Paranormal adventure abounds when an ancient curse at long last lifts from the River Kingdom of Sevenarches. The heroes trek into the ancient forest realm in search of answers, but first they find violent druids, wicked fey hunters, and paranoid townsfolk. Behind it all is an enigmatic bogeyman who pulls the strings from a coterminous plane of spindly shadows. Can the characters unravel the schemes of Kaneepo the Slim? How does the fatal obnubilate curse relate to their missing memories? And what awaits them on the other side of the Seventh Arch? There's just one way to find out!
​

• 🕗 Time: Sundays, starting from June 11, 2023 at 4 PM CEST/UTC+2. Played weekly for 4 hours.
• 🧙‍♂️ Players: 5/6
• 💻 Platform: Discord.
• 💵 Costs: 20 EUUSD per person per session. I also offer a 4+1 payment package where if a player wishes to pay for a full month in advance, they receive a free session.
• 🎚 Starting Level: 1
• ⚔️ Optional Rules - To Be Determined (Usually Free Archetype)
• 🌟 Custom Content! - I create side-stories for player characters if whenever they wish to obtain something with the [Uncommon] or [Rare] tag.

​
Hello, I've been primarily running Pathfinder 2E games as a professional GM for 4 years now. I've completed most of the Adventure Path's and excel at running them as written (with maybe small adjustments for ease of play).

If you are interested, please message u/Peenicks, or Peenicks#4175 on Discord.

Paranormal adventure abounds when an ancient curse at long last lifts from the River Kingdom of Sevenarches. The heroes trek into the ancient forest realm in search of answers, but first they find violent druids, wicked fey hunters, and paranoid townsfolk. Behind it all is an enigmatic bogeyman who pulls the strings from a coterminous plane of spindly shadows. Can the characters unravel the schemes of Kaneepo the Slim? How does the fatal obnubilate curse relate to their missing memories? And what awaits them on the other side of the Seventh Arch? There's just one way to find out!
​

• 🕗 Time: Sundays, starting from June 11, 2023 at 4 PM CEST/UTC+2. Played weekly for 4 hours.
• 🧙‍♂️ Players: 5/6
• 💻 Platform: FoundryVTT with Discord.
• 💵 Costs: 20 EUUSD per person per session. I also offer a 4+1 payment package where if a player wishes to pay for a full month in advance, they receive a free session.
• 🎚 Starting Level: 1
• ⚔️ Optional Rules - To Be Determined (Usually Free Archetype)
• 🌟 Custom Content! - I create side-stories for player characters if whenever they wish to obtain something with the [Uncommon] or [Rare] tag.

​
Hello, I've been primarily running Pathfinder 2E games as a professional GM for 4 years now. I've completed most of the Adventure Path's and excel at running them as written (with maybe small adjustments for ease of play).

If you are interested, please message u/Peenicks, or Peenicks#4175 on Discord.

Paranormal adventure abounds when an ancient curse at long last lifts from the River Kingdom of Sevenarches. The heroes trek into the ancient forest realm in search of answers, but first they find violent druids, wicked fey hunters, and paranoid townsfolk. Behind it all is an enigmatic bogeyman who pulls the strings from a coterminous plane of spindly shadows. Can the characters unravel the schemes of Kaneepo the Slim? How does the fatal obnubilate curse relate to their missing memories? And what awaits them on the other side of the Seventh Arch? There's just one way to find out!
​

• 🕗 Time: Sundays, starting from June 11, 2023 at 4 PM CEST/UTC+2. Played weekly for 4 hours.
• 🧙‍♂️ Players: 5/6
• 💻 Platform: FoundryVTT with Discord.
• 💵 Costs: 20 EUUSD per person per session. I also offer a 4+1 payment package where if a player wishes to pay for a full month in advance, they receive a free session.
• 🎚 Starting Level: 1
• ⚔️ Optional Rules - To Be Determined (Usually Free Archetype)
• 🌟 Custom Content! - I create side-stories for player characters if whenever they wish to obtain something with the [Uncommon] or [Rare] tag.

​
Hello, I've been primarily running Pathfinder 2E games as a professional GM for 4 years now. I've completed most of the Adventure Path's and excel at running them as written (with maybe small adjustments for ease of play).

If you are interested, please message u/Peenicks, or Peenicks#4175 on Discord.

Paranormal adventure abounds when an ancient curse at long last lifts from the River Kingdom of Sevenarches. The heroes trek into the ancient forest realm in search of answers, but first they find violent druids, wicked fey hunters, and paranoid townsfolk. Behind it all is an enigmatic bogeyman who pulls the strings from a coterminous plane of spindly shadows. Can the characters unravel the schemes of Kaneepo the Slim? How does the fatal obnubilate curse relate to their missing memories? And what awaits them on the other side of the Seventh Arch? There's just one way to find out!
​

• 🕗 Time: Sundays, starting from June 11, 2023 at 4 PM CEST/UTC+2. Played weekly for 4 hours.
• 🧙‍♂️ Players: 5/6
• 💻 Platform: FoundryVTT with Discord.
• 💵 Costs: 20 EUUSD per person per session. I also offer a 4+1 payment package where if a player wishes to pay for a full month in advance, they receive a free session.
• 🎚 Starting Level: 1
• ⚔️ Optional Rules - To Be Determined (Usually Free Archetype)
• 🌟 Custom Content! - I create side-stories for player characters if whenever they wish to obtain something with the [Uncommon] or [Rare] tag.

​
Hello, I've been primarily running Pathfinder 2E games as a professional GM for 4 years now. I've completed most of the Adventure Path's and excel at running them as written (with maybe small adjustments for ease of play).

If you are interested, please message u/Peenicks, or Peenicks#4175 on Discord.

--- Table of Contents ---
--- Part 1/2 ---
When Shon woke again, it was to be told he'd slept, not only the rest of the day and night of the incident, but the entire day after as well. Despite the Cleric assuring Shon that this was normal, he still had Shon eat breakfast in the infirmary while the Squires attended their morning lessons. He'd slept through drills, breakfast, and prayer.
The Cleric kept the curtains drawn over the window, though Shon's head wasn't pounding anymore, and had added a second set of standing curtains around the girl's bed. Shon's eyes flicked in her direction with every alternate bite he managed to force down, but there was no movement beyond the white cloth.
Master Daunas came in shortly before tenth bell and armor practice to inform Shon that he was to take the day off to rest but could rejoin the others in training the following day. He was at least allowed to leave the infirmary, though he waited until he could hear sparring outside before he did. He didn't want to run into any of the Squires.
As he opened the door to leave something flew by the window, catching Shon's attention enough to make him stop and look over. But it was already long gone. Just a bird... Assuming he hadn't imagined it. He shook his head, still aching all over. His mind swam with worries and memories, made worse by the fact that the Cleric was trying to hide shivers now that Shon was fully rested. He'd probably just imagined it...
Back in his room Shon huddled over his journal. He could still smell the smoke in his hair and had decided it would be best to shower soon, but finally alone, his thoughts and memories could no longer be ignored.
So he drew. He tried to start safe. Nangran atop his borrowed horse; Ivelm mostly naked and shaking a club in his doorway; the Archmage's workroom lined in shelves filled with magical components. That one had taken a while. But as he released these images onto the page, others forced themselves forward. Smoke billowing over treetops; a burning tower; charred bodies; and a girl reaching out through the flames. A girl lying asleep in the bed next to his. The stillness of the picture made her look dead.
He dropped his pencil, letting it roll right off the desk. Crossing his arms over the book, he rested his head on his desk. The wood felt warm compared to his skin, comforting. What more could he have done? What could a Paladin have done? Or Master Veon-Zih? Shon saw again the bodies and shivered.
No one could save everyone. To think otherwise was pure arrogance. But knowing the facts and feeling them were two very different things. The tower wasn’t that far from Hamerfoss. Shouldn’t they have known something was going on? Shouldn’t they have been able to do something sooner? Years sooner? Long before the fire killed those people?
A loud tapping startled him awake. When had he fallen asleep? Shon searched his room in confusion, trying to piece together his dream and what had awoken him. He'd been in the Temple chapel, but as he'd walked down the middle aisle, the pews had started to decay, the stone walls crumbling. Small plants, then trees began to sprout from the ground, overgrowing the once-holy place now in ruin. Shon pressed the heels of his hands hard into his eyes, trying to remember what had come next... A man with white hair pulled back in a ponytail had been standing at the head altar... something with leathery wings on his shoulder...
The painful screech of something sharp on glass had Shon jumping up, his chair falling to clatter on the ground behind him. He looked to his window but saw only orange sky beyond. Was the sun already setting? He knelt on the mattress and looked out the window, unsure what he expected to see. He was on the third floor, but that was definitely where the sound had come from, and the window was the only glass in the room.
Nothing but open sky.
He opened the tiny window, the pane swinging up and letting in cold and refreshing air that helped clear his mind. Master Daunas's voice bellowed orders from the courtyard below, and Shon stuck his head out to look down and see his fellows working through their dagger forms. He'd slept through lunch and afternoon lessons. And he still needed a shower.
If he hurried, he would be able to shower before the others finished their lesson. Shon left the window open and even opened his door before he remembered to grab a fresh uniform. Obviously, he still wasn't thinking clearly.
The halls were blissfully empty, and Shon could almost pretend that even if he did pass someone, their breath wouldn't show in the air. It was a short-lived fantasy, however. He managed to make it all the way to the showers, but when he opened the door a voice called, "Squire! Why aren't you... Oh..." Shon performed a sharp about face to stand at attention before the Major General.
"At ease, Squire Shon," Selibra sighed, waving him down, "Did you get enough rest?"
"Yes, Sir," Shon answered but then caught movement out of the corner of his eye, again. He hadn't managed to turn his head far enough to see before the Major General started speaking. Shon snapped his head back to give the officer his undivided attention.
"You did well, Squire. Smith Nangran told us what happened at the tower." Sir Selibra managed a strained smile that faded quickly, "If you want to talk about what you saw there... any one of us will be more than willing to listen. You shouldn't have had to experience death so soon." an image of an arm pulling away from a charred corpse flashed in Shon's vision.
Shon swallowed down the accompanying nausea at the memory and managed a nod, adding a quiet "Thank you, Sir." for good measure.
Feeling the need to scrub even more than before, Shon was grateful when the Major General left, allowing him to enter the still-open room. The shower was only mildly comforting, however. What should have been scalding water felt merely lukewarm now, the mist billowing off his truly icy skin thick enough that he could barely see the spigots. Closing his eyes, he scrubbed and tried to imagine the images flowing off of him with the filth...
Something chirped, and Shon slammed the water off. Just the pipes creaking... How much longer would he have to rest before his mind stopped playing tricks on him? But as he moved for his towel, Shon stopped in shock, his new uniform had been scattered around the benches and floor.
He hadn't heard the door open, but had heard the pipes creaking? But who here would even do something like this? Shon started to search the showers, but as he did, he heard something else—voices in the hall. The Squires were done with their practice. He still didn't want to see them and dressed quickly, rushing from the shower and slamming the door behind him.
Something thumped into the door from the other side. Shon held his breath and turned slowly. It was his imagination. It had to be. He reached for the handle again and, standing behind the swing, opened the shower slowly.
"He's been gone three days... Do you think they sent him away?" Thom's voice sounded from around a corner, and Shon jumped in surprise, pulling the door open fully as if he could hide behind it.
"No way. he's the best Squire we have, so what if he's a Sorcerer." They were talking about him... Shon definitely didn't want to see them yet. He dashed down the opposite way, taking a long way around through the Paladin's barracks and back to his room. Or that's what he'd planned before he remembered the Squires hall would be full of people now taking their break and trying to get into the shower before everyone else. His feet faltered, and he turned away again, to one of the hardly used stairs that would take him down to the rest of the fortress.
Barred from his room, Shon made his way to the place he associated the most with comfort, the chapel. It wasn't empty, three Paladins knelt in prayer near the front, but it didn't matter anymore. He felt a wash of calm as he entered the incense-filled room, the sweet-smelling smoke finally banishing the stench of burning hair from his memory.
Shon took a spot near the back, kneeling to pray as he stared up at the statue of Hengist behind the altar. He was dressed in full plate mail, his arm raised in triumph, holding his mighty sword, Darkspliter.
Shon sighed and felt himself smile for what felt like the first time in a very long time. He could tell Hengist anything and everything, and none of it out loud... But then his smile faded. What would he say...?
I'm sorry. I feel like I've been lying to everyone, to you. I've known there was something different about me, something wrong with me. That's why no one likes to touch me, why everyone pulls away at the feel of my skin, like it's somehow dirty or painful. I should've realized... Should have known...
But I worked so hard... You know that, don't you? And I'm not ready to give up. I'll do whatever it takes, atone anyway I can if you just tell me how. The Major General said something about it being a sign. I want to believe he meant the unlikely convenience of Smith Nangran knowing an Archmage who could make an item so I won't have to get the tattoo. Thank you. I just hope I don't disappoint after getting a second chance...
The bell for dinner sounded. Feeling better, Shon considered going with the Paladins as they left the chapel. Until one of them shivered as they passed. "Winters right around the corner," another muttered.
"We'll need to install the heating orbs soon." the last answered before the door closed... He wasn't hungry anyway.
Please, Hengist. Don't let me hurt anyone else. Kefir was trying to help me, and I answered that kindness with pain. What if the healers hadn't gotten to him in time? Would I have smothered him in ice? Please, I'll give up everything if it means that will never happen again...
But he didn't want to give up anything. He wanted to fight, to reach his highest potential, and lead a life of meaning. He thought of Master Veon-Zih. The Monk had told him that he didn't need to be a Paladin to fight for justice, and he was living proof of that. But...
I don't want to be alone... At first, I thought I just wanted you, a god, as a guiding light in my life. But now I realize that being a Paladin gives me even more than that. It gives me brothers and friends, and I don't want to lose them either. But I especially don't want to hurt them.
Shon clenched his hands tighter, as tight as he could, digging his fingers into the spaces between his knuckles; as if external pain might dull internal strife...
They say I'm scary... And I know they aren't really joking. I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their nervous laughs when they try and make it a joke. But they only mean when they fight me... don't they? And I'll never try to hurt them. It's only sparring... they know that... don't they?
He squeezed his eyes tighter shut,
But what about now? Will they be even more afraid? Even when we aren't sparring? Can I blame them if they are?
He actually found himself waiting for an answer... Of course, none came. He wasn't a Paladin yet, and wouldn't be able to feel the god until he swore his Oath and took a piece of Hengist into himself. For now, Shon took in a deep breath, as deep as he could, then let it out slowly, relaxing his hands and face as he attempted to release his anxieties unto his god.
I won't give up. I'll fight this danger within me as hard as I will fight any threat without. I ask for your help with this. Please don't give up on me yet. I'll prove I'm worthy, I swear.
The bell ending dinner and starting study time sounded. Shon stayed in the chapel until a handful of Squires came in to pray themselves. They hesitated by the door, but Shon didn't look at them. He knew he couldn't hide forever. But he also wasn't sure what he should say to any of them. Or if he should say anything at all. Shon waited until they moved away from the door to finally stand. If he had to face any of them, he wanted it to be the ones he considered friends first.
Shon left the chapel and made his way to the library, fighting the urge to just go back to his room. Heads swiveled in his direction the moment he opened the library door. Shon flinched, sucking in a sharp breath and holding it, pulling his energy in as best he could.
He stepped in, and the Squires exchanged looks, but then the Paladin on library duty coughed, and they quickly went back to reading.
His typical spot was available as usual, so Shon made his way there. The others would want to talk after... and if not, he would just go back to his room. Distracted by his continued worries -and the silent effort to hold his energy in- Shon still heard when something behind him hissed along the stone.
He spun quickly, scanning the floor. This time he definitely wasn't imagining it...
"Squire Shon... Shouldn't you be resting?" He turned back to find the Squires trying to make it seem like they weren't staring at him, while the Paladin who called looked openly concerned.
Shon's cheeks flushed, now feeling cool rather than warm. Another change... He cleared his throat, "No, Sir..." and when the Paladin's worried expression didn't let up, Shon added, "I've been resting all day."
"Three days..." Zihler muttered.
Shon met his eyes and the Squire smiled, but Shon couldn't tell if the expression seemed strained or not. He nodded anyway, taking his seat alone at the table by the window.
Books on their current subject of study were already laid out, and he pulled one forward, opening it without checking the title. As he read, he could hear the others occasionally whisper and even caught snippets of what they were saying,
"I found another one. Do you think this will be enough?" Thom asked.
"We have the rest of the hour; we should find all we can," Rerves answered. It didn't sound like they were studying, but Shon had missed three days of lessons; maybe they were working on an assignment... He went back to his reading. He would get any missed work tomorrow.
When the bell rang that would finally begin their last hour of free time, Shon closed his book. It would be best to just go to bed early; everyone seemed to think he should be resting anyway; they could talk after he got the sealing item... But he hadn't stood yet when his six closest friends jumped up, books in hand, and crowded around him, preventing him from leaving. From running away.
"We're glad you're okay." Rehlien blurted out.
"The Major General told us what happened," Baradin added.
Shon looked from him to Kefir and took in a sharp breath, "I'm..." he started to apologize, but Kefir interrupted with a broad smile,
"I'm fine. I even got a day off for it. I didn't need it though, they healed me up right away."
Rerves placed his book down on Shon's table, "It was just really surprising, you know? But hey! Now we know why you're so cold all the time."
Shon looked down at the massive tome on the table, not wanting to meet their eyes. He didn't know what to make of what they were saying. There was no way it was okay. How could they be alright with a dangerous magic user that could kill them all on accident...
"We found these. We thought they might make you feel a little better," Thom whispered, stacking his book on top of Rerves' and opening it to a page he'd marked with a ripped piece of scrap paper. It wasn't a textbook, it was a record book. Shon furrowed his brows down at the page, reading 'Sir Patrich, served 4876-4929, died 4955. Paladin of Hengist, General. Air Sorcerer...'
Shon looked up to find them all smiling down at him. Zihler set his book down over Thom's, opened to another personal record, "This one was a fire Sorcerer, and they're supposed to be the most destructive."
Rehlien took Baradin and Kefir's books and stacked them with his own beside the open records. He ran his fingers over the slew of bookmarks sticking out of the closed pages, "All Sorcerers and Paladins." Rehlien said.
"Master Daunas said you would be back in a few days, but just in case we wanted to find these for you," Thom explained in a rush, "You know... in case the officers or Mages needed to be convinced..."
Baradin cleared his throat before he spoke, clasping his hands behind his back, "We haven't found any ice Sorcerers yet, but they're also the rarest, so that really shouldn't be surprising."
"Yeah, and there are plenty of fire who are crazy dangerous even when they're trained," Kefir added quickly.
Shon could feel a burning in his eyes and blinked furiously, looking away from his friends. He wouldn't cry.. he wouldn't. "Thank you..." he managed to croak out, finally giving in and rubbing his eyes. None of them commented on his show of emotion, or the frost clouding his window.
Rerves took the seat across from him with a smile, "So, what type of familiar do you think you'll get?"
Shon managed to stop blinking enough to arch an eyebrow. Hadn't Ivelm said something about a familiar too?
"I bet you it'll be something really lame." Zihler laughed, "To balance Shon's badassness."
"Squire!" the Paladin librarian barked, "Pushups! Now!"
Zihler groaned, mumbling as he stepped back to perform the punishment, "How do they always do that?"
"Divine hearing," Rehlien snickered as Zihler started the pushups, "Probably only works for curses, though."
"You can join him," the Paladin called without looking up from his book, and Rehlien groaned, dropping down next to Zihler.
"Seriously though," Rerves said, ignoring the boys huffing and puffing through their punishment, "Familiars are animals, they're supposed to be even closer to their Sorcerer than a Paladin and their mount! Like an extension of yourself. You can see through their eyes and talk to them with your mind. It's awesome!"
Thom actually blushed, confessing, "We read up on it a bit over the last two days..."
They knew more about what he was than he did. Shon actually smiled, starting, "I don't..." but chittering, like a particularly loud squirrel, interrupted him. The Squires all swiveled their heads to look around, Rehlien and Zihler jumping to their feet with the Paladin, who stood so quickly his chair fell over. The chittering turned to chirping, and then to a purr, as Shon finally found what was making the noise.
On top of the bookshelf closest to the door, sat a tiny dragon.
The size of a large barn cat, its scales were mostly brown but had streaks and blotches of red and orange, like the few deciduous trees that still held their leaves in autumn. Its leathery wings were folded against its back and its front claws grasped the edge of the bookshelf. Its long tail, complete with a scorpion-like stinger, flicked back and forth, its sinuous neck held high as it surveyed the library.
Some of the Squires let slip breaths of wonder, and the little dragon seemed to preen at the attention, holding its head a little higher and purring even louder. The Paladin, however, stepped around his desk and commanded, "Stay back, Squires," before he started chanting. The little dragon tilted its head at the Paladin, as curious as the rest of them. A moment later, the knight's spell washed over them to fill the room, sending a shiver down Shon's spine and making more than one of the other Squires shudder.
The little dragon let out another string of chittering and hissed down at the Paladin, whose eyes went wide as he announced in a breath, "It's real."
"How did it get in?" a senior Squire asked. Shon started to stand but then fell back again as images flooded into his mind. He watched a window opening from outside the fortress, and saw himself lean out. Then the image shifted, and he saw himself digging under his bed for a new uniform and towel as the him that was watching slipped out the door. It shifted again, and he saw himself in the shower, mist billowing off his shoulders before he dug through the piles of clothes left on the bench. It shifted again, and he darted into the library and behind the bookshelf, watching as he, Shon, walked in and sat down at the little table.
Shon blinked and shook his head furiously to try and clear it. All the pictures had flooded in so fast that no one even had time to answer the question or pose their own, "I let it in..." Shon whispered, then looked at the Paladin, explaining quickly, "I didn't mean to. I left my window open to air out my room and..."
"It's okay, Squire," the Paladin was actually smiling, and the little dragon whistled, "They're goodly creatures, though elusive. I've never seen a live one." the dragon leaned forward on the bookshelf, crouching down on its front claws and wiggling its hindquarters before it leaped into the air, opening its wings to spread as wide as it was long. It glided a lap around the library then hovered in front of the Paladin, chittering again and flapping hard enough to blow the man's short hair back before flying right towards the group of Squires around Shon.
It brushed Baradin's head with its claws, the boy ducking as it swooped down to land on Shon's table. The dragon looked from the open books to Shon, then, before Shon could pull back, climbed up his arm and to his shoulder, purring hard enough to vibrate Shon too. It weighed considerably less than it looked like it should, though its claws were sharp enough to pierce through his clothes as it climbed. It brought its face right up to Shon's eye, and though he tried to pull away, it followed him with its long neck, rubbing its cheek along his face. The scales were smooth and lacked temperature, like being touched by a gloved hand. It nuzzled his cheek again, then down his neck and into his shirt.
Surprised, Shon tried to throw the dragon off, but it just dug its claws into his sleeves, chittering angrily then clawing its way around to his back before lifting itself up to drape over his head. "What..." Shon started, but the Paladin cut him off with a laugh.
"I think that answers your friends' questions, Squire."
Shon was too confused to even arch an eyebrow at the man, but Rerves apparently understood what he'd meant because he said, "But I thought only animals could be familiars, like cats and crows and stuff..."
The Paladin nodded but then shrugged, "That's usually the case, but sometimes, rarely, there will be a Sorcerer who gets something a bit more special, like a winged serpent, fairy dragon, or in this case," he nodded at Shon, "A pseudodragon."
The pseudodragon purred, vibrating Shon's head. The Squires all gaped slack-jawed in awe at it, and Shon reached up slowly. He wasn't even sure what he was going to do, pet it? Push it off? But before he'd even touched it, it lifted its head, stretching its long neck out and nuzzling into his hand, obviously not caring that his skin was colder now than it had ever been.
"Damn..." Zihler muttered in obvious disappointment, "I was really hoping it would be a toad so I would have something to make fun of..."
The little dragon's answering twitter almost sounded like a laugh.
***
She groaned, rolling over and nuzzling deeper into Her pillow. Except it didn’t smell like Her pillow. Her eyes flew open, and She sat up. Then fell back down. That was stupid. Ran and Brom had probably taken more blood than usual again… except She couldn’t remember them taking Her for samples. Not for weeks and weeks…
“It’s alright, you’re safe here,” the kindly voice of a man spoke from Her right, and She sat up again, more slowly this time. A stranger in white robes with a sword embroidered on the chest reached out to help Her up, but after touching Her back he pulled sharply away.
She was too confused to apologize for burning him. “Where?” She asked, looking around the room. Like the stranger, it was covered in white. White blankets, white rug, and white curtains hanging to either side of an open window. A window that looked out onto a blue sky. She gasped, scrambling from the bed and nearly tripping over Her white gown. Of course it was white. How in all the hells did they keep it all clean?
She shook Her head and rushed for the window. The man behind Her gasped, his chair scraping loudly as he stood to follow. She pressed Her hands on the cold glass, staring up into the sky, “I’m on an upper floor!?” She grinned excitedly over Her shoulder as the stranger stared at Her, mouth hanging open.
Turning back to the window, She used Her arm to wipe the fog from Her heat off the glass, letting Her gaze trail down. She didn’t see the treetops She expected. Not close anyway. Instead, the forest was beyond a wide clear field, which in turn was beyond a tall stone wall with people dressed in silver walking along its top. She stood on Her toes to look down through the window. Between the wall and Her was a courtyard full of more people swinging things that glinted in the sun.
This wasn’t the tower. None of those people wore robes except the nice stranger. She spun to him, “My treasures, where are they? Brom? Ran? Where…” She saw a flash of red, heard a pained bark, and smelled iron. She fell to Her knees, grasping Her chest and breathing hard, remembering bits and pieces. He killed them. He killed all of them. Then what? She couldn’t remember...
“You are in a training facility of the Temple of Hengist, Hamerfoss, in Clearhelm.” a new voice, deeper, less kind though not cruel, spoke from the doorway. Lifting Her head, She saw the new man wearing a crisp, white, uniform, with a sword hanging comfortably from his belt. Hengist… so that explained all the white.
The kind man in robes had rushed to Her but dared not touch Her. Wise. With Her head spinning so fast, there was no way She was controlling Her heat properly. “How long has she been awake?” the new man asked the kind one.
“She just woke up, Major General,”
“He killed them…” She whispered, squeezing Her eyes shut, pushing back the rage and sorrow, trying to fill in Her memory. What happened next?
“It will be alright. You're safe here,” the kind man said again.
She pulled Her own hair, lacing Her fingers into the golden strands and squeezing. What had happened? She had run down the hall, but how had She gotten out of Her room? There were strangers in Her tower. These men? She glared up at the brown-haired man who looked down at Her, his hands behind his back.
“Who are you? What did you do to the Mages?” She could feel the hair rise on the back of Her neck and a familiar tingling where the collar should be.
The Major General remained calm before Her building fury, saying only, “Calm down.” It was a command backed by magic. She felt the power flow over Her and try to settle on Her mind. She could almost sense the peace it promised but shook Her head, clearing it of the spell.
He could've used his magic to hurt Her. Perhaps not with the collar as the Archmages did, but in other ways. And yet, he hadn’t moved from his spot, his hands still behind his back. She looked again at the sword of Hengist at his side. She'd read all about the gods. Hengist was good and noble, all about self-sacrifice and protecting the weak… A fool, the Mages had said. And yet his Temple ruled this province. The Mages of Her tower would never work with the Temple of Hengist. Or any kingdom order…
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She didn’t need his help to calm down, not when She had something to focus on. She shoved Her grief to the back of Her mind. “How did I get here?” another image flashed in Her mind, fire all around, a white path, blue eyes.
The Paladin didn’t answer right away; instead, he motioned for the robed man - a Cleric? - to bring him a chair. She tilted Her head curiously at him, but he only sat down with a weary sigh, then gestured towards the bed, “Please, have a seat.”
She stood, returning to the bed and eyeing the door over his shoulder. He hadn’t locked it. “We saw smoke from the woods and found you in a burning tower.” the blood drained from Her face, “We have recovered several bodies from around the structure, but there were no other survivors.” he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and fixing Her with a piercing stare, “What happened? What was going on in that tower?”
She brought Her feet onto the bed and hugged Her legs tight, “I don’t… I can’t remember…” a fire, the tower burning… But it was made of stone. Her fire couldn’t burn that hot… Could it?
“Sir Selibra,” the kindly Cleric sounded stern, crossing his arms and glaring down at the Paladin, “She has just woken up from what was obviously a terrible ordeal. Show some compassion.”
The Paladin, Selibra, actually looked ashamed, leaning back in his chair and clearing his throat, “I apologize, miss…” he drew out the last word, looking at Her expectantly. She tilted Her head. “What is your name?” he asked more clearly. She tilted Her head the other way. Were they going to play that game here too?
The Cleric hummed then said, “Please forgive him, miss, we are all very troubled by the events and deaths at the tower. The Major General merely got ahead of himself. If you could tell us your name, then we can let you rest and…”
“I don’t have a name.”
The two men blinked dumbly at Her, and She rolled Her eyes, “I knnnooowww,” She let Her legs fall back down, so She was sitting properly again, “But I don’t know it yet. As soon as I do, I'll tell you.” She assured them. The men exchanged looks as She glanced again out the window. Maybe She should've just told them what Brom and Ran called Her… But those weren’t names. They were descriptors. No better than ‘Firewyrm.’
If these Temple men were to be believed, everything was gone. She had no room, no books, no clothes, no treasures, and no name. What did She have? She pulled Her hair over Her shoulder and stared out the window as She stroked it. She had Her hair. They hadn’t cut it in months. She had Her body. She straightened Her posture, holding Her head high. And She had Her power—the fire crackling deep inside Her soul. The Mages had taken the first two. The third had destroyed them.
“You should rest,” Selibra stood, and Her eyes snapped back to him, “You can send for me when you feel ready to talk. Until then, focus on recovering your strength and your memories.”
He made it all the way to the door, even swung it open before She called out, “What are you going to do to me?”
Selibra turned back, his eyebrows raised in surprise. The Cleric placed a hand on Her shoulder, slowly and carefully, gauging how much of Her heat he could handle. She turned to him, and he let Her go. He'd held on longer than expected. “We will keep you safe, child.” the Cleric assured Her.
The Paladin grew stiff for a moment, then brought his right fist up to his chest, “By the sword of Hengist’s honor, we will safeguard your life and freedom,” Freedom? “Whatever injustices you endured there, you will find justice in the laws of Clearhelm.” She didn’t know what to say, and so, after an awkward moment of silence, Selibra turned for the door again and left.
She didn’t lay down. Instead, She walked back to the window. The view seemed to stretch on forever from so high up, higher than She'd ever remembered being before. Even when She used to climb the trees around Her tower.
Selibra hadn’t locked the door, but the Cleric bustled around behind Her, and the wall below Her clanked with armored knights. What was freedom anyway?
--- Table of Contents ---
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP

--- Table of Contents ---
Autumn 4986, 16 Aoimoth
Shon slid down the side of a tree to the ground and watched the tower burn. Ivelm did a circle of it, dousing the surrounding trees with his water wand, while Nangran inspected the few bodies he could reach without burning himself. At one point, he tried to pull a corpse further from the fire only to have its arms snap off at the shoulder, meat pulling away from the bone like a well-cooked turkey.
Somewhere in the back of Shon’s mind, he knew he should be sickened by the sights and smells. When they first stepped through the portal, he‘d had to hold back retching from the scent of smoking hair and cooking flesh. Now he could hardly muster the energy to keep breathing. He took long and slow, but shallow breaths. As if he were about to fall asleep despite the horror before him.
So much death. Shon had never seen a dead person before. Though he wasn’t sure if these still counted, so blackened they could almost be mistaken for macabre statues... if it wasn’t for the smell.
“What was going on here ‘Elm?” Nangran demanded of Ivelm as the mage rounded the other side of the tower and rejoined them.
Ivelm sheathed his water wand, pulling forth the diamond-studded wand again. He didn’t answer.
Nangran growled, grabbing Ivelm's arm as it rose to point the wand toward the forest. The Archmage shook him off and spun, his robes fluttering around him as he gestured angrily at the fire, “I don’t know, Flintchest. This tower was supposed to be empty, abandoned. I’m the only Mage with authorization to set up in this area.” he pointed his wand over Shon’s shoulder and spat something indistinct. A rush of cool air flowed from behind accompanied by shouting and armor clanking. Knights running.
Shon rolled limply to the side, planning to stand but finding his arms shaking as he tried to push himself up. Boots stomped around him as Paladins flooded from the magical gate into the clearing. Shon managed to lift his head, though even his neck seemed to be rebelling against his attempts at holding himself up. His vision swimming, he saw Major General Selibra and Master Daunas step through the portal, their mouths agape.
Shon’s arms gave out from under him, and he fell to the side, hearing as if from a great distance, “Squire! Shon… Shon… Nangran, what happened?” From the ground he could see the girl, now wrapped in Nangran’s cloak, leaning against the side of his tree. When had they brought her there? Why hadn’t he noticed?
“He’s fine.” Ivelm’s voice, Shon couldn’t see anymore, so he closed his eyes, “He’ll wake up in a few days. Hell of a Sorcerer that one…” No… no, no, no... he wasn’t a Sorcerer. He was a Squire. He would be a Paladin… For a brief moment, a flicker of an image played in Shon's mind. He saw himself lying on the muddy ground, Master Daunas knelt by his head, and Ivelm spit off to the side. Then, only the sweet relief of darkness as he passed out.
***
“Any other survivors?” Sir Selibra’s soft voice drifted through the darkness.
“Only the girl,” Daunas whispered from nearby.
“I doubt she’s human,” Ivelm spoke loudly, and Shon flinched, his head pounding as the mage didn’t bother to keep his voice low, “No fire-resist spell should have lasted in that heat. Even fire Sorcerers can't survive melting stone.”
“She looks human.” a fourth voice, the Hamerfoss Cleric. Shon couldn’t move. The light filtering through his eyelids sent stabs of pain into his head, making it hard for him to concentrate. He tried to lift a hand to cover his eyes, but the limb wouldn’t obey his call.
“And a table looks like it’s made of wood but does that mean it’s still a tree?” Ivelm snorted, and something wet splattered on stone.
“Archmage, please, this is an infirmary…” the Cleric said, shocked.
The mage didn’t apologize and continued to speak at full volume, “Whatever was going on out there it wasn’t sanctioned by the Guild, and that girl has most certainly been subject to experimentation. Those scales? That hair?” he spat again.
“Archmage, please…”
“Let’s take this outside, shall we?” Sir Selibra said, and three pairs of boots thumped away, a door swinging open. Sir Selibra’s voice retreated as they left the infirmary still in conversation, “We have sent for the Temple and Guild. They should be here shortly.” The boots left, and the door closed again.
Only one pair of feet remained, shuffling around the room before the rustling of curtains being pulled closed accompanied the sweet relief of darkness. Shon steeled himself and forced his eyes to open just a crack. More pain. He closed them again, his ears ringing. With a slow breath, he tried again, blinking in the weak light filtered through the cloth covering infirmary window.
A groan slipped from his lips, and the Cleric rushed to his bedside, “Don’t try to sit up, Squire. You’re drained, but unhurt,” which seemed a direct contradiction to Shon’s pounding head. The Cleric continued, “After a bit of sleep, you should be fine…” Shon let his head fall to the side, wanting to look away from the window, and saw a second bed, where a girl with golden hair slept.
“It happens to Paladins too, you know. You have to be careful not to expend too much of your own energy when casting magic…” the Cleric continued to talk, busying himself by checking Shon's vitals, “It’s inevitable, but with practice, you can mitigate some of the effects…” She was the only survivor, and she had been experimented on… “After you take your Oath, you'll receive training in divine magic…” even if she was okay physically, would she be alright mentally?... “For now, just rest. You did well. It’s thanks to you the girl got out alive…”
Shon closed his eyes. Thanks to him? Nangran had seen the smoke, Ivelm had taken them there. He… he hadn’t known what to do, had frozen at the sights and smells. He'd formed a path of ice, but the girl hadn’t been burning… Her feet had melted his ice... Shon let himself drift back to sleep. He wasn’t a hero. Not yet.
***
The tower was supposed to be empty. General Rasnah and the Mages Guild had combed through their records finding that the building had been abandoned over fifty years ago; when the old alchemist living there passed away. Archmage Ivelm reported that he'd surveyed the tower twenty years previous, before setting up his lab miles further south.
“Having a tower like that is practically begging for wanna-be-apprentices to come interrupt you. Looking for a teacher and free room.” he'd explained, with obvious disgust at the idea, even spitting on the floor of Sir Selibra’s office.
Sir Rasnah personally led the Temple Paladins and Guild Mages through a gate from Smilnda to Hamerfoss and from there to the ruins of the mysterious tower. Mages and Paladins crawled together over the still-smoking remains, now a mear hill. Trying to break apart the stones that had melted together and find anything that could explain what had happened here. Bodies covered in white cloth lay in lines along the edge of the forest, ten in total, though how many had been trapped in the tower was still unknown.
The Clerics of Lune would identify the bodies, though she wished they could do more than just give names. It would take months, possibly years, to scour the records to determine who these poor souls had been in life. And more years besides to track their movements through the meticulous paperwork kept by the kingdom.
She could practically hear Veon-Zih snickering at her, ‘Silly Ras, you gave up the battlefield of blood and stone for one of words and paper…’ she shook her head, banishing thoughts of the Monk. This work would be just as important. How else would those fighting the physical battles find their enemies without information and resources? And yet… She rested her hand on her sword with a sigh, “Some retirement…”
“Sir Rasnah,” a female Mage with dark hair and tan skin approached from the tower, “We found the basement…” she looked over her slumped shoulders back at the pile of melted rock.
“Not as promising a find as we'd hoped?” Rasnah asked, arching her steely eyebrow at the Mage. What had her name been? Vevi…
To her credit, the woman straightened her shoulders and answered clearly, “Oftentimes, we learn as much from a rejected hypothesis as a failed-to-be-rejected hypothesis.” As Rasnah tried to wrap her mind around what in the hells that meant, the Mage continued, “We had hoped that the basement level would be relatively unscathed as heat should rise to destroy the upper levels and possibly spare the lower…”
Those were words the Paladin understood at least, but they implied bad news, “And that wasn’t the case?”
The Mage sighed, “It was. The fire behaved as fire always does, barring external influence,”
“Mage Vevi, I admire your Guild's desire for specificity, but please, get to the point.”
Vevi blinked then shook herself, saying, “Evidence suggests that the fire started in the basement and that the heat there was far greater than we assumed.” Rasnah arched an eyebrow at the woman again and the Mage threw her hands into the air, “It looks more like a cavern carved by pure magma. Nothing but melted stones remain in the form of caves we can only guess were originally rooms.”
“Damn,” Rasnah gripped her sword and glared past the Mage toward the tower, “So we have no way of knowing what they were doing.” The girl still hadn’t woken up. What were the chances that she had any information of value? Archmage Ivelm was convinced that she'd been the subject of magical experimentation. Would those who had abused her also give her information?
“We have one way,” Vevi interrupted Rasnah’s worries, and the Paladin focused on her again. The Mage turned away, motioning to some of her fellows standing near the bodies. An old man with a bent back and shuffling gait split from the group and approached slowly. Rasnah had to resist the urge to walk to him just to speed up the process.
“Sir Rasnah, this is Archmage Meshed, our divination master.” Vevi introduced the old man while he was still a few steps away, “There is a chance we will be able to obtain some information from the tower remains. Though I’m afraid it might not be as clear and concise as you wish. Divination often creates more questions than answers.”
“I am well acquainted with the frustrations of interpreting symbols and signs…” Rasnah led, unsure of the value in this new idea. Arcane magic didn't get its power from a higher intelligence or any god, it utilized the natural magic and energies running through the world and every object in it, manipulating them with precise words and symbols directed by human will. It was all well over her head.
Meshed’s laugh turned into a dry cough. He cleared his throat, “I think you will find, Mage Vevi, Sir Paladin, that the information I will glean from this place to be far more clear and concise than you are accustomed to. It simply won’t be as complete as you wish.”
With a groan and many popping joints, he sat down on the ground, fishing through his robes and pulling out a small bag. From it, he withdrew a massive tome and a silk cloth that Vevi quickly helped spread on the ground before him. Next came a censor and many jars of herbs and incense, which, after checking his book, he carefully measured before pouring into the censor.
He waved a hand towards the tower without looking up from his work, “Stones, please, Vevi. Choose wisely, I don’t want to do this all day…” Despite being a senior Mage, well on her way to Archmage, Vevi rushed off towards the tower herself and eventually returned with two fist-sized stones.
“One from the upper floors and one from the basement, Meshed,” she explained, handing them to the Divination Master. Meshed pulled a set of brass scales from his small pouch, measuring the stones and muttering to himself as he adjusted the volume of herbs in the censor.
He placed the first stone with the herbs, and his eyes glazed over, “A light if you will.” Vevi performed some complicated motion with her hands, flicking her fingers forward at the end with a muttered word. A spark of flame appeared over the censor, lowering onto the herbs and setting them alight. Smoke billowed in a gray noxious cloud, and Rasnah covered her nose as Meshed began to chant.
He ran his hand through the smoke, which wrapped around his fingers, and continued skyward. “No divine magic was cast here…” he mumbled, moving his hand again. The smoke shifted above his fingers as they passed, creating images of people in robes leaning over books, “Arcane magic…” Obviously. Still, for some reason, his brow furrowed. He passed his hand through again, and the smoke turned nearly black. Before Rasnah could make out any shapes Meshed pulled his hand away and shook it violently before rubbing it on his robe, “Warlocks, Sir Paladin.”
“Damn.” Rasnah smothered more colorful curses and managed a half step closer, “What were they doing, Archmage?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he chanted a new spell, and his hand glowed with a soft red light. Reaching into the censor, he plucked out the stone and replaced it with the second. The smoke again turned gray and rose lazily into the air. Once again, he passed his hand through the flowing tendrils, and once again, they turned black. He shook his head, “Obviously… damnation… what to ask… what to ask…” He seemed to settle on something, muttering, “The fire, tell me about the fire…” he ran his fingers through the smoke. Flames leaped from the censor, the smoke turning red and billowing out before them.
Rasnah stepped back as great smoke wings spread wide, illuminated from below by flames. A horned head atop a sinuous neck stretched for the heavens and Meshed scrambled to his feet. Vevi kicked the censor over, spreading burning debris across the silk to smolder, releasing tiny lines of, blessedly, normal smoke.
“What was that? A wyvern?” Rasnah asked, her heart in her throat.
Meshed coughed his dry cough and shook his head. Vevi stared at the upturned censor with wide eyes. “Much worse, Sir Rasnah,” the Mage whispered, “A dragon.”
“It was dragon fire that destroyed this tower,” Meshed confirmed.
***
--- Part 2/2 ---
--- Table of Contents ---
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP

A/N: I just can't stop it seems. Please send help before I fry my brain coming up with these stories! But here's a short one for you all, enjoy!
----------------------
It had been many, many long decades since humanity had last been drawn into a war they would surely win. It had been hard fought though, their many victories snatched from the jaws of defeat on countless occasions, not just thanks to their own tenacity and expertise in warfare, but also thanks to their more supernatural allies, many of which were former humans. Werewolves, vampires, eldritch deities, ghosts bound to VHS tapes and of course the [REDACTED]. All had risen to fight the Empire, to defy the Ur’ad, and to secure humanity's future once again.
But this is not a tale of war, no no. This is a tale of some idiot criminals who decide it’s a good idea to mess with humanity yet again. A group of fools who have found an exceedingly human dwelling nestled deep within a lush, vibrant forest just as the suns began their descent. It was a quaint little house, only two stories tall but large enough for an average human family. There was a well maintained garden that wrapped around the front and side of the house, a small pond on the opposite side filled with aquatic lifeforms of less than sapient nature.
It was an idyllic place for a home, one that knew peace and joy. What was about to happen would be a very small bump on an otherwise smooth road. The criminals, low level gangsters with barely a braincell between them, were part of an equally idiotic gang that somehow, for all its poor choices, had managed to survive long enough to garner a reputation as being so incompetent they managed to be competent, as paradoxical as that may be. Having gotten lost in the forest while out on patrol, they had stumbled upon the home and decided that it was the perfect target for a good old time of breaking and entering. Maybe they could find something of value, after all anyone living this far from the city must surely be protecting something.
So, the five gangers sat on their haunches, their snouts sniffing the air and detecting something that didn’t seem quite right, but they had neither the foresight to figure it out, nor the willingness to do so in the first place.
Finally they decided it was time to put their vague outline of a plan in motion, it was dusk and that meant the humans would be growing more and more tired with every passing moment, thus it’d be the perfect time to strike as the denizens within could not even hope to resist as well as they normally would be able to. So the group began to creep forwards, falling onto all fours for better sneaking.
They were Un’el, scavengers. They most resembled hyenas with scales. They were not the most intelligent or innovative species, but they made good use of what intelligence they did have as early in their history their homeworld was used as a junkyard for anything the rest of the galaxy didn’t want or need anymore. At the time, nobody even knew they existed, so it was quite the surprise when all of a sudden there were ships filled with unknown aliens taking off from the planet.
So here they were, creeping up on a perfect little home in a perfect but large forest. When they reached the door they did what criminals are known to do. They broke in. However, instead of picking the lock or simply attempting to open the door in the event it was unlocked, they kicked the door in, plasma weapons raised and snarls in their throats.
They expected the screaming of women and children, of the fierce bellowing of a male. Instead, they were greeted by a short, slightly plump human woman in a quaint little sundress and with a shawl around her shoulders. She briefly looked surprised by the sudden entry appearance of aliens forcing their way into her home, but it was quickly replaced with a soft smile and holding up a tray of what appeared to be cookies in her oven mitt clad hands.
“Well, it’s about time. I was beginning to think you boys weren’t going to come say hello. Cookie?” She said, her tone jovial and unperturbed. The gangers stood there, utterly confused by this response to their sudden entrance. “Shame about the door, but I suppose it’ll give Victor something to do, he’s been getting bored lately and that-”
“Give us all your valuables!” One of the gangers barked, and the human woman blinked, the tray lowering slightly.
“Why?” She said, and the gangers paused. Surely she knew why, they had the guns and the numbers, and whoever this Victor was wouldn’t stand a chance against them either, so it was clear that they should just do whatever the gangers said.
“Because… because we have guns! We kill you if you don’t give us what we want!” Another said, and the human woman blinked, then her eyes widened slightly.
“Ahhh… I was hoping those were just toys.” She murmured, before clearing her throat. “But to answer your demand for our valuables, no.”
“No!? We kill! Give us valuables or you die! We burn house down!” They barked some more and the woman simply sighed, shaking her head as she set the tray aside.
“And I said no. We’re not going to-” She didn’t get to finish, as her body was soon riddled with plasma bolts. The scent of burnt flesh filled the room and she dropped like a bag of bricks, a somewhat pained and surprised look on her face. The gangers yipped with delight and began scooping up anything of value when they heard a new voice, one that was decidedly male.
“Oooh cookies! Bridget you shouldn’t hav-” The man paused in the entryway, having appeared from a set of stairs near the front door. The gangers all froze, staring at him as he finished slipping into a shirt and nodded. “Well, I suppose this is a robbery isn’t it? And I can see you’ve already met my wife.” He said, the gangers all raising their weapons to aim at him.
He looked strange, deathly pale and somehow both old and young at the same time. It was the eyes it seemed, they held an ancientness to them that was impossible for any normal human to possess, yet his exterior was vibrant and youthful, if a bit pale.
“Kill you! Like kill wife!” The ganger who’d first fired upon Bridget yipped and the man, Victor, nodded with a shrug.
“Sure I suppose. Just one question before I’m so ruthlessly murdered in cold blood.” He said, and the Un’el glanced at one another before the leader of the group waved his gun in assent. “You didn’t use silver to kill her did you? Those look like plasma weapons to me.”
This confused the gangers, who all frowned and then the leader spoke up again.
“Why use silver? Plasma best kill-kill!”
“Well you see, silver is the only thing that can kill her. Otherwise all you’re doing is slowing her down and well… She gets mighty angry sometimes, as you’re about to discover.” Victor smiled, clasping his hands behind his back and flashing a set of immaculate teeth, two of which were far longer than they should have been. From behind the Un’el came a soft rumbling which promptly turned into a deep and menacing growl. As one they slowly turned and were forced to tilt their heads back as the once small and plump form of a human woman rose into and became a hulking, athletic mass of muscle and fur, her fingers capped with wicked claws and her mouth elongating into a maw filled with long, sharp teeth. “I’m afraid to say, but you’ve picked the wrong house lads.”
The leader of the group turned back, only to find Victor had crossed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and that his mouth was open and descending for his neck. The tranquil stillness of the forest around the home was rudely shattered by the sound of gunfire and the roar of a werewolf, before it went quiet once more. The animals, which had been quiet in the face of imminent danger, resumed their chirping and squeaking, and all was well.
Not eight hours later, a human walked up the path to the house, the uniform and badge he wore declaring him as law enforcement. As he stepped up to the front door he noted it had been recently repaired, not that well but well enough to be functional at least. So carefully he knocked on it and the response was prompt, the door swinging open on squeaky hinges and presenting him with the ever youthful visage of Victor.
“Evening Victor.” He said, tipping his hat to the vampire, who smiled broadly and nodded back.
“Why good evening to you too, Officer Thomson. What seems to be the problem?” Victor asked, leaning against the doorframe a bit.
“No problem, just the same old same old. Say, we seem to have lost track of a group of ne’er do wells wandering around this area. You wouldn’t have happened to seen or heard anything would you?” Thomson asked, and Victor turned slightly, looking over his shoulder at his wife who was currently knelt on the floor, a brush in one hand and a toothpick in the other. When she saw the police officer she smiled and waved, all while scrubbing at the very large streaks of purple blood on the floor.
“Can’t say I have officer, though should we, you’ll be the first to know.” Victor said, smiling warmly and Thomson nodded, tipping his hat to Bridget as well before taking a step back.
“Thank you kindly, your cooperation is highly appreciated folks.” Thomson said, not at all disturbed by the grisly scene inside the house. He started back down the path, giving them a wave as he did. “Stay safe, ya hear?”
“Will do officer! Have a lovely evening!” Bridget called out, and the door closed as Victor went to help his wife clean up.
And so, once again there was peace and tranquility in the world. And the house in the forest would remain undisturbed for many years to come.

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in this video I'm going to do a review of AI songs this is a product by udha pramanik that's available on Warrior plus I'm going to take you guys inside the members area we're going to do a demo and walkthrough of AI songs then we're gonna go over the sales funnel and lastly we give you my personal opinion about AI song So if you're ready let's Dive Right In before we get started I've got a quick question for you guys what is the definition of insanity well the answer is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result well here you are buying another Warrior plus product expecting a different result
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today alright guys so what is AI songs all about well according to the sales page say goodbye to 1980s AI tools witness the new sunrise and artificial intelligence Universe rolls first artificial intelligence powered Texas song creator that enables you to transform your text or lyrics into captivating musical compositions without any technical skills or marketing acumen all right guys so we are going to go inside AI songs we're going to do a demo of this product this software and I'm going to reveal to you the one missing thing that you need that will prevent you from making any money at all so let's go inside and I'll show
you around all right guys we're now inside the members area of my AI songs account as usual I've purchased a front-end version of this product review for you guys so you can make the best purchasing decision for yourselves now that being said should you decide to purchase this product even after you've watched this review please make sure you watch this video this is the only training video that they have and if you have any questions at all open up a support desk ticket and hopefully hopefully they'll get you squared away alright so what is this all about well it's about creating songs using
AI so we're gonna walk through some of the features here this is not a tutorial guys okay this is not a tutorial if you buy the product then you got to watch this one video right here and then you need to figure everything else out on your own and if you need any help again hopefully they'll be able to help you out when you open up a support desk ticket so let's do this first first of all AI generated songs this is where you can create a an AI generated song right so we're going to create a new one here and you can see right here you first of all step one you gotta select a beat so you can go down here you can select any type of beat that you want you can listen to them if you want just press this button right here [Music] so I like it it says Nike so we'll stick with
Ai Songs OTOs Linka
that so that's step number one so we're gonna save and continue then step number two is you need to generate the AI lyrics or you can use your own custom lyrics now in order to create your own custom lyrics you guys if you're familiar with chat GPT you just give it a command create lyrics for this type of song and it'll write write some lyrics for you really really cool but we're gonna test this out so generate AI lyrics and what you need to do is you need to give a detailed description of what you want your song to be about so let me come up with something real quick we'll just say warrior plus products waste we'll go waste time and money so we'll use that as our detailed description guys and then we're gonna generate the lyrics and this is where the AI is going to
generate a song for us all right so let's generate the lyrics and we'll let the AI do the work and if I got a pause the video and come back I'll pause the video and come back all right that was real quick and it says here are four bars Warrior plus products they're like a twisted game wasting time and money is just a crying shame these digital leeches they'll suck you dry and it's it's not even done yet it's missing something but let's go ahead and go and save and continue okay and so we click on that and then from here this is where you have to select a voice so you have to go through here and the one thing is they don't allow you to um sample the voices so you're gonna have to kind of just pick and see you know what works for you so I'm just going to go through here we'll take a look here um there's Chucky so we are gonna go with Chucky here oh they're Scrappy do so talk about 80s right they're talking about 80s on the sales page there's a lot of 80s voices here so Chucky so let's go select voice
and then from here we're going to generate the song and we'll let the AI songs app create a nice little ditty for us here and again if I got a pause the video we'll pause it and it'll come back okay so here's a song and it's going to be downloaded to um your computer so I'm going to download the song and then from here I'm going to um play this song here so I'm going to open it and that way you guys can listen to this song if you are the four bars four across products they're like a twisted game wasting time and money it's just a crying shame these digital leeches they'll suck you dry [Music] so it keeps playing keeps playing the music here I'll just quit that so it keeps playing the music you can see right here it ends up in in your area called my songs Okay so I look at this
Ai Songs OTO AIUpsell
Ai Songs OTOs - All 5 Upsell Links Here:
https://timebusinessnews.com/ai-songs-oto-1-to-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-ai-songs-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-5-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell
and I see all these songs in here and I didn't generate any of these songs so the investigative side of me is asking well are am I sharing this app the API with other people I'm not sure I'm not sure I'm just hypothesizing that you're sharing this this API connection with everyone else who buys these this product all right that's neither here nor there but this is something that I just noticed okay so that was a song here's another one that I did I want to pop this up here and let's bring up this song right here this was another one that I did and we're gonna open it with uh QuickTime and we'll play this one right here this is another one I did for warrior plus I'm spitting bars no time to waste worry problems products a total disgrace money down the drain like a broken bass these
deals leave your wallet in a darkened space [Music] word so that's how you make the music that's how you make the songs okay that's that's the AI generated songs version of this product then let's take a look at the AI song video maker and this is where you can make videos all right so first of all you start off with a detailed description so let's do my favorite which is dogs playing poker on the beach sipping cocktails Alright and then the ratio you go Square portrait or landscape let's just go with square select the video effect so they've got no effect bubbles butterfly flame One Flame two they got all these different ones let's use Stars and then you select the resolution let's go with 720 by 720 and then you select the audio moves there's different types of mood
Ai Songs OTO Bonuses
here and we'll go with happy and then select audio so from right here you can select different types of songs I don't particularly care for any of them because these all seem like Christmas songs all this hair is one right here it says ticklish let's choose that one and then now we're going to generate the video oh you can see it's playing for us let's generate the video so that way you guys don't have to be subjected to that torture so we'll let it generate the video and again if I gotta pause it I'll pause it um and then come back so we'll just let this run for a second or two all right so we're back that took a couple of minutes to generate and here is the video result right here we can download the video so we'll download that to our folder and then we're going to play this so you can see what it looks like [Music] foreign [Music] the dogs looked a little strange but that's how AI does these photos okay and it's not perfect but this is what it comes out looking like all right and then the last feature here we have this AI music generator so this is where you can type in a keyword or
you can use a voice command and it's going to generate some songs for you so we'll just put in let's put in dog since we just had that so we're going to use that as a keyword generate see what kind of music it comes with comes up with here so it comes up with everything that shows the word dog or has something to do with dogs all right so there's different types of sound files here and that's that that's the AI music generator did it generate these my my opinion is it probably pulled from a database of files so not necessarily generating the music but locating it for you okay so now that you've seen all of these features here what are you supposed to do with the songs that you create well they have something here called the AI music Marketplace so let me click on this visit my site and
Ai Songs OTO Product Overview
Ai Songs OTOs - All 5 Upsell Links Here:
https://timebusinessnews.com/ai-songs-oto-1-to-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-ai-songs-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-5-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell
this is where you're able to put all your songs in here and you're able to charge for some of those songs and you heard some of those songs I don't know if I'd be charging 22.43 for a song that I created but you know your business your choice and you can create songs and add them to your website all right and if you come back here you can see all the settings you can change the logo and fave icon extensions language there's even an SEO manager there's an email manager here okay and so when we talk about email marketing if you're a beginner where are your emails you don't have a list right so you don't have any lists okay but maybe something later on that you can you can utilize when you do have a list and even with SMS messages guys who are you going to send text messages to okay they've got a gdpr cookie I'm glad they're thinking about that kind of stuff and you can manage things like advertisers coupons categories even payment gateways so you can accept payments so
that's all fine and good that's all fine and good but but here's the question how are you gonna get people over to this site think about it how are you going to get people over to this site you need traffic okay that's the main thing that's missing that's the main thing that's missing and most if not all of the warrior plus products I review I always talk about is traffic you need people you need qualified people people are looking for AI generated songs you need those people to come to your website in order to buy those songs so how are you going to do it how are you going to do that they don't talk about that right so that's going to be the challenge and that's a challenge with most if not all of the warrior plus products our reviews is generating traffic this is what everybody needs even myself I need traffic too so what do I do I create YouTube videos I create YouTube videos that attract people like you you guys out there in YouTube Land watching my video you guys are my ideal target audience peo
Ai Songs OTO Review
ple looking for shiny object products people who think that they can buy one product for 17 bucks and get rich overnight you guys are my audience because my goal is to build up my list to build up my following with honest no BS reviews to get you guys to see the the truth about making money online is that that is you have to work for it okay so in order to generate traffic you got to produce value you got to give value to people are you going to do that producing content that people like people that are looking for this kind of music you need to put that kind of content out if you're going to do it the freeway now if you want to use paid traffic then well you're going to have to spend money you're gonna have to learn how to run ads you're gonna have to go through that whole process of learning this is how online entrepreneurs operate all right I know everybody tries to make it seem like it's so easy and fast and they sell you a 17 product with you know you're going to find out with Nine upsells and Nine down sales right but guys the truth of the matter is is that you don't need all these fancy Tools in order to build a business
okay and that's the reason why I'm going to urge you guys to click on the link below check out the fast track affiliate bootcamp all right it's going to set you guys straight put you on the path or it's building a real online business traffic guys traffic how are you gonna get traffic that's the main issue here okay you can create all these songs and some of them were kind of clunky and the videos were kind of weird but you know that's my opinion my video my opinion guys but you know can you see yourself selling those songs that's the thing right and how are you going to get people over to your site so they buy the songs okay so traffic is always going to be the main issue that you guys face and unless you guys are willing to roll up your sleeves and put in the work you're not going to make any money all right this looks cool looks like you've got a website and all that kind of stuff you can customize it to your heart's content but who's going to visit it right so guys traffic that is the main issue with this product and now let you guys know how AI songs Works let's go ahead and talk about the sales funnel all right guys the front end offe
Ai Songs OTO Reviews
Ai Songs OTOs - All 5 Upsell Links Here:
https://timebusinessnews.com/ai-songs-oto-1-to-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-ai-songs-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-5-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell
r AI songs retails for 16.75 when you exit intent off the sales page they're gonna offer up a three dollar off coupon code which will drop the price down to 13.75 there are 10.
I repeat 10 upsells and 10 down sales I'm not going to go through all of them you can pause the video check them out for yourself as usual guys pricing and otos are subject to change so let me give you my final thoughts on AI songs all right guys so what's my final opinion about AI songs well let me play this song for you so you can understand how I feel spitting bars no time to waste Warrior problems products a total disgrace money down the drain like a broken base these deals leave your wallet in a darkened space [Music] yeah these deals will leave your wallet in a darkened space I couldn't have said it better myself so based off of what I've shown you guys you probably already know what I'm going to say I would stay away from AI songs guys please please please I am begging you learn how to generate highly targeted traffic by producing
Ai Songs OTOs - All 5 Upsell Links Here:
https://timebusinessnews.com/ai-songs-oto-1-to-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-ai-songs-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-5-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-songs-oto-1-10-otos-links-here-hot-bonuses-upsell
valuable content for your audience if you want to have a long-term business you gotta do it the more you search for these push button apps the longer it's gonna take for you to start earning affiliate commissions so stop wasting time and money guys so I hope you guys found this video to be helpful if you did please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing to my YouTube channel I would greatly appreciate it this is Ken Furukawa from ken4u kyle.
com and I'll see you in my next video

https://imgur.com/a/LA7vzN2
26M 180cm 70kg East Asian Born in Taiwan and have been in US for over almost 9 years I'm currently in US Est time and I might go back to Taiwan in the near future. My life timeline is a bit chaotic, so I'm still in college but plan to graduate in 2024. I can share more info if we hit!
I'm ISTP/ISFP, so I'm definitely somewhat shy and introverted but I try to talk more and initiate more in conversations I approach problems more logically but also try to be empathetic about their views, but sometimes I can forget being that since it's hard for me to be empathic when I never experience it. I'm honest and usually direct unless it's something I'm not willing to share yet. I'm usually open-minded but there are a lot of things I might not hear because how broad or how free we are at the moment and I might be new to your stuff, but I'm willing to listen and hear your views out if you are willing to take me in. I'm an overthinker, so be prepared I overwhelm myself a lot of times or be insecure at times.
I play games, watch animes, cooking, and I enjoy people do cosplaying. Games I have been playing nowadays are League of Legend, CSGO, Cookie run kingdoms, Genshin Impact, etc. I try to play different games but mainly they are RPG or stratedgy games. I'm open to other games if you have any game you currently play! I probably like Isekai anime the most, Log Horizon is probably my favorite anime but sad we probably will never see the ending. I have been trying to decorate myself more and get into fashion and even skin care. Currently leave my hair long to perm my hair :)
Dating stuff:
Love Language(Receiving): Physical touch = Quality time >= Word of affirmation > Acts of Service > Gifts
I definitely value sex a little bit more so I would come out and say I'm a switch and I would like to explore more in sexual stuff. I'm a jealous and insecure type and I think my attachment style are currently fearful-avoidant and anxious. I don't want to hide the potential red flag, so you are aware of it. I care about physical attraction a decent amount, so please send me a picture if you do message me.
I don't really mind different interests but it might be nice if we have one thing in common, so we can share about stuff, but I love to learn about your interests and see how things go
YOU:
Physical: Anywhere Around or at least 160cm and slim/fit/average body (Sorry not a fan of chubby girl) South East Asian/East Asian/Caucasian/Latino
Preferably someone who has only one or two exes and who doesn't have a lot of sexual history.
Age 19-30
Personality wise : Honesty, Transparent, caring, willing to take leads, know what she wants or doesn't want, Good communication! Enjoy deep conversations and positive. Reply often! I expect at least once a week but prefer much more. Open to relocate to another country or it might be LDR for the time being.
Thank you for reading it so far and I haven't had much luck on dating apps in the past few years and if you do message me, send me a picture and your height and weights and what are your interests currently.

Anyone else noticed this? I started seeing it in Genesis and it’s everywhere. Is this a translation error? Or is it just a word they liked using a lot?
“Gather together—yes, gather together, you shameless nation.” ‭‭Zephaniah‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him—after all, he is my older brother—yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!”” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.”” ‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭32‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“and I will cause many people to live on you—yes, all of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.” ‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭36‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬
“If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.” ‭‭Malachi‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬
““Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬
Is it like the scribes making a surprised face like ‘no way that happened!!!’ and then the author is like “yes! yes it did!”
And then there’s “Look,”
““Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.”” ‭‭Ruth‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.”” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬
“Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.”” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
And I guess the look one makes more sense. But they say it a lot! Is it one of their crutch words?

Apache
I have a PHP (PHP 5.3.2) application running on Apache (2.2.14) on Linux server. More then once in its history user started to see in their browsers the following message: "Request entity too large". First google search suggested that it happens when an uploaded file is too big or when cookies are too big. But it is not happening on file upload, only at logging in and always at the login page. User enters this page just through a normal POST form on a page. And the cookies are only containing session id.
Furthermore, apache is logging "Invalid Content-Length". This is being logged before any of my code executes. $_POST is empty despite it should contain some data. When I added the following line:
error_log("Content-Length: ".$\_SERVER['CONTENT\_LENGTH']); it says
Content-Length: 32, 32 which seems to be indeed invalid. Changing browser or resetting user PC does not seem to help. Everything just started to work the next day.
Where can the problem lay? Is it something with Apache, PHP, user's network settings? If I need to add some more information, please let me know.
Answer link : https://codehunter.cc/a/apache/apache-php-invalid-content-length

[←Chapter 55] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 57→]
Sorore awoke from the blessed, dreamless sleep of the dead to the sound of thin wind outside the waggon. The morning’s sermon on the nature of mages and magic, as well as the recitation of the night of the Burning Tree, was soothing to her. Doubts that had lingered about her ever since the eruption of fire from the church top were set, if not to rest, but to at least silence.
Frare was still fast asleep, and she knew that nothing short of a blow or a scream would wake him. It was odd that he slept with such security with the energy he displayed in waking life. Upon thinking further, Sorore reckoned that perhaps it wasn’t - the boy needed to recover his strength somehow. She picked at her brother’s cheek gently as she fussed over this feature and that, and pondered the riddles of his overflowing vitality.
The strange inkling came that it was not a matter of energy, so much as it was that he bore his confidence into the well of his dreams.
She was about to pursue this thought further before the sound of quiet footsteps outside snapped her to attention. Quickly, she pulled the blanket over her shoulders and pressed herself to her brother, slowing her breathing. The canvas waggon that had been so graciously supplied to them by the villagers rustled as it was teased apart slowly.
“Are they asleep?” came the voice of Niche.
“Yes,” another voice, Lillian’s, “Yes they’re asleep.”
With another rustle, the canvas fell closed, and after a moment, Sorore heard the distant conversation better. She could only see a glimpse of the paladins, perhaps a dozen steps away or two, sitting by the embers of a fading fire.
“What are we doing Lillian?” said Niche, sounding more tired than she’d ever heard before.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“That’s an understatement,” said Niche with a bitter laugh, “we’re letting the commander have free reign.”
“Quiet down,” whispered Lillian, “let them sleep.”
“Why? Why do we let him?” complained Niche, “the children are our charges, ours. Not his. Is he planning to steal the glory?”
“He outranks us,” said Lillian sourly, “it’s that simple. Not to mention he has a hundred men, good, strong, armed men, at beck and call. We don’t. I had hoped we could settle up in the Alonshaze with Ryzea at our backs but…”
There was a silence that hung heavy in the air. It possessed a conspiratorial quality, which disturbed Sorore. The paladins should announce their contentions boldly; skulking was beneath them.
“Do you think he told the truth? About Ryzea?” Niche said.
Something cold and oily ran through Sorore at the words. Of course Naia had told the truth - there would be no reason to lie, would there?
“The other soldiers from the fort held up his side,” Lillian said, “Half the mountain gave way onto the walls, with Ryzea patrolling atop them if the stories are true. He wasn’t lying about the delay either, I don’t think. It would’ve taken weeks to clear the passes properly.”
“I just wish that… wish that we had some idea what was going on,” Niche said as he played with a dagger, “Why were we sent here? So far, with so little?”
“The mysteries of the church run deep,” said Lillian, in a tone that almost sounded sarcastic.
“Please,” he said, “we only stumbled upon lady Aya by happenstance. My faith runs as deep as anyone, but saying that we were meant to find her… after sixty years of nothing? By better men?”
She could see his face, turned toward Lillian with a pinched expression.
“Lillian,” he said, voice grim, “what is the reason we’re really out here?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “you know full well my information is just as limited as yours.”
“Better than mine, by leagues,” he said, “my family’s not on the council of purity.”
The silence became colder and more hostile at the words.
“Do you think I know everything because of my family?” she said quietly, “Do you think they still talk to me?”
“That wasn’t meant to-”
“What? Indicate your intellect?” she said, “point proven then. Your ability to keep your mouth flapping on the other hand-”
“You want to do this right now? Fine,” Niche said, his voice rising, “You know something. You’ve been acting odd from the first moments of our journey. You have connections, regardless of how estranged you might be. And whatever you know, you’ve been keeping it from us the whole time.”
“Keep your voice down,” she hissed, “no, I don’t know anything, and if I did I-”
“Do you trust me or not?” he said, “would it be different if sister Dalia was still with us?”
Lillian’s voice faltered at that, and Sorore remembered the young, brash paladin who’d set out with them. It was a sparse memory - the warrior had always ranged further afield saying that studies were best left for priests, earning her Niche’s exasperation.
“Fine,” said Niche, “now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take the first watch. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”
There was a sound of clinking as the paladin rose, and Sorore quickly moved to press herself to Frare’s back. She could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching the waggon once more as she settled in and stilled her breathing. As the flap opened, she let her eyes close and sank into darkness once more.
“May the lost forgive me,” intoned Lillian, before the flaps rustled shut and the footsteps receded into the distance.
For a few minutes, making certain that the paladin had moved onwards, Sorore lay absolutely still near her brother. She rolled over and peeked through the flap, finding no one nearby, she sank her fingers into her brother’s side. He stiffed, eyes snapping open. She was rather envious of her brother for how quickly he moved from rest to alertness.
“What is it?” he whispered, turning over and looking at her.
“It’s… I don’t know, something just happened with Lillian and Niche,” she said.
Frare grew more upright and attentive as she relayed what she had just witnessed outside the waggon.
“Interesting,” he murmured, messing his hair in a way that seemed precisely calibrated to annoy Sorore.
“No. No it’s not interesting,” she said, “it’s horrible. They shouldn’t be fighting like that. I hate it.”
“Calm down,” he said, shrugging, “I’m sure they’ll get past it soon enough. We should tell her.”
He gestured to another bundle of blankets, slightly rising or falling. That started Sorore, who’d not realised that Aya had made her way in. Before she could stop him, Frare had a hand on her shoulder, shaking her more harshly than a lady should’ve been shaken. To that point, Sorore grabbed his wrists and wrenched his hands away from Aya.
“Ow!” he said, rubbing his arms, “what was that for?”
“You’ll never get a wife like that. Treating her so roughly,” she said, shaking her head as her brother shrank from her admonishment.
It took a few gentle pats, but finally Aya was up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Good morning,” she said, looking around, “is it morning?”
“Nope,” said Frare, and told her about the conversation, with Sorore providing close annotation when he strayed from the facts.
Aya looked quizzically from one twin to the other as she processed the information.
“So… what? Lillian’s hiding things? What’s new about that?” she said, “I’m sure there’s lots they don’t tell us.”
“This is different,” Sorore insisted, “this is… I’ve never heard them fight before. Not like this.”
“It’s a good question,” said Frare, and by his hurried voice, she could tell exactly what he was going to say, “I’ve been saying from the start of the trip that-”
“Oh not that fancy again!” she hissed, nearly swearing before catching herself.
“It’s not fancy,” her brother whined, “it’s a good question.”
“What is?” said Aya.
“Well, when we were back in the shattered city, I-”
“Silver,” Sorore corrected him.
“Silver. Silver city. Well, we were always surrounded by paladins, every day, all day. A dozen between the two of us, so-”
“A dozen?” Aya said, looking notably uncomfortable by the prospect.
Sorore huffed at her brother, knowing that he was going to phrase it in the worst way, and make Aya scared. Dauntless, he continued on with his ludicrous theorising.
“Yes, a dozen,” he said, “and they rotated out. Each watch was led by a light lord proper. So, when they sent us out with just three.”
“They said, if you were paying any attention Frare, which you clearly weren’t, that such a large protection force wasn’t needed,” Sorore jeered, on the verge of losing her temper with her brother, “and they said it was about time we experienced the world without protection. That we wouldn’t always have it. Like Leonard.”
Even as she said it however, she could feel something wrong about the statement. They weren’t like Leonard. No one was like Leonard. A shiver passed up her spine as she remembered the gaunt form of their brother in spirit, and his sickly yellow-tinged eyes. But such thoughts were unkind, and besides, Leonard wasn’t the main topic of conversation.
“I don’t believe it,” he said, “we were safe in Angorrah, safer than here.”
“No one knows who we are out here,” she said, “that was also a thing they said, since you clearly weren’t paying attention.”
Frare faltered at that, trying to formulate an argument against it to confirm a conclusion that he’d clearly already reached.
“But there are beasts, and… other things,” Aya said with a shiver of her own, “they wouldn’t care about you.”
“Three paladins are more than enough to deal with beasts, come on,” Sorore said with perfect conviction, “as for the other things, how would they know?”
Aya muttered vague assent, but Sorore could tell she wasn’t convinced.
“What?” she demanded, “what is it?”
“Nothing,” she said, “but it still seems a little odd. Maybe we should just ask Lillian about it?”
“No!” both twins rounded on her, possibly a little too loud.
“What? Why?” she said, “if someone’s keeping something from you, you should at least ask them. If they say no, then you drop it.”
It was said with such perfect ease that Sorore could see Aya asking every question she ever thought out loud to her parents. There would be some things you never asked in polite society, and the girl would have to know to avoid embarrassment. Making a mental note of teaching her about it later, Sorore chose to discontinue the point.
“I’m sure it's just an odd patch. We’ve been through some strange things,” she said, “nothing much to worry about. Let’s go back to bed, before we wake up Lillian.”
After some humming and hahhing, the trio pulled the blankets onto themselves, and fell fast asleep.
The morning, when it came, was quite beautiful, as far as mornings in the mountains went anyways. They rode along in the wagon, Niche drive, and Lillian riding alongside and ahead. The road was a rough beaten tract through the trees, but it had seen enough use to minimise the worst of the bumps and shakes. Sorore had engaged Aya in a childhood game of Shoesal, using a pouch of numbered tiles she’d carved herself. Aya soon proved to be a competent player, although Sorore could beat her and Frare without much difficulty.
Lunch brought another lesson, this time mastered by Lillian, sitting inside the wagon.
“All right, you have questions don’t you?” she said, never having been one for the more formal speech of the lesson, and looking tired besides.
“About magic?” Aya spoke up.
“Yes. I can’t claim any great specialty, but I’ll share what I can.”
“Well, what is magic then?” she asked, “No one’s explained that to me.”
Her face seemed oddly focused on Lillian’s, almost like a challenge. Perhaps it was the result of last night’s conversation, which made Sorore feel sorry for the paladin.
“The church teaches that magic and faith are distant cousins. One allows you to perform spells, the other, miracles. You’ve already seen an example of this, out on the rooftop.”
She clenched her fist and held it up, within a few moments, a golden light emanated from within.
“This is an example of such a miracle, as humble as it may be,” she said, “we use it to defend the faith. Over time, you’ll be instructed by those better versed in such things, on how to perform miracles of your own.”
“We’ll be using magic?” Aya said.
“Miracles. I appreciate the confusion,” Lillian said, “from a distance, they can look similar. What’s far more important, however, is the source. Our miracles are holy, untainted, because they are produced by our faith in the Lost. In essence, we believe in them, and they give us the strength necessary to serve the faith.”
Aya looked like she was about to say something else, and Sorore willed her to not provoke the paladin. The girl ultimately shrank back, a questioning look in her eyes as she settled. It all seemed perfectly straightforward to Sorore, although she’d been raised in a city with a proper cathedral. Any doubt or anger towards her sister in spirit fell away when she remembered that Aya was from a remote mountain village, and was filled with pity.
“So now you know the difference,” said Lillian, letting her fist fall, “we don’t usually speak much on it. The laity can get confused easily, and we don’t mean to cause more than is necessary.”
“So, we’re going to be able to fight monsters?” Frare said, clearly excited at the prospect.
Of course it was the prospect of violence that excited him the most. He couldn’t help it, being the Bequeathed of Elizarhein, but did he really have to be so forward about it? She still hadn’t figured out what being ‘fertile’ meant in the context of her role as the chosen of Nafthatazia. ‘Life-giving’ made a little bit more sense to her.
She looked at Aya, the chosen of Salahazdrey, there could be no doubt. She wondered what her role would be in the coming years. Something to do with maidens, and water, or something like that. She would have to ask Lillian later about the specifics.
Lillian continued on, answering various questions on what kinds of miracles there were and what they were used for. Frare, of course, was mostly interested in those that were used in combat, while Aya was more interested in those that were specifically associated with tales of the church. Sorore just sat there, happily soaking up the explanations that were offered.
This was her place of peace, where everything was calm and made sense. The only thing that chafed at her meditation was the knowledge that Lillian must be hiding something. But even that overcast shadow didn’t do much to dampen her contentment. As for the other two, when they’d finally peppered the paladin with their last questions, she got up.
“Niche must be tired of leading the horses around,” she concluded, “I’ll have to resume my riding.”
The rest of the afternoon passed without much incident, and the trio amused themselves in various ways, although there was a strange distance between the twins and Aya. Chalking this up to merely being new, Sorore ignored it with what grace she could muster as she played games and recited stories from her youth.
When they stopped for the second evening, it was then that she noticed Aya slipping out for the first time. She was gone perhaps twenty to thirty minutes before carefully slipping quietly into the waggon. Something seemed strange about her, as Sorore glanced at her sleeping form. It seemed more defined, more solid compared to the world around her. Once again, merely chalking it up to an innocuous walk, or perhaps the need to relieve herself, Sorore quickly fell back to sleep.
Ringing hammers heralded her dreams, along with the feeling of heat radiating across her face. She could feel her sibling’s shoulders as she cuddled closer to him, though he seemed both immense and impossibly dense. Cold stone was under her side and to her back, something smooth and black, though she couldn’t see it.
What she could see was something immense before her, a collection of revolving rings, of glass, of metal, of stone, of substances that shone soft like velvet. The thing oscillated and warped into a fantastical facsimile of an immense creature. The gears and rings that comprised its being span and interlocked in a ticking choir to complement its pronouncements.
Thunder claps echoed across the landscape, now a yellow-grey desert of cracked mud and wizened trees. Footfalls shuddered her skull as it rose between shattered mountains, reaching clockwork claws to grip still smouldering rubble. A single glassy orb, within which turned a furious molten fire like the heart of the earth, focused at her from the head of the structure-beast.
The dream ruptured with a grinding bellow.
When Sorore awoke, it was with a pounding heart and the thinnest tracery of light, glowing across her arms.
[←Chapter 55] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 57→]

Hey guys! Alex Lewis here, the cookie guy! Thought I’d drop by and share Lewberger’s new single Giant Bird In A Man Suit with you. Here it is on all your favorite streaming places: https://orcd.co/giantbird and we also made a fun BTS style music video of it from footage of the off broadway run of Wizard of Friendship: https://youtu.be/071OEwQRYV0
I’m super new to Reddit oddly haha but it told me to add flair so I chose fluff. I have no idea if this is relevant to the post, it just seemed like the funniest one.
Anyway! Thanks for being cool people and I hope you enjoy the song.
Love,
Alex Lewis

God is a trinity
God the father God the son God the holy spirit
God the father: Genesis 1:26 / Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
John 14:28 / You have heard Me say to you, ‘I (Jesus) am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.
God the holy spirit: Genesis 1:2 / The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
John 14:26 / But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.
John 16:13 / However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
God the Son: John 1:2-5 / In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 8:58 / Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
God is good: 1 Chronicles 16:34 / Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
God is holy: Psalm 97:12 / Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, And give thanks to His holy name.
God's love: John 3:16 / For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God's justice: 2 Corinthians 5:10 / For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
God is righteous: Psalm 119:137 / Righteous are You, O Lord, and upright are Your judgments.
How to enter heaven:

1. Believe in the trinity
2. Believe Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross
3. Believe Jesus Christ was raised from the dead 3 days later
4. Do not follow your own desires
5. Put on the armour of God
6. Resist the devil and he will flee
7. Follow God's commandments
8. Repent of your sins
9. Pray to God
10. Ask for forgiveness from God

1 John 2:3-6 / When we obey God, we are sure we know him. But if we claim to know him and don't obey him, we are lying and the truth isn't in our hearts. We truly love God only when we obey him as we should, and then we know we belong to him. If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ.
We are all sinners but through Jesus we can find everlasting life.
Repent and turn from your old ways. Sin escalates and gets worse without regret.
Sin is not allowed in heaven so bind and resist sin on earth.
Matthew 18:18 / I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth shall have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth shall have [already] been loosed in heaven.
We can receive forgiveness and mercy for our sins through God the son, Jesus Christ our lord and saviour.
Forgiveness is available to everyone, even those who have made the same mistakes many times. However repentance is needed from you. Jesus will show you the right way but you still have a choice to follow or not.
How to resist the devil:
The armor of God represents the defense we must take in our spiritual lives. The Bible tells us that we are fighting a war against Satan, who seeks to destroy us. Therefore, we must take action and put on God's armor. As Christians, it is important for us to understand the severity of this battle.
Armor of God

1. the belt of truth - honesty
2. the breastplate of righteousness - do the right thing
3. the shoes of the gospel of peace - remain calm and collected
4. the shield of faith - trust God
5. the helmet of salvation - accept Jesus Christ is my lord and savior.
6. The sword of the Spirit - use and know the word of God

GOOD FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT:
Galatians 5:22-23 / But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Matthew 6:14 / For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 22:37-39 / Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
1 Peter 4:8 / And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins
John 14:21 / Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
SINS:
The 10 Commandments: 1. You shall have no other God's before me. 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy. 5. Honor your father and mother. 6. Thou shalt not kill. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal. 9. Thou shall not bear false witness. 10. You shall not covet.
The seven deadly sins are:

1. lust
2. gluttony
3. greed
4. laziness
5. wrath
6. envy
7. pride

Proverbs 6:16-19 / These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Matthew 5:27-28 / You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
James 4:17 / So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin
Colossians 3:5-6 / Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
Galatians 5:19-21 / Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity (hostility), strife (conflict), jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions (disagreement), divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 / Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (sexual pleasure), idolatry, sorcery, enmity (hostility), strife (conflict), jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions (disagreements), divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Any miracles done that is not from God is from the devil. The devil is deceitful and will hide his sorcery in false doctrines. Do not be deceived and be led astray because this is done by the devil to hide the truth.
1 John 3:15 / Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
CONSEQUENCES OF SIN:
James 1:12-16 / Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and SIN WHEN IT IS FULLY GROWN BRINGS FORTH DEATH. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers
Hebrews 3:12-14 / Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an EVIL, unbelieving heart, LEADING YOU TO FALL AWAY FROM THE LIVING GOD. But exhort (strongly encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be HARDENED BY THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
1 Peter 3:12 / For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
Matthew 5:30 / And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Proverbs 9:10 - The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
SAVED BY FAITH:
Matthew 7:21-23 / Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Ephesians 2:8 -10 = For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand SO WE MAY DO THEM.
James 2:17 = So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead
James 2:21-22 / Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did.
My conclusion on faith:
We are saved by faith in the trinity. Works are there to strengthen your faith. Sin weakens your faith until it dies.
Reasons for evil:
Isaiah 45:7 / I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things
You have free will to choose to be good or evil. God allows you to choose even if he knows what you will choose. If he doesn't allow evil people to exist he cannot give free will to man or he cannot let man be created. If man has no free will then we can no longer call ourselves human being as we would be something else. If we are not created by God he cannot save his lost sheep born into a world of good and evil where the ground is cured and weeds grow amongst the wheat.
Hell was created for the fallen angels but also because evil people exist. Evil people cannot escape justice so God created a place of torment for them. This place is for people who disobey God and refuse to serve him.
Matthew 13: 37-39 / He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
God needs cursed ground to sow the seeds of sinners. God has rules which he also follows, he does not just do as he wants. The devil can sow his own seeds as well. The devil's seeds/children can also be saved.
Zechariah 3 1-4 = Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
The devil is making mistakes as you can see from the verse above. Weeds can also be saved.
These sinners can be saved by faith in God the son. We are all black sheep which God is coming to find.
The reason for life: So that God can tell you who you are at the end of your life. Only God can define you. God loves you and wants to bless you.
The bible is God's word. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 / All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

--- Table of Contents ---
Autumn 4986, 15 Aoimoth
“Slow down, Squire!” Master Daunas walked around the sixteen Squires. They were all going through the basic motions of knife fighting together, but Shon knew the Weaponsmaster was talking to him specifically. He'd fallen into the rhythm of steel clanging off steel as the eight pairs of Squires went through the practiced strikes of a rehearsed fight. His partner was keeping up, but just barely. If Shon sped up, the boy would fumble, and Shon could disarm him. But that wasn’t the point of this exercise. It wasn’t a sparring match; it was a two man kata. Shon let out a long exhale and slowed down, matching his partner’s pace.
“Sorry,” Kefir, muttered to Shon, “You should try and get Zihler next time. He won’t slow you down.”
Shon arched an eyebrow at Kefir as the two pivoted in unison, spinning but staying together, so they switched places and continued without breaking rhythm. Or that was what was supposed to happen. Kefir stumbled just a little. He still wasn’t very good at quick pivots like that, and knife forms were full of them. Shon slowed down to wait for him to recover, matching his thrust with a counter as rehearsed.
“Don’t give me that look. I know you want to go faster. Zihler’s the most likely to keep... up...” Kefir had to space the last two words as they dodged each other again. More twists and turns he tended to overshoot.
He wasn’t wrong. Shon did want to go faster, wanted to push himself to his limits, and always just a little beyond, but “Speed isn’t the point of this exercise.” Shon said, and Kefir’s brow furrowed. Though if concentrating on Shon’s words or the continued form Shon didn’t know, “It's precision and practice. Keep partnering with Rerves, who's even worse, and you won't improve.”
They slammed together, the hilts of their daggers locking together as they sidestepped in tight circles. Shon could see at least ten different ways he could end a match right here. His left hand was free, as this was a single dagger exercise, and his opponents hardly ever paid attention to his feet. But that wasn’t the point, and Kefir would learn nothing from Shon downing him now, even if it was.
“Thanks,” Kefir spat sarcastically. Shon gave him a purposefully deadpan look in response, and he continued, “You’re the same, though. You won’t get better if you pick the weakest partners.” the two disengaged, jumping back and falling into a ready stance in one motion. Kefir took a heartbeat longer than some of the other boys but didn’t stumble at this speed as he had the last three times they went through the drill.
“I’m better than Zihler…” Shon said, not in pride or arrogance but in truth. When they had first started knife fighting weeks ago, he had partnered with those who seemed to be at the same level as himself or higher. Pushing himself to reach their level and surpass it. Add to that the fact that he often used his free time for more practice, and Shon had jumped to the top of the class as usual only a week into this new weapon.
Shon brought the topic back around to his point, “Practice is practice no matter how fast I go, as long as I have precision.” and, as if to prove his point, the form reached the culminating move, where Shon and Kefir needed to thrust at each other while turning just enough for the blade to pass by their chests. Shon slowed his thrust only at the end, just enough for Kefir to finish his dodge. Adjusting speed in the middle of a strike without pulling it completely wasn't easy, and they both knew it.
That was the end of the kata, and they both stepped back. Kefir looked down at his knife, sighing, “I suck at this, give me a shield or a hammer, and you wouldn’t have to hold yourself back.” he glanced up at Shon and forced a smile he obviously didn’t feel, “Then maybe I could teach you a thing or two…”
Shon nodded, perfectly serious, and when Kefir didn’t seem to understand, he added, “Exactly.”
The bell rang and the other Squires started heading for the weapons rack to return their knives, but Shon held Kefir in place with his eyes. He looked confused, his expression asking the question before his words could, so Shon explained, “You're better at armor and shields than me.”
That actually got a genuine smile from Kefir, “Everyone is better with armor and shields than you, Shon.” Shon humphed but couldn't argue, and Kefir laughed, “You know, if you spent your extra time actually practicing with the stuff you need practice in, instead of the things you're already the best at, you would get better.”
Shon ran his fingers through sweaty hair. It was only two finger widths long but still needed to be cut. He wanted to argue that practicing with the heavy weapons without armor in his free time was the only reason he was still the top in those as well. But instead, he nodded in acquiescence to Kefir’s observation.
“Hey,” Kefir stepped forward and poked Shon with the hilt of his dagger. Even with his thicker winter uniform on, they avoided touching him, “I get what you’re saying. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses. Thank you for trying to help me with mine.” The thanks was genuine this time, now that the frustration of the practice was over, and Shon nodded. Kefir continued, “Why don’t we make a deal? I’ll let you help me catch up to you in this if you let me help you with armor work. Master Daunas wants to get you in plate, but if you can’t even move in banded mail, you’ll never make it in the heavier stuff.”
Shon let his head fall back in frustration but nodded. Kefir laughed and the two returned their daggers without further words. Shon split from the rest of the stragglers in the courtyard, moving towards the bench beside the wall and the barrel for catching rainwater beside it. This deep into autumn, the water was sometimes frozen in the mornings, but Shon preferred it that way. Reaching in, he splashed handfuls of it on the back of his neck. The others would be heading for the hot showers, but with sixteen of them and only ten shower heads, Shon would wait until they were all done before washing properly.
“I’ll meet you after study time!” Kefir called as he walked by to try and reach the showers with the first group. Shon waved without turning around. He knew Kefir was right. He should focus his extra time on improving his weaknesses. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.
***
The mess hall where they had their meals had one long table set in the middle with enough space for fifteen Squires on each side. Around it were set smaller circular tables for the Paladins stationed in Hamerfoss and one larger near the door for the officers. Against one wall was another long table with plates, bowls, and food where they would each gather their meal before finding their seats.
The seats weren’t assigned, but Shon always sat at the farthest end of the Squire’s table, with his left facing the walkway so he wouldn’t bump anyone with his elbow as he ate. No one ever took the spot. It was an unspoken consensus amongst the Squires that that was Shon’s seat. The rest tended to congregate in the middle, talking and poking friendly fun at each other, extending their break into the dinner meal.
Shon took his place and started eating without joining in. They didn’t try to include him most of the time, and he was content to just listen. “Hey, Shon,” Rerves called from down the table, and Shon looked up from his plate to show he was listening, “I hear Kefir’s going to help you with armor tonight. Can I come?” Shon shrugged, turning back to his meal. Rerves went back to his conversation, and dinner continued as usual. The Squires ignoring Shon.
They filtered out of the mess hall as they each finished their dinner at their own pace, some heading to the chapel for prayer and others to the library for study. Shon made his way to the library, pausing in the doorway and debating with himself. If he joined the others at the larger table, they would try and talk to him. They seemed to think it was their duty to include him if he was there. But if he sat alone at the two-man table by the window, they would leave him alone. It meant he wouldn’t be able to ask them questions if one came up, but it also meant they wouldn’t bother him with pointless asides…
Tonight, he joined the study group. The subject they'd started a few weeks ago wasn’t one he had taken to easily, an in-depth history of Gasha province, so he wanted to be able to talk when needed.
It started as soon as he finished the first page, “So Shon, when do you think Master Veon-Zih will be back?”
“Winter Solstice,” Shon answered shortly, rereading the sentence. The others whispered around him about Master Veon-Zih, something about if he would dance with the pretty baker again this year…
“Hey Shon, do you know if Monks train in dancing too?”
Shon placed his finger over the paragraph he'd reached, knowing he would have to reread it after the interruption. He shook his head. When they continued to look at him, he sighed, glaring up at them. This was supposed to be study time… “He learned how after he left the Monastery.”
He reread his paragraph and managed to finish the chapter before running his hand through his hair in frustration at the text. Looking up, he said, “We’ve read about the war between Gasha and Swailand, but this doesn’t say anything about why they went to war in the first place.”
“Fishing rights, I think?” Thom answered, flipping through his own book, “Knowing those Horsa Bast…” he cut off before finishing the curse, glancing at the Paladin acting as librarian, before continuing, “I bet they wanted to extend their fishing to the area around Gasha, and they are just as likely to fight each other as us.”
Rehlien slid a new book Shon’s way, “Here, read this one next. It gets into the justification a little more than that one.” Shon nodded his thanks, taking the book and placing it under the one he was still finishing.
But his question had opened the door to more derailing chatter, “You really like to know the why of things, don’t you, Shon?”
Shon nodded, hoping this talk would at least be relevant, but “You’re like that in etiquette too. That’s probably why you struggle so much.” Shon shrugged. Etiquette didn’t seem to have a point, but that wasn’t what they were supposed to be studying now, “I find some things ‘just are’ because of tradition…” the boy trailed off as Shon glared at him, his words freezing in his throat. When silence had returned, Shon went back to his book. He should've just sat alone.
***
Kefir and Rerves were already waiting in the sparring ring by the time Shon showed up dressed in his banded mail. The armor rubbed uncomfortably around his neck and the thick gambeson underneath bunched at his joints, limiting his range of motion by at least a few inches. It also weighed him down, which he'd managed to convince himself was good for strength training, but was incredibly frustrated by for sparring.
Kefir already had his sword and shield and held an extra bastard sword for him, so Shon went right for the ring, stifling a frustrated sigh as he took the proffered weapon.
Rerves grinned at the look on Shon’s face, saying, “We figured you'd be miserable enough in the armor alone, that we should channel some of Soleil's compassion and let you use your best weapon instead of the hammer.” to which Shon was grateful. Making him practice in the armor with a weapon he still hadn’t mastered would've been adding salt to the wound.
“Let’s do some stretches and warm-ups first.” Kefir started, “Your problem isn’t being afraid to take a hit with the armor,” Rerves laughed out loud, but Kefir continued with only a grin, “It’s in having to adjust your mobility. So let's re-imprint that before we try any sparring.”
They went through stretches, the two of them seeming to match Shon in flexibility only because he was hampered by the armor, then moved on to solo sword forms. Even though the armor was only about thirty-five pounds evenly distributed, Shon still felt sluggish. When they moved on to sparring, Rerves beat him soundly while Kefir watched, tilting his head back and forth like Master Daunas and trying to give advice that didn’t help. Shon could fight, he knew the proper blocks and parries better than they did, but too often he would either not make up for his lack of speed or would overcompensate and swing too hard.
Kefir took his turn, lifting his shield and watching Shon raise his sword to the ready, “Honestly, Shon, I don’t know what to do besides have you practice more and just get used to it.”
“Sometimes that’s all you can do,” Rerves said from the side as he slipped off his helmet. Shon knew they were right in some regards but couldn’t entirely dismiss his frustration at the thought that he was missing something that he needed to learn and not just have beaten into him. He was grateful for his companion’s help but annoyed at their inability to teach.
Rerves gave the order to "Lay on!" and Shon and Kefir engaged. Shon could predict Kefir's moves, could practically see them in his mind's eye, but barely reacted in time, his arm not bending as far or fast as he wanted it to. He gritted his teeth, glaring at the other Squire, trying to sidestep around but moving too slow compared to Kefir, who just needed to turn in place. Shon took a step back and planted his feet. If he could force Kefir to make the larger motions, then perhaps he could focus on redirecting the boy’s attacks.
Kefir hesitated. Shon was most dangerous when he stood his ground, and they both knew it. The hesitation just gave Shon more time to try and strategize. Not that it had helped at all before. Maybe if he could somehow slow Kefir down, or focus on trapping his weapon, then it wouldn’t matter that Shon wasn’t as fast as he would be without the damn armor. Kefir tested Shon’s guard with a few half-hearted attacks that Shon deflected, waiting. When the other Squire finally committed fully, Shon let go of his sword with his left hand, twisted to dodge, and grabbed Kefir’s sword arm.
Just stop. Stop long enough for me to hit you… Kefir tried to pull away but couldn’t. Despite the poor grip Shon had with the thick gloves that were part of the armor, the two Squires seemed lashed together. Kefir twisted his shoulders so he could lift his shield to deflect Shon’s oncoming attack, but his feet didn’t move. His eyes went wide, and his shield came up barely in time to hit Shon’s sword, the tip still reaching over to clang off Kefir’s helm with a glancing blow.
Kefir fell backward and Shon, still clinging to his arm, was pulled on top of him. The boy yelled, and Shon rolled, letting go of Kefir and hearing something like glass breaking over the clanging of armor and screaming of his fellow. Shon rolled to absorb the shock of the fall and twisted to find Kefir on his back, his knees still straight and his boots stuck to the ground. Encased in ice.
The ice climbed up his boots to his shins, but Kefir was gripping his arm, trying to pull more ice from where Shon had been holding him. It continued to grow, soon encasing his hand and sword hilt. Rerves rushed forward, trying to help pry the sword free while the ice on his legs grew past his boots and under his greaves. Kefir screamed again, in pain and fear.
The Paladins on the wall began yelling, their leader taking command, sending some to help the boys and others to run for the fortress. Shon watched in horror as Kefir’s legs and arm were slowly encased in ice, his lips trembling and turning blue. He would be covered soon, Shon knew it, could picture it happening, like a waking nightmare. It would trap his brother Squire and anyone else touching it…
The ice started clawing at Rerves fingers, trying to gain hold and freeze him too.
“What in all the hells?!” Master Daunas showed up with a gaggle of Paladins and the Cleric, who all fell around the boys. Some took out their belt knives and tried to break the ice apart; others began to chant spells to either melt the ice or keep Kefir warm.
Master Daunas searched above the throng for answers and, finding Shon, cursed. He ran around the larger group, grabbing Shon by the arm and wrenching him away, practically dragging him across the courtyard towards the fortress proper. Someone called out in triumph as Shon reached the fortress door and Daunas forced him through it.
What had happened? Had they freed Kefir? Would he be alright? What happened?!
Daunas was still cursing as he slammed the door and spun on Shon, who stared blankly through the Weaponmaster. Panic, he was trying so hard not to panic. Was trying to figure out what had happened, trying to play through the entire thing again, picturing it from outside his body. Was the ice what had allowed him to hold on to Kefir? Was it still climbing up Kefir's legs? Was that why the older Squire wasn’t able to pull back and block properly? Had Shon...
“Calm down, boy.” Daunas reached for Shon’s shoulders but pulled back a moment later, shaking his hands and cursing as they reddened from the cold, “Breathe, boy. Look at me, think warm thoughts.”
Think warm thoughts? What did that even mean? Shon found Daunas’s eyes and saw the Weaponmaster scared for the first time, “Breathe, slow and steady, like old man V taught you. You need to control your energy…” his lips were pale and trembling, his breath coming out in a cloud before him. had it been that cold outside? Shon couldn’t feel it...
Shon closed his eyes and breathed. Control his energy… He pulled himself in, finding his center and gathering around it, “That’s it, boy, like that.” Shon breathed in his energy, his ki, holding it in his gut, storing it for later when he could use it to focus a strike and give it more power, just like Master Veon-Zih had taught him. And just like Master had taught him, he tried to let go of his worries, to clear his mind, if only for now.
Kefir would be alright, almost every adult here could cast healing spells, and at least half of them were with him now. It was okay. Shon could relax, let go, calm down… Suddenly exhausted, Shon nearly collapsed right there in the hallway. Daunas caught him, slowly lowering him to the stones.
Shon could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, but not fast enough to miss Master Daunas’s last curse, “Damn it, boy, why did you have to be a Sorcerer?”
***
“He has to go to the Mages Guild.” Major General Davies Selibra, Paladin head of Hamerfoss, stated to those gathered in his office. It was a simple room containing two sets of closed cabinets on either side of a large desk facing the door with two seats positioned in front of it. Shon sat in one of those seats, his head hanging and fists clenched tightly in his lap.
Master Daunas slammed his palm down on the desk. He seemed too agitated to sit, or perhaps he just didn’t want to sit next to Shon, who was radiating cold like a fire radiated heat, “We can’t, Selibra! He’s the most promising fighter I’ve ever trained. He’ll lose too much time.” the Weaponmaster's words puffed out as white fog from his lips.
Major General Selibra sat behind his desk and rubbed his temples, “It’s the law Daunas, he either needs to get a clearance or be sealed.”
“Can’t be a Paladin with the tattoo…” Smith Nangran muttered from his position leaning on the door. Shon was too focused on his predicament to wonder why the Smith was even here. A thin layer of ice began to form at his feet.
“It’s the law…” Selibra said again, weary, “If he had awakened sooner, he might have been able to get his clearance before training, but…”
Daunas threw his hands into the air, bellowing, “It takes years to get a clearance. If they even let him. Those Mages would rather just mark the boy up and be done with it!”
A sealing tattoo. They would want to block the magic. Seal it away in his body where it couldn’t hurt anyone. Kefir had suffered severe frostbite as well as a broken ankle. Lucky for him, he was surrounded by divine conduits and was fine, but what if Shon lost control again? Who would the ice entomb? Master Veon-Zih? Innocent citizens he was supposed to protect? Shon’s nails dug furrows into his palms as he clenched his fists tighter. The ice crawled up the legs of his chair and crystalized on the backs of his hands.
The adults continued to talk around him, “The law is clear, Daunas. The magic either needs to be trained or sealed. There are no exceptions.” The law never made exceptions. It’s what kept everything running at top proficiency. Shon admired that… and understood it, as even now he couldn't control the sorcerous ice.
Shon tried to slow his breathing, relax his hands. The ice cracked over his fingers as he forced them out of their fists. It was responding to his emotions, his fear, and horror at what he'd done. What he was. If he could just pull it in, stifle the emotions feeding it, then the magic wouldn't be able to control him…
Ice continued to inch up the chair, and Selibra rubbed his hands together to warm them. They'd been pointedly and purposely ignoring the winter-like cold since bringing Shon to the office.
“Tattoos aren’t the only way to seal magic…” Nangran stated from the door. Daunas and Selibra stopped arguing, and Shon’s head shot up. He turned slowly to watch the Smith who combed absently at his beard, “Law says sorcerer magic needs to be trained or sealed, doesn’t say how.”
“I know the law Nangran,” Selibra still sounded defeated. “A council of Mages, including one of the rank Archmage, must determine if a Sorcerer is capable of controlling his or her power. If they determine the power is too great a risk to the kingdom, then said power will be made unable to manifest. Sealed.” the Major General recited, most likely for Shon’s benefit. Shon's heart pounded in his chest, and the fires that lit the room dimmed.
“What are you suggesting?” Daunas asked Nangran curiously. The smith only talked when necessary, using grunts and nods instead of words whenever possible. That was probably why Shon liked him so much. It also meant he wouldn’t have contradicted Selibra unless he had a reason.
“Know a guy. Used to make sealing items for the guild…” Nangran said with a shrug, as though Shon’s future didn’t hinge on his point, “Owes me a favor…”
“You’re not talking about that mad hermit who comes barging in here once or twice a year, are you?” Daunas asked, looking stunned.
Nangran nodded with a confirming hum. “Still Archmage in good standing…”
The Weaponmaster looked ecstatic, shouting, “Nangran, you’re a genius!” he slammed his hands down on the desk again, breath puffing out in thick clouds as his excitement grew. Nangran grunted.
Daunas turned back to the Major General, who actually looked intrigued. Shon’s heart tried to beat its way out of his chest. “This is it, Selibra! This Archmage can make the boy a sealing item. I’m sure the Temple will vouch for him. He’s our top Squire.” Shon was still too terrified to feel proud of the compliment and watched Major General Selibra with wide desperate eyes. Ice started forming on his hands again, looking like clawed talons.
“The Mages Guild hasn’t given out sealing stones for generations…” Selibra hummed, and Shon barely stopped the desperate whine before it could escape, his fingernails drawing blood on his palms as he balled them into fists again, breaking the ice claws. “but we can at least try.” Selibra finished, focusing on Shon, his brown eyes still looking sad, “Are you sure you want this, Shon? As a Paladin, you won’t be able to train with your elemental magic unti-”
“Yes, Sir!” Shon shouted, leaning forward in his seat and breaking the ice off its legs. He fell back a moment later, embarrassed by his outburst. More quietly, he said again, “Yes, Sir. I don’t want this magic. I want to be a Paladin.” more than anything in his entire life, he'd wanted to be a Paladin…
“Very well,” Major General Selibra stood, resting his fingertips on his desk. Speaking as if to himself, he muttered, “Perhaps this is a sign from Hengist.” looking up, he addressed Nangran, “Tomorrow you will take Squire Shon to this Archmage friend of yours. Gods willing, he will be able to seal the sorcerer magic without hindering his divine capabilities.” he failed to hide a shiver from the cold.
***
Her candles burned hot and bright, flickering wildly as She paced around Her little room. Something was happening in Her tower. There were far too many people with strangers' voices out Her window and beyond Her door.
Brom and Ran continued to visit, but they wouldn’t answer Her questions, wouldn’t take Her for samples, or to see Her treasures. The first made Her angry, the second gave Her energy, and the last scared Her enough to stop asking questions. What if they took Her books again? They hadn’t given Her a reason She couldn’t see Her treasures, so maybe they would soon… maybe tomorrow...
***
“Tomorrow,” Morndancer stated as Shaloon let herself into his room. The transfer preparations had taken months. MONTHS! They were Mages. No. Greater than Mages. They were Warlocks. And yet, everything still took far too long. They could instantly communicate with allies across the kingdom but still had to spend time making the proper arrangements. They could travel miles in a blink but still had to painstakingly pack every book and file, disassemble and disenchant the golems guarding the tower over days and even weeks. If it had been a true emergency -if they'd been found- they could've destroyed everything, vanishing all evidence of their presence and research. But the Master Archmages had forbidden it in this case.
“The western Talon is ready to receive us,” Shaloon confirmed, “What of the subjects? Archmage Yarna has no interest in animal husbandry..."
“The Firewyrm is all she is interested in. It is the only reason she agreed to take us.” Morndancer sat on his bed and stared at the pseudodragon perched on his desk, its leathery wings half furled and its tail twitching over the side of the desk, “I will handle the animal subjects tomorrow. Just make sure you are ready to open the portal out when I am done.” she could only open one portal a day, sometimes two but it would leave her incapacitated for at least a day after.
“Tomorrow then,” Shaloon confirmed, leaving him alone with his running mind and the little pretend dragon, that seemed to stare through his skin and into his soul.
***
Shon couldn’t sleep. Once again, his entire future hung on what would happen tomorrow. And just like the divine test and the road to Hamerfoss, there was nothing he could do to speed up the process. It was out of his hands. Out of his control. Just like the ice now clouding the window and the frost freezing the blankets to the mattress.
He tapped the blank page of his open journal with his pencil. The images running through his mind were the last he wanted to solidify on paper. He tried drawing something else… Kefir smiling warmly at him for the second thank you. Rerves leaning forward and shouting to him across the dinner table. The study group conversing in whispers instead of studying…
He wrote about it all between the drawings but everything that happened after pushed at his mind, the scenes forming in his vision. Shon drew Kefir again, lying on his back and tugging at the ice forming on his sword arm. Then a group scene with the Paladins falling around him, their faces focused, and hands glowing with spells to try and save him… Master Daunas’s scared eyes as he ordered Shon to ‘think warm thoughts...'
With two pages full of various sketches and commentary, Shon dropped his pencil and rested his head on his desk. Why? Was this why he was so cold to the touch? Sorcerers were rare; those with ice power were the rarest even amongst them. Should they have noticed something was wrong sooner? Would Hengist really accept someone like him? Chose a Sorcerer to be one of his extensions in Daanlin?
Shon closed his eyes, breathing slowly and trying not to cry. If they forced him to go to the Mages Guild, he would never be able to fight again. He was sure of it. All his hard work and dedication. All those years of disciplined practice, gone in one instance where he lost control. Where he almost killed a friend.
Everything he was, everything he would be, hinged on the following day. “Tomorrow…” Shon whispered into the dark, his candle finally flickering to die in the cold.
--- Table of Contents ---
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP

(The OP of this material is gone, but this analysis deserves to be seen again):
I can see that, like myself, many on this subreddit are beginning to realize the truth of what is taking place here on Earth. The question is: how do we know what is true? How do we discern the truth from the lies? Well, let's analyze our lives here on Earth for a moment: we are born on this planet, and by the time we grow up, we have no memory of the first few years of our life. We also have no memory of ourselves prior to life on this planet, we're not sure what we are doing here, or how we got here. There are so many of those "big questions" about life that are seemingly unanswered, and at the same time, we are presented with a plethora of these "belief systems" that offer the answers to these questions. We have all these different religions, seemingly just there, waiting for us to believe in them. We have non-religious belief systems as well; one can choose to be an atheist, or one can choose to believe in "modern scientism" or humanism. With all these different religions and belief systems to believe in, how can they possibly all be right?
What if they were all the right choice, because it doesn't matter what belief system you choose to believe, the only thing that matters is that you choose something. After all, life is all about making choices - right?
The Corrupt Demiurge and The Duality Trap
This planet is overcome with a sickness; there is an oppressive force manifesting this system, that is so cleverly designed that a person could live their entire life never once realizing that everything is designed to work against us. What is causing this to happen? The false light/dark duality simulation which controls the planet - and in doing so controls each and every one of us. The Hermetic Principle of Polarity, which is discussed in the esoteric work The Kybalion explains that all of the opposites that make up our world are in fact two extremes of one spectrum. Light and dark, hot and cold, love and hate - all just the two extreme ends of the same thing, making up the duality of this world we experience. This begs the question: what are the single spectrums that these opposites are representing?
This is a problem, indeed, as many of these spectrums being described by polarity are things that we seemingly do not have any words for, and therefore no thoughts or ideas as to what many of them even are! This is a paradox that can be troublesome to reconcile in our minds; it seems that these "spectrums" of duality are often just outside the limits of our comprehension. We can attempt to try: black and white must be the extreme ends of gray, hot and cold could be the extreme ends of warm... ok, were getting somewhere - but inevitably you run into pairs of opposites that are too difficult to reconcile into one spectrum. For example, the opposite of freedom seems to be slavery - what could that be a spectrum of - movement? Light and dark is another pair of opposites that is too rigid to find a middle ground for what it could be describing. What gives? Well, Hermeticism is one of the many belief systems set up to deceive and trap us into the false light/dark paradigm, or as it is called in ancient Gnostic texts The Corrupt Demiurge.
The Corrupt Demiurge is a horrible construct that has been holding the Earth hostage for thousands of years, and they are responsible for all the devastation done to our planet, including orchestrating some of the most horrendous events in human history. They inflict suffering upon Humanity relentlessly, because our suffering and negative energy is what feeds them and sustains them and keeps them alive. Using the duality of light/dark good/evil they convince each and every one of us to choose a side, to believe in something, and then when we "die" (which is just an illusion, we are eternal beings and we never actually die) they exploit our beliefs that our soul picked up during its life on Earth, and they trick us into reincarnating back on Earth again, to live another life of unneeded suffering and hardship, in the painful, unforgiving material world.
How do they do this? The Corrupt Demiurge is made up of beings that Gnostic texts refer to as archons, which we can think of as demons, jinns, Lucifer etc. Anyone who read my post yesterday probably knows that I call these archons "Soul-sucking fucks". I was angry, and you should be also, but you need to not just believe, but know that this is what is taking place here on our planet. The greatest trick of the archons is that they are not only the demons, but they are also the angels. By playing both the light and dark teams, they are able to convince us to keep falling into their trap of reincarnation, so they may continue to feed off of our energy, as they have been for many, many, incarnations here on Earth. Our memories remain perpetually wiped with each new incarnation, which explains why we don't remember anything when we get here. The archons have tricked all of us into making lots of agreements with them, which entail things such as not committing the same sins we were guilty of in our prior life, in our next life, if one were Christian for example. As we can see in our current situation on this planet the archons love making us feel bad about ourselves. The archons are violating our free will in a massive way because no being should have authority over another being. Look at all the authority we are subjected to here on Earth - it is suffocating. Every human being needs to realize that they are not a bad person, systems set in place by the archons such as Christianity make it impossible to live the life required to get into the "kingdom of heaven" (barf). Luckily - they are going to give you one more chance to get it right - again, and again, and again, and again... and again, and again, and again, and again... Are you starting to get angry yet? Because it's ok to get angry.
As Above, So Below.
When the Demiurge first took hold on planet Earth thousands of years ago, Human beings were already aware of the true source of all creation, the true God that runs through each one of us, we have become so detached from this truth over thousands of years of abuse from the archons that the great majority of us are not aware of this. Because of the awareness of God by many of the people on the planet, the Demiurge had to initially create almost every single one of the world's religions today. Of course, the abrahamic religions have the most powerful stronghold over us. Just about every belief system is a trap set up by them, however. The only exceptions to this that I know of are, of course Gnosticism and perhaps Buddhism. Why trust Gnosticism? Well, it was declared heresy by the catholic church in the third century, as catholicism was asserting its world domination and killing any non-believers. Most of the Gnostic scrolls we have today were discovered in Egypt in 1945, and they are known as The Nag Hammadi, named for the town they were discovered in. They had been buried in a jar for centuries, placed there by someone who was looking out for the future of Humanity, no doubt.
The Corrupt Demiurge have a hierarchy of henchmen, here on Earth, that carry out their reign of destruction throughout Human history. I believe the actual reason for the founding fathers coming to America was to kill all the Native Americans, just as white settlers did to many tribal communities in South America, because these people knew about their connection to the one true God. They have higher ups that take the light path, such as the pope, as well as the dark path, such as many thirty-third degree masons. These people within the Demiurge hierarchy systems are rewarded by feeding off of our suffering as well as the energy of our worship and adoration - look at the energy given to people like the pope, and trump, and hollywood celebrities in the form of idolatry and worship. This, of course, is nothing compared to the false-idol leader of the Demiurge, the god of the bible himself: Yahweh aka Lucifer. The king of the false light/dark duality trap himself. (As a side note, I do believe the moon is a big part of how they create the duality paradigm. I never did like the moon...)
As above, so below refers to the Demiurge's system of patriarchal hierarchies in the abrahamic religions (above), and the patriarchal hierarchies of our governments (below). Notice arch(on) in the words patri(arch)al hier(arch)ies? As well as the (arch)angels. It's about time for some an(arch)y to take place.
What are we supposed to believe in?
We need to believe in ourselves. We need to believe that we are sovereign beings, and nobody has authority over us. We need to believe that we are more powerful than them, because we have the true source of creation within us, and they do not because they worship a false idol (Yahweh). We need to believe that the religious figures so many believe are real, but they are all the archons, and they will trick us into reincarnating here yet again. We need to not fear the government, as they try to scare us into submission with the covid pandemic. The last thing they want us to know is that we are more powerful than they are. We need to stop being distracted with the material world, as well as technology that is just more of the Demiurgic illusion.
We need to all start waking up to our true power, and cut off this parasitic group of evil beings feeding supply. Stop choosing good or evil. The church has perverted the trinity of creation. Creation is a trinity: positive, negative and NEUTRAL. Reject the notion that you are a bad or good person. If you do this you will begin to see the archons in your life, waking and sleeping. They will come to you in dreams, and many people on this planet are them in disguise. They will do anything to get you back into their trap, using angels, demons, or any other of their tricks. They will make your life miserable, but they cannot hurt you - the real you - your soul. The elite are getting ready to roll out their Saturn Black Cube religion, which I believe is hardline materialism, as it is the easiest way to trap us. That is why they have been pushing to put an end to spirituality and beliefs in a God. If enough people wake up to this, things will get REAL.
tl;dr: try reading the Nag Hammadi if you think this is long.
If you want to know more about this, please read these articles that go into much greater detail than I could ever hope to. These articles are very helpful in learning more about THE TRUTH:
Why I am no longer a lightworker: http://www.ascensionhelp.com/blog/2013/08/23/why-i-am-no-longer-a-light-worke
Tell the "Lords" of Karma that you are sovereign - no longer a lightworker pt 2: http://www.ascensionhelp.com/blog/2013/11/21/tell-the-lords-of-karma-that-you-are-sovereign-no-longer-a-lightworker-part-2/
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