Category: Content Posts
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A Blackened Shield
by Jay Requard in Issue 155, December 2024 He knew something was amiss when they did not take him right to the feast hall, but to the sunlit halls of the east wing, where only the royal family lived. The chamberlain opened the door to a room off the main hallway. A serene warmth inside,…
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The Iron Bells of Xylinthia
by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 155, December 2024 Latia, hereditary Ruhtinatar of the island demesne of Xylinthia, was beloved by her people for her youthful beauty and her mild, just ways, yet her subjects would scarcely have known her this day. Perched imperiously as possible on her simple satin-cushioned throne in the small receiving…
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The Eighth God
by Matthew Ilseman in Issue 154, November 2024 1 It is said that the gods are Seven in number, but in Zeliaka it is whispered that the gods are Eight. – Salahan the Sage Obbo Karonga ran through the serpentine streets of Zeliaka. As he ran his turban fell off revealing his shaven black skull.…
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Cast No Shadow
by Cameron MacLeod in Issue 154, November 2024 Anton kept his breathing heavy and let his body attend to itself. His mind came unstuck from physical burdens. This allowed him to focus on his daughter, who lay some few feet away, his brother’s dagger protruding gaudily from her chest. By ritual he summoned grief, anger,…
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Spear and Talon
by Eric Williams in Issue 154, November 2024 It took Edeko all morning to crawl up the hill, each cautious movement weighed and considered and carefully planned before he inched forward in perfect silence. He’d spent an hour lifting a branch of elkweed out of the way, straining to keep the seeds from rattling in…
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Let This Be The Hour When We Draw Maps Together
by Jonathan Olfert in Issue 154, November 2024 It brings me great satisfaction to assert that swords-and-sorcery maps are in vogue. Examples abound, albeit with room to grow. Howard Andrew Jones’ Hanuvar books come with robust and detailed maps of the Dervan Empire and fallen Volanus. Scott Oden’s monumental The Doom of Odin opens with…