Spotlight! The Vaedziur - The gods' forgotten children

The vaedziur are demons from the abyss.  But, before we can talk about the vaedziur in detail, we must discuss the abyss, their "home".

The realms: There are currently twelve known realms and sixteen sub realms.  The majority of the books take place in the mortal realm, home to the world of Therra.  Six realms are dedicated to the elements and are where the kirin (magical creatures) spring from; earth, wind, fire, water, darkness, and light.  Each pantheon; positive (good), negative (evil), order (law), and chaos (chaotic) has their own dedicated realm and a sub realm for each known associated god.  There are four known gods for each pantheon, totaling sixteen unique sub realms for the godly verse.  The final realm is the abyss, "home" of the vaedziur and other more mysterious denizens that are yet unidentified.

“The abyss is a place so horrible, not even the gods will speak of it.  What little knowledge we have is unverifiable and not entirely trustworthy.  Unfortunately, the sheer volume of references, across multiple cultures, cannot be ignored and they fill me with dread.  These writings detail a never ending darkness or an abyss if you will.  It is a prison and a place where evil lies shackled and dormant.  Can this gateway be opened? Fortunately, no way has been found yet and I believe doom sleeps within its hollow walls, scratching for a way out.”

Aran the Grey,

Current acting leader of the Pentacle

The vaedziur are imprisoned in the abyss and they are perverted forms of their original forms.  Imprisoned for millennia unending for a crime unknown, these demonic entities are forgotten by the majority of Therra, except for the absolute most long lived.  

Their powers are horrific beyond imagination.  Instead of destroying a body, they take absolute control.  How they do that differs by level of vaedziur.

Letum Pupilis, the lesser vaedziur: these creatures have base intellect and require only a dead body.  Their abilities do not exceed the physical, but their might is not to be underestimated.  Each lesser vaedziur can twist the mortal's form that they take to their own ends, creating natural weaponry from apendages.

Medius Decessus, the vaedziur lords): These vaedziur are able to possess human forms and infiltrate the societies.  Their abilities in combat are limited to their host's abilities, but they can draw beings into the astral plane and destroy their minds.  These vaedziur act as the field commanders for the armies of letum pupilis.  They precede the coming of the Corruptus Fatalis by preparing the world for the second coming of the vaedziur horde.  Example Vaedziur Lords: Rhea and Kestrel from A Scholar's Journey: The Divine Tempest.

Corruptus Fatalis, high vaedziur: These are the leaders of the vaedziur.  Their power rivals that of a god.  These creatures have a physical form and can tap into the elemental planes and the abyss to use magic at will.  Their bodies are strong and are capable fighters as well.  One Corruptus Fatals accompanies the Medius Decessus into the mortal realm, but only observes, never revealing itself, until the proper moment.

Grande Lobos, great vaedziur: These are indescribable horrors that rampaged across the mortal realm and a match for a great kirin.  Their powers are unknown and their position in vaedziur society is also unknown.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the vaedziur that make their first appearance in the first book of A Scholar's Journey: The Divine Tempest.

- Herrick

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If you liked reading this blog, check Herrick Erickson-Brigl out on Twitter, or friend him on facebook if you like.  Also, to your right you will find the first three chapters of his book, "A Scholar's Journey: The Divine Tempest", listed under the "Pages" section.  It is currently available in ebook format and the hard copy is coming soon.

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/Hericksonbrigl
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Currently listening to "Tempest" by Pendulum

If you have any private comments, concerns, or suggestions for Herrick.  You can contact him at blog.fantasyaction@gmail.com

The God's of Therra Spotlight Part 2: Vae'Firon the Goddess of Betrayal

This is a continuation of the last post, this time I'll jump right into it.

Vae'Firon is the goddess of betrayal and is worshiped exclusively by the rahlien people.

Rahlien are giants, almost twice the height of a normal man, covered with fiery red skin and at all the joints of their bodies, there are vents that let steam out.  These fire giants live in the incindius volcanic mountain range.


“The rahlien are large, brutish, and powerful.  They hail from the highest peeks of the Incindius mountains.  Their skin is as hard as the stone they live in and their strength is unrivaled by even the strongest humans.  Their enemies fear their combat prowess as well.  Every rahlien is trained from birth to be an engine of martial destruction.  This is further complicated by their religious affiliations.  The rahlien people as a whole worship the goddess of Betrayal; Vae’Firon.  No pact can be fully trusted and no agreement can ever be honored.  The only thing that can be ultimately trusted in the dealings with these creatures is that they will betray you.”

- By Kasheen Maizen,

An excerpt from Races and their cultures

The rahlien are led by a "rahl".  A rahl replaces his/her given name and takes the name Rahl.  Also, the rahl is the only rahlien allowd to grow the bone spikes on his head.  Other rahlien are required to file theirs down as a show of respect.

Despite their size, the rahlien are cunning and calculating beings and that makes them even scarier.  But, even though they worship a goddess of betrayal, they are honorable and forthright.  A rahlien will openly tell you that he will betray you.  It is a promise.  However, by not "betraying" their ally, they betray the statement.  This logic is cyclical.  Should an ally become complacent, the rahlien will stab their compatriots in the back immediately.  This is their way.  The sweetest betrayals are the ones that are not seen coming.  It is the sweetest wine for one of these giants.

The rahlien arrive in Deiyil during the first book to enter into negotiations with the anthra over "The Fertile Land".  This is a place that seemed to spring up over night.


“This dirt, it is so rich, so saturated with minerals.  We could farm and mine here for centuries and the nutrients in the soil would never run dry.  The climate is so perfect, we can make food, housing, weapons, and fortifications without having to import.  But I am worried, if no one has claimed this, will there be war?  The Rahlians and the Anthra are both very close to the land.  The peace is already strained.  What will happen?  Who will claim it for their country and its god?”

-          Lead excavator Isiah Helkrif

This leads to one of the major conflicts of the book.  I hope you enjoyed this look into the world of Therra.

Best wishes,

Herrick

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If you liked reading this blog, check Herrick Erickson-Brigl out on Twitter, or friend him on facebook if you like.  Also, to your right you will find the first three chapters of his book, "A Scholar's Journey: The Divine Tempest", listed under the "Pages" section.  It is currently available in ebook format and the hard copy is coming soon.

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/Hericksonbrigl
Facebook: www.facebook.com/herrick.brigl


Currently listening to "Tempest" by Pendulum

If you have any private comments, concerns, or suggestions for Herrick.  You can contact him at blog.fantasyaction@gmail.com

Gods of Therra

First, I apologize for the wait.  There have been many things pressing in on me to be taken care of.  But, I promise that I will start making at least 1+ weekly posts from now on.

Recently I was in a restaurant with my dad and we were talking about my book.  The discussion got into religious theory and one of the other patrons stopped us and asked what we were talking about.  He found out I was a writer and asked for the name of the book, promising to go out and buy it.

This in itself was amazing!  But, it showed me what some people like to hear about.  So, I will be running a weekly column for many weeks to come about the gods of Therra!

Preface: What are the gods?

In Therra there are sixteen known gods.  There are four alignments: positive, negative, chaotic, and order.  These are mistakenly referred to by the people as good, evil, chaos, and lawful.  But, morality does not represent an alignment in all cases.

Take Nox’Firon, the goddess of death.  She is not evil, but exists in the negative realm.  Death is an eventuality, a part of nature, but is not inherently evil, nor are her followers.  A follower of Nox’Firon does not seek to spread death, but to embrace the beauty of dieing, observe it, and revere it.  A follower of Nox’Firon can be evil, good, or anything in between.  There are no restrictions on who can follow her tenets.  

This is a brief explanation, but over time I hope to elaborate on this with future posts.

Week 1: El’Aron the watcher, god of future sight, precognition, premonition, portents, and seers.

This is also a partial character spotlight on Urielle Senciro, a seer of El’Aron.  She is one of the protectors of Penndarius Greyson, one of the two protagonists of A Scholar’s Journey: The Divine Tempest.

El’Aron is the watcher; he rarely involves himself in the affairs of mortals.  Likewise, his seers are the same with very few exceptions, Urielle.

Back to El’Aron, this god sees possible futures, not THE future.  There is not one future for us, but many at any given time.  Each person\god\entity has branching decisions, though minor, do impact the future and change it accordingly.  Great events can be seen from very far away as portents and images. 

El’Aron’s seers are also granted this ability.  They see the branching decisions a person can make in the immediate future, two, three, five minutes ahead and can interpret accordingly.  But, as those decisions get farther out, the branches become harder to separate.  The seer eventually can only see the vaguest outlines.  These come as portents and emotions, mere possibilities.  But, the most important events come as overpowering visions.

Urielle is sent to observe the events in Deiyil by El’Aron, specifically Penndarius and Soren, the two protagonists.  She sees their pivotal choices, deciding the course of events for the rest of the realm.  Normal people’s actions appear as outlines before her, but they have so many branching actions at every moment of every day, that she is unable to foretell their futures.  This is why she was sent to observe, for some events can only be seen in the moment.

I hope you enjoyed the first spotlight on El’Aron, god of precognition!  There is more to come, I promise.

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If you liked reading this blog, check Herrick Erickson-Brigl out on Twitter, or friend him on facebook if you like.  Also, to your right you will find the first three chapters of his book, "A Scholar's Journey: The Divine Tempest", listed under the "Pages" section.  It is currently available in ebook format and the hard copy is coming soon.

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/Hericksonbrigl
Facebook: www.facebook.com/herrick.brigl


Currently listening to "Tempest" by Pendulum

If you have any private comments, concerns, or suggestions for Herrick.  You can contact him at blog.fantasyaction@gmail.com