Week 7: One Wacky Island

Reblog on Tumblr: magenta-fantasies-illustration…

For the next month or two, I'm going to upload a lot more information about my latest story, House of Cards, Island of Dreams!
Each week I'll upload a picture of some of the characters thematically connected, as well as a short story about one of the characters that week. Most of these short stories will be scenes from the House of Cards, Island of Dreams novel, but retold from a different perspective. Other scenes will be completely unique, but will elaborate on scenes from the novels.

I considered making Week 7 focus on the villains in House of Cards, Island of Dreams, but I decided against it for two reasons. By the time I thought of using Week 7 to showcase the villains, I was mostly finished with the map, and it would have been too late to draw new drawings (as of December 2016 I only have a drawing of one of the villains, and it's not inked or colored.) Also, I haven’t yet written the scenes where two of the villains appear. The only villains who appear thus far (as of December 2016) are the Areoi bullies who cause trouble for anyone who isn’t an Areoi or who supports any non-native Areoi. The main villain will appear very late in the story (though other characters are orchestrating things for him on Areoi throughout the novels.)

I doubt I’ll be posting anything else House of Cards, Island of Dreams related for a while. However, in 2017, expect to see a lot more Age of Eternity art! I hope to finish all of the remaining character pictures for the website and hopefully re-launch the Age of Eternity website (and HOPEFULLY not have hosting issues that get so bad that I have to move hosts). Don’t count on it, but it is a pipe dream and it’s on my 2017 New Year’s resolution list.

Accompanying Story: Perspectives of Areoi: Chronology

Week 1: For a Meadow Ace Servant...
Week 2: ...This Should Be No Problem
Week 3: The Village Inhabitants
Week 4: A Blue Ribbon Bunny and a Blue Harbinger
Week 5: New Help and Old Rumors
Week 6: Something Will Come From the Water
Week 7: One Wacky Island

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In terms of the feel of Areoi, I picture it somewhat as a mix of Kinkow from Pair of Kings, the Animal Crossing village, the many towns of Harvest Moon and a Paul Gauguin-ized version of Tahiti. Areoi is a lush, brilliant tropical paradise with friendly, relaxed people and a strange and wacky side lurking beneath its splendor. While it is a utopic island where everyone happily goes about their lives, the people who live there still face problems, whether negotiating borders, working together to repair infrastructure after a storm, or preventing a disease from spreading.

Areoi is highly isolated, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with nothing else around it for hundreds if not thousands of miles. For this reason, it has many endemic animals. Coral reefs form an atoll around it, making it hard for boats to access unless the boater knows the area. It is a relatively small island, small enough that it can be easily overlooked from a satellite, hence why the outside world has no knowledge of it. It also helps that the island’s mana, a type of life energy that the Areoi worship, is so strong that it interferes with satellite signals. While it is possible to make local calls around Meadow Ace and to receive TV signals and internet, it is impossible to make a phone call to Areoi unless the caller is close to the island. It is difficult to access since it is in the middle of a coral reef atoll, and it is only possible to go through the atoll through a specific area and at high tide.

Areoi is a small enough island that it’s possible to walk between Meadow Ace and the Areoi village, though it’s not a short walk. The Three Masters prefer to drive to the village when they have business there.

Meadow Ace
Meadow Ace: The magnificent estate the Three Masters, Jackson, Rhiannon and Maximilian, rule over. It has many beaches and gardens. It used to be a hilly, rocky meadow. The Areoi saw it as useless land for that reason, and had no issue with it being developed. The mansion is situated on terraced land in the center of the estate, overlooking the ocean and gardens. Meadow Ace has been on Areoi for a few years and the Areoi have mixed opinions of it. Most are neutral towards the newcomers, but some admire Meadow Ace and work there (such as Hina'huero), while others detest having people around that are not Areoi. To continue the size comparison, the main area of Meadow Ace is about the size of Versailles (including the golf courses and farm, Meadow Ace would be larger.) Meadow Ace’s mansion is roughly the size of the palace of Versailles. The mansion has four wings (north, south, east, and west.)

Meadow Ace Gardens: Meadow Ace has a variety of garden terrain: terraced gardens, parterre and even a hydrotherapy garden with a special spring-fed Jacuzzi. There are a dozen pools, each connected by water slides, swimming paths and in one case a water elevator.

Meadow Ace Beaches: Meadow Ace has many pristine white-sand beaches. The boathouse holds the 250’ superyacht Royal Flush as well as the smaller boats belonging to Meadow Ace. Royal Flush is used for supply voyages that require traveling for thousands of miles across the open Pacific Ocean. A smaller yacht is used for fishing and boating around Areoi, and both can hold an even smaller dinghy used for traveling into coves and the river when necessary. A swim platform is anchored off-shore not far from the boathouse. On the far end of Meadow Ace is a desalination plant that helps provide fresh water for the estate.

The Farm: The farm grows crops and raises cows, pigs and chickens for Meadow Ace. Rhiannon occasionally stays in the farmhouse as a “vacation home” and to get away from the formalities of Meadow Ace. Though it looks fairly simple, it is quite a luxurious farmhouse. Farming on Areoi is very easy due to the extremely fertile soil, but the people of Meadow Ace cannot grow everything required for the estate and have to import many goods.

The Golf Course: Meadow Ace has its own eighteen-hole golf course, located on the mountain slope above the main part of the estate. Some fruit trees grow here, providing extra fruit for the estate as well as a mid-game snack. There is also a miniature golf course located lower on the mountain.

The Energy Farm: Meadow Ace is very environmentally-friendly; it runs almost entirely on wind and solar power. Only the golf carts and the boats use gasoline, and Royal Flush uses a combination of solar power and gasoline. The building contains a desalination plant that provides more fresh water to Meadow Ace. The energy farm is not visible from most parts of the estate, since it would detract from the estate’s appearance. Nonetheless, it is certainly useful. In addition to this, the mansion, farmhouse, barn, boathouse and sheds have solar shingles.

The Areoi Village
The Areoi Village: The Areoi have their own type of paradise, living simply amidst their family and friends in a close-knit community. The village’s residences are thatched bungalows that sit on stilts above the water. This keeps the buildings relatively cool without any type of electric cooling. Hina'huero lives here with her family. The rulers Arii Fetu'mataara and Raatira Arava'ruma live in the largest hut, located in the center of the village. Ignorance is bliss to the Areoi; they prefer not to worry about anything until they cannot avoid it. With their worry-free philosophy, they live laid-back, easy and peaceful lives.

The Areoi Farm: A communal farm operated by and providing for the whole village. The island is extremely fertile and they don’t have to work hard to grow crops. The ocean and reefs provide them with plenty of seafood, and many waterfowl and seabirds inhabit the area. Their main crops are coconuts, breadfruits, taro, bananas and mangos. It used to be harder to get water during the dry season, but when Aizapal returned to the island, the rivers changed course and now a river runs near the farm. Unfortunately, the river also ran through the village, causing a flood at one point and giving some Areoi one more reason to dislike the island spirit.

The Maahora: A meeting place on a small peninsula, used by the Areoi for both sacred and secular purposes. Its interior is filled with carvings imbued with mana. The Arii and Raatira host meetings here with the Three Masters and Aizapal from time to time to discuss matters concerning the entire island.

Other

The Lagoon: Neutral ground between the Areoi village and Meadow Ace. Although it is beautiful, with its many waterfalls and greenery, it is too rocky and cliff-filled to build on or grow crops on. Its only use was for picnics or swimming, but there were far easier to access places for those things. The Three Masters gave the lagoon to Aizapal, Areoi’s island spirit, to get him out of Meadow Ace (where he initially arrived, then refused to leave.) However, Aizapal also claimed part of the lagoon that belonged to the Areoi, creating yet another conflict. He lives in the paradisical lagoon amidst the waterfalls and greenery, and is on good terms with the animals there.

Mount Hi’ura’i: A volcanic mountain that formed when the island of Areoi was first created. It has been inactive for eons, and according to Aizapal, will not ever erupt again. Different sides of the mountain are owned by different groups. The upper slopes are covered in a perpetually misty cloud forest.

Lake Anuanua: The lake at the summit of Mount Hi’ura’i. The water contains an unusual mineral property that causes it to shine iridescent colors when hit by sunlight. It feeds Areoi’s many rivers. An endemic species of fish with silver scales that shine rainbow colors inhabits the lake and rivers. The lake is shared by everyone on the island, and the mountain summit area is seen as neutral ground. Jackson, Rhiannon and Maximilian sometimes visit as a day trip.

Areoi Rainforests: Areoi’s fertile soil allows for lush, brilliant rainforests to populate the less-inhabited areas of the island. While Areoi is a sunny island, it has a rainy season like any other tropical location, which allows plant life to flourish. The rain almost always comes at night, conveniently for Areoi’s inhabitants. All three sections of the island have rainforests.