A Practical Guide to Evil

"It doesn't matter how flawless the scheme was, how impregnable the fortress or powerful the magical weapon, it always ends with a band of adolescents shouting utter platitudes as they tear it all down. The game is rigged so that we lose, every single time: half the world, turned into a prop for the glory of the other half."
— Black Knight
A Practical Guide to Evil (2015-2022) is a Young Adult Heroic Fantasy Web Serial Novel written by erraticerrata. The seventh book of the series was completed on February 25th, 2022, ending the series. A key element of the setting is that many Heroic Fantasy tropes are enforced by the universe's laws.

Black-and-White Morality is an objective reality here. Individuals, species, and nations can be clearly and unapologetically Evil and Good. People can gain superhuman powers and a degree of in-universe Plot Armor by embodying certain archetypes, which leads to gaining a Name. The majority of Names have a definitive association with either Good or Evil. A few Names can be claimed by a person from either side. While some Names used in-story are more specific (Bumbling Conjurer, Ashen Priestess, etc.) the majority of Names can be found or derived from the Fantasy Character Classes page (Black Knight, White Knight, Ranger, Warlock, Thief). Named individuals are both more powerful than normal people (able to kill dozens or hundreds of Nameless Mooks or Red Shirts single-handedly) and more important in terms of fate (i.e. the plot). Fate tends to play out in patterns that can be manipulated by particularly Genre Savvy individuals. Named individuals also each have access to three personalized Aspects, initially undefined powerful moves or abilities that they gain access to at a suitably dramatic or necessary moment.

The series follows the exploits of sixteen-year-old Catherine Foundling, the Squire. An orphan born a few years after her homeland, the Kingdom of Callow, was annexed by their perennial foe, the Dread Empire of Praes, following a short and utterly devastating war of conquest, Catherine was raised at the Imperial House for Tragically Orphaned Girls. Although she resents the greed and corruption of the imperial governor of her home city, she is cynical about the prospects of rebellion, instead planning to join the Imperial Legions of Terror in order to improve the system from the inside. However, when she manages to impress the Empress' Black Knight, she is offered a chance to join the ranks of the Named by taking the role of the Squire.

But the Balance of Good and Evil is reasserting itself. Whereas previously a new hero might have appeared in Callow once every few years, they are now popping up every few months, which is a rate that even the Black Knight's supremely efficient spy network can no longer keep a lid on. Meanwhile the very reforms that made it possible for the Dread Empire to triumph so completely are stirring unrest among the nobility of Praes, who seek a return to the Stupid Evil ways of the Empire's past. To make matters worse, the powerful neighbouring Principate of Procer has emerged from the long, debilitating civil war that has crippled them for so long — and are seeking revenge for the Empire's role in prolonging that conflict. As all of this threatens to boil over into a continent-wide war, Catherine must navigate her own, and her country's, path through the turmoil.

The premiere of Book 7 was also followed by an announcement for the author's next series, Pale Lights, which premiered August 26, 2022. The original 2015-2022 release of the series was always intended to be a first draft of a final published version, and a second draft has begun uploading to the Yonder web serial app as of October 2022.

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