Despite a thousand reasons why it should be better known, the world of Larvanin is unquestionably a backwater of the Known Multiverse. Its magic should logically make it a prime destination for aspiring Named and Ascendants, not to mention the sheer value of its magic to multiversal organizations. Magics that allow the direct transmission of expertise from one individual to another are among the rarest in the multiverse, and even the severe drawbacks and dangers of Larvanin’s magic doesn’...
2023-10-26 09:59:28 +0000 UTC
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Just two options this month, I've got a ridiculous amount of work to catch up on after the (good) craziness of the past six weeks or so.
Also, Patreon changed the interface? It... looks fine. Actually should make it harder for me to screw up tiers for voting posts, like I usually do, which is nice.
Anyhow, stories!
- Basilisk Street Issue 1 (Non-Aetheriad): The first issue of the script for a graphic novel I wrote around 2011-2012. Pretty standard "secr...
2023-10-25 15:30:46 +0000 UTC
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This story is set five years after The Wrack. As an important note, the avalanche responses shown by the characters in this story are NOT best practice in our own world.
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It was three days after the avalanche that the gem merchants realized they were all going to die.
They had numbered eleven at the start of their trip. Their seer, a first-timer, had gotten caught up in a matter of Singer law, and the outcome had proven fatal. It h...
2023-09-25 19:28:54 +0000 UTC
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For the umpty-bajillionth time, I messed up the poll again, set it for the wrong tiers. Fixed version!
Just two choices this month- I am overwhelmed by life stuff right now. (We're moving halfway across Vietnam, planning a trip back to visit family in the States, planning a belated wedding (been married for most of a year, we just never actually got around to the wedding.)
- Basilisk Street Issue 1 (Non-Aetheriad): The first issue of the script for a graphic novel I wrote arou...
2023-09-14 09:02:11 +0000 UTC
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I don't actually remember much about writing this one- a reader suggested it on Reddit, but this was the first bit of writing I did after my grandfather passed away in late May, and I wrote it in a bit of a fugue. It holds up reasonably well, I think? (I've heard a surprising amount of similar stories of writers with similar experiences, so it's a thing, I guess?)
Meant to get it posted a few days ago, but between the book 7 audiobook release and getting sick for the second time this month...
2023-08-31 07:23:51 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for the late poll again this month, I've been super busy with admin work, More Gods than Stars research, short story anthology editing, [Redacted], and Baldur's Gate 3. Oh, and just a reminder, the Last Echo audiobook is out on the 29th!
It's looking like the first Mage Errant short story anthology will be coming out early 2024 (I want to do a simultaneous release for audio, ebook, and paperback), so you've got a few months to catch up on unread short stories on here before ...
2023-08-27 08:47:27 +0000 UTC
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This story is set on the world of Larvanin, the same as Maskmaker, Maskkeeper, Maskmatcher.
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Many detective stories have a singular moment of brilliance, a place where the clues all congeal in an instant, where the truth is revealed.
This is not how mysteries usually go in real life. Most detectives come to their conclusions slowly, through painstaking work and comparison of clues, motives, and witness accounts. Often, th...
2023-07-28 08:59:18 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for yet another (very) late poll- I was determined to offer y'all three finished choices again this month. Took me longer than I'd hoped- I'm still just getting back into the groove of writing, after my grandfather's death this spring, but I'm finally putting words consistently on the page again!
Anyhow, options!
- Basilisk Street Issue 1 (Non-Aetheriad): The first issue of the script for a graphic novel I wrote around 2011-2012. Pretty standard "secret go...
2023-07-22 13:34:54 +0000 UTC
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This story was inspired by reading some of China Mieville’s work- I’m not sure I’ve ever read his stuff without being inspired to write something. Fair warning, lots of cursing, drug-use, and discussions of sex, though no explicit depictions.
For those of you who aren't patrons at higher levels- I mentioned this in the poll, but my grandfather passed away shortly after Book 7's release, hence the book 7 paperback not being completed. He was 96, and we had lots of warn...
2023-06-14 15:18:20 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for the late poll, everyone! It's late for the same reason as the book 7 paperback- my grandfather passed away recently, and I've had an almost complete lack of spoons for anything but videogames and arguing on the internet lately. (I wish I'd lacked the spoons for arguing on the internet, honestly.)
Just two short story options this month- I definitely haven't had the energy for writing another short story just yet.
- Theomachies Plural (Non-Aetheriad): There have been ...
2023-06-11 11:07:40 +0000 UTC
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The higher tier patrons have made their choice for the month, so I've got three deleted scenes from Mage Errant 7 for y'all! Each was removed for different reasons, and two of them- the first and last- are non-canon now. (The middle one remains canon, but more detail on that later.) Full warning, there are lots of spoilers past this point for book 7 if you haven't read them yet!
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The first deleted scene is the original dream-dive c...
2023-05-24 09:02:11 +0000 UTC
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So, I originally didn't think I had enough options for a proper poll this month, but I just realized I do! All the options are complete, and will go up as soon as voting resolves. (Messed up the original poll, this is a repost. I'm so bad at this, lol.)
- Theomachies Plural (Non-Aetheriad): There have been a lot of good reasons through history to rebel against the heavens. This foul-mouthed succubus from upstate New York, however, is joining the revolution because she can't af...
2023-05-22 10:05:10 +0000 UTC
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Hugh and the others didn’t try to disguise or conceal themselves when they arrived at Oldfort— much the opposite.
Rather than wait for the gangplank to be lowered, Hugh built a ward bridge to the pier with the Crown, and the four of them crossed above the crowds, Mackerel flying about their heads.
Hugh felt utterly ridiculous, but he kept his shoulders straight and his gaze forwards.
When they landed back on the ground, he didn’t return the Crown nodes to hi...
2023-05-12 06:10:58 +0000 UTC
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Their riverboat came under attack just a few hours into the voyage.
Well, less a riverboat than a floating gambling den.
Talia had always wanted to ride one of Highvale’s great riverboats when she was young, but sadly, it had never worked out— so when they were choosing their vessel, she’d pushed hard for them to ride on the Sunset Queen, rather than any of the other options.
There’d been a Radhan riverboat that could have gotten them to Oldfort a f...
2023-05-11 11:06:19 +0000 UTC
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Hey, it's time for the second preview chapter! Woo! Less than two weeks until release day!
Chapter 2: Canyon Kingdom
Hugh Stormward and his friends descended into Highvale easily, even in complete darkness. Hugh expanded the Stormward’s Crown around all of them, then altered it to block their light cantrips from shining down into the canyon and revealing their presence.
Not that Hugh or Sabae needed the light cantrips— Hugh’s ...
2023-05-02 19:28:19 +0000 UTC
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So, no story voting this month- way too overwhelmed with work for release day on the 14th! But, in exchange, you're getting both a short story and Mage Errant previews! Fair warning, I might still make changes to preview chapters up to the literal last minute. And, if you see any typos or errors, let me know! Anyhow, without further ado:
Chapter 1: Fallow Fields
Alustin Haber, the Last Loyal Son of Helicote, stood in a ruined village and hid his dou...
2023-05-01 17:10:27 +0000 UTC
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Mage Errant Book 7, the Last Echo of the Lord of Bells, will be coming out May 14th in ebook format, and is available for pre-order now! Paperback should hopefully follow shortly after (though paperbacks are my nemesis, I swear). Audio should be out this summer.
In addition, 2023-04-23 19:57:15 +0000 UTC
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This story was inspired by Dianna Wynne Jones’ work- specifically, reading Howl’s Moving Castle for the first time. No idea why I waited until my thirties to read it.
Oh, and if you didn't hear already, The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells is sitting with my beta readers right now! Responses have been positive so far!
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First and last acts have power.
First acts are subtle and long-lasting. A child’s f...
2023-04-08 14:43:42 +0000 UTC
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Only two choices this month- my brain is FRIED from finishing The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells. Which, btw, is sitting in the hands of my beta readers as we speak, and initial responses have been positive!
The options this time are two non-Aetheriad works. Both are the kind of short stories inspired directly by another author's book I was reading at the time- Howl's Moving Castle, by Dianna Wynne Jones, for First and Last; and Kraken, by China Mieville, for Theomachies Plural.
2023-04-06 13:30:40 +0000 UTC
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This story is set on the world of Iopis, in the Fractured Duchies in Teringia's west, five years before the events of The Wrack.
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Orman Odberse had only just sat down for luncheon when a panicked child dragged him away from the tavern table, crying about evil spirits.
Orman exchanged exasperated glances with the tavern keeper, but the healer let himself be dragged off.
H...
2023-03-04 12:15:08 +0000 UTC
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So this month we've got one Aetheriad short story (Replacements, set on the world of The Wrack- which some people have been eagerly awaiting for a few months now) and two non-Aetheriad works. Both of the latter were the kind of short stories inspired directly by another author's book I was reading at the time- Howl's Moving Castle, by Dianna Wynne Jones, for First and Last; and Kraken, by China Mieville, for Theomachies Plural.
Theomachies Plural, fair warning, contains a HIGH degree o...
2023-03-02 15:58:28 +0000 UTC
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This story is set on the world of Kemetrias, ten years before Mage Errant Book 6. This one's a little more violent than usual, fair warning.
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Apchek’s teachers had warned him, a thousand times, never to get complacent while sailing the Grass Sea, never to assume he was safe.
Apchek meant to follow their advice, knew consciously they were correct, but the Sky Lords hadn’t created humanity for constant vigilance, h...
2023-02-07 13:49:44 +0000 UTC
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Had to repost the poll, accidentally made it available to all tiers again, whoops. I am bad at this.
(And just had to edit it to change 2022 to 2023, I'm really bad at this, lol.)
Only two options this month, sorry folks- can't afford to take more time off from working on book 7 if I want to hit deadline, certainly not enough for a full short story. (Between Tet, visiting my wife's family, and getting sick for a few days afterward, I'm farther behind than I was hoping.) (When I ...
2023-02-05 10:39:16 +0000 UTC
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Sand's Not Real is set on Anastis, five years before Mage Errant.
And of course y'all picked the shortest, weirdest story this month. Though maybe you just missed Anastis?
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“What do you mean, there’s no such thing as sand?” Hepthet Dras demanded. The hive mind of mites shifted their house-sized beetle host body irritably in the direction of Verrifax, then dramatically shredded one of the attacking mages wi...
2023-01-07 04:22:04 +0000 UTC
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First short story of the year!
- Replacements (Iopis): A blacksmith starts insisting everyone they love have been replaced with malicious dopplegangers, and a healer must figure out what’s happened before it’s too late. (Finished)
- Blood in the Green Depths (Kemetrias): Apchek is a newly minted knight, just given his suit of paper battle armor, when he’s sent on a patrol of the Grass Sea. It’s supposed to be quiet and routine, bu...
2023-01-02 07:42:04 +0000 UTC
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This story is set on, and introduces, the world of Larvanin to the Aetheriad.
(Content warning: contains discussion of self-harm and body dysphoria, though nothing too severe or descriptive.)
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Maskmakers were feared more often than nearly any other soulweaver.
Oh, the horror stories were all about body-thieves, who hid memory traps in soulwoven tools they gifted to others, to hijack ...
2022-12-05 16:37:52 +0000 UTC
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I've got three short story options for you this month, and, good news, they're all written already, so you'll get this story after just a few days for voting!
I'm doing three new things this month- first, labeling the short stories with their genres. They're obviously all fantasy, but that's more a setting than a story type. (Genre is all nonsense and lies. Useful lies, but lies. All taxonomies are useful lies.)
Second, I'm adding a content warning to one of my stories for the fir...
2022-12-01 07:42:17 +0000 UTC
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This story is set on the world of Limnus, a century before Mage Errant.
Ikhail didn’t remember the first time she dreamed about the stars.
It was likely she’d been told of them before she could even speak herself— the tales of the violent old worlds and the stars that gazed down on them were some of the first, and most frequent, stories told to every child in the bromeliad creches.
It didn’t, in the end, really matter to Ikhail where her obsession...
2022-11-06 13:24:42 +0000 UTC
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Messed up the last poll, here we go again:
- (Kemetrias) Blood in the Green Depths: Apchek is a newly minted knight, just given his suit of paper battle armor, when he’s sent on a patrol of the Grass Sea. It’s supposed to be quiet and routine, but when Bezan rebels bring down his ship, Apchek and his squad find themselves being hunted through the depths of the sea.
Unfortunately for Apchek and his squad, there are worse things than enemy armor in the gr...
2022-11-03 04:50:03 +0000 UTC
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This story is set on Apoptis, within the same geological era as Mage Errant.
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The sun was mid-flare when dawn broke, bathing the land in burning rays as it rose.
As always with a dawn flare, a few more plants than usual failed to shift their pigments in time, and were badly charred. Most of the sparse plants in the highlands, however, were warned by chemical and electrical signals racing from plant to plant ahead of the d...
2022-10-16 22:59:52 +0000 UTC
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