2019-05-03 08:30
“You cannot—”
“I am a man of my word,” Varouforos interrupted. “I said that I would make you sign. There will be peace. It will come either by your sig… Read More
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Twice-weekly speculative serial fiction by author Jay Slater.
2019-05-03 08:29
Here we are at the end of this little experiment. I hope you enjoyed the story.
It was a good long while between the most recent post and the start of this story, but that’s the risk y… Read More
2019-04-30 08:30
Ewart’s command post had grown as his force did. Now, he stood at a map table in the middle of a ring of comms units, all of it protected from the weather by a tarp overhead, stretche… Read More
2019-04-30 08:29
Ending up on the machinery deck saved Varouforos a detour.
My original concept for Varouforos was more in keeping with one Admiral Kutuzov’s in-universe reputation in The Mote in God&r&hell…Read More
2019-04-26 08:30
Soon, his men were aboard, and he busied himself organizing their deployment, not noticing the growing chill amidst the bustle.
Perun fought on. He drew the yashcherit ships away fr… Read More
2019-04-26 08:29
I mentioned back at the start of this story that I wrote it to submit to an anthology, whose strict length limit was why Varouforos’ adventures between the machinery room and the park… Read More
2019-04-23 08:30
A pair of yashcheritsy appeared in the crowd ahead. When they saw Varouforos and Ippocampos, they leveled their weapons. Varouforos pushed Ippocampos behind a nearby stall and slid into cov… Read More
2019-04-23 08:29
One of my favorite sci-fi tropes is the ancient starship. Given the way I set up the RPJ Sci-Fi canon, most ships end up being centuries old—the galaxy is high-tech by dint of age and… Read More
2019-04-19 08:30
Adalric Ewart watched his navarch disappear in a flash of light. That translocator had cost as much as Perun, but it had certainly proved its worth over the years. Nearly every yashcherit i… Read More
2019-04-19 08:29
In this story, I have not yet invented any technology which doesn’t exist in the RPJ Sci-Fi rulebook. Varouforos would be a very late-game character if a player character at all, but h… Read More
2019-04-16 08:30
Varouforos opened his eyes, drawing his laser pistol. He relaxed. Only he and Ippocampos had come through. The reactive translocator clipped to his belt hummed and ticked as it cooled down… Read More
2019-04-16 08:29
I doubt you’ve noticed, but the URL scheme has changed very slightly—it doesn’t match the post title as closely as it used to. This is so that I can simply clone my templat… Read More
2019-04-12 08:30
As a believer himself, Varouforos could hardly say this was a bad thing in itself. The particular form of the yashcherit Orthodox tradition, however, caused him no end of trouble. Their inc… Read More
2019-04-12 08:29
This post is slightly longer than I wanted, but the Friday cliffhanger was too good to pass up. At this point, by word count the story is somewhat less than half done, so it looks like we&rs&hell…Read More
2019-04-09 08:30
They stepped out into a neatly kept park, all manicured lawns and paths marked by stately lines of trees. The sun had passed behind the limb of Abila, so through the dome overhead, only sta… Read More
2019-04-09 08:29
One way I describe the Empire in the RPJ Sci-Fi rulebook is that it is somewhat xenophobic, but that xeno- has long since ceased to apply to non-Greek humans. Varouforos is chummier with ali… Read More
2019-04-05 08:30
The next day, Morana pulled into orbit above Abila Lysaniou. At sixty stadia—twenty kilometers, in the newfangled Gallic measure—he dwarfed every other ship there. The gigantic… Read More
2019-04-05 08:29
To emphasize Varouforos’ Russian-ness, I use that language’s convention for ship pronouns—namely, that there isn’t a special convention, and ships merely use the gram… Read More
2019-04-02 08:30
Morana tore through jump space at tremendous speeds, running for two days, then dropping to normal space for thirty hours while her reactors charged her jump capacitors. Two weeks of this b… Read More
2019-04-02 08:29
Occasionally, there’s a break in the story right about where I want to split across posts here, and that feels great when it happens, as it did here.
Varouforos is, as I believe I&rsqu&hell…Read More
2019-03-29 08:30
Ippocampos, however, presented Varouforos with a different problem. The alien was influential in its government—the presiding member of some ruling council or another. As such, it had… Read More
2019-03-29 08:29
Konstantin Varouforos is a fun character for me to write. He isn’t quite entirely unlike me, but he certainly is less like me than many characters I write. I enjoy the mental stretch… Read More
2019-03-26 08:30
Far aft on the jump ship Morana‘s hull, high above the enormous hangars, the hab decks where hundreds of thousands of crew lived, and the banks of titanic reactors which drove her jum… Read More
2019-03-26 08:29
Trying something new here. The Sword and the Spear is a story I wrote a year or two ago for an anthology. It wasn’t accepted, and it implies some viewpoints which probably preclude its… Read More
2018-12-03 03:05
I’m glad you asked, headline! It’s been busy here at Many Words Press World HQ for a number of reasons.
RPJ
The big one, of course, is RPJ. Over the past six months or so, but ov… Read More
2018-09-08 17:55
You probably noticed that I missed Friday’s update. This is why—another RPJ release, owing to some changes required by further RPJ Sci-Fi testing.
Speaking of which, RPJ Sci-Fi h… Read More
2018-09-04 08:30
“Good,” Leifsson said. “You may go. Not you, Sif Hrothgarsdottir. I have other business to discuss with you, while you’re here.”
Lilja stood, smiled tentativ… Read More
2018-09-04 08:29
It’s been nearly a month, but we’re back now, thanks to Labor Day, and by extension, Communists. I guess they aren’t all bad.
In addition, you can find a beta copy of the R… Read More
2018-08-21 16:47
If you were paying close attention to the other-stuff portion of the site last week, you might have seen RPJ Core and Police Cops 1.0.0-beta1 releases. I was up to my elbows in other RPJ wor… Read More
2018-08-11 03:45
“The Shining Hand failed,” Leifsson replied. “Before they even began, really. A loyalist to the throne learned of their plan, and the Akademier put a stop to it. The munda… Read More
2018-08-07 08:30
Leifsson closed his eyes. Sif watched the poster. It remained resolutely ordinary. She looked up at Leifsson searchingly. “Is it broken?”
“No,” Leifsson replied, r… Read More
2018-08-07 08:29
And we’re back.
RPJ Core and RPJ Police Cops are now in beta. I’ll have a news post about that later in the week. For now, you can visit the RPJ page in the top menu to find the… Read More
2018-08-01 20:22
You may have noticed there was no story post yesterday. I’m not planning on a Friday update at this time, either, for two reasons:
I’m at a key point on my Libra Cervisiae homebr… Read More
2018-07-27 08:30
She descended the staircase to the great hall. As usual, it was nearly empty at this hour, and the fire on the hearth had burned down to a man-sized pile of glowing embers.
Einar and Lilj… Read More
2018-07-27 08:29
Leifsson, being an actual, experienced magiker, has a few tricks up his sleeve which the youngins don’t know yet.
The post Commentary, The Continuing Adventures of Sif No. 43 is part o… Read More
2018-07-24 08:30
Einar raised his eyebrows, but silently led them to the stairs up. As they left the great hall, he prompted, “Ansgar Leifsson said…?”
Sif shook her head. “Someone… Read More
2018-07-24 08:29
Sif isn’t used to relying on other people. Her first impulse is always to go it alone.
The post Commentary, The Continuing Adventures of Sif No. 42 is part of an ongoing story at Many… Read More
2018-07-20 08:30
Lilja stood. Sif stacked their dishes—she saw no reason to make the servants’ lives harder—and followed suit.
Einar was playing the besieging side, the one which started… Read More
2018-07-20 08:29
I always try to plug tafl when it comes up in the story, because it’s an awesome game you should play. You can find a downloadable Java version at the Softworks, or play at PlayTaflOnl… Read More
2018-07-17 08:30
There was a knock at her door. She slipped a bookmark between the pages, reverentially folded the book closed, and padded over to the door. She pulled it slightly ajar and peered through th… Read More
2018-07-17 08:29
I talk about the upsides of serializing my writing all the time, but one of the downsides is that I can sometimes forget certain details. For instance, sometimes I describe the spiral corrid… Read More
2018-07-13 08:30
“What did it say?”
“Nothing. It was just a drawing of a hand, like this.” Sif held up her hand, fingers together, palm facing Leifsson.
He sat bolt upright, as t… Read More
2018-07-13 08:29
Dweorgr: short, stocky creatures, technological experts who are responsible for den Holm’s highly advanced sewer system. They’re much less friendly with the Norrmanne now.
One of… Read More
2018-07-10 08:30
He didn’t see her until she was nearly on top of him. He was clearly surprised. Barely thinking, Sif slid into the chair across from him.
He swallowed, and the corner of his mouth t… Read More
2018-07-10 08:29
I don’t think Sif is being half as clever as she thinks she is here.
I am at least as proud of the Ei—I stutter/recovery, though, as she is.
The post Commentary, The Continuing A… Read More
2018-07-06 08:30
Some of the others stayed at the poles in the hopes of roping in a spotter. Sif gently disentangled herself from her friends, assuring them that she would be fine. She caught Gyr Didriksson… Read More
2018-07-06 08:29
I’ve seen a few things which have me excited to go back to the Skypirates universe. We’re getting close to the end of this interlude. Sif needs to talk to Leifsson, and after tha… Read More
2018-07-03 12:50
“Well done, Sif Hrothgarsdottir!” Leifsson called. He canted his head sharply.
Sif felt the blow in the weave a split-second before it arrived. A scything draft caught her by… Read More
2018-07-03 12:49
Sorry, a little late this morning.
Otherwise, not much to say. Enjoy!
The post Commentary, The Continuing Adventures of Sif No. 36 is part of an ongoing story at Many Words Read More
2018-06-29 08:30
Worth a try. Sif bit at the inside of her lip. An idea came to her, but it seemed to her to be a bad thing to say with her classmates in earshot. If Leifsson expected her to do better than… Read More
2018-06-29 08:29
I’m never quite sure how best to describe magic. It’s one area in which I’m deeply under-practiced as a fantasy author.
The post Commentary, The Continuing Adventures of Si… Read More
2018-06-26 08:30
Sif knew Lilja much better. ‘Timid’ seemed to her too mean a word, but it wasn’t wrong, if she was honest. Lilja was nearer the bottom of the class than the top, Sif would… Read More
2018-06-26 08:29
In one of those serial author moments wherein ongoing story sheds light on past events and I totally didn’t mean it, Sif’s arrival at the Akademi der Luftsenmagiker is exactly th… Read More
2018-06-22 08:30
Half a lap later, on the north side of the courtyard, he faced his first- and second-year students. Baltasar Rasmussen had already corralled the others.
The students left with him stood i… Read More
2018-06-22 08:29
Sorry about the missed update. It’s been a busy week, and my electronic hydrometer project has been taking up a lot of my time. Guess I’m down to 7 off days for the rest of 2018… Read More
2018-06-15 08:30
Ansgar Leifsson circled the Akademi’s courtyard, walking in the shadow of its outer wall. The fog had nearly gone. Off to the south, he could see Yngvar’s, perched atop its dist… Read More
2018-06-15 08:29
Scheduling posts for mid-June already? Where has the year gone? Then again, May 15 feels like about a year ago already, so I guess it’s not so bad.
Magiska Akademier: the schools of ma… Read More
2018-06-12 08:30
She placed the quill into Tyrssen’s outstretched hand with bad grace, and stared at Falthejn’s letter. One moment, there was nothing. The next, there were two new postscripts. A… Read More
2018-06-12 08:29
In the future, I’m not doing letters. Holy cow has it been annoying.
The post Commentary, The Continuing Adventures of Sif No. 31 is part of an ongoing story at Many Words Read More
2018-06-08 08:30
Lilja and Einar crowded around, reading over her shoulder.
“How did he—” Lilja began.
Sif held up a finger. “I’m not done yet.” A few moments passed… Read More
2018-06-08 08:29
This one was even more of a pain to typeset than the one preceding.
Diviners are widely disliked for just this sort of thing.
The post Commentary, The Continuing Adventures of Sif No. 30 is… Read More
2018-06-05 19:30
Sif approached the bar, Lilja and Einar following in her wake. The lodgekeeper circled the stove to meet her. “Get something for you?”
Sif produced her letter from the sleeve… Read More
2018-06-05 19:29
The typesetting here was a pain.
Fun fact: I wrote this letter immediately following the end of The Long Retreat, and The Continuing Adventures of Sif sort of grew out of it.
The post Commen… Read More
2018-06-02 02:45
Sif forced herself to relax as a pair of city guardsmen passed them. Even though she was on the right side of the law for the first time in her life, they still made her nervous.
They cam… Read More
2018-06-02 02:44
Sorry for the lateness of the hour—I always forget to set these up if I don’t do both at once on Sunday.
I only have a rough map of the Riverfronts in my head. For reasons I can… Read More
2018-05-29 20:30
She saw the purpose of it. If pressed, she would even admit it was good for her. That didn’t mean she had to like it.
There was a well in the courtyard, up against the outer wall. H… Read More
2018-05-29 20:29
Yngvar’s has a lot of mythology around it, although I haven’t brought any of it up to the current revision of the world.
I’d like to do that sometime. It’s a neat pla… Read More
2018-05-25 08:30
Sif woke to a pounding on her door. She opened her eyes, groggy, and flipped her blankets off to the side. It was cold. She swung her legs out of bed, stood, and felt the chill of the stone… Read More
2018-05-25 08:29
It took me some time to settle on the particular mode of teaching employed at the Magiska Akademier. Some of it depends on which school you study. Conjurers/trollernmagiker in particular are… Read More
2018-05-22 08:30
Sif swallowed. That was bad news. Outwardly, though, she smiled. The elder magiker could have walked by without saying anything. Sif appreciated the effort to make her feel better, and she… Read More
2018-05-22 08:29
One of the reasons why I consider this story a nice break from the Long Nines is that the style I’ve established for it involves more robust inner monologue. I can think better as Sif… Read More
2018-05-18 08:30
That was a question Sif didn’t quite know how to answer. She looked down and away to buy herself some time.
The Shining Hand in the park had been magiker, that she was sure of. Her… Read More
2018-05-18 08:29
Dreamseers are a sort of hedge magiker, whose existence the Twelve and the lesser magical authorities tolerate but don’t encourage. There are other kinds, too, but besides the village… Read More
2018-05-15 08:30
Which brought her back to history. The grand arc of the Norrman people began three hundred years earlier, when Halfdan King (at the time, just Halfdan, Sif recalled) freed them from the clu… Read More
2018-05-15 08:29
I only do a little bit of proofreading before I post entries—as the occasional typo suggests—but one of the things I do look for is the fictional grammar I have going here. Kvinn… Read More
2018-05-12 13:30
Drafts of published stories and commentary on those drafts are only available to our patrons. Please consider joining their ranks with the Patreon link at the top of the sidebar.This content… Read More
2018-05-11 08:30
Sif’s eyes snapped open. She sat bolt upright, heavy blankets flying off of her. Her breath came in frantic gulps as her eyes darted around the room. A simple bed, a chest at its foot… Read More
2018-05-11 08:29
I don’t remember offhand if I ever used the line, but even before she knew how, Sif always suspected reading would agree with her. She has an inquisitive mind, and finds access to othe… Read More
2018-05-08 08:30
Sif’s eyes snapped open. She still couldn’t see a thing. Ropes looped tight around her, biting into her arms and chest. She struggled experimentally. Nothing came of it.
Her h… Read More
2018-05-08 08:29
I’ve always been fond of Lägraltvárld. It’s the second-oldest of the settings in which I write, and hasn’t changed as much as its older sibling Nexus. I’m… Read More
2018-05-05 12:00
Yes, that’s right. Do you like the content you read here at Many Words and the Soapbox? Now you have a way to support it on an ongoing basis, and we’ve even cooked up some extras… Read More
2018-05-04 08:30
Cannon pushed the doors open. The council room had changed since his last term. He stepped into a pool of light, cast by a spotlight on the balcony, facing a table at which seven shadowy fi… Read More
2018-05-04 08:30
Cannon has a long history with Radzinsky in particular and the Bloody Flaggers in general. I want to explore that eventually, because I can use it to shed some light on more of the Skypirate… Read More
2018-05-01 08:30
“All right,” said Cannon, “where’s the— Frank?”
“Frank?” Emma echoed, blinking. She stood just behind Cannon and to one side, in a tiled ha… Read More
2018-05-01 08:29
Yes, it’s been a while again. There’s been a lot of housework to catch up on.
Eagle-eyed readers will note that there have been some changes to the archives. I’ll explain t… Read More
2018-04-03 08:30
At the turn onto the Topside road, six black-clad figures spread out across the intersection. Two headed west, uphill; two went east, back toward the Long Tail. All four melted into the und… Read More
2018-04-03 08:29
Yes, it’s been another long delay. I’ve had a lot on my plate at work, and I’ve also been cranking out a bunch of RPJ Sci-Fi. It’s nowhere near release-ready yet, but… Read More
2018-03-20 08:30
The truck rolled to a stop at a T-junction. A three-story stone building faced them; past the buildings to their left was a large park. Emma leaned forward, looked to her right, then looked… Read More
2018-03-11 22:18
“Where have I been this last month?” I hear you wonder. Well, I’ve been writing.
Yes, it’s true. I have been. I’m afraid, however, that I have not been writing… Read More
2018-01-19 09:30
“Warm and welcoming,” Emma said.
“If we have to leave this way,” said Cannon, “it’ll be warmer than the alternative.”
Emma pondered this and co… Read More
2018-01-19 09:29
Corregidor is a fascinating place. I might like to visit someday.
My wife and I are planning to close on a house and move in the next few weeks. Story updates may be spotty.
Morning edit: I… Read More
2018-01-16 09:30
Lining up on the runway, Cannon pulled the throttles back. The Albatross settled slowly, descending beneath the jungle canopy, then touching down on the grass runway. Cannon left the engine… Read More
2018-01-16 09:29
It’s been a long time in coming, but finally, there’s more story. I can’t promise anything beyond this week, though. My wife and I are moving in about two weeks, so that&rs&hell…Read More
2018-01-01 02:48
Not a lot to report here in the halls of Many Words: there may still be a new address for Many Words Press World HQ, and I haven’t managed much writing since that news originally broke… Read More
2017-12-21 22:46
Not the coin, but rather the hawking of a product. For once it isn’t even my product. Instead, it’s from a family member. Mugs!
A quick review: they’re mugs. They feel stur… Read More
2017-11-28 09:30
Inconstant‘s Albatross approached from the south, flying low over the gray sea. It was ten in the morning, but didn’t look it. Whitecaps below and thick clouds above told part o… Read More
2017-11-21 09:30
Corregidor, known to the lowlifes, scoundrels, and pirates of the South Seas as the Rock, sat at the mouth of Manila Bay. It was part of the Philippines, technically United States territory… Read More
2017-11-21 09:29
I realize I missed last Thursday, but I’m still taking Thanksgiving off. See you next Tuesday!
The post Commentary, Hunt for the Majestic No. 20 is part of an ongoing story at Many Wor… Read More
2017-11-14 09:30
Lecocq stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on Cannon’s desk. “We left then,” he said, lighting a new cigarette and waving it expansively. “There was a little ch… Read More
2017-11-10 09:30
The Janissary man smiled, a predator showing his teeth, and pushed his stake toward the middle of the table. It dawned on Lecocq that the man truly thought he was going to win, which made t… Read More
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