Tales of the Vuduri_Year Five

by Michael Brachman

  The first thing I had to do was find a shoreline. I took this image from a snapshot of Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. I liked the interplay of shore, water and clouds. The only problem was shoreline needed to be rotated left by 90 degrees but that wasn't a big deal:

  The next thing I needed was to find a general shape for the base of The Hand. I looked at many images of arches including The Gateway Arch in St. Louis until I came across the Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah. It was perfect. Here is an image of the arch and how I was able to extract the base structure using Paint Shop Pro:

  Now I had the basic elements, now it was a time for a mock-up and supplying Bruce with the specific details.

  Entry 5-220: August 8, 2017

  Constructing The Hand, Part 3: The Details

  Yesterday, I showed you the two elements for the basic design, the shoreline and general shape of The Hand. I proceeded with a mock-up of the cover to give Bruce something to work with:

  In order for Bruce to take over, I had to give him a little more information. The first item was the hand portion of The Hand. I looked through a bunch of stock photos until I found one utilized by a mortgage company. The final hand was completely different but at least this image showed my idea for how it would appear to an observer:

  The last piece of the puzzle was the city of Ur itself. As you know, the Vuduri always build their cities as a series of concentric rings, starting with The Tower in the middle and going out from there. They had to adapt the design for Ur because the shoreline prevented perfect circles and The Hand would take the place of The Tower:

  Tomorrow, I'll show you Bruce's first pass and how we had to fine-tune it.

  Entry 5-221: August 9, 2017

  I am so embarrassed

  I have been posting to this blog for five years and while I'd like to say that I've never missed a day, the fact is, I did miss a day or two that first year. This was long before I figured out how to write seven or ten blog posts on a weekend and then just post them one at a time over the next week. When I first started, I sat down at my desk and composed each day's post that day. It was a lot of pressure and my new technique removed that pressure.

  Well, since that time, I have never missed a day. That is up until this week. There is a reason but no excuse. My stepson, Perry, got married last weekend and we were in Chicago for the wedding. Well, you might put two and two together and think the two events were related. After all, there ain't no such thing as a coincidence. And to some degree, it is true. But the fact of the matter is, I had the posts written and ready to go and just got too busy catching up from the trip and I forgot to post an entry on Wednesday, August 9, 2017.

  As I said, there is a reason but it is not an excuse. There is none. I feel I have a duty to keep up the unbroken string and I failed. Maybe you don't feel that way but I do. I apologize. I promise I will buckle down and try and make it all the way to the end without missing one more entry. It was important for me to finish Tales of the Vuduri with a perfect record and now I can only finish with a nearly perfect record. If you don't win, you lose.

  So again, I apologize. Let's move on.

  Entry 5-222: August 10, 2017

  Constructing The Hand, Part 4: Texture

  Two days ago, I showed you all major elements used in constructing The Hand. I passed along my mock-up to Bruce, along with the additional material and this is what he came up with:

  He got the whole thing right including the casino at the top of The Hand. I liked his addition of a spaceship flying past and the shadows on the water were great. In fact it was nearly perfect except for one detail. His vision of the texture was completely different from mine. Denise and I had been to Hawaii, to the Big Island, and I had observed the roughness of the black lava fields. Bruce formulated a much smoother surface in his mind but to me, it looked way too smooth, almost like clay.

  I had to go back to the archives and search a whole bunch of images until I finally found a picture of a stretch of cooled lava that matched my mental image:

  In order to make it clearer how I wanted it to look, I took the roughness and blended it into Bruce's image and returned this to him. I'll show you that image tomorrow and then the final product.

  Entry 5-223: August 11, 2017

  Constructing The Hand, Part 5: Final Version

  Yesterday, I showed how Bruce put all the elements together and got it nearly perfect. The only thing I didn't like was the texture of The Hand itself so I took his cover and overlaid my vision of the roughness so Bruce could see what I mean:

  That was the final clue he needed. By interacting, using a series of images, Bruce now had taken my vision of the The Hand and turned it into the covers as they appear today:

  Pretty neat, huh? Tomorrow, we'll get back to our analysis of the book itself.

  Entry 5-224: August 12, 2017

  Seeing The Hand

  Over the last few days, we have described how Bruce and I came up with the design of the cover for Rome’s Evolution. If you take a peek, you will see that the cover presents a fairly good representation of what I envisioned. I might have made the forearm a little shorter but oh well. The point being, it is a spectacular structure, like nothing else in the known universe. So it is only natural that when our heroes, Rome, Rei and Bonnie, come across it for the first time, they are suitably impressed:

  MINIMCOM approached the resort town of Ur from the east, flying very low. The azure waters of Lake Eprehem stretched north as far as the eye could see and off to the horizon to the west. A lazy band of clouds drifted over the center part of the water. Rei watched with a sense of wonder from the cockpit window as The Hand came closer and closer. Because of that one geological structure, Ur was easily the most spectacular location on all of Deucado, perhaps on all the worlds of Man.

  The Hand was like nothing Rei had ever seen anywhere. Everyone had always assumed it was a meteor that hit Deucado and caused the crater that became Lake Eprehem. The truth is it was a comet with an iron-nickel core. When the comet crashed down and created the gigantic depression, the metallic core continued on and punctured a pocket of magma. The magma bubbled up to the surface forming a tower that reached nearly a half a mile high. The metal core also hit another band of magma which seeped up to the surface and formed a spurting magma geyser. At regular intervals, like an evil cannon, it would shoot great globs of molten rock up and over the top of tower that stood before it. In its fluid state, the entire structure bent over toward the impact crater. More shots of magma coated it to form a solid platform at the top, a half mile wide. By the time it cooled, the newly formed mountain was hanging out over what would become the largest lake on all of Deucado.

  Much of the water filling the lake came from the comet which quickly condensed. The rest came thanks to the dust and dirt the explosion shot up into the atmosphere which caused Deucado to experience years and years of torrential downpours. As the rains fell and Lake Eprehem filled to the brim, the overhang, now called The Hand, hung farther and farther over the lake.

  “Look at that thing,” Rei said, more or less to himself.

  “It is amazing,” Rome replied, more or less answering him.

  Rei squinted and could see partial concentric circles with The Hand essentially in the middle. It reminded him of a Vuduri city but that wouldn’t make any sense because what would the Vuduri be doing in Ur? When the Essessoni had arrived, they brought their social conventions with them. Even though none of them wanted for anything, they still felt the need to take vacations and Ur was certainly the most satisfying vacation spot on the continent. A resort town sprung up around the giant structure and a portion of it on top as well. The Vuduri would have no use for a resort.

  Tomorrow, our band of assassin-hunting detectives enter the resort town of Ur. The mix of cultures, Essessoni, Deucadon, Ibbrassati, and Vuduri is pretty interesting. Plus something nobody expected: money!

  Entry 5-225: August 13, 2017

  Heading into to
wn

  Yesterday, our intrepid heroes flew to the resort city of Ur, home of the most spectacular geological formation in the known universe called The Hand of Deucado. They were following up on a clue provided to them by Wally Stanislaw. They were looking for a very tall, ginger-haired, bearded fellow. To reduce the chances of David Troutman becoming aware of their pursuit, they needed to walk the last mile or so. MINIMCOM's presence would have been noticed immediately:

  Rei said. “Rome, why don’t you go grab the other Deucadon cloak? I may have to make myself hidden during our search as well. They obviously know what I look like.”

  “Of course,” Rome said. She returned in just a minute with the Deucadon invisibility cloak draped over her arm. Rei took it and fastened it around his neck.

  “Ready as we’ll ever be,” he said.

  The three of them walked down the ramp. When they got to the bottom, Rei put his hand up to his temple and thought, “Why don’t you make yourself scarce for now. No reason to alert people.”

  MINIMCOM did not answer but he did raise his cargo ramp and lower the hatch. As soon as the seal was complete, MINIMCOM activated his stealth shield, shimmering for a moment then disappearing completely.

  “Be careful,” was all the starship said.

  “We will, buddy. Thanks,” Rei replied. “We’ll call you if we need you.”

  As they exited the cane-tree forest and embarked upon the road leading into the town proper, Rei could not help but notice that other than The Hand, even Ur looked ordinary. Each of the side roads curved off to the side. There was no doubt about it. The streets were concentric circles. There were some side roads and the tops of some dwellings peeked up over the trees but nothing stood out.

  So far, on Deucado, each of the four races had kept to themselves. The Vuduri remained in Vuduri City, the Deucadons in Deucadia, the Ibbrassati in Ibbra City and Rei’s people gathered in New Ark City. But Ur was something different. It was the first place where all the races co-mingled and lived together. The design of the city proved that the Vuduri were involved as well.

  “Hey Rome,” Rei said, coming to a stop.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m certain that the Vuduri had a hand in helping them build this city. Its design is basically the same as every other Vuduri city I’ve ever seen. Concentric circles.”

  This is very confusing. How and why would the Vuduri have anything to do with a town that was dedicated to leisure. The Vuduri had no interest in leisure activities, right? Maybe we'll gain some insights tomorrow.

  Entry 5-226: August 14, 2017

  Why?

  Yesterday, Rome, Rei and Bonnie left the safe confines of MINIMCOM to enter the town of Ur. Rei had a Deucadon invisibility cloak with him in case he had to disappear. However, Rei had noted that the town of Ur looked like it had been built like a Vuduri city which made no sense. Ur was a resort town, strictly built to serve the needs of the Essessoni, the Deucadons and the Ibbrassati. Rei could not understand why the Vuduri would have the slightest desire to enter, let alone engage, with a city like Ur:

  “Vuduri City, here on Deucado, is made up of overlapping triangles.”

  “Oh yeah,” Rei said. “I guess that was their one creative outburst. But why do you think they lent a hand here? Ur doesn’t seem like the kind of place they’d go.”

  Rome looked up and down the streets. “The Overmind here is committed to blending each of the races and building a stronger world. The architecture is probably his way of contributing to the spirit of Ur.”

  Rei shrugged. “I guess that makes sense,” he said and he started walking again. On some streets, it was easier to see the housing. Most of the residences, at least here on the east side, were built out of standard Vuduri aerogel. There were some deviations, probably introduced by the non-mind-connected races. But even so, there was a homogeneity about it. Up ahead, everything changed.

  As plain as the little city looked, The Hand was anything but. Its looming physical presence was almost too much to comprehend. Its base was huge, almost a mile wide. The way it projected from the ground, it almost looked like it had been grafted on. Its graceful arc began and it narrowed somewhat as you got closer to the top. From where they stood, they could not even see the upper section which extended quite a distance over the lake. The view from the top must be awe-inspiring as well, Rei thought to himself.

  Rome stumbled as they walked along. Rei grabbed her arm and helped her right herself. “Are you OK, honey?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied. “But that.” She pointed up. “The Hand. It is stupendous. I cannot take my eyes off of it.”

  “I agree,” Rei said. “It seems like the overhang goes off forever.” He forced his eyes back to the ground.

  Bonnie added, “In our time, when people went to New York City for the first time, they did the same thing, tripping over themselves, staring at the skyscrapers. There’s something hypnotic about being close up to really gigantic structures.”

  “I will try to get used to it,” Rome said, “but I don’t know if I will be able to.”

  “Well, we have business now. We’ll come back some day and take it all in properly.”

  “Agreed,” Rome said and she charged forward.

  Rome has certainly changed since we met her way back when in Rome’s Revolution. She can now appreciate beauty and majesty. That is why she is so impressed with the sheer magnitude of The Hand of Deucado. However, tomorrow, our band of heroes will discover something even more amazing. The residents of Ur are using money!

  Entry 5-227: August 15, 2017

  Money? On Deucado?

  Yesterday, Rome, Rei and Bonnie entered the resort city of Ur and got to see The Hand of Deucado close up for the first time. The Hand of Deucado is probably the most spectacular geological structure ever seen on the known worlds of Man. It is so huge, you can't even really focus on the top when standing on the ground. Rome had a hard time taking her eyes off of it. However, they had their mission and it was time to get on with it:

  The circular streets and residential area curved around to the left. Going the other way, starting right at the edge of the shadow of The Hand, there was an open area that was a combination of farmer’s market and bazaar. As they walked along, both Rome and Bonnie gawked at the wares set out on the various tables. At one point, Rome walked over to one table and picked up a bright red fruit. She showed it to Rei. “This looks delicious,” she said. As she started to bite into it, the merchant, clearly Deucadon, said, “hold on.”

  “What?” Rome asked.

  “That’ll be two Deucats,” he said, stroking his beard.

  “What is a Deucat?” she asked.

  “It’s money, coin,” he said, rubbing his two fingers together. The merchant eyed Rome up and down.

  Rei came over to where she was standing. She set the fruit down and turned to her husband. “You explained to me about money once,” she said. “But why would we need it here? I don’t understand.”

  Rei regarded her confusion then turned to address the merchant. “What’s up with that?” he asked. “This world has unlimited free energy. Molecular synthesizers. Anybody can have anything they want. Why do you want money?”

  The merchant shrugged. “Around here, there are so many different people and races, it’s the only way we can gauge value. And, ya need it for the casino.” He pointed straight up. Seeing no reaction, he shrugged. “If ya don’t have any money, then there is nawt anythin’ I can do for ya. Ya can move along.”

  “Money is stupid!” Rome exclaimed.

  “It is only stupid if ya do nawt have any,” the merchant smirked. He tapped the bowl holding the rest of the fruit several times.

  Rome put the fruit back and stared at the merchant, scowling. Rei saw her disappointment and moved to the edge of the table.

  “Can I see one of these Deucats?” he asked. “I’ve never seen one before.”

  The merchant reached into a leather-like bag attached at his waist and pulled
out a single silver coin. He handed it to Rei who hefted it then flipped it over in his hand. It was about the size of a silver dollar and by its weight, probably contained about the same amount of precious metal. On the obverse, there was an image of Deucado, pock marks and all. On the reverse, was an image of The Hand, engraved in the center. The rim was serrated and along the edge was inscribed the legend One Deucat in English and Vuduri.

  I have a fascination with the 1878 7TF Morgan Dollar, Reverse of 1878. The reasons are too hard to explain. But I held one in my hand so I could model the Deucat after it. There is an image below. The point being, Rome and Rei need some money to accomplish their goals. How will they get any?

  Entry 5-228: August 16, 2017