The trip return trip to Stoneburrow was slower than the trip out. General Themis had no reason to hurry and many reasons to keep her men and horses well-rested. The Red Banner and House Franklin scouted the surrounding areas for ambushes but Winter had given up on harassing them, more interested in heading further North now that the temperature was becoming warmer. When it became apparent that nothing was lurking to ambush her cavalry, the Dutchess spoke quietly to Harmonia who passed a messa...
2024-11-04 19:31:39 +0000 UTC
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The attendants to Lesser God Emperor Unca Varn were used to him receiving visions from the Old Gods. He would stare into space, mumbling to himself, conversing with unheard voices, and then shouting to show his dominance. They were unsure of what to make of his performance today, but it was highly entertaining to watch, and the throne room quickly filled with priests.
He was gleeful at first, praising the deeds of his favored foe-friend, Dammitbilly. But then the vision had shown him ...
2024-11-03 21:20:07 +0000 UTC
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An Arcane Workshop was something most Engineers never saw, let alone earned. The people who did have them were cagey about how they came to get them, sharing only small hints to keep their brother Engineers working on the quest. The Engineers who had joined Milo in fighting off the World Boss, Uthneragrubban, had been lucky enough to see Sledgemonkey's Arcane Workshop and had spread the tale to those who hadn't been at the fight. They talked of it with the reverenc...
2024-11-02 02:05:20 +0000 UTC
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This one ended up writing itself, with a lot of, 'What would Milo do' popping into my head. This is definitely a first draft, as I wrote the whole thing in the last hour.
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After a round of drinks, which Milo was forced to participate in, (and used his tail to swap his full glass of whiskey with Sledgemonkey's empty one as fast as he could), the jovial group of Scavengers and Engineers began brainstorming crazy ideas about what they wanted ...
2024-10-29 23:45:09 +0000 UTC
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"And you are sure that the lateral move of 153.2 yards to this new location is accounted for in your calculations?"
Vladimir sighed heavily, Damien had asked this question nine times now. "Yes, Damien." He knew that Damien wasn't worried about an error. He loved errors and sometimes made them on purpose just to see what happened. What he wanted was for Vladimir to give him the secrets of his calculations for calibrating the stone. Which Vladimir would do if Damien would reciprocate by ...
2024-10-28 04:05:42 +0000 UTC
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Most people, including most of their fae cousins, misunderstood gremlins. While they looked something like tall, thin goblins with dark hair and huge eyes, they were not related, although many people made the mistake and assumed they were. This amused the gremlins and annoyed the goblins. Despite their love of top hats, long black coats, and shiny black shoes, gremlins were not an offshoot of the gnomish family tree. Saying so out loud was the fastest way known to trigger an accusation of sla...
2024-10-27 18:58:07 +0000 UTC
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Might be a little raw, I was writing pretty fast. Will go over it some more to pretty it up later.
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Sledgemonkey sighed as he saw what Milo had started. Not his fault. It didn't take much to get the younger Engineers going, they were making up for lost years with gusto, and looking for challenges. There would be three teams starting three tunnels by tomorrow. "OK, a new tunnel to the Hollow is pretty much assured at this point. It's an investment in time, work, and material...
2024-10-26 00:36:20 +0000 UTC
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Milo was nervous as he walked through Shadowport to the small stone and metal building that housed the entrance to the recently built tunnel that led to the Deeprock Engineering complex deep beneath Shadowport. The dwarves had dug the tunnel they called 'The Loophole' to the surface to recover all the parts of Leviathan and planned to send the repaired ship back the same way, then assemble the parts in the half-built drydock before launching her and beginning the project of reco...
2024-10-25 01:26:24 +0000 UTC
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It was a cold night, even if warmer than the one before. Suzette didn't feel uncomfortable, though. Gaining resistance skills for both Ice and Cold meant normal cold didn't affect her. As she climbed through the ruined halls and chambers of the Crystalthorn Academy, she noted that the outer rooms were far colder than the air outside. Ice and snow still lingered inside where Winter had spent so much energy to invade. Some of it was even sentient and twice she was at...
2024-10-24 19:39:36 +0000 UTC
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The thunder of two thousand hooves hitting the hard, frozen ground was deafening. Harmony rode at the front of the herd next to a Taco wagon pulled by sprinting Contract Workers. Her fellow Couriers were spread throughout the herd of horses, increasing morale and augmenting their speed. The one-legged Shepherd held the herd together from his perch on top of the cart as they thundered down on their foes.
They had been pursued for miles by creatures of Winter. Lone snarlfangs, packs of ...
2024-10-24 02:30:06 +0000 UTC
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Callendish Maer, the newest member of the Winter Council, High Lord of Ice, and commander of Winter's forces in the Province of Grultain awoke on a sunny winter's day. His perspective was odd, only showing him the backside of an ogre as he bounced along on its shoulder. Confused, not knowing where he was, and lacking in many social graces as do all Ice Wizards, his reaction was to be expected.
"What is going on? I demand you put me down at once."
A deep voice said, "As you wish....
2024-10-22 01:52:39 +0000 UTC
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Later that night, Captain Tallsqueak held another meeting in the casino. Invited were Captain Whale, Captain Cuda, Captain Goldtooth, Captain Squint, Captain Annie, and Chief Engineer Sledgemonkey. Captain Tallsqueak served a selection of aged whiskey found hidden in Mako's office in the casino and aged Cheddar, Goulda, and Camembert cheeses from the Hollow.
The whiskey had been found after the Engineers did a complete search of the building turning up seventeen small stashes of coin, ...
2024-10-21 23:32:43 +0000 UTC
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Beluga had the wheel of the Drunken Shark since she was the only person on board who could keep the ill-made tub of rotten wood on course. The rudder tended to get stuck, and the cure was either keeping a crew member hanging from a rope on the back of the ship and ready to whack it with a wooden mallet or spinning the wheel back and forth trying to unstick the damned thing. Either method made her unreliable to sail. It was a crappy ship, but convenient to steal and she'd needed ...
2024-10-21 16:47:25 +0000 UTC
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Putting this up early, to avoid the cliffhanger.
They watched as the Frost Devil screamed after Ben and his mount. Ben slowed, timing his descent, trying to judge how fast Mudhead could pull up. Finally, he gave up, dropped the reins, and held on with his good hand. "You know better than me. I'll leave the flying to you. Pull up at the last minute as close to the ground as you can and head over to Ozzy. Pass him by from a hundred feet away."
Mudhead, snorted as if that hadn't b...
2024-10-20 21:57:40 +0000 UTC
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"What can we do to hurt that thing or drive it off? Or is our only hope hiding in a hole until it gets bored?" Themis knew the tactics to fight a dragon, (Not that she had the people needed for that.) But she'd never come across a good description of how to fight some sort of sentient tornado.
"I believe the proper term is Frost Devil. I suggest spells that will disrupt either ice, cold, or wind. Large area-of-effect spells will do the most damage as they affect the most mater...
2024-10-20 21:19:45 +0000 UTC
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The next round started and Milo dodged immediately, having no idea what 'legal' trick Mako would come up with next. He looked horrible, his clothing scorched and burned and some of his fur blackened. But his Near Fiendish Regeneration was super-charged with Battle Cheese and he wasn't feeling the pain. Mako pulled something from her storage ring, upset to find only a long string of firecrackers. She tossed them and the crowd roared in pleasure as Milo scampered for safety and en...
2024-10-19 00:50:35 +0000 UTC
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The more Milo learned about Mako and the rules for his upcoming match, the more he saw the cage as a trap. He was playing by Scavenger Rules, and he hadn't read the rulebook. Was there even a rulebook? Probably, but written in four dialects of dwarvish with a different version in each clan.
No potions and no spells meant no healing during the match. But he still had his regeneration, and nothing had been said about casting spells before the match. Was that an oversight? Or was it somet...
2024-10-18 23:25:12 +0000 UTC
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The sound of hooves preceded Harmonia riding up to the wagons, jumping her horse over one, and leaping from her mount. People got out of her way as she ran to Themis. "We have trouble. My Weather Sense is going crazy. If I were on my ship I'd be running with full sail from a typhoon. Whatever storm is coming will be terrible."
Captain Bernice looked at her troopers. "Running isn't an option. The horses are done in. They need time to recover from the fight and the cold is ...
2024-10-17 20:57:02 +0000 UTC
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Rolly was standing on a wagon, trying to catch a glimpse of his wyverns. One of his duckish spies had given a quick report that they had made contact with the enemy and suffered a casualty. Other ducks were landing and giving reports. Winter was moving fast. "Ben! Tell Themis we've got more stuff incoming. Lots more of the dead shambling guys, some beast packs, and a horde of giant arctic weasels, the kind with huge teeth. I've got a soldier down and may need to get my recon troops out of a j...
2024-10-17 02:37:33 +0000 UTC
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The cold night wore on. The Red Banner's patrols were pulled in before either the horse or the rider froze to death. It was tight-packed within the enclosure of the wagons with the horses in the central area and wouldn't have been possible without the threat of freezing to death outside. The horses trusted their riders, and Rolly moved among the mounts, talking to them and calming them. Whatever the humans thought of him, the horses were reassured by his presence and the explanation of the da...
2024-10-15 22:02:47 +0000 UTC
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The miles passed quickly as the Shepherd's flock followed along safe paths. Twice they came to broken bridges across treacherous ice-covered rivers. The Shepherd tapped his crook on the ground and a bridge of stone grew from either side, as wide as his flock. The horses were nervous about going across but the wagons pulled by the Contract Workers didn't miss a stride as Rolly jogged across.
General Themis had a short explanation when both Claudia and Harmonia questioned her about the ...
2024-10-14 21:40:43 +0000 UTC
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As the three Couriers mounted for the dash back to the wagon train, Harmony looked upward at Ben, then at Mudhead. She rode around and around the big roan horse who preened and flipped his main and tail, happy to be appreciated.
"This is the same horse? He's bigger, stronger, and looks faster."
Ben smiled innocently at her, "He is at that, and smarter as well. He wasn't fooled by that critter playing possum and saved my butt. Has a good kick too. And a few other surprises."
...
2024-10-14 03:17:30 +0000 UTC
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Seeing a clan of Scavengers in port might give anyone the impression that they were lazy, drunken sots. This was true, but only up to a point. It was similar to how an Enclave of Elves could spend a summer sniffing flowers in a meadow, yet when threatened with war instantly become serious and march forth to meet their foes clad in Bright Steel Armor, brandishing glowing swords and staves. Port was where Scavengers took their vacations, but when at sea, they were as hard-working ...
2024-10-13 18:36:02 +0000 UTC
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The Sharks were a shadow of their former strength. A dozen, maybe two dozen, had deserted and went mining or sailed away on small rafts. Beluga and her crew limped in as the sun was coming up, in horrible shape, bruised everywhere, and with many broken bones. All of them knew they were lucky to be alive. Not so at least twenty others who had met their ends drinking bad wine, fighting with players, or other occupational hazards. Mako recruited thirty pirates, giving them a chance to join up an...
2024-10-11 00:16:59 +0000 UTC
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A day off. Finished this chapter, putting on dinner, then writing 352. A good day.
After that I have two busy days, and then four chapters this weekend. Probably three Butcher and one Rat.
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Deep under the earth in the ancient tunnels beneath Shadowport, a corrupted apex predator lumbered back to its lair in the center of a large cavern dragging the corpse of a huge lizard behind it. The dead Fonasaurus was twice the
2024-10-10 19:32:32 +0000 UTC
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It was a strangely quiet group of Scavengers who met the next morning in the scrap heap, which used to be the Silver Shark. Most had small injuries from smashed noses and broken arms along with a good amount of slashes and stab wounds. Ambushing rival gangs and extorting money from merchants wasn't nearly as easy as it used to be. Mako was pacing back and forth on the beach, waiting for Beluga. Her mate should have been back hours ago. Her crew was keeping their voices low to not interrupt th...
2024-10-10 00:45:51 +0000 UTC
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So, I think I have successfully figured out the tricks to send notifications to both tiers when a story becomes available to them. It involves multiple edits and toggles to get it right. One odd thing left is that if you upgrade from 5.00 to 10.00 you'll get both for 1 month. Someday, Patreon will work on their interface. I know they are talking to authors like Zagaroth (Primal Hunter) for advice. For now though, we make do with what we have.
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2024-10-08 00:38:17 +0000 UTC
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The detachment of Couriers from House Franklin arrived in Wolfsburg just before dawn, twenty-three people altogether, all mounted upon an exceptional array of horses. Whatever attitude the Red Company might hold of House Franklin, it was improved several notches by the quality of their mounts, and the well cared for tack and saddles. Harmonia was leading the first group and saw the Red Company formed and ready to move, led by the Duchess. She reminded herself to think of her as Captain Bernic...
2024-10-07 17:29:13 +0000 UTC
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Clan Shark was meeting on the beach, surrounded by the scrap metal and wreckage that used to be a sleek and powerful submersible. Captain Mako had made it clear that any of the crew who weren't there should burn their tophats and take jobs in the mines. To her disgust, five of her crew had left their tophats and monocles on the beach, paid their guild fees, and got to work. Word had spread quickly about the empty vault. A lucky captain could have her pick of the best crew in any port, and Mak...
2024-10-06 20:46:04 +0000 UTC
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Belinda woke each morning with the feeling she was drowning. She swam for the surface, the light getting closer each morning, but never reaching the surface. Kicking drug addictions is incredibly difficult even with the help of advanced medical technology and she'd been on these drugs all of he life. Worse, she wasn't meant to ever be off of them. Her pod was scrubbing her body each night to pull any remaining drugs out of her while using an everchanging cocktail of placebos to help her get o...
2024-10-04 05:04:11 +0000 UTC
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