Undercity (32 page)

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Authors: Catherine Asaro

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Havyrl (Vyrl)

= (1) Liliara (Lily)
Torcellei
(deceased)

= (2) Kamoj Quanta Argali

Vyrl
is a farmer who married his childhood sweetheart Lily and stayed on Skyfall for most of his life, until he became a pawn in the political intrigue following the Radiance War. He is also an accomplished dancer. The story of
Havyrl
and Lily appears in “Stained Glass Heart,” in the anthology
Irresistible Forces,
ed. Catherine Asaro, 2004. The story of
Havyrl
and Kamoj appears in
The Quantum Rose,
a science-fiction retelling of
Beauty and the Beast
which won the 2001 Nebula Award. An early version of the first half was serialized in
Analog,
May–July/August 1999.

Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia

= (1) Jato Stormson (divorced)

= (2) Hypron Luminar (deceased)

= (3)
Jaibriol Qox
(aka
Jaibriol II
)

Soz
is one of the three Imperial scions Kurj chose as his possible heir, along with Althor and Kelric. A strategic genius, she became the greatest military leader known in the Skolian Imperialate. The story of her time as a cadet at the Dieshan Military Academy is told in
Schism
,
The Final Key
, and “Echoes of Pride” (
Space Cadets
, ed. Mike Resnick, 2006).
The Final Key
tells of the first Skolian-Trader war and Soz’s part in that conflict. The story of Soz’s rescue of colonists from the world New Day is told in the novelette “The Pyre of New Day” (
The Mammoth Book of SF Wars
, ed. Ian Whates and Ian Watson, 2012). How
Soz
and Jato met appears in the novella, “Aurora in Four Voices” (
Analog,
December 1998).
Soz
and
Jaibriol
’s stories appear in
Primary Inversion
and
The Radiant Seas.
They have four children:
Jaibriol III, Rocalisa, Vitar,
and
del-Kelric.

Jaibriol Qox Skolia
(aka
Jaibriol III
) Emperor of the Trader Empire = Tarquine Iquar (Trader Empress, Finance Minister, and Aristo queen of the Iquar Line)

Jaibriol III
, the eldest child of
Soz
and
Jaibriol II
, becomes the emperor of the Eubian Concord, also known as the Trader Empire. As such, he must hide his true identity, that he is also an heir to the Ruby Throne. The story of how
Jaibriol III
becomes Emperor at age seventeen is told in
The Moon’s Shadow.
The story of how Jaibriol and his uncle Kelric deal with each other as the leaders of opposing empires appears in
The Ruby Dice
and
Carnelians.
Jaibriol III
also appears in
The Radiant Seas
as a child and as a teenager.

Denric
is a teacher. He accepts a position on Sandstorm, an impoverished colony, to run a school for the children there. His harrowing introduction to his new home appears in the story, “The Edges of Never-Haven” (
Flights of Fantasy,
ed. Al Sarrantino). He also appears in
The Quantum Rose.

Shannon
is the most otherworldly member of the Ruby Dynasty. He inherited the rare genes of a Blue Dale Archer from his father,
Eldrinson
. He left home at age sixteen and sought out the Archers, believed to be extinct. He appears in
Schism, The Final Key, The Quantum Rose
, and as a child in “Stained Glass Heart.”

Aniece
= Lord Rillia

Aniece
is the most business-minded of the Valdoria children. Although she never left her home world Lyshriol, she earned an MBA and became an accountant. Lord Rillia rules a province including the Rillian Vales, Dalvador Plains, Backbone Mountains, and Stained Glass Forest.
Aniece
decided at age twelve that she would marry Rillia, though he was much older, and she kept at her plan until she achieved her goal.
Aniece
and Rillia appear in
The Quantum Rose.

Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin

= (1) Corey Majda (deceased)

= (2) Deha Dahl (deceased)

= (3) Rashiva Haka (Calani trade)

= (4) Savina Miesa (deceased)

= (5) Avtac Varz (Calani trade)

= (6) Ixpar Karn

= (7) Jeejon (deceased)

Kelric
is one of the three Imperial scions Kurj chose as his possible heir, along with
Soz
and
Althor
. He is a major character in
Carnelians, The Ruby Dice
, “The Ruby Dice” (novella,
Baen’s Universe 2006
),
Ascendant Sun, The Last Hawk
, and the novelette “Light and Shadow” (Analog, April 1994). He also appears in
The Moon’s Shadow,
Diamond Star,
“A Roll of the Dice” (
Analog,
July/August 2000), and as a toddler in “Stained Glass Heart” (
Irresistible Forces
, ed. Catherine Asaro, 2004).

Kelric
and Rashiva have one son, Jimorla Haka, who becomes a renowned Calani.
Kelric
and Savina have one daughter,
Rohka Miesa Varz,
who becomes the Ministry Successor in line to rule the Estates of Coba.

The novella “Walk in Silence” (
Analog
, April 2003) tells the story of Jess Fernandez, an Allied Starship Captain from Earth, who deals with the genetically engineered humans on the Skolian colony of Icelos.

The novella “The City of Cries” (
Down These Dark Spaceways,
ed. Mike Resnick) tells the story of Major Bhaaj, a private investigator hired by the House of Majda to find Prince Dayj Majda after he disappears.

The novella “The Shadowed Heart” (
Year’s Best Paranormal,
ed. Paula Guran, and
The Journey Home,
ed. Mary Kirk) is the story of Jason Harrick, a Jagernaut who barely survives the Radiance War.

Time Line

Circa BC
4000 Group
of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon

Circa BC
3600 Rise
of the Ruby Dynasty

Circa BC
3100 Raylicans
launch their first interstellar flights. Rise of the ancient Ruby Empire.

Circa BC
2900 Ruby
Empire declines

Circa BC
2800 Last
interstellar flights. Ruby Empire collapses.

Circa AD
1300 Raylicans
begin to regain lost knowledge

AD
1843 Raylicans
regain interstellar flight

AD
1871 Aristos
found Eubian Concord (aka Trader Empire)

AD
1881 Lahaylia
Selei born

AD
1904 Lahaylia
Selei founds Skolian Imperialate

AD
2005 Jarac
born

AD
2111 Lahaylia
Selei marries Jarac

AD
2119 Dyhianna
Selei born

AD
2122 Earth
achieves interstellar flight with the inversion drive

AD
2132 Allied
Worlds of Earth formally established

AD
2144 Roca
born

AD
2169 Kurj
born

AD
2203 Roca
marries Eldrinson Althor Valdoria (
Skyfall
)

AD
2204 Eldrin
Jarac Valdoria born (
Skyfall
)

Jarac Skolia, Patriarch of the Ruby Dynasty, dies (
Skyfall
)

Kurj becomes Imperator (
Skyfall
)

Death of Lahaylia Selei, the first modern Ruby Pharaoh, followed by the ascension of Dyhianna Selei to the Ruby Throne

AD
2205 Major
Bhaajan hired by the House of Majda (“The City of Cries” and
Undercity
)

Bhaajan establishes the Dust Knights of Cries (
Undercity
)

AD
2206 Althor
Izam-Na Valdoria born

AD
2207 Del-Kurj
(Del) and Chaniece Roca born

AD
2209 Havyrl
(Vyrl) Torcellei Valdoria born

AD
2210 Sauscony
(Soz) Lahaylia Valdoria born

AD
2211 Denric
Windward Valdoria born

AD
2213 Shannon
Eirlei Valdoria born

AD
2215 Aniece
Dyhianna Valdoria born

AD
2219 Kelricson
(Kelric) Garlin Valdoria born

AD
2220 Eldrin
and Dehya marry

AD
2221 Taquinil
Selei born

AD
2223 Vyrl
and Lily elope at age fourteen and create a political crisis (“Stained Glass Heart”)

AD
2227 Soz
enters Dieshan Military Academy (
Schism
and “Echoes of Pride”)

AD
2228 First
declared war between Skolia and Traders (
The Final Key
)

AD
2237 Jaibriol
II born

AD
2240 Soz
meets Jato Stormson (“Aurora in Four Voices”)

AD
2241 Kelric
marries Admiral Corey Majda

AD
2243 Corey
Majda assassinated (“Light and Shadow”)

AD
2255 Soz
leads rescue mission to colony on New Day (“The Pyre of New Day”)

AD
2258 Kelric
crashes on Coba (
The Last Hawk
)

AD
2259 Soz
and Jaibriol II go into exile (
Primary Inversion
and
The Radiant Seas
)

AD
2260 Jaibriol
III born, aka Jaibriol Qox Skolia (
The Radiant Seas
)

AD
2263 Rocalisa
Qox Skolia born (
The Radiant Seas
)

Althor Izam-Na Valdoria meets Coop (“Soul of Light”)

AD
2269 Vitar
Qox Skolia born (
The Radiant Seas
)

AD
2273 del-Kelric
Qox Skolia born (
The Radiant Seas
)

AD
2274 Aliana
Miller Azina born (
Carnelians
)

AD
2275 Jaibriol
II captured by Eubian Space Command (ESComm) and forced to become puppet emperor of the Trader empire (
The Radiant Seas
)

Soz becomes Imperator of the Skolian Imperialate (
The Radiant Seas
)

AD
2276 Radiance
War begins, also called the Domino War (
The Radiant Seas
)

AD
2277 Traders
capture Eldrin (
The Radiant Seas
)

Radiance War ends (
The Radiant Seas
)

AD
2277–8 Kelric
returns home and becomes Imperator (
Ascendant Sun
)

Jaibriol III becomes the Trader emperor (
The Moon’s Shadow
and
The Radiant Seas
)

Dehya stages coup in the aftermath of the Radiance War (
Spherical Harmonic
)

Imperialate and Eubian leaders meet for preliminary peace talks (
Spherical Harmonic
)

Jason Harrick crashes on the planet Thrice Named (“The Shadowed Heart”)

Vyrl goes to Balumil and meets Kamoj (
The Quantum Rose
)

Vyrl returns to Skyfall and leads planetary act of protest (
The Quantum Rose
)

AD
2279 Althor
Vyan Selei born (the second son of Dyhianna and Eldrin)

Del sings “The Carnelians Finale” and nearly starts a war (
Diamond Star
)

AD
2287 Jeremiah
Coltman trapped on Coba (“A Roll of the Dice” and
The Ruby Dice
)

Jeejon dies (
The Ruby Dice
)

AD
2288 Kelric
and Jaibriol Qox sign peace treaty (
The Ruby Dice
)

AD
2289 Imperialate
and Eubian governments meet for peace negotiations (
Carnelians
)

AD
2298 Jess
Fernandez goes to Icelos (“Walk in Silence”)

AD
2326 Tina
and Manuel return to New Mexico (“Ave de Paso”)

AD
2328 Althor
Vyan Selei meets Tina Santis Pulivok (
Catch the Lightning
; also the duology
Lightning Strike, Book I
and
Lightning Strike, Book II
)

Taken together,
Lightning Strike, Book I
and
Lightning Strike, Book II
are similar to the story told in
Catch the Lightning
, but substantially rewritten and expanded for the eBook release.

The eBook version of
Primary Inversion
is rewritten from the original and considered by the author as the best version.

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