Volume 16 The Waxman and the Warthog

This book deals with events on Untunchilamon after the fall of the Empress Justina. It focuses on the artist Slanic Moldova.
        A wazir sent by Aldarch III seeks to exercise his authority over Untunchilamon. An Expeditionary Force from Odrum makes an ill-advised excursion to the island. And Codlugarthia establishes his rule on Untunchilamon.

Slanic Moldova is drawing paintings of crabs. Not even necessarily voluntarily, but almost as a compulsion. Perhaps par for the course on Untunchilamon. She has been studying out the breed and finding references in texts from her friends who have information on various giant crablike creatures all over Olo Malan. The crabs are usually beset with enchantments of various types, and have special purposes in life. Having come into contact with Squirrel Dalydius at a formal night out at Codlugarthia's palace, Squirrel gives her a tome of the ancient Grand Guardian, written in highly complex language, but which seems to talk about enchantments and the duties of giant crabs. Night and day she studies this text, and finds that the crabs form a network on Olo Malan, being stationed at 12 key places on the globe, with a distinct purpose to bring a sense of stability to the globe before the return of the grand guardian. In a spirit of intense artistic merit, Slanic decides she will visit all 12 crabs to get a portrait of them all, and asks Squirrel Dalydius to give her a ship and a crew to sail the 7 seas of Olo Malan to affirm the veracity of the map at hand and identify if indeed all 12 crabs are currently functioning as they should. As the quest gets underway, Slanic travels the oceans of Olo Malan, and finds various crabs in various places. But coming into contact with familiar faces time and again, and crabs being located not far from mysterious travel doors, it appears the Nexus has a lot more going on still in the world then people are perhaps prepared to admit. After a long and lengthy quest to meet and paint the various crabs, and compile a journal of the entire story, Slanic has learned many secrets of Olo Malan and her journal becomes quite an admired and sought after artefact.

Along the way of her journey she meets 'Tor Kanandra' who is a friend of a particular Crab and a Speaking Warthog. They are a trio of comedians, who smoke heavily, and pass the day drinking ale and ginger beer, and telling ribald but humorous anecdotes of life, while the serfs of Tor's lands do the work to bring in the harvest so that Tor can enjoy the good life. The interesting thing to Slanic about Tor is that he he is a marvellous artist also, working in wax sculptures, many of them done on his friend warthog and crab. They discuss the fine artistry each is involved with in this chronicle, and speak of the University of Knowledge and the New Age slowly dawning in Olo Malan were the light seems to be breaking in to their world, the 'Enlightenment' as the University of Knowledge seems to call it. Having persuaded Tor to come on a holiday, the Waxman and the Warthog travel to Untunchilamon, residing with Slanic Moldova, and mingling with Untunchilamon society, spending gold coinage liberally, and doing a first class sculpture of Codlugarthia. After a number of months being the toast of the town, he farwells Slanic, who has now a lifetime of experience built up to further embellish her artistic endeavours. She decides to visit one more of the crabs, and travels to D'Waith, were the wizard Crognathy entertains her and shows off his own prized friend. Getting caught up with memoirs of Crognathy about burying a giant swarm creature, Slanic paints the crab, and completes her collection for now, deciding to forego any more questing till later on in life.