The Phoenix and The Dark Birds

There is very little in the archives regarding Phoenix. They were created especially by Lord Kensington as a means to heal the hurts and ills which resulted from the natural course of being alive on the Great Sea. For nesting places, Kensington created the Pillars, of which Fire Mountain was significant in Pawns (how's that for a rename of Flames of Hatred?). After that, I haven't written much about them.

It seems strange that I have so little information about the Phoenix. After all, they are creatures of Fire, and Fire is all-important in Swords of Fire. Fire is the means by which life continues. It is representative of a life form's power. It is who they are.

The Phoenix lived in peace during the Early Time, the time before the Great War. They were shy creatures, but everyone knew of them, and should special healing be needed, petitions would go forth for Lord Kensington to send one of his precious Phoenix. What was not known was that Lord Zenophone had created his own version, which he named Dark Bird.

Whereas Phoenix gave of themselves in order to heal others and lived in light, Dark Birds devoured and lived in shadow. This made them a particular danger to Phoenix, and in the Great War the Dark Birds made a close end to them. After the war, the Phoenix were not to be found. Fortunately, not only had Zenophone made few Dark Birds, but without the Phoenix to feed upon, the Dark Birds also dwindled.

Lord Kensington

Kensington was the "chief" of all the Children of Fire who came to the Great Sea. My original thought was that Kensington was to rule the Sea but, as I stated in the previous post, that quickly changed.

In Flames of Hatred, Shatahar's servant, Vitchkl, makes a reference to Kensington's Pillar. The meaning of this odd statement is not given in Flames of Hatred, although I suspect attentive readers are able to figure it out through context. I will spell it out plainly: Kensington's Pillar is Fire Mountain, the place where the family gets the ore to create flameswords. In fact, the ore's power is Kensington's power. There is more to it, but that is essentially it.

Kensington created the pillars as nesting pods for the Phoenix, which he also created. The Phoenix had the power of healing, but they were weakened in doling it out. The pillars allowed them to renew their strength quickly, although that was not the Phoenix's sole source of renewal. All creatures took renewal from the Fire which was at the Sea's midst. They called it the sun, but it was much more than that.

Not all worlds had a pillar, and at the time of Flames of Hatred the Phoenix are considered mythological because few, if any, survived the Great War which nearly destroyed the Sea.

Kensington was in command of The Cloud, the mystical place between worlds in which Time had little or no power. He also was in charge of monitoring and moving the Regulator of Time, which was the real age of the Sea. He was in charge of it, but he only moved it at the High King's command.

Neither the Cloud nor the Regulator of Time come into play in Flames of Hatred. The Cloud is seen for the first time in Book II, The Prophecies of Madatar, and the Regulator of Time is referenced in Book III, Bonds of Love. I believe it is Book III in which we get to meet Lord Kensington.