Suwa – the second episode

According to plan, in this blog I am going to publish the second episode of „Suwa“. Even though I haven’t really warmed to “Suwa” there are bits of it I like very much. In this episode it is a scrap of dialogue which would become one of my favourite bits of dialogue in literature, (immediately following the little chat from “The Hobbit” between Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf after their encounter with the trolls – which, of course, nobody will have remembered - and which currently comes second after the bit from, I think it was "Hrafnkels saga": "No need to gawp like that! The leg is gone." (My inadequate translation of the German: "Du brauchst gar nicht so blöd glotzen. Das Bein ist ab." which is probably a good translation of the Old Norse text.) And I think I even found an adequate translation for it.   

In the meantime I have met with my nephew Noah again, and I have collected a great deal more about this fictional world. The seventh episode has been a marathon session, whereas the eighth has been mercifully short, basically a long fighting-sequence. And I have secured a lot more of the “art-work” which is getting increasingly brilliant and detailed. Somehow I had expected that I had to be fast to collect as much of it as I could because I didn’t expect this project to last longer than projects started at that age usually do. But I was quite obviously wrong about this. And, having come to understand “Suwa” much better in the meantime, I am not surprised anymore. A “fast-growing” and basically complete world like this is like an organism that becomes creative out of itself. It is this aspect of a text almost as a living, breathing being that has always fascinated me. Thinking about “The Hobbit” I became involved with the aspect of how this world might have “come together” and developed into the world of the “Lord of the Rings” at the end of the Third Age. Concerning “Suwa” I could watch new characters come into being because Noah created and shaped them as we were writing. And parts of the story took more shape as well, I think, probably even partly because of my reactions to them. And he told me something invaluable to prove a theory about oral and written literature that I automatically acquired dealing with the Sagas of the Icelanders. I still think that there is much more literal truth in them than we are used to think because we can’t really imagine anymore how well oral tradition works. And what we lose at the same time we “switch” to written tradition. Noah told me that he starts to forget his stories as soon as they are written down. He only remembers those that haven’t yet been written. And he is just about to learn to write himself – until then this extensive universe existed exclusively in his head, apart from the countless drawings he made. But those are mostly just about what these planets and creatures look like.

This has brought me again to an important aspect about writing this blog, which is the “life” of a text. The way how certain texts work – and somehow it is much better proof for me if I can get evidence of it from other people. Because I know that, even looking as hard for the truth in what I am doing as I can, I always have more than one blind spot from where I am standing. So, I almost overlooked the first success I had with my blog – meaning that it had an impact on somebody else. I only discovered this when I recently talked to my friend Claudia about “Hannibal”, after she had read what I had written about the series, and she said that she might want to watch it as well even though her reservations were stronger than mine in the beginning. And I remembered just now that all the fictional worlds that had become my absolute favourites after “Middle-earth”, namely “Shakespeare”, “House of Cards” and “Hannibal”, I had taken up on (indirect) recommendation by the same person. And the “Making of England” series I discovered because my sister had started to read the books and said that they were great.

So, this is how this works, and of course a social aspect of my blog, in an ideal environment, would be that somebody might become interested in the texts I loved because of my reading them and getting involved with them as a human being. And only when we were talking about “Hannibal” became I really aware that I had had this kind of success already, only it wasn’t really a “success” – as when I took up “Shakespeare” again or started on the “Making of England” novels and enjoyed them. Because I hate to talk people into something they don’t want to do – as I don’t like that happening to me – I hadn’t asked Claudia if she had read my interminable review of the “Hobbit” films. But she probably had because she borrowed my extended versions of the films. After having seen only the first film in the cinema, I think, which she didn’t like much. She didn’t like the films any better after having read me review, which I shouldn’t have expected – and probably wouldn’t have if I had been thinking about it. But she could tell me exactly why she didn’t like them. Which was because she didn’t like the dwarves. And she even could tell me exactly why she didn’t like the dwarves. And when I really thought about this I discovered that this is great. Because this kind of information is infinitely more valuable to me and says infinitely more about a text than people telling me that they liked it but don’t give me any hint about WHAT they actually read, and if the story had an impact on them. And this is the kind of experience I usually make.

In this case I remembered that the reason why I had written my own story about the dwarves had probably been my puzzlement about my own reaction to the text and the films. Because I felt from the beginning – even reading the “Lord of the Rings” - that “everybody” disliked the dwarves. Not least because Tolkien himself did, and it shows, especially in “The Hobbit”! He became of course very much involved with them, and fascinated by them by and by, as he did with all his creatures (with the exception of the orcs, I suppose). So then – why did I fall in love with them at first sight? I think I probably wrote this whole thing because it bothered me, and I wanted to find out what was “wrong” with me. I even developed this as a major theme in my story: the angle that the dwarves, of course, don’t understand why everybody hates them, though they know it. And this crystal-clear and uncompromising rejection told me that I had been right about what I had already suspected: that very few people really understood the films because the main events aren’t even told from Bilbo’s perspective but from the perspective of the dwarves, much more so than in the book. And if you don’t understand or reject their predicament, and if you cannot see them as heroes of a kind, this whole story is wasted on you. Then the film disintegrates into “bits” which the audience might reject or relish at their pleasure. But they will never enjoy the films successfully “as one film”, as I did. So, in the long run, the “Hobbit” films might not turn out to be a great success with the majority of the audience, as “The Lord of the Rings” films were. And, realizing that, I think it even more of an achievement that they stuck to telling the story exactly the way it had to be told.

But now to the purpose:

Suwa, episode 2: Opres und die Limaris

Die Kopfgeldjäger wurden im Vulkan, wo es so aussieht wie im Gebirge, trainiert. Danach greifen sie den Planeten Galnzes an, wo Opres und Sama wohnen.

Sama spürt mit seinem Bauchgefühl, dass die Kopfgeldjäger kommen. Er ist so stark, dass er spüren kann, dass der erste Kopfgeldjäger Pors Walon sein wird. Genau da sieht Sama ein paar Messer. Opres wehrt sie mit seinem neuen Energieschwert ab. Dieses hat Sama ihm geschenkt. Sama denkt, dass es Kopfgeldjäger sind. Er denkt, dass Pors Walon eine bestimmte Schwäche hat. Darum versucht er, Opres davon abzuhalten, die Messer abzuwehren. Er fängt sie auf und wirft sie zurück. Da bemerkt er, dass es nicht Pors Walon ist, sondern Opres‘ Bruder.

Gerade in dem Moment, wo Sama gegen Teprif kämpft, schafft es Opres Teprif zurückzuschleudern. Opres versucht den entscheidenden Schlag, doch da bemerkt er, dass Pors Walon angekommen ist und gerade dabei ist, Sama zu töten. Opres hört auf gegen Teprif zu kämpfen und schleudert ihn noch weiter zurück. Er kämpft stattdessen gegen Pors Walon.

Auf einmal kommen noch mehr Kopfgeldjäger unter Führung von Pors Walon. Walon wird von Opres erstochen. Doch er bewegt seine Knochen, und Opres sticht nur durch die Luft.  Die Kopfgeldjäger schaffen es, Opres eine Narbe zu machen, die vom Auge bis zum Kinn geht. Einer der Kopfgeldjäger ist auf einmal wie vom Boden verschluckt in die Tiefe gestürzt. Die anderen Kopfgeldjäger, außer Pors Walon, der ein Seil schießt und sich daran festhält, stürzen auch in die Tiefe. Da bemerken Opres und Sama, dass der Boden in dem Thronsaal aus einem ähnlichen Material wie Gummi besteht. Sama und Opres holen ihre besten Krieger und springen in die komische Gummimasse. Auf einmal sind sie in einem Raum, wo es komplett dunkel ist.

Sama hat Erfahrung. Er weiß, was in diesem Raum passiert und wie man dort wieder rauskommt. Es ist aber sehr schwierig, weil dort gigantische Riesenspinnen lauern. Da kommt auf einmal ein ekliges achtbeiniges Monster. Opres sagt:

„Was sind das denn für Viecher?“

„Das sind diese Riesenviecher. Todes-Riesenspinnen.“

„In welchem Raum sind wir hier überhaupt?“

„Im Keller des Königreichs.“

„Warum haben wir denn überhaupt solche Riesenviecher in diesem Keller?“

„Für den Notfall.“

„Das mit dem Notfall ist aber ganz schön in die Hose gegangen.“

„Da hast du Recht,“ sagt Sama.

Auf einmal sehen sie, wie der hinterlistige und intelligente Pors Walon auf eins der Viecher hinaufspringt. Er holt eine kleine Dose, die in seinem Gürtel steckt, und macht sie mit seinen scharfen Krallen auf. Heraus strömt eine unbeschreiblich kalte Wolke, die hauptsächlich nur aus Dreck, Luft und Eis besteht. Die riesige Spinne atmet es ein und bricht dann zusammen. Augenblicklich sehen die anderen Kopfgeldjäger, Sama und Opres, dass die Augen der Spinne zugehen. 

Opres und Sama fragen sich auf einmal, wo Teprif steckt. Da sehen sie, dass der raffinierte Junge dort auch runterspringt. Opres legt sich mit Teprif an, und Sama kämpft gegen die Spinnen. Sama schafft es, mit seinem mächtigen Energieschwert ausgerechnet nur eine Spinne zu töten. Opres scheint es besser zu gehen. Denkt Sama. Doch Opres verliert fast seine Hand durch einen Schlag des Energieschwerts von Teprif. Stattdessen weicht Opres aus und versucht Teprif das Energieschwert in zwei Teile zu schneiden. Teprif stellt sich hinter eine Spinne, die gerade gekommen ist, um Opres zu töten. Opres schafft es, diese zu töten, indem er ihr in alle vier Augen sticht und sie dann ein Mal in ihre Schwachstelle sticht, das Unterteil der Spinne. Nun steht der fünfundzwanzigjährige Bruder ohne Deckung und ohne Schwert da, weil er es im Kampf gegen Opres verloren hat.

Auf einmal merken Opres und Sama, dass die Spinnen sich mit Teprif angefreundet haben. Da kommen die Kopfgeldjäger und die Spinnen, um den Kampf zu vollenden. Pors Walon nimmt mit einem flinken Griff seine Colmox-Pistole heraus und schießt mit zwei Schüssen auf Sama. Doch auf einmal bleibt der Schuss in der Luft stehen. Da sieht Pors Walon seine schlimmsten Gegner in der Dunkelheit. Es sind Pedartheo und Lenes. Pors Walon nimmt seine andere Pistole und lässt die andere fallen. Er streckt seine fünf Finger aus und lässt den Schuss zu Sama gleiten, aber in der Zeit ist Sama schon zu dem Kopfgeldjäger Voles gesprungen, um ihm den Kopf abzusäbeln. Dieser ist nicht sehr schlau aber dafür der Stärkste von den Kopfgeldjägern. Er nimmt seine Schwerter und kämpft gegen Sama. Opres sieht, dass Teprif seine Waffe geholt hat, um Opres aus dem Hinterhalt zu töten. Doch er springt hinter ihn, und es entsteht ein langer Kampf zwischen Teprif und Opres.

In der Zeit kämpft Pors Walon gegen Pedartheo und Lenes und schafft es, Lenes die Maske zu schrotten. Pedartheo kann in der Zeit Stacheln aus seiner Hand schießen. Pors Walon wehrt sie ab, und genauso wie bei Teprif und Opres entsteht ein langer, langer Kampf. Dadurch bemerken sie gar nicht, dass der Blutprinz und Ulsoro eingetroffen sind.

Als sie den Blutprinz und Ulsoro entdecken, hören sie auf einmal ein Geräusch aus der Decke. Es ist das Raumschiff von Arinn, einem großen Krieger von Sama. Opres kennt dieses Raumschiff schon. Er freut sich, weil sie aus dieser engen Lage wieder rauskommen. Die anderen kämpfen dort unten weiter. Opres fragt sich, was mit ihnen passiert.

In der Zeit kämpft der noch nicht ausgebildete Yonlaso im Palast gegen Ärün, den erfahrenen Zauberer, der nur zweiundzwanzig Zentimeter groß ist. Der noch nicht ausgebildete Schüler von Ärün ist auf die böse Seite gekommen, weil Ulsoro die Zukunft, die ihm noch bevorsteht, verändert hat. Dadurch sieht Yonlaso in der Zukunft, dass Ärün seinen Bruder töten wird.

Yonlaso nimmt sein Energieschwert, um den Winzling zu töten. Doch der löst sich auf einmal auf und ist hinter Yonlaso. Er schwingt seinen Zauberstab, und es wachsen riesige Pflanzen aus dem Boden. Yonlaso ist in den Pflanzen gefangen.

Ärün sieht das Raumschiff von Arinn. Ärün weiß, dass Sama und Opres vorhaben, das Indianervolk Limaris zu finden. Sama spürt nämlich, dass der Indianerstamm Limaris in Gefahr ist. Opres und Sama fliegen mit dem Raumschiff sehr lange und hören viele Anrufe der Limaris und dass die Limaris in einer Klemme zwischen Ulsoro und dem Blutprinz stecken.

Auf einmal sehen Sama und Opres den Planeten Esfon vor sich. Der Planet, auf dem die Limaris wohnen. Sie machen einen Sturzflug auf den Planeten Esfon. Sie landen. Sie gehen ein Stück auf dem Planeten und sie gucken hinter einem Strauch hervor. Hinter dem Strauch erstreckt sich ein riesiger Abgrund. Opres wäre fast in die Tiefe gefallen.

Opres bemerkt, dass auf dem Boden des Abgrunds die Zelte der Limaris stehen. Er sagt:

„Sama! Da stehen die Zelte der Limaris.“

Sama antwortet: „Wusstest du schon, dass das der Geburtsort von deiner Mutter ist?“

Opres antwortet: „Nein, ich wusste nicht, dass meine Mutter eine alte Indianerin ist.“

Sama antwortet: „Ja, dann ist es ja sehr schön, das mal zu erfahren.“

Opres fragt: „Warum hast du mir das nicht davor gesagt?“

Sama antwortet: „Das erzähle ich dir später.“

Sama nimmt Anlauf und springt auf eine abstehende Klippe, die aus dem Felsen ragt. Dann springt er auf eine andere abstehende Klippe. Er macht es immer so weiter. Opres springt ihm hinterher, so lange bis sie unten angekommen sind.

Da sehen sie schon, wie der Anführer der Limaris gegen Ulsoro kämpft. Sama und Opres schließen sich den Limaris zum Kampf gegen den Blutprinz und Ulsoro an. Vier der Limaris werden von Ulsoro und dem Blutprinz getötet. Es sind aber noch 284 Krieger der Limaris da. Es entsteht ein langer, langer, unbeschreiblich langer Kampf.

Irgendwann schaffen es die Limaris, Opres und Sama, Ulsoro und den Blutprinz zu vertreiben. Opres und Sama laden alle ihre Freunde zu einem Fest bei den Limaris ein.

 

(Episode 2: Opres and the Limaris

The bounty hunters have practised inside the volcano where the environment is similar to that of the mountains. Afterwards they attack the planet Galnzes where Opres and Sama live.

Sama is feeling in his guts that the bounty hunters are approaching. He is so strong that he can feel that the first bounty hunter will be Pors Walon. At that moment Sama beholds a few knifes. Opres fends them off with his new energy sword which Sama gave to him. Sama thinks that the attackers are bounty hunters. He thinks that Pors Walon has a certain weakness. Because of this he tries to prevent Opres from fending off the knifes. He catches them and throws them back. Then he realizes that it isn’t Pors Walon but Opres’ brother.

While Sama is fighting Teprif, Opres is able to fend Teprif off. Opres is trying to perform a final stroke, but then he realizes that Pors Walon has arrived and is about to kill Sama. Opres is able to come clear from Teprif. He is now fighting Pors Walon instead.

Suddenly even more bounty hunters arrive, led by Pors Walon. Walon is pierced by Opres, but he moves his bones, and Opres only hits the air. The bounty hunters manage to give Opres a scar from his eye down to the chin. One of the bounty hunters suddenly vanishes as if swallowed by the earth. The other bounty hunters, apart from Pors Walon who shoots a rope and saves himself, vanish into the abyss as well. Opres and Sama realize that the floor in the throne room is made of a material similar to rubber. Sama and Opres get their best fighters and jump into the strange rubber-like mass. Suddenly they find themselves in a room that is completely dark.

Sama is experienced. He knows what happens in that room, and how it is possible to escape. But it is very difficult because of the giant spiders lurking there. Suddenly a disgusting monster on eight legs appears. Opres says:

“What are these creatures?”

„They are these giant creatures. Giant death-spiders.”

„And where are we exactly?“

 „In the basement.“

„Why do we have these giant creatures in the basement?“

„For emergencies.“

„This emergency turned out shit.”

„You are certainly right about that,“ says Sama.

Suddenly they see the deceitful and intelligent Pors Walon mounting one of the creatures. He retrieves a small can from his belt and opens it with his sharp talons. From this an indescribably cold cloud is leaking which consists mainly of dirt, air, and ice. The giant spider breathes it in and collapses. Instantly the other bounty hunters, Sama, and Opres behold the spider closing its eyes.

Opres and Sama are wondering where Teprif has gone. Then they behold the artful youth jumping down as well. Opres attacks Teprif, and Sama is fighting the spiders. Sama achieves to kill just one spider with his mighty energy sword. Opres appears to have better success, Sama thinks. But Opres almost loses his hand through a blow from Teprif’s energy sword. Opres dodges him and tries to cut his energy sword in two. Teprif takes cover behind a spider which is just trying to kill Opres. Opres achieves to kill it piercing its four eyes with his sword and then stabbing it once in the belly, which is its weakest part. Now his twenty-five-year-old brother is standing before him without cover and weaponless because he lost his sword fighting Opres.

Suddenly Opres and Sama realize that the spiders have made friends with Teprif. The bounty hunters and the spiders are approaching to finish the fight. Pors Walon quickly draws his colmox pistol and shoots twice at Sama. But his shot gets immobilized in the air. Pors Walon beholds his worst enemies in the darkness: Pedartheo and Lenes. Pors Walon drops his pistol and draws the second one. He extends his five fingers and makes the shot glide towards Sama, but meanwhile Sama has jumped at the bounty hunter Voles to take his head off. This one isn’t very bright but the strongest of all the bounty hunters. He reaches for his sword and attacks Sama. Opres sees that Teprif has recovered his weapon to kill Opres from behind. But he jumps behind Teprif’s back, and a long fight ensues between them.

Meanwhile Pors Walon is fighting Pedartheo and Lenes and achieves to total Lenes’ mask. But Pedartheo is able to shoot spikes from his hand. Pors Walon fends them off, and, as between Teprif and Opres, a long, long fight ensues. Because of this they don’t realize that the Blood Prince and Ulsoro have arrived.

As they have become aware of the Blood Prince and Ulsoro they hear a noise from the ceiling. It is the space ship of Arinn who is one of Sama’s major fighters. Opres knows the space ship already. He is happy to escape from this tight spot. The others continue to fight in the basement. Opres is wondering about their fate.

At the same time Yonlaso, who is not yet completely trained, is fighting in the palace against Ärün, the accomplished sorcerer who is only about 8.5 inches tall. The pupil of Ärün joined the bad side because Ulsoro manipulated his future. Yonlaso has been looking into his future and has found there that Ärün will kill his brother.

Yonlaso draws his energy sword to kill the midget. But the latter dissolves himself and suddenly reappears behind Yonlaso. He uses his magic wand, and giant plants are growing from the soil. Yonlaso gets caught in the maze of plants.

Ärün beholds Arinn’s space ship. Ärün knows that Sama and Opres are planning to find the Indian tribe of the Limaris. Sama feels that the tribe Limaris is in danger. Opres and Sama travel in their space ship for a long time and are getting a lot of calls from the Limaris. They understand that the Limaris are in a tight spot between the Blood Prince and Ulsoro.

Suddenly Sama and Opres behold the planet Esfon, the planet where the Limares live. They attempt a nosedive onto the planet. They touch down. They are walking some distance on the planet and are gazing from behind a bush. Behind this bush they behold a gigantic abyss. Opres would almost have tumbled down.

Opres beholds the tents of the Limaris at the bottom of the abyss. He says:

„Sama! These are the tents of the Limaris.“

Sama answers: „Did you know that your mother was born here?“

Opres answers: „No, I didn’t know that my mother is an old indian.”

Sama answers: “Then it is good for you to learn this.”

Opres asks: „Why didn’t you tell me before?“

Sama answers: “I’ll tell you later.”

He jumps onto a protruding rock, then onto another one. He continues like this. Opres follows him until they have reached the bottom.

There they can see the chief of the Limaris fighting Ulsoro. Sama and Opres join the fight of the Limaris against the Blood Prince and Ulsoro. Four of the Limaris are killed by Ulsoro and the Blood Prince. But there are still 284 warriors of the Limaris left. A long, indescribably long fight ensues.

Eventually the Limaris, Opres and Sama achieve to drive off Ulsoro and the Blood Prince. Opres and Sama invite all their friends for a feast with the Limaris.)