The Heart’s Own Cementation
The Heart’s Own Cementation by Iron Eater first appeared in issue Issue 94 in 2021.
Creator's Notes
Content Warning: This submission involves assorted material that may not be appropriate for all readers, including mention of graphic violence, blood, intense fictional-religious themes, ritual self-mutilation, assorted depictions of mental illness, hints at past abuse (physical, emotional, and otherwise), and the use of carrion as a foodstuff. This story features no human characters.
This is the tenth story in an ongoing series. Reading previous entries is not mandatory to understanding or enjoying this one, though there may be elements briefly mentioned or hinted at that are only given greater context by referring to what’s been written before. Yes, they’re all generally quite long. If you don’t have that kind of time, go ahead and jump right in, and maybe consider going back to see what came before if you like what you read here, won’t you?
It’s December, which means just as it has been since 2012 it is time for orcs. It very nearly wasn’t, however; while I’d planned out a lot of thematic work ahead of time, started writing pretty much right after Halloween, and budgeted time in my writing schedule for taking time off for an event, I hadn’t expected for my husband and I to fall terribly ill as a result of somebody else showing up to said event with something contagious. It wasn’t the Dread Corona (thankfully!), but it did knock us both out for a good week, which left me going into the final week of November with a woefully unfinished story and a rising sense of panic.
Then I woke up, chose violence, and wrote about 40,000 words over the course of said week. I do not advise doing this if at all avoidable.
Great thanks goes out to my dedicated beta reader, Sparklebeard, who was given a full-sized novella and asked to help beat it into the shape of a manuscript a reasonable human being might want to enjoy. He’s watched this series evolve greatly over the years and has vastly improved the quality of my writing with his advice every time he cracks open a fresh document and begins to annotate, providing not only quality proofreading but magnificent editorial content. Two whole chapters of this beast came into being at his behest, as did a few extra scenes to flesh out sections he felt made sense for the characters and story but needed more direct evidence in the text itself. One of these days I’ll give you more than a weekend and a prayer to read over these bricks!
The entire reason Valin Mad-Eyes can’t stand Riaag is because I couldn’t make things that easy for him. Also, her entire character concept revolves around trying to find a common ground between her divine nature and her very severe psychosis, so showing more how it influences her daily life and her ability to interact with others in a healthy way was important. We haven’t seen the last of her.
Keen-eyed readers might notice specific terminology being used for family members this time around. Namely, the Rhoanish track family and bloodlines through a little more complex method than most RL cultures of today: you have a sire (who, you know, sires the child) and a dam (who carries the child), who determine much of your blood relatives and ancestors and things, and then you have any variety of caretakers who may or may not be your sire or dam. “My children’s dam” is not necessarily their mother, aunt, or even a family member at all, much less somebody female! It’s a hard life in the valley and family groups change up regularly based on happenstance. The concept of a nuclear family is essentially alien to the Rhoanish. For those wondering why Sarouth doesn’t talk much about parents but has made mention in past stories of a cousin and a shared grandmother, here’s why!
I’m very pleased with the illustrations this go-around, even if they left me with all of about a day and a half to get my title cards done! Once again the title text is an original hand-drawn typeface based on a different interpretation of prog rock lettering; there simply was not the time for an elaborate Roger Dean affair this year. As is common for my S2B2 pieces, the art was completely done in Clip Studio Paint EX, using binary monochrome layers and pencil brushes for inking, because I am on some level some sort of pervert. Drawing Riaag smiling continues to bring me great joy. Fun fact: Sarouth’s harp is loosely based on a Scythian design! It’s come up enough times in the stories that I figured it deserved being shown properly. This is also a chance to see how he wears that hood of his; the lessened depth perception is just something god-speakers have to deal with, and why they try to get members of their entourage to stand on that side just in case anything tries to blindside them.
Do I have plans for 2022’s entry? It’ll be the tenth anniversary of these things, so it’s safe to say yes, I do. See you next time.
