- [<] Status Log - created:: 2022-04-05 - status-updated:: 2022-04-05 - current-status:: #articleseed - [S] Marketing - purpose:: explain my goals for writing [[(NL) By the Blood of Mountains]] I wanted to tell the story of a woman who founds a colony. I wanted to think about what might drive her to leave? Why would people follow her? My core inspiration was [[Dido|Elissa of Carthage]] but I deviated pretty quickly. My original prompt involved The Tower tarot card (it was originally meant for an anthology that never materialized) and I needed it to involve an innovative, detailed fantasy race. I care about this because learning and teaching about colonization (especially pre-Imperialism, like the early exploration of polynesia) is important to me. It matters for space stuff like [colonizing mars](https://theprepared.org/newsletter-archive/2022-04-04) and for understanding human history. [[religious rituals that make practical sense]] also matter to me, specifically the practical reasons [[Ancient Priests]] and temples existed in societies. My point was that sometimes you can leave abusive situations where your authority figures betyray you — and find a new "Family" (riff off of Captain Awkward and Seanan McGuire here). Kala goes from devout and full of filial duty to abandoning her cauldron and family and clan to strike out on her own.