Status Updates From Trial by Blood

"The Quickening" was just 4 pages of a psyker doing cool psyker stuff.

"Immortalis" was short and sweet, showing us a battle brother's journey into the Death Company, interment into a dreadnaught, and death. The writing is solid and the ending packs a punch.

"Death's Shepherd" is the first first-person entry into the anthology, and it's pretty good. It drives home similar points as previous stories on the brutality and general evil tendencies of the Flesh Tearers pretty well. It wasn't as engaging as the other stories so far but it was like 5 pages so no harm no foul.

"Torturer's Thirst" was good, but nothing to write home about. I liked Appollus and it was interesting seeing a chaplain's relation to his Death Company flock. There's a little bit of derivation with "Know Thyself", but this had a bit more action and was overall a little more cathartic, even if I did enjoy "Know Thyself" more overall.

"Beneath the Flesh" is the strongest showing so far. Really good action and some fun character moments for the squad of protagonists. Again drives home both the best and worst aspects of the Flesh Tearers, which is great since extreme is what I'm here for with 40k.

"From The Blood" is another good showcase of the depths of the Flesh Tearers' generally monstrous tendencies, this time focusing on a space battle, which serves as a fun change of pace. The very end of the story is a nice bit of black humor before moving on to the next act of "The Trial of Gabriel Seth."

"Blood in the Machine" had me worried at the start, as it kinda left me with the impression that it would be bolter porn action the whole time. It still is that, but it does a way better job than I expected of exploring the darkest aspects of Gabriel Seth and the Flesh Tearers. The character of the Inquisitor Narissa is great to hate too, her beef with Seth kept me quite engaged.

"Know Thyself"
A kickass little story that further characterizes Seth and highlights the uncertain place the Flesh Tearers occupy in the Imperium. The description of the Black Rage and Death Company marines was especially cool, and seeing inquisitors get put in their place will never not entertain me greatly.

"The Trial of Gabriel Seth: Act 1"
Absolutely brilliant opening/framing narrative. Really throws us straight into the strained dynamic between the Flesh Tearers and the other successors of the IX Legion and gets us invested in Seth from the get.