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| Map art: James Cawthorn, R. Lumley) |
Sojan Stories
IntroductionA legend is recounted where noble men who value the general good over personal greed are repeatedly reincarnated to take the place of another heroic person who has died in action. In this way, the universe maintains a balance of good and evil men. One such man, Sir John de Courcy, is a soldier fighting Communists in the Korean War. When he is knocked out by a mine explosion, his spirit is reincarnated into the body of Sojan the Shieldbearer ("Sojan" being derived from “Sir Jon”), living on the planet Zylor.
(Sequence 1: Sojan the Swordsman. Published as a continuing serial, here I group the tales into story-based "sequences")
Chapter 1: Sojan the Swordsman
Sojan the Shieldbearer is a mercenary, armed with the uniquely-designed shield of his outland people. After surviving the attack of some desert bandits, he continues on his reptilian myat mount across the Great Zylorian Desert, looking for employment.
Chapter Two: The War King
Sojan reaches the luxurious city of Vermlot, capitol of the warrior nation Hatnor. Inside the city walls he is mocked and challenged by a braggardly warrior. Sojan defeats the warrior but is then in turn defeated by a second stranger. This stranger turns out to be Nornos Kald, War King of Hatnor. The impressed Nornos Kald offers Sojan employment in his ranks.
Chapter 3: The Air Pirates
Sojan joins Nornos Kald on a mission to escort Princess Il-that back to her home territory of Sengol. On the way, the Hatnorian airship fleet is attacked by Veronlam pirates. The Royal Airship carrying Sojan, Nornos Kald and Princess Il-that crashes to the ground.
Chapter 4: A Grim Welcome
Believing himself to be the only survivor of the crash, Sojan makes his way to Quentos, a Veronlam city hostile to Hatnor. He learns that Nornos Kald and Princess Il-that have been taken prisoner. Passing himself off as a free mercenary, he is challenged at an inn when he tries to depart without paying.
Chapter 5: Sentenced to Die
The Quentos city patrol saves Sojan from his attackers and recruits him into their ranks. He learns that Nornos Kald and Princess Il-that are soon to be executed.
Chapter 6: The Prison Tower
Sojan tricks the prison guard and frees Nornos Kald and Princess Il-that. They make their way to the airfield to escape.
Chapter 7: The Sky Chase
They capture an airship and take off. When pursued by enemy airships, Princess Il-that shoots one down. Eventually they land and sneak their way out of Veronlam territory. After Princess Il-that is eventually returned to Sengol, Sojan and Nornos Kald head for home.
(Sequence 2)
Chapter 8: Mission to Asno
Sojan leads an Hatnorian airship fleet towards Asno, whose actions are have been hinting at an invasion of Hatnor. When Sojan arrives at the border he is surprised to be caught in a full-scale air war – the king of Asno has been secretly forming a large coalition of warriors and mercenary ships hostile to Hatnor. Eventually, the Hatnorian fleet prevails, and King Tremorn of Asno capitulates to Sojan’s terms.
(Sojan, Swordsman of Zylor begins here)
Chapter 9: Revolt in Hatnor
With Sojan and the Royal Fleet abroad, Trewin the Upstart overthrows Nornos Kald’s rule in Hatnor and imprisons the rightful king. Sojan takes the Hatnorian airfleet to the forest region of Poltoon where he enlists the help of the native barbarian tribes (who are old allies of his).
Chapter 10: The Hordes Attack
Sojan leads his force of Hatnorian airships and Poltoon barbarians towards Hatnor, conquering settlement after settlement. He learns that Trewin has gained the allegiance of Hatnor’s vassal provinces by kidnapping the daughters of their nobles. Sojan’s “horde” finally reaches the capitol of Hatnor to confront the usurper Trewin himself.
Chapter 11: A Warrior’s Justice
At the palace, Trewin holds Nornos Kald at gunpoint, and orders Sojan to stand down. Instead, Sojan shoots Nornos Kald and then kills the fleeing Trewin. Fortunately, due to Sojan’s superior marksmanship, Nornos Kald has only suffered a bullet hole in his cloak.
(Sequence 3: Sojan and the Sea of Demons)
Chapter 12: The Purple Galley
When Nornos Kald’s son Prince Nornos Rique goes missing, Sojan goes in search of him. He eventually arrives at Erom where he hears rumors of a traveler from Uffjir. In the night, Sojan is tricked and captured by Orfil, a Rhanian Spice Guard. However, the Uffjirian nobleman Parijh breaks in, prompting Orfil to flee. Later, Sojan catches up to Parijh and is also attacked. He escapes on Parijh’s own myat.
Chapter 13: The Sea Wolves!
Sojan arrives at the port of Minifjar. A purple galley (used by the Rhanian Theocracy) is docked in the harbor. When Orfil sees Sojan’s arrival, he goes off to bring back reinforcements from his ship. Red, an old mercenary friend of Sojan’s, arrives at the port by chance. When Orfil returns with his crewmen, Red helps Sojan fight off the first wave of attackers. Unfortunately, they are eventually overwhelmed and taken prisoner on Orfil’s ship The Purple Arrow .
Chapter 14: Sojan at Sea!
Sojan wakes and is surprised to find himself on Parijh’s ship, The Sea Crinja. He learns that Nornos Rique is actually allied with Parijh, and that they are trying to stop the evil Priests of Rhan from using the power of the mysterious Old Ones to conquer Zylor. After Sojan had been taken aboard The Purple Arrow, Nornos Rique had then proceeded to sneak his friend out from the Rhanians. Now, Orfil and Nornos Rique are each racing to get to Rhan before the other.
Chapter 15: The Sea of Demons
Rique takes a shortcut to Rhan by setting a course through the Sea of Demons. Although they are attacked several times by reptile-men, they eventually emerge from the dark sea with minimal casualties. After arriving at Rhan, Rique and Sojan rendezvous with Hatnorian sympathizers and find that Red is with them. They learn that Red and his men had eventually escaped from Orfil’s ship, and then been brought to Rhan by winged allies.
Chapter 16: Prisoners in Stone
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| (Art: J. Cawthorn) |
Chapter 17: The Unlucky Ones
Sojan manages to kill the guards and return to Red and the Hatnorians off-shore. They immediately depart on The Sea Crinja, after which the Temple of the Rhanians erupts in fire and then dissolves in a bizarre miasma. The Old Ones are seen escaping into space as streaks of green-orange light. Meanwhile, it is revealed that, like Sojan and Rique, Orfil had tried to cross the Sea of Demons, but his ship had then been destroyed.
(Sequence 4: The Plain of Mystery)
Chapter 18: The Plain of Mystery
While flying back to Hatnor (from their recent Rhanian adventure), the airship carrying Sojan, Nornos Rique, Parijh, Andel and Red are blown by a violent storm into the wilderness interior of Shortani. Later, the sight of a dragon-like shifla bird causes the airship to crash into the forest. The travelers eventually sight a domed building in the distance and decide to explore it, hoping to find a way to continue their journey home. Inside, Sojan and his friends marvel at the abandoned machinery, which still seems to function. Sojan recognizes the writing on the panels as Kifinian. Unfortunately, the ancient structure is then surrounded by hostile, tailed humanoids. Sojan eventually finds a spaceship with control settings labelled for various cities of Zylor. Sojan pulls a lever and the ship takes off into space.
Chapter 19: Ship of the Ancients
The ship lands in a similar airbase in the Poltoonian Wilderness. When Sojan and his friends emerge from the structure, they sight airships from the friendly nation of Pelira. The surprised airship captain agrees to take them all back to Hatnor.
(Sequence 5: Sons of the Snake God)
Chapter 20: Sons of the Snake God
Bored at court, Sojan departs Hatnor to seek adventure elsewhere. He finds employment as a mercenary in Dhar-Im-Jak. Dhar-Im-Jak is preparing for an attack from their former ally Forsh-Mai, which has recently come under the influence of an aggressive religious cult (the “Sons of the Snake God”). When Sojan hears a cry for help from an alley, he tries to rescue a damsel in distress but is himself knocked out.
Chapter 21: The Castle of Kandoon
Sojan wakes up a prisoner of Castle Kandoon, located in Forsh-Mai. The master, Kandoon himself, offers to hire Sojan to lead the armies of Forsh-Mai against Dhar-Im-Jak. He explains to Sojan that the cult religion is only an invention with which he and the priesthood are using to inflame his people into making war on their former allies, the Dhar-Im-Jak. Sojan pretends interest in joining the cult. However, during the initiation ceremony, he turns on his would-be allies and kills them all, thus averting the war entirely.
(Sequence 6: The Devil Hunters of Norj)
Chapter 22: The Devil Hunters of Norj
While wandering through Norj, Sojan comes across a black castle and helps some Norjian warriors escape the castle’s inhuman-seeming guards. Inside a hidden cave, the Norjian leader explains to Sojan that the the black castles are ruled by the Cergii, ten evil sorcerer-warriors who like to hunt men as their prey. Sojan promises to aid the Norjians.
Chapter 23: Hounds of the Cergii
Sojan approaches the Cergii castles and allows himself to be captured by the hounds of the Cergii. The next day he is set loose as prey for their hunting tournament. Sojan leads the Cergii hunting party to a gorge where they are ambushed and destroyed by the waiting Norjians. Sojan and the Norjians return to the black castle to execute any Norjian traitors who have been corrupted into the Cergii’s service. Sojan later departs to explore more of Norj. Legends say that his spirit goes on to find contentment (in this time-space or another).
Dek Of Noothar stories (with/as John Wisdom)
The Sword of Life (1957)
On Mars, Dek of Noothar goes on a quest for the "Sword of Life", a magical blade which heals wounds and gives power to its wielder. The Sword is guarded by the mysterious Strange Ones in a distant land. His father had once quested for the Sword, but had then returned deranged. While sailing in a small skiff, Dek encounters a giant sea serpent which he kills with his (normal) sword. Next, a storm maroons him on an unknown shore. He climbs to the top of a seaside cliff and is attacked by savages. Dek kills one of them by throwing it off the cliff. He escapes the other savages by stealing one of their canoes, throwing it off the cliff into the sea, and then jumping off the cliff after it. After reaching the canoe he sails away.
The Strange Ones (1957)
After an arduous journey by sea and land, Dek finally arrives at the Island of the Strange Ones. While heading inland he falls into an involuntary sleep. He wakes in a lighted chamber, guarded by human servants of the Strange Ones, who tell him that he will soon also be one of them. Dek surprises these “maniacs” with his speed and escapes the chamber. He eventually comes across a ritual chamber containing the hooded Strange Ones, standing before the Sword of Life. The Strange Ones try to use their mental power on Dek to sedate him again, but Dek perseveres and gains hold of the Sword of Life. The Sword immediately shields Dek from the Strange Ones’ mental attack. As they evacuate the chamber, the Strange Ones order their slaves to kill Dek. Imbued with the power of the Sword of Life, Dek easily kills the slaves. Outside, Dek tells the remaining followers of the Strange Ones (now in a state of leaderless confusion) that he is their new master. They prepare several boats and all eventually return to Noothar.
The Siege of Noothar (1958)
Noothar is placed under siege by the conqueror Foona of Tarsor and his Tarsorian legions. Dek’s sister Tarli sneaks out of the castle hoping that her offer to wed Foona will allow Noothar to be spared. Dek follows her trail and sneaks into Foona’s camp. When he overhears Foona turn down Tarli’s proposal and threaten the girl, Dek bursts in and whisks his sister away before the Tarsorians can react. After sending Tarli back towards the safety of Noothar, Dek sneaks back to the Tarsor camp and engages Foona in a duel. Dek kills Foona and the hostile army leaves the area.
Other Heroes
Klan The Spoiler (1955/58)
Klan goes to the Castle of Civ to rescue his kidnapped sister from the evil Urjohl. After killing a swamp-cat outside the walls, he infiltrates the castle disguised as a guard. When he is recognized by Urjohl he is brought before the villain. Klan overcomes Urjohl’s guards and cuts his sister Sherahl free. Sherahl then kills Urjohl. Klan and Sherahl then head out to Klan’s waiting ship in order to flee the castle before Urjohl’s men can catch up with them.
Rens Karto Of Bersnol (1958, with Richard W. Ellingsworth)
A man named Rens Karto and his centaur-like friend Skortan suddenly find themselves transported to an alien world (Sojan's Zylor). They are attacked by hostile beast-men mounted on giant insects and captured. The beast-men apparently plan to use their prisoners as sacrifice offerings. Meanwhile, Sojan and his friends are traveling through Poltoon when they hear the ritual music of the beast-men. When they approach the sacrifice area, they see that a strange man (Rens Karto) and a centaur (Skortan) are about to be tortured. Sojan and his friends use their air-guns to temporarily drive off the beast-men. When more beast-men return, they all find refuge in an artificial structure similar to the spaceship base Sojan and his friends had found in Shortani ("The Plain of Mystery"). Inside, they tune in a monitor screen which Rens and Skortan signify is their home planet. Sojan realizes that the beast-men must have accidentally teleported Rens and Skortan to Zylor while fiddling with the alien controls. He successfully sends Rens Karto and Skortan back to their home planet and sees them on the monitor screen tuned to their world. Sojan speculates that Rens and Skortan might have come from the same ancestors as their own.Back to Sojan main page
