The Nameless Dwarf fought against Otto Blightey, alongside the knight, Deacon Shader and their companions in The Archon’s Assassin (Book 3 of the SHADER series).
PAX NANORUM
‘Peace of the dwarves.’ A black battle axe etched with sigils, formed from the essence of the Demiurgos by the homunculi. It was retrieved from Gehenna, beneath the deepest gorges of Aethir, by the Nameless Dwarf—before he lost his name— who then assumed control of the ravine city of Arx Gravis and forced the dwarves into a war against New Jerusalem.
PERFECT PEAK, the
The mountain of Scarolite designed by Sektis Gandaw and built by the dwarves and the homunculi.
QUINTUS QUINCY
Foppish poet from New Jerusalem. An utter failure who spends his days drinking.
RECKONING, the
The cataclysm that destroyed the world of the Ancients on Earth nine-hundred years ago (2,256 AD). Faced with the destruction of his people, the Dreamers—the last humans not to succumb to the technological despotism of Sektis Gandaw—Huntsman used the power of the Statue of Eingana (entrusted to him by the gods of his people, the Hybrids) to tear the veil between Earth and the Dark Side of Aethir. The creatures of the Cynocephalus’s nightmares poured through and destroyed the known world. Sektis Gandaw escaped to Malkuth, on Aethir, in a plane ship.
The dark magic of Aethir gradually withdrew like the tide going out, but not until the technological achievements of the Ancients lay in ruins, their secrets consigned to the archives of the emerging Templum.
SEKTIS GANDAW
Born in the Old World of the Ancients in England in AD 1568, he was a student of Dr Dee and studied alchemy and occult science. With Blightey’s help, who spoke to him in dreams from the Abyss—which lies outside of time—he developed technology to prolong his life: technology which he guarded jealously.
He became Professor of Science at a leading university and selectively released his technological secrets to build a business empire, forcing his rivals out of business and monopolising all areas of the technology industry. He expanded his empire until his Global Tech corporation threatened to dominate the whole world and only the Dreamers held out against him.
Blightey remained his shadowy advisor until Gandaw succeeded in bringing him back from the Abyss. Gandaw, and the world, had moved on, however, and Blightey proved something of a disappointment. Their ideas conflicted and a power struggle ensued. Gandaw had been preparing for such an event and had the technology to force Blightey into the forests of Verusia.
At the time of the Reckoning, Gandaw fled to Aethir in a revolutionary Plane Ship. After the Reckoning, when Otto rose to a position of great influence in the new Nousian religion of the Templum, Gandaw started to rebuild his power on Aethir. Using Plane Ships, he kidnapped humans from Earth and experimented on them, forcing evolution into each and every direction in an attempt to gain control over the building blocks of life. Technology alone had failed: this time he would learn to unweave Creation and rebuild it—better than before—in his own image.
He spent the next centuries improving his technology, creating new variants of human DNA, and seeking the power to un-create—power he had learnt was to be found in the grandmother of all life on Aethir: Eingana.
Devising machines to draw the essence of Eingana from the world, Gandaw pursued her until she fled in the form of a snake.
He created a new race from the genes of humans and homunculi—evolving them into the dwarves, hardy, devoted creatures who were nevertheless infused with the homunculi’s nature of betrayal and deception. The dwarves were designed primarily to mine the Scarolite the homunculi had revealed to Gandaw. With the patience of the immortal, he sent them out into Aethir to build their own civilisation and left them clues as to the ‘real’ source of their life—the Serpent Goddess, Eingana.
Eventually the dwarves found the Hybrids who were sheltering Eingana. Gandaw attacked, but some of the dwarves betrayed him and joined the other side. The Serpent evaded him until he fooled the leader of the dwarf Guardians of Eingana, Maldark, who delivered her to him.
Gandaw petrified the snake with his machines (literally turning her to amber) and immediately set about harnessing her power in order to begin the Great Work of Unweaving.
Maldark and his Guardians realised their mistake and tried to set things right. They stormed Gandaw’s mountain with the Hybrids and stole back Eingana’s statue. Maldark was the only Guardian to survive, along with four out of hundreds of Hybrids.
SHADRAK THE UNSEEN
Diminutive albino assassin who became a firm friend and ally of the Nameless Dwarf.
Once a member of the notorious Sicarii, a guild of assassins in Sahul on Earth, Shadrak made a new life for himself on Aethir in New Jerusalem.
Shadrak played a significant part in the Statue of Eingana affair and also accompanied Nameless on the three quests set by Aristodeus that were designed to free the dwarf from the influence of the Pax Nanorum.
SHIELD OF WARDING, the
Made by the Cynocephalus to ward off all magic and missiles, but remains vulnerable to melee attacks.
SKEYR MAGNUS
Part human, part reptile. Magnus was altered by Sektis Gandaw, but then escaped the Perfect Peak, taking a limited knowledge of technology with him. Killed by his own machines during a confrontation with the Senate of New Jerusalem.
TEMPLUM, the
The People of Nous on Earth, presided over by the Ipsissimus. Servants, of Truth and Love. Bound by the Virtues and guided by scriptures from before the time of the Ancients collected in the Libram.
VENN THE RIPPER
Henchman of Shent.
VERUSIA
Country on Earth, independent of Nousia. Barbaric except for the region controlled by Otto Blightey.
VOID, the
The empty place. The eternal dark that divides the world of Creation from the Supernal Realm. Inhabited by Lacunae and the shades of those either not taken by the Abyss or not worthy of Araboth. The Archon, Eingana and the Demiurgos fell through the Void almost five thousand years ago.
The Ant-Man of Malfen has been published independently as part of a serialisation. If you enjoyed this story and would like to read more, please look out for future releases from D.P. Prior.
The Nameless Dwarf also features in the epic SHADER series by D.P. Prior:
Book 1: Gods in the Dreaming
Book 2: The Unweaving
Book 3: The Archon’s Assassin
Book 4: A Dark Perdurance
You might also want to check out The Memoirs of Harry Chesterton by D.P. Prior:
Thanatos Rising (Part I) is now available for Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Thanatos-Rising-Memoirs-Chesterton-ebook/dp/B003ZDP2E8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288433270&sr=8-1
News and updates are available from:
www.deaconshader.wordpress.com
It is always helpful to independent writers if you take the time to leave a short review on Amazon or other sites like Barnes & Noble or Smashwords.
Photograph by Theo Prior
D.P. Prior read Drama, Classics and History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He studied Mental Health Nursing at the University of Sussex and read Theological Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Western Australia. He is the founder of the online discussion community Mysticism Unbound. He works as a freelance editor and author.
You are welcome to contact the author with any comments/feedback at: [email protected]
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