The DragonShadowed Series

(Associated illustration used without commercial intent) Stories of the fey world go back beyond ancient times into pre-history. Before Rome, the Celtic and Scandinavian people of northern Europe lived in small tribal plots within extensive forests, linked together by rudimentary trails and travelling druids. The vast majority of their stories, beliefs and culture have been lost. What remains is gathered from fragments, often through the testimony of their enemies. Most readers of fantasy are aware of the Norse gods and legends. It’s rarer still that readers are aware of the myths of heroic Cu Chulainn, the Tuatha De Danann, or the Fir Bolg. Much of the modern fantasy genre is built upon the foundation of Celtic mythology. Tolkien relied on the epic Dark Ages poem, Beowulf, when constructing much of the world of Middle Earth. The tales of King Arthur are filled with mentions of the fey realm—especially in reference to his half-sister, Morgan le Fey. Shakespeare’s famous play of a Midsummer’s Night Dream is set in the fairy court of Oberon and Titania. The novel, Three Hearts and Three Lions takes place in a world of elves and fairies, and is the original inspiration for regenerating trolls as are common in most role-playing games. The books of the Dragonshadowed series are evolved from these roots, as are most stories of epic high fantasy and action adventure. Note that I use the word ‘realm’ to denote what other fantasy and science-fiction authors call ‘planes.’ The denizens of Valdain have no concept of other worlds, so view alternate planes as remote foreign kingdoms. Difficult to reach without magic, perhaps, but well within their world-view and understanding of enchantment. No information about the fey realm of the Dragonshadowed series can be complete without mentioning the elves. As the first of the blessed races, it was the elves that discovered another place, co-existing with the mundane world, but subject to rules and laws that were malleable rather than fixed. As the elves explored, they determined that much of this new realm was linked to their lands, but remained distinct, like two different but complimentary notes played on a lute. They called this land Annwvyn, later referred to simply as Between. It is the closest alternate plane to the mortal realm, and exists between the mortal realm and all the other realms that touch each other via direct minglings. Although elves enjoy a special relationship with the lands of Between, not all elves are able to transit to those lands. This might be compared to the ability of all humans having the potential to read and write, but not all do. In Areskel’s case, he couldn’t mingle into Between during the events of the Dragon Flight novella. He was trained to mingle later into Annwvyn by his father-in-law during his visit to the hidden elven lands of Telphyne. During the First Aeon, and before the wars that transitioned time into the Second Aeon, there was little difference between the mortal realm and Between from an elvish perspective. The inhabitants were different, but the same could be said regarding the variety of creatures inhabiting each realm. The intelligent creatures that lived primarily within Annwvyn became known as the Cymru and were ruled by elven nobility. Here, there was no death. Creatures could ‘harm’ each other without fear of consequences, much like cartoon characters. A being could be crushed under a boulder or blasted by lightning, and walk away with no more than a little embarrassment. As a result, the denizens of Annwvyn have no understanding of personal responsibility or consequences to this day. Although all Cymru races are immortal, that doesn’t mean they can’t die or be killed. During the wars of the Second Aeon, and later goblin invasions into the lands of Valdain, death arrived. Unlike goblins and mortal creatures, the fey cannot survive wounds caused by iron or steel without powerful healing magic. Even silver and other pale metals are toxic to some degree. The initial battles between the fey, their elven rulers, and the evil iron-wielding races were devastating. The fey went into battle secure in the knowledge that they would always rise, and left fields full of eternally dead. Fortunately, the other blessed races able to use iron came to their defense, and defeated evil. In Valdain the rescue came at a price. The immortal fey of that land bargained to save themselves, and are eternally indebted, and to some degree enslaved by humans. Mages and some clerics of Tanit take advantage of that fact. The actual lands of Annwvyn bear similarities to mortal lands, but also operate with physical and customary laws unique to the fey. The most notable difference to a traveller may be the strange light and topography, or the way each area manifests changes according to the will and personality of the local ruler. Powerful visitors, especially elves, may command any fey, or take control of a kingdom by deposing the existing ruler. Areskel does so in some novels. Generally, all fey territories have breathable air, hospitable temperatures, gravity, and understandable terrain features. Plants and houses may look very different, but remain identifiable as trees and shrubs; hovels and castles. Travel from the territory of one ruler to the next may be difficult or impossible depending on established wards and portals. Local fey take advantage of this, and will attempt to strike bargains with travellers who wish passage, or otherwise become embroiled in any number of tricks and traps. The unwary may find themselves freed from a predicament, only to be enslaved for life. The kingdoms of Annwvyn are primarily divided into two camps: The Seelie ruled by King Oberon and Queen Titania, and the Unseelie ruled by the Queen of Air and Darkness and by a current but ever-changing consort. Travellers should note that designating one court ‘good’ and the other ‘evil’ is oversimplification. Both are fey and do not adhere to human notions of ethics or morality. Two other courts exist, referred to as the ‘Dawn’ and the ‘Twilight’ courts. Few travellers reach these distant places. 

(Associated illustration used without commercial intent) Magic is a necessary component of every fantasy story and occasionally drives the plot. It’s as fundamental to the world of Valdain as phasers and photon torpedoes to the Star Trek universe. Magical energy is manipulated by spell casters to aid daily activities, gain information, or conjure specific effects. In it’s simplest form during combat, raw magic energy is summoned and released as yellow darts and single-direction warding shields. Magical talent, like any other skill, increases over time and as the mage gains experience. These persons are considered to be true mages when they are able to cast a fireball or lightning bolt. Such spells are powerful enough to deter predators such as manticores and ensure employment in most towns or villages. Many spell casters never progress beyond this level. Readers of the Dragonshadowed series will find hints scattered throughout the novels regarding how magic ‘works.’ Or doesn’t work. The characters discuss the eight basic elements upon which most spells are based: air, earth, water, fire, acid, crystal, light and darkness. Some characters add a ninth element—the Void, but that’s grist for another blog. When destructive magic is mentioned, the element-based spells are usually described by a color specific to that element. Transport spells appear as white flashes. Divination spells conform to the color closest to the element associated with the casting mage. Some spell casters purposely alter the color of a spell manifestation as part of their disguise. I’m often asked by readers who are also fantasy role players, “What magic system do I use?” Persons familiar with Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder quickly determine that I don’t mention components necessary for spell casting using these systems, or any other game mechanics. The short answer is that I refer to the ‘Arduin’ spell casting and combat system. This was developed in the 1970’s and never became widely popular due to its complexity and lethality. It’s not for those who want an easily understandable game. The advantage of Arduin is that once understood, it is infinitely adaptable and progressive. As an example, in standard D&D, a third level fireball spell inflicts six, six-sided dice of damage. That’s it. My system allows a spell caster to vary the amount of damage desired, enhance the effectiveness to ensure the spell takes effect, and overcomes defensive spells. A skilled mage can ultimately alter the parameters of the spell. As an example with fireball, one player character became able to split a standard fireball into numerous independently targeted mini-fireballs, and later designed an effect so that he could drop the spell on a friend and have no damage affect that friend while the flames blasted everyone and anything in a ten foot radius. Very useful to protect that friend as they’re swarmed from every direction. Another example in the novels is Tamsin’s healing power. She’s so adept with healing that she can heal at a distance, and combine the effects with additional forms of healing such as neutralizing poison and curing disease at will. Almost all clerics need to touch their patient, so her ability is a constant source of amazement to most other characters. Even so, as the novels progress, a reader of the series will see her power continue to grow. Should anyone be interested, this game system can still be purchased from: empcho.com. Be warned – it’s a ‘bear’, but portions may be of interest to referees and dungeon masters to graft onto their games. All this background ultimately leads to how and why I describe magic in the novels. As a writer, I made the decision that I would use the first-person perspective (or point-of-view), meaning that I describe everything from the viewpoint of the character experiencing events. The reader is thrust into the action, and knows what that character knows and senses. Naturally, most characters aren’t spell casters, so can’t interpret the effect of any specific spell. They just react. What I describe is what the character sees and feels. The mechanics of how or why a spell works doesn’t matter—they’re concentrating on what’s happening to them, now. As spell-casting characters, Tamsin is the exception, and Gyrfalcon to a lesser extent. Without getting into boring arithmetic and formulas, both these characters have a limited supply of ‘spell points’ to be applied to whatever spell they need. I do have a list of the spells each character has at their disposal. They can increase or decrease the energy for any spell, with a corresponding effect on that spell. No character consciously thinks how much energy they’ll use, any more than someone might think how strong a throw should be to hit a target. They just ‘do it.’ In the same fashion, a spell caster grows fatigued as they cast numerous or powerful spells, as any person might feel when playing sports. Effort adds up ultimately to exhaustion, until the spell caster, or athlete, has a chance to rest and recover. In Valdain, this usually means a good sleep. I equip all of the spell casting characters, including lesser characters and villains, with a character sheet including their list of spells. This requires background work, but makes the actual writing much easier as I can refer to that character’s capabilities to determine what action they can take or are likely to perform. As for potential, available spells? I’ve got a database of thousands. Those who stay with the series will read about many magic effects far beyond the confines of any role-playing game. The world of Valdain keeps expanding . . .