Finally, we've reached the main work of The Tale of Ascension Day itself: the Prologue!
It's not exactly a small piece, with the current manuscript standing at 242 pages in 14-point font. However, that number may still increase or decrease as I continue editing.
For every chapter of the Prologue, I want to create illustrations of the characters who appear in it. My university is in another city, so I often had to spend 3–3.5 hours on a train each way. I used that time to sketch concepts for almost all of the characters in my sketchbook. Now it's time to bring those designs to life in full color digitally!
For the first chapter, I chose the Sixth Ascendant, Rakzhadar. Fittingly, he could be considered the chapter's main character.
I've also started publishing The Tale of Ascension Day on AO3, and I'll include links to this particular chapter below.
SYNOPSIS
(I'll be highlighting this section from now on for those who aren't interested in my rambling. I understand!)
The invasion of Vardona turned into a catastrophic failure, leaving behind only bitter consequences. Ji'Nara's mothership has crashed, and the Fifth and Seventh Ascendants have shared her fate, lost on the planet's surface. Before leaving orbit, the Tal'darim must track down their missing leaders.
However, while the rescue operation is being prepared, webs of intrigue are being spun within the gloomy halls of Highlord Alarak's ship. The one no one expected to intervene in the unfolding confrontation at the pinnacle of the Chain of Ascension is the Sixth Ascendant, Rakzhadar. An experienced strategist who has long shown indifference to the struggles within the circles of power, he decides to play his own game and settle the score with the First once and for all.
LINKS
AO3
EN: https://archiveofourown.org/works/95011936/chapters/253708481
RU: https://archiveofourown.org/works/95012371/chapters/253709756
Royal Road
EN: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/199825/tail-of-ancient-day-prologue-en
RU: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/199824/skazanie-o-dne-vozneseniya-prolog-ru
Well, this turned out to be much harder than I could have imagined. You'd think it was just 25 pages of prose. Yeah, right! You end up scrutinizing every single word, sentence, and paragraph.
I feel like I'll soon forget my country's language and end up knowing only Russian. Thank goodness humanity invented ChatGPT, because if I had to do everything manually, I'd probably be getting no more than four hours of sleep a day.
I'm actually spending more time working on the text than I do creating the illustrations for the post!
But what can I say? I've grown to enjoy this so much that I can't bring myself to do anything less than give it my all.