Spring in Hieron 09: A Certain Way

All across the yet unnamed settlement growing in the reclaimed ruins of the Last University, small possibilities begin to reverberate from the potential future into the present moment. A caravan detained at the border, heading north. A fleeting scout in Ordennan armor. The theft of candy… and books unnamed. The slow, parade-approach of a Prince. And tree growing with worrying speed. Lord Ephrim looks these over, and must decide where his priorities lie.
And he is not the only one who concerns himself today with things that grow quickly. Hadrian, no longer a Paladin, takes on his role of father with haste and pride--words that a companion reminds him are oft forgotten flaws. Throndir, meanwhile, offers advice to his protege that he needed once learn on his own. And while Adaire does not set out to be a teacher, even crooks may find themselves sharing old tricks with the impressive young.

This week on Spring in Hieron: A Certain Way

Among the many important practical device a neophyte mage must learn, the CYNOSURE is most necessary. Whether in school ALCHEMICAL or CONJUROUS, WILD or INCORPORATED, EFFERVESCENT or NECROTIC, the first step of any spell is finding its elusive center, the aspect around which every other component must RELATE. Perhaps it is in the material ingredients--the mushroom shavings or recovered kestrel claw--or in the vocal and somatic terms--the right syllable to press, the uncomfortable shape of your hand. But as is true in SOCIETY is true in magic: the center of your spells must ATTRACT and DEFINE all that is around them. The periphery may falter, the margins may surprise you, but if the center holds, magic will follow.
-An Excerpt from the Crystalized Lectures of the Wizard Fantasmo

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

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