The Lich Days of Summer is set a century before the events of Mage Errant.
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The last weeks of summer hang heavy in most lands, but in few more heavily than in the Ylosa river delta. The heat and humidity lurk among the mangroves, hiding from any ocean breezes that might bring relief. They weigh down on any unlucky souls foolish enough to brave them like a sodden wet blanket in a sauna.
There is no breaking out from ...
2021-09-21 08:18:12 +0000 UTC
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Time for the first official short story selection vote! Pick the story you like, and I'll write whichever one gets the most votes! (If, for plot/character/continuity reasons, I can't make the first story work, I'll write the second choice.)
All your options this month are Mage Errant stories, but you'll get other options in the future! Some of the stories are marked as science puzzle stories, in the vein of Fool's Silver or To Secure a Vault, but given how heavily science-inspired my w...
2021-09-01 06:28:23 +0000 UTC
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I went ahead and created a voting tier, Arbiter of Destiny, at $3, as per the winning vote in the poll! (Well, second to "cool with it, but wouldn't subscribe to it".) Anyone at that tier or above is going to get to vote on each month's short story. Here in a few days, I'll post the poll for September!
The specific lineup of choices will vary month to month, but you generally don't need to worry about a vote option being a one-time thing- they'll come back in future months!
I...
2021-08-30 12:40:38 +0000 UTC
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I've had a few people inquire about adding additional tiers to Patreon lately. Up until now, I've been reluctant, because all of my various ideas have been, well, too much work for me right now. I wish I was one of those authors like Mary Robinette Kowal who could do INFINITE WORK ALL DAY EVERY DAY, but, alas, much of my job just ends up being mental health management stuff. (Also, if you haven't ever checked out Kowal's work, it's great- I'm a big fan of her writing.)
Anyhow, I thought...
2021-08-27 12:39:10 +0000 UTC
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This story is set during the events of Jewel of the Endless Erg.
Krita’s job was nine-tenths boredom.
She was absolutely fine with that. Boredom was good, when you were a guard. Especially when you were working on a Yldivan merchant fleet on a multi-year mission to another continent.
Unfortunately, every tenth day decided to be interesting.
Krita hated interesting days, unless it was her day off.
Most of those tenth days were a pretty ...
2021-08-25 15:22:49 +0000 UTC
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Mage Errant Book 5, The Siege of Skyhold, is now available on Audible!
Oh, and in case you haven't seen it already, I commissioned some Mage Errant Art of Imperial Ithos before and after its fall!
2021-08-04 05:10:31 +0000 UTC
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Since Old Setah and The River was the clear winner in the poll, here we go! This story is set on the continent of Gelid, two centuries before the events of Mage Errant. We'll get Mudflat Nights, also set on Gelid, next month!
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Old Setah, the village basketmaker, woke up one morning with a brand-new river behind her house.
She rubbed her eyes, gave it a long, puzzled look, then pinched herself to...
2021-07-19 09:09:11 +0000 UTC
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I'm going to let you pick which story you get this month! All I'll tell you about them is that both are set on the continent of Gelid, and that they're wildly different .
2021-07-17 16:35:24 +0000 UTC
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Dead Alchemists is set fifty years before Mage Errant.
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A bold alchemist is a dead alchemist.
Alchemy is a dangerous science— even in its most mundane aspects, alchemists work with countless toxic substances, powerful flames, molten metal, and other threats to one’s health. Alchemists needed to be cautious at all times— to act brashly was to invite horrible death.
Garen never took risks, and his ...
2021-06-03 03:14:52 +0000 UTC
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Quick note- I changed the date of To Secure a Vault from a century before Mage Errant to forty years before. And sorry this one took so long, and had to be split into a two-parter- it took a LOT of science research to write, and I'm still not 100% that I got all the chemistry right. Not to mention the fact that it bloomed from a short story to a whole novella.
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It only took four days to fly to Corb’s Bet, despite being ...
2021-05-11 18:07:29 +0000 UTC
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To Secure A Vault occurs almost exactly a century before Mage Errant. Part 2 should be out pretty quick next month, it's already half-done now! (I really wanted to release the whole thing this month, but I'm really only just recently getting my brain functional again after finishing book 5.)
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There are endless tales of unbreachable vaults filled with treasure on the continent of Ithos. Some of them are even true.
The ...
2021-04-29 22:10:36 +0000 UTC
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Really meant to get this month's short story done today, but it's kicking my butt. Partially due to the difficulty of the story itself- it's in first person, which isn't my usual territory, and it's also another "scientific puzzle" type story, like the Mirror Mage stories. Those can be pretty tricky. Most of the butt-kicking is just leftover from writing book 5, though- crunch time really takes it out of me, and I'm still not really mentally recovered there. Trying to work on getting a he...
2021-03-29 08:38:19 +0000 UTC
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Attached is the first chapter of Mage Errant 5, the Siege of Skyhold. Extra-long short story next month!
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Hugh Stormward, once known as Hugh of Emblin, couldn’t breathe.
“Should I get the healer?” Talia asked him.
Hugh shook his head between coughs, and let Talia and Godrick help him over to a nearby fallen log.
The coughing finally subsided after another minute or two. Hugh took shallow, gentle breaths to avoid aggrav...
2021-02-28 12:47:36 +0000 UTC
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This story takes place during the late spring, during the events of A Traitor in Skyhold, following Luthe of Clan Castis, Talia's eldest brother.
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Luthe of Clan Castis was taking his daughter for a walk when the dragon found him.
Yolanda could was at that age where she demanded to be carried everywhere, despite the fact that she could already walk reasonably well on her own. She also ab...
2021-01-15 12:05:10 +0000 UTC
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The following files are the sum of the intelligence Havath has been able to gather regarding the Gorgon Incident a few years back. Much of it is unverified, and a good portion is likely Skyhold or Sydapsyn counterintelligence. This document is restricted, and may only be read with Duarch permission.
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Official Duarch Report on Gorgons:
The...
2020-12-23 06:59:51 +0000 UTC
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Lost Qokeen is set around a quarter century before the events of Mage Errant. It is, in great part, inspired by Wolf Hilbertz’s Autopia Ampere, one of the most brilliant, gorgeous utopian cities never built- or in its case, grown.
(And hey, I've got this one for you at the beginning of the month, instead of the end!)
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Everyone knows there are no cities at sea. No floating cities, nor any cities built in the dept...
2020-11-01 18:16:27 +0000 UTC
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Talia- as I promised, here’s the file on the boots stored in the Vault. While it is one of the most heavily secured items in the vault, it’s not a particular secret, unlike some of the other items in the Vault. Still, the rules around any Vault Contents report mean that I’ll need this report back after you’re done with it, so don’t lose it or copy it.
-Alustin
Skyhold Vault Contents Report: The Assassin Boots, also...
2020-10-10 04:29:20 +0000 UTC
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Quick note: Murder In Ras Andis has been taken down from Patreon, since it's now at the end of book 4. Whenever I publish a volume of my short stories, I'll be taking down those stories as well- though I will make sure to give you all plenty of forewarning about that.
Edit: Oh, also, you can totally buy a copy of the map of Ithos now!
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Th...
2020-09-28 06:19:09 +0000 UTC
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Again, so so sorry this one is late. I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen again, 2020 is just... terrible and overwhelming. Also, making part 2 work necessitated making a couple minor changes to part 1, so if you see any contradictions, that's why. (Notably, changing the number of lots in the auction.)
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The other three were still asleep when Calrin returned with his news from Lemannen’s university. He waited quite patientl...
2020-09-06 21:05:32 +0000 UTC
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I should have last month's story up soon (again, so so sorry to be late on that, it's hugely embarrassing), but I wanted to give you all a couple options for what the next story will be, and let you all choose!
In addition, I'll be removing Murder in Ras Andis from Patreon here in the next few days- it's now an addition at the end of book 4. If you haven't read it on here, now's your chance- or you can just read it in book 4.
2020-09-05 20:14:13 +0000 UTC
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I meant to have this month's short story (The Wrong Librarian pt. 2) up yesterday, but it's run into some plot issues. Pretty sure I can fix it easily enough, so it should be up in the next day or two. (Really sorry for the delay- I'll get September's story to you all actually in, you know, September.)
2020-08-31 22:04:35 +0000 UTC
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I had planned the release of Mage Errant 4 for August 15th, but I came to four very important realizations today:
#1: I’ve just been sitting on the completed manuscript, and I’m as angsty to get it into my readers’ hands as a number of them have let me know they are to read it.
#2: I’m my own boss, I can do what I want.
#3: I’m halfway around the world from most of my fans, and timezones are the devil and I’m tired of calcul...
2020-08-13 22:45:42 +0000 UTC
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This story takes place just over a century and a half before the events of Into the Labyrinth. It was written using the I Ching, like Phillip K. Dick used the I Ching to write The Man in the High Castle. I meant to have the whole thing ready this month, but life's been kicking my ass- COVID-19 is back in Vietnam, and so I'm back to sheltering in place. Not to mention, the world's just a little overwhelming at the moment. This story's been kicking my butt, too- if I'm goi...
2020-07-31 12:37:42 +0000 UTC
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Hi everyone,
I wanted to give you an update on some changes that we’ll be seeing which may affect some of your pledges. Due to new laws passing in several countries and US states, Patreon will be required to start charging sales tax on some pledges starting July 1st.
Less than half of all patrons will be charged sales tax, and for most, the amount will be very small. For example, sales tax ra...
2020-06-26 02:53:24 +0000 UTC
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This story starts a dozen years after the fall of Imperial Ithos at the hands of Kanderon Crux and the twelve other founders of Skyhold. The basic idea for the story came to me in a dream, and I woke up and wrote the whole thing in a single sitting. (One of my most impressive writing days I've ever had.) A number of random plot and worldbuilding elements— as well as bits of the history of Anastis— that had all been drifting around in my head all easily fit right in.
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2020-06-22 02:19:54 +0000 UTC
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I meant to have a full short story done for you this month, but the current short story- The Wrong Librarian- is proving rather difficult, and I didn't want to give you another split short story this month, so I'm moving that back to next month. I should have the Mage Errant 4 manuscript off to the editor by then. Instead of another short story, you all get an early preview of the fourth Mage Errant book, The Lost City of Ithos. (And yes, that's the official title reveal...
2020-05-31 15:13:22 +0000 UTC
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The name of the woman he’d rescued was, to Keinan’s amusement, Ash.
Of course, when he had to explain that he’d killed her pursuers from atop an ash tree, she only gave him a brief polite smile, and Keinan immediately felt awkward and embarrassed.
Ash was a couple years older than him and unquestionably beautiful, and Keinan felt just as awkward as he had expected to. Tetragnath quietly snickered in his ear.
“Do you live here?” Ash asked him, as they searched...
2020-04-06 12:56:18 +0000 UTC
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Sorry this one comes so late in the month, folks. I've been pretty overwhelmed in March- I spent the first part of March finishing The Wrack and getting it off to my editor, then I took a much needed vacation in Fiji (I was already in New Zealand while finishing The Wrack, so Fiji was just a short hop away), and then barely slipped into Vietnam ahead of it shutting down to keep COVID-19 out. Unfortunately, there was a COVID-19 victim on my flight, so I ended up in official quaran...
2020-03-31 13:43:18 +0000 UTC
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