Kristoffer Pauly

LXXVII

Going live on RoyalRoad July 8th

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After weeks of travel, they at last laid eyes upon the imposing walls of the metropolis, from which the nation earnt its name: Helmsgarten.

Jakob’s entourage of construct servants had expanded after Iskandarr had hunted down and slain a group of guardsmen who had fled the city and its protecting walls. Their bodies had become simple humanoid puppets, for Jakob did not wish to expend t...

2023-06-17 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

LXXVI

Going live on RoyalRoad July 6th

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They stood on the outskirts of the town, admiring the ruins it had become. Nearly half of its buildings had been swallowed-up by the ever-expanding pool of black bottomless water that Heskel had invoked almost a year prior. Those buildings that were left standing had been thoroughly destroyed by the intense fighting that had taken place within the walls of the town sometime after Jakob’s fl...

2023-06-15 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

LXXV

Going live on RoyalRoad July 4th

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Jakob stood next to Iskandarr in front of where they had buried Ciana’s body beneath a blooming plum tree. With no soul within it, it was a lifeless vessel, though it was uncertain if, given Nharlla’s gift to her, the body would ever decompose.

In order to never lose her again, Jakob had grafted Ciana’s soul-wing to his back, but it simply hung there like a lifeless cape, despite ...

2023-06-13 10:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

YANAGI - All Chapters (11-06-2023)

Contains up to and including Chapter Six (六).

Unlike my other stories (except Exiled Realm which is a crazy outlier), YANAGI has some pretty substantial chapters, hence why, with just the 6 chapters in here, you already get over 18k words. 

I think that, as a result when I eventually begin posting this story on RoyalRoad, it will become a two-chapters per week sort of thing, after maybe doing five chapters for the first week. But we'll see. The most importa...

2023-06-11 10:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post

LXXIV

Going live on RoyalRoad July 1st

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Jakob stood outside of the inn preparing the cart that would take them to Helmsgarten, when Iskandarr returned, carrying Ciana’s catatonic body in his arms. With one look, Jakob knew that she was unscathed physiologically, but it was clear that something had damaged her soul, as he felt with his obsidian hand how it struggled to stay within her body, as though attempting to break out of its...

2023-06-10 10:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

YANAGI - Great Forest Map

I drew this to kind of help myself visualise the world a bit more and have something that I can add points of interest to alongside the chapters I write for it.

I'll keep working on this as the story progresses, but this is the initial version of the map and features the few landmarks mentioned in the opening chapters.

Hope this kind of map actually makes sense to anyone besides myself xD generally it's better to go with something that doesn't have a ton of visual clutter, but I k...

2023-06-09 20:46:39 +0000 UTC View Post

LXXIII

Going live on RoyalRoad June 29th

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The Middle Ring was full of unattended food stalls and shops and houses, with panicking wives and daughters and working women scrambling to figure out where all the men were going.

The sound of a thousand footfalls flowed behind the pair as they simply walked their way through the most heavily-guarded gate in Lillebrünnr, reaching the heart of the city, the Centrum, where the Lords an...

2023-06-08 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

LXXII

Going live on RoyalRoad June 27th

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While Jakob was preparing for their return to Helmsgarten that was less than two weeks away, Ciana was travelling west, hunting down Iskandarr who had run away from the tavern without a word. She was bothered by Jakob’s nonchalant attitude towards the boy’s disappearance, but she supposed that he had never truly changed the way he viewed his offspring, though she had wanted him to be mor...

2023-06-06 10:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post

YANAGI (first 3 chapters)

I'm really excited to bring you the first 3 chapters of YANAGI: Guardian Deity of the Great Forest (大森守護神: ヤナギ).

I'm planning on publishing this story on RoyalRoad sometime in July, such that its release coincides with the end of Father of Monstrosity. This is my next big story for a while, but I will still be working on Sovereign Monstrosity in the background, though I doubt I will have anything from i...

2023-06-04 21:07:17 +0000 UTC View Post

LXXI

Going live on RoyalRoad June 24th

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Iskandarr showed up to the hill near the treeline only a few minutes after Jakob had arrived, but still his disappointment at ‘losing’ was evident on his face. On Jakob’s shoulder sat bird of sculpted bone with gossamer-thin hairs on the shafts of its feathers. It still needed some work to be able to fly, as it was currently only capable of gliding, but the design was otherwise flawles...

2023-06-03 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post

I need a break from Toad Town

I don't know if anyone is supporting me on here because of Toad Town, but it's been no secret that I really struggle to write the story. 

Participating with it during Writathon is no doubt to blame, but I'm also just in a terrible place in my life right now and I'd prefer to focus on stories that I enjoy writing. 

I'm already doing this writing stuff to blow off steam from the shittiness of reality, so it feels terrible to have this sense of obligation to write something...

2023-06-01 16:56:48 +0000 UTC View Post

LXX

Going live on RoyalRoad June 22th

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He moved like a serpent, his footwork and movements snappy and efficient, never once turning away, eyes always locked on her, while his blade led the way, as though the weapon in his hands was a rapier and not a longsword. Ciana could not help but feel intimidated by the pressure he put on her, even as she repeatedly rebuffed his strikes with her clawed fingers and managed to slice the tip o...

2023-06-01 10:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post

LXIX

Going live on RoyalRoad June 20th

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He wandered down halls that he had explored enthusiastically as a child, but now found to be devoid of the life and the intrigue it had held for him back then. The tapestries and banners were faded and untended to, left alone to fade in lustre, like a microcosm of the city itself.

It was quite obvious that he was to blame for this state of affairs. He knew how he was perceived and how ...

2023-05-30 10:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post

YANAGI: Guardian Deity of the Great Forest - Prologue

This is the opening part of the story which sets up the elements of the world, while providing some lore and the main concepts of the story.

I will have at least the first chapter (but hopefully more) available to read by the end of the week.

Here is the transcript:

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The world and its contents are built from a flow of energy, a churning whirlpool of souls. Whether a tiny pebble or a mountain, whether a lowly insect or a Deity, this energy is ...

2023-05-30 01:32:47 +0000 UTC View Post