Tag Archives: drabble

[Cimeies] Boss

“Boss”, Zarah calls Cim that now, but she wasn’t the first one. The last time they were called “Boss”, it didn’t go well.

In the Seventh Wave, Simeon had been a scout, one of the Unconquered who spent more time lying in muddy ditches and deep puddles than they did a dry bed of any kind. He’d been good at it, good enough to get his own command and to lead them deep into Vallorn-claimed territory when Reikos fell.

Cim can remember it still: her voice begging him to hang on until they can get back to the surgeons; how few of them did get back, every word the surgeons said when they said the wounds would never fully heal and his army life was done.

Simeon went to war, and Cimeies returned. Different people, but both called “Boss” by those close to them. Perhaps this time it would go better.


Prompt of “Boss” provided by Liz.

[No Heaven] Tidings

The frigate known as Cavalier limped into the inner system having dropped out of FTL. The hull was scarred by weapons fire, and she was barely capable of maintaining engine power now – another FTL bubble would be impossible.

What she carried into the depths of the system was no cargo nor even just herself. She carried tidings of a grim fate.

Her sister ship – Chevalier – and the Martin Whittaker, Mars’ flagship lie thousands of light years behind, destroyed during humanity’s first contact with a living alien species.

The news she brought would dishearten not only Mars, but all humanity: tidings of an alien race who do not communicate, but only destroy; of a nascent colony likely destroyed along with the ships that had protected it.

There would be no good tidings this night.


Prompt of “tidings” provided by Rob. Another No Heaven story, this one following on from one on the No Heaven website.

[Zephyr] Antlers

When two stags have a fight, they clash antlers, inflicting grievous wounds on the body, occasionally fatal ones.

When two Changelings fight, it can be similar. It is more often a clash of words and blades than antlers but it is not unknown for antlers to lock, and however they fight, the wounds are no less severe.

When rage takes them, it can be all the worse. And when they are family, the wounds cut all the deeper.

When a Changeling turns her wrath on her fatally-wounded brother, both beset by madness, it can be disastrous. The prongs of the antlers go deep and cause even worse damage, hastening the end.


Prompt of “antlers” provided by Sonja who may be traumatised…

[Cimeies] Cards

The cards were neatly stacked, organised into separate piles and occasionally stamped with an inky mark that apparently made sense to the person who put them there.

Some of them were crammed with notes, others barely more than a header. They were each meticulously copied, amended, and filed in a particular place after being sorted. The fire blazed merrily nearby, fresh kindling curling within the flames.

A particular card, seemingly forgotten, has fallen near the fire, ashes smearing the ink and smouldering embers blackening the edges. It is stained with cinnamon spirit and some of the ink is blurred from water damage.

The work continues, however.


The prompt of “cards” provided by Liz.

[Cimeies] Bells

There were always plenty of documents to collate. Diaries, reports, notations on strange things, notices from the Civil Service, the latest judgements from Anvil.

On the shelf sat a black bell, inscribed with a delicate pattern in gold. It sat amongst several other bells, none of which held any less significance and most of which were more prominently placed. The black bell rung, pealing softly, the low tones reaching across the room but not so loud as to be distracting.

Cimeies looked up from the document they were perusing – a copy of the story destined to be added to the Wall of Damata, though whether it was added before the Jotun arrived was another matter – and made a few notes before setting the Freeborn scroll aside and getting up.

There were other tasks to be getting on with, and their Sister was in need of aid. The ringing bell is plucked from the shelf, the motion bringing silence to the room before the bell is rung once. This time, no sound is heard in the study, and the bell is slipped back onto the shelf before Cimeies exits the room just as silently.


Prompt of “bells” provided by Clare.

[No Heaven] Longest night

The silence is deafening. Only the occasional whimper can be heard, even from a crowd of people this magnitude. Even the background hum off the machinery that keeps you all alive is silent, the entire colony shut down and dead to the world, all in the vain hope that those aboard it wouldn’t also end up that way.

They were coming, and no one knew how to stop them. The only hope was to run, or hide. The last of the ships should have left the system by this point, and the thousands of people packed aboard those ships are but a drop in the ocean compared to the billions left behind.

There are around seven hundred of you in here, packed into this room deep within the colony structure like sardines. With the colony’s systems shut down, you need to share tight quarters in order to preserve body heat, but you may run out of air before above freezes to death – the Martian atmosphere is still too thin to retain heat or to breathe. There are some emergency oxygen supplies, but you need to be careful about how you use them; you don’t want to risk drawing attention to yourselves.

It will be a long wait, and you don’t know whether it will end in your survival.. or your death.


Fiction prompt provided by Jen. This takes place within the No Heaven universe and may be the basis for an upcoming game in that world.

[Lost] Character drabble

“Alright then, alright then. What can I get for ya? Everything you could want, I got – or I can get it. Well… everything available with a modicum amount of effort – I don’t got no one-of-a-kind Holy Grails or nuttin’ and I don’t do quest work in the main – that’s not my bag.

Ain’t no Imitation Brand items here: either it’s the real deal, a Gen-U-Ine product, or it’s not on my stall. I only make honest trades, and I don’t sell shoddy goods. Sure, it might have fallen off a truck or four, but that don’t make it shoddy. I take barter and favours mostly – cash if you’re hard up but there’s a premium on that.”

A bit of a drabble about my Lost concept for the new Isles of Darkness chronicle. I’m currently thinking of calling him Honest Denzo (or Uncle Denzo) but I don’t really know where that name is coming from.

Spent the trip to collect my phone last night building up the character and exploring the concept and what he does, who he is, and what sort of person he is. All in all, he’s not a nice person, but he’s not a bad person – he’s in it for his own gain and he doesn’t really mind if that hurts other people, or if their desires backfire.

Thinking Spring Court with some Autumn Contracts. All about the desire, with the ability to tell what magic items do/are.

Seeming/Kith is where I’m a little more stuck. I’m thinking of using inspiration from the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth – pale skin and blind in face with eyes in his hands which I intend to phys-rep with a mask and make-up[1]. To go with the mask, I’m thinking a creepy pale blond wig á la Richard O’Brien as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Taking this all into account, I’m either thinking Darkling or Ogre. Darkling has the pale creepy vibe down pat (especially Tunnelgrub and Palewraith), but Ogre has Cyclopean and I quite like that as a means of subverting the blindness. Wizened would also work, but I’m less convinced about wanting to play one.

The character is a bit of a mish-mash of Riff Raff from Rocky Horror, Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses, Badger from Firefly, CMOT Dibbler from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, and other similar characters. Bit of an attitude, thinks he’s better than he is, proclaims himself an honest gentleman while trying to swindle every customer for all they’re worth.

Footnotes   [ + ]

1. I’m actually not sold on the eyes on hands thing, but some kind of pseudo-blindness appeals to me

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