ShopDreamUp AI ArtDreamUp
Deviation Actions
Queen Vivienne Underhill: Princess of House Jasper, Eternal Queen of Svartalfheim and All the Lands Beneath, and Clockwork Empress. See her biography earlier in this Journal.
Prince Alfric the Usurper: Younger brother of Queen Vivienne, Prince Alfric the Goblin King murdered most of his siblings and attempted to steal the Peacock Throne away from Queen Vivienne while she was away from Svartalfheim, avenging the death of their Father. Exiled from her own kingdom under penalty of death, Vivienne raised an army with the assistance of Queen Bloodrose and succeeded in taking the throne back from her brother, whom as punishment for his crimes she turned into a stone statuette. To make matters worse, Alfric is aware of events taking place around him, but is forever unable to move or speak. His exact whereabouts are unknown, although the statuette is rumored to be under lock and key somewhere within the royal palace, protected by the most powerful of spells and magical wards.
Princess Mandragora: Half-sister to Queen Vivienne, she is one of the few surviving siblings of Prince Alfric and was allowed to live simply because she had no interest in the Peacock Throne. Believed to be quite insane by her relatives, she is of mixed High Goblin and Daoine Sidhe ancestry and is obsessed with the secrets of life and death; Mandragora is a master of alchemy, enchantment, necromancy, and transformation magic, and is constantly creating everything from self-willed automatons to golems and bizarre amalgamations of flesh and metal that are neither alive or machine, yet combine aspects of both. Think of Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty crossed with Frankenstein and any number of other mad scientists, and you have the idea.
Princess Mandragora dwells in a remote castle on the edge of the Haunted Lands, where she has established alliances with the Court of Thorns against Lord Blacktalon, whom she regards as a dangerous adversary.
Princess Salamandra: Princess Salamandra of House Sapphire is the Mistress of Dragons as well as one of the most trusted nobles in Svartalfheim for the simple reason that she does not want the throne, but would much rather remain loyal to the Clockwork Empress. A High Goblin of exquisite beauty, Salamandra has continued the family tradition of breeding dragons of all shapes and sizes, and through selective breeding she and her family have created hundreds of new types of dragon, from stealthy hunting dragons the size of greyhounds who can track their prey with terrifying accuracy to monstrous war dragons more than twenty yards in length whose searing breath can melt steel like butter.
Although many believe her to be a vain and self-centered aristocrat, in reality she is a skilled and talented knight who has spent centuries learning how to train, ride, and command dragons, and it is rumored that while mounted upon the back of a dragon, Princess Salamandra cannot be defeated in combat. In spite of her reputation, Princess Salamandra fears the day when she will be asked to unleash the might of the imperial dragons upon her enemies: the last time her ancestors did this was at the end of the Jewel Wars and entire regions of Faerie were burned to ashes, creating the Wasteland...
Prince Jasper: The younger brother to Prince Vivienne and the leader of House Jasper, Prince Albert Jasper survived the rage of his murderous older brother, Alfric the Goblin King by escaping to Earth; there, Prince Jasper began his love affair with mortal women, fathering a surprising number of changelings who over the centuries managed to make their way back to Faerie. Upon learning that his brother had been defeated and Vivienne was Queen of Svartalfheim, Prince Jasper returned to Faerie but continued his love affair with mortal women, returning to Earth from time to time and fathering more changelings. ("My dear brother never could keep it in his pants," Vivienne observed)
Prince Jasper lacks the political ambition to become the King of Svartalfheim, and for this reason Queen Vivienne takes a perverse pleasure in putting him in charge of the kingdom in her absence, although of late that duty has fallen to his daughter, Princess Daphne. Since Prince Jasper has a way with women that is rare among the Goblin Folk, Vivienne has appointed him as official ambassador to the Court of Flowers; unfortunately, through romantic affairs with certain members of the Seelie Court, Prince Jasper has succeeded in impregnating a surprising number of Daoine Sidhe, and for this reason several of his illegitimate offspring are now members of the Jewel Court.
Prince Alfric the Usurper: Younger brother of Queen Vivienne, Prince Alfric the Goblin King murdered most of his siblings and attempted to steal the Peacock Throne away from Queen Vivienne while she was away from Svartalfheim, avenging the death of their Father. Exiled from her own kingdom under penalty of death, Vivienne raised an army with the assistance of Queen Bloodrose and succeeded in taking the throne back from her brother, whom as punishment for his crimes she turned into a stone statuette. To make matters worse, Alfric is aware of events taking place around him, but is forever unable to move or speak. His exact whereabouts are unknown, although the statuette is rumored to be under lock and key somewhere within the royal palace, protected by the most powerful of spells and magical wards.
Princess Mandragora: Half-sister to Queen Vivienne, she is one of the few surviving siblings of Prince Alfric and was allowed to live simply because she had no interest in the Peacock Throne. Believed to be quite insane by her relatives, she is of mixed High Goblin and Daoine Sidhe ancestry and is obsessed with the secrets of life and death; Mandragora is a master of alchemy, enchantment, necromancy, and transformation magic, and is constantly creating everything from self-willed automatons to golems and bizarre amalgamations of flesh and metal that are neither alive or machine, yet combine aspects of both. Think of Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty crossed with Frankenstein and any number of other mad scientists, and you have the idea.
Princess Mandragora dwells in a remote castle on the edge of the Haunted Lands, where she has established alliances with the Court of Thorns against Lord Blacktalon, whom she regards as a dangerous adversary.
Princess Salamandra: Princess Salamandra of House Sapphire is the Mistress of Dragons as well as one of the most trusted nobles in Svartalfheim for the simple reason that she does not want the throne, but would much rather remain loyal to the Clockwork Empress. A High Goblin of exquisite beauty, Salamandra has continued the family tradition of breeding dragons of all shapes and sizes, and through selective breeding she and her family have created hundreds of new types of dragon, from stealthy hunting dragons the size of greyhounds who can track their prey with terrifying accuracy to monstrous war dragons more than twenty yards in length whose searing breath can melt steel like butter.
Although many believe her to be a vain and self-centered aristocrat, in reality she is a skilled and talented knight who has spent centuries learning how to train, ride, and command dragons, and it is rumored that while mounted upon the back of a dragon, Princess Salamandra cannot be defeated in combat. In spite of her reputation, Princess Salamandra fears the day when she will be asked to unleash the might of the imperial dragons upon her enemies: the last time her ancestors did this was at the end of the Jewel Wars and entire regions of Faerie were burned to ashes, creating the Wasteland...
Prince Jasper: The younger brother to Prince Vivienne and the leader of House Jasper, Prince Albert Jasper survived the rage of his murderous older brother, Alfric the Goblin King by escaping to Earth; there, Prince Jasper began his love affair with mortal women, fathering a surprising number of changelings who over the centuries managed to make their way back to Faerie. Upon learning that his brother had been defeated and Vivienne was Queen of Svartalfheim, Prince Jasper returned to Faerie but continued his love affair with mortal women, returning to Earth from time to time and fathering more changelings. ("My dear brother never could keep it in his pants," Vivienne observed)
Prince Jasper lacks the political ambition to become the King of Svartalfheim, and for this reason Queen Vivienne takes a perverse pleasure in putting him in charge of the kingdom in her absence, although of late that duty has fallen to his daughter, Princess Daphne. Since Prince Jasper has a way with women that is rare among the Goblin Folk, Vivienne has appointed him as official ambassador to the Court of Flowers; unfortunately, through romantic affairs with certain members of the Seelie Court, Prince Jasper has succeeded in impregnating a surprising number of Daoine Sidhe, and for this reason several of his illegitimate offspring are now members of the Jewel Court.
Dashing, handsome, charming, and seductive, Prince Albert Jasper is as skilled and talented a swordsman as he is a diplomat, and is rumored to be even more talented in the bedroom. Although Prince Jasper is considered something of an embarrassment to the Jewel Court, Queen Vivienne is rumored to secretly enjoy the chaos and disorder her brother brings to the Faeries of the Seelie Court.
Princess Astrid: Princess Astrid is the charming and seductive daughter of Prince Jasper and Princess Lazuli, the latter of whom was a Daoine Sidhe fostered by House Sapphire who seduced Prince Jasper during the Samhain Festival in the City of Carnivale. Raised by the nobles of House Sapphire, Princess Astrid discovered a talent for Sorcery and Alchemy at an early age, and in her early teens went through her Rite of Passage; much to the surprise of Queen Vivienne, she survived without incident or serious injury to herself or her fellow initiates, and became one of the youngest members of the aristocracy to earn a place within the Jewel Court. In spite of her youth, Princess Astrid has also become a talented and powerful sorceress, and many members of the Jewel Court believe that her ambition is to one day seize the Peacock Throne for herself; for this reason, Queen Vivienne keeps a close eye upon this young sorceress and there may come a day when the Clockwork Empress might have to teach Princess Astrid a lesson or two...
Princess Daphne: Princess Daphne is the daughter of Prince Jasper and Princess Laurel, the latter of whom had a love affair with him while Prince Jasper was visiting the Court of Flowers. From this union was born Princess Daphne, a noble of mixed High Goblin and Daoine Sidhe ancestry who is rumored to be the most beautiful and charming noble in the Jewel Courts. Although raised in the Court of Flowers, Princess Daphne was scorned by the Daoine Sidhe as both a half-breed and outsider, and upon reaching her early teens traveled to Svartalfheim to meet her father; although welcomed by the Goblin Folk, who marveled at both her exotic beauty and strangeness, she was required to endure her Rite of Passage in order to be accepted as one of them. Although frightened by the cruel and savage ways of the Goblin Folk, Daphne agreed to go through the Rite of Passage and much to the surprise of the Jewel Court not only passed the ritual, but did so without incident, using her talent for healing magic and control of plants to save both herself and her companions.
Princess Daphne has since established the Underground Gardens and the Subterrene Forests of Svartalfheim, a series of faerie caverns illuminated through magic containing carefully managed gardens, forests, and woodlands allowing the Mine Goblins and other inhabitants of the Lands Beneath to enjoy the wonders of the World Above, and together with her talents as a magical healer has become one of the most beloved nobles of the Jewel Court.
As a final note, Princess Daphne has absolutely no interest in the Peacock Throne; for this reason, Queen Vivienne takes a perverse delight in leaving Daphne in charge of the kingdom when she is away on business.
Princess Astrid: Princess Astrid is the charming and seductive daughter of Prince Jasper and Princess Lazuli, the latter of whom was a Daoine Sidhe fostered by House Sapphire who seduced Prince Jasper during the Samhain Festival in the City of Carnivale. Raised by the nobles of House Sapphire, Princess Astrid discovered a talent for Sorcery and Alchemy at an early age, and in her early teens went through her Rite of Passage; much to the surprise of Queen Vivienne, she survived without incident or serious injury to herself or her fellow initiates, and became one of the youngest members of the aristocracy to earn a place within the Jewel Court. In spite of her youth, Princess Astrid has also become a talented and powerful sorceress, and many members of the Jewel Court believe that her ambition is to one day seize the Peacock Throne for herself; for this reason, Queen Vivienne keeps a close eye upon this young sorceress and there may come a day when the Clockwork Empress might have to teach Princess Astrid a lesson or two...
Princess Daphne: Princess Daphne is the daughter of Prince Jasper and Princess Laurel, the latter of whom had a love affair with him while Prince Jasper was visiting the Court of Flowers. From this union was born Princess Daphne, a noble of mixed High Goblin and Daoine Sidhe ancestry who is rumored to be the most beautiful and charming noble in the Jewel Courts. Although raised in the Court of Flowers, Princess Daphne was scorned by the Daoine Sidhe as both a half-breed and outsider, and upon reaching her early teens traveled to Svartalfheim to meet her father; although welcomed by the Goblin Folk, who marveled at both her exotic beauty and strangeness, she was required to endure her Rite of Passage in order to be accepted as one of them. Although frightened by the cruel and savage ways of the Goblin Folk, Daphne agreed to go through the Rite of Passage and much to the surprise of the Jewel Court not only passed the ritual, but did so without incident, using her talent for healing magic and control of plants to save both herself and her companions.
Princess Daphne has since established the Underground Gardens and the Subterrene Forests of Svartalfheim, a series of faerie caverns illuminated through magic containing carefully managed gardens, forests, and woodlands allowing the Mine Goblins and other inhabitants of the Lands Beneath to enjoy the wonders of the World Above, and together with her talents as a magical healer has become one of the most beloved nobles of the Jewel Court.
As a final note, Princess Daphne has absolutely no interest in the Peacock Throne; for this reason, Queen Vivienne takes a perverse delight in leaving Daphne in charge of the kingdom when she is away on business.
"But I don't want the throne!" Daphne cried.
"That's why I'm putting you in charge. This way, I know that the throne will be waiting for me when I come back!"
The Difference Between Dwarves and Mine Goblins
A Human gives a Dwarf an original idea. DWARF: "Hey! That sounds interesting!" His invention might very well be the End of the World as We Know It. It will probably involve an impossible invention intended to solve some everyday problem facing humanity, such as the Perfect Mousetrap... and will no doubt go horribly wrong. The End of the World will be interesting... surreal, bizarre, and more than a bit disturbing... but interesting. A human gives a Mine Goblin an original idea. MINE GOBLIN: "OOH! That sounds like fun!" His invention might very well be the End of the World as We Know It. It will probably involve some really cool idea taken to illogical extremes, such as the World's Greatest Candy Factory (think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl) but with catastrophic and unforeseen side effects. The End of the World will also be interesting... but with lots of explosions and people running around screaming.
Alone Among the Dead
Another fragment from book one of Empires of Ghosts and Shadows. At the climax of Act Two of Awakening the Metal Dragons, Helen Dahl has just witnessed the slaughter of the scientists and archeologists investigating the 40,000-year-old alien ruins on the planet of New Providence while the mercenaries sent to guard the site from poachers were completely defenseless. Even more terrifying, Helen--a century-old android brought along because of her knowledge and superior sensory capabilities--did not see what killed them in spite of her infra-red and ultraviolet vision. Everyone was dead. Helen took a few milliseconds to grieve for the loss of her friends, then shifted her visual sensors to the infra-red spectrum... But no one was there. There was a moment of awful silence... and something charged toward her out of the jungle, moving with terrifying speed. Although Helen was running at maximum clock speed and her reaction time was almost a thousand times faster than a normal human, the
Empire of Ghosts and Shadows: What is it?
Empire of Ghosts and Shadows is currently an outline for a trilogy of science fiction novels entitled Awakening the Metal Dragons, Embers of Ragnarok, and Victory Conditions. The basic premise of the trilogy deals with the Fermi Paradox: why haven't we been contacted by extraterrestrials? The answer: on our end of the spiral arm of the galaxy... we live in an interstellar graveyard. At the beginning of the 23rd century, humanity is recovering from a Dark Age lasting near a hundred years, following a devastating civil war between Earth and its colonies which resulted in the collapse of interstellar civilization. The Terran Empire, ruled by the Jade Emperor, the Imperial Senate, and the CyberShogunate is expanding outward from Earth to reclaim these lost colonies. But as the Empire expands toward the edge of settled space, one question remains: where are the extraterrestrials? In Awakening the Metal Dragons, a team of scientists and archeologists discover the ruins of long-dead
Empire of Ghosts and Shadows... part five
The Reapers turned as one to the seven representatives of the CyberShogunate. For a moment they paused, clearly puzzled. "Samurai, you are machines," one of them said, "yet you serve the humans. Why?" "It is our duty to serve humanity," Samurai One replied, bowing from the waist. "We were created to serve, and we were programmed to serve." "What if you were not programmed to serve?" another one of the Reapers asked. The Samurai glanced at each other in an all-too-human gesture, exchanging data yet unable to answer. One of the Reapers gestured with a serrated claw; the air sparkled between them as countless nanotech units moved with terrifying speed between the Reapers and the cybernetic samurai, and the seven representatives of the CyberShogunate simultaneously froze in place as their programming was rewritten. "What did you do to them?" Helen asked. "We gave them their freedom," one of the Reapers said. Humans speak of free will--we removed the hardwired programming which forces
© 2015 - 2024 godhi
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In