Tag: short story

Opus Marduk – Pt 1

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Swooping over the blood soaked plains of the daemon world answering the summons, Marduk’s thoughts drifted over the circumstances of his ascendancy. From the first whispered tales of Khorne before the grand revolution throwing down the false emperor, through the endless journeys through the warp, leading his warband in one battle after another for the glory of Khorne…..

…Many were the battles of my Marauders carving out swathes of destruction and carnage through the galaxy. In their wake only the charred ruins of systems, onward to the new sector and fresh offerings of skulls and spilling of blood for the Dark Powers. Until the day the Imperial Battle Fleet came and our only solace of escape lay within the warp. Chaos heeded our call. A titanic warp storm, its power was more than anything seen in this sector, the sheer ferocity of the warp overwhelming our astronavigator, losing us in the labyrinthine corridors between the worlds.

Within the malicious currents of the storm, we boarded them. One by one, my fleet grew. The hunter was now the prey. Those who would not surrender to the Dark Powers were sacrificed. Of those who surrendered, the sweetest taste were those of the Delphian Guard who succumbed, seeing the false light of their corpse empire for lies; joining eagerly in the sacrifice of their former Battle Brothers. Many were the skulls piled in cairns as offerings to the Dark powers.

The sights, the madness, the glorious Muse which bore me euphoria from its womb; whose pained head I first took Vision of those instincts which have to do with all corruption. Rage, only rage began to exist, the purer the rage the more in control I felt. The stranger god was his own, MARDUK. Yes, it was he who tasted life then, the seed of the earliest dreams sprouting, taking root in the hoary remnants of my soul.

Marduk smiled at memories of the whispers once reaching his ears.  For as time passed within the timelessness of the warp Ideas there were those sought to sow sedition speaking against him. Whispers of getting ideas above my station and despite our victories, we were cast into the Warp Storm as punishment and to teach me my place; Marduk’s mirthless laughter rang off the canyon walls at the memory. So easy to handle, those who complained – adding their skulls to the growing cairns in dedication to Khorne, drinking the blood of the slain from their skulls as their brethren watched, searing into them the discipline and obedience he required as they each sipped in turn..

Each death more savage, each more bestial, yes, it was he who flung himself upon the mon-kee, who bit , tore and swallowed the smoking gobbets of flesh- while on the trampled decks began the rites in honour of their god, blood smoked as incense and shared draught, while the cairns of skulls grew-and In his very core, felt the bestial elevation to his ascendancy.

After one such orgy of blood, it happened. The sighting of an Imperial battle cruiser and as the storm waned; we attacked out of the storm. Their cruiser’s astronavigator was caught by surprise, the warp disruptions still blinding them and they crashed to the planet below.

The hated enemy, a host of Dark Angels, spilled from the wreckage like maggots deserting carrion. Our warband descended upon them as the wrathful vengeance we represented. In a battle bloody and fierce, even for followers of the corpse empire, more of the warp filled me. Till within my armor, the very form of one of the Dark Powers began to take shape. Among the spoils, a pair of scroll cases the contents citing a mysterious void, the Astronomicon, said to contain a source of great power.

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

Stories of the Iron Dragons – Awakening : The End…???

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Joining the others around the altar, whereupon is bound a woman in green robes is bound, a great tome to one side, Inquisitor de Salis ascends the dais. A chant begins. Slowly, at first, building in crescendo and fervor the chant builds. He holds up his hands and cries out,

“Where the stones have been set up thou shalt call out to Shub- Niggurath, and unto he that knoweth the signs and uttereth the words all earthly pleasures shall be granted.”

* * * *

“The sun has entereth the Sign of the Ram and the time of night is upon us. De Salis turned to the North wind and read aloud:

Iah ! SHUB-NIGGURATH !

Great Black Goat of the Woods,

I Call Thee forth !

 

As one the crowd kneels.

Answer the cry of thy servant who knoweth the words of power!

(my right hand raises in a strange gesture I know to be the Voorish sign)

Rise up I say from thy slumbers and come forth with a thousand more!

(my left hand now raises in a strange gesture I know to be the sign of Kish)

I make the signs,

I speak the words that openeth the door!

Come forth I say,

I turn the Key,

Now ! walk the Earth once more !

The Inquisitor cast the perfumes upon the coals, a putrid smoke now arising from the altar and he traces a sigil in the air and pronounces the words of power:

ZARIATNATMIX, JANNA, ETITNAMUS,

HAYRAS, FABELLERON, FUBENTRONTY,

BRAZO, TABRASOL, NISA,

VARF-SHUB-NIGGURATH ! GABOTS MEMBROT !

And then the Black one came forth and the thousand Horned Ones who howl shall rose up from the Earth. And thou shalt hold before them the talisman of Yhe upon which they shall bow to thy power and answer thy demands.

And before did indeed appear Shub-Niggurath. Standing there legs astride the altar looking down as Inquisitor de Salis plunged an obsidian blade deep into the womans chest tied down upon the altar. As her life force visibly rose from her body to join the incense already polluting the foul air, Shub-Niggurath spoke.

There is another you must awaken this night and your time grows short. Take this image of the last Old One and go now, do as it is foretold.

Turning with the crowd, (had there been so many in our expedition?), we headed out a great archway toward the cliffs looking over the oceans.

Standing at the cliffs edge, Inquisitor de Salis turns and began to speak again. Again the chant grew, more powerful, stronger than before..

 

Ia!! Ia!! Cthulu Phatagn! Ia!! Ia!! Cthulu Phatagn! Ia!! Ia!! Cthulu Phatagn!

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh Wgah’nagl fhtan.

 

After the third chorus of the chant, all was silent. The Inquisitor began to speak,

‘In His House at R’lyeh Dead Cthulhu waits dreaming, yet He shall rise and His kingdom shall cover the Earth.

And He shall come unto you in sleep and show His sign with which ye shall unlock the secrets of the deep.’

O Thou that lieth dead but ever dreameth,

Hear, Thy servant calleth Thee.

Hear me O mighty Cthulhu! 

Hear me Lord of Dreams !

In Thy tower at R’lyeh They have sealed ye,

but Dagon shall break Thy accursed bonds,

and Thy Kingdom shall rise once more.

The Deep Ones knoweth Thy secret Name,

The Hydra knoweth Thy lair;

Give forth Thy sign that I may know

Thy will upon the Earth.

When death dies, Thy time shall be,

and Thou shalt sleep no more; Grant me the power to still the waves,

that I may hear Thy Call.

 

After repeating this incantation three times, Inquisitor de Salis lifted the statue of the winged creature, (where had I seen it before), and threw it over the cliffs into the waves below, saying as he did, ‘In His House at R’lyeh Dead Cthulhu waits dreaming, yet He shall rise and His kingdom shall cover the Earth.’

Shortly afterward, the waters began to boil, the seas exploded upward, and there he was, towering over the cliffs, glistening by the light of the gibbous moon. Cthulhu! He did exist. Many within our number swooned, or fell dead, I know not which, nor did I care. All that mattered was he was here.

Then a abruptly a pain, a terrible, blinding pain erupted behind my eyes, and I knew. I knew this was the beginning. We did not have the power needed to release him from R’lyeh, but we had enough he could communicate with us gloriously in our dreams.

We must go out, bring the other races under his calling, for it will take many minds to bring him back to our materium. Since he has powers of the warp we cannot even imagine, he can aid us. He sees now there are powers within the warp which were not intended, but he can use them. He can imbue our force with the power of any warp faction. For now, our directive is clear. Take Cthulhu Crusade to the stars. Seek the power to release him from R’lyeh.

*****

Awakening as the morning revel is sounded I am drenched in sweat. The sides of my cot still have impressions of my fingers and I have a headache. I hope there is coffee.

 

 

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

Stories of the Iron Dragons – Awakening Pt. 4

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Entering, the interior is cavernous, larger than many of the hive cities on other worlds. As we bring in light sources and the cavern is lit, surprised to see many buildings through out the expanse. Central to all of these is a building of apparently the same greenish-black stone as the temple itself. Shaped as a Ziggurat it towers over the other buildings.

These other buildings are not of the same design, not even the same races! Here there are the graceful lines of the Slynar, there are some which if they were not so neatly organized, I would swear are Oruk barracks, clean efficient Mechronter, and dwellings which may have come from any period on Earth, and many styles which could not be named.

After hours of collecting data, trying to find common thread between the runes, it was time to rest. During this time, I know not where the Inquisitor or his Augur had gone, but on my way back to camp they came walking out of the jungles.

Neither offered any information and it is not wise to question the ways of The Inquisition, so we continued back in silence.

Reviewing the runes I am finding much that is exciting. I dare not, I shall not, hope that we may have found a last stronghold of the Old Ones. If I read some these runes right at first impression, they tell the story of the Old Ones. Genetically manipulating and bring into being many of the races we know today. Even, hints at things never dreamt in our imaginations.

After creating many races, even with their great wisdom and foresight, an unheralded event in Galactic history occurred. This unforeseen side effect of the Old Ones began to manifest as the Young Races’ growing pains disturbed the Warp. With this formless energy coalescing older warp entities become predatory and the Empyrean became a more hostile environment. From cracks in reality, the denizens of the warp sought entry into the material universe. From this beginning, all of Chaos was formed.

Legends hinting at some of this continue to be sung by the Slynar on the homeworld Jeilur, but compared to what has been learned here in only a few hours, they are as children’s tales. But if these tales be true, perhaps it is true one yet survives?

So many races who were shaped by the Old Ones and set into their eventual destinies, all described here.

The Mechronter wanted to immortality from them, but were denied, pushing them to form an alliance with the Yith. The Slynar race, were taught and shown the ways of the warp. Teaching them to use the warp portals, and their excesses in search of experiences, gave birth to the chaos god Sleakesh. Kroruks, (possibly devolved into the Oruks we know today), as living weapons from spores, complete with the knowledge of weapons and battle needed to fight the wars with the Yith.

Having not even scratched the surface and to have this much knowledge, what things will we learn here?

I go to sleep, my mind abuzz at the wonders awaiting us all.

 

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

Stories if the Iron Dragons – Awakening Pt. 3

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Now, approaching the area it comes into view. A coastline of mingled mud, ooze, and weedy cyclopean masonry surrounds the nightmare corpse-city. The city built in measureless aeons behind history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars.

As the city resolves itself into sight it is seen as a vista of vast angles and stone surfaces – surfaces too great to belong to anything right or proper for mortal beings. Our pilots found landing space in the great plaza. On our approach the temple dominated the landscape. What has looked black from the air and recon photos had a greenish sheen to it, possibly the result of the slime and molds that covered everything. The great temple, those greenish stone blocks, the dizzying height of the great carven monolith, and the stupefying identity of the colossal statues and bas-reliefs commanded awe from human onlookers.

The geometry is abnormal, non-Euclidean, and loathsomely redolent of spheres and dimensions apart from ours. The taint of the warp so prevalent on this planet is almost palpable in this tomb city of a forgotten race. So much, the Inquisitors’ Augur was almost glowing with it as he jewels sought to contain and bleed it off.

We began our investigations at the largest of the buildings while the guardsmen set up our camp. Exploring the perimeter of the ruin the walls are covered in reliefs. When seen close many bas-reliefs of different species and life forms. Perhaps this was a central complex for an interstellar religion. Many reliefs appear to show scenes studying the stars. These scenes showed astrology and astronomy blended into an arcane science. A great number of runes appear to be similar to versions used by a variety of races.

Between the runes and the reliefs it appears the builders thought themselves teachers, perhaps mentors, to some of the other races.

One such relief shows a winged figure with a barbed tail, crouching upon a platform. Its head reminiscent of a cephalopod or perhaps some sort of Xristox, some of the runes surrounding it are similar in appearance to those used by the Slynar and of all races, the Mechons.

A cry in the distance at the edge of the temple brings me back to our group. It seems some of the group found a stone plinth could be moved revealing an opening into the temple.

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

Stories of the Iron Dragons – Awakening Pt. 2

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Tezcatlipoca smiled.

 Had there been any to see, it would be enough to tear the final wisps of sanity from any lesser being. During the long search for the shards of his broken crystal staff, the scribes found something even he had not expected.

 An Old One; one who did not die in the war with the Yith but was found sleeping in the dimension known as R’lyeh. It took tremendous and complex manipulations pulling together the demons to salvage those tokens which would release the Great Old One, Cthulhu, from his slumbers. Even now, the humans speed their way toward the magnificent basalt city in the materium where the gateways lay waiting.

 With the claw of one gnarled finger, Tezcatlipoca reached out and drew aside strands of the veil separating realities to enjoy this moment of time.

“My excitement is intense and building. Finally, after weeks of delay we are embarked upon the Iron Dragons Helleater en route to this mysterious city in the Southern Hemisphere of this planet. Accompanying us are the Arkham Confederates in a Capybara. Seems the delay was a result of consternation by the Inquisitor, not something one wishes to be the focus of, regarding an apparently large number of defectors. Rumors swirled they had taken to the jungles of this strange world based upon dreams of service, power and immortality. Inquisitor de Salis was quite wroth at hearing this and spent days interrogating the Arkham Confederates and inhabitants of the Hive City, Innsmouth.

Seems he did root out the corruption; for finally one broke, somehow his dying words echoing throughout the city, ‘Ia! Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!’, and with that eerie cry, many hundreds fell dead. The remembrance of the event is enough in itself to run my blood cold as icy talons of death caress my spine.

Stories of The Iron Dragons – Awakening Pt. 1

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

…..File Access 70% Data Available…..

 

Galactic Science Academy XenoArcheological Files

 

Vhoorl XenoArcheological Survey

Binary Star AL-Janubi

Star Chart Vector: Obscura

 

Personal Log: Charles Ward, Lead Xenoarcheologist

 

Star log 0946012.M40

 

“.. en route on board shuttle Hetty from the Cruiser Miskatonic down to meet with Captain Kalmar of Federated Space Force. He is the Commander of an elite company of super soldiers, the Iron Dragons. This planet, clear only a spate of years from the warp storm Hasturang; already shows signs in its Northern Hemisphere of its transformation into a new settlement for the Empire. With the storm cleared, it will be able to support Imperial efforts in the outer reaches of the vector.

 

The Iron Dragons garrison and their allies the Arkham Confederates, an Empire military unit have been stationed here to protect the establishment of the Imperial presence. Indeed, one factory for small arms and ammunition is online with armor and aircraft factories to be online within the next 3 and 6 months. The Ministry has created an administrative miracle, considering the labor source are rejects from the interior worlds.

 

Scouts for the Arkham Confederates report an enormous Xenos Ruin in the Southern Hemisphere on the largest continent. It is like nothing built or classified within Imperial record by any of the known Xenos. So, I travel to this star forsaken world, along with Commissar Lavinia Whatley and the Inquisitor Nathaniel de Salis, to inspect and classify this ruin. The area is described as “a coast-line of mingled mud, ooze, and weedy cyclopean masonry seemingly carved from solid blocks of basalt, possibly not native to the planet” by the Ministry projects geologist. We are tasked with classifying it and its potential threat to the Empire.”

 

End transmission……….

 

This was the last official transmission received from Vhoorl.

 

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

Stories of the Iron Dragons – A Bad Dream

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

The Providence and rest of the Iron Dragons fleet had been wondering for an untold number of years now. The warp storm which engulfed them upon entering this sector of space had been relentless.

 

Now, on the Miskatonic screens the Astronavigator showed a scene of unbelieved horror.

 

A vortex, a hole in the very fabric of the warp storm had opened. Through it, an arm was reaching. At the end of this cosmic arm was a large hand grasping and picking up million tonne ships as if they were playthings.

 

First the Providence, grappled amidships, was dragged stern first into the nothing. The Arkham and The Red Hook followed in short order. Ship after ship was being snatched, disappearing through the hole in the universe. An entire fleet lost into the nihility of space by a creature which treated them like toys. And then, it was the Miskatonic turn.

 

There was almost no sensation as the hand engulfed the ship. The only sound was the screams of the Astronavigator.

 

Soon, the darkness gave way to a blinding light as the mighty warship shook with a loud crash. Damage reports came in, no apparent damage but the ship was canted.

 

Captain Kalmar made his way to the observation decks. Pouring in through them was a blinding light. After his eyes adjusted, a sight of madness met him. There strewn along a great plain were all the mighty ships of the Iron Dragons fleet.

 

There were jagged mountains in the distance. Some structure, possibly ruins, could be seen at their base.. Already some men from the other ships were descending to the plain. The sensors were useless. Recon was the only way to determine their situation.

 

What trick of chaos was this, after all the battles with chaos forces, all the xenos, what bizarreness was this?

 

Towers of various colors bordered the plain. Beyond the towers, figures could be seen, a few emerged, Skraelings from a militia unit, claimed they had been part of a battle when a huge hand scooped them up depositing them here. Their reports indicated some Anarchist marines in the vicinity as well as daemons and Keldaran.

 

Shadow darkens the sky, the hand reaches out and a grey anarchist marine disappeared into the sky.

 

As Kalmar read through the scouting reports, he shook his head, what madness? The ships checked out. The power fields were still operating, how could the warp have touched them this way?

 

Kalmar awoke to a great shaking, the ship was being shaken and even an enhanced could not hold. As he fell though the ship, he prayed the divine dragon to deliver them.

 

Eventually, he fell along with others, out of the ship, into a palm. Yes a palm, perhaps the same which grabbed them.

 

All the crew fell in a heap on the plain. Some trickery of chaos paralyzing them so they lay in the heap.

 

He could see through a gap the same grey anarchist marine. The hand picked it up. After a time, the figure reappeared and it was no longer grey, but a blue with light trim, almost the reverse of the Iron Dragons colors.

 

Time and again the figure disappeared and reappeared with more detail, more color.

 

He secretly marveled at its appearance.

 

Feeling movement, Kalmar realized the whole heap of the men and marines had been picked up, Soon a falling sensation, followed by being engulfed in a cool, viscous liquid and darkness.

 

Kalmar had no idea how long he and his men were in the liquid. Eventually it drained and after a rinse in a lighter liquid, they found themselves back on the plain, next to a squad of anarchist marines with tentacled heads.

 

 

Many cycles of light and darkness pass. Marines began disappearing and reappearing. Each time with some color added. Never did they have the look of anarchy, nor the beauty.

 

One day an anarchist is placed nearby, and Kalmar’s comm-link crackles. The story the anarchist tells is similar, plucked from their battles and brought here, forced to face and fight others. If they win, they receive more color.

 

If they do not…

 

Slowly, Kalmar saw other Loyal Marines, fuzzy looking and armor poorly painted.

A battle comes and with it, life and new paint…..

 

Captain Kalmar looked up from the Miskatonic ready room at the sound of klaxons.

His equerry entered the room, knocking on the way in, as a brief nod to protocol, obviously excited.

“Sir!, the warp storm has dissipated!, we have contact with ships not in our fleet! Master Kullulu is speaking with them now.”

Shaking sleep and the strangeness of what must have been a warp dream from him, he headed for the bridge.

Introducing Tales of the Iron Dragons

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Good evening,

Tonight I have the pleasure of introducing you to one of my worlds. A planetary expedition force on the fringes of the galaxy with the goal of preparing the planet for colonization. You have been introduced to one of the characters already in “A Cultists Tale”. A piece of the story will be introduced each week. I hope you enjoy them.

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

Stories of the Iron Dragons – Discovery of Vhoorl

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Administratum Planetary Surveys

 

Vhoorl Planetary Survey

Binary Star AL-Janubi

Segmentum Obscurus

 

Personal Log: Donovan Gilman, Lead Planetologist

 

Planet Vhoorl, strategically located on the edge of Segmentum Obscurus is an earth-like planet in many respects. Atmosphere composed primarily of Nitrogen and oxygen, slightly richer in oxygen than Terra with a gravity approx 4/5s that of Terra.

The planet is majority water with two primary land masses, a northern and southern continent. The ocean separating the continents is primarily salt water.

The Northern Continent has an extensive river system, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the ocean. Two of these basins account for more than half the total drainage area. The largest river system in the Northern Continent originates in a mountainous region and receives tributaries from a basin that covers 45.7% of the continent, principally the north and west. The main river system flows from west to east. Through this basin flows one-fifth of Vhoorls fresh water. This system provides a sufficient supply of potable water for the hive city, Astra Militarum garrison and cooling for the factories.

Although 90% of the continent is within the tropical zone, the climate varies considerably from the mostly tropical North to temperate zones below the 23°27′ S latitude. The Northern Continent has five climatic regions: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, and subtropical.

Temperatures along the equator are high, averaging above 25 °C (77 °F), but not reaching the summer extremes of up to 40 °C (104 °F) in the temperate zones. There is little seasonal variation near the equator. At the country’s other extreme, there are frosts south of the 23°27′ S latitude during the winter and there is snow in the mountainous areas. Temperatures outside the Hive City are moderate (usually between 15 and 30 °C or 59 and 86 °F), despite their relatively low latitude, because of their elevation of approximately 1,000 meters (3,281 ft). The coast has warm climates, with average temperatures ranging from 23 to 27 °C (73.4 to 80.6 °F), but enjoys constant winds. The southern coast has a subtropical climate and temperatures can fall below freezing in winter.

Precipitation levels vary widely. The Northern Continent has moderate rainfall of between 1,000 and 1,500 millimetres (39.4 and 59.1 in) a year, with most of the rain falling in the summer south of the Equator. The region is notoriously humid, with rainfall generally more than 2,000 millimetres (78.7 in) per year and reaching as high as 3,000 millimetres (118.1 in) in parts of the western side of the continent. Despite high annual precipitation, the rain forest can have a three- to five-month dry season, the timing of which varies according to location north or south of the equator.

In contrast to the Southern Continent which rose to elevations of nearly 17,000 meters (55774.3 ft) in a relatively recent epoch and inverted the river flows direction of flow from westward to eastward, the Northern continent geological formation is very old. Crystalline shields cover 36% of the territory, especially its central area. The dramatic granite sugarloaf mountains are an example of the terrain of the shield regions, where continental basement rock has been sculpted into towering domes and columns by tens of millions of years of erosion, untouched by mountain-building events.

The principal mountain ranges average elevations just under 3,500 meters (11482.9 ft). The Murum Mar range hugs the eastern coast, and the Murrum Medius Range, the largest in area, extends through the south-central part of the continent. The highest mountains are in this range, others traverse the northern border.

In addition to mountain ranges (about 0.5% of the country is above 1,200 m or 3,937 ft), the Northern Central Highlands include a vast central plateau (Planalto Central). The plateau’s uneven terrain has an average elevation of 1,000 meters (3,281 ft). The rest of the territory is made up primarily of sedimentary basins.

The Southern Continents  main structural lines show both the east-to-west direction characteristic, at least in the eastern hemisphere, of the more northern parts of the world, and the north-to-south direction seen in the southern peninsulas. The Southern Continent is thus mainly composed of two segments at right angles, the northern running from east to west, and the southern from north to south.

With a heavily grown rainforest and has not been extensively explored at this time. Orbital surveys have shown extremely high mountain ranges circling the central portion of the continent, pictures of which provide the suggestion of jagged teeth biting their way through the planet. The forest canopy prevents the penetration of any light creating a perpetual twilight gloom.

Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year.[5] Average annual rainfall is no less than 168 cm (66 in) and can exceed 1,000 cm (390 in) although it typically lies between 175 cm (69 in) and 200 cm (79 in).[6]

The highest of these peaks reaches nearly 17,000 meters (55774.3 ft). Mons Imperalis as it has been deemed is about two thirds the height of Olympus Mons on Mars.

Inside the ring of mountains, appear the outlines of an ancient city. Preliminary review and exploration by the planetary geologist assigned to the colonization and establishment of munitoriums on Vhoorl indicate the city appears intact and is made of a black rock which may not be native to the planet.

A xeno-archeologist has been requested for further review. All exploration of the Southern Continent has been placed on hold pending his arrival. As a footnote the geologist came down with a strange malady after the visit to the Southern Continent. In his delirium he even decried his faith in the Emperor and was exterminated before further contamination could occur.

 

 

Thank you for reading,

Ernest

Foray into Noir

by Ernest Russell, posted in Uncategorized

Noir, what is it?

Noir fiction (or roman noir) is a literary genre closely related to hardboiled genre with a distinction that the protagonist is not a detective, but instead either a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator.

My first foray into the genre is with Once Upon a Mystery. The challenge of it was to create a 1920’s – 1930’s story using fairy tales as a base. I chose a setting comparable to 1929, just before and as the stock market crashed.

I drew the “Three Billy Goats Gruff”. I was almost dismayed when I began researching the story. Of all the uninteresting, straightforward stories, but I decided it was a challenge. There are some interesting points to the story. There were several themes in the story. Greed, patience, cunning, and a few others if you look for them. To incorporate these into the time period was not as difficult as feared once the story was laid out. Adding layers of intrigue to this straightforward story while maintaining its core was the trick.

Following is an excerpt from “Three Billy Goats Gruff: A Noir Fairy Tale”

“Orland squinted as he tilted the bottle. Disappointed with how little remained, he downed it in a swallow; then held it upside down. Where were the answers that were supposed to hide at the bottom?

He knew why there were no answers. He already had them.

It was late and the office echoed. Still, he looked over his shoulder. Billy needed the new medastinum surgery to fix his lungs. Orland had lost his wife. He was not going to lose his son.

Before his last swallow of liquid nerve waned, he made a few quick pen strokes. There! It was finished. Tomorrow, as part of routine processing, a clerk would set up an ongoing transfer of funds to his secret account. He was an honest sort, but the company had refused to help. His salary was just not enough. The evidence was well-hidden and another clerk processing it was the final shield. Even the best auditors would be hard-pressed to track this back to him.”