Shael didn’t say anything until we exited the building. He didn’t stay silent for long, though. “What was all that about?” he demanded once we were on the street again.
“That was me making sure Loken or his envoy didn’t lay any spells on you.”
“Why would they do…” he began before running aground. “Right, stupid question. But what made you suspect something like that?”
I smiled thinly. “Because that’s what the trickster did to me. After our firs...
Eight hours later, I was at the rebirth well. Waiting.
I didn’t search the village. I didn’t explore the valley beyond. I didn’t do anything except sit and stew. Over what I had to do next. What I needed to do next.
And Wolf forgive me, what I couldn’t do next.
Around and around my thoughts circled, going over all the permutations, possibilities, false trails, ploys, and potential treacheries in store for me. Sadly, too much was uncertain, too much was unknown. An...
For an unaccountable time, I stared unseeing at Shael.
Saya dead? Impossible.
“That can’t be right,” I said inanely.
The bard cackled bitterly. “Ah, I wish it were so, friend, but it’s true.” He made a shooing gesture with his hands. “So run along and find somewhere else to stay tonight. Because the rooms in this here tavern of death are all full up tonight.”
Rising to his feet and uncaring of the chair that fell flat behind him, Shael stagger...
Except for a hulking and bearded mereman, the tower’s basement was empty. But that was not to say I did not have cause for renewed surprise. In place of a single nether portal, I found ten—all shimmering and all active.
“Damn,” Terence remarked, echoing my own sentiments.
“Welcome,” Quartz, the dungeon keeper, said, smiling genially. “I take it from your expressions that this is your first visit to the Deeps?”
I nodded. “We were expecting, uhm, one dunge...
You have entered sector 65,231 of the Forever Kingdom, an open sector forming part of the region known as Korg. This sector is under the control of the Silach.
The following restrictions apply to this sector: only silachens may purchase new buildings in the safe zone and only silachen civilians may trade in the safe zone. Note, a shield generator is in place around the sector, preventing portals from opening anywhere except in the designated teleportation areas....
2024-08-14 04:59:53 +0000 UTC View PostYou have entered sector 18,240 of the Forever Kingdom.
The nether toxicity at your current location is at tier 4.
Safyre has cast purifying dome. Duration: 30 minutes.
You have entered a purifying field. All environmental ill-effects have been nullified.
I stepped out of the portal, but not into the nether’s familiar coils. Instead, I entered a space blessedly free of the void’s m...
2024-08-12 13:58:19 +0000 UTC View PostYou have upgraded Ghost’s draining bite ability to improved draining bite. The second tier of this ability allows your familiar to leech 30% of the damage she inflicts from a single bite attack, restoring her own health in the process. You and Ghost have 59 of 65 Magic ability slots remaining.
Upgrade complete. Class points remaining: 5.
Ghost’s Class has advanced to rank 9.
After advancing Ghost’s death ma...
2024-08-09 16:51:37 +0000 UTC View Post
The DE (German) version of Audiobook 2 of the Grand Game is out on preorder. It will release on 16 August 2024. You can find the audiobook in the audible store here.
2024-08-08 13:26:56 +0000 UTC View Post72 Days Left for Brokering Peace in Sector 12,560
I rose early the next morning, a habit that had become deeply ingrained in me since my first year-long visit to the tundra. Untangling myself from the pile of furs I’d buried myself beneath, I let my awareness expand.
The rest of the ‘human’ den was still abed. Even most of the wolves in the surrounding igloos were asleep. “Go back to bed, Prime,” Ghost said groggily. “It’s too early.”<...
2024-08-07 17:34:43 +0000 UTC View Post73 Days Left for Brokering Peace in Sector 12,560
“So, how do we run the stygians out of the sector?” Teresa asked.
For a moment, I didn’t say anything. It had been only a few hours since House Forerunners—or was that the Forerunners faction? I still wasn’t sure which we were yet—had made the momentous decision to reclaim sector 18,240.
To try reclaiming it, I amended.
Success was by no means guaranteed, e...
2024-08-05 15:30:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi all,
I've begun the process (somewhat laborious though it may be) of updating the lore sections of my website TomLitRPG.com. Beware: for those who aren't caught up on the story, there ARE some spoilers.
So, be careful which drop downs you open! :)
Right now, I've completed Michael's evolutionary charts and player profiles. You can find them here: 2024-08-03 16:52:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi all,
Book 7 is finished, and a whole month early at that, lol. Well, not really :) But certainly, in comparison to other books in the series, I have finished it much earlier than the amazon pre-order date.
I actually planned to finish Book 7 by the end of May, then aimed for June, only to actually finish in July (so much for my planning!) But despite being unable to write as fast as I wanted, I have managed to deliver the manuscript to the narrator...
Player Profile: Michael
Level: 236. Rank: 23. Species: Human. Lives Remaining: 4.
Ghost’s Lives Remaining: 4.
True Marks: Powerful Initiate.
True Marks (hidden): Worthy Adversary, Wolf Protector, Wolf Progenitor.
False Marks (fabricated): Lesser Shadow, Lesser Light, Lesser Dark.
Followers: 2 / 200. Active Pacts: 5 / 20....
2024-08-01 08:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post73 Days Left for Brokering Peace in Sector 12,560
The next day, everyone gathered in the den again. It was time for some hard decisions.
I surveyed the faces around me. On my right were the dire wolf elders and Ghost. Farthest left from me were the twins. Both wore smug looks of satisfaction, and it was no secret why either. The pair had gained their bloodline Marks.
They were Lions.
“Hmpf,” Sulan sniffed. “More like cubs really.” 2024-08-01 07:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Your nether absorption has increased to level 203.
Six hours later, I was still following the river. The hydras had not deviated course even once, which I took to be an encouraging sign. They were obviously heading somewhere, and it was a good bet that that somewhere was a nest.
Every three hours or so, I halted as Anriq recalled the seeker, skipped over into the tundra, and had Safyre or Adriel recharge it—and him. It made my task more tedious, but onl...
2024-07-30 07:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostWe set out for the nether portal less than an hour later, Adriel and Safyre having already seen to the necessary arrangements. Our party was larger than I expected and included Adriel, Safyre, myself, and a team of arctic wolves.
I eyed the sled piled high with supplies sitting next to the lounging wolves. “What’s all that for?”
“Emergencies,” Adriel replied laconically.
Clearly, she and Safyre were determined to be prepared for every eventuality, an at...
2024-07-29 07:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post74 Days Left for Brokering Peace in Sector 12,560
Blood awakening completed.
Congratulations, Michael! You have awakened the greater memory: blood puppet and have gained the ability: enslave.
Enslave (champion variant) is a touch-based ability that allows you to permanently dominate 2 subjects whose levels are equal to or lower than your own. In the event that either subject is a player, the effect will last until the play...
2024-07-26 07:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post79 Days Left for Brokering Peace in Sector 12,560
You have lost 10 x rank 4 nether protection crystals, the seeking eye of sylvana, the spectacles of ward seeing, a mirror shield, Asmod’s Suit, a champion’s belt, icefang, and healer’s friend.
Anriq set off for the nether-infested sector early the next morning—alone and with little more than some enchanted crystals for protection. I’d loaned him the seeking eye, too, and had tasked him with mapping ...
2024-07-24 07:01:06 +0000 UTC View PostOn the heels of Adriel’s agreement, a surprising Game message unfurled in my mind.
The Adjudicator has allocated you a new task: Found a new House! Your determination to bind disparate players, Powers, and bloodlines into a single united whole has not gone unnoticed. While it is a worthy ambition, it’s also one fraught with risk. Beware Wolf, that it does bring about your downfall.
Objective 1: Convince 2 Powers not of Wolf blood to join your House. No...
2024-07-22 07:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“Now, that everyone is caught up,” I said, after I’d explained the contents of the letter and its implication, “Adriel has something that she wants to share.”
I turned to the lich. Her eyes were closed and her face smooth. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve said she was sleeping.
“The Primes broke the world,” she said without preamble.
I stiffened, shocked by the stark statement.
“What do you mean by that?” Safyre asked slowly.
Adriel...
2024-07-19 07:17:45 +0000 UTC View PostThere was no point in attempting to craft a Pact that stopped the others from betraying me or the House, so I didn’t try.
Any Pact could be broken, after all.
Safyre was living proof of that. And while the consequences for breaking a Pact were dire—which, again, Safyre could attest to—if a player was sufficiently motivated or tortured, they would break their Pacts.
So, instead, I tried for a softer approach and bound the others in a manner that should...
2024-07-18 06:35:05 +0000 UTC View Post80 Days Left for Brokering Peace in Sector 12,560
Tyelin has delivered a promissory note for 200,000 gold to your representative, Nicola, thereby fulfilling his Power’s Pact obligations. Your Pact with Blythe is closed!
My reunion with the rest of the wolves was as emotionally charged as the one with my human companions—if for different reasons—and the day flew by as Ghost and I reacquainted ourselves with both Packs.
Nyra’s introduction to the...
2024-07-17 06:11:52 +0000 UTC View PostNote from Tom: Hi all,
As some of you are no doubt aware, there was a massive influx of comments on the previous chapter (the old chapter 486). I'll admit the number of comments and the tone of some of the responses surprised me.
And while I may not agree with every comment, it does imply something was lost in translation :). Somehow, I had failed to convey the situation accurately, and in a manner readily apparent to everyone, either from Michael's perspective or t...
On closer inspection, it was obvious why the oblong building differed from the rest of the structures in the den. It had been constructed for human habitation and, no doubt, had been internally subdivided as well.
There was even a chimney, I noted as I drew closer, watching the cheerful plumes of smoke puffing out the thick steel pipe poking out the top of the structure. The building itself was mostly constructed from hard packed blocks of snow, but bone and animal fat had also been use...
2024-07-12 04:43:42 +0000 UTC View PostAs we drew closer to the new den—much expanded from the original two dozen igloos I’d constructed—we found a welcome party waiting.
Duggar. Aira. Leta. Sulan.
The dire wolf elders.
But of the rest of the pack, there was no sign. Nor for that matter was there any sign of the arctic wolves or my former human companions. I could sense their minds in the igloos beyond but that they were not present told me all I needed to know.
This was to be a private meeting.
Passage completed!
You have entered sector 107 of the Endless Dungeon. This sector is level 3 of 5 of the Guardian Tower, which consists of 5 unclaimable sectors and 6 one-way portals.
A maximum of 6 players may be in the Guardian Tower at any one time. The dungeon is repopulated daily.
Current number of players in the dungeon: 6 (including you).
Sector bosses remaining: 5 of 5. 2024-07-08 04:47:25 +0000 UTC View Post
We couldn’t head directly to the tundra, of course.
With the sector being in a dungeon, we had to use the nether-infested sector as a stepping stone. A few minor preparations were necessary but completing them took only a matter of moments.
Ghost has unmanifested.
You have acquired a Blood Talisman, and a small bag of hiding containing 100 possessed finger bones.
You have unequipped Tyelin’s farspeaker. ...
2024-07-06 11:33:30 +0000 UTC View PostAs a writer, I often find myself being pulled in two different directions.
The first—and the one readers definitely want me to go in—is to stay disciplined and finish my current story. The second—the lure of the unknown and adventure (if only of the in-your-head variation)—is to start something different. Something new.
The conflict I find myself in—wanting to start a new story versus needing to finish an old one—is sadly not unique...
2024-07-05 14:06:07 +0000 UTC View PostAetherstone bracelet deactivated. Remaining stored locations: 1. Charged and unetched gems: 3. Uncharged gems: 1.
I stepped out from the selfsame portal I had a few days ago, only this time my passage was a shorter one.
My entry back into the real was not as uneventful, though.
You have entered a tier 6 concealment field.
You have triggered the ward: fly-trap.
Strands of silk that felt as strong as ba...
2024-07-05 05:38:51 +0000 UTC View Post