It feels like we've entered the phase of the game where the pieces start to come off of the board, doesn't it?

This was yet another wonderful chapter. I'll confess that no tears were shed on my part for the departure of the Old Ball Coach, but, as has been noted, I was never in his fan club. I thought you did a wonderful job building to the ending and then delivering it. Similarly, Sundar's interaction with Syl -- very cleverly done, sir.

As ever, thanks a million for sharing!

It feels very much as though we are accelerating towards the conclusion at this point, doesn't it?

Yet another great battle scene in this one. It was fun to finally see the Magnificent Seven Magicnificent Eight in action at the same time, with each contributing their own particular strength, be it Lukas's demonic nasties or Morgezka's not-so-gentle touch or Antine's Whimper of Doom (TM). As Hannibal would say (and I assume Fisco is Hannibal, given their shared fondness for cigars), "I love it when a plan comes together."

Even in the thick of battle, I confess that I'm a little surprised that Denner didn't spare a thought of thanks for being paired up with the lovely Penelophine. I wouldn't accuse Denner of being obsessed, per se, but his mind does seem to get a little one-track when there are lovely women around. Plus, after his quality time with Fisco, I suspect he's happy to be working with anyone else.

As ever, I look forward to the next installment.

I really had fun in this chapter getting everyone involved. There were a few changes made to this chapter while I was writing from the original conception, because a few things occurred to me while writing it. For one thing, Kahr's role in this chapter was reduced. Originally, I had it planned for Kahr to kill Trajax in a grand little melee scene. However, two things occurred to me. Firstly, there is likely no one on Kokkinos during this battle who is more gifted or accomplished in leading troops into war than Kahr is, so it made the most sense for him to lead the Igknighted into battle. Secondly, it occurred to me that Dyllyg should really be the one to ultimately defeat Trajax. It's his plane and his people and his rebellion. He deserved to win it himself, even if that victory was dependant on the Arbagoth Eight.

Also, the entire Fisco/Antine/Dyllyg thing came very late in the process. Originally, I was planning on having Fisco sit the battle out, or maybe spend some time collecting the planar barges and bringing them to Kokkinos, but once I decided on Dyllyg facing off with Trajax, I came up with the poker game idea, and I went with it. I really like how it came out, personally. Plus, Fisco got to use one of his Favored Spells!

As for Denner, what can I say? Perhaps our little fella is growing up a bit...

A very, very moving chapter. Antine has his defining moment, and Nithka ends up walking down the most extreme path on the road to redemption. I'm sorry they had to collide in that particular moment. As has often been said, in another life, they might have been friends.

Diana is one of my M:EM favorites -- odd as that may be, given her habitual reticence -- so I was pleased to see her make an appearance.

Also, did we have a little Patton moment?

I confess to feeling a little deked-out by Morgezka and the griffin riders. I get that the riders' job is essentially just to draw Morgezka away from the main fight. But, the way the riders' mission is described, it sounds like Nithka has asked them to fight the dragon, not just to lure her away. So I was a little surprised that, as far as we saw, it seemed like the riders just flew off, and Morgezka just chased them. If they weren't attempting to engage her as they fled, I would think she might just peel off and return to the main battle. I was kind of waiting for just a sentence or something to indicate that there was some running combat between the dragon and the riders as they exited the scene.

I had two very ticky-tacky thoughts about specific words.


I assume that the "it" Antine is referring to is "honor." But there are two grafs between this line and the last time someone mentions "honor," and it took me an extra second or two to be sure I was following the conversation. I think that having Antine actually say "honor" here would help the flow.


Something about that "severely" there just made me rub my chin a little bit. The last we saw of Jenah, she had faded to black. And she's just been described as prone. I don't think you need "severly" here to sell her injured state. Something about that extra adverb actually makes me suspect that I'm being set up -- which, of course, turns out to be the case. I think that word is hurting rather than helping here.

Anyway, like I said, ticky-tacky in the extreme. But it's a very good chapter, and those were the two little moments that kind of broke the flow for me, so I figured I'd mention as much.

Thanks as ever for posting, Raven!

Thanks for reading! Glad you liked it, and I hope the Diana stuff was up to your expectations! (If not, let me know, and I can fix it in post.) As far as the faster pace, that is mostly intentional. Things are moving quickly now, and it's all coming to a head. Where will it end up? Who knows? Well, I do. And maybe one or two other people, but still...

Glad you enjoyed it. Maybe it was the time of night that I finished this chapter, but I'll admit, this one hit me hard. I mean, there were some chapters that were more emotional earlier, like Sifting Through Ashes and Barging In, but this chapter has some brutal violence, some real danger, and of course the whole thing with Nithka and Antine. I was really happy with that, personally, and like I said, the whole thing sort of hit me while writing it.

As for the concerns, Nithka does give a signal to the griffin riders to move off, but I see your point. I may rework it slightly after everything's said and done. The Antine-honor thing is a pretty easy fix, and no reason not to make it, so I likely will.

Thanks!

I think I did a crummy job articulating myself on this one.

I think the thing which struck me as a little odd was that it seemed like the riders just flew off, and Morgezka just chased them. I would have thought that, in order to draw her away, they would need to engage her a little bit as they went -- make it kind of a running battle, as opposed to a pure chase. Because, if the riders just bolted, it seemed like they'd run the risk that Morgezka would just let them go, and would turn her attention to the ground battle. I'd figure that they'd need to take the occasional run at her as they went, just to keep her attention. But it seemed like they did just fly off, and she did just chase after them, and that was what surprised me a little bit.