From Vorthall to Nimmoth

I must confess, the journeying has been a bit slower. I am now in the middle of chapter twenty of The Deed of Ian and at last report had completed fifteen. Since last posting here I also had a term paper to write and have been doing some packing.

But the adventures do continue. A quick recap of the storyline to date: The region of Mithernesse in a parallel world has been ravaged by a plague followed by despair, the latter "embodied" as a demon. The demon's powers and evil effects increase. Njothir is elected chieftain of the Norrungs following his father's death. Meanwhile, as Fujiyama erupts in Japan (1706, FYI), an English boy finds himself transported to Mithernesse. (Think of this as opera, it doesn't have to make sense; but in the full story there is a logic.) A wolf leads him to shelter and he is eventually part of Norrung society, a sort of foster-brother of Njothir himself. Prophecies indicate that the aforementioned demon cannot be overcome by any power of the world; the English lad, Ian Dyrnedon, is not of that world and must face and defeat the demon. He goes to meet it with eleven companions, half of the party consisting of warmaidens and warriors.

At this point in the writing, they have traveled about 24 days, from Vorthall of the Norrungs westward, following the path of plague and of demonic activity, and at this point have covered considerable distance from the forest where they began to the river plain. Various small adventures have taken place and the characters are developing. From here the plot begins to thicken as Ian heads toward the great confrontation.

It is a lot of work, inventing a world. Granted, the basics were laid out in my mind, and on paper, over thirty years ago, and the world has stayed alive in my mind all this time. But you cannot have a travel adventure without some sense of the journey and I have been expanding and revising the old maps so there is more detail to play with dramatically. Whereas the original maps had major population centers and rivers only, now some sections have minor villages filled in, with mountains and waterways and roads beyond those shown in the old maps. Then there is the challenge of new characters, and filling out the ancient pre-Christian mythology and beliefs of the era I had not described in tales set later in time.

Speaking of warmaidens, a word to the guys: Don't mess with Vunskridh; she could fillet you alive before you realized what happened. No, she doesn't hate men, but she has very high standards and little patience. If you're looking for a good time and like lady warriors, try Meldreth. She can whup your ass but she's got the heart of a slut.

Oh, and Ian is Jonathan Grubbley's great-great-great-great-granduncle though one line and, via some crossover activity between the worlds in later generations, a direct ancestor through another branch.

Well, back to the other world.