by Lyndon Hardy
Her face began to dry. She tried an energizing breath and then coughed. Some of the diesel fuel still floated in the air. So unlike spring at home, the cool green hills of Murdina. She never would see them again. The tears threatened to return, to gush into the flood that comes with deep racking sobs.
She looked at the shop door at which she had stopped and read the sign over the jamb. She blinked. Almost despite herself, the self-pity dissolved away. The corners of her mouth turned upward in the beginning of a small smile.
This is what she had to do whenever her thoughts took her in the wrong direction, she decided. Rejoice in the comfort of simple pleasures.
She pulled open the door and entered. “A French Vanilla cone,” she called out. “And make it a triple decker. Three scoops. Three scoops, not just one.”
Author’s Afterward
IN THE What’s Next? section of Riddle of the Seven Realms I did not have another book to tout. I merely had caught up with republishing three books from almost 30 years ago. I wanted to write more but concluded the section with “I will just have to see if there is enough gas left in the tank.”
Well, obviously there was and The Archimage’s Fourth Daughter is the result.
The basic idea that I wanted to explore was the dichotomy between our modern civilized life here on earth with that of the traditional fantasy — a roughly medieval setting with castles and such. This has been done many times before, of course, but usually with someone from here making the journey to a magical land — The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan and so on.
But what would happen if the direction of travel were reversed? The protagonist was plopped down in our world and scrambling to make sense of it.
So with that in mind, I started writing. Now, thirty years ago I plotted everything out in detail before starting — an outline for each and every chapter — what engineers call top down design. But this time, I thought it would be fun to merely start and see where the story took me.
I started with a chapter involving a small demon imprisoned in a glass cage — with the idea that the hero after a brief sojourn on the earth would return to her home world and face the real challenge of the story. I even put the first seven chapters up on a blog with this in mind.
But after my hero had managed to survive the culture shock of being here and was ready to go back home, I found that I really did not have a very good idea about what to do when she got there. What was the purpose of the caged demon anyway? So, I put him aside for use some time later in the future.
Having the tale centered on earth gave me the opportunity to explore the question of what if magic were in use here. It could not be very noticeable because if it were, it would be quite disruptive. But stock market manipulations, falsifying high energy physics data and small storefront love portion vending seem quite possible.
Not only that, by operating on earth, I could interject elements into the story that were not fantastic at all, but things that I find interesting. Yes, one can get a door to open by manipulating the latch guided by a dentist’s mirror. Surrounding an automobile by hundreds of prone bodies to prevent it moving does indeed work. Skilled engineers who are presumed to operate with cold hard logic for a greater good sometimes succumb to baser emotions. In our pursuit to understand the universe around us, we have come a long way from visual observations to looking for bumps on histograms. Will we ever decide to stop climbing deeper and deeper into what may be a bottomless pit?
Along the way, I also discovered the joy of sometimes being surprised myself by the words I put onto the screen. There was not merely one type of imp involved in the story (the token minority) but several. I enjoyed writing about them the best of all.
What’s next?
ALTHOUGH I wrote three related novels in the 1980’s, they were deliberately intended not to be sequential parts of one long story. The underlying rules of the universe I constructed were the same, but different problems and different characters were in each book.
A few decades before that, of course, The Lord of the Rings started the long story trend and many of our most successful authors today are directing their efforts that way as well. For me, I enjoy a one volume story that starts, has a middle, and then ends.
"Wait a minute!" you might say. What about Maurice? Does he ever get to come back home? What about Jake? Did he win the battle on Murdina? And Briana. Is the only thing she has to look forward to is weight watching support meetings?
My short answer is a cop out. I don’t know.
My feelings right now is that the story for the characters in The Archimage’s Fourth Daughter is complete. It is the ideas behind the stories that are important to me. The characters are there to get them expressed. On the other hand, this time around I did try harder to make Briana and the others more interesting, more believable, and easier to care about.
We will just have to wait and see which way I go next.
For those of you who have not read the previous three volumes of the series:
Master of the Five Magics - Volume 1 of Magic by the Numbers
Secret of the Sixth Magic - Volume 2 of Magic by the Numbers
Riddle of the Seven Realms - Volume 3 of Magic by the Numbers
Glossary
Aerogel
Insulating material composed almost entirely of trapped air. Originally developed by NASA for use with cryogenically cooled propellants. Subsequently spun out and became commercially for other applications.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel#Applications
Alchemy
On earth, the root of the word comes from the Greek for transmutation. In the Middle Ages, alchemy focused on changing baser metals into gold, finding an elixir of life and a universal solvent. Some alchemical practices ultimately became the basis for modern chemistry.
In Master of the Five Magics and its sequels, alchemical procedures were described by formulas of arcane symbols kept in grimoires. Formula success was governed by probability; the more potent the result the less likely it was to succeed.
On earth, the most similar craft is that of a chemist.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy
Angkor Wat
A Cambodian temple complex built around the 12th century
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
Arcadia
Land across the Great Ocean to the east from Procolon. Setting for Secret of the Sixth Magic
Archimage
A master of all five of the crafts of thaumaturgy, alchemy, magic, sorcery, and wizardry.
Aeriel
Wife of Alodar, the Arcimage, and mother of Briana. Their romance is described in Master of the Five Magics.
ATLAS
An acronym containing another acronym! It stands for A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS. LHC stands for the Large Hadron Collider at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) Whew!
Atlas is a suite of particle detectors, designed to be general purpose and able to detect a variety of particle types over a wide range of energies. In the second decade of the twenty first century, primarily it was employed in the hunt for experimental evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS_experiment
Bette Davis Eyes
Bette Davis was a movie star of the 1930 noted for her large expressive eyes -- made popular by the song in 1981.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Davis
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Davis_Eyes
Buckaroo Banzai
A cult film released in 1984, noted for its many inane quotes
Wikipedia: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086856/quotes
Hernando Cortez
Cortez did not burn his ships before attacking the Aztecs at Tenochtitlan. He scuttled them.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_the_Aztec_Empire
CERN
The European Organization of Nuclear Resea
rch
A particle physics research laboratory located on the border between France and Switzerland. It houses, what in 2017, is the world's most powerful accelerator for protons and even heavier ions, able to hurl them at one another at energies available nowhere else in the world.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN
Charm
On earth, a synonym for spells in general. In Master of the Five Magics and its sequels, a sorcerer’s spell in particular.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charm
Circles of Life
A common motif used in many designs. Constructed from a set of circles of the same size placed in a hexagonal repeating pattern. Also called the Flowers of Life.
Clue
This popular board game, manufactured by Parker Brothers in the US, has been around for many years. All of us probably have played it when we were younger.
The simplest strategy is to mark off on your score sheet all of the cards you have in your hand. After all, there is no way they can be in the black envelope on the staircase marked x at the center of the board. Then when your turn comes and someone passes you a card, mark that one off, too. Eventually, you will be able to deduce which three cards must be the solution.
There are things you can do to speed up your deduction process. The following is the one I used as a youth and is similar to others found on the internet. The basic idea is to eliminate possibilities not only on your own turn but also on that of others. If you are successful at doing this, you might the first to get the answer.
The example here is truncated. It would take too long and too much space to walk through an actual game. As shown below, we are going to be dealing with four players — you and three others, three weapons, and three rooms only. Rather than just using a single column to keep track of things, assign one for each of the other players and one more for the answer in the envelope.
The first thing you do is cross off the cards you have. For this example, you have two cards dealt to you — the rope and the lounge. The Xs on the scoresheet eliminate these possibilities for the other players and the answer.
Doing this might seem counter-intuitive. Don't we want to be finding out what is in the answer, rather than what is not? You are doing that, but just coming at it from a slightly different view point.
Okay, now suppose you are going first and you suggest it was done in the study with the rope. Alice, the first person on your left shows you that she has the study. From this, you mark off that Bob, Carl and the Answer do not.
Next, it is Alice's turn. She suggests it was done with the knife in the kitchen. Bob shows Alice a card. It is either the knife or the kitchen but we do not know which one, but the possibilities are linked. If we later find out that Bob does not have the knife, you can use the link to conclude that he must have the kitchen — or vice versa. Keep track of links by numbering them on the scoresheet.
Next, it is Bob's turn. He suggests the rope and the lounge. Of course Bob has neither of those cards because you do. You show him one. Put a small B for Bob in the square for the rope to indicate the card you have shown him. Then if he makes a suggestion involving the rope a second time and things rotate to you, you can make sure to show him the same card again and not increase his information.
Next, it is Carl's turn. He suggests the gun and the kitchen, and Alice shows him a card. On our score sheet, indicate this linking with the number 2.
Your turn again. You suggest the rope in the kitchen and Alice shows you the kitchen. You can cross off the kitchen for Bob, Carl, and the Answer. Ahah! We know that it was done in the hall.
But wait there's more. If Bob does not have the kitchen, then the linked number 1s tells us he must have the knife. And if he has the knife, Alice, Carl, and the Answer cannot.
Finally, Alice suggests the gun in the study. Bob passes and Carl shows her a card. We know that Alice has the study, so Carl must have the gun. So the lead pipe must be the weapon. Make an accusation. You have won the game!
Of course, this example was contrived, but it shows how with X's, numbers, and letters, you can go a long way towards keeping everything straight.
Maybe, this is why Dinton was so successful. On the other hand, he was not all that crafty with other games such as Rock, Paper, Scissors and the Magic Eightball — maybe because he did not consider them to be games of pure deduction.
The Company
Jargon term used by defense contractors to refer to the Central Intelligence Agency, headquarted in Langley, VA. It is reputed that workers there refer to the National Security Agency, headquarted at Fort Meade, MD as TBARS — the bastards across the river.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency
Demon
Resident of another realm different from that of the universe containing the earth and the world of Master of the Five Magics. With the exception of djinns, of limited physical power in our realm. Synonymous with devil.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_demons
Devil
A synonym for demon in Master of the Five Magics and its sequels.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_demons
Fluorine gas
See 'Source of Fluorine Gas in Nature heading at
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorite
The Fort
Jargon used by defense contractors to refer to the National Security Agency (NSA) headquartered at Fort Meade, MD. It is reputed that workers there refer to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), headquartered at Langley, VA as TBARS — the bastards across the river.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_George_G._Meade
Gluons
One of two types of new 'elementary' particles proposed by Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig in the 1960s. Protons and neutrons, what we had thought were elementary, were composed of quarks. In analog to how charged particles interacted with one another, quarks exchanged gluons instead.
Gluons also have charge, but one different from the plus and minus of electromagnetism that we are familiar with. Gluon charge 'cancels out' for certain combinations of three gluons. In analogy with light for which red, blue, and green combined produce what appears to be white to our eyes, gluon charge was called 'color charge'.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluon
Histograms and Bump Hunting
A data presentation technique.
We see them used all the time. For example, suppose we wanted to display the ages of all the people in a particular neighborhood. The graph could look like the following.
The x-axis of the graph is divided into horizontal 'bins'. Each bin represents a particular age group — 0 to 5, 6 to 10, and so on. The y axis is a count of how many people fell into each age range. We see that there are fewer inhabitants with an age of 0 to 5 than a more adult group such as 20 to 25.
Histograms are used in physics too. Suppose we are studying the reaction in which a charged pi meson collides with a stationary proton and produces a neutron and two pi mesons as a result.
π-- + p -> π+ + π- + n
(Even with this simple example, one can see how weird things are on the atomic level. Can you image a cue ball hitting a three ball on a pool table and three, not two, balls result -- with the three ball vanishing as well!)
Plowing on ahead -- There are three particles in the final state, and lets suppose we are interested in what the energy of the resulting π- is. So, we collect a bunch of events of the type we are looking for, measure the energy of the output π- for each event and make a histogram of the results.
If the energy of the incoming π- is low enough, the histogram might look something like this:
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Superimposed over the histogram is a theoretical prediction —one that says that, subject to the constraint that energy has to be conserved, every possible output momentum of the π- is equally likely. It can be anything. There are no hidden gears involved in the reaction that would favor any direction or magnitude over another.