Dragon Raja
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Dragon Raja, normally abbreviated as DR or D/R, is a fantasy novel, written by a popular Korean author named Lee Yeongdo. The story is told in the first-person view of the main protagonist Hoochie Nedval and the story revolves around the adventure of Hoochi and his companions as they are drawn into the quest of finding beings called dragon rajas, humans who and as bridges between humankind and dragonkind.
Originally the story was serialized in a Korean telnet network Hitel, where it gained explosive populality and was soon published into book through the publishing company Golden Branch.
The serialization and eventual publication of Dragon Raja is considered as a notable landmark in the history of the Korean fantasy literature. After the release of Dragon Raja and its succes brought a sudden boom of Korean fantasy literature. It is often commented that while before the arrival of Dragon Raja the fantasy literature was considered a minor and low-quality literature and Korean fantasy novels were very scarse, Dragon Raja brought the Korean reader's attention to the fantasy literature and inspired people to begin writing fantasy literature.
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[edit] Story
The rural town of Haltunt is at the westernmost tip of Bisus, and is plagued by the black dragon Amuurtat. The Lord of Haltunt requests the king to send a royal dragon, white Cathselprime to defeat Amuurthat. However, Cathselprime is defeated and most of the expeditionary force, including the Lord of Haltunt and the father of Hoochi, the main character, is taken hostage, Amuurtat demands 100,000 sels worth of jewels for ransom. Thus a party comprising of Karl Haltunt, Hoochi Nedval, and Sanson Persival takes off to the Bisus Impel, the capital, to report the result of the expedition and ask for aid in paying ransom.
Durning their journey, the party meets Iruril, Aphnaidel, Axelhand, Unchai and Neria, who in their turns join the group. Also, a man called Unchai is arrested as Zyphon spy, who was experiment on the weapon called Sacrilization, which uses a certain god's power to change the rules of the world, and is forced to travel with Hoochi's company as they escort him to the capital.
The party reaches the capital, only to discover that jewels are in very short supply. They find out that dwarves who mine jewels and provide them to human society are refusing to enter some of the mines, because they heard dragon's awakening sound. It is the sound of Kradmesser the Crimson Dragon, which almost destroyed the Bisus kingdom before entering hibernation two decades ago. So the party decides to find a dragon raja, those with innate talent to communicate with the dragons, to quell Kradmesser's wrath and obtain their ransom.
[edit] Major Characters
Hoochie Nedval- The protagonist of the story. The story is narrated in first-person view of Hoochie. Son of the candlemaker of Heltunt, a rural town terrorized by a black dragon Amuurtath, he is extremely humorous and quick-witted. He will often solve problems with his tactful brain and clever tongue. His journey begins when Cathselprime, the white dragon sent by the king, is defeated by Amuurtath, and he sets out from his town to diliver the message of the death of Cathselprime.
Sanson Percival- The guard captain of Hethunt. A simple-minded and frank character, sometimes even considered dull-headed, Sanson is nonetheless a good-natured man. Being a great swordsman, he was able to go easy on Gilsion without his noticing. He is one of the people who journeys out with Hoochie to diliver the message of the death of Cathselprime to the king.
Kaal Haltunt- The half-brother of the Lord of Heltunt. Middle-aged and unmarried, he lives quietly at the edge of the town. He is very educated and intellectual character, and a master of archery. He is one of the people who journeys out with Hoochie to diliver the message of the death of Cathselprime to the king.
Iruril Serenial- An entrancing and etherial elf that Hoochie and his company meets while they continue journey towards the capital. However naive she seems because of her difference from humans, she is nonetheless a powerful fighter and merciless killer in her own way. Extremely talented in the summoning of spirits and magic, she is in the quest to understand humankind better. She tries to understand humans by joining Hoochi's party, and undergoes many changes as a result.
Axelhand Eindelf- A dwarf and the Knocker, the highest rank of honor in the dwarf society. A hearty, free-going and straightforward character, he joins Hoochi and his company as they both share the same goal - to find a raja and calm the dragon that threatens Dwarf society
Gilsiun Bisus- The older brother of the current King Nilsion Bisus. He was the rightful heir to the throne, but nailed up his room and left the palace to wander around the world. He wields a magical Ego Sword called Prim Blade, an enchanted blade that has will and power of its own. He rides a horse called Thunder-rider, considered the fastest horse in Bisus, but transformed into a bull by curse.
Nilsiun Bisus- The current King of Kingdom of Bisus. A younger brother of Gilsion, he has small inferiority complex that he is less than his brother who gave up on the throne
Demilenos Bisus- The younger sister of both Nilsion and Gilsion. A very clever and bright lady. Has the hooby of gardening
Unchai Baltan- A spy from Zyphon, which is currently at war with Bisus. He is captured by Hoochi's party. With the killing aura / muderous spirit (殺氣) which is the specialty of Zypun warriors, he is referred by Orcs as the Monster Eye. In the Zyphonese culture, men may not talk to women other than their wife. This seems to cause a lot of trouble with Neria.
Neria- 'Neria the Trident' She is a thief, but prefers the nickname 'Nighthawk'. While trying to rob people crossing the Yiramuse bridge, she meets Hoochie's group. She becomes a friend and later joins the group. She speaks harshly and is hot-tempered, but nevertheless very affectionate.
Aphnaidel- A wizard who was originally Hoochie's enemy but realizes his mistakes and later joins Hoochi's party. He allways talks with little or no confidence. He is called 'Topmage' by Hoochie for his essential service in the journey.
Jeraint Chimber- 'Teperi's misfortune'. Born in Na'aruchen in the Dukedom of Ielse, he is a priest of Teperi. Due to his faith in Teperi, he can make perfect choice (guided by Teperi) between a yes or no question. He often worries that he might lead the party to where he wants to go, or whether it is Teperi's intention to help his party. He is easy-going and high-spirited, and has little respect for binding rules that applies to a priest.
Tyburn Highseeker/Handrake Hurichel-A blind mage who comes into Heltunt and gives Hoochie the OPG for helping him.
Rutherino Bisus the Great- The king who was able to over throw the rule of the Dragon Lord and created the Kingdom of Bisus. He called himself the Knight of all knights. He said many things such as "death is our promised break." He defeated the Dragon Lord after 7 weeks of Glory but was too weak to finish the Dragon Lord off because he saw the first snow. His magical Autumn was over(they say the when the magical autumn starts the person will experience and do miraculous things until the first snow.) He used Handrake the Archmage to over throw the Dragon Lord but he also destroyed the eight stars which Handrake's life long wish, to use it and perfect the 8 races
Nexson Hurichel'- A son of Raja and presumed a Raja himself noble-born with great ambitions. He secretly plans to overthrow the King Nilsiun and rule the kingdom of Bisus.
[edit] Races
In Dragon Raja there are eight sentient races present, eight type of beings who can talk, think, have consciences and worship gods.
- Human - Children of Upinel and Helcaness. They are the only ones who are favored by both Upinel and Helcaness, the two supreme powers of the world. They also worship all semi-gods that exist, while other races may acknowledge the existence of all semi-gods but worship only one or few among them.
- Elf - Children of Upinel. Their primal religion is Grang'elvelr. They are in perfect harmony with the world. They are commonly referred as "Little children of Uphinel"
- Dwarf - Children of Helcaness. Their primal religion is Kariss Numen. Talented miners and blacksmiths they are a proud race who count honor above all else. They have ability to see through all illusions and deceptions.
- Hobbit - Children of Helcaness. Their primal religion is Teperi. They are a race of very short body height. It is notably that many of hobbits are thieves, all at lease thieve regularly.
- Orc - Children of Helcaness. Their primal religion is Hwarencha. Somewhat shorter and broader-built compared to humans, they have appearance similar to bipedal pigs.
- Fairy - Children of Upinel. They are in tune with the forces and gods of the world itself, and have very little use of religion. They are able to pass through dimensions like how we pass through different countries.
- Dragon - Children of no god. They answer to none but themselves. Race that is deeply connected to magic, they are the ones that first taught magic to all the other races.
- The Eighth, Unknown Race - No details, but presumed children of Upinel by fans to balance the numbers. They are mysterious beings who are mentioned only once during the entire book, and there are no details about what kind of race there are, or whether they even exist. The existence of Eighth Race has been a subject of large debate among the fans and is often subject of jokes. Some of the guesses at what the Eighth Race is, include - Gainer Kashnep(A mysterious being that appear in every single novels and novellias written by Lee Yeongdo), the Fifth Race(Another mysterious, unknown race that appear in The Bird That Drinks Tears), The Elves(Another mysterious race, unknown race that appear in Polaris Rhapsody), or fans of Lee Yeongd.
Those mysterious races, the Fifth race(In fact, First race) in The Bird That Drinks Tears, the Eighth race in Dragon Raja, The Elves in Polaris Rhapsody,all have in common that they have disappeared by an act of will. Although not much is said about the Eighth race, the fact that two races left the world as they have achieved "perpectness" seems to reveal one of the main themes of all his works, Man's Final End.
[edit] Nations/kingdoms
Bisus The kingdom created by Ruterino Bisus and Handrake the archmage. It has a history of 315 years when the story begins. The kings lived in the capital, but in a forturess not a palace. The land was mostly Forest and plains. Many races lived here. The religion of the royal family is Yasas of Eagle and Glory
Zyphon A desert kingdom. It in war with Bisus because when the land turned from Dragon lord to the family of Bisus, Bisus claimed that Zyphon was under their region. Zyphons disagree saying that they were never under the Dragon Lord's rule, and it did not concern them whether their kingdom changed.
Dukedom of Ielse It is the country near the ocean which was created by the authority of Bisus. Ielse was one of the "Eight star seekers" of Ruterino Bisus or as most people knew them as "Eight stars". Ielse gave much help in Ruterino's victory and was given a Dukedom. Dukedom of Ielse remains nutral in the war though it should be fighting for Bisus. Ielse is The country of justice with Orem of Rose and justice as their main religion.
[edit] Gods and Religions
Upinel and Helcaness are the two supreme deities in the world of Dragon Raja. Upinel represents Harmony, and Helcaness represents Chaos. They are closer to a symbolism, representation of these two supreme states, the two ultimate rules of the universe then being a humane, conscience deities. It is said that at the genesis of the world, the two created time and therefor the world began. All eight races are children of either of these two deities, except humans and dragons; humans serve both Upinel and Helcaness, and dragons serve no god.
There also are many lesser Gods present in the world of Dragon Raja. The lesser Gods worship one of Upinel and Helcaness, and are worshiped by seven races (dragons worship no god) in their turn. Here is the list of lesser Gods in the world of Dragon Raja, in no particular order;
- Grang'elvelr of Elf and Purity
- Edelbroy of Cosmos and Storm
- Teperi of Hobbit and Crossroad
- Orem of Rose and Justice (Dukedom of Ielse's main religion)
- Leti of Sword and Destruction
- Kariss Numen of Dwarf and Fire
- Yasas of Eagle and Glory (Bisus' main religion)
- Nileem of Freedom and Chain
- Collie of Cats and Dream (thought to be lost but its priest reapear in the sequel "Future Walker")
- Hwarencha of Orc and Revenge
- Gheden of Crow and Disease (the god Zyphon used sacralization as a weapon)
- Yilseine of Mountain and Concealment
- Isa of Oblivion and Aurora
- Simunian of Earth and Recollection (the great mother earth)
- Grim Ocenia of Seagull and Aspiration (great father ocean)
[edit] Theme
The theme of this book is human relationship.
-Some major lines are "one needs to be different to make true harmony" For example, to create a wall (in the olden days)Hay, dirt, clay, and water need to be mixed. They are different but creates harmony. it shows that people need to be different, unique, with indivisuality to make harmony. Elves call themselves a faliur of Uphinel because they are all the same, the do not create true harmony because they are the same, they can't be not harmonic because they are the same but that means they can't be harmonic either.
-Another important line is humans can not accpet those that are like them. It is mentioned earlier that people need to be different to create true harmony. This is like the second part of that. It means that when we meet someone that are like us, we feel our indentity is being threatened and wish to destroy them, unable to accpet them. Because of our indivisuality we are able to make harmony but it also makes it so that we can not accpet those like ourselves.
-Another important line is "I am not one" by Archmage Handrake It means that everyone (human) has many identities to different people. For example, Ka'al says this to the Dragon Lord, that he is Hoochie's old friend Kaal, the half brother of Lord of Heltunt, Sanson's friend and leader(?) Kaal, he is all this and more. This could mean that the different ways that people look at us and think of us are all us, even if we die, people's memory of us and their perspective of use will go on making us, in a way, immortal.
[edit] International publishing
Currently Lee Yeongdo is making a deal to get his works published in the United States. Currently they are talking about 3 Dragon Raja books, while the rest are unsure. The US company says that they want direct translation from Korean to English. Many Korean fans are excited about this news. They are waiting for the turn out of the latest meeting.[1]
Dragon Raja been already published in China, Taiwan, and Japan with highly successful results.
[edit] Adaptations into other media
- An MMORPG based on the novel was released and has became available in various countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia and Canada.
- In 2004, the Korean comic adaptation of the novel was published by Taesung.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- http://cafe.naver.com/bloodbird.cafe -Lee Youngdo Official publishing Cafe (Korean)
- http://www.newraja.com/index.asp -mmorpg website (English)
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