Starry Eyed

For time immemorial, the Empire has waged war.

They turned their fangs on all who wouldn’t stand with them, striking down both friend and foe alike— forging a legacy of cloaked daggers and bloody struggles in the dark. Theirs is a throne built on the backs of countless tragedies and a million atrocities.

Nevertheless, time passes, and with it, so did memory of their bloodstained deeds.

Now, on an isolated island where a nation grows unchecked, where a new generation grows up without the glory of war, where age-old miracles are spun into new stories, and new inventions serve older purposes— The Empire lives in a time of mundane wonder and tenuous peace.

That isn’t to say that the old horrors have been idle, despite being forgotten.

Where war no longer decimates the street, insidious growths flourish in the shadows of the city's golden lights; modern nightmares veiled in theological lace and rotting silks prowl the dark, all the while less monstrous monsters grow fat on the ruins of war-torn nations.

In another world, heroes wielding virtuous ideals and divine decrees would’ve taken a stand, but the era of stark villainy and righteous heroics are long dead, mercilessly ground to dust and buried beneath the ashes of their world.

Yet despite this, nestled within the capital proper, lives a girl who wants nothing more than to live a steady life. The issues within her society couldn’t mean less to her. After all, she has bigger things to worry about, like deciding what to wear, unearthing the secrets of long-lost art, and fulfilling those promises she made all those years ago.

But as the novelty of peace grows old, and as old plans come to fruition and older enemies crawl into the light, her plans to secure a quiet life grow more distant than ever.

Starry Eyed is a high fantasy web novel about troubled individuals trying to make their way in an uncaring world, where larger-than-life problems often seem more insignificant than personal ones, where old virtues are perverted and new evils are caught in a bittersweet light. The story is set in a world where modern-day fantasy magic meets Victorian and steampunk revolution, in a time similar to our own second industrial revolution, with hints of enlightenment and renaissance era ideals, mixed with contemporary themes.

This story is updated weekly, on Sundays.