A Baker’s Pinch

Thomas had lived in Farlow all his life. As he looked out now into the wet morning, he felt little affection for the place. Perhaps I have stayed too long.  He turned to Merril the hawker, here to collect the rye and black breads for her daily rounds. ‘No tourte today,’ she said, gathering his …

Aodh and the Prophecy

‘Aodh Ciardha, what do you see?’ ‘I dream. Is it prophecy?’ ‘Aye. What do you see?’ ‘The time comes for the Three Who Stand. Cernunnos, another will join Orlaith and me. We shall triumph against the World’s Sorrows. Wyrd has laid the future bare. It draws nigh.’ ‘My Ovate, there are many futures, all governed …

Little Lords

Hyden Rosik was tired of learning. His closed his books and looked up at his tutor with what he hoped was his most pleading expression. Ressi put her hands on her hips and was about to scold the boy when the blare of trumpets signalled the arrival of Saul Yahne, the Lord of Tabacon. ‘Young …

The Blooding of Elias Reymes

‘Damnit Reymes! By all the gods, I should have you thrashed for this.’ The sergeant’s face was near purple as it pushed close to Elias’s. ‘You think yourself some exception? You think skill puts you beyond orders?’ Elias kept his mouth shut. Just keep it shut. Let the old man bawl. Yet he was finding …

Undenied

Orlaith Ciardha stood firm, though the ground beneath her shifted and squirmed as if alive. The words of Cernunnos still rang in her ears and emboldened her when all else had fallen away. You cannot fail, whatever the outcome, for it is Wyrd’s path for you. The song of the spirits no longer accompanied her. …

Profile: The Wild Clans

The original inhabitants of the northern continent have long been pushed to the fringes of what has become known as the Civilised World. First came the Dainan and the Tabols, and the Iatri and Venzi soon followed. Only the Klevlish purport to have bloodlines shared with those living at the world’s edges, and even they …

Profile: The Vampyr

The westernmost estates of Tabacon have always been dogged by rumours of evil, of malign entities just out of sight. The tales retold by those who have never visited are often of wickedness and pestilence beyond comprehension, of monsters linked to the sordid practices of the wild clans at civilisation’s limits. Yes, monsters they are …

Profile: The Vermafta Sect

‘We are the Instruments of Gods. Divine light cast against the damnation in the dark.’ The Vermafta Sect is a religious order overseen by the Inner Council from its headquarters in Drusolm, southern Hamaln. Its head, Prelate Christalfus Seppel, is as sharp as the five-pointed star they have taken to symbolise each of the true …