Dragon's Blood

MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Here is some more background and insight into the characters and settings of Dragon’s Blood for you for those of you that are interested:

Lorcan - a Cinian knight

The boy's name Lorcan \l(o)-rcan, lor-can\ is pronounced LOR-ken. It is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and its meaning is "littlefierce one". As Lorcan is small but also a strong and forminable warrior, I felt this name suited him.

Darrok - a Cinian knight

The boy's name Darroch \d(a)-rro-ch\ is pronounced DARE-ahk. It is of Irish origin, and its meaning is "strong; oak-hearted". The spelling Darrok is a variant form and I felt that it suited this character who is large and strong, like an oak tree.

  

A note about Iydra:

I have already explained that I chose the name Iydra simply because it was simial to Iyla, but I have since found the similar name, Indra \i-nd-ra, in-dra\; a boy's name is of Hindi and Sanskrit origin, and the meaning of Indra is "possesses rain". In Hindu scripture, Indra is the ancientwarriorgod of the sky and air. As Iydra was a Dragon Tamer, one of the best no less, the idea of his name deriving from one considered to mean warrior of the sky seems very appropriate.

Camen: First Knight to King Alaric of Cinia

Camen is a name I made up and wanted to use for a long time. I tried to find a name with a meaning that fit with Camen’s character but I just couldn’t find anything that suited the way he looked in my head. The name Cadogan was one I considered as it’s meaning is “battle glory” and “honour”. A derivative of Cadogan is Cadman which is getting close to Camen so I satisfied myself with that and Camen he stayed!

The Amarok:

I knew what I wanted these creatures to look like but was struggling to think of a name. After much searching I came across a beast that sounded similar to what I had in mind. Amarok is the name of a giant wolf in Inuit mythology. It will hunt down and devour anyone foolish enough to hunt alone at night. It is sometimes considered equivalent to the waheela of cryptozoology. The name waheela didn’t have the right feel but Amarok felt just right :)

The Chandak:

My idea for the Chandak, and for making Sam an albino, came from lots of research too. I’ve always been interested in the spiritual beliefs of Native Americans and almost every Native American tribe had some manner of "spirit" belief regarding albino animals. My research led me to read about a tribe in Panama called the Kuna. In a quirk of history and genetics, this tribe has one of the world's highest occurrences of albinos, revered as an elite group that the Kuna call "the children of the moon". Kuna mythology puts at the heart of creation, teaching that God sent his albino son to Earth to teach humans how to live. Even today, the Kuna see albinos as highly intelligent and some even claim they have supernatural powers; many albinos in this culture become community leaders, medicine men, shamans, politicians or entrepreneurs.

Dragon’s Keep: The Cinian Castle

Dragon’s Keep is based on a real castle. I wanted to be sure I could adequately demonstrate it’s impenetrable nature and, as someone who knows very little about military tactics or history, I turned to my boyfriend who is a history teacher. He suggested Caerphilly Castle as a starting point. Camen describes the basic principles of its structure but for more information, type it into Google, it’s a pretty interesting read if you like that kind of thing.

“Caerphilly is one of the greatest surviving fortress of the medieval western world. The castle's huge 30 acre site is equalized in size among British fortifications only at Windsor and perhaps Dover. With its massive gatehouses, the scale of its water defences - with no rivals anywhere in Europe - and concentric lines of defense the castle was virtually impregnable against contemporary siege methods.” 

http://www.castlewales.com/caerphil.html