Farasi Romances

AMNAR       Amnapedia    Exclusion Zones    Amin Duum    Encyclopaedia      Farasi Romances

This article is maintained by the Temple Earth Scholar Bashi, Faras Gül.

The Farasi Romances are a series of novels written by the anonymous author known as Yanestika. They were first published as novels on paper and in the general documentary Data Matrix for Amin Duum in 4503 AIA, before being expanded to the rest of the Alliance in 4507 AIA.

The novels reimagine the relationships between significant members of The First Bashi of Avatars, High Ashad Isha, High Ashad Alix, Talija, Iyarina, Aranda, and Nikah (among others) as a series of romantic interactions. While it is believed the initial inspiration was The Taming of the Fire Spirits and the associated epic sapphic poem by Talija herself, a great deal of the detail around the novels' writing and publication remains a mystery on account of the author Yanestika's identity remaining unknown and the subject of great speculation.

Purpose

Various theories abound as to the purpose behind the novels. One prominent suspicion is that Yanestika was a Scholar who specialised in the study of The Taming of the Fire Spirits and was inspired to update the myths for a younger audience or for those unfamiliar with either the mythological version or Talija's version. A competing theory is that Yanestika was a new immigrant to the Amin Duum Exclusion Zone and wanted to explore the stories they had discovered while working as a scribe in Faras Gül's Taijis Nil.

Document Structure

Publication Status

The novels were originally published in paper format and held jointly at the Faras Gül local and Amin Duum Taijis Nil Library. They are available on the Central Amnapedia under Amin Duum's shared documentary library. If you have issues accessing the novels, please contact your local Data Matrix Maintenance Bashi.

Historical Details

Background

Who originally wrote the Farasi Romances and their inspiration is unknown, but this has not stopped both popular speculation among fans and Scholars in Amnari Literature alike. Scholar Baraijie, writing in the Journal of Popular Amnari Fiction, argued that despite the popular emphasis of the novels, the explicit nature of the stories, as well as some of the relationships depicted (especially between Talija, Iyarina, and various Spirits), indicate a sincere attempt to reflect and honour the Fire Spirits myth.

Other Scholars, particularly Varentkatesh, argue that attempting to find links between ancient mythology and the original stories told by Talija and others is an effort to find significance in popular stories where no such thing exists. Varentkatesh, writing in Ancient and Modern Literature, explains that constantly shifting relationships and the drama between the characters overshadows the political significance of their actions too much. They contend that the Romances should be thought of as fantastical erotica for modern times. Baraijie, in a letter to the editor of a subsequent volume of the journal, remarked that these two were not mutually exclusive objectives for the author. Talija's own Taming of the Fire Spirits is, after all, clearly erotic and explicit in content and used for ritual and popular educational purposes by Temple Fire.

History

According to the Data Matrix records, the first Farasi Romance, Abetting Isha, was received for publication by Temple Earth Creative Arts Bashi in 4501 AIA. The sender was anonymous, but provided the identity Yanestika. The Data Matrix Bashi was believed to have known the identity of the sender but agreed to a request for anonymity by the author. The reason for this anonymity was either not recorded or was later deleted from the Matrix records.

The first book was published in paperback in Faras Gül and the Lower and South Cities of Amin Duum Exclusion Zone, with a Data Matrix version available on slate throughout the zone in 4503 and then throughout the Alliance in 4507. A further eight books were published, a later fan theory suggesting that Yanestika possibly chose the total number of nine to reflect the nine Guardians of Amnar. Each book was published approximately a year apart, except for a three-year gap between books 3 and 4. This has triggered wild speculation about possible problems in Yanestika's personal life in fan circles. This is tied to a shift in the themes and an expansion from Isha's relationships with Aranda (Book 1), Nikah (Book 2), and Talija (Book 3), to multiple bondings between the major characters that also included Spirits.

Public Reaction

The books quickly picked up a fandom in Faras Gül and then beyond. The first book, Abetting Isha, imagined an intense sexual relationship between Isha and Aranda prior to Isha's return to destroy the Empire of Keshwar, The Rending War and The Rending itself. This was so wildly contrary to everything known about Isha's life as an adolescent soldier for the Keshwari Empire, not to mention the utter lack of information about Aranda's history, that this may have propelled the fascination. The story broadly selected plot points from the Taming of the Fire Spirits, with Isha taking the place of Talija and Aranda the leader of the Fire Spirits.

In early anonymised interviews in popular literary journals, Yanestika hinted that they might have access to material unknown to the authors, perhaps because they were a Guest, descended from a population who live in the area close to The White Tree. The implication that there might be surviving evidence of Aranda and Isha's lives and that they might have met long prior to his appearance in Amnari mythology prompted fans to appeal to the Amin Duum Taijis Nil Museum to open an archaeological investigation in the area. As this would be outside any Exclusion Zone, this was vetoed by the Guardian of Internal Affairs.

Historians have been quick to emphasise that there is no evidence that Isha knew Aranda prior to becoming High Ashad, in part because Isha is known never to have been as far east as she would have needed to be in order to meet Aranda when he was enslaved by the Empire of Basat. Historians generally agree that Aranda was likely inspired by Isha's actions in Keshwar to lead his own uprising against House Beringeri and the rest of the Senate. In the first book's wildly improbable plot, Aranda's uprising, arrest, and subsequent execution was what led Isha to use The God Machine to turn him into the God of Chaos. Her motivation was largely love, rather than his ability to sow discord and chaos among her enemies.

Subsequent books were equally speculative, but this may be their general appeal, for their almost tongue in cheek take on foundational Amnari myths are often highly popular in-zone. Later books imagined equally, if not more, intense romances between Isha and Talija, Isha and Iyarina, and Talija, Iyarina, and Nikha and were even more popular, reaching a much wider audience. Several productions have been put on by travelling theatre companies in several zones, and although public interest waned by the end of the 4550s, a solid cut following remains.

Header image cedit: Grandfailure/Tithi Luadthong

Type

Text, Literary (Novel/Poetry)

Medium

Paper

Authoring Date

4500s

Myth

The Taming of the Fire Spirits