Odwin Vraduna drew a heavy breath through his nostrils. The salt of the sea palpable in the air. The Windjammer Flame of Trele had cleared the last water-lock and made it to coastal waters. Odwin could see a few lights from the port city of Prieteberg. The sun had set an hour ago, and the captain had ordered quarter sail. Come morning, they would set full sails towards Gilhal. Odwin thought of his comfortable office back at the capital. Odwin cleared his throat before turning to walk below deck. In the fore cargo hold Odwin found two of his trusted marines standing watch. They nodded and let him in without a word. Captain Pitman had cleared the hold for Odwin to use. It was spacious compared to usual ship quarters, which outsized his quarters by a order of magnitude or two. Lantern light illuminated the hold, swaying with the motion of the ship. A woman with auburn hair clad in a green dress was taking notes by one of the many tables in the hold. She was Odwin’s chief scholar. “Go...

A storm had reached the Vineyard, a modest settlement not far off the Old Svalich Road. Aside from the occasional thunder, the only light visible was from the kitchen window. Here, long ago, the Martikovs had settled and produced wine for years, if not decades. The warming hearth was blazing over some logs. Dag and Stefania plated the table, while their children ran back and forth. From Adrian’s room, they heard a lazy tune, a tired performance of Big Tom’s Hijinks. Stefania imagined for a moment that it was Adrian who was playing, but could not hold the thought for long. The mushrooms and the onions were soft and simmering in the broth. Against Dag’s wishes, she had also included some mutton in the occasion of their guests. Dag did not think much of them.  Davian, her gruff father, muttered but not saying anything in particular. She turned to get a ladle, only to notice that the elf was sitting by the table. She had not met many elves, but she imagined they would at least tal...

A setting concept told in stories. In the silence of a starry night, a single bolt of starlight raced from the sky to the land. In the marshlands of Osidenc, the falling star was revealed to be a craft of some kind. Local farmers discovered the wreckage and were shocked to find it surrounded by the corpses of strange creatures. The authorities were summoned and the site was cordoned off, and the farmers were told to forget what they saw. Mayor Adus von Retter was called in to deal with the incident, bringing his best Witchfinder, Captain Marnhelm Fochterwald. A week had passed since the incident, and they discovered that one of the farmers had slowly turned mad in the matter of a few days. The Witchfinder quickly suspected supernatural activity of some kind, but was unable to identify the source. In a bid for further assistance, the Mayor sent a letter to the Gilhal Academy of Philosophies, requesting the aid of the famous Natural Philosopher Odwin Vraduna. In the time before ...