azazele

Arc 9-15

“It’s too dangerous.”

Well, I can’t say I’m surprised. Alana has come a long way when it comes to her home, but the north still ensnares her sensibilities in a way I can’t understand. Not even my all-consuming hatred of the Grimoires can compare to the obsession of the James family with their war, sustained by their traditions.

I spoke with her father. He claimed that his ancestors made a vow beyond words never to surrender the north. That a James would always choose V...

Arc 9-14

My lovers welcome Little Water to our dining table, from Talia’s calculated hospitality to Kierra’s lazy wave.

But their eyes ask questions as they meet my own when the lizard girl isn’t looking. Kierra raises a brow when our gest chugs down her first glass of wine. Alana directs a frown in my direction when Little Water ducks her head to focus on what I’d wager is her first homecooked meal in a while. I’ve heard that some people can hold entire conversations with their eyes. ...

Arc 9-13

“Wait. Take me to the beginning. Why were you watching the Grand Summoners in the first place?”

Little Water pauses in her explanation, the end of her tail standing up and remaining still. I don’t know if her blue skin can show a blush, especially in a way I’d recognize, but there is hesitation about her that suggests embarrassment for getting ahead of herself. The way she launched into her explanation, words running after one another without any discernible reason or pattern wo...

Arc 9-12

With each day, fewer problems plague the city and on a smaller scale. Better, the people put in place to take care of them become more competent, surer of themselves and the power they wield. I have no illusions about who I am. About what I’ve done. The people of New Quest will never love me. It’d be a stretch to hope they’d respect me. Saints know I have mixed feelings for my citizens, some deserved, some not so much. It’s enough if they obey me. If I take a quiet joy on that day I l...

Arc 9-11

“Thank you for seeing us, Lady Tome.”

“You didn’t give me much choice,” I say, trying to keep the aggravation from my voice. I think I have every right to be annoyed at being disturbed first thing in the morning; aside from my unexpected visitors pulling me from a warm bed and warmer bodies, they’ve screwed my schedule for the day. But, expressing to them how little I appreciate their presence isn’t helpful. I’ll say my piece after whatever this is has been handled. Afte...

Arc 9-10

“Ow.”

“It wouldn’t get in your eye if you sat still,” I chide as I work the soap through Alana’s hair. She huffs, but doesn’t argue, leaning back against my legs. My eyes flick over her, mapping the faint outline of bruises across her lightly tanned skin. Stubborn. After three bouts, she insisted on fighting me alone. Then Kierra. She was getting ready to challenge Bell again when I put an end to her martial madness; the poor woman practically collapsed on the spot. I know...

Arc 9-09

“This isn’t where I thought you were going with this.”

I reluctantly stand on the scorched and churned earth Alana has been using as a practice ground. Standing across from me is my lovely savage, Kierra’s narrowed eyes, the fading light bringing out the gold in them, softened by her playful smile. Alana stands beside her, stretching, refreshed after her short break. She drops her arms and unsheathes her blade, examining the edge before leveling it at me, the business end aimed ...

Arc 9-08

Here I am, returning home with the setting sun in the sky, ready to fall into the arms of a loved one after a long day’s work. A life I used to look down. A life I longed for. Now? A life I’m desperately trying to escape. It’s incredible how much can change in few years.

There was a time I used to look at homes like the Teppin estate, or the Tome estate now I suppose, and burn with envy, thinking that big homes and big money were the answers to life’s problems. I could care less...

Arc 9-07

I can’t say I don’t understand my naysayers’ exaggerations when they claimed that the Golden Family owned a whole district. Standing in front of the skeleton of the beast that will one day be the New Quest’s branch of the Guiness Company, it’s easy to imagine it goes on forever. The towering building can fit two of my schools inside with room to spare, without mentioning the three attached buildings, two warehouses and a showroom. The face of the company takes up half the street. 2026-01-22 04:55:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Arc 9-06

During my first inspection of the school, I spent the entire day telling Rigorson what he was doing wrong. Not exactly wrong; Rigorson is a competent man or he wouldn’t have the job. I mean things I wanted to change, either because someone in the clan had a better way or I simply didn’t like it.

Now? One problem. Big improvement, though the issue is a new level of annoying.

Like I told my headmaster, I don’t expect the people of Quest to understand the value of education. Un...

Arc 9-05

Ask the common Harvest peasant and they’ll have all kinds of opinions about what separates nobles from commoners. I’d bet the number one answer would be money. After that, magic. Maybe a few more traditional minds would say blood.

Truthfully? It’s knowledge. Why? Magic is more about what you know than what you are born with.  Magic is power. Power is what separates the haves from the have-nots.

I guess that’s why schooling isn’t widespread. The way Geneva explained ...

Arc 9-04

In a perfect world, Talia and I would be curled up in a soft bed while a cool breeze washes over us. I don’t live in a perfect world, though some days it feels damn close. Today, there’s more work to be done. My flower is left at home lest she wilt from the constant work. That leaves my succubus to accompany me as we ride into the city to handle the next item on the agenda.

The ride does work to improve my strained temper. In my admittedly biased opinion, the city looks much better ...

Arc 9-03

There is nothing quite like the mix of mind-numbing boredom and burning frustration that comes with listening to other people’s problems all day. A month ago, these people were living in squalor under the threat of death. I would think they’d be happy to have a roof over their heads but, amazingly, my citizens find something new to complain about every day. It’s almost as if they don’t realize that I’m trying to build a city from the ground up.

Talia’s support is saint sent....

Arc 9-02

My goal for New Quest is a city that governs itself.

One day, the best men and women of the city, filtered through trials and vigorous testing, will guide the people of my territory to a better future, fueled by the hunger of ambition and the hope of building a better life. That day is years down the line. In the present, the city is filled with undereducated, biased, angry people I can’t trust to make decisions I approve of. We’re in the process of discovering talent and putting th...

Arc 9-01

“Is it too much?”

I don’t turn, my attention firmly held by my reflection. It’s been seven weeks since an agent of the crown delivered a royal writ declaring me the new governing noble of Quest and its surrounding territories. Nearly a month since I began my efforts to rebuild the city I shattered.

With my clan’s overwhelming competence supporting a multitude of talented people with the singular goal of rebuilding their home, New Quest has seen a lot of progress. So much...

Arc 9-00 (Orphelia)

“It’s really coming along,” Orphelia Yemen remarked, her tongue still tingling from the fruity liquor she’d spent the past hour consuming, a drizzle remaining in her glass and half the bottle sitting at her feet. She was seated at the edge of the Grand Market, close enough to the platform lift that she could hear the stones grinding against each other with every scheduled landing. The patch of grass at the edge of the market was riddled with shallow holes from a multitude of chair leg...

Arc 8-132 (Little Water)

Little Water tired of the human kingdom, particularly the Myriad Zone.
For someone who had grown up surrounded by the same drab sights day after day, the constantly changing environment was a strain on her mind as well as her senses. Unfortunately, the strange neighborhood was also the best place for the estrazi to hide. At night, when the residents were good and intoxicated, no one took notice of the strangers with extremely long cloaks and wide hoods.

Hiding wo...

Arc 8-131

“Saints save me, you’re huge.”

“Shuba.”

What feels like a lifetime ago, after I learned of the king’s vendetta against summoners, fearing for the future of my family’s traditional art and our lives, I summoned the shuba shuba, an incorporeal elemental that feeds on the negative emotions of others. My plan was the time-honored tactic of the carrot and the stick; I would show the kingdom the true horror of summoning before swooping in to save them, cas...

Arc 8-130

“There he is.”

“I have only seen livestock so round. Do the humans in Rosentheim practice, hm… how do I say… eating each other? Has he been fattened for a feast?”

“Play nice,” I hiss to the sarcastic elf at my side. “We need something from him.”

Though I have to agree with Kierra. Wendell Grainger is a large man, in every proportion. It’s beyond the point that even clothes can hide, the man resembling a walking ball. However, despite his slow and labori...

Arc 8-129

“You look good.”

Stampede That Shakes the Mountain, or Shake to those who don’t want to refer to the woman with an entire sentence, brushes her large hands down the forest-green jacket pulled tight over her broad shoulders. Combined with the brown pants and her dark coloring, she can easily disappear into a copse of trees. Impractical city clothing in most cases, but New Quest will be far from an ordinary city. Besides, it’s important my new guard likes their uniforms. I want th...

Arc 8-128

It doesn’t take long for the not-foreman to get comfortable ordering me about. He’s a practical man, too practical to let ceremony and a healthy dose of fear get in the way of getting things done. There are a dozen of us equipped with shovels. Alana and I easily outpace the other ten—so much so that the foreman has the others retire their shovels.

By the time the sun reaches its zenith, three of the foundations are complete. I expect to be done with the menial work, but there’s ...

Arc 8-127

It’s a beautiful day to build a city.
Though even my clan’s awe-inspiring abilities can’t rebuild New Quest in a day. It will take time, but our help can drastically reduce the timeline. More importantly, it’ll be good for the people. There’s no fixing my reputation, at least not anytime soon. My concern is giving the people a sense of safety. It’s one thing to say they have nothing to fear from me. The written laws telling them exactly what to expect will put the learned at ea...

Arc 8-126

For the first time in a while—since the day I blew up at him—Orum joins me for a morning walk. The city is a much less depressing sight these days, with most of the rubble cleaned up, only a few lonely pillars standing not so tall amid scoured earth. We walk between their shadows, saying nothing. I can’t say I enjoy the moment, but I don’t hate it. The two of us are very different, but in these moments, we feel similar. I feel…something close to peace. Whatever else can be said abou...

Arc 8-125

“Leena!”

The worried mother reaches for the arm of her suddenly outspoken daughter only to have her hand shrugged off. The meek girl holds her ground as she stares at her parent.

“Be reasonable, mother! Do you really think we can disappear in some no-name village for the rest of our lives? What will we do with ourselves? Are you going to run a farm? Mend dresses? Teach children their letters?”

The madame’s wrinkled nose fills her daughter with the enthusiasm of som...

Arc 8-124

Magic is a strange dichotomy of will and reason.

At its heart, magic is bending the world to one’s will. A spell comes into being because a caster tells the world to create, modify, or destroy. Summoning is pure intention, a plea cast into whatever exists between realms and the being that presides over that space.

However, that will has to be expressed through reason. Ideas are broken down into coefficients and variable, bridging the gap between fleshy bodies and unfathomable fo...

Arc 8-123 (Robert)

“You look…terrible.”

Robert wanted to return the sentiment, but the petulant lie wouldn’t benefit him. Far from it. If anything, it would put his life in danger, as the woman looked for opportunities to inflict suffering. He knew it, but he couldn’t bring himself to truly care. Lou tried his patience in ways he’d never experienced before.

“Isn’t this post supposed to be voluntary? Let me know if someone’s pressuring you. Can’t have the future hero dropping dead...

Arc 8-122 (Robert)

Thunder roared without an accompanying storm, the sudden explosion of sound garnering the attention of those too distracted to look up. The knight standing in front of the stage hit the butt of his spear on the ground, making sure all recognized its presence and the meaning behind it, before raising his voice.

“Attention! You are being addressed by the second prince, Prince Sebastian kor Harvest. Long live the king! Long live Harvest!”

Robert, a commoner who suddenly found him...

Arc 8-121 (Robert)

The sky reflected the people working hard beneath it, growing brighter as it shrugged off the gloom of winter and embraced a fresh spring. Like the green shoots pushing through the earth, the people of Quest were full of energy and determination. With each day, more found ways to contribute to the city’s renewal and with each milestone they reached, they became more focused. Only the saints knew if they could return to the carefree days of the past, but their efforts infused the people with...

Arc 8-120 (Grayskin)

If Grayskin was a scholarly man, the following discussion would have been quite satisfying; Arthur was exhaustive in his explanations. He glossed over the laws themselves, as they weren’t so different from what pervaded most of the kingdom, choosing to focus on the official positions, their powers, and what it would take to be selected. What he lacked in personality, he made up for threefold with diligence, displaying an impressive understanding despite having limited access to the charter ...

Arc 8-119 (Grayskin)

There was a time that each of the guilds stood for something.
The Torchbearers, before they were elitist arsonists, were a pious group. Their name wasn’t a nod to the fire affinity of their members, but their desire to follow in the footsteps of humanity’s guiding lights, the saints themselves. They used to travel all over the kingdom, putting down dangerous manabeasts first and considering payment second.

The Shadow Wolves didn’t used to be juvenile thugs harassing honest shop...