Annals: Year 11
A story fragment and a codex entry from the Dustsong Cycle—and news
From the Annals of the Vaporous Realms
Minions of Livyat lurking in the wastes accidentally conjured several sandstorms of unnatural magnitude as they sought to free the Mother of Serpents from her earthly prison. The aurochs-herders who had settled in the eastern marches of the lesser Fangs lost one-third of their number to this barrage. When the storms subsided, the herdsmen constructed abodes of piled stone to protect their clan from the wrath of the wastes and the predations of prowlers.
Codex: Chaos Minion
Chaos minions were the unnatural spawn of Livyat, brought into existence by her mere presence to fill the dome of disorder that surrounded her. Folk who encountered chaos minions often described them as two-legged beings with an unearthly serpentine aspect.
Many chaos minions were destroyed in the battle betwixt Livyat and the Wright's scions at the dawn of days. Part of her host was presumably imprisoned with her. Yet some of her minions escaped into the unseen realm, whence they troubled earthly folk from time to time or otherwise did Livyat's bidding.
Some folk believed the Accursed to be lordly chaos-minions, not renegade Scions.
Author Note
Hey, y’all! It’s been a few weeks—because it’s been quite the few weeks.
That’s the one halfway decent pic I got of my comic con setup last weekend. What friendly folks and what a lively event. The predawn drive into the Appalachian hinterlands was an adventure, but when the sunlight catches those hulking green mountains just right, it’s something else. Writerly inspiration for one of the Westsong kingdoms I’ll write about sooner or later.
Here’s the shortish version of other goings-on:
Here on the website, I’ve settled on one weekly post like this, free to all subscribers (for four weeks), being manageable. Also access to one character profile per week for tabletop gaming. Keeping it simple!
Complimentary and paid subscribers get access to the archives and any novella ebooks. Founding-level subscribers get the tabletop rules and PDF books. [Update: all paid subscribers now get access to Vaporous Realms at War content.] I’ll spend time soon tidying up the archives and updating e-commerce links.
Here’s Egwae’s tabletop profile, updated again with a downloadable card that works with the Vaporous Realms at War tabletop rules. If you’re interested in the rules, they’re available to Founder-level subscribers and to purchasers of minis or paid/complimentary subscribers who message me to request the quick reference sheet. I’m embarrassed that Egwae’s profile post was previously entitled “Egwae the Wanderer” and was missing several words at the beginning.
Three more author/vendor events this fall. I’m praying I sell out of my current stock of books and minis to close out 2024!
Happy reading, y’all!