The Spadix are more interesting in their creation than their book appearances. Only because they’re savage creatures that aren’t exceptionally bright. Think of a centaur, but it’s the body of a scorpion complete with stingers and pincers. The human part is a bald male with ‘odd’ face that uses crude weapons. So it’s really the rest you have to worry about, but they have a habit of attacking each other when enraged and in large groups. Mostly it’s the big ones going after the small ones because they mistake them for an enemy. They are still a threat since they attack in swarms and have a very potent poison in their stingers.
One thing to remember is that the Spadix are desert creatures, which means those who read the first book are already confused. Why are they in Visindor Forest? Two explanations for this:
- The Lich used a portal to bring them to the area.
- The author thought ‘I need a monster. Scorpion Men! Those would be awesome and unexpected. There’s no way this can backfire in terms of continuity and what are the chances of me using them again? Not like I have a desert adventure in the series.’ (CLICK BELOW FOR THE DESERT ADVENTURE.)

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
There’s more comedy revolving around the Spadix and it’s the name. They weren’t originally called the Spadix. Back in 2001, I created them for the book and called them the Barac. Bring us to 2012 where I’m reading over the book before publishing and it strikes me that their name is very close to Barack. Disturbingly close even though he wasn’t a political factor when I made them. I kept it as Barac until a week before publishing because I didn’t want to risk a headache. Spadix came from the Latin name of one of the species. Took me a year to stop thinking of them as the Barac, so there were a few slip ups when talking.
Being more animal than organized group, the Spadix are rather simple. The only other thing to explain is why you’ll only see the males. Every colony has one female who remains in an underground burrow. She is brought food and only has to worry about breeding and the day she gives birth to her replacement. The female Spadix is smaller than the males, but has a longer stinger and deadlier poison. Males are more of a dizzy, numbing toxin while that of a female causes necrosis of the circulatory system.
Oh and they’re talented singers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxdmw4tJJ1Y
I think I got it wrong again.






Remind me not to run into a female Spadix. These guys were in Beginning of a Hero right? (Attacking the academy?)
LikeLike
Yeah. They were the Lich’s monster army along with the Cyclopes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Enjoyed them then. (seems like a hundred years ago)
LikeLike
A thousand for me. Can’t believe I wrote them so long ago.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m picturing the Spadix in spandex for some reason. Scorpion men–genius!! They make an effective monster army.
LikeLike
Probably the word similarities. They are pretty dangerous. Not really bright, so an organized force doesn’t always work.
LikeLike
True. Like herding cats in some ways, though cats were undoubtedly brighter.
LikeLike
Usually. The Spadix do have moments of natural genius. Rare, but not unheard of.
LikeLike
Whatever the thinking behind them (and it’s obviously the portal thing), I loved the battle at the Beginning of a Hero!
LikeLike
That was a lot of fun to write since it was the first big battle I ever did. Prior to that, it was only one-one-one fights or evenly matched. Made me really focus on how an army would operate in this world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They sound creepy and cool. A great monster. But I agree with your reason for changing the name. Writing is hard enough without accidentally opening a can of worms.
LikeLike
Thanks. Definitely a challenge to write without causing an argument these days. Seems a lot of people are just looking for a fight.
LikeLiked by 1 person