by Erik A Otto
“We are going to these magicians you speak of. We go to their home.”
Paulo tried to envision a world for these magicians, but it was too difficult to fathom. If they could create this world, he couldn’t possibly imagine what tools they would have at their disposal, or what their home would be like. Paulo’s pulse quickened at the thought of discovering such a place—of learning from these magicians.
Another question percolated to the surface, one he remembered from just before the battle on the plain. Lest he forget, he asked it as soon as it garnered his attention. “These magicians, they’re no doubt wise and powerful, but I don’t understand why they’ve created our world this way. Some things don’t make sense, like the ramolons and mosqueros, for example. What purpose do they serve? The gargoyles sample our blood and bring the Red Rains to keep us healthy, and the bone chuckers do something similar for vegetation. The wyg lamps help illuminate. These other beasts, if they were made for some purpose, what is it?”
Sebastian had returned to thumbing through one of the books on the table, but then he stopped, and the pages shuffled back to where they were before. “You’re beginning to ask the right questions, Purveyor. Do you find it interesting that there is also no mention of these beasts in the Book of Canons? They speak of gargoyles, sure, but there is nothing of ramolons and mosqueros. And yet, when I was young, I heard folk tales about these creatures. There are quite a few of these tales told among the Fringe, aren’t there?”
He was right. “Yes, in the Fringe Arcana, the descriptions are vague and exaggerated, but I’m certain these tales refer to them. I didn’t know how much stock to put in those passages. Much of what is in the Arcana are old traveler’s tales from many hundreds of years ago.”
“And yet traveler’s tales often have a kernel of truth, and the kernel here is that these creatures did terrorize the people during the Shepherd’s time, along with the gargoyles.”
Paulo was confused. “If that’s the case, why isn’t it written in the Book of Canons? It would seem to be important for the people to know about them, just as it would be important to know about the gargoyles.”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows and waited, as if the answer should be apparent.
Paulo’s mind wrestled with his unanswered question. If what Sebastian was saying was true, then the omission of the stories about the terrors of the mosqueros and ramolons from the Book of Canons must have been deliberate. “Did the Sandaliers remove the knowledge of these beasts? Why?”
“At first I thought that’s what happened, but no. It’s clear to me it was never included in the original version.”
“So you’re saying…the Shepherd deliberately omitted it?”
Sebastian nodded.
Surely the Shepherd wanted the people to be aware of these perils, unless…the Shepherd was the one using the beasts. Sebastian had said that he thought the chamber at the top of the Snail Mountains was the Shepherd’s home, and some gargoyles were there like in other bone mouth chambers, so there could be a connection. “So the Shepherd knew of these creatures, and since his home houses gargoyles, does that mean he knew how to wield them, and the mosqueros and ramolons as well?”
Sebastian nodded again.
“Why would the Shepherd use these monsters? They are instruments of war. He would only need them if it was necessary to bring order to the people and maybe, to instill fear.”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows and waited to see if Paulo could answer his own question. Then he asked, “Why do you think? In what situation could you conceive of a need for them?”
Was there some great war the Shepherd was fighting? But there was no sign of that. Were the people rebelling against him, or were they being oppressed in some way, so much so that they needed quelling with murderous beasts?
A thought occurred to Paulo. It seemed to be just an arbitrary flashback, until he made the connection.
It was something Zahir—of all people—had said to him in Spoons. He’d been explaining why he’d made trade schools and brought faith to the Belidorans in Kalianca. Because his prisoners had been in Kalianca for generations, they needed to be given a reason to live, and challenges to face. Otherwise, they would have gone mad, killed one another, or become uncivilized. Worse, without some plausible explanation for the nature of their world, they might have sought out answers and tried to escape. This was why Zahir had created faith, schools, and other institutions for his prisoners. At the same time, he was cautious to not let them know enough about the outside world. This was the only way to make them have a will to live and not rebel, from generation to generation.
It seemed a strange process for a jailor to follow, and Zahir was a bit deranged, but he knew of prisons. The Jailor of Kalianca knew better than anyone.
So…could it be that the Shepherd used these beasts to keep the population in line, to remove any unwanted factions, and to set up his institutions, prophecies, and Canons to fill the void about what lay beyond the Rim of Fire and the impassable mountains? Then to keep his means of subjugation a secret, did he remove traces of his machinations by omitting them from the Book of Canons?
It seemed so outlandish, yet so many clues pointed to it. He asked his next question hesitantly. “So our world is some kind of…prison, then?”
Sebastian sighed, and he nodded. “I knew you would figure it out eventually. My entire quest to the top of the Snail Mountains was based on finding out if the Sandaliers had been modifying the Book. It turns out the Matagon Monks, in particular, had been forcing the Guild of Scripture to make changes to justify their existence, such as vilifying the gargoyles so they would be given the job of destroying them. But in the end what I found was much worse than that. I found out that the original book was the bigger lie, a fabrication by the Shepherd to control the masses, to keep them docile in the world he created.”
Paulo was frowning. “But even I, a skeptical naustic, find it difficult to believe that our world could be so contrived. Why would the Shepherd need to do all of this? If he was in league with these magicians, why couldn’t they just reason with us? I’m sure people would have come along willingly if the magicians’ home is as advanced as it must be, and maybe we could have lived peaceably during the journey without so much turmoil. All of these Internecions, the suppression of knowledge, it seems so pointless and savage.”
Sebastian looked at him sidelong. “You still don’t get it, then. Why do you think the magicians’ home is such a great place? Why do you think them so benevolent?”
“Well, if they can make these creatures and worlds that travel in the belly of a beast, they must be great. They must be sophisticated enough not to succumb to pettiness and cruelty.”
Sebastian was shaking his head slowly, his eyes downcast. “No, let me explain. The…magicians, their…things have come to our home and customized this vessel to us, patchwork animals and all, to transport us back to their world. I didn’t understand everything I read up on the Snail Mountains, but I think they need enough of us to learn how to change us, to use our flesh for their purposes. When they do, our flesh will be theirs to violate and desecrate, to morph and change and bastardize in combination with other flesh they have taken from elsewhere. Maybe we will be pets, or maybe we will be slaves. Or maybe we will be forever lost, cut up and mixed into their beasts like last night’s dinner in this morning’s feces. We are a product to them, like a fruit, an orange maybe.”
Sebastian then shook his head, reconsidering his words. “Well, maybe not oranges exactly. You see, the patchwork beasts they create, for some reason they can’t make them intelligent. It’s some limitation on their alchemy. So instead of producing intelligent slaves, they import them. Oranges you want plump and juicy and orange, preferably with few pits. For us, instead of being plump and juicy and orange, they want us compliant and pious so that we can be controlled when we arrive…and then easily put to work, studied, sliced, and diced.
“This is why we were led to believe that the Fringe a
re heathens, that the use of silverstone is blasphemous, and that developing flying machines is wrong. Because otherwise, through invention we might find out the truth about our world or develop a way to get into the Shepherd’s home at the top of the Snail Mountains. This is also why the Shepherd wanted us cleansed with each Internecion, so that the most faithful would continue to rule and we would continue to be governed by the Shepherd’s teachings. And now, with the journey nearing an end, and the worst Internecion in history in play, it appears the Shepherd’s plan has worked. I’m sure the Cenarans will bow before these magicians and do their every bidding, believing they are the divine agents of Matteo. The lucky ones might be slaves. And then, for the less lucky ones they will do their experiments or graft parts of us here or there.”
Paulo felt nauseous. He reflected on Sebastian’s skepticism about his receptivity to this information. Would a part of him someday be combined to make a beast like a mosquero? Or would he be dredging around in holes like a bone chucker? He was beginning to think Sebastian was right. This information was indeed a difficult burden to bear. “So even if we survive this Internecion, we have only a short time, and then…”
Sebastian nodded solemnly. “Finally, I think you are there, Purveyor. Finally, you understand.”
But Paulo was still wrestling with it, trying to rationalize it. “I…still have many questions. I understand why they would create these beasts of war for the Shepherd. I can also see why they would need someone like the Shepherd to control us and set us on this path. But there’s one thing I don’t understand fundamentally. Why would the Shepherd do the bidding of these magicians at all? Who would deceive their own kind so thoroughly and send them to this horrid destiny?”
Sebastian nodded. “A good question. Remember, when one has absolute power, one can rewrite history. For the system to work, the Shepherd needed everyone to believe that he was a great savior. He needed everyone to believe that he had their best interests in mind. The Book of Canons helped, and I doubt much of it is true. Ultimately it wasn’t the explicit lies in the Book of Canons or any of the other faiths that shocked me; it was what was concealed so thoroughly and carefully. This concealment is ubiquitous across all the faiths. A key fact was removed from all the pictures, all the writings, all the stories of the Shepherd and the Tale of the Crossing. And it was only when I was on the top of the Snail Mountains that I realized this. It is this information, this one thing that answers your question about why the Shepherd cares not for us, except as a package to be delivered. This one fact should remove any doubt of what I’m telling you.”
“And what’s that one fact?”
“I’ve seen the Shepherd, Purveyor. I’ve seen him hibernating in a pod made of eyeglass on the top of the Snail Mountains. The Shepherd isn’t human, Purveyor. He’s Mattean.”
Acknowledgements
As I noted in the beginning of Book 1, the first three books of the Tale of Infidels series were built in fits and starts over eight years, before and after my corporate gig at J&J, before and after a four year startup, and between other books being rendered in parallel. I won’t go through the list again here, but many helped me along the way.
It’s hard for me to point to any specific inspirations for this series. I often describe the series as: “Game of Thrones meets Name of the Rose” so I suppose these works must have been an influence, even though not deliberate.
More so, I think, if I can reach back through the years without too much loss of veracity, I believe the inspiration for A Tale of Infidels was a fundamental desire to explore themes of control through misinformation and prejudice. I wanted to stay away from the classical fairy tale roots of fantasy and delve into storylines that, although otherworldly, could find plausible root in the cultural and theological constructs of our own society. In turn I wanted storylines with realistic, gritty characters that struggle against the whim of these tidal forces.
How does one get inspired for that? I only had to look around, and see what people have done on our own planet. It’s a rich body of work. So my inspiration, I guess, is all of us, and our elaborate and sometimes unbecoming history.
But I’m not sure if I succeeded—that’s only for you to say. Please write a review, if you feel inclined, for this book and its predecessors. They are so helpful and important. The more reviews that are written, the more this work will fall into the right hands. Or, if you prefer, send me a direct message to let me know how I did.
Either way, I want to get it right, and I hope I can be inspired again, for this series or the next.
Thanks for reading,
Erik A. Otto
Also by Erik A. Otto
Detonation
An epic dystopian tale that is a cautionary reflection on our own innovation-obsessed culture. It follows two societies that are connected, but centuries apart, and their struggle against a superintelligent machine.
Named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2018
“A highly entertaining and absorbing combination of philosophy and action featuring robustly individualized characters.”
“…a future world that vibrates with conflict and ideas.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Transition
A 16,000 word science fiction short story set in an enclosed city that is besieged by an endless war. It follows Alder and Lena, who both want a family. Their only option is to have lacrotic children; precious gifts that come with an expiry date. They struggle to maintain hope and dream of escaping to the stars as the transition looms ever closer.
About the Author
Erik A. Otto is a former healthcare industry executive and technologist, now turned science fiction author. His works of fiction include A Toxic Ambition, Detonation, and the Tale of Infidels series. Detonation has been named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2018.
In addition to writing, Erik is currently serving as the Managing Director of Ethagi Inc., an organization dedicated to promoting the safe and ethical use of artificial general intelligence technologies. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife and two children.
Please visit Erik’s website at erik-a-otto.com for more information or to sign up for updates on new releases.
