TMarkos

Chapter 108 - Negative Space

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 into a pattern which elevates it from its prior state and allows it to move forward.

When the balance is not disturbed, however, we have two names for this.  For some the balance becomes sta...

Schedule Post & Updates

Hello!  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 following week (5/3) will be a skip week - no chapter, as I will be on vacation.  The week after that (5/10) will see a chapter, but the chapter might not come out until later in...

Chapter 107 - The Beachhead

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 not the doctor, as much as I feared that end.  I know that you would not use your soul as he did, and that you strive to remain above its temptations.

Yet I do not think you are perfect. &n...

Chapter 106 - How Far We've Come

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.  Therefore it is in times of war that we see the greatest potential for growth.

We conceive of nations as solid, resilient creatures, but they only seem so because we compare them to the changeable nat...

Chapter 105 - A Compelling Reason

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 difference between either end of a day, and that he did not care for the distinction.

The raven scoffed at this, and warned the mockingbird that he would be thought of as a fool if he insisted that dawn...

104 - Ghar's Bones

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 doing they are consumed by anger and by hatred.  That hatred is not for their adversary, though.  It is for the man their adversary shows them to be.

How righteous would I be, men say, ...

Chapter 103 - Ghar's Ashes

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 Gharon was a task left unfinished, cruelly withheld.  As a city, its buildings cast tall shadows over the Safid heart even as they crumbled in neglect.  That it remained standing was an insu...

Chapter 102 - Suspicion

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 was confused how a mere image in the water could serve as balance, when the true man had a body of flesh and bone.

The raven posed a question in return, asking the hound what he saw when he looked...

Chapter 101 - Choices

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.  It wasn’t the first time, or the last, but I cried then because I realized that I had never left the cotton mill floor.  I was still the same battered child, scavenging for discarded bits whil...

Chapter 100 - 694 PD

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 clipping and paring is to debase that precious currency, for time is not something to be spent.  It is meat to be savored, wine to take in great draughts, and honey to coat the tongue in ecstasy. &nb...

Grand Design Audiobook Release

Hello, 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 preorder on Audible right now.  The full release is in one week, on February 28th.  

For those of you who jumped on to read Peculiar Soul, yes - I did have prior stories! &nb...

Chapter 99 - Fall With Purpose

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 troubled us.”

The Seer smiled as he spoke.  “I deal in such,” he said.  “Speak, and I shall answer.”

The men told of their travels earlier that day, when an ox had lamed ...

98 - No Good Men Shall Die

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.

I worried about the evil inherent in souls from the moment I first gained mine - one piece of that larger problem, in retrospect.  The soul slipped into my flesh from Claude, and as the last gasp...

Chapter 97 - Trading Favors

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 saying that it has maintained that tradition more faithfully than any other.

But Ardalt was never truly Gharic.  They were, like us, a foreign people; they were, like us, oppressed under Ghar�...

Chapter 96 - The Prodigal Son

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 man with the most beautiful wife in Calmharbor.  She gave me my son, Michael, and brightened my dreary old house with her smile.  But being married to an Assemblyman is not easy work; each d...

Chapter 95 - Dulled and Chipped

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 world will taste in your passing.  I know you do not seek destruction, or death, but what you are is contrary to the idea of self.  There is no will that can contest you.  Choice wither...

Chapter 94 - The Path Ahead

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 posterity have arrived at different conclusions.

At the risk of presumption, I shall add my own summation to the tally: the Seer is given knowledge; the Seeker, wisdom.  This is not to say that th...

Chapter 93 - Parental Interactions

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 in the depths of winter.

Yet fire is among the simplest threads of life.  None may live without it, and all know its touch.  Its scent grasps us more than any other, its flickering mo...

Chapter 92 - Cold Front

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 that the hound should stop hunting the raven.  Further, the hound should gather some grain and present it to the raven every day as a tribute.

The hound refused, saying he would not cede v...

Chapter 91 - Give and Take

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 successors?

I have no thoughts for myself that are not already writ in my mind, and I have no need for the thoughts of men and women who lived in times long past.  The past is no longer an ins...

Late Chapter!

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.  

Spoiler alert: I did not.  

I will post it up by Friday, or earlier if I have it earlier.  I hope you all are having a good holiday, or at least a relaxing week.  I won't sa...

Chapter 90 - Borrowed Sight

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.  It might pass from our view for a time in some isolated land, or remain with the Mendiko.

Or it might not.  If it should pass to another bearer within the known scope of the world, ...

Chapter 89 - Joint Operations

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.

In practice a friendship differs very little from its political equivalent; in both instances one is expected to support their friends, to engage in reciprocity and altruism, to value their needs and w...

Chapter 88 - Catching Up

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 lamented that he was an orphan, a man of no family while those who should have given him succor still walked in the world.  He turned to the Speaker and asked him how this injustice could be part of...

Chapter 87 - Solifuge

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 comfort, for there is still the implicit threat that I may withhold my aid according to my wishes.

Therefore the rule of the ensouled must always approximate a captor with hostages, for th...

Chapter 86 - Limits

A/N - Reuploading this because Patreon's mobile app apparently bungles all sorts of things!  Sorry for the double ping.

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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 groups should begin their daily maintenance for East platoons in the afternoon as they finish with their assigned duties. Medical groups without current tasks should report to Central Admin for reassignm...

Chapter 85 - Tyranny

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 their relationship in the direst moment.

The hound agreed that it was very confusing, but that there was a purpose to their madness.  Men, the hound explained, used an enemy’s strength in ...

Chapter 84 - Familiar Faces

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 gap of centuries.  The immediate question that follows is obvious: are we not condemning ourselves to a repeat of our history in reverse, as the conquered Gharic peoples lie in wait for a time of...

Chapter 83 - You Can't Go Home Again

“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 nothing that exists without purpose, and nothing that fails to leave its mark upon the skein of the world.  With each footfall upon the path, the divine grows and learns.”

“But we shal...

Chapter 82 - The Turning Path

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 other priorities are rescinded.  Stand to, gentlemen.

- Institute Circular #3566, 48 Gleaning 693.

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In the broad sweep of the world, there were places that had never felt the ...