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The Whip’s Will (Fanfiction Version)

“…this life, witho-o-out you.”

Mirium drew the final note to a careful quaver, then bowed as the small tavern audience erupted into clapping. Face glowing, she stepped down from the Lion stage and sat down next to her children, Medi and Evelos.

“What did you think?” she whispered.

“It was beautiful,” said Evelos. “I think you’re getting your talent back.”

“Oh, you think you could do better?” Medi quipped, nudging Evelos in the ribs.

“Well, I do have a story I could tell,” said Evelos thoughtfully, as the crowd settled again, and Lana took to stage to call out for the next open stage participant. “It’s from when I was a child.”

“You were a child once??” Medi goggled.

“Erm, yes,” said Evelos. “It’s about when we first moved to Thalas’Talah, away from the Dawnmist manor.”

Medi leaned back. “Really? That sounds boooooor-ring!”

“I think you’ll find it’s not.”

Lana moved her pointer finger around in a circle over the audience, but the takers to come up on stage were few. Evelos then put up a hand.

“Forgive me if I don’t come up on stage, but I have a sleepy child on my lap,” he said, stroking the blonde hair of his little son, Alesric.

Lana waved him off. “It’s a casual night, anyway,” she said, sitting down on the stage’s edge to listen.

Evelos exchanged glances with Medi, who was goggling at him again. Then he swallowed hard, and the ren’dorei began.

Pages: 123

Objective Complete: The Great Revision

Only more than a year since I first announced this effort, the Great Revision is now officially complete!

What is the Great Revision?

The Great Revision effort started in response to me reading over Keelath and Mirium’s various adventures and finding it to be a snarly mess. There were several different versions of them reuniting since Keelath became undead, them breaking up, them coming back together, them breaking up again, and them reassuring each other over various other dramas in the family, most notably Tyrric’s. The Great Revision was also sorely needed after Tyrdan was retooled to be Tyrric, Lellith’s role was swapped out for Alelsa, and Lellith herself got yet another role in the Sunwalker story, which has not yet been revealed.

Most of the work involved editing down existing posts into writing less cringey, as well as reorganizing the ordering of scenes. Some posts switched their places between series and stand-alones as well.

What’s the plan from here?

Oh, I dunno. Filling in some gaps between series still needs to be done, but once that is complete, how about retooling all these adventures to Talmenor and publishing them as an official short story collection? It has certainly crossed my mind…

That’s a lot of writing! Is there a reading list somewhere?

Yes! Though the Sunwalker chronicle only remains half complete overall, below is the canonical ordering of what posts go where, as well as a few outlines for what happens in the gaps between series. Spoiler alerts! Continue reading “Objective Complete: The Great Revision”

A Darkmoon Reading

The final piece to be cut out of “Brothers Apart”, this scene really deserved to be a stand-alone all along. Keelath was given a tarot card reading at the Darkmoon Faire during a Summer Festival roleplay event, which left him chewing on whether he needed to use a lighter touch in his relationship with Mirium. His worries didn’t come out of nowhere: at the time, Mirium was suffering from a mental intrusion by Talthan, via a mind control spell that caused her to see Keelath as an enemy. Since this is nowhere else referenced, this piece didn’t really belong in “Brothers Apart”. I think I originally put it there as it showed how Keelath and Tyrric’s brotherhood was on the mend.
Author’s Note

The cottage was dark when Keelath made it home from the Faire. Mirium was sleeping–of course she was sleeping. It was past moonset, and at this time of month, that happened only hours before dawn.

Keelath dismounted, letting the ghost of his bonesteed drift away, back to wherever such undead creatures lurked until they were called again. He let himself pause to listen to the nightly sounds: crickets, a muffled stamp from the stables, water trickling some distance away from the brook, the cloud of humming from the frogs living near a pond Tyrric had left behind when he had dredged the grounds of Dawnmist from the swamp that had given them its name. Joining those sounds now was a crackling buzz from the new wards Lithliana was helping to lay around the manor, since Haljek had gone. The buzz would fade once the wards were fully up, she had said, but that would take another few days.

He edged up on the cottage. Mirium couldn’t stand his presence at the moment, shrinking away anytime she caught sight of him. He knew it was Talthan’s doing, not a reflection of her honest thoughts about him, but it still hurt. One never appreciated what they had before it was taken away… Continue reading “A Darkmoon Reading”

Dear Estormo

Though this scene was briefly found in the “Brother Apart” series, due to the revelation Tyrric comes upon, it was originally written to be a stand-alone piece. After the Great Revision, it is back to being a stand-alone, though I might eventually rewrite pieces of it to slot into “Tyrric’s Madness” as part of the chronicle of Tyrric’s recovery from Void corruption.
Until then, this scene describes the aftermath of a roleplay session, in which Keelath was rude to Estormo while he was sulking at a tavern event.
Author’s Note Continue reading “Dear Estormo”

Deleted Scene: Meditation Application

This was originally slotted in with “Brothers Apart”, to help provide contrast for how Tyrric treats his wife vs. how Keelath treats his. At one point of time, it was also meant to depict how Keelath learned how to beat his bloodlust problem, by realizing it’s all in his head, but I didn’t feel like it carried the right weight or came at the right time in this couple’s journey, so here the post now stands in the Deleted Scenes pile.
Author’s Note

She focused on her breath. Beside her, Keelath’s breaths rattled almost in time with hers. Though the death knight didn’t need to breathe, the priest guiding their meditation had recommended it, and so Keelath dutifully did his best. Continue reading “Deleted Scene: Meditation Application”

Deleted Scene: Mirium’s Exile

This was originally part of the “Brothers Apart” series. It always felt a bit ungainly to me, as it was describing the aftermath of a bit of roleplay that had gone on in-game. So, as part of the Great Revision, I’ve cut it out and instead put it here.
Author’s Note

When Tyrric announced his choice to exile Mirium for helping an agent of Sylvanas, the impact of Keelath’s anger almost swept his sanity away. He had a vague sensation of being able to lie down inside the wave, to let what violence that would happen, happen, and then there would be no one left to blame.

Then with an effort, he was back again. He was Keelath, ex-paladin, not Keelath, undead monster. He wouldn’t give in to the bloodlust. Not now. Continue reading “Deleted Scene: Mirium’s Exile”

Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 4

Living Story Excerpts

He returned to Kharanos with the trolls dead and the meat and shimmerweed in tow. The dwarves gave him a feast in thanks, and Seryth went to bed with a bellyache and a sore head. He dropped off quickly into sleep, reflecting that he could always tell his father that the harvest had taken longer than usual to sell, hence his being away for a few days instead of the couple he had promised… Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 4”

Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 3

Living Story Excerpts

N/A.

Setting Translations

Also N/A!

Writing Process

This was a continuation of the scene started in Part 2, so I just had to complete the thought.

One thing I will have to watch in the future is how I describe rukh-shami. These ones at first act like moving boulders, but then Sirith notes they feel smooth and malleable like mud. Earlier in Chapter 1 he noted they bled sand. So which is it? Are these different sub-races? Or does it have to do with how these ones were burned to death instead of stuck with swords? Does normal fire even work on them? My world-building has a lot of unanswered questions…

The Prose

It was nearing sundown when Sirith approached the hills where the rukh-shami were supposedly encamped. He expected to see smoke rising in the air from campfires, but it was dark and silent all around. He pulled his ram to a stop and hesitantly dismounted, leading the riding goat into a brake of shrubs that he hoped would conceal it from sight.

Though the ympe clung impatiently to his shoulder, Sirith chose to approach the camps quietly, in a roundabout route up the shoulder of the hill rather than straight-on. He had an eerie feeling as he climbed Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 3”

Counsels and Confessions

I’d like to say I took so long getting this done because re-formatting 5,000 words with pictures every paragraph can take a really long time, let alone drawing the pictures themselves. I’d also like to say this has been waiting as a finished draft, ready for me to press publish, for the year since I was given the text.
The reality is, I’m just lazy, and after getting the two portraits finished, I let this sit for over a year with nothing being done on it.
No longer, however!
This was taken from a roleplay scene in World of Warcraft, shortly after Thorin was detained by the < Stormwind Union > for starting a brawl with another character. Evelos shows that the healing he’s trained in is not just patching someone up physically, but also mentally.
Some word choice has been changed, as the original writing was done in present tense. I also had to remove some artifacts left over due to this being created by two people typing at each other in real time, rather than a single stream of story. Enjoy.
Editor’s Note

Thorin sat on the cold, damp floor of the Stormwind Stockades, back propped up against the wall. His head resting against the rough stone, he stared sullenly out between the bars of the cell. The cell block hallway echoed with the soft sounds of dripping water and the quiet early morning rustlings of the other inmates. Across the hall, the man from last night’s brawl slept sprawled on his cot, snoring softly.

Thorin watched him with a small degree of jealousy. How anyone could sleep in a place like this was beyond him. For fel’s sake, he couldn’t even escape the nightmares in his own bed at home. Here, it would be next to impossible. Continue reading “Counsels and Confessions”

Pages: 12345

Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 2

Living Story Excerpts

His fire magic kept him warm in the cold mountains, but it seemed to Seryth that it was just a little bit hotter, just a little bit wilder than it normally was when he summoned it…

Setting Translations

There’s nothing in this short excerpt to translate, except perhaps a reminder that Sirith isn’t in the mountains yet.

Writing Process

I read through some of the other chapters Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 2”