Dramatis personae
Morgan Caeda
Morgan was born around 5916 AF. He was a foundling, discovered as a baby lying in the forest. He was raised by an older couple, Hodin and Belov, who could not have children of their own. No one ever knew the identity of his natural parents. Morgan’s foster parents lived in Falmount, a small settlement in the foothills of the Perpetual Mountains, north of the Saar valley. Max and him were raised in the same town and became childhood friends. His adopted parents gave him the name Morgan. Max added Caeda, which means “killer” in Saarish.
An old hermit named Cynar took an interest in Morgan and Max and trained them in the use of weapons and battle tactics. Morgan and Max spent their childhood training with Cynar or in the wood hunting and exploring. When they were old enough, they left Falmount and petitioned to join the Raavs, a group of mercenaries. After many battles and adventures, Morgan rose to Commander of the Seventh Raav Legion. He carries a large, two-handed sword named Lex talionus, the law of retaliation. The hilt and crossbar are formed of coiled dragons.
As an adult, Morgan is a large man, clean-shaven, ruggedly handsome, with brown hair. He bears many scars from past fighting; on his left eyebrow, his hands, and various other places. Morgan has strange eyes; gray with flecks of gold in the irises. He heals faster than normal, is unusually strong, and has incredible stamina. On Morgan’s lower back is a strange “birthmark,” a circle of puckered flesh with ridges of tissue spreading out from it like tentacles.
Morgan is an idealist and slightly embittered by life’s disappointments and imperfections. He has a strong sense of duty and a strict moral code. He doesn’t indulge in strong drink or frequent the prostitutes, unlike most of the other mercenaries. He has fallen in love a couple of times but the relationships never worked out. Morgan is very loyal to his friends. He is also strangely naïve, especially with women.
As Legion Commander, Morgan joined the great Raav general Imperius on the Crusade, a military invasion into the heart of Mhoul territory. Seven Legions of Raavs were decimated by some terrible weapon near the Mhoul capital of Mogda Thal. After the massacre, Morgan wandered into the mountains and was taken in by the monks at Khulankor. While at the monastery, he converted to the worship of Iosus the Maker. After twelve years, Morgan left Khulankor and returned to Saarland on a mission for the Mons Monachus, the monks of Khulankor.
Mundus ex nihilo (a world out of nothing)
People are always asking me two questions: (1) where do you get these ideas; and (2) how do you write a book? Most of my ideas come from my knowledge of history, biology, geography, and general science. Students of these disciplines will probably recognize elements of reality, but with new combinations and slight alterations. For example, the Ha’ashtari are a combination of the Mongols and American plains Indians. Their homeland, the Tari’shan, is based on Mongolia and North Africa. Khulankor resembles a Tibetan monastery, Saxhaven a German medieval city. The history of Kalnaroag contains bits and pieces of actual races, empires and civilizations. The alien species and plants and animals living on Kalnaroag derive from Terran biology. When I develop the landforms, I am usually looking at an earth atlas.
Readers also comment on the names in the books. The names have two basic sources: (1) modified actual place names, or a name from an actual language such as Latin, Hebrew, Greek, etc.; or (2) construction based on the sound of the word itself. For example, Mons Monachus means mountain monks in Latin. Mhoul is a combination of “mummy” and “ghoul.” Mogda Thal just sounded mysterious and evil. I try to make the names reflect the nature of the person, place, or thing. During work on the third book in the series, I became seriously sidetracked on developing a Ha’ashtari language. I now have the root words that I can use to name people, places, or activities, and remain consistent.
Regarding the second question, it seems there are two kinds of writers: (1) artists, and (2) mechanics. An artist is seized with inspiration, locks him or herself in a room for three weeks, and emerges with a finished work. They are scribes to the Muse. I am more of a mechanic. With me, writing is an organized, stepwise process. The sequence is as follows: (1) general theme development, (2) overall outline of the work, (3) more detailed outline, (4) breakdown into sections and scenes, (5) visualize and outline the scene, (6) write the scene, (7) cooling off period and then edit and repeat. This process may sound boring and it requires serious discipline, but I don’t struggle with writer’s block and the production is very efficient. Of course, I rely on family and friends for further editing, criticism, and input. Although in some regards I must admit to a slight “artistic” tendency. I often visualize a particular event or scene that I really like and then reverse engineer that scene into the story. And characters that began as place fillers take on a life of their own and become major personalities. I don’t know where they came from, but sometimes they are the most interesting people in the story.
