Tag: Story
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The Towers of Death
by Zephyr Dorsey in Issue 140, September 2023 His beard flowed down his chest, stiff and tangled, like a stream of wire hangers. His clothes hung from him in tattered strips. Lightning flashed in his eyes. A wild look. He kept to the vicinity of the Community House, speaking only gibberish and gesticulating excitedly. When…
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Acosar
by Jonathan Olfert in Issue 140, September 2023 Parok’s Well: a caravanserai, an enclosed camp along the salt trail from the corpse of Old Jegest to ravenous new kingdoms. For a caravaneer, Parok’s Well is a waypoint like any other in the Five Deserts: a milestone to dream about, and then to forget. Forget, too,…
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Fleas in the Wind
by P. J. Atwater in Issue 139, August 2023 The tavern at ancient Sicyon was a wooden structure. It was of a marvelous design conceived by an unnamed genius and made real by a team of unsurpassed carpenters. It resembled what might be called a large gazebo or patio, walled by vine trellises that broke…
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The Greentown Operation
by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 139, August 2023 “How dare you?” the courtier sputtered as Hyar grabbed him and pressed a blade to his throat. He was dressed in gold thread and sported enough precious stones to decorate a good-sized tent. “Be silent, or die,” I replied. The storeroom, deep beneath the glorious spires and…
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Eliza Sky and the Gallows Tree
by Neil Willcox in Issue 139, August 2023 On top of the hill sat the great gallows, blackened wood, the platform twelve feet from the ground, the upper beams reaching almost as high again. Stark against the sky, they could be seen for miles around, from the merchant’s road that curved down the valley, from…