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August 7, 2025
In the interest of clarity:
Shortly after reading the first to find out and open secrets, MysticMismagius's mother presented a series of interview questions for the authors. These chapters have both been edited since these questions were posed and originally answered. Some of the answers have been adjusted with the new context.
Questions and comments from Mom will be written in
Answers from Kaz, aka the Loremaster, will be written in
Answers from MysticMismagius, aka Mimi, will be written in
Question 1
Were War's eyes mentioned in previous chapters as to make them important now to Eddie?
There's a moment right at the beginning of Chapter 1 (the first to find out), when Eddie gets spotted by War. "Eddie didn't respond, trembling as he stared into the bright red eyes of a god."
To Eddie, it doesn't register immediately, but seeing those glowing red eyes + seeing what appears to be the eyes everywhere in Salem later amalgamates until the eyes become a symbol of his terror.
Question 2
How do the "eyes" manifest? (people, visions, in Eddie's mind only?)
(I know Mom noticed this part after the fact, but in the interest of being thorough, I'm writing everything down again.)
Eddie sees the red lights on the listening devices in Salem as the "eyes of a god". Most people in Salem don't know about these devices, and the lights are difficult to see unless you're really looking for them. Eddie's paranoia and the fact that War's glowing red eyes were the first thing Eddie saw in a moment of terror makes him able to spot them more easily than everyone else. The kid is too scared to approach them (and they're time traveler tech which makes them difficult to understand), so Eddie won't realize they're "just" listening bugs just yet.
Even when Eddie does eventually understand the eyes, it doesn't really change anything as far as their function or emotional impact. Mr. Nevermore still uses those devices as a police officer. Just because they aren't literally his eyes doesn't mean War isn't watching his every move. So "The eyes of a god" becomes a useful metaphor long after Eddie realizes that it's not 100% accurate.
Question 3
Was that warning made in Chapter 1? "Tell anyone, and I will know"?
It was not. Eddie makes a lot of extrapolations to understand an incomprehensible situation. He and his guardian are being watched constantly by what appear to be the eyes of a god, shortly after discovering said god's deepest secrets. (Even though he's wrong about the nature of the eyes, he does understand the surveillance). The words don't need to be spoken aloud for Eddie to realize that he's not going to get away with telling anyone about what he saw.
I.E., Eddie perceives the surveillance itself as an implicit threat.
In the edits, we slightly changed this line to convey that more clearly. The message behind those eyes was clear. "Tell anyone, and I will know."
Question 4
Did Eddie tell Tommy off-screen? Wouldn't that be important to describe? Why choose to leave it out?
Yes. We actually had some notes in our shared document about how to deal with the last scene of the first to find out.
The way that scene would play out, the contents of what Eddie found in the paper would be shoved aside for the immediate emotional reaction of Eddie safely returning after being stuck in Mr. Nevermore's house way later than he should have been. Thus, the topic of "Nevermore is a god" wouldn't have the opportunity to be brought up until after the fact.
I think it would have turned out as a clunky scene (or significantly lengthened the chapter). Since it was considered a given that Eddie would tell Tommy at some point, we decided to use that time to depict War discovering that his journal has been stolen and a child holds the proof of what he is.
Question 5
Add "even". Even the best liar in the world couldn't fool his little cousin.
Okay
(okay)
Question 6
If they left on good terms, why is Eddie being stalked by War? Is it all in Eddie's head?
I removed that line in the updated version, since this is a good point.
As for why it was originally written that way: They have not, in fact, left on good terms, but War has convinced himself that this is the start of a turnaround in their relationship. Mr. Nevermore is not happy about the fact that the "Teach blackmail case" has gotten the attention of the other members of the police force, and he's hoping that saving Thomas's life will get the kid to calm down.
(Not to mention the stalking took place before War provided the aid that would have theoretically left them on "decent enough terms"...)
Question 7
Does War possess magic? What are his powers/abilities? Can't he just kill Eddie and Tommy at the same time?
Yes, War does possess magical abilities, and yes, he absolutely could just kill Eddie and Tommy and take the journal if he wanted to.
Eddie is not handling the discovery of War's identity very well, and being stalked doesn't help matters at all. Eddie is convinced that he "should" be dead by now, but for some reason, War hasn't murdered him. Eddie doesn't understand why, so his mind is scrambling to fill in the gaps of his understanding after the fact.
"The only reason I'm not dead is because I have the journal, and this is mutually assured destruction" makes the most sense to Eddie, even if it's not entirely correct. There's even a point made in the narration during that part of open secrets: "One side had far more to lose than the other. Nothing truly stopped War from just killing them anyway, and dealing with the consequences later."
Question 8
"All he needed to do was never. Drop. His guard. Not for anything. […] Sleep was meaningless when the task was so great." What was the task?
The task was vigilance. In the mind of a terrified twelve-year-old, if Eddie ever lets War take the journal back, or says the wrong thing in the wrong place, or *insert list of eleven billion other things that will definitely earn the wrath of a god here*, his life is over. Eddie's trying to cope with the paranoia by reclaiming a sense of agency over his situation, even if that agency isn't real.
Question 9
Consider making Eddie a bit older; [it] makes his actions more believable.
Notice the little pirate flag that's used to represent Eddie (Edward Teach)? This kid shares a name with Blackbeard the pirate. His birthday was circa 1680, and the Witch Trials took place in 1692-- making Eddie 12. (Although he does age throughout the story!)
We might consider playing with his age a little, but it'd only be by a year or so. Eddie's smart, but I don't think he's unbelievable. He broke into a house, got lost looking for stuff, found a journal, and got caught. Not exactly a super-genius.
Question 10
What kinds of gods are there?
The gods we're exploring right now are the Apocalypse gods (War, Famine, Death, Pestilence), and Yahweh.
The mythology here is loosely based on Abrahamic myths, but the Horsemen are elevated to gods in their own right while Yahweh is a creator god. People in Salem know of these gods' existence, though most know little about them. The Church in Salem worships Yahweh. The cult mentioned in "the first to find out" worships the Apocalypse gods.
In this world, a person may become the avatar of a god after fulfilling certain conditions. War's avatar has been living in Salem and keeping his identity a secret. The methods of how this happens are for another chapter.
We have way, WAY more than that about the Apocalypse gods, but you've only read two chapters and BoR isn't finished ;)
Question 11
Perhaps consider a glossary for your use of terms that are not in regular use or can mean something different than [what a modern audience would understand]
I could see us creating a world-building bible if we have the time. Still, I do want most of the necessary information conveyed within the story itself, as most people won't read a world-building bible lol
She's stopped me from doing this like 80 times because I get so excited about having one. We're getting to it! Later! I think!
Question 12
Maybe describe the RD at the station. Is this a setting that will be revisited?
A description has been added to the Reconnaissance Department based on this feedback!
This is a place that will be revisited in later chapters, as our resident apocalypse god has a day job ;)
Question 13
How does Eddie know about the listening devices?
Eddie doesn't really know "about them" as of open secrets. There's a scene during in this together during which Eddie notices "a strange red light in an alleyway, nestled behind painted charms and hanging signs." This was long before he discovered War's identity, so he didn't understand what it was. Tommy didn't know what they were either, so they just moved on with their lives as they had more important things to worry about.
After discovering War's identity, Eddie sees those strange lights and immediately connects them to the glowing red eyes that he saw. In his paranoia, Eddie starts looking for them more-- and he sees them everywhere.
That, plus the fact that Eddie received
Eddie does learn more about their true nature later as discussed in Question 2, but he cares far less about the minutiae than an adult would.
Question 14
How is Nevermore connected to the police?
See Question 18.
Question 15
Why would witches smash the listening devices?
Because the cops are hunting witches. A Coven would break the listening devices (if they found them) so the police don't get information about their meetings and intercept them.
I feel like in general we treated the fact that this was set during the Trials as a given that people would understand. I'm hoping the new date tags we've added (and some aspects of future chapters) will make these details about the setting more clear in the future.
Question 16
Who's Kit?
Kit is Kaz's character! We edited the scene to introduce her properly, since she was mentioned in open secrets. She'll get more screen time in a later chapter.
Kit's another member of the department that Jessie works in, responsible for making sure the listening devices are placed in the correct spots. Kit gets more focus later, like Mimi said.
Can we get that one side story that's supposed to be attached to chapter 7 finished before Mom gets there? The world may never know.
Have you met the squirrels?
Those are my squirrels. (and that's your side story.)
Question 17
Is Jessie they/them?
Yes, Jessie uses they/them pronouns. There are several LGBTQ+ characters in Book of Revelation. (We know it's anachronistic. We don't care :D)
Question 18
The relationship between Jessie and Nevermore is confusing. No one enters the boss's office without being let in. Seems too comfortable yet unaware of who Nevermore really is. Why would Jessie sit while Nevermore is listening?
We changed this scene a lot based on this feedback!
The TL;DR version of their dynamic is that Mr. Nevermore is Jessie's boss. Mr. Nevermore runs the Reconnaissance Department for which Jessie works.
In the edits, we've made it clear that Jessie really respects Mr. Nevermore, and wouldn't just get impatient like that anymore.
As for the reason why, that's hinted at in the first to find out and explained fully in open secrets...
Mr. Nevermore's "cover story" in Salem, explaining why he came into Salem without paperwork, is that he's a time traveler. This is why he's described as wearing "time traveler garb". Jessie is fascinated by time travelers and their machinery, and is thus enamored working under what they believe to be a real life time traveler in Salem.
Question 19
How do Tommy/Eddie still have a house? They steal that much?
Colonial Americans didn't rent apartments like modern Americans do. The slums of Salem are full of tiny houses that were built by the families that live there, as was typical for the period.
Also, Thomas used to have more money than he does, but has since lost everything. (This will be explored more in a chapter you haven't read yet). The house is still his property, and he never sold it because he needs a place to live.
Question 20
Missing word: looked "Hmmm..." the Cleric down at her notepad...
The worst part is I saw that like a day after publishing that chapter and did not get a chance to fix it for over 8 months. Kaz is the one with access to the website we host this on, and he doesn't really like going back and fixing little things like that.
In my defence, I've lost many a writing project to constantly updating previous chapters for proofreading. That and pushing the updates to the site takes like 2 minutes every time.
Question 21
Do Clerics have face coverings?
Not necessarily. The closest thing to a face covering is the hood on the white robes they wear. The Cleric from open secrets happens to wear glasses, so the glare from the light blocked her eyes from Eddie's PoV.
Not unless they choose to. This Cleric has her glasses as mentioned above, and a future character wears a face mask, but there is no defined face covering specific to being a Cleric.
Question 22
Is the Cleric an adult?
Yes. She's in about her 30s. I would give the specific birthday I had in mind for her, but that information is in a Google doc which I couldn't access when answering this question because I didn't have my phone. FML.
I still have access to the doc, so: March 1660
Question 23
You may want to reference the go-bag earlier so that its contents are known to the reader.
I decided to include this. Eddie wasn't home for the entirety of the first to find out, so the go-bag is referenced earlier in open secrets. [Eddie] stocked the bag in his cellar with anything he could find and prepared to flee at a moment's notice.
Question 24
How can Eddie hear Tommy and the Cleric from downstairs? Makes it seem like he's still in the room with them. Why is he hiding?
Eddie hears it because it's a tiny, crappy house. The basement isn't very big and the thin flooring doesn't provide much insulation from any sound.
Question 25
What kind of Cleric is she (character-wise)? What kind of powers does she have?
The Cleric shows up a lot more later, but at her core, she's generally dry and to the point. She does care about those she takes care of, quite a lot more than she lets on, but the stress and overwork that come with her job cause her to sometimes fail to express that properly. As for her powers, she can cast healing magic through her staff, which allows her to heal just about anything (short of "being already dead").
Don't forget the barriers. It's basically a divine-protection sort of deal, and one of the few ways people are legally allowed to use supernatural powers in Salem.
Question 26
Putting on his leg? When did I miss that?
You did not miss that! This is the first point where it's explicitly mentioned that Tommy wears a peg leg. (The updated version has a reference to this earlier in the chapter.)
Question 27
What acolyte is visiting weekly?
The Cleric from open secrets. Eddie recognized that War sent the Cleric to his house when she asks for the fake name he gave to War in the first to find out, and from then on he considers her an "acolyte of War" (and therefore, her checking in on Tommy is interpreted as surveillance.)
Question 28
Would this be more helpful or relatable to a D&D player?
Maybe? I don't play D&D, so I wouldn't be able to give a solid answer to that.
I also don't play D&D so I got nothin', sorry.
Question 29
The chapters feel a bit long, but not enough details about characters and lore. I want to know more but I'm finding it hard to follow. The writing assumes understanding of lore and ways of life that are different from our own, but are not thoroughly explained.
We can't provide all the details in two chapters! :)
We are planning to write more side stories that fill in narrative gaps and provide context for aspects of our world and characters. You mentioned wanting to learn more about Eddie and Rye when you read the first to find out. One of those chapters exists now (in this together), and the other is coming up very soon!
With that said, I know our chapters run a bit long. (In fact we often struggle to keep them contained when our ideas go crazy!) I try to make a chapter feel like a little story, satisfying on its own and as a piece of the greater narrative. In manga/anime terms, instead of splitting a volume into smaller chapters like a manga, we put them into one bigger chapter like an episode of the anime.
Question 30
Have you considered publishing?
I hadn't really discussed this with Kaz while writing.
Would be cool but there are some changes we'd need to make to make it presentable for a publisher. I do wanna make an epub tho.
