#the rending

[fallenlightsif]

As a treat, I have officially posted The Rending's Prologue for all Free Members over on Patreon!

Check it out here and let me know what you think!

The Rending is a prequel novel set in the world of Fallen Lights centering around Odesus and Taras Sidorov, his Chosen. It will be released in a serial fiction style with one chapter being published on Patreon every month for all paid members.

[fallenlightsif]

The first part of The Rending has been uploaded for all tiers on Patreon ✨

Odesus threw the doors of his mother’s temple open without care, striding in like a roll of thunder. His boots clicked on the fine tile below with the force of each step, pure adrenaline propelling him forward. She looked up from where she knelt by her garden, her serene countenance falling into a frown as she watched him approach.

“Mother,” He said stiffly as she stood to greet him.

“What’s got you in such a state?” She sighed, wiping her hands off on a clean rag, “That door is glass, you know. It will break if you throw it open hard enough.”

He was hardly in the mood to entertain small talk and instead decided to cut to the core of the issue, “Thinovar has fallen. Rhoivar is likely to follow soon.”

She turned away from him, usually a signal to any of her children that silence would be the wisest option continuing forward. He could not abide this time, however; silence wouldn’t make her understand and silence certainly wouldn’t stop the destruction.

[fallenlightsif]

Next up on The Rending…

“There are no Gods here,” Vera spits out, facing Taras with a narrow eyed glare, “Just soulless statues and hushed begging. That’s all your prayers are to them.”

[iamthespineofmybook]

Thinking on this topic again because an associated topic was brought up on MaRo's Tumblr.

The way the Phyrexian Invasion of the Multiverse in March of the Machine was handled was very badly done on two fronts.

The big one was putting basically the entire war into one set (and change). The start of the war itself was at the very end of the story of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, with the opening of Realmbreaker's Omenpaths.

But the war itself was basically over as soon as it began because of a single decision in-universe that wasn't revealed until after things ended, and even then it was only speculated by the characters. Namely, that Elesh Norn had decided to anchor all of New Phyrexia's Glistening Oil to herself.

Now, I'm not one of the people who wanted New Phyrexia to win and the next storyline to be the multiverse slowly fighting back. But I think it should have been harder than "Wrenn sacrifices herself to save/stop Realmbreaker" coupled with "Elspeth chops off Norn's head."

In my opinion, the story should have had the heroes fighting as hard as they are able, losing some places and winning in others, all the while hunting for a way to win outright. Show the big names fighting for their homes or trying to find a new Legacy Weapon, what with Karn captured and dismembered and the Weatherlight compleated.

And then, while being compleated, someone figures out what Norn did and tells the people around them. The one coming to mind being Grist, who is a hivemind. They'd recognize that Norn has basically done to New Phyrexia what they do to insects.

And then you get an attack on Norn and, while there, Wrenn suddenly realizing that Realmbreaker needs her help.

Have all that over the course of two full sets.

And then, the second thing, don't do the Aftermath thing. Instead, have the players discover the effects of The Rending with the characters. Each new deSparked Planeswalker coming to terms with it better and better as time moves past.

Some unbelieving that their Spark is gone, some deciding that they're okay with staying wherever they landed for good, others mapping out the new, chaotic Omenpaths so they can keep wandering the Planes, even without the ability to control their destination.

And someone trying to pull a Bolas combined with a Yawgmoth to try and gain their powers back, even if they have to steal it from someone else.

Ending the main event the same set it started left things feeling unresolved. Shoving the results at us without fanfare afterwards made it worse.

They said "look at Sarkhan, looking happier than ever" about his deSparked card's art. But why should he be? They never gave us his thoughts on it, just told us it must be a good thing.