Michael Clark

Butcher of Gadobraha Chapter 247

Repairs to Dauntless were light, aside from the main mast. Chains were run, and pulley systems were put in place to move the mast back to its proper position. Ozzy and Butterbelly were needed for this, their large frames and high STR equaling dozens of normal sailors. Care had to be taken not to cause more damage. Captain Woodrat looked pointedly at Ozzy when he said this. Slowly and with care on Ozzy's part, the mast was made straight again at its base. Woodrat and a team of three w...

Butcher of Gadoabhra Chapter 246

The ring of Thunderheads moved toward the eruption at a steady pace, dropping moisture as they went that cooled the smoke. Behind them were massive clouds of steam carrying the heat upward. The gap between the cyclones was half what it had been when Splinter had first encountered them, making it harder to run between them. The only hope the ships had was in speed and the strength of their shields. The Cyclones knew they were coming, and the two nearest them slowly moved together to block them...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 178

Opening his eyes was difficult. Milo was tired and wanted to sleep more. But the constant beep beep beep was annoying him. His muscles were a little stiff as he stepped out of his pod.
Odd, he didn't even remember logging out of the game. The last few days' events ran through his head, culminating with the thought that 'this rock is a pretty good pillow.' His tail flipped over to the pod and reattached to it so he could read through the latest messages from the system.

You have a new...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 245

An hour before dawn saw Dauntless moving toward the rain with all sails at full heat. Splinter sailed beside her, sprinting ahead and cutting to port and starboard as Captain Woodrat grilled his Navigator on small tricks of steering and moving the heat in the sails to get the most speed out of the ship. It hadn't gone well at first.

After almost putting the ship onto its side with an overly aggressive tack, the argument got heated.

"I can steer a ship as well a...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 177

Gangrene took three long strides toward his troops and glared up and down the line. Some of them were looking at him oddly, and it infuriated him. One started to open his mouth to speak. "Shut it! Prepare to charge on my order." He raised his mace high and turned around. The big guard was running as fast as he could to the entrance to the Hollow.

Tallsqueak was standing in front of him, only a foot away. "Sorry, but does the Parley stop when we each take three steps away from each othe...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 176

This chapter is essentially done, but I'll be looking it over again to make sure none of the conversations read oddly. If you see something that sounds wrong, toss some advice.

"How does this work, Brutus? Are there rules?"

The big guard nodded his head. "Oh yeah, lots of rules. He's got a Parley Flag flying, so he can't just attack us outright. See how all his guards are stopping ten yards behind him? That's how far I'll stop. Then you and he get as close as you want and talk....

Non-story: The Long Weekend

The more I write, the more I look forward to it. I can see the huge appeal of just writing as your main job. Thursdays I have off and try to get a chapter done for each story, but that day is filled with running my twins to different places, making dinner, walking my new dog, and so much else.

But on Sun/Mon, my wife often takes one or two of the girls down to see the new grandchild, and the dog and I camp out in my office. That's the plan this weekend. Just Bruno and I writing and na...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 244

The mood aboard Dauntless changed drastically over the next day. The eruption was still throwing too much heat at them, and the threat of the Thunderheads was on every horizon, but the sudden appearance of the Splinter and the hope she brought gave them a chance. The starving sailors had food in their bellies and a moving ship beneath them. They could deal with the heat for now, and the rain was for tomorrow.

On the main deck, Butterbelly was still cooking Kraken, aide...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 175

As Milo and Brutus went to leave, they were stopped by Helen Brownfur. "Hold up, young one. I need to know your intentions in talking to this Gangrene."

Milo shrugged. "I'm not sure myself, to be honest. A lot depends on him. Rifkin was working with him to cause damage to the Hollow. We can't let him inside, but we can't just leave warriors on our doorstep. I don't want to let him make the next move. Maybe we can convince them to leave, or we must fortify our front door or close it alt...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 174

Buttercup was sad, and she wanted to play a game. She and Rosie had been in their carts for days and days and days. They had only had fun the time the big rock thing had come to play, and they were told to kill it. And that other time when lots and lots of humans came to play. That should have been a longer playtime. They weren't nearly done, and the humans were still standing with all their parts. But the big, loud, bangiteybangbangboom noises started. She and Rosie ran back, hid in their ca...

Chapter 243

It was another evening of celebration aboard the Splinter. The ship had survived an encounter with an angry Thunderhead and a Leviathan from the deep, and their Captain had earned a promotion. Any of these was a reason to break out the rum, but they also had a feast unlike any other to attend. Butterbelly began weeping fiery tears when he saw the Kraken tentacle. "I get to cook this?! I am going to brag about this for all my years." He laughed as the tears ran down his face, and he g...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 172

(A little rough, and please note that chapter 171 is taking some time to turn from Raw to Finished, but of importance to this chapter is that Smiley wakes up. And, I put chapters up out of order again. I blame this on not being able to concentrate with 70 lbs of puppy in my lap or gnawing on my arm. Bruno just came home with us 4 days ago and he doesn't want to be left alone yet. He was in the kennel for over 4 months and a stray before that. Needs people around him. Often as I am writing one...

Story Suggestions

I owe some stories. Who is a side character that you'd like to know more about? It can be from either Butcher or Tunnel Rat. This is only being posted to people who are donating more than 5.00 a month, and there are about a dozen of you. Each story will be 1000 to 2000 words long and can focus on a person or place or anything.

Tunnel Rat Chapter 173

Larry looked at Rifkin. "Rifkin is sad and having a bad day. Larry can tell. Maybe if Rifkin weren't a SNEAKYBADGUY! he wouldn't be so sad!"

Something clicked in Milo's brain. According to Larry, there were sneaky guys, bad guys, badsneaky guys, and many other types of villains. But there had been some specific times that Larry had used the term 'sneakybadguy' and said it that way.

"Larry, who gave you too much cheese when you wanted to be strong?"

Larry looked at him wi...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 242

Releasing a tiny bit of heat into the rocket, Captain Cavendish sent it into the sky. Then he turned and addressed what was left of his crew. Of the eight hundred sailors that had once crewed Dauntless, only one hundred and twenty were fit for work. Another three hundred and thirty-four were below in the hold, laying still and unconscious with heat from nearly burst furnaces burning them up.

"That was the last flare, and we have no messengers left unless you count prayers to the gods. ...

Raw Draft: Tunnel Rat 171

Just got this down on paper, and still thinking about it, but here it is. Feedback or criticism is welcome.

There were things worse than death, Milo thought to himself. He looked back fondly on the Snake when it had squeezed him to death or bitten his head off. Afterward, he took a break in the real world, got jobs done, and woke up at his camp and started plotting revenge.

Being the test subject for experimental medicine was less fun. Despite telling her he wasn't worried abo...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 241

Another pot of coffee, another chapter done.

Ozzy gazed up at the cyclones dropping down into the smoke. "Can you fill me in on why rain is such a terrible thing? Assume I grew up somewhere else where and use small words."

Woodrat started to speak, paused, and then said. "Rain is wet, wet and heat make steam, and steam is death. Small enough words?"

"Yeah, that will do it. Next question, is this shit common? Not death. Death seems way too common where ever I'm at. But how...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 239

The EMG, or Event Monitoring Group was seven people tasked with watching for anomalies in the world of GENESIS. Their job was three-fold: Discover strange or novel events, document them, and pass on the information to someone else. In the case of basic game information, they tossed the data to Promotions and Outreach.

The PO department set up interviews with the game reviewers and answered basic questions for people preparing articles on the game. Need to know how many guilds of over 5...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 240

Note: Chapters 237 and 238 are mostly blue boxes and information I've already posted here. Chapter 239 is not an Ozzy chapter, and looking at it, it needs some more editing. It will be up later today. Today/Tomorrow I also hope to get another Ozzy chapter, and another not Ozzy. 

Woodrat noticed immediately when Ozzy came on deck for his next shift. To the captain, it was obvious that Ozzy had moved to the third tier. He clapped his mate on the back, shook his hand, and c...

Ozzy's Dream

You guys totally took me by surprise with the vote on the type of aspect. Wood is the winner. That's going to make me think a bit, but there are obvious connections to both smoking food and what he is learning from Woodrat.

Below is the short dream Ozzy has just before waking up and officially hitting Level 11.
Ozzy always enjoyed his morning walk to his charnel pit. It was always nice to see the town waking up. Betty was making farmer's cheese, and the earthy smell of the fresh...