azaleaellis

Chapter 1.10 - In which Healer Clements has strange customers

Roger

Month 9, Day 28, Tuesday 6:00 a.m.

Roger Clements woke to the sound of someone pounding insistently on his door before the sun had even fully risen. He would have ignored the clamor, except for the same reason that he didn’t wear noise-muffling ear plugs to sleep. Sometimes, people came to him at odd hours with emergencies where some unfortunate life hung on the line.

If Roger declined to treat them—no matter how justified his need for proper rest was—Healer Nids...

Chapter 171 - Infernal Covenants

Siobhan

Month 4, Day 9, Friday

From her knees, Siobhan fell back into a seated position, crossing her legs and ignoring the pain from her ankle. ‘At least I realized in time how stupid I was being. I didn’t actually do it. But obviously I need to reassess my decisions. Is this abnormally impaired judgement, or am I just that foolish?’

Will-strain started with headaches, dizziness, and difficulty concentrating. More severely, it caused impaired judgment, diffic...

Chapter 1.9 - In which Percy is scolded excessively

Percy

Month 9, Day 27, Monday 1:55 a.m.

Disturbed, Percy set the talisman atop his bundle of filthy clothing. “Did that hag put some sort of glamour over the talisman to make me think it was actually worth it?” A compulsion magic would explain why he had dropped his suspicions and actually tried to purchase it.

But that still wouldn’t explain the tattoo. As he looked closer at the ink lines, he noticed some things that shouldn’t have been. The insect’s abdomen was ...

Chapter 170 - The Heart of the Sun

Siobhan

Month 4, Day 9, Friday

Siobhan may have blacked out for a moment—maybe more than once—as the world spun with strange incoherent imagery and flashes of light and darkness, a song from the void reaching out to her with velvet tendrils.

Rough hands on her arms and around her waist, making her abdomen moan out in pain. The Pendragon’s guards terrified eyes matched with gritted teeth as they met her gaze for a moment. A fist in her hair, yanking her neck to the side...

Slight Delay

Hey guys,

You may remember I mentioned that I was going to be away from home and my writing computer for a few days. (But that I would schedule the chapter).

Well I had planned to schedule the chapter on Wednesday, but I crashed and burned that day with what might have been a 24-hour illness or might have just been extreme fatigue mixed with good old-fashioned muscle soreness.

So anyway, I knew I still needed to post the chapter, but I hadn't done my right-before-posting pro...

Chapter 1.8 - In which Percy is a bad influence

Percy

Month 9, Day 27, Monday 1:35 a.m.

Percy scratched at the edge of the tattoo, but no artificial edge peeled up. He licked one of his fingers, then regretted it because of the bitter, dirty taste, but still used the wet digit to rub at the black lines on his skin.

Percy stared at it in astonishment, turning his skin to better catch the light. It didn’t hurt or have any texture.

“Oh, Radiant Maiden,” his mom muttered, her eyes fluttering toward the ceiling as ...

Chapter 169 - A Cloak of Shadows

Siobhan

Month 4, Day 9, Friday

Siobhan squinted against the light, ignoring the screams of the guards outside the room while she took stock of her situation as quickly as possible. She had no idea how much time had passed, but she wasn’t starving or severely dehydrated. She did badly need to urinate, so it must have been at least a few hours.

The faintest twinge of cold needles in her back seemed to be fighting against a divination attempt, but judging by how weak it was, ...

Recruitment Drive Blooper Scene

[Set in a non-canonical alternate dimension as the first human tests of the sleep-proxy spell approach in Chapter 154 – “Experimenting in Humans.” This “blooper” scene did not actually happen, unlike most of the other bonus content.]

Sebastien recruits human test subjects for the sleep-proxy spell. They are suspicious of her intentions.

This and other audio bonus content can be streamed or downloaded here: 2023-07-04 18:59:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 1.7 - In which Percy has a tattoo

Percy

Month 9, Day 27, Monday 1:00 a.m.

The pain of a horrible headache dragged Percy to wakefulness. He blinked at the darkness, the a brick wall resolving into legibility as the blurriness receded from his eyes, visible only due to the dim yellow light coming from somewhere to his left.

Groaning, Percy rolled over onto his side, then took a break to manage the spike of pain that sent both his vision and his stomach spinning. He would have continued lying there longer, but ...

Children's Rhyme - Harry Harold Had no Hands Audiobook

[Accompanying Book 4's "Harry Harold Had no Hands"/ Chapter 147]

This rhyme details the life and untimely demise of Harry Harold, who had no hands but cast through his jeweled shoes. In cadence, it is often accompanied by clapping and footwork, or in more ominous tones, recited to children around the fire and as they are tucked into bed.

This and other audio bonus content can be streamed or downloaded here: 2023-07-02 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 168 - Raven Clouds

Thaddeus

Month 4, Day 9, Friday 9:00 a.m.

Everyone in the room except for Thaddeus was nervous, though some hid it better than others. He had taken one of the best seats in the back corner of Harrow Hill’s third floor meeting room, positioned next to a window.

An entire row of distagrams sat against one of the walls, manned by a couple of nervous-looking young coppers. Everyone who wasn’t on duty at the Edictum Council or out patrolling the streets was here. Only those s...

Chapter 1.6 - In which Percy activates the talisman

Percy

Month 9, Day 27, Sunday 4:30 p.m.

Hours later, Percy finally left the copper station, having given his statement and apologized to Copper Shelleck, who merely grunted, giving him a suspicious and wounded look—until Copper Alma elbowed the man sharply in the side.

Percy looked up at the grey autumn sky and then, with weary paranoia, checked for any obvious danger or opportunities to hurt himself. He was comprehensively miserable.

The coppers had been kind enough...

Chapter 167 - Eigengrau

Siobhan

Month 4, Day 9, Friday

In an ironic boon, with Siobhan’s panic at the thought of death had come something else—a very faint burn, a muted rush. Adrenaline. Relief tumbled through her so violently she probably would have felt dizzy with it if not for this strange sensory deprivation effect.

It was enough for her to conclude that she wasn’t dead, and her body was still there. She was simply cut off from the sensation of it. Most likely, the “everybody clear” ...

Chapter 1.5 - In which Lieutenant Robards sympathizes

Calder

Month 9, Day 27, Sunday 4:30 p.m.

Standing beside Copper Alma at the window, Calder took a sip of plain black tea as he watched young Mr. Irving walk through the station’s gates, wearing his now-dry clothing but still hunching against the bite of the cold. The boy looked both ways, twice, before stepping past the gates and hurrying down the sidewalk. Calder recognized the paranoia, often seen in those who had experienced an event traumatic enough to make them realize the ...

Recruitment Drive [pre Chapter 154]

Sebastien

Set in a non-canonical alternate dimension as the first human tests of the sleep-proxy spell approach in Chapter 154 - "Experimenting in Humans." This "blooper" scene did not actually happen, unlike most of the other bonus content.

As she looked through the carriage window, wincing a little at every bump and rattle as the wheels passed over the cobblestones of the str...

Chapter 166 - Poisoned Pawn

Siobhan

Month 4, Day 9, Friday 9:45 a.m.

Judging by the lack of nearby screams, curses, or sounds of movement, Millennium and the others were completely unconscious. In the stable behind them, horses were whinnying and the workers were alarmed, but the vague sounds of a deep voice she couldn’t quite make out comforted them. One of their attackers, most likely.

Siobhan couldn't feel anything from the waist down. She chose to believe that was from the effects of the stunning...

Chapter 1.4 - In which Percy goes "down to the station"

Percy

Month 9, Day 27, Sunday 1:15 p.m.

The shame of accidentally incapacitating the copper in such an embarrassing way brought Percy back to his senses, and with some flailing—on Percy’s part from incompetence, and on the copper’s part from debilitating pain—they managed to make it to the surface. With help from one of the small boats traversing the canal and people on the sidewalk above, they were hauled to safety.

Percy’s glasses had been lost in the water, whic...

Chapter 165 - Carried on the Wind

Siobhan

Month 4, Day 9, Friday 9:40 a.m.

Siobhan suppressed her fear and all the instincts to flee or fight that it encouraged. If there was ever a time to use all the lessons she had ever learned from Ennis and act as if her life depended on it, that time was now. She let out a loud, breathy laugh and pressed a fluttering hand to her chest. “Oh, my! I apologize, sir! You startled me,” she said airily, smoothing out her voice to something more overtly feminine. “I g...

Chapter 164 - A Foreboding of Woe

Siobhan

Month 4, Day 9, Friday 9:00 a.m.

It was the morning of the sentencing, and not all was well with Operation Palimpsest.

Siobhan waited in the private room at the back of the Kaiseki Ryori with a raven in a covered cage, inside a box meant to keep people from noticing any suspicious bird cages and drawing connections. She opened the window’s shutter just a smidge to look onto the street below. Siobhan was disguised as the sweetest possible version of Silvia, and had ...

Chapter 1.3 - In which Percy bathes in the canal

Percy

Month 9, Day 27, Sunday 1:05 p.m.

“She probably didn’t have a license to set up a street stall here,” Percy muttered, gazing after her and the pursuing coppers.

Contrasting her appearance, which suggested an old woman, the hag was surprisingly spry. She ducked and weaved through the congested traffic near blocked off canal bridge with such alacrity that he doubted the coppers would be able to catch her.

Percy looked down at the talisman in his hands, regret...

Chapter 163 - Refinement of the Nine Heavens

Sebastien

Month 4, Day 7, Wednesday 7:00 p.m.

When Sebastien grew frustrated at her continued failure with both the journal and light-refinement, she turned her attention to one of the other esoteric spells she’d memorized. Turning the tip of her finger into a burning coal wasn’t something she could practice, but learning to leave an invisible tracking mark on something was possible.

This spell had attracted her because the items she placed her mark on couldn’t be used...

Chapter 1.2 - In which Percy is conned

Percy

Month 9, Day 27, Sunday 1:00 p.m.

Three weeks earlier, Percy’s life was still normal. Or, as normal as it could get for someone with luck as bad as his.

It was the end of his shift at the bakery, he had been sent on an important delivery of some delicate pastries, and Percy was lost. “I’m going to be late!” he muttered to himself, turning in a circle before re-reading the scrap of paper that held the address he was supposed to deliver to.

His family had o...

Chapter 162 - Split-Will Training

Sebastien

Month 4, Day 1, Thursday 10:55 a.m.

‘Perhaps splitting your Will isn’t actually so hard, just like casting through a Conduit held somewhere beside your hands or your forehead isn’t so hard. Maybe, the only real barrier is getting stuck in a mental rut, just like Professor Lacer talks about. Maybe, if everyone wasn’t so convinced it was impossible, it would be easier,’ Sebastien reasoned. She had a relatively high opinion of herself, she knew, but she d...

Chapter 1.1 - In which Percy attempts to re-gift an award

Percy

Month 10, Day 19, Monday 11:00 a.m.

“Taking the law into your own hands is never the answer, Mr. Irving,” Lieutenant Robards repeated, sitting down across from Percy at the interrogation table.

Percy nodded rapidly, then pushed his glasses up as they threatened to slide off of his face. “I completely agree, sir. I can only plead temporary insanity brought on by panic. It won’t happen again.” It had been a huge mistake to chase after the thief. He still believ...

Chapter 161 - Myrddin's Reflection

Sebastien

Month 4, Day 1, Thursday 9:05 a.m.

Sebastien’s introspection and memory search had taken only a few seconds, which she hoped didn’t seem too strange. She forced an awkward smile. “Well, that’s a little embarrassing. I realize now that I’ve never actually seen someone cast more than one spell where at least one of them couldn’t have been an effect caused by an artifact. I guess it’s one of those remnants left over from childhood that I never thought...

Engagement Challenge: 100 Clever Ways to Die

(See 5/25 update at the bottom.)

You guys may find it interesting that some of the ideas featured in 100 Clever Ways Thaumaturges have Committed Suicide: How to Avoid Offing Yourself Through Sheer, Reckless Stupidity came from reader comments and questions. (Either directly, or which I thought of after being inspired by the comment.)

Clever readers have come up with a lot of ide...

Elwood Fekten Character Card

Fekten uses his glare to great effect. 

Chapter 160 - Decryption Clues

Sebastien

Month 4, Day 1, Thursday 5:30 a.m.

Sebastien woke early on Thursday morning, for once due to nothing more than her own irrepressible excitement. It had been three days since Professor Lacer took the esoteric spell for translation.

Unfortunately, it was so early that the sun had not yet risen, and Professor Lacer would not be in his office until after breakfast hours at the earliest. So Sebastien worked on her new application to the philtre of darkness. That project...

Percival Irving Character Card (+ Announcement)

We have a surprise portrait of Percy as the intro to officially announcing that I have made progress on the PGTS-Universe book, The Catastrophe Collector. 

You may remember Percy from Book 3: A Sacrifice of Light, where he appeared in the "Excessive Force" chapter, after which Oliver hired him (and his camera obscura) to help with The People's Voice new...

Ennis Naught Character Card (Before Imprisonment)

Ennis is accustomed to using his good looks and charm to scheme his way into and out of trouble, constantly self-destructing and then being forced to flee. 

Siobhan takes after her mother.