The Hidden Lands of Nod

In the process of developing the non-human characters of The Hidden Lands of Nod series I was fascinated almost from the first by the notion of inventing a culture from which they would emerge. Among other initiatives, this has led to an ongoing project of language creation, as the Dvarsh tongue expands to articulate the things I need it to say. I have begun releasing samples of Dvarsh in my greeting card series, Proverbs of the Dvarsh (of which numbers 1 and 2 are available), with plans for the not too distant future to see release of a Dvarsh lexicon and partial grammar. I have also used specimens of Dvarsh script as design elements on the covers of my novels, and throughout the oracle book, Nod’s Way, or Hidden Dragon.

Of all the companion works to The Hidden Lands of Nod, this oracle, Nod’s Way, is most significant. Within the world of Hadvarsha, this is the central artifact of Dvarsh Culture, an ancient wisdom book that is at once a divination tool and a guide for living. It is the basis for the Dvarsh calendar, and contains tracks of an unexplained, eldritch numerology still to be discovered. As a companion to the novels of the series, Nod’s Way is a divination game, a dice oracle for play and meditation.

The oracle is consulted using special dice: two identical octahedrons featuring four moon phases and four star symbols, and a single cube with images on only two sides. The basic response to a cast of the dice is determined by the combination of symbols showing on the two octahedrons. Together these reflect one of thirty-six possible auspices with each cast. If the cube shows a blank side it has no bearing, but if it shows one of its two symbols, a ring and a bar, it indicates an additional element to the response.

The Dvarsh have a formal method of consultation that involves three casts of the dice for each issue on which comment is sought. The first cast is for comment on the issue as it manifests in the world, in other words, as it seems. The second cast is for comment on deep strata, that which is fundamental to the issue but not necessarily apparent. The third cast is for comment on inherent possibilities. This is the method of dedicated students of Nod’s Way, but that is not to say that all Dvarsh are so formal in their usage. Each person taking up the dice will find her or his own approach to the oracle game.

A few words about the title and subtitle: Dvarsh tradition assigns authorship of the oracle to Nod, a mysterious, gynandrous clown entity who dwelt among them seventeen millennia ago. The book is Nod’s Way because it embodies Nod’s teaching, which is the way also called Hidden Dragon. The phrase Hidden Dragon is one I lifted from the I Ching, the ancient Chinese oracle that was model and inspiration for my own attempt at a wisdom book. Hidden Dragon in the present context represents the very best potential within each of us and the situations we inhabit.