Episode 11 (Book One Recap)

My lovelies, I’m back :)   Season Two shortly awaits -  But first, as requested by the marvelous Baker Manning, a quick recap of Season One before we begin. The transcript is below for your referencing pleasure. If you are new to Evenings Kingdom, please turn that dial all the way back to Episode 1, because here be spoilers!    As you may recall, Ouma, our bold, non-binary hero, is on a mission to murder the King and avenge her vanquished people, but she was on her own until a caravan of outcasts took Ouma under their wing.    On their adventures together across the Singing Sands, through villages and ruins, Ouma became a healer - only to be tempted into the dark arts when a powerful, mysterious alien-snake god named Lacqsis appears to her in an enchanted cave.    Lacqsis grooms Ouma towards the darkness... gifting her a magical tattoo with… a mind of its own, and Ouma apprentices herself to learn how to destroy the Yang people.   Because! Our hero is obsessed with revenge, haunted by survivor’s guilt and self-doubt, and above all things she longs to prove herself to her ancestors. And when we last left Ouma, she was indeed singing with power, and being hailed as nigh god-like herself by the monks of Cloud Abbey. Their caravan finally reunited, the friends are about to return down on their long road to Chalice, where Ouma plans to seek her revenge.   Meanwhile! In the capital city of Chalice we also met Nor Tensing, the small but determined boy prince who must eliminate all rivals for the crown - but Nor’s beloved princess Nejmi may be his greatest threat of all. Harem violence escalated in the palace as Nor & Nejmi fell more in love - After a bloody incident with princess Kestrel, the victorious Nor became a royal favorite, and his father, the king, took him on a holiday into the jungle. But when a royal execution at the Well of Skulls incites riots, Nor raced back through the jungle alone to save Nejmi... but the lovers' paths divide across unbridgeable kingdoms when Nejmi takes her own life. (With a bloody nod to my lifelong hero, Cleopatra.) But we have not seen the last of the beautiful Nejmi... “Just as wild plants have the strongest medicine, so do the wildest gods."  And there we are my friends… now Book Two shortly awaits - !  As Ouma deepens into the shamanic arts and rises in love, I hope the story inspires you to embrace the indivisible whole which is Life itself - championing equality, and ways of walking lightly together in our world.  If you want a little something for your brains to snack on while the next episode gestates, I have new stories & delights available for free on EveningsKingdom.com. On the Journal/Interviews page, you will now find:  Evenings Kingdom: the Conversations. Wide-ranging conversations with artists and thinkers on their work, their life; their adventures, processes and routines. Kind of an ‘Inside the Actor’s Studio’ meets ‘The Tim Ferriss Show’ -  Here you can listen to my conversation with Pat Gault, Alaskan guide, talking about his journey with Ayahuasca. We also consider the many different kinds of possible cognizance - trees, rivers, mountains, even rocks; how this informs the worldviews of many traditional cultures like the Alaskan Dena’ina, who recognize these multiple dimensions of consciousness, all of which thoughts and the wind could traverse…  Also coming soon, and perhaps already posted by the time you listen to this, are lots more interviews available for your enchantment, including my exclusive interview with Baker Manning, my dear friend who also happens to be: a reality TV star, the author of Yacht Jobs Handbook and a magical unicorn human who radiates joy and a singular feminine ferocity I adore. As well as Justen Ahren - the poet laureate of Martha’s Vineyard: a gorgeous stillwater soul, an incredibly talented writer, photographer, musician and thinker. He is far-seeing, far out, and a wonderful friend. Also coming soon - Justin Booher: Ayurvedic chef, mystic soul, green man, on learnin’ from the leaves… cooking, being, delighting in being alive. So do hop over to visit EveningsKingdom.com and have yourself a listen. This is Paula Schmidt and thank you so much for listening. Please review, subscribe, share and enjoy.