Cover for Planting Life in a Dying City: Kolchais. Two seedlings grow out of black gravel.

Planting Life in a Dying City: Kolchais (Season 3 cover)

Born to a runner-family and unable to run, Kolchais is used to being a disappointment. Lefeng and Tsouchm may have laid the current for their new family and that new family may accepts Kolchais as ey is. But Kolchais knows ey still needs to prove that emself. If only ey could figure out how.

But things aren’t always as obvious as they seem, and even the clearest-sighted person will sometimes fail to understand themselves.


If you missed them, you can catch up with Season 1 and Season 2.

Planting Life in a Dying City is an original world low-fantasy story about building a family and future together in a world that rejects you. Each season will tell the story of the new family through the eyes of a different character.

Planting Life will run for six seasons.


Kolchais trudged through the market, doing eir best to ignore the thudding pain accompanying each step, each breath. Ey couldn’t take day work like Lefeng and Tsouchm, could barely help clear the debris and prepar the ground to build their new home.

But ey could do this. Little as it was.

In a corner of the market, a soot-covered young adult was selling sacks of charcoal. Charcoal was necessary for the city, smiths used it, and the fishing folk preferred charcoal to wood for drying their catch. But it didn’t pay much, and the charcoaling families usually struggled.

Kolchais didn’t recognize the young adult but did recognize the sign of eir family—High Slopes Charcoal. It was sketched on the blanket. Smudged, but recognizable. In spite of the name, most of the family’s charcoal came from close to the city. Many family names were like that. Chotaikytsais’ family hadn’t specialized in colorwork for several generations.

Well, the sign was recognizable to Kolchais, at least. Time with Lefeng and Paiokp had changed many of eir assumptions about how much other people saw and understood.

Ey stopped in front of the blanket and hesitated. Courtesy would have eir squat down. But if ey did that, ey might not be able to stand up….



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