The whole empire on one chart: every hill, trough, song, shirt, game, and lie, and where each one lives. Parts of this map were eaten by the goat. The damage is labeled. He denies it.
An Empire of One Raven, Chapter One: The Message. This map, playable. Start at the Dive Bar, finish on the Hill, blame the goat throughout.
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The Story
The Raven is the messenger, the memory, the one who never leaves his post. On the night of the call, the Raven could not leave the standard, so the word went to the goat. The goat stopped at the trough, told each brother the others were already on the road, and never delivered it. On the hill, nobody came. Only the Raven stayed. Follow the raven. The goat is lying to you.
The Goat BanThe official decree. His objections were noted and ignored.
The Goat's Press ReleaseHis response, published against the advice of the Raven. He delivered the message (he did not).
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The Court
The whole empire is now preparing for a trial about the brownie incident, and the trial can never happen. The evidence was eaten (the bear). The only witness is silent (the fish). The judge keeps ruling anyway (the cow). The defendant is lying (the goat). The memory keeps the receipts (the raven). The supplier is reselling the tray (the raccoon). And the turtle, who arrived three days late, will outlive the case. The roster is closed: raven, goat, raccoon, cow, bear, fish, turtle. Seven. That is all of them. That is the court.
Bic the BearThe B.E.A.R., Minister of Snacks, Act 05. He ate the evidence.
James the FishThe only witness. He refuses to testify. He is a fish.
Oscar the TurtleThe aftermath. Always late. He outlives the case.
Moo CowThe judge, appointed by press release. She rules between the raven and the goat, and her band was announced in the same breath.
The Signing, AnnouncedThe press release. The goat has been referred to the standing policy.
The Daily Standard, No. 3Bell stolen twice. The raccoon took the goat's bell, the goat had taken it from the raven, and the court has ruled: a thief cannot be robbed.
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The Game
The map, playable. Nine rooms, one coin, one banner, one liar.
Who Pays the TavernPass-and-play at a real table: one phone, three rounds, and the raven counts the bent spoons to name who pays. The loser is also the Goat tonight.
Who Pays TonightThe decider: open it at the table, enter only how many of you there are, and the raven counts and names who pays tonight.
Horns of HatredFour goats in their forties covering all the songs, horribly, at a bar no one goes to. First album Go Fucking Crazy On It, coming soon on Totally Not A Label. The goat ate the schedule.
Trash Panda Social ClubThe raccoon's band. Andrew on vocals and cans, the cans on everything else. First album Provenance, recorded in one night behind the grocery store, on Totally Not A Label.
The Daily StandardThe empire's newspaper. First edition: the raven held his post, the goat is lying to you, and the raccoon produced the message. It was in his trash the whole time.
Trash Panda Trading Co.The raccoon's shop, formerly Andrew's Trash. The empire throws it away. He sells it back.
Totally Not Real CompaniesThe registry of the companies that do not exist: the record label, the trash company, the dry goods company, and the game studio, all listed by the raven.
Totally Not A BreweryThe empire's brewery, which is not one. The equipment was bought, the story was kept, and the taps are run by the raven, the goat, and the raccoon. There is no beer.
SquawkThe wall, run by Totally Not A Social Media Company. The court posts there in public, where the goat cannot eat it.
The bar:The Empire, On the RocksSeven portraits, one drink each: the raven neat, the goat with a martini, the raccoon with a margarita, the cow with a White Russian, the bear with a penicillin, the fish with water, the turtle with a sloe gin fizz.
All the merchEleven collections. The goat is banned from the table, not from the merchandise.
The crest at the top of this page, and the raven logo carried on the back of every shirt, are the work of Amanda Foste, Amanda Foste on Instagram (@ammyfoste). The goat has no logo. The goat has a portrait, and he posed for it.