To bear a soul is to live life intensely, profoundly. Your every choice is felt one-hundredfold - your minor successes are celebrations, your errors become calamitous. It is this that people reference when they speak of the burden that ensouled bear, but to view it as some exchange of tribulation for power is nonsense; it is simply the weight of responsibility.
For some, the added strain is minor. With others the choice is between perfection and utter horror. A s...
2021-05-22 16:14:08 +0000 UTC
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It is seductively pleasant to deride Saf as a nation of fools, rife with raving demagogues and mad priests - but remember that they had been winning their war on the continent until we intervened. Only a timely Ardan effort and Mendian’s watchful eye have kept the entire region from falling under their rule.
And yes, they do behave as fools. The quicksilvered gibberings of their leaders reveal the disrepair of their state, and only their propaganda claims otherwis...
2021-05-19 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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So, we're getting to the point where things are piling up, I'm introducing a lot of bad Latin and we're growing beyond a small core of introductory characters. I'm going to be maintaining a document to sort all this out, hosted here:
Link
I'll be updating this to keep in line with the latest public chapt...
2021-05-12 16:05:00 +0000 UTC
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Men of a certain age have a particular set of behaviors in common - a reaction to sudden lights and noises, an anxiety that manifests in quiet moments, bouts of anger and passion wholly unsuited for the situation in which they arise. It is impolite to admit that these are consequences of service on the continent, since such a statement might find that it has accidentally engaged in critique of The War itself - forbid such a notion!
So we have adapted, such as we may, to accommodat...
2021-05-12 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Modern animetry has given us the notion of the Eight as if there is some fundamental division that defines them, but that is not the case. Certain souls have been tracked throughout history, and not all of them have merited inclusion in this august party.
Perhaps the most famous is the Star of Mendian, whom we term Stellar, as politics and the nature of the soul itself have conspired to ensure that it never passes long without notice when it changes bearers. History stretchi...
2021-05-05 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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It is tempting to frame history as a narrative about the clashes between souls, but this is almost never the case - one may as well contend that swords were the salient factor rather than their wielders. The might of souls is directed only by the base human impulses of their vessels, and the flow of events follows.
Therefore do not trust in souls. Trust, as always, in people.
- Leire Gabarain, Annals of the Sixteenth Star, 688.
—
Michael followed...
2021-04-28 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Many model the law as a set of rules, learning it by asking what the law is. Still others frame it by jurisdiction and pose the question of where, or as an item of executive authority while pondering who is, precisely, our law.
These are valid pursuits, and instructive, but they miss the fundamental question - why the law? Oh, men scoff, without the law there would be murder. Oh, they sneer, without the law there would be theft. And they are correct, the...
2021-04-21 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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It is theorized that there is a rough limit on the number of people one can hold a relationship with, be it friend, neighbor, lover or enemy. It is perhaps one-hundred-fifty on average, two-hundred-fifty at the utmost. Past this, the faces blur into the crowd and become an indistinct and aggregate other; we simply are not built to consider so many people individually.
Some time ago mankind counted its billionth member. By the tyranny of simple mathematics, this means t...
2021-04-14 19:55:01 +0000 UTC
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—
Stellar shines through winter’s cloak,
But embered night belongs to Smoke.
Sibyl knows where secrets stray,
Save those held by Sobriquet.
Sustain will stand, enduring ever,
None else hol...
2021-04-07 18:14:14 +0000 UTC
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Hi, intro post before the chapter! I did end up revising a few things, mostly descriptions and parts of the carriage ride over. The scene at the institute is more or less as it was in the preview.
Please let me know what you think about the supplement - I anticipate that I'm going to pull from a wide range of print media and not just have them all be newspapers, but I'm still feeling out the proper balance on what that's going to look like. I'll take your feedback into...
2021-04-07 18:06:01 +0000 UTC
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Seems like the month flew right on by. Hopefully all the books sent domestically have made their way to their new owners by now, and if you haven't yet provided your address please feel free to make the update - it's not too late!
I'm targeting the first chapter release of Peculiar Soul for patrons on April 7th, next Wednesday. There are some minor revisions to the preview of the chapter posted earlier, and I'll be including a supplement along with it. After tha...
2021-03-31 22:41:18 +0000 UTC
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I have packages stuffed and ready to go for everyone who has provided me their addresses so far! Later than I had hoped, but things kinda stacked up over the last few days (I got vaccinated, woo!) and I didn't have a chance to make it down to the post office. I'm going to visit tomorrow and send out all the current packages, so if you get me your address tonight I'll try and get you in this run.
Once they're sent I'll message you all individually with trackin...
2021-03-24 18:42:01 +0000 UTC
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Hi, lots of stuff going on today! I got the books a day before I expected, which is great - but my package of mailers didn't arrive early so I'll still be getting those tomorrow while I gaze at my book mountain over the intervening day. I'll try to get those winging out towards people Fridayish, so make sure your address is up-to-date. I know I've got a few of you that are non-US, so your shipping may be a little delayed from the rest depending on circumstances, but I'll kee...
2021-03-17 19:32:28 +0000 UTC
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Hello, happy Wednesday! I've been writing and fiddling around with story stuff for Peculiar Soul, those of you who hang out in the Discord might have seen me toss a few things up. In particular I've been fleshing out the details of the map in which the story takes place.
There's a quote from Carl Sagan that goes: "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." His scope was a bit more grand than what I'm looking at here, but ...
2021-03-10 15:43:52 +0000 UTC
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The print manuscript is ready, finally! I got the proof copy on Monday and I now have a slightly tweaked version live on Amazon:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XXFVJZ7/
So that's nice. I have a big box of books winging its way towards me to send out to you all, but author copies are slooooow so it won't be here for a couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted on the p...
2021-03-03 18:56:43 +0000 UTC
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Hello, everyone! Short post today, as I've only got a few updates to share. First, the manuscript is nearly done - I got all of the formatting issues worked out and am giving it an edit pass as well as compiling some appendices based on the information page I've been hosting on the HFY wiki, so the print version will have the glossary and an index of the journal pages just like the online version does. That should only take a day or so to finish up, so I'll be submi...
2021-02-25 02:49:12 +0000 UTC
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Short update today, it's been a busy week and I've been plugging away at the manuscript as best I can in the gaps. It's looking like my estimates of having it all bundled off to Amazon by today were a tad optimistic - to improve the layout and my control over the images/flow of the book I'm using InDesign rather than Amazon's template for Word like I did with Grand Design, and while I'm liking the amount of control it gives there's definitely a time cost for exercising it.
In the ...
2021-02-18 03:25:23 +0000 UTC
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I had this slated as a week to focus on my (actual, more boring) work, but that doesn't mean I've been able to leave the Inheritors manuscript entirely alone! I've begun the long, painful process of converting the story to its print layout and done a few tests to ensure my assumptions regarding conversion of the journal pages were correct - and, good news, for the most part it looks like we're in decent shape. I still need to figure out the best way to include the map, bu...
2021-02-10 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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In the end this is only one of many books o
2021-02-03 17:51:52 +0000 UTC
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(TL;DR - Chapter delayed due to being really long and my work ramping up. Schedule notes and patron benefits described in the second half of the post.)
Hi folks! I hate to do this to you after the end of that last chapter, but it doesn't look like chapter 64 is going to be fully baked by tomorrow and I need to push it a week. There are several reasons for this, but chief among them is that I'm in the middle of deploying a large project at work and am getting sucked int...
2021-01-27 15:42:02 +0000 UTC
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The proficient guard against the foe’s blade, masters against the stray pebble underfoot.
- Aesvain saying.
---
Fire was apparently going to be a theme today. Jackie grimaced as the scriptsmith lobbed a flaming projectile in her direction, feeling Tija’s remnant pulse with power from her upraised hand. The fire slid to the side, leaving only a wash of heat that tingled unpleasantly on her burned skin.
She kept walking, drawing closer t...
2021-01-20 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Fire and knives are for food, if there’s food.
- Sjocelym saying.
---
The elevator slid to a halt at the bottom of its shaft, and the doors hissed open to reveal the inky blackness of the tunnel beyond. Jackie stalked out with the conjured mote of light trailing a few paces behind her in midair to limn the walls with a white glow. The antechamber to the tunnel itself had been dusted with a fresh coat of debris from the walls and ceiling, and a...
2021-01-13 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“And then there are those who attach some broad meaning to the phenomenon of asaarimyn. Yes, they are tools of the vinesavaim, but they do not speak for them. There is nothing enviable or significant about them past their aesacaar, and if some fool of an abbot should tell you otherwise remember that I have been studying the subject for longer than they have been alive twice over. I imagine I have more direct experience with asaarimyn than any man alive, in fact. ...
2021-01-06 17:01:59 +0000 UTC
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hope you and the children are well - I’m sure they’re large now, and by the time the caravan reaches you with this letter they’ll be larger still. Here things are not so good - the soil grows dryer by the day, and our cerein ails. I was looking in the old texts for answers but find that much of what they discuss is beyond my grasp. I know you have made a study of the old writings, so I have transcribed a passage below and would cherish your thoughts on it, as I bel...
2020-12-30 17:14:06 +0000 UTC
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I had a conversation with a young man today - Vumo Ras, one of the court’s scholars of ruudun. We had the opportunity to talk at length, and though he is young and overly deferential I feel as though he could grow into quite the asset with some care. I intend to invite him along on our expedition to Sun’s Birth - it would be difficult not to, since he has been following me like a baby tari ever since we talked. I cannot be too vexed by an earnest man, however, and I ...
2020-12-23 17:03:10 +0000 UTC
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“I suppose if I have any advice for writers of history it would be to emphasize the uncertainty. In a book like this it all hopefully appears very clear and organized, but in the moment? We didn’t even know the right way to look.”
- Tasjadre Ra Novo, Jesa Sagoja: Zhetam Asade
---
Little had changed in the workshop since Arjun and Jackie’s abortive attempt to leave through the gateway, although Sjogydhu and his men seemed to find...
2020-12-16 17:04:45 +0000 UTC
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By the time a Sjocelym finishes saying hello he’ll have told you three times how much he loves their scriptsmiths - part because he’s glad the toys they make don’t explode, and part because he knows that for the right people they sometimes do.
- Aesvain joke.
---
The clouds stretched from horizon to horizon, although in two distinct parts - on the Sjocelym side of the wall, the usual blanket of wispy stratus clouds occluded the sky, while over the Vid...
2020-12-09 16:56:15 +0000 UTC
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“In many ways it could be said that Tinem Sjocel did not exist until Goresje dragged it forth. The country of my birth was a nation of insular savages, snarling over scraps and preoccupied with petty feuds. It was not a country that held lectures, not a country that prized knowledge and craft for their merits. Some of us grew angry at our lot in life, but it was Goresje that told us to abandon ourselves and work to improve life for the children yet to come - to trust t...
2020-12-02 17:04:55 +0000 UTC
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I took the old defenses down from around the outpost this morning. Grandfather was against it, as we knew he would be, but even he had to admit that we hadn’t had visitors - friendly or otherwise - since he was a boy. Ve is still in shock. I don’t think he knew it was anything more than a pretty decoration on the wall. Thankfully the damage was not beyond what his asolan can address - his eyesight should return in a few days. We all know that only luck sp...
2020-11-25 17:00:00 +0000 UTC
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A man leaves his house but does not take his knife. His wife chides him, saying that it is late and he should be cautious, but the man dismisses her concerns and proceeds unarmed. Shortly thereafter he is accosted by a group of robbers who beat him, stab him and leave him for dead on the road.
“Lucky I didn’t listen to her,” gasps the dying man. “They could have stolen my knife as well.”
- Sjocelym joke.
---
Tasja ...
2020-11-18 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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