Illustration: Reunited – Defender and Hyarmi

My illustration ideas usually sit in line for years, until it’s the correct season, other higher-priority projects are completed, and I have the computer and 3D model resources to tackle it.

And then comes a situation like this! Since the moment I met Spilled Ink and Sungleam Under Storm in writing End of Days, I’ve been itching to do a picture of them together.

My protagonist, Cerussite Sings, wondered if his peculiar neighbor Spilled Ink actually had a mate, or did Sungleam Under Storm just live in her poetry? So I wasn’t sure myself at first! But Sungleam Under Storm was no poetic fancy, and oh, what fun to write their joint mission to find and rescue Spilled Ink.

An ava (male avarii) with dark feathers is holding an avii (female avarii) in his arms; she has injured feet, bruises, and is missing feathers from her wings. They are in a dry rocky landscape near midday, with distant mountains visible through haze. An ava with pale feathers and blood-splattered clothing is flying toward them. — Reunited
The pair embraced; he could not hear what words passed between them. Then Sungleam Under Storm caught Spilled Ink up in his arms, appearing to exclaim over her injured feet.

– *End of Days*
Read more about this illustration here.

From the essay “Of the Avarii”:

Due to the structure of the avarii written language, names for both individuals and places among their race are always compounds of words. Only when dealing with the other races are they sometimes forced to create new words with no direct meaning. The name of the capital city of Triune, Eskaldaen, is one such example.

When offspring are hatched, the parents choose a name based on appearance or the expectation of appearance once maturity is reached (extrapolating from their own plumage). This name is often discarded by the bearer when he or she reaches maturity and finds it unfitting or undesirable. Nearly all avarii names employ reference to the land, weather, seasons, or other aspects of the beautiful world they live in. Avarii names do not vary according to gender, though it is often easy to deduce gender by pondering the mental image summoned with a particular name.

Avarii have two versions of their names: a long, descriptive formal name, and a shortened informal version. The latter is employed for ease and swiftness in speaking with family members and close friends day to day.

Spilled Ink’s formal name is Spilled Ink on Parchment.
Sungleam Under Storm’s formal name is Sungleam Under Storm That Sparks the Rainbow.
Cerussite Sings’ formal name is Cerussite Sings in the Darkness. The name his parents gave him was Glaucous in Spring Fog, which he quite hated.