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This is a terrible idea. But even after what I’ve managed to get out of the book, it’s the best one I have.
Serenity finished painting the second portal circle onto the dirt. Serenity wasn’t planning to create an actual portal; that would be pointless when the circles were all of six feet apart. Instead, he was going to use the ‘First Look’ spell to see if he could take apart the spellform after creating it with the spell in the book....
2022-03-15 23:20:11 +0000 UTC
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Serenity woke up from his dreamwalk and nap to the sound of his phone alarm. It was midnight and the camp was quiet, though he could easily tell he was not the only person awake.
Dr. Mattingly’s “office” tent was dark and empty. Serenity considered for a moment, then headed towards the portal. If there was a problem with him heading down, she should have told him, and he really did want to check out the portal.
Serenity didn’t see anyone ...
2022-03-14 23:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the first draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Status
I’m sure that, by now, you’ve seen the comparisons of the Voice and its Status to a character sheet. It’s a useful comparison, but the thing to remember is that this isn’t a game.
As best I can tell, the Status is a reflection of reality rather than creating the reality - though the fact that you can...
2022-03-13 23:13:39 +0000 UTC
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Getting through the gate to reach the portal was significantly more difficult than Serenity expected.
It was guarded, and the guard wanted to see their ID. Serenity actually still had his driver’s license from before everything started; he wouldn’t have used it, but Rissa’s repeated insistence that he looked like his old self made him give it a shot.
It wasn’t enough to get him in the gate. Strangely, it wasn’t his eye color or hair co...
2022-03-13 00:06:00 +0000 UTC
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The world shivered around Serenity again and he felt himself being pulled backwards. When the movement stopped, he found himself back in his treehouse, floating next to a wall that no longer had a Lord’s Door. Apparently he’d have to find it again to use any of the other features, or to use another Void Spark.
He didn’t think he’d be making another Void Spark any time soon. If it could heal a World Core, it was incredibly powerful, but no power wa...
2022-03-13 00:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the twenty-third draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinity Classification: Other Systems: Freeform Casting (Wilders)
There are people who don’t believe in Affinities, either because they were untrained or because they believe that the entire idea is too limiting.
Most trained mages refer to them derogatively as “wilders” and believe that they are we...
2022-03-11 23:49:32 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the twenty-third draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinity Classification: Other Systems: Messenger’s Guild
The Messenger’s Guild is a delivery service - much like the mail, they make sure your package or letter gets to where you hired them to take it, even under bad conditions (bad weather, bandits, monsters, governmental change … they’ll charge extra, b...
2022-03-11 00:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the fifteenth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinity Classification: Other Systems: Healers (Continued)
Alteration healing
Alteration healing can be thought of as being related to surgery; it is major body modification that cannot be done simply by destruction. It uses Affinities such as Life, Body, Flesh, and Bone to change what is there. On t...
2022-03-10 00:05:04 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the fifteenth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Most of the local affinity classification systems that I have been able to locate are for specialized mages; for example, there is an entire set of known “Healing Magic” Affinities, with known uses for each and which ones lose detail as they are combined together.
Affinity Classification: Other Systems: Healers...
2022-03-09 00:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the third draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinity Classification: Advanced Affinities
The common definition of Advanced Affinities is that they are Affinities which require a Basic Affinity and at least one other Affinity combined together. This is not completely accurate; many “advanced” Affinities do not have a common Basic Affinity along with them - both ...
2022-03-08 00:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the third draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinity Classification: Specialized Affinities
Specialized affinities are one of the places where magic can get very strange very quickly. There is no list of specialized Affinities, because it would have to be so long that it would essentially be useless.
As a general rule, the more specialized someone is, the mor...
2022-03-06 23:47:25 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the third draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinity Classification: Basic Affinities
“Basic” affinities are the ones that are the most common for a new mage. For most worlds, these are: Fire, Water, Air, Earth (sometimes Stone or Sand), Metal, Wood (sometimes Plant), Flesh (sometimes Healing), Blood, and Bone. Light, Darkness, Ice, and Lightning are also known t...
2022-03-06 00:05:00 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the third draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinities
There are several models used for Affinities. None of them capture the full range that is possible, but they give a useful framework for discussion. If you get two wizards together that use different frameworks, you’ll probably see a bitter argument about which is correct.
There’s an answer to tha...
2022-03-06 00:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Apologies for the late release; my computer decided to freeze and I had to reboot it when I went to upload this. Twice.
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As he stepped out of the pavilion tent, Serenity blinked in disbelief. The area had transformed in the small amount of time he’d spent talking. The original six tents were still there, but there were at least three times as many now; on top of that, there were a dozen vehicles parked to one side and they’d somehow managed to put up a ...
2022-03-05 00:19:45 +0000 UTC
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It was strange to watch a screen that didn’t exist. No matter where Serenity looked, he could see it, yet it didn’t block anything else he could see. It wasn’t the same as looking at the Voice’s words in text or watching a spellform; in both cases, concentrating on those made the rest of his vision go fuzzy as he focused his vision. That didn’t happen with this; it was more like having a second set of eyes or something.
Not that there was anyth...
2022-03-03 23:13:42 +0000 UTC
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“There’s a hole in the ceiling of the cave; I can see light. I’m sure there’s also a route through the caves, but I can’t tell where it is. I’ll send you the GPS coordinates when I get up above, but I’ll have to get off the phone to get up there.” Serenity stared at the opening to the sky. It was still light out, but Serenity was debating if he should run back to the Settlement. It wasn’t like they’d had a guard on the portal before, but the...
2022-03-03 00:03:39 +0000 UTC
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Serenity stared at the rockfin that had suddenly appeared in front of him. It didn’t look like any fish Serenity had ever seen, but the resemblance was far too close to call it anything else. It had a set of ribbon-like fins on its underside, supporting it. Its body was about twice as long as Serenity was tall, but it was only about two-thirds his height. It was notably skinnier than it was tall, with eyes set on either side of its pointy head.
Another...
2022-03-01 23:59:55 +0000 UTC
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Modify the spell’s chant using the location coordinates, the table below, and the calculations in the last chapter, then …
Not helpful.
A ring must surround both locations when the portal is to be established; the ring is the purest shape, so it forms the connection and the bridge …
No, the circle was usually there to tell people where not to step when the portal wasn’t open. The author was straying into that myst...
2022-02-28 23:55:45 +0000 UTC
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Rockfin shed scales when they were distressed. Material to track the rockfin was not hard to get; all Serenity had to do was visit the treehouse they’d locked him in and there was plenty. The scales ranged in size from large, hard armor plating to small, delicate-looking ovals. Serenity decided that a few of the smaller scales would be easier to carry and use.
That was the easy part of finding the portal. Tracking the rockfin back was far harder ...
2022-02-28 00:03:23 +0000 UTC
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Portals are not mystical. If you approach a portal as if it is unknowable, you set yourself up for failure. Portals are also never a matter of ‘feel’. They require rigorous calculation to determine the exact location and speed of both points being linked. This is why creating a portal without a Path Skill is impossible at distances greater than what can be seen or continuously measured. Even as little as the motion of a world itself can interfere with...
2022-02-27 00:02:15 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the eighth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Invasion Portals (Continued)
For now, let’s ignore the case where the Voice has decided the situation is stable and the invaders are now locals. That’s what we’re trying to prevent after all. We’ll also ignore the case where the portal times out, since that’s really not very helpful.
If the invaders clos...
2022-02-27 00:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the eighth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Settlements, Towns, and Cities
The Voice generally groups permanent habitations into settlements, towns, and cities. Technically, they are all settlements, but achieving “town” or “city” status opens more options.
Recognized settlements all have a settlement crystal. It allows for control of certain settl...
2022-02-25 23:55:48 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the eighth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
General Notes
There are many in the universe that are more powerful than you are; there probably always will be, even if you’re the most powerful being on the planet. Don’t let that discourage you; instead, look at what you actually want. Power isn’t the only goal; most people have other things they want and power...
2022-02-25 00:01:04 +0000 UTC
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Rissa hurried towards the purple dragon. Serenity was growling in the back of her mind, not making any sense. She was much farther from the dragon than the knights, so she watched their attacks as she closed in. Perhaps she’d see something that would help her plan her strategy.
Kay seemed to be getting up slowly; he acted like it hurt but he was not badly injured. Rissa could only hope that the dragon’s damage was as impermanent as it had been in t...
2022-02-23 23:57:13 +0000 UTC
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No, the raven's name isn't Quoth.
It should be, though.
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Politics.
Rissa hated dealing with it, but as the uncrowned High King, she had to. They weren’t even real politics! At least, they weren’t the politics of the outside world. Rissa complained to Serenity a few times, though most of the politics seemed to pass as a slightly unreal time; Serenity wasn’t certain if that was the fact that he was a sword or if it was the dungeon abridging...
2022-02-22 23:38:22 +0000 UTC
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The morning after they got to London was the day before Kay’s birthday. They spent the morning at the house, with Ector and Kay practicing in the yard while Rissa explored the house. Ector told Kay he was allowed to go out for the afternoon to show Ari around; he even provided some pocket money so they could pick up some treats if they wanted.
That was all it took to get the two of them out of the house.
London was a blur. Kay would point things o...
2022-02-21 23:40:11 +0000 UTC
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The birds didn’t distract the old woman for long, but it was long enough for Rissa to grab the chair. Now all she needed to do was get under the window.
Her first step towards the window was fine, but she couldn’t take a second. When Rissa looked at the old woman, she was staring at Rissa again. “Put down the chair, girl, and get in the cage.”
Rissa unwillingly put the chair down, but she didn’t give up. Rissa repeated the same trick to ...
2022-02-21 00:10:03 +0000 UTC
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Yes, the fifth edition of the Guide exists now.
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Excerpt from the fifth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
A story dungeon sounds similar to a scenario dungeon, but where a scenario dungeon places the group into a scenario and requires that they resolve it, a story dungeon is literally trying to tell a specific story. A scenario dungeon doesn’t really care that much who it places in the scenario, but a...
2022-02-20 00:16:27 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the fifth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Dungeon Types
The classic - and most common - dungeon is simple in concept: a hole in the ground (or mine or plain or tower or floating sky island - the setting doesn’t matter) where you kill monsters, defeat traps, and find treasure.They’re straightforward and reward pure combat types the best.
There are a lot of...
2022-02-20 00:05:25 +0000 UTC
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Excerpt from the fifth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Subsequently revised in the following edition (revisions not shown)
Deities
Gods are a difficult topic, especially in areas with monotheistic religions, but it’s still the best word I have for “very powerful beings”. Using a similar word from another language would help, but it would...
2022-02-18 23:52:43 +0000 UTC
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