Category: Champion of the Gods

Champion of the Gods: Yar-del

When I began writing the series, I think the first ‘place’ I envisioned was Haven and the Plaines of Gharaha. Yar-del City, however, is probably my favorite place in the ‘world.’ When Honorus sent His servant to Ardus, the lord of the gods tasked Kel with creating a kingdom in the virtually unsettled lands. Legend has it that Honorus, in the guise of a white eagle, guided Kel to the spot where he’d build his ‘gleaming city by the sea.’ As a wizard whose lifespan would be measured in centuries, not decades, Kel took his time with the construction of his throne city. Unlike other cities, which grew up around something—a fortress, town, trade center—Kel laid out his city from …

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Champion of the Gods: Grand Master Kel

Of all the great wizards throughout history, none receive the same attention as Grand Master Kel, first king of Yar-del. Kel was the second youngest of seven sons born to Bren and Geena, farmers who lived in the ancient kingdom of Kentar in what is now the kingdom of Dumbarten. At the age of twelve, a wizard-priest recognized his potential and he was sent to the temple of Honorus in Kentar to begin his training. As with most wizards who showed the potential to be a high-level master or grand master wizard, after rudimentary training, he was sent to a temple of Falcon to further his education. When Kel attained master status, he rejected the traditional roles of a wizard. …

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Champion of the Gods: Neldin

Although hardly a secondary character, what would the book be without the ultimate bad guy. Neldin’s importance is mainly ‘off page.’ He will make appearances during the series, but they will be brief, as the gods are not allowed to directly interfere. Despite His lack of ‘face time’ on page, Neldin is the architect of the war and it is His hand that guides Meglar. I thought a bit of background on Him would help understand the entire series. Neldin and the Great War: From A History of Nendor In the beginning the seven gods of Nendor banded together to create the world. Each took some part of the world over which to hold sway. Each was permitted to guide …

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Champion of the Gods – Meglar

There are a number of characters who have an impact on the story whom we never meet. Meglar is one of those. Although we will meet him at some point in the story—I can’t even imagine the hate mail I’d get if I tried to resolve the final conflict between Farrell and Meglar in any fashion other than a face-to-face fight—in The Last Grand Master and The Eye and the Arm, Meglar doesn’t appear personally. That lack of face time does not, however, diminish his importance. In First Love we learn about Meglar from Queen Zenora, something we can’t do in The Last Grand Master or The Eye and the Arm because she died before the book opens. Yar-del and Zargon had been bitter …

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Champion of the Gods – Grand Master Heminaltose

When The Champion of the Gods begins with The Last Grand Master, Grand Master Heminaltose is dead. He died at Yar-del, along with Queen Zenora so we only get bits and pieces of him and his personality during the books. Heminaltose was Farrell’s first and most important teacher and helped shape his student’s character. He considered the latter task his most important. As the son of both Queen Zenora and Meglar, Heminaltose kept a close watch on Farrell. Any sign his student might turn out like his father would require Heminaltose to take swift action to neutralize this threat. Always mindful he might need to kill his student, Heminaltose maintained as much distance as he could with Farrell. Heminaltose was over …

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Champion of the Gods: Queen Zenora

Queen Zenora of Yar-del is one of the more tragic characters in the story. Like Heminaltose, she doesn’t survive the opening campaign of the war. In the Prequel—First Love— and in the flash backs through Farrell’s eyes, I tried to show the true strength of Zenora. Zenora is the only surviving child of King Bren. In her own right, she is a very powerful wizard. Her power is often over shadowed by those around her, specifically Heminaltose, her teacher, mentor and ally. Meglar’s meteoric rise to influence upon the stolen energy of Yar-del also obscures Zenora’s true power. But that just speaks to her strength as a wizard. What about her as a person? When King Falon of Zargon proposed …

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Holidays, Food and Culture of Nendor

I suppose it is somewhat obvious that when world building, one should give the inhabitants something uniquely their own, but it wasn’t to me. Although I like to cook, I’m hardly a foodie.  To me, reading a description of what the characters are eating is boring. Generally I skip over these parts, especially if there isn’t anything unique or important in the description.  Example of important food would be Lambas bread in the Lord of the Rings or Aliantha berries in Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant Chronicles.  Thus far, Nendor doesn’t boast any such miracle food. Like any other author, I bring to the table what interests me most. I really don’t care what people eat. The fact that characters eat is …

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Religion and Culture of Nendor

Religion and Culture of Nendor The world was created by the seven gods and goddesses of Nendor. Siblings, they are in order of age: Honorus – Lord of the gods; Lenore – Goddess of the earth; Neldin – Lord of the underworld; Arritisa – Lady of the ocean; Khron – God of war; Seritia – Goddess of love; and Falcron – God of wisdom. Each deity has it’s own temples, clerics, and followers.  Although there is no prohibition against following more than one, most people choose a specific god or goddess to primarily worship. Of course prayers are offered to different gods or goddesses depending on the need, no matter who a person follows. The seven gods worked together to …

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History and Politics of Nendor

The Seven Gods of Nendor created the world. After a time, Neldin – third eldest – decided to try to rise above his eldest brother Honorus and rule the world.  Neldin tricked the dwarves of Trellham to unleash the hordes of Neblor upon the world.  The other six gods rallied their followers and the two sides fought to a stand still. After a short but bitterly fought war, a young wizard from the island of Dumbarten, named Kel, followed the will of the gods and sealed off Neldin’s foot hold into the world and ended the war.  For the next three millennia, Neldin retreated to the underworld and was rarely heard from.

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Geography and Climate

The Last Grand Master  is set on the world of Nendor.  There are three main continents, Ardus, Erd and Loudria.  The island kingdom of Dumbarten is one of the largest kindgoms in the world, but set just of the western coast of Loudria, it is not considered it’s own continent. Ardus – Book One, takes place entirely on Ardus, the southern most and smallest of the three continents. There are Seven Major Kingdoms on Ardus, Yar-del, Zargon, Endor, Respital, Arvendia, Pelipan and Honal. Collectively, these nations are referred to as the Seven Kingdom. The Seven Kingdoms are bordered to the north by Spine of Khron, the highest mountains on the continent, and to the west by the Trellham Mountains. The Kessen Ocean lies …

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