Downfall of the High House of Nechtan is now posted.
Part 03 of 03.
What can overcome the hero’s strength and magic charms? Not cunning of wit nor strength of arms. First set your house in order, next set your churls free. The Sons of Nechtan failed; prevail the Sons of Liberty.
Downfall of the High House of Nechtan is now posted.
Part 02 of 03.
Six sons fought, some badly, some well. Nor druid lore nor arts of war prevailed. All perished where they fell. Can Ardan win, where all have failed?
Of sisters three, he asks the rede; deaf to elders, but youngest he will heed. He must do what was not done of old.
With hammer he shatters a circle of iron, then one of gold.
Downfall of the High House of Nechtan is now posted.
Part 01 of 03.
Hear a tale of woe and mystery, grand as any tale of old; attend now to my history, for you shall hear wonders told. Six sons are fallen. What hope is there in seven? Men cannot prevail unpleasing to heaven.
On the day of its downfall, in the season of spring, in the season of wrens sweetly singing in the bushes of thorn below the great outer wall, the gate of the house lay riven asunder.
The Book of Dreams was Utterly Forbidden is now posted.
Three of Three.
Like its contents, the history of ownership of the Unelma manuscript is contested and filled with some gaps.
The codex belonged to Emperor Rudolph II of Germany (Holy Roman Emperor, 1576-1612), who purchased it for 600 gold ducats and believed that it was the work of Roger Bacon.
It is very likely that Emperor Rudolph acquired the manuscript from the English astrologer John Dee (1527-1608). Dee apparently owned the manuscript along with a number of other Roger Bacon manuscripts. In addition, Dee stated that he had 630 ducats in October 1586, and his son noted that Dee, while in Bohemia, owned “a booke…containing nothing butt Hieroglyphicks, which booke his father bestowed much time upon: but I could not heare that hee could make it out.”
Read the remainder of this entry »
The Book of Dreams was Utterly Forbidden is now posted.
Two of Three.
Scholars from the Reliquary, including the Lord Mortician of the Necropolis, tentatively identify the archon confronted by the nameless narrator as Sulvus, the Progenitor of Sulva, whose globe, for reasons which need no recital here, is half sterile and half bountiful.
As reported elsewhere, the green and forested areas of that globe, year by year, grow ever smaller, as living organisms are replaced by cyborgs, then by machines, and with the loss of tree cover, first moisture then atmosphere is lost into space. Such is the result of eschewing fertility to pursue sterility, both in sexual matters and otherwise.
That the nameless narrator would be received by so august a personage, and speak to him face to face, implies he is of equal rank, that is, an archon and progenitor of his realm. This leads to theological speculations difficult to address.
Theologians agree, however, that if this is Sulvus, and the dialog faithfully represented, as Sulvus is a Nomothete, his address to the Traveller granted him that as a name, and imposed the nature and duties attendant thereupon. It is curious that the Nomothete refuses to name himself, however.
The Book of Dreams was Utterly Forbidden is now posted.
One of Three.
The source of this tale cannot be identified. The Lords of the Eschaton deny it is one of theirs, despite evidence of time anomaly. Voices of Deep Heaven return ambiguous answers, despite the hints in a second fragment that the immortal being addressed is Sulvus himself. The Primordials deny any chains of causation lead from the codex back to their nameless Unity.
Intercessors speaking for the Great Race dismiss the text as fraud, despite the unusual circumstances of its discovery. The Watchers decree the manuscript to be anathema, and charge that only those devout and grave, firm in conviction and surpassing the sixth order of mental discipline, be granted access.
Envoys sent to the Dark Tower with questions did not return.
The Intangible Design is now posted.
Six of Six.
In which these events culminate.
I suspect the main character was meant to be a strong female character, following the fashion of someone like Red Sonja or Jirel of Joiry (albeit without their distinctive personality or charm), but I suspect Elenore Hellmaiden would not pass muster for a modern feminist, despite being written in my virginal days before marriage, when women were as unknown and strange as to the writer as dragoncats.
Interesting to reread an unsold short story from so early in my career. Whether or not I have a distinctive voice or style, as my heroes and exemplars, GK Chesterton and Jack Vance so clearly do, is a question I am not in any vantagepoint to answer; but I suspect this tale is too early to see any distinctive mannerisms or habits peculiar to me. It seems workmanlike and generic enough.
The Intangible Design is now posted.
Fifth of Six.
The Archbishop reveals his true loyalty, and puts his blindfold aside. His eyes beneath are not human eyes.
A touch or two of rewriting was called for here, since the scene written in my journeyman days lacked emotional impact. The one thing I remembered from this short story, which I thought my best effect, was the archbishop’s description of the true nature of the dome of heaven, and what was beyond.
The Intangible Design is now posted.
Fourth of Six.
The Darkborn besiege the church, and various desecrations and treasons are confessed.
With apologies for being tardy (I am away on an island for my yearly vacation), here is the next installment.
The Intangible Design is now posted.
Third of Six.
The Dark Born strike. We see they have the classical powers one might expect of a Clark Ashton Smithesque world. The powers of the Stone of Ysbrandon are likewise displayed to good effect, but it is noticeably science fictional rather than fairy tale sort of thing: more like what Kitty Pryde or the Vision could do, than anything a Fairy Godmother would. This admixture of necromancy and density control is typical of Weird Tales style pulps, where genre boundaries were not allowed to hinder good, clean, fun.
I note to my own surprise — for I had honestly forgotten her –that I here used a character trait seen again in SWAN KNIGHT’S SUN, namely, a protagonist unable to tell a lie.
Poietopsychoanalysts (who specialize in the psychology of the muse-inspired) may speculate as to why this is a recurring theme in my writing. Note that my careers include lawyer, newspaperman, and novelist, all fields where protagonists unable to tell a lie are few and far between.
The Intangible Design is now posted.
Second of Six.
We are introduced to our heroine, and to intimations of the background world.
The influence of Jack Vance and Clarke Ashton Smith may perhaps be detected in the writing style. Certainly the disdain for organized religion, endemic to both, can be scented, if only as a whiff.
The genre is established neither as fantasy, for the underworld needs ventilation, nor as science fiction, as there is an abundance of eldritch magic, but as whatever genre Weird Tales and Dungeons and Dragons happens to be.
The Intangible Design is now posted.
First of Six.
This is a previously unpublished story from my amateur days, during a productive period when, as a matter of discipline, I wrote a short story a week.
It was written in the 1980s, back when the idea of a swordswoman adventuress with rapier in hand seemed less preposterous. She also may have other armaments and aids as well.
The influence of stories from Dungeon and Dragons ‘Appendix N’ should be obvious.
The Cunning Man, Chapter 11: Truncheons and Lamps is now posted.
We see the vindication of a Lake and the downfall of a witch, unless we see the opposite. The Cunning Man is once more set upon the road, and we learn whether he will be warm or cold.
*** *** ***
Here ends the tale of the Cunning Man. In this space, next week, if fate allows, we meet the Vagrants of Time.
The Cunning Man, Chapter 10: The Living Ghost is now posted.
We behold wonders and wondrous folly, hearing faith and blasphemy, once a sword is drawn.
The Cunning Man, Chapter 09: Clean Against the King’s Good Law is now posted.
We hear the voice of the Cunning Man in the dark, accusing the guilty. But guilty men fear no witches, not when the sheriff comes. So we see, in the gloomy room, a murderer fencing with shadows.
