“And that is the exact reason for which we need to go beyond the preexisting ‘borders’ and purge the inhuman infidels from existence!” High Veran Leiteli was so impassioned by his speech that sparks and embers could be seen materializing around him as his fist smashed into his lectern for emphasis. The man’s belly strained against his formal robes while his spittle flecks flew into the air and evaporated in the excessive heat surrounding the High Flamespeaker.
“Those bloody ...
2024-12-20 04:00:32 +0000 UTC
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Though some of the outcasts from the subjugated swarms resisted the idea of being under my rule in this new land, Sybil’s warning combined with my obvious support kept any keelish from breaking off from the rest of us. Now that they’d been presented with a beautiful, rich environment, it seemed like they weren’t willing to jeopardize this seemingly chosen land. I was sure that it wouldn’t be long before they all fell willingly under my leadership, given how it felt to cross one of a h...
2024-12-19 04:27:01 +0000 UTC
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I stopped torturing myself with [Spear of the Many] as the swarm stepped into the mountains’ shadow. According to the Administrator, these should be the Shandise, assuming they were the mountains where Nievtra once was.
[Yes, these are the Shandise Mountains.] The Administrator answered. [They’ve gotten smaller.]
At her mention of their height, I looked up. The mountain seemed to scratch the suns above, the peak dusted with white. All the way up, forests grew and colored...
2024-12-18 04:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“I recognize what you’re doing will do you good for the long term, but I must recommend that you either cease practicing so frequently, or wait entirely until we reach our destination.” Vefir continued to lecture me as I laid nearly insensate on the ground. His healing was the only reason I could still walk, but even so, I continued to use [Spear of the Many] again and again, trying to acclimate myself to the surge in stats that the [Skill] granted. That there was a forced one hour reco...
2024-12-17 04:01:53 +0000 UTC
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I have learned that once again true saharliard exist in the world. Now, I do request additional funds to facilitate my journey east, as the funding will allow me to travel in greater security and at a greater speed, but even if I receive no advances or additional financial backing, I will leave. I am currently in the position every other anthropologist can only dream of–the subject of my specialization has somehow returned from the annals of history, found the most impactful his...
2024-12-14 04:10:42 +0000 UTC
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“If I catch them, I will break their every bone and slurp their marrow while they still live. I will force their damnable trunks down their throats and enjoy the sight of them choking on their own bile as they vomit. If I see another indlovu, it had better be their heads spitted on a post and left to rot.” Shemira seethed as she stalked forward and forced her magic out and over the herds.
Meanwhile, Joral screamed, “Shut up!” into the face of a panicking oxfiend, and it quickly ...
2024-12-13 02:44:01 +0000 UTC
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The original message given couldn’t be believed. It came from a gods-forsaken. However, Illan’Klli deigned to demonstrate their infinite wisdom and reveal one of the fated prey to one of the trustworthy scouts. It did not take long to begin our preparations for the Great Hunt. I will lead our people to glory, to the nests and refuse left behind by the ancient prey.
–Notes from the Nyust’taa daily record, spoken by the 19th Nyust’taa Kusi...
2024-12-12 03:27:44 +0000 UTC
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Every word he spoke was the right thing to assuage my fears and frustrations. Even so, there was something wrong with it, and I felt my scales prickle right alongside my skin. My discomfort and instincts notwithstanding, I bowed my head at the herdmaster Silumkulo. “I appreciate your willingness to stop and converse with me. I can’t imagine that it is easy to convince your large friend to move or to stop whenever you desire.”
“Oh, our ufudoluk is a great friend, and so patient w...
2024-12-11 05:00:21 +0000 UTC
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Most of my elites scattered with a hurried purpose while the young male that had just joined my “protectors” sprinted to get my spear. Less than a minute later, he returned, and I held it more like a walking stick than a weapon as Sybil, Brutus, and another of my guards walked alongside me towards the moving mountain and its inhabitants. Behind us and staying within the grasses was Silf. Sybil, with a mental command, set the herds hurrying along, while Joral and the wolfstags kept them in...
2024-12-10 04:21:27 +0000 UTC
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Several buildings patterned the back of the tortoise, and seeing indlovu walk in and out of them, I was again reminded of how truly mountainous the tortoise must be. Each of the building’s doorways accommodated the indlovu with space to spare in every direction, so maybe twenty feet tall, if the truly massive Allatsu was among the tallest of the statuesque people. A building that large must have been several hundred feet long, and there were half a dozen I could see, one of which stood in t...
2024-12-07 04:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The swarm couldn’t move as swiftly and unimpeded as before, now that we numbered nearly two thousand and our herds several thousand more. What once would have been the journey of a single hour or two stretched into days, and as I waited for the axebeaks, oryx, oxfiends, and hyenas. Though we experimented various paths and attempts, [Fanatic’s Fortitude] couldn’t keep all the swarm and herds alive, even with the addition of several khatif who had begun to Speak the Words of Power. Thus, ...
2024-12-06 04:37:20 +0000 UTC
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What brings contentment? It is not glory, for glory demands victory, and victory begets loss. It is not success, for success requires effort, and effort destroys the soul. It is not family, for family require your mind, and your mind is yours alone. It is not station, for station puts you above others, and social standing brings pride. Nor is it pleasure nor pain, arousal nor abstinence. Contentment can only come through abnegation, submission, and obedience to the holy, to the ru...
2024-12-05 04:50:37 +0000 UTC
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“I am Ashlani, chieftain of my swarm, the fahvalo of Bloodpriestess Ana of the Moonchildren and the Disciple of Nievtala. I have come to speak with you, and see if our tribes can work in peace and friendship or must take up the iklabhu to protect ourselves and defeat our foes. Please, counsel with me, break bread with me, and let my askari be yours.” With Sybil’s command, the askari she had tamed fluttered to settle on my shoulder. It pecked curiously at the base of my skull, but I didn...
2024-12-04 05:24:02 +0000 UTC
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[Skill evolved. Status updated.]
With a wide grin, I helped shepherd the swarm’s growing herds onward. One herd each of axebeaks, a deerlike thing called an Indlovan Oryx according to the [System], and something else it called hyenas. Only the axebeaks numbered more than 100, to allow [True Dominance] progress. Then, to my pleasure, two truly massive herds of oxfiends, and now, the sheer quantity of our subjugated creatures numbered at least as many as we keelish.
Sybil an...
2024-12-03 04:04:31 +0000 UTC
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A bit of a shorter chapter today. See you on Monday!
My hand dropped from Arwa’s head and I stood tall with a sigh. It wasn’t too surprising, but these indlovu didn’t care about who Bekizo or the Enkulu were, but I was a little surprised to see no reaction to Qaqambi or the Yegolide either. Even so, there were some positives with this latest raid by the Indlovu. I’d barely been able to convince Brutus, Ytte, and the rest of my “guards” to stay back while I faced this latest ...
2024-12-01 04:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Arwa POV
The master gave orders, and Arwa listened. He didn’t speak the way that she could, but still, she listened. Something was coming, and Arwa needed to help. She snarled loud enough for all of her pups and the others to hear. They were needed! Her little ones hated how she treated them, but they hadn’t truly proven themselves adults yet, so they couldn’t complain more than a little, else she’d put them in their place. Arwa disregarded any yips or com...
2024-11-30 00:25:27 +0000 UTC
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I'm sorry for no chapter yesterday! It was a busy day, and my night was full. Too tired to write when I got home. I think I'll post another Ashlani's chapter not tonight, but the makeup on Saturday. Thank you!
After that fight, without Vefir or Etra’s ministrations, I expected to be wounded, or at least sore or achey, but my newest [Skill] was showing its worth. With [Victor’s Spoils], the few wounds I’d sustained had healed. The possibilities for me on the battlefield immediately...
2024-11-29 05:00:50 +0000 UTC
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The most notable changes from the keelish to the Keel was not, as many would assume, the physical and magical growth. Much of that could have been remedied by the substantially greater rate of reproduction within the keelish’s race, given that quantity can be a quality all on its own. No, the greatest difference was the implementation of military strategy and planning. The Principality was the first to witness that qualitative difference, when their annual hunts became a lasting...
2024-11-27 05:00:13 +0000 UTC
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I don't hate this chapter, but there's something about it that feels... off to me. Let me know if it feels that way to you too.
Hundreds of rioting keelish surrounded me, both my allies and my enemies mixing together. I counted us lucky that the physical differences between the two swarms were so apparent, as the shorter, stockier enemies were easily identified. Unfortunately, the few hundred that we’d initially thought made the entirety of the enemy swarm were less than half their to...
2024-11-26 03:53:52 +0000 UTC
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Before your own safety comes that of the Zaaktif. Before your comfort comes that of the Zaaktif. Before your survival comes that of the Zaaktif. We are the Alqat, never the Alqats. We are one body, and our body lives to serve, protect, and save the Zaaktif.
-Initial address given to Alqat upon induction to the order.
Though we, as a species, loathed the slow approach I forced us into, we took over a day and a half before we...
2024-11-23 04:27:53 +0000 UTC
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I cut through the throat and spine, the assistance from [Destructive Wave] tearing through muscle, fat, and bone effortlessly. The oxfiend, magically calmed by Sybil’s magic and cowed my [Adversary] and [True Domination], died in mere moments. The rest of the oxfiend herd didn’t react to one of their own’s slaughter due to Sybil and Shemira’s magical assistance, and once the light had fully left our meal’s brown eyes, I left the butchering to the rest of the swarm.
Since...
2024-11-22 04:31:17 +0000 UTC
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Laugh and dance and joy and sing
Let all your greatest glories ring.
Enjoy the time our Gods allow,
But when they come then you must bow.
For they who the divine do scourge
Will find themselves put through the purge
And when the Absolute do reap
That is the time that we will weep.
-Misti Hawar children’s rhyme
Singing echoed around the fire, accompanied by discordant shrieks and trumpeting. It didn’t take...
2024-11-21 04:16:30 +0000 UTC
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It was only a couple of minutes that passed before another 30 or so indlovu stepped with still-surprising stealth from the grass with several huge casks held over their shoulders. Qaqambi prepared a massive bonfire with his guards’ help, and in the space of fifteen minutes or less, a roaring fire with a spitted oxfiend was surrounded by jolly indlovu and still confused keelish.
“What are we supposed to do about this?” Sybil asked me, her tone forcefully happy so as to be misunders...
2024-11-20 04:50:06 +0000 UTC
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“Welcome to my swarm, Qaqambi of the Yegolide. I know nothing of your customs, so forgive any impoliteness.”
He waved his trunk in a way not dissimilar to a dismissive wave. “And I know nothing of yours. Let us learn and work together.” The chieftain leaned forward, his dark eyes searching my own. “Tell me, how are your askari?”
“I don’t know what an askari is.”
“And how do you keep off the flies and parasites? Are they not consuming your flesh?” His in...
2024-11-19 04:02:19 +0000 UTC
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Another six days passed with nothing noteworthy occurring, the swarm pressing onward while attempting to stay relatively difficult to find. With as many of us as there were, going was slow, especially since we now had nearly half as many subjugated beasts as we had keelish. Were they entirely domesticated, it wouldn’t have been nearly so much as a struggle, but only a dozen or so days ago, they were entirely wild, and only the effects of my own [Skills] combined with Shemira, Farahlia, and ...
2024-11-15 21:44:22 +0000 UTC
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Should one embrace the Words of Power? Should they enjoy the heresy of the deeper Words? Should the Sanctuary offer respite to those that have turned from the deeps? Should the Sanctuary darken the halls of the divine?
The Sanctuary is built to darken the view of the Tower, to hide lower than its notice and protect our plane from its incursions. The individual’s worth is infinitely lower than that of the whole. If there must be sacrifices, w...
2024-11-14 22:54:02 +0000 UTC
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True to my personal vow, one more of the ambushing indlovu lay dead at my feet, making three of them. Even so, I felt no glory after the hunt. Fifteen splatters of crimson on the dirt were all that remained of my own subordinates. The mauls of the indlovu didn’t leave anything solid behind, a puree of pulped person were all that was left, and if someone hadn’t watched each one die, then we’d never have known how many of our own had died.
“Foire!” I barked. He stepped for...
2024-11-14 05:15:25 +0000 UTC
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You, as the awesome Patrons, can vote here AND on RoyalRoad (if you so desire). Basically, the gist of it is this:
I've gotten back into System Apocalypse books recently. I'm feeling a little burnt out in writing other things, so, in my off time after writing what I already am, instead of reading or playing video games, I'm wanting to write a System Apocalypse. Why? I... don't really know. Anyways. I have some general ideas, but want some input from the people who already like my stuff....
2024-11-13 06:24:42 +0000 UTC
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After the establishment of the New Empire, there was an increase in desire to chart, excavate, and understand the ruins of previous civilizations. After all, if there were such extensive histories left behind that would benefit the Veratocracy’s enemies, would there not be relics and gifts that our esteemed ancestors left to us?
-From the notes of renowned historian Ahyalt di’Nielta
The hundreds of keelish’s cries shifted r...
2024-11-13 05:04:42 +0000 UTC
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“You asked me before to tell you about the [System]. What do you want to know?”
“Are all creatures under the influence of the [System] even if they do not have direct access to their personal [Status]?” Her responding question was immediate.
“I…” I took a moment to ask the [System], relaying its answer as I received it.
[All creatures under the administrative influence of the Administrative Body are also under the influence of the System, regardless of if they ...
2024-11-12 04:58:31 +0000 UTC
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