An Introduction to Oz Before Dorothy Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  What You Need to Know

  SECTION ONE Welcome to Oz

  About the Hidden History of Oz

  Intersections of Oz

  SECTION TWO Stories in The Hidden History of Oz

  HH1: Orphan Sorceress: Synopsis

  HH1: 26. The Twisted Lighthouse

  HH1: 27. The Girl with Red Hair

  HH1: 28. The Enslavement Begins

  HH1: 29. The Dream of Freedom

  HH1: Guide for Readers: Orphan Sorceress

  HH2: Dark Dreams: Synopsis

  HH2: 14. Secret Spring

  HH2: 15. The Strength of an Army

  HH2: 16. Stones and Shadows

  HH2: 17. Among the Munchkins

  HH3: Dark Wind: Synopsis

  HH3: 26. Missing Wizard

  HH3: 27. Magic Picture

  HH3: 28. The Safest Place in Oz

  HH3: 29. Light to See

  HH3: 30. A Sound Like Thunder

  HH4: Glinda's Letters: Synopsis

  HH4: Letter-31

  HH4: Letter-41

  HH4: Letter-47

  TA: Dangerbread House: Synopsis

  TA: 6. Shadow Tag

  TA: 7. Sparkwood Forest

  TA: 8. Stinker Twinkle

  CB: Secret Gate of Oogaboo: Synopsis

  CB: 5. Stinging Nettles

  CB: 6. Dragon Cave

  CB: 7. Speckled Lion

  SECTION THREE People in Oz

  Famous People in Oz

  Four Witches in Oz

  Dorothy Gale: The Girl that Saved Oz

  There's Only One Wizard in Oz

  SECTION FOUR Genealogy of Oz

  Why Are Kings Named Oz and Queens Named Ozma?

  Oscar Diggs

  Dorothy Gale

  SECTION FIVE Maps

  Famous Places in Oz

  Map of Planet of Non

  Map of Nonestic Continent

  Original Map of Oz

  Map of Oz, circa 1852

  Secrets of the Compass Rose

  SECTION SIX History of Oz

  Dorothy's First Trip to Oz

  Chronology of Oz: HH1 - HH3

  Cabbages and Cyclones: The Untold Story Behind Dorothy's Story

  Battle Between Faeries and Dragons

  SECTION SEVEN Creators in Oz

  Oz-Punk

  Oz is a Blank Slate - Blog Post

  Books by the Author

  On the Web

  Credits

  Last Words of L. Frank Baum

  About the Author

  THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF OZ - AN INTRODUCTION TO OZ BEFORE DOROTHY

  Tarl Telford

  Copyright © 2018 Tarl Telford

  Contains selections from

  The Orphan Sorceress of Oz © 2017

  Dark Dreams in Oz © 2017

  Dark Wind in Oz © 2017

  Glinda's Letters to Oz © 2017

  Candor Bandersnatch and the Secret Gate of Oogaboo © 2017

  Tabby Abacus and the Dangerbread House © 2015

  Published by Emerald Engine Studios

  First Edition

  All Rights Reserved

  Dedication

  To all Oz fans, both old and new. Your dreams have made Oz amazing. The dreams of the future promise wonderful things. Keep on dreaming.

  and

  To the memory of L. Frank Baum:

  Who saw the first part of this magical saga and had the courage and wonder to write it down.

  What You Need to Know

  The Hidden History of Oz series is built on the following premise:

  Oz is a land powered by human dreams.

  That which is dreamed in our world affects what happens in that world.

  Dreams are drawn into Oz and filtered through the Emerald Engine, which creates magic in the land.

  A dreamer from our world, dreaming unfiltered dreams in Oz, would change the world around him. That is why they call him the Wizard.

  Chronology--Important Events Related to this Story

  Ozy: The reckoning of years in Oz.

  AD: Common reckoning for earth history.

  BDG: Before Dorothy Gale. After Dorothy came to Oz, a new system of reckoning was used. (There is no year 0 BDG/ADG.)

  1 Ozy / 685 AD / 1215 BDG--Ozma the First becomes the first ruler of the Land of Oz.

  1168 Ozy / 1852 AD / 48 BDG

  The Giant Hourglass completes its cycle early. Every 22 years, there is a period of 22 days where death is suspended in Oz. This cycle ended two days early, to tragic consequences.

  Glinda leaves the North to find a new home. The arrival of Oscar Diggs, the Wizard, to Oz.

  The Third Witch War begins.

  The foundations are laid for the Emerald City.

  Glinda celebrates her sixteenth birthday.

  1170 Ozy / 1854 AD / 46 BDG--Events occurring in the next Hidden History of Oz books.

  1216 Ozy / 1900 AD / 1 ADG--Dorothy Gale arrives in Oz, destroys the Wicked Witch of the East, travels to Emerald City, destroys the Wicked Witch of the West, reveals the Wizard, and goes back to Kansas.

  Abbreviations used in this guide

  HH1: The Orphan Sorceress of Oz (The Hidden History of Oz, Book One)

  HH2: Dark Dreams in Oz (The Hidden History of Oz, Book Two)

  HH3: Dark Wind in Oz (The Hidden History of Oz, Book Three)

  HH4: Glinda's Letters to Oz (The Hidden History of Oz, Book Four)

  CB: Candor Bandersnatch story

  TA: Tabby Abacus story

  SECTION ONE

  Welcome to Oz

  Welcome to The Hidden History of Oz

  My predecessors in Oz have left a varied trail of names, locations, stories, and ideas to establish the classic version of Oz that is recognized the world over. My role has been to create the foundation and backbone of the structure that underpins Baum's Oz. Deconstruction has been a necessary part of building the strong foundation.

  In his introduction to his first novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum wrote in part:

  Modern education includes morality; therefore the modern child seeks only entertainment in its wonder-tales and gladly dispenses with all disagreeable incident.

  Having this thought in mind, the story of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was written solely to pleasure children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out.

  More than one hundred years ago, public education included instruction on morality. Not so, in this time. Today, we live in a world full of facts and fame at our fingertips, but we are bereft of wonder. The noise of an ever-present now clouds clarity. Without clarity, truth, light, and beauty drown in murky mediocrity--everything looks the same because everything is blurred.

  On a personal level, heartaches and nightmares are dragons that each child faces as they look out into the world. These exist in every life. Without the light of a clearly-defined morality (good and evil) to guide their higher thinking, there is little wonder to inspire a child's world.

  Another author, G.K. Chesterton, is credited with the idea that:

  Fairy tales do not tell children dragons exist. Children already know the dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.

  Baum wrote fairy tales to entertain children and to explore wonder without the heartache. Chesterton wrote fairy tales to empower children to slay dragons in daily life. Today, fairy tales serve to separate the shadows from the light and to lift heroes from obscurity into purposeful duty. A child with understanding can grow to change the wo
rld.

  Perhaps we need fairy tales as bricks to shore up the walls of morality and reality around heroes. In a world where shadows cling, and waking wishes distract, dreams can just as easily find other heroes. It is up to the heroes--whatever their age--to be worthy of the dream. As the heroes of these fairy tales do their duty, the tales of wonder live on inside of you, the reader. When these heroes live in you, then you become part of keeping the dream alive.

  * * * * *

  The Hidden History of Oz saga serves as a prequel series to the novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum and published in 1900. Every attempt has been made to stay faithful to the original source material and create a solid backstory for the characters introduced in the original story. Please bear in mind that this prequel is specific to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel only--and not any of the successive novels by Baum or those who came after.

  This story attempts to fill in many of the gaps left in fictitious historical references made by the original author in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. There were many stories told in that book that were never referenced again. Connections are drawn based on available information from the original work. While there are inconsistencies within the original body of Oz novels, this author attempts to reconcile historical occurrences and character histories to craft a solid and entertaining story. Any discrepancies between this story and the many stories currently existing in Oz canon and beyond are strictly the responsibility of the author.

  -- Tarl Telford (November 2017)

  This handy infographic displays the interrelationship of Oz stories.

  There are a lot of Oz stories out there, and we're about to discover even more. Find out where The Hidden History of Oz series fits into everything.

  SECTION TWO

  Stories in The Hidden History of Oz

  The best thing about any fantasy world is its stories. Here you have a number of selections from all of the published Hidden History of Oz novels. There are six published books, and each selection contains three or four chapters, so you will be bountifully entertained. A teaser and cover image are included at the beginning of each new book section. Enjoy.

  HH1: The Orphan Sorceress of Oz (Book One)

  The Land of Oz: Decades before Dorothy, generations without war have grown

  soft and weary. From the shadows, the witches scheme to divide the land and

  remake Oz in their own image.

  Magic and mayhem, dreams and defiance, secrets and sacrifice abound,

  defining this new age in the Land of Oz.

  THE WORLD WILL KNOW HER NAME, NO MATTER WHAT THE COST.

  Fifteen-year old Glinda is determined to live free from the shadow of her sorceress mother.

  Uncaring of the price it may demand, Glinda's rebellion against her mother's wishes unleashes

  the hidden fury of the wicked witches' secret scheme, and plunges the entire land into chaos.

  Amidst the turmoil, magical armies march across Oz, leaving devastation in their wake. Hope

  from the skies comes in the form of a wizard almost as young as Glinda. He brings stories of

  freedom, and dreams that change the world around him. Without an army of her own, Glinda

  inspires common people to rise up against the monstrous armies. However, her inexperience

  puts everyone at risk.

  Will three spells, a few clever friends, and a wizard with unwavering faith in freedom

  be enough to overthrow the tyranny of the wicked witches?

  Let the battle for Oz begin.

  The Orphan Sorceress of Oz is the first book in The Hidden History of Oz series, an epic

  fairy tale adventure set decades before L. Frank Baum's masterpiece, The Wonderful

  Wizard of Oz. This series brings the excitement of epic fantasy to the magical land of Oz.

  HH1: Chapter 26. The Twisted Lighthouse

  In the South Castle courtyard, Omby-Amby whirled around as the roar sounded. He was training the volunteer army, going through attack drills. "Warriors, to your positions!" he called. Quickly every one of them ran with their weapons to the wall.

  Wickrie-Kells was working with the cavalry soldiers. These were the girls like her that were not quite as strong as the young men, but they were handy and willing to fight. These girls became the cavalry. They put on skates and strapped themselves behind the wheelers. In their free hand they were armed with a large, flat blade on the end of a long pole. It was essentially a garden trowel with a very long handle. They called it a trowel-lance. The wheelers were creatures of metal, but they were augmented with spikes and junk armor, fashioned from pieces scavenged in the scrapyards. Each one was anxious to do their part to help. However, the wheeler cavalry was only useful on the brick roads, so it was lucky that the region of the South Castle was criss-crossed by brick paths.

  Wickrie-Kells had discovered through her explorations, and also through studying the maps, that the brick paths were arranged in specific configurations all over the South Castle estate. She had looked at the pattern from atop the Twisted Lighthouse and saw that the symbols matched the symbols that lined the outer edges of some of the blank scrolls that Glinda would not let her look at. She knew that the patterns and symbols in the brick paths made the South Castle a very powerfully-charged magical region.

  Wickrie-Kells strapped on her own skates and took the reins of her stand-in Wheeler in her left hand and the trowel-lance in her right. Unfortunately, IgNob had not yet returned from his mission. She would have liked to have him here with her. IgNob had become a trusted friend in these past two weeks. When she saw the sandy warriors charging into the brickwork she shouted and all of her girl warriors shouted with her. The wheelers screeched their eagerness to enter the fray. At the head of her contingent of fighting girls, Wickrie-Kells charged into battle.

  A small army of sandy warriors charged at the South Castle. Their continued life had given them some memories of battle. They were not the ignorant clods that their first generation had been. These recognized combat and they had developed some fighting skills.

  As soon as the warriors stepped within the grid of brick pathways, the battle began in earnest. They were attacked on all sides by screeching wheelers and flashing trowel-lances. The Wheeler cavalry leaped and bounded across adjoining pathways. Unlike the Winkies, there was not a pattern to the cavalry attack. The Winkies may not have been an overwhelming adversary, but they were consistent and regimented in their attacks. Here, the sandy warriors were at a great disadvantage, for the randomness of the Wheeler cavalry attacks made it impossible for the sandy warriors to implement any sort of strategy against them. These new running attacks crippled half of the warriors before the first five minutes had passed.

  From the castle walls, rocks and other projectiles kept the sandy warriors from getting too close. An arm was knocked off or a head was fractured among the sandy ranks. These injuries were from Omby-Amby's warriors. Though they itched to get into the battle, Omby-Amby held them back as a second wave of infantry. He wanted to see how well the cavalry would do against this unliving foe.

  Within another five minutes, all of the sandy warriors had been cut down. Not only had they been cut down, but they had been sufficiently stomped to prevent any more rising.

  Wickrie-Kells' fighting girls stopped and raised a cheer. Their hoorays were met and echoed from the walls of the castle. Then the cheers died immediately in their throats, leaving a gaping void in the air.

  "Look lively, lassies!"

  On the hill, marching at double-time, dark red sandy warriors came, rank upon rank--far more than had been in the first wave.

  Wickrie-Kells felt cold sweat break out on the back of her neck. Nevertheless, she screamed her battle cry and charged her fighting girls forward into battle.

  * * * * *

  Oscar and Glinda watched in morbid fascination as the horrendous beast thundered toward their position. The creature had six clawed legs and it was covered with horns. The mout
h seemed far too large for the beast, yet the jaws were not nearly large enough for the multiple rows of jagged teeth. One large eye in the middle of the forehead was surrounded by a ring of smaller eyes, like a giant spider's head. The sound of its roaring was like the shredding of metal mixed with the sound of gravel falling.

  There was no doubt the beast was coming for them. The sandy warriors were heading toward South Castle. The dragon was coming for them.

  "She killed my father. Now she is going to kill me." Glinda intoned lifelessly.

  Oscar shook the girl. "NO! Not while I'm here. We are not going down without a fight. We'll give them a story to light the campfires by. They will tell this story for generations!"

  Oscar ran inside the cabin and pulled down all of the curtains, creating a full 360-degree view. He pulled the focusing solar crystal from its resting place. Then he loaded the large crystal into its socket and slid the customized lenses into position. He rotated the great lamp toward the roaring beast. Then he pulled the lamp cover off, opening the crystal bell to the midday sun. The sun gathered in the bell, focused through the crystals, then sent a superheated blast of energy out, shattering the windows. Oscar burned a long scorch mark in the distant green grass before sighting the monster. The beam burned across its back, instantly melting the blood-sand into red glass. The beast roared in pain, and Oscar slid the top lamp door back in place to allow the superheated crystal to cool down while he whipped the light around for another pass.

  "Firing!" Oscar shouted as he opened the cover again.

  Glinda ducked to the floor on the outer railing, barely avoiding the superheated ray. She flinched as the melted railing splashed down next to her, burning a hole in her dress. "Oscar! Be careful with that thing!"