Depths of Madness Interview

Aha! The author speaks! Or at least we have an interview with him. Take a peek at what madness drove author Erik Scott de Bie on as he wrote Depths of Madness (or was there any madness?).

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Wizards of the Coast: Your sophomore effort.

Erik Scott de Bie (db): Everyone has to have one. [wink]

Wizards: Nervous?

db: More like humble.

Wizards: Hmm. How's that?

db: Allow me to explain:

Ghostwalker was a fast-paced, low-impact, rock'em-sock'em Guy Ritchie (Snatch) kind of book, where all I needed was one town in the Realms and an understanding of how the world worked. I could write that one, largely on my own, straight out of my head.

Depths of Madness is more meditative, contemplative, insidious, and set on a larger scale. It required more coordination, more research, and I got a real sense of what it's like weaving a story in a shared world with as much breadth as the Realms.

I am forever indebted to those fellow authors (and my wonderful editor) who helped me get it right, whether with the facts or guiding me through the world of being an author. And that's the source of the humility. My thanks, all!

Wizards: Can you give me an example?

db: Not to sound fanboyish, but my favorite story is when I cornered Ed Greenwood at Gen Con and pushed the brief (four pages, double-spaced) prologue on him. He gave me a couple comments -- really, really good ones! [grin]

Wizards: Well then. Time to dive in?

db: Into the depths!

Wizards: About the book: If you had twenty-five words to sum it up, what would they be?

db: It's one thing to love; it's another to trust.

Wizards: That's only nine words. How about twenty-five?

db: Hmm. Well . . .

Depths follows a band (some heroes, some villains, others simple commoners) thrown together into a deep, dank dungeon, who have to join forces to escape. They bear dark, terrible secrets and weave themselves tight masks, none more so than their reluctant leader, who finds herself thrust into leadership by necessity. They quickly find their foes are not only one another (or perhaps they are!); the truth may be more than any of them can bear. For in the end, when the masks are peeled away and the truth emerges, madness can kill just as surely and keenly as any blade.

Wizards: And your mysterious heroine? (I heard that "she" in there.)

db: You've got me. Fox-at-Twilight, an elf lass of many dark secrets, some of which are revealed and some only hinted upon, who made her debut in "The Greater Treasure," my novella in the Realms of the Elves anthology of last year, is my muse.

Wizards: Great! I know a number of readers wanted her back.

db: "Back?" Whatever do you mean?

Wizards: What do you mean?

db: [grin] Well, I had originally planned and charted Depths before I ever dreamed of the Realms of the Elves anthology. The anthology came early in the actual process of writing the outline, and it occurred to me, "Hey, I've got this elf thief --"

Wizards: Rogue.

db: Right. "Hey, I've got this elf rogue, and this is an anthology about elves! It's fate!" And so Twilight graced the pages of "The Greater Treasure" as a supporting character, but I was fairly certain early on that she was a show-stealer. Turns out I was right.

Wizards: So you took her wholesale from your Depths plan?

db: Not wholesale, per se -- there were a few changes that enhanced Depths as well. Phil gave me a few notes about her original name. It was changed. For the better, I think.

Wizards: Are we going to learn about her history? Her sword? Her relationship with Erevan Ilesere, elf god of rogues? Perhaps her real name?

db: Some, maybe, perhaps, and . . . heh. Twilight isn't the type to reveal all her secrets.

Wizards: So she's a secretive person?

db: You don't know the half of it.

Twilight is a puzzle-weaver: She spins a web of truths, half-truths, lies, half-lies, and bald-faced lies, as a kind of defense. She is much her own woman -- she loves as she wishes (though sometimes she resists), she thinks her own way, and damned if anyone is going to put any hold over her. She has taken pains to protect herself from scrying, and she wears more invisible layers than a black knight in plate. But when those layers start wrenching free. . . . There will be big questions answered, some new ones asked.

Wizards: You mentioned "leadership by necessity." Is Twilight leadership material?

db: Depends on who you ask. If it's her, then the answer is most definitely no. Same with Davoren. The others are undecided, though Slip truly and utterly believes in her. If it's me you ask . . . she's both the best and the worst leader the poor souls could choose.

Wizards: Davoren? Slip? You sound like you've got an ensemble cast. How many characters are in this?

db: Seven "heroes" in the original group, a number of villains (some of whom may or may not be in the group as well). Let's just say I often played the treacherous neutral evil rogue-type in the party. [wink]

I limit perspective to three at any given time, and a character will start describing events and the environment as it becomes logical for the character to do so. You see the world through just about every character's eyes, though some you never get and some only at the very end.

Wizards: What happens to all these characters?

db: Oh, now that would be telling. Though it wouldn't be a de Bie novel without some manner of body count. [wink]

Wizards: You do have something of a reputation of being cruel to your characters.

db: I'm a literary sadist, I guess.

Wizards: This might prove an unfair question, but which is your favorite -- or, perhaps, who did it hurt the most to hurt?

db: Well, Twilight, clearly -- though she isn't some "author's darling." I have no qualms about dealing whatever pain and suffering to her my little pen can dish out, or murder her brutally as the situation warrants. If I can get to meaning by hurting my characters, then I do it.

Second to her, the carefree Slip is my favorite (and, perhaps, my editor's as well), and I very much enjoy writing about the good-hearted Liet and the murderous Davoren as well.

Wizards: So who is this Slip, anyway?

db: Billfora "Slip" Brightbrows is a halfling, in every sense of the word. From Luiren, she is the daughter of the noted Ardovar Brightbrows, constable of Crimel, in Luiren. She's distractible, emotional, without common sense, and impossible to get down. And she has a few secrets of her own.

Wizards: Are any of the characters based on anyone you've played or seen at the gaming table?

db: A case can be made for Twilight (who is inspired from a second-draft narrative interpretation of a character I once played), but I've never actually played or run any of these characters, other than as NPCs in brief cameos.

Wizards: You're one for mixing genres -- Ghostwalker, for instance, was a fantasy western. What is Depths?

db: Fantasy thriller with substantial horror elements. Not too dark -- that would be Ravenloft territory -- but not too light either. Too much insanity.

Wizards: How do you handle madness in the book?

db: There are several instances informed by the classic "mad scenes" one sees in opera or the modern horror film. Macbeth -- either Shakespeare's play or Verdi's opera. Some moments reminiscent of Saw, for instance, or The Thing. Architecture is distorted, the world twisted, enlarged, shrunken, or inverted.

Wizards: Real world inspirations, this time around?

db: Architecture, actually, by Gaudi. At least one of the buildings in Depths resembles La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, and similar architecture by him (if you're ever in Barcelona, check Parque Gũell).

Wizards: Spain, eh?

db: I traveled in Spain for about a month back in the summer of 2003. It was a wonderful experience and a source of a good deal of inspiration. Also, I draw upon my own fencing (Twilight's sword Betrayal being a rapier), and certain scenes (particularly settings) have a kind of Tim Burton feel to them.

Wizards: Gotta ask. How much of this book is explicable in terms of the game?

db: All of it. I'd say I wasn't geeky enough to have stats in my head on every single character, but . . . the books are a great source of ideas. All the Complete series, Races of Stone and Races of the Wild, the various Realms sourcebooks and, of course, the Book of Vile Darkness. Because no Twilight story is complete without a certain amount of devilry to vanquish, right?

Wizards: What's your favorite scene?

db: The beginning and end scenes are my favorites. The story keeps going until the very . . . last . . . sentence.

Aside from that, Taslin and the Great Slitherer . . . and what happens shortly thereafter. [evil wink]

Wizards: Taslin? Is that who's on the cover?

db: Yep.

Wizards: Closed-mouthed on the mysteries as usual, I see. What's your favorite story from the writing of the novel?

db: I was writing, once, when my far-better-half came in and asked me to do the dishes. It gave me the perfect opportunity to shoot her this look and say, "I'm in the middle of the Depths of Madness right now and can't be disturbed!"

I ended up doing the dishes anyway, by the way. [grin]

Wizards: Will we see Twilight again?

db: You mean like, if she doesn't die in this one?