Edited from an earlier version.
Truth and Etenesh went their separate ways back to their rooms to prepare for the day. Etenesh apparently had some very important reading to do for her coursework, and Truth expected to be on standing-around duty once again. They were both derailed by Jember,...
2023-05-31 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe lights were out; the room was dim. Etenesh was lying in bed in rather new-looking pajamas. Truth suddenly felt very “bedclothes” conscious. He usually slept in boxers. He didn’t own any pajamas. But what could he do?
Run away, obviously. Say, “Sorry, not tonigh...
2023-05-30 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThey didn’t talk much after that. Truth didn’t know if he said the wrong thing or not. He probably did, but… it was hard to be “Tommy Wells” right now. It was usually freeing to be “Tommy Wells” in that he wasn’t carrying all the things that “Truth Medici” was carrying, ...
2023-05-29 16:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Please, wait a moment, Teacher.”
Merkovah looked inquisitively at Truth, who pointed at the Talisman. The old monster glanced at it, then glared at it. He stroked his beard in irritation as he continued glaring. Truth wracked his brain, trying to remember where he had seen it before. 2023-05-26 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Truth had a lot to think about while standing guard in front of the conference room. When he “subtly” pointed out that sticking one guard in front of a room as your security protocol is “less than fully optimal,” he got a scathing look from Merkovah. It seems that all the angels, demons, ...
2023-05-25 16:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEtenesh held Truth until the shaking stopped, then a little longer. She let him go with a sigh. “Am I a bad person for feeling glad you need me? I don’t like being the one who needs comforting,” she asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Truth tried to smile and managed to t...
2023-05-24 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMerkovah informed Truth that there would be extensive meetings in the temple today, and he would be needed for important Standing Around duty on the other side of the door from the meeting. Truth duly dressed in the provided pseudo-military set of clothes, wore his zeph as instructed, be...
2023-05-23 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostTruth’s first impression of Xandre, the famed capital of Ancient Siphios, the birthplace of art, magic, philosophy, city of supreme culture and sophisticated pleasures, Xandre, Gem of the World, was a half-shuttered huddle of discount clothing stores and brickmakers. It was not a great introduc...
2023-05-22 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Where are we on obtaining specimens for Friday’s test?” Professor Cuinard’s fingers danced between the threads of light, teasing apart the small portion of the limb in front of him. Showing, without breaking, the myriad connections between each layer of skin, then the connections to the ...
2023-05-19 16:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostEtenensh eventually fell quiet, just curling up on herself. Jember sat next to his cousin, hip to hip, and put a comforting arm around her. Truth just sat there, feeling useless. It was Merkovah who managed to pull them out of their solitary silences.
“When I was younger, the land of Siph...
2023-05-19 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostTruth fell into the sky, a tiny speck gazing in terror at the awesome beings that filled the void between stars. Even the stars were monstrous, glorious things- a chariot pulled by an unspeakable chimera, whipped on by a naked woman with an owl’s head. A being with the head of a hawk, holding a...
2023-05-18 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostJust FYI. Putting the first of the Patreon Exclusives up tomorrow afternoon. I don't know why, but it's been an absolute bastard to write. So Part One of the story goes up tomorrow, and Part Two goes up when I have it in some kind of shape. Right now, I disavow all knowledge and certainly respons...
2023-05-18 13:51:30 +0000 UTC View PostTruth woke in darkness. He knew it was dark, but his eyes could see perfectly well with the dim light through the window. Ever since he crawled out of the well, the shadows held no terrors for him. He was holding the angelic sword- why?
Rapid banging on the door. Truth silently rolled out o...
2023-05-17 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe next three days passed slowly in the library and quickly outside of it. Truth’s knowledge of possession was now alarmingly broad, and while his knowledge of baptisms was less so, he had come to some curious conclusions about them. A lot of magical rituals were, to his slight surprise, indis...
2023-05-16 16:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostTruth awoke to the screams of the System and the faintest smell of cigarettes.
Dad was a heavy smoker. You never forgot the smell of stale cigarette butts or how the smoke ground its way into your clothes. How the smell seemed to creep into every part of your life, making you go scent...
2023-05-15 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe Shotibl were not lovely birds. Tall, covered in rough gray feathers, and with a face dominated by a wide hooked beak as long as a forearm. They had a deathly glare to them. And yet, they were quite docile, according to Jember. These Shotibl decided there was no future for the meek. They were ...
2023-05-12 16:00:20 +0000 UTC View Post“What exactly is “Station Six,” and what exactly are we doing here?” Truth asked. Quite calmly, in his opinion.
“Station Six is shorthand for ‘National Agroforestry Research Station, South-West Region, #6.’ Originally it was set up to research ways to combine sustainable fores...
2023-05-11 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostTruth had questions. Many questions. Unanswered questions, as Merkovah ended the veil and pressed his finger to his lips. Truth left in an odd mood. He figured that he could put a couple of hours in at the library, work out, then maybe back to the library. Light workout. It had been a tryin...
2023-05-09 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostGot a little confused about what needed unlocking. We should be set now.
2023-05-08 16:15:22 +0000 UTC View PostTruth escaped with his clothes, if not his dignity. The outraged shopkeeper, a fellow member of the round hat club, was still scolding Jember. Jember didn’t seem very remorseful. It was all in good fun. Apparently.
Truth made his way back towards the university in something of a welter of...
2023-05-08 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“Would you be interested in trying? Fighting a much more powerful being than yourself? There are few opportunities to train against such an opponent in any degree of safety. But we could summon a level four demon for you to test yourself against.” Merkovah offered. “I would be able to restr...
2023-05-05 16:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostTruth started to cast the universal spell, then hesitated. Hey System. First of all, we will have a real good talk about my self-esteem issues soon. A real, real good talk. Second, what do you actually call your Universal Spell?
You grew up in a shit heap, eating sh...
2023-05-04 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostMerkovah stood in the empty concrete room. A cluster of straw dummies was in a corner, but that was about it.
“Let’s get started!” His voice echoed off the walls. “Etenesh, Jember, you are responsible for drawing up the ritual circles. We are going to start with-” He began r...
2023-05-03 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostWait, what? I didn’t level up.
Truth felt the spell fill his second aperture and almost groaned in pleasure. He hadn’t ...
2023-05-02 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a notable increase in people fiddling discreetly with charms at the table, but fewer people slipped away than the Head seemed to expect. Pleased, he suggested an extra round of Nerik to accompany the flan that was tonight’s dessert. This was met with warm approval...
2023-05-01 17:37:31 +0000 UTC View PostTheir little convoy reformed quickly, Merkovah feeling that a mere hundred and five kilometers was far too close to the cursed city of Moyale. He was determined to make it to the sanctuary of the campus at Bule, another two hundred kilometers down the road. Bule was also a little too ...
2023-05-01 17:36:34 +0000 UTC View PostJember and Etenesh had set themselves a little densely warded ritual circle to operate from. A triple ring, lodged inside a series of increasingly complex forms, rose in sheets of white light around Truth and Merkovah. The old monster in disguise looked bored. His weapon of choi...
2023-05-01 17:35:48 +0000 UTC View PostMoyle dropped away behind their two-vehicle convoy with startling speed.
Suburb-suburb-suburb-strip malls-farms. Sudden spike of loathing, then nothing once again, as the farms vanished. Like some solar demon had traced a sharp line around the outer edge of the city and said… well probabl...
2023-05-01 17:34:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe game was fun, if incomprehensible. There were layers to the strategy that Truth just wasn’t getting, but that was ok. The cousins were half the entertainment by themselves. Jember was willing to cheer just about anything that looked dramatic. Etenesh was intense and focuse...
2023-05-01 17:33:30 +0000 UTC View Post