Meant to write one yesterday but didn't get it finished. Soz! We've got a few more light side-stories lined up while we build up more significant stuff in the background. There will be a few serious lines before Anthony wakes up, and then we'll be back at it, full tilt!
“Support might be weakening for the Labourer candidate after his new policy proposal landed flat, yesterday. People weren’t happy with the idea of using the ants as farm animals. Unsurprising. This i...
2022-09-01 06:47:58 +0000 UTC
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Still resting. Maybe another one this week, depending on how much I get done. That is NOT a promise, but rather something I'd like to do if I can.
Stay well out there!
Tyron heaved the last pile into the back of the cart. He groaned and rubbed his back. His Constitution might have toughened him up beyond what would have normally been humanly possible, but his Strength remained pitifully weak.
“That’s why you use the skeletons to do...
2022-08-30 10:51:00 +0000 UTC
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Spending most of time lying in bed and eating soup. Can't sit up for too long, but enough I can get some writing done every day. Honestly, since I can't sit in a chair to play games, I might be more productive! T_T
That's a sad indictment.
Remember you can pop over to the Soundbooth studio youtube channel to listen to some Chrysalis cold reads for volume 2. I've been listening to their work on Dungeon Crawler Carl lately and its grea...
2022-08-29 06:30:37 +0000 UTC
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Right then. Back to bed for me!
“Are you sure you want to retire now? There’s so much uncertainty around town right now,” Terrence asked.
“Wherever there are people, there’s uncertainty,” Enid groused as she brought her tea to her lips for a drink. “Ah, that’s lovely. Is this a new blend?”
“The Colony delivered a few bags yesterday. They said it was a test batch. I’ll need you to fill in a survey when you’re done.”
“Hah,” ...
2022-08-27 09:00:26 +0000 UTC
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Or not.
HUGE apology to the folks waiting so patiently for Chrysalis chapters. Life has caught up with me from multiple angles.
Currently I'm in hospital after a scheduled procedure. All went well and I'm feeling fine, no worries there, but obviously I haven't enjoyed ideal typing conditions. I was planning on publishing the weeks chapters earlier on, but heaps of things got in the way and I couldn't get it done.
Thankfully I have literally nothing else to do for th...
2022-08-26 22:44:52 +0000 UTC
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“That friend of yours is awful pretty.”
“I’m trying to work here, Dove.”
“I get that, I get that. I’m just saying… that she’s pretty.”
“Elsbeth is pretty. Congratulations for noticing the bleeding obvious. What’s next? Water is wet? The sky is blue? Yor is impossibly sexy?”
“That’s quite the compliment. I’m pleased to hear my appearance elicits the desired effect.”
Oh, shit.
“Fucking hell, Dove,” Tyron...
2022-08-22 03:31:42 +0000 UTC
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“Congratulations,” Enid smiled down on the still recovering young woman.
“Thank you mayor,” Lilin replied, radiantly happy despite what she’d just been through.
“We’re very happy,” her husband Phillip said as he stared lovingly down at his wife.
“And how has the care you’ve received been?’
“Oh, just perfect,” Lilin said.
“We couldn’t be happier, mayor. Thank you,” Phillip said.
“That’s good. After the effort we put into b...
2022-08-20 11:46:41 +0000 UTC
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“It’s all yours,” Magellant said magnanimously.
“Are you sure?” Columbant replied, antennae flicking with indecision.
“Of course. You and your team did the bulk of the work, I only arrived to provide cleanup at the end.”
“Then I will claim it with gratitude. You have my thanks.”
With one swift movement, she scooped up the powerful core sitting on the stone between them and tucked it into the pouch slung around her carapace. All of a sudden, the bag fe...
2022-08-20 05:59:46 +0000 UTC
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The ghostly serpent hovered above them for a short moment, its powerful core glowing bright in Columbants’ eyes. Then it bared its fangs and lunged for them.
[Dodge, Garg!]
The beetle-beast tucked her legs and rolled to the side as the others threw themselves from her carapace, barely avoiding the lightning fast strike.
[Garg, up front! Slither, sneak attack. Rist, behind me. Standard formation everyone.]
Her Pet Detection array sparked to life inside her, giving the...
2022-08-18 10:55:32 +0000 UTC
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“Rufus was always a self-centred prick, but even I didn’t expect him to go that far.”
Elsbeth tried not to wince at the naked dislike in Tyron’s tone. She didn’t feel much different about Rufus after all that had happened, but somehow it still hurt to think of how her childhood friends had hated each other without her noticing.
“Was it always like that?” she asked, her voice soft. “I believed we really were friends, the four of us. I have so many happy mem...
2022-08-16 08:15:24 +0000 UTC
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[Move quickly, Garg, we need to gain distance.]
[Right.]
Nothing brought monsters to an area faster than the sounds of battle. The chance to jump on others in the middle of a fight, or capitalise on an exhausted victor, was too good to pass up. Of course, what ended up happening most of the time was that a smaller fight quickly escalated into an all out melee as the opportunists ran into each other.
They were coming now, she could sense them, weak cores flickering in the dar...
2022-08-15 09:15:13 +0000 UTC
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It all started well, as things tended to, in Columbant’s experience. Usually in the middle was where things started to go all the way downhill. They hadn’t reached that moment, but she had plans in place in the event the inevitable happened.
Slither was her stealth specialist, a creation she was incredibly proud of. The slug-like shadow creature sank his body into a shadow, deepening and thickening it. He couldn’t maintain this form indefinitely, so she moved quickly, climbing ont...
2022-08-12 05:20:25 +0000 UTC
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[What do you see?]
[Much, prey. Dangerous.]
[Let me take a look.]
The vision was blurry, incomplete, but enough to show that the assessment was correct. They couldn’t go this way.
[Alright. Come back. Make sure you aren’t seen.]
Columbant withdrew her awareness from her distant pet, the small cavern in which she crouched snapping back into focus with disorienting clarity. Even after advancing the skill to the second rank, it was still difficult to use, especi...
2022-08-12 01:52:53 +0000 UTC
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“The tea is excellent this season,” one queen observed.
“Indeed,” another noted, sipping again from her porcelain cup, “and the biscuits have elevated once again. This flavour is just divine.”
There was a general chorus of agreement from around the “table” the gathered royalty sat around. The special seats invented by the carvers had certainly evolved since the early days. Once upon a time they were simply a stone edifice, carved to fit the carapace of the ant who ...
2022-08-11 11:43:46 +0000 UTC
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Sorry again this is so late.
Tyron slept. Wild magick, absorbed from the crystals, ran rampant throughout his body. It invaded his muscles, poisoned his blood and tore at his tissues. Without proper treatment, his wounds festered. Waves of heat rolled from his head to his toes, the pain prodding at the edges of his feverish dreams.
Magnin clapped him on the shoulder, his face filled with pride. His father slid his blade between his ribs with casual ease whil...
2022-08-11 02:29:15 +0000 UTC
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Smexy.
2022-08-10 01:27:51 +0000 UTC
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“Hold, dammit!” Brilliant roared.
“I’m not sure it can take it,” Assistant cried out. “It’s going to overflow!”
“It needs more power! Give it everything you’ve got!”
“We can’t do any more, the matrix will collapse!”
“A little further,” Brilliant urged as the mana surged and frothed. Dimensional boundaries were cascading around them and she could peer into them all, flashing images of twisting reality that bent and warped themselves aroun...
2022-08-08 10:50:58 +0000 UTC
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When the Eldest rested, there was a change that came over the Colony. It was as if we were set adrift, without the guiding force that drove us. Naturally we were as industrious as ever. We built, researched, expanded, administered, hunted and built with our customary vigour, yet something was missing. During those times, an air of stillness would descend upon the family, as if we were waiting, as if everything we did was simply in preparation for whatever would come next once the Eldest a...
2022-08-07 14:12:01 +0000 UTC
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As before, my consciousness fades away before it’s drawn from my body. The dizzying experience of having one's soul sent spinning down the plug-hole isn’t one that I missed, but I’m starting to get used to it.
What does that say about my life?
Eventually, everything falls still and I float, formless in the void. I suppose that means I’ve arrived?
[Indeed. I am interested to see that you have survived yet again.]
Wow. Way to damn me with faint praise. You sound ...
2022-08-05 09:31:45 +0000 UTC
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Sorry this is so late! Wanted to post yesterday but wasn't happy with where it sat. Another one coming today!
This evolution is going to make the Call worse, I can already tell. Stupid Ancients and their dumb… whatever it is they’re all about. Do whatever you want, just leave me and my family out of it.
But taking this much power into myself is definitely going to make them more interested, rather than less. Although, I’ll be much weaker when away from the C...
2022-08-05 00:14:37 +0000 UTC
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The wheels creaked ominously as they rattled over the half-sunk stones that littered the road. Not for the first time that day, Elsbeth had to slap a hand to her head to keep her hood from falling, and another hand to the post beside her so she didn’t fall from her seat. She’d learned from experience that Munhilde wouldn’t stop the wagon when she lost her perch, expecting her to catch up and jump back on.
“Figure it out yourself” seemed to be a way of life for the older woman....
2022-08-03 10:05:53 +0000 UTC
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After discussing a few possibilities back and forth, I bid the golgari trio goodbye and they make their way back to the gate. Mana sickness is no joke and I appreciate them taking the risk to help me out.
It’s a hard concept for me to grasp, being ill from too much mana. I literally need the stuff to survive, the more the better. One of the many benefits of being a monster I suppose. I was born from mana, there’s no way it can hurt me.
The lack of it can hurt me. Seve...
2022-07-31 08:55:05 +0000 UTC
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You didn't think I'd hold out on you did you? :P
Chapter 1022 - The Great Stuff
[Mythic Evolution: Formless One. You have invited your kind in, and given back to them in turn. Now it is time to make the union complete. All stats removed. All body parts and mutations will be refunded. Every member of your chosen species will be granted a formless core and you will exist as pure energy dispersed across the network formed between them.
You may make u...
2022-07-30 06:35:46 +0000 UTC
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Hopefully another coming today. Don't want to leave you on the endless cliffs.
[If you’re finished being precious can we come on to looking at our options?]
Torrina and Corun both nod enthusiastically, the former already has a book and pen in hand, ready to scrawl down every little detail. I might well be the first tier seven ant monster in the history of the Dungeon and they are not going to miss this chance.
Stupid monster research en...
2022-07-30 04:28:54 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for being late! All this editing kills my creative drive. With the help of my precious volunteers (Praise them!) I've been making all the changes needed to try and smooth out the huge mistake that happened with Anthony and his mutations. It's a lot of work and completely stresses me out, but we are getting there.
---------------
[You look happy,] Granin rumbles over our link.
[Har, har. You’re a real comedian, you know that? In fact,...
2022-07-28 05:18:41 +0000 UTC
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Really sorry about being late. Editing these books is stressing me the hell out. Chrysalis coming later today.
The furious farmwives crashed into the fight with whatever tools they’d had at hand. Stunned as he was, Tyron didn’t have time to gape at the spectacle. As the man before him staggered with a pitchfork rammed into his side, the Necromancer hastily slashed him across the throat and pushed forward to engage another.
With Bone Armour providing at least s...
2022-07-28 02:04:45 +0000 UTC
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I really hate this.
And when I say that, don’t think that I’m speaking lightly or any such thing. This isn’t one of those times when someone says they hate it when put their socks on inside out, or they hate it when their food is a little cold.
I mean I hate this.
Currently I sit, a sullen lump of sparkling carapace, in the centre of vast formation of ants. There are scouts roaming and looking for threats. There are healers monitoring my condition. There are s...
2022-07-23 05:47:16 +0000 UTC
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The war is over. Well, this war, anyway. Man, the Colony really gets into too many wars. Can’t an ant take a break?
And no, it’s not my fault! Most of the time!
This conflict with the termites wasn’t started by me at least, and the skirmishes with the ka’armodo are also not my (direct) responsibility. My conscience is clear!
I lie on the still smouldering ground for a while, keeping a watchful eye on the lava flow to make sure that I don’t get baked while I flop. T...
2022-07-22 06:02:28 +0000 UTC
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Rassan’tep looked back at the still burning mountain, his eyes gleaming with interest. The warmth he could feel, even from this distance, was pleasant on his scales, and he didn’t mind indulging himself in a little basking every now and again.
[Master, we should leave,] Ammon’sil urged him. [This place is not secure.]
The Old One flicked his tongue to taste the air. Smoke and ashes came through powerfully, expected given the circumstances, but underneath was that vibrant rif...
2022-07-21 05:13:12 +0000 UTC
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The arrows continued to be fired from above, but little resulted from it. These weren’t professional archers, or even casual hunters shooting after all, but it forced the bandits to approach a little caution and Tyron was grateful for the extra time.
“Any advice?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“Not really. Try to keep a cool head. Remain aware of your surroundings… that’s about it.”
“I… I’ll try.”
“That’s the spirit. Now come on, kill some shit...
2022-07-18 11:46:42 +0000 UTC
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