7: Questions to Resolve in Alodia
9/25/2011
I’m working on the plotting for the last leg of Tapu’s quest in Alodia, and now that his story comes to a head, I’ve discovered a hornet’s nest of unanswered questions needing resolutions. How does Tapu lose the Amaranth flower? Where is the pool in which his pride seduces him into bating and how does he come to it? Why does Amadou battle the serpent (Gao?) each night? Which leads me to an obvious question that I never considered very deeply before – how does Jukun travel the underworld during the day? What animal form does she take, and why/how? Traveling Alodia as the moon is silly. Jumara doesn’t do it as the sun, so what is Damara’s and Jukun’s animal form? Can’t be Nok the owl, for reasons already stated in the text (unable to pass through the falls).
Oh wait… There are other gates to Alodia, and 2 of the 4 don’t involve water. The bridge or the tree. The tree. Yes, if Nok comes by way of the Omari, this would explain as well why Amadou and Gao fight each night. Amadou is attempting to head off Nok’s descent from the tree, but Gao won’t let hum up. Tapu sneaks up the tree as they fight.
Aside from the fact that owls don’t climb trees, it works. She may fly through its branches though, following it down. Doesn’t explain the transformation from Jukun to Nok though in the nice way that Amadou’s transformations are explained. But I’m on the right path, I think.
Lots of other questions to unravel though. Does Gao toss Amadou into the river of fire to reignite him? If so, how does Tapu tie in with that to be carried out? Lots of clumsy answers present themselves easily enough, but nothing that feels right. And how does he lose the flower? Does it wash away or get destroyed in the water as he bathes? And how does he find this pool of water? While searching for Damu perhaps.
It all seems so contrived. Pieces aren’t fitting together well. I’ll get it. I have faith, unlike Orpheus – whose failing of faithlessness differs from Tapu’s failing of pride and vanity.
Perhaps Tapu meets his Hira again in the pool, seducing him to bathe and lose or destroy the flower.
How does Tapu meet or find Damu? He must find him, even though they are unable to communicate. His failure to retrieve Damu won’t have the necessary impact if we never encounter Damu. Remember. Eurydice was right behind Orpheus all the way back, until his moment of doubt at the end. This is crucial. Proximity – so close, and yet so far.
Which leads me to yet another question: What does Tapu come away with? Orpheus got nothing but his body torn apart so he could join her in death. Dante let Virgil come away with knowledge. Tapu needs to bring something back. Joseph Campbell’s “boon for society”. Fire is an obvious choice since he is returning by the river of fire with burned ears and tail, but this conflicts with a myth I already have for how fire was stolen by Herero from chimps. But maybe the chimpanzees got it from Tapu.
At any rate, Campbell tells us that conflicting mythologies within the same culture is common. Even expected. But still… Tapu’s tale is not Promethean. How does fire relate to the immortality Tapu seeks, or his pride? I suppose I could make it a Garden of Eden scenario – he fails to get the fruit of Life, is cast out before he can, but gets the fruit of knowledge (fire). Or knowledge of his shadow (the Hira). I prefer the parting gift of technology though (fire) and could even have Tapu steal it from Jumara at the last minute. A fitting end that speaks to Tapu’s character – stealing from Jumara (Amadou) after everything he’s done for him as his guide.
Maybe. Lots of maybes. I need more answers before I make these other decisions. I think I’ll go pace back and forth for a while and try to unravel this mess. Writing this entry has already demonstrated the value in keeping a journal. It’s helped. Focused my thought for a moment.
Present-Day Reflection
6/1/2026
I miss this process of discovery. I’ve been so caught up with the editing of Wings of Providence and the building of this author’s website lately that I’m out of touch with the fun of initial creation. I’m doing what I need to do now, but rereading this entry from over 15 years ago reminds me of what I have to look forward to when I get back to working on the third book.
I always work from a map of where I think I want to go, but narratives and my characters have minds of their own and I love seeing where they lead me as we stray off the beaten path. It’s always the surprises and crazy twists along the way that makes it worthwhile. Fiction is a living, breathing thing, and keeping the material fresh and unexpected for me should translate for the reader as well. If I don’t see something coming, hopefully the reader won’t either.
As for Tapu and The Song of Alodia, I’m also reminded that I have yet to type that up. Everything is still in its long-hand form. I will try and get those pages digitized and posted to this website over the next couple of days. My work with the Batu is still like an iceberg, where only 10% is visible at any given time, while the rest remains a mass of paperwork waiting to be uploaded as content to the digital ocean of the internet.
All of my work was initially done by hand, including these journals I’m transcribing now to post here day by day. Computers are necessary in getting my work out into the world, but they’ve had no part in the initial creative process whatsoever. Not one jot of research came from a computer or the internet. I’ve done it all the old-fashioned way, writing with pen and paper, and researching through books and libraries. I’m a latecomer to the advantages of technology and the information age of A.I. and the internet, but the needs of publication is catching me up with it all now.
