Dirt Series

The highest form to which matter can aspire is the star; everything else is mere rubble, and the universe is littered with it. Or course there is also a lot of emptiness through which the fast-moving interstellar traveler can safely move, but tearing through the universe at relativistic speed and encountering a piece of space debris can be really annoying. Rather like taking a power boat out on a lake and hitting a submerged log—only more so. The result can be seen for a very, very long way. The binary pair, Rufous and Albula, in common with most stars, have their retinue of orbital slag and hangers-on. One such piece of failed star-stuff consists of a lump of magma, surrounded by rock, water in its liquid state (yes, really!), mud, and decomposing vegetable matter. Nobody lives on the water part, though a few hardy souls venture there on occasion, but quite a lot of people while away their entire existence on the decomposing vegetable matter and think nothing of it. Long ago they decided they would need a name for the place they live on so they would have a ready answer if anyone should ask. They didn't need to think long and hard about it because the answer was just too obvious. They named it Dirt–what else? Everybody needs a hobby… Meet Crum and Ampit: ruthless, spellcasting grinfangs who cast a stolen spell to bring them the wizard they need to achieve their ambitions. Meet Jack Pepper, a dead engineer, soon to be resurrected. Jack never met a wizard. He doesn't believe in them. Soon, he'll find out he is one. Meet Leo DaVince, a spellcasting graduate of the University of Koven Tree. Leo wants nothing more out of life than to produce the perfect ambrosia—until his masterpiece is stolen, then he's off in hot pursuit. Meet the beautiful Castra. She lures men to her isolated and oh-so-neat cottage and murders them. But she does it very nicely. She's running out of space to bury the bodies. Meet Morgan Blight, master of the sailing vessel, Howler. If you want to see Captain Blight you have to look quite a long way down, but don't be deceived by appearances—he's a lot bigger than he looks. Meet Frankie Duck, master of the Gilded Retral. Fwankie has twouble with his 'r's, but that doesn't stop him practicing his new hobby—piracy. Meet Merlina, the petite blonde wizard, disguised as a tall dark stranger. She's not a witch, she's a wizard. Where she comes from they use witches as tree ornaments—which tends to reduce their life expectancy somewhat—and she has other plans.

The living do not, in the normal course of events, fraternize with the dead—except on the planet Dirt, where the boundary between them is a lot more frangible. With cunning and a stolen spell the grinfangs, Crum and Ampit, have broken the death barrier and unwittingly revealed its flaw. Though impervious to the most determined probing of fact-based science, their simple spell-casting has weakened the fabric of the boundary. They have also proved that the barriers of time and space that bind the living do not necessarily apply to the dead. Something nasty is coming through to Dirt from a very nasty place via the Netherworld, where it's easier to move between worlds. Something ravenous. It eats souls. Able to feed on the force of the dead and the living with equal facility, it can destroy them all. Jack Pepper's first encounter with the Beast convinces him that the best place to be is as far from the creature as possible. If only the Legion of the Dead hadn't tasked him with destroying the monster, he may have realized that ambition

Jack Pepper is between adventures and he's bored. When a mysterious hooded man offers him a fortune to undertake an easy job it seems too good to be true. All he has to do is find something that has been sought without success for centuries. Seems simple enough: discover the whereabouts of a lost city and bring home its legendary riches. Of course, being given a sackful of money and a treasure map is quite an inducement. Only after his journey has begun does Jack discover that he is not the only one after the ancient treasure. Dark forces are at work, determined to ensure that even if Jack is the first to lay hands on the prize, he will not be the last. It's fortunate for Jack that he can always count on help from the Legion of the Dead.

Mythical continents are always mysterious, romantic, and attractive—except of course to the people who already live there. Those indigenous to the undiscovered continents are usually too busy with the day-to-day business of obtaining food and fixing their leaking roofs to worry about the romantic nature of the place. Morgan Blight, merchant sailor turned adventurer, did not know what to expect when he decided to make the long sea voyage to the land of Xa with his small group of highly-paid volunteers. He knew, of course, that misfortune and danger seemed to follow him everywhere he went, so he knew he should be ready for the unexpected. Unfortunately, the unexpected turned out to be more unexpected than he expected.

Jack Pepper has disappeared. Ampit the grinfang is bored. Crum thinks Ampit needs an outside interest. As far outside as possible—a bored Ampit is not to be lived with. Crum persuades Ampit to join him in search of Jack Pepper but the beginning of their search is not promising. Even Ampit’s renowned tracking prowess fails him. There is sorcery afoot. Together the grinfangs enlist the aid of the Legion of the Dead. More of Jack’s friends join in the search. They will all travel hopefully but before they arrive there are obstacles to be overcome and adventures to be suffered.