30 Days of Haiga 2017: Day 12: No Escape

The background is a photograph of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Text manipulation was created by The Real Cie using Photoshop. 

This image was inspired by the plot of Team Netherworld's WIP novel, Fetch. The story hasn't been progressing very much of late, so the image is also a reminder not to give up, to allow ourselves to continue to be caught up in the pull of this magical tale, to be drawn back in and let it take us for a ride.

~Cie~

Remains of a Dead World

Image by Noxifer at Deviantart

What remains of Zecor?

The rain still falls gently on the long dead Sua flowers

Thirteen mummified bodies lie broken on the steps

Of the loathsome Ktenology Center

Masks and costumes for the Zgraj Festival

Lie in the changing room at the Grand Zerif Temple

Still awe inspiring, still glorious

Despite being buried beneath centuries of dust

Bodies of Zecor's former residents

The Katet, the Teridan, the Eygal

Lie as dead as the heartbroken princess

Who once dreamed she would protect them

Found in the street beside the steps of the Ktenology Center

The body of the brutal tyrant who ruled o'er West Zecor

The half brother and polar opposite of

The gentle, broken princess

The mines of Sluvan still contain deposits

Wyfnor and Ghjem

Once delivered to worlds near and far

Now rest within the darkness of dead earth

Written on the wall of the West Holpry Ghetto

The words here lies our Joub, aged thirteen years

Beloved brother of Serab

Sweetheart of his devoted Sata

Once it was whispered in secret meeting places

That Qweh, the King, took his crown prematurely

When he conspired with the ambitious Royal Doctor

To poison the ailing King Giraq

The folk of Zecor dressed in a style both glorious and uncomplicated

Loose fitting silky tunics and dresses both practical and pretty

At festivals, the attire was glorious and awe inspiring

The Parade of the Queen a favorite celebration of the people

On the sixth floor of the Center for Ktenology

Lies the body of Princess Ondina

Beside her, the body of her beloved Serab and her friend Xegran

Beneath the broken window, the body of her despised brother

The final warning from the underground newsletter

States simply that those left behind will die

"Qweh has doomed us," it proclaims

"May the Vbiq and the Zjepa devour his eyes"

The chamber where Xegran once regaled Ondina

With tales of Ista, Queen of the Fourth Moon

Remains remarkably free from dust

And from the deadly atmosphere

Walk down the nearby alley and you'll find

A pile of mummified corpses, eyes removed

Walk to the border between East and West Zecor and you will hear

Only the wind blowing over the dead land

A feeling of nameless terror pervades in this doomed world

Even the most scientific of explorers turn quickly away from photographs of Zecor

"Postcards of the damned," they say dismissively

Not wishing to try and explain away

The feelings

Of terror

Inspired

By the doomed world

CIE

Prompts misused:

Withrealtoads.blogspot.com

Napowrimo.net

This is an epic poem about the Dead World segment of Team Netherworld's WIP novel, Fetch. 

Cross-posted to:

Dark Hearts Love Too

Fetch

Starry Demons

OctPoWriMo 2015: Day 30: By the Light of the Moon

Image by Beverly Tan

Waneta Gerard reacts to Carlene Washington-Baruch's confession regarding her relationship with Waneta's undead brother, Willy

By the Light of the Moon

Zoraida Robles is a fool

But some of what she's saying rings true

She says that you and my brother

Have become lovers

That you are breaking the rules

It is fact, the young necromancer revealed

I cannot disguise how I feel

It was not my intention

To defy all convention

But my love for your brother is real

The Counsel brought Willy to Uncle and me

To see if we could help his spirit take leave

His soul is trapped by a spell

Cursed within his corpse to dwell

Moving only when the full moon sets him free

The voice of his soul I could hear

To me he is so very dear

I was present when he rose on that night

Moving through icy embers of the moonlight

The breeze came through the window so clear

Then it hit me like a hand 'cross my head

It's only his body that's dead

He's been kinder to me

Than anyone else ever could be

While I love him, I can never feel dread

I love your brother so very well

For him I'd endure any hell

They smear my name with mud in this town

Into the puddle I'd step and drown

Before allowing my feelings for Willy to quell

Dear girl, I said, I understand

I'll help in any way that I can

But make no mistake

They'll burn you at the stake

If they learn you have an undead for your man

Now I must think of a way

To keep the young sorceress safe

Though short in her sight

Her intentions are right

I can't decide if she's foolish or brave

~Wanda~

Note:

This poem goes with a story that I began creating after our Real Cie told me about a strange dream she had. 

The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic society in which magic has replaced technology. The protagonist is Carlene Washington-Baruch, an apprentice necromancer. She and her uncle Lester Baruch agreed to assist soldier named Willy Gerard, who, along with Carlene's parents, was killed under suspicious circumstances. Les raised the orphaned Willy as his own son in years past.

Les insists that the town counsel bring Willy's body to his home, as Carlene senses that his soul is still attached to it and there is danger of Willy becoming a revenant unless he can be assisted through magical means. While his body is in safekeeping with Carlene and Lester, Willy's spirit begins communicating with Carlene and they form a forbidden connection.

Lester and Willy's sister Waneta are sympathetic to Carlene and Willy's plight. However, the couple have many more enemies than friends.

The story is in its formative stages. Something about the prompt and the picture triggered this poem.

Cie and I just started a blog for the story, By the Light of the Moon, which can be found here.

OctPoWriMo 2015: Day 18: Our Secret World

Image Source

Our Secret World

The Netherworld is the place we run

To escape real world demands

It's the one place where we can truly be ourselves

It doesn't matter if no-one else understands

~Mo~

Notes:

Over the years, the members of Team Netherworld have heard how our blogs are "stupid" and "weird," and so are we. Our founder, The Real Cie, gets the brunt of this as she created the Netherworld blogs and is the member of our group who is the most active, even if much of what she does is behind the scenes as our editor, making sure that each post will adhere to the Netherworld mythology.

It is so hurtful to have your creative work constantly torn down. Cie is a sensitive person, as is everyone in our group. Most of us have had to deal with people who just don't get where we're coming from, who think we should just put our foolish flights of fancy aside.

This is a terrible thing to say, especially as in some cases, the flights of fancy may be the one thing that keeps a person hanging on.

The Netherworld is real to us. It may not be "concrete reality," but in some ways it is more real.

As the verse on our blog header at Dark Hearts Love Too says, it's "the only place where you can dream, living here is not what it seems."

Bless Steve Harris for writing those magical lyrics. He's been an inspiration to us.

~Mo~

Netherworld Truisms: Expect the Unexpected

Expect the Unexpected

 

Written for the final Red Wolf Poetry Prompt

 

A great Netherworld truism

Is Expect the Unexpected

There's plenty of insanity to go around

No character need feel neglected

 

Sometimes a flame bursts forth from an iceberg

Or a poltergeist shows his butt

Or that might be a visiting rock star un-dignitary

Huh huh huh...hey Beavis, I said Butt

 

Even here, nothing rhymes with orange or purple

Unless you count orange surple

Which has a flavor that can quite overwhelm you

If not paired with a stiff purple nurple

 

We find characters and adopt them

We create our own characters too

We invite spirits we loved in the living world

At the point when their time comes due

 

We don't do things the way others do

Which is why most people run screaming away

We Netherworld folk aren't like others

This ain't a place where the normal sorts stay

 

But if you decide to open your mind

You might like to stay a while

We'll make you see things in a different way

We might even make you smile

 

It's true that we're kind of nutty

But you won't need to be protected

We're not trying to hurt anyone, we're just having fun

In this realm of the Unexpected

 

Best wishes to you

In this year of New

 

Team Netherworld

 

Cross-Posted to:

Encyclopedia Netherworld

Poetry of the Netherworld



OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 25

 publicdomainpictures.net

An Ode to Team Netherworld

My kindred spirits

Sometimes we worry too much

About what others think

Of the things we create

Who knows, maybe it's even true

That everybody else

Thinks our work is silly

Stupid

Ludicrous

Ridiculous

Twisted

Sick

They might cry that it isn't canon

Or that borrowing characters is the sign of an immature mind

Some have even said

That people who write the kind of stuff we do

Tend to be damaged individuals

So they write "shell" characters

Well, I say, maybe all that's true

But I counter it with this

I find the scenarios we create fascinating

Our characters, both original and borrowed, captivating

We create situations both zany and enchanting

Although many of us have given up on real life romance

We can't resist the magnetic pull

Of writing about two characters

Who become drawn to each other

In an irresistible dance

The magic may have gone out of many of our waking lives

Our souls crushed under the burden of debt

Of physical pain and emotional stress

Of bearing up under the weight of a lifetime of mental illness

There are no fairy godmothers for us

But we can be the fairy godmothers of our world

Maybe what we write is trite

Maybe nobody but us would want to read it

Maybe some would find us evil or stupid for loving magic

"This stuff could never happen," they say

"Come into the real world," they say

"Be more practical," they say

But we've seen the real world

And it hurts

And when it hurts we can opt to go deeper

Into that magical world of our own

~Spectra~

I love you guys so much.

Being part of our special world may literally have saved my life.

Thank you.

 Morgan Dragonwillow

Word Prompts:

Fascinating
Captivating
Enchanting
Magnetic
Irresistible

No Con-Crit Rule

I recently added the caveat above the comments that we are not looking for con-crit (constructive criticism) on our posts. No-one here is a professional poet, and we are not wanting to travel back in time to high school English class. Either you enjoy the poem or you don't. Please don't pick it apart.

Teammate Wanda wrote a poem, and several people took umbrage to the last line for whatever reason. I'm not sure what Wanda is going to do at this point. I hope she won't rewrite the poem, because I think it's fine the way it is. I also hope she won't pull it, and I definitely hope she won't become reluctant to contribute poems in the future.

The members of Team World all live with mental illness. Wanda and I both have depression and anxiety issues. It can be very difficult for us to come out of our shells. We have our blogs for the purpose of enjoyment and catharsis. Life has not been easy for any of the team members. We simply want a way to express ourselves and to leave reality behind for a while, because as The Cheesemeister/The Real Cie (our founder) is fond of saying, reality bites.

I'm aware that no-one was intending to be cruel with their words. However, in the future, we request no con-crit on our work. Thank you.

Ursula Andromeda

for

Team Netherworld