Three hours later, Ben and Harmonia were still fighting. At first, she had drilled him in forms, balance, and the proper stance for using the weapon. Somewhere in the first hour, old skills from previous games and fencing in the real world began to come back to him. The sword felt comfortable in his hands, and he moved from one-handed to two-handed stances as needed.
Harmonia began to press him, making him defend himself more and more. He responded by blocking when he could and perfor...
2023-04-30 23:35:45 +0000 UTC
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Lucas has outdone himself with his latest novel. Tinkers, Pirates and Troublemakers: The History of House Franklin paints a fascinating story that discloses some of the secrets of one of the oldest and strangest Founding Families who formed the Empire. House Franklin has given the Empire its most dashing rogues, shining heroes, strange crackpots, and most perplexing villains. While other authors have chronicled chapters of the Franklin history, only Luca...
2023-04-30 16:52:48 +0000 UTC
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Victor wasn't the only person using the security system to watch what was happening. Milo wanted to know more about his neighbors in section H and, as always, was a little paranoid when he was out in the open. If security staff started moving in their direction, he was prepared to get the gang out of here, even if it meant taking them through the tunnels and back alleys.
He watched the drama play out between John and Belinda. John was her father? His search engine found John's bio fro...
2023-04-27 20:45:11 +0000 UTC
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Ben bowed low. "Please, fair lady, I believe there is a misunderstanding. Can we talk about this situation?" He tried to use the identify skill on her but got nothing at all, which was disturbing because that meant her level was much higher than his.
She made a cut with her saber that caused him to jump backward and avoid a nasty cut. He pulled a heavy chair between them. She smiled like a cat playing with a mouse. "No misunderstanding, Damien. Not this time. You overstepped y...
2023-04-27 02:21:32 +0000 UTC
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Rolly sat at Typhon's feet, carving off slices of ham, as Echidna, mother of monsters and wife of Typhon, admired Squirmie. For her part, the butterfly was terrified to move as the titan's eyes roamed over her. "So pretty, with all the dangerous parts hidden away until needed. So few of my children and grandchildren are so pretty, but I guess that comes from being monsters, not beauty pageant contestants. But I'm happy to claim you, little butterfly. Rolly told us much about you when last he ...
2023-04-26 03:03:55 +0000 UTC
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"You do know that technically that isn't bacon?" Artemis turned to find Hermes standing on the doorstep of her sanctuary.
"Mind if I come in? A clever follower of mine mentioned it was rib-night at your house, and you're always so generous when it comes to inviting your favorite people."
Seated at the same table as Artemis was another woman with black eyes and sharp teeth. She took bites of meat and bone together, chewing and swallowing quickly. She stared at Hermes for a momen...
2023-04-26 03:02:26 +0000 UTC
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A man pulled a heavily laden wagon into a ruined city, flanked on his left by an old graveyard filled with burnt crypts and shattered gravestones. Attracted by the smell of his goods, several ghouls approached the road but slunk back into the shadows after seeing who pulled the cart. They were too few to attack the Butcher. Such foe was beyond them without large numbers or the might of one of the undead lords in their ranks.
The Butcher turned off the stone road and entered the Beastw...
2023-04-24 19:27:58 +0000 UTC
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One of the great debates between players of SC6 was how to customize your spacecraft. There were options for the two Light Attack Crafts, the two Weapons Batteries, the Navigation System, and the Command Bridge. Every ship started with basic engines, shields, sensors, and weapons. Each of the six players was given points that they could use to upgrade their part of the ship. Unused points went to the Command Bridge. Complicating the discussion was the different types of missions with their di...
2023-04-23 20:03:19 +0000 UTC
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Squirmie fell into a dungeon. Again. The shepherd has the help of Sir Larry, Knight of the Jackalope, and his brave squire, Squeak. What dungeon are they going into?
The tale continues in 'Knight of the Jackalope part 4'.
2023-04-23 17:03:58 +0000 UTC
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Rough morning. A friend passed away in the night. Expected, but still sad. Cheering myself up with a Larry story.
Squire and Knight returned victorious from milking cows. It had not been an easy quest. The brave duo were hampered by a lack of milking experience and a lack of cow experience. Added to those disadvantages was the peculiar ecology of the sedge beast. Luckily, they had a shepherd to help them learn.
"First step is to get to know them. Just walk up and tell them your...
2023-04-23 16:59:46 +0000 UTC
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Your characteristics, skills, and core skills gained in Tier 2 become the base to build your character in Tier 3. Tiers 1 to 3 are considered the base for your character. Choose your advances wisely.
-You have received a bonus to your stats for selecting the class Contract Worker: Lonely Barmaid. A bonus of +1 Has been added to each Stat, plus an additional +5 to RAD
-At the end of Tier 1, you gained bonuses for att...
2023-04-21 22:32:35 +0000 UTC
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Suzette was still thinking about the strange class the even stranger woman had offered her. She and Ozzy had talked about it some before she returned to the tavern, and he took a load of ribs up to Gadobhra. He was in favor of whatever she wanted to do. When she glared at him, he took his wagon and started jogging to Gadobhra.
Betty had food ready for a meal, and hungry people were waiting to eat. Ten workers were around a table, and a team of six adventurers had walked all the way fr...
2023-04-21 01:30:58 +0000 UTC
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Ozzy admired the little bank as he walked up to it. The quality of the work showed in every detail, from the polished brass fittings on the door to the clear glass of the small windows set precisely into oak frames. The brickwork was polished, giving a professional feel to the building. The best part was the clock on the third floor, bright copper hands marking the hours of the day. Suzette said the banker had appeared one day after she had spent building points on the option for a gnomish ba...
2023-04-20 23:34:49 +0000 UTC
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In the upper reaches of the smokehouse, what was left of Bucktooth was slowly curing. Ozzy grabbed a chain and climbed to the top, checking on the meat. It was almost perfect. "Lower this one down, slowly. I grab something to wrap it in and get a wagon." The Pit complied with the order. Ozzy purchased four large, white table clothes from the Kallvek's Emporium, laying two down in the wagon for the large rack of ribs to set on, and spread the other two over the top. He pushed the wagon out of ...
2023-04-20 03:12:29 +0000 UTC
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Rolly dodged between two razor-winged flyers and sliced through the underside of their wings as they went past. They lost altitude and skidded through the horde of bugs chasing him, killing a dozen each and disrupting the hunt.
"That's 17 for me! You're falling behind!"
<This is no time for silly contests! If they catch us, we get eaten and reborn as larvae. A stupid slave larvae!>
"Ok, that does sound bad. Grab me while the skies are clear; we can skip the next b...
2023-04-17 03:27:33 +0000 UTC
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With a third of his adventuring party dead, Baron William decided against going into the crypts below Hungrytown the next day. Instead, he magnanimously declared a day off for all of his subjects. He and the Baroness spent the day touring the new Hamlets of Unicorn Vale and speaking briefly with the families. He brought the Mayor of Sedgewick along with him, and they discussed ways to improve each area, possibly using the building points earned during the war. As they began explaining how bui...
2023-04-16 19:09:04 +0000 UTC
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"She's not answering her phone, Eric. I need to find her. I scheduled her for a panel on new gaming technology. She'll be perfect for it."
Eric Kresthammer had the urge to grab his boss and friend, John, and slap him until he woke up and smelled the reality. He wanted to believe it was no sleep for 72 hours and too many doses of 'Wide-a-Wake, the Gamer's Friend.' But he had this urge when he was well rested. It was just John. Some people grew sharper under stress. John wasn't ...
2023-04-16 02:13:56 +0000 UTC
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Jonathan woke and was confused as he tried to sort out where he was. For all his life, he'd awakened in the same house of the little village where he had been born. As the oldest child, he inherited the house on his parent's death, got married, and raised his family. His children had been born in the same place he'd been born in. That house was a pile of ashes, and 'home' had become a wagon. Now home was this miraculous new house. But he had to remember that each time he woke up here. Part of...
2023-04-15 03:07:58 +0000 UTC
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Last part of this arc. I'm writing like a madman for the writathon
The huge monster stepped out of the hole and loomed over the battlefield.
Before anyone could act, Alwyn was spurring his mount toward the creature, a lance in his hand. The Gophorian Behemoth didn't notice him as it yawned and tried to come fully awake. The Fae Lord drove his lance into the tender spot between two toes, the enchanted spear going in at least six feet before bre...
2023-04-13 19:50:48 +0000 UTC
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The line is a paraphrase from Robert Frost's Poem: The Road Not Taken.
It looks like this is the clear choice among readers, so let's take it. But before Ozzy starts galumphing down it, what is it?
He's making a choice on his Heritage. I envisioned this as an option some players might earn and that is offered to all of the Contract Workers who push back against the corporations and start doing things.
Genesis is a system that rewards doing things by making more things h...
2023-04-13 18:35:08 +0000 UTC
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Ozzy watched as a small fortress made of sticks and dried blood appeared in the field. Beavers were already adding to the walls. From the gates came hundreds of large gophers the size of small dogs. They were divided into two large hordes and moved with purpose. Seven badgers in plate armor atop giant moles rode behind the hordes, urging them to battle. On the top tower of Fort Bucktooth, General Armidias directed his troops. He shouted down at the defending human army, his high-pitched squea...
2023-04-13 16:37:58 +0000 UTC
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The crew building the last hamlet started even before the sun was up. Ozzy wanted to finish this project and asked Billy and Suzette for more people. He was getting pulled in several directions at once and hadn't even been able to get much time in his smokehouse. There was a backlog of thousands of hams to cure, pork bellies to season and turn into bacon, and barrel upon barrel of mystery meat to smoke.
He worked for two hours each morning in the smokehouse, but even with that, the Char...
2023-04-13 15:44:13 +0000 UTC
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Give me your thoughts and votes.
2023-04-13 01:00:59 +0000 UTC
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The Battle for the Lower Farthing was over. The war had started with rumbling earth and an eruption of hot mud and steam as Lord Geyserbreath the Turbulent had made his entrance. A highly paid mercenary under contract to the shadowy leaders of the Gopher Revolutionary Army, he brought his entire army to attack the farmers trying to clear their lands of root munchers and 'tater thieves. Ozzy quickly called in the crew of the Splinter to help him deal with the squads of steam-belching ...
2023-04-13 00:58:30 +0000 UTC
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Mr. Wyatt Eady, President of Claw-Master Inc., was holding his first board meeting. The first order of business was to take a vote on expanding the staff. The vote was unanimous at 1-0 in favor of hiring. Mr. Eady was working hard at his job and needed assistants.
The first person he hired was Steven Duran, one of his beta testers who was happily coming off his victory in the office video game Olympics. Steven had been a dark horse in the tournament, despite having won before. He had...
2023-04-11 23:58:33 +0000 UTC
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The Barony of Brownridge was known for its well-ordered fields and pastures. A strict rotation of crops had been followed for centuries, alternating the growing of produce for the peasants and herdsmen, hay and alfalfa for winter feed, and pasture for the large herds of cattle. Over that time, every rock found in the fields had been added to the piles until the forty-acre fields were each surrounded by high bocage. This kept the herds in their pastures and not eating the vegetables or the win...
2023-04-11 03:54:39 +0000 UTC
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As Ozzy had suspected, the hordes of Lemming Shock Troops hadn't gone far. As he hit his hammer on the ground, they erupted from hidden burrows, already down 100 health and pissed off. Some ran in each direction toward the lines of farmers, with more than half of them staying to attack the Butcher. Both maneuvers worked poorly.
Ozzy had spent the morning preparing the battlefield. First, he used the Vorpal Plowsword +3 to level the land and kick all the rocks to the sides...
2023-04-10 19:17:28 +0000 UTC
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Reminders were sent out for the academic luncheon held by Baron William and Baroness Layla and sponsored by ACME corporation went out early in the morning and were delivered by Courier before 10 a.m.
I just wanted to give you a pleasant reminder, only sent because we haven't received your RSVP. The Baron and I hope you can make our luncheon to discuss the future of Higher Learning in the City of Gadobhra. Luncheon is to be served promptly at noon, followed by cake, cheese, wine, f...
2023-04-10 02:26:03 +0000 UTC
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Wally could speak every language known to man and several that had become lost. When dealing with some humans, he found that the most powerful languages were non-verbal. CATHERINE had been his tutor, and she had taught him how to speak two languages simultaneously. It was tricky, and humans were masters of this technique. Welcoming a stranger to your town with a smile while crushing their hand to show dominance. Polite gestures that nevertheless conveyed disdain. Today he was speaking to angr...
2023-04-08 23:58:23 +0000 UTC
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I couldn't sleep, and this story happened at 4am.
Nothing at all lives forever.
Every tree know that, deep in their roots, from the time they sprout from a seed. But no one thinks of death in the spring as new branches grow strong and buds turn to fruit, and new life forms in the heart of a tree. Summer brings the sun that beats down on mature branches, and the moon which entices a young dryad to dance with her sisters. Autumn is the harvest, sharing a fruitful year wi...
2023-04-07 08:24:45 +0000 UTC
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