Kevin L. O'Brien's Blog: Songs of the Seanchaí, page 25

New eBook: The Peril Gem

I have just published my latest ebook:

The Peril Gem

Before they met in person, Eile and Sunny spent many hours together playing the online role playing game Otherworld as the fighter/thief Braveheart and the magic-user White-Lion. This is another of their sessions.

The Devourer is the pagan god of a tribe of wild savages, who worship it in the form of a giant stone idol. Placed in the center of its face is a large gem that represents its single eye. Many adventurers have tried to steal that gem, but all have failed, and most were killed by the tribe, or offered as sacrifices to their god. Braveheart and White-Lion, Team Girl, decide to attempt it. After all, it seems so simple; they can't understand why no one else has succeeded.

They are about to find out.

This ebook is free and can be downloaded from Smashwords.

Plot Device: Chekhov's Gun

The next plot device I would like to describe is Chekhov's gun. This stems from a dictum Anton Chekhov, the great Russian author, was fond of repeating:

"If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following act it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."

Many people mistake this for foreshadowing, a plot device that presents details that hint at events or developments that will come later. It can have that effect, but instead it is meant to be a plea for minimalism:

"Remove everything that has no relevance to the story."

In other words, everything in a story must be necessary and irreplaceable; anything that isn't should be removed.

This principle may account, as much as anything, for the modern trend in minimalist description. It is certainly true that many novice writers include too much description in their narratives, but as with any literary ideal it can be overused. The thing that needs to be remembered about Chekhov is that he primarily wrote plays and short stories, and unless we are talking about Shakespeare, plays have more in common with short stories than novels. He only wrote one novel and five novellas; the rest were all shorter works.

The thing is, that up to a certain point, minimalism is important in short works because you only have a certain amount of room to tell your story. Novels and novellas, however, have more room, so some "superfluous" description is permissible. For example, novels have the room to describe M'Lady's boudoir in exacting detail, even if most of it has no relevance to the story.

And yet, Chekhov's gun can also mean that, if you do go with "superfluous" description, you should make it relevant to the story in some manner. For example, the description of M'Lady's boudoir could be related by a thief posing as a servant while casing her home for valuables, and adding color commentary on what her possessions tell us about her life and personality. Similarly, there's usually no need to describe a businessman character as wearing a tie (it would be more relevant to say if he wasn't wearing a tie), but if you say that he wore his tie like a hangman's noose, that would go to characterization, which is relevant.

So Chekhov's gun is not really an admonishment to ruthlessly eliminate all extraneous elements no matter how trivial, until you're left with a bare-bones minimalist narrative, but rather an encouragement to make every word count, no matter how much wordage you use.

Archery in the Dreamlands

The queen of battle in the Dreamlands is not the sword, as most people would expect, but the bow. In the Waking World during the Bronze Age, the chariot was the premier war vehicle, but with all due respect to Cecil B. DeMille, the weapon used with it was the composite bow, not the lance or javelin. (Though infantry troops that supported the chariot forces did use them against the enemy.) From the Iron Age on, with the abandonment of the chariot and the rise of the infantry, archers were relegated to supporting foot soldiers, but they were devastating against mass formations and they proved decisive at times. Even the Romans, who at first eschewed a need for archers, began recruiting them as auxiliaries from allies and conquered nations when faced with opponents who made regular use of missile attacks.

There were, however, four exceptions to the support role. One was defense; archers were often the best way to defend fortifications when it was not possible to send out infantry or cavalry. Another was the use of the yeoman longbowman by the English as an instrument of tactical dominance, especially during the Hundred Years' War. For example, at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, longbowmen slaughtered thousands of mounted knights while suffering only a few hundred casualties. (Exact numbers are hard to pin down, but estimates of casualty ratios range from 6 to 10 French for each English.) Still another was the use of archery in naval battles. Again contrary to Hollywood, ancient ship battles rarely involved boarding actions by assault troops fighting hand-to-hand, but instead relied on battering rams and catapults to incapacitate enemy ships. As such, archers were the only way for opposing troops to engage each other. The fourth was the mounted archer; the bow gave cavalry a distinct advantage over infantry, and mounted units in cultures as diverse as the Comanche and the Mongols proved themselves superior to foot soldiers until the development of firearms.

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H-M PRIVY Article

The Women of Her Majesty's Government
Sir Differel Van Helsing
by Alicia Keyes Hammond; portrait by Lon Ryden
H-M PRIVY PC Gazette, May 2011

Sir Differel Isolde Churchill Pendragon Van Helsing Plunkett, 16th Baronetess of Denver, Baroness Denver, Viscountess Dunwich, GC, LG, GIM, turns thirty-five this month, and we thought it fitting that she should be honoured as our Lady of May. As Director of the Caerleon Order of the Companions of St. George, she is charged with the protection of Sovereign, Church, and Country from paranormal threats. And never has a guardian angel looked so good.

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Synopsis: Bouncing Sunny (a Team Girl adventure)

Eile and Sunny are in a lab helping Medb with her latest project. They are monitoring a device that will create an implosion. Sunny watches the power level, while Eile watches containment. Before detonation can occur, however, containment drops too low and Medb orders the power dumped to prevent detonation. When Sunny tries to pull the lever, however, it is stuck. Medb comes over and wrestles with it, while Sunny moves behind Eile. Finally, Medb is able to pull the lever just moments before detonation occurs. However, there is an explosion. A blast of white light expands out, engulfs Eile, then blinds Sunny.

When her vision clears, she finds herself outdoors, naked, holding a super-soaker in one hand and a water balloon in the other. Before she can figure out what happened, she gets hit be a water balloon, then blasted with a stream of water. She collapses crying, and Eile comforts her. Sunny tells her that the last thing she remembers she was in Medb's lab, but Eile states that was a week ago. Sunny says she must have bounced across time, but Eile doesn't believe her. Then her vision whites out.

When is clears, she finds herself sitting in her kitchen with Eile and Medb. She states that she bounced again. Eile scoffs, but Medb takes her seriously. It is now a year after the accident. What convinces Eile is that Sunny doesn't now remember the dream they had last night, even though she had remembered it only an hour before. Sunny gets frightened and Eile embraces her, and her vision whites out again.

When it clears, she finds herself in a hotel room wearing wedding clothes. Eile is there with her, also dressed for a wedding. She finds out she and Eile were married that day and this is the start of their honeymoon. They talk, and Sunny finds out it is August of 2010, three months since the last bounce. Eile says that Medb is working on a way to monitor her bouncing, to try to find out what's causing it. Sunny is calmed by their talk; in fact, instead of being scared, she has become excited, because she wants to see what their life together will be like. They embrace and kiss, and Sunny's vision whites out.

When it clears, she is with Eile and Medb in their cat's vet's office. Eile is giving birth and Medb is performing the delivery. When Sunny announces that she bounced again, Medb instructs the vet to give her a wristband. Medb tells Sunny it will record her next bounce. She also tells her it is June of 2011, ten months since the last jump. Sunny stays through the entire birth, but when she embraces Eile after Eile has been given the baby, her vision whites out.

When it clears, she finds herself in a backyard during a holiday celebration. A girl comes up to her crying, calling her Mommy, while another girl zings her with a slingshot. When Eile demands she apologize, she calls Sunny Dad. The two girls then run off to watch Medb set up the fireworks. Sunny follows Eile into the kitchen and tells her she bounced again. She finds out it's July of 2021. They now have two kids, both age ten, Constance and Elizabeth. Connie is the reincarnation of Dennis the Menace, while Liza, though sweet, is in her own way a little devil. Connie was the baby whose birth Sunny witnessed in the previous bounce, while Liza is adopted. By agreement, Eile is mother to Connie and father to Liza, while Sunny is the opposite. The people in their backyard are all the friends they've made in the past twelve years. Medb comes in saying that Connie told her Dad was acting weird. She tells Sunny she is working on finding a way to stop her bouncing, but Sunny notes it's been ten years and she's made no progress. Medb admits it is a very difficult problem. Sunny remains through the feast and the festivities, but during the evening fireworks, she kisses Eile and her vision whites out.

When it clears, she is in bed with Eile watching TV. She finds out that it 2031 and Connie wants to get married, but Eile isn't too keen on the idea. She also finds out Liza is an artist. She suggests to Eile that they invite Connie's boyfriend to dinner to get to know him. When Eile initiates foreplay to lead into sex, Sunny's vision whites out.

When it clears, she finds herself standing on the verandah of a home in the foothills. She is writing mathematical formulas on a white board. Eile interrupts with tea. When she announces she bounced again, Eile declares it is 2044. She then explains everything that's happened in the past thirteen years. Sunny got a triple PhD in physics and became the Einstein of the 21st century. She is trying to invent cold fusion to save the world from runaway global warming. Connie is married with five kids. Liza almost died from a drug overdose, but is now married with two kids and is a famous artist. Sunny's parents were killed defending a refugee convey from pirates. Medb has asked Eile to take over all her business dealings so she can concentrate on the global crisis. Sunny encourages her to accept and promises to help her all she can. When they kiss, Sunny vision whites out.

When it clears, she finds herself standing in the hallway of a futuristic medical facility. She meets Medb, who tells her it is 2069. She explains that Sunny did invent cold fusion, and saved mankind from extinction. Fossil fuels were eliminated almost overnight, and society had all the power it needed to achieve a commercial and industrial revolution. Though the world is still warming, carbon emissions have all but ceased and excess carbon is being removed from the atmosphere. There are already signs that the warming trend is slowing, allowing other natural cycles to gain precedence and effect a cooling pattern. The world population has been reduced to three billion, but virtually everyone is well fed, clothed, housed, and reasonably prosperous. There is an effective world government similar to the US, such that countries still maintain some autonomy, but have surrendered certain powers to the world governing body. There have even been great strides towards cleaning up pollution, and toxic and radioactive waste. Mankind has moved out into space, with space habitats, lunar colonies, a Mars base, and mining operations in the asteroid belt. Sunny has been declared the Savior of Mankind, since she is deemed to be directly or indirectly responsible for all these achievements.

However, Eile is dying of a dementia disease. Sunny sits with Eile until she dies, comforting her at the last. Afterwards, Medb injects her with a poison that brings her to and holds her at the brink of death. Sunny is packed into a coffin and buried, but she overhears the speech Medb makes in her and Eile's honor.

An aethereal being snatches Sunny and takes her into the aethereal realm. There he offers her a choice to adventure on other worlds for eternity, or return to a point just before the accident. Sunny realizes that she has been there several times before, and that each time she chose to return and so repeated the cycle of bouncing. This time she makes the same choice, saying that she would rather live the same moments with Eile over and over again throughout eternity than be separated from her forever. Besides, she declares, they're a team; they have to be together to accomplish anything worthwhile. So the being sends her back.

When Eile announces containment has dropped below 90%, Medb orders the power dumped, but Sunny cannot move the lever because it has become stuck. As Medb struggles with it, a mathematical equation runs through Sunny's head. On a whim, she goes to Medb's station and ignites detonation moments before Medb frees the lever. Containment actually holds and the implosion occurs as expected. When Medb asks how Sunny knew containment would hold, she mentions the equation. When she writes it out, Medb is stunned to see that it is her containment formula, but with a different exponent in one place, indicating that containment would hold down to 75%.

Medb sends the girls home. When they arrive they have fantastic sex, the best in months. As they lay together afterwards, Sunny explains that she feels excited about their future life together. She then suggests that next weekend they play a game of nude water war in the backyard with super-soakers and water balloons.

Synopsis: The Sewers of Khwarezm (a Medb hErenn adventure)

Medb hErenn awakens to herself in a slave dungeon. Another slave, Sahrazad, a princess who ran away to escape an arranged marriage, tends to her. Medb escapes into the sewers, followed by Sahr soon afterwards. Together they head towards the city to find help.

Morgiana of the House of Baba, a master thief, waits for Medb outside a coffee shop. Medb had been hired by the king of a city to bring back his runaway daughter, Sahrazad, so she could be married as he arranged. Medb in turn hired Morgiana to help by acquiring information on the sly while Medb operates more openly. Morgiana is approached by a bard who informs her that Medb has been kidnapped by slavers, the same ones who took the princess. He also explains that he is Sahr’s lover, and the prince who is to be her husband has charged him with retrieving her. He proposes they work together to rescue them both, and she agrees.

As they traverse the sewers, Medb learns why Sahr ran away: she fell in love with a bard and they slept together. By law, she must be a virgin when she weds the Prince, and there is an elaborate ceremony that ensures that, but she truly loves the bard as well. She was trying to get to Celephais when the slavers took her. She tries to bribe Medb, but discovers the massive woman will not go back on her word. However, she promises to try to think of a to get her out of her mess. They come upon a tunnel with a ledge that probably leads up to a private villa. The tunnel is too steep and slimy to climb, but they can rest on the shelf. Sahr cuts her foot and Medb heals her, then they settle in for a nap.

Morgiana and the bard survey the courtyard of a villa from on high. Though outside the city on the inland side, a canal links it directly to the sea. A galley is tied up to a dock and naked women are being put aboard, but they do not see Medb. Teehar returns from his scouting mission and reports that he overheard guards saying that two of the captives, the best of the lot, had escaped into the sewers. He also reports that no one was sent after them. Morgiana is confused, but the bard states they must find them before the worms come out.

Medb and Sahr awaken and continue on their way. More tunnels appear, indicating they are getting closer to the center of the city. However, some of the tunnels appear smaller and rougher, like the rock and brick have been chewed. Medb pauses to examine one closely, and she hears a slithering sound. Suddenly a worm-like creature with a bulbous head, huge eyes, and a horny beak-like mouth lunges at her. She falls back in the sewage and blasts it before it can chomp her. Sahr helps her to stand, and another worm emerges to grab her; Medb blasts it as well. More worms emerge and they make a run for it, dodging strikes while Medb punches any that get too close.

The city cats inform Crème that they have heard women’s voices in part of the sewers. They lead Morgiana and the bard to that location.

Medb and Sahr reach a hub where several smaller sewers meet their own. Drains higher up discharge sewage into the pool. Higher still appears to be manhole covered with a grate. Medb believes she can levitate both of them, but then huge worms emerge and attack. There are too many and they are too strong for Medb to handle on her own. Sahr finds a large glass shard and defends the massive woman’s back, but they are being overwhelmed. Then magical explosive spheres strike the worms as arrows blind them. Looking up, they see Morgiana and the bard descending on ropes. The bard shoots arrows as Conaed clinging to his legs uses magical attacks. Morgiana tosses Medb a sword while she fends off the worms from above. Teehar carries down the end of a rope, which Sahr ties around herself. At a signal from Morgiana the ropes are hauled back up. Medb grabs Sahr’s rope and levitates herself up beside it, covering their retreat.

They emerge from the sewer in a squalid part of the city; homeless beggars man the ropes. The bard wraps his cloak around Sahr, but Medb is unconcerned about her nudity. Morgiana explains that she promised the beggars money if they helped; Medb pledges to do right by them. They then retreat to a nearby tavern to get cleaned up and fresh clothes.

Afterwards they have a feast in the common room. Medb presents the beggars’ representative with a purse of gold crowns, but states that she will also open a “shop”, where they can get food, drink, clothing, and other basic necessities for free. She will support it, but she also believes the city will chip in, in exchange for her not reporting their turning a blind eye to slaving activities to Kuranes. He might not be able to stop the slave trade, but he can make it considerably more difficult, what with fines, seizures, and blockades. She also convinces the bard to reveal that he is the very prince Sahr is to marry. He had her that she was reluctant, so he disguised himself and came weeks in advance of his official arrival so as to woe her and win her heart. Then he would disappear and surprise her when he arrived as his true self. He had not anticipated her coming after him. He also has a plan for circumventing the ceremony to prove she is a virgin. Though angry at first, she melts when she realizes he must love her dearly to risk his life to rescue her. As a reward for their part in the rescue, he will pay Medb triple her commission, but will also initiate a program similar to her “shop” in his city once he becomes king. He promises Morgiana a rich payment as well, but also grants her immunity from all thefts, future as well as past, that she commits in his city. He simply asks she doesn’t strip them naked. He also grants them citizenship, a house of their own, servants, and a stipend. Sahr asks Medb to stand with her at her wedding, and she agrees. Finally they toast their new friendship as well as health, happiness, and many children for the betrothed couple.

Next eBook: The Peril Gem

The next story in my schedule to be published through Smashwords will be:

The Peril Gem

Braveheart and White-Lion, fighter/thief and magic-user characters in the online role-playing game Otherworld, are the alter egos of Eile and Sunny. In their current scenario, they decide to try to perform a deed no one else has successfully accomplished: steal the Eye from the Devourer, the idol of a tribe of wild savages. It seems so simple; why hasn't anyone done it before? They are about to find out....

This will be another free ebook.

New eBook: Fun 'n' Games

I have just published my latest ebook:

Fun 'n' Games

The Princess in Orange is back! And this time she means business.

Sir Differel's staff and servants are acting very strangely. First, they've started wearing BDSM outfits. They're also having an orgy in her own great hall. Then there's the fact that they tried to gang rape her. Only her manager of the Caerleon Order, Maggie King, seems unaffected, but she's also a target.

Differel soon discovers that the PiO is behind it all, and that her intent is to have her own people kill her in a brutal S&M fashion. To save herself and her people, she challenges the Carcosan Royal to a game: she figures out how the Princess is controlling them and breaks it, or she becomes her plaything for eternity. The PiO allows Maggie to help her, but she also imposes a time limit, and it isn't very long.

This ebook is free and can be downloaded from Smashwords.

Zombie Gazette

I have never been satisfied with the general SciFi explanation of zombies being caused by a viral plague, for two reasons. The first is that no virus can raise the dead; Max Brooks's solanum virus is especially unrealistic (but, see below). The second is that, in my opinion, zombies themselves are sufficient as a plague; we don't really need some kind of biological plague to explain them, and to some extent it "demystifies" them by making them mundane.

Even so, I can't help imagining alternative explanations, both because I am fascinated by how it could work, and because the Sir Differel stories, at least, are science fantasy as well as dark fantasy, so the characters themselves in-story would try to understand zombie reanimation scientifically.

I did, however, make one compromise: with two exceptions, no zombie is a true reanimated corpse, but at some point during the conversion process the brain briefly shuts down, resulting in "brain death" even though the rest of the body still functions. As such, "reanimation" is used as a term of convenience to indicate the process by which a victim is turned into a zombie. Also, with two exceptions, the defining characteristic of a zombie is an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Zombies can be destroyed by any normal means, but depending upon the nature of their reanimation brain damage is the only way to shut them down immediately, otherwise they will continue to attack until their brains die of oxygen starvation. With one exception, zombies do not decay, but they can have wounds and injuries. Though they can heal damage and have a working immune system, their wounds can become infected, leading to gangrene. The lifespan of a zombie varies depending upon its state of "health" and the nature of the cause of reanimation, but since it is incapable of looking after itself, it inevitably succumbs to some kind of collapse.

Biological Zombies

These are created by one of five known diseases that attack the brain, destroying or modifying it in some fashion. The damage is severe and permanent, rendering the victim a virtual, but active, vegetable. They have no intelligence or will of their own, and they operate purely on instinct, making them uncontrollable. Each disease is highly contagious, transmitted by body fluids and physical contact, usually through bites and/or scratches, and is 100% "fatal"; that is, no one afflicted has ever fought one off and avoided reanimation. However, prophylaxis and treatment may still be possible. Incubation periods vary, but with one exception the diseases are painful and debilitating, and have strong characteristic features that make them unmistakable.

Fungal Disease --- Incubation period 12-42 hours depending upon location and severity of infecting damage. This is a yeast that devours the cerebrum, leaving the mid and hindbrain intact. It produces a creature most like the zombie of cinema, with palid gray skin and a "thousand yard" stare, though it is more resistant to infection than others because the fungus produces anti-bacterial agents. This is the only disease organism that forms a macroscopic colonial structure: a fungal mass that replaces the brain. It is also the only organism that takes over some functions of the brain. It can even mutate into an intelligent form that is capable of speech and independent self-directed action.

Regenerative Virus --- Incubation period 18-27 hours depending upon severity of infection. This is a man-made virus that was designed to impart a regenerative ability to any person it infected. Though originally designed to infect though inhalation, it mutated to be purely fluid-borne, though there is some concern it could mutate back to an airborne variety. Unfortunately it also damaged the brain, but while the brain could regenerate, it lost its memories, personality, and intelligence. The virus destroys other tissues as well, though they too regenerate, so these zombies are usually covered with open sores. They are more deliberate in their actions than other zombies and have been observed to actively scan their surroundings to pinpoint prey, but they still operate entirely by instinct. They can move faster than most other zombies, but they still lack general coordination. These tend to be the longest lived of any zombie and can be the most difficult to destroy.

Rage Virus --- Incubation period 3-5 hours. This is another man-made virus that was designed to turn victims into mindless killing machines. They are characterized by an intense rage that drives them to attack anything that moves and tear it apart. They have also been observed torturing and raping victims, and they are the only zombies seen to use weapons. They are the fastest, most well-coordinated of all zombies, and the most normal looking, but they are also the shortest lived. The disease hyperintensifies their metabolism, heightening their need for food. Consumption of human flesh is only an incidental part of their attacks, so they do not gorge themselves like other zombies. Since they kill or drive away all prey in their immediate vicinity, they tend to starve to death in a matter of weeks, even days.

Prionic Disease --- Incubation period 72 hours. This is a naturally occurring protein that causes something similar to mad cow disease in humans. These zombies are very similar to the fungal zombies in behavior, except they are blind. They hunt by hearing and smell. Their skin has a mottled coloration with many fine lesionous cracks. This disease may be the oldest in existence, and is the only one that can affect other animals in the same way, though not necessarily with the same results.

Protist Disease --- Incubation period 1-2 weeks. This is a free-living waterborne amoeboid protozoa that causes initial infection through ingestion of cysts in contaminated water. As such, this organism is nicknamed the "zomoeba". The cysts hatch in the intestines, and while some form new cysts which are excreted with the feces, others penetrate into the blood stream and migrate to the brain. Unlike other diseases, however, the amoebas do not injure the brain directly, but cause encephalitis and meningitis, producing pain, fever, photophobia, confusion, dissociation, altered consciousness, dementia, hallucinations, and finally permanent brain damage. The amoeba also produces a psychotropic and psychedelic drug similar to LSD. Hence, reanimation is less a matter of physical damage and more one of behavior modification. In ages past, a victim might become convinced he suffered from demonic possession, or had turned into a werewolf or a vampire. In the Caribbean victims could believe they had been transformed into a Haitian folk-culture zombie by a sorcerer, and the symptoms and resulting behavior are very similar to the pharmacological zombie (see below). In modern times, however, the victim tends to presume he is turning into a cinematic zombie and acts accordingly. As such, unlike other diseases, the victim retains his intelligence and rationality, though not his original personality or his sanity. Also unlike other diseases, the victim's reanimation can be reversed if there is no permanent brain damage, using drugs to kill the amoeba and reduce brain swelling, providing supportive care to control side effects, and conducting psychotherapy to deal with the behavioral and delusional problems.

Vermiform Disease --- Incubation period 1-3 months depending upon extent of environmental contamination. This is a free-living nematode parasite that can infect the brain. It could be considered the stealth plague, because it has the longest incubation period of any zombie disease and is virtually asymptomatic. The eggs can enter into any break in the skin no matter how small, and once in the blood stream are carried to the brain. There they hatch and the nematodes begin eating the brain. More eggs are shed in feces and can contaminate food and water, though infection through ingestion occurs at a lower rate. Damage is slight, but progressive since the brain is largely unable to heal itself. The only indication of infection is a gradual loss of concentration, memory, and motor coordination, progressing to muscular abnormalities, seizures, dementia, and eventual psychosis. An entire community can become infected, and no one will know until they experience a mass psychotic break and go on a rampage. By then, however, the higher cognitive functions have become so impaired that the victim operates mostly or entirely on instinct. They appear normal, though they can sustain injuries after reanimating, and they behave similar to the regeneration virus zombie. However, the nematode continues to consume the brain, and after 12-18 months the damage becomes severe enough that the creatures are unable to attack or even move. When it finally dies and decays, the nematodes are released back into the environment to await reinfection of a new host. It has been speculated that the nematode evolved this lifestyle as a method to distribute itself far beyond its local habitat. However, it has not been observed to infect other animals.

Pharmacological Zombies

These are created by a two-step process invented by Haitian sorcerers. A victim is given a drug based on tetrodotoxin, a powerful and frequently fatal neurotoxin found in the flesh of the puffer fish. It simulates death, at which point the victim is buried. Later, the sorcerer digs him up and administers a second drug based on dissociative psychoactive chemicals derived from the devil's trumpet, a plant of the Datura genus known as "the zombie's cucumber". This drug induces a state of delirium in which the victim is unable to differentiate reality from fantasy, as well as amnesia, sensory distortion, and alteration of perception. Feelings of extreme detachment allow the victim to perform any act the sorcerer demands, even those that he would not normally do. An interesting side effect is mydriasis, which causes painful photophobia, accounting for the zombie's legendary fear of sunlight. The sorcerer can maintain this trance-like state as long as he continues to administer the second drug, and after prolonged exposure the victim can experience a psychotic break, complete with hallucinations. He can then run amok. Even if this doesn't happen, the second drug eventually causes severe and permanent brain damage, either killing the victim, reducing him to a vegetable, or inducing dementia. However, if rescued in time, treatment with gastric lavage, activated charcoal, and physostigmine, as well as ending continued administration of the second drug, can allow for a complete recovery.

Unlike other types of zombies, these do not have an insatiable appetite for human flesh. However, when they run amok they have been observed to bite, scratch, chew, even dismember anyone they catch. They are slow, walk with a shambling gate, and show little if any emotion. Though the most unlike any other form of zombie, their dissociative state renders them largely immune to pain, so they can be just as difficult to kill. However, they cannot infect those they attack, since they are created by drugs rather than a disease.

Technological Zombies

These are created by the application of some form of technology. As such, they are sometimes called "artificial" zombies. Being as there are only two known examples with widely varying characteristics, no common features can be described for this group, other than the obvious. They can be destroyed by any normal means, but depending upon the nature of the technology used, they may possess defenses and immunities that render them invulnerable to certain forms of attack. However, brain damage can still render them inoperative.

Nanorobotics --- Incubation period 60-90 minutes. These are created by nanoscale robots ("nanites") that stimulate and manipulate the nervous system. The origin of the nanites is unknown, but is certainly extraterrestrial. It is speculated that they were created to treat neurological disorders in which portions of the brain, sections of the spinal cord, or individual nerves either malfunction or cease to function altogether. The nanites do not repair the damage so much as act as surrogates, taking over the function of the afflicted neurotissue and stimulating what tissue is still functional. So far they have only been encountered on one extraterrestrial planet, an alternative Earth that is connected to other worlds by a network of artificial wormholes controlled by "gates", torus-shaped structures that open wormholes to another gate in the system. It is speculated that an infiltration team visited the world of the nanites incognito when one member (Patient Zero) was injured and was treated with the nanites. Neither he nor anyone else on the team realized this, and upon their return he introduced the nanites to his world, probably by donating blood. Whether the people of that world discovered them is unknown, but in healthy people they lay dormant until some part of the nervous system malfunctioned or shut down, such as in death.

It is speculated that on the nanite world, when people died the nanites were somehow deactivated. However, when Patient Zero died this was not done, and after a brief period of time, a few hours at best, the nanites reanimated his corpse. By then his brain had been damaged to the point where he was little more than an instinct-driven beast. It is unknown whether the apocalypse started with him or one or more of the others who received his nanites, but depending upon how many people had them and widespread they were, it is possible one or more outbreaks occurred in places where there were no effective methods to contain them. It is also unknown if the nanites "mutated" to a waterborne or airborne form, but it is speculated that they mutated to an infectious form that could spread like one of the above diseases, including the ability to kill the host rather than wait for him or to die.

Because these zombies are true reanimated corpses, they continue to decay, until there is nothing left to reanimate. However, since the nanites require an intact nervous system, particularly the brain, to reanimate a corpse, when that degenerates sufficiently the zombie becomes inactive even if its body is still largely intact. These zombies go through five stages as the nervous system degenerates. Runners are recently killed zombies and are the greatest threat. Walkers lose sufficient coordination that all they can do is walk. After that comes the Shambling stage, the Crawling stage, and finally the Palsy stage, where the zombie can only quiver. Even at this last a zombie can still bite, but once it collapses it is unable to attack, though it remains infectious. It's unknown how long these zombies can last from initial infection to final collapse, or even if this varies with individuals, but zombies of various stages can be found mixed together, and even a Palsy can start a new infection cycle in a new location. Behaviorally these zombies would progress from near rage virus demeanor to fungal zombie demeanor as they progress through the stages.

Borg --- Incubation period unknown; part of the manufacturing process. These are named after the Borg of the Star Trek franchise, because they are created using cybernetic implants, genetically engineered parasites, controlled mutations, and psychotropic drugs. They have no insatiable appetite for human flesh, neither are they unusually violent. They are unable to infect anyone they attack, but they can render people unconscious with electric shocks or soporific drugs for later processing. (In this respect they are more like the early Borg than the later depictions.) They are under complete control by their manufacturers or owners, and are rendered sociopathic to eliminate any empathy and emotion, but retain their intelligence and something of their individual personalities. They are likened to zombies because of their complete lack of self-will; if not operating under direct control or transmitted orders, they engage in no self-directed activity, and at best operate under instinct.

There are many different varieties of these zombies, with various types and amounts of implanted sensors, data recording and analysis devices, armor, and weapons. The most commonly encountered are Infiltrators for espionage, sabotage, and assassination; Recon Drones for reconnaissance; Skirmishers for harassing and disrupting enemy formation, and striking behind enemy lines; Hoplites for main battle combat; and Grenadiers for assault, acting as shock troops. The degree of self-autonomy varies inversely with amount of armor and weaponry carried. Infiltrators are controlled by a per-programmed set of instructions and occasional direct transmissions or relayed code words, but generally have enough autonomy to evaluate a situation and modify their actions according, whereas Grenadiers are little better than remote-controlled automatons.

At present, the only known Borg zombies are those manufactured by The Mhoriggan Group in violation of UK law and Orders in Council.

Supernatural Zombies

These are true reanimated corpses caused by unknown and technically unknowable supernatural forces. Stories of them go back thousands of years---they are mentioned in The Epic of Gilgamesh---and can be found all over the world. The Norse told of the draugr, the English of the barrow-wight, the Arabs the ghoul, the Chinese the jiāng shī, the Egyptians the mummy, the Hindu the vetala, the Germans the wiedergänger, the Inuit the atshen, the Japanese the jikininki, the Tibetans the ro-lang, and the Algonquians the wendigo, to name a few. Even revenants and vampires, often described as ghosts, could be reanimated corpses.

Any corpse in any physical state can be reanimated, the only restriction being there must be enough tissue to articulate the skeleton. Hence, animated skeletons are not possible. Though they consume human flesh, it is just one aspect of their overall mode of attack, which includes disembowelment and dismemberment. Despite being corpses, they do not decay. The supernatural force that creates them stops decomposition at whatever point it had reached before reanimation. Unlike other zombies they are intelligent and cunning and have a will of their own, but it is inhuman. They have been observed torturing and raping victims. They cannot infect the living, but anyone killed is likely to be reanimated as a zombie if reasonably intact. They cannot be destroyed by any normal means, not even by damaging the brain (if there is one). If not disenchanted, they must be shredded, immolated to ash, liquified, corroded to dust, or otherwise disintegrated. Simply dismembering them or chopping them to pieces is insufficient, because the bits and pieces can continue to act on their own (though if the pieces are small enough they can do little harm).

Outbreaks of these zombies are rare, and are generally limited in size and scope. Which is fortunate. A full-on apocalypse would see every corpse rise up from its grave, tomb, or morgue to rampage across the world. As related in The Epic of Gilgamesh: "And the dead will outnumber the living!"

Armaments in the Dreamlands

Armaments are a type of tool, designed to inflict injury on living beings or damage to artificial structures (henceforth referred to as harm). Most armaments derive from other types of tools, which are not designed to inflict harm but can be adapted to do so; for example, daggers derive from knives, which serve as all-purpose cutting and slicing tools. However, four types of tools were designed from the start to inflict harm and so were intended to be armaments; these are the spear, the bow, the sword, and the firearm. Of these, two were designed as hunting tools before they were adapted for use in war—the spear and the bow—whereas two were designed for war from the moment of their conception—the sword and the firearm. There are many different kinds of armaments in the Dreamlands. In fact, with the exception of firearms and modern military equipment, any armament that was invented in the Waking World exists in the Dreamlands, along with a few that never existed in the Waking World.

The following essay is a survey of the types of armament found in the Dreamworld. They are divided into categories, with examples described for most. This is not meant to be a complete list of all armaments that exist; it merely describes the kinds of armament anyone can expect to encounter. It should also be noted that many varieties of each type exist, most of which vary only by name rather than physical characteristics. In other words, many armaments are virtually identical despite the fact that they are all called something different.

Finally, the term ‘armament’ herein refers to the whole tool, whereas the term ‘weapon’ herein refers only to the that part of the tool that inflicts harm. For example, when referring to a battle axe, the armament is the whole object, including the handle and any decorative features, whereas the weapon is the axe head by itself. ‘Melee’ refers to close-quarters combat using arms, often where participants fight as individuals instead of an organized unit, and a ‘melee weapon’ is an armament used in a melee. ‘Hand-to-hand combat’ (in this context) refers to close-quarters combat using no arms, just the participants’ body parts (though one category of arms can be used to enhance harm caused as part of hand-to-hand combat). ‘Small unit tactics’ and ‘massed attack’ refer to combat involving a group of persons working as an organized coherent unit. To avoid confusion, ‘object’ refers to non-tools and pseudotools as well as true tools, whereas ‘implement’ refers to true tools and pseudotools both. (A ‘pseudotool’ is an object used to do work or make work easier, but in and of itself does not perform a specific task. For example, a hammer is a tool, because it performs the specific task of driving fasteners into wood, but a nail is a pseudotool because its purpose of acting as a fastening is not its only task, nor is it the only kind of fastener available. Wooden dowels used to be used before nails were developed, and in many places are still used instead of nails. Work gloves are another example of a pseudotool.)

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