Apologies for the late release; my computer decided to freeze and I had to reboot it when I went to upload the new chapter. Twice.
Of note: The fifth draft of An Earthling's Guide to the Larger Universe hasn't been written yet. It will be, of course.
Enjoy!
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Excerpt from the fifth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Dungeons
Other than magic and invasions, the most n...
2022-02-18 00:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the fourth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Portals
There are two major types of portals: portals established using the crystal network and portals established by individuals. The Voice can teleport people, but these are not considered portals because you do not step through them.
Portals that are not connected to the network almost always go from one point ...
2022-02-17 00:08:19 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the first draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Technology and Magic
Earth is highly technological; this is unusual. Most places use magic for what we use technology for. The problem with using magic for everything is that it generally doesn’t scale well. You have to have a person, generally a highly skilled person, do anything that needs to be done. Yes, they can ma...
2022-02-15 23:57:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe "draft" number on Serenity's Guide is when he wrote it (or in a few cases revised it). The first four have already been written and handed out to participants; the fourth draft is the one currently going out (it includes quite a bit of material from previous drafts).
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Excerpt from the second draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Affinities and Concepts
The first interaction ...
2022-02-15 00:03:25 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the fourth draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Magic
Mana-based magic is one of the fundamental differences between the world you once knew and the outside universe. Magic has always been there, but on Earth it was weak and poorly understood. This is far less true elsewhere.
At its roots, magic is two things: Mana and Intent. Everything else is secondary. Mana ...
2022-02-14 00:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Excerpt from the second draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Invasion Portals
The simplest way to create an Invasion Portal is to use a properly-created Invasion Crystal. An Invasion Crystal can be created by an appropriate craftsman (a Crystal Enchanter with the appropriate Affinity and Concept - this is very rare) or found in a dungeon (more common, but still quite rare). An...
2022-02-13 00:06:03 +0000 UTC View PostI couldn't resist the alliteration.
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Excerpt from the first draft of An Earthling’s Guide to the Larger Universe
Invasions
By now, you’ve probably heard about it: Earth is being invaded. There’s even a Quest to deal with the 512 Invasion Portals.
This probably seems like a test set up by the Voice.
It is and it isn’t.
Until all 512 Invasion Portals are resolved, no ...
2022-02-12 23:56:44 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Explosions in Chinese waters!
A series of underwater explosions were detected today coming from the coast near Tianjin, China following some “unscheduled exercises” nearby. No explanation has yet been provided by Chinese authorities.
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Once he left the dungeon, Serenity stopped seeing in color once again. It was something he was going to have to look into; if a dungeon could temporarily restore his vision in his chimera form...
2022-02-11 23:53:23 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity waited a moment, then realized he’d asked the question in English. What were the odds a gecko would know English? He was about to repeat the question in Bridge just in case it was an invader when the gecko (which had turned somewhat greenish while he watched) suddenly started talking.
It sounded oddly human. There was no way that voice should be coming from such a small animal.
“A local language? Intelligent then! And, and, and! Wait, no....
2022-02-10 23:57:50 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Finding a cave entrance large enough to admit a bat was not an easy task.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to find the specific entrance the bat used; unfortunately, they needed to find one that was big enough for Rissa.
With no better clues than the tracking spell, they ended up standing on the side of a hill directly above the bat. Neither of them was a caver, so the best thing they could think of to do was head downhill and hope they found someth...
2022-02-09 23:58:44 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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The rest of the morning was filled with Rissa teaching Jacob some of the basics; she had Serenity take the shield down so that Jacob could practice. Serenity used the time to have a series of long conversations with his parents, Nightwitch, and Lancaster. The most interesting thing was the portal in London.
After the first assault, more soldiers were brought in; two more attacks happened before they were able to push their way into the central area. When...
2022-02-09 00:02:57 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity reduced the area inside his hardened sphere, crushing the curse. It was still fighting back, but its struggles were weakening. He tried to push it back out, but it resisted. Since it wasn’t spreading, he could take a moment to check on Jacob.
When Serenity opened his eyes, Jacob was on his hands and knees on the floor, breathing heavily. There seemed to be a small pool of blood in front of him, and Rissa knelt beside Jacob, concentrating.
... 2022-02-08 00:06:08 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Denise was already gone by the time they arrived at Jacob’s apartment. It was a school day, after all; Jacob had called in sick but Denise didn’t feel right missing the day.
Before Serenity started, Jacob offered coffee. Serenity accepted gratefully; the coffee he’d picked up at the hotel was already gone. It wasn’t as effective for him as it had been for Thomas; Serenity knew that was to be expected, unfortunately.
Serenity had Jacob sit on...
2022-02-07 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity turned back to Jacob and examined the curse. If it was learning, each attempt they made to crack it would only get worse.
The curse was even more crazed than before; after some searching, Serenity could see where the thread he’d pulled then cut once ran. He’d weakened a large area over Jacob’s chest, but it seemed to have loosely adjusted to the missing pieces.
If only he understood curses. What they really needed was someone who un...
2022-02-06 00:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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The bridge was only a short walk from the parking Rissa found; at least, it was short by New York City standards at only three blocks. Denise was muttering about how far it was. Serenity could only shake his head. He’d walked farther than that on a daily basis from his apartment to the subway to get to work; three blocks was nothing.
When they reached the Congress bridge, there was sidewalk on both sides. It was clearly built to have people walk across...
2022-02-06 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Stars was almost the opposite of what Serenity thought he was as a Void Sovereign. Shadows, perhaps, but not stars. “What are you talking about?”
Serenity squeezed between the two chairs and sat down. Without the curse in the way, it was a bit awkward to maneuver his wings but not truly difficult. It was simply unfortunate that he hadn’t had the chance to damage the curse with his ax.
“You looked like the night sky on a clear, moonless nig...
2022-02-05 00:15:44 +0000 UTC View PostYes, that's actually the motto of Austin's business district.
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“Does it have to be a dungeon?” Rissa took another bite of her pie before she continued. “I don’t really want to take Jacob into a dungeon when he hasn’t even been through the Tutorial; I mean, he’s a middle school math teacher and-” Rissa looked down at her clean plate, before scraping up the few remaining crumbs with her fork. “And a really good cook, but that’s not the sa...
2022-02-04 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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“What the - you were a sword? But how? That’s not-”
Serenity ignored Jacob’s babbling. There would be time to deal with him later. Rissa mattered. She was lying on the floor, not moving. It wasn’t like Jacob; Serenity could see her breathing. There wasn’t anything obvious wrong, so Serenity triggered his Essence Sight.
With that, it was obvious: when the spell cracked, small pieces of it splintered off. Several were embedded in Rissa’...
2022-02-02 23:51:02 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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What now?
There were other skills he could use, but which was the right one?
Did that even matter? As long as it wouldn’t hurt Jacob, why not try all of them?
Basic Analyze
Jacob (Latimer?)
Species: Human
Bloodline: Auspex, ?
Status: Frozen, Cause Unknown
As was normal when using Analyze on a person, he pretty much got what he already...
2022-02-01 23:50:22 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Denise’s voice sounded tightly controlled. “At first it was short, so I thought nothing of the fact that I couldn’t see him breathing, but they’ve been getting longer and longer as well as more common for the past couple of weeks. It’s been obvious for days now that it’s all part of the same thing. It’s obviously a magical effect of some kind; he’s rigid and touching him - well, let me show you.”
Denise poked Jacob’s cheek. His cheek d...
2022-02-01 00:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostDenise was mentioned in that phone call from Jacob.
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Jacob lived in an apartment complex. Serenity hadn’t expected that of someone who lived in Texas, though he supposed it shouldn’t have been surprising. Jacob was a middle school teacher, and teachers at that level were notoriously poorly paid. Simply because it was Texas and his idea of Texas was that people lived in single-family homes didn’t mean there weren’t some apartments. Plus, ...
2022-01-30 23:57:06 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Terror.
Flashes of light illuminating a stone.
Fierce pleasure in the rush that came with winning.
Learning to fight back. Words were useful, but they didn’t solve everything. Sometimes physical action was needed.
A small green body racing closer, only to stab it first.
An encouraging voice from behind. The voice belonged to the winged instructor.
Dancing.
Jumping from one floating platform to the next, laughing as with e...
2022-01-30 00:05:59 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity hesitantly reached out to the phone. He tapped the button and felt the same dizzying amount of information wash over him. This time, the phone didn’t fall out of his hand, since it was on the table.
He sat there trying to figure out how to deal with the input. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever experienced; the connection to Nat’s camera that he’d assumed was due to the neural interface was nothing like this. That had been the way he’d ex...
2022-01-30 00:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostSerenity is not a fan of shopping. This has come up before...
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“So what do you think of his story?” Serenity leaned back in the seat and looked at Russ. Katya and Red were somewhere in Victoria’s Secret; Serenity and Russ had retreated to a waiting area nearby and Serenity was grateful for the chance to stop and talk to his future father-in-law.
“Josaiah’s? It hangs together. I was wondering about the pattern; it was too obvious. It’...
2022-01-28 23:45:13 +0000 UTC View PostFor some reason, I always think of something other than a horse when I think of a horse of a different color.
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The Tutorial was strange. The first Quest was to check the bulletin board and complete requests. There were requests from all over town; anything from finding a lost cat or doing housework to gathering herbs from the area just outside the town. The rewards seemed fairly low, but according to Blaze, even the smallest request would pay for the room...
2022-01-28 00:06:36 +0000 UTC View PostYes, the title is from a saying that isn't really about horses. This is a very different Tutorial from the ones we've seen before.
Enjoy!
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Serenity cleared out the last of the last of the active rot and tried to relax. Even with Blaze’s help, this had been far more work then he’d expected. The victim had been quite thoroughly compromised, and whatever their opponent was, it knew what it was doing. After the fight, Serenity thought the enemy might be a Thas...
2022-01-27 00:22:03 +0000 UTC View PostLong day today. Was hoping to get this out earlier but it was not to be.
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The shadows seemed to flow up and over him. Blaze had expected it to feel cool, but it was comfortable.
He’d also expected it to be dark. Everything around him was, but he could clearly see that he was standing on a badly injured human. The man was covered by something that almost looked like mold or fungus, but it seemed to be in a constant battle with something in this dark ...
2022-01-26 00:50:24 +0000 UTC View PostI didn't actually see anyone suggest the method I came up with ... ;-)
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Time. The Tutorial! If he could get the man into the Tutorial, Blaze was certainly good enough. But how could he do that? The Voice didn’t let people enter when they wanted or needed to; they went in when it decided they should. The only exception was Serenity.
He didn’t have a way to bring anyone with him. The only other being who’d come into the Tutorial with him was Curi...
2022-01-25 00:46:26 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Russ, Serenity, and Katya hopped out of the minivan while Red found a place to park and followed.
“Slow down! All of that is part of it!” Serenity could see its glow; everything near the lump was covered in magic that somehow seemed disturbingly wrong. It was patterned yet patternless. It almost looked like the large lump in the center of the area was shedding bits and pieces of itself, which then attempted to grow before decomposing into a slurry ...
2022-01-24 00:04:57 +0000 UTC View PostEnjoy!
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Serenity was about to shift to his dragon form when he stopped himself. Why should form matter? There was absolutely nothing physical about Essence, and his dragon form didn’t have any sort of physical way to manipulate it anyway. There wasn’t anything in the stories he knew about dragons still having their breath weapon in human form, but there also wasn’t anything saying they didn’t. The stories weren’t about that sort of detail, after all.
Serenity...
2022-01-23 00:05:59 +0000 UTC View Post