Clockwork and Spaceships: Character Chat: Prince Mannok

Welcome Adventures, to Character chat. In this new article I’ll be talking with characters from newly released and soon to be released books. Today’s guest is Prince Mannok from Akrad’s Children

Welcome, so tell my adventurers about your world.

Welcome, brave travelers to Tarka, the city Kapoks and Kupannas, beautiful princesses and brave warriors, wise priests and crafty merchants, dynastic struggles, betrayals and heroic deeds. Tarka is the seat of my father Rokkan Kapok son of Martal Kapok, son of Tellek Kapok, Lord of Tamra and Shanta, Overlord of Tarka, mighty jaguar of the North, Protector of widows and orphans.

Our land has been torn apart by years of war and betrayal. With the ending of the siege of Nakri and the subsequent battle at North Pass, my father has brought peace to our land. Yet there are still those who seek to destroy us. In the north are the fierce Nolmec who conquered our sister realm of Mokka. And after the events at Eagle Rest, danger might be closer to home and harder to detect.

Some say that strange mythical creatures live in the huge forests in the East, including the Adelphi or shapeshifters. Some even suggest the Adelphi killed the sorcerer, Akrad, at the battle of North Pass, but I have never seen any evidence of such fantastical creatures.

What are some of the places you’d recommend my adventurers see in your world?

The royal city of Tarka is the central point of our realm. High in the White Mountains, it sits between the slopes of the Twins and overlooks a fertile valley fed by glacial streams. Tarka is well worth a visit with its massive city wall, bustling merchant district, the red-walled Golden Palace and the Great Temple nestled between the snow-capped peaks of the Elder and Younger Twins. The surrounding areas have high waterfalls, stunning views, and clear mountain lakes which reflect the light of the two moons.

The Mist forests on the eastern mountain slopes are full of brightly covered birds, jaguars, and other wild life that make good hunting. In the south, there are the ruins of Shanta and the realms of Silisea and Limar. To the west, across the dry grasslands, the Endless Ocean whose great waves crash against the cliffs around the port city of Akra.

Tell my adventurers about some of the technology in your world.

Our metalsmiths make weapons and tools of bronze, as well as wood and bone. We have spears, knives, clubs, and shields. Our masons build great cities, walls, strongholds, palaces and temples in stone. The Golden Palace in particular has arches, skylights and large casement windows that allow air and light into our halls. The mountain slopes are terraced and irrigated to allow us to grow crops. We have stone roads and bridges (most of rope and planks) connect the realm. An ancestor established wayhouses for travelers to stay along the roads. Our transport is by foot, horse or yarma trains, though the well-born sometimes travel by palanquin. We are famous for the beauty of our woven cloth and tapestries and of our golden ornaments and vessels. We are a literate people and the Great Library in the Golden Palace is perhaps the best in the known world.

How would you describe your fellow characters?

Mostly loyal, though my father distrusts our cousin Haka (who is next in line to the throne). Papa can be rather arbitrary at times and its hard to live up to his reputation as a brilliant general, daring warrior and accomplished scholar. My age-mates are mostly a good bunch, though the half-Nolmec Dinnis is rather moody, and I often think he is joking at my expense. Ista, Akrad’s great-grand daughter, on the other hand is intriguing and beautiful. I only wish my mother, the Kupanna, didn’t treat her quite so harshly.

Thank you for coming to talk with us, and can’t wait to read all about you.

Akrad’s Children

Book 1 in the Akrad’s Legacy Seires

Four young lives, a realm ravaged by war, a haunting legacy

Four young lives are bound together in friendship, love, rivalry and tragedy. A realm ravaged by civil war, a ruler scarred by betrayal, a legacy that haunts them all.

Caught between two cultures, a pawn in a deadly power struggle, Dinnis longs for the day his father will rescue him and his sister from the sorcerer Akrad’s clutches. But things don’t turn out how Dinnis imagines and his father betrays him.

Does Dinnis have a future among the Tamrin? Will he seek revenge for wrongs like his sister or forge a different destiny?

Currently 99c on Amazon for a short time https://www.amazon.com/Akrads-Children-Legacy-Book-ebook/dp/B075BK8436/

Bio

Jeanette O’Hagan first started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fantasy, science fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures.

Recent publications include Blood Crystal Heart of the Mountain, The Herbalist's Daughter and Lakwi's Lament. You can find her other short stories and poems in anthologies such as Futurevision (pub Sept 2017), Glimpses of Light, Another Time Another Place and Like a Girl. Jeanette is also writing her Akrad’s Legacy Series—a Young Adult secondary world fantasy fiction.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.