L.L. Stephens

@triempery

L.L. Stephens, author of epic fantasy Triempery Revelations series and other SF&F fiction. SFWA member. Player of board games and painter of minis! For essays and info about the Triempery novels:

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L.L. Stephens@triempery· 28d

Today is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is CHANGE. "Change" is a core theme of the Triempery Revelations series and, especially, of the final book, THE RILL LORD. All characters confront change: in the World, in others, and in themselves. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #bookqw

Left side of image is the book cover of THE RILL LORD, sixth and final book of the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens. Cover is stormy gray and white with a red-robed sorcerer wielding magic against a distant, powerful Entity.

Right side of image is a text excerpt from THE RILL LORD:

All things happen in the same moment. The Malyrdeons were fond of saying this, Quirin recalled, though he no longer could bring to mind whether Leur had said it first. Probably. It was a Leur sort of thing to say.
While he waited beneath Averrn’s cold towers and prisons, Quirin pondered how much his life had changed or whether it had changed at all. Perhaps he had always been like this, a cowering creature, a slave to dark forces. Only the Rill, his Entity, remained bright, though now Quirin saw that it too was chained.
Manacled, as he was.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· 28d

L.L. Stephens@triempery· 28d

#WIPSnips The word for July 15 is COACH I thought there wouldn't be a "coach" but there was one. In this snip Kate and Kharys are both responding to Oandah's nuptial phase, which permeates and commands the nom and its inhabitants. Nice to have a pool nearby... #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows two characters responding to a ruling nomari Queen's nuptial phase... and also to each other:

“You’re beautiful.”
He meant it, and not just the words. The heat in his gaze spoke loudly that Oandah’s phase was affecting him, too—and probably more than it affected her. Kate at least could count on the contraceptive implant to tone down her hormonal response. Kharys had nothing. If only he would stop looking so damned attractive . . . and hurt. What the hell. Kate had always meant to improve her free water skills. The day was hot, and the pool would be cool at least. Plus she was already wet.
She waded to the broad stone steps carved into the nearest corner and sat down. Taking off her boots, she tossed them one by one onto the terrace, then stripped off her belt pouch and threw it after. “Show me,” she said, walking back down into the water as Kharys watched her apprehensively.
“What?”
She smiled at his confusion. “Show me how to swim.”
It helped that she knew the basics. She had always worn a flotation unit for the simulations, of course, and it had been the lack of one that had led her to panic. Now, as Kharys placed her on her back and held her in a floating position, she looked up at the domed stone ceiling laced with reflections of gold and relaxed into his hands. He had never before been so near, near enough that she sensed his heady warmth and felt the soft vibrations of his voice as he coached her.
“There, you see, just let your body find its level. You will always be lighter. It’s easy.”
“For you. Don’t let me go.”
But he already had. His hands drifted from her and her body start to sink. Reacting, Kate flung up her arms and legs, and the water closed in over her again. But Kharys was there as he had promised, his hands at her waist, pulling her up.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· 28d

#FantasyIndiesJuly 15: Share a recent success A few months ago I published the final book of the Triempery Revelations series. For me, that's a success decades in the making! It's been a wild trip and I'm over the moon. 🌝

Photo of the six books of the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens lined up on the shelf of L.L. Stephen's bookcase. Held in place by owl bookends.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· 29d

#WIPSnips The word for July 14 is PHASE Key to understanding the nomari is that their queens possess potent sexual pheromones necessary to prepare their sexually immature drones for mating. Queen pheromonal "phases" affect human males just as powerfully. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip is from an early chapter that lays out how Oandah's sexual phases present problems for Terrans on several counts:

Since her arrival among the Terrans, Oandah had carved a path like glittering gold dust across the male population of Concordat Space. Details were sketchy, but it was rumored that the return voyage of the Second Expedition had been dangerously disrupted by her mere presence. Several male crew members had reportedly assaulted her, in return for which she had killed two of them and wounded the others. Among the latter had been the Unity observer. Only later had investigators learned that the men had reacted to the sexual pheromones of an Ibisian queen in her estrous phase. Upon the Sydney’s arrival at Ogdumabe Prime and following an investigation ripe with mutterings about the interests of science and future contacts with the Ibisians, all participants had been cleared of wrongdoing and the slayings attributed to self-defense.
Ever since then, an aura of scandal followed Oandah as seductively as any essence. She had from the start demonstrated a disconcerting penchant for powerful men and good-looking boys. Common knowledge held that a Senator’s son on the Nereid Colony, a youth barely sixteen, had disappeared one night . . . and been found with Oandah two days later, drugged with sex and thoroughly infatuated with his Ibisian seductress. A lawsuit had ensued, with the Concordat again burying it all under some bureaucratic table. And for two weeks during the present voyage, Oandah had confined herself to specially prepared quarters, ostensibly to protect the human crew and research personnel from the effects of her nuptial phase and the poorly understood bounds of human susceptibility to Ibisian sexual pheromones.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 13

#WIPSnips The word for July 13 is ALMOST While a slave, Kate gets hauled into a deep chamber at one point and encounters what is to her a bizarre ritual. She ends up "hatching" a nomari warrior that then imprints on her... but she doesn't know that yet. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows Kate freeing an "entombed" nomari warrior, which reacts strangely.

The newly freed warrior opened its mouth to emit a weak, thin mewl, and its damp head, crowned with a slick mat of slick darkened hair, lolled against her breasts. She wiped slime from the yellow Ibisian eyes that looked up into hers, dazedly, but not quite blank. Wrapping her arms around the small warrior, Kate tried to get it away from the vat and the membranous strands that still clung to it tenaciously. The poor thing stood for a moment, its legs wobbling, and slowly she sank with it to the floor. There, Kate held the warrior as it shivered and cried.
“Oh, now what?” she muttered. She searched the area for something constructive she could do. There was nothing to wrap it with, but maybe the golden bowls and other vessels within reach held something useful. Leaving the warrior on the floor, she scooped up a small jar, which she found to contain a rich red liquid that her nose and a quick taste proved to be some of Piram’s wretched wine. “Here,” she said to the shivering thing she had rescued. “Pi’ba. Drink this.”
It drank greedily, if messily. As Kate mopped her lap of its efforts, she came upon her small pouch of hoarded bread. Although she hesitated to give up any of her little stash of the nom’s paltry rations, this creature needed it more than she. When she offered it, she saw that she had guessed rightly. The thing ate like a starving dog she’d seen in a documentary, its teeth snatching the food from her hand so fast she began to fear for her fingers. But it was sated almost as soon as it had started. To Kate’s surprise, the Ibisian began to stroke her, running its long, tapering fingers down her arms. One hand reached up to trace the features of her face.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 12

#WIPSnips The word for July 12 is EXTRA As Kate acclimates to life with the nomari, she ventures outside the nom to human settlements and picks up useful skills like that of purchasing sweet rolls from vendors. Other lessons await inside the nom, however... #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows Kate returning to Oandah from a trip outside the nom to the human quarter where she purchased some pastries:

Within the nom, on the mid-levels where the nom’s junior queens resided, Kate found the train and palanquin of a minor queen waiting outside Oandah’s chambers. The warriors standing to either side of the conveyance stared at Kate fiercely but, when Oandah’s warriors made no move to stop her, they too relinquished interest. Just inside Oandah’s quarters, Ben awaited in a tense crouch, its mood becoming more animated at Kate’s return. She hadn’t brought Ben with her because she had wanted to keep her visit to the Kaldari’im secret, and it was possible that Ben, being basically simple, would tell. She handed over the sweet bun, which it began to eat as soon as she had shared with it. Oandah and another queen approached.
“Where have you been?” Oandah demanded crossly.
“Out. Shopping.” She held out the sweet buns in their wrappings. “I had extra.”
“And is busily fattening your warriors with it,” the other queen observed. Golden and tall, she looked to be Oandah’s age and not at all minor as she eyed both Kate and Ben with disdain. Kate recognized her then, by the eyes. Simrauda, commander of a Full Twelfth of Eshuun’s warriors, had eyes the color of dirty wash water, specks still floating on the surface. “You will have to teach her, Oandah, that she’s not to overfeed it.”
Kate thought it odd that Oandah said nothing and allowed this show of dominance. Her own silence she understood very well. Humans, whether Terran or ri’im, never talked back to queens.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 11

#WIPSnips The word for July 11 is ATTACK "Attacks" abound in a book about clashes between warring factions. Poor Kate experiences and takes part in a few. "attacks" and fears those still out there. But she doesn't always do so alone. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows Kate and another character cooperating in an escape through dangerous natural threats:

Several times, as they skirted bridges by crossing streams swollen with rain, Kate and Troya barely escaped notice from bands of armed warriors or rogue humans intent on robbing those fleeing Eshuun for safer holdings in the hills beyond the Hiranya. Twice, as Kate hid among the reeds, she detected the stirring of predators, creatures that burrowed in the soft earth of riverbanks and emerged at night to feast on the mud wasps and rush beetles that nested near the water. Enormous hunting spiders also prowled the dense vegetation, intent on surprising unwary food. Although no higher than her knee, the creatures were venomous and Kate kept a wary watch, having heard that spiders sometimes took human prey. “Small children,” Troya said matter-of-factly. “We, of course, would have to be bitten several times to succumb to their webbing.”
Spiders, fortunately, were solitary hunters unlikely to attack large prey.
“Wouldn’t it be safer to camp for the night?” Kate asked. They had passed several camps of refugees where groups had banded together in the darkness. She had watched their fires blinking from the road, promising warmth and the prospect of sleep.
Moonlight played upon Troya’s dark hair so that it looked like links of silver. “No. The more distance we put between ourselves and the nom, the safer we will be.”

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 11

#FantasyIndiesJuly 11: Saturday Snippet This passage is about Mormantalorus. That City is a primary setting in a new Triempery-based novel I'm writing. It's a lot of fun! After all, it has a City domed by magic. And active volcanoes are dramatic. 🌋 Illustration by @lazare.bsky.social

Left side is an illustration by Lazare of the fiery city of Mormantalorus. Image is reds and oranges and shows an erupting volcano showering lava and fine on a domed City. Text at the bottom reads MORMANTALORUS -- The City of Fire

Right side is a text excerpt from THE KHELD KING, book two of the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens. Excerpt describes the City of Mormantalorus:

For many days, the volcano above Mormantalorus spewed ash that colored skies gray, painted sunsets red, and turned forests to landscapes of ghostly gallows. Shores of black sand acquired the same hue as the gray and sluggish sea. Only the white towers of Mormantalorus itself, its central spires nearly as tall as the violent mountain upon the side of which it was built, shone through the murk. When the ground rumbled, and the volcano erupted with sprays of molten rock that rained boulders upon the harbor town and incandescent rivers piled radiant heat about its foundations, the City lifted aloft spires of glittering green and white hope.
Mormantalorus had been built on that great wound in the world for a reason, and it had been built to withstand the mountain’s torment. Deep tubes drew sea water for cooling the structure; the entire City sat upon adamantine cores that counteracted any vibrations they encountered. A bubble of film separated the poisoned air outside from the clean atmosphere within, cool and sweet. Adepts through the ages had studied the Leur city and marveled, but hundreds of generations had passed since any had fully understood its construction.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 10

#FantasyIndiesJuly 10: Show off a new to you author I'm reading this book by a completely new to me author, CM Debell. My favorite books recently have been by indie authors, so I often pick up new ones in my search for new, interesting fantasy or science fiction.

Book cover of THE MANY SHADES OF MIDNIGHT, the Tales of Isyr, by CM Debell. A young man holding a sword stands upon an outcropping overlooking a stormy landscape and troubled sky. Shades of grays, white, and black.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 10

#WIPSnips The word for July 10 is SUBSTITUTE In NOMARA Kate is charged by Oandah to be part of a mission that arranges an alliance with a human house. The humans try to "substitute" the intended youth. Kate caught the switch. The humans are now angry... at her. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows Kate talking with Troya, a human young woman in service to another queen, who explains to Kate why the human craft halls--or kumbhs--are angry:

Troya scowled. “Yes, but Simrauda also agreed to leave Nandi with his kumbh for two more years, that he might attain puberty among us as is proper. According to the Pattaim, Oandah rejected that provision.”
“I never heard it.” But how could Kate have heard? Her command of the nomari tongue at that time had been scant, and Ureyt, not she, had conferred with the women of the Kumbh Pattaim. But it sounded like something Oandah, desperate for alliance and with a propensity for prepubescent boys, would do. Kate’s mind raced for answers, even weak ones. “The kumbh tried to substitute another boy, to pass him off as the alliance Oandah wanted,” she explained. “I thought the Pattaim were trying to trick Her, make me look like a fool. I saw them trying to cheat Her. Maybe it was my inexperience, but that is what it looked like.”
“To a Terran?”
“To me. I did not see an honorable path.”
Troya’s expression betrayed sympathy and scorn. “A sahk’hya would have none. She knew that, and that you would enforce her plan. You see, I do understand you, Kath’aren na’Oandah, at least in how she trapped you. And now you understand me: I will trust you only so far as I believe you can act apart from Her. But She will give you very little room.” With that the young kumbh woman turned and walked away, a proud dark figure retreating again behind safe stone walls. It seemed to Kate that a cold wind blasted the courtyard as Troya vanished into her kumbh.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 9

#WIPSnips The word for July 9 is KEEP In NOMARA, Kate spends a lot of the novel creating a place for herself among the alien nomari and the almost as alien humans. She starts, though, just trying to physically "keep" up. A space bound girl, she's not used to this! #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows Kate, newly captive and arrived on the planet surface, trying to keep up with her captors as a matter of survival:

Through a haze of nausea and the headache still pounding behind her eyes, Kate somehow forced herself to stand. The world wobbled, or maybe she did. She dropped back to her knees, hands splayed on dirt as she waited for the dizziness to pass. When she looked up, the others had already dwindled to distant figures wending single file down from the rocky high ground that had served as their camp. The thought of being left behind to fend on her own threw Kate into sudden terror. What was she supposed to do all alone out here without a kit? She had no hope at all of finding the shuttle again. She had undergone survival training, but the Ibisians already had the things she most needed, water and food and weapons against predators. She should stay with them, if they would let her. And as long as she stayed with Oandah there was a chance of reaching Eshuun—there, with any luck, she might be found by a landing party from the Alameda. Desperately scrabbling to her feet again, she followed the wavering forms that preceded her across the plain.
Kate couldn’t decide which she hated most, the hellish vegetation that snagged indifferently at clothing and skin or having to slog through ankle-deep sand against a gravity that made her sluggish and sapped her strength. Her sole goal was to keep the damned Ibisians in sight. They represented everything now, her best, maybe only, chance of staying alive. Once, caught in a hurry to catch up to the rapidly traveling aliens, she made a misstep which sent her tumbling down a steep and rocky slope. Sharp stones and thorn-bearing shrubs ripped cloth and skin alike to shreds, leaving her sprawled at the bottom, her body a crumple of fury and pain.
Who was the stone-burned idiot who’d called this planet inhabitable?

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 9

#FantasyIndiesJuly 9: WIP Aesthetics I'm working on NOMARA, a science fiction novel (finished, polishing) and these images convey aspects of that story. Isolation. Power imbalances. Other planets and ways of life. I need an image of... bugs. Big bugs.

Top, from left:

Woman sitting on a ruin. In the background is a fantasy ziggurat of a city. A ringed planet is in the sky behind. Stone spheres litter the ground. Image from Pixabay.

Large moon/planet on horizon of inhospitable landscape. Image from Pixabay.

Bottom, from left:

Armored female human pointing gun. Image from Pixabay.

Stone arch against a fiery sky. Image from Pixabay.

Blond woman wearing headless and holding spear, standing against a honeycombed background. From book cover of IBIS, a science fiction novel.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 8

It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is SIMPLE. Nothing between Dorilian and Aubrey is simple, neither their conversations nor their purposes. This snip is from THE WALLED CITY, fifth book of the Triempery series. #WritingCommmunity #bookqw

Left side of image is book cover of THE WALLED CITY, fifth book of the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens. Cover is gray and silver and shows a lone man holding a sword as he faces a distant, mysterious fantasy city.

Right side of image is a text excerpt from THE WALLED CITY:

Dorilian nodded. In the pale light he looked thoughtful himself, and Aubrey sensed that he measured every word, every gesture. “They can’t read minds, but they can read situations. Give them but the breath of a reason and they will resort to their favorite pastime.”
He wanted her to ask, so she did. “What would that be?”
“Plotting. They’re very good at it.”
“Is that where you learned to scheme?” Aubrey asked archly.
“No. I learned from better than these. Marc Frederick kept second-rate nobles as lap dogs. Nammuor castrates them for sport. And Marenthro still has them all fooled.”
And what about you? Aubrey wondered. Except she already knew the answer. None of them, not even the wizard of Permephedon, had ever mastered Dorilian Sordaneon. The chill she felt was not only in the air. All about her, mountains gleamed in the moonlight like teeth. And Dorilian, too, wore a remote look, high and proud, like the Staubauns he ruled.
“What brought you here?” he asked.
Aubrey knew he did not ask what had brought her out on the terrace. It was simplest to tell him the truth. “I wanted to see you again.”

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 8

#WIPSnips The word for July 8 is HUMID Kate Varros, an abducted (and now enslaved) Terran human, gets a dumped-in-the-middle-of-things introduction to the nomari and their society. Here she is pressed into service in the bowels of the nom, but what's going on? #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows an enslaved Terran discovering new things about her captors and their ways.

Kate stumbled after Irjkei down the main corridor to a side passage she had never used before, probably because it was always guarded. Torches placed at intervals reflected along walls smoothed over hundreds of years, cast shadows across a pale stone floor worn to a path of footholds. How many hands, how many feet, had followed this way? “Pardon, please—where go?” she begged, certain now that Irjkei was not going to release her.
“Chambers. No workers. But you are strong enough to fetch water.”
At the bottom of that passageway, the coldness of underground abruptly changed and became warm. A single warrior opened one of a brace of iron-hinged doors, admitting them to a chamber bound by rock, carved out of stone and buttressed by stone arches. Kate allowed Irjkei to pull her in. The silence was that of caverns, dark and secret. Even the air, heavy and humid, swallowed the footfalls of those who entered. Kate followed Irjkei, her apprehension growing with the sound of the door falling hollowly into place behind her.
What was this place?
Stone slabs lined the chamber, their glassy shapes dully reflecting the meager light that emanated from smooth walls, the strange high ceiling that testified to an architecture older and more sophisticated than Kate had so far seen. The slabs led away from her in ranks of dozens, hundreds, retreating into the shadows, each of a size to hold a human, or the body of one.
I’m in their catacombs! Kate hung back, the breath stopping in her throat. This is where they bury their dead!

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 7

#WIPSnips The word for July 7 is QUARTER NOMARA depicts a harsh, unforgiving society in which humans are a subservient class, or enemies, of the nomari. Kate finds herself treading the line between captive and free. And Kharys wonders if she is human like him. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt of NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows some of human captive Kharys's initial thoughts after seeing Kate, an abducted Terran in company of Oandah, a returned queen:

Below the nom and out from the city, along the canals that led to the Great River, Kharys saw the first stirrings of boats from the kumbhs. The fisher people and the reed-gatherers began their work before dawn. Far away, the river blushed with gold. Soon deep resonant bells would sound in the city below, awakening the kumbhs to another day. But in the nom itself, and in the caverns which honeycombed the foundations of the city all the way to the river and into the bedrock under the plain, workers and warriors by the hundred thousand never slept and morning only brought more toil.
The coming of the Terrans had wrought no change save that Oandah had returned, and that she brought with her a female Terran with dark eyes and dark hair and the look of one who expects no quarter to be given. A spear cut across one cheek, the scar still red and new, marked her face, showing that her first lessons among the nomari had been harsh ones. Kharys thought that he alone, of all of them, might understand, in a small way, how she felt.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 7

#FantasyIndiesJuly 7: Unlikely friendships Beginning in THE GOD SPEAR Dorilian gets on friendly terms with Gerd, a Kheld cook and innkeeper. Dorilian likes good food and respects good cooks. By THE RILL LORD (below) Dorilian and Gerd are practically buddies. Status differences make this unlikely.

Left side is a very pink meme of a month-worth of daily writing prompts for authors of fantasy fiction.

On the right is a text excerpt from THE RILL LORD, sixth and final book of the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens. Snips shows Dorilian sharing some down time with Kheld cook Gerd (who does not yet know who Dorilian really is):

The cook’s fire at the shed end of the kitchen roared reassuringly. Dorilian did not really wish to leave it or the cozy camaraderie he’d fallen into with Gerd, short-lived though he knew it must be. But Handurin—and others who would be even more alarmed by Dorilian’s absence—would be looking for him soon. It was best to seek another path of conversation. “Is there anything you wish, Gerd, here in Dazunor? For your kitchen or pantry? It cannot be easy to cook for so many.”
Gerd assessed the homely comforts of his tent. “I don’t cook for as many as you might think. Only for the Kheld and Trongor officers. The Staubauns, now, they all have their own cooks. Why, some of the lords have cooks just for themselves. And so do their officers! Thunes is an army of cooks! But they don’t share meat and bread the way Khelds do to make us one people and grease the wheels of conversation.” Gerd leaned forward magisterially, taking Dorilian into a confidence. “Though they do have one thing I wish I had. Fresh fruit!”

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 6

#WIPSnips The word for July 6 is STADIUM There are no stadiums or similar locations in NOMARA, so I went with an "amphitheater" in "The Stairs of Tulamanta," a story set in the Triempery universe. Young Legon is competing for a place in royal service. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Triempery

Text excerpt from "The Stairs of Tulamanta," a short story set in the Triempery universe, by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows young Legon facing a competition with other boys, all of whom are competing for positions as a child prince's companions.

On the sixth day the boys lined up on the swept earth of a small amphitheater. No audience filled the stone seats, only Prince Sebbord and the Heir along with a few members of their household. The stern warrior who had been conducting the contest stood before the boys with his arms held behind his back, his armor agleam in the sun. Xander and some other boys already regarded him with awe. The man’s name was Tutto Rhunnard and his skin was so brown and leathered Legon was sure Tutto had to have been out in the sun his whole life. Even more impressively, the man’s many scars could only have been caused by terrible wounds. War, then. Tutto knew firsthand what it was like to fight for more than just shallow kudos.
“Today,” Tutto’s rough voice rose above the attentive boys, “you will demonstrate the pairing of the Sword and the Shield.”
A thrill sang along Legon’s nerves. Finally. This pairing was sacred. A Cibulitan scholar who had stopped in Skallis while on pilgrimage to the Damarose Monastery had demonstrated this martial discipline to Terveryan and his sons. They had spent a whole week practicing. Legon hoped his familiarity meant he would perform well now.
“The Sword,” Tutto continued, “is the element of attack. His path must be clear. It is the Shield’s role to create and maintain that path. In battle that means to prevent anyone or anything from impeding the Sword. This will be your exercise today. You will choose pairs. The Sword always chooses his Shield. If you choose to be a Sword, choose your Shield wisely. If you are chosen to be a Shield, preserve your Sword.”

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 5

#WIPSnips The word for July 5 is BENCH From NOMARA, here's a straightforward "bench" to sit on. Oandah's history with Kharys is complicated and violent. It started with desire... #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows a younger Oandah intent on seducing adolescent Kharys, who is captive to another:

A bench stood nearby, its smooth, pale marble beckoning through purpling shadows. Oandah pulled Kharys to it and drew him down to sit, facing her, across the dusk. He allowed her to lead him. Her hand on his wrist had become a summons he wanted to obey. He followed it the same way he might follow the sound of water in the desert, or light in darkness, a yearning as deep as his life and beyond his power to ignore. He was a child no longer. His youth was rapidly seeking manhood, subject to fevered, half-formed desires of the flesh.
“I envy Arasend her garden,” Oandah said. “I envy her the flower that she keeps.”
Realizing what she meant, Kharys dropped his gaze. Arasend, of course, had been growing him for a purpose. Oandah plucked a blossom as crimson as the blood that pounded in his veins and held it in her hands to warm it with her scent.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 5

#FantasyIndiesJuly 5: Sport in WIP Pelekys, played on horseback, is featured in the Triempery books... and appears again in the WIP. "He wanted to throw himself totally into the milling fray, to fight for the ax, and to ride like hell to the post." (SORDANEON)

Left side is a meme of a month of daily writing prompts for authors of fantasy fiction.

Right side is a photograph of horses and riders poised against a bright background. Photo by Todd Anthony.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 4

#WIPSnips The word for July 4 is ROUND "Round" faces count, right? Here's a fun snip from NOMARA, showing Terran Kate adjusting to a life -- and creatures -- very different from her previous one. Spaceships don't have... grasaps. Kate could use a friend, though. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows Terran Kate interacting with a native human:

Ben tugged at Kate’s arm, reminding her that Ramella’s leathercrafting stall was just off the Street of Stones, on the way back to the nom. She followed the warrior in that direction, keeping to the windward side of the walls which lined the street. Kate often stopped at Ramella’s stall, if only to buy new lacings. When she pushed aside the rain-slick protective tarps which kept foul weather from entering the stall, she saw the craft woman’s round face break into a smile.
“Sahk’hya!” Ramella uncapped two extra oil lamps to brighten the stall’s interior. “Never thought I’d see you today, bad for business as this rain is.” She laughed as Ben crowded its way to the fore. “Here, you glutton.” She handed over a small, hard cake of sweet bread. “Been keeping it just for you.” A green-eyed grasap, a large, hand-sized arthropod many kumbh women kept as pets, leaped off Ramella’s shoulder in pursuit of something Ben had stirred from hiding.
Even though Kate knew that grasaps were a staple in kumbh households, where they served to keep down the pest population, she had never gotten used to them. The sight of the small-headed, predatory creatures—surely members of the mantis family—dismembering and eating other crawly things unnerved her, not least because grasaps had an annoying tendency to appear to be looking at her as they did it.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 4

#FantasyIndiesJuly 4: Saturday Snippet Here's a (somewhat) patriotic -- for Sordan -- snip from "The Stairs of Tulamanta," a short story published on my website. Seven year old Legon and Bersyas ponder their ambitions. #WritingCommunity

Left side of image is a meme with a month's worth of daily writing prompts for authors of fantasy fiction.

Right side is a text snippet from the short story "The Stairs of Tulamanta" by L.L. Stephens. Story is set in the Triempery universe and depicts two boys pondering their futures:

Legon kicked at the water. “Why does everyone want to be a Sword? The Heir is looking for a Shield.” That conclusion alone made sense. A Sordaneon, bound to the Rill, was always going to be a Sword.
The corner of Bersyas’s mouth quirked down. “Because Dorilian will find a Shield, several if he wants, but he will be needing generals too.”
“You want to be a general?”
“Of course!” Bersyas proclaimed with great enthusiasm. “Don’t you?”
Legon furrowed his brows. “I don’t know. All the generals I ever heard about ended up dead.”
“So do Shields.”
That was true.
Bersyas continued. “I would like to be a great general. Generals wear the best armor and ride the best horses. My family would be proud of me, and I could fight the Esserans, make Sordan free again.”
Legon had less lofty ambitions. He wanted only to not go back to Skallis in shame.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 3

#WIPSnips The word for July 3 is OUT In NOMARA, Kate Varros never wanted to leave her ship. She never wanted to leave the shuttle she flew to the planet surface. Planets are dangerous... but not as dangerous as Oandah. Well, "out" we go! #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt fro NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip is from an early chapter. Kate has been forced to fly a shuttle to the planet surface... Kate doesn't want to stay there.

Kate grasped her meaning immediately. “The sled?” she exclaimed. “You’re para-finned! I can’t give you the sled.” Even if Oandah had somehow learned how to fly a hover sled, PES would throw a hype if a piece of advanced tech fell into Ibisian hands.
“And I will not return to Eshuun impoverished, without proof of the Terrans!” Oandah told her savagely. “If I must walk, you will walk with me. Indeed, it shall be my pleasure to make at least one Terran a bearer of burdens—”
A sudden shriek curdled the pre-dawn quiet. Supplies crashed and spilled across the trampled dirt of the clearing as one of the neuters fell to its knees, something long and shining wedged between its ribs. Out of habit as deep as instinct, Kate ran from the danger, seeking the safety of the only sanctuary she knew. The shuttle, its hatch open, still spilling light. But even as she reached the rungs and lunged for the hatch controls, two bronzed, scantily clad human-types dropped down from the top of the shuttle, barring her way, knocking her down. She fell to the damp earth, getting grit on her hands, her garments. As she rolled over, she stared up at the spear-wielding primitives who had beset the landing party. Yellow eyes glared down at her. Weapons, sharp-tipped spears, pointed at her chest and throat. She knew now what the moving exotherms on her scanner must have been.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 3

#FantasyIndiesJuly 3: Favorite Book Dedication So many book dedications are heartfelt... and all are personal. This one remains one of my favorites. #WritingCommunity #editors

Text of a dedication for the book SKULLDUGGERY -- MORTAL COIL, by author Derek Landry to his editor, Nick Lake:

This book is dedicated, with great reluctance, to my editor, Nick Lake, because he is forcing me to.

Personally, I would have liked to include Gillie Russell and Michael Stearns who, along with Nick, really welcomed me into the publishing world with my first book.

Unfortunately, because Nick is now my sole editor, he has threatened to edit this dedication down to an unrecognisable mess of blacked-out lines, and so as a result this dedication is to him, and him alone.

Personally I think that this shows a staggering amount of █████ and █████, which proves that Nick is nothing but a █████ ████ ██████ with █████ for ████, but hey, that's just my personal opinion.

Here, Nick. You finally get a book dedicated to you. Hope you're █████ happy.

█████
(Editor's note: Nick Lake is a great guy.)

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 2

#WIPSnips The word for July 2 is KNOCK In this snip from NOMARA, Oandah's warriors have come for Kharys, who warrior Ben has been charged by Kate with protecting. Kharys instead ends up protecting Ben. Ben imprinted on a Terran, so isn't a great warrior. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip shows Kharys, a native human, protecting Ben, a nomari warrior imprinted by Kate and charged with keeping Kharys safe. Kharys understands how nomari castes and dominance work.

Kharys turned to Ben, wanting to tell it to stay put. He saw only bright flashes of steel. Heard metal striking metal.
“Ben! No!” Kharys shouted. Too late. The warrior holding his arm threw him with force into the corridor, where he stumbled. A blur of bronzed flesh and crimson arms surged past him, into the room, as both warriors engaged with Ben.
“No!” Kharys screamed again, this time at the Queen’s warriors. He dashed back into the room to find that Oandah’s warriors had knocked Ben to the floor, an easy target. Because he could think of nothing else, Kharys shoved the nearest warrior and sent it rolling to its side on the floor. He then threw himself atop Ben, straddling its body and wrenching the spear from its startled hands. He threw the weapon across the room. He was certain only that Oandah’s warriors would not strike while there was danger of injuring him.
She wanted Kharys whole.
“Do not kill this warrior. Kill this warrior and I will fight,” he told Oandah’s two warriors who, recovered now and again on their feet, pressed their blades to Ben’s throat.
Reluctantly, weighing the situation, the first warrior and then the second backed away. Their warrior opponent was disarmed; they could accept that condition. Kharys, as a full-grown ri’im male, had the size and strength to put up a fight. If Kharys fought, he might be injured. To not fight was the better option.

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 1

It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is AFTER Dorilian and Hans start out as complete mysteries to each other in THE SECOND STONE. Dorilian thinks Hans is hopeless and Hans finds Dorilian inscrutable. Building a bridge over their divide may involve coming to blows... #bookqw #WritingCommunity

Left side of the graphic shows the book cover of THE SECOND STONE, third book of the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens. Cover shows two young men on a boat sailing toward an island with a towering fantasy city. Other ships sail toward it also.

Right side is a text excerpt from THE SECOND STONE. Excerpt features characters Hans (one of the young men) and Dorilian, ruler of the island, talking following a physical altercation:

The sun was bright as they walked along the beach back to the villa. Light glanced off their faces with friendly warmth but was not yet hot enough to fully dry their hair or their sopping clothing. There would be some explaining to do when they returned.
“We could say we were shipwrecked,” Hans offered lightly, hoping to crack the thin, awkward shell of silence between them.
“Wonderful,” Dorilian said. “Now we must also explain the loss of the boat.”
“We went swimming, then.”
“In full clothing?”
“People do.”
“Yes. And they also look as though they have come from street brawls… usually after they have been in one. My courtiers are not blind, Handurin, nor are they stupid. You could have helped matters greatly by not bloodying me.”

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 1

#WIPSnips The word for July 1 is SCARF Neither my space-faring Terrans nor the quasi-alien nomari wear scarves, so I went with "cowl," which is scarf-like. In this snip Kate has had it being the only Terran among the nomari and the nomari's human subservient race. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. This snip shows Kate succumbing to frustration at her situation:

“Sahk’hya.”
Kate turned to see a robed, male figure disengage itself from the shadows of the columned walkway. Hawel pushed back his cowl to reveal the familiar shock of white hair.
Kate returned her attention to the pool. “I didn’t expect to see you. From what I understand, my name is poison around here.”
“Affairs in this kumbh are very difficult now,” said Hawel, easing himself onto the edge some feet away. “But you are not disliked.”
“Just distrusted.”
“The world has become very dangerous. By necessity, we trust very few. There are many of us who want to trust you. You may count me among those who do. But I am a man, and not asked for my opinion about such things.”
Just a man. That refrain had become a familiar one. “Two people have tried to help me: one man and one woman. And you, Hawel, so two men. Everyone else—” Kate tilted back her head, willing the tears not to come. “Every step since I’ve come here, to your world, has been a battle. And I’m getting so tired.”

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jul 1

#FantasyIndiesJuly 1: Introduce myself I'm L.L. Stephens. I write science fiction and fantasy. My best known work is the Triempery Revelations series (pictured) but I will also feature some of my other work and WIPs this month. I have new things coming including a SF novel on submission. 😊

Six book covers of the six books in the Triempery Revelations series by L.L. Stephens. From left to right: SORDANEON (gold), THE KHELD KING (blue), THE SECOND STONE (blue-green), THE GOD SPEAR (orange), THE WALLED CITY (silver), and THE RILL LORD (stormy gray and red).

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jun 30

#WIPSnips The word for June 30 is TOURNAMENT There are no "tournaments" in NOMARA but there are "contests" of sorts. In this snip Arasend, a nomari Queen, discusses the kinds of dangerous "contests" of dominance queens play. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFF

Text excerpt from NOMARA, a science fiction WIP by L.L. Stephens. Snip is of Eshuun's Queen, Arasend, talking with a subordinate queen about the arrival of a Terran with Arasend's rebel daughter, Oandah.

“If you are wise, you will kill her.”
Bilriyah, Eshuun’s commandress, said what others would not. Arasend’s reception of Oandah had silenced the tongues of opposition.
“And if I kill her, I am not wise.” Within her hand Arasend weighed the canister containing the scroll from Babhru-Ksam. Floods downriver, destroying the crops and villages of a domain, assumed a lesser importance in her mind than this matter of an ambitious daughter. “What is a Terran, after all, but a kind of ri’im?”
“Think you that is so?” Bilriyah looked surprised that Arasend could believe it.
“More and more.” Arasend did not say that Kharys had begun to lead her to that conclusion.
“Then this creature is twice dangerous,” was Bilriyah’s opinion. “What if it should seek to incite the ri’im against you?”
“A possibility to be considered, but not one in anticipation of which I would slay an emissary from a power whose limits I do not know. There are Terrans in my skies, Bilriyah, knowing things of which I am not aware. If Oandah is dangerous, then the Terran is twice so. Yet both may be of value to me.”
“I fail to see it. You should have allowed Jorii to challenge Oandah for dominance at Yrrz. The numbers favored victory: slay the queen, slay the warriors, and the Terran might have been captured, if that was what was wanted.”
A gleam came to Arasend’s eye. “And had Jorii lost the contest, what then? Have Oandah come to us with thrice the warriors with which she threatens us, and thrice the dominance, not to mention the loss of a promising young queen? I am no fool, sister: Jorii is young, and Oandah is clever. Treachery is not a weapon she leaves at the door.”

L.L. Stephens@triempery· Jun 30

#FantasyIndiesJune 30: Monthly Wrap-Up Summer months are sun and fun. In June I... - Disconnected from the world and enjoyed a vacation at the shore. - Celebrated another birthday - Gave two interviews (links below) - Completed a short story - Worked on a new novel