That there is an entire damned nation of the saharliard on our borders is bad enough, but now they’re religious! There’s a reason we’ve cast all worshippers and worship out of our borders. I’m not asking for permission, I’m telling you of my plans to march on them. If you have anything between your ears, you’ll pass on the message to the other Overlords. War is coming, and it’s our job to start it to keep it from our lands.
-From Overl...
2025-04-09 04:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post“You’ve talked about how the humans use their magic to create stone weapons and armor, we’ve seen it.” Ytte explained as she walked towards the center of the workshop. I’d never set foot inside it, but as soon as I walked past the threshold, I was hit in the face with heat, almost as if I’d stepped into an oven. My second eyelid reflexively flicked up to protect my eyes as I looked around. Stone tables ringed the room, all primitive but sturdy. Various experiments I didn’t under...
2025-04-08 04:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Then there is little that specifically needs my assistance, but much that generally requires my leadership?” I summarized as we finished our conversation.
“A crude but effective summary.” Sybil allowed with a flare of her frills. “I believe that the specificity of your guidance necessary for establishing the differences between Shemira’s, Percral’s, and Took’s spheres of influence needs your specific work, but I suppose that is a general requirement from leadership.”<...
2025-04-05 04:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostGather in Dunbach. Mourn the losses of the south, and return with the Noonbright’s corpse if you can. We will offer his blood to the hazoma and his body to the forest. With his strength, he will guarantee that Dunbach’s trees’ roots go deep and Huldtar’s light continues to warm us.
–missive from the Allmother to the remnants of the secondary attack force on Fort Thnufir.
Sybil’s half of the bed was empty, though still...
2025-04-04 04:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostAfter taking the necessary time to understand my mate’s news, we spent a fair amount of time catching each other up on what had happened over the past three months. Winter was well and truly here, and Sybil confirmed that they’d seen a fair amount of snow already, though none had stuck as far down on the mountain as we were. Up on the peaks where the Shandise had disappeared on the day of our first appearance, white remained. With how close the sea was, I suspected there would be no small...
2025-04-03 04:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostMy mind raced through what she’d said. Gravid. Children. Keel children, or would they be something different? The initial thought that crossed my mind once I’d internalized the meaning to her words was the idea that it would have been too long for them to be mine. I quickly pushed that thought from my mind. Obviously they would be mine or she wouldn’t have said as much. Breathing deeply to control my emotions, I pushed my magic back out into the bath to make it flow more easily.
...
2025-04-02 04:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostSettling back into Nievtra was a welcome change, even though Sybil demanded that I wait a short time before she give the warning she promised I needed. Marching with a thousand ravenous, only partially civilized keelish was exhausting at best. I was a leader, and I found that I more and more fell comfortably into the pattern of macro leadership. At birth, I’d been nothing more than another of the keelish in the brood, but over the past year and a half, I’d ascended step by step until I wa...
2025-03-31 23:34:05 +0000 UTC View PostNew Nievtra’s walls were shiny with the carapaces of swarming ants. Hundreds of thousands pressed the attack, their bodies crawling over themselves as they fought to overwhelm the city. Strangely, whenever they got close to the walls, they seemed to become dazed, unable to continue pressing on. The enraged ants then came closer, pressed into the calmed ones, snapped angrily at them, then seemed to calm for a time. They milled about, half angry and half confused, and I felt like I should joi...
2025-03-29 04:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIn my sixth entry, I called one of the people who live here in the Empire a “Kha shepherd”. Though I wasn’t incorrect in calling him as such, I have since learned that such a form of address was, if not disrespectful, somewhat misleading. To explain myself, I must better explain what my error was at its basest level.
The Kha are, so far as has been explained to me, those who are still what are called keelish out...
2025-03-28 04:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostMualtir di’Thnufir,
You will be returned to your post at Fort Thnufir, but your post as High Colonel has been stripped from you. You shall be placed as advisor to the new High Colonel, Behnal Alniyh. Please note that regardless of your position as advisor, you shall have no extant military rank beyond that of the typical infantryman, and if you overstep your position, the High Colonel will be within her rights to discipline and even dismiss you. 2025-03-27 04:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Though I desperately wanted to go and see what was happening in New Nievtra, I kept myself from leaving all the keelish in the mountains behind. There were eight Keel in the city, and I trusted them to be effective. If they couldn’t keep the city from collapsing without my presence for a few weeks, then they weren’t worthy of the name.
We continued sweeping through the mountains deliberately, with Silf in particular guiding us to keep from as much exposure to the ants. I still consi...
2025-03-26 04:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostEvery one of the little female’s pack needed to sniff at the ants before they trusted us enough to follow along our path. Once they decided that the scent wasn’t particularly concerning, though, they devoured the insects with reckless abandon, the ichor of ants coating their faces. Considering they halfway considered the ants to be their greatest enemies, though, I wasn’t too surprised. An opportunity to devour their oppressors was a blessing. Even so, we continued moving as soon as the...
2025-03-25 04:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: With this, we're now 40 chapters ahead on Patreon. woot! As a note, with another POV chapter here, I wonder what y'all think of all the POV chapters. I think in the next two weeks, the leadership will be all back together again, and it'll be mostly Ashlani again, but wanna hear what you think. Is there anything else you want to see from him on this journey before he joins back at Nievtra?
[Sakkit POV]
“Pull the mandibles out before you bring them here. Espe...
2025-03-21 17:42:10 +0000 UTC View PostIt stretches from horizon to horizon, never faltering, never ceasing.
The mortal coil is its footstool and its playground, never caring.
The Tower pushes all mortals down, always watching, never loving.
Where a benevolent overseer would guide and protect, it is never nurturing.
Prepare yourselves, always watching.
Care for yourselves, always nurturing.
-Warning to all supplican...
2025-03-20 20:44:59 +0000 UTC View PostThough I’d only passed through the area once, I found myself serving as guide and mentor to every one of the keelish as we began and continued our path south. That they all had spent the bulk of their lives on the beaches meant that they met every new obstacle with a strange combination of trepidation and confusion.
“It’s just a goat.” I said as a smaller pack of keelish looked at a small herd of the long-furred, corkscrew-horned goats called Markhor I’d decided to hunt. “Th...
2025-03-19 19:04:05 +0000 UTC View Post[Joral POV]
The light of morning woke him, and Joral rolled over. He’d been forced to rest last night, pulled back from the nests and pushed into the sands of a bath by several of his mates, where he was then scrubbed clean of the caked on ant guts. Though he’d known that he was absolutely filthy, the worthless creatures simply wouldn’t listen to him, and he didn’t mind being covered in their remnants. He’d accepted the help, cleanliness, and rest, though.
... 2025-03-18 19:27:44 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: I'm not scheduling things this week on AR. I'm not posting free chapters, so you'll get the chapters when they're done this week!
“There’s no need to bring that, Tala will remain the jewel of the north. We are only bringing whatever will help in the construction of Nievtra. There aren’t any meaningful rivers there, much less the ocean.”
I reminded one of the keelish as they tried to figure out how to bring a massive net along with them as I brought them back to Nievtr...
2025-03-17 21:01:31 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I traveled through the ruins of the Saharliard Empire, I was struck by the myriad dangers posed by the land itself. There was no inhabitant of the land that didn’t actively fight against itself, or, whenever a trespasser made themself known, unified against the newcomer. As I traveled to the New Empire, I saw that which remained of the violent lands the Keel had reclaimed. Beasts and monstrosities yet remained, but they were culled, controlled, and beaten down, though they ...
2025-03-15 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Why do I need an octopus with this speech?” I asked, cocking my head in confusion. I quickly put together why I was giving a speech, and it further cemented my belief in the Alpha’s support for me. Why they were two working together as one didn’t really matter, and I instead focused on the importance of any symbolism that was prepared for me.
“The octopus is a ruler, though their influence be not of strength or numbers. They are wiser than the ravenous and more powerful than ...
2025-03-14 04:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Had I known that thou wast incapable of closing thine nostrils, there never wert to have been any assent on my part concerning thy ill advised accompaniment on this expedition.”
I gagged and snorted out what felt like half my body’s weight of salty water as Taklarr continued to look disapprovingly at me. Though he was floating easily on the surface of the water, I could still stand without much issue, though the, according to the residents of Tala, gentle waves fought to knock me...
2025-03-13 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostHigh Colonel Mualtir di’Thnufir:
You are to report to the Synod’s chambers in Viertaal for trial. For your information, and so that you may prepare yourself anticipatorily to the trial, you have been accused by High Lord Leiyalt Alniyh of, in ascending order of gravity, disrespect of the Gran Verat’s chosen, insubordination, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, assault with the support of Speaking, assault with ascended Speaking, assault wit...
2025-03-12 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“That which you speak is of great import and interest. I would greatly appreciate an opportunity to delve more profoundly into the deeper meanings of leadership. I am sure that the Alpha’s input will be of great value.”
Though the Alpha (and I was getting more and more of a sense that the title referred to the pair, not either individual) had said that I should just go out and speak with the people of Tala, I quickly found myself frustrated. The keelish of Tala were all much more ...
2025-03-11 04:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post[Varali POV]
The eradication of the Sundkindred’s forces was swift, brutal, and eye-opening. The leviathan, monstrosity that it was, tore through everything on the other side of the river. Varali could still see its massive maw stretched wide as the tentacles from the bottom of its body wrapped around and grabbed everything still living on the enemies’ side of the water. It didn’t matter if it was stone, wood, or living creatures, all were dumped into its mouth, a...
2025-03-08 04:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostTaking my place at the head of the pack, I strode forward. I didn’t look to the sides, trusting my flanks and anything beyond the immediate future to my subordinates. I heard Brutus sniff deeply as he took in whatever information he could about the world around us. I didn’t turn to watch, but I knew he was being as threatening as possible, and given that every one of my pack, with the exception of Silf, was at least as large as their Captain was, it was effective. The guards who walked in...
2025-03-07 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWhat is it that’s changed on the eastern border? I’ve received reports of more and more adult otters pushing into the rivers. It would appear that much of the freshwater produce has been decimated in its entirety. Many of the ruling class are complaining about the lack of diversity. Of course, I would never complain or question your ability to rule over your people, I merely wish to know how best to apprise the rest of the Hordes as to the disposition of the eastern reaches. 2025-03-06 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Silf waved me away as he struggled to his feet. I jogged towards Hala, who stood with Mrak and Hrash. The three didn’t wait for me to reach them before they turned to guide me towards whatever it was that they considered to be of particular interest. As soon as I stepped into the sparse grove, though, I didn’t need their guidance or information. I could smell the faint hint of keelish that so frequently passed through here. They were strong, strong for keelish at least. Initially, I could...
2025-03-05 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“You’ll pay for that. Greel!”
Greel didn’t respond except to send another wave of water into Leera’s face. The other male shrieked his challenge and bore Greel down into the water of the ocean, though they both popped up before long, expelling water from their nostrils and gasping. They had no idea how to swim, and though it was an interesting battleground, they both feared submerging their heads into the water. With grappling more off the table, the hotheaded youngsters resor...
2025-03-04 04:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostRepubbed to fix order in visibility. My bad, again.
[Foire POV]
“I’ve investigated the ant tracks as you requested, and, unfortunately, it’s about as we expected. Though we’ve managed to largely calm those immediately under the city, the rest grow more and more agitated the more they see us, especially the further we range from Nievtra. It would seem that these mountains are filled with the creatures, and wherever something goes, they will eventually encou...
2025-03-01 06:58:26 +0000 UTC View PostI don't know how I missed this yesterday. I'm just off, I guess. My bad!
[Ytte POV]
“Of course, Took. I’ll ensure that every one of the Kha’Tal are aware of that.”
“Thanks.” The massive Hak’Tal warrior flared her frills and inclined her head to Ytte for a moment before turning and walking steadily away. Ytte had no such luxury, instead running towards where Foire was sure to be this time of day. Only Sybil was conscientious enough to est...
2025-03-01 06:56:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's the cover to Investigations of an Unbound Mage!
2025-02-28 06:19:23 +0000 UTC View Post