She had watched him get rejected by two other stalls, in the dismissive manner that one would use on a legless hobo asking for spare change. He looked somewhat shady; just the sort that might know something interesting. So, Krahe let him in. There were multiple empty bowls on the table, one of which he took and replaced atop the hookah, filling it with his own herb. Krahe handed him the hose, taking the moment to get a look at what he had put into the bowl. Thin shavings with streaks of dark ...
2023-03-25 04:25:46 +0000 UTC
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Beyond the warrior, between his wide-set legs, waited a passage to a large cave from within which scorching heat flowed. He did not move to attack, or to block her path. Instead, he opened his blue-burning eyes and she felt his gaze bear down upon her.
“YOU BEAR THE KING’S MARK. YOU MAY PASS. LEAVE ALL THAT WHICH YOU DO NOT NEED UPON THIS ALTAR, ELSE THE FORGEMOTHER SHALL BURN IT AWAY REGARDLESS.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, she approached the altar and...
2023-03-24 21:13:26 +0000 UTC
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It surrounded them, forming a great serpent, only to slip beneath the sturmgandr. The viscous mass rushed them into the tower’s confines, leaving the machine’s wheels as well as its riders’ feet slightly damp. Upon setting them down, the water-serpent rushed through the air in an elegant arc and flowed back into its place as the gate, freezing into a solid slab in moments. Only then did either of them manage to get a good look at their surroundings, and it sunk in that all their worries...
2023-03-23 18:53:59 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Edit to end of chapter.
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She told herself that she didn’t know why she felt so invested, so motivated to fulfill this seemingly random case. It wasn’t special in any sense other than being her first case since her rebirth. Deep within, she knew what it really was; a burning drive to engage in struggle against evil and prevail. Saving an innocent, seemingly even a righteous life, that was secondary. Kr...
2023-03-23 18:49:23 +0000 UTC
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Notably, a great swath in the south-west was outlined as nationless territory; both Jas’raba and Audunpoint itself were marked as major locations of interest. Apparently, Audunpoint’s source of water was a giant artificial river which pulled water from seaside marshes and purified it to freshwater conditions. These marshes, according to the map, were consumed by a “Stormsalt Forest”. This hostile-sounding environment transitioned into normal temperate forests as the canal pushed inlan...
2023-03-22 20:26:48 +0000 UTC
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“I almost expected to be sent to the Zaveshian temple,” she remarked, trying to probe for info.
“I would have done just that, if your condition was severe enough to merit amputation. You would then be given the choice of either buying a new arm on the spot or waiting for a while until the church found or made you a free replacement,” the priest said, raising his frankenstein-esq arm and wiggling its fingers.
“A while?”
“A month or two for an arm, they are...
2023-03-21 21:16:58 +0000 UTC
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Unlike the Zaveshian temple, the Seven Spokes one was markedly more alike to what she expected from a religion. In fact, its interior was unsettlingly close to old pictures of shintoist temples she’d seen. Imagery of the “seven-spoked wheel” abounded wherever she turned, though it was more of a spindly, seven-pointed star whose points went through an outer wheel. At the doors, men in massive suits of armor stood, boxy belts on their waists and giant swords in their hands. She felt...
2023-03-20 21:07:09 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Next chapter this Thursday, Mar. 23rd.
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The young smith’s eyes, once more, lit up. One could see him give into a sense of relief, and then, he broke. In seconds he went from an utterly manic visage of sleeplessness, to a dead man’s slumber splayed over the massive machine by his side. With some care, Zel picked him up and carried him inside, making note of the meticulously organized nature ...
2023-03-20 03:10:22 +0000 UTC
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Ingvald’s attention focused on the Type-1a’s spitzer nose right away, and just as quickly as he took it in hand, he muttered: “As softer main body with a hard, narrow penetrator in the middle. Yes, I can make this. Dragonsteel core, soft starmetal projectile body.”
He looked up at Zel again.
“I could simply tie the return destination to your Tablet and fashion a proxy fog vortex generator artifact so you don’t have to have the big thing out all the time. It will be a t...
2023-03-18 23:21:11 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Minor edit to the very end of the chapter.
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“I understand that I am to play a role in the recovery of our comrade, Codename Butcher, to a combat-ready state. I regret to see that he is not here with us, but I understand that the risk of his manifestation given his less-than-stable condition would pose a liability. I only have one request.”
“What might that be, sol...
2023-03-18 02:12:07 +0000 UTC
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The purple baneworm woman froze halfway through measuring around Krahe’s waist, peering up at her, concern in her voice: “Casus? Casus Aristedes? Mamon Knight Silberblut? That’s…”
She shook her head and continued measuring: “Oy, Igaria banish the thought. The whole district will turn into a warzone if Hashem gets his tendrils on a body like that. We’ll get apostles digging their noses in here and they’ll turn the whole place upside-down to retrieve Casus’ body. Won’t...
2023-03-18 00:38:13 +0000 UTC
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Krahe casually raised her left hand to her lips, shaking the ashes from her cigarette. With it in hand, she turned to meet the stranger’s gaze. Somehow, just moving her arm like normal seemed to have shocked the woman. Perhaps its appearance made people assume that it was damaged beyond function?
“I’m sorry to say that you’ve only made me more interested in whatever dirty shit is going on in this town. I have a bad habit of sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong… And power...
2023-03-16 20:48:06 +0000 UTC
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Huge animals seemingly made of living wood dwelt in the grove, which, as she learned, served as mobile hives for the grove’s monads. There were even leshies just walking around, tending to the trees. In its center, past a small town’s worth of spiritual plants and druidic holy structures, there stood a gigantic, gnarled tree of golden leaves. The trunk and branches twisted such that one could see the images of a dragon’s wings and head all over it, and veins of gleaming amber ran all th...
2023-03-16 20:44:54 +0000 UTC
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Garvesh breathed a sigh of relief.
Something was off about her, beyond the state of her arm. Nay, even that looked wrong. At a glance it seemed to be terribly anathema-burned, but just a few seconds of watching it move disproved that hypothesis. A limb that badly damaged ought not to be able to move at all.
Her gaze, the way she held herself, everything about that woman screamed trouble.
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2023-03-15 20:37:04 +0000 UTC
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The goal he had feverishly pursued all these years was finished, yet the fire of yearning in his breast didn’t so much as waver. A spark of egoism, of superbia, had perhaps been passed on from the woman by whose side he had done all this.
“Then I would wield you in pursuit of glory, so that Sagas may be written in the honor of myself and my shield-siblings. You will break the backs of the wretched things in this world, be they mindless beast or vile tyrant. Our names will be sun...
2023-03-15 20:30:09 +0000 UTC
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The prices went up steeply from one to the next, each being some variation of a flat head with a long body, some resembling keys, others blades or icepicks. There were two keys she considered within her budget, and two others that grabbed her eye as potential future purchases. Both were in the ten-thousand DD range, the second approaching twenty-thousand. One was thick and heavy, resembling some sort of ornamental nail or stake, made from a dark marbled stone of some type. The other was shape...
2023-03-14 20:59:49 +0000 UTC
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“What makes you think I can or intend to help you find some wannabe paragon of justice?” she asked, though she fully intended to follow through - if for nothing else, then for curiosity.
For a few seconds, Garvesh stared at her. Then, he stated with utter seriousness: “You’ve got murder in your eyes and you walk like a loaded gun.”
“You flatter me. C’mon, the real reason,” she chuckled, looking at him over her glasses.
“Alright, alright. Imraal told me you...
2023-03-13 21:55:54 +0000 UTC
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Starting tomorrow (Monday, 13th March), I will begin public serialization on Cherno Caster. Sturmblitz Kunst will shift to a Wed-Sun update schedule, while Cherno Caster will be Mon-Fri, both fics thus getting 5 chapters a week. At least, that's what I hope to do.
2023-03-13 00:57:22 +0000 UTC
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While Zelsys and her companions engaged in revelry and worked towards the Butcher’s rebirth, the Revenant King spent that same time unraveling the conspirator-clans’ plot and meting out judgment.
The Revenant King’s powers of insight made themselves known during the investigation, as he unraveled the conspirator-clans’ schemes merely by asking questions and compelling those involved to answer with truths whose full scope they themselves often did not know. Members of the Hulson ...
2023-03-13 00:47:19 +0000 UTC
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The hard part wasn’t getting Ingvald to agree. It was convincing Red and making sure she wouldn’t try anything. Zel used the Black Contract to secure their agreement, and a lengthy negotiation was had as to the exact terms. In the end, Zel conceded certain trade concessions to Arches that she absolutely did not have the right to concede. The duchy would receive even more bleeding-edge equipment than they were already going to, as well as a tariff reduction on the ore they would sell to Wi...
2023-03-11 21:14:52 +0000 UTC
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The Dragon’s Neck, he had come to call it in his mind, for its towering height and the flame which would billow out of its top. It was not built to last. One use, and it would be worthless. Its purpose was to burn up and become a spent husk in the process of alloying the immaculate homogeneity of a fallen star’s heart with the unique structure and sublime arcane power of metal taken from a dragon’s own body. There was no other option, this was a ritual implement as much as it was an all...
2023-03-10 20:33:11 +0000 UTC
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During her first time visiting him after her return, Zelsys delivered a bevy of materials to Ingvald, including Eisengeist’s blade. Massive thing that it was, it demanded its own sled and had to be strapped down in a roundabout manner, as its edges just shredded through anything they touched. It utterly seethed with the same type of incredibly dense magic she had felt from the torn-out dragonstone of Ten Billion Fathoms and from Von Wickten’s entomodragon form.
The visit was rather ...
2023-03-10 03:03:21 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Next chapter on Thursday, Mar. 9th.
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“EISENGEIST SHAN’T ACT SO FOOLISHLY AGAIN, I CAN BE CERTAIN AT LEAST OF THAT,” the Revenant King said, turning his attention to Eisengeist’s two siblings. Edelweiss and Sprengfaust were further put to task in removing Teutobochus from within city limits. They managed to do this without further damaging the titan, and even arranged it in...
2023-03-07 21:16:55 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Vol. 3 of Retribution Engine is now available in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon!
As before, this is mainly for those who want a paperback copy.
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Eisengeist stirred into motion and instantaneously rose to its feet; one of its tendrils fell off from the sudden motion, having held on only by nerves. The gaping hol...
2023-03-06 22:13:35 +0000 UTC
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The only person to make them stop was Asgeir, impassively looking on as his forces were massacred. They came upon him last not because they decided so, but because he had used his magic to disguise himself as a wounded ally of the Hulsons. A static illusion, it was, one which wouldn’t hold up the way a physical transformation did. His disguise failed only when Victor noticed his raven nearby, drawing his eyes to that off-looking man. His eyes saw right through it, and Victor called him out,...
2023-03-05 21:14:44 +0000 UTC
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It was time… But not enough time. It wouldn’t stop those determined enough, fast enough, or plain durable enough to simply ignore bonefire burns; especially not the brambleback. Some of its quills burned up, but that was about it. Several more men piled through, each using some means or another to avoid being burned too severely.
Victor’s mind ran at seven leagues a second trying to come up with some clever trick to forestall the foe, only for one of the Heisasons to shout somethi...
2023-03-04 20:09:52 +0000 UTC
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It had taken some time to assemble a proper third-wave assault force. With the Aase heading the bulk of the second wave, it had been expected that the third wave would just be the cleanup crew, but it had become eminently clear that was wrong.
Only with the return of communications from Kristina Ramdall had the third wave been impelled into motion, despite her clearly not-so-stable mental state. Given her location plus the damage wreaked by the battle between Eisengeist and Teutobochus,...
2023-03-03 21:39:45 +0000 UTC
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Another keyturn.
Victor reached out, taking hold of the dead meat which surrounded him… And he used it as fuel. The corpses of Eisen, Aase, Buhaug, and a few Ramdalls alike writhed only to erupt with great tendrils of gore from betwixt whose many fibres wicked thorns of bone protruded. Like gruesome blossoms, Devil’s Teeth grew upon them, demanding only the Aer and Ignis for their fuel.
They surrounded the both of them in a ring of fleshy brambles, and before Victor could comp...
2023-03-02 22:36:35 +0000 UTC
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Victor traversed the rooftops towards the longhouse, summoning up dozens of Devil’s Teeth as he went, sending them down upon those who still dwelt outside the longhouse. Not many of the enemy remained, a fair number of them being frozen solid, while a smaller, compact force waited just outside. Just outside the longhouse, he counted over two-hundred corpses, a number that had grown a bit by the time he reached the longhouse.
He entered through the already smashed-in window on Zel and ...
2023-02-28 20:27:37 +0000 UTC
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There was now a gaping hole right through Eisengeist’s torso, its edges and inner walls still smoldering royal-blue as the dragon’s immortal blood filled the gap, its flesh reaching across in an effort to heal itself as it howled - nay, screamed - in searing agony, its good tendrils thrashing and wrecking its surroundings. Teutobochus itself stumbled back from the dragon, the stolen tendril falling away from the titan’s hand before it turned its head towards the four women and raised it...
2023-02-27 01:30:47 +0000 UTC
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