Celian

The only one who didn't treat Dante as if he were a ticking time bomb was Sawyer. Dante didn't even understand why the others did, because apart from his emotional outburst towards Frank and, in the shock wave that followed, towards Tom, he was absolutely calm. This could not be said of Frank, who was like an unpredictable geyser, giving a lot of people a piece of his mind, which was perhaps necessary and probably healing for Frank, but when viewed soberly, one could even feel sorry for Lucia, w

@RainbowPhoenixWI, @drsawzall I started already with a second short story (which might get longer than I thought, hmm 🤔) which has a young shaman as MC. But to not let you starve and die, I will give you some quick answers: priests are the true defenders of their beliefs in the Old Mother, they lead the important rituals, listen to the stone, etc, they have to be chaste and stand above the shamans shamans are more gray eminences and can be part of a ruby court, they are dealing with prophetic advice, reading their "prophetic advice" out of situations/people, they lead the rituals that are more for the community then for their deity human men can be invited into a court as servant of whatever sort, as craftsman or silk-favorite (aka male concubine) or simple servant for the baths etc, brothers of the chosen women are often welcome, because they are good for their mental health The Void is in their belief an entity of its own, kind of the archenemy of the lifebringing Old Mother who created the earth and everyone on it, the void beasts are the children/warriors of The Void. they are winged catlike creatures traveling through rifts in reality, the silverdrop bushes repell them, they cause the void fever and eat human flesh with relish (I love lore enthusiasts ❤️)

That night, Karl slept even worse than the night before, but when he got up, Mathilda was already sitting at the table, brushing her hair. They barely spoke a word, barely managed to eat a bite, and when it was time to set off, Karl felt sick. Promising light-gray clouds hung in the sky, but Karl didn’t want to get his hopes up that they might bring rain, even though the air was colder than it had been the days before. The dust from the road covered their shoes, crept up their

This is a short story and I plan to make a couple more to explore this world, maybe one or two longer ones.

The morning dawned hazy. The air felt damp, yet dust swirled around their feet as Karl and Mathilda walked toward the market square. The orc delegation was already there. Three of them were guards; Karl recognized one as a shaman by his four-colored robes. Two more orcs sat in a cart resembling an open carriage, drawn by a massive swamp boar. Besides Mathilda, there were only four other young women of the right age, a fact the elders must have informed the orcs of, for no soone

Thank you. There one or two more chapters coming to this short story, in the hope Karl is sorting things out

Karl stood on the back porch of the house, his fingers clenched tightly around the rotting railing, and stared at the cloud of dust hanging between him and the setting sun. The orcs had set up camp; some of them had already entered the village, and it wouldn’t be long before the Council of Elders officially announced what they all already knew. Tomorrow morning, all young women between the ages of 16 and 24 who were childless were to gather in the town square. Only the head of the family wa

In a world, where humans and orcs are forced to live in symbiosis, Karl has to face the harsh truth: he is not the one deciding his fate. The only thing he can do is make plans for what comes after he got an answer to whether or not the orcs will take his sister Mathilda as tithe or not...

I'm not sure if he would use it, he might be too embarassed. On the other hand, he's quite a horny bastard... 😅

That was actually a critical point. I wanted drama, but realistic outcomes, and not again a Frank who had to relearn all the essential things like walking and talking. The medical accurateness is a bit muddled on that part, I confess, but longer coma without a rat-tail of aftermath would have been an easy "writer without research" choice and I don't like that. If Carolyn had an ounce less of a good heart deep down, she and Britney might have swept it under the rug alright. But while Carolyn holds the reigns with an iron grip, she's not like THAT. Sarah might be a bit of a useless sister/daughter in those kind of things, but Alice would have raised hell, if they had tried to cover things up. She knew about Blaise's wrongdoings all the time, was protecting Frank, so why should she protect now the monster? Thank you! I love those little scenes too. The story is already long enough, so while some of the scenes might have fit into the main story, they would have bloated it up further without gaining much. Like this, as side piece, we get to hear other voices or a glimpse into the past. Since we are digital, it's easier to do. PS: we will get a similar style scene-collection as connection point bitween now the main story and the sequel later.

The sharp minty taste burned mouth and nose free. First the smell of hospital had stuck there, then the smell of urine. Robin had wet himself, but the guy didn't deserve it any other way. The others had almost all retired by now due to the somewhat strange mood, and so Tom was alone in the bathroom brushing his teeth. He could hear Sawyer's muffled voice and seconds later the door opened. "I'm telling you," Dante said, annoyed, "if you try to wipe my ass, I'll scream." Tom grunted

Cheers! since maybe not everyone wants to know right away, spoiler on Blaise:

Thank you ❤️ Ouch. Would you tell me which theories you had beforehand? I'm always curious about those... Please don't 😅 This story was a lot of "how the tell do I get from A to B to C without making a mess?" because while I wrote it back then, I was way less plotting than I do now. Beloved Sawyer was created in a whim for example, lots of worldbuilding was "making up while going". But I love your faith in me ❤️ There are still 6 chapters to go Isn't that true... Britney is a daddy-girl is probably just as shocked as her mom and then some about the ugly truth. Not an excuse, just an explanation. Plus, well, pregnancy hormons. They mess things up quite a bit... Will it still count as spoiler when I give you the answer to this already? I honestly think now that she has Dante and Frank back by her side, she will be. Maybe even because Dante's words did their work for her, meaning she's tapping into her own strength now that it's needed.

Dante stared at the farmhouse and a strange warm feeling spread through him. Home. He had lived here less than half a year, and yet this huge house was more his home than all the other places put together, except perhaps the children's home. He now understood the brightness in Miss Carolyn's eyes when she had proudly told of how her ancestors had built the house with their own hands 200 years ago, and although he did not like the idea of Mistress Alice marrying Matthew, there was sudde

I agree on that. She's too proud of the family's inheritage to risk it, and seeing how she isn't sick just since yesterday, she had enough time to make preparations for the day she's gone.

Blaise is a well-respected member of the community and can be pretty charming. Everyone involved in ignoring red flags has their own reasons. Carolyn loves him. Charles might have lied because he believed Blaise had simply a lover somewhere. Dennis not taking Blaise's ranting and fantasies serious because they are absurd to him. Wilma ignoring her son's (Valentine's) voice because she was too caught up in her own problems (aka her own, just-freed partner leaving). Etc etc. Plus, of course this community has also the general problems of not talking (properly or at all) about problems popping up. Absolutely. Passing over Britney right now? Sure, possible, but if Carolyn died without a proper will or instructions, Britney might fight for her rights as main heiress. True. Being in chains at home, surrounded by a bunch of guys who hate his guts for what he did... Well. We heard in Tom's story about his grandfather how fast cruelty and such can backfire. That's an important question. And not something I can answer in a simple way. I think you will be able to read a sort of forecast for that out of the next chapter, though.

Would have been bad enough if it was just his own son(s), but looking at this, we might never know the full range... Yes, Carolyn signed everything. Alice is in full control. And perfectly on time, we must say, because you are absolutely right, Britney is surely fully capable of pulling such a stunt. She might lose it, the Great Mother hasn't decided yet on the babies fate.

"We're taking you home, what else?" Dante didn't expect this, but before he could ask any more questions, a crying Sawyer came running toward him - he hurriedly brought his injured arm to safety and then submitted to the embrace. Sawyer sobbed unintelligible words into his hair and, equally seeking and offering comfort, Dante snuggled up to him. "It's okay, Saw, it's all still attached..." he whispered, stroking his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Tom, who forced a smile.

You're underestimating the situation *mean author eyebrow wiggle* We will get there, don't worry. In the future (like, years from now) Valentine will tell Dante more about it. They become friends, actually. A pill hard to swallow, but a lot of things make sense, knowing this. Valentine's comment about "being just a kid back then", or that he seems to dislike Blaise, that he wanted to leave the farm community, even if only temporarily... Depending how things go, Carolyn's wishes about protecting the man she loves are worth not much. Seeing that Blaise wasn't just going after his own sons, but other little boys too (do we truly believe it stopped at Valentine and Anthony?), there needs to be consequences.

The next morning, a doctor entered Dante's room and introduced herself as Doc Mayton. Under her arm she carried his medical file, which she leafed through while the nurse who had accompanied her checked all the equipment. "Well," Doc Mayton then said. "I really didn't expect you to make it." "I'm too stubborn to die young," Dante said defiantly. He wasn't just bored, as a hospital stay probably always was after a while, but confined to the bed like this, he was completely helpless to boot-

Maybe, maybe not But I promise some answers soon...

@centexhairysub all very good questions and concerns.

~Damien~ He was more than just a little taken aback. Admittedly, he wasn’t very knowledgeable about the specifics of other types of mages—aside from the mundane type of mage—but he hadn’t expected anything like this. It even completely overshadowed his unease about having to contact Oliver. Once Atlas and Kellen had left the room, he leaned back and pondered for a moment what the ritual might look like, but then pushed the thought aside, since Atlas would surely explain it himself. I

Highly likely that most could have been prevented, yes. Although we don't know how fucked up Blaise's state of mind truly is, so he might have blown a fuse one way or another 🤷‍♂️ This is not only on Alice. Matthew didn't need to ask a second time when he could clearly see how distraught she was. But I don't think he saw the situation like us, more in the way that he offered help and support, plus knowing this "she will say yes you just need to ask her". There's even the possibility that Armand told him about the money Carolyn keeps safe for him and that that was one more asskicker for him. Let's pray for both...

Dante is medicated and has not much too lose, the worst aka Alice deciding to marry Matthew is happening. But you are right, the pressure of unspoken words blew off some softeners...