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Yup. As has become traditional on my threads, the final chapter will be posted roughly 24 hours after I announce its completion, and the Epilogue will be posted roughly 6 hours after that.
The "Afterward" page will be my last update on this thread. Those are completely out-of-character posts where I talk about how I actually wrote the AAR and are a traditional part of each Stormbreaker story.
Thanks for the context and insights of the last post. Guessing that the rewrite/rework improved upon the original plans. This reader has enjoyed the ride. Now just waiting for the last chapter(s) to arrive.
Welcome to the final chapter of Song of the Solitaire. This post is actually a major first for me: This will be the first time one of my AARs ends on a cliffhangar leading directly into a sequel story. I loved employing cliffhangar endings back during the days of Faith in Chaos, but this is certainly the most egregious I've ever gotten with the concept.
That said, I want to thank everyone who read and/or commented on my newest offering to the Stellaris AAR forums. Thank you for joining me on this journey and it was the greatest pleasure to have you along for the ride.
Trig was brought back into reality by the chaotic noise of crashing stone.
“It’s a cave-in!” Tenna screamed.
Trig pulled her in close and raised his right hand above his head. Focusing with all of his willpower, Trig conjured a Telekinetic shield above himself and Tenna. Boulders the size of cars rained down, smashed into the shield, and broke into harmless bits, which landed nearby.
Malum had used his own Psionics to shield himself from the rockfall. A Temporal Force Field surrounded the Great Khan, rapidly aging the falling rock until it disintegrated into harmless dust. Meanwhile Radyr and Appia were nowhere to be seen.
“Look up!” Tenna shouted.
The cavern had partially collapsed and daylight was visible through the overhead chasm. Trig turned his head and spotted a flickering green ribbon in the sky above him.
And then something fell through the gap and into the damaged sanctum.
A dark cloud of fine particles descended through the hole in the ceiling and began to reassemble itself, taking the shape of an old man.
“Ponnico!” Trig gasped.
Ponnico did not react to Trig’s shout. He turned to face the Great Khan.
“It was foolish of you to come here, Trurah Ponnico.” Malum growled. “I offer you only death, no forgiveness. Leave now, brother… before I am forced to forget the place you once held in my heart.”
Ponnico did not move.
“You lost the right to call me brother long ago.” The old mercenary said. “And if you’ve done anything to harm those children, then you’ve lost the right to a second life as well.”
Malum lashed out, sending a cone of blue Soulfire at Ponnico, who scattered himself to escape the strike. Trig and Tenna ducked behind a fallen boulder to evade the sudden inferno.
“We’ve gotta help!” Trig said over the din. “I’m going to get the Song of the Solitaire down here. You smash up the gate he came through!”
“What about that thing?” Tenna asked, pointing at the Broken Gate.
Trig took another glance and realized she was talking about the silver orb Malum had deposited on the pedestal. Inside his consciousness, Trig felt a powerful lurch of realization and understanding.
That silver orb was the “Second Key” the Shroud-Beings had mentioned in the dreamworld. As soon as Trig focused his mind on the silver orb, the Sanctum, battered as it was, provided him with its name:
The Vultaum Reality Perforator.
Trig could see the look of understanding dawn on Tenna’s face as well. She too had just figured out the importance of that little ball.
“Destroy it.” Trig ordered. “Any way you can. Smash it with telekinesis, burn it with Soulfire, doesn’t matter. Any way you can do it, go!”
Trig and Tenna split up. She ran for the Broken Gate, ducking under Psionic Volts and blasts of Soulfire as Malum kept trying to hit the elusive Ponnico. Trig turned his gaze to the breach above him.
The Song of the Solitaire, still in its daytime aurora form, was circling high over the Great Khan’s sanctum. Trig did not understand how this Psionic creature lived or interacted with the physical world… but somehow, he was able to figure out that the Song of the Solitaire was unable to enter the Khan’s Sanctum…
Not without help, anyway.
Trig projected his thoughts upward to the creature. He knew what it was capable of, but the sudden appearance of Malum had changed everything. He had no choice.
“If you can hear me… then you know we’re out of options.” Trig telepathically spoke to the creature. “There’s too much at stake. Come to me… and we’ll end this together.”
Trig was desperate. He was grasping at straws and did not have the faintest inkling of a plan in mind. Making up the ploy as he went along, Trig felt a wave of elation as the Song of the Solitaire began to descend.
Tenna reached the Broken Gate and seized the Vultaum Reality Perforator. The shimmering orb was no bigger than a clenched fist, yet somehow heavier than six gallons of water. Tenna dropped the Perforator the instant she realized just how heavy it was. It hit the floor with a mighty CRACK and made a small crater.
Malum broke focus and turned to see what made the noise. He spotted Tenna, then disengaged from the fight with Ponnico at once.
A purple beam of light shot out of Malum’s hand, striking Tenna in the chest. She fell to her knees and Malum was on her in an instant. While Ponnico swarmed around him like a horde of insects, the Great Khan grabbed Tenna in both hands. Her eyes were glazed as though she was in a trance.
Malum held one hand over Tenna’s face, then slowly pulled it away. As he did so, dozens of paper-thin strands of Psionic energy appeared to jump away from Tenna’s face and into Malum’s hand. His facial expression changed as he stole and absorbed all of Tenna’s knowledge.
With newfound resolve, the Great Khan stood up, carrying a semiconscious Tenna in his arms the same way one cradles a baby. Because of how utterly massive Malum was in relation to her, Tenna looked like a small toddler cuddled in his grasp.
“PUT HER DOWN!”
Trig’s voice echoed through the cavern. It shook what was left of the ceiling and caused an avalanche on the mountain outside. Ponnico, Malum, and Tenna all turned to look.
Trig was standing in front of one of the minor Broken Gates. A bright aura surrounded his body, while his eyes glowed with intense indigo light. Both of Trig’s fists were enveloped in Soulfire.
Looking amused, the Great Khan allowed Tenna to slip from his grasp. She ran a few steps toward Ponnico, who was re-forming on the other side of the room. After a few paces, Tenna paused. She stood listlessly in the center of the chamber, a dreamy, faraway expression on her face. She looked as though she had been hypnotized.
“Don’t you dare touch her again!” Trig yelled.
Trig was hosting the Song of the Solitaire inside of his own body. He could feel the Psionic creature wrapped around his consciousness like a tight-fitting scarf. It gave him focus and additional willpower. He turned his focus toward Tenna. What he was about to do would have been impossible just a few minutes ago… but things were different now.
Trig gathered up his Psionic healing aura, refined it into a beam, and launched it directly into Tenna’s head. Trig could see, as clearly as ever, the Great Khan’s Psionic presence in Tenna subconscious mind. Trig washed it away with no effort at all.
Tenna gasped loudly as her eyes suddenly slid back into focus. Malum also noticed that his hold over her was broken. He glared at Trig.
“You are as foolish as your mentor, boy.” Malum said. “You cannot coexist with that creature, it can only be enslaved! I’ll give you one chance to save yourself. Pledge yourself to me now, and I will teach you to command the Song of the Solitaire. We will take our revenge on the Author and liberate the multiverse together… as father and son.”
A twisted smile appeared on Malum’s face… Trig felt revulsion building up inside of himself. He took that strong emotion and converted it into his last, best hope.
“NEVER!”
Trig screamed and launched two jets of Soulfire at Malum, one from each hand. They hit Malum’s Temporal Force Field and sputtered out, but Trig kept up the attack, launching a continuous stream of blue fire at the Great Khan. Ponnico launched into action, turning again into a deadly black cloud and attempting to envelop Malum from behind.
Defending from all sides, Malum Ralpakin was immobilized! After two seconds that felt like centuries, Trig realized the Great Khan was losing ground. Under attack by Trig, Ponnico, and the Song of the Solitaire, Malum was being overwhelmed.
“Tenna!” Trig yelled. “We’ve got this! Destroy the Perforator!”
To his horror, Malum’s voice sounded from inside the Soulfire inferno.
“Tenna! Take the Perforator and run through the gate!”
“Don’t listen to him, Tenna!” Trig screamed and intensified his assault, pushing against the Temporal Force Field and gaining ground with each passing second.
“You can be so much more than what you are!” Malum yelled through the Soulfire. “I can free you from the narrow, one-dimensional life the Author has planned for you!”
Trig could see Tenna out of the corner of his eye. She had picked up the Vultaum Reality Perforator and was holding it in both hands.
“Tenna!” Trig yelled. “Destroy it! Go on! Throw it in the fire!”
“I can’t hold them any longer!” Malum sounded as though he was pleading. “I’m out of time! Through the gate! Run through the gate!”
Blue flames were now licking Malum’s flesh.
“Throw it in the fire!” Trig yelled one last time.
Then, he saw a flash of movement. Tenna’s red hair, whipping behind her like a cape, cut through the scene as she moved from left to right. Trig took his eyes off the Great Khan for a fraction of a second…
Just in time to see Tenna step backwards through the Broken Gate.
For one millionth of a fraction of a moment, Trig and Tenna made eye contact. He saw a tortured face, amber eyes full of sorrow and regret.
Then, she was gone.
Trig’s resolve shattered. The Soulfire extinguished itself, and the smoke began to clear. Malum Ralpakin fell over onto his right side. His armor was burned through, the metal plating melted into slag.
The Great Khan was gravely wounded. Much of the left side of his body was covered in second and third degree burns. The smell of charred flesh made Trig feel sick.
For just a moment, Trig, Ponnico, and the Great Khan were all on the ground. Trig and Malum started to scrambled to their feet, but the Great Khan found his focus first and lashed out.
A Temporal Force Field enveloped both Trig and Ponnico. For the two of them, the passage of time slowed to a crawl, freezing them in place. Trig could do nothing but watch as Malum, bloody and broken, staggered away from the scene.
The Great Khan threw himself into the Broken Gate and vanished.
Great to see what you had prepared for the final battle. Congratulations on ending this AAR.
However, this is more like ending Book I and on to Book II.
Seems like one cannot escape their predicted destiny....
Thanks for your efforts. Looking forward to Book II: The Broken Gates.
Trig did not remember exactly how he got out of the Great Khan’s sanctum. He remembered falling to his knees and weeping uncontrollably. He could also remember Ponnico picking up a fallen blaster rifle and shooting the Broken Gate until it was enveloped in flames. But then everything was a blur for several minutes.
Clambering through the rockfall, trying to find Appia and Radyr… Ponnico giving them up for dead and dragging Trig into the partially collapsed tunnel.
Back outside, into the frozen wastes.
Up the hill.
Back through the Conduit… to Caldorix.
…
Trig slept in the infirmary for two days. When he woke up, some of Hannakon’s crew provided him with a meal and a digital entertainment center. They also told Trig that several of his bones were cracked due to fighting on a full-gravity world. He would need to rest and take medicine for several weeks.
Trig passed the time by watching the news.
The new Sutharian government had announced a plan to evacuate the Homeworld. The SLA asteroid strike had kicked off an ecological catastrophe that would, after several years, render the moon temporarily uninhabitable. The remnants of the Vestem Regime had been put to flight. Safar Vestem and his remaining supporters were last seen crossing the Nagyari border.
Meanwhile, the Nagyari and MSI had lost interest in fighting each other. Aside from minor skirmishes along the border, a cautious peace had settled over the Luminous Frontier. There were unconfirmed reports of a religious revival taking place in the Metro, a region of Nagyari space not far from the Necropolis.
Finally, there was significant activity on the Olinbar Homeworld. MSI had announced the development of a new vehicle that would allow explorers to venture through Astral Rifts. Supposedly, during a test flight, an Olinbar pilot had discovered a primitive civilization residing in the alternate reality found on the far side of a rift. Millions of investors were excited about the chance for MSI to return to its true purpose: uplifting the less fortunate of the universe.
No one spoke to Trig about what happened on the Necropolis… but it seemed as though Ponnico had briefed Hannakon at least. In turn, Hannakon had signaled the Resonance Cascade to turn around and come back. The Arfor mercenary crew reunited with Trig and tried to console him, but how could they?
Not even Ponnico seemed to be aware of the fact that Trig was now hosting the Song of the Solitaire inside of his own body… and Trig intended to keep this a secret for now. In those dark moments between sleeping and waking over the past few days, Trig had examined his connection to the creature and learned to understand it.
The Song of the Solitaire was a type of lifeform that relied on mutual symbiosis to survive. The creature would provide Trig with additional focus and willpower, and also shield him from telepathic attack. In return, the creature sustained itself by feeding on the toxic waste in Trig’s brain. Normally, a typical Sutharian brain would build up waste during the day and purge it during deep sleep. Thanks to the Song of the Solitaire, Trig was able to fully refresh himself after only a few short hours of rest.
The only negative tradeoff, in Trig’s opinion, was that he was now having dreams far less often.
After figuring out how the Song of the Solitaire worked, Trig deduced something else.
This is how Malum created the Nocturnal Plague. Trig thought to himself. He imprisoned this poor thing and stole its energy to make Psionic parasites that eat dreams.
He knew the Song of the Solitaire’s containment chamber was somewhere on the Caldorix, but he did not go looking for it.
…
When Resonance Cascade returned, it was time for a painful conversation. Someone must have told Trig’s mother the full story, because Caera said very little, holding Trig’s hand and reassuring him that he did his best.
“Kid, I’m really sorry things worked out this way.” Captain Kanter said. “And are we sure Appia and creepy stalker guy are dead?”
“I’m certain.” Trig said. “They were buried for a few minutes before Ponnico started searching.”
Selborne hugged Trig.
“I’m so sorry.” She said. “And she really went through the gate after she picked you as her Athira?”
Trig nodded. Selborne and Bronley looked uncomfortably at one another.
“We’re both really sorry for you.” Bronley said. “In our culture, what Tenna did is cause for Sagri. If… if you want to kill her… then you’ve got every right to do that.”
“Give us a call if you ever find her again.” Selborne finished. “We’ll hold her down for you.”
Identical dark expressions appeared on Selborne and Caera’s faces.
…
But Trig did not want to find Tenna.
He was hurt. Not physically, but mentally. This adventure, which had seemed incredible and exciting, had ended so badly at the final moment. Tenna’s betrayal stung him in ways that Malum Ralpakin’s revival could not. The end result was that for the first time, Trig was sick of adventure. He just wanted to go home… to get away from all of this and explore his newfound symbiosis with the Song of the Solitaire.
…
Three weeks after his confrontation with Malum, the Resonance Cascade arrived at Kristalzupaken. Their destination was Valerius 22, a mining habitat. Located at the edge of a crystalline asteroid field, this urbanized space station was home to an MSI resource gathering operation, plus about five thousand Sutharians who fled from SLA violence.
Captain Kanter refused to leave Trig alone on the station until he personally met Pentwa Shepminter. The Arfor mercenaries fanned out from the docking bay, searching high and low until Glossom found her.
“She got a job in the Hydroponics Bay.” Glossom told the group. “Kid wasn’t kidding when he said she was a lifelong farmer.”
Pentwa was attempting to pay off the cost of living on Valerius 22 by working for MSI. They had put her to work at a massive hydroponics system, scanning and monitoring the health of several different crops. When Pentwa saw Trig approaching, flanked by a team of mercenaries, she dropped her scanner and hobbled towards him at her best speed, walking stick hitting the metal floor loudly as she went.
“Well that looks like Trig Shepminter and Caera Charnhem.” Pentwa said, folding her arms and allowing a wide smile to cross her features. “But it can’t be. They’re off having adventures right now.”
“The adventure’s over, Pentwa.” Caera said, greeting her old friend with a hug. “Trig and I are going back to Eadleton.”
“We thought we should ask if you wanted a ride.” Trig chimed in, pointing at the mercenaries behind him. “These guys are going to Sutharia, and they said they’ll drop us at Eadleton on the way.”
…
While Pentwa called over an MSI manager and haggled over her final paycheck, Ponnico turned to Trig.
“I am going to get a ship of my own. Try to find Malum and Tenna. Are you sure you don’t want to come along?”
“I’m sure.” Trig replied. “The new government is moving to Eadleton. I’m gonna ask around. Find out if that SLA guy, Commander Charnhem, really is related to mom. But if you want to keep in touch, I won’t mind.”
They shook hands.
“Don’t get too comfortable, Trig.” Ponnico said. “I imagine you and your new companion will be called back into action before long.”
Ponnico winked at Trig, who wondered just how Ponnico had figured out the truth. Trig let out a deep sigh and said:
“Take your time out there. I’m really not in a hurry to deal with those two… But when the time comes, I’ll be ready.”
“By all means, please take your time.” Trig answered. “But when the time comes, I’ll be ready.”
Now, this feels like a proper epilogue/Book I ending/pause.
However, almost like a character, I now feel obligated to come up with some theories. Will have to ruminate about that. (Talk about Fourth Wall effects!)
Nice reset. Loved the last part. This can really go anywhere now given the Broken Gate escape, and the supposed writing of the "Last Days of the Emerald Isle" which will no doubt get interrupted. I do foresee Malum wrecking havoc in AARland. That's the only theory I have at this moment.
Well, that wasn't the betrayal I expected, but... It's definitely a betrayal. And now she'll be stuck with the one who won't love or forgive her, which gets darker still. Malum surviving is bad for everyone, everywhere.. Trusting Malum not to figure out the truth about the Reality Perforator is... Somewhat questionable. Is he confined to @Macavity116 stories for example?
What will Trig do? Is healing Sutharia within his capabilities now?
I've never been able to do this particular type of ending before. The old Stormbreaker Universe consisted of ten books, but all of them were self-contained stories somewhat isolated from each other, so ending one of those books on a cliffhangar was never really an option.
My urge to make terrible things happen to cute characters has been satisfied. I am planning to give Tenna a minor redesign in The Broken Gates to reflect how much she's changed as a person since then.
Pretty much what he said. Trig still has not worked out how to feel about Tenna's betrayal and he does not want to confront her anytime soon. Trig intends to distract himself by investigating a possible connection between his mother and Commander Albury Charnhem of the SLA.
Pretty much what he said. Trig still has not worked out how to feel about Tenna's betrayal and he does not want to confront her anytime soon. Trig intends to distract himself by investigating a possible connection between his mother and Commander Albury Charnhem of the SLA.
I am not above re-using the "Guest Character" concept from The Last Heroes, where I asked other writAARs for permission to use their characters in my own story. I have not committed to the idea at this point, but it's out there.
Almost certainly. They're definitely going to be aged-up at minimum: in all of my notes, Trig and Tenna are flagged as being "late teenagers/young adults" whereas the original SotS version of both characters are marked as "children/early teens."
Also, for the sake of brevity and clarity, I had to edit and shorten all of the critical quotes. @Peter Ebbesenwrote a novella while listing all of the problems with my poorly made entry in the Guess-the-Author thread. (Stepping away from Stellaris to try and write fantasy was fun... but I am clearly no good at it) While it is really good concrit for me to use in future writing projects, I obviously could not reproduce his critical opus in this chapter. To avoid dragging the sequence out, I just made use of the one paragraph I liked most.
I knew it was suspicious when you reviewed in that thread...
Anyway, that ending was fantastic. I can't wait for Last Days of the Emerald Isle... will Trig get involved in that? The Storyteller might do it just to mess with Tenna.
I loved the Star Wars reference that you ended on. It felt fitting...
What would have happened if the Perforator was destroyed?
How did the Vultaum exist in this universe again? If they weren't precursors... did they just exist between the fall of humanity and the time of this tale?
Malum making a deal with my Nidhogg/the Worm mashup from Nordica could be horrifying. I will get that updated soon...
I don't think we're going to see Trig stomping around the Irish Highlands. I am going to return to my comfort zone of writing female protagonists. The plan is for the fairy Aisling (prototype of the character pictured below) to take over the lead protag slot for Last Days of the Emerald Isle.
I'm so happy I finally got to use that one. I don't normally put references to the Prequel Trilogy in my stories due to the fact I prefer the Original and Sequel films... but a callback to that iconic moment from Revenge of the Sith was inevitable.
A terrifying thought. In Stellaris, it is not possible to destroy relics. (the mechanic literally doesn't exist in-game) I don't think the Perforator would have a galaxy-spanning blast radius like the Time Core did back in The Stormbreakers. However, it would almost certainly cause damage to local spacetime if destroyed. Perhaps even the same type of damaged caused by the Paradox whenever she used her Abolition power.
Simply put, they don't. At some point in the past we don't know about, Malum Ralpakin used some combination of Broken Gates/Astral Rifts to travel into a parallel/alternate reality where the Vultaum do exist. He recovered the Reality Perforator and brought it with him to the Luminous Frontier.
This leads to a crucial but terrifying conclusion: There is a non-zero chance that Malum Ralpakin has set foot in the universe of Grand Theft Stellaris/Year of Hell.
Well, that's true. Depending on how far I take this metafiction madness, my ENTIRE roster of previous characters is open for recruiting to Team "Kill Malum" so Cali's got options to chose from.
Note: The image link of the Aisling prototype above broke while I was working on some stuff for Last Days of the Emerald Isle. It's been with a different image.
Well, as far as taking it goes... I believe the phrase is YOLO.
Personally, my suspension of disbelief breaks when exact duplicate characters get invoked, as to exactly duplicate someone or something requires breaking the quantum uncertainty principle by replicating position and momentum simultaneously. But "near enough" cases like identical twins, transporter accidents and cloning are different, and this comes under the latter group.
Thank you one and all for reading Song of the Solitaire, and for humoring me as I embarked on an even more self-indulgent story than what I've done in the past.
Song of the Solitaire started out as my third attempt to base a Stellaris story on actual gameplay rather than a story I made up almost 20 years ago. Grand Theft Stellaris revolved around the Imperial Fiefdom origin and its consequences. Year of Hell was a tale about planetary combat. For SotS, I initially wanted to explore the aftermath of the Great Khan's midgame rampages. Almost from the outset, I intended for this story to have a male protagonist. I quickly latched onto the idea of Trig being the son of the Great Khan, with his mother being one of Malum's concubines.
The original plan for Song of the Solitaire was vastly different from what the final product became. If you know where to look, you can see remnants of what SotS was going to be. About one month before SotS launched, I made a post in the bAAR asking for advice on how to write a planned trilogy. From the outset, SotS was going to be the first installment in a three-book series:
Song of the Solitaire- Trig discovers his true parentage and begins to explore the world his father left behind. This book would have ended with Malum Ralpakin returning to life and fighting Trig, only to be seriously wounded after Trig merges with the Song of the Solitaire. Trig and Tenna would become a couple and actually get to do some "romantic couple things" at the end of the book.
Soulfire Symbiont - Malum Ralpakin manipulates the Sutharian Liberation Army into attacking Sutharia with a swarm of stealth asteroids. This attack triggers the Sutharian Genocide and downfall of the Vestem Regime. Trig and Tenna are forced to flee and are quickly separated by Ellex Camber. Trig travels to the Shroudwalker Enclave, using it (and its Conduit) as a base to gather Keystones and build up his own Psionic power. Meanwhile, Tenna is captured and slowly brainwashed via Psionics until she develops a strong romantic attraction toward Malum Ralpakin.
The Silent Scion - The Sutharian Genocide reaches fever pitch as SLA forces become an official Satrapy of the revitalized Horde. Trig joins an Olinbar strike force and participates in a military intervention on Sutharia, with the goal of bringing down Malum Ralpakin, who is building his new "Capitol" in the Sutharian city of Venka Urbo. Trig and Tenna end up facing each other in battle as opposing squad leaders. Tenna discovers her own connection to the Vestem Regime and Malum's plot to install a similar ruling family once he takes over the planet. Tenna defects and helps Trig bring down Malum once and for all.
Song of the Solitaire went live on October 12, 2023, and made it all the way to Chapter 8 before things went off the rails.
Around this time one of my favorite Youtubers, Jill Bearup, announced the imminent publication of Just Stab Me Now, a novel based on her "Fantasy Heroine" video series. This is what triggered the "massive re-write" of 2023.
The main plot of Fantasy Heroine/Just Stab Me Now involves a recalcitrant heroine who regularly gets into arguments with the author writing her story. Writer Caroline wants heroine Rosamund to get involved in a sexually charged enemies-to-lovers story. Rosamund flatly refuses and instead embarks on a quest to save her children while the frustrated writer follows behind, complaining all the way. It's a very fun story and I loved it in both video and written form. After the book was announced, I re-watched the corresponding Youtube series and was hit by a bolt of inspiration.
I had already finished writing The Great Lie, which is an alternate ending to Year of Hell in which the protagonist travels beyond the Fourth Wall and comes face to face with myself. (or rather, a fictional version of myself) Just Stab Me Now gave me a long list of new ideas for a follow-up to The Great Lie. I loved the idea of my own characters trying to confront me about the many bad things I've done to them and wanted to explore it as much as possible. So I completely threw out the planned trilogy in favor of pivoting to a new story that slowly builds up to a "Rage Against the Author" moment. The actual moment of rebellion quickly ballooned out-of-control in my outlines until I had planned a whole book in which one character is actively trying to kill me.
That book is going to be The Broken Gates.
I keep saying that the upcoming sequel The Broken Gates is an experimental story, but the same can be said of this one as well. Since about 2017, I've been having a slow-burn romance with the concept of Metafiction. The story being aware of its own fictional status, characters looking through the Fourth Wall, writers interfering in the plot, things like that.
I got started on my current Metafiction fascination when I watched a 2017 TV show called Re:Creators on Amazon. The series followed a group of anime, manga, and video game characters suddenly appearing in modern-day Japan and hunting down the writers who created them. I sprinkled references to the series throughout the Stormbreaker Universe, but mostly focused on preserving the stories my sister and I made up back when we were kids. Now that I'm planning to write a full-on Metafiction, though, you should expect to see me ripping off concepts from both Re:Creators and Just Stab Me Now to build my own take on the idea of Metafiction.
Also, I should probably address the gigantic plot twist that @HistoryDude revealed before I was ready to reveal:
Song of the Solitaire is set in the same world as the Stormbreaker Universe, a very long-running series of AAR's that I wrote when I was first starting out on the forums:
250,000 years have passed between The Last Heroes and Song of the Solitaire. This was always the plan from Day Zero, even before the big rewrite. Aside from the massive timeskip, this story does make its own contribution to the Stormbreaker Universe in the form of an updated magic system.
For those of you who don't know or need a refresher: My sister and I created the fantasy world which would eventually become The Stormbreaker Universe in 2006. You could consider the ten AAR's listed above to be "adaptations" of those tales. I used Stellaris as a worldbuilding tool to bring our childhood fantasy realms of Partoga, Levakia, Aoraki, Hokianga, Asalele, Paku Nui, Kelta, Assuria, Amadiio, and Micanawn to life. As part of the creation, we created our own system of powers and magic abilities for our characters to use.
When I turned our old stories into Stellaris AARs, I used the in-game Psionics concept to adapt our homemade powers for Stellaris.
This means all of the "Gifted" characters in the Stormbreaker Universe were bound by a set of rules. That allowed me to make sure the depiction of Psionic powers was somewhat consistent across the series. Some examples of the old ruleset include:
All power is finite - once someone exhausts their powers, those powers are gone forever
Psionic energy generates a small amount of heat when used - Gifted people warm up after prolonged action
Major characters get one unique power to themselves and no one else
If an entire species is Psionic, one unique power is shared between all members of that species
Psionic energy is "generated" by brain activity. Any organic lifeform with a nervous system can generate Psionic energy
Psionic energy generation inexorably slows and permanently stops over time due to natural aging process. Can be stopped early by excessive use and strain on nervous system.
All Gifted people are born with their Psionic powers in a dormant state.
A Dormant Gift can be activated by exposure to Psionic energy.
When a Dormant Gift is activated, a character's first-ever experience with Psionics will be uncontrollable mind-reading.
Song of the Solitaire marked the first rule-changes for the Stormbreaker Universe in almost a decade: When Tenna and Trig started training their powers, I did not enforce the rule about uncontrollable mind-reading and I personally consider that rule defunct now. Also I created a new rule. Why add a new rule to the magic system? I did it to make the powers and abilities of each character more interesting going forward. The new rule is this:
A character's Unique Power will permanently displace two related Psionic abilities.
This means that every character with a Unique Power will have two standard Psionic powers that they are permanently unable to use. My hope is that in the next part of the story, this will make Psionic battles more interesting. See the spoilers below:
Seize immediate (but temporary) control over the target
Mind Merge
Caster merges minds with target, granting powerful enhancements to the target’s senses and abilities.
Mindfray
Causes the target to lose touch with reality, inflicts serious physical pain, can be lethal.
Inspiration
Removes negative Psionic effects such as Panic or Insanity.
Telekinesis
Telekinetic Shield
Creates a field that distorts and deflects incoming attacks
Stasis Sphere
Creates an impenetrable shield that immobilizes and incapacitates anything inside.
Soulfire
Creates supernatural flames that can be manipulated or extinguished via telekinesis.
Volt
A bolt of lightning is conjured and sent towards the target.
Pillar
An obelisk-shaped construct of Psionic energy rises from the ground and remains solid as long as the caster maintains focus.
Channel
The user absorbs any Psionic energy left behind by a deceased being.
Exchange
The caster uses teleportation to trade places with an ally.
Nova Blast
The user expends all of their powers, releasing their stored Psionic energy in a single explosive blast. Destructive yield is comparable to a small nuclear bomb. (10 kilotons)
Overpowered Abilities (extensive training and practice required)
Null Lance
Projects a beam of Psi energy that ignores all protection and deals direct physical damage
Void Rift
Opens a tear in reality and then closes it again. Large blast radius. All organic beings inside the blast radius will suffer the effects of Psi Insanity.
Ghost
Creates a copy of the caster. The facsimile has all of the same powers and abilities as the caster and will cease to exist when the caster loses focus.
Solace
Confers immunity to mental impairments (Insanity, Mindfray, Panic, Mind Control, etc)
Fortress
Confers extreme resistance to environmental hazards (heat, cold, toxins, etc)
Reanimate Dead
Use telekinesis to seize control of a corpse, transforming it into a Zombie under the caster's control.
Fuse
Causes explosive devices to detonate.
Invert
The caster uses forced teleportation to trade places with an enemy.
Gateway
A lethal pulse of Psionic energy will instantly Reanimate anything it kills and place the zombie under the caster's control. Fresh corpses will also be raised.
Domination
Establish permanent Mind Control over the target.
Ionic Storm
The caster creates a lightning storm to strike nearby targets.
Void Conduit
Traps the target in a Psionic prison, causing physical and mental damage. Effect lasts until the caster loses focus. Can be lethal.
Sustaining Sphere
If the caster sustains a life-threatening injury, they are immobilized and placed inside of a Stasis Sphere for a few minutes.
Supernova Blast
The user expends all of their powers, releasing their stored Psionic energy in a single explosive blast. Destructive yield is comparable to a large hydrogen bomb. (50 megatons)
Trig Shepminter
Healing Aura (Replaces Reanimate Dead and Gateway)
Speeds up healing of all around him.
Improves the overall health of anyone he spends protracted time with.
Can dispel long-term damage from Psionic attack over time.
Pontenna “Tenna” Annora/Vestem
Technomancy (Replaces Mind Control and Domination)
Able to manipulate computer software via Psionics.
Able to commune telepathically with AI.
Able to use telepathic attacks against AI, such as Insanity and Mindfray.
Malum Ralpakin
Time Manipulation (Replaces Telekinetic Shield and Sustaining Sphere)
Temporal Force Field
Rapidly ages anything that approaches the barrier. Prolonged exposure will reduce any and all matter to dust. Malum can control the intensity of the aging effect.
Desynchronization
Briefly knock a target out of sync with the rest of the universe. Target will be one to two full seconds behind everyone else.
Acceleration
Speed up the flow of time around a target.
Deceleration
Slow down the flow of time around a target.
Trurah Ponnico
Light (Replaces Volt and Ionic Storm)
Creating light.
Generating lasers.
Creating solid or non-solid illusions.
Acting as a source of light.
Moving as fast as light.
Absorbing light.
Ability to change how others see himself.
Bending light to become invisible.
Ellex Camber
Intangibility (Replaces Fortress and Solace)
Lower density to the point of passing through solid objects.
As I've said, I'm hoping these changes to my old magic system will make future supernatural conflicts more interesting to read going forward. I plan to continue experimenting with the world I've built and with Metafiction concepts in my next story.
Once more, thank you so much for reading Song of the Solitaire. I am grateful to have had the chance to share it with you.
