Re the Chapter Four line about "...responsible for the fall of Atlantis who's walking the earth..." I recall another usage (besides Mr. Black) of this notion. When I Googled to refresh my memory, it led me to the following....
On the GoodReads site, on 10 Sep 2019, Gregory D. rated the collection (published two days before) Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria as a four-star read. His review included this paragraph concerning five of the collected stories:
"[Manly Wade] Wellman's Kardios is the last man from lost Atlantis. Wellman wrote five stories about him in the 70s.... [T]hey are quirky, humorous (though not comedy) tales that read more like folk tales in a sword & sorcery style. Kardios is responsible for sinking Atlantis, you see, because there was a prophecy that if the queen was kissed, the island would be destroyed. She dared him, and well, she was very beautiful, so... He encounters giants, pseudo-Lovecraftian space horrors and gods (or what are perceived to) with sword and harp, and he always sneaks out on the girl, leaving her desires unrequited."
(Contrary to the assertion that Kardios always left the desires of the girl-of-the-story unrequited, in the second tale he spent two nights and much of the day between with her, and it was plain – though not described in detail – that they made love repeatedly during that time....)
Another reviewer, Matthew, posted a five-star rating with these remarks on the Kardios tales:
"These tales are top shelf sword and sorcery stories. After reading the first story a reader will find that there is a reason why Wellman was cited in Gary Gygax’s “Appendix N” [of the First Edition Dungeon Master's Guide] and after reading the last one the reader will be saddened that Wellman did not write anymore of them."
For the record, the very first Dungeons and Dragons character I played, in late '77, was inspired by Kardios, although it wasn't water that inundated my character's homeland, but lava, a la Deccan Traps ... and it was even less his fault than destruction and death ever was the Dirty Pair's. No beautiful queen involved, alas.
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"Oh, my people had many gods. There was Conformity, and Authority, and Expense Account, and Opinion. And there was Status, whose symbols were many, and who rode in the great chariot Cadillac, which was almost a god itself. And there was Atombomb, the dread destroyer, who would some day come to end the world." — Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, H. Beam Piper
On the GoodReads site, on 10 Sep 2019, Gregory D. rated the collection (published two days before) Heroes of Atlantis & Lemuria as a four-star read. His review included this paragraph concerning five of the collected stories:
"[Manly Wade] Wellman's Kardios is the last man from lost Atlantis. Wellman wrote five stories about him in the 70s.... [T]hey are quirky, humorous (though not comedy) tales that read more like folk tales in a sword & sorcery style. Kardios is responsible for sinking Atlantis, you see, because there was a prophecy that if the queen was kissed, the island would be destroyed. She dared him, and well, she was very beautiful, so... He encounters giants, pseudo-Lovecraftian space horrors and gods (or what are perceived to) with sword and harp, and he always sneaks out on the girl, leaving her desires unrequited."
(Contrary to the assertion that Kardios always left the desires of the girl-of-the-story unrequited, in the second tale he spent two nights and much of the day between with her, and it was plain – though not described in detail – that they made love repeatedly during that time....)
Another reviewer, Matthew, posted a five-star rating with these remarks on the Kardios tales:
"These tales are top shelf sword and sorcery stories. After reading the first story a reader will find that there is a reason why Wellman was cited in Gary Gygax’s “Appendix N” [of the First Edition Dungeon Master's Guide] and after reading the last one the reader will be saddened that Wellman did not write anymore of them."
For the record, the very first Dungeons and Dragons character I played, in late '77, was inspired by Kardios, although it wasn't water that inundated my character's homeland, but lava, a la Deccan Traps ... and it was even less his fault than destruction and death ever was the Dirty Pair's. No beautiful queen involved, alas.
-----
"Oh, my people had many gods. There was Conformity, and Authority, and Expense Account, and Opinion. And there was Status, whose symbols were many, and who rode in the great chariot Cadillac, which was almost a god itself. And there was Atombomb, the dread destroyer, who would some day come to end the world." — Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, H. Beam Piper
