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Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 27

Despite their resolve to help further, they weren’t able to do much. The terror birds were simply too fleet of foot, and had torn their way into the city with such speed that by the time the crew caught up with each monster it had already been put down after killing scores.

Flutic reeled.

The streets were emptied, carts and carriages abandoned, selling boards dropped, fruit and vegetables having rolled into the gutters. Here and there lay a mutilated body, entrails and blood gli...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 26

“Level 21,” said Nessa as the triangular facet in the polyhedron yawned open wide. “Terror birds!”

Harald clutched the Dawnblade tightly as he stared at the portal. Small shapes appeared in its center, rapidly growing, hurtling outward, and then the first monster was spat out onto the cobblestones.

It was a huge bird, bipedal, its legs long and naked and scaled. Black feathered with red markings, it whipped around with wiry strength, its huge head rising to fix its beady b...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 25

It rapidly became evident why the goblin bosses had chosen this chamber for a last stand.

As before, it was a single grand room, the ceiling roughly domed overhead. There were no light sources, but the raiders’ scale lanterns picked out the small army of goblins awaiting them, along with two goblin bosses standing shoulder to shoulder on the main altar.

But the lower half of the walls were pocked with alcoves, and in each stood a goblin, a bundle of javelins by their side.

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 24

A massacre can be a beautiful thing.

They powered into the center of the building. It was a giant stone womb. Walls curved up to form a precarious dome overhead, roughly built, looking on the verge of collapse. Broken columns rose up like rotting teeth, but enough reached the roof to keep it stable.

An altar dominated the center of the wide open chamber. Atop it stood the goblin boss. He was large, twice the size of a regular goblin, his body festooned with bones and oddments of a...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 23

Harald awoke at Sixth Bell, and rolled out of bed. He felt refreshed and vigorous. He dressed in the pre-dawn gloom and cinched on his new studded leather armor, paid for out of the crew fund. It was well-oiled, supple, with a few strategically placed iron plates sewn over vulnerable areas. Not too heavy, not too bulky, and a vast improvement over his ruined set.

He buckled his new arming sword, took up his bulky kite shield, and grabbed the iron cap they’d all be wearing. A final che...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 22

“Abyssal Initiate 2,” said Nessa, drawing her blade slowly from its black scabbard. “Your second level in less than a month. Some might call that impressive.”

The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the now much more civilized lawn. Everyone else was on the patio, watching intently as Harald summoned the Dawnblade to his hand.

Vic had made special drinks for the occasion.

Harald felt the weight of his Artifact solidify in his palm, satisfying and fell. Its l...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 21

Three days passed before Nessa returned.

Sam would arrive at dawn for their morning run, and then the day would proceed apace, with Harald and her falling into their old routine. Vic was often on hand to harangue them and oversee sword lessons, but for the most part it was a meditative time, with Harald losing himself in carrying the corpse bag across the gym floor or working on the different solo drills that Nessa had been teaching them before their last dungeon run.

Kársek spen...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 20

Harald awoke in his bed.

It was strangely luxurious. Confused, smiling, he stretched in his armor and turned to stare out his sunlit windows.

His body was sore, and he felt a strange combination of overslept and exhausted.

But this was nice. Just lying here. He could hear birdsong, the rumble of distant traffic.

Then he frowned.

When was the last time he’d awoken this late? It had to be close to Tenth Bell.

He sat up abruptly. What had happened? He was st...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 19

Blood loss was making him delirious, Kársek realized. The hall stretched out before him at impossible length, its lines growing vague and twisting each time he began to lose focus.

“In mountain’s shadow, lost we wander,” he sang tunelessly beneath his breath. “Our halls forsaken, our iron rust.”

He grimaced and pivoted on the shoulder he’d been dragging along the wall, turning to look behind him. His lantern was almost dead, its single beam devoured ...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 18

“I’ll get out here,” said Nessa as the carriage rumbled past a broad avenue.

Harald roused himself. They were still a good ten minutes from the Angelic Quarter, and crossing a bad stretch of the city that bled into the Shambles.

“Here?”

Energized, Nessa rapped on the ceiling of the carriage, which immediately began to slow and pull over to the curb.

“Yes.” She flashed him a cold, impersonal smile. “I’ve realized I’m not ready to call it a night.”<...

Lowering Monitor price tier from $10 --> $8

I've been doing a lot of napkin math behind the scenes, trying to optimize my writing/publishing schedule so that I can both keep Thrones going at a steady pace, and write Gods of the Game #3 and Immortal Great Souls #4 this year.

It's a lot.

For now, what makes the most sense is to lower this Patreon's sole price tier from $10 to $8 and reduce the publishing schedule from 3/week to 2/week (Tues/Friday). That will allow my backlog to extend till the end of the y...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 17

Harald all but blanched at Lady Melisende Celestis’ words. “You’re saying you’re preparing for war?”

Melisende turned back to the fireplace. “It’s not coming tomorrow, but it’s coming. Centuries of tradition have blinded us to how suddenly change can come. Perhaps not this year, but very soon, in one manner or another. Which is why I can’t help but marvel at the blindness of my peers. How can they focus on personal glory and wresting a few final scales from the Fallen ...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 16

Not what I expected, thought Melisende as she sat at the head of the table. That pleased her. She searched for predictability in politics but despaired of it in person. The hulking youth who was even now smiling gratefully at the servant pulling out his seat was not what she’d imagined when she thought of Darius Darrowdelve’s son.

A thousand subtle details were revealing themselves with each passing moment. The dynamic between him and Lady Ermarine was fascinating. Then aga...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 15

Harald found the portal back to the 8th Level not long after. It stood in a narrow hallway just off the hub in which he’d killed the three scarecrows.

For a while he simply stared at the coruscating black energy that would lead him back to his friends.

Back to the real world.

To Flutic, to dinner with Lady Celestis, to House politics and training and losing Darrowdelve Manor.

Or.

Harald turned and gazed behind him. At the tunnels that wound about the hubs like ...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 14

Where before creeping through the 27th Level had felt fraught and filled with mortal peril, it now felt… exciting.

Harald moved slowly, forcing himself to remain cautious, but awareness of his new powers bubbled in his mind. At his command, he could summon the Dawnblade, the Goldchop, and his Servitor, a hulking Shadow Mastiff. He was a Level 2 Abyssal Initiate, which inured him to pain while filling him with terrible vitality.

He knew, he knew he should play this quiet...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 13

Harald turned the Dawnblade to and fro. The Abyssal Attunement was gone, so that its stone length glimmered wetly as always, muted green and eerily sharp. How to activate its tracking power?

It had to be intuitive. All Artifact powers were.

So he pointed its tip at the slain scarecrow, and simply willed the sword to activate.

The scarecrow lurched up backwards to its feet, spasmed, then rushed back to the doorway its head split asunder beneath the falling Goldchop.<...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 12

Harald prowled the 27th Level.

He did so carefully, cautiously, quietly. At times, when forced to, he lit his scale lantern, keeping the Copper light at its lowest ebb. He moved slowly down dark corridors, trying to divine their logic as they twisted or turned abruptly. Sometimes he stumbled upon staircases descending precipitously to new depths, or climbing steeply to narrow walkways that skirted the faces of actual chasms.

These voids were only briefly visited. Never did a walkw...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 11

Harald emerged into a natural cavern that had been partially converted into a domicile. Pale diamond light filtered down from large vents in the ceiling, and from the largest a constant rush of water fell, bracketed by hanging vines. Where the walls and ceiling were rough and unfinished, the floor was made smooth by wet obsidian flagstones that radiated out concentrically from a raised fire pit. Curlicues of vivid orange flames leaped from the pit’s broad disc of coals.

Free-standing ...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 10

Harald summoned the Goldchops. They materialized by his shoulders, and he felt the surge in vitality and strength that came with wielding them. His body felt sheathed in newfound power, his muscles growing simultaneously dense yet limber, while his reserves of stamina felt suddenly bottomless.

The +2 stat bonuses from the Masterwork Artifact were fantastic in and of themselves.

Nessa carefully stepped back until she was against the wall and set her lantern upon a protruding shelf ...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 9

“What the hell was that, Harald?” Nessa spun to glare at him, and in that moment none of her vulnerabilities or weaknesses were visible. The woman who wrestled with glory, the laconic and wry companion, all were gone. In their place stood their delve captain, a Bladeweaver 4 of pure, seething fury.

Harald balked, having just closed the door to their newly rented room. He glanced at the other two for support, and found none. Vic had retreated to the window seat, while Sam stood to on...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 8

Power flooded up from Harald’s core.

The Throne of Harmony had sustained him until now, and Harald had thought himself blessed. But with that source of strength now came the Throne of Shadows, distinct in flavor, a twining of darkness to the righteousness of the first.

Aura of the Aching Depths flared forth from him like an explosion. The air darkened, the green miasma seeming to lose its emerald hue, and the temperature dropped. Harald felt the power flood the air, den...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 7

Sam had sat up, her eyes wide, staring at her palms in wonder. Nessa lay back, her hand clapped to her brow.

“Incredible.” Vic leaped to his feet, eyes burning bright. “To think I’ve gone all these years without chasing down my second Throne. What a waste!”

“Can you keep it down?” asked Nessa, voice wretched.

Harald rose unsteadily. “You all right?”

“I’m fine.” Eyes still clenched, she scowled. “I’m fine. Just leave me alone and keep it down...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 6

Matters financial kept Harald from delving into the dungeon as swiftly as he desired when dawn broke upon Flutic.

Returning from his run, he saw Master Ling and a handful of assistants at his front door conversing with a bleary-eyed Vic. The members of the Platinum Rose were dressed in elegant finery, with Master Ling having donned a set of black silk robes masterfully embroidered with a gold rose across his back. As Harald strode up the driveway, they turned as one to regard him.

The Dungeon

Here you guys go! I thought this might be useful. This graphic illustrates the 100 levels of the Dungeon in terms of which levels can be accessed via the Dungeon Portal. The first dozen levels (the 'Iron' levels) are accessed via the pentagonal faces of the polyhedron, while the remaining ones are through triangular facets.

Quick aside: the Iron, Copper, etc Gates are a creations of Flutic; the polyhedron doesn't care from where you trigger a portal, but the nobility decided to stratif...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 5

Harald couldn’t sit there and watch the crowd bid on his soul.

For that’s what it felt like.

Each time a House representative offered another absurd amount for a commonplace item he squirmed, and that discomfort gave rise to anger.

“Do they think they can just buy me?” he hissed to Vic, who was busy noodling about in the depths of the liquor cabinet.

“Um, yes?” Vic held up a tiny, dusty bottle, and wiped the label. “Ooh, this is dwarven whisky! I might ju...

The Main Houses of Flutic

Hey everyone, I threw this together to help sort things out. The shield colors reflect the uniform colors for each House. Hope it helps!

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 4

Harald watched the House Thornvale warrior walk away, and only realized belatedly that his fists were clenched. A murderous instinct arose within him, a violent and mad desire to plunge after the man and destroy him.

But that truly was mad. Not only was Thracos far too powerful, but that wouldn’t remove House Thornvale as a threat.

“Well,” murmured Vic, smiling and turning to exchange glasses adroitly with a passing servant. “Relax, Harald. We’re being watched.”

...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 3

Strains of violin music played over the crowd’s murmur, a single virtuoso player drawing fluid, plaintive notes from their instrument. The crowd reacted as Master Ling led Harald and Vic into the entrance hall by slowly turning, ripples of awareness spreading through the gathered groups, so that one could almost follow its passage to the far reaches of the hall.

It wasn’t his own ugly mug that was eliciting interest, Harald realized; it was the fact that Master Ling was escorting hi...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 2

Vic and Harald set out for the Platinum Rose Auction House early the next day. It was overcast, clouds pressing down heavy upon the rooftops and towers of Flutic, and all the colors seemed bleached of vibrancy. Carriages sprayed wet gravel from their wheels, and few pedestrians were out in the Angelic Quarter.

“Feels inauspicious,” murmured Harald, peering out the foggy carriage window.

Vic was retying his cravat for the umpteenth time. “Don’t be superstitious. We make our...

Throne Hunters Book 2, Chapter 1

(Note to new readers: I've updated all the chapters from hereon out with a bunch of edits and corrections. You're now reading the final copy that will be published on Amazon, but old comments for each chapter might amusingly reflect stuff that no longer exists or are now other chapters entirely. Please know that the previous readers weren't mad, they just most likely read chapters that no longer exist. And welcome!)

The House Celestara warrior stood just outside Harald’s fron...