I is for Innessa by Mysti Parker

Welcome to Unwritten's little corner of the the A-Z Blogging Challenge! If you want to see the whole lineup, click HERE!


Since no one grabbed lonely letter "I", I took it upon myself to tackle the challenge. Immediately, I thought of a key element in my Tallenmere series: Innessa. As both the name of a goddess and a continent, Innessa is pivotal to the world of Tallenmere. But, maybe you shouldn't take my word for it. Let's hear from the goddess herself.

I is for...Innessa

What would YOUR world be without beauty and magic? Straight and perfect lines and angles. Monochromatic. Basal. Bland. I am the warmth of the sun's rays, the iridescence on a butterfly's wing, the never-ending desire deep within one's conscious to unearth the mysteries of the universe. I am Innessa, and I was here when time began.

~Magickal Graphics~

Omri, Drae and I created everything. Omri set the stars and other heavenly bodies in place. I added my spark to make them shine. We agreed to create life starting with a fairly small planet, and it was there we let our imaginations fly. The dragon god Drae formed the molten core. Omri raised the landmasses from it and separated them with great seas. Drae was first to create living creatures, modeling his beloved beings after his own image. I blessed the fertile earth to bring forth plant life of all kinds. Ivy was, and still is, my favorite. Omri and I created one animal after another, both great and small, timid and fierce, creatures who roamed the land and swam the seas and rivers. The entire world blossomed under our immortal hands. Light prevailed, and dragons and drakes soared through the planet's pristine skies. Pure beauty and peace.


Omri decided to form his own sentient creatures and called them humans and halflings. He gave them short lifespans, but they were peaceful and worshiped him unquestioningly. I must admit to a having a competitive nature, so I created the elves. Wood elves to be guardians of the plants and animals and high elves, my masterpiece, blessed with my spark from an early age. And I granted them all the gift of long life. One thousand years to be exact. No more, no less. They called the world we had created for them Tallenmere, and to my great delight, they named their land after me, Innessa. Still besotted with our accomplishments, I later formed the faeries out of the giant blossoms of Faewood and the dwarves from the very stone of the Eastwood mountains.

~Magickal Graphics~

Tyr arrived late to creation, proclaiming his right to contribute to our efforts. Darkness, he argued, is essential to balance. Perfection is a myth, and the people will not be able to maintain it, he said. They will turn on each other if they do not have common causes to fight for. Omri, who exists for nothing but peace and tranquility, agreed with Tyr. I, however, did not, yet no matter how much I protested, the two of them insisted all the more. Light, they said, really cannot exist without darkness. 


After much debate, I'm sorry to say, I relented.


Tyr cut the light of day and added hours of night. He created races that would exist only in a mortal's nightmares. The First Ones--winged, scaled, vicious bipeds with a constant hunger for flesh. Then came ogres, trolls, and finally, his pride and joy--the dark elves. 


For a while, balance did exist, until Tyr's First Ones became more then even he could handle. I cannot begin to tell you how wicked and destructive they were. Not even the dark elves, with their high intelligence and love of the dark arts were this evil. Omri and I sought Drae's council, but he declined to become involved, saying we brought this upon ourselves. Until this day, he remains apathetic to our plight. Therefore, Omri and I cornered Tyr and demanded he destroy those things. He refused at first, yet I firmly believe he was afraid of them. We decided to take things into our own hands after they almost devoured the entire halfling race, but discovered the disgusting things had suddenly vanished. Tyr said he disposed of the First Ones. Omri took him at his word, but I did not believe him. To this day, I think he has them exiled somewhere, though I cannot locate their realm yet. 

 

~Magickal Graphics~

As I feared, however, our perfect creation was stained with Tyr's darkness and remains so until this day. Some still believe in us, some do not. Even some of my precious elves have shifted loyalties from worshiping me to worshiping Omri. Tallenmere is in constant turmoil. Wars, pestilence, and sinful desires are rampant, often striking my elves far before their one thousand years are over.




Tyr distances himself from us, for good reason, yet his laughter echoes through the abyss of the universe. He's quite pleased with himself and takes the souls who have fallen into darkness. Omri and I fight tirelessly for the souls who can be redeemed, often pulling them out of Tyr's in-between realms to bring them into heaven. We intercede when we can for the living, especially to those who remain faithful. They are, in the truest sense, our children.


Though Omri and I have created life on other worlds since Tallenmere's formation, we've lost our zeal. We cannot bring ourselves to destroy it all and start again, so we persist in the hopes that at least some of our children can feel our love for them. Isn't that every parent's wish? 


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Mysti Parker divides her time between raising three crazy kids (4 if you count her husband), running this blog, and writing about the magic and mayhem of Tallenmere. 


To see the world where these gods and monsters wreak havoc, while ill-fated couples battle unspeakable forces to find true love, read her Tallenmere fantasy romance series, starting with Book One, A Ranger's Tale. 

Once upon a time an elven noblewoman longed to leave her gilded cage. A half-breed former pirate wanted nothing more than to escape his guilty past. Easier said than done... 
**see pages under header for purchase links**

Book Two, Serenya's Song, Coming Soon!

In the fantasy world of Tallenmere, no one ever said love was easy...

Serenya Crowe may be a half-elf commoner, but she's no ordinary woman. With the ability to interpret dreams, and a birth defect that forces her to wear gloves, she's endured gossip and the cruelty of her husband, Sebastian, The Earl of Summerwind. All she's ever wanted is to live a quiet life and raise a family. When she meets the new stranger in town, her world and her heart, are turned upside down.

Wood-elf Jayden Ravenwing is an ex-secret agent who wants nothing more than to forget matters of the heart. He left the bustle of Leogard and his failed marriage to make a fresh start in Summerwind. He never planned to fall in love again, especially with the enchanting Serenya Crowe.

When a strange portal opens on the Crowe property, Jayden is thrown into an investigation, knowing that if he fails, Serenya and everyone in the town may die.

Together, he and Serenya must overcome an ancient evil, and their own inner demons, to save Summerwind and find the love they've always dreamed of.