General - An Old Webpage Teaser Page from 10 Years Ago...

This is a post that should be filed under wow was I ever wrong, when I used the word "soon"...   

Tonight I was combing through my mounds of "All things Azmathia" and came across an a link to an old web page that I had published nearly 10 years ago.   As mentioned in an earlier post Azmathia is a Sci-Fi Fantasy Saga that has lived in my mind for nearly 30 years in various forms.   The world has grown in scope, since my 11 year old imagination began combining all of my favorite Scifi, Fantasy, Political Observations, and love of cool SF machinery and armor.   Early attempts to create a written world have struggled as I was learning the habit of writing on a daily basis.   In the early years I thought I would be able to learn 3D animation and tell the story in that venue, but in spite of my 3D CAD skills I never found that media completely compelling, and it never developed beyond my acquaintances who had more skills in their discarded finger nails from last century than I could muster in my entire life.   (One example is Ekrat, his early Star Wars models were out of this world!!!  If your in the market for 3D imagery, you should check the gallery over at Colorzync.com )

That make me realize that I would need to find other venues to develop the story and ideas.  There is even a board game version that I built with the intent to play with my nephews.   One of these days I will pull it out and takes some pictures of the progress that, that aborted project.   Then life and my six kids, over ran my time.   I would occasionally sketch or find an story that demanded that it be written, and even recorded audio descriptions of the world and characters, as I was driving from pizza delivery to pizza delivery.  

What follows is the page from a long forgotten webpage that is nearly 10 years old to the day.   I find it interesting that while the story has continued to develop and grow the overall structure is still quite similar to the information from the page.

This is a purely Sci-Fi story that will focus on the origins of the Tlasi built Planetary Research Station (PRS) - PRS-04975 "Azmathia''. (Note: It is now called the 'Azmathian Dawn'). It is at the center of the conflict between four warring factions.  
This is the story of Freedom and the unquenchable flame that burns with in the souls of men.  I will be giving you much more in the coming months.  There is a lot of things that make this story worth telling.  

Until then here are a few concept sketches to fire the synaptic pathways... 

 If you wish to see more you can visit my discussion board and comment as you see fit...  http://com3.runboard.com/bsfada9.f6 (Sadly this board before I really got it off the digital drawing board.) 

Azmathian Republic
Just because you are the "rightful owners" of a place, doesn't give you the ability to enjoy it peacefully. 

A Terran and Azmathian Stealth Bubble Generator.
Think AWACS meets Harry Potters Invisiblity Cloak.

Rocorian Directorate
All things are to be conquered and ruled! 

This is a Rocorian Carrier Launched Space Superiority Figher called "Stinger".
The laser fire is from a HAMPSTER's in flight rear turret.

Shamar Empire
An ageless caste system divides them...
Pride and greed unite them...
Both are rotting them from the inside!

Shamari Commoner

A SPECIAL THANKS to a good friend, Brandon Koller, he has given the Shamari sharp looking face to begin the fleshing out of this ancient and crumbling cast ridden system.   A system that values only the Elites and is crumbling from within.  

Ma' Rni Society
That which can be manipulate should be....
Those who stands in opposition are killed...
That which others work for is worth stealing or destroying...

First Draft - Stairs in the Dark - Last Updated: 09/13/2016

The maw that opened in the night gave Kan reason to pause and consider his next step one more time.  The voices in his head urged him to retreat.  The pressure of the discordant choir raging at him only galvanized his resolve.  Pain sprang into his mind like a screaming trumpet next to his ears he flinched away.

“It’s the only way!” he yelled at the opening.

“Turn back!” a voice inserted itself like a blade and then twisted into an agony of intensity that caused him to stubble to his knees.

“You will die,” the voice promised.

Fear clawed at his heart as he forced himself to his feet an stepped into the dark mouth of death that would consume his body and possibly destroy his sanity before he could complete his purpose. 

“I will not turn back,” he yelled into the darkness as he reached the top of the stairs that lead into a vast cavern below.

Kan’s pulse hammered as if it were a creature seeking to tear itself from his veins.  Each step into the darkness was met with the taunts and promises of the voices that threatened to drive him mad with echos of voice and acrimonious sound that only he could hear as it rippled across his mind in waves that assaulted his sanity.

The light that illuminated the stairs as he descended into the catacomb levels below was on something that gave incomplete details to the wet and pervasive moss that threatened to steal his footing with each step into the void.  It emanate from the moss itself, splashing the black with hues so faint that it might as well be drops of water cast onto the baking sands of the Zhe-Hu Desert at mid-day for all the good it did to bathe the wide expanse of blackness.  All it revealed was fliting movements at the edge of perception that Kan sensed at a primal level were not mere ghosts of his imagination acting on a canvas of shadowy velvet; he was being watched and followed by the Wraiths of Silence. 

“You are brave!” an amused voice chuckled amid the violent torrent of mental torment that gnawed at his inner stability. 

“I DO NOT FEAR YOU,” Kan yelled at the voice.

“You should,” the now cold voice said,

“I will end this life of yours,” it promised with no trace of humor or sanity.

“With each step forward your remaining human heartbeats grow shorter,” the now familiar if menacing voice warned.

Kan could feel the truth of the warning.

“I do not fear to cross the Vail of Silence!” he replied.

The barely contained terror that screamed in his head for him to run sloshed through him triggering more adrenaline to flow into his flooded system threatening his tenuous fight for control of his mind.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” he screamed as he stumbled and fell painfully down the last few stairs landing with a meat crash that slammed the right side of his body into the cold slimed rock. 

“NEVER,” the voice echoed in his mind like the racked laughter of a psychopath.  

Kan steeled his resolve and pushed himself to his knees before standing. 

“I will do this,” Kan said with coldness seeking to calm the roiling fear and master the pain that still burned in his shoulder and threatened to overwhelm his tentative balance as he took his next step forward to the glimpsed edge of the landing.

“Why are you doing this,” Kan called as he stepped onto the first stair.

“This is was the only way,” the voice answered in with the barest trickle of sympathy that vanished as if it were a particle colliding with another particle.  The resulting explosion of mental imagery shattered Kan’s tenuous control and his knees buckled sending him into down the entire flight of stairs to land in an insensate heap at the bottom.

The world ceased for a moment as the shards of pain overcame his body.  Those same shattered spikes of pain viciously thrust him back into consciousness. 

“Give up,” the voice said with disdain as the cacoughany of other voices forced their perspectives to cause his head to swim with agony.

Kan yet again forced himself to knees once more only to have his right knee scream as if it were being forced into a closing vice and he cried out in momentary uncontrolled pain.  The effort of standing and then working his way down the next fifty flights of stairs nearly killed him.  The silent shadows that lurked to all sides took on demonic proportions as they taunted his mind with visions of his pending death.

Kan stepped into the dim carved hall at the end of the battle between the fiendish voices, the slimy steps at odds with the previously solid unforgiving landings that had all vied for the honor of killing him. 

“I’m still alive, Master” he said, as his breathe coming in aching spurts.

“I can see that,” said the approving voice

A massive shadow disconnected itself from the ceiling thirty feet above and dropped to the floor with a grace that seemed impossible for a creature of such size of a ground car. 

Kan froze as the realize that the creature standing before him was the source of all the pain.

"Well done Kan," the voice stated as the confusion in his mind vanished into a pool of approval and flavored by hope Kan had never felt this from his unseen master in the entirety of his last decade of training.

“You have done well Kan!” he said again wordlessly in Kan’s mind.

Kan laughed at the realization of his triumph.

"Your lack of shock and awe at my unveiling confirms yet one more element of your character that the vision that the Council of the Voiceless has observed for you has merit," the hulking shadow stated as it stood to its full height and nearly blocked the passage forward.

"Did they tell you more that this vague path we have been walking these past cycles?" Kan asked.

"They never tell more than they must and sometimes the choose to remain silent and simply send a master like me without more than a generally vague and fleshless morsel to provide sustenance," the shadow stated.

"Then I guess it is lucky we know as much as we do, or you might have eaten me when we first met.", Kan said.

The cavern filled with a base rumble, "You would not taste good!"

"You are laughing at my ignorance you old lizard," Kan said in mock hurt.

The shadow replied in tones of seriousness, "We do not eat acolytes, it would be bad form to eat one of our own."

"Not to mention a bad reward for the courage it took to enter the swamps and seek the Council with this vision." Kan said.

Now that we are at the entrance to the Cavern of  Worlds and you have passed through the outer vail of Silence without the transformation, where do we go now my acolyte of visions?" the hulk asked.

"I have seen beyond the Vail of Silence and know that the change will take me yet, but not for a while yet for it is the will of the Voiceless One for me.", Kan said.

"It is rare that 'The One' speaks to any beyond the vail."  the creature said as it turned to look at the door to the Cavern of Worlds.

"I wish he had not chosen me to be honest." Kan said.

The massive bi-ped crouched low to look Kan in the eyes.

"You are wise enough to know this is not a blessing that "The One" has bestowed." the lizard-like being mused.

"My name is Tazul, Master of the Mind, Keeper of the Key, Protector of the Way and I am to be your teacher and guardian," the massive creature said.