Moth-kinden by David Mumford : Shadows of the Apt

Moth-kinden by David Mumford

The Moth-kinden were once the dark masters of the Lowlands, holding the lesser races as their slaves. Then the revolution came and their power was broken by the new weapons and machines that their former subjects devised, and that they could not understand. Now, centuries later, they plot and argue in their mountain fastnesses, clinging to the ancient magic that failed them. Libraries of hidden knowledge surround them, the secrets of the dark ages before the revolution, and all of it unable to restore their world to them.

Posted by Adrian Tchaikovsky on January 14th, 2009

Posted in Art, Kinden

Tags: moths

8 Comments

8 comments to “Moth-kinden by David Mumford”

Lords of Darkness : Shadows of the Apt, January 14th, 2009 at 9:17 pm:

[…] up at the eleventh hour as they always do. David Mumford has produced another of his masterworks here, whilst there’s a new short story, Queen of the […]
Gabriel Armand Brouillard, May 12th, 2011 at 1:54 am:

I have a quick observation and few questions regarding Inapt, magically inclined Kinden. It seems to me that pre-revolution magician such as the Moth Kinden ruled pretty much everything, but somehow their societies fell apart for different reasons. Moth Kinden of course had their reign ended by an uprising of their slave kinden, Mosquito Kinden were presumably wiped out by the Moth Kinden (although they appear to much stronger magically and their fall could attributed more to their lack of unity), and finally the Slug Kinden from the end of book 5 had their big cataclysm which reduced the extent of their empire solely (1) to the city of Khanaphes. The Spider Kinden and the Dragonfly Kinden appear to have maintained their inapt society fairly well, although the Commonweal seems to be suffering some slight decay after the 12 Year War. My first question has to be that with so many powerful empires of Inapt Kinden (some of whom were magically superior) how in the world did the Moth Kinden keep track of it all? I know the Moth Kinden held most of the Lowlands in thrall, but it’s never specified what their rules was like and how they maintained such a large and powerful empire. The Mantis Kinden helped I know, but what was the Moth Kinden’s secret? Clearly they were much more powerful then they are during the time of the books. Is there any chance of reclaiming that power? Or have the Moth Kinden’s magic completely and utterly faded from what it once was? Also what kind of Moth do the Moth Kinden have as their spirit totem? Looking at the artwork I figured a Luna Moth. Are there types of Moth Kinden out there beyond the Lowlands?

1. I don’t know this for sure, I’m not the author, but I have a strong hunch that Khanaphes is the last holdout for Slug Kinden. I don’t really see them having as strong an influence anywhere else. Please correct me if I happen to be mistaken.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, May 15th, 2011 at 11:55 pm:

Reply @ Gabriel (Spoilers for book 5 and on)

Firstly, as regards the Slug-kinden, you might want to go over the short story "The Dreams of Avaris" and, for that matter, there's some more heavy hints in the upcoming "Heirs of the Blade".

Secondly, the Moth-kinden were more reliant on, and more proficient with, magic than any of the other Inapt races (save the Masters of Khanaphes, who were already in decline by the time the Moths reached their apex). They never had a strong administration or political organisation, but individual Skryres and groups of them simply ruled their own parts of the world and intrigued against one another. Their Mantis servants, and their Apt slaves, were kept in line by the threat of their magic (see short story "Queen of the Night" for a glimpse of this). When the revolution happened, the most important thing was not the technology so much as the empowerment it brought to the Apt — magic (and the Inapt world as a whole) is subjective, as opposed to the objective Apt machines, and the Apt kinden's belief in their ability to overthrow their masters brought the Moths low very quickly. As for reclaiming that power, that's another case of FOIP (Find Out In Print).
inquiring ant, October 28th, 2011 at 4:06 pm:

GRRAAAHHHH! where can i get a copy of the 6^th and 7^th books? it seems like i can't find them in america.…
Adrian Tchaikovsky, October 28th, 2011 at 4:34 pm:

There's no actual US release but I think the UK books can be got from Amazon.com.
inquiring ant, November 17th, 2011 at 2:34 pm:

but i've checked there already…
Max Woldhek, May 25th, 2012 at 6:18 pm:

1. I don't know what to think of the Moth-kinden. Part of me feels pity for them, since they've lost so much, but another part sneers at them for being so pathetic: Centuries after their power was broken they still label Beetles the Hated Enemy, while the beetles have almost forgotten them. How many Moths are there who think that their current isolation is just silly, and that loathing the Beetles for something that happened half a millenia ago makes no sense?
2. For a kinden that calls their magicians seers, they seem to have remarkably little foresight. I was actually surprised when they almost killed Che when she wanted to see Achaeos's body. The niece of the great war hero Stenwold Maker cravenly murdered by the Moths? A Collegium expedition would probably have blasted Tharn to bits less than a month later.
3. How long do the different Kinden live? Slugs last a very long time, but it has been mentioned that Spiders, Mantids and Moths live longer than, say, Beetles.
4. Which of the Kinded are most like baseline (our world) humans in looks and way of thinking? I suspect it's the Beetles, but I could be wrong.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, May 27th, 2012 at 10:29 pm:

Well, can't promise full answers but:
(1) see All of Human History and Current Politics. Real world people have no difficulties furiously hating other people for things that happened hundred of years ago.
(2) see 1 — also, Collegium isn't the most likely place to send a martial expedition, nor can Stenwold order the Assembly around. Possibly a strongly worded letter.
(3) On average the Inapt kinden tend to live longer, or at least age later, than the Apt. Woodlice live a long time — Gjegevey claims to be older than the Empire.
(4) To a certain extent, all of them. However, Beetles and Wasps represent modern (western) human values most closely.

Shadows of the Apt