Riddle me this

Today I will post another entry from the glossary for the Tanavian Chronicles—the sphinx. This creature isn't mentioned in Whom the Gods Love, so this is a bit of a teaser for the upcoming book. Don't worry, the entry isn't going to reveal too much about the next book, so no big plot spoilers. The sphinx is one of the more alluring mythical creatures for me. My first encounter with it was from the excellent movie, The NeverEnding Story. Admittedly, in that film sphinxes are a little different than the myth. Even so, as a child I was fascinated with, well, let's just call it "that scene in the movie" to avoid spoilers. I've fiddled with my sphinx in some ways, but I do maintain some of the more defining characteristics of the creature. The image I've used here is of Ingres' interpretation of Oedipus and the Sphinx. If you have the chance and haven't already, you should check out the story of Oedipus. He's been written into several famous stories because his tale is one of the great ones.

Sphinx – See also Nymphs. See also Satyr. Sphinxes are incredibly beautiful and highly intelligent creatures. Their wisdom and intelligence rivaled that of even the most learned humans. The upper half of the creature was that of a beautiful woman. Golden feathers softer than any fabric ever created lined her back and filled her large wings. It is said that when they took flight, the sphinxes wings would reflect the gaze of the sun or moon, creating a halo of light around them. The lower half of their bodies was that of a big cat, the soft golden fur starting just below the waist and ending in human looking feet, differing in that they were thickly padded like those of an animal. The fur, like the wings, was impossibly soft and silky. They were highly prized for their wisdom, men and gods alike consulting them with problems they could not sort out on their own. The sphinx, ever thoughtful, always managed to find a solution to any query brought to it.

Apsos, the god of creation, spent much of his time creating creatures to fill up the world, some of which failed to please his fellow gods. When Apsos created the beautiful sphinx creature, some of the other gods became jealous of its beauty and cleverness. They claimed Apsos had created a creature that would be worshiped by humans, such was its elegance and wisdom, worship that was rightfully due them, and not any mortal creature. This claim was not without merit as the sphinx, unlike many of the gods, was benevolent and free of the politics and petty infighting they were often mired down in. The gods persisted in their complaints until Apsos finally capitulated to their demands that he do something about the sphinx. Loathe to destroy his creation entirely, he instead split it in two. The aspects of beauty and wisdom were separated, and he reforged them into the nymphs and the satyr. The nymphs retained all the ethereal beauty, and most of the human aspects of the sphinx, but none of the wisdom. Without the intelligence to guide them, they are pretty creatures, but simple, and spend most of their days flitting about the woods. The satyr kept the animal aspects of the sphinx, legs covered in dull brown fur, padded feet, and ruddy complexions. They were not beautiful by any means, but their cleverness and wit was surpassed by no other creature, save perhaps the occasional unique human. With their most envious aspects separated, the other gods tolerated these creatures that descended from the sphinx.

Underwater Inspirations

I find it interesting to read where different authors get their inspiration from. Everyone seems to have their own way of thinking up new stories. When I was in college my creative writing prof believed you could be inspired by anything. To prove it, he passed around a blank piece of paper and asked us each to doodle something on it. When the paper was passed around the whole class he took it and made photocopies of it. Then he passed out the copies and told us to write a story based on what was on the paper. I actually recently found that little short story, and without any context wondered what it was for a while before I placed it. Here it is in all its unedited splendor:

The eggs grew cold as I stared at the cook cracking them open, and the man in the booth next to mine thought he was so cool because he had this sweet bow tie with the picture of a drunk dog and two butterflies on it, but I couldn't help noticing that he was crazy, kind of out of it because of his habit of smoking with his mouth full, but I didn't care anyway because the waitress came to me and told me that I had to ski or die so I stepped outside as she pointed her semiautomatic at my head and hopped onto the pair of skis there thinking how did these get here? Lucky for me the diner was at the top of a hill and as I flew pass the snowman I began to think of spring and of how the flowers looked when suddenly I saw a strange man staring at me in a cold and calculating way, and all I wanted was to go home and I swore I would never come this way again because after all it wasn't a shortcut anyway. 

Yes. A masterpiece. I know. I kind of only really remember the "ski or die" part because it was the trickiest bit to fit in. Someone had doodled the logo - at least I vaguely recall this being the logo of some company that made sporting wear - on the paper next to the various other doodles of cracked eggs, flowers, eyes, a gun... I think you get the picture (pardon the pun). In any case, though the story won't win any awards, it did make me realize you can find inspiration for things in unlikely places. Which brings me to the video I linked. While sometimes it takes work to find inspiration, the images from that underwater museum almost write a story themselves. Imagine an adventurer stumbles across a site like that. One day I hope I get the chance to visit it. Until then, these videos and my imagination will have to suffice.

Dream Merchant

From the movie Metropolis

I've been writing for quite a bit longer than I have been publishing, so I have a significant backlog of "open projects" as I like to call them. When I get an idea for a story I often write about 20 pages or 15000 words of it so that if I need to leave it for a while when I come back to it there is a pretty good foundation to remind me where I was going with it. Occasionally I'll even toss in a very brief outline of where I had planned the story to go. I don't always follow the plan I originally laid out. Sometimes I revisit these unfinished writings and massage it into something I hope is better. Whom the Gods Love started this way. I had about 15000 words of it finished for quite some time before I revisited it and was compelled to finish it.

I'm going to share another such "open project" with you. This one is science fiction and it's an idea I return to from time to time with tweaks. I'm getting close to being able to finally complete it, but of course I plan to finish the Tanvian trilogy first. Here is the first small part of this story, approximately 5% of what I've finished to date.

The Dream Merchant

It is important to remember that people are looking at you all the time. In order to appear the most natural, never have an expression program running your face unless actively engaged in some form of conversation, verbal or otherwise. This may seem counterintuitive, and that you should always be running some program, but my extensive study into the subject says otherwise. Maintain a blank look throughout most of your day. Only change your expression after making direct eye contact with another person. Then, engage a smiling function from a randomized set. When you are responding to an individual you appreciate more, make sure to program in the eyebrow lift. Various texts suggest this is an automatic response when greeting someone you know and like. I prefer to use Peterson’s Greeting Expression software for all my facial emotes as it has been programmed with all the most up to date studies in mind.

From the text, “Naturally Human: The Comprehensive Guide to Appearing Lifelike” 

*** 

The city pulsed with the comings and goings of dark transports, quietly hissing through the air save when they paused to land at one of the many parking levels throughout the city to pick up one set of tall, perfectly beautiful people and disgorge another. The majority walked to and fro busily chatting with each other, seemingly taking no notice of the minority of drably dressed drones that were among them. The bald drones, all dressed in the customary gray jumpsuits that they were compelled to wear, trudged along behind their owners—their faces blank and their expressions unresponsive to the colorful world of light and noise around them.

Amidst the bustling flow of life, one motionless man stood out. He was dressed in a sharp suit and stood in a shadowy spot between two buildings, staring across the street. His eyes were fixed on the small shop there that specialized in dreams. His own drone stood behind him, motionless, his eyes glazed over. The man, whose name was Soltaire, hesitated, his softly humming transport shielding him from the rest of the street.

Compared to all the other shops crying out for attention, this one was nondescript. It had no extravagant lightshow describing the contents within. The shop wasn’t crowded with fanciful furnishings meant to delight the eye. It simply had the product lined up along the walls; tiny chips of silicone that were deceptively common looking. Soltaire knew quite well that if he approached the wall of chips and reached for one, a signal would pass to him describing the contents of the dream stored within. Currently there was only one person in the store perusing the wares. She had her drone with her. The store’s owner, a pale-skinned, dark-haired woman, was smiling at her customer as she spoke. Soltaire could read the owner’s lips if he so desired but decided that would be unnatural, so he resisted the urge to do so. He watched for a bit longer, waiting for the customer to finish. He liked his privacy and had no interest in entering the shop while anyone else was there.

The customer was listening to the feed from a product in front of her. Her drone was standing patiently to her left, seeming lifeless until its owner addressed it. Soltaire didn’t even have to glance back to know his drone was standing just behind him in the same lifeless way. This drone had been particularly well behaved so far. He’d been forced to get rid of the last one. No matter how many inhibitors he had injected into the thing, it still smiled too often.

Finally, the woman took one of the programs off the wall and took it to the counter. Soltaire could feel his excitement kicking in. The program cascaded through him, aptly imitating what he believed to be anticipation. The owner of the shop smiled widely at the woman and nodded toward the terminal interface in front of her. Soltaire didn’t relish his own interaction with the owner of the shop. She had been flirting with him since he first began frequenting the shop. Affairs were natural, so it had seemed prudent to start one. Even so, Soltaire had no interest in beginning one. He found it trying to keep the one relationship he had running, let alone another one on the side. The very idea of it tired him out.

For anything else, he would have simply found another merchant, someone he personally found less abrasive. But Soltaire had tried many dreams over the years and nothing matched what this shop offered. It was well recognized among the synth community that this particular merchant was the most skilled at creating dream sequences. So far she had managed to keep her trade secrets, and no one had been able to compete with her in all the years she had operated this particular shop.

Soltaire watched the customer place her hand into the terminal and saw a considerable amount of credits transfer into the shop owner’s account. As soon as the customer left and climbed into her own transport, Soltaire strode across the street with purpose. He paused, his hand halfway to the door. He savored the moment as a program caused a chill to run down his spine. Tonight, he would dream.

Freesus, the goddess of vengeance

Today's post will be another glossary entry as I have promised. This one is one of the many gods spoken about in the book Whom the Gods Love. She plays a major role in many of the important god stories of the world of Tanavia. She's similar to a trickster character in that she causes a lot of mischief, but unlike many trickster characters she isn't particularly likeable.

Without further ado, the entry:

Freesus - Freesus is an old god. She is the goddess of vengeance. Freesus was often called upon by those who believed they had been wronged. Unlike Tempora, the god of justice, who would extract compensation for the wronged parties and a punishment as was merited by the crime, Freesus would bring pain and suffering down upon those who had wronged one of her followers. Freesus was fond of curses that fit the supposed crime: forcing thieves to have everything stolen from them, no matter how little they had, be it their meager possessions, or lacking that their wives and children; forcing murderers to have all their family and friends slain; forcing adulterers to fall in love with those who would never return their affections. Freesus could be fickle though, and worshiping her was dangerous. If she ever felt an acolyte was not making sufficient offerings to her and worshiping her with the appropriate reverence, she would turn her wrath on them and dole out the worst of her punishments.

This is a simpler version of a typical entry. For my own reference, I would have who this god married, who she sired, significant stories she was included in, etc. For this blog entry however, I've gone with the briefer entry to keep spoilers away.  A great deal of this detail will probably never make it into this trilogy. When everything is said and done, I plan to make the whole glossary freely available to anyone interested. Some of my favorite little bits of story are in these entries and I would hate to see them go to waste.