Garlan: I hope you have prepared yourself, Ferune, our guest today is a deity.
Ferune: And how exactly was I supposed to prepare myself, scented oils?
Garlan: Welcome to our little show, Lord Aran.
Lord Aran: Thank you! I am excited to be here. Were those cookies for me?
Ferune: What cookies?
Lord Aran: Oh, never mind. What can I do for you two today?
Garlan: Lord Aran, you are one of the Lords of Balance who appear in the Gifts of Vorallon trilogy. You're worshipped by the pure and you're also the Lord of Heaven.
Lord Aran: (holding up his hands) Easy there, I am the Lord of Jaarda, not Heaven.
Garlan: There are similarities, surely.
Lord Aran: Just Lord Aran is fine. I don't want to be confused with anyone else. Vorallon is a fantasy and there's not meant to be any connection with Christian theology.
Ferune: About those cookies...
Garlan: What about the cookies?
Ferune: Nobody told me we had cookies. I take that 'had' is the operative term?
Garlan: The cookies were just for our guest, Ferune.
Ferune: Lord Aran, can't you make your own cookies? Mister fancy Lord of Waters and all that, surely you can make your own cookies.
Lord Aran: Listen, just call me Lord Aran, please. Yes, I can make cookies by transmuting water, but they're not half as good as home made, more like several day old convenience store cookies.
Garlan: In the Gifts of Vorallon trilogy you appear as both a young boy and an adult man, which are you really?
Lord Aran: Both, I suppose. I stopped aging physically at the time I ascended to become Lord Aran. I was twelve, but by my reckoning that was a great many years ago. You see me now as a man in my twenties but in truth that's just an image which is easy to swallow. I thought Ferune would like this image of me.
Ferune: (laughs) Well you are easy on the eyes, that's for sure. Is there a romantic interest in the life of Lord Aran?
Lord Aran: I have many loves.
Ferune: He dodged the question!
Garlan: Ferune...
Ferune: Don't 'Ferune' me. We need a hard hitting interview here. Surely he knows what I meant.
Lord Aran: (standing) For the third time, my name is Lord Aran. I don't know who this 'Shirley' is, but I am beginning to become offended.
Ferune: Oh my god, are you trying to be funny? Nobody called you 'Shirley'. Stop laughing, Garlan, you're just encouraging him - so juvenile.
Lord Aran: So you were asking if I had a lover? I do not have a physical relationship with anyone at the moment.
Ferune: So you are denying have an intimate relationship with Falraan?
Lord Aran: No. I said I do not have a physical relationship with anyone at the moment.
Ferune: (leaning forward) So you did have a relationship with Falraan. When did this happen?
Garlan: I don't think we need to pursue this level of inquiry, Ferune.
Lord Aran: That's quite all right. My relationship with Falraan is very special. Once we even kissed.
Ferune: Kissed? All you did was kiss?
Lord Aran: Well, I also bathed her, and we did a great deal of practice.
Ferune: That sounds a lot more intimate than just kissing.
Lord Aran: I assure you, I was a perfect gentleman at all times.
Garlan: Does this happen in Thomas' upcoming novel, The Fire of Falraan?
Lord Aran: Why yes, yes it does.
Garlan: And this 'practice' you were doing?
Lord Aran: Sword practice. I instuct young Falraan in the art of the sword over the course of many nights.
Ferune: What? That's what you meant by practice? You deliberately mislead me.
Lord Aran: Yes, but didn't it make for a much more interesting interview?
Garlan: I think you've found your match, Ferune. What else can you tell us about The Fire of Falraan, Lord Aran?
Lord Aran: Well, my brothers and I have very big roles in the story. A lot is revealed about us all, especially my older brother Lord Lorn. His gift allows him to remove people's memories.
Ferune: His gift does what?
Lord Aran: His gift allows him to remove people's memories.
Ferune: His gift does what?
Lord Aran: His... Oh, I see. Very funny.
Ferune: Yeah, payback's rough, Shirley.
Lord Aran: (laughs) You win that round.
Garlan: Not to change the subject - Oh, forget it, I mean to change the subject. One thing I have been trying to get my head around since reading the Gifts of Vorallon trilogy is how prayer works. When someone prays to you, you actually pull them to you?
Lord Aran: I pull a reflection of them to me. It's their spirit and consciousness, really. Their physical body remains behind. Only those who have fairly strong spirits are capable of casting a prayer reflection. Sometimes I come to them as well, in which case their spirit and consciousness remains in their body.
Ferune: Booooring! You didn't get to tell us about Jaarda, except to say it wasn't Heaven. What is Jaarda?
Lord Aran: It is a place for the the spirit to dwell between lives. It is a safe place for the spirits of the pure.
Garlan: So it is an afterlife?
Lord Aran: Yes. I collect the spirits of those who die and bring them there. Their spirits are strengthened or healed and they live in peace, very much like a prayer reflection, until they are ready to be reborn into a new body.
Ferune: That sounds a lot like reincarnation.
Lord Aran: That's because it is.
Garlan: What happens to those who are not quite pure enough?
Lord Aran: If they are truly corrupt, they are taken to Nefryt by my brother Lord Chreen. Instead of being strengthened and healed however, they are cleansed - their corruption and identity are removed completely.
Ferune: Is there any grey area at all?
Lord Aran: No, it's one place or the other. There is often a measure of corruption in the spirit of those who come to Jaarda, though their route to purity may be a long one.
Garlan: There's hope for you yet, Ferune. I know that some particularly bad spirits become demons, is the opposite true? Are there angels in Jaarda?
Lord Aran: There are, but they remain in Jaarda, unlike the demons of the stories.
Garlan: Will we see an angel in an upcoming story perhaps?
Lord Aran: Perhaps. I don't have a definitive answer. Thomas hasn't made any mention of such, but it's always a possibility.
Ferune: Does every universe have its own Jaarda?
Lord Aran: No. Many do, but some universes share their higher and lower planes with others that are similar. My Jaarda is unique to Vorallon's universe.
Garlan: I have one more question for you, Lord Aran. You're not the only Lord Aran, are you?
Lord Aran: No, like the planes of the afterlife, there are many Lords of Balance in as many universes. We're not identical though. The first Lord Aran was actually a dragon. Aran in draconic means Light Giver. We all take up his name when we ascend, as do my brothers with their namesakes, Lorn and Chreen.
Ferune: I knew we would eventually get around to dragons. Have you met any Lord Aran?
Lord Aran: I have indeed, they are magnificent beings, incredibly powerful of spirit. I meet them in an upcoming book called Behind the Stars.
Ferune: Can you tell us anything about them or the story?
Lord Aran: They play an integral role in Vorallon's future. Not that people will see a dragon on every street corner, but they will be around. Behind the Stars - at least in part - is about a group of dragons arriving upon Vorallon from another universe. Each one I have met is a very unique character. I can't wait for everyone to meet Sherakk, she is amazing.
Garlan: We haven't heard about Sherakk yet. She must be something very special.
Lord Aran: I have to give a little hint, she is a gifted one, well they all are, but her gift has something to do with time.
Ferune: Time travel?
Lord Aran: I'm not saying any more about it.
Garlan: Fair enough. Speaking of time, we've gone well over for today's interview. Thank you very much for joining us today, Lord Aran. I think we only scratched the surface of all the questions we had for you.
Lord Aran: It's been my pleasure. I'd love to come back again, once I get more material to work Ferune over with.
Ferune: Now you're sounding kinky. I look forward to it. Who do we have coming next week?
Garlan: Our guest next week is Jill Hammond from the Terminals Saga.
Ferune: Yes! We're going to have to make a lot of room in the studio!
Read the Gifts of Vorallon trilogy!
The Final Warden link = http://amzn.com/B00B6IF3LQ
City of Thunder link = http://amzn.com/B00BK9R18O
Lord of Vengeance link = http://amzn.com/B00C3NTGFW
Garlan and Ferune can be seen in the humorous, choose-a-path adventure Damned in the Illmire Swamp - Read for free on WriteOn
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