--AN--
And we're back! For those who are curious, the Wedding was great. We had some people staying with us throughout the week, which made writing difficult, along with everything else that being involved with a wedding entails. I appreciate the break, but I'm ready to get back into things.
Enjoy!
Chris
~~
"[Notify Ruling Lord] isn't supposed to be used like this, but I will try to keep you abreast of the happeni...
Chris
Somewhere in the North
It was with a certain amount of excitement that I ventured forward. Sure, the past hadn't been all that fun in the grand scheme of things, but it had led me here, and that amounted to something at least.
My excitement stemmed from a few reasons, but the main one, and by far the largest, was that I had no idea where I was. The map I had acquired so long ago didn't actually show this far North.
I was treadin...
2025-09-08 22:36:32 +0000 UTC View PostSorry for the no chapter yesterday, and sadly today. I've been dealing with a massive migraine that just won't go away. I tried to write anyway but just couldn't get a chapter out. I'll probably take tomorrow off as well, but I will be back to posting regularly on Monday.
Again, I apologize.
Thanks,
Penguin.
Miles
Wilderness outside of Frostheim
It felt like a decade had passed since the first time he had made the journey to Frostheim, but it had only been a few years. If that, really. His life had changed so much in such a short time, for good and bad, that it was hard to truly grasp the extent of the pendulum's swing.
From living in Toronto, to coming back to it destroyed, to living in the ruins after the Change, then gathering every possession in his life an...
2025-09-02 23:52:06 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Near the Arctic Circle
It was getting colder, which was a boon in more ways than one. The gradual shifting of the seasons made it difficult to distinctly feel the changes from day to day.
It was there, obviously. I felt less invigorated and less free as winter fell away for spring, and that feeling only intensified as summer began in earnest. But it took days of waning to get to the bottom of the wave.
From the crest of the wave...
2025-08-30 01:28:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe Admiral
New Norfolk
He stood and watched as all of the nobles arrived. There was no need to check their titles once again, as that was done before they even set foot in the city. No, he was watching for a different reason.
Fitzwallace was no stranger to the subtleness and covert nature of what could be considered 'politics'. To get high up in the military command, one had to be. It was necessary.
But that didn't mean he had to lik...
2025-08-29 01:33:35 +0000 UTC View PostChris
North of Frostheim
So far, as my steps took me farther and farther from home, it didn't feel anything like the last time I had done this. Last time, years ago, I had left at the start of winter, in the middle of a snowstorm, after weeks of snowfall that had accumulated up to my mid-thigh.
Now, at the height of Summer, when there hadn't been snow in months and the temperature was a blistering 70 degrees, or if you were like most of our...
2025-08-28 01:35:27 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
~~
Name: Christopher Zalenski
Race: (D) Human*
Class: (D) Warden of the North(Legendary) – Level 108
Profession: (D) Adept Runesmith(Epic) – Level 102
Affinity: Arctic
Faction: Frostheim (Leader)
Title: Viscount
Strength - 2630
Agility - 1119
Perception - 674
Fortitude - 21...
--AN--
Sorry about the no chapter Friday, something unexpected came up. It's been resolved, so we should be fine going forward.
~~~
The Admiral
New Norfolk
The Admiral sat in his office and thought about all of the reports that had been brought to him over the last few hours. With the last of the invited guests arriving, things were set to start the next day, giving those who arrived later some time to settle in and get c...
2025-08-25 21:25:35 +0000 UTC View PostVanessa
New Norfolk
"My Lady, Rachel is calling for you," Michael informed her.
About time. She'd played her game of delaying, but they both knew the deal was going to get signed. Vanessa knew they wouldn't give up the chance at what she was offering, and they knew they wouldn't get it any other way.
Not with Zuri knocking on her doors.
She didn't fear her; she felt confident in winning if it came down to a straight fig...
2025-08-21 21:42:54 +0000 UTC View PostRachel
New Norfolk
Her mana rushed out and swept through the generous lodgings they were given after the escort stepped away. The man was strong, but not nearly at a level to threaten her. That didn’t mean he was weak, not in the slightest. He was firmly in the D-rank with quite a few levels under his belt, but he wasn’t a Baron.
Left to their own devices, or so they assumed, Rachel scoured every nook and cranny with her mana sense but ...
2025-08-20 23:04:19 +0000 UTC View PostHendricks
New Norfolk
The day was going even worse than he expected it to. Surprisingly, it was the waiting that was killing him at the moment, not dealing with egotistical assholes. Luckily, the biggest one had stayed away, deciding that the Assembly was beneath him.
The Stormbringer sent back a very sharp message after receiving the Admiral's invitation that basically equated to, 'I'm not at your beck and call.'
It was a good thing,...
2025-08-19 22:37:31 +0000 UTC View Post~~AN~~
This chapter may seem familiar to those who were here before the rewrite, but it's been changed enough I recommend re-reading it, especially Vasaria's portion. The lore added will come in useful later.
~~
Earth
Five Years After the Change
The Essence thickened as the Planet's Core grew and the Mana in the air continued to rise. The Core was beginning to reach the end of D-grade and would soon break through into C-grade.
Its<...
2025-08-18 19:58:43 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
That seems like a dangerous two-way road. From what I was reading of [Tyr's Judgement], it didn't influence the fight in any way; it only demanded that it happen. While I was confident in fighting almost anything one-on-one, that didn't mean there wouldn't come a time when I might bite off more than I could chew.
It also didn't specify that it enforced a one-on-one fight, either. It just made it so whoever I deemed ...
2025-08-15 21:52:31 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
My hammer came down for the final time, and I felt the essence flow through me. Usually, it would then leak out as I was capped on how much I could hold without evolving, but that wasn't the case this time.
I could feel it seeping through [Frostborn Constitution]. [Body of a Frostborn] had already capped out its new boost, and with that final kill of the 12th Floor boss, [Constitution] was full too. Upgrading [Frozen Fortitu...
2025-08-14 23:26:12 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Glacier Bay
It's time.
I thought about the unassuming wooden box waiting for me back in Frostheim that had been with me for far too long. I had waited, and waited, and waited, trying to push for more, and the day had finally come.
With the deal with Lakeshore coming to a close, and what felt like a new chapter turning in our Faction, I had waited long enough. It would happen this week. I only had a few things left to do.
T...
2025-08-13 23:13:26 +0000 UTC View PostJayla
Mountainside
Four Years. Four long years of digging. The time only seemed to drag on as she was left wondering. Her sister's fate wasn't something she could find out, and it ate at Jayla not to know.
Taylor could be dead for all she knew, and all this time spent digging could be a waste. Worse, she could be missing. Not everyone made it back from the tutorial; most presumed they had died in it.
Those possibilities were what kept...
2025-08-12 23:04:12 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
Name: Christopher Zalenski
Race: (E) Human*
Class: (E) Hammer of the Jotnar(Legendary) – Level 100 Evolution Available
Profession: (E) Runesmith(Rare) – Level 100 Evolution Available
Affinity: Arctic
Faction: Frostheim (Leader)
Title: Viscount
~~
<... 2025-08-11 23:43:27 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
The build-up the following day was missing the usual tension. It was one of the first times a muster was called for that worry didn't accompany it. After all the fighting and battles the army had been through, this felt like just another day in the office.
Gabe, with sufficient motivation, finally agreed to form a Mage order. He wouldn't be officially Knighted, as it were, until after the upgrade. As a Small City, t...
2025-08-08 22:41:09 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
"I don't get it," Annabeth mumbled, "You become a Viscount if we upgrade the pylon? How does that work? I thought you had to be promoted by a King or something."
With my return and a small return of normalcy that came with it, my training of my young niece resumed. She had just over a year left until she would have a Class and could level, this was the most crucial time for her.
"Come, sit. We can take a small rest." I...
2025-08-07 23:36:55 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
The meeting with Alaric didn't end up taking that long. The haggling was tame, compared to the few other times I'd seen Jonathan engage in it. From what I could tell, both Merchants weren't trying to go for the throat.
The only reason I could see for not doing so was to increase the likelihood of continued business. Good-natured business, at that. I wasn't sure how it would all pan out in the future, but it seemed like we we...
2025-08-06 21:33:31 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
You can't fight life, nor the changes it brings. As much as I wanted to, it was a futile endeavor. It was time to buck up and hop to, not keep running away, uselessly hoping the problems would somehow go away.
List of To-dos
Meet with Sophia, Grace, and Abigail to discuss Frostheim's future growth as a faction and city.
Appoint/See if any volunteers wish to go South...
2025-08-05 23:15:25 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Frostheim
"Ah, home sweet home." I exhaled a breath that pleasingly turned into a frosty mist, as it was right to do in the cold. The worst of the season was behind us, sadly, but the tail end of it was still shaking its fist. Even if it was the last week before Spring.
"You still haven't ruled on my proposal." Abigail needled, which had been a constant occurrence during the trip back. An annoying occurrence.
"A ruling? What am ...
2025-08-04 21:26:20 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Lakeshore
Two months. That was how long it took to make sure everything was set and ready. I could have left earlier, but that was 'unproductive to long-term morale and unity'. The citizens of Lakeshore, or what was left of them, were inordinately fearful of us.
Fearful of the wilderness. Fearful of just about everything. It took a long, long time to get them to stop flinching around me or fleeing when I came walking down a street. 2025-08-01 01:04:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Edward Halstead
St. Louis
The map hung on the wall with all kinds of different notes or pins stuck upon its surface, but nearly every one was ignored in favor of one. While most of the informational additions to the map were made by hand, and not from the map itself, the one blip he was looking at was a mark not made by his hand.
The treasure hanging in one of the most secure places in his Society's Headquarters was the single most expensiv...
2025-07-30 21:41:33 +0000 UTC View PostMaeve
Lakeshore
And so the show ends, she thought, staring down at Victor's headless body. From the start, she had known the outcome of this particular story. She'd seen the man fight on more occasions than Victor had.
While he was holed up in his mockery of a City, Maeve had been at the Gathering, witnessed the thousands who stood against the Orcs, and been a part of that battle. She'd seen the single-handed efficienc...
2025-07-29 22:39:16 +0000 UTC View PostChris
Lakeshore
For a time, all I heard was the clash of metal on metal or the loud explosions of magic. After experiencing the difficulty level of what the defenders could express, I was in no hurry to rush back and finish things.
My mana was tapped out, and my body was still throbbing from the burns.
I could have, with my Spirit and Law still kicking, but there wasn't much of a point. I could gain no more levels, and it would be tak...
2025-07-28 23:43:54 +0000 UTC View PostChris
A cold so deep and primal exploded out of the Rift and quickly gathered everything nearby in its grasp. The entire city block that had quickly been set alight was now snuffed out with prejudice.
There would be no flame in the face of what came out of the rift.
The snow dumped through like an avalanche, coating the ground and spreading further and further as the winds pushed it out. I hadn't meant to cause such mayhem. I hadn't meant to call on...
2025-07-25 22:55:56 +0000 UTC View PostVictor
How was it possible for things to go so poorly? To have everything turn on its head and do the opposite of expectation? How the FUCK was it possible for ONE man to break down the gates like he was hitting a particularly sturdy piñata?
This is before he evolved? Hell, what would have happened after...
He shrugged off [Flame Spear] after [Flame Spear] like it was nothing, and that was with his Law empowering it! All the spell did was ...
2025-07-24 21:59:34 +0000 UTC View Post