Orilium Readathon January Wrap-Up

AYLA PASSED THE NOVICE PATH! If that sentence confuses you, I would highly recommend you read my first blogpost explaining why I'm redoing the entire Orilium Readathon, as well as a little bit of an explenation about what this Readathon actually is.

The Novice Path

For those who do know about Ayla, welcome back! Our human, raised by Iltririans badass has made it to the Academy. The road was not exactly easy, but she's so glad she's made it.

For some inexplicable reason, I read five books in January. Meaning Ayla passed through the Novice Path with flying colors. Here's what I read for the Novice Path :

For the Novice Path Entrence :

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

For the Ashtorne Tree :

Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

For the Mist of Solitude :

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

For the Obsidian Falls :

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

For the Fower of Rumination :

Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Guild Ceremony

If you are familiar with the Orilium Readathon, you will know that one of the major components are the Guilds. When you arrive at the Academy a Guild can invite you to be a part of their group. This means you can earn points to unlock special 'abilities' such as being able to count your DNF's as a read book and so one. If you're curious, Book Roast has an entire video on this. Which you can watch here.

Here is what Ayla ended up sorting into (it also contains a little bit of journaling)

Journal Entry (Click to read)

I'm so happy this is the Guild I ended up in. The extra information this will allow me to unlock is going to be so important for me! I'm determined to figure out where I came from, through any means necessary. Even if that means getting into someone's head to figure out if they are telling me the truth. I know the road ahead is going to be a long one. Given the Calling I'm thinking of choosing being able to centre myself and keep my cool is going to be vital. I'm hoping maybe someone in this Guild will be able to point me in the right direction of where to start looking. It's another step in the right direction. I'm terrified what I'll find out, but also excited. It's a lot to deal with. When are those weekly meditations starting?

The Mind Walkers Explanation (Click to read)

The Mind Walkers focus on magic of the Cognitive nature. Their interests lie within the realm of perceived and veiled reality, they pride themselves in their skills with the art of Illusion. A mind is a complex thing, but the Mind Walkers were never intimidated by that, only intrigued. They put a great focus on all enchantments and incantations, as well as psionic forces such as telepathy and telekineses. The vast majority believe that time is not linear, which led to great explorations in the field of divination. The guild places a lot of value in the psychology as well as the more traditional approaches to magic. They believe that knowing the individual, their motivations, their drives, their strengts and weaknesses, takes priority. Psychology and analysis is a big part of lessons offered by the guild. Naturally many graduates excel in roles that reaquire great understanding of the opposing forces and non-linear thinking, as well as insight and deceit. As a member you will be able to pick an alternate plane of excistence and spend years there exploring the ways to it, around it, and the meaning of it all. Mind Walkers require a lot of solitude and mediation to focus and calibrate their mind. However the support system the guild offers is excellent. Weekly gatherings are held to release tension and unwind, filled with music, easy games, and delicious food. This takes place in the Mind Palace, a members only place which consists of a maze of rooms, each with their own purposes. These include, but are not limited to: sensory deprivation chambers, time exploration, meditation gardens, libraries and dueling grounds.

The fact that Ayla ended up with the Mind Walkers makes total sense to me. She's going to be needing a lot of brainpower for where she's going ;)

She is so hell bent on finding out who she is and where she came from, that being able to extract information out of people's minds (with or without permission) will come in handy.

February Plans

So, what's next for Ayla you might ask? Well, even though February only has 28 days in it, I've decided to attempt going for a mash-up of the Gear Up and the Spring Equinox in one. That means I'll need to read 6 books in total. That does sound a little ambitious. Seeing as I've only read 5 books in a full month. But I'm thinking of bending the rules a little bit in this instance. I'll tell you more about all of it very soon! Keep your eyes pealed for another update this coming weekend!

If you're participating in the Orilium Readathon, let me know! Are we in the same Guild? What conduit did you choose?

Hope to talk to you soon!