The Arch Mages of Mythas

Surrounded in mystery. The Arch-mages
are the oldest secret society in Mythas.
Regardless of alignment the elite of Mythas
mages come together to protect Mythas
from outside or extra-dimensional forces.

It was the Arch-Mages that helped Michael
Crucible come up with the final plan
to rid 'He Who is Not Named' from Mythas
forever. Even the number of mages differs
through the eons somewhere averaging
between 4-12.

Some known Arch-Mages throughout the ages-

Michael the Blue
Macon Jones
Duergal
Erik
Lawrence Jade
Hesikiah Jade
Rarik
Zachory
Mhorrion

The Archmages sanctuary is a skull tower
that will show up randomly throughout
the areas of Mythas. Their symbol is
a burning ring of fire.

The Old Gods (Trenton Moldavia/Nutriole)

Trenton Moldavia or Trenton the First or
Trenton God of Thieves. Son of Ishmael Moldavia
and nephew to the 'Un-Named'. He was frozen in
ice as an adolescent where his uncle had him captured.
He was rescued by his brother the arch-mage Zachory.

The 'Un-Named' was first an usurper that killed
his brother-to make his kingdom 'immortal'. His
children was hunted. Trenton was frozen in the
Northern Wastes. Zachory feigned cooperation with
his evil uncle but later escaped and freed
his brother. They sent word to Moldavia and their
supporters founded a city in the wilderness. The
city was named for Trenton the first and became
the greatest metropolis of Mythas.

Trenton, his brother Zachory and a host of other
allies from Mythas founded a group with Michael Crucible
called the Winged Warriors. The alliance of the West
fought the usurper of the East- the Un-Named.

Over the millenia Trenton and Michael sometimes even argued
concerning the morality of man but Michael in the end understands
the balance of things and Trenton aids him to banish the
'Un-Named' forever. In so doing Trenton became greater
filling the god-role of Nutriole. The God of Old acting
as a mentor to the new gods or an overseer. Trenton
has always been a champion of neutrality, liberty and
free thought.

His symbol is the 8 pointed star.

The Old Gods (Un-Named)

As Michael Crucible was the greater God of the Paladins his
eastern counter-part was a powerful force for evil. His name
forgotten throughout the ages for the mere mention of it
would invoke his corrupting nature. Ruler of the Moldavian
Kingdom since the over-throw of his brother. When Michael
Crucible found his Drink of the Gods- the Un-named bound him
and as powerful as Michael Crucible became so the Un-named
rose in power.

When humans, elves, dwarves, goblins and any of the
intelligent beings of Mythas search for greed, lust or
power than the Un-Named will be called. Beware of
selling your soul to this devil for he will bend and
corrupt not only your life but your legacy as well.

Five hundred years earlier (in respect to current campaign)
Michael Crucible banned 'He who is not named' and broke the
Godspell between the two. Michael Crucible became a martyr
and 'He who is not named' suffered death and banishment from
Mythas forever. Although out of Mythas affairs
'He who is not named'has found his own dimension and is intent
on conquering other worlds to feed his malice.

He is the God of Chaos, Corruption and Decadence.
His symbol is the grinning skull on a black background...

The Old Gods (Michael Crucible)

This will be the first of many posts that will highlight the
different Gods of Mythas. The Old Gods shall be presented first
and the first amongst them will be Michael Crucible. The Legends
that come from the West concerning Michael Crucible deal with
his 'divine birth', his defeat of the Fire Giants, his creation
of Staverlarium and his many battles and wars fought with the
'Un-Named' and his final sacrifice and martyrdom to banish
the 'Un-Named' forever in Mythas once and for all.

In the book The Brothers Jade takes place after this sacrifice
where Michael Crucible had wrote prophecies hinting at the Gods
to come that would replace the Old Gods. His symbol is a white
dove on a blue field. He is Lawful Good and his spheres
of influence are Truth, Justice, Law and Order.

A word about my brother...

Creating and telling stories about the World of Mythas
has always been wrapped in enigma in my family. The two
'brother' suns were inspired by my brother and I- for we
are its creators. Over the years each brother's influence
over Mythas has waxed and waned. We get into petty arguments
that other people would laugh about but to us Mythas
is our vision, our dream and we take it very seriously.

We have both had our shares of tough times and over
the years I am sure we have slighted each other along the
way- each brother trying to have the 'dominant vision' but
in reality Mythas is a shared dream. Over the years not
only being shared by my brother and I but the many players
that we been blessed to have played with us. My wife
for one has been an on-going supporter of our world for
the last twenty years. She is the creator of many great
characters that helped to add variety and beauty to a world
filled with conflict. To not express a gratitude to every
person that was ever involved in this living world
would be a great injustice and I would like to go on record
right now and 'give the devil his due'.

Over the last 10 years my brother and I worked earnestly
to write our first book. We were overcome with a great duty to
our 'shared dream'and really believed that others could gain
some insight or just be entertained by the possibilities of this
fantasy world. World of Mythas Publishing -our dream company would
be comprised of Don, Christy, and myself and whatever friends along
the way to help us pave a new world.

Right now I would like to thank my brother for all the hard
work who without, this book would never have come into being.
I want to express that he will always have a voice in the World
of Mythas due to his hard work and I will work hard to ensure he
gets the credit he justly deserves for this first step in our shared
dream.

Thank you Don for helping to make dreams come true...

Still working....

The book has been written. We have passed it to a few editors
and are having some artwork done at the moment. I apologize for
not updating this blog more I will do better in the future.
Currently we are working on a world map for Mythas and also
smaller maps of the different cities. It is going really well.
Right now it is rather large using an online mapmaker. My family
is helping me with it. I am also starting a new campaign in Mythas
with our local gaming group. Much information will soon be
available on the pantheon of Mythas. I will be posting these in the
days to come. You can also check out http://memphisgaming.blogspot.com/
as I will be providing current campaign information on our living world.

Things that have inspired me.

The idea for this book has been floating around in the minds of my brother's and my mind.
It started with an epic adventure that included several of our old friends, some that had managed to return just long enough for us to complete it. One of the things that made the game so interesting and compelling was that it was a collaborative effort on the part of the two of us. In this effort we were both able to show different views of the same world.

I think that it added a new dimension to the story, and enabled us to tell an compelling story. We combined are strengths and managed to dilute our weaknesses. It was an important time, and the whole event was enjoyed by our group of friends. Over the years, although at times we had even stopped playing the game, we still occasionally talked about some of the games that we had been involved with over the years. The games that came up were generally the favorites, and the one that the books were inspired by was one that came up a lot over the years.

I really do not know what altered in my brother's mind for him to suggest that we write a series of books. I do know that he loved the story that we had been a part of so many years ago. I also know that it was one of his proudest moments. Whatever reason that he had, as soon as he suggested it, my mind was working various story ideas and what we wanted to include.

In the end, the main thing that inspired me to write this book with my brother was the story itself. I believe that this story is worth telling, and the world should have a chance to enjoy it as we have. It is an epic and compelling story with a large cast of characters, each with their own depth and characterization. The Brother's Jade lays the foundation for an incredible story that will be thoroughly enjoyed by the reader.

But besides the game that was the inspiration for the books, there were also other things that had inspired the original telling of the tale. Different things that we were exposed to also had their impact. The writing of J.R.R. Tolkein comes to mind, as well as C.S. Lewis and other writers that helped to establish fantasy fiction as a force to be reckoned with. There are also others that continued the effort, Stephen R. Donaldson, Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman come to mind.

It is one of my regrets that I have never read any of the Robert E. Howard's tales of Conan the barbarian. I did manage to read various incarnations of the character in the comic books over the years. And to a degree, I also enjoyed the movies that were done about the character. There are also other countless fantasy movies that have inspired me to write our own particular story. To name a few, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Excalibur, and several more eclectic choices.

There are other things that have inspired me in the writing of these books. I have tried to concentrate on the things that have specifically inspired me in the creation of these books. I am sure that there is something that inspired me that I will think of, even after this blog is posted. I could continue writing about the things that inspired me, but that could be enough information to fill a book, so I will have to settle for these few things that immediately come to mind. There are others, and to the creators of these inspirations I thank you.

Before I go, there was one epic story that helped inspire me. Stephen King's epic tale of Roland's journey to the Dark Tower is a classic tale of an quest for an ultimate goal. It is a different type of story, but there are many elements of the central story that have influenced me in the storytelling aspect of writing the book.

The end is near ~!

The end of the first book is completed. We are working with some personal editors to ensure all is in order and coming up with ideas to fund our promotion, cover art, etc... We are also looking into asking for a grant to publish our book. Let us see how this goes. It seems like the hardest part is done but so much more is always needed. Since we have no sponsors we are looking into self-publishing and will work on a web site to help us distribute this fantasy epic! We ask for your patience during this process. I will try to update this blog on a weekly basis at the end of each Sunday. Until next time...

Unfinished projects

This is my introduction to this blog, which will be a written

report on the progress of the books that I have been

working on. The first project was the Drink of the Gods

trilogy, the first book The Brothers Jade. I have completed

it in partnership with my brother, Herbert Thomas who

is co-author of this project. My name is Donald Lawrence Thomas,

and I am a writer.

The idea for the Drink of the Gods was my brother, and I hope

that we were able to do it justice. It is an amazing story that was

discussed intensively. I personally think that the kernel of the

original story was created when I wrote a short story called

<<<Andar and the Farmer>>> presented in chapter two,

that I thought might have the potential for a possible book.

The idea was in its infancy, when my brother came to me and

asked him to write the tale of the heroes. Andar was one of the

principal characters in the story, and I had already established the

way that I wanted him to be represented in print. It was not long

before we had a general storyline that we wanted to establish.

Books are written, word by word, page by page. It takes

real determination to keep going at it, even when it would be easier

to take another break, or make another excuse. Things were made

easier because this was a partnership, which meant that the whole

thing was not only on the shoulders of myself, but also the shoulders

of my brother.

I am very proud of my brother, for he has shown a determination

that far exceeded my expectations. Things are much easier for me,

since I can devote more of my time to writing since I am on disability.

He has had to maintain a full time job, while working on the book

when opportunity presented itself.

I had it a little easier for another reason. I had always been known for

writing short stories that were a little too long. A couple of years after

my divorce, I seemed to have a lot of time of my hands,

and wanted to do something constructive. I had always been interested

in the movies, and writing screenplays had always been something

of a dream of mine.

So I sat down at the computer and wrote, and I wrote, and before long

I had finished my first screenplay. It was rough, and the format was

unforgivable, but it was a finished project that I was proud of. I found

that writing screenplays was something that I could do, and that

I needed to hone my craft to the level where it would be acceptable

to my own criticism.

After I had written my sixth screenplay, I decided to take

a serious look at my chances of getting one of my scripts produced.

The prospect of a one in a million chance did not look good.

Undeterred I decided to work on something different,

and that was when I got the idea for my short story starring

Andar Thule.

The thing with the short story about Andar, is that I

never seemed to be able to finish it. I had left it for other projects,

and called that one finished, because the short story itself was

finished, I just felt that there was more story to write. I had

decided that one of the banes of writing was the unfinished project.

Every writer knows the horror of the unfinished project. A

good idea, rough notes put down on paper, but never experienced

in its entirety as a completed project. Everyone has what I call a ten

second idea, but very few can put in

words the very fabric of the reality of that idea.

I am making it sound more complicated then it really is,

but the truth is that good writing takes effort. The mind has to

think out a scene, and put it in thereality of black words

on white paper. It is something that you think over,

even at the last second of actually writing down what

you had decided.The thing is that most writers have

an unfinished project locked away somewhere. I cannot speak for

everyone else, but I personally hate the idea

of the unfinished project.

.

Everyday that I can write is devoted to finishing a project.

I have several projects in the development stage, and I considered

the short story that I wrote to be one of them. It kept coming back

to me, and a month would pass, and then I would leave it again.

It was getting to the point where I was writing

an odd page here or there, but that was it.

Then I took a long look down the horizon at the book

that I wanted to write.It did not take long before I had

started the Chronicles of the Assassin.

I worked diligently on that project for months, and was

in the full swing of the story, when I met with my brother.

We started talking about story ideas for books, and then he

talked to me about his idea for a series of books. They

would detail the adventures of the group from which Andar

had been a member.

It was a good dream, and I was happy to help my

brother fulfill his dream. I loved the characters that he wanted

to use, and was more then happy at the very though of writing

out their adventures. It was then that I left my story

about the assassin on the back burner while we finished

the first book The Brothers Jade concerning our trilogy

- the Drink of the Gods.

You might ask if that short story that I wrote about
Andar Thule, is it in the book? The answer to that is yes and no.
The problem is that a computer mishap occurred and the original
story was lost. The only solution was for me to rewrite the entire story.
This was not so bad, because I could then write it in the context of
the entire story, and not just a brief glimpse.

There are things in this book that will simply amaze you. There is
a large cast of memorable characters. I think that we have a story
that will be well received. It is about this group of people and their
influence on the world around them. The world is full of allies and
enemies, and it is my pleasure helping my brother bring it to print.

The Brothers Jade

E-mails have been sent to various artists to do our cover art.


The Scene:

A gypsy elf is looking into a crystal ball where two brothers are.

The Gypsy Elf- Esmerelda

She is a typical gypsy except elven. Dark hair- tanned, elven ears,
green eyes. Ruby Red lips. Looking into a crystal ball. In the crystal ball are the two brothers. She looks as if in anticipation - like she has been awaiting their coming.


One brother is a short-haired handsome,athletic wizard.
He has brown hair and a goatee. He carries a large rod with iron-tipped ends. The length is five feet. It is made from Goldenleaf's wood. He is a war wizard so many times he is casting explosive magiks and he is quite proficient with the staff-rod.

The second brother is young, bald with a certain 'charisma'. He is
an enchanter and uses his 'mystical arts' to entrance others.
Although rather plain looking dressed in an ornate green robe.
He uses jewels and gestures to accentuate his presence.
He will always carry a jeweled dagger by his side.

They stand back to back as if expecting an attack.

About The World of Mythas

Greetings and Salutations,

I am Herbert 'Joe' Thomas and this is a blog dedicated to the works of myself and my brother- Donald Lawrence Thomas. Currently we are finishing up on our first fantasy novel The Brothers Jade. We currently have over 600 pages complete and we our finishing up the finale. Because there are some of you that were in our gaming group some 20 years ago you will find that this story is loosely based upon our gaming experiences.

We have just attended MidSouthcon 26 and had a thoroughly good time with the authors and gamers there. We appreciate the seminars and all the authors that took a moment of their time to give us those precious gems of insight in how to produce a novel. Special thanks to Selina Rosen from Yard Dog Publishing who was the Toastmaster- we appreciate her taking time out to talk to the fans.

About the Authors:

I am Herbert 'Joe' Thomas. I am an accomplished poet . This is my first novel and I am working on a short story featuring one of my known warriors.It has yet to be published and I may post it here. J.R.R. Tolkien (who I consider the Father of Modern Fantasy), C.S. Lewis, Stephen Donaldson,John Morressy, George Lucas, Stephen King, Dean Koontz,Fritz Lieber and Gary Gygax were all inspirations to me and my work. Also credit must go to Joseph Campbell who inspired me with his idea of the monomyth and the Hero's Journey.

Some twenty-plus years ago when I was in eighth grade in Rock Springs, Wyoming I was introduced into role-playing by Shaun Neilson. I'll never forget my brother's first time playing he was having so much fun he was about to hyperventilate. What we found out was that their was this new game that you would 'role-play' knights,wizard, rangers, rogues, monks and assassins. It was basically the same as 'play pretend' when you were kids where you would imagine you were another person or character and be faced with challenges by another person or dm.

We absolutely fell in love with the game and it even helped us socialize with other teenagers since we were constantly moving from place to place. Not long into our 'initiation' into role-playing we found a huge negativity concerning the game. Our parents tried to throw all of our books away- we rescued them from the trash. People were scared because of the 'outer-planar' creatures and the study of gods and demi-gods. Also certain 'gamers' went 'goth' which took us even more out of the norm. My gaming group constantly was ridiculed because of our affiliations with certain games.

My defense to that is that role-playing is like any other 'artistic tool' it can be used for good or evil or just plain entertainment. Music is a nice parallel- you know of all forms of music and the right song can be mood altering -enhancing or changing your frame of mind. Well role-playing is the same way. It can be used in a positive or negative manner depending on the group and its motives. Personally I believed our group maintained a positive outlook focusing on our own search for the Holy Grail- or exploring Joseph Campbell's monomyth through role-playing.


Out of these sessions came this story that we wanted the public to have a chance to read. My brother and I felt like this was our life's work to put this out to the public. We thoroughly believe in the characters (I will be posting pix of them and a written description on this website), the story and we believe it to be entertaining and we hope you do too.