Merkabah Rider

Creator: Edward M. Erdelac

Characters:

Kabede

Dick Belden

Adon

Faustus Montague

Jeroen DeKorte

The Rider is the protagonist of the Merkabah Rider series, about a Hasidic mystic gunslinger tracking the renegade teacher who betrayed his Jewish order of astral travelers (the Sons of The Essenes) to the Outer Gods of the Lovecraftian Mythos, across the southwestern territories of the 1880’s. Along the way, he encounters a possessed ex-Confederate sharpshooter, Doc Holliday, an infernal cannon, half-demon outlaws, a bordello of antediluvian succubi, and a silent master gunslinger constructed from the body parts of various deceased famous gunmen, among other things.

The Rider himself is a Hasidic man in his thirties, with a black beard and peyot curls. He dresses in a black rekel coat and black wide brimmed hat, with a white shirt underneath. Though he wears no spurs, he clinks when he walks. This is because under his clothes, his body is draped with talismans, bodyguards and amulets he has collected over the course of his adventures. He wears a pair of blue tinted spectacles mystically embossed with Solomonic seals that allow him to see into the spirit world (or Yenne Velt), and is armed with a gold and silver chased Volcanic pistol stamped with dozens of Solominic wards and Jewish amulets which allow him to carry it with him when, through ecstatic meditation, he leaves his physical form and travels into the Yenne Velt and various heavenly and infernal planes.  Although called the Rider, he has taken an oath as part of his initiation not to burden any animal with his own weight, and so leads a pale pack onnager wherever he goes. For this reason, the Apache call him Rider Who Walks. He hid his true name long ago to protect himself from malevolent spirits.

Kabede – Another member of the Sons of The Essenes, Kabede is an Ethiopian Jew (or Beta Y’srael) and a member of the hidden Balankab Enclave. He wears a white, blue trimmed burnoose and desert headdress, sports a curved, engraved dagger, and simple cotton clothes. He was born without out a philtrum above his upper lip, marking him as having all the knowledge of heaven in infancy (because, before a baby is born, an angel instructs a soul about heaven, but then strikes its upper lip to make it forget…yet the angel in charge of Kabede’s soul became distracted at his birth by the onset of war in heaven), and his skin is covered with Hebrew and angelic symbols that appear as tattoos but are in fact birthmarks. His special spiritual power makes him able to wield the Rod of Arron, an ancient artifact dating back to Creation and holding untold powers.

Dick Belden – the Rider’s oldest friend, a disgraced US cavalry sergeant, avowed drunkard and profligate.

Adon – The Rider’s mysterious instructor among the Sons of The Essenes, who recognized his talents and taught him about alternative paths to God that were nothing more than preparation for the revelation of Azathoth and the Great Old Ones. Unfortunately for Adon, the Rider left the Order of the Essenes and enlisted in the Army to fight in the Civil War, having perceived a stirring of evil in the coming conflict. Adon, left without his star pupil, murdered the San Francisco Enclave, and set out to gather a force of new acolytes (The Creed), trained in astral travel and combat, but dedicated to bringing about the Hour of Incursion, when the Great Old Ones will reclaim reality.  Adon’s origins are far more sinister than even the Rider knows.

Jeroen DeKorte – A Dutch merkabah rider who betrayed his enclave and joined Adon’s Creed. DeKorte, once known as The Bone or Het Bot, dedicates himself to the study of necromancy with terrifying results.

Faustus Montague – A mysterious old medicine peddler in a blue velvet suit and topper, who drives a camel-drawn gilded vardo wagon which always seems to have room for new occupants and cargo. Faustus claims to be an angelic being who has pursued the dark power behind the Hour of The Incursion from another universe.

The Rider appears in three books consisting of four novella episodes each, one standalone short story, and a full length novel.

Chronologically, they are -

The Shomer Express (in The Trigger Reflex: Legends Of The Monster Hunter II)

Merkabah Rider: Tales Of A High Planes Drifter (containing The Blood Libel, Hell’s Hired Gun, The Dust Devils, and The Nightjar Women)

Merkabah Rider 2: The Mensch With No Name (containing The Infernal Napoleon, The Damned Dingus, The Outlaw Gods, and The Pandæmonium Ride )

Merkabah Rider 3: Have Glyphs Will Travel (containing  The Long Sabbath, The Mules Of The Mazzikim, The Man Called Other and The Fire King Triumphant)

Merkabah Rider 4: Once Upon A Time In The Weird West