It is a whimsical, sometimes eerie place of unexpected lighter-than-air people and islands in the sky.
For all the curious ones who just flew in, follow me. First, go watch Lita’s floating lands video, then come right back.
Wear Your Dream Wings
How lovely to fly without fetters to the ground. To see the clouds from above. Release the weight from our mere matter and hobnob with the creatures in the sky. When awake, we watch the birds’ effortless flight and envy their freedom. But at night we take to our pallets, seek sleep, and become birds on a breeze.
Many of us fly in our nightly dreams, whether flight is a nuisance hovering that requires us to swim through thick air to a destination, or we soar beyond the clouds to a fantastic oasis blanketed with starry night sky.
Islands that Fly
In the Floating Lands, gravity is just a suggestion and not a law. An island will float in the clouds, but people can walk on it just fine. Stepping off the island’s edge can be a disastrous fall or a soaring delight, depending on the island’s whim.
Waterfalls shroud an island’s rim with mist and rainbows. Where does the river water come from? It might be rain captured in a natural cistern, or the soil may drink clouds like a sponge, then shed them like tears. Any silly thing is possible in the Floating Lands.
Trees might grow upside-down on the floating island’s under surface, or a forest carpets the top. Consider sentient trees who love an occasional taste of sea water. The trees coax the island to sometimes skim the ocean’s surface below. Fish could nibble the trailing roots. Lita thinks this would tickle the tree’s toes and make them giggle. What a story a tuna would tell if it held on and went for a ride in the clouds.
Animals that Soar
Perhaps the land stays put at the bottom of things the way it should, and instead the animals flit about. Horses, cows, monkeys, and even pigs fly in the Floating Lands. They sprout feathery wings or throw themselves at the ground and miss. These creatures might instead jump for joy and forget to come down.
Dragons rule the high sky in the Floating Lands, as do the King of Eagles. Dragonettes coo like doves. With undomesticated dragonettes, they fly free in the grassy highlands. If the dragonettes are the Enchanters’ pampered city pets, the dracon sun themselves on favorite rooftops, play with pigeons, and tease the hardworking downspout gargoyles.
Harpies live in the Floating Lands. No ill-tempered hags here. These lovely ladies of the sky charm all with their aerial mastery. With graceful sweeping tails, and feathers that smell of talc and roses, few wizards resist their affectionate attentions.
Floating Lands worlds fuse its people, surroundings, and lighthearted story lines with surreal style. It is a breathtaking place, and takes elements another world, High Fantasy.
Lita Burke 