Brent Stinebaker posts
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THOUGH TRIBULATION FALLS (TEST CHAPTER PILOT)
Heed me now, my children. I am going to ask you all the only question that will ever matter.Who holds the sword?-Wei Tong Tian, The Dawnfather1The FractureA dungeon was really quite a boring place once one ran out of demons to kill. Such was why kept one of his victims alive.“Kill… me…” the twisted facsimile of a dragon whimpered, struggling against the rusted chains that left it tethered ...
State of Godclads, Critiques, and Upcoming Project
Greetings,As the Hidden Empire volume of Godclads begins, we will be expanding the cast, crew, and way the story is told. Avo's point of view will be kept, but as he increasingly a memetic plague rather than a person, we're going to start getting "third-second point of views" as he mantles parts of himself in various minds and people and guides them away (or into danger).This means...
22-18 Awakening
{THE GHOUL DID WHAT?}-EGI “Kant Was A Prick”22-18AwakeningRESURRECTION - 100%The wind rose of its own accord.The heads of the Fardrifter whistled out from Avo as he returned to reality. Coiling free, they passed through the confines of his tower and fled beyond, to the open sky outside, rushing over the enclave with booming laughter.He beheld his former Heaven–the fragment of a fallen god re...
22-17 Conjoinment
Do you know what it took to set the foundations for the Guilds to be born? The amount of dissent Jaus had to sow? The machinations he never mentioned?Let me tell you something about forming an empire: It's easiest born from the corpse of a preceding order. Harvested legacy, in a word.Before the Guilds, there were the faiths, the middlemen to Godclads, guiding shackled civilizations surviving u...
22-16 Kidnapping
+This is Elder Mwaba D’Rongo.I have something for you. Receive it in my stead. It will make our clan strong; and protect us from our enemies.Within. And… without.You will know what they are. You will understand what I have done. I ask that you behold these memories before judging me. The threat we face is… it is beyond us. Beyond our comprehension. Already too late to contain. We are at the ...
22-15 So Above
Listen, let’s not bullshit ourselves here: there are only a few situations in which we mask the egos of our finest Glaives and hide them up in the Purgatories.And of all those reasons, it’s almost never because Highflame has their number, or a No-Dragon flesh-coded smart plague, or whatever nightmare Omnitech is cooking up. We know how they work, and it isn’t that kind of subtle.They’ll as...
22-14 As Below…
They call them sanctuaries? Better term is processing plant. If you see what the Guilds are playing at here you’ll know what they’re saying is all godsdamned bullshit.Voidwatch tries to help, but they’re crippled here. Omnitech’s keeping their eyes limited, and the machines they send down have problems. The Nether does things to their systems. Messes them up bad. We see them shipping more ...
22-13 Shifts in the Wind
“Take everything! USE EVERYTHING! FIND HIM! FIND THE BASTARD WHO DEFILED OUR SANCTITY! THE DEVOURER OF PEACE! THE BURNING DREAMER! FIND THE THIEF OF OUR TREASURES! EXTINGUISH HIS FLAME! ALL THAT IT TAKES! WHATEVER IT TAKES! WE UNBIND YOU FROM YOUR RESTRICTIONS! WE UNCHAIN YOU FROM MERE SERVITUDE!GO MY FAMINES! FIND HIM! FORGE WHATEVER ALLIANCE YOU MAY! TURN ALL THAT YOU CAN! SEIZE SOULS AND SEE ...
22-12 …Then Comes the Noise
You can despise the faithful. You can hate them. You can hurt them. You can hunt them.But if you hunt them, it's important that you never underestimate them. They have ruled the world for most of history, after all, and this was no accident.In faith there is a want that can be captured in every person. A desire to see the impossible made possible. By gods. By the state. By some force ineffable...
22-11 First Comes Lightning…
We’re gonna be tested in this life, Cas. You know this. You know that we have a burden. A responsibility. A crusade. You how hard the struggle is. Know that it was going to cost us. Has cost us.I know… that it’s hard to have faith sometimes. Especially after what they did to your father. Your brother. What they’re going to do to me. I know this is going to break you in ways–oh, Cas I’m...
State of Godclads + Second Story Pilot
1. State of GodcladsHey, everyone. Hope you're having as good a time reading the story as I ma writing it. Right now, we're about the halfway mark in the story. As you might see, things are entering a more strategic scope and the conflict is getting increasingly complicated.Guild politics, ancient histories, and a broader set of perspectives (all mentally or effectively connected to Avo) w...
22-10 The Beast in the Nothing
BREACH-LEAD-1: +Aero down. Crashed in the courtyard of megablock designation: Tower-2. Permission to converge and secure package.+JOCK-3: +Jock-3 to the Breacher-1, we have satellite reign over airspace. Scrambling bombers to divert Exorcist response team. Kill-Team-Secondary has engaged Sanctus assets. Delay in progress. The window is open. Golems on standby.+INSTRUMENT-VERITIBLE: +Breach-Lead-1,...
22-9 The Painted Ripples
Seeding a dragon takes more than just thaumaturgy. The ability to manipulate the chronological matter of the beasts is important, yes, but also understanding what makes their seeds bear fruit.Culture: this is the water of their nourishment. Zeitgeist: what makes them grow. Moments in time that cannot be recaptured. That will be ingrained within them, always and forever theirs to hold.It is hard to...
22-8 Deliberation
Mono-god cultures are a rarity on Idheim. Not a surprise considering most gods are spawned from Souls, and a rising civilization usually has a hell of a lot more than one powering their miracles.Sure, we can talk about [REDACTED] or [REDACTED], but those are odd cases. Sang having door gods or community gods or city gods managed by their dragon overlords, effectively turning the gods from rulers t...
22-7 Matter of Time (II)
Why are there so few Gods of Time, you ask? Hm. A commonly asked question. What is the first thing you might do with time?Many answers come with this question, but what unites them is change. People wish to change the nature of time. In relation to themselves. In relation to something else. What changes people desire to make informs us much about them.A warrior might wish to move and strike first....
22-6 Matter of Time (I)
+Hey, hey, New Vultun. Do you have a migraine? I sure do. How did everyone enjoy this year’s annual Low Master mind-fucking? At least that’s who I’m guessing is behind this. Either that or Ori-Thaum tripped over the “Nether” cord again.Anyway. If the threat of another Guild War followed by a new Nolothic Uprising wasn’t enough darkness for your day, we also have to ask ourselves just w...
22-5 Reorientation
CONFIDENTIALCONFIDENTIALCONFIDENTIALSYNCHRONIZING MEM-CODES…100%CLEARANCE GRANTED TO FATE-SKEIN: [SAMIR NAEKO]Report No.: CATZENITH-002-CELEDONDate: 28-IV-233 PFSubject Name: [REDACTED]Physical Description: [REDACTED]Height: [REDACTED]Weight: [REDACTED]Eye Color: [REDACTED]Hair Color: [REDACTED]THREAT CATEGORY ZENITHHEAVENS: [REDACTED]WARNING: SUBJECT HAS A DOMAIN OF (CHRONOLOGY) AND AN ESOTERIC...
22-4 Among Giants
[Operational Damage Report for Critical Sovereignties in the Spine]1. KainhalDeath Toll: Estimated 23 MillionCasualties: Over 120 MillionDamage: Decimation of all major Syndicates; operational members, active enforcers, associated gangs, activated golems2. Suldananapt-IadoirDeath Toll: 12 MillionCasualties: Approximately 64 Million, many missingDamage: Major chrono-spatial launch sites damaged; ma...
22-3 Peace Broken
Osjane Thousand: Naeko. What do you want? The fires have settled. Nothing remains of our foes but ash and ruins. The slaves are unchained. The pantheons they fed are but fragments we bear within us. Our victory is total. More and more of our brethren are arriving from across the stars. Countless new horizons await.So why?Why are you still so desperate to find a war? To find a foe? Why are you stil...
22-2 Inheritor of Shadows (II)
[EGI] “Kant Was A Prick”: What a mess. Calvino? Can you talk him down? Because we still need Thousandhand. As much as her death might–[EGI] “Loch-Ness Bomber” has entered THRESHOLD-Node-Zeroth[EGI] “Loch-Ness Bomber”: Nevermind that boring shit, everyone get in here! The fight’s still going! I’m activating local units to get a better view. Sweet Sol, I miss pay-per-view.[EGI] “...
22-1 Inheritor of Shadows (I)
We call it the Heart of Noloth.Don’t worry. We have it well-trained. We had the faith culture this one into being a particularly stupid god. The sacrifices are made to believe that it is more beast than person–the shaping made easier by the fact of its arrival.Oh. Do you know it holds the temple? We discovered both the god and the “holy site” together. You can say they were entwined from t...
21-15 The Glaive Unsheathed
Akusande. Will cut in my stead, in exchange for your life?…Yes.Will you serve my will in death, as you would in life?…Yes.Will you defy time itself to ensure my fall be undone, my return be swift, my vengeance be taken?…Yes.-Zein and the Dragon-Glaive “Akusande”21-15The Glaive UnsheathedTime rebalanced, and Avo’s base ego snapped back in alignment with his subminds. As his cog-feed cea...
21-14 The Disagreement (II)
And Veylis, remember this always: if something can be taken from you, it was never truly yours.-Zein Thousandhand21-14The Disagreement (II)They stood as pillars amidst the chaos, the misted torrents that once made up totality grasping vainly at their forms. The patterns of reality coursed up into the Ladder and broke in two directions. One to make the ascent. The other to feed a balance.Suspense c...
21-13 The Disagreement (I)
Veylis Avandaer: Why?Jaus Avandaer: Veylis, listen–Veylis Avandaer: No. Do not use your rhetoric on me. I am your daughter, not your enemy. Tell me why. Only why. Tell me why you see to cast us back in chains.Jaus Avandaer: That is not what I'm doing. You know this. You can see that?Veylis Avandaer: Can I? Father, you are rebuilding a god! A god of such sophistication. A god with past panthe...
21-12 The Paths of Futures Broken (II)
Fate is a fickle thing.Even in years of yore, the gods of destiny and the weavers of preordination were not omnipotent. Such is the great weakness of all Heavens, after all, for the conceptualization of all-knowingness remains beyond even the genius of the minds.And no god has ever managed to reach such heights, though their ambitions drive them to seek it.Despite this, limited hyper-awareness is ...
21-11 The Paths of Futures Broken (I)
Veylis Avandaer: Father.Jaus Avandaer: Veylis? Is there something you need?Veylis Avandaer: I wish to speak to you about our undertaking. The “safeguards” we are building into the future.Jaus Avandaer: The paths?Veylis Avandaer: Yes. While I have been building the superstructure, I have encountered half-formed simulations.Jaus Avandaer: They trouble you.Veylis Avandaer: They trouble me. I have...
21-10 A Betrayal Unremembered
There have been gods of knowledge, gods of wisdom, gods of intellect, gods of creation, gods of innovation, gods of technology, but an overarching god of thoughts, of minds, of memory? Those are few and far between, and their faithful are usually killed before they can ascend from their cradle.There are multiple theories as to why this is.The most supported among these is that the pantheons simply...
21-9 The Godslayer
“Impossible. I am the Sword of Swords. I am the Sword of Swords! I am the–”-Last words of Huen-Vai, God of War, Sword of Swords, shattered by the once-mortal Zein Thousandhand in single combat21-9The GodslayerZein strode.Calamity followed.She lashed out first not with an umbrella or blade, but with a reaching hand, her fingers clenching around time itself. Before Kae could root her in place ...
21-8 Sword and Plague (II)
Naeko… Naeko…Ah. Yes, yes, scream in pain. You’ve earned that. But scream while listening! I have something important to say.To you as well, Veylis!It is not enough to perform perfection.Indeed, I have known many a talented warrior, and they all are embarrassments in the end, for perfection is something they merely feel.The strokes, the slashes, the attacks, the maneuvers, the grapples, the ...
21-7 Sword and Plague (I)
+It was a miracle–++The palm! Did you see it?++We should have died. My aero hit that building at over 200 miles an hour…++He pulled the flechettes out of me. They were just… gone.++He stopped the flames from burning my children. He stopped it. He put it out. His palm fell and the flames died.++Fuck, consangs, I’m never talking shit about Naeko again. I don’t care if he’s a corner-dwell...
