Showing results by author "Anya Merchant" in All Categories

After saying goodbye to Bylia, Damon receives a new quest in the form of a vague missive from Princess Kastet. He and Vel are both summoned to meet with her, but Malon is wary of letting them travel together unsupervised. Damon reluctantly makes a promise to his aesta to keep his hands to himself, or at the least, to seek her out during sleep with the dreamspell amulet, instead of turning his lust toward Vel. It’s an arrangement which is quickly tested, as it soon becomes clear that the new journey may lead them far from home.

After watching Yvvestrosai burn, Damon is headed home with sore feet and a broken heart. There’s no avoiding what he must tell Malon and Vel. The weight of losing Ria, his partner, his wife, is inescapable. His travels are hard even setting aside his personal struggles. He’s a wanted man and a dangerous man, with his myrblade at the height of its power in the midst of winter. It’s a fact which others recognize, a fact which makes him valued as much as feared.

Damon returns to Veridan’s Curve after his world breaking battle and surveys the damage.

After leaving Azurecliff, Damon wanders Veridan’s Curve with an increasingly high bounty on his head. He’s desperate to find a way to help Vel wake up, regardless of where it comes from. Armed with his myrblade and an ounce of fleeting hope, he begins searching down leads.

Every job has its skill set, including being an innkeeper. With the Blacksoul Band vanquished, Damon sets aside swinging his sword for a life of pouring ale and polishing tables. He and his family, under their new names, find peace and comfort within the Rosewood Inn. Unfortunately, trouble has a way of rearing itself up while everyone is settling down. Princess Kastet's former lady-in-waiting, Lilian, shows up at the inn with a message from a powerful ally. A message which not everyone is interested in hearing....

Prince Makoa has achieved what he once could only have dreamed of. Twinfalls is now under his control. The heralder throne, of course, is now his, one among many spoils of war, though the title of heralder king itself still just alludes him. But power is only powerful within context. Underqueen Avina, his beloved mother, has her own thoughts on both his rule and the path forward. Sparks fly between her and her son as he attempts to navigate defending his new prize from the threat of a reformed Estorian army.

Meanwhile, Underqueen Avina attempts to bring stability back to Harvestglade while Petra searches desperately for the traitors and their hostage. Torn between her concern for Koa and her anxiety for her esper, Avina can do little else but wait. At least, until word from her fellow underqueens arrives requesting her presence at a conference to determine the future of the realm. With Harvestglade still near to full strength, it’s a long awaited and rather cathartic reversal of roles to set off knowing this time, her rivals will take her perspective seriously.

Winter has arrived in Harvestglade alongside war. Prince Makoa seeks to defend his lands against the Estorian invaders, yet struggles with his own grief and the daunting magnitude of the problem. The Estorians field an army of men, monsters, and most horrifying of all—politicians, necessitating a creative approach to defense.

Back at the rebuilt tower, Damon contemplates the future and how to fix what’s been broken.

Hunkering down under the guise of a humble innkeeper, Damon Al-Kendras continues to live a relatively peaceful life alongside his family. The days pass in a routine mixture of simple chores—serving drinks, wiping down the bar, and, of course, feeding the beautiful blood-sucking monster hidden in the basement. Like so many things in life, change is inevitable. Damon struggles to juggle Lilian’s growing hunger, new taxes levied by the town, and the watchful eyes of a woman with way too much free time on her hands.