Continuing the author commentary of Pathways in the Dark with an in-depth look at the short story, Connections! SPOILER WARNING is in effect!
Starting Points
There were many threads left from The Medusa Coin to be pulled for this collection. Each character had a right to the spotlight and I wanted to hit as many as possible, knowing this might be the last time to explore them before the big finale coming your way in September.
When creating my wish list of stories to tell, Gilgamesh kept coming up.
I was never sure where to land on the idea of this mythic hero cropping up in Portents. Sometimes I go back and wonder if it was the right move or not, having someone with such a rich history involved in the story. Rather than wish the opportunity away, however, I hoped to utilize that history to create a fun little narrative for Pathways in the Dark.
At the end of The Medusa Coin, Gilgamesh promises to stick around and help when he can. He also serves to warn Soriya about the threat to come. That warning was my inroad into what kind of story I wanted to tell.
The message beneath the surface.
The title hit the nail on the head with this one. This tale is very much about connections. Personal connections like the friendship budding between Gilgamesh and Soriya. Or like those of our past, which Gilgamesh is forced to face as a result of his resurfacing in Portents.
There is also the hidden connection, kept secret by Gilgamesh. One from which his previous warning may have come from and one that was too powerful to leave undeveloped and unexplored.
Manipulating history
As I said, Gilgamesh comes with baggage. Many books have been written about the figure . Lots of books. Each depicting events pretty similarly but always with a vague allusion to certain events. I wanted to pull at those moments, use the characters mentioned in the historical epic and twist them a bit.
I also wanted to play with the role he played in The Medusa Coin, by adding to this myth. He was Death for all intents and purposes. He was the gateway for the dying to reach the next phase of existence.
That connection, above any other, in this story was the one that intrigued me most.
Gilgamesh’s past comes to light
This is another theme of the collection, one that I didn’t realize was occurring until the end. Much like Myers has to face her past in Blackmail and Loren is forced to confront Richard Crowne in Founder’s Day, Gilgamesh is not immune to the past.
Ishtar represented his mistakes, his past sins.
When he spurned her affections all those years ago, he created his own nemesis and one that cannot let him go. The fact that she uses Osiris to try and bring back Anubis comes directly out of her intentions in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Her promise to bring death to Gilgamesh for what he has done to her finally fulfilled after so long.
Every story in Pathways became that much more personal in nature by relating it directly to character. Building from within and then expanding the narrative that way kept the focus solely on each main character and their arc.
It is fun to build from plot and the opening scene with Soriya battling the Onna-Bugeisha definitely filled that role in this tale, but the strength of each work stems from the deep connections of each character.
Their painful secrets, their mistakes or even their triumphs are all great starting points to come up with new challenges and I was happy this one came together the way it did.
