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Index Astartes: Silver Feathers (WIP)


Isghamor

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T
he Silver Feathers were created during the 21st founding for two reasons. The first was the strategic advantage that a chapter based in the Gothic Sector could provide against chaos incursions. The second reason although it had weighted less upon the decision was nonetheless important. A Blood Angels’ librarian, Cassiel, conducted studies upon the curse afflicting his chapter and claimed to have found a cure. Since the death of Sanguinius triggered the gene-flaw he thought that if the Astartes detached themselves from such figure the strength of the curse would be reduced if not cured.

Obviously this drastic measure could not have been applied neither to the Blood Angles nor to their already existing successors. He needed a new chapter whose roots were still malleable. His brothers considered this solution abominable and held a grudge against Cassiel and the Feathers calling them orphans.

Yet his theories proved right: the Silver Feathers appeared to be free from the black rage but the void left by Sanguinius was felt for generations. Slowly, their home-world, Avalon begun to take the place which, in the other chapters, was held by the primarch.

The history of the Feathers had always been drenched in blood and fire since, for unknown reasons, Nurgle and his putrid legions took an interest upon their world.

Their attachment to the planet runs so deep that whenever Avalon is threatened the curse represent itself but instead of seeing the death of their primarch they see the destruction of Avalon. The warriors who suffers from this condition become crazed with sorrow and a sharp desire of vengeance although some simply collapse in a vegetative state with their psyche destroyed. This new form of the black rage had been dubbed black sorrow. Contrary to their progenitors among the Feathers its not considered a shame to fall in such a manner as it proves the love and dedication of the fallen to his home. This crazed warriors much like the death company are sent into suicide missions to let them find satisfaction in revenge. Those instead who suffer the other outcome are burned on a Pyre lit by their squad-mates who recite the fallen’s glorious deeds. Their ashes are then dispersed on Avalon.

The hallucinations seen during the black sorrow cast a dark shadow upon the chapter as many believe them to be premonitory.



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AvalonVI is a feudal world situated on the fringes of the Gothic Sector in the Segmentum Obscura.
Its geography consist of only one continent, roughly the size of Europe on Terra, called by the locals Dachaigh. The rest of the planet is filled by an ocean called Doimhnead.
Due to the large presence of water the atmosphere, dense and with a high humidity level, form a permanent thin veil of mist.
The Fortress-Monastery was built in a secluded valley, encircled by tall and sharp peaks, where the mist was thicker. The dangerous peaks and scarce visibility would give the astartes an edge in combat against attacker due to their knowledge of the territory and the danger of collisions for enemy aerial units; the avalonian called this mountain chain: Taigh Ainglean.
A moon orbits around Avalon VI,its surface is composed mostly of silver, it's called Màthair-airgid and is given an almost religious respect both by the astartes and the locals.
The population sees the battle brothers as angels, mostly due to their tendency to add raven-like wings to their jetpacks. The recruitment happen, under normal conditions, trough an annual fighting tournament held at the feet of the Taigh Ainglean and organized by the chapter master. Among the inhabitants it's considered the utmost honor to be chosen by the "angels".
The astartes upon completion of their training, before being assigned to a company, are given a month-license to go back to their former homes.
The Feathers develop a deep connection to their homeworld and they mount on their armor an amulet made of silver which they carved themselves from avalon's moon during their initiation.

"Brothers, the very land which gave us birth, joys and sorrows is now threatened. Will you fight even at the cost of your lives?

Will you stand up against this insult? "

-cpt. Gwidion, Luna plena company of the SIlver Feathers


" There were eight of them in the beginning. All of them cladded in pure silver, beautiful black wings, pure as the night, sprouted from their backs. They were called Valkyrjur and protected Avalon from the perils of the other side.
One of them fell to the darkness, becoming a terrible shadow of her former self. Despite that, the other Valkirjur still loved her as one of their sisters, yet they delivered the fatal blow.
They mourned the fallen Valkyrja, they wept for the sister they couldn't protect.
You can still see their tears streaming down the mountain of Taigh Iargain where the spoils of their fallen sister still rest."
-Ancient legend from Avalon

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The Chapter, in its origins was a codex adherent chapter but, in the afrermath of the invasion of Avalon, adopted and kept a peculiar organization due to the tragic losses and the close cooperation with a minor order of the Adepta Sororitas: the Sisters of Mist.
There are only 4 companies: the first, called luna sedens, as per codex astartes is composed by veterans, the second, called luna plena, is an assault company and composes the main force of the chapter, the third is the moth company and consist of those brothers who lost their mind to the black rage, the fourth ,called luna crescens, is composed of the novices; there are no scouts(reconnaissance is performed by the battle-sisters).
Due to the chapter's proud nature the astartes strive to fight in close combat, so heavy or ranged support as well as transport and scouting is provided mostly by the battle sisters. During training, aspiring astartes are split into units, which are kept even after completing the training, to consolidate a spirit of brotherhood among the same unit, into these units is usually inserted one of the trainee of the Sisters of the Mist to ensure tighter bonds between the two organisations.

The Luna Plena, due to the high number of Astartes it features (c.a 80% of the chapter's fighting strenght) is divided into 7 smaller groups called seraphs. Each seraph takes its name from one of the seven legendary angels, which guarded Avalon, the Valkyrjur.

1 Akarasha (specialized into frontal assaults)
2 Avatryx (this seraph never leaves Avalon, among its sacred duties they keep guard on the Màthair-airgid)
3 Selara (specialized into infiltration operations)
4 Noxys (this seraph focuses on surprise attacks, it's often employed as support to the 1st or 3rd)
5 Erchanya( specialized against psykers)
6 Lynvaeha(well-rounded seraph utilized as support/reinforcement)
7 Sitrix (well-rounded seraph utilized as support/reinforcement)
(8) Antakla (Is a temporary seraph which is formed during prolonged campaigns as substitute of the moth company when the latter is not available)


The Feathers assigned to the moth company are held in great respect by the other astartes which consider their fall as a sacrifice to protect their brothers in arms.
Thanks to the strong bonds among the astartes and even with the sisters their subconscious keep them from hurting their allies even when they fall to the Flaw. There is also a sister into each unit of the moth company. Their duty is to provide some kind of leadership to them and, once the battle is over, take the lives of those who went too far to come back. This is done with a ceremony called "the ascension".


"Thy wings may have burned but the flame thou caught allowed thy brothers to fight again, I thank thee for thy sacrifice now fly free for thy duty is over".
-the ascension ritual



SUSPECT OF HERESY:
Avalon's original religion was found strongly based upon sorcery and Cassian took an interest in it suspecting the taint of chaos had already radicated deep into the planet.
He questioned many of the shamans and discovered they were actually psykers but he didn't find any clue leading to chaos corruption. In time he became intrigued and started studying the local culture. They managed to find a way to join their minds together avoiding easy possession by the demons of the warp.
Cassian's interest in these psykers didn't go unnoticed by the ordo hereticus which dispatched an inquisitor with a retinue of battle-sisters to question him. Unfortunately little after that the Gothic war broke out, Avalon became engulfed into the fires of battle. During the siege of Taigh Ainglean the inquisitor witnessed the dedication and contempt with which the Silver Feathers engaged the chaos forces, and dropped his suspects. Another decisive fact, which contributed to this outcome, was the appearing of an entity clad in silver spreading its black wings. This apparition helped the Feathers against the invaders, breaking the siege.
Gazing upon this entity Cassian said: "our lost brothers finally joined the fight. We'll crush them for Avalon and for the Emperor". He joined the fight despite his old age losing his life.
This apparition was considered a miracle of the Emperor by the sisters which decided to stay on Avalon to deepen their knowledge about this entity.


"The ruinous powers are marching upon your home, dirtying the air with their foul stench. But little they know of the strength of the sons of Avalon. Many of the Knights are fighting them with nothing but steel swords, uncaring for their lives. My angels, now go, spread your wings and satiate with the blood of the enemies of Avalon."
-Cassian at the beginning of the chaos invasion of Avalon


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The Silver Feathers, like their founding chapter, employ mostly techniques of high mobility and close combat.They seek a style both gracious and effective for this reason the weapon of choice of most Feathers is the power sword which techniques they have refined over the centuries.
They rely heavily on jetpacks on which they mount raven-like wings, painted in silver or black,these wings, other than being an ornament, can be spread providing enough lift to concentrate the jetpack power on forward acceleration thus reaching higher speeds and manuvrability.
They mastered aerial jetpack maneuvering attaining a fluidity of movements which is paragonable as that of angels, to which the chapter inspires its fighting style.

THE SIEGE OF TAIGH AINGLEAN:
During the Gothic war AvalonVI got invaded by the forces of chaos. The Silver Feathers recalled all of their forces spread in other conflicts in the sector to join the defense of their home.
Due to the strong bonds between the planet and the Feathers this invasion hit deeply into the astartes' hearts causing many to fall to the black rage just by making contact with the enemy.
During this war the Moth company was instaurated, those marine who felt the maddening rage draw near would paint a moth on their armor and throw themselves at the enemy hoping for an honorable death. Despite the bravery of the Feathers, they suffered heavy casulaties.The invasion culminated into the siege of Taigh Ainglean where the future founders of the Sisters of the mist took part to the battle.
The Astartes were resolute to defend this place until their last breath even if it meant the obliteration of their chapter. At the peak of the battle the Spiritus mortii,an angel-like entity clad in silver with black raven wings, joined the fight.With the spiritus' strength and the boost to the morale they repelled the siege.Unfortunately during this battle Cassian lost his life. Riding this victory and with a renewed determination Daemel Silverheart led the Silver Feathers and repelled the invaders form Avalon. Shortly afterwards he is nominated chapter master.

Their fleet is composed by:
one battle barge: the "Spirit of Avalon".
three battleships : called "Cathubodva", "Epona" and "Pride".
6 luna-class cruisers : called "Nemain","Ankou","Andraste","Brixta","White Lady" and "Cocitius"

THE GIFT OF SANGUINIUS:
Like all the rest of the successor of the blood angels the Silver Feathers, too, suffer the Flaw. Like the other chapters of the cursed 21st founding there's the suspect of a manipulation by the adeptus mechanicus of the original geneseed.Maybe due to this or to Cassian's studies on the flaw, it presents itself in a peculiar forms in the Feathers' geneseed.
The red thirst present itself into every new marine as soon as he undergo his first fight but since then it doesn't present itself anymore thought the thirst for blood is permanent henceforth. The Feathers sees this as part of their being and gladly satiate themselves upon the enemies they face, with pride.They never go out of control for this and often during the celebrations after a victory calices of blood are served to the astartes.
The worst part of the flaw is the black rage which normally turn an astartes into a mindless killing machine. Among the Silver Feathers this usually comes in stages. The first stages are reversible thanks to the help of the Custodi Memoriae: sisters of battle from the Sisters of the Mist which are tasked with monitoring the black rage, bring back,thanks to psychological techniques,those who still kept their mind and, if the marine could not be brought back, administrate the ascension.

The Feathers' employment of the Custodi Memoriae is often subject to critics from the other chapter, especially from the ultramarines(they don't like when a chapter diverges from the codex). The relationship with the SIsters is hard to understand for those who are external to both organizations and the sight of a Sister executing a marine, even though he's lost to the black rage, usually generates scorn among the other chapters.
The first stages despite being reversible still provoke a permanent loss of memory. Once this loss becomes severe,and the Feather could not recognize his battlebrothers anymore, that's the signal that he could not be brought back, the ascension is administrated.
Among the astartes their flaw is seen not as a curse but as a gift of their primarch Sanguinius who would have granted them the power to crush the enemy of the imperium , and the loss of memory would be the harsh price to pay for it



THE CURSE OF AVALON:
Due to the vicinity to the veil separating the immaterium from realspace being thin on Avalon,the system is deeply soaked into the energy of the warp. This caused a high number of his inhabitants to become psyker, thought the mutation is far more subtle than normal. While some inhabitants develop control upon their psychic power, and become shamans, in the majority of the avalonian the mutation happen on a subconscious level, it could stay dormant or in particular condition temporarily awaken with unpredictable effects sometimes it could be a powerful ally while more often a devastating curse. While a single individual can not normally draw subconsciously enough energy to produce a visible effect, if many individuals with this mutation awaken while in proximity this could feed the strongest of the subconscious enough power to manifest visible effects. The Silver Feathers ,as they recruit from the people of Avalon,count among their astartes many with this mutation.
This is kept secret from the rest of the imperium as it could shed a bad light upon the chapter.
Among the chapter's librarian the most accepted theory about the spiritus mortii's origins says that the will to protect Avalon and their brothers caused the mutation to awaken linking the souls of the fallen in the warp together forming such an entity.
This mutation is also linked to another terrible flaw of the chapter: some Feathers vanish into mist without leaving a single trace. It doesn't happen all of a sudden due to the mutation limitations concerning energy drawing thus it is a slow process which sometimes never complete itself. Those astartes which manifest the symptoms ( their body looses its pigmentation causing silver eyes and hairs as well as a marble white skin) are called Specters.
This process can have a sudden acceleration should the cursed ones find themselves among strong psychic energies like during the apparitions of the spiritus mortii.
This flaw is not present into the geneseed of the chapter but among the original DNA of the recruits, but due to the bond between the chapter and their homeworld they keep the flaw as proof of their belonging to Avalon.


THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SISTER OF THE MIST:

After the events of the siege of Avalon the group of battle-sisters, which stayed to study the Spiritus Mortii, found themselves many time helping the Feathers in battle ,due to the extreme casualties incurred during the invasion of Avalon,and the impossibility to request reinforcement from their order ,which at the time was the Sacred Rose, due to the warp storms originated during the gothic war .

At the end of the gothic war, with the dissolution of the warp storms, the sisters managed to contact their order which, as a reward for their action during the aforementioned war, granted their commander, Elleden, the honor of founding a minor order to hunt down Heretics in the gothic sector. Thus the order of the Sisters of the Mist was born.

Because the sisters adopted a tactical approach, the chapter and this order acted complementarily in battle, improving the effectiveness of both. While the Feathers focused on intercepting the enemy and lock it in close combat the sisters provided ranged support as well as other tactical functions.
This is seen especially in the "Wrath of the Heavens" a tactical maneuver where a first force of the SIlver Feathers charged at the main force of the enemy acting both as stopping power and decoy, (usually this brothers were chosen among the luna calans company due to the difficulty and cruciality of this role) while the sisters ferried another group of astartes in the rearguard of the enemy, executing a "pincher maneuver". After the pincher was set another group of sisters starts an heavy bombardment in the middle of the enemy forces which are left with nowhere to retreat to, thus panic start spreading making the sweeping easier.

After sharing many battles the two organizations grew closer and closer to the point that the distinction between the two organisations became almost just a formality. It wasn't an uncommon sight to see some sisters wandering around in the Feathers' fortress monastery as well as the opposite. They even tasked each other wich crucial task: the maintenance of the sister's vehicles and most of their weapons was often left to the Feathers' tech marines, or the role of custodi memoriae being assumed by battle-sisters whose unit were destroyed by the enemy or by the black rage itself.

(more info about the sisters of the mist in their own index which i have yet to write).
This paragraph is still wip


RELICS
The mask of Antakla:

It is a ceramic mold of a woman's face. No one has managed to ascertain the effective age of the mask but all agree on it probably dating back to the beginning of the civilisation upon Avalon.
Soon after his discovery, the place where it was found (Taigh Iargain) had been fortified. further studies conducted by chief librarian Kerubiel revealed that inside the mask a powerful entity was sealed. Kerubiel's thirst for knowledge prevailed on his common sense and kept experimenting on the mask. He discovered that the entity inside needed a host to manifest in the materium. After this finding his experiments focused on finding a way to control it and employ it in battle.
During the accursed time of the first invasion of the planet, the high stakes gave him the bravery to put in practice his results.

The following is an account edited by the chapter's scribes to incorporate both the report of Kerubiel and those of the brothers who witnessed to this experiment:

I summoned two of my most trusted subordinates and tasked them to keep the entity at bay while I infiltrated and directed the host's mind against the traitors. Outside some of my brothers were tasked to send the whole fortress into oblivion should anything wrong happen. The chosen host was a young druid who volunteered for the task. I infiltrated his mind, once the mask had been put on his face a strong surge of pain flared through his mind accompanied by a strong psychic pressure.

The host was screaming in pain as the mask begun to merge with his flesh. Ceramic plates emerged from his body rending the skin.
Soon his body transformed entirely he had become taller his body was now resembling that of a woman. Ceramic plating now covered entirely his body leaving the joints' muscle and sinew in sight. He broke of his containment and stood kneeled on the ground holding his head with both hands as if to carve something out of his mind. Two skeletal wings emerged from his back.

The struggle against the entity for control was fierce but we were three powerful psyker and soon we reached a balance. I connected my senses to his. Inside the containment unit many of the present were looking at me with a mix of fear and disgust.

The wings lit up with a dark energy and the entity, which we called Antakla(the name came from an old legend of Avalon), flew out of the roof carving a hole into the roof of the fortress.

end of report.

Kerubiel managed to control the entity but with great strain. Antakla managed to reap through countless chaos astartes. But she became stronger and stronger with each soul she feasted upon. Kerubile was forced to make her stop and return to the fortress where they banished the entity back into the mask. The rest of the body dissolved into energy. The relic was brought back into the fortress and there stands until, in a moment of direst need it would be employed again. This is one of the chapter most guarded secret.






Various reports from the chapter's Librarium:

THE BATTLE OF BALAAM:
The heavy casualties cut the Silver Feathers out of the gothic war main conflicts. But when the distress call of inquisitor Azeal saying that chaos cultists started spreading out on balaam reached the battle sisters on Avalon they decided to intervene but, being the gothic sector cut out from the rest of the imperium by warp storms they couldn't request reinforcements thus they asked for demael's help. He agreed but could only spare half a company as he feared that the forces of chaos could retaliate and their numbers were already barebone. Half of the luna crescens company of the SIlver Feathers along with the sisters set sail to the agri-world of Baalal aboard the chapter battle barge: the "spirit of Avalon". Upon landing on the planet the sisters started investigating among the population. Some of the locals pointed the sisters to some coordinates deep into the fields where,as they said, people had gone missing. They marched trough the fields, where tall crops made the storm ravens useless for aerial scouting forcing them on foot, with just a rhino tank requisitioned from the PDF. Elleden,the leader of the sisters, and Mercear, chaplain and leader of the luna crescens, discussed deeply about the probability of an ambush which due to their barebone numbers(the luna plena counted only 45 astartes in the aftermath of the Invasion while the sisters counted 25 battle-sisters) could prove fatal. Their fears came true as a missile hit the rhino shattering one of its tracks, soon afterwards a ring of fire ignited all around them, they could hear the maddening excited screams of the cultists all around them; a feeling of rage and contempt spread quickly among the encircled warriors. The astartes and the sisters fought bravely for what could have seemed an eternity. Fortunately the cultist were not trained and disciplined but thanks to their sheer numbers managed to inflict serious casualties before being wiped out. At the end of the fight the Feathers spread out and regrouped 1 km north of the spot of the ambush to shrug off eventual pursuers. From a force of 70 warriors merely 40 were left. The sisters suffered the heaviest casualties only 5 of them remained,one of them heavily injured. As Mercear looked upon the surviving troops he noticed that one of the sisters, holding another one gravely injured, was presenting the symptoms of the curse, he drew near to see better and asked her where was she recruited from, the injured sister spoke:

"She's not one of us,she offered willingly to accompany us saying that she wanted to serve the emperor too. I could not ignore such devotion so I agreed to her request".

As she lifted her head to look upon Mercear he realized she was Elleden. A hole was tore into her armor at the height of the stomach.

She continued:"We started training recruits soon after the invasion ended to restore our numbers. I 'd never expected that of the 5 of us ,which survived, three would be recruit".

A little stream of blood started flowing from the angles of her mouth "There's not much time left if the cultist have grown so bold to ambush us they must be preparing something terrible. You need to infiltrate their camp and slay their leader before its too late".

Mercear took the most experienced sister, Morgaine and 8 of his astartes to go scouting for the enemy camp; while the rest of the troops were to keep ready to create a diversion at his signal. As they discovered the camp a terrible sight was in front of them: the cultist were dancing around a pole, to which was tied the corpse of an inquisitor, while others were eating what seemed to be the remaining of his retinue.
He signaled the other troops to start the diversion and begun approaching the border of the camp. As the fighting broke out a veil of mist fell upon the camp. While scouring the camp he saw the Feathers appear charging from the mist employing a bite and flee technique, using the mist as cover.
Mercear located a hut near the center of camp where a cultist was kneeling before a totem made of flesh and bones. As he approached the cultist turned his head towards him with a hollow gaze and begun producing horrific mutation on his body. Screaming the demon threw itself on Morgaine which fell to the ground under the demon's rampage. The bolter fire from the astartes forced the demon to leap back giving Mercear an opportunity to severe its head with his powersword.
Out of the hut the battle still raged on, three winged figures were tearing apart a cultist after another.
After the battle was over Mercear saw that the three winged figures were actually the sisters which somehow grew a pair of wings. For a moment he feared that the taint of chaos had taken them but, seeing the Feathers cherish, he pushed the idea away.
Upon returning to Avalon he consulted with the chapter master and they decided to keep the three Valkyries(they were called so by the astartes which saw them fight on Balaam) secret until they would know more about that. Morgaine was the only one left of the original battle-sisters and had been given permission to keep on recruiting on Avalon by Daemel after collecting from her an oath of silence about what she saw.

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A promising start.

Following are some of my thoughts:

 

- The 21st Founding is also known as the Cursed Founding. Most (though not all) of the Chapter that were formed during this founding exhibited severe physical defects, moral flaws, or other serious issues and ailments. Examples of this would be: the Black Dragons (have bone growths coming from their arms and heads), Fire Hawks (who were all lost in the warp due to some disaster), the Flame Falcons (who quite literally spontaneously combusted and were wreathed in spectral flames that die not harm them), the Blood Gorgons (who went mad and turned to Chaos), the Lamenters (who are cursed by literally the worst luck of anyone in the 40k universe), and so forth... So unless you intend to give the Silver Feathers some additional flaw, curse, of problem to overcome besides the Black Rage (which they would inherit naturally as descendants of the Blood Angels), you just may want to pick another founding.

 

- Good introduction to their homeward, nice detail.

 

- Why do the Silver Feathers utilize such an unorthodox form of organization, and why do they not use scouts? Further clarity would be welcome here.

 

- Try as I might, I cannot see any Space Marine Chapter allowing anyone but one of their Apothecaries or, at worst, a battle-brother, to execute one of their own, even if the warrior were mortally wounded or gripped by the Black Rage. It seems unlikely that they would allow Battle Sisters to perform such a duty on the Moth Company members.

 

- I like the portrayal of the Battle for Avalon and the concept of the Spiritus Mortii!

 

- I would love to have more information on what campaigns the Chapter fought in, how they fight, do they have a particular race / faction that they hate more than any others, etc.?

 

Well done so far!

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thanks for the review i just started wiritng this so there are many things i have yet to explain/think about. Like the strange relationship with the sisters, the additional flaw is a perfect way to give them some additional wierdness :), and on the campaign too i need to think about:happy.:

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This is a good start Ishghamor, very interesting Chapter which reminds me a lot of Blood Angels meets the legends of King Arthur, in particular the legendary Island of Avalon, is that intentional? If so perhaps you should think about pledging to the Alonquin Table - Liber Writing Challenge (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/344442-the-algonquin-table-a-liber-writing-challenge/

 

I would agree with many of the points made Tarvek Val and look forward to seeing how this Chapter continues to grow - particularly the relationship between the Silver Feathers and Sisters of the Mist!

 

Couple of additional things from me though:

 

Firstly I would love you to explore how Cassiel and his research was viewed by his original chapter and why they didn't adopt his ideas, did this lead to a strained relationship between the Chapters, possibly open hostility? If not why? 

 

Secondly what caused the Chapter to adopt this unique organisation? The Blood Angels themselves are rather Codex adherent with a few tweaks here and there (I'm looking at you Death Company) when it comes to organisation, why did Cassiel wish to make such a change?

 

And finally, a very minor point, but there were a few spelling errors in there, use spell check it is your friend :) 

 

Any way the main thing here is, well done! Your chapter concept is solid and intriguing and I can't wait to see it continue to grow!

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