A little touch of Wales – And a snippet from The Empath!

I hope you guys are as excited as me about The Empath release? Hope so! I thought I’d chat this week about a few of the little things you might notice as you touchdown in Oppidum. One of the things is that some places have a funny looking language on them. Things like ‘Croeso,’ which in the green (currently soaked) fields of home means ‘welcome.’ And you get to try putting on a funny accent to say it, you ready? Croy-see-yo. That’s it, you got it. Try rolling your r for etc points. Um… well, it was a nice try…

So you got one thing under your belt, let’s have a look what else Aeron and I can tell you about. Oh, of course, cake! You’ll hear about a special treat when you’re in the town. They’re called Welsh cakes. (We like to keep things simple.) If you think of a flat, more tasty scone, with sultanas/jam (jell-O to the folks over the pond) or even choc chip. Sound tasty? If you have a bake stone handy, I might be able to bribe Mrs. Stein into giving me the recipe. If you want to know why I need to bribe her, you’ll have to come visit Oppidum.

Ah, there’s another thing I can tell you about. This is a special Welsh craft that dates back to the 17th Century. When a suitor was wooing his bride-to-be, he would sit down and carve a symbol of his hopes and dreams regarding their life together.

There were lots of symbols from the Celtic knot which meant being bound together, forever entwined. There were hearts, locks, horseshoes, churches, and all manner of little hopes etched into the wood. Today, we often give them as gifts to celebrate special occasions. That made Aeron prod me and tell me that she wanted a spoon of her own. So I pulled out my creative side and made her something to commemorate the release. So here it is:

Aeron’s love spoon

The symbols are hers, when you’ve read The Empath you might recognise them. The dragon is the symbol of Wales, Y Ddraig Goch – The Red Dragon. He’s been our symbol since about AD 829 . The other symbols, I’ll let you figure out all on your own.

Can you hear that? Think that’s coming from that gift shop over there. Now, that’s familiar to me… wait… yep, it’s Calon Lan. That’s a big song for us Welsh and for the people here in Oppidum. We pretty much only ever sing the Welsh version But – I’ve found a little English translation for you to see what we mean!

Calon Lan

Calon Lan – In English and morphed into Rhyme for you!

Nid wy’n gofyn bywyd moethus,Aur y byd na’i berlau mân:Gofyn wyf am galon hapus,Calon onest, calon lân.Chorus! (You need to give it some hwyl / or go for it!)Calon lân yn llawn daioni,

Tecach yw na’r lili dlos:

Dim ond calon lân all ganu

Canu’r dydd a chanu’r nos.

Pe dymunwn olud bydol,

Hedyn buan ganddo sydd;

Golud calon lân, rinweddol,

Yn dwyn bythol elw fydd.

(Chorus)

Hwyr a bore fy nymuniad

Gwyd i’r nef ar adain cân

Ar i Dduw, er mwyn fy Ngheidwad,

Roddi i mi galon lân.

Verse 1, line 3: Gofyn wyf am fywyd hapus

Verse 2, line 2: Chwim adenydd iddo sydd

Verse 3, line 2: Esgyn ar adenydd cân

Chorus, line 3: Does ond calon lân all ganu

I seek not life’s ease and pleasures,Earthly riches, pearls nor gold;Give to me a heart made happy,Clean and honest to unfold.Chorus! (You need to give it some hwyl / or go for it!)

A clean heart o’erflow’d with goodness,

Fairer than the lily white;

A clean heart forever singing,

Singing through the day and night.

If I cherish earthly treasures,

Swift they flee and all is vain;

A clean heart enriched with virtues,

Brings to me eternal gain.

(Chorus)

Morn and evening my petition,

Wings its flight to heaven in song;

In the name of my Redeemer,

Make my heart clean, pure and strong.

(Chorus)

Trans: Rees Harris

So having serenaded you, filled you with cake and shown you a love spoon, I’m off to get in the cockpit because… well… as someone you will meet shortly says, “Who the hell will fly this thing?”

Keep your eyes out tomorrow because I have the awesome Salem West popping in for Inky Inspiration!

But for now, here’s the first paragraph of The Empath for you all to enjoy. Take it away, Aeron.

“My problem is that I know too much.

Thing is, I’m different and for some people being different is what makes the world love them. They have talents that everyone else wishes they had. Hell, they might even be a genius of some kind.

I’m different in another way, though. The kind of way that makes people look at you like you’ve just grown an extra set of arms…”