Each living thing is engaged in a cycle of give and take with those around it. When the balance suffers, we name it strife. This is no more or less than the reestablishment of lost balance; it is the process by which divinity reconciles itself with itself, consolidating and settling i...
2023-04-26 14:24:59 +0000 UTC View PostHello! Sorry for the slightly-delayed chapter this week; things have been busy! And they're going to remain busy for the next bit, which is why I'm making this post. I hope to make next week's update (4/26) on time, but it may come out a bit late just as this one did. The ...
2023-04-19 17:15:15 +0000 UTC View Post
And each of them will stand, because they cannot conceive of a life such as mine, a bent and cowering life. They will stand and soak the world in their blood. And then they will die, Michael, because they oppose you.
I know you don’t have the heart of a monster. You are ...
2023-04-19 17:08:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Saf is a country forged in struggle. It is a product of countless exigencies and torments pressing upon it from all borders. Our conflicts with the Bulu and the Ardans have done more to shape our nation than any twist of theological debate held in Khem’s hallowed halls. Theref...
2023-04-12 14:24:59 +0000 UTC View Post
The mockingbird alit upon a branch beside the raven and bade him good morning. The raven replied that it was evening already, and bade the mockingbird good evening.
The mockingbird laughed at this, saying that the sun rose and fell in turn. He said that there was little differen...
2023-04-05 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
No man ever turns against another in truth. In the uttermost depths of their heart, the divine whispers to them. It says: he is like you, this man you hate. He holds the divine within him as well.
Yet it is true that men do contend with each other in life, and that in so d...
2023-03-29 14:24:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I consider Saf’s defeat at Gharon in 442 to be a great tragedy. Militarily, it was a setback of minor importance. Indeed, by elevating Khalid the Blade to prominence, the aftereffects of the Abasement served to unite and strengthen Saf as it had never seen before.
But we knew ...
2023-03-22 15:47:18 +0000 UTC View Post
One day the black hound saw the raven sitting on a branch, and came to ask it a question. It told of how it had noticed that every force in nature had its opposite, and that the balance of things was thus preserved.
Man, however, was balanced only by his reflection. The hound wa...
2023-03-15 13:43:13 +0000 UTC View Post
It was then, waking up in Unai’s quarters, that I realized the horrible truth: that I did not matter. None of us did. In the conflict that follows you, one small person’s desire to do good is meaningless. It may be wiped away without warning or recourse.
I cried. ...
2023-03-08 15:27:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Gharic culture has a curious obsession with time. To them time is a coin that must be measured, weighed, and spent with care. They live as misers, shaving precious scraps from the sides and hating every moment that slips through their fingers.
Yet all they manage with their clip...
2023-03-01 14:44:06 +0000 UTC View PostHello, everyone! I'm excited to share that an audio version of my first story, Grand Design, is shortly releasing on Audible. It's narrated by the talented Vivienne Leheny, and is available for 2023-02-22 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
The Caller and the Seer chanced upon a camp as night fell, and begged a spot by their fire. The men of the camp agreed, and shared of their food.
“Friend travelers,” one of the men said, once they had eaten their fill, “perhaps you might help us to resolve a question that has tr...
2023-02-22 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
It surprised me, because I had never thought I would make that mistake - I, who have always been small enough to scramble under the machine. Having touched real power I was unprepared for its complexity. From the soul flows strength, yes, but it is only one piece of the puzzle.
...
2023-02-15 15:26:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Ardalt has a curious form of government, unique among the post-Gharic states. On its surface it follows the Gharic tradition precisely, giving voice to a very few wealthy men who use the government as a cudgel to control and exploit their fellows. Indeed, one might be forgiven for say...
2023-02-08 15:50:08 +0000 UTC View Post
I met Liesl at a charity ball for the dockworkers’ hospital. She was beautiful, so radiant that I thought she must be there representing the fishers’ guild. I knew in that moment that I must marry her; a short time later I did.
For nine years I had the pleasure of being the ...
2023-02-01 17:56:54 +0000 UTC View Post
I did not choose this path out of desire. I would have done anything else before I took a life, but the doctor robbed me of that choice when he affixed your hand on my arm. It binds me inescapably to your flames, which burn hotter with every passing day.
It is the same fire the ...
2023-01-25 16:51:44 +0000 UTC View Post
There has been much written on the divide between the Seer and the Seeker, with each scribe attempting to find a clear demarcation. Naturally, none of these lines have been drawn in the same place. Even the few bearers of said souls that have bothered to pen their thoughts for posteri...
2023-01-18 16:56:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Look at the lamp’s flame. All men will agree that there is light as it burns, but when standing in night with thoughts of day, a single lamp is little different from darkness.
Feel the lamp’s flame. All men will agree that there is heat, but it will not save the man freezing...
2023-01-11 17:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
One day the black hound came to the white wolf, complaining that the raven had been taking its fill from the fields. He said that he had been tasked with guarding the grain from the raven, but with its sharp eyes and broad wings it fled before the hound could draw close.
The wolf said...
2023-01-04 23:05:56 +0000 UTC View Post
I know that writing is a tradition, one in which she put great stock. Unai told me. In the evenings she would write for hours to put down her thoughts. But then he said that the Annals were kept secret, only for the Stars to read. Is the writing for themselves or their suc...
2022-12-30 22:31:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, and I hope everyone is having a good final week of 2022. My own holidays were very nice, but not as conducive to writing as I had hoped. I had wondered if I might experience a last-minute burst of productivity that would lead to me finishing this week's chapter on time. <...
2022-12-28 02:08:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Gentlemen, I will be direct. Our sources on the continent have informed us of the death of Stellar’s bearer, thought to have happened some time yesterday. We do not - order, please. We do not know at this time if a new bearer has been identified, nor where that bearer might be...
2022-12-21 22:44:52 +0000 UTC View Post
There is a tendency among the politically-inclined to be mercenary in matters of friendship and alliance, coldly-calculating where other men would feel the bond of fellowship. I maintain that not only is this practice abhorrent, it works against the aims of its adherents in the end.
I...
2022-12-14 16:35:31 +0000 UTC View Post
And the Speaker saw that the man’s heart had turned against his family in the time since they had last spoken, struck through with pain from their perfidy. To this he said nothing, since a truth understood by both requires no words.
At length, though, the man raised his head and lam...
2022-12-07 16:52:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Despite my best aims as a reformer, as a politician, as a champion of rights and the rule of law, the inescapable truth of my relevance is that people heed my words because I am capable of an immense amount of destruction. That said destruction is meant for Mendian’s enemies is little com...
2022-11-30 16:22:54 +0000 UTC View Post
A/N - Reuploading this because Patreon's mobile app apparently bungles all sorts of things! Sorry for the double ping.
—
Medical Group 1-5: West Tents
Medical Group 6-10: North Tents
Medical Group 11-16: South Tents
East tents are on patrol in the morning, all gro...
One day the white wolf came to the black hound with a question. He said that among wolves it was easy to know who your enemies were, and who were friends. Among men it seemed less clear. Men would smile to their enemies and rage at their friends, only showing the true color of t...
2022-11-16 23:54:04 +0000 UTC View Post
When speaking of the Gharic lands, it is common to hear men cite the extreme difficulty in governing a conquered populace. A people are naturally inclined to chafe under foreign rule; indeed, our own example illustrates how a society may foster determination and will sufficient to span the ...
2022-11-09 23:39:07 +0000 UTC View Post
“What, then, is a path?” the priest cried. “If every creation bends towards destruction in the end, what is the result save for despair?”
“To destroy is to create,” replied the Great Sword.
“To create is to destroy,” replied the Great Shield. “There is ...
All Redoubt personnel are to fall back to 0-X-Hold until advised otherwise. No disruption to the transfer ceremony on 1 Waning will be attempted. An emergency meeting of all Redoubt and Starfall personnel of C-grade or higher will be held immediately, attendance mandatory.
All o...
2022-10-22 01:06:32 +0000 UTC View Post