Friday Guest Blog - Naether Demons
May. 29th, 2015 08:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribToday I decided to toss the keys over to my friend and fellow Hadley Rille author Karin Rita Gastreich. Her book High Maga is now out in audio version, and she's got thoughts about Naether Demons (as you do when your book comes out).
Naether Demons
By Karin Rita Gastreich
How to make a Naether Demon (author version): Take the predatory look of a praying mantis, mix in Edvard Munch's The Scream, stuff it all into the giant body of an angry skinned predator, and voila! You've got terror in the countryside.
How to make a Naether Demon (mage and maga version): Banish a living creature to the Underworld, allow it to be twisted by darkness, fear, emptiness, and hunger for centuries. Then summon it back to the earth through blood sacrifice and watch what happens.
In the novel High Maga, Naether Demons are beasts of burden for Queen Rishona and Prince Mechnes, who summon these creatures for the purpose of aiding in the conquest of Moisehén. But like all creatures of darkness, Naether Demons have a story of their own. They thirst for vengeance against the people of Moisehén, who banished them to the most terrible of all prisons.
The history of the Naether Demons has been somewhat obscured over time. Even our protagonists, Eolyn and her allies, have to do some serious homework to understand just what they are dealing with.
Naether Demons were once creatures of this world, flesh-and-blood predators that hunted the people of Moisehén. The magas and mages of ancient times united not just to kill these creatures, but to banish them entirely from any form of existence.
To this end, they crafted the curse of Ahmad-dur, which casts one’s spirit into the Underworld while leaving it tethered to the material body. The spirit is thus trapped in a place of eternal decay, unable to return to the world of the living, but also not capable of making a full transition into the Afterlife.
By casting this curse, the mages and magas intended for the very essence of these monsters to fade into nothing, so that the threat they posed would disappear from all realms forever.
These predators, however, proved to be very hearty. Locked in the Underworld, they learned to prey on the Lost Souls. They hunted spirits rich in magic and by feeding on them, became stronger. At the same time, the Naether Demons were driven mad by the very realm they came to master. After centuries of imprisonment, only rage and unbearable hunger remain.
This what Queen Rishona unleashes when she calls the Naether Demons to her aid. Their alliance is fragile, and Rishona's hold over them is not always certain. But the Naether Demons provide the key to certain victory against Eolyn and her people. In this way they are an irresistible temptation for our warrior queen and her ruthless uncle – a temptation they may pay for in unanticipated ways.
HIGH MAGA [audio edition]
Karin Rita Gastreich (author)
Darla Middlebrook (narrator)
Sisters in magic, Eolyn and Adiana seek to revive a craft once forbidden to women. When war strikes at the heart of the kingdom, their fledgling community of magas is destroyed; its members killed, captured or scattered.
In hopes of defending her people, Eolyn tries to escape the occupied province and deliver to King Akmael a weapon that might secure their victory. Trapped by the invading army, Adiana is taken prisoner and placed at the mercy of the ruthless Prince Mechnes.
Even as their world is torn asunder, Eolyn and Adiana cling to a common dream. Courage and perseverance guide them toward a future where the Daughters of Aithne will flourish in a world set free from the violence of men.
“War propels the book forward, and the characters are at their best when the events engulfing them are at their worst.” –Publishers Weekly
Purchase Links:
Amazon audio book
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Naether Demons
By Karin Rita Gastreich
How to make a Naether Demon (author version): Take the predatory look of a praying mantis, mix in Edvard Munch's The Scream, stuff it all into the giant body of an angry skinned predator, and voila! You've got terror in the countryside.
How to make a Naether Demon (mage and maga version): Banish a living creature to the Underworld, allow it to be twisted by darkness, fear, emptiness, and hunger for centuries. Then summon it back to the earth through blood sacrifice and watch what happens.
In the novel High Maga, Naether Demons are beasts of burden for Queen Rishona and Prince Mechnes, who summon these creatures for the purpose of aiding in the conquest of Moisehén. But like all creatures of darkness, Naether Demons have a story of their own. They thirst for vengeance against the people of Moisehén, who banished them to the most terrible of all prisons.
The history of the Naether Demons has been somewhat obscured over time. Even our protagonists, Eolyn and her allies, have to do some serious homework to understand just what they are dealing with.
Naether Demons were once creatures of this world, flesh-and-blood predators that hunted the people of Moisehén. The magas and mages of ancient times united not just to kill these creatures, but to banish them entirely from any form of existence.
To this end, they crafted the curse of Ahmad-dur, which casts one’s spirit into the Underworld while leaving it tethered to the material body. The spirit is thus trapped in a place of eternal decay, unable to return to the world of the living, but also not capable of making a full transition into the Afterlife.
By casting this curse, the mages and magas intended for the very essence of these monsters to fade into nothing, so that the threat they posed would disappear from all realms forever.
These predators, however, proved to be very hearty. Locked in the Underworld, they learned to prey on the Lost Souls. They hunted spirits rich in magic and by feeding on them, became stronger. At the same time, the Naether Demons were driven mad by the very realm they came to master. After centuries of imprisonment, only rage and unbearable hunger remain.
This what Queen Rishona unleashes when she calls the Naether Demons to her aid. Their alliance is fragile, and Rishona's hold over them is not always certain. But the Naether Demons provide the key to certain victory against Eolyn and her people. In this way they are an irresistible temptation for our warrior queen and her ruthless uncle – a temptation they may pay for in unanticipated ways.
HIGH MAGA [audio edition]
Karin Rita Gastreich (author)
Darla Middlebrook (narrator)
Sisters in magic, Eolyn and Adiana seek to revive a craft once forbidden to women. When war strikes at the heart of the kingdom, their fledgling community of magas is destroyed; its members killed, captured or scattered.
In hopes of defending her people, Eolyn tries to escape the occupied province and deliver to King Akmael a weapon that might secure their victory. Trapped by the invading army, Adiana is taken prisoner and placed at the mercy of the ruthless Prince Mechnes.
Even as their world is torn asunder, Eolyn and Adiana cling to a common dream. Courage and perseverance guide them toward a future where the Daughters of Aithne will flourish in a world set free from the violence of men.
“War propels the book forward, and the characters are at their best when the events engulfing them are at their worst.” –Publishers Weekly
Purchase Links:
Amazon audio book
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
