tinhuvielartanis | Entries tagged with orphaeus cygnus

It may take up to five days for this to show up on my Amazon author's page, so I figured I'd upload it to the Cliffs and the Vampire Relics Facebook page. Hopefully, it makes sense.

When I first began writing The Chalice, I had no plan to carry the story any further. But, one day, I decided to write a little drabble documenting an encounter between Kelat and Cadmus Pariah. I wanted to see where a few hundred words describing Cadmus' invasion of Kelat's sacred space, hidden away in the heart of Jerusalem, would take me.

The result was Cadmus mentioning a mysterious crown I had never thought of before. He called it the Blood Crown and hinted that it was still in the Apostate's possession, somewhere in the twisted tunnels that navigated the Roman catacombs. From there, I was committed to expand the story.

I decided that I wanted to include Orphaeus Cygnus in the narrative, because I enjoyed describing the dynamic between him and Cadmus. That decision threw me way out in the realm of absurdity, when I realised I was conjuring what was essentially a horror/fantasy version of the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road Pictures, with Orphaeus and Cadmus taking on the mantle of those classic comedians. As a result, The Blood Crown carries with it a kind of levity in some of the situations Cadmus and Orphaeus find themselves, during their journey from Israel to Vatican City.

The Blood Crown is the book in which I decided to share myths I had conceived years prior to the writing of the Relics trilogy. Some of the tales were written in the 1980s, mapping the history of the Tarmi and their kin, who escaped a dying world in the hope of finding a new home. Other stories, like the ones that explain how the full moons got their names, were written after I became involved in my local Wiccan community, and became a kind of bard, participating as high priestess and sharing these new myths with those in the Caledonii Tradition. These were based on the concept behind Rudyard Kipling's Just-So Stories. I was always keen on why we believe what do. Why do we, and all beings on this Earth, behave in a certain manner? So it seemed a natural progression in my own spiritual education to ask why each of the full moons had titles attributed to them. As a result, The Moon Myths were born, but they had never been read outside my "circle" of Witch friends and acquaintances. Those stories, along with many others mentioned above, became the backbone of The Blood Crown.

To be frank, of the three books in the Relics series, The Blood Crown is my favourite. The only part of it that distressed me while writing it, and still does upon revisiting, is the story concerning Faust, in a large section of the narrative called "The Sainted Confessor."

Mentioned only in passing in The Chalice, Faust was a Vampire in New York City, who fell victim to Cadmus' charms in the dazzling Disco days of Studio 54. He grew to prominence as The Blood Crown's plot developed in an almost organic fashion. Since the character of Faust became anchored to a talented young actor I know, the horrors that befell him distressed me on a cellular level. During the time I wrote it, on through to present time, I would occasionally apologise to him. That part of the book, however, gives me faith that, sometimes, the story really does write itself. Faust evolved from an incidental mention in The Chalice to an integral part of the story in both The Blood Crown and The Augury of Gideon.

There were some liberties taken in regard to historical events and some geographical descriptions. This was intentional, because I don't perceive these stories as happening in our reality. That said, if you come across something in the book that doesn't quite compute, I invite you to reach out to see if it was a result of alternate reality voodoo, or actually a mistake on my part.

In fact, if you want to contact me about anything, by all means, do. You can do so by posting queries, concerns, or anything in between on my author's page here on Amazon, or you can find me on Facebook, with the username "VampireRelics."

I hope you enjoy reading The Blood Crown as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Current Mood: hyper
Current Location: home
Current Music: SKRILLEX - FIRST OF THE YEAR (EQUINOX)

“Just because the world thinks you’re a monster, doesn’t mean you have to live up to the reputation, you know,” Orphaeus said offhandedly.

“This, coming from someone who collects finger bones...”

Cadmus’ barbed response needled along the peripheries of Orphaeus’ growing exasperation with the Plenipotentiary.

“All I’m saying is, the world is already a shit-hole. Why not try to make it a little better or, at the very least, don’t make it any worse?”

Cadmus cut his eyes to Orphaeus.

“Do you know what the world is to me, Swan?” Cadmus said quietly. “It is a stable, packed with animals waiting for their turn for slaughter. It is a wilderness aching to be bled out. I have no desire to make it anything more than it is.”

“But you don’t have to glorify your hatred of everything around you!” Orphaeus argued.

“I am not glorifying anything, and you are forgetting that I am not in thrall to the trappings of emotion –“

“Yet!" Orphaeus injected. "You can feel, Cadmus. I can see it now more than ever before. The singing of the Augury has changed you, you can’t deny that.”

Cadmus returned to watching the vastness beyond Milky Way’s cradling arms. Orphaeus was right about the change in him, but that did not mean Cadmus had to aggressively seek out experiences that might trigger emotion.

“I see no need to confirm or deny anything for you. Perhaps you are over-emphasizing your importance in relation to me, and anything I do. Think upon that hank of ginger hair I cut from your skull, lo these many years ago, and kindly remember your place.”

Current Mood: Getting my Dubstep on
Current Location: Home
Current Music: deadmau5 - Raise Your Weapon

"I did not want to rescue you, you know," Orphaeus said quietly, his eyes never straying from the tapestry of stars above them.

"Nor did I ask," came the terse reply.

"But you are part of a story greater than all of us. From the Memories of the Tarmi, I know that humanity has never walked this planet without being sheltered by that wiser race. You're that last link to a bygone age, and I fear that the human species would be nothing but simple animals without that cord connecting them to your people."

Cadmus cut his eyes to the ginger Vampire, taking in his vulpine profile as the lights of Dubai illuminated them both, even from their lofty vantage.

"Humans are worse than, as you say, 'simple animals.' You are a mindless pestilence who have done nothing but the will of the Apostate."

"And you didn't?" Orphaeus asked, turning to face the Pariah, locking eyes with him.

"Being created for a purpose is a far cry from being duped into villainy. At least I broke free of it, whilst millions of your herd still faithfully adhere to the lies they have been spoon-fed for centuries. If you think the salvation of humanity will somehow manifest in me because of my lineage, you are more of a fool than I thought. The world deserves to be cleansed of your infection."

"But what would you do for food, Cadmus?"

"Perhaps it is time for humanity to learn what it feels like to be bred for certain traits or supposed attributes. Like dogs or cattle. Perhaps you should experience the joy that can be found on a factory farm. My home still has many empty rooms just waiting for more pets to drain. The collars hunger to be clasped around lost souls' throats. And I am all too eager to make that vision reality, for that is a human's only possible use to me."

Orphaeus felt the coldness of Cadmus Pariah's words coil in his spirit. How could a being who clearly had had an angelic finger rest upon his brow, despite the brutality he had suffered over the years, be so consistently vicious? He knew that he would never be able to answer that question, and Cadmus would never volunteer his own theories, if he had any. Still, the awe of him also stirred within the Swan's heart. Even Cadmus' homicidal nature was resplendent in its totality and perfection.

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Syntax - Message

Yeah, I'm writing kind of slow, but at least I'm writing!

Orphaeus laughed. “Well, it warms the cockles of my heart that the feeling is mutual.”

“Why, then, did you come back for me on Brown Mountain? Why did you not just let me die there?” Cadmus asked, and his voice was almost plaintive.

“Cadmus… I don’t know,” Orphaeus replied, splaying his fingers out before him in an unconscious expression of dramatics. “I just felt it was the right thing to do. You and I, we had been through so much, I couldn’t imagine a world without your predatory presence, I guess. Or maybe it was ingrained in me to do it along with all the memories Kelat passed along. Maybe she knew you wouldn’t die immediately. Maybe that was her plan all along.”

The Pariah cut his eyes to Orphaeus and smiled grimly and briefly. “That is exactly something like what my Mother would do. And I am certain her hope that the redemption I suffered on that accursed mountain would carry over into my new life as a full Darkling. She was wrong. She was wrong about many things. If she were responsible for your returning to save me, then she is responsible for the suffering the New Hive experiences now, and will experience until all of you are but the myth and legend most humans think we already are.”

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: home
Current Music: Shriekback - "I Want to Go Home"

"So is that why I'm here? You've decided to dispatch me?"

"No," Cadmus Pariah whispered. "I summoned you because tonight marks five years since we retrieved the Blood Crown."

"You mean to tell me that you are celebrating an anniversary?"

"Do I look like a celebrant, Swan? No. I wanted to see if you could summon up the ancient memories on this night. I need to feel connected to that part of me, and I do not know why. Perhaps the memory you summon may shed light upon this mystery, so I might find some peace."

"I could only tap into those memories when I drank Kelat's Blood from the chalice, Cadmus. Both of them are gone. I don't see how you think I can help now."

Cadmus returned his gaze to the heavens hanging over Dubai. The swirls and collisions of the cosmos sang to him, and he wondered if perhaps Vincent van Gogh had possessed some of the Tarmian blood, for his Starry Night was the closest a human had ever come to realising the truth of the night sky. Pieces of broken poetry filled his endless mind, inspired by what he beheld above him. Eventually, they may show up as songs, a voice in the night reaching out to souls who felt most at home when the sun hid on the other side of the world.

“Have you not thought that my Blood may work, Orphaeus? I am her child, after all. It would be worth trying, in my opinion. And I am willing to share my sacred elixir with you, in the hope that you can tap into those ancient memories.”

Orphaeus was flabbergasted. “You want me to drink your Blood? Your Blood…”

“You would be only one of two Darklings to do so, and I feel compelled to do this thing, so much so that whatever gifts you receive by drinking from me would be worth the surrender of my normal control.”

Silence grew between them, as Orphaeus tried to make sense of a situation that bordered on insanity. In the normal world he was used to, Orphaeus would never have been given the offer of Cadmus’ Blood. To Orphaeus’ knowledge, the Plenipotentiary had never engaged in a full Ambrosciata, taking the Blood he wanted just before the orgasmic exchange, and killing the Vampire unfortunate enough to trust him to the point of opening up to such an experience.

“Will you do it, Swan?” Cadmus whispered, his voice cutting into the night sky above them like a scimitar. “Will you help me on this, our anniversary?”

Orphaeus weighed his options, then asked, “We won’t be engaging in Ambrosciata, will we? Because I do not trust you enough to engage in that.”

“No. No, Orphaeus. I could not bear to think of being intimate with you. I am unsure what our relationship truly is but, to be brutally honest with you, I despised you from the moment we met, and I despise you now."

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: home
Current Music: Shriekback - Bernadette

So where did I leave off on the whole changing roles subject? I think I was just addressing Orphaeus’ relationship to Kelat.

I will freely admit that my giving into Danny Elfman love was what created Orphaeus Cygnus. I’d always enjoyed his singing, but something about his score and vocals for A Nightmare Before Christmas triggered full-on obsession for me. As a result, Orphaeus became a former Austrian opera singer who was brought over to the Hive of the Beast by Rebekah of Judea, Thiyennen’s blood daughter, a Dhampir, who was turned by her Blood Mother Kelat, making Orphaeus Kelat’s grandson.

Because of that, I always saw him as aligned with Kelat, and he would have actively sought out her prison tomb to release her. Of course, the prison tomb scenario never came to fruition, but Orphaeus’ connection to Kelat was seemingly etched in stone. It became part of the story arc, and the core reason for her choosing him to become the first Father of Memory.

His closeness to Kelat also dictated an unmitigated enmity between Orphaeus and Cadmus Pariah. Actually that, combined with Orphaeus’ desire to reconcile the Hive of the Beast with the Great Hive, pretty much put the last nail in the coffin as far as those two were concerned. Beasts were for Cadmus’ use until he was ready to dispose of them, and they had no other purpose. For them to become upstanding citizenry within the Great Hive would be counterproductive to Cadmus’ motives, so the attempts of Orphaeus to redeem his tribe met with violent reprimand by Cadmus, and led to Cadmus being named Pariah, as was prophesied by Gideon the Mad.

At first, though, Orphaeus was only supposed to have a short appearance in The Chalice, and possibly be slain by Cadmus in the end. But that honour fell to Paine Bryerson, who was the character anchored to my best friend Todd. When Todd read about Paine, his first reaction was “You write about me, and I will sue your ass.” To which I responded, “You threaten me with litigation, asshole, I will kill off your character. In fact, he’ll be the only main character to die in the book. And Cadmus will kill him, ‘cos I know how you hate Cadmus.”

Of course, all of this was joking between us, but Paine did turn out to be the one killed. That was no joke.

I was so enamoured with Orphaeus Cygnus, though, I decided to thrust him and Cadmus together in a much closer proximity to one another in the next book, just to see what would happen. At that point, Cadmus was already writing himself, and Orphaeus was close to that zen state of character development. The Blood Crown was established almost solely on this premise, and it became my Vampiric answer to the Hope & Crosby Road movies. Of the three books, even though The Chalice is my baby, The Blood Crown is my favourite, because it centers almost completely on my two favourite characters, Cadmus and Orphaeus.

During the time I was writing The Blood Crown, another incidental character of mine, who was mentioned only in passing in The Chalice, flared to the forefront as my friendship with Scott, of The Joker Blogs fame, began to develop. Faust, the Disco Darling so brutally murdered by Cadmus during the Summer of Sam, demanded that his story be told.

And this turned out to be the most difficult and agonising piece of writing I had ever tackled. I ended up soliciting impromptu therapy sessions from Megs and [Bad username or site: ”gunslingaaahhh” @ livejournal.com] during the long nights of my writing what would become a novella inside The Blood Crown novel proper. I also profoundly apologised to Scott on more than one occasion. Faust went from being a Vampire with a cameo appearance, to an actual Vampire saint who would prove to be of great importance in the third book, mainly because Megs couldn’t bear to think he had actually been slaughtered. Thanks to her, Faust got to live, albeit in a different incarnation, but live he did.

And now I’m working on The Harming Tree, which was initially going to be a collection of short stories on how Cadmus came to grips with his newfound emotions, one by one, with the help of his “new relic” for the New Hive, the dastardly and bloody Harming Tree. But the writing of one of these short stories, introducing what was supposed to be another throwaway character that Cadmus would get to destroy, turned everything upside down.

Enter Flint.

This time, the character was one I couldn’t bring myself to kill. And this pissed me off, because such a new character shouldn’t gain so much creative power in such a short period of time. But there it is, and his existence has turned the original plans for The Harming Tree upside down. I’m now thinking that it may be a fourth novel set in my Vampire world, dealing primarily with Cadmus’ assimilation of emotion and his repeated conflicts with a young Vampire he can’t seem to slaughter.

Needless to say, Flint pisses off Cadmus as much, if not more, than he does me. And something tells me that his role in the arc stories of Cadmus Pariah is far from finished evolving. Time only will say for certain what the future holds for the Relics characters and how they interact with one another. One thing’s for certain, though; Orphaeus will definitely be making another appearance in the new stories. In fact, I’m playing around with one right now.

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: Motel 6, Willcox, Arizona
Current Music: silencia

I started writing it day before yesterday. So far, it's been fueled by Sacred City, Big Night Music, and Cormorant, all by Shriekback. I do know it feels good to have Orphaeus Cygnus and Cadmus Pariah back together again.

"Do you know what I find most gratifying about being able to see into the depths of the cosmos?"
Orphaeus Cygnus sighed in mock resignation. "Why can't you just say, 'Do you know what I love'?"

"I do not love." Cadmus Pariah said simply. He narrowed his vast eyes as he cut them to the ginger-haired Vampire lying next to him on the roof of the skyscraper far above the city of Dubai. He wondered why he was even spending the evening with this, his long-time nemesis. His behaviour since his resurrection into full Vampiredom mystified Cadmus on many an occasion, and this was one of those times. He asked himself why he did not just slaughter the Swan and be done with the irritation. But something stayed his killing hand, and that something was what confused the Dark Child of Night.

"Whatever, dude. So what do you find so gratifying then?"

"The myriad of colours. The multitudinous hues. Humanity can never behold what wonder surrounds them. And you previously human Vampires can only grasp hints of the incredulous kaleidescope that makes up Creation. My Elven eyes can see colours that are beyond your comprehension, so the symphony of the universe is laid bare before my sight. It stirs both elation and humility."

There was an interlude of silence as Cadmus' poetry settled into their bones. Orphaeus may not like Cadmus, he really couldn't with the dark history they shared, but he did appreciate the way Cadmus sculpted words to create another reality for those around him. His voice and his mastery of language never failed to hypnotise. This was one of his many gifts, and he used it with sublime perfection. Was it any wonder people flocked to his music and behaved as though it were a religious experience? Was it any wonder they spilled their blood for him during concerts?

"That's fascinating. As a former human and, apparently a limited Vampire for it, I really never thought about colours that I could not see existing."

"People usually do not. You are quite satisfied with what you can see, and have little regard for the hidden wonder beyond your vision. I surmise this is a natural behaviour for, if you were to ponder upon that which you can never see, your dissatisfaction would grow exponentially, and you would never be able to appreciate the beauty that you can see."

"You're waxing philosophical this fine night. What's got into you, Cadmus?"

Cadmus Pariah turned his head away from the infinity of space to face Orphaeus Cygnus. The Swan exhibited nothing but innocent curiosity along with his question. He was genuinely interested in what was going on with him, though Cadmus had no idea why he would be this way, given the enmity between them. Still though, there had been a kind of bonding between them during their quest for the Blood Crown. And it had, after all, been Orphaeus who had returned to the Brown Mountain and helped to resurrect Cadmus after his self-sacrifice in the ecstasy of the Relics' union. Cadmus still vividly remembered the holy song he shared with the Sainted Confessor, that mortated Vampire child who inspired such violent rage within him. At least now, he was not haunted by that persistent spirit. He was not certain he could maintain any shred of sanity if the ghost tormented him in his sleep whilst, at the same time, that nasty little titch Flint roamed the world, hunting Cadmus as though he could ever overcome the Plenipotentiary and exact vengeance for his beloved Gareth. When it came right down to it, Cadmus simply wanted to be left alone, to hunt and slay prey the way he pleased, and bask in the warmth of his worshippers.

"Nothing really has 'got into me,' as you say. I have just been pondering my Elven progenitors and wonder if I shall encounter them again."

"Meybhelahn is barred to our kind, Cadmus. The Vampires who chose to remain, chose the curse over any kind of redemption."

"I had no such choice," Cadmus said, his voice a low buzz. "I was used as a doorway, as a healing tool, in spite of myself. I was broken. No choice was ever presented to me."
Orphaeus felt stung by the raw bitterness in Cadmus' words.

"I'm sorry, Cadmus," Orphaeus said quietly. "I never thought of it that way. Do you miss them, then? The last Elves, the Original Ten?"

"Miss them?" Haughtiness spread across Cadmus' visage. "No. I would have killed them, had they remained. Just as I will eventually slay all of you. It is what I was born to do, and shall someday fulfill my destiny, especially now that I can drink the blood of humans."

"So is that why I'm here? You've decided to dispatch me?"

"No," Cadmus Pariah whispered. "I summoned you because tonight marks five years since we retrieved the Blood Crown."

"You mean to tell me that you are celebrating an anniversary?"

"Do I look like a celebrant, Swan? No. I wanted to see if you could summon up the ancient memories on this night. I need to feel connected to that part of me, and I do not know why. Perhaps the memory you summon may shed light upon this mystery, so I might find some peace."

"I could only tap into those memories when I drank Kelat's Blood from the chalice, Cadmus. Both of them are gone. I don't see how you think I can help now."

Cadmus returned his gaze to the heavens hanging over Dubai. The swirls and collisions of the cosmos sang to him, and he wondered if perhaps Vincent van Gogh had possessed some of the Tarmian blood, for his Starry Night was the closest a human had ever come to realising the truth of the night sky. Pieces of broken poetry filled his endless mind, inspired by what he beheld above him. Eventually, they may show up as songs, a voice in the night reaching out to souls who felt most at home when the sun hid on the other side of the world.

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Shriekback - Sea Theory