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Appendix

 

THE BACKGROUND

SKAITH,
dying planet of a dying star far out in the Orion Spur. Knowledge of the inevitable demise of their world has colored every facet of life for the people of Skaith, giving rise to many strange religions and customs. Over the centuries, different groups have sought salvation in different ways.
Some preferred, through controlled genetic mutation—a science now long lost—to worship a chosen deity with their whole being, as:
THE CHILDREN OF THE SEA-OUR-MOTHER,
who have returned to the primal womb whence all life sprang, losing their humanity in the process, and with it their understanding of the coming doom;
THE CHILDREN OF SKAITH-OUR-MOTHER,
who worship their equivalent of the Earth-Mother, dwelling deep within her warm, protective body, safe from the creeping death Outside;
THE FALLARIN,
who wanted wings, the better to adore their dying lord, the Sun. In them, however, the mutation was imperfect—they have wings but cannot really fly. In compensation, they have become brothers to the winds, with power to call upon the currents of the air to do their bidding. They are served by
THE TARF,
who are genetic mutations from non-human stock. The above are relatively small groups. Most of the other survivors of the Wandering—that time of chaos when the great cities of the north were abandoned to the cold—have adapted to existing conditions and lead not-uncomfortable lives in the Fertile Belt, though strange survivals still exist in the Barrens and in the Darklands of the north (such as the Harsenyi, a tribe of northern nomads, message-bearers between various groups, and the Outdwellers, a strange far-northern people given to cannibalism). The productive section of the population has been harnessed to the support of the largest body of doom-worshipers.
THE FARERS,
who, feeling that all effort is useless because there is no future for Skaith, spend their lives in faring from place to place as the mood takes them, filling their hours with the gratifications of the moment, secure in the knowledge that they will be fed, housed, clothed, and cared for by the authority of
THE WANDSMEN,
whose rule brought stability out of chaos after the Wandering, but who, after two thousand years or so, have become onerous to many, as their original plan, which was to protect the weak from the strong, to feed the hungry, and to shelter the homeless, has become warped by time and the necessities of power into a serfdom under which the providers labor. The Wandsmen enforce their laws by the use of mercenary troops. The Wandsmen's superiors, or "officers," are
THE LORDS PROTECTOR,
a council of seven old men drawn from the highest ranks of the Wandsmen, chosen for their wisdom and ability. These are regarded almost as deities by the Farers, and since their rule has been unbroken and their individual personalities always hidden from the vulgar gaze, they are thought to be immortal.
THE NORTHHOUNDS
are genetically mutated animals bred as guardians of the Citadel. They are telepaths, and kill by destroying human minds with fear. Stark became their leader at the Citadel.
Skaith, in her heyday, despite advanced technology, scientific knowledge, and industrial might, never developed spaceflight, so that when she began her long dying, depleted of resources and her people slipping back into barbarism, there was no chance of escape for anyone—until the starships came. Then the poison of hope began to work, and the lines of battle were drawn between the entrenched power of the Wandsmen and the rebels who have demanded freedom to emigrate to a better world.

THE PLACES

THE CITADEL,
a half-legendary retreat of the Lords Protector, in the High North. Destroyed by the off-worlder Stark.
GED DAROD,
holy city of the Wandsmen, a place of pilgrimage, seat of their temporal power.
IRNAN,
a city-state in the north temperate zone. Here Gerrith, the wise woman, made her prophecy of the Dark Man from the stars who would destroy the Lords Protector and set her people free. For this she was slain by the Wandsmen. The Irnanese were prime movers in the fight for emigration.
TREGAD,
a similar city-state, sometime ally of Irnan.
SKEG,
a seaport and formerly the location of the only star-port, until that was burned by order of the Wandsmen and the starships banished forever from Skaith.
YURUNNA,
a northern base of the Wandsmen, where the Northhounds were bred. Captured by Stark with a coalition of desert tribesmen and Fallarin.
THYRA,
a place south of and near the Witchfires, where a race of smiths reclaim iron from the rusting bones of a great ruined city.
THE TOWERS,
another ruin, where the People of the Towers dwell in the northern cold and darkness, awaiting the coming of the star-ships.
IZVAND,
a city by the Sea of Skorva in the Barrens. It is inhabited by a hardy people: fisher-folk and mercenary soldiers.
PAX,
the hopefully named administrative center of the Galactic Union, a vast and far-flung confederation of worlds totally unknown to Skaith before the starships came. Pax is both a world and a city—a city so vast that it covers an entire planet. Pax contains closed-environment quarters to suit the needs of delegates, human and otherwise, from all the federated worlds; and it is to Pax that delegates must come from those unfederated worlds, such as Skaith, which seek to join the Union.
THE PLACE OF WINDS,
home of the Fallarin, isolated in the northern desert.
THE WITCHFIRES,
a mountain range in the north, beneath which the Children of Skaith dwell in the House of the Mother.
THE THERMAL PITS,
spoutings of underground hot water, south of the Bleak Mountains.
THE BLEAK MOUNTAINS,
in the High North, location of the Wandsmen's Citadel.
THE PLAIN OF WORLDHEART,
flat region south of the Thermal Pits and north of the Witch-fires.
THE DARKLANDS,
a danger-filled area north of Izvand and the Sea of Skorva and south of the Witchfires.

THE PEOPLE

ERIC JOHN STARK,
called also N'Chaka, Man-Without-a-Tribe. A feral child reared by half-human aborigines in a cruel environment on the planet Mercury; in his mature years, a wanderer and mercenary specializing in the small wars of remote peoples fighting for survival against stronger opponents.
SIMON ASHTON,
Stark's foster-father and friend, an official in the Ministry of Planetary Affairs at Pax. When Ashton disappeared on Skaith, Stark came to search for him.
YARROD,
a martyr of Irnan, slain by the Wandsmen.
GERRITH,
daughter of the slain Gerrith, who succeeded her as wise woman of Irnan.
HALK,
Yarrod's companion-in-arms, an unwilling ally of Stark.
BRECA,
Halk's shield-mate, slain at Thyra.
ALDERYK,
King of the Fallarin, companion of Stark.
KLATLEKT,
a Tarf, loyal servant-in-arms to Alderyk.
SABAK,
leader of the desert tribesmen who followed Stark south.
TUCHVAR,
former apprentice to the Houndmaster of Yurunna, follower of Stark, devoted to his hounds.
GERD and GRITH,
Northhounds.
BAYA,
a Farer girl who betrayed Stark and then was captured by him. Freed by the Wandsmen, she again sought to destroy Stark at Tregad.
FERDIAS,
chief of the Lords Protector, Stark's bitter enemy.
GELMAR,
Chief Wandsman of Skeg, a bitter enemy also.
PEDRALLON,
a Wandsman of high rank and prince of Andapell, in the tropics. A champion of emigration, he was punished as a traitor by his peers.
KELL à MARG,
Skaith-Daughter, ruler of the Children of Skaith-Our-Mother.
THE IRONMASTER,
ruler of the smiths of Thyra.
HARGOTH THE CORN-KING,
ruler, with his sorcerer-priests, of the People of the Towers.
SANGHALAIN,
Lady of Iubar, a principality in the White South.
MORN,
leader of the Ssussminh, an amphibian race closely allied to the House of Iubar.
KAZIMNI OF IZVAND,
a mercenary captain.
PENKAWR-CHE,
a star-captain who made arrangements with Pedrallon and Stark to transport a delegation from Skaith to Pax in order to plead for membership in the Galactic Union. Penkawr-Che then betrayed his trust, held his passengers to ransom, and in company with two other ships has seized the opportunity to loot Skaith.
THE END

 

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