Deep History: The story of Moisehen and its surrounding kingdoms

Those of you familiar with my work know by now that history is a fundamental thread in the underlying fabric of Eolyn's world.  Everything that happens in the present moment has flowed somehow from events of the past. 

Even so, I spend very little time putting "backstory moments" into my narrative.  Rather, the history of Eolyn's people is revealed through conversation and shared experiences.  As a result, the reader receives different versions of history, depending on who is telling the story, and there are swaths of history that are never explicitly revealed, even though they impact each and every character in very important ways. 

Once in a while, I like to use this blog to touch upon historical themes that are important to Eolyn's world, even if they are not readily apparent in the novels.  Today I want to talk a little about the deep history of Moisehen and its neighbors, Roenfyn, Galia, the Land of the Syrnte, and the Kingdoms of the Paramen Mountains. 

Early in the story of Eolyn, the legend of the origin of magic is told.  This is one of the defining historical myths of Eolyn's people. The discovery of magic is attributed to Aithne and her lover Caradoc.  By bringing magic to their people, Aithne and Caradoc transform history.  They also ignite the wrath of certain gods, and a rift develops between those gods who support the use of magic (represented by Dragon), and those gods who do not (represented by Thunder).

Generations later, this rift manifested itself in a long and terrible war between the People of Thunder, who refused magic in all its forms, and the People of Dragon, who embraced magic. The War of Thunder nearly extinguished the followers of Aithne and Caradoc. It was not until their darkest hour, when all hope was nearly lost, that Dragon appeared to the mage Caedmon and taught him how to use magic in battle.

It's important to note that this was a cultural revolution, of sorts.  Until Dragon appeared to Caedmon, it was strictly forbidden to use magic as a destructive force.  The advent of the mage and maga warriors, while turning the tide of the war, also introduced important tensions that would persist for centuries to come. 

But I digress.  Between Caedmon's magic and the military prowess of the warrior chief Vortingen, who aligned with the People of Dragon, the People of Thunder were not only defeated, but greatly weakened and reduced in numbers.  What remained of their tribes united to establish the small and relatively inconsequential  Kingdom of Roenfyn.

The People of Dragon, on the other hand, flourished in the centuries that followed.  Three principle kingdoms were born from their numbers. To the east of Roenfyn, the warrior chief Vortingen founded a line of kings in the land-locked and forested realm  of Moisehen.  To the west and south, the powerful wizards of Galia established their own mysterious traditions in a terrain where the fury of volcanoes mingled with the unpredictable moods of the open sea. 

Subsequent migrations from Moisehen led to a mixing with the tribes of the eastern deserts and the emergence of the Syrnte empire, with its elegant peoples and sophisticated cities.  The people of the Paramen Mountains also share a common history with Moisehen, and among all the kingdoms, probably maintain the closest ties with Eolyn's people in terms of bloodlines and cultural traditions. 

The novel Eolyn focuses on the reconciliation of two important factions within the magical tradition of Moisehen:  the Daughters of Aithne, also called magas, and the Sons of Caradoc, also called mages.  Eolyn is born toward the end of a devastating civil war that pitted magas against mages, and that destroyed a millennial balance between male and female magic.  This process, wrought with turbulence and uncertainty, is embodied in Eolyn's relationship with Akmael, which grows from innocent friendship to burgeoning love, and then, tragically, into doubt, suspicion, open confrontation, and warfare.

As Moisehen struggles to find peace with itself, the kingdom is consumed by the broader canvass of history. High Maga brings the Syrnte people back with a legitimate claim to the throne occupied by Akmael.  Daughter of Aithne expands the struggle to include Roenfyn, Galia, and the Paramen Mountains.  In all three novels, beneath the sagas of the individual characters runs the deeper tragedy that a people once united in history and purpose are now pitted against each other in a vicious struggle for power.

But with that tragedy comes hope, and as each character plays his or her part in history, we begin to see hints of a world that might at last hold reconciliation, not only between the Sons and Daughters of Aithne and Caradoc, but ultimately between the People of Dragon and the People of Thunder.

Of course, such an achievement would require the gods themselves to be at peace.  Could such a thing be possible?  Only time, and the novels, will tell.

~*~

 

Next week's preview from HIGH MAGA will include a scene from Eolyn and Akmael's first encounter, some four years after they faced each other as rivals in the Battle of Aerunden.

 

If you missed last week's preview, click here.



Bel-Aethne

In truth, it's a little hard to get into the mood to write about Bel-Aethne, what with Kansas City in the grip of yet another arctic front.  Rain mixes with sleet outside; my winter sweaters have yet to be packed away.  Bel-Aethne is a festival of early summer, of warm winds and bright flowers, of seeds sprouting in a pale green carpet over sun-warmed fields. For whatever reason, Kansas City just ain't there yet.

The real-world counterpart of Bel-Aethne is the pagan celebration of Beltane, coming up on May 5th.

In the tradition of Moisehén, Bel-Aethne has its roots in the epic love of Aithne and Caradoc, the woman and man who first discovered magic. As a young girl, Eolyn learns their story, which forms the foundation of magical belief and thought in Moisehén:

. . .Aithne and Caradoc consecrated their love under a full spring moon, and the heat of their hearts sparked a fire in the center of the village.  The villagers gathered in awe to observe the blaze. With branches of pine they divided the flame so that each family took a piece back to their own home.  This is how fire came to our people. . .

Bel-Aethne, then, is a celebration of fire as well as of love and desire, all very powerful forms of Primitive Magic. 

Dance and music play a central role in the high festival, which lasts for three days and culminates in the sacred rites of Aen-lasati, the awakening of the fire within. For one night the portals of magic are thrown open to all the people of Moisehén -- whether they are practitioners or not -- making all women Aithne and all men Caradoc, free to partake fully in the pleasure of the Gods and to experience the seeds of magic that transformed the history of their people. 

The legend of Aithne and Caradoc is a transcendent myth in Eolyn's world.  Pieces of it turn up throughout all three novels, in countless moments and countless ways.  Even the mages of Tzeremond and Kedehen, who nearly destroyed the magas, could do little to diminish Aithne's importance in the imagination of their subjects.  One of the climactic sequences of Eolyn takes place during an elaborate festival of Bel-Aethne, staged to celebrate the coronation of the new Mage King. 

Here's a brief excerpt:

As the music gathered force, each mage sent an arc of bright flame from the palm of his hand into the center of the circle.  They integrated their powers into a single swirling core of viscous light. The whirlpool spread swift upon the ground before contracting into a glowing pillar that billowed high over the square, evoking cries of wonder from the people. In the gathering twilight the mages crafted an awe-inspiring choreography, splitting the brilliant light into multicolored images that portrayed the many legends of Aithne and Caradoc. The mythical lovers danced through the flames, unveiling the mysteries of magic, fleeing from Thunder, responding to the call of Dragon, forging their passion and knowledge into a thousand fire-bearing branches. . .

Even though Aithne and Caradoc were devoted lovers for the greater part of their lives, in Moisehén the liaisons created during the high festival of Bel-Aethne are considered ephemeral. According to an old saying of the Clan of East Selen, what is woven at Bel-Aethne becomes unraveled before the dawn.

This is not always true, of course, as Primitive Magic tends to break free of any rule we try to impose upon it.  In fact, as part of the unrevealed backstory of Eolyn, one of the most enduring and troubled romances in the history of Moisehén -- that of Akmael's father Kedehen and his mother Briana of East Selen -- began with a kiss at Bel-Aethne.

People of Thunder

Dragon versus Thunder at the peak of a volcano.  Fortunately,
my run through the woods was not quite this perilous...

Thunder pursued the lovers through the forest and filled their hearts with fear.  At last Aithne and Caradoc found refuge in a small cave in the mountains.  Thunder raged all over the mountains looking for them, but eventually gave up and faded away.

--EOLYN, Chapter 5, 'The Origin of Magic'

Yesterday we had an encounter with the wrath of Thunder.  I was with some friends of mine from the NAPIRE Program on the Water Trail, a loop that runs through a recently acquired piece of land in the Las Cruces Forest.
 

The rains started early in our walk, but we weren't bothered very much by getting wet.  When the real storm rolled in, however, our pleasant stroll under a tropical drizzle became a rather harried retreat back to the station.  Lightning singed the sky, thunder clapped over head, and more than a few bolts pummeled into the forest a bit too close for our comfort.  Trees swayed, branches snapped without(fortunately for us) breaking, and what had been crystal clear shallow creeks on our way in were swollen into turbid rivers by the time we headed out.  We crossed two of them holding hands, prodding the muddy current with our walking sticks to test its depths, and hoping not to slip on the rocks and be carried downstream.

It was, in a word, exciting.

And I realized along the way, that this is how stories begin: with four intrepid travelers running through ancient woodland in a desperate search for shelter while dragons battle overhead, bellowing in rage, lancing fire across the sky, wind from their great wings shattering the trees. . .

Even as I invented my new story while running through a storm, I remembered an old one, the Origin of Magic as told by Ghemena in Chapter 5 of Eolyn.  Here, Aithne and Caradoc are also pursued by thunder and lightning, and I must say, I have renewed respect for their courage after yesterday's experience.

Thunder, in the legends of Moisehén, is a messenger of jealous Gods who opposed the use of magic by humans.  The counterpart of Thunder is Dragon, messenger of the Gods who entrusted High Magic to Aithne and Caradoc, and guardian of the people of Moisehén.

Despite Dragon's triumph with Aithne and Caradoc, the Gods that ruled Thunder did not give up.  The early history of magic was plagued by numerous conflicts between Thunder and Dragon, culminating in a great war between the People of Thunder, who eschewed magic in all its forms, and the People of Dragon, who followed the teachings of Aithne and Caradoc. 

Little is told of this story in the novel, though some of the most important figures of the history of Moisehén made their mark here.  One of these was Caedmon, a mage who learned from Dragon how to integrate magic into warfare, turning the tide of the war and founding the great traditions of the Mage Warriors.  Another was Vortingen, a warrior chief who formed an alliance with the People of Dragon and helped them to defeat Thunder and all its followers.  After the war, legend says that Dragon also appeared to Vortingen, granting him and his descendents stewardship over the Crown of Moisehén. 

The People of Dragon went on to prosper and populate many lands, their magic forming the foundation of culture and history not only for Moisehén, but also in Galia and among the Syrnte. 

What, then, happened to the People of Thunder? 

Little was left of them following their defeat at the hands of Caedmon and Vortingen, but their legacy continued in a handful of small kingdoms that rejected the use of magic by its citizens.  One of these kingdoms was Roenfyn, sandwiched between Moisehén and Galia.  Roenfyn has little significance for Eolyn's story in the first novel, but it will become increasingly important in books two and three.

Why?  Well, you will just have to read the novels to find out...

Born of Fire

We arrived yesterday evening at Andrews Forest Headquarters, tired but invigorated by the scenic drive from Portland to the Cascade Mountain Range.  I didn't expect to have all that much to write yet, as we only had time for a brief tour of the station and its surroundings before darkness fell and the cold set in.  But the forest has a way of speaking to you in your dreams, and by the time the sun illuminated the misty woods with a gray morning light, my head was turning with ideas and images.

During the coming days, I'm going to try to capture the mood of this forest in words; no small task as I will be with it only a short while, and already I can see that Andrews is varied and complex.  Tim Fox, former writer-in-residence and long-time member of the Andrews Forest community, showed us around the 'reflection plots' yesterday.  These are designated areas that writers must visit during their time here and investigate from a literary or creative perspective.  The program began in 2003 and will run until 2203, for a total of two hundred years of collaborative investigations of the forest by writers from different genres.  This effort runs in parallel with ongoing scientific research at the site, which is one of the most well-studied forests in the world.

The tracts of forest that we visited yesterday were dominated by Douglas fir and hemlock; each tree stretching in a single stunning pillar to the sky, trunks solid and wide at the base, the bark dark and deeply furrowed, a living image of the ancient. In the plot of primary forest that we visited, Tim told us the trees are four to five centuries old. 

This is the forest of East Selen.

Or at least, that's what I was thinking yesterday, as we drove up the Blue River Reservoir and then walked the trails around the station.  Those of you familiar with Eolyn lore will know that East Selen was the home of Akmael's mother Briana.  One of the most powerful Magas of her time, Briana witnessed the massacre of her Clan by the Mage King Kedehen after the War of the Magas.  She was then captured by the Mage King -- or surrendered willingly, depending on whose story you decide to believe -- and became Queen of Moisehen. 

The forests of Briana's childhood are different from the South Woods in which Eolyn grew up.  Eolyn's home is a mix of deciduous hardwoods dominated by oak, with a few conifers scattered throughout.  East Selen, situated further to the north, is a forest of ancient conifers dominated by fir. 

In my October 9, 2010, post entitled Tree Magick, I talk a little bit about the tree lore of the Magas and Mages of Moisehén.  Firs play a prominent role in this tradition of magic, forming a bridge between the Underwold and the world of the living, and holding the power of flight in their branches. 

Last night I was reading about the Douglas Fir in Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest by Elliot A. Norse (a reference that is probably a little out of date by now, but it's what I have on hand, so we'll just go with it), and I learned something new.  The Douglas Fir is a somewhat exceptional fir, not only for its height, but because it does not begin its life in the shadows of an understory covered by thick canopy.  In Norse's words, the Douglas Fir is 'conceived by fire'.  Seeds germinate and grow following periodic fires (periodic, in this sense, being once every few centuries), and the saplings thrive best in open areas with lots of sun.

This was a wonderful detail to come across because it fits so perfectly within the legends and lore of Moisehén.  So I decided, between last night and this morning, that the fir used by Magas and Mages to invoke powers of flight will also be 'born of fire', more specifically 'born of the breath of Dragon', the legendary creature who gave High Magic to Aithne and Caradoc. 

This is one of the stories I hope to develop this week:  The myth of why firs hold the power of flight, and the role of Dragon in creating this magic.

The character of Briana has also been speaking to me, and before the week is out I am certain I'll be sketching out some story or scene from her life, probably in the time before the War of the Magas.

Not bad for less than twenty-four hours.  I think I'll go get some breakfast, and then take another hike.


Photos by Rafael Aguilar-Chaves.