the World of Aeora

So I created this new comic for an upcoming scene from chapter 9 of Tales of Aeora. Stay tuned and read the next few chapters to figure out what is going on in this comic!

 Just a quick announcement that I have finally finished my edits to chapter 9 of Tales of Aeora, and it is being post'd for beta readers at my Buy Me a Coffee Page here. Subscribers may leave me comments and suggestions for upcoming chapters and I will consider them before the final draft. Only one more chapter (chapter 8) left to go before I can put all of the chapters of Tales of Aeora, Part 1 into a pdf collection. 

So exciting!

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Just a little sketch of a scene from chapter 9 of Tales of Aeora. Not yet released, think of this as a sneak preview!

• Chapter 7 is going to be released soon to beta readers! The rest of Part 1 is still [WIP]
• New #beta-readers channel in the Discord where subscribers can read chapters early and offer their suggestions!
• New upcoming map of Northern Misram set to be released soon -- watch the video for a sneak peek of the map!

"An Analysis of Medeva’s poem, ‘Phrixus and Helle,’ in Relation to the Formation, and Orbit, of the Early Moons of Aeora”

By Thomas Apollinus, a member of the Society of Alchemists

Summary

    "The following article attempts to reconcile the debate over whether or not Medeva had access to information regarding the formation, and evolution, of the early moons of Aeora (Phrixus and Helle). There is a modern-day belief that Medeva had access to secret knowledge through her mother, Luna, and the other gods. We argue, however, that Medeva had access to exclusive records on time-reckoning, through the Society of Alchemists, and that she used complex metaphors to describe relationships that she perceived in the natural world. Unfortunately, Medeva’s advanced metaphors (and perception of the world) led many to believe that she was not entirely mortal."

Article

Contemporary scholars wonder to what extent the ancients knew about the rotation, and formation, of the moons and planets in our solar system. When “Phrixus and Helle” was written by Medeva, sometime Before the Destruction (BD), ancient astronomers relied on three methods of calculating a year – one lunar, one solar, or a hybrid depending on the civilization. The country in which Medeva lived is unknown, but historical evidence indicates that it rested somewhere between the ancient empires of Kemet and Valentia (1). The system of time reckoning for both of these civilizations is beyond the scope of this essay, but it should suffice to say that Kemet relied (primarily) on a lunar calendar while Valentia dated their months according to the sun (2). Claims by Medeva, and her supporters, that the poem was presented to her by the spirits of the two moons – Phrixus and Helle – has prevailed into modern theological discourse. However, it seems far more likely that the poem was written using the knowledge of time calculations of the Kemetian and Valentian empires, as well as Medeva’s own knowledge concerning the formation of the moons based on her study of her former husband’s research.

The structure of the poem indicates that Medeva had some knowledge about the orbit of the moons, but to what extent is still debated. For example, each stanza is introduced by the name of a season associated with the solar year. Scansion of the poem’s form and meter, however, indicates that each stanza is made up of thirty feet of either iambs or trochees (depending on the season) plus a triplet of twenty feet at the end, or 140 feet in the entire poem, which suggests that Medeva refers to a lunar year in her work (which is comprised of 140 months and begins with the total eclipse known, to the ancients, as the Morte Kalendis — described in line 24). Her follower’s assertions that the poem was a revelation sent by Phrixus and Helle are completely unfounded; still, there is clear indication that Medeva was aware of the months in a lunar year and that they were somehow related to the seasons.

During Medeva’s lifetime, there were several groups who devised calendars based on the phases of the sun and the three moons. Many of the early calendars, specifically those in Kemet and Valentia, influenced our own modern systems of time reckoning. In the temples of the Khonsu, in Karnak (where Medeva is rumored to have visited), ancient astronomers began their lunar year at the day of total eclipse (2). Furthermore, the Society of Alchemists started to observe the orbit of the moons and developed our modern system of date-keeping. Jason would have been aware of these developments and might have shared them with his wife, or Medeva might have stolen the information from her husband’s library when she fled the country. The poem could have been written sometime after her flight since the final couplet references a “paper boat” (lines 27-28). Due to the discoveries of her husband, and the Khonsu, Medeva could have been aware of the number of times Luna orbited the earth in one rotation of Phrixus (being 140 or the number of months in a lunar year). Rather than a vision transmitted by the gods, it seems more likely that Medeva wrote poetry inspired by the early scientific discoveries of astronomers such as her husband. 

The records Jason kept, translated for generations by the Society of Alchemists, describe Medeva as a sorceress who didn’t reveal her true identity until years into their marriage. On the night that she was sentenced to prison, she fled her country on a boat across the Seventh Sea – stealing several rare and valuable documents from the organization archives before she left (4). Although Jason never wrote about the conclusion with his ex-wife, historical records (see the letters of various pirates off the coast of Elithrea) suggest that she traveled toward the coast of Kemet where she settled with the Khonsu. Scientists speculate that Medeva brought the records of Jason the Astronomer with her, transplanting them on the eastern continent and in the hands of Khonsu priests and priestess (thus adding to their own research concerning the movement of the moons). 

There are some documents that make it appear as if Medeva had access to information about how the solar system was formed, however this has been pure speculation. Her assertion that Phrixus “burned as punishment, thick band of ash and sulfur tore apart the sky” (lines 11-12) and that before this a “grey light, reflected, showed” (lines 1-3) demonstrates that Medeva believed that the moon, Phrixus, was not always the swirling red and black that we see today. Modern science has revealed that, before a stellar collision in our moon’s past, Phrixus would have looked like a small Luna or (more likely) a large Helle. It is likely that several large impacts from a period of heavy bombardment pummeled the moon, causing its surface to rupture and spew magma, as well as form lengthy volcano ranges – leaving behind the burning, smoky atmosphere that we witness today (3). However, the Society of Alchemists weren’t even aware of this fact during Jason’s lifetime, and it is not clear how Medeva knew as much as she did about Phrixus’ ancient past. Scientists hypothesize that the asteroids and meteors that caused Phrixus’ crust to shatter occurred before the evolution of life, and is therefore put forward by zealots as evidence that Medeva was in communication with the gods. Such assertions give too much credit to Medeva’s artistic comparison between Phrixus and the moon, Luna. It would not have been a stretch for her to imagine Phrixus, especially if he were as personable as she suggests, having once looked like one of the other moons. 

Another problematic piece of evidence — Medeva claims, at first glance in accordance with modern scientific discourse, that after he burned Phrixus “called his twin flame,” Helle (line 13). It is known that Helle and Phrixus were formed together during a probable collision between Aeora and a large stellar body billions of years ago, making them “twins” in a sense. It is likely, however, that Helle received a large portion of ice from Phrixus during the most recent period of heavy bombardment – causing its current, oceanic appearance. Once again, modern philosophers are baffled by how Medeva could have known these facts but the answer is simple: she didn’t know them. The description of Helle being summoned by Phrixus is a reference to their (obviously) dependent relationship in space. If zealots would peer more closely into Medeva’s work, they would note that her poetics are not a revelation but a metaphorical analysis of what she perceived in the night sky coupled with the knowledge she stole from early astronomers. The “mysterious” methods by which she obtained this knowledge was not divine or visionary, but a byproduct of human reflection on the natural world. 

The author hopes that this article will dispel the assertions that Medeva was linked to a divine world and reveal, instead, that the ancients were more aware of their natural world than we used to believe. The relics found in Valentia, such as the Antikythra, as well as the records of the Khonsu, indicate that early man was more adept at time calculation than we previously thought. There is no evidence that Medeva was connected to a divine agent, or that she was aware of astronomical patterns and events, before the observations of the Society of Alchemists. Like the “lost cities of Yis and Lyonesse” (lines 9-10) that she describes in her poem, any “evidence” to the contrary is a fantastical and unsupported conclusion derived from the whims of a hopeful, new-age delusion. 

Additional Sources

• Mythologies of the Anantian People, Polek Helena (598 A.D.)
• Ancient Calendars of Kemet, Timot the Builder (474 A.D.)
• Modern Thought on the Destruction, Hiratio Derus (603 A.D.)
• Analyzing Ancient Mythologies, Stephan Mendac (615 A.D.) 

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