However, not what the post is about, this post is an extract from yesterday's NaNoWriMo efforts that I fancied showing off.
It revolves around one of the newer characters in the story, Carwyn.
(For reference he calls his sister Padi)
In the Shadow of the Stonehearted King
He'd decided to name it Padikin.
It was barely the height of his palm, standing in the awkward arms held straight out from the shoulder position that was depicted in the book on his desk.
A small sculpture of a girl with pigtails and a long dress made from clay he'd taken from the arts rooms. Padikin didn't have much detail, except for little dot eyes and a smiley mouth on her face and tiny snakes of a necklace and bracelet.
He'd made her small so she'd be easier to fire, but it made her harder to paint. She had a big black splodge on her right cheek from when he was painting her hair.
Carwyn thought it made her cuter.
He re-examined the pages concerning the ancient rites of golem animation. It was complicated, with many glyphs and a strange chant that the book was determined could not be sung.
He was certain that the T'schdem had streamlined it since the book was written, as it did not need to be as complicated as it was.
He drew one glyph on the desk in chalk coloured with the blood of a ram. The book called for fresh billy blood, but he couldn't get his hands on that at such short notice. The long dried blood of a similar looking male would have to be enough.
He placed an inverted plate on top of it and carefully wrote the chant in a circle around it.
With a knife he wedged the plate up so he could remove it without smudging the chalk.
A few careful curves and curls to fill in some space and the cirle was finished.
It didn't look much like the diagram, which was designed to give a general idea and not the actual circle of magic used, that was all straight lines, glyphs and the suggestion of vines. Carwyn's was all organic looking shapes that reflected no actual living thing caught between a glyph and the carefully written chant in the alphabet of the Lords.
He admired his handiwork and gently placed Padikin in the centre of the circle.
"Gentle Padikin, sweet child of clay," he sang trailing his finger around the circle before spiralling through it, "to you I give the gift of life."
Once his finger reached her feet her turned her with his free hand, causing the chalk on his finger to leave gradually fading marks on her dress. At her shoulder he stopped, pressing his finger tip against her little smiley mouth.
"As once the gods granted it to man. I wish you a duty of nothing but joy," he crooned before blowing gently into her face, some of the trace of chalk he'd left with his finger blew away.
Her arms fell to her sides.
"Padikin?"
She tilted her head at him before nodding.
He smiled widely.
"Welcome to the world little Padikin, and thank you, I'll be able to revive Southern soon thanks to you."
Padikin pushed out her chest and put her little mitten hands on her hips in pride.
Her pose of triumph didn't last long though, as she started trying to brush off the chalk the second she touched some with her hand.
Carwyn chuckled and handed her a tiny scrap of cloth.
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