by JustaBearinahat
Thomas Hale was raised to deny himself. His anger, doubt, and desire. When a mine collapse traps his neighbors underground in a Reconstruction-era Appalachian coal town, restraint becomes as dangerous as wrath. The mountains were old before humans ever set foot on the continent. Something slumbers beneath them, indifferent to those above. The collapse wakes it, and something in Thomas answers. As fear fractures Arno along old wounds of faith, race, and greed, strange powers begin to surface among the survivors. Every miracle carries a cost. Every judgment leaves a scar. The deeper they dig, the less certain it becomes that the coal is worth the toll. What to Expect: • Slow-burn progression fantasy with clear costs and lasting consequences• Folk horror and eldritch threats beneath an Appalachian coal town• Character-driven power awakenings rooted in belief, memory, and moral choice• No visible system mechanics and no stat sheets• Faith under pressure and a community fracturing along real historical fault lines• Escalating supernatural siege and survival elements• Power that always demands a price New chapters every Sunday. Arc 1: Iron & Ichor now complete. Great time to jump in. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main… any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” -John Donne
