MARCH 6th 2010
In Food of the
Bread-eater, Sven takes a mid-morning stroll down to Colonization
Square in order to buy Heolis a birthday present.
An innocent-sounding quest.
The new moon signals Kim Khaldun to the
Sunken Quarter. She comes without expectations, merely the obedient
servant of an address written on sandwich paper. She records her
thoughts as she searches for Eight Scavenge
Park.
OCTOBER 6th 2009
Kasper Skelterborne and Andrw Pipp
spend the day befriending strays in the stilt city of Shoalsom.
Skelterborne seeks out an old friend trapped behind battle lines while
Andrw explores the wooden river city on his own. In the process, the
Void begins to expand with little regard for those who it displaces or
steps over.
Hair Washes Feet
drags two Void leaders down into the slums that they be offered the
chance to use their demiurge-given powers to cleanse someone else's
life.
JULY 8th 2009
Of False
Bedchambers peeks in on Heolis and Sven as they struggle to
translate their relationship into the other reality.
The Temple chooses another, but this
one is unwilling. Erich, the Master of Guardians, is Thrice Denied
in his attempts to proselytize. Before the end he will find himself
alone and ready to leap into the pit of the Taktmedian Underworld if it
wins an affirmation.
It's probably a righteous quest.
Unless, as Sven suspects, the Temple of Doors has an exit.
In ONE UNDER NERD'S
LAW, Yana and Erich meet for a cordial lunch in the Taktmedii where
it becomes obvious that mother and son, incapable of polite small talk,
have little in common but acerbic nostalgia.
FEBRUARY 23rd 2009
Erich and Kim reluctantly escort Fiona
through THE MOG
TO EPHESUS where she hopes to weed secrets from a crippled gardener.
NOVEMBER 23rd 2008
"They are calling it the Sophie Street
Massacre."
They spend the day after reading minds IN THE HOUSES
OF OTHERS.
In search of timely questions, Fiona
Wildiron pays a visit to an old friend living ABOVE THE
SOURCE TANK.
JULY 26th 2008
In BRING HELL SHE
SAID, the apostate stars return to the skies in order to damn the
lovers, Heolis and Sven. Hidden for all those centuries, how could they
know the rules have changed. Who heeds stellar warnings able to fly
beyond them?
Some distrust open doors; some fear
them closed. But those who stand BEFORE THE DOOR
prefer neither. Before long, what they won't give for a wide field of
real green.
The web expands with the addition of THE CHTHONIC GATE.
Kim digs against entombing obscurity while Erich and Sven, without the
scarred refinement of life's finishing school, wed a destiny far beyond
them.
APRIL 5th 2008
In DRINKING
DUCAL WHISKEY, a short addition to the collection, BEFORE THE DOOR, Sven returns home only to find
his father waiting for him. Neither Sven's absence nor his
acquaintances have gone unnoticed.
MARCH 8th 2008
Welcome to the first
publication of Second Class Matter.
Second Class Matter aims to provide a
home for epic fiction. Our purpose is to publish stories which when
heaped together create worlds too sprawling, too detailed, or perhaps
just too cluttered to be contained within traditional pages.
However lofty our ambitions, we must
start small. In this initial publication we give you CHILDREN OF AN OLD SYSTEM, the opening
story for a collection entitled, BEFORE THE DOOR.
Three affluent teenagers, Erich
Diamant, Sven Saturnus and Kim Khaldun, coming-of-age during the
decline of the Tyre Confederation, stumble upon a secret temple inside
the Taktmedii--a legally real planetary simulacrum. A mysterious figure
named Wildiron, claiming to have been an initiate of the Abiding Door
and able to unlock its power, suddenly appears within the temple and
makes a plea for rescue. Assured only by the peculiar fact that the
temple itself seems to have chosen them, the three friends decide to
help.
Although they inherit power and
bequeath bodies. Fall in love, spill blood, and rescue those damned to
the void. Lost in the dark cracks of civilization, they wonder whether
anyone can actually help.
Erich Diamant believes we are
thrust into a dark room, shown a mystery and pushed back out into the
light without explanation.
Enjoy,
SCuM
