Hey, y'all

Seeing as how Helen Fayle asked for one in another thread and seeing as how
nothing else I try to write is coming out like I want at the moment, here's a
quick- and-dirty guide to the 'Desert of Fear' Round-Robin.  It's intended to
be a nice, quick intro to the story rather than a be-all, end-all
encyclopedia of it, so it's pretty general.  But hopefully it gets the point
across enough that people who are too lazy to go back and read it all from
the beginning can just jump right into it.  Clive, Ken, and Brad F.  should
let me know if I've skipped anything too important or if you want anything
added.  And if anyone has a question I haven't covered, feel free to ask
away.


DESERT OF FEAR

(IN)FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS, v1.0


1.  "So, like, I keep seeing stories and stuff labelled 'DoF'.  What's the
deal, huh?"

'Desert of Fear' is a Round-Robin story theoretically featuring the Third
Doctor and Jo.  I say 'theoretically' because the narrative focus has shifted
to some of the other Byzantine doings among the cast, leaving our putative
title character as a relatively minor plot thread at this point.

In a nutshell -- a _broad_ nutshell -- the plot is this: the Doctor and Jo
have mistakenly landed on an alien world in the middle of a multi-sided war
between various human and nonhuman factions, a war that is being manipulated
from behind the scenes by alien forces.

2.  "Factions?  What factions?  Be more specific."

On one side is an evil godlike alien called the Lord of the Vale, who is
imprisoned on his throne in a great temple complex.  He commands an army of
degenerate human cultists, enslaved Golden Ape soldiers, and Trinnian
mercenaries and seeks to free himself from his bondage, to what eventual end
we can but guess.

On another side are the decadent humans of the flying city of Avis, the
Skyborn, a once-mighty people who now cling to the battered remnants of their
power and their fading technology, while their city rocks with power
struggles and bitter class warfare.  Aiding them are a group of Time Lord
operatives called the Regulators (more on them later).

On a third side are the Servii, a savage warrior race native to the High
Desert.  They're big, they're green, they have three eyes, and they're not
what you'd call sensitive New-Age guys.  They have been crusading for
countless generations to drive the humans and the Lord of the Vale from their
homeland.  They are being aided by a renegade Regulator named Cain and his
companions.

On yet _another_ side are the North Rimmers, the descendants of a faction of
Skyborn rebels who were exiled to the planet's surface.  Lacking the
Skyborn's technology, the Vale's power, or the Servii's numbers, they survive
by staying out of the others' conflicts and plundering whatever they can
whenever they can from whoever they can.

And then there are the minor factions, like the Servii's human slaves, the
Skyborn religious cults, the traditionalist Servii, Magnus and Varne, Avis
City Security, the world spirits, and so on...

Simple, ain't it?

3.  "'Regulators', you say?  Just who are these 'Regulators'?"

The Regulators are an unofficial Gallifreyan 'Black-Ops' agency, headed by a
Time Lord named Nergal.  They forcibly manipulate the development of other
cultures and alter timelines so as to 'preserve the safety and supremacy of
Gallifrey'.  Subversion and selective assassination are some of their
preferred methods.  They have an agent named Kali 'assisting' the Skyborn.

4.  "You said something about a renegade Regulator...?"

That would be Cain.  At one time, he was the best field agent the Regulators
had.  But for some reason he turned against them, gunning down his own team
in the process.  He has been fighting them without mercy ever since,
undermining their operations and slaughtering their agents wherever he finds
them.  Somehow, the Lord of the Vale's arrival on the Servii world and
subsequent imprisonment seem to have been connected to an old Regulator
operation in which Cain took part and which he is now seeking to undo, with
the help of his companions.

5.  "Companions.  Right.  Like the Doctor's companions, you mean?"

Just so.  Apparently, a lot of people have come and gone aboard Cain's
TARDIS, but he currently has three female companions:

Seraph is the holographic manifestation of Cain's TARDIS computer interface;

Bella was born a slave on a Dalek world and was later somehow 'infected' by
an alien intelligence that transformed her into a vampire;

Babydoll is a former corporate mercenary, fully qualified at anything that
involves breaking things and killing people.

6.  "So, how does this tie in with the BBC 'Doctor Who' novels?"

It doesn't, at least not on my end of the story.  For various reasons, I
don't or won't read the DW novel series, so any connections in my chapters
will be happy accidents.  The other authors' mileage may, of course, vary.

7.  "So, what about other source material?  Are there deep and meaningful
connections to any of the classics of Western literature?"

Again, not on _my_ end.  I don't do 'deep and meaningful' and I don't do much
with 'classics of literature', either.  Actually, most of the literary
influences seem to be 'pulp' from the Golden Age: the Edgar Rice Burroughs
resonances are pretty clear, as well as Robert E.  Howard and his
contemporaries.  From the modern day, David Morrell's novels -- particularly
ones featuring the Penitent -- and the varied works of manga/anime genius
Leiji Matsumoto.  Again, Clive, Ken, and Brad F's mileage will certainly
vary.

8.  "Okay, fine.  Now how about a rundown of some of the other characters for
those of us who don't want to backtrack to find out who's who?"

All right, here ya go, though mind you, these are just a few of the more
important members of our cast of thousands (contains some minor spoilers).

The Servii:

Rahaaz -- War Captain of the Red Blade warband under Ghorlok.  Helped Bella
and Babydoll rescue Cain from Avis City.

Ghorlok -- War Chief of the Red Blade warband.  Led the Servii assault on the
Vale and rescued Xelerina from the Lord's priests.

Xelerina -- A human slave girl, about 12 years old, who has been made the
Servii's Holy Mascot.  Was put through a ceremony that transferred the
immense spiritual power of the Servii homeland into her body and is now
literally possessed by the soul of the Servii race, which among other things
gives her tremendous psionic powers.

Exalted Greatmother Kazaan -- Elderly Servii priestess who declared Xelerina
to bear the mark of the Gods.

Murgonj -- War Chief who led a faction hostile to the influences of Cain and
company.  Had his throat bitten out by Bella during a 'heated discussion'.


The North Rimmers:

Prak -- A young adventurer known for his daring thefts from the Servii and
Skyborn and who has occasionally worked for Cain.

Soolisa -- Prak's beloved.  Was mind-controlled by the Lord to kill the
Doctor's escorts and capture him, and was later sacrificed.

Pereska -- Prak's uncle, the leader of Shatterstone village.


The Skyborn:

High Priestess Shanneril -- Ruler of Avis City.  Is trying to use the
Regulators to reestablish the Skyborn's mastery of their world.

Commander Siharal -- Leader of the Temple Guard, deposed by Shanneril
following the Servii raid.

Rhanda -- Minor Temple Guard officer who was appointed by Shanneril to watch
Kali, but who seems to be a double agent _for_ Kali.

Vanir -- Siharal's ex-lover, now exiled to the undercity.

Marduk -- Temple Guard patrol leader, now fighting alongside Ghorlok's Servii
against the Lord of the Vale.


Gallifreyans:

Kali -- Regulator agent who was killed by Cain but was later resurrected by
Shanka.  Was the Regulators' second-best agent and was Cain's lover for a
while in her previous life.  Now assigned to 'aid' the Skyborn, she has been
appointed by Shanneril to replace Siharal as commander of the Temple Guard.

Shanka -- A scientist who works with the Regulators, specializing in Total
Organism Resurrection -- the re-creation of a dead individual with most
memory and personality intact.  A twisted pervert who is in love with Kali,
she added a few 'kinks' to the Kali-clone she resurrected.

Eris, Geryon, Loki, Surma -- Former members of Cain and Kali's Regulator
team.  All killed by Cain, the first three on the day he went rogue, Surma
sometime afterwards.


9.  "You said there were no deeper literary/cultural connections, but what
about the Regulators' names, huh?  Isn't there kind of a mythological pattern
there?"

There is.  All the Regulators are named after evil or destructive figures
from human mythology, though this is purely an atmospheric thing and has no
particular significance.

10.  "That's got me straight on the people, now how about explaining what
some of these more esoteric terms mean, for those of us that want to jump
right into the middle of things?"

Be that way.  Fine.  Here's a glossary:

Serviion -- The great desert fortress-city inhabited by, though not built by,
the Servii.

warband -- The basic Servii social unit, a small tribe.

The Sacred Land -- Servii name for their homeland.

gurvuk -- A huge, ill-tempered omnivore of great stamina and pugnacity.  They
are used as mounts by the Servii.

harvuk -- Smaller and more docile relative of the gurvuk, used as a
riding-animal by some human groups.

percussion weapons -- Black-powder muskets, rifles, and pistols that use a
small brass 'percussion cap' containing fulminate of mercury to fire a
separate uncased powder charge.  Also called 'cap-and-ball'.

Skyborn -- When used by a human, this refers to an inhabitant of Avis City.
When used by a Servii, it may refer to any group of bird-riding humans,
regardless of affiliation.

Overworlders -- Name used by humans and Servii alike to refer to visitors
from off-planet (the 'Overworld').

Temple Guard -- The Skyborn military, selected from the upper caste and
equipped primarily as bird-mounted aerial cavalry.

PNPG -- Personal Negative Para-Gravity.  Gravity-control technology that
creates a field to counter the effects of planetary gravity.  Large PNPG
generators keep Avis City airborne, while smaller saddle-mounted units allow
the great riding-birds to take wing while bearing a warrior and all his
equipment.

groundhogs -- Derogatory term used by the Skyborn to refer to humans who live
on the planet's surface, especially North Rimmers.

ghost-eaters -- Demons of Servii legend; the only thing a Servii will admit
to being afraid of.



And that's all I have to say about that...

...for now.

BKWillis