"Imagine a world that has begun to cast off the yoke of monarchy, a world where the old ways are slipping into memory and a new era of enlightenment is dawning. Knowledge spreads like wildfire, commerce and democracy take root. Thousands upon thousands gravitate to massive City-States, towering metropolises that cast long shadows across the face of the earth. Once jealously guarded arcane secrets are now available on every corner, and the very fabric of the universe succumbs to the inevitable march of progress. Imagine the world of Nobis."
A warning is in order here for this story. Given the nature and personality of this particular Baernaloth, the level of blatant violence and gore is much higher in this story than in previous ones. So please do keep that in mind before reading this. And also, this story is significantly longer than the previous entries in the Baernaloth cycle.“From time to time I pause before a mirror to draw back my lips and gaze at the truth… Show me your smile and I will show you your fate.” – Matt Cardin, “Teeth”
“So here’s the way it works out: if you don’t give them water for a day, then they don’t go to the toilet. Give them water once, and they go to the toilet once; take pity on them and give them water twice – they go to the toilet twice. So it’s pure and simple common sense: just don’t give them anything to drink.” – Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago Vol 2, pp 495-496
She was not always evil, say the legends. She was not always as she is now. Other places, other times, other myths in the weaving. Made before the Twin Rivers joined with the Ma’at and swept outwards, rippling a greater truth across all the many worlds and planes. And not wholly forgotten, even now. Set apart, and treasured, and harboring a hidden power. (It was before the waking of the baern…)