"Azoth? Are you there? It's… it's time for the funeral," I heard Soris say. I heard him but I gave no indication of it. I sat on a bed that wasn't mine. I didn't really know where I was. Just that I wasn't in my home. I managed to get myself dressed in my finest clothing, though. Mother had been stitching it in her own time and hiding it at Kallian's house so I would be none the wiser. A dark violet tunic that matched the color of my eyes with white thread embroidery along the seams. A pair...
2022-09-18 15:10:20 +0000 UTC
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This is something of an experiment. The reaction to From the Ashes got me thinking that some stories may have more potential than I initially gave them credit for. That, and when it comes to the next new story poll, throwing several potential new stories at you at once may not be the best practice. It just feels like it's too much at once.
So, I'm trying posting the occasional one-off chapter here and there to both get some initial thoughts, and so when a ...
2022-09-16 15:12:34 +0000 UTC
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People feared mercenaries for good reason, especially bands of them. Guts grew up in them. He knew exactly what mercenaries were when it came right down to it. Some managed to lie to themselves better than others, wrapping what they were under scarves of silks and pleasant lies, but the heart of the matter was that mercenaries were hired killers. They fought for coin, willing to kill whoever their employer payed them to. Even when he was most blinded by what Griffith was, Guts never forgot th...
2022-09-15 14:55:52 +0000 UTC
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For my entire life, I had only ever known the farm. That small village of Ivarstead that had less than thirty people, my immediate family. I had no grandparents to speak of. They had performed Ättestupa in their old age since they were unable to die in battle and to lessen the burden on their families. For my entire life, my life had been on the farm. And now, in a single year, I’ve met two kings. I’ve spoken to them. And, judging by the look that King Charlemagne was giving me if I didn...
2022-09-14 14:56:56 +0000 UTC
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We lost about eighty men. Which seemed like so few in comparison to the battle there had been. There were another hundred that had been wounded, some of which were expected to die of their wounds. But, the battle was being celebrated as a great victory. The garrison at Sigiburg had surrendered when King Sigfred sent a thousand warriors as a show of force, meaning that in a handful of days, we had taken both forts.
King Widukind already set off to spread news of the victory to the Saxon ...
2022-09-14 14:56:52 +0000 UTC
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“Hnngh…” I groaned, hearing the faint sound of screaming not too far off in the distance. As if someone was being muffled by a bite. My upper body felt incredibly sore, as if I had pulled every single muscle in my arms, shoulders, and back. I was used to the feeling of pushing myself a little too hard, but I had truly overdone it this time. I doubt I would be able to raise my arms above my head for a week. No- wait, I had Fast Healer. So, a few days.
Shifting my head made me open ...
2022-09-14 14:56:48 +0000 UTC
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I had hoped that since I was traveling with Jarl Horrik’s hird, though I wasn’t a member myself, that I would have a slight clue of what was going on. But, I was absolutely clueless as the campaign began. Near a hundred ships sailed out of Alabu to the calls of good luck from about a thousand families, and we took a familiar trip down south towards Saxony. We maintained a good wind the entire way, until we eventually reached the opening of the river that the village had been sat upon.
...
2022-09-14 14:56:44 +0000 UTC
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Every member of the Song family in China was exterminated as far as anyone could tell, and the extermination had been far more expansive than I had ever imagined. Anyone that carried a drop of Song blood was killed -- that included offshoots from the main branch of the family. The branch families. Even random people that just so happened to have a Song ancestor. All murdered in cold blood. There were hundreds dead, near a thousand, but that estimate was tainted due to the fact that China was ...
2022-09-13 13:36:34 +0000 UTC
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“Brainwashing seems like a jump,” Raven remarked as we stood in my throne room, surrounded on all sides by holograms that fed me information about my empire. As well as a number of projects that I had -- such as the Warworlds and the shield wall around my empire, to name a few. The one that I was focused on at the moment was harnessing the power of compassion so I could use it on my race to drive the concept of compassion into their heads. “I know you’re grasping at straws with this, ...
2022-09-12 14:55:25 +0000 UTC
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Earth was still adapting, but it had done a lot of it over the past three months. To the point that it was honestly shocking.
Letting Lex Luthor remain in charge had been a gamble -- a dangerous one. I had no doubt in my mind that he was taking a mile with every inch that I gave him, building his powerbase on Earth to become a major figure in my empire. But I allowed it because, ultimately, he was doing what I wanted -- leading Earth to develop this portion of my empire and integr...
2022-09-12 14:55:20 +0000 UTC
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I stood in a great white expanse, a vast nothingness all around that almost hurt to look at. The only things of note were some amenities so far off in the distance that they were hardly specs in my vision, but there was a cafeteria, a private bath, and a door that would lead out of this space that seemed to stretch on for eternity. It was modeled after a memory of mine. Or, a memory of a past life. I thought it had been an exaggeration when I heard that staying in this white expanse could dri...
2022-09-12 14:55:15 +0000 UTC
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That was a little jarring to hear. Everything was the opposite of what I thought it was. Given that the current Saiyan race was what we were, I figured that the Guardians had defeated us rather soundly. From what I got from Froot and the Guardians, that had been the case, but I just didn’t have the full story. I thought that Sadala had been captured by the Guardians and they were experimenting on her, trying to create a Saiyan race that fit their ideals.
Instead, Sadala was out there,...
2022-09-12 14:55:11 +0000 UTC
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"Have you never used a staff before?" Merrill asked me as I held a wooden staff in my hands that was elaborately engraved while the tip of the staff was curled roots around a focus that was inlaid with lyrium according to the Keeper and First duo. It was surprisingly heavy as I shook my head.
"The Templars would have found me," I answered. The revelation that I had magic shoehorned me into being the Second for the clan, but it was a position that was empty. People didn't know me, they d...
2022-09-10 15:09:12 +0000 UTC
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I had found the Dalish, but I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing.
Before I was allowed anywhere near their camp, my hands were bound and Theron grilled me with questions while Tamlen carried my empty pack. He completely dismissed it because it was empty, and I counted that as a lucky break considering the bag would be revealed as magical upon inspection. Bright Feather considered his job done and moved on to wherever birds went at night. I didn’t know. Birds learned not t...
2022-09-10 15:09:07 +0000 UTC
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"Azoth? Are you there? It's… it's time for the funeral," I heard Soris say. I heard him but I gave no indication of it. I sat on a bed that wasn't mine. I didn't really know where I was. Just that I wasn't in my home. I managed to get myself dressed in my finest clothing, though. Mother had been stitching it in her own time and hiding it at Kallian's house so I would be none the wiser. A dark violet tunic that matched the color of my eyes with white thread embroidery along the seams. A pair...
2022-09-10 15:09:02 +0000 UTC
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I had a new favorite spell, I decided, a heavy box in my hands that just about toppled me with how far I had to lean back to carry it. My arms felt numb with how far thoroughly had been worked, my black hair plastered to my forehead as sweat dripped down my face, soaking my tunic. My legs trembled, my back ached something fierce, and by all rights, I had no business carrying on with my work of loading up a ship with provisions. Yet, all the same, under the creaking wood of a ship named the Si...
2022-09-10 15:08:57 +0000 UTC
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First off, let me apologize for missing Legends Never Die yesterday and failing to update Gone Native. To be honest, it just completely slipped my mind because of everything that's been going on. To that end, I have some goodish news and some more bad news, and some worse news.
Goodish news is that they know what's wrong with one of my dogs. He has a genetic disease. Bad news is that it's unreversable, so he's blind for the rest of his life. But, once we get through the adjustment...
2022-09-08 14:41:16 +0000 UTC
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Very sorry to spring this on all of you, especially late, but Gone Native will be delayed until tomorrow. Possibly the day after, I'm not quite sure at the moment. The reason is two things slamming together -- I have a work thing, but that's not really the issue.
What made it an issue is that one of my dogs has been going blind over the past week or so. I thought it was cataracts since he's that age, but when I took him to the vet, they cleared him and more or less told me that th...
2022-09-05 16:19:51 +0000 UTC
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I had found the Dalish, but I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing.
Before I was allowed anywhere near their camp, my hands were bound and Theron grilled me with questions while Tamlen carried my empty pack. He completely dismissed it because it was empty, and I counted that as a lucky break considering the bag would be revealed as magical upon inspection. Bright Feather considered his job done and moved on to wherever birds went at night. I didn’t know. Birds learned not t...
2022-09-03 14:53:21 +0000 UTC
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"Azoth? Are you there? It's… it's time for the funeral," I heard Soris say. I heard him but I gave no indication of it. I sat on a bed that wasn't mine. I didn't really know where I was. Just that I wasn't in my home. I managed to get myself dressed in my finest clothing, though. Mother had been stitching it in her own time and hiding it at Kallian's house so I would be none the wiser. A dark violet tunic that matched the color of my eyes with white thread embroidery along the seams. A pair...
2022-09-03 14:53:16 +0000 UTC
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I had a new favorite spell, I decided, a heavy box in my hands that just about toppled me with how far I had to lean back to carry it. My arms felt numb with how far thoroughly had been worked, my black hair plastered to my forehead as sweat dripped down my face, soaking my tunic. My legs trembled, my back ached something fierce, and by all rights, I had no business carrying on with my work of loading up a ship with provisions. Yet, all the same, under the creaking wood of a ship named the Si...
2022-09-03 14:53:10 +0000 UTC
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Magic danced in the palm of my hands, swirling around my fingers, aching, begging to be used. A hum of power surged through my veins that sang at the prospect, my mind shifting like sand as I shaped spell after spell, but didn’t commit to one. In the days after waking up, long enough that I could remove the bandage to reveal a startling scar across my throat that traced my slash with stark white skin, my mind had settled to a degree.
The theorycraft of magic was in tatters and snippet...
2022-09-03 14:53:05 +0000 UTC
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We lost about eighty men. Which seemed like so few in comparison to the battle there had been. There were another hundred that had been wounded, some of which were expected to die of their wounds. But, the battle was being celebrated as a great victory. The garrison at Sigiburg had surrendered when King Sigfred sent a thousand warriors as a show of force, meaning that in a handful of days, we had taken both forts.
King Widukind already set off to spread news of the victory to the Saxon ...
2022-08-31 15:11:11 +0000 UTC
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“Hnngh…” I groaned, hearing the faint sound of screaming not too far off in the distance. As if someone was being muffled by a bite. My upper body felt incredibly sore, as if I had pulled every single muscle in my arms, shoulders, and back. I was used to the feeling of pushing myself a little too hard, but I had truly overdone it this time. I doubt I would be able to raise my arms above my head for a week. No- wait, I had Fast Healer. So, a few days.
Shifting my head made me open ...
2022-08-31 15:11:05 +0000 UTC
View Post
I had hoped that since I was traveling with Jarl Horrik’s hird, though I wasn’t a member myself, that I would have a slight clue of what was going on. But, I was absolutely clueless as the campaign began. Near a hundred ships sailed out of Alabu to the calls of good luck from about a thousand families, and we took a familiar trip down south towards Saxony. We maintained a good wind the entire way, until we eventually reached the opening of the river that the village had been sat upon.
...
2022-08-31 15:11:00 +0000 UTC
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Despite my hopes, I found Alabu in full swing as we entered the city. Not as much as it had been when I first visited, but it still felt like there were twice as many people in the city as it was meant to house. People eyed me with some interest, given that I towered over them thanks to the wagon and horse. My destination was the longhouse, to speak to the Jarl -- he was the one that would give me permission to set up a stall in the marketplace, and he was the one that could buy my excess foo...
2022-08-31 15:10:51 +0000 UTC
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I was flung out of the building, blasting through doors, a glass pane, then out onto the street and was eventually stopped by a pillar inside the building across the street from where I started. Concrete and metal might as well have been wet tissue paper for all of the resistance it put up. A glance at my sword told me that it had managed to hold up, blocking the worst of the attack, but I could feel my injuries. The hands had grasped at my shoulder and hip, carving deep grooves into my skin ...
2022-08-30 15:03:15 +0000 UTC
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Earth was still adapting, but it had done a lot of it over the past three months. To the point that it was honestly shocking.
Letting Lex Luthor remain in charge had been a gamble -- a dangerous one. I had no doubt in my mind that he was taking a mile with every inch that I gave him, building his powerbase on Earth to become a major figure in my empire. But I allowed it because, ultimately, he was doing what I wanted -- leading Earth to develop this portion of my empire and integr...
2022-08-29 14:57:18 +0000 UTC
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I stood in a great white expanse, a vast nothingness all around that almost hurt to look at. The only things of note were some amenities so far off in the distance that they were hardly specs in my vision, but there was a cafeteria, a private bath, and a door that would lead out of this space that seemed to stretch on for eternity. It was modeled after a memory of mine. Or, a memory of a past life. I thought it had been an exaggeration when I heard that staying in this white expanse could dri...
2022-08-29 14:57:13 +0000 UTC
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That was a little jarring to hear. Everything was the opposite of what I thought it was. Given that the current Saiyan race was what we were, I figured that the Guardians had defeated us rather soundly. From what I got from Froot and the Guardians, that had been the case, but I just didn’t have the full story. I thought that Sadala had been captured by the Guardians and they were experimenting on her, trying to create a Saiyan race that fit their ideals.
Instead, Sadala was out there,...
2022-08-29 14:57:08 +0000 UTC
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