As Roth followed the guard through the imposing entrance of the citadel, he marveled at the number of guards in shiny armor filling the castle. The air was cool and still, and the echoes of their footsteps reverberated against the stone walls. Torches lined the perimeter, casting flickering shadows that danced across the polished marble floors. The crest of Hilsford was proudly depicted in flags and armors all around Roth.
"Since the matter you reported to me involves inhabitants from w...
2023-06-10 08:40:18 +0000 UTC
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Roth was shocked at how fast the Gazpachos had sent someone to intimidate him. It looked like they were keeping an eye on Soros. No wonder the man who told him where to find Golden Mountain Inc. had seemed so afraid of being overheard. That showed that they were either making an example out of him or that he was someone they feared. He looked at the notification he'd received after encountering those two players.
Mind your business, and don't cause trouble; the Gazpachos will co...
2023-06-09 08:14:49 +0000 UTC
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This is the first of a series of updates I'll be sharing with my patreons on a weekly basis.
In it, I discuss the recent changes in tiers, the new edition of Planet Ignis, the Raven Riddle discord event and othe things.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
2023-06-08 10:55:35 +0000 UTC
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Hello everyone,
First of all, thank you for your generous support! I want to share with you some exciting news.
MORE CHAPTERS OF HC:PACIFIST
The number of chapters ahead of the free release schedule available to Patreons has increased:
- Red Pawns: 5 chapters
- Orange Rooks: 10 chapters
- Golden Knights: 15 chapters
- Lit Bishops: 20 chapters
- Blue Kings: 25 chapters
Enjoy it! If you have any trouble accessing your chapte...
2023-06-07 09:05:04 +0000 UTC
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Gazpacho? Wasn't that a kind of soup? Did Soros invest money in a failed restaurant?
"The Gazpachos? Who are they?"
“They are the reason why I've fallen so low. You should have seen me in my glory days, broker. I had contacts stretching all over the planet. I imported spices from the desert, pearls from the caves, and gems and ore from the pits. Then, a few years ago, this crime family crept out of the slums to expand their territory.
They started going door to door, sayin...
2023-06-07 08:45:59 +0000 UTC
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Roth kept jumping up and down as high as he could. He hadn't seen anything in the forums hinting at a title related to jumping, but he guessed it was likely enough for him to give it a shot. The gain in stats indicated that he was probably on the right track.
By practicing jumping, you feel your legs grow more powerful and your movements become more agile. +1 dexterity.
By the time the alarm rang, signaling Roth that he could again activate the [Miniaturize Skill]...
2023-06-07 08:45:39 +0000 UTC
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Scratchy hadn't lied. The farther he went west, the worst it smelled.
"How can you find your way through the sewers so easily?" Asked Roth, trying to take his mind off the gut-wrenching stench.
"We just sssmell our way through it."
"I see..." Roth wondered if it made it harder or more manageable for the snakes to live down here. If they had such a powerful sense of smell, every breath had to be torture for them. On the other hand, where he only felt the stench, snakes had a ...
2023-06-07 08:45:17 +0000 UTC
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To Roth's surprise, the creature made no aggressive moves; instead, it fixed its gaze on him unblinking. A nervous lump formed in Roth's throat. He had never encountered a snake before, let alone established a friendly rapport with one.
You're meeting the snake race for the first time. Charisma bonus activated.
"Hello, I am Roth. What's your name?"
"Ssss...sssss ss sss sss." Was that its name? There was no way he could pronounce that. The serpent reached out...
2023-06-07 08:44:57 +0000 UTC
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Getting to the sewers under one of the gardens only took five minutes. Roth was disappointed. He was expecting some chamber where he could sit and gather his thoughts, but it was more of the same. It was dark, dingy, and foul.
At least here, the water coming down seemed crystalline, perhaps the drainage from a fountain or a pond in the park, which washed away some of the stench.
Sick of being itchy, he jumped into the water. It only reached his knees. Closing his eyes, he lay on t...
2023-06-07 08:44:34 +0000 UTC
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"Anybody there?" Roth's calls echoed in the tunnels over the slow flow of filthy water running through them. Roth kept running and calling out until he finally heard something.
There were inhuman screams and high-pitched shrilling sounds in the distance. It sounded like ratans were battling. It differed from what he had heard when players hunted the mutated beasts. This was darker and more primal.
He took off running toward the source of the sound. The echoes of the tunnel didn't ...
2023-06-07 08:43:51 +0000 UTC
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Roth arrived in Hilsford's teleporting gate sweating and trembling. He took off running, not caring or knowing what direction he was taking. He had hoped they would leave him alone and that what they had done to him was punishment enough. But when his eyes met Gary's, he saw predation and violence. They were still looking for him and wanted to hurt him more.
After seeing him teleport, they now knew he had reached level 10 and had just traveled to one of the cities in Green Country. If G...
2023-06-05 08:12:35 +0000 UTC
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The last few days had been very productive. Roth finished reading the first five tomes of the Fox Canon. The gains had been substantial. He had not only unlocked 3 intelligence, 4 wisdom, and 6 charisma, but he also unlocked a new title.
Well-read (Common)
Title description: You have taken an essential step toward becoming knowledgeable and scholarly. By reading, you have expanded your mind and heart and can better grasp the truth.
T...
2023-06-03 12:19:43 +0000 UTC
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Brian left the world of AstroTerra and turned off the VR helmet. Cursed be that traitor. The basement around him was dark and dingy, reflecting the poor construction materials. Since he had moved here, he had a persistent cough that wouldn't go away. He'd asked Mrs. Bessie to get him some over-the-counter medicine, but it couldn't solve the humidity of his quarters.
Cursed be Gary. His memory was pulled back to when he realized what Gary would do to him and Shirley. He ran for his life ...
2023-06-02 08:06:17 +0000 UTC
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Welcome to the fourth edition of my first novel: Planet Ignis. This book is available to all my Patrons, regardless of rank. I sincerely hope you enjoy it.
You can buy the paperback version here. You can also get the epub version attached to this post.
******
The Nine Truths
1st - A flame spread is never dead.
2nd - Fie...
2023-05-31 17:47:10 +0000 UTC
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Here we are at the end of Planet Ignis. If you enjoyed the story, please, leave a review on Amazon.
If you are like me and enjoy keeping a paperback version of your favorite books, you can buy a copy of Planet Ignis at this link.
***********************
…good conversations over the years.
Trother didn’t know about the legend...
2023-05-31 17:44:07 +0000 UTC
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…more and more about the Burrows, I was captivated by the role of the blues. I couldn’t stop laughing when he told me about the fearsome and mighty blue monarchs. When he asked me why, I told him there was a butterfly species called the blue monarch. When I explained that blue monarchs were harmless creatures, he laughed as well.
Aside from this humorous episode, blues were one exceptionally talented individual with immense potential and could help the tribe in case of ...
2023-05-31 17:43:23 +0000 UTC
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When Trother told me about the crisis that almost caused the extinction of the Settlers and how it was traced back to reforms needed in the education system, I wasn’t surprised. I think that, without a doubt, education is the key to why these tribes of Settlers were able to survive so long. For a group of stranded humans, all herded together in an underground complex, to be able to give their lives willingly, without even flinching, is something incredible. It all comes down to the most...
2023-05-31 17:42:54 +0000 UTC
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When Trother first told me about terminations I broke down crying. I was deeply moved. As a Japanese, I studied the ritual suicide that samurais used to perform, the seppuku. I have also studied the history of the Kamikaze in the World War. But these were different. The suicides in my culture were misguided sacrifices caused by war. These Terminations, as they call it, were all sacrifices born out of love for one’s neighbor, child, or spouse.
“Notes on Ignian Societies,...
2023-05-31 17:42:19 +0000 UTC
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…crew members representing over twenty different countries. It’s fascinating how the customs of all of these have been amalgamated into a single alien culture. Partly, I believe this has been due to how the children are raised. Being raised by the same programs and nurtured by the same nannies explains why differentiated cultures didn’t survive.
Even though there is a class system of sorts, no Ignian sees the other as inferior. All of them are considered essential to ...
2023-05-31 17:40:13 +0000 UTC
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…Pac-man and chess.
I believe that the reason so much of the culture of the Settlements revolves around their form of chess and other games is quite simple. The average age of the population of a Settlement is fourteen or fifteen years old. No wonder games are such a prevalent part of their society. Although it is a post-apocalyptic town, it is still one that is full of playful children and adolescents.
I will now explain the rules of their most famous game...
2023-05-31 17:39:35 +0000 UTC
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Never would I have imagined that Hitori was so good at programming. I mean, mission control sent him as the secondary programmer in case something happened to me, but I hardly had the time to decide what I would put into your brain with the constant cyber-attacks he kept throwing at me. I had to be quick. Here are the memories you will not have. I had to delete your knowledge of Earth’s History. I deleted things that you won’t need, like love, for example. After all, you are going to ...
2023-05-31 17:39:02 +0000 UTC
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Listen to me! I know your programming prevents you from attacking humans, but these are no longer humans. They gave up their rights when they chose to become Hitori’s lab rats. They are mutants! Therefore, you can do whatever you want to them. Too bad they took Archimedes from me. It was the drone with the most considerable amount of computing power. I had to choose one or the other. I chose you because you’re the only one with the means necessary to procure all other cores.
<...
2023-05-31 17:38:30 +0000 UTC
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When they told me they all wanted to go planetside and follow Hitori’s plan, I knew they had all lost their minds. I can’t die. I just can’t. Did they expect me to take it with a smile as they told me that I must settle with living a couple of decades at most? In that desert?! I have seen the AI reports. There is nothing down there! Nothing! There is no way on Earth they are going to make me turn into a cursed mutant. No! The solution is in the drones. You need to find them all and ...
2023-05-31 17:37:57 +0000 UTC
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With the help of Hitori and Hans, I was finally able to repurpose the Stellaris drone into something that resembles a satellite grid. Remember! Stellaris is important! It’s the only drone with scanners sensitive enough to sift through all the static that the planet generates. It’s the fastest way of finding the other drones. With it, you can find where they went, and it has memory you can use! I split the AI core into multiple systems, but we can easily reassemble them and make them o...
2023-05-31 17:36:57 +0000 UTC
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When we were brought back from cryogenic sleep and summoned to the bridge, we all knew it was bad. The commander explained to us that most of the systems were compromised, and the situation was dire. At first, I thought I could salvage all the systems. After all, we had brought spares for virtually all equipment. But from the twenty drones, only seven survived the EMP caused by what the crew is now naming ‘the Flare’. As I serviced the drones to send them planetside, a plan started to...
2023-05-31 17:34:46 +0000 UTC
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When I first heard of the Phoenix project, I applied immediately. Looking back, I was already a coward because I set towards the stars, not to give something to humanity or show bravery, but to run from problems on Earth. When I learned that Mary was pregnant, I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t bear the thought of becoming a father.
So, without letting anyone know, I ran, abandoning my wife and the responsibilities that awaited me. It was easier to escape to another galax...
2023-05-31 17:30:21 +0000 UTC
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You didn’t have enough space so that I could program all my memories in your neurons, but this recording won’t occupy much space. Hopefully, you can extrapolate a lot of my personality from what I will tell you. You were born in Essen, Germany. Your sister’s name was Naomi. Your father was called Christian, and your mother Miriam. You were always fascinated by computers and have studied hard to become a specialist in artificial intelligence. I would describe you as someone resourcef...
2023-05-31 17:29:40 +0000 UTC
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Even though you were originally designed by humans, and I have given you what I believe to be the most meaningful part of me, you will struggle with making sense of the human part of your mind. How can I explain this to you… each human is unique and dreads the feeling of losing their uniqueness. Now that I added this part of my mind to yours, you are also unique. Stick to who I… you are, regardless of the cost.
Files salvaged from the Raptor’s Ghost Drive. Recorded by...
2023-05-31 17:23:46 +0000 UTC
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PART 3
Every second counts. Before I could get to the other drones, the commander overrode me, and I had to resort to my plan B. I left this information in your files so that if you can gain access to the other AI drones, you can see what… who you are. I will explain in these recordings what I… you’re missing, hoping you can rebuild my mind from what was left. Hopefully, we can get to the other drones before anything happens to me. My name is Schneider Schmitt...
2023-05-31 17:23:05 +0000 UTC
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... intertwined legends within the game’s creator. Ayu, the esteemed game maker, occupies a unique position in the lore of longevity chess. While renowned for his pivotal role in reforming the collegiums, it was his creation of longevity chess that solidified his place in history. The game became a conduit for imparting wisdom and knowledge, leading to a remarkable increase in the tribe’s average lifespan. As players engage in strategic battles on the board, Ayu’s influence looms la...
2023-05-31 17:22:25 +0000 UTC
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