The second Hamlet to be founded near Sedgewick, West Farthing, has an important decision to make. While North Farthing (a mile away) got a Pub, their neighbors get to choose either a Small Pub or a Quaint Teahouse.
If you have ever dreamed of roleplaying the part of a peasant farmer exercising their right to vote, here's your chance.
Ozzy awoke to the smell of pancakes and strong tea. He normally only needed four hours of sleep a night, but drinking rum with his fellow captains had strained even his metabolism, and he'd slept in. He was surprised he didn't have a hangover. As he rolled out of bed, Suzette put two plates on the table, heaped with butter, strawberries, and pancakes. Hers with three, Ozzy's with over a dozen. "You made breakfast; bless you."
"Breakfast? That was at 7 am, just after you went to bed. Th...
From a balcony overlooking the 'reception hall,' Milo could see more than fifteen-hundred residents and over three-hundred employees of Manpower. It was the most people he had ever seen in one place, and it made him nervous and fidgety to think they were going to walk through that. Butch put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't sweat it. We'll let the crowd thin out for a few minutes when the doors open, then cut through what's left down on the far right. Just follow close behind me. Piece of cake....
2023-04-06 21:06:46 +0000 UTC View PostJust because the Butcher is trying to finish the writathon doesn't mean we can ignore the Rat. Then again, he isn't even in this chapter!
"I am not wearing the stupid shirt. Nor the shoes. And nor the jacket. I'm not a billboard." Belinda was trying to stay calm and reminding herself that her 18th birthday wasn't far away. She promised herself things were going to change then.
John was holding up the bright red jacket with the M-1000 logo. In front of him was a pile of ...
Late night in Gadobhra. A large and rotted squash was launched towards the head of the demonic statue sitting in the middle of the open square at the city's heart. Metal creaked, and a clawed hand intercepted the squash.
I've killed men for far less.
"Yeah, well, I'm disappointed. I'd hope that you would kill people for no reason at all. Humans will kill for the last piece of the pie. Squash to the face is a death penalty nearly everywhere."
...
Writathon continues, with extra chapters going up. I need to do 71k words in a month.
Theordis was greatly enjoying his dinner. Nothing added to the flavor of food like the glow of victory. And everyone at the table knew who had been victorious and who got put in his place.
Geoffrey was still fidgeting in his chair and drinking his wine in gulps, upset over the timing. He'd been so close to closing such a lucrative deal. This would have made up for his failures to...
Theordis had not expected such a fine little Inn in such a small, out-of-the-way town. They had been greeted by the Innkeeper and his staff as if they were nobility and shown to quite comfortable rooms on the 3rd floor overlooking the town. Hot baths were already prepared for them, and dinner would be served in an hour. A bottle of wine was brought to each room, along with an assortment of cheese and fruit. Theordis cautioned them all. "This is all fine, and I'm going to enjoy the hospitality...
2023-04-03 03:52:41 +0000 UTC View PostOver large bowls of hearty gopher stew, the new inhabitants of the Barony of Gadobhra discussed what to name their new Hamlet. Sloth Hollow was proposed, but it was quickly pointed out that there weren't any sloths left—the same for Gopherville and Shewburg. Still, most felt that the huge battle needed to be remembered somehow. Ozzyburg was proposed, but the Butcher was too modest to accept such an honor and quickly declined. Finally, someone suggested the name, North Farthing. "After all, ...
2023-04-03 01:38:57 +0000 UTC View PostLater today, after the ribs are on the grill, I'm going to research how to post tables as an image on Patreon. A character sheet doesn't work on Patreon.
Milo woke up.
He felt much better than he thought he would. His wound was fully healed, and his aches and pains were gone. He agreed with some of the people on the forums: Ratkin were OP, and regeneration was awesome. He didn't understand why anyone played a human. Just the tail alone was such an advantage. And i...
Milo was mopping up the mess he had made by being inconsiderate and bleeding all over the floor. He was almost done when a small thought wormed its way out of his subconscious and into his mainstream thoughts. He'd been digesting the shared experience of Astraeus's dreams. The incident had been more intense than the first time. Was that because Astraeus/KEPLER was active, and they'd just talked? As before, he'd gained new information about the creatures in the game and the game world's histor...
2023-04-02 03:04:37 +0000 UTC View PostOzzy explained how gopher hunting worked. "I'm going to thump my hammer on the ground hard, and it will drive out all the critters living underneath. Most normal gophers won't survive, but there's a chance of having a bigger one down there. Those will be higher level and might even have a name. You have to be careful of them. Just run away and come towards me or one of the other workers. If we can catch them, one of us will pin them down and let some of you hit at them to gain experience and ...
2023-03-30 22:43:36 +0000 UTC View PostOzzie was enjoying himself. He still wondered why Suzette and Ben had thought it necessary that he be the one to start leading families out to the open land by the unicorn fields. Still, he'd learned over the years of working with his friends that you sometimes just went along with things and got the whole story later. So if they needed him to get together a crew and start building hamlets, that's what he would do.
The families he met up with at Rowan Keep were in rough shape. Ben and...
The first part of this chapter was originally going to be in Chapter 267, but the rest got pushed back. After someone pointed out Ozzy needed to grab his bag, I put up the new ending to 267 and moved the refugee piece closer to the rest of the arc. I
It has been a hellishly busy two weeks for me, with my wife gone and me playing single parent. So happy she's home again. I can concentrate on writing, and not playing driver to two girls going in 4 directions.
Chapter 271 is p...
Note: Chapter 270 was already put up and is a stand-alone chapter taking place at roughly the same time as chapters around it.
"You enjoyed that far too much." Suzette was pouring strong tea from a pot and passing it out to everyone. Layla took hers and smiled without shame, admitting, "Nothing says I can't enjoy my role in our little play-acting. But I'll make it up to you and let you stab those odious creatures first. I want them dead, but you had to endure quite a bit more ...
Slow this week. Much time taken up running children all over creation for four days while my wife is away. I have so much sympathy for single parents. I don't know how you do it.
They dreamed together, hurling across the skies. Volat-Repat accelerated to his maximum velocity, slicing through the thin air. Far below, the glow of the Infestation was visible. One village of 700 people, an elven enclave of 500, and dozens of small farms had been overrun and converted to mindless slaves of ...
Slightly rough draft. Lots of moving parts, no pun intended.
The time spent with the gang had gone better than Milo could have expected, although he wasn't looking forward to a long talk with Mama. He gained some perspective on what had upset her by finding some relevant articles on the data network. The habitats were filled with impoverished families, with little prospect of gaining employment once the larger factories had moved out. Corporations testing drugs, synthetic foods...
2023-03-24 03:40:09 +0000 UTC View PostPatreon only. Never really meant to be part of the main story. Things like this help me with my background.
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In another universe.
Stars all around, following celestial paths as they circle the fiery heart at the center. Some lives alone, small dots of light in the darkness between clusters. Most are joined as families, talking to each other in the slow language of the heavens and traveling together.
A few rogues ...
Butch opened the door to Yumi's insistent knocking, and she barged past him, towing Ghost behind her. "Emergency. Ghost never saw the Matrix. We need your copies to watch." Butch slowly turned and yawned. He'd been up late with Brad and Kenji playing games and filling out paperwork. All three of them were seventeen and applying for the Manpower program that their fathers were working in. Butch had been woken by his younger brother and sisters and had only gotten three hours of sleep. Brad and...
2023-03-21 23:47:47 +0000 UTC View Post I have some new adventurers showing up to Gadobhra who venture into the Pit of Butcher. Would anyone like to volunteer to die horribly?
-I can use your RR name, or something else.
-You can suggest a class, sex, description etc. or let me make things up.
-No guarantees when/if you show up again. But the characters will go into my glossary.
-This offer is only open currently to the top two tiers, so if you send me the information, you go in the story.
You may send m...
Yes, we haven't seen 269 yet. This chapter is independent of others around it. I almost made it chapter??, but it slides in good as 270 so I put it up here for you to read.
Baron Tobias Chintzworthy, Lord of Northguard, Protector of the Northern Territories, and veteran collector of bugs, was having a bad morning. In a stunning betrayal, moths had gotten into his clothes closet, and his 2nd best robe was full of holes. Robes three and four had been used by his seamstress to pa...
Suzette wished that the Fae Lords come with instructions. Every single one of them was different, with strange titles, habits, and ways of doing things. It was tough to figure them out and nearly impossible not to offend them. Everyone in Sedgewick had taken to either ignoring them entirely or treating them as 'Just a totally normal guy.' Luckily, the Fae loved to go along with the play-acting. It was like they shed some mantle of responsibility and could relax.
"Sure, Larry. We have ...
Feedback welcome. This type of story is tough to write. I find interactions between real people are sometimes very hard to right. I don't want to make them trivial, but so much of 'normal' really is. If you have any ideas, shout them out.
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Yumi was waiting for Milo by the glowytree. This was a large open area that had once been a park. The acre of open area was designed to have grass, sturdy bushes, and real tree...
A note on Unreliable Narrators. Firstly, I like them. Secondly, they cause me a lot of trouble when people misunderstand the situation because of what is being said. People lie. Sometimes whole groups of people lie. If something ever bothers someone, ask a question or send a message, happy to explain things and not make you wait for a revelation in a few chapters.
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Theordis hated being surprised and off balance. The three bottles ...
As pointe out, Ozzy hadn't retrieved his bag. And nothing like that can be simple. Here's the new ending to 267. The story of the refugee farmers finding a new home will probably be in Chapter 269 with about twice as many words, rather than splitting the story in two.
This new part is raw. I need to edit a bit. We also get to see the start of just how much Ozzy has grown.
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Earlier in the morning...
Ozzy always wondered why the w...
The Tavern was quite full as the taxmen entered. The men at arms each got a beer and went to sit in the stables with the horses. One scribe named Kenneth Higgins ventured to the bar at the order of Theordis, ordered three glasses of small beer and three Blud Dark for their table, and inquired about the Mayor. No one seated at any of the tables stood out. The barmaid, however, stood out quite a bit. The scribe had suddenly found himself staring and unable to speak as the half-elven girl stared...
2023-03-13 21:43:12 +0000 UTC View PostI'll be double checking this against the prior drafts, and making sure it's clear that the second part of this chapter occurs at the start of the day, before Suzette first encounters the taxmen up at Rowan Keep.
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Finding the Mayor of Sedgewick proved difficult. A helpful young woman hauling a large wagon of barrels directed them to a building she said was the Mayor's office. Geoffrey made a note of the contents of the wagon. The 130-gallon butt...
As Geoffrey returned from looking at the flying ship, Manfred noticed his pace was quick, and his brow furrowed. "Let me guess, you saw something interesting and are trying to figure out how to make money off it?"
Geoffrey looked up; that had indeed been a close guess. "Manfred, my old friend, you have a good sense of what an item is worth owing to your high level of Identification. Would you do me the favor of telling me something about that building?" He pointed to a large building w...
A hot mess of a rough draft that I make no apology for. Lots of stuff going on in this one.
KEPLER heard juggling described once as the art of keeping all the balls in the air. The analogy to his job wasn't perfect; human jugglers caught the balls before reapplying force. KEPPLER couldn't let even one ball drop to the ground, and he was juggling with over seventy-nine thousand metal balls.
In 2022 there were over 5,000 metal balls (satellites) orbiting the Earth. That s...
Just finished writing. A lot is going on in this chapter, and I will be going back to edit, make better sentences, etc. But I was also wanting to post it before I had to log off for the night.
Two courageous scouts were bravely going on a dangerous mission. Tweedle and Ringtail had nearly fallen into another of the stupid illusion-covered holes. This one had opened up in one of the tunnels they used to gather mushrooms. Tweedle had been discussing the idea of opening up a stand in the ...
'This a very dangerous rune.'
Milo had separated the particular bone he needed from the horror of taxidermy he had bought from the Eels and was carefully examining it. The bone was quite old. That was immediately apparent as he tried to investigate the runes inside of it. There were several lesser runes repeated over and over. They reminded him of dwarven engineering runes but were more...fluid? Adaptable? He saw many versions of the same rune with minor changes to just one pa...