Novels

A knock on Sarisa’s door pulled her from her thoughts. Wiping her eyes, she stood, tugging at her rumpled dress and brushing her hair back. “Enter,” she commanded, drawing herself up tall and proud.

Her chest relaxed when she saw Aisha peek in from around the door. “Your Excellency, The Countier has returned with her Royal Honor. They await you in the eastern sitting-room”

Sarisa nodded.

For a moment they stood there, staring at each other. In her lover’s eyes, Sarisa could see the fear for her husband as well as the steady calm of the wetland Aeolam. There was so much she wanted to say, but even here, with no one around…

Aisha opened her mouth, and then closed it.

Sarisa took a deep breath and nodded again, slower. Aisha returned the nod, and slowly closed the door.

Vagabond, Sarisa thought fondly as she moved to the large mirror that sat in the corner. Scoundrel and fiend, she mused as she adjusted her dress and reached for a course-hair brush. To leave without asking permission.

It had been a difficult process to make the wetland Aeolam understand the idea of hierarchy. In the end, it was only because of several Aeolam who had lived in other regions of the Second World that they grasped the concept, and even then it was a tenuous grasp.

No, Sarisa knew that Aisha didn’t ask for permission to leave because if she had, Sarisa would not have been able to say yes.

The Bloodaxe of Buriip, the Count of Spilled Blood, and the Quantiscain of Ironlock Monastery are monikers given to the quasi-deity of the Buriip faith. Arising from a cultural religion devoted to acts of blood sacrifice, the Buriip faith grew into a widespread organization devoted to conflict and violence.

An apocalyptic religion, the Buriip church engaged in near constant conflict with any and all surrounding cultures for generations. It was not until a resounding loss on the Red Fields of Ressin that the Buriip church was split into two sects; the Church of the Cuirass, and the Followers of Bloodaxe. These sects warred with each other for several centuries, until after a resolute victory by the Followers of Bloodaxe, the Buriip religion was reformed.

The Church of Almaythala is an ancient religion, older than most currently practiced faiths. The faith is a monotheistic religion devoted to Almaythala, the Goddess of Many Ears, Shield of the Bowl, and Beloved Mother/Father of All.

So says the Holy Book of Almaythala, the Myriad Worlds were created by Her wondrous hands when she found herself desiring of children. She plucked the ingredients from the ground and minced them together into a fine cake. She fried the cake in a pan of silver, and when it was finished, she squatted over the cake and gave birth to all the peoples of the Myriad Worlds upon it.

Almaythala watched over her children for many years, until they began to war against each other. Despairing of her children, Almaythala tore her cake apart and spread it out among the ice-crystaled Velvet, creating the Myriad Worlds.

“My dearest beloved,” Luran asked, leaning back from a device. “I need your eyes and hands.”

Sarisa set her papers aside and stood from her seat. Kneeling down next to her Countier, she peered into the innards of the strange machine. “Here,” Luran pointed. “There is a connection to the lodestone, but the machine still lies silent. What still needs to be done?”

Sarisa stared. She knew few languages of the Second World: she could speak a few chittering words of the Woowaluk that swarmed in the southern swamps, and an assortment of phrases from the wetland Aeolam.

As time had passed, she realized that the Holy Devices of the Ever Lord had a language all their own. She knew where the strange shapes should go, based on where other shapes were put. She understood the flow of wire and the curve of sphere. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did.

She still struggled to translate the language of the Ever Lord’s magic into the common language, but she was resolved to try.

On a far off mountain, distant from any of the known towns of the Myriad Worlds, there sits the giant monastery of Kahch. Scholars have, for many generations, debated how the monastery was built, for its massive size suggests an extensive endeavor, while the surrounding environs show no sign of cultivation or administration to support such a project. There are no roads to the monastery, no small towns nor abandoned ruins, and the tree-choked Savannah allows for no clear caravan paths to the nearest port.

This suggests that the monastery was made by materials from the surrounding land, but the giant stone blocks are not indigenous to the region, and the amount of food required for a team to build such a structure would require nearby farmland, which does not appear to exist.

The Moneyed Monks are a religious sect of mendicants who adhere to the Path of the Coin. There are two major sects of this religion; those of the Bent Back, and the path of Heavy Hands. Both sects claim to be the original faith that was broken away from by their heretical siblings, and each lays claim to the title Moneyed Monks. Both sects have authenticated ancient texts and historical artifacts that support their understanding of the schism. This leads most scholars of the era to believe that neither sect has the whole truth of it.

The Rumrunners have lived longer in the Velvet than most known societies. Of deep importance in their culture is the concept of the Shadow, the dark space left when the light is obscured. The wisest among them believe that the shadows themselves are covering things, and this place underneath is the domain of the Shadows Beneath The Shadows.

The parable of the Lake and the Fisherbird is used to explain the concept. A fish may swim along for its entire life, know every inch of the ponds and riverbeds, but it will know nothing of the sky before a fisherbird spears it with its beak and pulls it into the air. We are the fish in this parable, with the Shadows Beneath the Shadows being the birds.

Interestingly, Rimrunner folklore states that the Shadows aren’t beings of superior power than mortals, simply that they reside in a different kind of space than we do. Were one of us able to travel to this other-space, we too would have the near-divine powers that the Shadows possess.

There are simply too many religious and spiritual practices among the Myriad Worlds to describe with any level of accurate detail. That said, there are many religions that have either great political influence, cultural connections, or similar importance — greater than many other traditions. As such, a band of scholars created the book The Twenty-Seven Faiths, which is a suitable primer for understanding the religious and cultural underpinnings of the Myriad Worlds.

While The Twenty-Seven Faiths hides its section on the High on High in a sidebar, I feel — especially considering the High on High’s connection to the faith of the Tgahio — I will risk their irritation and place my section on the High on High first and foremost.

The Shadow-seas are not a location for casual travel, nor for relaxing vacations. Only the most dedicated explorers and scholars should consider journeying to its ink-tinted lands and sandy waters.

For those who are willing to take the risk, the Shadow-seas are a place of immense history and hidden secrets. Passage is allowed only on special dispensation; the travelers in question must each bear a Writ of Welcome, signed by one of the Netherthanes or their representatives, as well as one of the Netherthanes accepted foreign authorities or their representatives.

Finding a representative of the Netherthanes outside the Shadow-seas can be challenging in itself, never mind finding an authority that is acceptable to the Netherthanes. It is widely accepted that the High on High certainly applies, as does any noble of sufficient standing in the Belle Empire, but few other kingdoms are known to be regularly accepted.

Few of the servants in House Di Mattia knew that the sitting room on the top floor of the north wing was kept locked. Fewer knew that only the Countier, Countess, and Ladymaid Aisha held the keys. The few that did know also knew their place, and while curiosity tugged hard at their hearts, they kept their humility and allowed their Nobles their eccentricity.

Sarisa ran through the mansion, stopping only once in a panic when her fumbling failed to produce her key from around her neck. She found it a moment later, where it had bounced from her running. Gripping the key in both hands, she ran once more towards the locked sitting room.

When she reached the doors, she slipped the key into the lock, and entered their laboratory with a fimiliar mix of shame and pride.

Shame, because it was no laboratory worth the name. Indeed, the room’s only claim to the title was little more than intent coupled with a sincere effort. While the servants knew it had once been a sitting room, Sarisa didn’t remember the room’s previous purpose and didn’t much care to. It looked more like a storage room now, with thick wooden tables and chairs placed haphazardly across the floor, filling in the spaces between salvaged objects and their own manufactured equipment.

Pride, becuase it was theirs. Ever since the ruins had been discovered, Sarisa and the Countier had worked tirelessly to tease out their many secrets. Every step had been a new and frightening effort, seasoned with the knowledge that if the Church ever found out, they would be killed for their troubles, or worse.

It is difficult to describe the shear variety of insect-folk. It is thought that no less than seventy-nine separate species all fall under the heading of ‘insect-folk’, ranging from the tall and multi-limbed Aradonousi, to the short and carapaced Kkkki. The Xiaba, perhaps the most familiar people of insect-folk, have six subspecies, all distinct in minor ways, none of which are immediately recognizable to any but the most experienced observer of the Insect-Folk people.

As such, it will be incredibly difficult to explore the Insect-folk as a singular culture, though there are similarities and differences between the species that make a seperate section not only possible, but advised.