The Trailokya Trilogy Companion is a continuing online manuscript that illustrates and explains some of the details of the story, helping readers to keep things straight while they travel through the series. Readers can view this live companion book on Wattpad (either using the website or an app for their phone) absolutely free.
The companion is organized alphabetically for reader convenience. In each section, the entries listed in dictionary form along with original artwork and excerpts from the Trailokya Friday blog posts. In the coming weeks and months the blog will feature specific entries, to give you a taste of what is available in the companion.
Penannular. (n.) Nanotechnology used by duta to house their armor, powered by an atman. It also provides a cloaking to their manifestation when in other worlds.
This article first appeared on The Blue Honor Blog on June 10, 2016 as a The Technology of Trailokya piece.
Penannular’s are fancy brooches worn by Celtic people. They are most familiar as the tartan pin. In Trailokya, this piece of jewelry takes on a military application of both status and functionality that echoes its origins.
One question that readers send me, which shows up a lot, is how to pronounce words from the book. So, let’s start there right off…
Now that we’re clear on how to say it, let’s get into more of what it is.
Technology in the world of Trailokya contains an atman (Aht-man), described as the energy at the heart of all things. We each would have one, which is our essential us. If you’re familiar with Buddhism or a practitioner, you’ll know what this is, and my explanation is simplified to help non-students get the concept essential to the story without weighing them down with heavy scripture. In a moment, I will talk a bit more about this part of the device.
Penannulars are simultaneously order medals and legion gear. Each legiona obtains this device when inducted into an order. At this time, the young legiona is fitted for the armor it contains. The pieces are one nanotech, forged by the smiths in Walhall. Keep in mind that duta are not of our world. They are not human and are they are not limited to the physics of our dimension. Despite this, when deployed to Samsara (our plane), the device still works. That is part of the device’s programming, assisted by the power source, an atman.
The atman that is the essential being of every character in the books, doesn’t always create a lifeform as we recognize it: plant, animal. Sometimes, they just remain bright crystals which emanate energy. Why waste that energy that they’re giving off? Giving these smaller critters a job to do gives them a means to evolve, and that is what the duta are always busy trying to do for others.
Picture our duta soldier, whatever order you want. The penannular generally rests on the left of the chest, center of the shoulder plane (between neck and the furthest point) and about 1.5-2″ down. To activate the device, they tap it like a Starfleet officer. The activation releases the nano-tech that makes up the armor and it spills out over the sattva (saht-vha, the true body, not the Samsaran physical bio-vessel). Not all accoutrements house in the penannular. Legiona carry weapons that are apart. They wear shoes and other garments in addition.
Their main weapon, usually a sword, is part of the device. The weapon is activated through a pre-programmed series of motions the penannular can read through the armor pieces. For instance, a reach with the sword hand to the side, as if picking up the sword from the air. Additionally, the weapon can activate at the same time as the armor with a full engagement clasp. Thus, it appears in a sword belt at the hip, as an example. The atman doesn’t forbid the use of the weapon by it’s owner. However, the effectiveness of a weapon at dispatching an enemy to Oblivion is the purview of higher powers linked to the atman.
That should imply to you the wireless connection between the device and the home world. This connection links the companion legiona, as well. This is not a telepathic link. It is akin to the wireless connections between computers. On a side note, telepathy is likely much the same: wireless connections between computers (brains are biological computers).
What happens when the atman evolves or it burns down?
Atman do not die. They can abandon the penannular of a being who has burned down, though. When a duta or soul is gravely injured in battle, they revert to the finite self: atman (which ceases to express the damaged sattva its projected). This state resembles a crystal. Readers will come to find this out in the first book, as in the case of a character becoming a purple jewel that another carries back to Zion. Nothing could smash the crystal. They are indestructible–unless you consider Oblivion.
With the threat of being damaged by a duta or soul that burns down, it is logical for an atman to flee a penannular. Burning down, is the process by which a being chooses the dark over the light as their path to ascension or termination. The atman will slip the case and return to Zion. Residual energy will close-down the device. A closed device will appear dark and feel cold, while giving the bearer a sense of loss and/or foreboding.
If you want to know more about Penannulars and see them in action, read The Trailokya Trilogy Series of books.
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