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Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God, part 1

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Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God, part 1 is a Japanese light novel written by Keiko Shimomura with illustrations by Takuhito Kusanagi. It was released in 1990, making it the first entry in the Sword World Novel series. Island of the Dead God consisted of two volumes.

In 1993 a videogame based on the novel was released for PC and later ported to the Super Nintendo. Around the same time, a manga adaptation titled Lacquer-black Curse was also released.

The story seems to take place in the year 550 NRC, because chapter 2 says the Freeman's Road has been in use for 200 years. The Sword World World Guide says the road was completed in 350 NRC. The Island of the Dead God has a short story sequel called “The Sword Between Father and Son” in A Night of Shining Eyes.

Synopsis[]

　Bart, who lives with his father in the Grozaml Mountains in east Alecrast, is adopted into a new family after his father's death at the hands of lizardmen. His adoptive parents have a son named Rizan, who is a mage. Bart himself is a warrior. Bart and Rizan become adventurers, and they are eventually joined by an elf named Silarm and a grassrunner named Plum.

　In Oran, west of the Grozaml Mountains, they meet a shopkeer in a store called the Miracle Boutique. Silarm shows the shopkeer a curved sword, with a ruby attached to it and text carved into it.[2] The shopkeeper returns with a statue with seven arms and tries to put the sword in one of them, which fits. On the statue's pedestal text is carved which tells of gathering all weapons for the statue's awakening. The shopkeeper already has a bow and hammer, thus four other arms are missing their weapon. The shopkeeper has heard rumours of an axe being in the dwarven village of Torga. Bart and his companions accept his request to investigate.[3]

　Somewhere, a dragon is slumbering. It hears a sound coming from a world where the dragon used to live. The dragon shuts out the sound and returns to its slumber.

　Elsewhere in Oran, Bart and his companions find a dwarf, named Garrard, who turns out to be from Torga village and offers to take the party there. About ten days later, the party arrives at Torga village, which lies west of Oran, behind the Eston Mountains, overlooking the Khan Desert. Garrard meets with Ghazan, the village chief.[4] Apparently, goblins have taken over Balwil, a mine of the dwarves, which also houses a temple for their god Braki, and a "sacred flame," capable of melting any ore. The goblins have also taken some priests captive. Ghazan asks Garrard, Bart and the others for their help in dealing with the goblins, which they agree to lend.[5]

　When the party arrives at Balwil, about half a day from Torga village, they eventually find the temple deep inside the mine, battling some goblins along the way. At the back of the temple, the party notices the goblins' leader, who turns out to be a dark elf, attempting to forge something in the fire, the sacred flame. The party attacks the dark elf and manages to defeat it. Garrard picks up the stone that the dark elf had forged in the fire, which is a spirit stone. Apparently the dark elf was trying to seal the power of the temple's "sacred flame" in the stone. When the party returns to the village, a banquet is held to celebrate the party's victory. During the banquet, Rizan struggles with the fact that he sees Bart blend in with everybody around him easily, while Rizan is difficult to approach; as if there is a wall around. A wall he himself had made. Two days later, Bart, Rizan and the others leave Torga village, after receiving the axe from the village chief.

　Somewhere, three sounds are calling out to the dragon. It is a summon. Part of a contract made with the dragon a long time ago. But the summon wasn't clear and the dragon does not respond.[6]

　When Bart, Rizan, Silarm and Plum are on their way back to Oran, they notice desert people from the Khan Desert on horseback chasing a woman, also on horseback. The party decides to help the woman, but she's eventually captured by the desert people. She does leave the party with an earring and a request to take it to her brother Touré in Oran.[7] The party eventually finds Touré in the slums of Oran, hand him Lateria's earring, and tell him what happened. They are suddenly attacked. Apparently the desert people followed Bart and the others to Touré. When the desert people are defeated, Touré explains those assassins were from the Nameless tribe, the most barbaric of desert tribes. Touré is also from a desert tribe. Desert people generally don't like outsiders and usually kill them on the spot. Touré left the desert world behind to his brother, Barlia, and wonders what Lateria is trying to tell him with this earring.[8]

　Touré leads Bart and the others to Eremire to meet with an elderly lady called Shayra, who informs them Barlia died about a month ago and that rumours have it that Touré's and Barlia's cousin, Dariah, may be behind Barlia's death. Barlia was the head of their tribe. Shayra suggests Touré meets with Dariah after a night's rest. The next morning a mysterious man named Mazai arrives with important information for Touré; the desert tribe is preparing a selection ceremony in the form of a trial of magic for the tribe's next chieftain, likely to be Dariah, and Mazai knew of Lateria's current location: ruins under the guard of Dariah's.[9] Touré suggests that, since many desert people will attend the trial, the ruins' defence will be weaker at that time and that Bart and the others should enter about that time.[10]

　Touré meets with Dariah and proposes a trial of magic. Dariah is surprised and annoyed, but accepts. The trial of magic selection ceremony is to take place the next day. In the cover of night, Bart and the others, guided by Mazai, find the ruins where Lateria is held captive. They spot one sentry, take him out, and enter the ruins. In the ruins, the party survive a vengeful spirit, a trap, a leap into the depths, and fatigue, until they find a large door and two guards.[11] After a tough battle, Bart and his companions come out on top. Bart finds an obsidian statue of a god with seven arms adorned with an amulet among the guards' belongings. When the party enters the room the guards were guarding, they find Lateria. Lateria heals the party, and together they try to return to the village where the ceremony is about to take place.

　In the village, the ceremony is about to begin. Dariah heard rumours of adventurers having gone into the ruins. In the ruins, Bart, Lateria and the others find themselves stuck in a room, until Plum finds a hidden passage which leads to a complex labyrinth, with its exit difficult to find. The party may not get out in time. Meanwhile, in the village, the ceremony is about to begin. The trial of magic means that both participants will try to summon the same type of spirit at the same time, meaning only on spirit will appear. The winner of the trial is the one who gains control of that one spirit.[12] Neither side manages to control the spirit and the trial gets out of hand, causing the spirit to leave. Dariah magically creates a sword, while Touré magically creates a shield. Dariah attacks Touré with the magically created sword, but Touré counters Dariah's attack, killing Dariah with his own magically created sword. Not long after the battle, Touré is reunited with Lateria, who made it out from the labyrinth in time with Bart and the others.[13]

　Somewhere, the dragon once again responded. A new sound was added to the sounds he previously heard. The dragon felt sounds, power, and light flowing into him, and he was about to awaken.[14]

　Bart, Silarm, Plum and Rizan find themselves on a ship called the Golden Duck, together with a woman named Annelie, and her comrades Mahdi and Cains. They're looking into reports of merchant ships disappearing after sailing southeast from Oran. Expecting pirates to be behind this, ships of Oran's Self Defence Force looked into it, but found no clue. As Bart and Annelie are out on deck, they suddenly see a dense mist approaching. Bart realizes too late this isn't just mist, but “stun cloud,” and the entire party falls unconscious. When the party awakens, the find themselves imprisoned in a stone room, together with the captain of the ship, the lookout, and an old man they hadn't seen before, called Norland. Annelie, Mahdi and Cains were nowhere to be seen. Norland informs them they're on a small prison island west of Kazof. It was used during the age of the ancient kingdom of Kastuul to imprison monsters and criminals.[15] According to Norland, the stun cloud is created by a device and he is the one who fixed it. If something happens to it, he's the only one who can repair it. Silarm points out how quiet the area is, very unusual for being a pirates' place. Bart suggests to destroy the stun cloud mechanism. Plum finds a way to get the party out of their imprisonment.[16] The two men guarding themselves turn out to be zombies, and are swiftly dealt with. As they continue through a passageway, they later find a room with piles of weapons, among which almost everyone, except Norland, find their weapons. Rizan tells Bart that there are no items in the room with symbols of the god of commerce or god of navigation engraved on them, even though you would expect those in a pirates' place. Bart suddenly remembers the seven-armed statue he picked in the Khan Desert's ruins and hands it to Rizan.[17]

　Elsewhere, Annelie, Mahdi and Cains are also traversing the area and eventually find themselves in a passage with endless patterns of writhing sea serpents. At the end of the passage they find a door. A magical power is sensed to be at work in the passage, and Annelie is suddenly sucked into the wall.

　Bart and the others find themselves fighting pirates and skeletons. When the party gets the upper hand, the pirates surrender and tell the party that every captured ship, with all people on board, is bound to be sacrificed to the evil god Mireef, the god of the raging sea and those who died at sea. The pirates are helping a priest of Mireef. In turn they get to keep treasures found on the ships. The party continues traversing the area until the reach a passage with endless patterns of writhing sea serpents. Bart, too, gets sucked into the wall.[18]

　Bart finds himself in a small room where he is reunited with Annelie. She tells him her real name is actually Nightshade, and she's a thief. Also in the room, is python, which they use to find the room's exit. At some point, Bart recalls some childhood memories involving Rizan. Whenever Bart came home from sword training he found Rizan studying alone by a table. Rizan would smile at Bart, the smile felt "lonely" to Bart. Whenever Bart inquired about it, Rizan always told Bart there was nothing.[19]

　Meanwhile, Rizan and the others arrived at the top of the ruins, where they meet Cains and Mahdi. They enter a door which leads to a—at first glance—ordinary hall. A repulsive odour lingers, oddly shaped candlesticks are placed in line, and there is an altar made of parts of ships and bones of various races. A pedestal without a statue on top was painted black, as if the void and darkness was to represent Mireef. Inside the room there is a man in dark robes—the priest of Mireef. The party engages in battle with the dark priest, who summons many skeleton minions to outnumber Rizan and the others. The party is overwhelmed by the sheer amount of opponents, and hardly has opportunity to attack the priest. The overwhelming situation was becoming too much for Rizan, when suddenly Bart and Nightshade appear. Bart attacks the priest, but gets pushed back and lands amidst the skeletons. He then throws his sword at the priest, hitting him in the chest and killing him, ending the battle.[20]

　After the fight, the party ascends another stairs leading to the upper room, where they find the “stun cloud” mechanism. In the room where the battle took place, Bart finds Rizan with the deceased dark priest. When Rizan spots Bart and the others, he quickly pulls away. Bart inspects the priests body, remembering he saw something purple shining on the man's chest earlier, but that was gone now.[21] Unbeknownst the the party, Rizan had taken the purple amulet from the priest. Rizan always wanted to be strong and felt that the amulet had a hidden power that he wanted to unlock, but didn't know how. Later, in another room, he finds an old book that he feels holds the secret to his newly-acquired amulet. On their way back to Oran, Rizan collapses. When he awakens, Bart is by his side. He firmly insists to Bart he wants to be alone with his book, and Bart leaves angrily. The party eventually returns to Oran.

　Somewhere, the dragon noticed a cold current. Wherever it came from, or wherever it was heading to, the dragon wanted to know. It tried to leave, but stopped and focussed on sensing the current again.[22]

　In the town of Pada, four or five days northeast of Oran, Bart, Rizan, Silarm and Plum are reunited with Garrard. They also meet with another group, led by a certain Forcis. They learn that the nearby ruins of the ancient kingdom, called Rex, have recently been disturbed by an earthquake, which may have resulted in more areas of the ruins having become accessible. Bart's party, with Garrard, and Forcis' party decide to check out, looking for treasure. Once inside, the magic that once caused the city to float in the sky, still partially lingered around, causing some areas to be levitated. When the parties have to make a choice on investigating a tower and another building, the parties split; Bart's group heads into the tower and Forcis's group investigates the other building. Bart's group eventually returns empty-handed and wait for Forcis's group, but they don't return. Bart and the others decide head into the building Forcis and his group were exploring, only to find them all dead.[23] Nearby, Rizan finds a mysterious locked door that piques his interest. Beyond it is a sage's room, that he wishes to access.[24]

　When the party decides to rest for the night, they are suddenly taken captive by what appear to be dark dwarves. As this happened, Plum was not present, thus avoided being captured. Silarm and Garrard are separated from Bart and Rizan, who are taken into a tower, where the “master” of the dark dwarves is supposed to be. With help from Plum, Silarm and Garrard manage to escape the dark dwarves and decide to go to the tower to help Bart and Rizan. They are followed by armed dark dwarves.[25] In the tower, Bart and Rizan are taken to a mummified being by the King of the “Dwarves”. The mummy is what remains of a sorcerer of the ancient kingdom of Kastuul who goes by the name Eldorth. The “dwarves” are shii created by him. Eldorth asks Bart and Rizan for either to step forward as he new host and, to Bart's surprise, Rizan willingly accepts. His goal is to get Eldorth's staff, which houses Eldorth's soul and may be the key to the mysterious locked door from before.[26] After a clash, Rizan appears to have come out on top, now holding the staff and seemingly able to control the shii.

　Rizan returns to the sage's door he previously was unable to open. With his new-found powers he does manage to open it, eventually leading to a large magically-sealed silver box. When Rizan manages to unseal the box, a mummy comes out of it. When the party manages to defeat the mummy, it leaves behind a kaleidoscope. When Rizan, laughing menacingly, opens the tube he releases a red substance from it. The amulet around his neck responds to it and it results in a flash of light, after which Rizan is nowhere to be seen. Bart looks at the kaleidoscope and wonders if this is what Rizan had been searching for all this time.[27]

　Elsewhere, Rizan meets with the priest and a mass of flesh. Rizan kills the priest and sacrifices him to the mass of flesh, which is the evil god Mireef. Inside the room are several skeletons of people previously sacrificed. They become obedient to Rizan.[28]

Appearances[]

Characters[]

In order of appearance.

  • Bart
  • Rizan
  • Rizan’s father
  • Rizan’s mother
  • Bart’s father
  • Silarm
  • Plum
  • Dragon
  • Garrard
  • Ghazan
  • Lateria
  • Touré
  • Shayra
  • Mazai
  • Dariah
  • Cains
  • Annelie
  • Norris
  • Norland
  • Mahdi
  • Nightshade
  • Priest of Mireef
  • Forcis
  • Kevin
  • Liza
  • King of the “Dwarves”
  • Eldorth
  • Mireef

Spirits[]

  • Shade, the spirit of darkness
  • Valkyrie, the spirit of battle
  • Will-o’-wisp, the spirit of light

Bestiary[]

  • Dark elf
  • Dragon’s tooth warrior
  • Ghost
  • Goblin
  • Lizardman
  • Mummy
  • Python
  • Shii
  • Skeleton
  • Zombie

Gallery[]

Artwork from the novel.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 KADOKAWA, "死せる神の島（上） ソード・ワールド・ノベル"
  2. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 24 (fan translation)
  3. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 28 (fan translation)
  4. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 34 (fan translation)
  5. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 37 (fan translation)
  6. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 49 (fan translation)
  7. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 54 (fan translation)
  8. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 60 (fan translation)
  9. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 64 (fan translation)
  10. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 66 (fan translation)
  11. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 82 (fan translation)
  12. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 94 (fan translation)
  13. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 100 (fan translation)
  14. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 101 (fan translation)
  15. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 111 (fan translation)
  16. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 114 (fan translation)
  17. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 120 (fan translation)
  18. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 126 (fan translation)
  19. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 133 (fan translation)
  20. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 139 (fan translation)
  21. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 146 (fan translation)
  22. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 154 (fan translation)
  23. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 173 (fan translation)
  24. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 176 (fan translation)
  25. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 188 (fan translation)
  26. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 193 (fan translation)
  27. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 206 (fan translation)
  28. ↑ Shimomura, K., Sword World Novel: The Island of the Dead God 1, page 211 (fan translation)
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