hermitscave

Book 2, Ch. 8 - Adventurous Spirit

 This must be the feeling a child would have on his first travels.

Egidius brushed the unruly strains of hair out of his face to look at the unique, foreign constructions around him. Though he was no architect, he very much considered himself an artist. Thus, fascinated by the strange styles all around, he studied closely, to unravel their mysteries.

The unusual walls, built at a slant and constructed with blocks of granite larger than a man, were a marvel al...

Book 2, Ch. 7 - Smiles All Around

 A look outside the window and Corco could see the lines of wolf mercenaries, as they boxed in Sawo's loyalists on the stone plates of the central yard. After his men had been handed control over the western south gate, the rest of his troops had soon made their way into the city proper. In the end, the rebellious troops only managed to give some token resistance before their commander realized the futility of his attempted coup. By midday, they had taken the central island of the Mayura...

Book 2, Ch. 6 - The Lord of Saniya

 With a satisfied groan, Sawo di Pluritac stretched his hands over his head and greeted the midday sun. After a late start to the day, there was nothing like a hot bath in the bathhouse to freshen up his spirits. He had been quite stressed in recent days; and for good reason. For today, he just wanted to forget his troubles and relax.

“Administrator Sawo, there is a message from the south.” His attendant Iyo, always annoying, interrupted his peaceful day once again. Sawo kn...

World Map

So here's the temporary world map I've been working with. As you can see, it still needs a lot of cleaning up, the landmasses aren't colored in and some things are subject to change (like the exact size and position of the Verdant Isles), but you can still see a lot of interesting bits on it, like the relative size of Yakuallpa in the middle+south compared to everything else or the reason why a trade from Arcavia in the east to Chutwa through Yakuallpa makes sense. Travelling all the way arou...

Book 1, Ch. 3.5 - Bandits

After  they had left the walls of Porcero behind the horizon, he at last could  stop. His hands on his knees, he gulped in the cold winter air to catch  his breath. A quick look towards the back and his heart bled again, as  it had so much during their escape. His parents, his wife, his siblings  and the children. Everyone carried far more than they should, far more  than they could. And yet it would still only last them a few days. A few  weeks...

Announcement

Hiya, hermit here.

I really don't like the text formatting on patreon. Especially the lack of block alignment. Sicne I've seen how other authors do things, I wanted to ask what you would prefer. Is this system fine or would you rather get pdf/epub files in attachements? I would make a poll, but there's only four of you so far, so you might as well put it in the comments.

Also, as a little celebration to my second 15$ patreon (thank you!!) I will post a little side story...

Book 2, Ch. 5 - Family

Accompanied by a long sigh, the tall man with the sparse gray hair sank into his well-worn seat next to the hearth. For a few precious seconds, Elder Cauac looked into the fire, into the flickering flames which would dispel the freezing air of the outside world, before his view returned to the arrangements of seats around the fireplace within the main salon. He really didn't like how the seats had been arranged as two opposing rows, but that was an issue he would take up with the servants lat...

Book 2, Ch. 4 - Extended Family

 After they had been led into the city, Corco, Atau and Tama had boarded a large palanquin at the entrance. Not more words had been exchanged with the governess even after they had gotten into motion. Corco as well had preferred to remain silent. There was no need to get involved in the matters between mother and son. Just the fact alone that he had been allowed to stay during their impending talk spoke more than enough of Governess Guanca's fondness for her nephew.

“Finally ...

Book 2, Ch. 3 - The Captain's Homecoming

 As his fingers tapped onto his upper Lip, Corco looked after the men who had just left the command tent in the center of his army's tent, lost in thought. Their reception in Puscanacra had been cold, but that had been expected. After all, it was customary that throughout the funerary rites, up until the funeral proper, the deceased would not have any unnecessary contact with anyone outside of the family. Only the Pacha priests themselves were exempt from this custom. While Sonco had bee...

Book 2, Ch. 2 - Saniya

 While the land had still included the fertile soil, Emperor Titu had wanted to avoid the appearance of a victor claiming spoils. He had always seen the end of the war as a reconciliation between brothers, so he refused to make use of the precious lands. Instead, he had ordered to plant the fields over and over with Lavender, his new wife's favorites.   

Of course, the passengers on the funeral boat would not be able to see any of it, not this deep into winter. Still,...

Book 2, Ch. 1 - River King

As he breathed in the petrichor air, Corco looked out onto the swamplands around him. Once again, he drew his fur cloak tighter. After they had left Arguna, their surroundings had become increasingly grim. They had chased the retreating winter south, through lower Sinchay and past Qarasi Castle. Finally, they had gone through the Narrow and had boarded a specially prepared funeral boat which had brought them all the way to here. By now they were following the Tunki river all the way to what w...

Book 1.5 - Intermission

 A heavy sigh escaped Atau's lips. It was the latest of many he had gone through over the past two weeks. He looked over the lived-in tent with the improvised furniture and finally back to the letter in his hand, the one they had received this morning.

“What do we do now captain?”

In the end, Atau's eyes landed on the worried messenger who had brought the bad news. A sharp nose, high-brows and well-kept appearance, not at all like a sailor. Ivo, one of his own men...

Book 1, Epilogue 2 - His Role

 When Chaupic entered the mansion, he was greeted by a lively atmosphere. He had decided to come along late, when the revelry would be in full swing. This way, he wouldn't stand out too much. Despite his role in the alliance, he really didn't want others to associate him with the lord of the mansion. The prime minister already knew what it would do to his reputation, to his legacy. Although he was determined to keep a low profile, just as he entered the large hall, tonight's host stood b...

Book 1, Epilogue 1 - Cortege

 Another rainy day. This time it was only a light drizzle, as if someone had sifted the rain high up in the troposphere. A final goodbye from Arguna to its leaving visitors. Corco drew his fur coat closed and looked away from the gray skies, down onto the proceedings around him. A crowd of people had formed up at the corners of the road, with different shades of gravitas on their faces. Most faced towards the newly crowned southern king and those who didn't faced the blue cloth in the mi...

Book 1, Ch. 48 - Duel Against Pacha (2)

  When Corco stepped back out onto the yard after his change of clothes, a wind of whispers and gasps went through the crowd. Ready for a fight, the chubby little prince appeared very different from what anyone here would have expected. Many lords in would have thought that Corco would just run away , leave Arguna in the night and occupy Qarasi before anyone could react, but the prince marched out in long, confident strides, to what many considered his certain doom. His confidence w...

Book 1, Ch. 47 - Dual Against Pacha (1)

 With a long sigh, Corco stretched his arms behind his back. After all their differences had been moved out of the way, the nobles' assembly had ended quickly. However, the improvised coronation of the new kings and subsequent signature of the two laws Corco had demanded had still lasted for the better part of the night. His biggest problem had been with his own crowning. Caelestis had come over from the ancestral hall to represent House Pluritac during the coronation of the three new ki...

Book 1, Ch. 45 - Nobles' Assembly

 Despite the new furnishing, the surroundings were still familiar to Corco. The main courtyard of the Pluritac inner city mansion had been transformed into a deliberation court for the nobles' assembly. Tables had been set up in a large circle, the lords of Medala seated along them. The talks had started in the morning, with the official proposal from the ancestral hall: The princes would split the powers of the emperor and form a triumvirate. All politics of the Medala Empire would be d...

Book 1, Ch. 44 - The Future

 With a bang, the shabby door to the secret room burst open. Almost ripped from its hinges, the door banged into the wall behind it. The first noise had already been enough to let Fadelio and his sisters look up in shock. The second seemed nothing less than excessive. 

“What the actual fuck is going on here?!” 

The warrior could hear the shouts of the uninvited guest long before he could see him. From the upper floor of the Stone's Throw, t...

Chapter 43 - Dark Omen

 The sky was dark, as were most of Corco's surroundings. It had been another cloudy day, which had since turned into a starless night.   

 At least there's no rain, Corco thought.   

 Still, his position on top of the Moonlight Ziggurat was precarious, in more ways than one. Not only was the low-hanging sky bearing down on him, he was also surrounded by enemies, in the most literal sense. To his left kneeled his bearded middlest ...

Hello World!

Hello and welcome to my patreon page! 

For now this is still a work in progress, as you can see by the posted advanced chapters. I have already written more than enough chapters ahead to fulfill the pledges for all tiers, but I won't post anything I haven't edited at least once. So for now, it'll be just the one chapter, though more will follow over the next two days. I willhave filled up this space with the minimum 6 chapters over the christmas days.

If you have any question...