[Arcana Universalis 01] • Terminus

Welcome to the world of Arcana Universalis, a strange universe filled with fabled creatures, vile demons, and starships driven by mystical energies. It's a time of fantastic powers that defy belief and vicious bloodshed that spans the stars... most of which belong to the Imperium, an oppressive feudal society brutally ruled by a millennium-old dictator.

Enter Caleb Gedley, a bright but neurotic apprentice fresh from the academy who has a beautiful fiancee and a lifetime of mind-numbing research waiting for him back home. The only obstacle left between Caleb and this cozy future is a six-month externship aboard the Imperial Dragonslayer Ashkalon, an ancient and powerful military starship patrolling the lesser spiral arm.

It was supposed to be a routine tour, just a few months of hard labor in exchange for a land-grant and entrance into noble society, but things in Caleb's life never work out like they're supposed to. When the Ashkalon is sent to investigate the disappearance of a prospector ship, Caleb and his best friend, a young warrior named Bibbs, find themselves on the surface of a mysterious planet, and that's when everything begins to go terribly, horribly wrong...

Terminus is the first segment of the upcoming fantasy novel, Arcana Universalis: The Hanged Man's Revelation, due out in late 2011. This novella-length release is the first of five planned episodes that will together form the final novel.

For more information about this release, please visit our website at: http://oktopods.wordpress.com/