Hello all! Worldcon is in town, so this week I've been listening to panels about SFF and craft from a lot of wise authors. Hopefully, the advice and tricks they've been talking about find their way into my writing to make it better. Doing that in addition to writing has been pretty exhausting, but definitely worth it. It's been cool to hear from folks like Matt Dinniman, Ada Palmer, Paolo Bacigalupi, Martha Wells and Brandon Sanderson. I also got to attend a Writing Excuses podcast recording,...
2025-08-17 14:39:11 +0000 UTC
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One by one, the souls in the underground winked out, until those that remained were running for the surface through the entrance north of town. There, they seemed to realize the rest of the Akanan army wasn’t there anymore, and joined the retreat.
By then, Mirian had organized Professor Cassius and a handful of professors and students to set up a perimeter around the town, and had handed the Luminate priests two of her soul repositories and directed them to use them for healing.
2025-08-17 14:07:07 +0000 UTC
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Mirian refined her early route, practicing both her efficient conversion of soul energy into mana and efficiency in binding myrvite souls for use. With greater efficiencies, she could speed up her accelerated levitation, cutting hours off her travel. She now retrieved supplies from Mahatan, deposited them in Torrviol, then headed north to grab her father. Instead of moving back south, she now had them fly north to Alkazaria. She could then open that Gate, bringing them to Palendurio....
2025-08-13 15:00:15 +0000 UTC
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Thanks for all the wonderful responses to last week's question! It's helpful to see how audience expectations are matching up to the story. Also at this point, there's a lot to keep track of... who's idea was it to make this story this complicated???
And as always, thanks for the support that's made this story possible :)
Here's the chapters that got released this week:
Extra Advanced Tier:
2025-08-10 19:35:17 +0000 UTC
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When Mirian reached the surface, the world seemed too bright at first, and too calm. Down in the Labyrinth, a moment’s hesitation could be death. She’d needed to stay perfectly alert, or an ambush like the one she’d just survived would be lethal.
She checked in on her professors, redirecting them or adding instructions as needed. Then she told them, “I’ll be gone for four days. I’m going to retrieve a specialist to help our work.”
There were several reasons Mirian ha...
2025-08-10 19:22:45 +0000 UTC
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When Xecatl next saw her, she froze. “I sensed your communion with Ceiba Yan… but I almost didn’t believe it. Your fourth soul ascension?”
Mirian nodded.
“Congratulations are in order, then. Some days, I envy you, able to steer your own soul.” She looked at the sacred tree. “But I also know I wouldn’t give up what I have. It is a beautiful bond.”
“It is,” Mirian agreed.
For the next few days, it was difficult to bring her attention back to more mu...
2025-08-06 18:38:41 +0000 UTC
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I sent out Chapter 235 with a title that said it was 236, but it's not 236 because 236 isn't done and I will be madly pounding away at the keyboard to change that later today.
Several old chapters seem to have had a chunk of text at the start of the chapter duplicated, sometimes once, sometimes several times. Since the chunk of text being duplicated is the preview text before the "paid access starts here line," I'm assuming this error was introduced by Patreon's recent changes to how pr...
2025-08-03 16:49:34 +0000 UTC
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The descent down the stairs started as a solemn one, the drama of it only slightly ruined by Jherica’s heavy breathing.
“Teaching and research never involved much exercise, I’m afraid,” they said apologetically. “My knees are killing me.”
Mirian cast a quick healing spell on them. “If you progress enough in soul magic, Rostal in Palendurio could teach you dervish forms that could help.”
Xecatl gave Mirian a quizzical look. “Mirian, what was the purpose of t...
2025-08-03 16:22:50 +0000 UTC
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Eventually, a bulky carduk turtle arrived pulling an ornate carriage. The carriage was nothing like the steel-framed spellcarts of Baracuel or Akana. Instead, it had a nest of living vines on the roof. They had draped themselves over the sides, forming leafy doors. The nagual driver—an honor only an Emperor could have—touched her jade focus briefly, and the vines lifted, revealing a plush interior.
They traveled with a large honor guard. Xecatl had said ‘prepare a carriage,’ but...
2025-07-30 16:03:57 +0000 UTC
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Here's the chapters that got released this week:
Extra-Advanced Tier
Chapter 232
Chapter 233
Advanced Tier
Chapter 222
2025-07-27 16:16:30 +0000 UTC
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Liuan disembarked with her usual retinue: several Church priests, who Mirian recognized, but didn’t know the names of, and several RID agents. Each ship had a full crew of Akanan army personnel. They spent around ten minutes doing a formal dance of niceties and ritual. No one called Liuan ‘Prophet,’ but Mirian could tell from the way her priests were looking at her that it was an unspoken truth.
Then, as the Akanan soldiers refueled the ships and prepped again for launch, Liuan pu...
2025-07-27 16:02:44 +0000 UTC
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They progressed to more advanced spirits quickly. It didn’t take long before Mirian’s head was spinning with the complexity of it. When she finally was having trouble keeping it all in her head, that was when Xecatl introduced her to weaving diagrams. The simple ones were made of two sticks with colored yarn tied to each end. When the sticks were pulled apart, the strings grew taut. Each stick was carved with totemic images.
They went to a children’s school to look at the first on...
2025-07-23 14:53:34 +0000 UTC
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Hi all! I'm visiting family, so am away from my home computer. My old writing laptop is old enough that I can write on it (the words must flow!), but can't use Patreon, so this post is being lovingly crafted from a phone just as they've introduced a new publishing interface! Hopefully nothing goes wrong (ominous music). As usual, I've arranged things so the release schedule stays consistent. Anyways, here's the chapters that got released this week:
Extra-Advanced Tier
2025-07-20 15:26:23 +0000 UTC
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The next few days were a whirlwind of planning and talking. Mirian mapped out a curriculum on glyph magic. “Xipuatl might be able to assist, given he’s seen both the Baracueli and Tlaxhuacan schools of magic,” she mentioned.
Within the hour, her former classmate was in the room with her, only looking a little haggard. As he entered, Xipuatl gave a deep bow. “Prophet Mirian,” he said.
“You don’t have to bow,” she said.
He cleared his throat, blushing. “They ...
2025-07-20 15:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Mirian contemplated her first question for Xecatl. She had a feeling she knew what the other woman would ask her, and she wanted to get a good sense of what she already knew. She looked up and down Ceiba Yan. There were strange flows in the soul. Discolored threads she thought she recognized.
‘Absolute truths,’ hm? We’ll put that to the test.
“What did you find in the Vaults of the Labyrinth?” she asked.
Xecatl smiled. “The first Vault contained statues ...
2025-07-16 17:04:59 +0000 UTC
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Here's the chapters that were published this week:
Extra-Advanced Tier
Chapter 228
Chapter 229
Advanced Tier
Chapter 218*
2025-07-13 18:27:26 +0000 UTC
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As Mirian ascended the steps towards the Tlaxhuacan Prophet, she felt the thousands of eyes staring at her. It wasn’t just the battalion watching, nor the nagual. A huge crowd had gathered. They watched in silence; there was only the sound of the city’s waterfalls.
Mirian glanced behind her. The woman who she’d first talked to was leading Xipuatl away. For questioning, no doubt. One thing was clear: she wasn’t the first Prophet this woman had dealt with.
As she summited th...
2025-07-13 18:16:07 +0000 UTC
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It was on the fifth island that Xipuatl caught on to what Mirian was doing. He looked around as she prepared to levitate again and noticed a skypiper bird fall from the sky, then seemed to realize most of the creatures in the tidepools were dead too.
His eyes widened. “Wait… Mirian… are you using necromancy?”
“Yes,” she said.
Xipuatl grew pale. “But… you can’t!”
“Everything here is dead soon. I’m just speeding it up a bit. And that will give the...
2025-07-09 18:21:06 +0000 UTC
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Emails going out to the wrong tiers should be fixed. If it isn't let me know.
I've updated the Glossary. There's spoilers for chapter 195 and later, but... presumably if you're here and reading this, that shouldn't be a problem. There's now a bit of calendar and language info, but it's mostly just all the characters and places we've visited. If you notice stuff missing or have a suggestion, f...
2025-07-06 18:08:58 +0000 UTC
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As soon as the leviathan surfaced, the crew started moving into action.
“Leviathan off the port bow!” one of the lookouts shouted.
Baracueli cutters were designed for speed, but the archipelago was full of barely-submerged rocks and small islands, so the ship had been forced to slow down. Still, despite Xipuatl’s insistence the water was too shallow for leviathans, there were deeper areas they could navigate. Clearly.
This cutter had a single turret, a force catapult f...
2025-07-06 17:50:11 +0000 UTC
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Mirian arrived in Alkazaria and gathered the high priests. This time, the High Priest of Carkavakom accepted her claim as easily as the others. He didn’t smile so much. It was like he was a different person.
Her best guess was an Elder creature was involved. Some of them had been assigned by the Gods to guard the Elder Gates. They could visit different paths in the fields of time, meaning they must be present in some paths, but not others. In the cycles where she never visited ...
2025-07-02 18:20:40 +0000 UTC
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There's a new issue I've found this week (though it might have started earlier and I didn't catch it) where readers in the second tier aren't getting email updates on a chapter as I unlock it for them. Previously, I would uncheck the 1st tier, check the 2nd tier, check 'notify members of the edit', then save it, and only 2nd tier would get an email blast. Then I could check the 1st tier again and everyone has access. However, I've now found that, after saving the changes, I check the page and...
2025-06-29 16:49:42 +0000 UTC
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The High Priest of Carkavakom was waiting for Mirian by the altar. The rest of the main area of the Great Temple was empty. Gaius turned and watched the entrance of the temple, ready to renew the fight at any moment.
“Ask,” the priest said, as if he’d been expecting her. His rictus grin had faded, and now he looked pale and clammy.
“When did you commune with Carkavakom?”
“I didn’t. I’ve seen… flashes. Fragments. From… not the God Himself. I don’t...
2025-06-29 16:27:51 +0000 UTC
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Mirian’s levitation spell was countered as soon as she began to cast it. She was badly outnumbered, facing down at least two full squads of Praetorians, which meant they could dedicate specialists to countering any of her common spells. A second group would maintain shields while a third group pressed the attack.
The first Praetorian spells smashed against her shield, force blades sparking and fire splashing out. The room erupted into chaos as the non-combatants, inclu...
2025-06-25 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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I tried to get Eyeball and Conductor to let me post things at different points in the timeline, but they refused. Such sticklers for rules.
So, really, I'm going to be away from my computer for a few days. While I can schedule posts ahead of time, I can't schedule edits (which is what I use to distribute chapters to the second tier), and I can't link something that hasn't been released yet (at least, without violating causality), so I figured I'd release this chapter a bit early. The se...
2025-06-22 05:46:28 +0000 UTC
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It was easy enough, with a delegation of high priests at her back, to convince the Council of Five to recognize her as a new Prophet. It was only three days later that they retroactively clarified that they had ‘tentatively’ recognized her, with certain privileges withheld until official recognition from the Pontiff could be delivered.
This, in turn, put a hold on the drilling operations she had just ordered beneath Citadel.
She returned to the council chambers with the...
2025-06-22 05:32:48 +0000 UTC
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Mirian opened the Mahatan Gate, sent a zephyr falcon to Gabriel, stole Prince Rehiz’s jeweled lotuses, then headed down to Urubandar.
A few days later, she found Gabriel in one of the palaces he liked to buy, surrounded by prostitutes and servants. The place reeked of alcohol, and Gabriel was swinging about a bottle of wine like a musical conductor. His robe was partially undone.
Mirian frowned. “Gabriel. You’re supposed to be learning Gulwenen and researching the Labyrinth....
2025-06-18 18:22:05 +0000 UTC
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Here's the chapters that got posted this week. Hope everyone is doing well!
Extra-Advanced Tier
Chapter 220
Chapter 221
Advanced Tier
Chapter 210<...
2025-06-15 18:29:05 +0000 UTC
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Jherica screamed the first time they went through the Elder Gate. However, at the same time, they found it fascinating enough that they subsequently took ten trips through the teleportation device in quick succession.
“Amazing!” they said, beaming.
“Are you quite done?” Mirian asked after the tenth trip, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh, I guess. For now.”
“You can always come back. I’ll make sure you have free access to anything in the Academy.
...
2025-06-15 18:18:57 +0000 UTC
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They were lounging in the Starcrest tower penthouse when Gabriel finally arrived. Ibrahim had his shirt off and was doing some sort of martial exercise where he moved around slowly. Rostal had mentioned it, but Mirian had forgotten the name of it. Liuan Var was sitting primly in a chair sipping tea. Jherica had become fascinated by one of the paintings and was muttering about different schools of art under their breath.
They all turned as the door slammed open and Gabriel strolled in. ...
2025-06-11 16:06:45 +0000 UTC
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