The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Alex has a writer full of potential cures, and needs to get her group out of the facility, unnoticed by the guard. This means remaining with the socialites for a few hours longer, to avoid suspicion. (A note from the author: Fight fascism. Never give up on hope and love and a future where everyone is treated with respect, dignity and equality.)
The Guild Master’s General materialises outside of Inajda’s cabin, along with Abouna Panak.
The group have been waiting for Alexand to return, and have set camp back in the cave, near Lake Baikal.
The group have spent the day attempting to catch fish in Lake Baikal, as a day has passed with no sign of Inajda returning. They have lit a fire and wait for Inajda, but everyone knows she should have returned by now.
Inajda doesn’t need to scan the grave to realise what has happened.
After the mountain becomes too hazardous for the horses, the group have to walk on foot towards the next checkpoint.
After leaving the army, Jarad has made a life for himself as a translator. He waves goodbye to another of his rich students, and attempts to settle down by the fire with a nice cold beer and a book. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
As a boy Anum Anzeti encountered a man who claimed he was a future version of himself. See issue 19: Anum Anzeti. The man seemed mad, and Anum dismissed him as a local lunatic. By the age of twenty five, Anum enrolled as a curator in Cairo Museum. He never married, his work was so consuming, and he grew older, until at the age of eighty he was approached by a young man called Georges De Somme. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
The fabulous Ivana Cockatoo has retired for the night and left her rather underwhelming alter ego, Zero Merevija, to contemplate his life. (Also featuring Grace O’Malley) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After Baio-Yujia’s Ghost tried to kill Alexand, (see issue 93) Alex runs to the only person who could possibly help her. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Baio-Yujia Sun had been accidentally killed in a crash. (See issue 25: Baio-Yujia Sun) Her three surviving friends Alexand, Heyem and Jarad were found responsible for her death and sentenced to military correction. (See issue 26: There’s No Place Like Home) Three years have passed, and Alexand Merek still has vivid nightmares about Baio-Yujia’s death. Things have escalated and Alexand now sees her dead friend’s shadow at night, when she’s alone in her room. Next chronological story here.
Gianti Dincrind has been charged with the development of Project H, turning humans into wraiths, called Haernyarn. The Haernyarn are proposed to act as future guards for the growing number of Amanojuko Lords and Ladies, privileged enough to have been granted immortality. Gianti is not yet an Amanojuko, but has been promised a chance at being selected if she manages to successfully create Haernyarn from the prisoners on board the Floating Asylum. Unfortunately the process is unstable, and usually results in the subject’s death. Gianti is looking for a way of transmitting the virus from a haernyarn to a human, by genetically altering DNA and is about to make a breakthrough. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Abouna Panak has brought a disbelieving Heyem Merek to the Floating Asylum to show her proof of an Amanojuko conspiracy to take over the world, in the near future. The Other Side Part 2 will be released same time next week. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Toreth Rek-cho is an astronomer, and spends most of her time in an observatory she built, in the Sahyādri Mountains, India. (She is the eldest child of Antun Rekaya, Inajda’s brother and is Alexand and Heyem Merek’s first cousin.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
(HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!) Alexand Merek has been unable to return to the army, due to her asylum record. She spends most of her time very isolated and alone, as her husband, Jarad teaches English to rich Indian families and often spends day’s away working. She is not accepted in her community and cannot get a job teaching music because of her conviction. Her son Samuel is unable to go to school, due to the stigma attached to her imprisonment. Alexand spends a lot of time teaching him at home, but is sinking deeper into depression and alcoholism. One day a knock at the door changes her family’s prospects. (Note: The ‘writer’ is a transportation and storage device common amongst the resistance, and was created by Anesidor Sumian.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Eldenath Balsara has been living in The House Of Plenitude And Mirth, since her mother’s execution. (See Eldenath Balsara Part One) Ma’am Alamandez is chief matron and her words will keep Eldenath from being sent to The Far Away Lands or put inside The Bad Thing Box. This story directly follows after issue # 43: Ma’am Alamandez. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Mr Ash is head National Guard working for Lord Anum Anzeti, Dala Hesa, and ruler of Earth One. (See issue 19: Anum Anzeti) Ash has sworn an oath of celibacy, but he is frustrated and angry. He can’t remember a time as a civilian, as he was indoctrinated into the service as a boy. It’s his job to relay orders to a tricky character, a genie, and Lord Anzeti’s pet, known to some as, The Guild Master’s General. (See Issue 40: The Guild Master’s General Part 2) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Garbán McGrath joined the navy at sixteen to see the world and escape his abusive father. Unfortunately his father’s ghost travels with him, despite being thousands of miles away in Venezuela, onboard the HMS Fantome, under Commodore Robert Archibald Montgomerie. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Anastasia Merevija has been a concubine of Lord Ichitumbu Jalhavi since the age of twelve. Anastasia believes she was abandoned by her parents (Jarad Vijay and Alexand Merek) and rescued by the Amanojuko as a child. She has been given the most honourable task of making ‘what could be’ (an immortal child) out of ‘what isn’t.’ Unfortunately, the couple have had to spend their lives moving from Amanojuko castle to castle, running from Anastasia’s aunt Heyem and mother Alexand Merek. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Doctor Filius Anderson has successfully caused a rat to grow back a severed tail by changing its molecular coding. The tail regrew into a completely new rat, with identical DNA to the original. Filius has great dreams for the human race, but is hampered by the morality of his colleagues. (One of those being Georges De Somme) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After injecting herself with the blood of Ichitumbu Jalhavi, (see Amanojuko Part 4) Helga Ritter stands on her balcony onboard The Floating Asylum, contemplating her own meaning. She is now an immortal and it feels so good. Next to her is fellow scientist, and Amanojuko Lord, Professor Filius Anderson. (Whom Alexand later calls, Dr. Grim) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Bernadette is bitter about her husband leaving her, after their marriage collapsed (as a result of the abduction of their first daughter, Giselle.) Her second daughter Yemi is her only comfort. Bernadette misses out on life with Yemi, retreating into a bitter and lonely world of regret and denial. This has spanned decades, leaving her trapped in her house, while Yemi attempts to help her. (Yemi is a youth worker and drugs councilor.) This story is dedicated to my son, Sam, who brightens my life. Thank you, Sam. (Special thanks to Miss Passé for suggesting another story featuring Yemi Balsara.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Eric Mehmed is a farmer, but dreams about making musical instruments. He has brought up his twin daughters Alexand and Heyem and his son Farokh without his wife, Inajda (As Inajda is in the military). Eric is very passionate about his children’s futures, especially that of Alexand, who shares his obsession for music. For her fifteenth birthday Eric made his daughter a left handed piano. (As he thought this may enable her to play with her strongest hand) Six months after this, the family’s struggle to find food forced Alexand and Heyem to go to India to attempt to find their mother. They took their friends Jarad Vijay and Baio-Yujia Sun with them. Unfortunately the teenagers ended up taking drugs and crashing a stolen military tank into a tree. Alexand was driving, Baio-Yujia died and the children were sentenced to serve in military correction. Eric was devastated. This story features his regrets. He reflects about what life could have been like. He wishes Alexand and Heyem had the same opportunities that his own mother, Edith MehXian had. (She was an opera singer in The Chinese Hall of Excellence.) The future looks bleak for his daughters. (Eric’s story is dedicated to my own father, who was also called, Eric.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Ichitumbu is an immortal, from a race of people called The Amanojuko. Chop his arm off, it’ll grow back. He is the husband of Anastasia Merevija, the abducted daughter of Alexand Merek. He spends his life moving from one country to the next, attempting to prevent Alexand and her sister Heyem, stealing Anastasia back from him. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Maria Thamian, is waiting to deliver a very important message, to her sister in law, Alexand. Alex is late and Maria’s wife, Heyem is getting impatient. (The story also mentions, The Guild Master’s General and Field Marshal Abouna Panak.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Anum Anzeti has never met a lunatic quite as frightening as the man who claims to be a future version of himself. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Juba Apfvarzian was a good magician. He woke up in an asylum ship, after performing a particularly skilful illusion. Magic can apparently get you into a lot of trouble, in an increasingly intolerant world. Alexand Merek has survived for three years inside the asylum, outliving everyone. She doesn’t know how she has survived, she just wants to be somewhere far away. (This asylum is responsible for the events leading up to issue # 1 of this series.) You can also read The Floating Asylum Parts Two, Three and Four. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Giselle Balsara has a secret. She hides banned books and keeps paintings in her cellar. In a world where books that don’t pop up, will get you put inside The Bad Thing Box, Giselle is taking an incredible risk, sharing her knowledge with her eleven year old daughter, Eldenath. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Farokh is thirteen and has just lost his father, Eric, to a heart attack. He is angry with his father for dying and longs for a different life, somewhere better than his homeland. He wants to be like his older sister, Alexand. Nothing will convince him that life in the army isn’t the great adventure he dreams about. The mandarin in the second drawing reads, “Beloved Father.” It was placed there by Heyem in his honour. This story is set a few weeks after issue # 9: The Guild Master’s General. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
In the years before the arts were put inside “The Bad Thing Box,” there were artists and dreamers, musicians and opera singers. Edith MehXian was one of those artists. From the age of seventeen she sang amongst the finest opera singers in The Chinese Hall of Excellence. She came from a poor family, but her skill was so great that she won a scholarship and became one of the most loved singers in the whole of China. This is the story of her final performance. The day her dream ended. Edith was a perfectionist. She wanted people to remember her, flawlessly. (This story is dedicated to one of my childhood heroes, Elizabeth Sladen, who will be missed by many people, some of whom didn’t even know her, but grew up loving Sarah Jane Smith.) Edith MehXian is Alexand and Heyem’s paternal grandmother. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Anastasia was stolen from her family when she was five, and forced to live as a concubine. From the age of fourteen she has produced children for the Amanojuko Lord, Ichitumbu. The Amanojuko are a race of immortals who have the ability to regenerate. They are no longer human, but Anastasia’s mother, Alexand Merek’s blood, is poison to them and can turn them into ‘What isn’t’. Amanojuko scientists are using Anastasia to attempt to find a cure for the poison in Alexand Merek’s bloodline. Anastasia has no concept of death and therefore no concept of murder. “What wasn’t” is an Amanojuko term for human and “What could be” refers to the potential for Anastasia producing an Amanojuko child. So far she has failed and her husband isn’t pleased. This story also mentions Anastasia’s mirror twin, Ancille Merevija. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Abouna Panak’s life is going to change more than he can imagine. He has been left an orphan at the age of ten, but has no time to grieve for his mother’s loss. After he discovered his mother laying in the kitchen, with a suicide note, he was greeted by a very dubious man. Abouna has no other living family. His mother never told him why. The man in the balaclava isn’t responsible for his mother’s death, in fact his mother seemed to trust him. Who is this Guild Master’s General, and why would Abouna’s mother wish for him to travel with him after her death? CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After the murder of her father, and the disappearance of her brother and sister, Ancille Merevija must rebuild her life, with her mother, Alexand. Alexand was on a military mission and returned to find two of her children stolen, her husband murdered and Ancille left for dead. Ancille was badly injured and lost her hearing. When Ancille was strong enough, Alexand took her daughter to her sister, Heyem’s house, to hide from whoever destroyed their family. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Heyem Merek has run away from her former life. Her childhood, spent in poverty and her teenaged years in military correction. She is well educated and proud of her achievements. If only her identical twin sister, Alexand would allow her to forget about her past, completely. Things would be a lot less complicated and painful. (Artwork on the wall in drawing 2: by Frida Kahlo, “My Nurse and I.” 1937) This story also features Samuel, Ancille and Anastasia Merevija. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
The Guild Master’s General is a mysterious man, who appears throughout time and place. Not much is known about him, apart from the fact he has created a lot of chaos in the lives of many. This story also features, Alexand Merek. CLICK HERE for next chronological story. A Spanish version is now available, translated by Hernán Jara Droguett.
Inajda Rekaya (Ee-n-eye-da) is seventeen years old, but has joined the army to support her husband, Eric and twin Daughters, Alexand and Heyem. She doesn’t realise that her decision will not just save their lives, but change the future of her family. Special Thanks to Imran Malik for helping me with translating English to Hindi. (The Hindi reads, “It’s open!”) This story also features, Katherine De Somme. CLICK HERE for next chronological story. A Spanish version is now available, translated by Hernán Jara Droguett.
Juba Apfvarzian needs to forget his past. He spends a lot of time taking drugs and drinking with his best friend and fellow drunk Alexand Merek. They met decades ago on a floating asylum ship for the criminally insane. Juba had a wife, Lucy and a son, Ayo, before he went to the asylum. When he was released, he discovered that they had both died of influenza, and he was alone. He and Alexand met up again after her release and discovered that they had a lot in common. Alexand had also lost her wife, Katherine to an unknown virus and her husband Jarad to an unbeatable war. Her son, Sam and daughter, Anastasia had been stolen when they were children. Alexand’s surviving daughter Ancille has grown up and Alexand and Juba spend a lot of their lives trying to run away from bad things. This is one of those days. (A Spanish version is now available to read, translated by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Katherine De Somme is thirteen years old and has been forced to join the army, (by her father Georges) after accidentally killing her younger sister, Lali, in a chemical explosion. Her parents had high expectations of her, but her need to live up to their high standards has resulted in devastation for everyone. Katherine loses everything and everyone, in one horrible night. (A Spanish translation is now available, by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Jarad Vijay has spent the past four years, bringing up his son alone, after his wife, Alexand, was taken and placed in an asylum for crimes against the military. Once released she woke from a catatonic state. Six months have passed since she woke. Jarad hoped her recovery would enable him to rebuild their lives as a family. Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple. (Jarad and Alexand grew up together as children. They were forced into the military at a young age. Jarad left, but Alexand remained a soldier. Their lives drifted apart until a series of events brought them back together. They were married after Alexand was widowed. Jarad believes she is still grieving for her dead wife, Katherine De Somme. He is very much in love with her, but this further separation in the form of Alexand’s imprisonment, has done little for their relationship. Alexand is very traumatised by her ordeal inside the asylum and Jarad doesn’t know if he can help her recover from it.) Trivia: Why has Alexand got metal fingers? Answer: Her fingers were severed by a samurai sword, during a mission as a young woman. (See issue 9:) The sword bearer was a man dressed in a black balaclava. He appears throughout time and place. People come to know him as The Guild Master’s General, but know little about him. (A Spanish translation is now available, by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
This story is set seven months before issue # 1: Alexand Merek, (a week after her release from an asylum). Samuel Merevija is only four years old. His mother was taken from him and his father when he was a baby, but now she has been brought back to their family home, after spending four years in a floating asylum ship. Samuel doesn’t understand why his mother won’t speak. He has made some special things for her to try and bring her back to his world. (Characters from left to right are: Samuel Merevija, Jarad Vijay and Alexand Merek). (A Spanish translation is now available, by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Images, story and characters, © Cheryl Moore
Eldenath Balsara is an orphan. She doesn’t know who her father is and her mother was put in ‘The Bad Thing Box’ for being ‘evil’. She has a new mother, who is a matron in The House of Plenitude and Mirth. Eldenath has to un-learn the Bad Things taught to her by her old mother, like reading big words and looking at paintings and singing in the shower and listening to music. (See issue: 17) She is about twelve years old here. (A Spanish translation is now available, by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Images, story and characters, © Cheryl Moore
Anesidor Sumian dreams of escaping from a gradually shrinking world and the confines of a disapproving society. Her story begins with a wish and is set over a century before her first appearance in my series of novels. (A Spanish translation is now available, by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Images, story and characters, © Cheryl Moore
Alexand Merek has been released from a floating asylum. She has just woken from catatonia. This story is set fifty years before her first appearance in my series of novels. (A Spanish translation is now available, by Hernán Jara Droguett.) CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Images, story and characters, © Cheryl Moore
