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The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - jimbow8 - 06-01-2008
Wapitikev Wrote:Well, AvinFox and I have been E-mailing each other regarding the "Demonsong" Wiki and an interesting detail has come to light.
I am working onthe Original DAW edition and he has the Gauntlet Chapbook edition...Alvin had asked about the Otherness portal because his edition has a reference to one...whereas mine does not.
In the DAW edition, at the climax of the confrontation with the Choir of Chaos mine says: "One by one, then in groups, and finally in a hellish rain, they followed the embryo."
The Chapbook that Alvin has says: "One by one, then in groups, and finally in a hellish rain, they followed the embryo back to the hell of their origin."
So, when I said above that we don't see what's below the mist, I was (unknowingly) wrong...Alvin's edition clearly states that there was a portal to the Otherness under that mist and both the embryo and the demons fell through it.
If anyone has the Little Beige Book, please verify that Alvin's version is the same as yours.
In the meantime, I'll assume that it is and we've agreed that I'll add a reference to an otherness portal in the connections section.
When I finish the small edits that Alvin had, I'll post the Wiki in a number of sections (it won't all fit in one post).
The wait is almost over.
-Wapitikev
Maybe, for the sake of completeness, you could use the longer version of the text and note that there are different versions?? :confused:
I really need to get a copy of that story one of these days.
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Wapitikev - 06-01-2008
jimbow8 Wrote:Maybe, for the sake of completeness, you could use the longer version of the text and note that there are different versions?? :confused:
I really need to get a copy of that story one of these days.
We resolved, as per FPW's comment on this thread, to use the newest version as cannon and have made a note in the introduction that earlier versions were corrected in the Gauntlet Demonsong Chapbook and the Borderlands Press Little Beige Book.
I'm heading off to bed now...I'll post the first part of the Wiki (with the introduction) tomorrow...or later tonight if I have insomnia.
-Wapitikev
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Alvin Fox - 06-01-2008
That's the damning thing when you have two people reading two different versions of a story. "The Little Mermaid dies!" "No she doesn't!"
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Alvin Fox - 06-01-2008
Wapitikev and I also decided to put scans of the covers of each version of the books containing Demonsong. I mean, if it's okay. Could always go the do-it-and-beg-forgiveness-later route. That means we have a DAW cover scan and a Gauntlet cover scan. Can anyone provide a cover scan of The Little Beige Book of Nondescript Stories?
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Wapitikev - 06-03-2008
[SIZE="4"]First off: a big thanks to AlvinFox for looking at the first draft of this article. His suggestions, and his knowledge of the newer, revised edition of the short story, were invaluable.
Second off: a note on style. Where a short story is mentioned in the text, its title is put in quotes. Books have their titles underlined.
Third off: I recommend we find a way to better denote that text inside quotation marks in the Plot and Characters sections are actually quotes from the short story itself.
Fourth off: as AlvinFox and I agreed when we began editing the first draft, anything is open to change, so don’t be afraid to suggest things. Since this is the first Wiki article of (hopefully) many to come in the Adversary Cycle Wiki Project, it will be far better to make changes to the structure of this one that can carry through on all the ones to follow than it will be to change things later and have to have everything re-written (although that may well happen, too).
So, here’s the third draft of the Demonsong Wiki or, as I like to call it, version 1.3:[/SIZE]
[SIZE="6"]Demonsong (short story)[/SIZE]
“Demonsong”, written by American Author F. Paul Wilson, introduces characters that will eventually become known as the Adversary and the Sentinel in a multi-story arc referred to as The Adversary Cycle. “Demonsong” was first published in 1979 by DAW Books in the anthology Heroic Fantasy. Its most recent publication was in a corrected edition by Borderlands Press in The Little Beige Book of Nondescript Stories in December 2004.
Plot Introduction
In an epoch before recorded history, a red-haired outlander named only Glaeken finds himself in the City of Kashela, in the Kingdom of Prince Iolon, seeking adventure. He appears as, “…a young man not yet out of his third decade who behaved with an assurance beyond his years.”
Plot Summary
Glaeken answers a public notice from Prince Iolon to undertake a mission to rid the kingdom of a wizard for 10,000 gold Grignas. The wizard’s name is Rasalom. Despite the fact that squads of soldiers previously sent to solve the problem never returned, Glaeken accepts.
Prior to his departure, he comes to the aid of a musician bearing a wonderfully crafted musical instrument called a harmohorn. Its bearer was being assaulted by a gang of street youths, all of whom Glaeken and the musician defeat using no weapons other than their fists and a knife that the leader of the gang pulled in an attempt to attack the musician from behind.
The musician introduces himself as, “…Cragjaw--although I assure you I was not given that name by my parents.” Glaeken’s mission lies in Elder Cavern in the eastern farmlands. Cragjaw, also in the employ of the Prince, is travelling east as well. When he requests that they travel together, Glaeken does not object.
On the road, Cragjaw relates a tale from the Western Isles about a young, red-haired adventurer named Glaeken-the-Laugher. An evil king named Marag threatened to kill this Glaeken’s most recent beloved if he did not become the King’s champion. His mission was to hunt down and kill the leader of a group of marauders named The Nightriders. Glaeken did so and thereby became leader of the Nightriders. He then returned to teach “…Marag a grisly lesson.” But, “…after a year or two…[he] grew restless and dissatisfied” as the leader of the Nightriders and left them to seek his fortune.
Glaeken initially suggests that he is not that person. When Cragjaw presses his case, Glaeken deftly changes the subject by discussing his destination, Elder Cavern, and his target, Rasalom. Cragjaw refers to Rasalom as, “infamous.”
Rasalom is said to be a giant of a man, standing 1 and ½ times the height of a normal man and 3 times wider at the shoulders. The Wizard is blamed for a strange wasting disease affecting all living things in the eastern farmlands. The disease began shortly after Rasalom entered Elder Cavern, two years prior. We also learn that people soon recover after they are moved away from the affected area.
During their conversation, we learn that Prince Iolon wants Rasalom captured or dead and, if the latter, wants proof in the form of his magic ring: The Ring of Chaos. The Ring is said to be, “…the most potent focus for black sorcery this side of the Netherworld.”
At the last crossroad before the eastern farmlands, Cragjaw turns his horse North towards Prince Iolon’s summer quarters to prepare for the Prince’s arrival the next day. Glaeken continues eastward on his trusty stallion, Stofrall.
Soon after Glaeken enters the eastern farmlands, he realizes he is in a lifeless dead-zone. There are no living birds or animals and even the trees are losing their bark and dying. That evening he finds himself suffering from a strange lethargy. Despite intentions not to sleep, he awakes from a horrible dream about countless shrieking demons. Finding his horse laying on the ground a short distance from his fire and suffering from the same strange affliction, he revives the beast and drives it back the way they came, hoping it will continue down the road to safety. Shouldering his pack and not willing to wait until morning, he continues on towards Elder Cavern.
At this point, he begins revising his opinion that sorcerers and evil magic are merely products of tales designed to frighten children.
Feeling drained and sickened, Glaeken reaches Elder Cavern just before dawn. Through strength of will, and the pragmatic understanding that he is too weak to turn back, Glaeken ventures into the cave. With a bit of good fortune, he comes across a dimly lit room with a huge chair in one shadowy corner and the carven outline of doors on a nearer wall.
In the chair, hidden by shadows, is the wasted but still living form of Rasalom, too weak from his sorceries to even stand. Rasalom mocks Prince Iolon and Glaeken’s mission, actually offering The Ring of Chaos to Glaeken because he claims to have no further need of it…he has made a pact with Chaos to be reborn in a new body, formed of Chaos itself, eternal and unstoppable.
Glaeken accuses him of being mad and tells him to lift his curse or die.
Rasalom informs him that death would only speed his transition into his new form and dares him to enter through the carven doors if he does not believe.
Glaeken opens the carven doors and four more doors after them. As he opens each door, a discordant hum steadily grows, horrifically, into the same shrieking cacophony as Glaeken experienced in his dream, the night before. The final door reveals an Amphitheatre and, as Rasalom claimed, twelve-hundred howling, idiot Demons; the Choir of Chaos. And there, floating above the Choir, is an inky amniotic sack containing a “…dark, nameless shape and two glowing yellow eyes”; Rasalom’s new, hellish body.
Whether by inspiration or madness Glaeken begins to sing, “…the hymn of praise to the Goddess Eblee, a sweet simple song known the world over.” The coherent melody has an immediate effect on the Demons and the creature in the black womb. The Demons increase their volume and focus it on Glaeken, overwhelming him and driving him towards unconsciousness.
Just when all seems lost, a harmohorn joins its dulcet tones to Glaeken’s fading song. Together, Glaeken’s and Cragjaw’s simple ordered melody drives the Demons and the embryo into fits of rage and pain.
The embryo breaks free of its membrane and falls into the mists that shroud the bottom of the Amphitheatre, followed closely by the Demons, returning from whence they came.
Staggering back to the antechamber they find Rasalom’s dead body. Glaeken takes The Ring of Chaos from the corpse’s neck. Cragjaw explains that, unfortunately there will be no reward…Prince Iolon was overthrown by the army the previous day, putting Cragjaw out of work as well. Cragjaw resolved to warn Glaeken that he was imperilling himself for no reason, which is how he came to be there.
Cragjaw and Glaeken leave Elder Cavern with Cragjaw renewing his question about Glaeken being from the Western Isles. In response, Glaeken simply smiles.
[end of Plot Summary, end of first part of the article. Part 2 will complete the article]
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Wapitikev - 06-03-2008
[Demonsong Wiki, part 2]
List of characters (in order of appearance)
Un-named, rude soldiers, (2) – Soldiers of Prince Iolon, posting notices throughout the capital city, Kashela.
Glaeken – a red haired outlander with an unknown past, he appears to be, “…a young man not yet out of his third decade who behaved with an assurance beyond his years.” Besides being a skilled fighter, Glaeken professes a, “…weakness for music and consequently a respect for musicians.” He is also, “…possessed of that curious perversity that afflicts all men that stand out from their fellows: the drive to carry a task through to its’ finish.”
Elderly, blue-robed official – Palace bureaucrat in charge of the Prince’s public notices.
Youth with oiled locks and clinging robe – [walkthrough part, no dialogue] example of the Prince’s preferred entertainment. Glaeken jokingly calls the boyish figure Captain of the Palace Guard.
Harlot in the corner – [scenery, no dialogue].
Cragjaw – A musician in the employ of Prince Iolon. A squat, burley, misshapen man with a square protruding jaw. He carries a double barrelled harmohorn (a finely crafted, irreplaceable musical instrument) with him wherever he goes. Is a capable fighter. Has a keen ear for palace gossip, in addition to music.
Local gang of street youths – green shirted, brown trousered, street-toughs. Each wore rough boots with wooden soles.
Local gang leader – Adolescent with wiry black hair and a fuzzy attempt at a beard. Carries a knife.
Bartender – Barmaster of the tavern that the Harlot and Glaeken were patronizing before and after the street-fight. As honest and reliable as most examples of his kind.
Stoffral – Glaeken’s loyal mount. A stallion. Glaeken drives him back the way they had come in hopes that the horse will survive the strange pestilence surrounding Elder Cavern. The horse survives.
Rasalom – Sorcerer in service to Chaos [entity]. Bearer of the Ring of Chaos. Summoner of the Choir of Chaos. Rasalom is said to be a giant of a man, standing 1 and ½ times the height of a normal man and 3 times wider at the shoulders. Glaeken finds him shrunken, corpselike and wasted from his conjuring. He is considered infamous by the courtiers of Prince Iolon.
Choir of Chaos – 1200 demons of Chaos whose cacophonous shrieking can sap the life-force from any living thing for miles around. They can, over time, summon/create a creature of chaos into which a sorcerer can transfer his life force. They can be driven from this plane of existence by certain melodies produced by a combination of the human voice and instruments that complement it.
Publication History
Heroic Fantasy, DAW (#334), 1979, ed. by Gerald W. Page.
Fata Morgana, Meulenhoff, 1980, (Netherlands).
Necon Stories, Necon X, 1990.
Demonsong Chapbook, Gauntlet Press, Jun 2000.
The Little Beige Book Of Nondescript Stories, Borderlands Press, December 2004.
Interconnections
-The rumour regarding Glaeken-the-Laugher of the Western Isles is clearly about Glaeken when he was younger, despite his coy attempt to dissemble.
-The bottom of the Amphitheatre in which the Choir of Chaos sings, appears to be a “portal to the otherness.” Such portals are discussed in a number of works involving the Adversary Cycle as gateways through which the otherness can gain access to our world when conditions are right. That the embryo and the demons fall into the mists at the bottom of the Amphitheatre and “…back to the hell of their origin” suggests that such a portal was present underneath the mists. Whether this portal was persistent and remained after the Choir returned to the Otherness is not discussed.
-Although the Embryo falls into the mist and returns to the Otherness, there is no guarantee that it died…since Rasalom’s body was dead, his soul likely lived on in the creature, as he promises Glaeken it will should his human body die. We find out from other works in the Adversary Cycle that Rasalom’s body has been reborn several times from “Demonsong” until the present day. This was likely the first of such re-births.
-The setting of the story is in an epoch of pre-history with no recognizable connection to any historical civilization or current geography. F. Paul Wilson has stated that he is considering a Robert Jordan-esque prequel to The Keep, set in this pre-historic time period (interviews, July 16th, 2002 & October 2001). The author is also known for integrating his short stories into novels on two other occasions (e.g. “The Last Rakosh” into All the Rage, “Home Repairs” into Conspiracies). Considering how difficult it is to find a published copy of “Demonsong”, it seems likely that the entire short story will become part of that larger novel.
-The embryo, an inky-black creature with glowing yellow eyes, shares some key physical characteristics with creatures found in another part of The Adversary Cycle. F. Paul Wilson’s novel The Tomb/Rakoshi has creatures called Rakoshi that also have inky, black skin and glowing yellow eyes.
Anagrams for Rasalom
Rasalom has a habit of using anagrams of his true-name. In the original DAW edition of "Demonsong", Rasalom was spelled Rosalam throughout. This spelling was corrected to Rasalom in the Gauntlet Press Demonsong Chapbook and also in the Borderlands Press Little Beige Book.... So, while the spelling in the original DAW printing appears to be a typo, not an anagram, it gives one food for thought [spooky music plays].
[...end of Demosong Wiki]
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Libby - 06-03-2008
GOOD JOB!! I like it!
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Scott Miller - 06-03-2008
Wapitikev Wrote:he is in a lifeless dead-zone. There are no living birds or animals and even the trees are losing their bark and dying.
Lifeless seems redundant.
Wapitikev Wrote:[Domonsong Wiki, part 2]
Demonsong is misspelled.
Other than those two little things, very impressive.
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Silverfish - 06-03-2008
That's great! I really like it.
The Grand Adversary Cycle Wikipedia Project - Wapitikev - 06-04-2008
Scott Miller Wrote:Lifeless seems redundant.
Demonsong is misspelled.
Other than those two little things, very impressive.
Thanx for the heads up on the Domonsong thing...that was all me and AlvinFox is not to blame for missing it when proofreading...he never saw where I was breaking the original article in two.
And that particular note would not appear in the actual Wiki article, because it would not be split in two...
...but you knew that, didn't you Scott.
Don't worry, the Wings will win tomorrow night.
As for the "lifeless" it was the Lovecraft coming out in me...if most people hate it then out it goes.
-Wapitikev