Picking Location Names to Confuse Everyone!

Water Waltz is an expanding fantasy world. In the first book I introduced the three main locations but focused on only two—the human country and the demon and angel country. In this entry I’ll do a run-down of the location names, offer some pronunciation guides, and explain where each location is on the map. (Also name the faerie country that is introduced in Fire Tango.)

I've been told it was hard to keep the city and country names separate and I understand. I promise I didn't purposely pick difficult words. Maybe if I had named them all with the same starting letter or stick with one language for one country it would have been easier to pair up...too late now. 

 Demon and Angel:

Bretagne (bruh-tah-nyuh): The country of demons and angels. (French  for Brittany—Bretagne is an actual place but has no special meaning to the story: )

Fenian (fee-nee-uhn): The capital city and where most of the action takes place. (An Irish word I pulled from Irish mythology with there’s no special meaning for Water Waltz.)

Loire (lahr): A major city in Bretagne that plays a broader role in Fire Tango as the home to most earth demons. (A French location & river )

Location of Bretagne:

The west borders Spezia—the country of devils.

To the east is Hendola’s border—human country.

The major city Loire is to the south of the capital and through a mountain pass.

To the north and on the other side of a strip of ocean is Northern Bretagne—which is a territory of Bretagne.

Human:

Hendola (Hen-dol-a): The country of humans. (It’s a street name in my city. I don't know the origin.)

Senac (Sin-ack): The capital city where the king resides. (It’s another local street name.)

Location of Hendola:

Hendola is up against a mountain range to its east. (On the other side of this mountains is another country of devils which has not been mentioned in the stories yet. The mountains are considered impassable so the two countries do not interact. Yet.)

To Hendola’s north is the ocean and across it is Northern Bretagne territory and a country of angels we’ve yet to meet.

Beneath Hendola to its south is a smaller mountain range separating the south of Hendola from the rest of Bretagne.

Devil:

Spezia (spe-tsee-ah): The country of devils. (An Italian  area from a favorite book of mine—Catch 22)

Almanor (Al-Manor): the capital of Spezia. (It’s a little place in California with a population of 0.)

Foxwood: a small town visited in Fire Tango. (I picked this name randomly to sound like a small town nestled in the forest.)

Location of Spezia:

To the north and west of Spezia is ocean.

Bretagne lies to the east.

To Spezia’s south is Snowden, the country of faeries. Spezia and Snowden have a strong alliance since both countries are small and ostracized by Bretagne and Hendola.

Faerie:

Snowden (snow-den): The country of faeries. (This is a character from Catch-22)

Dreedle (dree-dle): The capital and major city. (This is also a character from Catch-22. I must have been in a Catch-22 mind-frame when I named these.)

Location of Snowden:

North of Snowden is a boundary of mountains before reaching Spezia.

To the west and south is ocean.

To Snowden’s east is a passable mountain range into Loire, Bretagne.

Snowden’s borders are the ocean and mountains so it’s secluded. The land is rich in minerals densely dominated by forests.

Water Waltz (the first in the Water Waltz Series)
is now available from Dreamspinner Press.  
Fire Tango (The sequel) will be released November 2012.