I managed to mostly finish Ophis Python’s Chapter 4 and Xorgoth’s Chapter 2 while making a little headway on Xorgoth’s Chapter 3 as well. At this rate, I should also have Xorgoth’s section finished before the week’s out. That’ll just leave a few chapters of Medusa’s and TTWC2 will be done. It looks like the final wordcount won’t even break 50K, but I’m not going to let that bother me. I’m ready to pick up TTWC3. I plan on switching over to JJ or EM next week, so the week after may see me wrap TTWC2 and start in on TTWC3. Stay tuned.

I made a little progress on Ophis Python’s Chapter 4 and also worked a little more on the logistics of the string of conflicts in this stage of the war. Still have a little more to do on both fronts. Maybe I can make the push to get through Chapter 4 in short order. Stay tuned.

I managed to mostly finish Ophis Python’s Chapter 5 and rewrite parts of Chapter 2 to resolve the plot hole I had. All I have left to do is finish Chapter 4 and his section will be done. Maybe a little dedicated push and the job’ll be done. That’d certainly be nice. Stay tuned.

While I haven’t posted any progress in a while, I have of course still been working on reviews and I was also developing a new story. No actual story content until yesterday, when I made more progress on Ophis Python’s Chapter 5 of TTWC2. I’m going to have to do some rewriting to resolve a plot hole, but I guess that’s part of the joy of catching it before it goes up. If I didn’t mention it, no one would have to know. I could potentially finish Chapter 5 with another day or two, so I’d like to get that done. We’ll see if it actually happens, though. Stay tuned.

I actually did some work on TTWC2 for a change, making some progress on Ophis Python’s Chapters 4 and 5. I’m trying to push myself to get the daggone book done. I don’t have that far to go. Two weeks or so of consistently meeting quota and I’ll be through. Sometimes in the writing process it’s good to let inspiration come as it will, and other times you just have to drive yourself onward. Let’s see if I can finally stick to it. Stay tuned.

We continue our look at the leads of TTWC2 with the Spider Queen Arachne. I know there are some people out there who don’t like raiders of the public domain, but that’s precisely what it exists for. Besides, I’ve had a passion for Greek mythology ever since I was 8, so it’s little wonder that I’d want to integrate a lot of Greek mythology into my own mythos, with a bit of my own spin, of course.

When I first added Arachne to the cast, she was little more than the giant spider boss with shades of Shelob, but with a little more working on her character, her personality started to come out. Her grudge against the Olympians, particularly Athena, was a given, but that didn’t have much play after the prologue, except as common ground for establishing her friendship with Medusa. I’ll talk about those two more in a moment, but first I want to cover her relationship with the Monarch Lich.

Although I set her up as the Monarch Lich’s consort from her first entry in the story, there really wasn’t much going on there until I added Basilissa into the story. The Monarch Lich and Arachne paired off in a simple bid for power. Arachne wanted a share of the Monarch Lich’s power for her own increase and however grudging the Monarch Lich was to sacrifice his power to perpetuate his line, she was the most powerful female in the Darklands and the most likely candidate to produce a stronger offspring. You may not think jealousy is a particularly interesting motivator, but the introduction of a rival helped rekindle Arachne’s more human emotions and gave something to drive her. Her rivalry with Basilissa and the detriment it caused to the overall war effort ties into one of the key themes of Volume II, that being the chaotic nature of the Dominion. (The name was no accident, after all.) For all the faults and failings you can find on the Zephyrian side, they’re much better at being united in a common purpose. Yes, the many allied factions in the Dominion fight against Zephyr, but there is no real bond connecting them and their competing individual interests largely serve to negate the great power they represent.

One of the more redeeming aspects of Arachne is her friendship with Medusa. Yes, they’re both monsters, but theirs is the truest bond you’ll find in all the Darklands. Almost every other relationship you’ll find in Volume II is tainted in one way or another, but Arachne and Medusa’s friendship is the closest thing you’ll find to anything pure. Orguz is perhaps the most upright morally, but we’ll get into the failings of his relationships when the time comes. Back to Arachne and Medusa, it started as little more than kinship based on their shared hatred of the ones responsible for their cursed fate, but over the years, they developed an almost sororal bond. It really is quite sweet.

Giving Arachne a more humanoid form was a relatively new development. Besides serving as a way to gain an advantage over Basilissa for the Monarch Lich’s affections (or whatever passes for such with him), it also gave her a way try tempting Ionathas during their encounter (somewhat in parallel to Simona the Dark Elf’s attempt during the Battle of Kalonis). Unfortunately for her, Ionathas likes his girls scaly. ^o^

I think that’ll do it for now. I’m looking forward to the next entry, though it’ll be a few weeks yet. I’ve got quite a bit to say on the subject of Sir Caligo, so look forward to that. Stay tuned.

We kick off our coverage of the leads of TTWC2 with the big man himself. First, let me talk about Liches in my canon. I was initially inspired by the Dark Lich of Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2), but it wasn’t until years later that I came to understand the conventional concept of what a Lich is in fantasy fiction. For the uninitiated, conventionally a Lich is a powerful mage who becomes undead as a means of immortality (usually by means of a phylactery, much like Voldemort’s Horcruxes). I would later apply this concept to what I term Demi-Liches. In my canon, a Lich is a male-only race of generative undead with great magical power. They are so powerful, in fact, that their power eventually consumes their physical bodies, so before that happens, they much transfer that power to a new generation. Liches will mate with a number of different species in an effort to give rise to a hybrid offspring with a physical form strong enough to contain the Lich’s great and growing power. Occasionally you’ll get a Lich who has a stronger sense of himself as an individual rather than as part of a continuum, which leads to problems. For instance, the ancient Black Lich caused the Lich line to go extinct for nearly five thousand years because he thought himself to be the perfection of the Dark Race. He did, however, realize his folly at the end and managed to seal up his power so that his line could be revived at some point in the future. The Monarch Lich very nearly terminated the second line for much the same reason.

Originally, the Monarch Lich had little motivation, particularly after Solon’s death. Much like Magnus Lee in Vampire Hunter D, a bored villain is rather, well, boring and so I knew something had to change. As I established the idea of the Copy Golem (think along the lines of the revived Kikyou from Inuyasha), I realized that death was no obstacle at all to the Monarch Lich’s torment of Solon and so his obsession is preserved. I found myself moving farther and farther away from the aloof overlord concept to making him much more hot-blooded, even petulant. One of the key themes with him is the conflict between his Lich and human natures. His ego and ambition are his undoing, but ultimately he does sacrifice the greater part of himself to continue his line.

I’d actually consider doing a prequel chronicling his conquest of the Darklands. It might be interesting to see him when he was young and brash, with all this power but little control. Perhaps I could even show his rise and Solon’s in parallel. That could be interesting. Anyway, that does it for now. Next time, we’ll give Arachne the Spider Queen some attention. Stay tuned.

I’ve been slacking off the past few days before setting out on my grand adventure. (Well, not entirely slacking off. Wednesday I was on the road for six hours for a 15-minute job interview.) While I spent most of my time en route to Japan sleeping, reading or watching movies, I did make some progress on Ophis Python’s Chapter 3 of TTWC2. I just need to add a little more narrative to finish it. I’m having to shed my nocturnal habits while here in Japan, but I should have time in the evenings to get some writing done. Don’t expect daily updates, though. In fact, it may be a good week before I’m online again. I’ll be sure to fill you in next time I have Internet access, though. Stay tuned.

I’m back in the saddle again, wrapping up Xorgoth’s epilogue and making some progress on his Chapters 2, 3 and 4. I think I’ll be stepping away from TTWC2 for a bit, though. It’s time for a change of pace. Maybe I’ll work on EM or JJ this week.

In other news, I’ve been playing around in the peripheral materials the past few days and of course writing more reviews. I’ve got quite a glut on the DVR, so I really need to work it down. I’d like to get back around 50% free before I head to Japan, but that may be asking a little much. Stay tuned.

I’ve almost got Xorgoth’s epilogue done and wrote a couple sentences on Medusa’s epilogue as well. (Writing when you’re starting to nod off isn’t recommended.) I didn’t post a progress update yesterday because I didn’t make any story progress, but I have continued to write reviews, which may or may not warrant a post. In fact, I have less than 20 items left to go in my queue of 174 movies. In the near future, I plan to start expanding the other sections as well. Stay tuned.