Eric K. Barnum's Blog, page 3

New e-Book: The Blue Sun Staff, available for Free until Oct 1, 2018

The Blue Sun Staff shares the story of Lionel, a young paladin in the Holy Cuthberic Order. Concerned with their rival’s growing power in the war against the Abyss, the Cuthberics set in place a contingent strategy to ensure the Tanians do not usurp the God of Undeath with one more favorable to Tania. While the destruction of an Abyssal power appeals to everyone in Taysor, the Cuthberics cannot bring themselves to trust their ancient foes. The Tanians must have a different end game.

Lionel has only been in the Order for a year when he joins a small team to seek out and use a relic of tremendous power. Able to discern the true intentions of those opposed to Good, the Blue Sun Staff shows them the truth of the Tanian plan, and pits them against a trio of vampires so powerful they may as well be gods themselves. When the Abyss becomes Lionel’s battlefield and the heroes he worshipped as a child begin falling, Lionel will be tested against his own integrity – youthful lust for glory or righteous focus on what is true and blessed? If you have studied FI, this is the first immortality rite, by the way.

To celebrate the release of the third novella, it will be available via Amazon Kindle as a free download until October 1st. You may also notice it does not have any reviews. Thanks Amazon for removing reviews by anyone with any social media connections; punish authors for connecting with fans much? Anyway, I’d love some reviews. Have at it. I’d love to hear from you.

Tiamat’s Fountain in the Great Bazaar

Morbatten has two fountains that feature Tiamat. Both are titanic in size and provide free drinking water that flow throughout the city. The one at Dragon North, at the main road intersections closest to the Temple Ascent provide a resting point for pilgrims. Water flows from this fountain southwards and joins the Cordabad River. The Dragon North Fountain is the classic five-headed version of Tiamat looking up at her temple.

Dragon South shows Tiamat in her human female form, as she appeared when she recovered Dar Tania from her priestess selection. In Tanian dogma, Tiamat is the Goddess Consort. The five chromatic dragons are those pledged to Tiamat when Heaven separated itself from the flow of Time, to save the gods from death by aging.

While Tanians acknowledge that, to the rest of the world, Tiamat is an evil Goddess, to them – she is not. Tiamat is misunderstood. To them, she is a warrior goddess fighting for a better world, the only world worth having; one free of death for everyone. Tanians believe they all become dragons in afterlife, if they prove worthy. When Tiamat returns to Tehra, the world will be purged of the unworthy and Tehra will become a dragons’ paradise of predator and prey.

To Tanians, Tiamat is the most desirable woman they can imagine. She is their savior, their selector of priestesses, their mother, their wife, their goddess, their lover, their ruler, their everything and anything that is worth worshipping. Anything and everything sexy and desireable… for me, she is a lover. For women, she is the epitome of what it means to be empowered and adored.

I shy away from the nude female form in my world’s art with but few exceptions, like Tiamat because of how her worshippers see her. The rest of the world does not portray her this way. If portrayed at all, it is usually a dark rendition of the 5-headed dragon.

I’m pleased to show this sketch by illustrator Mike of the Dragon South Fountain:

The Great Fountain, depicting Tiamat’s human form surrounded by her dragon aspects, dominates Morbatten’s central plaza.

Sand Castles – 3 Types of People

I was at the beach with the family, Saturday 8/18/18, and a sand castle exercise made me aware of (again) a core dynamic in the FI pantheon… that is, there are:

Builders
Destroyers
Changers

Obviously, all life cannot be so condensed or trivialized, but it is interesting to look at religion this way. The gods of the Forsaken Isles definitely conform into these but the more interesting ones are the borderline cases of near/almost-crossover. At the end of the day though, why is it so fun to destroy sand castles? Building them with my daughters, I had a lot of fun building them and seeing if they could withstand the surf. Part of the fun though was knowing that, at some point, my 4-year-old would come and destroy it all. When we had 17 towers, that was where she could not resist it anymore. She’s 4 though… a year ago, she would not have lasted between building tower #1 and #2. Why is this sooooo much fun?

The part of the human spirit that enjoys this is Chaos. The builder is Creation. The part that encourages the child to destroy, or helps the surf destroy a wall… that is Warp.

New Art and New Novella in Next Newsletter

If you haven’t yet, please drop me your email address on Facebook or through the Contact form of the FI website. Newsletter subscribers get free PDF/MOBI access to exclusive content that is later distributed for sale on Kindle Unlimited. You’ll get sneak peaks into new projects and an eye on discounts and sales before they happen.

The last two stories in the FI Creation Anthology are ready to rock and roll. Then third one, The Blue Sun Staff, will be available for newsletter subscribers August 25th. It tells a story contemporary to the events of Bomoki’s Gate. The Cuthberic Order of Holy Knights have a different plan for the clash against Orcus. When a god falls, something will take its place after all.

Between now and October ’18, a paperback compilation of these four novellas will be ready for sale. Though my work on the Slaad Board Game, tentatively titled “Domination,” has paused during this work, I’ve had fun working on an urban fantasy vampire project. This will be outlined in more detail in the newsletter. I’m contemplating a Kickstarter project for it, courtesy of illustrator Mike. Here’s a scene from it:

 

Brook Summerstone – Yes, Tiamat has a Druidic Order

In Dar Tania 2: Set’s Dream, Dar Tania meets Brook Summerstone. Liberated from ogres and cannibals at the end of Dar Tania 1, Brook watched her parents and many of the Halflings in her colony be eaten alive by their captors. It filled her heart with despair. She resigned herself to dying horribly. Even after the Tanians saved them, the surviving colony suffered from suspicion and fear. Assuaging this paranoia is why Alerius wanted to ensure everything was by the numbers, and promises were kept exactly.

Even though the Halflings’ situation immediately improved, Brook harbored a latent vengeance in her heart that began to poison her. She craved action, retaliation, and yet knew it was not the way of her people. In Tiamat, she found a rekindled power to protect her own and transformed her deathwishes into guardianship. Brook became the first druid of Tiamat in the Isles.

On her way to meet with Dar, she used her first druid spell… to find a companion from the woodlands of Home. Her spell summoned Fist of Graves, a hill giant marked for Slaad infection. Brook’s spell and friendship helped Fist shake Set’s Dream. Fist and Brook now go everywhere together, all the way to Morilon to meet and train with the Green Dragon Patriarch, Mallaforax.

Please welcome illustrator, Mike Smith. Mike is also taking the lead on FI’s Vampire project. Standing on Fist’s forearm, Dar shows Brook a future in Tiamat’s embrace. Fist looks at converted and transcended Brook, firm in her faith and ready to take on the world.

Top of Mind Stuff, July 23, 2018

Thank you to everyone who took a peek at Temple of the Golden Serpent! For a few days there post-launch we ranked in the top 10%. That always makes me feel really good. One of the reviews was quiet stellar.

Deep within the tangled web of the jungle, the people of Pel Paijan are living a deeply religious life full of ecstatic rituals and blissful worship. But underneath the dazzling displays of symbolic architecture and luxurious shrines lies a dark secret, a secret that only Jerranic and his team can uncover. After a priest returns from the jungle barely alive and recounts what he witnessed there, it becomes clear that something is amiss among the Paijans. The dying priest describes haunting images of people caught in a rapturous fervor, seemingly possessed by a violent passion, doing things they would never otherwise do. They worship a golden serpent, both terrifying and awe-inspiring in its majesty.

Jerranic and his friends decide to investigate the matter for themselves, and set out on a perilous journey into the unknown. They soon encounter the worshipers, and at first, nothing seems suspicious. But a series of revelations brings the dark truth to light, and Jerranic vows to rid the Paijans of their spell. But this proves to be a formidable task; a Hell Lord is using powerful drugs as a means of control over the Paijans, sending them into fits of ecstasy to convince them they are worshiping the Kingdom of Heaven. Against his will, Jerranic has his own experience with the drugs and comes close to renouncing his loyalty to the Sun God, Pha Rann. Realizing the disturbing influence these drugs have over the land of Pel Paijan, the seriousness of the situation becomes even more dire.

A devout priest, will Jerranic be able to resist temptation while staying true to himself? And can he awaken the deceived Paijans out of their curse before it’s too late? Barnum keeps you guessing while supplying a satisfying ending that hints of more to come.

A must-read for both new and old Forsaken Isles fans.

The art (acquired for use in FI) below shows an armored mage leading his troops to war. It’s dark and grim (grimdark anyone?)… and except for the face helmet and hammer is pretty dang close to how I imagine the red dragon, Alerius. Other differences… Alerius would be much larger. While not giant-sized, his physical presence is very large. Think of how you might feel if you were standing next to a pro body builder, wrestler, or some other very large athlete. Alerius does not fight with weapons, but by Malcor’s time, you can rest assured that he has been gifted many a choice blade in the form of a giant sword. Dar Tania (now Dar Ana’s) sword, Morbattania, is modeled after Alerius’ first blade, a gift from Sean’s Pragmatist Order in Taysor. The blade is nearly 10′ long and morphs with Alerius’ magic shapeshifting. In dragon form, his weapon coats his talons.

general leading his army in war

 

On a completely different topic, I’m getting itchy to go hiking. Because I can’t write full-time, my day job promoted me in July and I just kind of want to celebrate… by hiking. Messed up huh?

CREATION: Temple of the Golden Serpent, 48 page Novella launch!

Check out what friends of the Forsaken Isles are already saying! This week and the rest of July, it’s on sale at $0.99. Novellas are always free for the Children of Dragons (newsletter subscribers; if you want in, drop me a PM on Facebook or use FI’s Contact page to provide your email address).

The novellas are a great way to dip your toe into the Forsaken Isles if larger books scare you or you’re unsure of “that level” of commitment.

Michael DeAngelo of Tellest and JC Kang of the Dragon Songs – thank you!

Golden Serpent is set a year after the events transpiring in Bomoki’s Gate. The Literalist Order of Pha Rann is stretching abroad to a new continent named “Western Lands” (because it is westward of the minotaurs’ empire). The Literalists encounter a new and strange religion that looks holy, acts holy, but has some strange practices. Little do they know what this new land of Pel Paijan holds in store for them!

As always, reviews are the lifeblood of indie authors. Pick it up, read it, review it, share it. Thank you!

Creation: The Temple of the Golden Serpent. 48 page novella on Amazon Saturday July 14, 2018!

The Golden Serpent comes to Amazon Kindle on Saturday July 14th! But, if you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’ll get a free download for it as a MOBI or PDF file on Wednesday July 11th! Like The Healer’s Making, this novella focuses on an aspect of the Forsaken Isles and follows it, high fantasy style, to conclusion. In this one, you’ll join Jerranic, a Literalist battle priest, as he and his party of Pha Rannic worshippers encounter a strange and beautiful religion that worships the Golden Serpent. If you’re tired of the trope that Hell Lords have human worshippers, ala a Faustian Gambit, or some other “deal with the devil,” then you’re going to love this novella. The pantheon of the Forsaken Isles is rich with devils, demons, and divine – the 3Ds – but they’re not given the typical treatment. Expect more from your fantasy!

Subscribe by using the contact form or drop me a PM on Facebook at www.facebook.com/forsakenisles with your email address. Thank you, Ben Duffy, for the fun cover work!

“You are a dragon, better than a god!”

Special thanks to Eleonora Bekbulatova

Eleonora Bekbulatova granted me permission to use this striking art. A non-conventional take on the colored dragons, it shows Red, Blue, Green, and Black encircling the human figure of Tiamat, the strongest of all dragons. 

YOU ARE A DRAGON, BETTER THAN A GOD! At least, this is what the White Dragon matriarch is said to have cried out as she attacked the All-Father.

Pha Rann had already withdrawn the Nexus of Creation from the world. Time was not yet a smooth flow, and it was murdering all it washed over. The White Dragon refused to sit with the others. You see, Tiamat had already rallied the Colored Dragons to fight to preserve Tehra against the ravages of time. No dragons had yet murdered another. The “Dragon Wars” had been largely philosophical. Fighting had ended before murder, though a few fire breathers had been imprisoned for pressing the boundaries of the truce.

Tiamat stood amidst the matriarchs and watched the All Father say his last farewell her. The Gate of Creation, open in Tehra till this point, had been shrinking daily and could no longer allow the All Father of Dragons to pass through. He reduced his size to the human form of a mighty king in golden armor and white mantles. He bowed to his bride and waved farewell. “I would you come with us,” he whispered. Though quiet, his words trembled the ground and rolled like thunder through the world.

Behind Tiamat, the matriarchs hissed. “I will not become a slave to Pha Rann,” Tiamat answered. It was the same answer though sometimes the word “slave” became “servant” or words meaning the same. “You demean yourself to join Heaven against me.”

“It is not about you. It is the fate of all that is…”

Tiamat snapped back. “Short-sighted fool! The fate of all that is will be determined here, in Tehra! This is where Set will come first. You take Heaven away and with it, you leave all that is prey to Set, to death by cruel Time. Go. I am done. Your time runs short, dear husband.”

The All-Father turned and began walking to the Nexus. The White Matriarch attacked.

…Alaura’s writings skirt the issue, but it is clear from the Great Sage’s writings that Ynt’taris tried to stop the Matriarch. The Whites have always had unclear motivations, and they cherish spite. Alaura wrote that the White Matriarch had argued endlessly for an onslaught against the All Father. For love, or other reasons, Tiamat forbade it. Now, with the All Father leaving, maybe the White attacked in a fit of rage? Alaura could never say. Ynt’taris hinted once at a fascination with anti-heat and a dalliance the All Father had with the White Matriarch, before there were other ice breathers – before Ynt’taris came into being.

There is a prophesy. “When Alaura’s seed bears fruit, then shall a Matriarch ascend and claim the vacant throne. Then, shall beauty rest again on Indignation’s Throne, and the murdered shall rise up, Spear in hand, to strike the murderers down!”

 

2018 ELIT Bronze for Best Fantasy Book! 2018 Best Fantasy Author Site!

I’m just going to park this here. Though I already noted this on Facebook, I wanted time for FI to update relevant art and graphics. My next newsletter will note some free e-book giveaways to celebrate these awards so consider sharing this to your friends and encouraging your fantasy groups to subscribe to my newsletter. Just use the Contact form to kick over your email and we’ll add you. It’s that simple. This will be the only time the bigger books, like Bomoki’s Gate at 554 pages, will be free.

ELIT 2018 is out. E-Literature awards are an indie publisher category for content relevant to a calendar year. 2018 awards are for 2017 activities. I was pleased to have all five of my books entered and for fun, checked the box for “evaluate my website.” While Dar Tania, Syliri, and Khalla should have taken best fantasy book awards in my mind – sniff; don’t worry, ladies, your day will come – everything begins somewhere. If you want to see the official page, click the graphic to visit ELIT 2018.

Dar Tania won Bronze (#3) best fantasy book for 2018!

Pinch me. It’s very cool to see my first work having official validation. Why did Dar Tania win versus the others? Book reviews, honestly. Dar has 2.5x more than the other books. Maybe it’s the hopeful cover design squarely in the high fantasy genre? Maybe it’s because Dar is just that awesome that, like me, the judges fell in love with her, kicked Eragon to the curb (the movie, not the books), and said, “Dar gets an award!”

To win these awards was thrilling, but honestly, I’ll take a legit 5 star review from a fan any day. We also took 2018 ELIT Best Author Website. In all ways, FI is like writing and editing a book, but with more contributors. Thank you, Ben, Tony, my beta readers, Darko, and all the other artists. FI is beautiful and rich with content that enhances the world of the Forsaken Isles. Every day, effort by energy, FI becomes a living and breathing place for imagination. I hope it ignites your dreams, Child of Dragons.

If you are a subscriber to FI Dispatches, you got a sneak peak at the amazing new Slaad War art commissioned with Darko. Check it out. The goal of this art is to be the box cover and board game surface of a fantasy battle game where 2 – 5 players acquire Thralls, powers, and ascend their Slaads towards godhood. Betrayal and dark dealing is the name of the game. The player who best embodies the Slaadi motto of “I want all that is mine, and more” wins. I’m nowhere near done on this, but it’s coming along nicely as a labor of love. Hello, Fecundus Slaad. The spiral scars are the source of Slaad infection that turned this mild-mannered Clark Kent into a Chaos-fueled rage machine.