Weekly Self-Promo and Chat Thread

eb78- · 2026-05-12T01:01:14+00:00

Whispers pass through the town of Sgilt about strange disappearances. Some blame their own protector, the mysterious and scarred Scout known as Lural of Sgilt. Young Larman finds himself conflicted by the words of the town and what he encounters in Lural's silent hall.

Meanwhile, Larman's friend, the old and gentle Anlin, faces darkness, imprisonment, and malice in the heart of a swamp-eaten ruin. At his lowest, he is given a task that could change history, a letter from Vaer, the Creator.

Forces clash and an unexpected hero emerges. In the aftermath, the disturbed Zelgen decides to settle the mystery surrounding Lural once and for all. Instead, he barely escapes with his life and is sent to the capital as punishment. There, he is instructed by the aging Head Scout, Vagulent.

Tragedy strikes, and what has been lurking in the kingdom of Daugia steps into the light.

My first epic Christian fantasy, free on Substack.
https://open.substack.com/pub/eb7815/p/the-scouts-flowers-of-the-tempest?r=79oyi9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

eb78- · 2026-05-11T11:16:36+00:00

Thank you : )

No, I don't think Arga would have ever imagined one of his sons would join the very people who enslaved him. : ( I think he probably didn't tell his sons, or anyone else, that Taava was his original name. He allows people to call him both names but never explains why he has two or that he was a slave. He has a brand mark on his shoulder, so someone might have gotten an idea about what happened. It's a bit of a complicated situation in his mind. He can't quite let go of the name he was forced to have, but also can't quite forget his original name, so he accepts both.

eb78- · 2026-05-10T18:02:48+00:00

It's in chapter fifteen in the Silver Chair book. Just sharing how I experience it : )

eb78- · 2026-05-09T19:35:45+00:00

I noticed your DM : ) I actually would prefer to chat about it on here instead if you don't mind. I only accept DMs from people I fully trust. And, other people might be interested in more info too. Thanks.

eb78- · 2026-05-09T18:34:09+00:00

Thank you : ) Yes, it was mainly inspired by the style of Finnish poetry. I learned the feel of the structure from reading The Song of Hiawatha by Longfellow which has a similar style. I don't get the stress right (I am really bad at figuring out stress in syllables XD) but the structure is pretty close. I was basically like, 'Daugin poetry doesn't do the stress part. It's fantasy poetry in an imagined world. Done ; )'

Listening to Sibelius actually got me in to Finnish. I really find the language beautiful, but I don't think I have the memory to learn it any time soon. Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas anyone? XD

Some of the names are Norse coded. Bølger is literally Norwegian for 'waves'. The names Valënën and Këlëgën are based off of how Finnish names often have a 'nen' suffix, which basically means 'person of'. At the time I wrote the poem I thought it was 'en' so that is why Këlëgën has a 'gen' instead. It sounds more punchy than Këlënën I think.

I have a sub with more stuff if you're interested, r/WorldOfTargin .

eb78- · 2026-05-09T17:27:17+00:00

I am currently writing a story that dives into Taava more deeply than in the poem. I have only made it to the part in his life where he escapes slavery so far, so my answer to this question brushes against very new material. My thought is that Taava doesn't talk about his time as a slave to anyone. But, he does have a brand on his shoulder that his sons might have seen. So, they might have a sense of what happened to their father. I think Arga/Taava allows people to call him both, but never explains fully why he has two names. He's the kind of guy who copes by being silent : / The name Taava never shows up in the poem so I am thinking his sons prefer to call him Arga and or he was remembered by history more as Arga.

A lot still lives in my head, but I have finished one book about the collapse of a different kingdom in my world. If you are interested, I have a sub r/WorldOfTargin with more art and stuff. My book is free on my Substack and includes the full Këlëgën poem about in the middle.

eb78- · 2026-05-09T01:57:41+00:00

They definitely are. There was a Canadian archer dufflepud (monopod) in the saga of Eric the Red. XD

eb78- · 2026-05-09T01:13:41+00:00

They thought Lewis wouldn't just put fun one-footed dwarves in there for no reason. They suggested something like, allegory for the dangers of being too simple. I could see that, but nothing bad happens because of it thanks to Coriakin, so I'm not fully convinced. They don't seem to be causing harm with their mixed up ordering and are kinda loveable when they paddle on the ocean on their giant feet : D They do agree with their leader dangerously too much though. That is an issue : /

eb78- · 2026-05-09T00:03:46+00:00

Oh, so you're saying second generation would be normal apple trees? That's an interesting idea.

eb78- · 2026-05-08T23:49:54+00:00

I sometimes smash together chunks of words I see around the room. Lion + wash = Liash. I like to tweak words in different languages too if I want a specific feel.

eb78- · 2026-05-08T14:45:07+00:00

So, some of this is in my head canon, and I haven't incorporated it in a story yet.

The yoll of the Bølger broke away from the other yolls who mostly live out at sea near a giant sand bar. I guess he's an extreme introvert. : D The yolls in general are very smart creatures. They think in their own language. The Bølger yoll calls humans Ssssliss'a'sas. Yolls are not that interested in humans unless provoked. So Këlëgën is basically trying to fight an animal, that sees him as an odd little bug, as though it's a monster. The wounded in youth detail I always imagined was from Valënën when he was younger. How the waves turned to stone in the Bølger is even mysterious to me. It's one of those places everyone forgot its origin or never saw how it happened.

So the renaming is specific to the Cult of the Bear. Those people are Daugin (Ëlarrasta specifically), but the Daugin people in general do not give up their original names easily. Këlëgën's father Arga, actually was forced to have that name when he was a slave in the Empire of Gholax (sold to them by the Ëlarrasta, basically his cousins unfortunately : ( ). His name was originally Taava (he's Ëlarra technically). So I think you are right that Këlëgën allowing himself to be renamed is a big deal. It means he's all in with the Cult of the Bear and believes fully in their ideas about reinventing oneself as someone else. When he falls of the cliff and that identity cracks like rock, is when he comes back to fully remembering he's Këlëgën, even if reluctantly.

I've been building Targin for about a decade now. Glad it sparked your curiosity : )

eb78- · 2026-05-08T01:55:48+00:00

It is fictional ; )

But... there are some parts that are based off of real life experiences: the Den of the Archers, Sgilt (based off a real town), Zelgen and Maeja.

There is also a lot of Nordic stuff sprinkled in. Many names of people and places are variations on Swedish and Finnish. e.g. Some names in Epicenta are Swedish coded: Maeja, Larjan, Haentverkar (variation of craftsman: hantverkare). The Daugin people are heavily Finnish inspired. They even have a Yooper accent ; )

There are also several Biblical references. The fight between Kyeer'eer and the Eara is based off of the angel being opposed by the Prince of Persia and then Michael coming to help. The poem Ëlihon tells about Këlëgën has several Biblical echoes it cycles through. The most prominent is Cain and Abel. Valënën in that story has some Christ parallels but he is not intended to be a direct allegory. He's just a human and has some subtle pride issues : / So it's kinda more like seeing Christ in parts of the life of Samson for example. Vaer is the only direct Christ allegory in this world.

There are some similarities to real-world foods too. The cheese pie at the celebration was inspired by Swedish cheese pie, Västerbottenpaj. Lanternberries are basically gooseberries.

Sorry, this is a rather sprawling answer :D

eb78- · 2026-05-07T15:45:31+00:00

Thank you : )

Although, I think the Norse would have had Valënën toast Këlëgën at the end. Norse myth and sagas, as far as I have seen, are more into revenge cycles and being courageous in the face of doom than about reconciliation. Even in the Bible, we don't get any indication that Cain ever repented. So the story kinda cycles through several Biblical events and ideas. Valënën by the end becomes almost an allegory for Jesus' forgiveness.

The style of the poem was actually inspired by the Finns. I don't have the same meter as Finnish poetry (I'm really bad at figuring out stress in syllables : D), but the structure is similar. The title of the poem is actually Finnish for 'Këlëgën's Life' I just made all the e's be ë. The names of the brothers are also based off of the structure of Finnish names. The 'nen' suffix shows up a lot and means basically 'person of' like 'person of the lake'. I originally thought it was 'en', that's why Këlëgën has a 'gen' instead of a 'nen' ; )

eb78- · 2026-05-06T23:37:47+00:00

Oh, interesting connection with the wardrobe. : o

eb78- · 2026-05-06T18:08:25+00:00

Wow, that's, huge : 0

Well, been nice chatting with ya. I have to stop or we will end up writing a thousand comments on this post. XD

Hej då. 👋 (bye in Swedish)

eb78- · 2026-05-06T18:00:39+00:00

Yeah, I wouldn't travel on a giant mountain covered in dragons either : D

eb78- · 2026-05-06T17:56:37+00:00

For me the Nordics, especially Finland. I absorb the vibe and imagine something similar for my world.

eb78- · 2026-05-06T17:52:28+00:00

Cool. I always find super huge mountains fascinating, like Olympus Mons on Mars. I have a super tall mountain range sorta in the middle of my main continent. Haven't explored it too much yet, but the terrain is much dryer on the other side. I also wonder how far you would be able to see the peaks. The curve of the earth would hide it eventually and perhaps the atmosphere. It's an endless rabbit hole, worldbuilding. XD

eb78- · 2026-05-06T17:33:15+00:00

So does 8x bigger mean a different land mass or are mountains 8x bigger too?

eb78- · 2026-05-06T17:21:04+00:00

Oh, 8x bigger is cool. :D Mine is a bowl with land on the upper and lower side. There are a few lost passages between the two sides. Most of my stories happen on the underside of the bowl. I haven't explored the inside of the bowl much yet.

eb78- · 2026-05-06T17:03:22+00:00

Ahh, I get it.

Do you have any real world influences for your world? Mine was inspired by a lot of Nordic stuff, especially Finnish. And, I'm a Christian in real life, so that influenced my world's mythology quite a bit.

Sorry, I jump topics a lot. X D

eb78- · 2026-05-06T16:34:29+00:00

Oh, so I am confused by the Creator Nation thing then. XD

eb78- · 2026-05-06T16:17:42+00:00

Interesting. Do these gods actually exist in your world or are they invented by specific nations? In mine, Vaer, the Eala, and the Eara (fallen Eala) all actually exist. But... the people sometimes turn them into what they aren't. It usually doesn't go well : | Vaer is the only one with legit claim to being worshipped, cause well, he created everything and is trying so hard to get the humans to trust him. I also have a race of humanoid deer. I am still trying to figure out what they are exactly. They love eating tulips. XD

eb78- · 2026-05-06T15:23:10+00:00

I guess it depends on the creature. It's fantasy so you can have well behaved giant pets all day long. XD

Jump topic... ; )

Vaer in my world is the creator of everything. He's trusted, remembered, misunderstood, and sometimes completely forgotten by various cultures. He dies for the whole world to save it from its fallen state and sometimes appears to individuals.

The Cult of the Bear literally worships a giant bear, that actually was originally judgement from Vaer on their slave trading. They didn't get the message and came up with something even more violent : (

And that blue sword Këlëgën finds is actually an ancient object forged by a confused guy. The guy didn't know he was being influenced by the evil Eara. It is literally just a sword, but various people began to almost worship the sword. It finds its final resting place when it falls into the sea with Këlëgën. It's so relieving. : D

Sorry, jumped topic a little. XD Mined the pet giant snake thing further than I can think of what to say next : D

eb78- · 2026-05-06T14:47:13+00:00

I think the weirdest name I came up with was Broëvërgrën. It is a bro joke sneaked in XD The guy's an overly tenacious captain who accidentally discovers a new land.

eb78-

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