It's not the world's largest butterfly nor the prettiest, but there is promise in the soft flutter of its wings. But my task is not to describe the butterfly for you, merely to place it gently on your fingertip to experience for yourself. I only hope that long after it has flown away, you retain a pleasant memory of having held it in your hands.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Bardwell
Twigboat Press
December 20, 2017
GLOSSARY OF ESOTERICA
Artificer's Guild: An association of talented techno artisan princes who are both literally and figuratively responsible for keeping the steam-powered Iron Empire running. They are the hands that grease the gears.
Black Guards: The province level, state administered police force of the Iron Empire. Trained at the Imperial Academy. Responsible for quelling domestic enemies. The magistrate's men.
By the Gods' _____: Misappropriating the gods' holy body parts and excretions to manufacture crude epithets is the delight of the uncouth and lower classes everywhere. The bodies and bodily functions of the five major deities are sacrosanct and should not be used for verbal profanity.
Dragons: Ferocious, wild beasts with furnace breath, diamond scales, and razor claws. Tend to see large, armored forces as a territorial threat. Juveniles and adults exhibit different preferences for both dietary and habitat selections.
Golden Diplomats: The diplomatic corps of the Iron Empire. Trained at the Imperial Academy. Responsible for quelling foreign allies.
Lobsters: (derogatory, Empire) An epithet for the Red Army, who have largely been shunted to political irrelevance, debased their once noble traditions, and precipitously lowered their recruitment standards.
Mage: A wizard, a sorcerer, someone with the ability to manipulate and store ethereal energies. They are largely feared and reviled within the Iron Empire.
Magic: Ethereal energies, mysterious and dangerous.
Quill Jockey: (derogatory, Empire) Someone whom through the whimsy of the five gods has been chained to a desk and had a nib glued to their fingers.
Red Army: The military arm of the Iron Empire. Trained at the Imperial Academy. Responsible for quelling foreign enemies.
Sign of the White Tower: The act of clasping one's hands and raising the index fingers to form an approximation of the Alabaster Tower while praying to the five gods. Otherwise known as steepling.
The Five: An abbreviated appellation for the collective five major deities.
The Wizard Rebellion: The violent uprising in the Iron Empire, Year 195, when the disenfranchised mage population sought to overthrow their emperor and smash his bureaucracy. This rebellion resulted in a draconian backlash as mages are not only still suppressed, but hunted and executed as traitors to the state 300 years later.
White Tower: (slang, Empire) The Alabaster Tower.
CHARACTER COMPENDIUM
CITIZENS OF THE IRON EMPIRE
Benson: (Apprentice) An apprentice in the Artificer's Guild. A clever bully. Devin's nemesis.
Bernice: (Merchant) A thoughtful, skilled woman who rose from the sewing factory floor to run of her own business, a clothing boutique, in a largely patriarchal, male dominated society. Devin's and Misera's mother.
Bottcelli: (Journeyman) A skilled artificer, but lacks innovation. Tends to borrow ideas from everyone and everything.
Devin: (Apprentice) A genius apprentice of the Artificer's Guild who turns to wizardry in his desperation to succeed. Persistent and hardworking, if prone to arrogance. Occasionally hears voices. Perhaps over fond of dragons. Bernice's son. Misera's older brother.
Drusilla: (Apprentice) An apprentice with the Artificer's Guild. Devin's best friend.
Druge: (Journeymen) Tasked with teaching Advanced Metallurgy and Gear Ratio Mathematics to the Artificer's Guild apprentices. His students would surely find his subject material more fascinating if only the delivery were not so deathly boring.
Higgins: (Journeyman) A clever artificer who searches for personal illumination in all the wrong places.
Horatio II: (Emperor) The Exalted Horatio II, Lord of the Iron Empire and Protector of the Northern Territories, long may he reign. His duties include administering the national executive and legislative responsibilities of the empire. As the apex of a sprawling government pyramid, the emperor largely leaves state and local administrators to their own devices and will even heed advice from his judicial appointees if it suits him. The emperor's word is law and the imperial bureaucracy exists solely to implement that law.
Huron: (Merchant/Master) The wise current head of the Guild of Artificers. He prefers to play the kindly old man and tinker with his own inventions rather than be the stern administrator when the stifling demands of his position allow for such luxuries. Manages and oversees an entire country of artificers and their widespread projects from the Guild Hall, which is located in South District of the capitol of the Western Province in the Iron Empire.
Misera: (Commoner) Devin's younger sister. Bernice's daughter.
Waller: (Journeyman) A normally cheerful artificer still too unaccustomed to his rank to avoid socializing with apprentices.
THE AUTHOR
Jeffrey Bardwell wrote his first fantasy epic when he was seven: a thrilling single page adventure. Subsequent stories have grown and matured alongside their author. He devours fantasy and science fiction novels and is most comfortable basking near a warm wood stove. When not writing, Jeffrey enjoys cooking, gardening, and shooing baby dragons from the compost bin.
The author lives on a farm and in a prior life worked as a community ecologist. He is overfond of puns and alliterations. He is also an unabashed history and mythology enthusiast and would love to hear from you. Email at: [email protected]
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Table of Contents
DEDICATION
NOTES FROM THE ARTIFICER'S GUILD
1. DRUSILLA, YEAR 490
2. DEVIN, YEAR 491
3. DEVIN, YEAR 491
4. DEVIN, YEAR 491
5. DRUSILLA, YEAR 491
6. DEVIN, YEAR 491
7. DEVIN, YEAR 491
8. DRUSILLA, YEAR 491
9. DEVIN, YEAR 491
10. DRUSILLA, YEAR 491
11. DEVIN, YEAR 491
12. DEVIN, YEAR 491
13. DEVIN, YEAR 491
14. DRUSILLA, YEAR 491
15. DEVIN, YEAR 491
16. DEVIN, YEAR 491
THE SAGA CONTINUES . . .
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
AUTHOR'S NOTES
GLOSSARY OF ESOTERICA
CHARACTER COMPENDIUM
THE AUTHOR
Rotten Magic Page 16
