Doors of Death

the Doors of Dead the ( The Death Spoils Cycle ) is a cycle of 7 books left between 1990 and 1994 and Co-writings by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman. This work of Fantasy is regarded to date as their chief of work.

Summary

A long ago, a war made rage, opposing two enemy races: Sartans and Patryns. Sartans reflect fine with this war by dividing the world into several kingdoms inter-connected via the doors of death. They locked up their enemies Patryns in one of these world called the labyrinth, a prison having for goal to give them in the right way. Well a long time afterwards, Xar is first Patryn to escape from the labyrinth. However, Sartans disappeared! It then charges Haplo with visiting the 4 elementary worlds in order to put chaos at it, thus preparing the conquest of its Master.

Books

the Wing of the Dragon (1990)
the Star of the Elves (1991)
Sea of Fire (1992)
the Snake Magus (1993)
the Hand of Chaos (1993)
Voyage at the bottom of the Labyrinth (1994)
the Seventh Door (1994)

General principle of the series

The series sees the confrontation of two races resulting from human, Sartans and Patryns, of which the combat propoqué the destruction of the ground, recomposed by Sartans (thus victorious) in several worlds, places of voyage of the Patryn hero, Haplo. Through the competition between the two species which are regarded as demigods, one sees appearing the life of those which they were supposed to protect, human the, dwarf ones and elves (gathered under the mensch term, in opposition to the übermensch term describing Sartans and Patryn). The combat between good and badly, order and chaos, is not Manichean - Patryns as Sartans are neither very black, nor any white… even if, in slide, the Good and the absolute Evil appear…

Preceding summary of the history novels

One does not know how that occurred, but the magic reappeared on ground. Elves and dwarves left anonymities and two changes of humanity, suited to handling of the magic to a fundamental level, that of Runes, near of quantum mechanics, took the top on the three other species. Delivering itself battles on battle, these two races, Sartans and Patryns, under different aspects, wished each one reginer on the " mensch" , generic term indicating those which could not handle Runes. Sartans, carried out by the fear of the other camp, decided to set in motion a gigantic plan in energy and means: they would divide the ground and would rebuild it in 6 different worlds, coexistent where the ground existed before separation. These six worlds (Air, Water, Fire, Ground, Nexus and Labyrinthe) would be connected by the doors of Death. All that would be carried out since a place called the Seventh Door.

If some Sartans were opposed, like Zifnab for example, the majority were of agreement and granted the capacity to the chief of Sartan which destroyed the Earth - an act which was named Separation. Their enemies imprisoned in driving Labyrinth in Nexus, the menschs (those which had survived) carried in the four worlds, their own people dispersed in these same four worlds, most powerful Sartans were installed on the world of water, and instead of destroying the 7th door, they sent it in another place, forgotten of all - or almost.

Whereas their plan seemed to function, several events occurred which made null and void the nice ideas sartanes and forced the world towards a spiral of self-destruction.

on the world of Fire, Pryan, the citadels, conveyer of energy for the other worlds, did not function; the Titans, creatures supposed to manage these citadels, were initially used by Sartans de Pryan to control the human populations, before those - and the Titans, are released from the citadels at the same time as the Titans; then Sartans disappeared. Thus the other worlds were deprived of energy, of heat, light and even of food.
on the world of the Earth, Abarrach, lack energy, the air became vitiated and the populations mensch died - the dwarves in the last; in order to ensure the future of their own people, the sartans of Abarrach used of all their magic capacities to survive and had resorts to the prohibited magic, the nécromancie or resurrection partial of deaths, in order to make of them their cadaveric puppets, in charge of the tasks subordinates; by doing this, and being unaware of the laws of balance, they caused the death of their brothers and Sartans sisters of the other worlds. A group of sartans, degenerated and having lost a big part of its runic magic, found by chance the Seventh door that they took for means of communication with beyond and powers exétieures…
on the world of the air, Arianus, the large supposed machine to align all the islands and to provide water to the floating continents of the world of the air, turned in the vacuum without the energy produced by Pryan neither the raw materials of Abarrach nor the food of Pryan; castes trained by the elves, took the control of the political life of the floating islands, once Sartans left. The dwarves were reduced in slavery and the human ones were to fight for the water little available. During this time, Sartans had entered in hibernation while waiting for that the things are better. Only one of them awoke - the others, thought it later, had had to undergo the consequences of the nécromancie used on Abarach.
on the world of Water, Chélestria, where were the council of Sartans, and its chief Samman, it was quickly discovered that respirable water destroyed the magic of Sartan and thus their forces, founded on the runes, whereas it started neither the rudimentary forces nor the magic of the menschs. Sartans discovered also the existence of viscous snakes and nauséabons, incarnation of the evil, whose presence were explained by no theory of Sartans which was however thought omniscient. In order to protect itself, and in a less need, to also protect the menschs, Samman forced those to leave Chalice, its protected fortress. Knowing that the snakes had some after alone Sartans, Samman at the same time decided to call them his of the other worlds to the assistance, and to do everything so that the snakes are cold in the planet sea; the news that Samman accepted other worlds still made it more anxious and it initially decided to close the doors of dead then to break the balance of the forces of the planet sea, making so that the snakes - and the chalice, are blocked in the ices whereas the menschs had to be solved with a wandering life with the liking of displacements of the sun of sea. Being also inserted in a magic sleep, Sartans waited until their brothers can come to help them.
in the labyrinth, plus any guard sartan did not exist and Patryns and Sartans rebels locked up with them had to face a world become intelligent, but fundamentally bad, which prevented them from leaving the labyrinth. Sartan, known under the name of Zyfnab, then Patryn, known under the name of Xar, succeeded in leaving the Labyrinth one does not know how much generations after Separation. If Zyfnab fur helped by the force of the Good, expressed by the green dragons of Pryan, Xar, him, remained in Nexus, from where it helped of other Patryns to leave the labyrinth. When Xar included/understood how the doors of the death functioned, it decided that it conquièrerait the four worlds, and for this reason which it will send, Haplo, faithful among the faithful one, in each world, in order to prepare its arrival triumphing and over knowing what it was occurred their enemies, Sartans.

Worlds

Arianus, the world air

Arianus is the most industrial world of all. The continents, or rather the islands, there are flotantes and constitute three distinct kingdoms. Sartans elected residence there. For an unknown reason, they were put not to receive a news of the other elementary worlds more. They thus returned in hibernation, in the hope which one day very improves. But they never left this sleep, thus leaving the inhabitants of Arianus in the most total blur relating to their history…

Semi-Kingdom: It shelters the elves and the human ones. Those deliver a thankless struggle where the human ones are held in slavery by the elves. The transport of islands in islands is done via magic naves. The local currency is water and the elves have the quasi-monopoly of it. Indeed, they make use of their authority to go to seek this richness among dwarves, in the Low-Kingdom.
High-Kingdom: It is inhabited by the mystériarques ones, of powerful magicians who in vain try to preserve all that Sartans had built. The luxury which reign is only illusion there.
Low-Kingdom: It is separated from the Low-Kingdom by the maëlstorm, storm perpetual and insuperable. Dwarves, called here " Guègues" , maintain a formidable machine: the Bougonne-Beater. Unfortunately, they know neither the history of it, nor the utility! They thus fill submissively their office, regularly pouring a water tax with the elves. Indeed, those are made pass for gods. The dwarves do not know the existence of the two other kingdoms and dedicate a worship with the " Créchis-Créchas" , divinities who are supposed to take them along in the world the higher day of the judgment.

Pryan, the world of fire

Pryan is a sphere in which 4 suns are. The vegetation of each planet is a luxuriant jungle and shelters the citadels. This world was charged to collect, via these citadels, the energy of the 4 suns to redistribute it in the 3 other worlds through conduits. Sartans lived then in these bastions with Menschs until the day or those are reflected to quarrel. Sartans started to die for a mysterious reason and Menschs were thrown outside the citadels. The Titans (giant blind men with a hole in the place of the face and being able to communicate by telepathy) were charged to control the systems of harvest of energy. Their great power frightened Sartans. They feared to more be able to control them. Thus like Menschs, the Titans were banished citadels.

Abarrach, the world of the ground

Abbarach is a volcanic world where only Sartans succeeded in surviving, inside interminable tunnels. The rivers are filled with lava and the life is very difficult there. The energy of Pryan fed the Colossi, of the columns being used to purify the air of volcanic smoke in order to make the life possible. Not receiving this energy more, the air became a true poison which decimated Menschs the ones after the others. Sartans used the prohibited art of the nécromancie to bring back to the life their late. Unfortunately, it is known as that for each ressuscitée person, someone else loses the life there.

Chelestra, the world of water

The world of Chelestra is an immense water sphere in which the human ones, the elves and the dwarves coexist in peace. They live on giant organizations surrounded by a bubble of air which they call “the moons of sea”, not being aware that they are living beings. Their center of light and heat, the sun of sea, is in perpetual drift. They lived before in the Chalice, only point fixed of Chelestra, where Sartans had repatriated them before dispersing them in the sea following the attacks of strange serpentiform creatures.

The Labyrinth

The labyrinth is a prison invented by Sartans. Their will, “to educate” Patryns in order to give them in the right way. But with the years, the labyrinth evolved/moved in a prison mortal and capable of a certain will. Nourished by hatred that Patryns maintained towards Sartans, the labyrinth becomes increasingly violent and sadistic. It envoit with its boarders the most perfidious monsters, forcing them to live in an omnipresent fear.

Nexus

Races

The Human ones

Elves

Dwarves

Sartans

Patryns

Dragons of Pryan

Snakes of Chélestria

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