Scarabae
Precis: A
cultured kingdom of knightly virtue haunted by the spirits of a past
age.
Conspectus: Ruled by Leeza VI
(The Sun Queen); worship of sorceresses as avatars of The Lady of the
White Way; questing knights in search of the grail; roadside chapels
and wandering clerics; red dragons, bulettes, philosopher manticores,
and basilisk-riding kobolds; spiritualists, seances, and ghosts;
ectoplasmic horrors; devil cults and false prophets; haunted
battlefields patrolled by wights and wraiths; courtly intrigue,
romanticism, and debts of honor; elven towers that disappear into a
misty haze unless approached with the correct talismans; dryads and
lamia struggling against each other for control of the Talonback
Woods.
Taste, Sound, Image: Pure water,
Beirut's “Nantes,” Aubrey
Beardsley's Excalibur in the Lake.
A bit of a "under the hood" question here: Why Scarabae for a soemwhat Medieval European legend-ish land? I guess I just so associate the scarab with Egypt. But good stuff, nonetheless!
ReplyDelete"Scarabae" was the last name of the whacked-out, semi-vampiric family in Tanith Lee's Blood Opera series. I'm sure this is a case of me reading the novels, thinking the name was cool, and stealing it as a teenager.
DeleteI had figured it was a play on "skara brae." Ya learn something every day.
DeleteHeh, seems like the name is counter-intuitive, but I'm strangely attached to it!
DeleteAre the books any good? I only know The Birthgrave and Night's Master.
DeleteI really liked the first and second books in the series...the third meanders a bit. They're definitely more "Gothic" than horror or fantasy, but that's right up my alley. I've met Tanith Lee, actually, and she is a lovely woman. Such an under-rated author.
Delete@Jack - Oh yeah! I read one of those books: Personal Darkness. I recall thinking it was pretty good.
DeleteYeah, I think that is the second book in the trilogy; I really enjoyed that one.
DeleteNicely done, as always. I'm not a big fan of Arthurian legend campaigns, but it's hard to go wrong with philosopher manticores and basilisk-riding kobolds :)
ReplyDeleteThe name threw me off a bit, though. Just like Trey, I would associate "Scarabea" with Egypt.
Ken Hite has some interesting things to say about manticores in Suppressed Transmissions that were pretty influential on me.
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