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#JulyWorldbuilders 20. Celebrated historical figure Gnaeus didn’t have any historical heroes so he let Aemilia answer this question, and she chose Hannibal (after the Carthaginian general), as she liked elephants - in fact, because she thought Hannibal *was* an elephant.

Reading about Gráinne Mhaol (Grace O’Malley), Irish ‘pirate queen’ of the 1500s (also styled as a punk Pagan rebel) - a formidable lady, but it can be hard in those times to disentangle nuances between piracy, privateering, protection racket, feudal tribute & statecraft. #history

‘Ashes of Eden’ is now out in paperback!

#JulyWorldbuilders 21. Public events, contests, games, etc. The young gods would have music and beauty contests, and an annual sports day, attended by proud dads and mothers of gods. But it could be difficult to judge beauty between different animal-headed gods and goddesses.

Ancient Rome was influenced, albeit indirectly, by Babylonian culture, but there was a considerable time lag between these - of hundreds or even thousands of years. So to the ancient Romans, the Babylonian golden age was from their ancient past! #Roman #history #Babylon

#JulyWorldbuilders 22. Name of forest The nearest actual forest was the Silva Albana, the whole area lush with vegetation growing in the rich volcanic soils. Gnaeus defined a forest as a wooded area large enough to get lost in; or if you came out, you came out a different person.

People talk of the ‘Celtic fringe’, but historically, Celtic culture had a vast geographical spread and was not just one particular location. In fact, arguably ‘British’ culture was a peripheral subset of Celtic culture, not the other way around. Just sayin’😼 #culture #history

#JulyWorldbuilders 23. Does the MC spend time in a forest? No. Gnaeus spends some time in the local woods and sacred groves around Tusculum, which are more people-friendly, nature-lite sorts of places, than the forest proper which is a darker place, where even gods are scarce.

Astarte was a fascinating goddess, of love, war and fertility, of the Canaanites & Phoenicians; and counterpart of Baal. The ever-jealous God of the Bible warned Israelites not to worship her (as Ashtoreth). But naughty old Solomon couldn’t resist anyway. #religion #history

#JulyWorldbuilders 24. Overall vibes of forest The woods around where Gnaeus lives are full of spirits and sacred lore. It is as if Nature is alive with divinity. Gnaeus takes Aemilia there because it's good for the soul. Aemilia has fun there, whispering to the gods and animals.

The Egyptian goddess Bastet originally had the head of a lioness, but in later dynasties, she had the head of a domestic cat. This shift in divine character over millennia echoed the domestication of actual cats. Cats themselves were revered as sacred 🐈 #Egypt #history #cats

#JulyWorldbuilders 25. Animals in the forest In the nearest forest there are deer, wild boar & wolves. Aemilia once saw a big cat and wondered if it was an escaped leopard, but turned out to be just a big cat. Another day she thought she saw an elephant, but it (probably) wasn’t.

When Levantine #goddess #Astarte became the Hellenic #Aphrodite, her war-like character was downplayed or dropped. Maybe she chilled out when in #Cyprus. Or she wasn’t so great in battle anyway, so they let her concentrate on being a goddess of #love and beauty. #Greece #history

#FantasyIndiesJuly 25. Free Friday ‘Paradise F——d’ is the fifth story in my book, Beëlzebub’s Bible. It’s maybe my darkest story. It is set in a world that is ‘worse now than then.’ My related blog: stephenzoltan.wordpress.com/2023/05/01/if-… #dark #reality #urban #fantasy #fiction

#JulyWorldbuilders 26. Supernatural entities in the forest The young gods would run amok in the forest, destroying trees, burning things, bullying other gods, doing naughty things with goddesses. Gods that hatched in the forest would be better behaved, except for haunting people.

From ancient Mesopotamia, we hear of sacred sexual rites or temple prostitution, a curious cocktail of holy sexuality, though it’s not clear what exactly was involved. But it’s hard to imagine anything to do with theocracy being casual or fun in a modern sense #religion #history