“Drossel,” she said, taking the biscuits. She sniffed them, and the hot waft of air made the inside of her mouth water. “Smells good,” she said. “Drossel, eh? North of here. I’m born and raised in Bernoth, me’self. These are a tradition in Bernoth.” She indicated the biscuits with a nod. “Hot Bernoth knobs. Best dainty…
Illustration 005 (updates Thursdays)
Dapplegrim
Fair Upon the Tor #14 (updates Mondays)
Standing up suddenly had perhaps not been the best idea. Caewen realised this as she swayed a little. She was dizzy. The drink was stronger than she had thought. “I need to apologise again,” she held herself steady, struggling to keep words together as her head pulsed with the thud of her own blood. “Your…
Illustration 004 (updates Thursdays)
Up in the rafters of the longhouse something stirred in the shadows and one shadow detached itself from the others. A thing that was made entirely of darkness, and had something like a body partway between a cat and a mink and an otter, slid elegantly and with a fluidness out from its hiding place,…
Fair upon the Tor #13 (updates Mondays)
“Yes.” Caewen tasted the wine. It was very sweet. Almost sickly so, but she smiled politely and took another drink. It had a strong bite. “Alright then. Let me see.” She considered where to start, and after accepting some dates and goat cheese, she said, “Well, Dapple and I were on the road, not far…
Illustration 003 (updates Thursdays)
“Good enough,” said Mannagarm, and he went into the house. Inside, the longhouse stunk of smoke from the cook-fire where one of his servants was making dinner. He looked around and scrunched up his nose at the assault of smells. The thatch was wet and mouldy. The floor was mere hard-packed dirt. A mouse ran…
Fair Upon the Tor #12 (updates Mondays)
It was the thin tall man dressed in white linens, writ all over with strange letters. He was standing near enough to be standing over her. His complexion was dark, much darker than the Forsetti, so that he was almost a blue-black. He smiled. “Peace be upon you,” he added, seemingly by way of greeting….
Illustration 002 (updates Thursdays)
As he stood in his own thoughts, two rooks circled above him, then descended and landed in the higher-up branches. One of them was fat and sleek looking. The other was thinner, a bit of off-black overall, and quite grey around its neck, as if old.
Fair Upon the Tor #11 (updates Mondays)
“Your speaking demon-servant is right. I learnt this particular art in the court of the Emperor-Magi in the lands of the Sungilt Stone. Far away, yes, over seas, in the blessed lands of the south where the summer reigns long and sure, and the days are bright.” He seemed to gather up some concentration then….
Illustration 001 (updates Thursdays)
Mannagarm stood on the gravelly path that stretched from the threshold of his hilltop longhouse to the village below. The path twisted past the old dead mountain ash that clung to the cliff’s edge there. And from where Mannagarm stood, beside the tree, he could see the trackway twist below him, down, down to where…