Enjoy! Probably the last chapter for today (unless I get time in the afternoon) - I have some work to do for Victor of Tucson, and I have to manage this story's launch over on RR - gonna release something like ten chapters over there over the next couple of days.
Thanks for all of your support and help getting these chapters polished up.
If you're new to the story this time around and you read this chapter, fear not: ...
2024-08-26 14:14:48 +0000 UTC
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Since I'm posting this at basically the same time as 1.43, I'll mention, again, that I just made this live on Royal Road, and I'd really appreciate it if any of you might go there to give me a follow and a rating or review.
As I said on 43, this story is a little slower burn than some of the more popular RR stories, and I was hoping people who've read ahead (you all) might encourage others to stick with it. I mean, assuming you think so, lol.
2024-08-26 13:34:37 +0000 UTC
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Hi everyone! I know I've got a handful of people here reading this story, and I really appreciate you all and your feedback! On that note - I launched the story on RR today. If any of you who are enjoying yourselves wouldn't mind heading over to give me a follow (and maybe a rating/review), I'd really appreciate it!
This story is a little slower burn than some of the more popular RR stories, and I was hoping people who've read ahead (you all) might ...
2024-08-26 13:32:02 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy the chapter! (Training montage incoming after this one.)
-Plum
Victor managed to bring the carved piece of ivory with him onto the spirit plane after two difficult, aggravating hours. The plant, however, took him nearly a week. After he succeeded, he was awarded with System messages declaring his Spirit Walk spell had ranked up to “improved” and that he’d be able to “more easily bring lesser beings and object...
2024-08-25 18:51:24 +0000 UTC
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42 – A Ton of Bricks
Ward wanted to sleep in, but his mind wouldn’t let him. His eyes opened just as the first light of dawn was brightening his window, and though he tossed and turned, burying his face in his pillow, sleep wouldn’t come back to him. After a frustrating half an hour or so, he decided to take charge of his sleeplessness and jumped out of bed. He took a hot bath to fight off the morning chill, and when he emerged from his room, dressed in a c...
2024-08-24 19:38:51 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy!
41 – Unsatisfied
Ward ignored Grace; he wasn’t going to be murdering anyone in their sleep, let alone Foyle’s wife or girlfriend or whoever was softly breathing in there. He reached for the door latch and, slower than cold molasses dripping off a spoon, he twisted it open. Then, just as slowly, he pushed the door open a crack so he could peer through. The curtains were partially drawn, so it was very dark in the...
2024-08-24 18:12:36 +0000 UTC
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Hope you're enjoying your day!
-Plum
40 – Cracking Skulls
Chiselhammer Lane was a good deal busier than most of the other streets Ward had walked through that night. It had to be getting close to midnight, but he saw groups of young men in heavy coats standing here and there, many of them smoking something from pipes that glowed in the dim light thrown out by the amber-glassed streetlights. ...
2024-08-24 17:06:43 +0000 UTC
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Happy reading :)
39 – Nightwork
Ward grunted, driving the narrow shovel into the soft soil again, throwing the black dirt onto the growing pile. The shovel—or maybe “spade,” was a more appropriate term—had an annoyingly short handle and a blade flatter and narrower than the modern one sitting in the corner of his garage back on Earth. “Garage,” Ward chuckled, digging out another hunk of dirt. He hadn’t though...
2024-08-24 16:35:23 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy the magic :D
38 – Secrets Uncovered
The words shivered and shook their way out of Ward’s mouth, and it felt like they took some of his flesh with them. As they emerged into the world, they cracked and rippled through the air, resounding, sliding over, and caressing the walls, floor, and ceiling. Ward heard them through ears that rang and past a thick fog of pain that exploded in his head—the worst headache he’d...
2024-08-24 14:52:56 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy the chapter!
37 – Shrovak Gnyrath
“Terrible?” Ward gave Haley another look and saw the bloodshot nature of her eyes and the way her hands were gripping and twisting the lapels of her coat. He pulled the door open and stepped out of her way. “Come in.” She stepped through, and Ward closed the door. He motioned to the little table by the window. “Sit down. What’s going on?” He walked with her, and when sh...
2024-08-24 14:23:30 +0000 UTC
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Thanks for sharing your feedback here or on Discord. It's been helpful! I made some adjustments to 1.35, for instance, adding more discussion about anima and spirits.
Here's a little update on my plans for this story's release:
I'll post a few more chapters today and get Patreon to around 40 chapters or so. I'm hoping to begin releasing this story on RR next week. Once I do that, as I release chapters to RR, I'll gran...
2024-08-24 13:25:07 +0000 UTC
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I hope you enjoy it! Love to hear your thoughts - this chapter is almost entirely new for this revision of the book, so feedback would be helpful :)
“Hemographs?” Maggie narrowed her eyes, but they still shone brightly in the sockets. “I know a thing or two, aye. Do you have one?”
“I do, but I didn’t think to bring it with me. It was only during our talk that I realized how helpful that would have been.”
“Well, W...
2024-08-23 21:23:30 +0000 UTC
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Another delivery :)
34 – Clarity
Maggie’s bright eyes widened, and a smile lifted her plump oval cheeks. “May I copy it before we begin?”
Ward rested a heavy hand on the copper sheet. “Let’s talk a bit first.”
“Fair enough, wanderer. Tell me, what can old Maggie teach you today?”
“Let’s start with why the words are so hard to keep,” Ward tapped his forehead, “u...
2024-08-23 17:07:53 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy the chapter!
33 – Suspicion
Ward, as usual, found himself alone in Fay and Fan’s room when he woke the next day. He was an early riser, but those two gave new meaning to the concept. The night before, he’d regaled the two women with the tale of his encounter with the thugs while eating a delicious, hearty dinner. Fan had cooked up a casserole filled with bits of sausage, sweet potato, cabbage, and other things Wa...
2024-08-23 15:01:42 +0000 UTC
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Here's another!
32 – Easy Answers
Ward wasn’t sure how to feel about it when he made it the rest of the way to Haley’s house without another city watch member stopping him and asking what he was doing. He supposed the dim lighting, and his quick passage might explain why nobody noticed the dried blood soaking his pants and shirt. Still, he felt like trudging through town with an unconscious man flopping on his shoulder...
2024-08-23 14:12:40 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy!
31 – Back-alley Brawl
When they returned to the inn late that afternoon, Ward went to the suite he was sharing with Fay and Fan, deposited his spear, and tried out his new toothbrush. It was made of pale blond wood, and the bristles were cut from badger hair, according to the shopkeeper. The idea wasn’t appealing to Ward, but he didn’t see himself inventing nylon anytime soon, so he gave it a try. His “toothpa...
2024-08-23 13:42:25 +0000 UTC
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It's Friday! Yay! Enjoy - I'll put up a few today, for sure.
30 – Clues and Bullets
Ward gingerly tried to step on wooden planks that weren’t smeared with blood as he entered the scene of the murder. “What a shitshow.” He held his rough-spun sleeve over his nose, grimacing at the thick, acrid tang of drying blood and bile. He’d left Fay downstairs chatting with the neighbor lady and was just talking to himself, but...
2024-08-23 12:48:43 +0000 UTC
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Most Foul! Enjoy :)
29 – Murder
When Ward, with Fay close behind, approached the gated community where Haley lived, he noticed the cluster of city guards standing around, turning people away, disbursing any crowds that started to form. They all wore the same uniform and gear—polished steel helmets that covered the tops of their heads, gray and blue tabards over steel-studded leather coats, and long, hardwood cudgels loop...
2024-08-22 19:52:59 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy the chapter! Thanks for reading :)
-Plum
Victor jogged along the lakeshore, loping easily over the scattered rocks, driftwood, briar tangles, and other obstacles in his path. It was late afternoon on the day after his celebratory dinner with Dar, Lo’ro, and Lesh, and Victor was feeling good, though pleasantly weary after a long day of sparring in the circle with Lesh and Drobna, who’d come early after a last-minu...
2024-08-22 17:37:10 +0000 UTC
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How about some shopping? Enjoy!
-Plum
28 – Just Spending Time
“You’re telling me you’d like to trade this old armor and these weapons for something new?” Rolph held his hands on his hips as he looked over the chainmail shirt, axe, and sword. “What’s wrong with the weapons?”
“Well, I’m not saying something’s wrong with them. I think they’re pretty decent, re...
2024-08-21 21:07:21 +0000 UTC
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Thanks for reading :)
27 – A New Day
Ward yawned and opened a bleary eye, peering through a gap in the silk-paneled room divider to see what had awoken him. The room was dim, but he saw shadows jumping as someone, probably Fan, moved about, carrying a small lamp. He supposed she was getting ready for the day and was trying not to wake him. He cleared his throat and whispered hoarsely, “Fan, you can turn on the lights. I...
2024-08-21 20:27:01 +0000 UTC
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Love to hear your thoughts!
Plum
26 – A Bed to Sleep In
“It’s this way!” Grace said, pointing up one of the side streets Ward had already passed by at least once.
“You’re sure? I don’t recognize that store with the balcony up there—”
“I’m sure!”
“All right, all right.” Ward turned up the narrow, winding street and, keeping to ...
2024-08-21 17:48:28 +0000 UTC
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Another delivery for your reading pleasure!
25 – Homecoming
Ward felt an almost irrational sense of relief when the elevator lurched and began to climb upward, not back down into the lizard-man arena. He wasn’t the only one; Haley let out a whoop and twisted her neck, trying to peer upward through the bars. It was a tight squeeze for two people in one section of the elevator. “I can’t see anything yet.”
<...
2024-08-21 17:15:31 +0000 UTC
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Thanks for reading :)
24 – Rest and Recovery
Ward approached the big chest, probably about two feet square and ten inches deep. “I hope this means Nevkin missed out on a reward.”
“If he found a way out of the catacombs, I don’t think it was through here.” Grace squatted near the chest, staring at it closely, peering at the various angles. She couldn’t see the rear; it was situated right against the...
2024-08-21 16:19:54 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy!
-Plum
23 – The Words Are Fleeting
“He stole your mana-well! That little bastard!” Grace clenched her fists, her face red, her eyes ablaze. Ward couldn’t spare her any attention; the gate had opened, and another hulking lizard-man dove toward him. He cranked off one, two, three rounds, and he was pretty sure they all hit, but whatever luck had sent his bullets into the f...
2024-08-21 15:33:06 +0000 UTC
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This one took a lot of revising! Let me know if you see any glaring mistakes, please :)
-Plum
22 – Artifacts
Ward pulled his pack over to put the hemograph away, and as he did so, he shifted the soft blue pouch containing the ball of lead, and it vibrated, rattling against the glass of his broken lamp. “Huh.” He lifted it out of the pack, and the vibration intensified. “Something’s g...
2024-08-21 14:55:34 +0000 UTC
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Hope you're all having a good day! Enjoy!
21 – Level-Up
The cage-like, copper elevator continued to descend, and when it clanked and rattled against the ground, the cage door cranked upward almost immediately, leaving nothing but five yards between Ward and the hulking lizard-man. Ward aimed the pistol, hesitating for just a moment as he locked eyes with those vertically-slit pupils in their bright orange irises. Could he ...
2024-08-21 13:22:18 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy! I'd call this a flavor chapter - a little dialogue, some hints at the wider universe and maybe a distant conflict . . .
Thanks!
Plum
After they emerged from the catacombs beneath his home, Dar led Victor into the main parlor and said, “Why don’t you take a shower and freshen up, and then we’ll go out. Tell your dragonkin friend that he’s welcome to join us. I had plans to dine...
2024-08-20 18:50:57 +0000 UTC
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Last one for today! Enjoy :)
-Plum
20 – Together Again
Grace continued to pester Ward as he climbed, and climb he did—the stairs seemed interminable. He’d tuned her out for a while and was thinking about the stairs and their ceaseless upward climb, when she chimed in with a thought that echoed his own, “There’s no way we descended this far. There must be portal magic involved in this...
2024-08-19 20:24:53 +0000 UTC
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Enjoy the chapter - let me know if this method of displaying the hemograph data is better (for Patreon.)
Probably one more chapter is coming today.
-Plum
19 – A Messy Situation
“Hey,” Ward swallowed a gulp of water, “you think it’s a good sign that we found some stairs leading up? Everything’s been down so far.”
Grace walked over to th...
2024-08-19 19:44:46 +0000 UTC
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