Chapter 22 - Fresh Choices
Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.
Phil McGraw.
Classes had finally begun, and Seraphina found herself locked into a new life of seemingly endless tedium. Her schedule was still crammed with additional lessons from Lord Beron de Laney, though the atmosphere between tutor and pupil had grown strangely taut. She recognized that look in his eyes—the same yearning, equal pa...
2025-03-19 13:38:01 +0000 UTC
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Serpent helm with thicker armor plate.
2025-03-19 12:39:35 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 21 - A Clash of Gold & Silver
The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
- Unknown.
“Tell me,” Seraphina said softly, lifting the girl’s dirt-streaked chin so that she could stare into those dull brown eyes, “not that I need your recognition or approval, but who is more of a saint, I wonder? The one who merely speaks kind words… or the one who performs miracles?...
2025-03-17 06:52:08 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 20 - The Kiss of the Flames
The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.
- Richard M. Nixon.
That Meridian no longer burned was in no small part to the aid her mother had rendered to the authorities of the city. Knowing where the hungry flames would spread was a decisive factor, enabling those fighting the fires to concentrate their efforts effectively.
Her duty done, Anaselena had departed for Sarien’s Duchy, but no...
2025-03-16 00:16:34 +0000 UTC
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Sorry this took a while to get out, suffering from extreme allergies atm and I am not quite as productive!
In times long ago, there lived sturdy Ox and tireless Donkey. Both served the same master, each performing its duties with steadfast diligence. Ox would plow the fields at dawn, turning the earth for sowing, while Donkey carried harvested grain to the storage shed by midday.
One afternoon, the Donkey stumbled under a heavy load. Donkey’s ...
2025-03-13 06:20:32 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 34 - Realization
Observe the humble saplings that grow beneath tall, ancient trees, for therein lies the seed of greatness yet to unfold. If we learn to perceive with discerning eyes, we can glimpse the fullness of what shall be, even when it is merely in its nascent form.
- Unknown.
Over and over, I became an adamantine ball of flailing limbs, until I struck something—hard—and saw the certainty of a life extinguished in p...
2025-03-10 13:49:49 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 19 - The Fires of Determination
Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of the fire.
- William Butler Yeats.
Flames ravaged Meridian, turning the horizon into a glowing inferno beneath a pall of smoke that dominated the sky. Fire had taken root in the granaries and roared through the neighboring buildings, fueled by new wooden constructions that yielded to the blaze with terrible ease. In the face of this disaster...
2025-03-06 13:56:27 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 33 - Rocks and Hard Places
Though reliable accounts of elven spellcraft are rare, the common consensus holds that the elder race do not tap Mana from within themselves, as a disciplined Magister might, but rather from the ambient Mana of the natural world. At first glance, this would seem an immense advantage, given the abundance of Mana all around us. Yet in truth, an elven Spellsinger typically binds themselves to a single strand of Mana, rendering them vu...
2025-03-05 06:24:24 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 18 - Mother of the Nation
Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.
- Hubert H. Humphrey.
“And why,” asked the moderator, voice quivering slightly as she touched one of her earrings, “should the people of the Democratic Republic of South Korea place their trust in you, Ms. Myeong, particularly on critical issues like the economy?”
Mirae Myeong smiled with practiced poise, tilting he...
2025-03-04 12:37:25 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 17 - Humility
Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.
- Confucius.
“Start the time,” instructed the golden-eyed woman.
Her heart pounding in her chest, she decided to take the instructor at her word. With a stamp of her foot that shook the floor, Seraphina charged. In her mind, she pictured smashing the twin swords away in one strong sweep.
She swung the club in a wide arc, swiftly enough that there was a ru...
2025-03-04 05:02:47 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 32 - Clash
“Anger is not an enemy to be driven away; it is a wounded spirit within you, a child crying out for your gentle embrace. Do not battle this anger, for when you fight yourself, you divide your own strength. Instead, cradle your anger with the soft hand of mindfulness and let the clarity of understanding soothe its cries. In this way, your anger shall be reborn—refined into a razor’s edge of clarity and focus, sharper than any blade forged by ...
2025-03-02 09:22:26 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 16 - Boys & Girls
If you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman.
- Margaret Thatcher.
Seraphina barely managed to keep a polite smile plastered on her face as the crowd of girls closed in around her. Their voices rose and fell in a frenzy of curiosity, creating a disorienting buzz that thrummed against her skull. They were relentless—firing off questions like a machine gun on the battlefield. It ...
2025-03-01 11:13:48 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 15 - Plans for the Future
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
- Saint Basil.
Eloise perched on the edge of her now-plush bed, her glossy dark hair framing her pale, doll-like face. The soft glow of the evening light danced across the now-pastel-shaded wallpaper. Seraphina had gone to quite the trouble to make sure...
2025-02-27 13:15:21 +0000 UTC
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At the moment of your first breath, you wept as the world stood in joyful wonder. Strive each day to weave benevolence with thoughtful action, so that in the twilight of your final hour, those you leave behind mourn their loss as you find serene delight in your farewell. Let your words be the gentle ripple that spreads unity, and the echo of your deeds the steady vessel that carries kindness to all shores. When the last lamp dims, may your spirit rise in quiet fulfillment, while the tears...
2025-02-27 03:55:50 +0000 UTC
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The Kakupuna is a luminous plant native to the Everdark. It boasts a remarkable seed dispersal mechanism: the first creature to touch its petals triggers an “imprint,” prompting the flower to form a miniature replica of that creature as its seed. This facsimile then wanders off, searching for others of its kind. The precise workings of this process remain unknown, and the evolutionary reason behind it is equally mysterious.
- The Fanciful Travels by Beron de Laney 376 A...
2025-02-26 12:45:11 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 14 - School Lunch
At a certain point in their existential experience, the oppressed feel an irresistible attraction toward the oppressor and his way of life. Sharing this way of life becomes an overpowering aspiration.
- Paulo Freire.
Seraphina could practically feel the curious stares pressing down on her from the classroom windows overlooking the main courtyard. She lifted her chin, brushing back a lock of her golden-blonde hair i...
2025-02-25 10:09:33 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 13 - The Grand Library
Books must be read as deliberately and reservedly as they were written.
- Henry David Thoreau.
“Rashana,” the fair-haired girl greeted, her voice oozing with practiced poise.
“Seraphina,” came the olive-skinned girl’s cool but cordial reply.
The blonde girl noticed that unlike her and her fellow first-year students, Rashana’s sash around her robes at her waist was red to their blu...
2025-02-22 12:01:16 +0000 UTC
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In the hush of the mindful spirit, one discerns the seed of wrongdoing: it is that which sows discord within and among us, warping our compassion into malice. The vigilant soul does not banish darkness by force, but by the gentle illumination of self-reflection. Let each step in enlightenment be also a step in kindness, lest we become that which we resist.
The proud heart that shuns reflection draws breath from its own illusions, birthing corruption in every act. Therefore,...
2025-02-20 14:34:35 +0000 UTC
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A young scholar approached the master and said, “I have watched the great waves crash against the shore, and I believe I now understand the nature of the sea.”
The master shook his head and led his student to a quiet pond. Dropping a single pebble into the water, he asked, “Does this ripple reveal the depths below?”
The young man pondered and replied, “No, Master. It is but a surface disturbance.”
The master nodded. “Just as one r...
2025-02-19 13:45:01 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 12 - The First Day
Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
- Malcolm X.
There was nothing quite like a crisis that could be manipulated to one’s advantage—especially if that crisis had been carefully orchestrated. After the initial uproar died down and an investigation got underway, Seraphina and her mother, the Duchess Anaselena, marched straight to Principal Hegan...
2025-02-18 14:15:05 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 11 - A New Stage
There are nights when wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
- George Carlin
Seraphina savored the morning sunlight as it poured through the tall windows, gilding her in its warmth. She took a delicate bite of toast—slightly too thick and chewy for her taste, but still serviceable. A small, amused smile curled her lips as she wondered if she truly had been the one to introduce the concept of “toast”...
2025-02-17 13:50:25 +0000 UTC
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Getting a lot of book 1 artwork redone. Also working on designing Gilgamesh's 3 armor sets that he goes through.
2025-02-16 02:00:37 +0000 UTC
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In a tranquil marsh lived two frogs who often listened to the whispers of an ancient crane. Each day, one frog peered beyond the tall reeds and questioned the shape of the clouds, the flow of the water, and the flight of the herons overhead. The other frog basked in the mud, never pausing to wonder at the world outside his pond.
One evening, the ancient crane spoke to them: “Those who gaze at the horizon invite the dawn to reveal its secrets. Those who gaze only at...
2025-02-15 13:54:59 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 10 - The Wheat and the Chaff
"Yusuf, O man of truth! Explain to us (the dream of) seven fat cows being devoured by seven lean ones, and seven green ears of grain and others dry, so that I may return to the people and inform them."
- The Quran, Surah Yusuf 12:47
With only a week remaining before Seraphina began her “sentence” at the Academy of Meridian, she had little choice but to finalize her preparations and conclude ce...
2025-02-13 15:34:30 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 9 - The Entrance Exams
The Eastern Alliance vastly underestimated the depths to which a free people would resist an oppressor, and troops of the kingdom now known to be called the Republic of Arastia fought with great zeal and fervor. They knew what fate awaited every single man, woman, and child should they become a conquered people.
With the cost in blood ever-rising as the war raged on, the leader of the Alliance, the Elven High King even o...
2025-02-12 13:02:42 +0000 UTC
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The proverb is the horse that carries our words across the uncertain terrain of ignorance. In the spirit of enlightenment, it reminds us that a single guiding phrase can restore harmony where confusion reigns. It illuminates hidden truths and steers us toward the unspoken heart of wisdom. When the beacon of truth dims, we mount the proverb, letting its sure-footed steps bridge the gaps in our understanding. By harnessing this steed of insight, we rediscover that profound lessons often dwe...
2025-02-11 13:26:02 +0000 UTC
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A few initial sketches before revisions.
2025-02-10 10:54:31 +0000 UTC
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The people of the sea employ a remarkable lightweight material in their tools of war, known as Coralith. This unique substance harvested from the ocean’s depths. According to the scholars of the Mer, Coralith grows stronger and more resilient the deeper it is found, with the most durable specimens originating from the dee[est, blackest, lightless abyssal depths of the sea.
The material’s rarity is signified by its coloration—common varieties range from pale blue to de...
2025-02-10 10:46:57 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 8 - The Tutor
The Queen’s first egg was to be presented in ten turns of the seasons as a new bride. Such was the desperation of the alliance with the fate of the world on their shoulders. The Dragons in their great pride would never forget what the ‘lesser races’ had forced upon them, and their resentment would only grow with the passage of time.
After many years the great horde started their journey across the vast Untouched Seas, unmol...
2025-02-08 11:07:38 +0000 UTC
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Fortune bestows both the lofty peaks and the deepest valleys upon every man. Yet the truly wise, whose heart remains as calm as a still lake beneath the moon, endures these vicissitudes with serene equanimity. In this tranquil acceptance, misfortune is stripped of its power, and true happiness blossoms from within.
- The Human Question by Gideon de Salavia 378 AC.
The procedure had been completed. Doctor Zahrawi had performed the surgery with an artist...
2025-02-07 12:48:02 +0000 UTC
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