# The Aphotican Oath - Word Bearer Warband



## Dead.Blue.Clown (Nov 27, 2009)

So, here's my project log, campaign thread, and general pit of text and pics. My main log is on Bolter & Chainsword, but I decided to try slicing it up here, too. The first 2 posts are pretty much cut and pasted, and we'll go on from there. Updates will be slow, since I'm mega-busy.

Let me start this with an apology. This thread will be part-campaign resource, part-project log, and may be almost supernaturally tedious to anyone not playing in the campaign. As stated on a former thread, 2011 was the target year for me to stop screwing around saying "I really want to play 40K again", and to just start playing instead. It's taking a lot of preparation, but The Thracian Caul is my attempt to raise an army as a bunch of my friends do the same, and center it around a narrative campaign. 

I'm sure that, at some point, the other players will jump in with photos and updates of their own, and I hope this eventually reaches the point where battle reports are a very real possibility, alongside fully laid-out army shots. But it's early days yet, and between real life, deadlines, getting married, money struggles, and whatever else we all have to deal with, many worthy projects die in their infancy.

Still, morale is high, so let's do this. Here's the campaign background.

*-- The Thracian Caul --*
In the early decades of M41, the region of space known as the Thracian Caul devolved into rebellion against the Imperium. Imperial reinforcements arrived only to turn the attempted secession into open warfare, pushing the rebellion into a deadlock that lasted several years, spanning almost a dozen systems. 

The region earned its name from two factors: The "Thracian" part came from Lord Marshal Kardan Thracius of the Imperial Army, who was responsible for pacifying the cluster of systems and bringing them into the Imperium during the Great Crusade; and the "Caul" is a reference to the flesh membrane sometimes covering babies' faces when they're born, which are often superstitiously associated with the infant possessing good luck, special gifts, or a sixth sense. In this instance, the Caul itself is a nebula of pale gases that act as a natural and harmless (but cosmically beautiful) shroud that drifts through most of the key systems, faintly obscuring many worlds to the naked eye.

The region is deep in Segmentum Tempestus, and not located near any major historical locations or warp-transit thoroughfares. However, the Thracian Caul possesses many worlds and moons with excellent mining prospects; two significant hive worlds; a wide spread of populated worlds; and the Adeptus Mechanicus possesses several deep space installations in the subsector. At least one Adeptus Astartes Chapter has a secondary fortress-monastery in the Caul, and it recruits from several worlds in the Caul itself. These are the Shadow Wolves (my fiancee Katie's Chapter, who are incidentally destined to be annihilated by the tyranids close to the end of the millennium, as noted in _Helsreach_). 

The two main subsectors in the Thracian Caul are the *Amnion Core*, and the *Odrysian Verge Worlds*. The Amnion Core is the central solar system, with the region's capital hive world of Amnion at its heart, and several nearby systems. _(Pointless note: 'Amnion' in biology is another name for a baby's caul, I think. Need to research that for sure.)_ It's the most valuable galactic real estate in the whole sector, because of its massive population, dense manufacorum industry, and reserves of wealth. On the outer edge of the Caul territories are the Odrysian Verge Worlds, which have - several times in the last few hundred years - attempted to secede from the Imperium of Man. Comprised principally of agricultural worlds, pirate havens and lesser-populated planets, the Verge World uprisings have always been swiftly ended by the Imperial Guard and allied Space Marine forces, restoring the production and flow of much-needed food exports to the Amnion Core, which is now too populated to sustain itself without Verge World help.

This time, as the Verge Worlds rose up once again, the forces striking out from the Amnion Core realised that it was a much more desperate situation than yet another insignificant rebellion. The forces of Chaos are behind this latest betrayal, with profane cults rising up on the Verge Worlds, overthrowing Imperial rule once and for all. The Shadow Wolves, sworn to defend the region, lead a vanguard invasion to reclaim the disputed territories before the Amnion Core worlds are strangled and starved. Several other Astartes Chapters are making themselves known, including the Dark Angels and the Grey Knights, who are drawn to the Caul by the fact that the famously independent Shadow Wolves are struggling to quell the uprising alone. Even among loyalist forces, there's the potential for conflict, as the Shadow Wolves defy the other Astartes who infringe upon their jurisdiction, the Dark Angels act upon their own agenda, and so on.

Opposing them are warbands from the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom, each sworn to their own allegiances, bound together only by tenuous pacts of mutual ceasefire. The Chaos fleets have secured their hold in the Odrysian Verge Worlds, and now press forward into the Amnion Core, stepping up to begin full conquest.

*-- The Crunchy Bit --*
Getting this organised won't be easy. We need time to raise our armies, and that includes time to get tabled-up and some decent scenery on the go. When it comes to the weekends we'll play, it's unlikely everyone will be able to make it at once, so it really comes down to just having enough of us here at any one time. That shouldn't be too much trouble.

We're starting at 1,000 points. So far, everyone is using traditional codices for their armies, with no proxying going on. The list of players goes a little like this, with more info to be added when army fluff is all worked out:

*-- The Odrysian Reclamation --*
Andy - Grey Knights.
Katie - Space Marines (_Shadow Wolves_).
Steve - Space Marines (_Dark Angels_).
Emma - Eldar (_Craftworld TBC_).
Ben - Imperial Guard (_The Siculean 7th - the "Lucky Sevens"_).
Sarah - Space Marines (_Silver Skulls_).

*-- The Bitter Tide --*
Sander - Chaos Marines (Iron Warriors: _Warband Name TBC_).
Aaron - Chaos Marines (Word Bearers: _The Aphotican Oath_).
Ben - Chaos Marines (Nurgle: _The Fist of Malarius_).
John - Chaos Marines (Night Lords: _The Vassals of Megaeron_).
Rachel - Chaos Marines (Night Lords: Warband Name TBC).

As you can see, the beloved forces of evil are a little outnumbered, but we'll see how it comes out in the wash. As a note of interest, several of these folks are published by or work for Black Library/Games Workshop, one of them has won Throne of Skulls and several other tournaments a bajillion times, and one of them is marrying me in the summer. It's a mixture of people I've met in WoW, in work, and just in general.

Fascinating, I know.

Now, here's where I'm going with all this...

* -- The Aphotican Oath --*

_"With the taste of my brother's blood on my lips,
I swear unto the last breath in my body,
My life for the Oath, my death for our masters,
My soul for the Fall of the False God's Throne."_

-- Ninety-second Declaration of the Aphotican Oath.


The Aphotican Oath is a Word Bearer warband forever on the edge of destroying itself. Three leaders share an unequal command over the warband, leading their own subfactions within the force itself. The Aphotican Oath can only lay claim to two warships: the Heresy-era battleship _Shadow of the Golden Son_, and the more recently-stolen Adeptus Astartes battle-barge _Black Spire Rising_. The former takes its name from antiquity, when it was one of the Seventeenth Legion's proudest warships during the Great Crusade and the Heresy that followed. The latter was taken by force from the Executioners Space Marine Chapter three hundred years before the beginning of M41, and renamed in honour of Lorgar's tower at the heart of the City of Grey Flowers - the capital of Colchis, lost homeworld of the Word Bearers.

Most of the Aphotican Oath's forces are made up of warriors claiming membership with the Word Bearers' Chapter known as the Bleeding Scourge. During the Great Crusade and the Heresy itself, the Bleeding Scourge was one of the lesser-known Chapters within the Seventeenth Legion, lacking the later prestige found by Lord Argel Tal's Serrated Sun Chapter, for example. Originally taking its name from a constellation in the Colchisian sky that resembled a whip with several lashes, at its height the Bleeding Scourge numbered almost 1,600 warriors. However, its forces are greatly diminished over the millennia of battle, bloodshed, betrayal that followed Horus's rebellion. 

The triumvirate of commanders leading the Aphotican Oath have little love for one another, united only because they are too weak to survive individually, and each one lacks the strength to oppose the other two with any guarantee of victory.

*-- The Warlord --*
The first is *Lord Rakash Vel*, Subcommander of the Bleeding Scourge Chapter, and a traditionalist to his core. He rose steadily through the ranks during the Great Crusade, and was once the favoured lieutenant of Chapter Master Kalis, who used to lead the warband in its glory days. He leads the largest faction with in the Aphotican Oath, commanding the allegiance of most warriors without hesitation. He's considered the best strategist among the warband's officers, though recent years have seen him adopting an increasing degree of bloodlust in his engagements. Rather than command from the rear and oversee his forces to victory, Rakash Vel has repeatedly ventured into battle among the vanguard, perhaps seeking to earn personal glory and the blessings of the gods.

In addition to commanding the greatest number of Marines, Rakash is also the most careful about maintaining close bonds to the Bleeding Scourge Chapter's former infrastructure. His principal allies in the Aphotican Oath are traditionalists much like himself, most notably* Forge-Lord Garad* (a former Techmarine, ruling over the warband's armoury), and *Genetor Kor Sal, Overseer of the Bloodline*, (formerly the Chief Apothecary) - both of whom are highly-respected Aspiring Champions in their own right.

Rakash's forces are largely known as *The Remnant*, or more simply the Bleeding Scourge, since he commands most of the warband's warriors.

Rakash also maintains close ties to the cannibalistic Raptor Cult known as the *Algol Masquerade*, which is named for the so-called "Demon Star" Algol. The Masquerade's warriors wear silver daemon masks to complement their warped armour, and though they show little symbol of allegiance on their armour, they are rumoured to be all that remains of the Word Bearers' Burnished Mask Chapter, thought lost several thousand years ago. In recent battles, Rakash has often joined with the Masquerade on the field, attacking from the sky with a squad of Raptors rather than marching with his ground forces as he once did.

Rakash is hardly ignored by the Ruinous Powers. He carries the daemon blade _Shah'jar'qan_, earned several decades ago when he tore it from the dead hands of the Night Lord Champion Krukesh the Pale.


*-- The Apostle --*
The former Chaplain, *Hekaion*, now leads a small band of Apostles called the *Wardens of the Wrought Chalice*. It's a cliche, but if Rakash is the heart of the Aphotican Oath, Hekaion is the soul. He is the Master of Rites, leading the warband in prayer, and he is the one to award Sacred Seals to those warriors most deserving. In a Legion of fanatics, Hekaion exemplifies a crusader pushed the limit of cold madness through absolute devotion to duty. 

The Wardens, and Hekaion specifically, are responsible for overseeing those who actually wish to swear the Aphotican Oath and join the warband. He is the one to prepare a concoction of his own blood for new recruits to drink when they first make the so-called "black promise" to serve, and he is revered for his piety and holiness, even if he lacks the military insight that Rakash claims so easily. His lesser Apostles - the other Wardens - often lead squads as Aspiring Champions, but Hekaion himself is a lethal warrior to match any other in the warband. Like all Wardens, he wears his ritual armour much like a traditional Chaplain, though with obviously Chaotic modifications. His crozius is an accursed artefact, screaming when wielded in battle, but its exact powers are unknown. All that has been proven is that Rakash and Hekaion are rarely seen in each other's company, for their cursed weapons shriek and bleed when brought close to one another, causing great agony to both warriors.

Each of the Wardens bears the icon of the Wrought Chalice on their armour, representing the grail carried by Hekaion himself. The Chalice is one of the warband's few ancient relics, and it remains the most precious. Before every battle, the warriors drink cold blood from the grail, and repeat their original devotions upon joining the Aphotican Oath. However, for all the respect he is offered, Hekaion remains a distant figure to most of the warband. When he goes to war, it's more often at the head of a horde of summoned daemons, and his power over the warp is one of the main reasons he's managed to hold onto his position for all this time.

Hekaion has few allies, but maintains one curious alliance with a Thousand Son warlock of modest renown. The sorcerer travels with the warband, but has never sworn the Aphotican Oath himself. He commands a few small, ragged squads of Rubric Marines collectively known as the *Syntagma* _(after the language rule of words in a sentence all being linked to each other - a boring rule, but a cool word)_. Between Hekaion's warp-mastery, the respect he commands, his daemonic slaves manifesting on a whim, and the dull-minded might of the Syntagma, it is unlikely any will successfully challenge the warband's Apostle any time soon.


*-- The Blessed --*
The final overlord in the uneasy balance of power is both the strongest and the weakest. The majority of the warband have little respect for him, but he is unarguably favoured by the True Gods. He commands the fewest warriors, and claims no daemons in his retinue, but his few followers are among the Aphotican Oath's greatest warriors. Xen Quelath was once a sergeant among the Bleeding Scourge's Terminator elite - the *Mukrah Jal* ("Consecrated Iron" in Colchisian - a reference to their armour). As such, he was subservient to Rakash and Hekaion alike, and renowned for nothing beyond a blunt, brutal efficiency. He was no tactical genius, and lacked the charisma for true leadership.

Until fate took a surprising turn. 

In the vicious assault on the Executioners' battle-barge _Torrid Spite_, Xen Quelath showed his treacherous ambitions at last. His Terminator squads deployed on board the crippled warship, and as they bore the brunt of the hellish fighting, they also selectively turned their weapons on several squads in their own warband. In a single hour, Xen Quelath decimated the Oath's chances for victory, and teleported his warriors back to the _Shadow of the Golden Son_, taking control of the capital ship and leaving Rakash and Hekaion's forces to be destroyed unless they swore allegiance to allow him equal position on their council. Faced with death aboard the _Torrid Spite_ (especially if they delayed, and the Executioners' reinforcements arrived), the two warlords were left with no choice but to concede, allowing the Terminators back into the fight. 

In the battle that followed, Xen Quelath not only annihilated his way through the Executioner defenders, he literally saved the Aphotican Oath from destruction. Offering the Space Marines' gene-seed as sacrifice to the Powers, as well as the lives and souls of his betrayed brothers and thousands of Executioners' crew and Chapter serfs, Xen Quelath was rewarded above any of his brethren. He ascended to Daemonhood, making him physically the mightiest of any within the warband. 

Despite being loathed by his kindred commanders and most of the Aphotican Oath, Xen Quelath's position is assured not only from personal power, but from the simple fact that he commands the Mukrah Jal. With a company of Terminators at his disposal - all of whom are fanatically loyal to their clearly blessed (at least in the eyes of the gods...) leader - the treacherous former sergeant has consolidated his place among the warband's leaders. If Rakash or Hekaion require the aid of the Mukrah Jal, it is Xen Quelath who must be appeased first. 

While he is hardly the greatest of Daemon Princes, he is still a creature to be feared by mortal men - and in the cases of Rakash and Hekaion, he remains a creature to be destroyed the moment its winged back is turned for long enough.


*Paint Scheme & Modelling:* I have_ Index Astartes: Dark Apostles_. In fact, I have several copies of it. One of my photocopies from Games Workshop's archives (sent as a mass-collection when I was researching _The First Heretic_) has a slightly faded image of the example armour colours. While I've seen no shortage of Word Bearer visual resources showing a slightly crimson "wine red" tint to their ceramite, my faded photocopy looks surprisingly cool, and I'm going to try to paint them to that shade instead. I've done 2 test models, and they came out looking pretty swish; they're just basic bolter-carrying guys, but pictures will be up soon.

Basically, we're looking at medium red with silver trims for most of the normal Marines, and black, gold or bone trim for the officers and commanders.

*Helms: *While I really like most Chaos Marine horned helms, I like them to stand out rather than being the most common thing in the army. Ragged, converted armour made from a variety of Marks is dead cool, but I think I'm going to have my helms look fairly "uncorrupt" - using a selection of Space Marine and Forge World Mk. II, III, IV and V should help with that. Both of my test minis went this route, and I was pretty happy with it. Again, pics soon. My bad. I'm writing this in the hours before I go to New York for 10 days, and don't have time to slap the photos up.

*Gubbinz:* In some art of the Sanctified (a Word Bearer splinter warband), I saw some black purity seals, which was pretty freaking cool. The Aphotican Oath also use a variant of Purity Seals, known as Sacred Seals. Sacred Seals are affixed to armour by an Apostle or squad leader, using black wax rather than traditional red. The parchments detail a specific blessing from the Book of Lorgar appropriate to the warrior wearing the seal. In general, they're seen as a mark of favour in the warband, and once they've earned the right to wear them, warriors reverently repair any damage to them after every battle.

*Fallen Angels:* I'd really like a squad of Fallen (perhaps as Chosen) allied to the warband. Most likely allied to Rakash, actually. I've had some great tips about how to make them look unique and killer, but as always, any more advice is welcome, especially in regards to paint schemes. Black armour and red trimmings/robes would obviously stand out, but also fit in with the rest of the army's general redness. Not sure how I could arm them; perhaps as close combat specialists to amplify the knightly aspect.

*Vehicles:* As stated elsewhere, I'm sort of terrified about painting tanks. In the past, when I tried, I always ended up with vehicles that looked ruined by obvious brush strokes. To quote myself: "I can never get them with a smooth finish, and in all honesty, I don't have the money to screw up a Defiler just because I wanted to see what would happen. So any tank tips would be great."

The first 1,000 points will represent a typical force brought together by Lord Rakash. I think I'll make two squads' Aspiring Champions into Forge-Lord Garad and Genetor Kor Sal, respectively.

*A Note on this Thread:* I'm not much of a painter. I enjoy making models (especially kitbashing, rather than any actual artistic talent at conversion), I enjoy writing army lists and making army fluff, and I dig actually playing the game (I was always a Warhammer, Necromunda and Gorkamorka player, so this is me bouncing back into 40K for the first time since the _Dark Millennium_ expansion in 2nd Edition). 

What I don't enjoy is painting. I'm okay at it, but I'm very, very, very slow. So to save time (and my career) I'll be dipping, and my models will be tabletop quality at best. Still, feel free to criticise and call me lazy. I have no shame. 

Anyway, I guess it all boils down to this. Does the campaign seem interesting enough, even in its young, half-formed state? Does my warband come across as interesting? Any campaign tips, army advice, or modelling thoughts are always appreciated.


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## Dead.Blue.Clown (Nov 27, 2009)

*The Players*

Katie lost her uber-close-up lens at the last Games Day (I also lost one of my many hats), so while I work out a way to get some photos of my first Word Bearer, here are the players, with photos I hurriedly stole off their Facebook pages:

*-- The Odrysian Reclamation --*



This is Andy. He'll either be playing Grey Knights, or Eldar. He's not sure yet.
He wins a lot of Warhammer Fantasy tournaments, and makes the most skin-achingly unfluffy army lists on Earth in the name of victory, but he's decided to play nicely this time. He likes the gym, and thinks the capacity to injure another human being is somehow a worthwhile thing to train for. At night, he spends his time worrying about his carbohydrate intake. During the day, he works at Black Library as the Marketing Overlord.



This is Handsome Ben. He'll be playing the Imperial Guard. Handsome Ben has actually quit LARP, but I'm using this photo because it's adorable, and I like how angry he looks. Ben spends his days working in a video game store, and his nights burying the bodies of his many foes. I think LARP swords are rubber or something, so I don't know if he actually kills anyone, but I like that he makes an effort to try.



This is Sarah. She'll be playing the Silver Skulls. She spends most of her time being married to Handsome Ben, and doing acceptable DPS on her charming Blood Elf Paladin. She's a Black Library author by night, and works in a hospital by day. Between the day and the night (in that magic hour between reality and unreality) she fights crime and raises a ginger-haired spawn called Jamie.



This is Emma, in the black top (and in the distance), and she'll be playing Eldar. In real life, she does something icky with X-rays, either giving people cancer or seeing if they already have it - I can't remember which. She is one of the few gang members with a real job, and like all gamer girls, she plays (guess what?) a Blood Elf Paladin.



This is Steve, who'll be playing the Dark Angels. In addition to being Irish, he also spends all of his time and money on video games, like any self-respecting guy in his 20s. Once, over Skype, I spent a while listening to him complaining about trying to assemble a Whirlwind. If anyone drops out of the campaign, I suspect it'll be him first. Interestingly, that photo isn't actually blurred - Stephen projects a displacement field wherever he goes, as a means to confuse nearby predators. Occasionally, we call Steve "The Admiral". No one remembers why.



This is Katie. She'll be playing the Shadow Wolves, as well as marrying me in the summer. I have no idea why this photo has a black border around it, but I'm too lazy to chop it off. Katie is tiny, Irish, and is generally considered to be more pixie than human. Because she's a girl, her WarCraft character is a Blood Elf Paladin. She spends her days as a classroom assistant in a school for small, loud children, and spends her nights stealing all of the goddamn blanket.


*-- The Bitter Tide --*



This is John. He'll be playing a warband of Night Lords and their various allies. He works in GW in the licensing department, doing... whatever it is he does. It's all a bit secretive. Either way, John is totally having a baby later this year, which is pretty terrifying. I heard kids cost money and like to eat minis. That would make them anathema to the whole campaign. We'll be watching this closely. Developments as they come in.



This is Rachel, or more often, RayeRaye, who'll also be playing Night Lords (and as a pure NL force, I believe). She spends a lot of her time in the same way as Katie (i.e. having freckles, being a redhead), but also works in Black Library as Princess of Making E-Books. That may not be her official title, but it's close enough. RayeRaye is probably going to proxy with _Codex: Space Marines_, which means the rest of us actually have high hopes that she'll be the one to win things for the Red Team.



This is me, about four hours after I found out I was a _New York Times_ Bestseller with _The First Heretic_, and wondering what to spend all the money on. I'll be playing Word Bearers, perhaps with some associated allies. I spend my nights missing all my novel deadlines. I spend my days doing exactly the same thing.



This is Scottish Ben. He'll be playing a primarily Nurgle-aligned warband. In addition to being Scottish, Ben is also a drummer, which is pretty annoying - you can hear him banging his knuckles on the desk over Skype, when he should be paying attention to more important things, like his Orc Warrior's damage output. Ben's going to be a writer for BL in the near future, by the way. Keep your eyes peeled. I have no idea who the scary guy with green teeth is, but I hope he never touches me. I'm worried that he touched Ben.



This is Sander, who'll be playing an Iron Warriors warband. He's Dutch, which isn't really his fault, but for some reason he's doing the hand-on-chin thoughtful pose seriously, which I only did for a joke. That's pretty lame. Sander spends his days whining about how he hates his school. He spends his nights whining about how he hates his school, while also being my arena partner in WarCraft. 

And thus, the battle lines were drawn.

Go, Red Team.


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

All I can say thus far is congrats with the book!

Can't wait to seem some spezz menz.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Oh this will be interesting.  I always thought you collected Black Legion (but you might have two armies, who knows?) Loving the fluff bit.


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## the.alleycat.uk (Jun 11, 2009)

On the photos front, you should be fine with any camera that has a reasonable 'macro' setting [normally represented by the icon of a flower.] Just about any camera over about £50 should have one, though they do vary in quality.

The biggest trick is lighting them properly so the autofocus works [though i'm guessing from what you said that Katie has an awesome camera and so that last part can be disregarded, probably.]

From what you're said regarding painting... i'd suggest you pick up the spray gun for your tanks [not used it but i swear by my airbrush and the basic princible is the same] so you can build up to an even coat.

I've also bee impressed by the effects some poeple have achieved with the army painter 'dip' [especially when they've been careful about removing excess etc with a brush] and as i's brown I think it would probably work well with the red scheme you're describing...

IE, spray minis, then dip, then do detail stuff... may provide a quick and effective way of doing things and you can then spend your limited time on having fun with your character models/ones you'll have more fun painting.


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## yanlou (Aug 17, 2008)

Sounds really interesting, itll be nice to see how everyone's models look. 

The only thing i would personally change about your Word Bearers is changing the Apostle to the one with the most power, 
no matter how raggedy a Host is, an Apostle would still hold the most power and loyalties as they are seen as the favored sons of the holy Daemon-Primarch Lorgar and the chosen of the Chaos Gods, they will always wield the most power in a legion of highly devoted warrior monks. 
But regardless of that i look forward to seeing how you paint your Word Bearers.


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## InquisitorTidusSolomon (Mar 7, 2009)

Really interested to see everything Aaron! I love the fluff work you've done for this.


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## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

OOOOhhh sounds seriously nice.


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## Digg40k (Sep 7, 2008)

This has gotta be subscribed to. Seriously I hope this takes off. The picture of you pondering what to do with your new cash made me laugh as I bought it the other day haha.

Edit: Just finished The First Heretic. Brilliant book mate, thank you.


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