GRAMFYRE

Gramfyre is the weapon of choice for Numen Magnus. I named it after Gram, which was the sword the Norse hero Sigurd used to slay the dragon Fafnir. I also drew inspiration from Excalibur from Arthurian Legend and the One Ring from The Lord of the Rings. Just as Excalibur and the One Ring answer to no one except King Arthur and Sauron respectively, Gramfyre answers only to the descendants of its creator, Vaegar Dragonsteel or Vaegar the Mad. Instead of having Gramfyre in a stone like Excalibur, I had it in something else that rhymes with “stone”. Like the One Ring, Gramfyre has the ability to influence the mind of its wielder in order to fulfill its desires. While the One Ring influenced its bearers to return to Sauron, Gramfyre influences its wielders to satisfy its desire for conquest. As a result of this influence, Numen’s personality tends to shift from his normal personality to one of an ambitious and ruthless conqueror, often on a subconscious level.

In terms of appearance, Gramfyre is a hand-and-a-half sword that was forged from the organic metallic ore of a dragon scale. Its blade is pitch black with ancient runes engraved along the fuller. Its crossguard is cruciform in structure, made of gold, and decorated with rubies. The grip is made from polished ivory from dragon bones. Finally, the pommel resembles that of Narsil from The Lord of the Rings except it is made of gold and has a big ruby embedded in the center. Despite its size, the sword is so light that it feels like it’s not even there, which gives it a scary nature, yet it is virtually indestructible and sharp enough to cut through castle-forged steel like a hot knife through butter.

When wielding Gramfyre, its master tends to perform deeds that would be considered impossible by most. Most of the time, Gramfyre constantly influences fate so that its wielder could achieve its desire for conquest. In combat situations, it grants its master the strength, speed, and fury of ten men as well as a high tolerance to physical pain. The only drawback of these abilities is that Gramfyre requires the life force of its wielder in order to fuel its magic. The Civil Folk call Gramfyre the Sword of Power while the Welts refer to it as the Sword of Miracles. Overall, Gramfyre is a selfish, bloodthirsty, and capricious sword that is both a benefit and a liability.

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GAME OF THRONES: BRAN STARK AND THE NIGHT KING

I heard an interesting theory regarding Bran Stark and the Night King. Some people think that Bran Stark and the Night King are one and the same, which sounds insane, but I think I know how that can happen. When Bran Stark became the three-eyed raven, he became all-seeing and all-knowing with the power to not only see the past, present, and future, but also the ability to insert his presence throughout time. While training with the original three-eyed raven (Bloodraven AKA Brynden Rivers), Bran was warned if he wandered too long in time he would never return. What if Bran some time does this in the Dawn Age long before the Long Night and his essence became trapped in the past? He would have then been captured by the Children of the Forest, who could have sensed his presence due to their own greenseers. They would then turn him into a weapon against the First Men: the first White Walker and future Night King. By turning Bran into a White Walker, the Children would inadvertently amplify his magic. Because Bran can see the past, present, and future, he would come to realize that Westeros would be doomed to a constant state of war, conquest, and corruption. To solve this problem, Bran would turn himself into a common enemy for the people of Westeros to unite against. If this is so, Bran’s methods may seem cruel and questionable, but there is long-term thinking behind his cold madness. To make the Long Night even worse, if Bran and the Night King are one and the same then the people of Westeros are up against an enemy that not only controls cold, darkness, and death, but also knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen. The original three-eyed raven said Bran would fly and I think the Night King riding an undead dragon is the culmination of that prophecy. I hope we will get a clear answer to this theory next season.

FANTASY COVER!!!

Here is the cover of my fantasy book, Numen the Slayer!

BLOOD MAGIC

Easily one of the darkest forms of magic is blood magic. As its name suggests this sorcery is fueled by blood. The more blood you sacrifice the more powerful the magic becomes. In order to truly master blood magic, you need blood from someone you love, blood from someone you hate, and blood from yourself. I will be featuring blood magic in my fantasy series and it will be used to perform unnatural and unholy feats.

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 7: THE WHITE WALKERS

The season premiere of Game of Thrones blessed us with a glimpse of the growing strength of the White Walkers. Their numbers have grown to the point in which their undead army can be seen as far as the eye could see like an unholy ocean of death. To make matters worse, the White Walkers have now added at least three undead giants to their army. We all saw how much effort it takes to kill a live giant so re-killing an undead one is going to be much more difficult. So far, we don’t know if the White Walkers have undead bears or ice spiders that are as big as hounds like in the books, but due to the vastness of the undead army it is likely they are there somewhere waiting to strike. I cannot wait to see the full lethality of the White Walkers this season as they continue to march towards the Wall to invade the realms of men once again. Like Euron Greyjoy, the White Walkers are the storm; the first and the last. Soon the War of the Five Kings will be over and the new War for the Dawn will begin.

SMITHSONIAN BUTTERFLY HOUSE

While I was at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, I went into their butterfly house. It was like walking into a fairy tale because the butterflies and moths reminded me of fairies. There was even one butterfly that stubbornly clung to a lady’s bag and would not let go no matter what. Even though it is unlikely that I would include fairies in my fantasy series, I thought it would be nice to draw inspiration from this experience if I decide to write a children’s story.

DRAGON’S HEAD

How is this for a dragon head? This is close to what I think of when I imagine a dragon’s head in my fantasy book.