Written and Produced by William J. Meyer
Read by Steve Rudolph
Music by William Seegers
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Pekra was a young Gaewyn boy living in the southern lands of the island of Naosaleyn.
The son of a Fa, Pekra was expected to succeed his father as the healer of their small village. Pekra considered purposely failing his trials and running away — anything to avoid the responsibility that would be thrust upon him once his father died.
Lely was a Gaewyn from the island of Naosaleyn, the younger sister of Pekra, and the only daughter of Resa and Fa-Sekra.
Fascinated at an early age with windmills and other mechanical devices, the bright and giddy Lely enjoyed making clockwork animals to play with. Though she often teased Pekra, Lely believed in her brother, even when he doubted himself.
Kirti was the last princess of the mountain-dwelling Gaewyn known as the Rtari.
Promised in marriage to the Humân prince Sújin, Kirti trained as an assassin in order to murder her husband on their wedding night, and so begin a Gaewyn insurrection. Kirti embraced her role in the cabal, including her inevitable martyrdom, but she did not count on falling in love.
Kriah was king of the mountain-dwelling Gaewyn known as the Rtari.
Adamant that all Gaewyn on the island of Naosaleyn would be free of Humân rule, Kriah orchestrated an insurrection and trained his beloved daughter Kirti as an assassin. Patient as well as cunning, Kriah prepared in secret for the right moment to unleash his people.
The oldest son of King Yemoja, Sújin was an idealist hoping to ensure peace between his father’s kingdom and the mountain Gaewyn tribe known as the Rtari.
Unlike his brother Dúme, Sújin proved a less than remarkable warrior, and at the onset of war, Sújin was shocked to find himself in single combat against the sorcerer Mtilan, a figure known only in myth.
The youngest son of King Yemoja, Dúme was a cruel and scheming prince seeking domination over the entire island of Naosaleyn.
His stratagems included poison, murder, and the sparing use of Otice, the forbidden language of the dark arts. In his first attempt to grab power, Prince Dúme poisoned his older brother Sújin to dull his senses on the battlefield and ensure defeat.
Captain Belesys was a cunning and ruthless warrior whose deeply ingrained pride faltered when confronted with the otherworldly events surrounding the return of Legion, the fallen Sefirot.
Belesys commanded Prince Dúme’s division of Ân knights with an iron will, including the Eirks (infantrymen), the Ophion (cavalry), the Adekos (former slaves), and the newly formed Ignarus (knights of flame).
Curious, grumpy, and prone to foolishness, the temperamental Mushin quickly earned the nickname “Fool.”
When an arcane poison mortally afflicted Mushin during the second war against Legion, the cantankerous man was saved by the Gaewyn healer Fa-Sekra. Grateful, Mushin gave Fa-Sekra a small crystal by which he could recognize the Fa after the war.
Moroth sailed across the ocean with his father, the Pilot Micah, in pursuit of Legion to seek revenge for the death of his mother.
Though loyal to Micah, both as a son and as a shipman, the timid Moroth was nevertheless the chief target of the Pilot’s hatred. Yet Moroth remained optimistic that one day his father would treat him with kindness.
A Pilot from the mainland, the mariner Micah pursued Legion across a vast ocean, seeking revenge for the murder of his wife.
Micah’s hatred for his great enemy was second only to the vindictive loathing he nurtured against Moroth, his only son, for the Pilot held Moroth accountable for a misfire which gruesomely disfigured half of his face during a battle at sea.
The One-Handed was the brave leader of the last of the ferocious Oorn — a hunted and misunderstood species from the island of Naosaleyn.
Willing to sacrifice much to save his people from famine, the One-Handed realized the Oorn had to abandon their ancestral home in the Kui Mountains. To this end he swore allegiance to Princess Kirti, believing her to be a goddess.
Dalila was a mysterious Nezân warrior from the island of Naosaleyn.
Donned neck to boot in hemoo leather, it was rumored Dalila chose to hide the innumerable scars she suffered from countless battles as she usually only appeared in public wearing a stylized warrior mask. The taciturn Dalila kept her allegiances hidden.
Queen of the Nezân, Lady Thao’s unorthodox beliefs were deemed borderline heretical by the more militant members of her people.
When the Nezân disputed which course to take against Legion, Thao dared to suggest they locate the Mound and the sacred cottonwood before their enemy — and seize its unknown power as their own.
Legion, one of the original seven Sefirot to enter the world from beyond the veil of time and space, was arrogant and prideful. He turned his back on Ura’s mandate that the Sefirot be helpers seeded throughout Creation.
Many believed Legion returned to Naosaleyn after countless years to find the Mound and seize the sacred cottonwood to claim its unknown power as his own.
Mtilan was a broken man, corrupted and enslaved by Legion, the fallen Sefirot.
Although Mtilan’s obsession with the dark arts of Otice granted him a variety of mystical powers, the destructive nature of the forbidden language consumed his body and slowly transformed him into a duende. Mtilan yearned to destroy Legion, and one day be free of his cruel master.
A princess-warrior from Naosaleyn, Sarai was both elegant and faithful, but often found her loyalty to her husband Baalath and to her god Ura at odds.
After crowning themselves king and queen in the Valley of Hiram, Sarai hoped her husband would come to recognize the love of the god Ura, worshipped by her family for generations.
Baalath was ambitious and impatient, a combination that would lead him to destroy countless lives on the island of Naosaleyn.
The prince fled his father’s reign, taking thousands of followers with him. But Baalath abandoned the weakest of these in the desert, where they did not die, instead transforming into the Forlorn of Eloth. Pronouncing himself king, Baalath founded a new kingdom in the Valley of Hiram with his wife Queen Sarai.
The Forlorn were once the loyal subjects of Baalath and Sarai Salathiel, but they were abandoned in the desert of Eloth and subsequently transformed into creatures of pure hatred.
After many years the Forlorn gathered under the banner of Legion. Although they easily conquered the Salathiel kingdom in the Valley of Hiram, the Folorn yet sought their vengeance against the itinerant Baalath.
A mighty clockwork monster built of wood and steel, the artificial Labasu was created by the sorcerer Mtilan to do his bidding and crush all who opposed him.
Powered by steam and the forbidden language of Otice, the giant mechanical beast resembled the mythical Labasu, a ferocious demon. Mtilan sent his mechanical slave to Pekra’s village to steal a small crystal shard.
Its location lost in the mists of time, the first child of the god Ura was said to possess peculiar powers and grow upon a legendary Mound somewhere on the eastern side of the island of Naosaleyn.
Each people of the island believed theirs was the first born of the tree, and thus they were the second child of the god Ura. As a consequence, the Nezân, the Humân, the Gaewyn, and even the Oorn claimed a common terrestial ancestor despite their mutual distrust.
William is a writer originally from Wisconsin now living in Los Angeles, CA.
He likes stories about robots, mythology, and romance — sometimes all at once. He is currently working on novels, screenplays, and audiodrama.
Fire on the Mound is his first novel.
You can preorder William's novel Valkyrie on Unbound
You can listen to William's short stories on the audio fiction podcast Strange/Love
Steve is a vocal performer living in Madison, WI and has appeared in commercials, video games, and educational media.
Watch the video “Meet the Reader” below to learn about Steve's favorite genre authors, his history in radio, and his unorthodox appearance in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut, Play Misty For Me (1971).
If Steve could be one species from Fire on the Mound, he would choose to be an Oorn.
Will grew up in Houston, Texas and considered band and orchestra his home. After participating in and leading several ensembles throughout school, it came as no surprise when he attended Berklee College of Music.
Watch the video “Meet the Composer” below to learn more about Will's process including his influences, his favorite Fire on the Mound cue, and what he thinks Holly Golightly has in common with the villainous Prince Dúme!
If you enjoy Fire on the Mound, you might also like Strange/Love,
William's audio fiction anthology podcast featuring tales of off-beat love.
Fantasy. Sci-Fi. Macabre.
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