Story
Storytelling, Setting, and Pacing

This was an interesting take on William's history and I found myself wondering the whole time if this would cut to present day at any point, even for a single post. The way this story read to me was almost like an extra long trailer where right when he speaks the binding words, the camera pans to his eyes, there's a reflection in them, and then it merges into present time and pans away and it's William's adult eyes, and he's on his way to the place in the story. It would have been an epic intro into a terrific saga. The setting was interesting because you were in two places at once, being the events of the story and the events of the storytelling. I had a pretty good idea of both but I am starting to think I'm just bad at filling in the gaps. The only real complaint I have for pacing was the jump you did from workshop storytelling to post-dinnertime. I find myself wondering if you'd have been better suited having Gerard tell the story in one sitting, even if they changed location at one point to walk to dinner rather than post-dinner.


Character
Communication, Action, and Persona

It is interesting to think about your character as a little boy, because though I haven't read much of your work, the way I envision Arcus is kind of like that scene in V for Vendetta where this molten man is standing in flames and screams in agony and fury. So to take that back to curious little boy working in a woodshop makes me want to see more of the bridge from A to B so to speak. It creates an interesting contrast of character, and though I got a good idea of all the characters (though the mom was barely present) I had to also wonder how much of your personal life crept into this, as I THINK you're a father. This kind of made me sad because I lack the experience or context to write something like this with the nuances of real life.


Prose
Mechanics, Clarity, and Technique

I'm inclined to think that Elder Evil should be capitalized. I also think Thirteen in many cases should have been. And ironically, there was only one case in 71 that you didn't properly capitalize Old Masters (post 10). The only other instances where mechanics started to slip that I noticed was in post 14, which I wonder if it was just you trying to get things out the door.


Wildcard

This was an interesting take, and I would have loved to see if this little storytelling had transitioned into an adventure in adult William's life to hunt down the last Old Master, or to find the Elder Evil, or hunt down Bardin, or something along those lines. There was some interesting history here and finding out whether any of it is actually true would have been engaging, like an Uncharted game installment, as legends often hold some truth. Well done overall though. A clean read.