#however. i am done with it and methinks is time to release it to the wild

[wanderer-clarisse]

... and he was eager moreover to discover all that he could concerning Mankind. He it was that first met Men in Beleriand and befriended them; and for this reason he was often called by the Eldar Edennil, 'the Friend of Men'. (Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth)

(partially inspired by this)

[ajanefantasy]

Sari: The Borough - Ch 2

The Borough

Sari wiggled upon the stool and hummed in pleasure as she sipped her ale. Cal was sitting next to her, rolling his eyes, but she knew he too was enjoying the ale. “My dear Tramp, how did you manage such a feat? Know I do how well those of Mylo guard their ale, as the fool king disallows the export of it.”

“My ways I have, Miss Zhari.” Tramp Steamer grinned, exposing a golden front tooth. “My ways.”

She returned the grin and drank more of her ale. The barkeep’s harsh Northern Seas parlance put a ragged sawing sound onto the front half of her name instead of the softer Sh it was meant to have. She once asked him whence he hailed, which country upon the Northern Continent. The stubborn man claimed that did he tell her, he would need kill her, and he liked her too much to do that. She suspected he came from Venar, for she had read that those who resided there always wore a kilt, and never did a day go by—at least a day that she came to the pub—that Tramp wore not a kilt. Even during the winter. But then he also sported a swirling tattoo on the right side of his face, which she heard was a tradition within the northern province of Koniaq. Which made the mystery of the man all that much more enticing, but she kept from using her abilities to search the answer for she had the deepest suspicion that he would know. And well, she liked him too much to risk that.

“However you came by such treasure, sir, my gratitude you have, with hopes that your ways continue to prove fruitful.”

“What does this one taste like?”

“Spice and berries.”

Tramp stole her mug and took a sip, never certain if he believed her. He closed his eyes as she suggested he do on previous accounts and let the flavors permeate his mouth. “Amazes me it does that such flavors present themselves upon yer tongue. Know I do the taste of good ale, and this is indeed good ale, but…”

“Surely the berries are there. ‘Tis sweet.”

“I did taste the sweet. Is that berries?”

“Most oft, yes. But there is also just a small bite on the tongue, reminiscent of…”

“Spice cake?”

“Yes, that same little bite. Did you taste it?”

Tramp grinned and returned the mug freshly filled. “Mayhap.”

Sari shook her head at the barkeep’s antics and retrieved her ale. “Each time we go through this. Methinks you just find excuse to steal a sip of ale.”

“Methinks Smoak wishes a word with ye.” The barkeep motioned with his hand to a man standing off to the side.

Sari turned and smiled seeing the mid-age man, his sooty hair and beard clean and tidy. “Master Stack, you look most prosperous since last I saw you. Did you gain employment with a new captain?”

“Aye, Miss Zhari.” Smoak Stack shuffled over and put a small bag upon the bar with a soft metallic clink. “For the ales ye bought me previous.”

“Now, Master Stack, ‘twas my pleasure to buy the ale.” She held up her hand stopping him from insisting. “Payment enough was given when you told me of your adventures. Truly, sir.”

“Then please accept it as payment for yer aid. I find myself in a position most precarious. Heard I did ye… well, that ye aid when one is unable to seek a Guard.”

“I do indeed.” She sent her magik out, swirled it around the seafarer before taking the small bag of debloo. She hopped off her stool and motioned for Smoak to follow her, leading him to one of the booths for a little privacy. This time Cal stood as sentinel. “What is it you need, my friend?”

“My capt’n, a good man he be. Most lucky have I been to sail with him. I would do naught to give him reason to set me ashore, but ‘tis what I fear will happen do I not solve this situation before his return in two days.”

“What happened?”

“Set me he did to watching the cargo, for ‘twas a fine cargo we had. Only a second did I take my eyes from it, just a second. A little girl showed me flowers she held for sale—the look she had of a dock waif. Next I know I wake with me head pounding and the cargo gone. ‘Twas just a second, I swear. I need get the cargo back. I…”

She patted his hand, which was curled into a tight fist. “And so we will. How long ago did this happen?”

“Two hours past, still does my head throb.”

She kept patting his hand, to offer comfort to Master Stack, as well to keep her temper in check. Not only had her friend been hurt, there was a child involved. As far as Sari knew, there were no dock waifs in the Sound, and that would be something she knew. She would have found way to provide for the family did the child have one, or homes for them did they not.

“Take me to the berth and I will see what I see.”

“Truly?”

“Indeed. And woe to the one who dared offer you harm.” And treble the trouble would there be did she discover that a child was used to perpetrate the heist.

Sari knelt on one knee and placed her hand on the dock, magik spinning. She specialized with what was long lost, finding older essences. Clues and pathways that had dimmed with time for others were bright and flashing with eagerness for her, so very desperate to be found. New scenes such as this one, she had to dig for the information. And there on the dock, with all the comings and goings each day, there was a lot of digging to be done.

Gladly would she dig for Master Stack.

‘’Tis the way of it in places such as these,’ Gillam nyn Dor’s spirit murmured as he knelt next to his granddaughter in The Inbetween, only visible to her. ‘Old and new layered thick. A treasure trove to be true.’

She took a deep breath and pushed all the other pathways beckoning her to follow into the background. With all the various seafarers and residents of the Sound that traversed the docks, many up to no good, there was a cornucopia of old mysteries to investigate. And so many were tempting. There was one from fifty years ago and another from… Yeryl and Zasara! One was from the Jewel Age. What she could learn and…

‘Focus on Master Stack's essence. I know ‘tis tempting, but ‘tis he you aid this day. The others will still be here on a day when we are free to follow it.'

She sighed and kept from sticking her tongue out at her grandfather and continued sifting through the fuzzy leavings of magik. There! She grabbed the tail of it and forced it to comply, to release its secrets. Held tight, the scene played out. She followed the trail and grabbed the connecting essence.

“Found you. Does the name Lucky Charm mean aught to you?” She looked up in time to see Master Stack flinch. “’Tis not a good name then?”

“Nae. Most notorious she is. ‘Tis said she…she seduces and entrances men for sport.”

Both brows rose high. “Does she now?”

“Yeryl and Zasara!” Smoak covered his face, horrified. “Never say that I willingly gave over Capt’n Hammer’s cargo?”  

“No such betrayal is yours, my friend. You were knocked out by one of her crew, and the cargo stolen.” Sari jumped to her feet and looked over her shoulder. “Cal, in need I am of causing some trouble.”

Cal sighed. “Of course you are. Mayhap this is something the Guards should handle?”

“Best if this is handled quietly. What?” She narrowed her eyes at her guard. He looked to be trying not to roll his eyes.

“Only did you wish to sample some ale this day was it?”

She grinned wide. “And most excellent ale, too. But one cannot always help which way one’s day goes. And my class is not until this eve.”

“Very well, but this could go most wrong. Confronting a nefarious pirate? Already can I hear your father’s lecture.”

“Very well.” Sari summoned her sword and strapped it about her hips. “Better?”

This time Cal did roll his eyes.

---

©A. Jane

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

[itkmoonknight]

ITK Newsletter, no. CXI: LUNAR-PICK - Comic Book Reviews on Contagion + Sister Mercy!

Loonies!

Allow me to assault you once again with a fair newsletter for your weekly consumption!

Welcome back to the ITK newsletter which gives you all you need to know for the upcoming episode. This time around, there is of course your usual Moon Knight fare, but things are slightly different this time around as we look towards some creative work done by one of our own Loonies, Corey Hardiman…it’s an independent comic book, ‘Sister Mercy’ which we will ‘review’ (I’m hesitant to ‘review it, as I don’t want to ‘mark’ it) and discuss on the show!

PHASE OF THE MOON: NULL + VOID 

LUNAR-PICK REVIEWS - OVERVIEW OF THE CONTAGION SERIES + SISTER MERCY ISSUE #1 by Corey Hardiman

But apart from that, there will be standard Moon Knight goodness with two things of note -

Firstly, we’ll be discussing the recently concluded Contagion event which featured our Fist of Khonshu - and not only was it a fleeting appearance, but Marc actually swung in to save the day! I won’t give much away here as to my thoughts on the series, but needless to say, you’ll want to tune in for this one to gather some…let’s just say, interesting thoughts I had on it all…

Very keen to hear what you thought of it too - I’ve posted up a Spoiler Thread in the FB Group and Page for those who want to drop us a line…we’d love to read out and discuss your thoughts too on the show.

I actually had the honour of guesting also on the Iron Fist podcast, to chat about Contagion too…more on that later down the newsletter in our Collective section…

As you can see, we’ve ignored Khonshu once again with the phases of the Moon…methinks it has to do with the lost Golden Sceptre…remember that? :)

Yes, I’ve not forgotten about our little serial, and you’ll be happy to know that Episode 6 of THE HUNT FOR KHONSHU’S GOLDEN SCEPTRE should drop either this coming episode, or next. I just have to find some time to stitch the episode together, but I have all the material and am keen to keep our serial chugging along!

Aside from the Contagion and Sister Mercy review/discussion on the show, there’s also the ’10 Things you Need to Know about Moon Knight’ initiative that Rebecca and Connor(shu) instigated int heir podcast episode 118 ‘2K Nine-Nine’.

We got heaps of feedback for it, so I’m keen to feature this on the show, however, I’m not really sure what the other High Priests had in mind. Speaking of which, Rebecca will be unavailable this coming episode, and I’m just trying to confirm the availability of young Connor(shu)…what you MIGHT get this coming episode is either a solo from me (which I’d prefer not to, as I’d love to discuss these issues for review with someone else), or a special guest that I may happen to snag.

Just another tiny factor playing into consideration is that my little Khonshu, Finn, has upturned his sleeping pattern and so it’s hard to ascertain when I can actually record. Fear not! I will find a slot somewhere in the day (or night) and be sure to release an ITK episode to keep this show going strong! Only downside is that it’s hard to coordinate co-hosts, as my time availability is at the whim of my 15-month old! :P

I'm even thinking of perhaps taking a short break to record a bunch of pre-recorded shows as an option of keeping the lights on at ITK...I don't know...it's a tricky one, as with pre-recorded shows you can't really do current news or updates...hhhmmmm, I'll have to give it some more thought...

FANTASY COMIC LEAGUE - OCTOBER RESULTS IN!

We have the results for the end of October and geez Louise, call me Mac 'n' Cheese, things are damn well exciting!

It was no surprise that Tommy took out the month with a commanding lead in week three of October, and as seen in the card above, Tommy remains top dog with juuuust under a century to his name. Well done, Tommy! Both The Thing and Miles had a huge month...with ol' Blue eyes in Contagion as well as the various FF books, his points saw him shoot The Man on the Streets up to top billing...

I was fortunate enough to have Cap do very well at the tail end of the month, so I managed to hang onto second place for the second time this season, with a respectable score of 85. I was pretty disappointed with Wolverine's effort and to be honest, I was expecting way more from Iron Fist too, as the weekly Contagion I was sure was going to yield a flurry of points for Danny...but not to be...

This was a clincher! Jason (previous month's leader) scraped into third position this month by one point! Poor Dustin must have been ropable! Still, well done to Jason for again picking a solid draft and making it to third spot. The big standout for Jason was Sue Storm, and I think she'll continue to do well in November, considering her solo title is still going, and she is of course, like The Thing, featured in the numerous FF titles out this month...it truly is a golden era for the FF in comics after a long drought, so expect to see the FF members firing in the FCL...

Cold Case Kurtz comes in at fourth at the end of October, just missing out by a whisker. Doctor Strange seems to have served him well (and I'm pretty sure he'll continue to do so in November) with modest totals from the Hulk and Thor. Dustin has already relinquished She-Hulk for another, so we'l see how his team fares in November...best of luck, Dustin (and Happy Birthday!)

Beloved Loony, The Power of Chad rounds out the division, and for me, the biggest upset here was Venom. With Absolute Carnage in full swing, I would have thought Venom to be cleaning up the points but perhaps with Absolute Carnage wrapping up in November, that may still be the case. Chad really needs more from Doctor Doom...I've not read the title, but with an issue out this month, let's hope for Chad's sake that Victor lays it on thick for his Latverian citizens! Modest totals from Black Panther and Conan provide the meat of Chad's score...again, let's hope there's more activity from T'Challa in both the Avengers book, his solo title and the Agents of Wakanda...! Similarly, Conan has his solo title, potential appearances in the spin off titles, and Savage Avengers...plenty of chances to light up that scoreboard!

So, at the half-way mark of the season, the standings for our Loonies are as follows:

Tommy - 4 points

Rey - 4 points

Jason - 4 points

Dustin - 1 point

Chad - 1 point

It's still anyone's game..if Dustin or Chad dominate in November and December, then they could certainly make a play for the title this season, and walk away with e free trade of their choice...!

In addition to that, Tommy, Jason and myself are in a good position to consolidate and potentially if either of us take out one of the coming months, then it would be hard to beat...

It's all still up for grabs!

I'm hoping to maybe get Brian Bradley and a couple of the Loonies from our division on the show as we get close to the end, to discuss more of the FCL and how things look like panning out...until then, we've got a bit more drafting to do, then it's all systems go!

THE COLLECTIVE, THE SPECTOR-CALL

It's fun being part of The Collective, and in addition to all the podcasts helping each other out...it's fun to listen to them all too! I've been catching up on a few of our colleagues, and as started last week, I'd like to SPECTOR-CALL them out here for your perusal...Give them a go if you're up for alternate things to listen to (but keep listening to us of course! hahaha)

Anyway, here's what's on display at Collective-Mart this week coming....

A shoutout to The Signal of Doom Podcast - Dave is really pumping hard and the Patreon push is in full swing! If you are a listener of the show, please consider being a patron. Dave is recording his first Patreon-exclusive episode and it'll be a review on 'Escape from New York' starring Kurt Russell!! Sounds very cool...

As mentioned earlier in the newsletter, I'll be guesting on the upcoming Sons of the Dragon - An Immortal Iron Fist Podcast, where I chat with host Connor, about Contagion #4 and #5. As I write this it hasn't dropped yet, so I can't give you a link, but it's bound to drop any minute now, so please just check their website for any updates!

CONTACT US!

Again, as mentioned, we'd love to hear your thoughts on Contagion too...I've posted up a Spoiler Thread in the FB Group and Page, so if that makes things easier, please drop your thoughts there...otherwise we have other ways in which you can contact us....

If you DON'T want your comments broadcast, please just add, "(DNB)" at the end of your comment, and we'll be sure not to broadcast it. We'll pick a few comments from here and discuss on the show!

Email: itkmoonknight@gmail.com

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OK, I better shoot this off to the printers to get published...(yes, I am ye of olden day speak...you know what I mean!)...stick with us, it's always bound to be a surprise...! Hope to hear from you on any of our platforms and hope you like the upcoming episode!

May Khonshu Watch Over the Denizens of the (K)Night,

Rey

Proud Member of The Collective

  Remember! You can buy your official ITK merchandise at ...ITK Store Front @ TeePublic

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