The planet Terram is submerged in an endless informational storm that leaves encoded patterns all over the earth. Light and sound reflect in a special way, driving the planet’s creatures through predefined thoughts and emotions, affecting their choice and evolution.

Only one kind of creature is immune to the storms – the thaumaturge. Distant relatives of wizards, thaumaturges feel, think and weave information that adds a unique pattern to the environment, corroding the existing Informational Order bit by bit.

Aneralt is a young thaumaturge student at the wizard school of Kakhard-Toon. Hated by his fellow students, he finds himself in the midst of a conflict between the all-powerful Omnigods, with his only ally his wild element – an animated fire that lives at the bottom of his wizard earring.

If he is to survive, Aneralt must face the ultimate truth about his nature, and uncover why the Omnigods have been following him all this time.

Perfect for those who love Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss and Dan Simmons. The Puppet of the Omnigods is the result of eight years of world-building and contains elements of quantum physics and information technologies.

Prologue

A lone shapeless asteroid soared through the interstellar vacuum. Its crystal core suddenly churned and boiled, and hundreds of malformed bubbles rushed to the smooth side of its surface. Breaking through the crust, they shot up into the dark, but instead of catapulting into outer space, they fell back, accelerating, as if attracted by a significant gravitational force. After a few bounces, they lost their momentum and stopped. Then slowly, as if moving along an inclined surface, they rolled toward the common center of mass, merging into a formless essence. The strange new-born creature began to consume millions of ideas stored and collected in each of the essences, from different constellations and galaxies. One such idea concerned a tiny faraway planet, Terram from the Tee-Ezerk galaxy, where the first true Kakhard had once dwelled.

‘The Omnigods of Terram are accelerating the local informational strength… Again…’

‘Strangely, they have all chosen the same human puppet to pump with it…’

‘But maybe it is not as strange as it seems…’

‘Maybe it’s all a part of the phenomenon we have recently discovered…’

‘That’s why it is necessary to keep track of the human…’

‘And if we are right…’

Chapter 1. Materialized Event

Part 1. Isolating Mantle

There are no records regarding when the Terramians started calling him the true Kakhard. One thing is for sure – the term ‘Kakhard’ originates from Wonder Island, in whose language it means ‘the event former’.

(I), Izearoth

Archives of Menisqour

‘I know I should not say this, but sometimes I wish for nothing more than to be able to see you and Antoniy with my own eyes.’

Konseliy smiled at this confession from Friedmund.

‘You’ve been on my side ever since I ascended the throne as a child, when I was hated by my every subject for what my mad father did to Svalen. I don’t even know what would have happened to me if not for you and Antoniy.’

‘What we’ve done was our mere duty, your grace,’ Konseliy said submissively.

‘Humble as ever,’ Friedmund smiled, knowing Konseliy wouldn’t see it. ‘Sometimes I can’t stand wearing it. Not only because of my sight and these terrible headaches, but also because of these strange thoughts that without it I will see something concealed from the others. As if I could use the full sight better than those who actually have it, even though they call me Friеdmund the Blind. Oh, this must sound so stupid…’

‘Not at all, your grace. But you must understand that we can’t allow you to take—’

‘Oh, spare me the tirade.’ The king dismissed Konseliy’s lecture with a wave of his hand. ‘I know you can’t let me do this. That’s why you included it in my oath. I WILL NEVER PART WITH MY ISOLATING MANTLE!’

And Friedmund never did. The Isolating Mantle was always on his shoulders, protecting him from all external auras and intrusions. It was made of Maeridian leather that suppressed every wave of information and light, and made his body look extremely blurred and much dimmer than the surrounding environment. He was like a ghost among the living, a particle of a dream in the real world. Everything he approached turned similarly blurry, for even the worst-quality Мaeridian leather could spread its translucent veil for many feet around, and his was one of the best.

His councilors took any chance to remind him what had happened to predecessors who had taken the Isolating Mantle off. Adalfarus the First had cast his off while standing at the bow of a ship. He was dragged down into the ocean by hideous sea monsters that had felt his waves of information. Ellanher the Bold threw his Isolating Mantle off when charging against the Meerilandish army – he was blinded by the sun and slain by the enemy’s sword. Even his own father Hieldibald the Mad had gone insane after a whole torrent of information had entered his unaccustomed mind when his mantle slipped off of his shoulders during his wedding (maliciously rumored to be due to his twelfth pint of beer).

After ascending to the throne, Friedmund had noticed many more inconveniences the mantle caused him. It was almost impossible to remember and distinguish the blurred faces of all the new people he had to meet, and what was even worse – to understand what they all meant to say. Friedmund hadn’t even known the mantle could cause such problems, until his adviser, Claudius, explained that every living creature emitted what he called the waves of information, which unlike conventional sound, conveyed pure ideas, helping mortals understand each other with much greater ease. Unfortunately for Friedmund, all such waves were blocked and scattered by his mantle, which made him the last person capable of understanding others.