Even though I’ve been in the city for a few days now, this is only the second time I’ve had a chance to get a look at it. The streets are lined with lampposts with a similar design to the sconces in the cave just outside of the convergence point. It’s pretty distinct, with the glowing mana crystal held in place by a thick cast-iron cage.
“How do you change the crystals in those lamps?” I ask curiously.
Talla and Draga are both with me as we make our way to the ranger HQ....
2025-09-08 17:27:59 +0000 UTC
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There’s not a whole lot to do once we get settled in at the Goa estate. They give us a room in one of the guest houses on the main estate—something that seems totally excessive until I find out that we are far from the only ones staying here.
In fact, the guest houses are all pretty busy places. The Goa family is huge, and they host all sorts of friends and allies, some of which are in the city on business, some for social visits, and some that—as far as I can tell—are ...
2025-09-05 16:36:01 +0000 UTC
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“Sorry about all that,” Talla says once her mother has left. “She means well, but Mother always puts the family first.”
“It’s okay,” I sigh. “Honestly, that went better than I expected. I was just surprised to learn that I was brought to this world on purpose.”
“By the church, no less,” Maggie points out. “I fucking knew they were up to something.”
“You don’t know anything,” Evie argues. “Even if what Lady Goa ...
2025-09-03 18:57:01 +0000 UTC
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“So does everybody know that Maev is dungeon-borne?” Talla huffs irritably as her mother leads us through the expansive estate.
“Not everyone, dear,” Lady Goa replies. “Just the ones that matter.”
“How? I get that Maari sent a letter, but I trusted her to keep it a secret.”
“Oh, she did,” the matriarch confirms. “Or tried to. She just didn’t realize which details gave it away. I doubt you’d be able to tell, at a glance.”
...
2025-09-01 17:48:41 +0000 UTC
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The Order of Rangers exists in a strange limbo. While they are technically a private organization, the vast majority of their funding comes from the crown, with the church not far behind. Neither benefactor likes the organization, but they maintain it anyway. They have to.
Ostensibly a group of mercenaries that specialize in long-distance scouting, exploration, and land surveys, the rangers were originally nothing more than adventurers for hire. If a noble suspected that an are...
2025-08-29 19:45:15 +0000 UTC
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Predictably, Violet retreats at the first sign of having to actually socialize. Less predictably, instead of Allison, somehow I end up in front.
“You’re such a baby,” I complain as Talla guides us through the busy city streets. “If the only time you deal with people is when killing them, you’re going to look like a psychopath.”
“You are the last person I want to hear that from,” Vi scoffs. “You are the worst at speaking to people....
2025-08-27 19:14:51 +0000 UTC
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There’s no clear point where the wilderness stops and the city begins. Unsettled land along the riverbank disappeared long before we could e
There’s no clear point where the wilderness stops and the city begins. Unsettled land along the riverbank disappeared long before we could even see the ocean on the horizon, and eventually the towns and villages are so close together that each one blends into the next. But if I have to name a moment where it really sinks in that this is the cit...
2025-08-25 16:10:39 +0000 UTC
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Sitting cross-legged on a cushion in Jira’s quarters makes me feel like a kid being forced to visit the principal’s office in school. The ca
Sitting cross-legged on a cushion in Jira’s quarters makes me feel like a kid being forced to visit the principal’s office in school. The captain looms over me, even seated, the light shawl around her shoulders doing little to hide the muscular frame beneath. Oddly, she matches my cross-legged posture—something I’ve never seen another F...
2025-08-22 17:08:10 +0000 UTC
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In order for my plan to work, I need three things. First, I need them to keep underestimating me. That’s not too difficult—I just spend a fe
In order for my plan to work, I need three things. First, I need them to keep underestimating me. That’s not too difficult—I just spend a few hands leaning into their biases. I play simple hands, ask for rules clarifications in broken Fa’aun that “accidentally” reveal my hand, and make naive bets.
The second thing I need is for ...
2025-08-20 18:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Miss Allison is so mortified that she retreats within, leaving me to handle things on my own. I have no idea why the others are so embarrass
Miss Allison is so mortified that she retreats within, leaving me to handle things on my own. I have no idea why the others are so embarrassed by a perfectly normal bodily function. How would the men know to give us privacy if they weren’t told the reason?
In any case, Captain Jira is quite accommodating, even allowing us to borrow her priv...
2025-08-18 16:39:04 +0000 UTC
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Despite my exhaustion, I can’t do much more than toss and turn restlessly in the stiff bunk. It’s not the bed—which is a solid six out of te
Despite my exhaustion, I can’t do much more than toss and turn restlessly in the stiff bunk. It’s not the bed—which is a solid six out of ten on the scale of places I’ve slept in this world. Probably third best after Maari’s guest room and Kiera’s futon. Nor is it the gentle rocking of the boat on the river.
No, my restlessn...
2025-08-15 17:57:55 +0000 UTC
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It’s pretty exciting boarding the ship. I’ve been on boats before, but this is like...a ship. One of the biggest in the harbor, with three m
It’s pretty exciting boarding the ship. I’ve been on boats before, but this is like...a ship. One of the biggest in the harbor, with three masts, a wide hull, and sturdy wooden construction. Compared to the dozens of canoes made of reeds or much smaller single-sail boats, it stands out as something special.
“Talla, isn’t ...
2025-08-13 19:46:44 +0000 UTC
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We're back! Thank you all very much for your patience. I feel recharged after some time off and ready to get right back to work. Well, as some of you may know about the nature of my "breaks" I don't typically stop working in the first place, but this time I did! Not for the whole two weeks, but some of it, and wow did I ever need it.
Anyhow, while I was away, CJ finally completed the super special project that she's been working on for the last year! It's a Fates Parallel comic 27 pages...
2025-08-11 19:16:26 +0000 UTC
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While Draga and Maari are busy securing our ride, Talla stays with me and forces me to eat breakfast despite still feeling queasy, sore, and
While Draga and Maari are busy securing our ride, Talla stays with me and forces me to eat breakfast despite still feeling queasy, sore, and miserable.
“You’ve got to keep your strength up, especially after using that skill,” she insists. “Trust me, I know just how much of a double-edged sword accelerating your body can be.”
I...
2025-08-11 19:02:58 +0000 UTC
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I'll be taking a week or two off to rest my wrist and rebuild my backlog. It's been very busy lately, and the System Lost release/writathon really took a lot out of me. I've been burning the candle at both ends to keep up until the first book finished on RR, and I need to decompress for a bit. I'll be back on the 11th at the latest, sooner if I'm feeling up to it, but that's the earliest I'm comfortable promising.
Thank you all for the support as always!
2025-07-25 17:47:37 +0000 UTC
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I awake to the sensation of soft bedding and silk sheets with a vaguely floral scent. I blink my eyes open and look around at...nothing. Blurs and blobs. Right—this body’s eyes are atrociously weak. I’m familiar with the concept of spectacles, of course, but it’s almost inconceivable that a simple piece of glass could correct such blindness. Is it even possible?
They’ve hinted without saying as much, but the world the others come from is very different. With more comp...
2025-07-25 17:47:16 +0000 UTC
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For once, I’m grateful for the car’s lack of seatbelts, doors, or a roof. The blast sends all three of us tumbling from the vehicle amidst a
For once, I’m grateful for the car’s lack of seatbelts, doors, or a roof. The blast sends all three of us tumbling from the vehicle amidst a rain of metal fragments and burning luggage. The back half of the car is just gone, while the front is badly mangled. I land hard on the rough, unpaved road and roll to a stop.
I’m hurt—winde...
2025-07-23 18:43:00 +0000 UTC
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“Ah, Ranger Draga,” Maari says once she composes herself. “And Sheriff Rania—our sincerest apologies for the disturbance, but there’s nothin
“Ah, Ranger Draga,” Maari says once she composes herself. “And Sheriff Rania—our sincerest apologies for the disturbance, but there’s nothing to be alarmed about.”
Draga frowns, glancing between her, Talla, and Allie. “We heard what sounded like alchemical arms fire. And screaming.”
“Oh, that? We were relaxin...
2025-07-21 10:43:32 +0000 UTC
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There are days when being a ranger is the greatest thing in the world. Living among nature, protecting the countryside, and carefully managi
There are days when being a ranger is the greatest thing in the world. Living among nature, protecting the countryside, and carefully managing convergence points—those mixed blessings that have been the source of both fortune and disaster. Then there are days when Draga feels like he’s back in the army, going through the motions and observing d...
2025-07-18 18:51:51 +0000 UTC
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Maari—who I am trying very hard not to call “Mary” in my head—insists on giving us the full tour of her estate, eager to engage in the long-
Maari—who I am trying very hard not to call “Mary” in my head—insists on giving us the full tour of her estate, eager to engage in the long-standing and universal rich-person pastime of showing off.
“Here we have the jetty,” she says, showing us what looks to my untrained eyes like a regular wooden dock. “It’s a shame ...
2025-07-16 16:27:52 +0000 UTC
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When we reach town, the first thing that strikes me is how much bigger it is than the village we passed before. Unlike the little nameless h
When we reach town, the first thing that strikes me is how much bigger it is than the village we passed before. Unlike the little nameless hamlet, this place is accessible by road, and the sandstone construction that had been reserved for the village center is instead the baseline standard for buildings. I can’t even see the river yet as we enter...
2025-07-14 15:49:17 +0000 UTC
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“No! Not that one—the other one you stupid worm!” Nipper shrinks back as I flick him, looking despondent over his repeated failures. “I’m so
“No! Not that one—the other one you stupid worm!”
Nipper shrinks back as I flick him, looking despondent over his repeated failures.
“I’m sorry,” I sigh. “You’re not stupid. You’re a very clever worm just...not...smart...”
“That means stupid,” Evelyn points out with smug satisfaction. She...
2025-07-11 19:34:46 +0000 UTC
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We’ve got a lot of free time on this road trip. Allie’s using that time to learn the language and teach Eva math or whatever, Vi’s finally s
We’ve got a lot of free time on this road trip. Allie’s using that time to learn the language and teach Eva math or whatever, Vi’s finally seen the light and started learning magic—good for her—and hanging out with Draga, and even Evelyn occasionally takes her head out of her own ass long enough to do something productive. Mostly sh...
2025-07-09 18:01:57 +0000 UTC
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Once we’ve finished gathering up all of the stingroot in the patch of grass—a process made much easier by my new spell—Draga has us prepare for the hunt, starting with stringing his bow. Saban’s bow, I realize. Nothing wasted, I guess.
“Is it okay for us to have taken all of the stingroot here?” I ask. “It won’t mess with the ecology if it doesn’t grow back?”
“Hm?” He looked up at me with a frown. “What was that? You’re speaking your own language again....
2025-07-07 20:35:26 +0000 UTC
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During one of our breaks, Draga takes me into the forest to do some hunting and gathering while Talla does some maintenance on the vehicle. Apparently it’s not just the engine that’s finicky.
“If you’re going to be a ranger, you should know how to live off the land,” he says. “You did well to survive in a place as inhospitable as a dungeon, but the outside world can be just as dangerous in its way.”
I nod along as he speaks. A bit of wilderness survival training coul...
2025-07-04 17:45:04 +0000 UTC
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Lady Baanu is more than happy to leave our excess supplies with the villagers, and Sir Draga gives his permission to unload several crates of preserved lizard meat, hides, and other miscellanea collected from the culling of embergaze basilisks.
I still think it’s backwards that Lady Baanu needs his permission at all, but the rangers have always been an odd organization, and who knows how much the world may have changed in two hundred years? Self-propelled carriages, odd alchemical wea...
2025-07-02 18:52:01 +0000 UTC
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2025-06-30 18:56:22 +0000 UTC
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Since Draga has a bunch of interrogations to do and it’s already late, the village elder lets us stay the night. It turns out the big stone building doubles as a sort of town hall and personal domicile for the elder. There’s nothing like an inn or tavern in the village—just a spare “bedroom” that isn’t much more than a pile of dried reeds with a blanket thrown over it. Sadly, that still places it in the top three beds I’ve experienced in this world.
Talla and I share the r...
2025-06-30 18:31:23 +0000 UTC
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Elder Saara and the others lead us into the village proper—a tiny little fishing community on the edge of the Sagaa river. There are no roads or paths except for those that have been beaten into the ground by the natural foot traffic of the village, though Fa’aun hooves clearly do a pretty good job of that. The houses are all small huts made from a mix of wood, clay, and thatch. They don’t look very sturdy, and if the men I see working on various new constructions are any indication, th...
2025-06-27 17:55:59 +0000 UTC
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Thanks to Violet’s new spells, we’re able to travel in relative comfort for the rest of the day. By the time the sun starts to set, my butt is sore and my joints are stiff as heck, but it definitely beats walking. Still, as I get out to stretch, I almost envy Draga. He basically just ran for like twelve hours at a dead sprint and doesn’t even look tired. He’s fast when he doesn’t have to carry anything.
He doesn’t waste any time setting up our camp by the side of th...
2025-06-25 18:23:33 +0000 UTC
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