Though they first appear in Book 3: The Second Stone, epigraphs—the short bits that appear at the start of each chapter—were a part of the Triempery series from the start. I wrote a post on my Facebook Author Page about that. Epigraphs are a feature in the final four books of the series.
I figure this is a good time to talk about the various kinds of epigraphs in the series—what they are, why they are important (or not), and whether readers need to read them at all.
Epigraphs in The Triempery Revelations series fall into three main categories. The majority are historical. Quite a few are epistolary, in the form of letters or writings from characters readers actually meet. And there the miscellaneous epigraphs that might be humorous or include cultural notes such as poems or definitions. All are intended to shed light on their subject. Some are Easter eggs. Many offer clues to what’s going on.
The epigraphs in this post have been plucked from all four final books of the series: The Second Stone, The God Spear, The Walled City, and The Rill Lord.
Historical Epigraphs
Much of the history of the Creation / Second Creation and the Triempery or other lands is included organically in the novels. The characters know their history; they talk about and share it. It’s fun though to shed light on some original texts and sources.
This entry about the Seven Houses, for example, explains quite concisely what otherwise must be gleaned from many conversations or between many lines:
Seven Houses—a mercantile confederation based in Dazunor-Rannuli, its membership closely controlled by seven princely Staubaun families descended from the founders of the cartel. The confederation’s seat is the Customhouse located near the Rill mount on the Lower Canal with commercial activity originating also in palaces and warehouse districts belonging to each of the Seven Houses. Although centered on Rill commerce, the Seven Houses effectively control the Dazun river trade and hold monopolies in key commodity markets, notably grains, wools, silk, and ores. Intensely secretive and self-protective, the cartel sits at the center of Dazunor-Rannuli and Esseran politics.
River and Rill: A Trader’s Glossary
Many entries are drawn from books by Cibulitus, a person who lived through the events of the Return and who knew or met firsthand the people—and gods—involved. In addition to historical persons and events, Cibulitus details the early advent of the Entities. The writings of Cibulitus are spoken of in the novels. Dorilian hands Hans a copy of a book by Cibulitus and tells him to study it. Cibulitus wrote his books in Aryati, and copies are costly, so only well-educated or wealthy people in the Triempery—or anywhere—can read them firsthand. Readers get the benefit of translation.
The Sons of Amynas strove to restore all they could of the ruined World. Many Leur creations had survived but few that were Aryati. The Rill presented a challenge in that most of its structures had been Aryati and been destroyed, in particular its core interfaces and propulsion arrays. Yet enough of the system survived that Derlon burned to revive it. He conferred with Hesphad, who knew how it might be done, and together they went into the heart of the machine.
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return: Origins of the Highborn
Time is not a linear dimension. It is a mistake to think of Time as a constant, that a year in one World is a year in another. We have but to consider the existence of Gsch, which is forever a single moment. A moment can be an eternity. A year can be ten thousand. And ten thousand years can be a World reborn.
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return, Dissertation on Immortality
Upon the eve of Devastation, the Leur went to his friend and said, “They know the peril, yet the Hegemons persist in wielding the things of Vllyr. Don’t they care what lies at Mulsor’s heart or what will be unleashed upon the World should it be broken?” To which Amynas replied, “The Undying Crown has consumed them, so that destruction is all they care to unleash upon the World.” To which the Leur sighed. “It’s going to be a long night.”
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return
All Change resembles Chaos. How not? Chaos is the true face of Leur—the child of omnificence. All things that are not permanent, that Change, are gifts of Leur, including Time, their greatest Creation. Therefore, Chaos is Creation’s forge, both end and beginning. This World was born of Devastation.
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return: The Leur-Taryynan
Amynas awoke in a strange land where people worshipped him in the manner of men who had come before him. Wind walkers, the people called his kind, light-bringers. His mind, however, was uneasy when he saw that the Aryati had made for themselves a perfect world where rain fell and seas were smoothed because the diadem-wearers wished it, and the people offered up their children and their toil to appease a race of gods.
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return: The Leur Tarynann
The Leur was the sole remnant of the Creator godhead, all others having perished in the Sacrifice of Daln. He greatly regretted that he alone should remain and the burden of immortality weighed heavily upon him. Turning to his friend Amynas, he said, “Forever is a long time to spend alone. It does not have to be that way.” At that, Amynas laughed, for though it had been a goal of the Aryati to attain the immortality of Leur, his kind, as creations, remained a mortal race. From that moment, however, the possibility of life eternal shimmered before him like a sword he had but to grasp.
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return: Origins of the Highborn
Amynas was born Aryati. He did not die Aryati only because he did not die.
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return: Origins of the Highborn
“You can tell almost everything about a god by what it hates.”
Amynas Malyrdys, according to Cibulitus, Dialogues
At the height of their power in the First Creation, Aryati Hegemons in secret captured one of the Leur and consigned their captive to a stasis chamber for the purpose of cloning the god-race. Their attempts were unsuccessful. It was following one of these failed attempts that Amynas by chance first glimpsed the Leur and felt great anguish to see so beautiful and high a being trapped by art beyond its creation.
Cibulitus, The Leur-Tarynnan
Other historians contribute to the epigraphs. Their selections have less to do with the deep lore of the return—mostly because they came much later—and largely address matters happening in the middle ages of the Triempery.
Erydon Malyrdeon was a Wall Lord, great in wisdom and farseeing. When the Kheld barbarians first walked out of the Bogs to claim lands in Tahlwent and the Glainoi, they were soon defeated. Erydon, however, spared the lives of all he could. “These are a strong and determined people,” he said. “Our history is not yet done and theirs is just beginning. We will have need of them.”
Pallidemon Stamides, History of the Malyrdeons
The Staubaun heritage of the Highborn is a political asset. Following the slaughter of Telarion’s line and the dearly bought defeat of the Aryati, the sons of Laakon chose alliance with powerful Staubaun houses as a means of securing the Esseran throne. This decision was fostered by the new Kings’ belief that the pure blood of the ancestral World presented the most viable vessel for perpetuating the legacy of Leur.
Epirades Malyrdeon, On Men and Gods
It is easy for people to overlook that the Wall is not truly a wall at all, but merely the most visible aspect of a reactive Entity devoted to maintaining the integrity of Leur’s Creation. Because the Wall exists along structures of Time, its dimensions are not immediately apparent and many of its functions are more hidden than those of the Rill, which is similarly oversimplified.
Epirades, Progenitors of the Esseran Kingdom
With his omnificence, Derlon bestowed upon the Rill his own abilities to regenerate and heal. After completing his body’s transformation of the Aryati mekhos that ordered the machine and learning how to utilize core energy from the Permephedon and Sordan arrays, Derlon’s priority was reconstruction of the primary corridor.
Deben III Sordaneon, Life of Derlon
Our first generations were not bred; we were altered. The Aryati warped something inside men, turned something that was human into something that was not. In this, the Masters said, they did no differently than Leur did. The godborn too are monsters.
Hrolaf, Blood Codex of the Hen Kyon
Letters and Papers
Quoting from letters or other forms of personal correspondence such as papers or addresses gives readers another look at the character being quoted—and in some cases also at a character or place being quoted about.
Epigraphs about geography or other features of setting provide additional details or plot points, as does this passage:
The Trans-Hesperian northlands of the Eleutheron, Gweroyen and the Lakes region of Lacenedon are wildly beautiful. The mountains there stand tall even where they crowd the sea. The lakes of the Ulnossi, however, water the most serene and lovely land in the Royal North, home to vineyards and orchards, pastures and estates. Staubauns have long guarded it well—from invasions and each other.
Patrolocus, Journeys to Many Lands
Mostly, however, epigraphs in the Triempery series provide insight into characters or politics, opinions or information that offer additional perspectives or give an insider look at the character doing the observing. Some characters appear only once; others, like Robdan (who readers encounter briefly in Sordaneon and The Kheld King) may be—or have been—major characters.
The City of Sordan has never been invaded. No fleet has been built that could storm such a fortress. The only way to conquer Sordan was to seize control of the Rill.
Robdan Aelfricson, The Stauberg-Randolph Succession
The Rill cartel oppresses Dazunor-Rannuli with monstrous power, at once omnipresent and secret. Like a serpent of great beauty, the palaces of the Seven Houses and Lords made rich by Rill trade encircle the city, dazzling the eye with glittering scales while slowly strangling the life from all who fall within their coils.
Robdan Aelfricson, Journal of the Esseran War
Hans includes me in just about everything, which is good, because I watch his back, you know. He’s always looking ahead of him. I never knew him but he had something in front of him he wanted to get to. I just follow along and make sure nothing worse than me is coming up behind him.
Arne Anseldson, per Robdan Aelfricson, Journals
People think I’ve got the King’s ear, and I do—more than most. We swore our oaths in blood, Stefan and me. Because of that, Stefan sits at my shoulder even when he’s not in the room. Trouble is, I don’t sit at his.
Cullen Brodheson, letter to Sinon Kouranos
Kheld men I can put into positions of authority. They understand that power works through hierarchy. Kheld women, though, consult runes and lay Wheels. They wrestle with riddles and ponder enigmas. They never get anything done.
Stefan Stauberg-Randolph, letter to Cullen Brodheson
My father gave me the same training as he did his son, and I was raised from girlhood to view the world in political terms. My marriage to Erwan Cedrecson was itself a statement of politics. What politics is more enduring than that which commands the man to whom a woman gives her body?
Emyli Stauberg-Randolph, Reflections
Do not think Ergeiron is a gentle god. His Wall form makes cruel demands of its keepers, who must balance foreknowledge with ignorance, compassion with calculation. Today will see the success of grand designs. Tomorrow will rain blood.
Austell Malyrdeon, letter to the Lahgaelan Initiate Umhed
The ordering of society begins with its assumptions of itself. It is not enough to give people something to believe in. We must give them the right things to believe in.
Epirrhemos Aethes, opinion paper to the Royal
College of Standards
It is for each generation to guard its endowment. Look upon our advantages: a stable society, bountiful wealth and privilege, and the stature of a people great and admired. That we have achieved this stature is no accident of biology. That we are stronger than other races, more beautiful, more intelligent, and possess healthy longevity are the gifts of our fathers and mothers before us who mated wisely. Like the very horses we breed with such pride, we do not mingle our seed with lesser blood.
Claudas Staubaun Bersules, A Purist Dialogue
The race of Leur is long-vanished, but three of the Five Cities they gifted to us remain. Though these cities were built for mortalkind and serve us well, they yield little in the way of answers. For thousands of years, they have existed in splendid stasis, maintaining pure air, perfect temperature, water hot and cold according to need, lights glowing into the night and dimming by day, lighthouses to a dark Creation.
Patroculos, Journeys to Many Lands
As for subject matter, talking about Dorilian is always fun...
The first time I saw Dorilian Sordaneon, he had just turned sixteen. He simply appeared unannounced at Marc Frederick Stauberg-Randolph’s anniversary celebration. He then proceeded to insult all the guests. The King, I recall, was less insulted than amused—and already plotting how best to seize the advantage.
Princess Palaistea, Before the Storm
Dorilian Sordaneon never hesitated to use his advantages. He always had the pulse of his opponent and understood the consequences of bringing Rill godhood to the table. Politics was his natural voice.
Princess Palaistea, Before the Storm
I observe with amusement that your lords still debate whether Handurin’s relationship with Dorilian was predominantly political or personal. I submit that it was ideological. Look at the facts: they could not be in the same room without generating epiphanies.
Levyathan Sordaneon, Communication to the Seven Houses
That boy doesn’t need another enemy—those, he has in abundance. Enemies have defined his entire existence. Don’t let his define yours. Should the time come when Dorilian Sordaneon extends his hand to you, don’t be the one to put a sword in it.
Marc Frederick Stauberg-Randolph, letter to his grandson Stefan
Nor is Dorilian the only subject Marc Frederick talks about. Marc Frederick is quoted quite a lot in epigraphs. His quotes touch many aspects of, well, pretty much everything. I can share here that Marc Frederick originally existed ONLY in epigraphs and through on page references from other characters. When I wrote Sordaneon, I created a Marc Frederick who could bring to life those epigraphs and recollections.
The Seven Houses have made their designs clear. Let me clarify mine: The Rill as slave does not interest me. The moment a god no longer speaks with its own voice, it ceases to illuminate men and becomes instead a force of oppression.
Marc Frederick Stauberg-Randolph, speech to the Triemperal Archhalia
People have asked me if I am a religious man. I would say that I am. However, I grew up in a world different from this one. While I believe in a higher being, I do not believe He looks like me, for all that I aspire to His image. I also do not believe He is one of my direct ancestors. I subscribe to the heresy that there is a difference between being god-like and being a god.
Marc Frederick Stauberg-Randolph, letter to Enreddon Malyrdeon
Cut off the head of government and it will grow another. Sometimes it will grow several and they will gnash at each other until one dominates. Occasionally they will agree to cooperate. But in all of human society, there is no such thing as a political vacuum.
Marc Frederick Stauberg-Randolph, Discourse on Politics
Miscellaneous
At least from the author’s point of view, miscellaneous epigraphs are the most fun. They are there to amuse, entertain, perhaps enlighten, and occasionally provoke a bit of thought. Here you will find poetry, rhymes, pithy observations, and the occasional stab at humor.
Few people have ever really wanted to know me—and fewer have ever wanted me to know myself.
Dorilian Sordaneon
There are three sorts of entities one must never trust—the amorphous, the amoral, and those that vow upon the stars that you can trust them.
Ergeiron, Conversations with Leur
I will bring you water from the mountains,
Sweet and bright,
Cold from snow,
Heated by volcanoes.
Issahan, Seven Springs in Agalor
What is a city?
A dream fed by demons, a hope built on lies, and a history written in stone.
Issahan, Passage to Batraz
Trongor was settled by miners and outlaws. They live by trade now, but they started out as thieves. The first person they elected to lead them was a pirate named Helda the Harpy.
Peredun Nemenor, Lessons from the Second War
Great civilizations are not destroyed by great enemies. They are nibbled to death by tiny things. By disease or fear or lies.
Epirades, History of the Malyrdeons
“Be wary of pigheaded men,” the Leur cautioned Amynas. “Not all of them are the work of sorcery. Some truly are swine.”
Cibulitus, Dialogues
Staubauns do not cook their food. They fuss over it as if it were a woman on her day to wed. More attention is given to the garnish than the meat, the plate than the meal. A man could starve waiting for dinner.
Tobold Forbasson, A North Country Primer
In becoming the Entity, Derlon shed his mortal shell completely. Along with his human flesh, he shed human cognition and memory. The reason Derlon did not extend the Rill to Stauberg and Mormantalorus is simple: the man intended, but the Entity forgot.
Zamenes, On the Nature of Gods and Men
There’s a hole in the World into which waters flow,
And a City we see when the west wind does blow,
And a rip in the sky where the End glimmers through,
And all of these things the Aryati did do.
Children’s rhyme
About one characteristic of the Highborn, I am more than qualified to speak: they eat enough for several men.
Robdan Aelfricson, Journal of the Esseran War
“Shall I tell you about gods?” the Leur said to Amynas. “Vllyr turned a civilization to dust because it flickered in its consciousness. If a man would set a fire, a god would douse it with an avalanche.”
Cibulitus, Annals of the Return
A Final Word...
To answer the point made at the top of this post about whether readers need to read the epigraphs—readers don’t need to read them. The grand story arc of the Triempery Revelations series reaches its conclusion perfectly well without these epigraphs. That said, the author does think they enrich the experience.
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