The Palace of the Cursed discussion

Just some stuff about Keras ie. physicality, culture etc.

Keras is a world that is mostly ocean. The largest land mass is the country of Aiden. There are other small island nations scattered around Aiden and some further away but other than that, it’s just ocean. Aiden is the largest country and holds 80% of this planets population (4-5 billion people) and thus, holds world power and has no one to fight against - expect small skirmishes with island populations and civil wars (lots of them). Aiden is situated in the southern hemisphere of this planet and that’s why the desert is up north. The mountain range to the east is the result of two large continents smashing together eons ago. The smaller continent was weaker and although pushing up against what is now Aiden created the mountains, the other continent broke apart and became the large number of island scattered around (like debris).

Keras is divinely ruled over by a multitude of gods and goddesses. Each god or goddess takes the form of an animal living on Keras and embodies its characteristics. Divine spirits, animal spirits, Guardians, or animal guardians are all names for the gods and goddesses. They watch over Keras and their precious humans. Some chose to Bless a human they find worthy, as they see that this human will greatly influence human kind and do what the gods wish (push humanity forward). This human/Blessed is watched over and protected by this god or goddess. A god or goddess can only have one Blessed. When the Blessed human dies, only then can they chose another. They must also choose one unborn as those already out of the mothers womb cannot accept the gods gift (kills them otherwise).

The Old Palace/Prison of the Cursed is in the centre north of Aiden – not desert yet, just warmer (tropical climate). The climate and geographical positions of the other major places are included in the city centre description.

Because most royal families don't really have last names, the royal family of Aiden decided ages ago that they would be distinguished by the A at the beginning of their name. Since then, every royal family member has had a name beginning with A (except those married in). The rest of the population is not allowed to have a name beginning with A (Amanda's character Aelin being the exception - she has good reasons).

Hey everyone! I was just thinking it may prudent to actually tell you guys the names of the royal family, since that's, you know, kinda common knowledge in Aiden. Oops! Sorry! Hahaha! Anyway, here you go!
Oh! And all of the royal family are normal humans bar Aelic.

King: Arshavir
Queen: Clementia
Crown Prince: Adalric
Second Prince: Aelic - Deceased (Supposedly! Not really, he is my charrie and a Cursed living in the Palace of the Cursed)

Previous King: Alewar - Deceased (Assassination)
Previous Queen: Bisera

King Arshavir's younger siblings: Aviva and Asger (twins)
- Not really relevant but meh! Why not!

I also have the names of Queen Clementia's parents if you really want them, but they aren't considered part of the royal family (directly) so I excluded them. They are deceased as well. And Queen Clementia is an only child.

The world population seems kind of skewed, consider that it's a medival-type world mostly covered by ocean- wouldn't there only be a few million people at most?
Also, are Cursed ever born outside of Aiden (islands and such) and is the palace of the cursed in a secret location, or does everyone know where it is?

oh- and can a cursed child be born at the same time as the death of the previous dies- in other words, can a cursed child be conceived before the death of their predecessor, so long as the predecessor dies before they are born? and do genes play any part of it- if you had a cursed relative, are you more or less likely to be born cursed, and species- for example the twins are both foxes- is that random or genetic?

Lots of good questions!
1) For the population thing, I have no idea. I know nothing about populations or anything like that so I just created a random number and went 'that'll do!'. If it is not realistic I can easily change it (and want to!). Do you know what would be more reasonable LJF?
2) Cursed can indeed be born outside of Aiden on the islands. The gods don't care about things like silly human lines drawn on maps.
3) The location of the Palace of the Cursed....hmm...that's a good one. Hadn't thought of that! People like the guards etc know its exact location, but I think the general public wouldn't. They would know its general vicinity, but knowing its roughly there and knowing its coordinates and two very different things (especially with a country the size of Aiden).
4) Kinda yes and no. A child that possibly will be Cursed can be conceived before their predecessor dies, but it depends on how grown/advanced in the womb they are when said predecessor dies. Every Cursed is conceived and begins growing in the womb completely human. The gods then have a time limit to chose that child. Things such as tails etc don't just pop into existence, they have to grow first. It would be ridiculous if a child was human one day and then born the next day as Cursed. There wouldn't be enough time for their bodies to be altered. So the gods have to allow time for the child's body to be altered and to accept the gifts they are given. Most of the time it's a hassle so the gods usually just wait until the current Cursed is dead before even thinking about choosing another. Does that make sense?
5) No, genes play no part in being Cursed or not. Technically, Cursed DNA reads human, just with a few slight alterations (nothing to distinctive). Scientifically, they are an impossibility, they have things on them/can do things that aren't in their DNA. But the gods don't work in the realm of the possible, they're gods! The Cursed are made with god magic juice! However, if you have a Cursed relative you are more likely to be Cursed. This is because the gods know that a Cursed child usually needs special care and who better to give that than another Cursed! It's not always the case, the gods chose their Blessed because of their soul and the possible future they could make by being Blessed, but they will look more thoroughly at those with Cursed relatives. K?
6) Species wise is again, completely random. Usually siblings have similar personality traits etc that entice a specific god. But if the siblings are different enough, the species can also be different. Amanda's twin charries Aelin and Rowan and both foxes because they are very similar. The Artic and Fennec fox gods liked them both and the connection they have, so they were chosen. However, if you had one twin who was super quite and slow going and one who was super bubby and fast paced, the first twin may be a sloth and the other a cheetah (just an example).

Hey everyone!! Just letting you know that I have included a description of the tribes that live in the Sefna desert on the Sefna thread. I can put it here as well if you want, just let me know. :)

I dont know much a bout population statistics, but as a rough guess, I would say Keras's population looks something like this.

Sefna tribes: Depending on how many tribes there are, I would guess that their total population is somewhere between 500 and 2000 people.
Island nations: 50,000 more or less.
Aiden: 200,000

This is all a rough guess.

That sounds good! Does anyone else know population stuff? If not, we will go with what LJF has proposed.

It also depends on how developed it is. What time period of real history does it resemble?

Ummmmm.....I don't actually know. I didn't think about that sort of stuff. I guess medieval in a way. Like, they don't have electricity and use swords and bows etc. But they are more advanced in some things. Clothing can be more advanced and their medical knowledge is amazing, They have created so many different medicines that we don't have just cause they mixed them differently and stuff. The population would probably be larger than the equivalent human time because of this.

Sefna tribes: same
Island nations: 5,000,000
Aiden:20,000,000
Approx population- 25 million?

Yup, fine by me!! If anyone has any objections speak now or forever hold your peace! None? Then the court has ruled! LJF's population numbers are sound and shall be used henceforth!
(Hehehe!)

Question:

So say one Cursed has died, and another child is born as the same animal. That's already and established universe thing. However, would or could that new child have flashes of memories of a previous "ancestor" of that animal? Kind of like an Avatar thing? Or maybe receive advice from them?

Interesting theory....I never thought about that! Any thoughts, Heather?

Interesting indeed! I think I know a way to have that. You see, the guardian spirits are connected to every one of their Cursed children through the ages. Most of the time the connection is limited to a brief brushing of minds, the occasional push from the guardian to do something the Cursed was hesitating about or whatever. However sometimes the connection is stronger. Usually the spirits choose to only have a loose connection so as not to overwhelm the child (allow them to make their own choices etc), however sometimes if the circumstances are bad the gods will choose to forge a stronger connection to help the child survive. My character Aelic for example has such a strong connection with his godess she can talk to him mind to mind and occasionally even talk through him. This is because of his childhood in solitary confinement (he needed someone to help him and raise him correctly otherwise he would be insane) and his future hardships to come. My other character Zibiah though has had quite a nice, cushy lifestyle so only has a very loose connection with her god. These connections can strengthen and wane over time as the child and the god sees fit. Perhaps during times of stress the god can increase the connection and send through a previous childs memory or experience to help the current child. A kind of 'this is what someone else has done in this situation' advice. What do we think?

OOOOOH! I like!
It's also convenient to help young Cursed who've been abandoned in the wild and would die out there on their own.

Okay. That sounds good. I like that idea of stronger connections based on experience. Plus it also pushes you to think harder about your character since you'd want to know their past experiences and how strong their connection is. Thanks!

Exactly!! Glad you guys like it! :)