This is the plan for a book called ACTS OF HEROES (or, if you like, THE WALCHOP AND THE WASP). It is not clear when this plan was developed, but this book was originally intended to be volume 7 of the CHRONICLES OF AN AGE OF DARKNESS, and had the working title THE WEREWOLF AND THE WORMLORD. That title got hijacked and became an entirely different book. To avoid confusion, I've decided to call this ACTS OF HEROES.

Volume six of the CHRONICLES is called THE WISHSTONE AND THE WONDERWORKERS and is set on the island of Untunchilamon. What actually happened, possibly, is that I sat down to write volume seven with a big, sprawling book in mind, but found that it swiftly evolved into something far more compact, THE WAZIR AND THE WITCH.

When I was a small child - aged five and six, I think - I spent two years on Ocean Island, a dot in the Pacific Ocean near the equator. (Ocean Island is now called Banaba.) The Untunchilamon milieu has very much the flavor of Ocean Island - heat, flying fish, ghost crabs, red ants, scorpions, and the remnants of deceased military civilizations. (Ocean Island was littered with World War Two debris from the Japanese military occupation.)

So, for me, the Untunchilamon environment came alive very easily - previously I had not tapped into those two years of childhood.

Looking at the plot for the book I've renamed ACTS OF HEROES, it looks perfectly writeable, the one problem being that the writing of it would take quite some time.

I think if I was going to write this now then I would begin with a scene in which Untunchilamon is overrun by wasps. Rather large ones. I mean, LARGE ones. That would give some emotional resonance to the plot, which, assuming that "wasp" is substituted for "werewolf," requires a man to imagine himself to be a wasp.

ACTS OF HEROES aka THE WALCHOP AND THE WASP

After Aldarch the Third triumphs in the civil war in Yestron, those who usurped his authority on Untunchilamon are brought back to Yestron for trial. We follow their struggle for survival.


         This book is in three parts.

Part One: Events on Untunchilamon.
Part Two: Events in Yestron.
Part Three: Events after Yestron.



        BACKGROUND: When civil war broke out in Yestron, power in Untunchilamon was usurped by Lonstantine Thrug, a Yudonic Knight from Galsh Ebrek.
        BACKGROUND: Lonstantine Thrug had a cousin by the name of Juliet Idado, who was on Untunchilamon when Thrug seized power. Idaho soon returned to Galsh Ebrek. While civil war raged in Yestron, only a few garbled tenth-hand reports of affairs on Untunchilamon reached Idaho in Galsh Ebrek.
        BACKGROUND: Now the civil war has ended. Aldarch the Third has triumphed, has proclaimed himself Mutilator of Yestron, and has begun a reign of terror.
        BACKGROUND: Idaho realised that the triumphant Aldarch would naturally slay Thrug the Usurper. Therefore Idaho set sail for Untunchilamon, seeking to bring Thrug (and the contents of the treasury of Injiltaprajura) back to Galsh Ebrek.
        BACKGROUND: Unbeknownst to Idaho, Lonstantine Thrug went mad some time ago, and was incarcerated in the lunatic asylum of Injiltaprajura. His daughter Justina rules as empress on Untunchilamon.
        NOTE: because the Yudonic Knights of Galsh Ebrek preserve a degree of independence from the rest of the empire it would be possible for them to shelter Thrug from the wrath of Aldarch III.


        
         Part One Starts

1. We open on Untunchilamon where the bells are ringing to celebrate the good news. Aldarch the Third is dead. The magnanimous Manthandros Trasilika has triumphed, and is prepared to grant Untunchilamon religious freedom and independence.

2. The bells are heard on the island of Jod, where Chegory Guy and Ivan Pokrov are taking a break from their labours on the immortality machine. They are dining al fresco on some local delicacies and celebrating with a quiet drink or three, because they think the machine is showing glimmerings of life. They are disturbed by the hermit crab, which asks what is going on, and is not impressed.


        Hermit crab asks where Shabble is. Answer: Shabble is away. Hermit crab pretends to be unmoved, but Guy suspects hermit crab has a soft spot for Shabble.


        3. A crisis in the lunatic asylum. The paranoid Erg thinks the bells are the signal for his execution. He takes the vampire woman Petrina as hostage. The good doctor of the asylum, Jon Qasaba, has to sort things out. He is helped by the muscle of the Wolchop, Koi of Quilth.


        4. Night. In the night, the demon-god Torak torments Slanic Moldova. He endures the oppression of stones. Mouths in the shadows talk to him. Loathsome beasts crawl out of cracks in the night. Then daylight comes, and Olivia Qasaba arrives to take him to the palace.


        OLIVIA QASABA. Young woman. Pregnant. Daughter of Jon Qasaba. Works for the Empress Justina. Lives in the palace in quarters she shares with her husband Chegory Guy.
        CHEGORY GUY. Busy at work on the island of Jod (in the harbour of Injiltaprajura). He is working with Ivan Pokrov, one of the Nine Immortals. They are trying to restore an old immortality machine which Pokrov has discovered.


        5. At the palace, Slanic Moldova goes to work on his great masterpiece of a mural. The Empress Justina pauses to observe the work. She chats with Slanic Moldova who begins to paint her hand. Olivia dissuades him from a further artistic assault on the empress, who laughs and goes to her meeting.


        6. The same day. The meeting. The Empress Justina and her aides are negotiating with Cray. They are settling the price which Untunchilamon will pay for religious freedom and independence. Negotiations are proceeding with good humour when word of the arrival of three ships reaches the palace. Cray breaks off negotiations and hurries back to the harbour.


        7. The same day. Shipboard talks between Cray and the fugitive Manthandros Trasilika. Cray advises immediate flight. Manthandros Trasilika refuses to flee empty-handed, and orders Cray to resume negotations. Cray is nearly mad with fear because he knows a fleet commanded by Reshen Vladimirov is in pursuit of them, and will arrive on Untunchilamon within a few days. Cray decides to betray his master to the minions of Aldarch III who have just arrived on the incoming ships.


        8. The same day. The palace. Cray confronts Juliet Idaho in the presence of the Empress Justina. So the new arrivals are not the minions of Aldarch III! They are Yudonic Knights, who would happily kill Cray out of hand, for he belongs to the much-hated Guild of Usurers.


        BACKGROUND. A generation ago the Yudonic Knights borrowed vast sums of money from the Guild of Usurers to finance a war against a certain free city in the northern continent of Tameran.
        BACKGROUND. The Yudonic Knights lost their war. The Guild demanded payment. The Knights had no money. The Knights promptly defaulted on their debt and drove the Guild from Galsh Ebrek.
        BACKGROUND. The Guild then obtained a court order allowing it to enslave all the Yudonic Knights of Galsh Ebrek. In consequence, a sorry fate awaits any Yudonic Knight who falls into the hands of the Guild.
        BACKGROUND. As a member of the Guild of Usurers, Cray is an enemy of the Yudonic Knights, who have sworn to burn alive any Guildsman who falls into their hands.


        9. The Guildsman Cray and the Yudonic Knight Juliet Idaho confront each other in the presence of the Empress Justina. Each argues that the other is a liar and should be put to death.


        10. The Empress Justina tires of argument, puts both Cray and Idaho under open arrest, rules that the men loyal to each must surrender up their arms, then invites both Cray and Idaho to a banquet.


        11. Afternoon of the same day. Conference between Cray and Manthandros Trasilika. Their men have been disarmed. Cray again urges flight, but Trasilika insists on brazening things out. They depart for the banquet with Trasilika disguised as Cray's slave.


        12. Cray and Manthandros Trasilika observe a dockside confrontation. The Yudonic Knights are refusing to be disarmed. They think Idaho has been murdered in the palace. The harbourmaster Uckermark invites some of the Yudonic Knights to come to the palace themselves to see that all is well.


        13. Arrival at palace. Banquet. Manthandros Trasilika poisons Juliet Idaho with zen.


        ZEN. Zen is a dissociative drug used (in small quantities) as an anaesthetic. It is safe, inasmuch as it does not depress respiration. However, it tends to produce unpleasant hallucinations. Massive doses can plunge a person into a world of horror. Such doses can also leave a person prone to flashbacks.


        14. Idaho at banquet with the Empress Justina. She romances him. He is ready to take her on in the interests of diplomacy. In fact, he likes a lusty wench, and is quite looking forward to it. Then the zen takes hold of him and his nightmare starts.


        NOTE: The Yudonic Knights of Galsh Ebrek have a morbid fear of wasps, werewolves and vampires.


        15. Subjective view of Idaho's madness. He thinks he has become a wasp, and acts accordingly.


        16. Objective view of Idaho's madness. Remember some Yudonic Knights were invited to the palace to see for themselves that all was well with him.


        17. Morning. Idaho in the lunatic asylum. His first meeting with Jon Qasaba, the manic-depressive who runs the asylum. Today Qasaba is depressed, though not severely so. Idaho receives some hot coffee and some reassurance, then Qasaba takes a case history and correctly diagnoses poisoning by zen. Prescribes a long hot bath, a massage, a late breakfast then a siesta, and predicts a noon release for Idaho.


        BACKGROUND. Jon Qasaba is a healer who trained on Ashmolea. His discipline has great faith in the curative powers of rest, massage, hot baths, peace and quiet, music, certain colours, meditation (particularly meditation upon clouds in the sky and fish aswim in glass tanks), and the company of living things (particularly trees).


        18. We accompany Qasaba on his rounds, leaving him at the point where he is about to enter the Gibbering Room where the helpless dements are kept.


        19. Same morning. Idaho's troops believe Idaho to have been bewitched by the Empress Justina. They claim she also bewitched her father Lonstantine Thrug. They set off to storm the palace, arming themselves with whatever they can lay their hands on. They do not know Idaho is in the lunatic asylum.


        20. Idaho is in the bath when the vampire woman Petrina comes to him. She names herself as a vampire, and this suffices to trigger a flashback.


        21. Battle for palace is raging when galleys arrive bearing troops of Aldarch the Third under the command of Reshen Vladimirov.


        22. Cray falls weeping at the feet of Manthrandos Trasilika. Who is not ready to die yet. Manthandros Trasilika plans to unite their forces with those of the Yudonic Knights and the Empress Justina, then fight their way out of Injiltaprajura.


        23. Manthrandos Trasilika gathers together his men. He tells them they will attack the lunatic asylum. They will take two hostages: Lonstantine Thrug and Juliet Idaho. Then the Empress Justina will listen to reason, since they will be holding her father hostage. The Yudonic Knights will also listen to reason, since they will be holding Idaho hostage.


        KOI OF QUILTH. This man is the Wolchop. He is a patient at the asylum. He claims to be lord of the deathworms of the uplands of Quilth. While the people of Injiltaprajura think him a lunatic, his claims are in fact entirely true. He is very strong, hotheaded, and a warrior in love with battle.


        24. Manthandros Trasilika and his men attack the asylum, which is ably defended by Koi. The Wolchop is roused to wrath when Trasilika's men manhandle Jon Qasaba.


        25. Juliet Idaho. Recovered from his latest fit of madness. No longer thinks himself a wasp. He is in the asylum, ruled for the moment by the Wolchop.


        26. Eye-of-God view of the chaotic fighting in Injiltaprajura. The palace. The lunatic asylum. The prison. The island of Jod. The invaders from Yestron are triumphant everywhere, and those who oppose them are killed or captured. Except for those who escape underground or into the wastelands of Zazazolzodanzarzakazolabrik.


        27. Chegory Guy. Who has returned to Injiltaprajura from Jod to rescue his true love, his wife Olivia Qasaba. He reaches the palace. Is challenged. Is chased. Escapes underground.


        28. Reshen Vladimirov. In the palace. Before him is the odious Naum Nazm (friend of Aquitaine Varazchavardan), who is making what explanations he thinks appropriate. He believes he can do a deal with the sorcers, who have till now stood aside from the battle.
        If Vladimirov will grant them free pardons, the sorcerers can probably be persuaded to do battle on his side. If not, then Vladimirov may not be able to hold Untunchilamon.


        29. Underground. wasp (Juliet Idaho) in conference with survivors who include Chegory Guy, Cray and Manthandros Trasilika.
        However:-
        Olivia Qasaba is missing.
        Ditto the Empress Justina.
        Ivan Pokrov is still on Jod.
        Conference centres on question of what the sorcerers will do.


        30. Night. The sorcerers of Untunchilamon gather in the presence of Reshen Vladimirov to pledge their loyalty to Aldarch the Third, Mutilator of Yestron and ruler of most of it.


        31. Exercise of magic commences.


        32. Morning. The palace. Confrontation between Reshen Vladimirov and his prisoners. He demands to know where the Empress Justina is. Chegory Guy demands to know where Olivia Qasaba is. Guy offers Vladimirov a great treasure in return for Olivia. Vladimirov says it's a deal if:-
        (i) the treasure proves truly great;
        (ii) Olivia comes into his hands, which he cannot guarantee.


        33. Noon of the same day. Island of Jod. Guy has led soldiers of the immortality machine, which is now being removed from the island. Hermit crab asks what is going on. Guy explains. Sounds of Mills of Jod being smashed by soldiers. Ivan Pokrov nearly demented by grief as his beautiful machine is smashed. Guy feels awkward, embarrassed, wrong.


        LONSTANTINE THRUG. Thrug is dead.


        34. Zazazolzodanzarzakazolabrik. Late afternoon of the same day. Together in the wasteland are:-
        Olivia Qasaba, pregnant wife of Chegory Guy.
        The Empress Justina.
        Erg the paranoid.
        Petrina the vampire woman.
        Koi of Quilth, the Wolchop.
        Erg fears pursuit, capture, torture and death unspeakable. For once, his fears are consonant with his circumstances. Olivia says her husband's father works as a stillmaster for the notorious warlord Jal Japone.
        The Empress Justina says that they will therefore trek to the warlord's stronghold.


        35. Dawn. Chegory Guy helps Reshen Vladimirov's prisoners make out their wills. Then the prisoners are chained to benches on a galley. They will row themselves to Yestron where they will be tried then slaughtered. Guy returns to the palace where he is working with Ivan Pokrov on restoration of the immortality machine.
        
        36. Reshen Vladimirov. A good soldier. Watches restoration work. Will render the machine up to Aldarch the Third when it is functional. Believes the Mutilator a good thing. For the Mutilator brings rule, order, system.


        37. Naum Nazm boards galley with message for the eyes of Aldarch the Third alone. Message informs the Mutilator that Vladimirov has found an immortality machine and is keeping this a secret from the Mutilator. Labels Vladimirov as a traitor.


        38. Shipboard. Hell is other people. The galley slaves include:-
        Manthandros Trasilika
        Cray
        Jon Qasaba the healer
        Slanic Moldova the artist
        Juliet Idaho the wasp


        39. Dusk. North of Untunchilamon. Slanic Moldova enduring attack of the horrors. Juliet Idaho experiences wasp flashback. Attack on galleys by krakens which Moldova at first rationalises as being but one more aspect of his personal horrors.


        40. Night. Krakens continue to attack galleys. Prisoners led by wasp seize galley. Monstrous night of fear, blood, death. Galley heads for shore.


        41. Dawn. Landing on northern sands of Untunchilamon. The wasp, Juliet Idaho, is exhausted, shattered. The artist Slanic Moldova, on the other hand, is experiencing a phase of free- floating peace and acute insight. Decide to head inland to the stronghold of Jal Japone.


        
        
         Part One Ends
        
         Part Two Starts


        WHAT HAS HAPPENED: Aldarch the Third has received word of the immortality machine. He has sent agents to Untunchilamon to procure it for him, to arrest Reshen Vladimirov, and to bring him the people who destroyed his precious galleys (the ones which were actually destroyed by krakens).


        42. We open in the headquarters of Jal Japone. Jon Qasaba. In the depths of depression. Summoned into the presence of Japone. Finds the other captives there. Including his daughter with her young baby. They are told they are being handed over to the agents of Aldarch the Third.


        43. Overview of their trials and tribulations between departing the headquarters of Jal Japone and arriving in Yestron. Tying up of any loose ends.


        44. Arrival of all captives in Yestron, together with Ivan Pokrov and Chegory Guy (who have been brought to Obooloo to restore the immortality machine).


        45. Ivan Pokrov and Chegory Guy have audience with Aldarch the Third. Pokrov tries to pass as a nobody. But Yan Nard, herself one of the Nine Immortals, identifies him as the evil mastermind who destroyed the Golden Gulag. Aldarch III gives Guy & Pokrov a clear directive: restore the immortality machine to working order or else.


        NOTE: There is an aspect of the odex in the throne room of Aldarch the Third. The odex, like the Doors of the Circles, manifests its various aspects in more than one place. In Obooloo it is worshipped as a god.
        YAN NARD. Yan Nard is a tall woman who wears silks, who has a penchant for diamonds, and who carries herself with all the hauteur of an empress.
        In Volume 20 we will learn how Guest Gulkan of Tameran came to Yestron, how he became an enemy of Yan Nard, and how their feud was eventually brought to a fatal conclusion.


        46. Prisoners are brought in front of Aldarch III. The wasp breaks loose and attacks him, but Yan Nard produces a tiny oddment from about her person and points it at him. And fires. The air sizzles, and Juliet Idaho is knocked unconscious for a day and a night.


        47. Aldarch III brings the session to an end and retires. A glimpse of the private life of Aldarch III.


        Hereafter:-


        (i) trial in the city of Obooloo in Yestron, during which the Yudonic Knights of Galsh Ebrek do their best to rescue the Empress Justina, who is of course the child of a Yudonic Knight. An armed insurrection, assisted by the Yudonic Knights, sees our heroes storm the Bondsman's Guild of Obooloo and go through the Door which is part of the Circle of the Partnership Banks.
        Aquitaine Varazchavardan is in Obooloo for the trial.
        (ii) the heroes dare the Circle to the Bralsh of Dalar ken Halvar, to the Singing Dove Pensions Trust of Tang then to the Taniwha Guarantee Corporation of Quilth.
        (iii) With enemies in hot pursuit, the heroes dare through the jungles of Quilth. They have terrifying encounters with gigantic katipo spiders, taniwhas and other monsters, but reach the highlands of Quilth and find refuge in the kingdom of the Wolchop.


        
        The Dynamics of the Book


        The action of the book is pure comic strip - swords, monsters, magic and bloodthirsty tyrants, etc. etc.
        But the actual plot will be decided as much by the interior evolution of the characters as by the external action.
        A lot of the tension will be generated by the difficult relationship between the vampire woman Petrina and the Yudonic knight Juliet Idaho.
        Petrina wants Idaho yet is afraid to commit herself because of the appalling damage she has suffered in the past.
        Idaho, who has always struggled to totally dominate and control his environment through force of will and physical strength, suffers one illness after another as the book progresses, and endures a terrible fever in the jungles of Quilth.
        We can say that:-


        Part One, Events on Untunchilamon, introduces the characters and outlines the problems of each.
        Part Two, Events in Yestron, clarifies the internal problems of the characters and multiplies their external problems.
        Part Three, Events after Yestron, sees the characters:-
        (a) resolve their external problems as they fight through to the jungles of Quilth.
        (b) reach the jungles of Quilth with their external problems almost gone (only a few enemies in pursuit, and apart from that only some monsters and such to deal with) but with their internal problems (and the problems of their interrelationships) at their peak.


        This will be a fairly ambitious book. Like Volume One, THE WIZARDS AND THE WARRIORS, it will not have one pivotal character, but instead will give equal time to a group of heroes.