Sep 7, 2014

Delphys Ghreanamar, Delpha and Grean

source
I've been sketching in some details of the biological features of the non-human creatures and human variants that appear as characters in the Exode Trilogy. Delphys Ghreanamar was a hermaphroditic Kac'hin who lived thons life about 80,000 years ago on Rain World. Grean, one of the key characters in the Exode Trilogy, is a clone of Delphys Ghreanamar.

I've previously described the Selfies of Tar'tron and their importance to the pek. In particular, it was a Selfie called Delpha who carefully guided the development of Grean's brain. Through Grean's early life, Delpha was present as a kind of "sidekick", assisting Grean and preparing thon for the task of confronting R. Gohrlay's cadre of positronic robots.

When the pek designed the Ek'col and the Kac'hin, they borrowed heavily from the biology of the hermaphroditic Prelands. The Ek'col had to be biologically matched to certain reproductive constraints of the Asterothropes, but the Kac'hin design was more in line with pek biases for what constitutes the ideal humanoid form.

Trysta is the only Asterothrope who is present as a character in the Exode Trilogy. She presents a serious problem for the pek, which is exactly what R. Gohrlay had in mind. After clearing all the positronic robots off of Earth, Grean turned to the task of establishing a working relationship with Trysta. In this difficult assignment, Grean was greatly aided by Delpha.

Side Trick
I've never previously seriously considered having a sidekick in the Exode Trilogy. I suppose Betty could be viewed as Parthney's sidekick when he is on Earth, but I'm more comfortable using this terminology with Delpha than with Betty. However, in both of these cases, the sidekick is really a "side trick" since I initially depict Betty and Delpha as being quietly efficient assistants and only slowly reveal that Betty and Delpha are actually of great importance, Betty being a kind of "double agent" and Delpha being the main conduit for communication between humans and the Huaoshy.

Trysta and Ekcolir
The whimsical book cover shown to the left, above, is misleading. Delpha could have used the identical physical appearance of Grean, but did not. Biologically a Kac'hin hermaphrodite, Grean's features were carefully shaped to match the norm for Earth humans. Here, Grean and Delpha are shown looking into the future of the Ekcolir Reality, to a time after Trysta and Ekcolir have met and fallen in love. In the image to the right, Grean and Ekcolir look into the future and see Trysta. Grean was eventually equipped with a zeptite symbiont that allowed her to easily modify her appearance.
____________________________
Year in review (so far)
I've been having great fun this year deciding on backstory elements for the Exode Trilogy such as the role of selfies.

This blog is now five years old and the number of blog posts for this year has set a new record, topping the 81 posts of 2013.

In May 2014 I had a record for number of blog posts in one calendar month (22). At the start of May I realized that I could have an interesting collaboration with Ivory Fersoni, a fact that I'm still learning how to take advantage of.

I've long been intrigued by the ability of both Isaac Asimov and Jack Vance to write under a variety of pen names. However, for many years I could not bring myself to write in an alternative voice or from a new perspective. I'm only just starting down this road, but I've found the process of writing under a new name to be fun and liberating.

Jan 1 - Sept 9 2014:  112,324 words (see the complete 2014 year in review)

visit the Gallery of Book and Magazine Covers

No comments:

Post a Comment