New Novel: "Decimation
Damnation", premise,
its first 3 Chapters + synopses
of its first 3 Chapters
Greater Vancouver had been
washed out to sea in the Second Great Flood, that of late November 1980.
So had much of the Fraser Valley. What was now called New Vancouver
had once been a small town called Hope. The Fraser River emptied itself
here, just as it had on the southern border of Old Vancouver before
the Deluge.
Wilderwitch, the only name
she acknowledged with any regularity, was sitting on a stone bench in
the gardens of old Hope's now reconverted city hall. It too was called
Hope, though 'Haven' had been added to give it a better ring.
Looking like the fit, albeit
very baby-belly-heavy, off-white, gypsy-type she was, she had been counting
down the days, weeks and months ever since she became pregnant and was
now counting down the hours. Figured it’d still take a few more
of them before she could start kicking back.
Fifty-three might seem a bit
old to be pregnant but it helped when you were a witch. Helped even
more when you were a supranormal witch. Besides, kicking back was one
of the things she did really well.
The usual 'Hestia Housekeeping'
section is on the other side of the table. (Click here
to find out why I call it such.) On this side of the table, however, is
a new section: what I hope will become the equivalent of a PHANTACEA
on the Web FAQ sheet.
What follows are lynx to
a number of questions I asked and answered myself in the Fall
2003 and Spring 2004 editions
ofpHpubs: Web-Publisher's Commentary.
Contact me [jmcp@phantacea.com]
and feel free to ask any questions you might have regarding PHANTACEA.
I'll do my best to answer them either directly or right here in ...
Last time up, in the Spring
2004 edition of 'pHpubs', I announced a new version of "The
War of the Apocalyptics", the first novel I began
serializing out here in Cyberia back in 1996. This time up I'm announcing
a new novel entitled "Decimation Damnation".
So what gives?
PHANTACEA fact of the
matter is I always knew that, if I was going to print-publish anything
from the PHANTACEA Mythos,
I'd need to revisit the original, unedited versions of the novels I've
serialized during the course of web-publishing PHANTACEA
on the Web.
The first novel I revisited was 'The
Moloch Manoeuvres'. Which I'd dramatically enlarged in the Spring
of 2002 after being downsized to the unemployment lines. As noted in Coyote
5 of my cliff-head
ruminations, my revisitation resulted in a manuscript that came in at
around 1300 pages, double-spaced and in Times New Roman12-point
type.
Even allowing for the long-windedness fantasy novels
are notorious for, I'm to understand that translates into two publications.
In some respects, therefore, there's little wonder I've yet to find a
publisher willing to take a chance on publishing such a massive opus by
an essentially unknown author who doesn't have, and doesn't particularly
want, an agent.
Next up on my revisitation schedule was 'The
War of the Apocalyptics'. As also noted in Coyote
5 it has the advantage of being not much more than a third of the
size of Manoeuvres. However, it has the personal disadvantage
of being based entirely on the PHANTACEA comic
books.
So too do WarPoc's
3 or 4 co-novels that in total make up 'The
Launching of the Cosmic Express'. I wrote the comic books in
the Seventies, first novelized the stories contained in them in the Eighties,
revised the novels again in the early Nineties and redacted them anew
in preparation for serialization on the Web beginning
in 1996.
As you might appreciate, I'd rather work on something
new. Well, not altogether new since "Decimation Damnation"
does share certain territory with 'The
Weirdness of Cabalarkon' and sort of starts from where 'Psychodrama'
left off.
However, although featuring the Damnation
Brigade, DecDam is told largely from Wilderwitch's
perspective. As well, the likes of Cerebrus
David Ryne, Raven's Head
and BlindSundown
do get a lot more print than they did in either of the 'D-Brig -
Year 1' novels I've already serialized out here in Cyberia.
Have a look at its first three
chapters. Then check out the continuation of 'Coueranna'sCurse'.
Finally, down in the topic section, have a look at
Part 1 of the 2004 collection of Character Likenesses. For a change I'm
not relying exclusively on photos taken during various 'Travels
in my Pants'. However, there are a number of them as well.
Here's a BLOCKQUOTE from the 19th chapter of the'Helios on the Moon' web-serial. The chapter's entitled "Memory of the Demons". The quote has been abiding on the synopsis of that chapter for a number of years now.
"Recall, ["Helios told his newfound allies on
Lunar Trigon that day,"] Strife said she was a devil. That she
jettisoned the future Night. I don't think she did. I don't think
there is, or isn't anymore, a future Night. I
don't think Mnemosyne was possessed by a devil at all. I think whatever
was humanizing her left yesterday. Left a vacuum that first Strife
then, now, Ereba filled."
"Then what was it?" demanded Max [O. J. Maxwell,
the Indescribable
Mr Nome].
"A demon!"
"What's the difference?" wondered Kinesis [Romaine
Kinesis, Doc Defiance, the Gypsium
Man].
"Don't know precisely," granted Helios. "But I'll
bet whatever she was, her name's Lilith!"
On Lazam, the Twelfth of Tantalar, Demios
Sarpedon watched as the statue of his wife was being winched onto a
carrier copter. Looking around he spotted a well-kept woman of indeterminate
age, maybe somewhere in her thirties or early forties, on the largest
hump of ground in the near area. Because it was just a shadow of its
former self, the Sraddhites had dubbed it Diminished Dustmound.
This
woman was dressed like a widow: hooded, veiled, and all in black. Although
it was not raining, due to the normal, even graceful way she moved they
figured she could not be a Dead Thing. Nor, since it was broad daylight
with nary a cloud in the sky, could she be a vampire. The woman had
pale, ghost-white skin but it crinkled and wrinkled, which meant she
was no Utopian either.
Her clothing and the fact she had long,
jet black hair indicated she was not one of the Warrior Priestesses
of Sraddha. They wore brown robes and, man or woman, invariably shaved
their skulls. Even from this distance they agreed she must have been
one of Morgianna or Fisherwoman's War Witches.
That she was here suggested she had come
in on a witch's stepping stone. That she was dressed as if in mourning
might mean she lost a mate, friend or lover in the battle for Dustmound
and ultimately for all of Hadd. That her skin complexion was so pale,
and her hair so dark, they further agreed she was probably one of the
far-ranging, seafaring Pani merchant folk who hailed from Krachla, the
southern tip of the Penile Peninsula, of which Hadd was its shaft. She
was bending over, seemingly intent on sifting through the dirt looking
for something of value.
One of the bolder Godbadian service men
went up and spoke to her. When he came back he said she had broken a
mirror and was trying to find its pieces so she did not have any more
bad luck. They talked for a few minutes and since she seemed friendly
enough he offered to help. She declined, said it kept her busy. That
she had all eternity. Thereafter, since she was often seen again, Diminished
Dustmound became known as Haunted Dustmound.
Should have called it Demon Mound!
========
What's become of Lethal Lily is unclear in 5960 Year of the Dome. Most of those who know of her existence on the Inner Earth are of the opinion she was cathonitzed, along with her host-shell, Pyrame Silverstar, in 5950 YD.
In "Harry on the Head", the unpublished sequel to the 'Aspects of an Amoebaman', Mel-Illuminatus seems to share that view and as an Illuminary of Weir she should know. Note her reservations, however:
She, that Meroudys, seemed to think the bad witch he had dissolved with Gypsium in his Hiroshima was this Loathsome Lilith; that she had somehow transferred over to Amphitrite of Lemuria in the Head’s Hiroshima. Mel considered that momentarily; ended up echoing Treat’s opinion that it wasn’t very likely.
Lascivious Lily, albeit perhaps not as debrained as she should be, was the physical body of the Master Deva most commonly called Pyrame Silverstar and she had indeed been cathonitized, merged with the Cathonic Zone, a decade earlier. On a clear night you could still her star in the northern sky; look triangular – more like quadrangular, the same as Pyrame’s head was when she wasn’t shape-shifting – through a telescope.
Although Mel presumed Lilith had been cathonitized with her, she admitted she couldn’t say that for an absolute certainty.
========
Finally, here's a BLOCKQUOTE from the
web-serial, 'Decimation Damnation', which is set in late 1980 Outer Earth time:
“This,” Saladin Devason,
the Master of Weir, said to Wilderwitch, introducing his dusky companion,
“Is Lilith. She’s a demon queen; make that the Demon Queen
You might have heard of her. She’s the mother of Anti-Patriarch
Cain, Slayer of Abel, amongst many another. You’re going to
bear our child, Witch; whom I might name Abel simply because Lily’s
never had an Abel before.”
========
And
who else is this Lilith, at least in terms of
the PHANTACEA Mythos? Well, there's a 'Gold-Mining
for PHANTACEA
Factoids box' on one of the synopsis pages prepared for 'The
Weirdness of Cabalarkon' that answers most of that. There are also some notes on the Golden Age Patriarchs' page starting here.
But here's the pith and the pit of it in the proverbial nutshell:
It all has to do with the mystical relationship between
Cathonic or skyborn devils and Chthonic or earthborn demons. More precisely,
it has to do with the necessity for at least one Sed-son,
who are always mortal, to be alive on both sides of the Cathonic Dome
simultaneously. The Sed-sons half-father has to be the MolochSedon but the half-mother
is not PyrameSilverstar.
It's . . .
Double-click on the images in this panel to open a new window with enlarged versions of Primeval Lilith in a variety of different artistic takes -- Sumerian, Fuselli, Collier, Hawaiian, Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, Vienna's lone Hieronymous Bosch; colourized version of Brit Museum's Queen of the Night is here;
"Haddock-hold on, avian!"
snapped Fisherwoman, an aquatic who generally didn't snap so much as
chomp. Ergo, Fish had just detected some serious whaledreck. "What
the halibut happened there?"
”Where’s my baby?”
she kept repeating, screeching all the louder every time.
“She’s still scum-coming, Witch,” kept responding Fisherwoman, Scylla Nereid, Lady Achigan, Wilderwitch’s nine years’ older sister in more than just
Flowery Anthea.
... Fisherwoman, 63, to Wilderwitch, 28 (albeit only after emerging from 25 year in Limbo), from 'Decimation Damnation' (set in 5981 YD {Year of the Dome}, AD 1981);
========
What else can I tell
you about the ever-fishifying Fish, other than she 'fishifies'?
Or that she has appeared in nearly all of the web-serials thus far presented
in PHANTACEA on the Web? How about,
just in case you've the impression she doesn't have a head, a description?
This BLOCKQUOTE, and the two that
follow, are taken from 'The
Moloch Manoeuvres', which is set in early 1938:
Fish placed her mask, which was
her frog mask, as opposed to one of her shark masks, on top of the table.
She smiled, just to underline the point she was making.
Eyes
were decidedly dark, with less white in them than most; had, as the
saying went, depth to them. Were only slightly larger than those of
an average human, though. As dank and tangled as it was, the hair was
within the norm as well. Lips were somewhat slim and the teeth were
definitely unusual. Fortunately, she rarely smiled.
Skin colour, which was more green
than anything else, and skin texture, which was scaly, were entirely
outside the norm, however; as were the gills behind her ears, the webbed
toes and fingers and the fingernails themselves. They approximated claws.
Which was not very fishy; probably was characteristic of certain types
of amphibians, though. At least she did not have warts or an overly
protrusile, fly-slurping tongue like a toad or frog.
With a little work she could pass
for fully human, so long as she wore a toque and a few jars of blemish
cream or pancake makeup. Another thing that needed work was the wardrobe.
It consisted of a sleeveless vest that barely covered her breasts and
a pair of shorts that would be better described as briefs. Appeared
to be made of rubber but were more likely blubber carved off a whale
or walrus, -- not that there was enough of the vest and short-shorts
to have hurt either/or when it was being removed.
========
Something else about Fish is she has a
psychopomp. At least she has one thus far in the 1938 Heliodyssey
serials. Her name, unless it's his name, is Delphi. The image below
is of one of the British Museum's three Nereids. Though, as per her description
above, Fish has a head and doesn't dress
as her Grecian ancestors did, this Nereid appears to be standing on something
very similar to Delphi:
Fisherwoman
suddenly bent double in pain, clutching at her stomach. She materialized
the eyeorb Hush gave her. It was crisped, too hot to handle. She tossed
it in Sangati's lap and materialized her fishhook. It became a writhing
cobra. She vanished it. Found herself hanging from the movie theatre's
chandelier caught up in her own fishnet. Whoosh! She was gone.
"What was that?" wondered
the presumed Blood Beast Prime as he brushed the barbecued prison pod
onto the floor.
"Flying fish?"
"Looked more like a flying
porpoise."
========
Fish has three Brainrock talismans:
a gaffing hook (or oversized fishhook), a soul-net (in the form of a fishnet)
and a 'vesica piscis' (a Latin terms that actually means 'fish
bladder'; it is grafted into her bellybutton, presumably has been since
she was born):
Being somewhat more of a twisted
sister than even Hush, Fish called her bottomless bag a 'vesica
piscis', which was actually an artistic device popular in medieval
times whereby a painter drew a shimmering aureole around a figure so
as to signify his or her holiness. Was nothing holy about Fish but the
term meant fish bladder, so her use of it was as apt as she was adept.
Was an ovular jewel implanted in her navel. Which begged for jokes about
guns in the oven, among other things.
========
Here's my favourite sequence
so far regarding Fish and Delphi. It's from the second part of 'The
Moloch Manoeuvres':
Unbalanced by Memory's dead-weight
Fisherwoman, Scylla Nereid, toppled out of the chair, carrying Memory
with her onto the floor. Whereupon she clutched at her stomach and writhed
about on the carpet almost as if she was giving birth.
Hush giggled giddily, pointed to her bellybutton. Thingee appended to
it was glowing.
Maybe she was, -- giving birth.
Certainly appeared as if Fish was becoming nine months pregnant in the
space of nine seconds. Then it wasn't a matter of maybe. She was giving
birth, or so it seemed, to a grey, fin-winged dolphin. Out of her naval-navel!
========
As
for what a psychopomp is, have a boo here or go to the Search Engine at the top of the page and type it in. In the meantime, here's a quote from Chapter 8 of the new novel: 'Decimation Damnation'.
The speaker is John Sundown. He's talking with Wilderwitch. The conversation
occurs shortly after events
that were also depicted in 'The
Weirdness of Cabalarkon'.
"For example, both Fish and
Solace sometimes rode psychopomps, which it seems you are too, Raven,
to get about between-space. Fish had a few, Delphi comes to mind for
one, and back in the Forties Solace had Aquilla, a half-brained, what
did she call him? A Garuda, that’s it.”
Psychopomps,
another one being Agenor Heliopolis’s Pegasus, what first
came out of the Olympian Tantalus at least as early as the late
Thirties, could traverse the Weird. They had nothing to do with
the Magnificent Psycho. In the lexicon of the late White Witch,
Superior Sarpedon, the Morrigan, they were related to demons, however,
-- demons being chthonic or earthborn creatures whereas devils were
Cathonic or skyborn, as in extraterrestrial, as Sundown after three
weeks on the Head was now aware.
“So did Eden,” said
Wilderwitch. “Hers was a nightingale, appropriately enough. Name
of Medici, also appropriately enough, since the Medicis ruled in Florence,
Italy.”
On the 'pH-Webworld'Features page you'll find
material on what I deem to be my cornerstone
characters, the ones without whom there would be no PHANTACEA
Mythos. Two of them are the time-tumbling Dual
Entities: Heliosophos (Helios called Sophos the Wise) and his female
counterpart, the miraculous Mnemosyne Machine. Machine-Memory can be humanized
by devils. She can thus be considered a three-thing (machine, devil, human).
When she is so humanized she tends to call herself Miracle Memory.
Since
I began publishing PHANTACEA on the Web in 1996,
I've provided at least a dozen lynx to further information regarding either/or
and/or both. Many of these lynx are accessible from the cornerstone entry
provided above.
The
thing about Helios is that he dies a lot. In PHANTACEAfact he was on his 100th lifetime in 'Helios
on the Moon'. And when Helios dies he goes back into the time
stream carrying Machine-Memory with him and she carrying Trans-Time Trigon
with her.
Since she's sometimes referred to as a three-thing and their Trigon is
a three-peaked, hollowed-out Island, when I spotted this bust of a god
or demon (likely at the British Museum) in September 2003, I knew I not
only better take a picture I better put it up out here in my minuscule
portion of Cyberia. And here it is, henceforth
to be known as Herr Hel Trigman.
Herr Hel Helios (as he, in the latter stages of the 1938 Heliodyssey
serials, when he's in his 11th Lifetime, starts being called after he
sided with Strife,
DonarLancz
and his Nazi Hermiones)
rarely goes back into the time stream quietly. In fact he's been known
to put up quite the fight, sometimes successfully as well.
On a couple of occasions we've seen Helios don devic power foci before
he gets to duking it out. Since he's named after the same glowing golden
Sun God where the Classical Greeks got both Heliopolises (Sun Cities),
the one in Egypt (the Biblical On), not far from AndytheAndrosphinx's
final resting place, and the one in Lebanon (Baalbek), where the Ionian
Greeks got the Colossus of Rhodes and the Romans their Colosseum, when
I saw all the glowing golden weaponry in the above picture on display
in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England, I knew I had another
Herr Hel Trigman on my hands.
Beginning at the top there are two collages
in the rollover effect in the masthead. One
features the Damnation Brigade while the other features some of the
Apocalytics. Information on both collages can be found in the Notes
on Graphics section of the Spring
2004 'pHpubs';
There are three images in the Lilith
section. The mouse-over behind the first one
reads: "The Queen of the Night (Demon Queen
Lilith), terracotta from Southern Iraq circa 1800 BC, scanned-in from
a postcard purchased at the British Museum in London, England";
a small version of the full postcard is provided below
it;
The mouse-over behind the secondLilith image reads: "Woman
wrapped in a thick snake, painting entitled 'Lilith' is by Collier";
sooth said, I don't know where I got the image, possibly off the Web,
but I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I figure it out; as highlighted
there's more on Lilith in a Gold-Mining for PHANTACEA
Factoids box on a D-Brig synopis section;
The mouse-over behind third Lilith reads: Fuselli's Night Hag, photo taken at NYC Met Museum by Jim McPherson, 2009; Swiss-born Henry Fuselli (1741-1825 ) is one of my favourite artists;
As promised, here's the full version
of the Queen of the Night postcard; the wings,
owls and dogs remind me somewhat of the truly ancient witch goddess
known to the Classical Greeks as Hecate, of whom there's a blurb a mere
click away;
There are four images in the Fisherwoman
section. First-Fish's mouse-over reads: "Wall
painting spotted at hostel in Granada, Nicaragua, photo taken by Jim
McPherson, 2003"; another picture I took at that hostel
can be found on the Features page,
reference being to the Trigregos
Sisters; sorry to say I have no idea who did either painting or even
if they're still there; as for why the image reminds me of Fish, well,
there's something of the mermaid-tail to its legs, as well, its eyes
and suggestion of a frog's mouth do bring to mind Fish's step-sister,
Aortic Amphitrite, the Lemurian Quarter Queen of Shenon, Witch Isle;
there will be more on Lemurians and their Mandroid guard-bodies in a
future installment of
'Jim McPherson's collection of Character
Likenesses';
Second-Fish's
mouse-over reads: "Fish with a banner, taken
at the Royal Victoria and Albert museum in London, England, photo taken
by Jim McPherson, 2004"; other than there's a total of 4
such beasties I can't tell you, mostly because I've lost my notes more
so than my mind (which is full), who did them or where they came from
originally; I'm pretty sure they can be found on the staircase up from
Room 48 (which contains the huge Raphael cartoons) on the ground floor
of the V&A;
Third-Fish's
mouse-over reads: "One of the 3 Nereids in
the British Museum, this one is standing on a dolphin-like creature
(Delphi?), photo by Jim McPherson, 2003"; the double-click is a different shot of the same Nereid albiet as she was in 2012;
Fourth-Fish's
mouse-over reads: "Caption reads 'Delphi,
Fisherwoman's Psychopomp; photo of a statue of a dolphin with a woman
atop it is from the Ephesian Museum in Selchuk, Turkey; photo by Jim
McPherson, 2003";
First-Helios's
mouse-over reads: "God or demon, with his
tri-peaked headpiece he's suggestive of Heliosophos's relationship to
Trigon, picture taken by Jim McPherson in 2003";
Second Helios's
mouse-over reads: "Glowing golden regalia
suggestive of devic power foci used by Heliiosophos when he goes into
action; photo by Jim McPherson; taken at the Royal Victoria and Albert
Museum in London, England, 2004"; he puts on a version of
his regalia during the course of 'TheVolsungVariations';
Published in 2008; main webpage is here; ordering lynx are here
The 1000 Days of Disbelief
Published as three mini-novels, 2010/11; main webpage is here; ordering lynx for individual mini-novels are here
Goddess Gambit
Published in 2012; main webpage is here; ordering lynx are here
Circa the Year of Dome 2000, Anvil the Artificer, a then otherwise unnamed, highborn Lazaremist later called Tvasitar Smithmonger, dedicated the first three devic talismans, or power foci, that he forged out of molten Brainrock to the Trigregos Sisters.
The long lost, possibly even dead, simultaneous mothers of devakind hated their offspring for abandoning them on the far-off planetary Utopia of New Weir. Not surprisingly, their fearsome talismans could be used to kill Master Devas (devils).
For most of twenty-five hundred years, they belonged to the recurring deviant, Chrysaor Attis, time after time proven a devaslayer. On Thrygragon, Mithramas Day 4376 YD, he turned them over to his Great God of a half-father, Thrygragos Varuna Mithras, to use against his two brothers, Unmoving Byron and Little Star Lazareme, in hopes of usurping their adherents and claiming them as his own.
Hundreds of years later, these selfsame thrice-cursed Godly Glories helped turn the devil-worshippers of Sedon's Head against their seemingly immortal, if not necessarily undying gods. Now, five hundred years after the 1000 Days of Disbelief, they've been relocated.
The highest born, surviving devic goddesses want them for themselves; want to thereby become incarnations of the Trigregos Sisters on the Hidden Continent. An Outer Earthling, one who has literally fallen out of the sky after the launching of the Cosmic Express, gets to them first ...
Published in 2010; main web presence is here; Character Companion starts here; ordering lynx are here;
Contagion Collectors
- Sedon Plague -
Published in 2010; main web presence is here; Character Companion starts here; ordering lynx are here;
Janna Fangfingers
- Sedon Purge -
Published in 2011; two storylines recounted side-by-side, the titular one narrated by the Legendarian in 5980, the other indirectly leading into the 'Launch 1980' story cycle; main web presence is here; Character Companion starts here; ordering lynx are here;
In the Year of the Dome 4825, Morgan Abyss, the Melusine Master of the Utopian Weirdom of Cabalarkon, seizes control of Primeval Lilith, the ageless, seemingly unkillable Demon Queen of the Night. The eldritch earthborn is the real half-mother of the invariably mortal Sed-sons but, once she has hold of her, aka Lethal Lily, Master Morgan proceeds to trap the Moloch Sedon Himself.
In the midst of the bitter, century-long expansion of the Lathakran Empire, the Hidden Headworld's three tribes of devil-gods are forced to unite in an effort to release their All-Father. Unfortunately for them, they're initially unaware Master Morg, the Death's Head Hellion herself, has also got hold of the Trigregos Talismans, devic power foci that can actually kill devils, and Sedon's thought-father Cabalarkon, the Undying Utopian she'll happily slay if they dare attack her Weirdom.
Utopians from Weir have never given up seeking to wipe devils off not just the face of the Inner Earth, but off the planet itself. Their techno and biomages, under the direction of the Weirdom of Cabalarkon's extremely long-lived High Illuminary, Quoits Tethys, have determined there is only one sure way to do that -- namely, to infect the devils' Inner Earth worshippers with fatal plagues brought in from the Outer Earth.
Come All-Death Day there are more Dead Things Walking than Living Beings Talking. Believe it or not, that's the good news.
Published in 1990; main webpage is here; ordering lynx are here
The Damnation Brigade
- Phantacea Revisited 1 -
Published in 2013; main webpage is here; ordering lynx are here
Cataclysm Catalyst
- Phantacea Revisited 2 -
Published in 2014, main webpage is here; ordering lynx are here
Kadmon Heliopolis had one life. It ended in October 1968. The Male Entity has had many lives. In his fifth, he and his female counterpart, often known as Miracle Memory, engendered more so than created the Moloch Sedon. They believe him to be the Devil Incarnate. They've been attempting to kill him ever since. Too bad it's invariably he, Heliosophos (Helios called Sophos the Wise), who gets killed instead.
On the then still Whole Earth circa the Year 4000 BCE, one of their descendants, Xuthros Hor, the tenth patriarch of Golden Age Humanity, puts into action a thought-foolproof, albeit mass murderous, plan to succeed where the Dual Entities have always failed. He unleashes the Genesea. The Devil takes a bath.
Fifty-nine hundred and eighty years later, New Century Enterprises launches the Cosmic Express from Centauri Island. It never reaches Outer Space; not all of it anyhow. As a stunning consequence of its apparent destruction, ten extraordinary supranormals are reunited, bodies, souls and minds, after a quarter century in what they've come to consider Limbo. They name themselves the Damnation Brigade. And so it appears they are -- if perhaps not so much damned as doomed.
At least one person survives the launching of the Cosmic Express. He literally falls out of the sky -- on the Hidden Continent of Sedon's Head. An old lady saves him. Except this old lady lives in a golden pagoda, rides vultures and has a third eye. She also doesn't stay old long. He becomes her willing soldier, acquires the three Sacred Objects and goes on a rampage, against his own people, those that live.
Meanwhile, Centauri Island, the launch site of the Cosmic Express, comes under attack from Hell's Horsemen. Only it's not horses they ride. It's Atomic Firedrakes!
There may be no cure for aphantasia (defined as 'having a blind or absent mind's eye') but there certainly is for aphantacea ('a'='without', like the 'an' in 'anheroic')
Ordering Information for PHANTACEA Mythos comic books, graphic novels, standalone novels, mini-novels and e-books
Downloadable order form for additional PHANTACEAMythos Print Publications
![[Featured Story logo done on Photoshop by Jim McPherson, Year 2002]](graphicimages/feat-story4.gif)
Because it was just a shadow of its
former self, the Sraddhites had dubbed it Diminished Dustmound.
One of the bolder Godbadian service men
went up and spoke to her. When he came back he said she had broken a
mirror and was trying to find its pieces so she did not have any more
bad luck. They talked for a few minutes and since she seemed friendly
enough he offered to help. She declined, said it kept her busy. That
she had all eternity. Thereafter, since she was often seen again, Diminished
Dustmound became known as Haunted Dustmound.
What's become of Lethal Lily is unclear in 5960 Year of the Dome. Most of those who know of her existence on the Inner Earth are of the opinion she was cathonitzed, along with her host-shell, Pyrame Silverstar, in 5950 YD. 
