Fireblood

by Jeff Wheeler

  Druidecht: a class found in every kingdom except Kenatos. Those in Kenatos consider them superstitious pagans, though harmless. The knowledge of the Druidecht is only transmitted verbally from mentor to disciple. It teaches that the world coexists with a spirit realm known as Mirrowen and that the spirits of that realm can be communed with and enlisted for help. A Druidecht cannot heal innately, but it can enlist a spirit creature that can. When a disciple has memorized the unwritten lore and demonstrated sufficient harmony with nature and Mirrowen, he or she will be presented with a talisman that will enable him or her to hear the thoughts of spirit creatures and communicate back. The variety of spirit creatures is diverse and so Druidecht often only stay in one place for a few years and then move to another place to learn about the denizens there. The Druidecht are the only outsiders trusted by the Boeotians to enter their lands unharmed.

  Fear Liath: a spirit creature of great power known to inhabit high mountain country. Their presence causes fog and fear to disorient their prey. There are no recorded descriptions of a Fear Liath, but it is known that they cannot tolerate sunlight.

  Finder: a class found in nearly every kingdom trained to search for lost items or people. They can track prints, discern clues, and are often hired as bounty hunters or guides. Finders trained in the city usually do not associate with those trained in the wild.

  Fireblood: an innate magical ability possessed by a lost race. The race purportedly are the ancestors of the inhabitants of Stonehollow and are much persecuted. They appear to be a mix of Aeduan with some physical resemblance to Preachán, for most have red or copper-colored hair. Their race is impervious to the Plague, and for this reason they are distrusted and hunted during outbreaks and their blood dabbed on door lintels, which is commonly believed to ward off infection to the household. The real name of the race is unknown, but it is said they can conjure fire with their hands and that overuse of such innate ability renders them permanently insane.

  Keramat: a Vaettir word for the innate ability to produce miracles, such as healing, raising the dead, traveling vast distances in moments, and calming storms. The secrets of the keramat are zealously guarded by the Vaettir and have not been disclosed to the Archivists of Kenatos.

  Kishion: a class originating in the island kingdom of Kenatos. These are the Arch-Rike’s personal bodyguards and administer the city’s justice on those convicted of heinous crimes, such as murder, rape, and treason. Only Bhikhu and Finders are chosen to be Kishion and are given extensive training in survival, diplomacy, and poison. They are unswervingly loyal to the Arch-Rike and to the ideals of Kenatos.

  Mirrowen: a concept and possibly a location. The Druidecht teach that the world coexists with a spirit realm called Mirrowen and that the inhabitants of each can communicate with one another. The realm of Mirrowen is said to be inhabited by immortal beings with vast powers. There is little belief in this dogma in the larger cities and they consider the belief in such a place trite and superstitious, a way of coping with the regular horrors of the Plague by imagining a state of existence where there is no death. The Druidecht suggest there is ample evidence of Mirrowen’s existence and roam the lands teaching people how to become harmonious with nature.

  Paracelsus: a class from Kenatos and Alkire. Enigmatic and reclusive, these practitioners of arcane arts study the records of the past to tame vast sources of power. Some Paracelsus excel at forging weapons of power to sell for profit in Havenrook. Others experiment with new sources of energy that they harness into powerful gems to be used by the ruling class. Most Paracelsus specialize in specific forces and phenomena and document their findings in great tomes that they contribute to the Archive of Kenatos. The Paracelsus Tower in Kenatos is the hub of their order, though many travel to distant kingdoms to continue unraveling clues from the past.

  Plague: a terrible disease that strikes the kingdoms at least once every generation, destroying entire cities and decimating the population. There is no documented record of the origins of the Plague, and over the millennia the kingdoms have drawn closer and closer together for the preservation of their races. Documents discovered in abandoned towns and fortresses reveal that there are complete civilizations that have been wiped out by the Plague and races that used to exist which no longer do. The island kingdom of Kenatos was founded to be a last bastion for civilization and to preserve all knowledge and a remnant of each surviving race.

  Preachán: a race from the trading city of Havenrook. They tend to be short, brown- or red-haired, and have an amazing capacity for deductive reasoning and complex arithmetic. They also have a deep-rooted desire for wealth and the thrill of gambling. They employ the Romani to execute their trading system and are generally devoid of morals. The Preachán take pride that there are no laws or rules in Havenrook. Those who rule are the ones who have accumulated the most wealth and prestige.

  Rike: a class who lead the island kingdom of Kenatos. They are often mistaken as a priesthood of Seithrall, but in reality they are more like academics, physicians, and lawyers. While many believe them to possess magical powers, their power comes from the artifacts created by the Paracelsus order. With such, they can heal injuries and cure Plague victims. They are frequently dressed in a black cassock, but the most telltale sign is the ring that they wear. It is a black stone that purportedly gives them the ability to detect a lie spoken in their presence as well as to compel a weak-willed person to speak the truth.

  Romani: a class that has no country or kingdom. Romani can be of any race. They control the caravan routes and deliver goods between kingdoms with the strongest allegiance to the Preachán city of Havenrook. They are forbidden to enter or to operate within Silvandom. Romani are known for kidnapping and organized crime. Starting at age eight, they are sold into service at ten-year increments. Their value increases in age and training and usually diminishes with age and disability. Each decade of servitude corresponds with an earring that they cannot remove under pain of death. Their freedom may be purchased for a single, usually large, lump sum.

  Seithrall: a quasi-religion existing in the island kingdom of Kenatos. The term is a transliteration of the Vaettir words for “fate” or “faith,” as one being under the thrall of one or the other. While the Rikes of Kenatos do not suggest that the term connotes a specific religion, the populace of the city have given it a mystical quality, as it is not possible to lie to a Rike who wears the black ring.

  Shaliah: a class of Silvandom known for the keramat of healing. This ability is innate and comes from their closeness to nature and the ability to share their life force with others.

  Sylph: a spirit creature of Mirrowen that is tiny and can travel great distances and provide warnings of danger and healing.

  Talisman: a Druidecht charm, fixed to a necklace, which is presented to them by the spirits of Mirrowen upon achieving a sufficient level of respect usually achieved by the age of adulthood. The emblem is a woven-knot pattern, intricately done, and it purportedly allows a Druidecht to commune with unseen spirits.

  Tay al-Ard: spirit beings of great power that possess the gift of moving people and objects great distances in mere moments. It is considered a keramat to be able to induce such spirits to perform this feat.

  Uddhava: a Bhikhu philosophy and way of life. It centers around the observation and discernment of the motives of others, and then acting in a way that validates or rejects the observation. Life is a series of intricate moves and countermoves between people, and a Bhikhu who can make the observations and reactions faster than an opponent will win a confrontation.

  Vaettir: a race from Silvandom that values life above all. They are generally tall and slender, dark-skinned, with black hair. They do not eat meat and seek to preserve life in all its various forms. Their magic is innate and the wise use and practice of it is known as keramat. When they inhale deeply, their bodies become buoyant and can float. When they exhale deeply, their bodies become more dense and solid and they sink.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE
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br />   There are many sources of inspiration that writers draw on. For this story, it goes back to my college years at San Jose State. Being a medieval history major, I remember studying about the Black Death, the terrible plague that ravaged Europe repeatedly. I still have my college book by David Herlihy (The Black Death and the Transformation of the West ) and have read it several times. I was also inspired by some of my ancient history classes, especially reading Julius Caesar’s The Gallic Wars. There were many interesting descriptions in that book of the various “races” of Europe and also details about the Druids of Gaul, which I used to create the Druidecht.

  For the development of the magic system in the book, I turned more to modern times. In fact, it was my experience working in a semiconductor factory at Intel that inspired it. The high-tech industry spends billions of dollars constructing factories that organize and exploit the atomic properties of certain elements. I grew up in Silicon Valley, and it has always amazed me how brilliant engineers can turn something simple—sand—into microprocessors that power enormous data centers. I worked for a while as a night-shift supervisor in the Ion Implant area of the factory (or “fab,” as we call it in my industry) and was amazed at the machines invented to control basic atomic elements. The processes are so complex that experts exist in specific functional areas with strange-sounding names: litho, etch, diffusion, implant, thin films, planar. These folks are the modern-day Paracelsus. Learning about the technology and the small scale it operates on bends your mind. Granted, I’m not sure individual phosphorous or boron atoms are sentient and mind being trapped in silicon wafers, but that is how the idea came to me.

  Only in a writer’s imagination can ancient Roman history mix with mass epidemics and modern technology to create a new fantasy series.

  I’m off to breakfast with Possidius at Mel’s.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Many thanks to David Pomerico of 47North for discovering me. I gratefully dedicate this book to him for making my dream come true. Also thanks to my early readers for their priceless feedback and encouragement: Gina, Tony and Emily, Jeremy, and Karen. I also would like to thank Chris Cerasi, whose input and direction really improved the story and brought more life to the plot and characters. To my good friends Brendon and Rochelle, who for years told their kids many tales of the adventures of Paedrin and Hettie. And finally, to all the readers of Deep Magic who shared the world of Kenatos with me.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photograph © Kim Bills

  Jeff Wheeler is a writer from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday nights. The rest of the time, he works for Intel Corporation, is a husband and the father of five kids, and a leader in his local church. He lives in Rocklin, California. When he isn’t listening to books during his commute, he is dreaming up new stories to write. His website is: www.jeff-wheeler.com