The God of Whispers has spread an omnipresent paranoia to every corner of the kingdom of Zhal; his spies hide in every hall spreading mistrust and fear. Adam Osidis, a dying knight from a disgraced house, must choose between joining a hopeless order of magical warriors and mercenaries in their desperate bid to free their world of the evil God, or accepting the God’s promise to give Adam everything he’s ever dreamed of.

All men have surrendered their freedom for fear; now one last free man must choose between the fate of the world and his own heart’s desire.

Writer Rick Remender re-teams with collaborators Jerome Opeña (Uncanny X-Force, Fear Agent) and Matt Hollingsworth (Tokyo Ghost, Wyches) to take readers on a hard road through the strange and mind-bending fantasy world of Zhal.

My name is Michael Bancroft and I’m an independent comic book writer and artist. If you’re a fan of the indies, or comic books in general, especially creator-owned, European and French-style Bande Desinnée, then please check out my channel. I want to make more original content based on my own work, so if you’re interested in this kind of video, please hit like, subscribe, and leave a comment. You can support this channel and help me create my comic by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/user/SignFail/join

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Everyone has had moments in their life, whether with friends, family or colleagues, where you’re faced with a similar choice. Go along with what others are doing, against your better judgement, or stand true to yourself, and potentially become an outcast like Zebediah, and his family.

The Mud King is known as the God of Whispers. He’s inside so many people’s heads, he can spread any lie he wants, and it becomes the truth.

For Zebediah, it’s not just about honor, and his family name, the stakes couldn’t be higher. His son Pete, is deathly ill, and living on the outskirts of society, he’s forced to deal with unscrupulous people. Unable to trade for the medicine they need, they make one last desperate journey to same people who’d refused to stand up for what was right, when the kingdom needed them most. His old order. Now just a shadow of their former glory.

Along the way, the parents tell a story to their dying son. And the Goblin King said to his wife, ‘whispers are deadly. Think about what people whisper. Anger, Hatred, secrecy, fear. It’s a story Pete had heard a hundred times, but they repeat it so they never forget what they’re standing against.

Sadly, the crumbling order refuses their plea, maybe out of cowardice, or maybe out of shame, and Pete succumbs to his illness. His younger brother Adam, blames his father for their refusal to help them, but his mother reminds him, A reed bends, or it snaps. But once bent, it can never take its former shape. The order hates Zebediah because he makes them remember who they once were, and what they’ve become.

When all others have compromised who they are, when you’re the only one left standing for what is right, you’d be a fool not to wonder if you were wrong, but if you listen to that voice inside you, you’ll know. Young Adam’s mother tells him, A reed must grow straight while it’s still green. And once it has it must choose how to weather the hard winds, does it bend, or does it break.

Now a father himself, Adam has inherited the same dilemma from his father before him. Pushed beyond the edge of society, out into the wilderness, their family hunted, he himself now, inflicted with the same illness that killed his brother, and with few options left, against everything his father stood for, he travels to the city to speak to the Mud King. Will he finally bend the knee, or will he find a way to remain defiant?

Like his mother once told him, it’s the voice deep inside you that lights the way. It always knows the truth.

And for me, that’s what I’ve always relied on to help me make difficult decisions in my own life. I follow the truth, as best as I can perceive it. Because the truth is fixed and unwavering, and even though it can be hard, or painful to follow, especially when the whole world seems to want you to believe lies, it’s the only path that will lead you to a moral life.

So let the truth be your guide in life, and use it as a shield against deception. Even if that comes at the cost of your comfort, convenience, or like in the case of the Osidis family, much much worse. Because the price you pay for turning away from the truth, is your very soul.