Small Mercies on Reyneese's Adventurous Warband

Replacement for Ashbringer

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Small Mercies - quiet scenes where the warband remembers how to be people.

Avelreese had Ashbringer resting across her knees like a vow she had borrowed.

She had polished the guard twice and still had not sheathed it.

The weapon looked right in every story she had ever read.

In her hands, it looked like a sentence waiting for a period.

The door opened hard enough to rattle the hooks by the wall.

Small Mercies: For Strength. Obviously.

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Small Mercies — five windows into warband life. Nothing heroic. Just home.

The sun wasn’t fully up yet.

Avelreese was already on her forty-third repetition.

Chest day. Again. Third time this week, which Avelreese would tell you was purely about combat readiness. Upper body strength. The functional demands of shield work. These were the reasons. Documented reasons. She had a list.

Lulureese appeared in the doorway at repetition fifty-one, hair still wild from sleep, holding a piece of fruit she’d clearly just bitten directly without washing.

Small Mercies: Grease and Gears

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Small Mercies — five windows into warband life. Nothing heroic. Just home.

Nobody could find Reyneese.

This happened occasionally. Ten thousand years meant she’d developed hiding spots nobody thought to check. Brass assumed the temple. Lulu assumed “talking to a tree, probably.” Avelreese assumed meditation.

Vyrneese, applying what she called “logical elimination protocol,” checked the basement.

The smell hit first. Copper, oil, something faintly scorched. Then the sound—a rhythmic clanking punctuated by occasional satisfied humming.