Eric K. Barnum's Blog, page 8

Set's Dream is available

There will be a promotional discount from 8/2 until 8/12.

It’s almost time: Are you Ready?

Syliri and Bruce are coming soon. There’s a checklist of things to ensure are done before publishing. Compared to writing the actual story, that checklist is miserable. But, it’s worth getting done. The closer I get, the more I can’t wait to share this tale with you all.

August 2nd. Dar Tania 2: Set’s Dream will have a promotional price of $0.99 as an eBook until mid-August. If I could control paperback pricing, I would discount that as well.

It's almost time: Are you Ready?

Syliri and Bruce are coming soon. There's a checklist of things to ensure are done before publishing. Compared to writing the actual story, that checklist is miserable. But, it's worth getting done. The closer I get, the more I can't wait to share this tale with you all. 

August 2nd. Dar Tania 2: Set's Dream will have a promotional price of $0.99 as an eBook until mid-August. If I could control paperback pricing, I would discount that as well. 

Syliri is arriving soon

I'm working through final proof of Dar Tania 2: Set's Dream, or what I have been naming "Syliri & Bruce." For reasons I cannot explain right now, not because I can't list them off but because the hold this story has on me won't let go, I am crazy excited about this story. 

I always wanted to tell stories around some of the epic and tragic characters in the Forsaken Isles, while also continuing my arc of powerful female protagonists. Syliri fit the bill and this story became personal and deeply fulfilling to write. I'm not going to say something corny, like "I'm Syliri." But, I will say that Syliri's isolation and aspirational dreams of being not the way she is, it touched me. 

Maybe it's all the negativity in news these days, but IF a red dragon, medusa, and a human ranger can all get along, then surely... 

My outline for Set's Dream focused, like all my books, on three things: an ideology, action, and oppositional bad guys. While writing, I often found myself relating parts of my life to bits here and there in Set's Dream. I'm not going to give away the 3 parts of Set's Dream, but I will for Dar Tania:Ideology - the power and danger inherent in the magic of infusing faith into the mundaneAction - advancement of Dar's agenda to reshape and elevate barbarian tribes into a modern military powerOppositional Bad Guys - Prince Rowlin initially and later, the cannibal thieves
​Well, I've already outed the Slaadi as the bad guys... 

Introducing Ylgolth, The grey Slaad (Anthracos)

Slaadi are an alien race that dwells in the untended clutter of the Abyss. Able to make themselves look like anything they want (they're shapeshifters), they usually masquerade as whatever race they're dwelling with. 

Morbatten, through the writings of Sage Alaura, recognizes levels of Slaadi as per the power ranking of dragons by color. That is, Green, Blue, Red, Gray, Black. Gray and black are distinctions the Slaadi themselves use and so Tania adopted that after Red. 

The rest of this posting is about how Slaadi society works. 

At Azuros +, Slaadi reproduce by creating transformant worms. Acting like parasites, these take control of a targeted host. Each worm contains a pearl of sentience from its maker. This enmeshes with the host giving the Slaad total access to their memories. Slaadi prepare targeted hosts by inscribing an Abyssal rune on their right shoulder. It looks like a spiral set of scars. 
Once the worm takes root, the Maker can exert control and influence over the host. If they do not, within a few days, the worm will kill the host and be birthed as a Green/Fecudus slaad. They have 3 imperatives: please Master, acquire gold, and eat knowledge. Eating knowledge is key to progression as Greens cannot reproduce. At a certain point, they can buy their ascension with gold or they acquire the knowledge required to ascend to Azuros. Fecundus slaads have very weak access to Set's Dream, able to exert it as if gentle hypnosis... though it makes them very persuasive. 

At Auzos level, the Slaad can now create transformant worms. This occurs only when they are sated on food. The ability to directly control other creatures through the worm and to move creatures into Set's Dream by touch brings the Slaad a new level of power. While faster consumption of knowledge, this is where the Slaad might learn magic, or seek out a profession. After all, knowing exactly how to forge a sword, is not the same actually being able to forge a sword... at least not one that would survive combat. With Set's Dream, paranoia and self-preservation instincts begin to kick in. At some point, the Azuros will consume a green (most often one they created) and their progression leap frogs. Want to know about how gold mining works? Infect a miner. Want to know how cook food? Infect a chef. The Azuros becomes much more targeted... and their paranoia shows them that they were probably created to be consumed by an Embros +. Very powerful Azuros will rarely join together to overthrow and share a meal of an Embros +. 

At Embros, the Slaad can now infuse their identify into a worm. Upon infection, the new Slaad basically becomes a clone of the Embros + but at Green level. Embros can exert Set's Dream, with lasting effects, in line of sight. That is, a targeted creature might see themselves as a stronger servant of the Embros. They actually become stronger, even when the Embros is not around. This effect needs to be renewed around the cycles of the moon or it fades. Embros progress to Grey/Anthracos only by consuming an existing Anthracos. 

Anthracos Slaads, because of cloning, are actually many. It's part of their instinct for self-preservation. Anthracos Slaads are able to generate Set's Dream in an area around them, which affects all creatures and matter in that space. It is, for all intents and purposes real. The older and more powerful the Anthracos, the larger the area affected. In Merakor's fall, it is said that a slaad blanketed the entire Arati Grasslands in Set's Dream... and that the effects still linger even though that slaad died shortly thereafter. A new imperative arises with Anthracos... awaken Set. They begin to notice that their access to the Dream strengthens after cataclysm and they become addicted to scheming to create bigger and bigger ones. They believe that Set will awaken with a big enough cataclysm. In addition to more powerful control over Set's Dream, Anthracos can create targeted worms that will arise at the any level below Embros. 

Antramenti Slaads, or the black slaads. It is said there is only one, but the truth is far stranger. There are many... because the Anthracos feed on each other's clones who in turn have fed on the creations of other slaads. At the Antramenti level, near god-like in their power, Set's Dream can warp and bend reality... and the Antramenti use this power to create safehaven worlds far removed from other suspected Antramenti. The issue is that the paranoia is so strong and the consumed identities so many that each unique Antramenti knows virtually everything about all the others except for very small time lags, or through extreme scheming. Like assassins, they strike at the Anthacos hoping to fill gaps in the time lags between today and when the last other-Antramenti servant/clone was consumed. Like the Anthracos, they are addicted to cataclysm but so fear another gaining advantage with Set, that they spend most of their time blocking each other. Only when threat of death to a unique Antramenti becomes an issue do the Antramenti ever cooperate. 

Because of this, Ylgolth exists as a collective of clones barely separated by feeding time from the Antrament'ylgolth. Here is another rendering of Ylgolth. Final note, their obsession with gold comes from the fact that gold does not lose its properties between planes. ​

Dar Tania Ii: Set's Dream, August 2017

​It is five years since Dar Tania, first priestess of the Dragon Queen, began uniting the barbarian tribes into a unified whole. The nation she founded, Morbatten, stands at the cusp of becoming a true empire, as the valley fills with the human subjects of god emperor Alerius and their allies of many other races. Priestesses and the paladins serving them will rise up under Dar's war banners and march with the heavy tread of battle for Tiamat's glory.
 
Against this backdrop of a rising empire, an immortal medusa and a human ranger have fallen in love. For five years, Syliri and Bruce have been exploring the area the dragons consider to be part of Morbatten. Syliri petrifies the more interesting monsters and brings them back for Dar Tania and her warriors to study. During a routine scouting mission, they encounter a death cult of hill giants and goblins extracting gold from the eastern mountains. Against demonic powers, will Syliri and Bruce's love shine bright enough to endure the trials that lie ahead?  
 
Their foe will cast its dark nightmares at Morbatten. Join Syliri and the only love of her life, Bruce, as they confront the power of this dark nightmare. With her petrifying gaze and his mastery of the bow and sword, they confront a creature of such dark purpose that even the god emperor himself is given pause.

Syliri & Bruce - Title & Cover

Official title will be:  Dar Tania II: Set's Dream

Because this continues the time thread of Dar Tania's life and features many familiar and new characters from that story. Though I have mentally thought of this as "Syliri & Bruce" for years, I have to admit that reading Christopher Tolkein's "Beren and Luthien" made me consider a less romantic title. 

It's a strange thing to write a book. I have so many friends who talk about it, and I've read so much about doing it. Until you actually write an entire book though, the ecstatic rush of certain parts just won't make sense. I get a massive creative surge in my writing at these points:
 - I've decided what story to tell. There is an outline. I can see the story in my mind. 
 - I've written enough (usually several 10s of 1000s of words) that the ideological and action climax become crystal clear to me.
 - I get art submissions. Paganus has illustrated all of my book covers so far against submissions by some 40 illustrators. He nails it. In this case, I've got edits back from my editor and several test readers have provided feedback. Getting this draft cover today made my June 29th. 

I feel inspired to to wrap this up. 

Also, for those that must know, I have started drafting the next story. If you've followed the other books, you'll have no doubt caught reference to the ancient civilization of Merakor. At the end of Bomoki's Gate, Ynt'taris rewarded Marcello with a map and passage to Merakor. You have Orcus' rotting corpse polluting Bloodstone and King Malcor is busy preventing smugglers from stealing bits of the God of Necromancy. When Thieves moves against Thieves, and the best thief is leaving for Merakor, what will happen to Perdition, the Tanian Thieves' Guild's throne? The Soran Guilds are ready to make their move. 

Syliri & Bruce - Getting So close, So good!

 Over the weekend, I had a good review of book cover art with the illustrator. I'm so excited for this next project. My test readers/editors are starting to kick me feedback and everything is coming together for an early August release! I do not know this author, but think Ylgolth might look like this.
​ So, let's talk bad guys - the Slaadi.  Slaads, or the Slaadi as they call themselves, are hardly worth talking about in RPGs. They're basically frog monsters. I always felt that, if you look at the amphibian lifecycle, they would lend themselves to some completely terrible and awful monster powers. Think about it - they lay eggs, there's a metamorphosis to tadpole, and so on. Yet, they live in these terrible conditions where knowledge and transfer of power becomes  bit of an issue. So, this post will break it down for the Forsaken Isles.

Like dragons, Tania has organized Slaadi into colors based on the same relative power structure. In Merakor, Alerius had extensive conversations with an Anthracos named Polgyerx. Most of their knowledge comes from this as the Slaadi do not share their way of living with outsiders. 

Let's start at the beginning. Before Time flowed, before Set was bound in the Abyss' center, Set was worshipped by and created worshippers. This where the Slaadi come from. Created by and forever worshipping Set, they revelled in their ability to create and reshape reality around them - Set's Dark Gift. But, when Set was bound in slumber, the Slaadi lost most of their powers. They are able to reclaim this by intruding into Set's Dreams. As they rise in power, the ability to change the dream, to cast the dream, to empower the dream grows. 

Transformants are tadpole-like snakes. Only Azuros+ can create transformants. Each contains a kernel of the slaad creating them. They infect any sentient host. If they infect a non-sentient creature, the transformant can briefly take control of it for a few minutes before dying. The creature must be smart enough to be capable of speech, complex ideas, and societal organization. The creator of the transformant knows, through the infection, the possible nature of the infected host. A more powerful host will birth a more powerful Slaad. They can also divide and create more transformants. 

Powerful Maker Slaad's Transformant + Powerful Sentient Host = Powerful Slaad

Upon infection, the host is considered a Fecundus, or green Slaad . The maker can exert total control over the host, seeing/hearing/knowing what the host does. They are also able to access memories (if vaguely) and innate powers of the host. This works well with wizards but not so well with clerics. The Slaadi infection breaks divine contact. Mages can use magic to compensate, and so make it appear that the infected cleric is still divine. Clerics and paladins are not ideal candidates though. 

Should the Maker wish it, the Fecundus can become an actual Slaad. This causes the skin of the host to shed. A total metamorphosis occurs. Green Slaads acquire the ability to change their appearance and access memories of their Maker. This emboldens them for a greater capability to execute on their Maker's instructions. To Slaadi, knowledge and intelligence is everything. All Slaadi, but especially Fecundus Slaads, are driven by 3 Imperatives:
 - Get Gold for Master; gold because it retains magical properties across dimensional travel
 - Please Master
 - Eat Intelligence

The easiest way to Eat Intelligence is for Master to give other Fecundus, or maybe even an Azuros+ to the new Slaad. As the Fecundus eats Intelligence, it becomes smarter and more capable. At a certain point, they can ascend to Azuros state. This is done by invitation, or by consuming enough that the Fecundus realizes what must be done to trigger the Azuros metamorphosis - slow death. 

Azuros Slaadi acquire an awareness of Set's Dream and are able to wield it by touching other creatures, with some lasting effects. 

Syliri & Bruce - August 2017!

I have no idea who this artist is, but Syliri would love to see herself like this. Syliri & Bruce picks up 5 years after Dar Tania. On Dar's orders, the medusa Syliri and ranger Bruce (they met and had a thing in Dar Tania) begin exploring the territory considered by the dragons to be part of Morbatten.  After all, what a dragon sees from the air and cares about isn't necessarily the same as what the humans living on the ground might care about. Syliri and Bruce have been doing this for five years. They've fallen deeply in love. There's not much that can faze an eldar medusa, right? 

They encounter a death cult of slaadi. An excerpt from an early chapter follows:

"The rough mine proved crude beyond belief. Tree trunks and large sticks had been wedged against the ceiling and walls in places that, if bumped at all, rained down enough material to be alarming. Faint yellow gold streaks glimmered here and there though obvious gold had already been taken. Smoky lamps burning fat filled the tunnel with the stench of flesh and grease. While the goblins seemed resigned to how awful the mine’s condition was, both Bruce and Syliri had to breathe shallowly to avoid gagging and coughing. Their eyes watered.
 
Still, they passed by many goblins working away at the tunnel edges as if in a charmed state. None noticed the two strangers. Ahead, a cool breeze became noticeable and soon, they stepped into a crystal cavern full of soft silver reflections. To their right, a better-fed and stronger goblin said, “Stomper, I,” and then stabbed at them with a spear.
 
The hissing of snakes and Syliri’s quick reflexes caught the spear tip an inch away from Bruce’s chest. He jumped back in surprise. The familiar sight of a creature, beyond terrified, met his gaze as Syliri’s eyes and the snakes around her head gazed intently at the guard. Her hand covered Bruce’s eyes a second after the cobra blocked him from meeting Syliri’s petrification gaze. Unable to breathe through stone lungs, the goblin gurgled and then completely petrified. The yellow light in Syliri’s and her snakes’ eyes faded. She caught the statue before it tumbled over off balance, and laid it gently to the side. “I bet the goblins won’t even notice,” she whispered. Some of the snakes in her hair hissed at the statue, and under the dim orange light, Syliri’s hands molded the stone back into a semblance of guard-on-duty.
 
Bruce swept her up in a hug, careful not to look in her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to do that,” he whispered. “I know how much you hate that part of your nightmare.”

Amazon Author Page is live

amazon.com/author/erickbarnum will be another place to track and follow my work. Kindle unlimited is always free and I allow you to share the stories with your friends like you would a normal book. 

Since I'm here, allow me to update you on Syliri & Bruce. Set 5 years after Dar Tania, the medusa Syliri and the Taysoran Ranger Bruce have been exploring the territory the dragons consider part of Morbatten. The things dragons care about differ so much from what might concern a human that these supposedly simple missions take longer than expected. In this story, the concept of Set's Dream and how it affects "monsters", the world of Morbatten and the Forsaken Isles, and the Darkhold Project are all expanded. Dar Tania and Sean, the Queen Alaura, and Bomoki all appear in this story as do other characters. While this timeframe is 1,600 years before Malcor's Story, to a long-lived elf or an immortal dragon, it's just a few generations. ​