FAQs
The Parawerthan
I’ve run Cat 6 network cabling from my home network in Singleton Cottage, down through the inner tunnel, through the gateway, and along the outer tunnel into the Parawerthan. Once I successfully tested a connection back to the home network using my laptop, I secured a Cisco Aironet 1300 bridge on a high point in the Parawerthan and connected it back to the home network using the Cat 6 network cable, repeaters, and a Cisco Switch. This provided a perfect wireless signal that I could receive using a second Aironet 1300 and switch that I carry with me.
I had thought that I might need to build a series of Cisco Bridge relay stations every 10-20Km due to the requirement of a ‘line of sight’ signal to connect both bridges. But, by accident, I discovered that the atmosphere in the Parawerthan converted ‘line of sight’ to a ‘scatter’ signal. This eliminated the need for relay stations. All I have with me is one bridge to pickup and transmit signals from any location. It even works in difficult jungle terrain, over mountains, and at sea.
I recharge my laptop using a Brunton SolarRoll battery charger.
A different dimension, a world without end formed by and explosion known as The Great Event. Many of its oceans and landmasses are unexplored due to the size of the Parawerthan and the fact that it is constantly expanding. Countless millennia after the Great Event, its shock waves are still rippling outwards at an estimated rate of several meters a day. The energy and magic within these shock waves creates new land as it expands.
The Parawerthan also has numerous portals leading to and from other dimensions. For lack of a better title, I refer to the portal beneath Singleton Cottage as The Gateway.
Many different races and creatures have evolved within this world since its formation.
Please refer to the Glossary for more details on some of the things I’ve discovered since my arrival here.
Why are there no photos or videos of the Parawerthan on this site?
Due to the light conditions here it is impossible to take photos or videos. Believe me, I’ve tried. But even the most sophisticated camera I tried (Maya’s Canon EOS 7D) shows nothing but white space. It’s really, really frustrating.
What is your current location within the Parawerthan?
For the foreseeable future I will be operating out of the city of Gund—commonly referred to as Crater City. Please see Glossary for further reading about Crater City.
Cast of Characters
My beautiful Argentinean wife. She was the first casualty when the Gateway was re-opened. The Basilod stole her life force and fled into the Parawerthan leaving her in a coma in the no man’s land between worlds. For medical reasons it was impossible to remove her from this no man's land until her life force was returned. She would have died. She has no recovered and waiting for me back home.
Friends. The backup team began with my brother and built up gradually over the past fourteen months.
Sergeant O’Heir: Local police officer who came moseying around the house and discovered our secret. O’Heir is an integral part of my backup team.
Justin: My younger brother. He is currently in a relationship with Ana and they are hoping to be married once I get home.
Ana: Maya’s sister. When Maya fell into a coma and lost contact with her family, Ana travelled from Argentina to find out what was wrong.
Mrs. Daidogan: A local psychic brought into the backup team by O’Heir due to her ability to ‘see’ beyond normal sight. She had previously helped O’Heir with several seemingly impossible investigations before.
Armbranch is an Envelop Getinol assigned to the Gateway Envelop. He is also my friend and guide in the Parawerthan. When the Basilod’s poison caused the Gateway Envelop to fail, Armbranch decided to accompany me to seek revenge on the Basilod.
In return for his help, I’ve introduced him to our world via the Internet. He is now an Internet junkie and spends much of his spare time browsing nature sites. He has also learned how to send emergency update emails to my backup team back home whenever I’m unable to do so because of exhaustion, illness, or imprisonment. His ambition is to visit our dimension, and I’m determined to help him achieve this.
Without Armbranch I’d have been a walking ghost in the Parawerthan long before I even realised I was dead. To acknowledge his help, I’ve put a rough image of him on the home page.
A 19th Century Irish adventurer who first the gateway to the Parawerthan.
SP Keyes built Singleton Cottage on top of the gateway and had many of the components of the gateway machine built into the walls of the cottage shortly after he passed into the Parawerthan for the last time. He perished in the Gerridian's Fake Empire over a century later. Cause of death: Unknown.
Without the letters and clues he left behind, we would never have discovered the gateway. I have encountered traces of Keyes' presence in several areas of the Parawerthan.
A Parawerthan friend. She is part of a race called the Golden Eyes who were an invaluable help to me in breaking out of the Shavlod Jungle. Without them I’d never have found my way to the Tinotte Empire, come into contact with the Cadavat, and tracked down the Basilod in order to release Maya’s life force back to her.
Mariner and Parawerthan friend. The Cadavat employed him to transport us from the Marator Shores to Lession’s Island. He is one of the few mariners skilled enough to safely navigate the southern Marator Shores. His Storm Runner class boat ‘The Unnamed Boat’ is specifically designed for heavy weather and outrunning Spirit Storms.
I know that the Cadavat employs Sara, Garigan, Kanar, and Cutter, too. But what are their skills?
Sara: Cadavat exploration team leader and my boss in the Parawerthan.
Garigan: Tasked with training Armbranch and I to adept to life within the Tinotte Empire.
Kanar: Mercenary Hempat Magician on temporary contract to The Cadavat.
Cutter: Mercenary Breeze Sifter on temporary contract to The Cadavat.
The ultimate power in the Parawerthan.
A powerful rogue Hempat Magician who seeks various ways to leave the Parawerthan and conquer other dimensions.
Gerridian’s creation designed to penetrate and reconnoitre our world for possible conquest. When Keyes last closed the Gateway, the Basilod perished within it. When we reopened the Gateway it was reborn as two distinct forms. The Basilod Spirit and the Basilod Shadow.
The Basilod’s Spirit that took Maya’s life force back to Gerridian.
The Basilod Shadow pushed through the gateway and ran rampant through parts of County Cavan before being destroyed.
General
So what's this 'gift' of yours?
I’m not sure if I should really call it a gift. Sometimes it feels more like a curse. Anyway, when I was staying in the Golden Eyes’ underground city they asked if I would do them a favour and enter the crypt of their warrior leader Lord Gullivan. Though this warrior saved the Golden Eyes from their enemies by releasing a powerful curse spell, this crypt was off limits to them. Stuffed full of magic, they said. Only an outsider could enter.
When I obliged and checked that Lord Gullivan’s bones hadn’t been touched, the magic in that place somehow endowed me with the ability to see flashbacks from the past when I come into physical contact with certain objects. It mostly works with old artefacts. The problem is I never really know when it’s going to work. Nor do I know what instigates the flashbacks. Like I said, it’s mostly old artefacts. But, sometimes, I’ll get a flashback when I lay my hand on a door or wall or some aging piece of furniture.
Luckily it doesn’t happen very often. Otherwise I’d have gone crazy long ago. What isn’t lucky, though, is the fact that the Cadavat know about it. That’s one of the reasons they want to control me.
How will you manage to get home?
As part payment for my services, the Cadavat have promised to work on a cure to flush the lingering remnants of the Drague Fever from my body.
Yes. I have no other choice.
What will you do when you get home? Will you seal up the gateway, or keep it open?
First thing I’ll do is give my wife a huge kiss. Then I want an ice-cold bottle of Harp Lager. I’ve already decided what to do with the gateway. For now, though, I’m not going to give away my plans. Some things must remain private, you know.
So why can’t your backup team enter the Parawerthan and come help you?
A form of tattooed passport called a Circleweb is required to enter the Parawerthan. A Wind Sentry vets anyone within minutes of their entering the Parawerthan. Unauthorised intruders are immediately imprisoned within the sentry with no hope of release. Luckily, Sean Patrick Keyes left a single Circleweb behind him before he entered the Parawerthan for the last time. This is the Circleweb I’m now wearing. I’ve got to get more Circlewebs (not easy) before any of my friends can join me.
You’re taking a chance writing this blog. What happens of the authorities pick up on it?
Yes I’m taking a chance, a necessary chance. I believe it’s worth it—not simply to document my journey, but also to keep me grounded to my home and stop me going insane. Besides, all the names I’m using for my backup team are fictitious.
What’s the greatest danger you face in the Parawerthan?
Insanity. There’s so much to try and understand here, at times I feel like my mind wants to slip into gaga land for a while. Physically, I guess the Spirit Storms are what really terrify the population.
Yes, much of the time. But it’s a different kind of fear to anything I’ve experienced before. I’ve learned how to control it most of the time. I’ll be honest, though, I have had to change my underwear several times.
I brought a Purdy twelve gauge shotgun in here that my grandfather left me when he died. But I’m running out of ammo.
Can you profit from your situation?
I could probably make a vast fortune just practicing what I know already and getting the right contacts in here. I won’t, though. Invariably, when a highly advanced civilisation is exposed to a more primitive culture, mayhem follows. I don’t want to be the cause of that. I don’t have the right. Nobody does.
So you’re afraid our civilisation will overwhelm the Parawerthan and irrevocably change it?
No. It’s the other way around. I’ve experienced many things in here, yet I feel I’ve barely scratched the surface. Just surviving a mild attack by a Spirit Storm was enough to convince me something like that should never be let loose within our world. I doubt there’s a weapon in existence that might stop it.
The only way I’ll attempt to profit from this is to write stories about what I see here and try to sell them. The bills back home still have to be pain, you know. And I don’t want Maya to have to work any harder than she wants to. She’s an artist, and artists need stable environments. Right now I don’t think Singleton is a stable environment.
What happens if others discover the gateway?
I’ve discussed this with the backup team. They’ll close the gateway. Permanently. All they need to do is smash one of the machine components and it will never open again from this side.
If that means I stay here, then so be it. Besides, Keyes somehow survived in here for over a hundred years. Who knows, maybe I’ll grow to like any longevity this experience might bring.
Do you think you might eventually become Parawerthanised?
An excellent question. And an excellent phrase. Sometimes I feel like part of me has already become Parawerthanised because I catch myself doing things like adapting my accent and using various tricks to blend in.
One thing’s for sure; I’ll never be the same again. That’s why the Internet connection back home is so vital. I check BBC, RTE, and Sky news several times a day just to keep myself grounded there. I also listen to lots of music on my MP3 and spend a lot of time ‘chatting’ online using email.
Excellent. My favourite dish is a fish called Cramine that melts in your mouth and makes your head spin with pleasure if it’s cooked right. I suspect there might be some naturally occurring narcotic qualities in this creature. But I’m not complaining. Eating one is like drinking a glass of strong wine—without any side effects.
The air is a lot purer here, too. Alpine valley fresh.
Last modified on November 13, 2011
