WRAETHTHU

See also, the WRAETHTHU RPG,
FROM THE ASHES
http://wraeththurpg.proboards81.com/index.cgi



     In the near future, humanity is in decline, ravaged by insanity, conflict, disease and infertility. A new race has risen mysteriously from the ghettos and ruins of the northern cities: humanity has evolved into a new species, which is stronger, sharper and more beautiful than any that have come before. They possess psychic powers and the ability, through a process called inception, to transform humans into creatures like themselves. They are the Wraeththu...

     Still don't get it?
     See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wraeththu




     This is the cover of the original trilogy of the book Wraeththu, which contains the three novels, listed underneath the title.
     All three novels have been re-edited by Storm, and are now being printed with new additions, characters, appendices, and more. She will also be releasing three NEW novels to add to the trilogy, the first, 'The Wraiths of Will and Plaesure', already in print and distribution. You can find the book for sale at Amazon.com. Please, if you read it, or any others in the trilogy, please please please write a book review for it, for others to read.....GET THESE BOOKS! Cover art done by Sam Rakeland....I don't know if he still makes art... But I manipulated one of his images.....the Varr one, above the book cover.

The FULL list of the Wraeththu Trilogies is:
The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit
The Bewitchments of Love and Hate
The Fulfilments of Fate and Desire
The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure
The Shades of Time and Memory
The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence

And the Wraeththu Mythos publications:
...


     Storm has also started her own publication company, Immanion Press (named after the newsprint in the Wraeththu capitol), and is beginning to publish her older, out-of-print titles, and to give new authors an edge. She has already published a fan-writing, 'Breeding Discontent', by Wendy Darling and Bridgette Parker. This novel is also very good, and now in print by Immanion Press. You can find this on Amazon, as well.

     A bit of blabber from one of the websites for Storm and her work:
     "Since The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit first appeared in 1987 (and long before that), Storm Constantine's "cauldron" has produced a phantasmagoric array of creative works, everything from her best known piece, the Wraeththu trilogy, to Andrew Collins-inspired works like the Grigori trilogy and Burying the Shadow, on down to fantastic visions like Calenture, non-fiction books like Egyptian Birth Signs, and dozens of short stories."

     "To read one of Storm's books is to enter a world where there is much more than meets the eye and mysteries lie at the heart of things. Magic is essential, and sexuality, often of the forbidden variety, yields not only pleasure but a means of altering reality and opening up the doors to these mysteries. Storm's different races and cultures-- the Wraeththu, the Grigori, the Eloim, the Artemesians, and more -- all struggle with balancing magic with the everyday, maintaining harmony in their own world while pushing open the doors to worlds less known, although sometimes far more ancient or exotic."

     "Recently Storm has returned to the world of Wraeththu with a roar and cry, creating a second trilogy that interlocks with and then continues the story of the original. The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure, the first book in the series, is completed and slated for publication in May 2003 by Tor Books. In the meantime Storm is hard at work on the second book, The Shades of Time and Memory, and is looking ahead to the third book. Storm has also completed a rewrite of Enchantments, which may appear in print at some date in the future. Last but not least, in October 2003, Storm and her friends are producing Grissecon 1, the first ever Wraeththu convention! To be held in Stafford, England, Oct 10th-12th, the con will be a chance for Wraeththu fans from around the world to meet the author, fellow fans and special guests and celebrate a fantasy world which has had lasting appeal."
     -the Official Storm Constantine site
     (http://www.gothland.wox.org/bast/)

     ^^^^^ Go to this link to find every other link you'll ever want to find for Wraeththu shtuff, and definitely check out Ruby's site....Great Wraeththuite artist!!! All related sites can be found on the 'Links' page on Storm's official site.

     Storm Constantine decided somewhere about ten years ago that life should be more exciting than a backroom 9 to 5 for a local charity, and decided to do something about it. With one of the luckiest breaks into publishing (a tale still rare enough in SF to be dined out on) she started her career as a writer with the Wraeththu trilogy, published by MacDonald Orbit, about a post-human race of androgyne hermaphrodites coming to terms with themselves and their new world. Ten years later she is currently in the middle of her second trilogy, the 'Grigori' series, for Penguin. In a way, everything in between, over some eleven novels and numerous short stories can be seen as leading almost inevitably to this point: Storm's long fascination with angels, mythology, the recurrent themes of magic and sexuality, secret knowledge, dark and charismatic figures on the edge of society and outside convention. But this is not merely coming full circle. Each book in its way, from the SF cyber-paganism of Hermetech, the threatened elohim of Burying the Shadow, the structural nested story games in Calenture, and the enigmatic revolutionary messiah of Sign for the Sacred, illuminate different facets of a body of work that is unmistakably 'Storm Constantine'.

     Who is Storm Constantine? She lives in the Midlands with as many cats as she has published books, in a house that looks entirely conventional until you step inside, and houses a library of Pre-Raphaelite art and esoteric reference books that you would cheerfully kill (or at least lightly maim) for.

     A sense of style, in appearance as much as on the page, that would drop jaws at Storm's early appearances at SF conventions. Black clad, in a million silver bangles, with spiky hair and exotic makeup, the Constantine entourage would turn heads in astonishment, and not a little envy amongst the regulars of SF fandom. Here was Showtime.

     The appearance is a little less flamboyant now (though she still takes ages to get ready to go anywhere) but can still evoke a spontaneous hug for a stunned waitress in a US bar who recently asked for her ID. She is a born, almost compulsive storyteller. She has numerous short stories in anthologies, magazines and fanzines and small press publications. And you don't get rich by doing the last two; at most you might get a couple of complimentary copies. So why? Because Storm is a fan too. She found SF fandom at the same time she started writing, and never left (you never really do). Which is why her current project, Visionary Tongue, is a writers' workshop fanzine that grew out of her involvement in teaching creative writing classes. And that its third issue boasts some seriously fine writing, and almost a dozen SF and fantasy authors on a volunteer editorial board that any professional publication would be jealous of. Because you can always give something back, and you can never run out of stories.
     -Meisha Merlin Publications

     The following images are courtesy of the artist RUBY. All images are copyrighted to the artist, and shown only for informational and viewing reference by permission to [xido]. Other works, such as the cover work, done by Sam Rakeland, and the photo-manipulations of those, worked on by myself, are copyrighted to the artists, and shown for informational purposes. RESPECT YOUR ARTISTS
It is Thiede....he's important, but you need to read Wraeththu, 'cause I'm definitely not telling you HOW important....

     This image is part of a wallpaper available from the RPG website for the trilogy.....there is a version with Thiede, Pellaz, and Cobweb, all available in different sizes for different screen resolutions.

 

     Yes, that's PELLAZ to the right of Thiede, the Tigron of Immanion, referred to by the 'underlings' of Wraeththu as Pellaz-har-Aralis. Poor Cal has to call him that too....... Well, I'll still be calling him simply Pell, 'cause I know he loves it.

     These images are both Ruby's, and the one of Pell is, of course, post-Sam-Rakeland, who did the original cover art for the trilogy, before it was revamped by Storm.

     The original cover is above, and the Varr was shown on the back cover of the book, accompanied by a female companion (not shown).

     Go to http://www.rubysasylum.co.uk/ for more awesome artwork by Ruby, including the new Wraeththu Tarot, currently in progress.

     Below is Cobweb, the child of the Mysteries, consort of Terzian the Varr, and hostling of Swift, who lead the Gelaming into Galhea, and destroyed the principality of Varr culture.



     As stated above, all featured artworks are copyrighted to their respected artists. They are posted solely for viewing pleasure, and nothing more. If you wish to use Ruby's artwork to advertise the Wraeththu trilogy, you may do so only after contacting her via her email address on her website, http://www.rubysasylum.co.uk/.

SOME FAN WORK and RELATED IMAGES

     All work copyrighted to their respected to their respected artists.

     I decided to illustrate a harrish version of none other than ME!


     An image by [werethylacine], depicting some rather talented work with androgeny (and an elf ear!). Wraeththu are true hermaphrodites, and the variety of masculine and feminine traits among them is just as radical as nearly MAN or WOMAN. Wraeththu call each other har, a group of hara, and the title Tiahaar, and group of Tiahaara.


     A rough sketch of Astarth, a kanene in Piristil, the best musenda in Fallsend. *winks* TRANSLATION:
Sketchy Astarth, a whore in Piristil, the best whore-house in the town of Fallsend, in the country of Thaine (courtesy of Calanthe's travels, on his way to Jaddayoth)

This is my rendition of an effeminate Kakkahaar braiding his hair in 'the typical Kakkahaar fashion.'