So when we think of a typical hero's origin story,
you know, there is usually this expectation of
like pristine clarity. Right. Yeah. It's very
clean. It's binary. Exactly. A shimmering sword
gets pulled from a stone or some wise old mentor
hands down a sacred text. And the universe just
neatly points and says, you know, there is your
destiny. You are the chosen one or you just aren't.
And that is comforting. I mean, we like our origin
stories to feel ordained by something pure. But
if you step into the world of neogentrics, that
pristine origin story is just... Totally incinerated.
Literally incinerated, yeah. Yeah, literally.
So welcome back to the Neogentrics Multiverse
Podcast, everyone. We are officially kicking
off Season 2. Season 2, here we go. We are so
excited to have you back with us. Today we are
starting an exploratory deep dive into The Elementalist,
which is Book 1 of the Voidmaster series. And
this is going to be wild. It really is. Our mission
for this deep dive is to get our first real look
at the text itself. We are strictly covering
part one today. So that is the prelude, the introduction
to the planet Elibra, the nine elemental weapons,
and then our first steps into Asnium. Right.
We are just looking at the board as it's set
before the major pieces really start moving around.
Exactly. And I think the tonal shift we are about
to experience, if you're just jumping into this
universe. is staggering oh absolutely i mean
it drops you in so fast we are thrust right into
a universe operating on this grand deeply mythological
scale we're talking galaxies and cosmic planetary
defense systems but it is also um incredibly
grounded yeah grounded in this suffocating intense
personal tragedy the macro and the micro they
just bleed into each other right from the very
first page they really do And that bleed starts
immediately in the prelude, right? With our introduction
to the protagonist, Zerul Hamrusul. Right. We
find him living way up in the Terral Mountain
Range, looking down over this massive, sprawling
city called Tresca. Before we even hear him speak,
the physical description we get just tells this
entire devastating story on its own. It really
paints a picture. It does. The text tells us
he's a young man, early 20s, right? But he has
the hardened, weathered physique of a forester.
And then there's this, like, insanely specific
detail. The goatee? Yes. The goatee. The text
says he has a legendary goatee that makes him
look like a man in his 40s. I mean, he is 20.
But he literally wears the face of a man twice
his age. Which is such a classic literary device,
right? Because premature aging in literature
is, well, it's almost always a physical manifestation
of psychological trauma. Oh, totally. Zerl hasn't
just lived 20 years. He's carried 20 years of
unrelenting grief. I mean, the physical labor
up in the mountains, sure, that hardened his
body. But the trauma has literally aged his face.
He is wearing his tragedy for the world to see,
basically. Exactly. Every time someone looks
at him, they see that trauma. And we trace that
trauma back 17 years to this horrific event known
as the Cala Blaze, which killed both of his parents
when he was just a little kid. Yeah. And, you
know, when we hear the term forest fire, you
and I, we naturally picture dry brush, high winds,
maybe a bad lightning strike. Normal natural
disaster stuff. Right. But the Cala Blaze was
something entirely different. Yeah, the text
is very deliberate in how it separates this from
a natural disaster. It was not just burning timber.
Not at all. It acted like rolling lava. It was
raising the land with this dense, inescapable
heat. It decimated hundreds of ancient trees
and buildings. It claimed over 2 ,000 lives in
the original city, which was called Kalamaktar.
2 ,000 lives. Just... Awful. But the most horrifying
detail to me is the duration. This fire, it persisted
for months. Right. Just try to visualize that
reality for a second. Waking up every single
day for months on end to a sky that is just choked
with ash. And that apocalyptic crimson glow.
Yeah. The air would be completely unbreathable.
The heat would just be this constant oppressive
weight on you. And it didn't stop until this
massive rainstorm came through. The text actually
describes it as a godsend that finally extinguished
it. But by then, the damage is done. Oh, yeah.
For Zeryl, that psychological scar was permanently
set because he knew even as a kid that a fire
behaving like sentient lava for months on end
is not nature. No, you don't just get lava fire
naturally. Right. It was a targeted malicious
attack. Which brings us, inevitably, to the architect
of that attack, the villain who actually orchestrated
the Calabrese. His name is King Pocha Q. Varnese.
Such a great name. It is. And his physical description,
it is one of the most wildly specific, vividly
bizarre introductions I think I've ever encountered
in fantasy literature. Oh, I completely agree.
It's wild. So the text states that his height
is no taller than that of a, and I am quoting
here, a bear in its teenage years. Teenage bear.
Right. And his body is the size of a saber wolf.
Just mad. Yeah. And he has this vehement red
hair resembling a raven's feather. A laugh that
sounds like a raven's caw. And these azure green
eyes that are visible from completely across
a field. It is intense. And on top of this, like
animalistic mass, he drapes himself in these
foreign robes that are just covered in gold and
silver jewelry, stuff he's stolen from all his
conquests. The sheer chaotic amalgamation of
all those animalistic traits mixed with absolute
gaudy opulence is just arresting. It really is.
He is described as this dense, hulking, predatory
mass. Like he isn't graceful. He's not a traditionally
regal villain. No. Sounds like a terrifying misshapen
brute who just decided to cover himself in stolen
velvet and shiny objects. I mean, I have to wonder
how a guy did it like a teenage bear and a saber
wolf actually effectively governs a population.
Right. You would think his appearance alone would
make him like a total outcast, but he is out
here running an entire empire. Well, he governs
entirely through intimidation. You know, it's
just the raw projection of power. His monstrous
nature isn't just a physical attribute for flavor.
It reflects his actual cosmic threat level. Yeah,
the background lore there. Right, because the
text just casually drops that this king was previously
captured by the Planetary Defense Squad. The
Planetary Defense Squad. Yeah, and he was imprisoned
for ages before he ever even arrived on this
planet. So we immediately understand that his
ambition is not just local politics. He is a
galactic -level threat. Exactly, a galactic -level
despot who just treats planets like stepping
stones. He uses that terrifying fundicle presence
to subjugate absolutely anyone in his path. And
he is also like unimaginably petty. Oh, the pettyest.
Because after he burns the original city of Kalamaktar
to the ground and murders Zerl's parents in the
process, he decides to rebuild the city. And
name it after himself. Right. Tresca is the surrounding
area, but he builds his palace, Cuvarnese, directly
on top of the ashes of the old city. It is the
ultimate architectural insult. He constructs
this massive structure. The text says it's 10
potato fields in size featuring these crystal
windows that glow blindingly in the sun. 10 potato
fields. I love the measurements in this book.
And it has these eight cylindrical towers piercing
the heavens. It is specifically designed to be
aesthetically overwhelming. You know, it makes
me think of a grievous infected wound. How so?
Well, instead of cleaning the wound and letting
it heal properly, it's like someone just slaps
this incredibly ornate, beautiful, crystal -studded
band -aid right over the rotting tissue. Oh,
wow. Yeah. Right. It looks spectacular on the
outside, but underneath, it is literally just
festering trauma. And because Zerl lives way
up on the Terrell Mountain Range, he is forced
to look down at this shimmering monument built
on his parents' graves. Every single... It's
psychological torture. It is. The king even surrounded
the castle with fields of moonlight fire lilies,
which turns Zeril's daily view into literal psychological
warfare. It acts as an unholy cenotaph to the
ego of a devilish monarch. The king isn't just
taking territory here. He is erasing history
and replacing it with his own glorious reflection.
He wants everyone to know they lost. Yeah. He
wants the survivors to look down from the mountains
and feel entirely insignificant. He wants Zeryl
to look at those moonlight fire lilies and remember
that the king turned his family into fertilizer
for his garden. Oh man, that is incredibly grim.
But it perfectly establishes Zeryl's singular
motivation going forward. Exactly. He is just
waiting for this specific astronomical event
called the Aurora Anime Rebirth to finally exact
his revenge. Which is a whole other cosmic lair.
It is. And to understand his strategy and why
a galactic tyrant like the king is even bothering
with this specific planet in the first place,
we have to look at the actual planetary architecture
that the king is trying to hijack. Yeah, this
is where Neogentrix really expands the canvas
beautifully. We move from the earthly grounded
politics of this egomaniacal fortress straight
into the broader cosmic ecosystem of the planet
Elibria. So let's break down Elibria. It is categorized
as a mystic type planet. Located in the Andros
Galaxy. And it sits within another dimension,
right? Right. From space, it has this distinct
greenish -violet appearance, mostly due to its
massive vegetation, its vast oceans, and these
endless mountain ranges. And it's incredibly
old, well over 700 million years old. Yeah. But
its defining feature, structurally, is its division
into nine specific regions. And those nine regions
are not merely geographical boundaries on a map.
They are fundamentally tied to the nine elemental
attributes that make up the planet's surface
and atmosphere. Okay, let's list them. So we
are looking at light, dark, fire, water, ice.
Earth, stone, wind, and void. And we need to
be incredibly, absolutely precise about this
mechanic right now because it is the engine of
the entire series. Oh, absolutely. When we talk
about these elements, we're not talking about
magic. No. There is no magic involved here. We're
talking about the elemental arts. These are tangible,
highly volatile environmental forces. That distinction
is critical. The nine elemental weapons associated
with these regions are not like magic wands that
grant you wishes. No. And they don't simply contain
a neat little pocket of fire or water. They are
engineered to control and regulate the elemental
powers. They keep the planet's atmospheric and
geological volatility in check. It reminds me
of the control rods in a nuclear reactor. That
is a great analogy. Yeah, because the rod itself
doesn't generate the nuclear heat, right? It
absorbs the excess neutrons to stop the reactor
from melting down. The text explicitly states
that if one of these weapons were ever destroyed,
the element it corresponds to would just run
amok and ravage the surface of the planet. It
would be catastrophic. Right. A destroyed stone
relic wouldn't just mean you have a broken axe.
It would mean civilization -ending earthquakes
tearing continents apart. Yeah, it is basically
an ecological regulation system disguised as
mythology. Alebria is essentially this highly
volatile living organism, and these nine weapons
are the localized fail -safes. That completely
reframes King Pasha Q. Varnus' ambition, doesn't
it? Completely. He isn't collecting shiny swords
so he can win duels in the courtyard. No. He
is literally seizing control of the planet's
atmospheric and geological control panel. If
he holds the weapons, he holds the entire ecosystem
hostage. And he is already making terrifying
progress on that front when the book starts.
The king currently controls two regions. Right.
He has the stone region, which includes the mountains,
and the water region, which includes the Mureth
-Sarik ocean down on the Isle of Fenmar. Honestly,
the way he acquired them tells us everything
we need to know about his strategic brilliance.
Because he didn't just march an army in and conquer
them through brute force alone. Right. He is
a saber wolf bear man. But he didn't just smash
things. No, he utilized profound deceit. He manipulated
the Water Tribe, who, the text notes, were already
quite selfish to begin with, and they coveted
the mountain lands into a false alliance. He
promised them the Stone Tribe's territory in
exchange for their help, right? Exactly. So the
Water Tribe helped him wipe - wipe out the stone
tribe in Kalamaktar, which is actually what caused
the horrific Kalablaze. And the moment the stone
tribe was annihilated, the king just immediately
turns on his allies. Just instantly. He betrays
the water tribe, wipes them out too, and claims
both the oceanic and mountainous territories
for himself. He weaponized their own greed against
them. It just demonstrates that his true weapon
is division. He exploits the existing prejudices
and the selfishness within the elemental tribes
to fracture the planet's defenses from the inside
out. And because of that manipulation, the king
now holds two of the physical relics. Yes. He
possesses the water shield, which is known as
the Oracle of Blessings, and the stone axe called
the Defiler of Secrets. So that leaves seven
elemental fail -safes scattered across the planet.
planet. And the roster of those remaining relics
is fascinating. It really is. Walk us through
it. So aside from the Kings 2, we know of the
wind elements Malevolent Shuriken, the earth
elements Lasso called Warden's Judgment, the
ice elements Fist of Reckoning, and the fire
elements Twin Blades of Desolation. Okay, so
those are the terrestrial relics you can physically
travel to and interact with on the ground. Right.
But then there are the holy weapons, light and
dark. Oh, these are so cool. They present a completely
different puzzle. They aren't just sitting in
a cave somewhere being guarded by a local tribe.
The light weapon is hidden somewhere high above
the surface of the planet, up in the atmosphere.
And the dark weapon is hidden deep below the
surface, in... The planet's crust. Exactly. And
they operate on a strict sequential lock system.
You cannot even access their locations unless
you possess the other six terrestrial weapons
first. Which is an amazing security measure.
But wait, that leaves one final attribute unaccounted
for in that list, right? It does. The void. Right.
The void. And this is the massive dramatic irony
that Neogentrix drops on us right in part one.
It's so good. Zeryl. Our grieving, traumatized
protagonist unknowingly already possesses the
Void Weapon. He has had it the whole time. It
was left to him by his parents after the fire.
It covers his entire arm, but because it doesn't
actually understand what it is, it just manifests
as this shifting, dark energy wrapping around
him. And the symbiotic relationship between the
relic and its host here is deeply, deeply unsettling.
Yeah, talk about that. The text notes that as
Zeryl stands up on his mountain, ruminating on
everything the king has done to his life, his
heart fills with rage. And as his anger peaks,
the weapon physically responds to it. It feeds
on it. Yes, it grows darker and darker, shrouded
in the dark energy emitted by his, and this is
a quote, consuming anguish. Okay, so I have to
ask a question. crucial question here based on
the mechanics we just established it may we agreed
these relics are like nuclear control rods right
they're designed to regulate volatile elements
so the planet doesn't tear itself apart right
but zero's void weapon is visually feeding on
his raw unbridled rage If a weapon's sole purpose
is to regulate and calm an element, but it is
physically grafted to a host who is vibrating
with violent, destructive grief, is Zerl actually
corrupting the failsafe? Oh, that observation
strikes at the central psychological tension
of the entire narrative. Because it seems so
dangerous. It is incredibly dangerous. If an
ancient instrument of harmony is fueled by intense
human hatred, The outcome cannot be stable. Right.
The text explicitly says the weapon is covered
by the dark energy emitted by his consuming anguish.
Zerril thinks he's simply holding a tool to assassinate
the king. A weapon for revenge. Yeah. But he
might actively be destabilizing the void element
on a planetary scale without realizing it. His
inability to process his trauma is poisoning
the very mechanism designed to keep the world
safe. He is walking around with a planetary control
rod, but his internal temperature is running
at like a thousand degrees of pure spite. It
is a catastrophic recipe. It really is. Yeah.
But Zeril is completely unaware of this cosmic
responsibility right now. All he knows is that
he needs the other relics to stand a chance against
a bear -sized king. And since the light and dark
weapons are locked and the king holds water and
stone, Zeril is forced to hunt down the remaining
four. Which means geography dictates his next
move. He heads north from the Terrell Mountains,
and that physically moves our narrative into
the brutal, absolute, unforgiving landscape of
Esne, the volcanic province. If you thought the
world building was intense before, Esne takes
hostility to an entirely new level. Oh, it is
insane. Daryl is walking into a literal trial
by fire. This province is massive, 45 million
square miles in size. That is... incomprehensibly
huge. It is. And it is surrounded by nine major
volcanoes, constantly venting heat and ash into
the atmosphere. The environment is so extreme
that the earth itself is rigged against you.
I remember reading that even treading on the
ground incorrectly can trigger a localized explosion.
Yes. The geological pressure is that sensitive.
You are basically navigating a 45 million square
mile minefield where the mines are just natural
geology. Exactly. And the biology of the region.
It is a parade of nightmares. We are introduced
to lava mammoths. Lava mammoths. We see poison
worms. There are acid fish swimming in the thermal
pools and turtles so toxic they are simply called
fumed turtles. Everything wants to kill you.
Even the vegetation is weaponized. You have obsidian
palm trees and smoky gray grass. Yet, bizarrely,
there are also cobalt apple trees. and alabaster
melon bushes which sound incredibly alien against
a backdrop of gray ash and red lava they really
do but consider the evolutionary pressure required
to sustain life there you know anything that
survives in asneum must be completely adapted
to extreme heat heavy toxicity and sudden violence
it's survival of the fittest on steroids right
biology in this province does not nurture it
endures And that environmental harshness translates
directly into the culture of the people who live
at its core in the city of Soswe. Ah, Koswe.
The text rightfully calls it the burning city.
Because it is always on fire. Literally always
on fire. It is home to the local lava tribe who
call themselves the Scorpione Ardente, which
translates to the burning scorpion. A very fitting
name. Definitely. They are the fiercely proud
guardians of the fire relic, the twin blades
of desolation. But to really understand the Scorpione
Ardente, we have to examine their founder, right?
A figure named Eurypoma. The lore surrounding
Eurypoma is exceptional because he was not born
human. No, he was not. He was originally an eight
-story tall red dragon with impossibly thick
heat -resistant scales. Eight -story tall. Massive.
But through his mastery of the elemental arts,
he actually managed to transform himself into
a human man. which is wild right and that allowed
him to found and guide this tribe he lived for
hundreds of years as their patriarch but like
why would an eight -story dragon voluntarily
downgrade its physical form to become human you
give up flight you give up impenetrable scales
and immense physical power just to walk around
on two legs it seems crazy It does, but I think
it speaks to a desire for legacy over mere apex
predation. Oh, I like that. As a dragon, he is
just a force of nature, right? But as a human,
he can build a society, he can communicate complex
laws, and foster a civilization. He traded invulnerability
for dexterity and human connection. Makes a lot
of sense. But eventually, even a dragon in human
form feels the weight of centuries. When Europoma
realized he was nearing the end of his life,
he made a staggering decision. He didn't just
quietly pass away in his sleep. No. On his deathbed,
he infused his entire remaining essence, his
soul, his memories, and his profound elemental
abilities into a weapon that was forged directly
from the earth's lava. The fire relic. Yes. He
literally transformed his consciousness into
the twin blades of desolation. And he left them
for his son to guard, establishing a rule that
the blades would wait until someone worthy arrived
to claim them. which creates a terrifying trial
built directly into the relic itself. The twin
blades are not just an inanimate object you can
simply steal or win in a duel. Not at all. They
are sentient. They carry the judgment and the
discerning intellect of an ancient dragon. The
text explains that if the wielder is found worthy,
the blades will heat up to unimaginable temperatures.
They become capable of cutting through nearly
any metal and turning enemies to ash. But if
the user picks them up and the dragon's soul
finds them unworthy. Oh boy. The blades don't
just like deactivate or go heavy. No, you don't
just get an error message. They instantly incinerate
the user on the spot. They melt your body into
nothingness before the swords themselves melt
back into the earth's lava where they were forged.
It is an extreme pass fail test. Yeah. Where
failure guarantees immediate fiery death. It
reinforces the core theme of the universe, right?
The elemental arts demand absolute respect. You
cannot dominate them through sheer willpower.
You must harmonize with them or they will consume
you. Absolutely. And the Scorpion Ardente absorbed
this philosophy of fiery judgment, and they baked
it right into their own legal system. Yeah, we
have to talk about Europon III. He was a former
leader of the city, and he took this culture
of purification by fire to an absolute extreme.
He was brutal. If anyone in Soswe disobeyed the
laws of the tribe, They weren't merely fined.
They weren't just imprisoned. Europoma III would
order all their possessions burned. Right. He
would burn their house to the ground. And then
he would drag the lawbreaker to the center of
the city and have them crucified in fire. It's
so dark. The text points out that there was never
a day in Miswe where a fire wasn't blazing. It
is a profoundly punishing, brutal society to
live in. Well, culture forged by an environment
that tries to kill them daily naturally develops
laws that mimic that environment. They believe
fire purifies corruption through absolute destruction.
Yeah. That makes sense. Yet amidst all this brutality,
the explosive ground, the acid fish, the fiery
crucifixions, the architecture of the world itself
offers a really striking counter -narrative.
Yes. I noticed this incredible contradiction
in the text. Cutting straight through this 45
million square mile volcanic nightmare is a narrow
azure -colored river. It is such a vivid image.
It stretches all the way from the distant ocean,
just carving a path right through the ash and
the lava. And the water in this azure river is
explicitly described as being incredibly sweet
tasting and nourishing. Right. It's the sole
reason those strange cobalt apples and alabaster
melons can even grow. It sustains the tribesmen
in a place that should otherwise be completely
uninhabitable. It is a profound piece of world
building. I mean, why do you think an author
places a perfectly sweet, life -sustaining river
in the middle of literal hell? I think it proves
that even in the absolute harshest environments,
On Elibria, the elemental forces are never purely
destructive. They want equilibrium. Exactly.
They always provide a sliver of nurturing balance.
Fire requires water to keep from consuming absolutely
everything. Even a society built by a dragon
and ruled by fiery crucifixions needs a sweet
river just to survive. Yeah. The planet itself
is forcing an equilibrium, constantly fighting
to maintain balance, even when the people themselves
forget how to. The Azure River is basically the
geographical equation. Oh, I love that connection.
It ties perfectly back to our understanding of
the relics as ecological regulators. Which, you
know, brings us to the end of our deep dive into
the text of part one. It flew by. It did. And
we have established some incredible stakes in
just these opening chapters alone. We're looking
at a grand... cosmic planet held together by
a delicate web of elemental fail -safes. Right.
We have a despotic, bear -sized king conquering
tribes through manipulation to hijack the planet's
entire ecosystem. And in the middle of it all,
we have Zerol. Our grieving protagonist. A young
man consumed by grief, walking into a literal
trial by fire in Azeniam, carrying a void weapon
that is actively feeding on his dark anguish.
The tension is coiled incredibly tight right
now. Every single step Zerl takes forward is
fraught with physical danger from the hostile
environment of Asnium. And psychological danger,
too. Absolutely. The psychological danger from
his own unresolved trauma corrupting his relic
is arguably even worse. Well, before we wrap
up, we always like to leave you with a provocative
thought to mull over until next time. Something
to chew on. Exactly. We spent a lot of time today
talking about the terrestrial survival in this
book, how to survive lava, how to survive a tyrant,
how to survive your own grief. Right. But think
back to the trial of the Twin Blades of Desolation.
The pass -fail test. Yes. The text explicitly
says they incinerate anyone deemed unworthy by
the spirit of the ancient dragon Uropoma. Okay,
yeah. But what does a sentient weapon forged
by an ancient dragon actually consider worthy?
Oh, that is a great question. Is it moral goodness?
Is it physical strength? Or is it simply the
sheer burning willpower to survive? Wow. And
if it is just about willpower, Zerol is currently
drawing all of his willpower from a well of dark
vengeance. So does the dragon respect vengeance?
Precisely. Will Euripoma's soul recognize Zeryl's
rage as a worthy fire, or will it see the corruption
of the void and burn him to ash? That is terrifying
to think about, a dragon passing judgment on
your trauma. Let that thought simmer in your
mind, everyone, because you are not going to
want to miss what happens next. Definitely not.
In our next deep dive, we are crossing the threshold
into part two of The Elementalist. We're going
to see exactly how Zerul Homrusul handles the
trials of fire and whether that sweet azure river
is enough to keep him from burning up completely.
It only gets more intense from here. It really
does. Keep reading, keep questioning, and we
will see you back here next time as we plunge
even further into the Neogentrix multiverse.