A sprawling fantasy blog-novel in progress, written by Micah E. F. Martin.
The Godhead of the Immortal Moth-King is set on the fantasy world of Cthun on the continent of Machen in the year 1511 dating from the founding of the now-defunct Thulhun Empire, a Byzantine oligarchy crushed by an army of monotheist desert-dwelling natives, the Machi. With the Machi now in power, Machen has become a theocracy under the Hierophant, a Reasonable Authority Figure loved and respected by his people. All, however, is not well. An enigmatic rebel alchemist-priest has seized power in the south, burning and slaughtering adherents to the Machi religion without mercy or hesitation. The first chapter of Godhead deals with the lives of nine inhabitants of Machen caught up in the turmoil of the rebellion while a sudden plague of mysterious events throughout the Empire suggest that the war may be more than it seems. The second chapter, ongoing, follows several characters in and associated with the decadent Thanocracy of Maturin as their dead leaders begin to read signs of impending doom.
Surreal, decompressed and sprawling, the novel has a massive planned arc with each continent being treated to three separate story rotations (each continent has a cast of characters who will feature in three different "Chapters" during each of which they appear three times for a total of over two hundred planned segments).
Godhead can be found at Godhead of the Immortal Moth-King
The tropes dealing only with characters and events in and around the continent of Machen:
- All There in the Manual: The Spotlight On segments help to address and explain Cthun's more esoteric concepts and histories.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Alchemical swords are treated with reagents that can, among other things, turn armor to dust and flesh to water.
- Animate Dead: Natural Philosophers do this, albeit with some preparation.
- Anti-Magic: Obsidian, and whatever metal the Roads are made out of.
- Author Appeal: Dinosaurs, alchemists, sex, mysterious nonsense. Martin definitely wrote this.
- Arc Words: The dead will come up from the sea.
- Arranged Marriage: Alice to the now-deceased Dustam Khan.
- Black Magic: Using gold as a reagent in alchemical transmutations is frowned upon as verging on demonic collusion.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Aliya is this to Scheza, but it gets ugly fast.
- Court Mage: Matteus is this to the Hierophant.
- Dark Messiah: Ahmad Levi, and Lucrece seems to be headed this way.
- The Dragon: Captain Khalid to Ahmad Levi, though it's not a comfortable state of servitude.
- The Dutiful Son: Yussef Levi's chapters are even titled this, word for word.
- The Empire: The overthrown Thulhun Empire, Ahmad Levi's Floating Empire of Eternal Peace and the People's Heavenly Confederacy all qualify, really.
- Establishing Character Moment: Rashid switching to badass Drill Sergeant Nasty mode in a heartbeat when presented with raw recruits. Ahmad Levi eating a child's heart.
- Fantastic Racism: The Machi against the Thulhun and vice versa, and there are plenty of nasty undercurrents between the Machi and the Maturi.
- Necromancer: Natural Philosophers. Rare in Machen, but common in Maturin.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Type C zombies are used as slaves while the thanocracy of Maturin are Type M with elements of both Type C and Type R.
- Rule of Cool: Dinosaurs as battle mounts.
- Wizarding School: The Coven of the Sun and the Iron and Golden Cabals are all this.
- World Shapes: Cthun is a sphere, but it's made entirely of water and houses a drowned sun at its core. Its continents are all artificial constructs raised thousands of years in the past by unknown forces. Legend holds that other continents wait beneath the waves.
The world of Cthun is changing.
