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3/12/23 Update

Hello, everyone!

It's the end of the year, and I'd like to thank everyone who's supported me this year by subscribing! it's thanks to you all that I can write full time.

Now, back in the middle of the year, I took a month off to prepare the first book of Demesne to publish in Amazon. And... well, I still need to prepare some more. Holes need to be patched, extra stuff written, art commissioned... people talked to to commission that art... I wish I had a Rian...

So, anyway......

Weekly Digest 117 - (#374 - #376)

The Dangers Of Books To Schedules

To Lori's pleasant surprise, dinner wasn't as annoying as she had feared.

The Deadspeaker—Lori checked the new rocked she'd made that afternoon—Kolinh, and—no, wait… that was definitely the wrong name, she could tell that much… ah, here was the right rock, the description she'd thought to include matched—Taeclas, and her wife had sat on the other side of the table next to Umu, who had a firm grip on Rian's arm...

Demesne 376 - Honey Is Very Thankful

Over breakfast, they continued discussing Taeclas's requests after the food arrived. The Deadspeaker's capability revealed itself as they spoke as she laid out the various advantages and disadvantages of their various food-producing areas. The mushroom farms she considered of low priority, as while their addition was good in dishes, they really didn't contain as much of what the body needed nor were as filling as the grains, tubers and bulbs that the demesne were growing. And while vegetables...

Demesne 375 - Until Dragons Drop Gold

When Lori woke next, she was hungry, thirsty, her bladder was full, and her inner darkness was demanding to be unleashed. Fortunately, she had slept long enough that she was no longer tired. Sleepy and lethargic, but that was because she'd just woken up, and the forces within her demanding to be released forced her to rouse.

The dining hall of her dungeon was empty and near-silent, so it was probably so late it was early. The only sound came from the the air being moved by the airwisps ...

Demesne 374 - The Dangers Of Books To Schedules

To Lori's pleasant surprise, dinner wasn't as annoying as she had feared.

The Deadspeaker—Lori checked the new rock she'd made that afternoon—Kolinh, and—no, wait… that was definitely the wrong name, she could tell that much… ah, here was the right rock, the description she'd thought to include matched—Taeclas, and her wife had sat on the other side of the table next to Umu, who had a firm grip on Rian's arm.

"Hello, Rian!" Taeclas greeted enthusiastically, her voice s...

Weekly Digest 116 - (#371 - #373)

Disproportionately Hurtful

"That was my fault," Rian said as soon as he'd come back from leading the two siblings away.

"Yes, it was."

"I should have helped him prepare what he was going to say. I knew the time off was going to be a contentious point, so I should have helped him present it in a way that wouldn’t annoy you."

"Yes, you should have."

"Really, I should have made more of a point about how important you considered contributi...

Demesne 373 - To Itch

Lori spent the rest of the trip back to her demesne stoically enduring Taeclas’ constant chattering. The woman had apparently been building up a stock of questions during her trip from Covehold Demesne regarding the Coldhold, the wisplights that Lori had made, and the steam jet driver that propelled the boat they were on. On the issue of the Coldhold, Lori had tried to distract her by informing her building the ship the way it was had been Rian’s idea and that the Deadsp...

Demesne 372 - Isn't That… Dangerous?

They ate lunch—bread, meat stew with tuber chunks, and fruit—with Lori trying to ignore the nonsense happening in front of her. It was difficult. Rian was making a big theater production about how much he was enjoying the food. Not a small production, where the audiences stand, there's only a single person operating between one to three instruments by themselves to provide accompaniment, and costumes are more often than not the thespians' normal clothes with a towel or blanket to give the...

Demesne EX SS 31 – Cooperative Practice

There wasn't much for Lidzuga and Kutago to move into their new house. Unlike Tae and Rybelle—very nice women, and it was a treat to hear Tae expound on the care of plants—the two siblings didn't have much to their name. All that was in their packs fit into one of the wooden niches built into the wall of their new house. The niche was apparently used for sleeping, but they were sleeping on the floor for the foreseeable future. Lidzuga wanted to check the niches for any growths like mold o...

Demesne 371 - Disproportionately Hurtful

"That was my fault," Rian said as soon as he'd come back from leading the two siblings away.

"Yes, it was."

"I should have helped him prepare what he was going to say. I knew the time off was going to be a contentious point, so I should have helped him present it in a way that wouldn’t annoy you."

"Yes, you should have."

"Really, I should have made more of a point about how important you considered contributing to the demesne to be, and that he should have waited a f...

Weekly Digest 115 - (#368 - #370)

Annoying Introductions, The First

As soon as they were in the ship, Rian grabbed one of the bound tools—one of those Lori had made—and put a bead in its receptacle. It shined with light, but it also started moving air.

"Here," Rian said, handing the wisplight to Shanalorre, which started blowing her hair back from her face. "Wouldn't want either of you to overheat and get sick."

"Thank you, Lord Rian," Shanalorre said, holding the wisplight air ...

Demesne 370 - Annoying Introductions, The Next

Lori glared at Rian. He had to be doing this on purpose!

"Lidzuga, Kutago, may I present the esteemed Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri. Best to refer to her as 'your Bindership'," Rian said cheerfully as he stood between her and the more than one person opposite her. Again! "Your Bindership, may I introduce Deadspeaker Lidzuga and his sister Mistress Kutago."

"Hello, uh, your Bindership," Lidzuga said, smiling in an annoyingly Rian-like manner. Next to him, his sister sa...

Demesne 369 - Deadspeaking Work Logistics

Lori closed her eyes, sighing. "I do not have the time to correct the no doubt mistaken impression Rian has given you of that incident," she said. "Rian, tell—" No, wait, not Rian. He was the one who misinformed them in the first place! "Binder Shanalorre, please properly explain the circumstances regarding my conquest of your demesne, as Rian seems to have chosen to amuse himself by humorously mispresenting events."

"Yes, Great Binder," Shanalorre said.

The two women blinked an...

Demesne 368 - Annoying Introductions, The First

As soon as they were in the ship, Rian grabbed one of the bound tools—one of those Lori had made—and put a bead in its receptacle. It shined with light, but it also started moving air.

"Here," Rian said, handing the wisplight to Shanalorre, which started blowing her hair back from her face. "Wouldn't want either of you to overheat and get sick."

"Thank you, Lord Rian," Shanalorre said, holding the wisplight air jet with both hands. Lori made sure to add more imbuement to the b...

Weekly Digest 114 - (#365 - #367)

Settling Accounts

I woke up to someone falling on top of me. The feeling of a face slamming into my chest was immediately identifiable, even with my clothes in the way. A nose against your sternum was a distinctive feeling, though I had less experienced with confused mumbling.

"Kuw, stop kicking me," Lidzuga said sleepily in the annoyed but resigned tones of someone who's had this happen to him before.

Then Lidzuga, Kutago and I had let out pained c...

Demesne 367 - Your Absence Was Missed

As fast as Lori's Ice Boat could move, between moving with the current and steam jet driver mounted on it, it still took some time to get down to River's Fork. Time Lori had to spend hot and sweating even with the binding she'd anchored to her hat to keep her head cool. This time she had also tried anchoring airwisps to the exposed ice of Lori's Ice Boat, using them to make a binding that blew air in her general direction. It wasn't perfect—the breeze generated tended to c...

Demesne 366 - Towards Home

I did, in fact, count.

After a quick inspection to ensure that all the double-large beads were all marked with the same denomination, I counted numbers of columns and rows. It all added up to half of the amount owed us for the wispbeads, just under fifty-thousand bead-tani. We'd gone above what would have been our profits if we'd only had salt, skins and furs to trade, but that was only because I knew we could, otherwise I wouldn't have bought so much wire, more mesh screens, bound tool...

Demesne 365 - Settling Accounts

I woke up to someone falling on top of me. The feeling of a face slamming into my chest was immediately identifiable, even with my clothes in the way. A nose against your sternum was a distinctive feeling, though I had less experienced with confused mumbling.

"Kuw, stop kicking me," Lidzuga said sleepily in the annoyed but resigned tones of someone who's had this happen to him before.

Then Lidzuga, Kutago and I had let out pained cries as Taeclas had rolled out of her bun...

Weekly Digest 113 - (#362 - #364)

Loaded And Ready To Go

With the new cart, we needed to find a route that wasn't so full of people as we headed back to Taeclas' house. Fortunately, the three men accompanying us—Lerri, Aran, and Malbin—knew Covehold's streets well, and had a good sense of what the roadways of the city were like at any particular time of day. With their help, we were able to get back to Taeclas' neighborhood in a reasonable amount of time, though it still seemed to take a li...

Demesne 364 - Good Night, Everyone

I was right to worry about Taeclas not being allowed back into the dock. When I arrived, she was in the middle of trying to explain to Plet the night dockmaster that she should be allowed back in. She probably would have if it weren't for her gang friends looming behind her, but as a result Plet and the dockhands were wary.

"Taeclas, there you are!" I called out cheerfully to break the growing tension. "We were wondering what was taking you so long."

"Tah, Rian!" she called out. I...

Demesne 363 - Settling In The New Recruits

It was almost late afternoon by the time we reached the docks, mostly because the might-be-a-gang with us all kept insisting we were going the wrong way, until I made it clear that, no, we were NOT going to the rickets.

When we reached the docks, Yhoe almost didn't let us through because… well, having what looked like a gang coming to his docks probably had him very concerned given incident with the fiery warehouse and the stolen ship. Fortunately, Taeclas was able to get most of them...

31/10/23 Update and Poll

Ah... looks like I can keep my promise of ending this arc this November. Ugh, I'm going to have to get out of the habit of writing in First Person.

So, against my better judgement, I've set up an at-best rudimentary Discord servet for this. All members should have gotten an invite. Once I get the nerve, I'll probably open it to non-Patreons. 

I want to get ahead of things, so I'm setting up the poll for November's Patron Exclusive. I've go nothing right now, so I'll be reusin...

Demesne 362 - Loaded And Ready To Go

With the new cart, we needed to find a route that wasn't so full of people as we headed back to Taeclas' house. Fortunately, the three men accompanying us—Lerri, Aran, and Malbin—knew Covehold's streets well, and had a good sense of what the roadways of the city were like at any particular time of day. With their help, we were able to get back to Taeclas' neighborhood in a reasonable amount of time, though it still seemed to take a little longer than walking would have.

The three me...

Weekly Digest 112 - (#359 - #361)

The Ship In The Morning

While I woke up early these days, I was not naturally a morning person. It was a learned habit, and I needed to get up immediately and start moving to wake up properly.

This morning, I woke up miserable because I'd been woken up the night before, interrupting my sleep. The temptation to turn over and go back to sleep was strong, but as the leader I had to set an example. So I got up and started stretching get my blood flowing and w...

Demesne 361 - A Large Cart

Once the two of them stopped their sisterly bickering, they went inside to start packing, as well as speak with the one they were renting their room from to end their rent. Since the room was cramped, us going inside to help them would be more hindrance than help, so I told them I'd come back to help them move later that afternoon after I checked on our other prospective candidates.

After much walking, we arrived at the town house where Sharrod and his cousins lived. It was actually mor...

Demesne Patron EX SS 30 – Banditry

Grem had never thought he would find himself turning to banditry. During his time in the militia, he'd had to lead men to put down bandit gangs. The bandits had hidden in either the colored borders between demesnes where a spring or stream let them wash and survive for extended periods of time between raids into Lomabuyar Demesne. They attacked edge farms and logging camps, stealing food, warm clothes and firewood for themselves until the militia could come to wash them out.

He'd never ...

Demesne 360 - Siblings

Since we were having a late start, we grabbed a few chlyp skewers for a hasty breakfast from a street stall, and two buns each from a bakery so we'd have energy for all the walking we'd be doing today. Fortunately, the walking helped me shed my sleepiness, but I still felt tired. That would pass later in the morning, I knew, but for the moment I was simply going to be miserable.

We checked up on Master Yhosed's recommendation first, since he was nearby. I'd told him, as I had told all o...

Demesne 359 - The Ship In The Morning

While I woke up early these days, I was not naturally a morning person. It was a learned habit, and I needed to get up immediately and start moving to wake up properly.

This morning, I woke up miserable because I'd been woken up the night before, interrupting my sleep. The temptation to turn over and go back to sleep was strong, but as the leader I had to set an example. So I got up and started stretching get my blood flowing and wake me up the rest of the way.

…

I said I ...

Weekly Digest 111 - (#356 - #358)

The Interview

Telref, I soon found, was a man barely holding himself together and constantly on the edge of despair. It was in the tired way he sat, the tone of his voice as he spoke, and the air of needing sleep. He seemed a worrier, probably worrying about his work, his wife, his son, whether they could afford the rent on where they lived, whether they could afford food, whether they'd be able to afford heat in the coming winter…

In other words, he wa...

20/10/23 Update

So, I've finished the Walter Route and the Ayre Route in Armored Core 6, and it's only having to keep working on this that is keeping me from finishing the Allmind Route. I love From Software's dating sim with attached mecha-piloting minigames.

On the story front, we should be going back to Lorian and Lori's no-names POV soon, hopefully some time in November. There we'll finally see how she interacts with the new blood, and I have some fun interactions in mind.

Currently torn abou...