Looking for something new to read this summer? Blank Slate is a dark fantasy webserial about fire, hope, lesbians, religious oppression, and rebellion--and also includes:
post-apocalyptic fantasy kingdom
evil church (with not-so-evil theology)
sinister sellsword haunted by a kindly demon
anxious minstrel who is more clever than she lets on
cold-eyed and treacherous knight with a cool sword and perfect skin
devout and defiant nun who is lethal with a flintlock
courtly knights that wear steel armor
cryptic druids with ancient gold
infrequent but frightening bursts of otherworldly dread
and ever-present,
--an indestructible, stubborn thread of hope electric--
--reminding us that every tyrant will in time come crashing down.
Dark, sapphic, mystical, and updated every Sunday, this character-driven, long-form fantasy web serial is available to read at fireandslate.com!
IT'S LIVE. Tenebrist: The Cut is up on Royal Road.
His magic charges him for every cast, and only half of it shows up on the sheet.
Corin Hale is a Tenebrist, which isn't a rare gift so much as a filing problem. His darkness reaches, closes, and drinks whatever it finds: warmth, light, and then the rest of it. Other mages watch him work once and afterward stand a little further away. The guild pays him eight silver a day to kill vermin in stairwells and doesn't pretend that's a career.
He'd take it forever if the job were the problem. It isn't. The man who raised him and taught him to cast is on record at floor fifty-one, and fifty-one sits behind a rank he won't legally hold for sixty years of the only work anyone will hire him for.
So he grinds. Contracts by depth, not by pay. Costs down, level up, one number at a time, with three people who should know better walking beside him.
The numbers are going up. Something else is going down, and nobody's counting it.
Floor-based mega dungeon, crunchy LitRPG systems, a found family that actually earns its dynamics, and a slow burn queer romance simmering underneath a story that owes more to Frieren and Dungeon Meshi than to your average tower climb. Not isekai. Just a guy trying to grind his way to the one place that might have answers, in a world that keeps telling him no.
Read it here:
His magic charges him for every cast, and only half of it shows up on the sheet.
Corin Hale is a Tenebrist, which isn't a rare gift so much
In case you missed the news, the eBook of Stone and Flesh is 50% off throughout July!
Support me directly (i.e., more money for me, same book for you), or
Buy through the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale!
All support is greatly appreciated -- if you can't buy a copy right now, sharing is still helpful! And don't forget to add me to your Goodreads/StoryGraph/Pagebound/Fable/Bookmatch TBRs!
The Back Cover:
A dark, epic fantasy for adult readers fond of character-driven stories, rich worlds, and elements of gothic horror. This first installment in the Fruit of War Saga is for readers who like their fantasy intelligent, immersive, and simmering with ghosts of the past – both figurative and literal.
The War of the Six and the Plague of the Bitter Hand unleashed at its peak has left the kingdoms of Ícalar in tatters. Years after a tenuous peace is made, the last surviving member of the heroic Hidden Company, Iknaïs, succumbs to the plague. Wearied Shepherd of Leaving Fîeron Eburos is called to attend the body and release Iknaïs’ soul, yet insodoing, he discovers a message pointing to the very artifact that began the war. Most confusingly of all, this message states that Iknaïs was entrusted with the artifact by the enemy and that Fîeron needs to find it at any cost.
Fîeron's reluctant duty leads him to Devatska, an elderly, brilliant engineer-strategist living in anonymity after the mysterious culling of her family. But in solving the riddle of Iknaïs' last request, they are only met with more questions – about the war, their alleged enemy, and the very nature of their world.
Tw: blood, mentions of child murder, prejudice, implied suicide
I did not proofread, so if there are any mistakes please tell me, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!!
Witches
Contacting a demon in order to make this deal is simple (in theory): acquire a gem/stone associated with hell (ruby, garnet, etc.), stain it with your own fresh blood (most witches prick a finger; the blood must be still warm and directly from the body), and finally, speak the name of a high demon. (Note that this is the process to contact a demon for a deal regarding witchcraft; this is NOT the ritual to SUMMON a demon.) In reality, this process requires research and dedication. The details of the ritual aren’t readily available, with most information on witchcraft being destroyed by mortal authorities, and even once contact is made, a deal is not certain.The demon may decide whether or not they desire to make a deal, and the demon decides the terms of the deal for the aspiring witch to agree to or reject. If the deal is made, the witch’s soul is the demon’s upon death, with no chance of freedom, and if the witch breaks the terms of the agreement while alive, they are sent to an afterlife of servitude early, disappearing from the mortal world without so much as a body to be left behind. The terms of the deal can be anything the demon dreams up. If one’s heart is not set on a deal, they should not contact a demon, for if you back out, the demon may punish you in life simply for wasting their time.
A witch is a mortal that makes use of demonic magic (mortals have no inherent magic of their own), acquired through a deal with a demon. Only powerful demons with at least a thousand souls currently in their debt can make a deal of this kind.
When a deal is struck, sealed with a handshake, the mortal is granted a grimoire: a book of magic. It serves both to provide instructions for spells, enchantments, and potions, and to provide the power needed to complete it. The demon's power is channeled through the book into the mortal world, to be focussed into a spell by the witch. Each grimoire. Is unique to the witch that possesses it; it may be small and sensible or large and elegant, full of woody, natural spells or flashy illusion magic. The appearance and contents of the book depend solely on the disposition of its owner. A grimoire cannot be used by anyone but the witch to whom it was gifted. Spells also require components, which vary greatly from spell to spell. Potions require more physical components but less magic, while spells and enchantments require less physical components but more effort and knowledge. New witches often start with potions before moving onto spells, and very few attempt enchantments (which only require the item you are attempting to enchant, but require great knowledge and focus). The results of an improperly completed spell can be disastrous.
The very nature of witchcraft, not least of all because of witches’ direct ties to demons, lead to most people hating or fearing them. Witches don’t parade around their powers; most live normal lives, their friends and family and the general populace none the wiser. A large number of witches, though, sell their services to mortals without magic. It’s a wonder how quick one forgets his hate when he finds himself in need of more help than mortal power or prayers can grant. This has led to an underground industry of various witches selling their services. Due to the individualized nature of grimoires, most witches specialize in certain areas. Green Witches, for example, specialize in nature-related magic. Witches have joined the ranks of criminals and outcasts in the bustling business of cities’ illicit pleasures, alongside assassins and mafiosos, gamblers and greed. Most often, they complete individual commissions, just a single spell or potion for a single client as-needed, but some find themselves in the permanent employ of wealthier families.
Men and women can both be witches, and the existence of witches has been thoroughly recorded through history and folklore. There are a number of tales and myths surrounding them, some true and some not so much. There have been instances of the practice of witchcraft being passed down through families, each generation striking a deal with the same demon.
Nearly everything is possible through magic, if one has the right spells. The only things magic cannot manipulate are life and death.
Necromancers
A necromancer is not a witch. A necromancer is a creature whose very existence contradicts every law of the natural world, starting with their birth. A necromancer is born cold, with no pulse and no sign of breath. By a mortal’s definition of the word, a necromancer is born dead, and often this is the assumption made by midwives and mothers, until the child begins to cry, like any newborn would. Historically, these children are nearly always killed at birth, out of fear and confusion, the horror of its existence ending before it can truly begin. If a child is allowed to live, they grow up sickly and weak. They continue to have no evidence of a beating heart, and they only inhale to speak, or maybe to cough. They’re cold to the touch, colder than death. Their continuing denial of the laws of life condemn them to further hatred and fear by the ranks of men, an outcast from the world of mortals and immortals alike.
When a necromancer dies (they can be killed by any usual means, but also have a standard human lifespan), their soul doesn’t go to heaven, hell, or even the middleground. Their soul is instead recycled into a new breathless, heartless child. There has only ever been one necromancer alive at once, and there only ever will be one. It is the same soul in different bodies, each incarnation having no memory or those before. No afterlife will take a necromancer.
Necromancers don’t mix well with other magic. They cannot become witches, partially because no demon will make a deal with them and partially because necromancers are seemingly allergic to anything angelic or demonic. Encounters with this other magic can leave a necromancer especially weak or make them black out entirely. Angels and demons do their best to avoid necromancers, though, as they have an instinctive fear and disgust of necromancers. Just being near one can make an angel or demon irritable, jumpy, or even physically sick, although this reaction can be largely overcome with exposure (Cassian, a demon, has spent enough time with Finn, a necromancer, to have very little reaction to his presence). Touching a necromancer directly can cause an angel or demon physical pain. Angels, demons, and witches are a denial of the laws of the mortal world, and necromancers are a denial of the laws of the supernatural.
As the title may suggest, the powers of a necromancer have to do with death. They can temporarily reanimate a corpse, sense dead bodies nearby (graveyards are often very overwhelming), speak with/contact the dead, and temporarily return a person’s soul, with memories and personality, to their body. They can also sense when someone is close to death (only if the death is natural, such as by old age or illness). They cannot, however, return a soul permanently to the world of the living. Souls in the middleground are easier to reach than those in heaven or hell, and those indebted to a demon are the hardest to reach. Making use of their abilities leaves a necromancer incredibly weak, and often can manifest as visual differences such as silver or white streaks in hair.
Unlike witches, demons, and angels, necromancers aren’t common figures in folklore. There are nearly no myths surrounding them, although there are the occasional mentions of children without a pulse or people who never seem to breathe. There is no common understanding of necromancers. The majority of the populace aren’t even aware of their existence. So, when they see a man or woman who’s cold as death, without a heartbeat or a need for oxygen, they fear and hate it. Many necromancers are killed at birth, or as children, or teenagers, or adults. Many fall to humans’ fear, in one way or another. They’re taught that they are wrong, raised to be hated. Many fall to their own hands, if they don’t fall to someone else’s first. A necromancer’s life is never long.
This is the last piece of major worldbuilding, but I will have future lore posts about religion in the Mortalis world and more detailed information on the country and city in which the comic takes place.
Thank you so much for reading !!
Tag list: @birch-and-aspen @spectralcastle @socksthebat @birdtheartist @sillygoobr64 @sqq-q @red52z
Hello all! I know we've been in a slight, potential limbo for a little while, so firstly my apologies. I wanted to wait until I had more information confirmed and a plan consolidated before giving said update.
4ish months before Call of the Infrans' first release date, my publisher announced they hadn't received the expected grant for 2026, causing projects (including mine) to be pushed back to 2027. Earlier this year, the indie press I'd been offered a publishing deal with decided to close, subsequently shelving mine and many other authors' stories. (Publishing is hard, making it as a small publisher is even harder, and I'll always be grateful to them for believing in this story, as well as the developmental edits and sensitivity readers they provided.) I also checked and got confirmation that any preorders made would be refunded ASAP, thankfully.
What the press shutting down meant, of course, was going back to the drawing board: I could either return to the query trenches for agents and submitting to other indie presses, and it would take another couple years likely at minimum to get the book out on shelves, or I could self-publish.
While I still intend to query (mostly out of curiosity) to a specific collection of places in August and September, unless a press or agent can promise a fast release (potentially for an indie press yes, agent I'd imagine no) or particularly advantageous release (a trad offer, though I'd have to seriously consider it), there should be no future delays.
My official release window is between March and June 2027, and will be stuck to. I am currently looking into 3-4 different self publishing presses. Some cost more money than others, but the funds for them (plus what I'll make back my initial burst of copies sold) make them all viable options; I'm doing more research and reaching out to authors with first hand experiences with each one.
In the meantime, the ARC copies of book one will be going out in September (so in roughly a month and a half) for those who were gracious enough to sign up! They will be Ebooks, for free in exchange for reviews (hopefully out by Feb 2027 if not earlier, but I don't want to rush people's reading speeds). If you are interested in receiving one of these copies, please sign up here! There is also a request option for reading the first chapter before committing to the rest of it (so far, everyone who's requested it has loved it and wanted to read the rest, so yay!).
I'm currently doing my last pass over everything now, tweaking and finessing here and there and making sure it's as strong as it absolutely can be with where I'm at right now. Chapter one, as well as two short stories focused on Jamie (left) and Flames (right) will be posted here / on my author website for free, easy reading ahead of time as well. More details there to follow! An Infrans discord will also be shared here a few weeks before release so that people can share thoughts / feedback, should they choose.
Thank you to everyone for your follows, your likes, your art, your thoughtful questions, and interest. I hope the story is worth the wait, and that you enjoy getting to meet these characters and this world that has been rattling around my head for the past 10+ years. I certainly love them, and I hope you do, too!
