They Will Rise Again From the Tundra

Hey, folks.  Just a brief message here announcing the grand opening of the Book of Mammoth.  You should see a tab linking to it at the top left of your screen.

This is a series of stories I began a couple of years ago, and to date, I’ve only written five of them.  These five are posted with the hopes it’ll kick start some production on my part.

The second order of business tonight is to belatedly respond to Shelly Bryant’s nomination for the Honest Scrap Award in which the recipient is supposed to outline ten facts regarding his/her character that are unknown to most people.  Now, I have a strident dislike for chain blogothons like these, but I’ve bitten a few hooks in my day.  In fact, Shelly might even recall my runaround of the “Fours Challenge” back during our WritingUp days entitled “The Sign of Four” in which … Read more

Excerpts:  Part Three of the Ongoing Saga

Woe unto the fallen
Who in the tundra freezes
Woe unto the Mammoth
Who marches where he pleases
Woe unto the Westerly
Warm winds like Demon’s Breath
Woe unto the Mammoth
Who marries himself with Death
Mammoth Traditional

DURING THE THIRD AGE OF SKOPJA’S REIGN, THE FIRST MAMMOTH DIES UNDER THE TUNDRA IN A LAND KNOWN AS ENDRÖGEN FLATS.

The salt flats had been famed by all as a place of great mysticism, and some even suggested that buried beneath the permafrost lay the Heart of Igrak himself.  At night, Mammoths gathered to witness the strange, red glow that emanated from the flats as it spiraled upward into the heavens.  By morning, the light would fade, and the crowd would disperse, mumbling prayers of thanks and praise to Igrak and the Great One alike.

For many years, Mammoths made such pilgrimages to Endrögen.  They … Read more

Excerpts:  Part One of the Ongoing Saga

This is a common bedtime story told to Mammoth children.  Stories such as these were passed down through the generations orally, often being set to percussion or theatrical displays during festivals and other celebrations.

Igrak was born into the formless waste of the universe.  Mired in primordial obscurity, he had little with which to occupy himself in those days of emptiness and cosmic non-existence.  For milliennia, he existed in utter loneliness, floating freely through the dark expanse of  space until one day, he cried out into the dark,  “Rescue me.”

At first, he did not hear a response.  Space was as black and bereft of life as  it ever had been, and Igrak grew sad and  pondered his plight  having hoped that a voice of some kind might have greeted him, although it was foolish to think.  As he sat and thought, nightmares … Read more