, dwarves, elves, or other famous fantasy species here.) These are all related closely enough that they can interbreed in certain combinations. Each race has two elemental affinities, a capital city, a primary habitat, a poetic style, a language, and assorted other cultural features. Qualities have been compiled from different directions, so none of these is an exact match for any other race or culture. The seventh sentient race is that of the dragons, which is not at all closely related to the others. The dragons have their own language but do not speak it with anyone else, so they are named and described according to the conventions of the other races.
J.R.R. Tolkien drew many names from Snorri's Prose Edda and Poetic Edda. I have continued this tradition in A Conflagration of Dragons. Names of characters, places, and so forth come from great works of literature or mythology: Beowulf, the Bible, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Mahābhārata, the Quran, and The Tale of Genji. A different source provides names for each of the six races.
Below is a summary of key features in each race:
Eofor: Earth/Fire, Beowulf, Hildeburh, mountain, Norse alliteration
Madhusudana: Air/Water, Mahābhārata, Shaunaka, coast, couplets
Beneberak: Fire/Water, Bible, Demas, grassland, ballad
Shu: Earth/Air, Egyptian Book of the Dead, Jehuti, forest, forked parallels
Imran: Air/Fire, Quran, Zayd, desert, rubaiyat
Hachi: Earth/Water, The Tale of Genji, Kamo, swamp, tanka verses
The Six Poems of the Fall:
" The Janardanakavita"
" The Chant of the Return of Sebak"
" The Ballad of Zaavan's Revenge"
"the chain of cicada shells"
"The Nesting Urge of Aluzza"
" The Harrowing of Hildeburh"