Subject: Hmmm...
Author:
Posted on: 2008-08-22 18:19:00 UTC
"So about these strangely lucid and intense dreams you've been hav-"
"I don't talk about that."
"But they may be a clue! A prophecy!"
"I don't talk about that."
"But you can get us from point A to point B about six times faster if you just tell us-"
"I DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT."
We got into a good MSN chat, and somehow came up with the idea of writing a story based on fantasy cliches, where most of the names are reversals of ordinary words and names. The working title is "Fantasy By Numbers (And Some Backwards Names)". The cast so far is as follows, listed in order of creation:
Samoht, the Generic Desert Rider extra
Ardnassac, the bard who shows up to deliver an ancient song with convenient clues
Eissac, the guard escorting Our Heroes through the woodland fortress
Ennaxor, the Big Bad's underling who kicks Our Hero's ass in about Chapter Three, then gets killed ignominiously around Chapter Ten
Xela, the demoness whose wiles leave her beheaded
Yxor, the Big Bad who has taken control of the king
Newlir, the Standard Elf Guy who is Teh Awsum with a bow
Tarp, the local yokel and standard Hairy-Footed Short Thing
Gnik, the good king
Elcycib, the friendly big-bosomed tavern wench
Oreh the Mighty, the Hero
Dren the Weedy, the main sidekick
Krod, the ogre with bad timing and worse footwork
Resol, the very bad assassin
Ome the Androgynous (and angsty)
They live in the land of Onnudi.
We also have a few quotes from the as yet unwritten story.
"What shall we call ourselves?" "Why not Dnabeht?" "Dnabeht, Ardnassac? Why a silly name like that?" "It seemed to fit the theme." "What theme?" "You know what? Forget it. Would 'Oreh's Group' work?" "BRILLIANT!" "...sigh"
"Here. My song. I was told to learn this while I was becoming a bard. It has never been appropriate until now, I've never until now been able to sing it, and you're going to analyse the words and ignore my talent entirely, so let's get it over with?"
"Oh, I am so depressed. My mum died after living a long and happy life, warm in her bed, with those she loved around her..." "Oh, Ome, shut up. You got the house." "But the house...it is a fount of tragedy and despair..." "If you don't want it, I'll take it..." "hastily No, Resol, that house is my despair-filled burden, I cannot lay it upon you."
"Krod's pants itch." "Why?" "Krod wiped Krod's rear with funny-looking leaves. Krod can feel swellings." All:shudder "sarcastically Krod should make sure not to do that next time then." "There will be next time?" "Yes, seeing as you never pay attention when we point out poison ivy."
From friends and family and so on
Elad
Noremac (or could be Noramac to make it look better)
Nylorac (could be twins)
Ydnew
Leahcim
Werdna
Nahtan (hmm... this one's almost Elvish... maybe a smith with red hair?)
Ekul
Nirtak
Etak
Ardnaxela
Anewor
Cuz I felt like it. Do with these random backwards names as you will.
Ronaele (strangely androgynous innkeeper?)
Naimad
Teragram (sounds almost scientific)
Ahtnamas
Luap
Kered
Nahtanoj
Leahcim
Naej
Nomis
Nairam
Trebor ("You mean Trevor?" "No, dammit! For the hundredth time, no!")
Rovert ("You mean Robert?" "AAARGH!") (twins?)
Sirod
Nelle (really, it's backwards)
Mij ("He's dead, Mij!")
Selrahc
Kram (sustaining trail-mix?)
Esiuol
Drawde (artistic druid?)
Yrneh (his evil alter-ego?)
And, just so you know, in Farscape, "dren" is the alien slang word for "crap." Maybe call him Keeg instead? g
~Neshomeh (or Hemohsen?)
Howsabout...
Yrogerg, the Evil Guy's Right Hand Man.
Keri, the Teenage Girl Who Our Hero Selflessly Saves (we later find out that they're somehow related).
Andaw, the Raging River Our Hero must cross to escape the Bad Guys.
Immik, the Street Urchin who inadvertently helps Our Hero out of a sticky situation (and who is almost impossible to understand speech-wise).
Haras, Samoht's Wife.
Names, names....
Nwot, the largest city in the land.
Siloportem, a small town.
Rotcod, the healer.
Yma, the friendly, annoying blonde tagalong.
Leumas, the stoic, mysterious hunter that only appears when the heroes are about to die.
Nerak, a cheery innkeeper.
Nwahs, a retired sergent.
(Feel free to change them.)
I am offering Idna and Yennj.
We were looking for some more ideas for names of people and places. If anyone has any ideas, would you either post them on here or email us with them (if you'd rather not be publicly associated with the idea, email, otherwise posting here is fine).
We would also appreciate everyone's opinions of this idea.
"Elica"? That one's nice.
"Anigroeg" may not be a good idea, it sounds like an ethnic slur.
"Arbed"? "Divad"? Sounds like furniture.
"Enirahtak" or "Enirehtac"? "Neelhtak"? "Semaj"? "Dnomyar"? "Sirod"?
This sounds cool! Fantasy parodies are really quite fun. offers up "Maxine" and "Sydney" Enixam and Yendys... Lotsa Xs and Ys make for good sorcerer names, perhaps?
Ve vant your naaaames...and possibly your souls, but names will do for now, so we can reverse them and turn them into characters.
The email thing is because we know that you probably won't want your name directly connected to your online persona, so a behind-the-scenes giving of it might be better.
has Tough Guide to Fantasyland waiting ready for fun with creating Fantasy By Numbers
Anyzratak, Awalsinats or Allebazi. Yes, I totally just spelt my great-grandmother's (and mine, incidentally), grandmother's ad mother's names backwards. Ehh, do what you like with them. :D
And... lessee! Aihtnyc and Illaltix? Plus Emen, of course, for what's a name without 'namE'?
"So about these strangely lucid and intense dreams you've been hav-"
"I don't talk about that."
"But they may be a clue! A prophecy!"
"I don't talk about that."
"But you can get us from point A to point B about six times faster if you just tell us-"
"I DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT."
How about Christine? ...It doesn't make a nice backwards name, though... My middle name's better. Allison! Good luck!
Enitsirhc? Eh-nit-serhk? Sounds sinister!
Will Kim and Tim do?
I can't seem to log onto any of my email accounts at the moment. Stupid internet!