TOTEH Characters: Sarah
January 31, 2011
"Sarah of Blanchefort" by Eve Ventrue
Sarah is the spitting image of her maternal grandmother, Countess Hermilane, right down to the blue hair and rather pugnacious temperament. Sarah is a notorious tom-boy, and often dresses like a boy, eschewing the fine Blanchefort gowns her mother wishes she’d wear. She is Gifted with the Gift of Sight, a usual Blanchefort Gift, and the Gift of Strength, which is unusual for a girl to receive. Her mother has forbidden her from powering up inside the castle due to past mayhems she has caused.
Sarah refuses to see any gentleman hoping to court her unless they first have a “cool-sounding” name. The Blancheforts had to issue a public apology to the House of Posie after Sarah refused to see their son, Houck.
"Sarah" by Bea Matarredona-Garcia
Sarah is often said to be bull-headed, quick to judge, quick to get angry, loud-mouthed and opinionated in the extreme. To those she loves, she is loyal and dedicated, steadfast to the end. To those she does not know or dislikes, however, she is rude, rather boorish and, often-times, a vile bully. She has a running feud going with Kay’s sister, Lady Kilos, and often calls her Tez, which means “cheap prostitute” in Esther. Nobody can recall when the feud began or who started it, but Sarah takes every opportunity to be mean to her. Kay often speculates that Sarah is simply jealous of Kilos because she has the Gift of Stare, a Gift that Sarah had hoped to have.
"Sarah in Waam" by Carol Phillips
Sarah appears in all three books in the Temple trilogy. The first book, The Dead Held Hands will be out in March, 2011 by Loconeal Publishing.
copyright 2011, Ren Garcia
The Weird World of LosCapricos Weapons
January 25, 2011
CARG
Facing a LosCapricos weapon in battle is a bewildering thing. Some are fairly straight forward in design and concept, (swords, knives, pistols, and so forth), some are purely technological in nature, while others are bizarre in the extreme and perform any number of mystical effects. Knowledge is one’s best defense against an LC; knowing what they are and what they do is key to surviving against them. Learning LC lore is a required field of study for boys in most Vith Great Houses.
Captain Davage and his King CARG
The Deadly Princess Vrok of Xandarr with her BEREN (Carol Phillips)
RUMALORE: A Rumalore is a bit of disinformation regarding a LC that has been filed with the Sisterhood of Light. The Sisters have a complete listing of each weapon and what they do. A Rumalore is intended to either hide a weakness or foster fear of an LC. For example—the NAS of House Albans, a small jewel-encrusted dagger, was said to create wounds that would bleed forever, and that only the Sisters or the Hospitalers could stem the bleeding. The relentless wounding power of the NAS was a Rumalore exaggerating the power of the NAS, as small, shallow cuts inflicted by it would indeed stop bleeding on their own after several hours.
copyright 2011, Ren Garcia
The Yoda Way
January 20, 2011
Antioch College
Yellow Springs is a pocket of profound liberalism tucked deep in the conservative gullet of Southwestern Ohio. Founded with the intention of being a Utopian Society, it’s like a weird Austin Powers movie brought to life where long hair, bad teeth and men who wear skirts is the norm rather than the exception. Ground Zero of all this strangeness is Antioch College, which often seems more like a bizarre cult or Celtic tribe right out of the Dark Ages rather than an institution of higher learning.
Near Antioch College is a very nice bike and skating path that goes fifteen miles all the way to Xenia, passing through haunted Medway where Tecumseh was born. I used to skate that path every day. I could do it in about two hours.
On the approach to Yellow Springs, the path dives into a thick forest full of deer and wild turkeys–I liked to call it the “Sherwood Forest of Ohio”. One day I saw a man dragging another prone man off the path into the woods. I didn’t know what I was seeing–possibly a homicide in progress. I didn’t have anything to defend myself with, but I couldn’t allow it to go on unchallenged.
As I got nearer, I saw the man being dragged along the ground was actually a dummy made of cloth and rags. He was dressed in a plaid shirt and filthy jeans. He had on a werewolf mask and a pair of woolly clawed hands from a costume shop.
I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to know what was going on. I ground to a halt. “What are you doing?” I demanded.
The man doing the dragging was a typical Yellow Springs guy–unbathed, rather stinky and generally unkempt. He was wearing a hooded butternut robe that went down to his ankles. He wiped his brow and explained that it was his son’s tenth birthday.
“So?” I said.
Yoda
Only in Yellow Springs …
I thought about it a moment and started laughing. I laughed so hard I nearly fell down off my blades. “That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! You’re going to take a hackneyed Jedi Force test from a movie and apply it to your son in real life and hope that it somehow has a profound effect upon him?? You’re dumb! You’re so dumb!” I said, hardly containing myself.
The man waved me off and continued his work, dragging the dummy into the woods. I finished my skate and had no further thought about the matter.
Years later, I sit here in the basement wondering about the future. My wife wants to have a child. She’s working very hard at it, and it’s very challenging. I wonder, if we’re successful and actually do have a child, possibly a son, what will I do to teach him between good and evil, right and wrong? I actually have no idea. I can preach and cajole all I want, I can punish and rage–will any of it work??
Maybe the Yoda Way is the best way after all.
Bowl Naked
RG
TOTEH Characters: The Hospitalers
January 18, 2011
"Morgan Jeterix" by Eve Ventrue
The Elder-Kind were engineered to remain young and disease-free throughout their lives by the Elders during the CX time epoch on Cammara (200,000 years prior). Freed from the ravages of age and sickness, the Elder-Kind lost their lore of the medical arts over the ages and became rather infantile in their knowledge of their own bodies. They had no need for it any longer.
"Ennez and Beth" by Bea Matarradona-Garcia
"Ennez holding Syg's shoe" by Jon Harvey
There are a number of Sub-Orders within the Hospitaler circle of influence. Some of the more notable ones are:
The Ephysians are an order seeking to expand the Hospitalers knowledge. They often go outside of the Sisterhood’s approved lines of teaching to gather their knowledge and their methods are often called into question. The flamboyant Morgan-Jeterix, Lady of Thompson is a notable member of the Ephysian Order.
The Eyrnes were an order dedicated to promoting healing and enlightenment through Weed-fueled sex and other such pleasures. They were eventually kicked out of the Hospitalers, though the order remains active.
"Wendilnight/ Bellathauser" by Bea Matarredona-Garcia
The Knickerbaums are the Hospitaler group most often associated with shipboard Fleet travel. The Knickerbaums are dedicated to discovering, treating and documenting new maladies. Ennez of Innari and Bethrael of Moane are two notable members.
copyright 2011, Ren Garcia
TOTEH Characters: Sygillis of Blanchefort
January 15, 2011
"Sygillis of Blanchefort" by Eve Ventrue
Her origins are unknown, having been abducted at a young age and raised to be a Black Hat in the Shade Church. She was given the name “Sygillis” personally by the Black Abbess. As a Black Hat Hammer, Sygillis of Metatron was infamous for slaughtering a whole squadron of League Marines single-handed. Tiny, barely five feet tall, red-haired and green-eyed, she sat in her Temple in Metatron, a diminutive yet utterly evil and terrifying figure atop her throne. She was often brought prisoners condemned to death, and there, like a bug on a spider’s web, they would stumble through the pitch darkness of her temple, eventually being killed by her. A particularly ruthless Black Hat, she was one of the Black Abbess’ favorites.
"Syg" by Jon Harvey
She was captured by the League in 03189ax. There, instead of being executed by the Sisterhood, she was “saved” by the ship’s captain, Lord Davage of Blanchefort. She, for reasons unknown, did not attempt to kill Davage, and eventually was “turned” by him. Eventually, she worked her way into Davage’s heart and they were married in the Telmus Grove, Sygillis becoming the 1,463rd Countess of Blanchefort. Breaking the usual tradition of Countesses staying at home in the ancestral castle, Sygillis went everywhere Captain Davage did, sharing in his adventures. Her Silver tech familiar is a tiny replica of Captain Davage’s former Fleet ship, the Seeker. Through it she can unleash a torrent of firepower when needed and destroy StT’s at a high rate.
Their first child was a son, whom they named Kabyl, after an ancient Blanchefort lord.
"Syg in the Chapel" by Carol Phillips
Being an ex-Black Hat, Syg is fearless and unabashed. She often publically goes against the Sisterhood of Light and is candid in her opinions. She is notoriously without shame and impossible to humiliate. Her ongoing issues and public confrontations with the Duchess of Oyln (she also an ex-Black Hat) are a constant source of A-List gossip.
copyright 2011, Ren Garcia
Don’t Forget about Paris …
January 13, 2011
"The God of the Basement" by Ren Garcia
Is it 2 … 3 … 7 … ?
I could not remember my mother’s phone number. My mom’s had the same phone number for thirty years. Land-line, old school. I know that number backwards and sideways. I’ve known it since I was a kid, when Mom used to write it down on a scrap of paper for me to take. “Now, call home if you need anything,” she said. I didn’t need the paper–I knew it cold.
I knew it cold …
And now I’m standing there with the phone in my hand and I can’t remember mother’s number. I could, of course, grab my Smartphone and speed dial it out of the Contacts list, but what would that prove, that my mom’s nothing more than a blip on a screen.
I stood there completely blank.
Why? What happened? I’ve spent so much time locked in the basement like a family secret, writing my stories in millions of words and reveling in things that never were. I am a god in the basement where I create all things. I step out and what am I? A creature who’s quickly forgetting many of the things that matter most.
You cannot spend so much time in the make-believe that you forget to exist in the real world. I promised my wife I’d take her to Paris–and I have not taken her to Paris. I’ve made lots of promises, how many have I broken?
My Honeydo list is intolerable.
I stood there with the phone, the dial tone converting to an accusing howl. I clicked the switch and started over and forced the unreal from my head. I forced myself to remember my mother’s number, seeing the digits in my head, tracing it out on the dial pad with my finger. One digit at a time, then: “Hello?”
“Hi, mom …” I couldn’t even recall what I was calling about . It didn’t matter. I’d remembered my mother’s number.
So, to my wife–I will take you to Paris. I’m sorry, my love, please forgive me.
To my mom–I will never forget your number again. Oh look, your birthday is coming up. I won’t forget.
I swear it.
UPDATE: 2014
So, here it is just a little over three years since I posted this cathartic little item when I became distant from the people I love. I’m happy to say I kept my promises to myself. I still remember my mother’s phone number and I took my wife to Europe last year(just not Paris–that’s next trip!). This post was a harsh wake up to myself reminding me not to allow the unreal to dominate my time and thoughts, at least not to the point of madness and obsession. I have since changed my writing process. I migrated from the basement to upstairs in the bright lights of the loft where my wife watches television. I stand at a podium with my latest WIP while the giant TV blares. I talk to my wife. I ask her about her day. We laugh. I peck away at the WIP.
I still create a host of strange things, just not as quickly as before. I keep things in perspective.
You cannot allow yourself to become like I did, a wraith in the basement possessed with an imaginary world. No matter what your personal situation is, it’s simply not a healthy way to carry on. Ask yourself some tough questions: Have you broken any promises? Have you forgotten important things? Have you neglected yourself and your health?
Be honest in your answers. Change things up, alter your process, adjust the mood. Take a day off every so often. Set yourself a limit, I usually don’t go much past 2000 words a day. 2000 words is good. Very good.
While creating the lives of imaginary people, don’t forget to live a little yourself.
Bowl Naked
RG
LoE Books 1 and 2 to be Re-Published by Loconeal
January 12, 2011
As The Dead Held Hands, the first book in the Temple of the Exploding Head trilogy nears publication, Loconeal Publishing is also planning on re-releasing Books 1 and 2 in the League of Elder series at the same time.
Book 1, The League of Elder: Sygillis of Metatron will be re-released as a deluxe printing featuring additional interior artwork by Carol Phillips, Bea Matarrendona-Garcia, and Eve Ventrue. Remember your old favorites: Captain Davage, Lt. Kilos, Ennez the Hospitaler and the vile Sygillis of Metatron? They’re all back once again in this revised format from Loconeal. Can Captain Davage, a heart-broken man, discover love at long last despite himself, and, in the process, will he survive the deadly attention of Sygillis of Metatron? Sygillis craves his death and will kill any who might wish to get in her way. It will be available as trade paperback and as ebook. March, 2011
Book 2 in the series: The Hazards of the Old Ones, will also be re-released by Loconeal. All the action and suspense you remember is back with a vengeance, as Carahil, the little god who could, seeks to save a distant world from destruction. Interior art by Carol Phillips, Justine Marie Hedman and Chantal Boudreau. Trade paperback and ebook. March 2011
copyright 2011 Ren Garcia
TOTEH Characters: The House of Monama
January 10, 2011
"Sam" by Eve Ventrue
As Monamas are clearly indigenous to Kana, they are a different species than the late-coming Elder peoples who arrived on Kana in 000000EX. In fact, the name Kana comes from the old Systerel word Ka-Na, which means “Jade/Sapphire”.
A standard Monama stands anywhere from 5’3 to 5’6 and usually weigh less than a hundred pounds. Monamas of old were much larger and much denser then they generally are now. They are known for their massive shocks of thick black hair which they wear down to their ankles, however, except for their heads, Monamas are hairless. Their skin is chalk-white and their eyes are faded black which see best in dim lighting. Their fingernails are known to be extremely hard and quite sharp. Wearing their fingernails long and black is a usual habit among them.
"Clatera and Mitz" by Carol Phillips
Their fecundity is well-known, as all Monama tribes breed with great speed. A typical Monama birthing takes no more than three months in the womb and numbers anywhere from eight to twenty young. Many Monamas do not survive to full adulthood.
They are generally very susceptible to cold temperature. Any temperature below 60 degrees F is said to be quickly fatal. They also have little or no tolerance for alcohol, with a sip or two of the thinnest of wines being enough to inebriate them.
Monamas have a number of Gifts/Talents which make then notable/infamous depending on how it’s viewed. Monamas can change their shape and often sell their services as prostitutes, able and willing to become anything their clients wish. They can also see the future with great accuracy and often make their living as fortune-tellers. They often draw the scorn and mistrust of the Sisterhood of Light for their promiscuous ways, their Bronta-style of decorating clothing, pottery and masonry (branded obscene by the Sisters). They also make use of a strange device known as the NIGHTMARE which they are said to influence Elder-men’s minds.
Berserkacide (Carol Phillips)
Berserkacides have four fully functioning arms. They are full of rage and loathing, seeking to harm themselves as much as any victims they might come across. They are no longer subject to the effects of cold temperatures as a Berserkacide, though they seem to lack all of the other Gifts/talents Monamas have. They generally do not live long; caged Berserkacides usually don’t last longer than a month or two. Once a Monama is transformed into a Berserkacide, there is no helping or reverting them.
copyright 2011, Ren Garcia
Sam’s Chain
January 8, 2011
Detail of Sam's Chain, from "Lady Sammidoran of Monama" by Fantasio
Such is the case with the incredibly talented German artist, Fantasio. Fantasio painted me a great pic of Sam some time back. I gave Fantasio a detailed outline of what I wanted and he came up with a very gothic, stately looking Sam.
One odd thing. He added a chain to the skirt of her gown trailing off into the fog and hung it with bird skulls and keys. A pretty cool artistic detail, but nothing more. I didn’t describe Sam in the book as having a chain attached to her skirt.
"Sam's Vision 1" by Fantasio
Hmmm. I thought it over and added it to the cannon of the story:
“She was wearing a crinkled black gown covered with intricate black-on-black designs, low cut, showing off arms and shoulders and a fair amount of her cleavage, pulled tight into an hour-glass shape. The final strange touch was a chain wrapping around the skirt portion of her gown and dragging on the ground.”
So, I stuck the chain in and meant to leave it at that, just a weird detail, nothing more. But then, my little pea-brain began wondering: what’s the chain for? It had to be there for something. I added the exchange:
“What happened to your clothes?” Kay asked.
“My clothes? I lost them,” she said, her whispered voice trembling.
“Lost them? What’s with the chain?”
“Oh, it’s a tradition. Don’t pay it any mind.”
I thought to leave it at that. But then, I was at the tail end of a thirty-hour editing binge and my addled head went off in a strange direction. Quite without my consent, the purpose of the chain came into clarity:
She snorted. “We’ve played this game before. You can’t hide from me. Hide anywhere you want and I can find you like that!” She snapped her fingers. “And …” she took a deep whiff, “I can smell you, Kay.” She licked her lips.
“I think this time you’ll be a bit more challenged.”
She got off and huddled up on the dusty ground. “All right. Go hide, Kay. Hide anywhere in the castle you want. You have an hour. Oh, and Kay?”
“Yes?”
She seized a piece of old mortar and shattered it in her hand. “You best get that chain and don’t be afraid to use it when I find you.”
So, that’s what the chain’s for. Still a little fuzzy. How about this:
She pulled the chain off her skirt. “You’re going to need this …” She threw the chain over her shoulder. Kay made to get past her and grab it and she tackled him.
Ah, love …
Bowl Naked
RG
copyright 2011 Ren Garcia and Fantasio
A Gift to the Reader: Illustrations and The Undressed
January 6, 2011
"Sam puts Kay to Trial" by Carol Phillips
Illustrations are a gift from the author to the reader. As a boy, I loved my Narnia books. They were rife with little illustrations that drew me into the story and made me want to turn the page and get to the next one. As an author, I want to give that same gift to the reader.
"Cover Idea #2", by Carol Phillips
The above illustration was one of those cover ideas that didn’t make it to the cover. It was #2 of 4–with #4 eventually being selected for the cover. So, once it’s all said and done, I have these wonderful sketch concepts with no place to go. The next logical place to put them is in the interior, where they can light up the pages. Everything Carol draws is a masterpiece, and it’s a shame to see any of it go to waste.
Another consideration for picking the cover-interior illustrations is content. As with many of my ideas, they often skirt the boundaries of good taste, where the difference between being dressed and undressed is a whole lot of clothes, and, you can get away with a bit more nudity in the interior of the book then you can on the cover. My big guiding influence has always been Michael Moorcock, who, unlike C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien, was always rather unabashed with the dress (or undress) of his characters, and I happily follow that model. I recall being astonished reading Moorcock’s work, where you could have long conversations or fight scenes between completely undressed people. Quite an eye-opener and Carol, being a fairy artist, is always up for drawing “The Undressed”. Take a good hard look at the illustration–what do you see?? A couple of naked people here and there, a little S&M going on–yep. One variation from the book is Kay being fully dressed, as, in the book, he’s not dressed at all–everybody’s naked.
This illustration, along with twenty more shall be featured in TOTEH, The Dead Held Hands.
Bowl Naked
RG
Copyright 2011, Carol Phillips
The Temple of the Exploding Head 