Machine Gun Princess, day 23 by KriegsaffeNo9, literature
Literature
Machine Gun Princess, day 23
One ice-blue evening at camp, Irenka and Osanna set up camp far out in the fields outside of Icemelt. Irenka hacked down a small tree with her entrenching tool, more or less just to show off that she was good at it, and set up a nice warm campfire. Osanna set up the tent and church-keyed open the first beer, taking a long, loving drought as Irenka worked her flint and tinder, catching the kindling alight and getting the flame started in earnest. "Keep at it, almost there," Osanna said.
With a few flaps of her blanket the kindling caught, licks of fire pressing up through the pile of logs. "There we go," Irenka said. She took a seat on
Machine Gun Princess, day 21 by KriegsaffeNo9, literature
Literature
Machine Gun Princess, day 21
"...and how is Irena doing?" Devaraja said as he placed his Boiler piece on the queen's pawn. The wargame was in its final rounds. Agnieska's pieces were thoroughly scattered across the bard and Devaja's own were poised to rush her point and take it. In a challenging game this would have taken an hour to set up. Devaraja had the queen at his mercy in about ten minutes.
"Oh, happy as she's ever been," Agnieska said, surveying the board and trying to suss out some way to disrupt his strategy. Winning was out of the question. She could never figure the guy out, but then, that's why she had him where he was. "I think she's doing great fo
Machine Gun Princess, day 20 by KriegsaffeNo9, literature
Literature
Machine Gun Princess, day 20
Time passes; this is what time does.
Irenka took to her paints, and Osanna to her little life in the Flatlands.
This is how it went:
* * *
Six in the morning, and bells chimed. It was the end of the late shift for all the happy little workers of Mountainheart, and the start of the morning for the dayfolk. It was the start of Irenka's morning, too, and oh, how painful it was to peel herself out of her bed. She'd learned to love her stiff bunk, her lumpy bedroll. Sleeping in a real bed was like sleeping with her head in heaven. But the day waited, and the day would roll on without her.
A brisk shower, changing into her day clothes, b
Machine Gun Princess, day 19: Some Notes on Magick by KriegsaffeNo9, literature
Literature
Machine Gun Princess, day 19: Some Notes on Magick
Some Notes on Magick
Magic in its present form has only been practiced for about two centuries. The spirit shepherds were aware of the existence of other worlds and realms of being before then, but only with the creation of the spirit stake were they able to do more than observe via the use of assorted powerful drugs.
The spirit stake is created during a ritual undergone while on a particular mixture of alkaloid herbs and poisonous mushrooms. Inspired carvings and designs link the stake to a specific spirit witnessed by the ritualist; from then on, when correctly hammered into a living creature at a focal point just above the navel, tha
Machine Gun Princess, day 16 by KriegsaffeNo9, literature
Literature
Machine Gun Princess, day 16
Out of the thirty-five men and women who tried their hand at getting a spirit bound to them, only four of them, counting Stawski, had managed to pass. Everybody else had either hurt themseves or almost hurt somebody else. This was about par for the course, Irenka had read. Few were cut out for playing host to a spirit, and rumble worms were among the most docile and easy to control.
Irenka only missed a week of training. The saliva and surgery of the Dove ensured that Osanna was only bedridden a month, and back to light exercise for the first week back. The overall effect, Irenka was startled to find, was minimal. It just meant she ha
Machine Gun Princess, day 15: A History Lesson by KriegsaffeNo9, literature
Literature
Machine Gun Princess, day 15: A History Lesson
Równiny ("Flatland") began life as a small barony that split off from its home country following a peasant rebellion that had the backing of the knightly caste. Even in its earliest days Równiny was unusually martially adept, training every able-bodied man and woman in the basics of combat in order to defend their fledgeling nation from invasion. As time went on, they expanded their territory through conquest or revolution, spurring on secessions from other countries into Równiny territory on the promise of freedom from royal oppression.
The country was a representative democracy with elaborate and cautiously bala