Author's Note
Welcome, one and all, to the Compendium Casus! This separate work will have multiple intertwining threads with the main story of C0G (see the Synopsis of this story or my profile to read that story), as well as plenty of extra, unrelated - yet still entertaining - stories, taking place in the world of Æthoun!
A few things to know about this collection of short stories:
► These will not be on a consistent upload, even if/when I get Cog under one such thing (even writing this Chapter 0, I have nothing to post alongside it). These will be a way to continue working on the world of C0G without getting burnout on the exact same story, as well as practice and experiment with new formats, genres and the like. It's also to remind you all that I am alive and well, and about a third of the way done with edits on the C0G story! (The Writathon 2023 really did a number on my motivation and ability to write comprehensive stories, it seems.)
► This will be 98% spoiler-free, and the short stories will not be posted in any particular order. I'll be writing them as I think of them, and will do my best to avoid main story spoilers; however, I'll still be intertwining the main story into these sometimes, which means crucial lore pieces being shuffled into these tales. Therefore, I'll be doing two things to prevent people from spoiling themselves; I'll mark any short stories that provide spoilers in their titles, alongside the chapter(s) that it spoils stuff about, if applicable. This brings me to the other method I'll use to avoid spoilers; if you keep up with C0G before reading these short stories, you won't have any issues. The short stories will only become available after the chapters they spoil are published, which means no spoiling plot points a hundred chapters too early.
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► Some characters in these short stories will be men, others women and some others still children. Some may be monsters with little understanding of their surroundings, and others could provide insight beyond what seems reasonable for one individual to offer. Their journeys differ in duration, difficulty and even definition; what I'm getting at is, don't expect anything within this compendium to be more than stand-alone stories with their own genres, paces and characters. Yes, some may blend over one another, and some may reappear in multiple stories, but each of these tales is unique for one reason or another. Some entire sections may be similar, but know that my goal is to pour out a swathe of scrambled thoughts sifted through editing and grammar; variety is the name of the game!
Finally, some of these short stories may not even be 'short stories', per se - they could be children's fables, nursery rhymes, working songs or even incantations in the form of prayers or abilities. This is the spot where I will be dropping everything that won't function properly in the main story, and a place to cross-reference if that ever changes.
All of that being said, I do hope you enjoy this tremendous tome of tantalizingly tasteful tales, but alas, my time speaking is done; the Compendium Casus calls to you now.
Answer it, and slip into the depths of Æthounian legend!