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Episode 38 Published

I’ve been working on this episode for a while. I had a great intro, but the next plot movement didn’t carry much action. I wanted to dress it up. After a while I quit moaning about it and Wrote The Damn Chapter, and it came out pretty well. Except… that intro I was so happy with? It didn’t belong at the top of this chapter. It had to go. But I needed something there — it was time to get another glimpse at Martin’s thoughts. It just had to be the right glimpse.

Any time you start an anecdote with “I once killed a man who…” I think it’s going to be an interesting story. So during the quiet passage of days at Rock Fork we learn a little more about what makes our hero tick. And, now that I think about it, what doesn’t.

Then everything changes. There’s a new threat, and it’s not like any they’ve faced before.

Enjoy Episode 38: Worm!

Never forget, dear patrons, that this whole endeavor is powered by you. I thank you for you support and ask only that you spread the word.

And Hey Wow! Another Patreon goal met! Which means I owe another backstory. While I get off my sorry ass and get to work putting Katherine’s story on these pages, it’s time for the Mighty Benefactors of All Things Sharp and Pointy to decide whose backstory comes next. Feel free to talk among yourselves while I figure out if I can create a poll in a sensible location.

I expect I’ll be churning out this hastily-written, not-terribly-edited treatise in November. It’s what Novembers are for, after all, even allowing for the fact that I’m getting married in December.

Author’s hints to the voters: Elena’s story before Martin walks into the bar in Mountain Hole is horrible, and it might be tiresome to wade through it since the first ray of hope for her happens right in the current story. Stories of survival despite unrelenting horror are inspiring, but her backstory would not include the actual getting-out-alive part. Might be a drag. A couple of other characters have come and gone, but probably haven’t made a big enough impact to be interesting. Mrkl might be an interesting choice; that backstory would include a previous version of Martin. Then there’s the King or that Baron that got killed, but those stories would be so spoiler-heavy they would ruin everything.

So think about it, ye Mighty, and don’t forget to include inanimate objects in your discussion. Martin’s lovely black-bladed knife, which has a twin somewhere that took the life of its creator, or Bags’ shiny sword.

Or maybe go afield and find a god from one of Elena’s curses, or a character from Bags’ backstory. (I’m wondering if I’m going to regret mentioning that.)

It’s up to you, Mighty Ones.

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2 Comments

  1. keith_sherwood keith_sherwood

    Great line to close the second paragraph. But it immediately brings up a question in the reader’s mind: why did Martin end up killing the bird man? Could you maybe go back and answer that in a new second-to-last-paragraph that is as surprising and tied in as your current last paragraph with wonderful last sentence. (Just a great quasi-cliff hanger)

    • Jerry Jerry

      Martin’s allegiance to the bird man expired at the same moment the astronomer did. The bargain was fulfilled. It’s possible the bird man refused to pay, but I expect that people who hire assassins are often killed by assassins as well.

      I left it ambiguous because for Martin the why’s and wherefore’s of his murders just aren’t important. But you’re right, I probably could have driven that idea home with another well-placed thought. If it suddenly appears in this episode, feel free to take credit.

      It may be, now that I think about it, that Martin trusts people he has killed more than he trusts other people.

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