So, it's been a pretty crappy week for writing. Haven't been able to get in the zone. First there was problems with writing Demesne, which needed three versions and two rewrites... and now I have to announce there will be no Nightmærangers tomorrow. I know it doesn't seem to be anyone's favorite, but on the off chance someone likes it... there's why.
Ugh. Well, hopefully next week things will turn out better. 3 Demesnes, a Nightmæranger, and 3 Maria days. And yes, unles...
2021-05-01 13:07:48 +0000 UTC
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"Any idea what's going to happen to him?" Rian asked.
They stood around the outside of Grem's impromptu prison under the light of the late afternoon sun. It felt… strange… to Lori to not have any work to do at this time of day. Usually she'd be desiccating the contents of the latrines and emptying them to make more room, or checking on the various stone plumbing for leaks or blockages, or curing wood so they could be used within the next few days.
The Vyshke woman shrugged. "T...
2021-04-29 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The Vyshke woman moved to stand over Grem, glaring down at him. As he finished blinking and came fully conscious, he started returning the favor.
"Grem," she said curtly.
"Vyshke," he said in the same tones.
"Is there any particular reason you tried to kill my husband and my niece, or were you just extremely drunk again?" she said coolly.
"I am not a drunk, woman! You just can't hold your beer!"
This level of personal attacks did not bode well for the ne...
2021-04-27 17:10:00 +0000 UTC
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Emdeng awoke, as he usually did, to the sounds of the bells of Open Hand Demesne chiming the time. Despite advancements in timekeeping technology over the centuries, the bells were still rung at sunrise rather than at fourth bell, which according to his clock wasn't for another few chimes yet.
For a moment, he just lay there on his cot, his brain fuzzy from having just been kicked out of sleep. Then he took a deep breath and cleared his mind. Magic filled him as air filled his lungs, an...
2021-04-27 03:14:24 +0000 UTC
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Lori had never seen Rian so nervous. It hasn't a state she associated with her lord. He was confident, charming, kind, oblivious to other's advances, could easily be mistaken for making advances, annoyingly insightful, straightforward, theatrical, helpful, determined, and had a strange fetish for voting, but never nervous.
He was nervous now as he explained the chain of events that had led to violence to her husband, being very careful to emphasize his non-involvement ...
2021-04-25 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The Savant
"Healed? Your Binder healed all of them?" Rian said, sounding appropriately amazed at such a convenient occurrence. "Well, that's convenient. They'll be able to travel on their own, then."
Grem, however, looked like he'd been condemned to death. "Lasponin… you didn't…" he said pleadingly. "You didn't… not her… I hoped I was wrong, but… you actually got her to become the Binder?"
"It was necessary, Grem," Lasponin said. ...
2021-04-25 05:02:00 +0000 UTC
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Due to not being in the zone for long enough yesterday, the Patron exclusive short 'A Mentalist's Day' (tentative title) wasn't completed. Rather than forcing it today, I'll do it later this week in place of a usual Demesne chapter. Today's a Maria Day.
I hope to still be able to post it before the end of the month, in case anyone is planning to pull out so they can still enjoy this primarily-worldbuilding chapter. I honestly laugh at how everyone defaults to 'MINDCONTROL' when thinking...
2021-04-25 03:56:58 +0000 UTC
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The House With Pink In Its Walls, Part 2
The graveyard in Marikina– sorry, the 'Memorial Garden'– was, in fact, actually fairly private. While they had a gate, the guards didn't stop anyone or even asked them who they'd be visiting, and the three of them just walked in, each of them holding a bouquet of flowers that Tammy had grown from the backs of her arms and wrapped with what seemed like a very thin banana leaf. No one even looked at them.
"This f...
2021-04-25 00:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Eventually, as promised, food was sent up to them for lunch, since aside from Grem's actions, they were apparently still considered guests.
River's Fork demesne had bread.
That alone made all this worth the trip.
"I might have to leave your demesne," Rian said, staring down in salivating wonder at the baked good in front of him. "No offense, but Lorian isn't being completely fulfilling for me…"
"Those are terribly ungrateful words," Lori said absently as she licked h...
2021-04-22 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The girl Shanalorre was staring at Lori curiously. "You're a wizard?" she said. "Like Tota and Tyatya?"
"I am," Lori confirmed, ignoring the two militiamen in front of her who were hefting their clubs nervously. She kept her breathing even and circular. "Though I'm not sure how 'like' those two I am. I was a Whisperer before I became a Dungeon Binder."
Shanalorre frowned slightly. "I thought Dungeon Binders were supposed to be more… scary?"
"Do you feel scary?" Lori asked....
2021-04-20 17:01:59 +0000 UTC
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A hearty thanks to everyone who has been supporting me and my stories! I am here to say that before the end of the month (if you happen to be thinking of leaving), I will be releasing a Patron Exclusive Worldbuilding Short Story for Demesne. It will be about Mentalists (since people keep making weird/hilarious assumptions about what they can do), set in a place previously mentioned, Open Hand Demesne.
I have tentative plans for using the POV character of this segment as a NEW CHAR...
2021-04-20 05:25:20 +0000 UTC
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"Healed? Your Binder healed all of them?" Rian said, sounding appropriately amazed at such a convenient occurrence. "Well, that's convenient. They'll be able to travel on their own, then."
Grem, however, looked like he'd been condemned to death. "Lasponin… you didn't…" he said pleadingly. "You didn't… not her… I hoped I was wrong, but… you actually got her to become the Binder?"
"It was necessary, Grem," Lasponin said. "Besides, Shana wanted to do it."
"Sh...
2021-04-18 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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The House With Pink In Its Walls, Part 1
One morning, as Sanny Dalag woke from strange dreams of alien thoughts and sensations, filling his mind with disjointed visions of a world subsumed by tainted flesh, he discovered than in his sleep he had become a twisted, inhuman monstrosity of flesh-rending mouths in places they shouldn't be, tentacles that tasted the air and hungered for flesh, eyes that saw in the sunlight strange colors from out of space, and a urge...
2021-04-18 00:00:02 +0000 UTC
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This Place Isn't Civilized
It was very tempting to boldly say 'No', throw him into the water, then turn around to go back to her demesne.
But if what he was saying is true…
"How did no one rob you blind in Covehold?" Rian said.
Lori blinked at him. "What?"
He gestured vaguely in the general direction of her face. "You practically have 'greedy mark, please swindle' written on your forehead." The lord glanced at the other three men level...
2021-04-17 17:01:02 +0000 UTC
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In her room at home, Tammy waits dreaming
Sleepy, yet not asleep.
She lay in bed, dreaming, dozing.
She wanted to stay where she was. To just lie there in place, and not be moved. To breathe in and grow…
Ugh, but she was thirsty. So thirsty… and why were the lights off? Her eyes were closed, but she knew the light were off, and she couldn't rest properly without lights…
Lazi...
2021-04-17 14:20:07 +0000 UTC
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Rian was the first out of the boat and over the side, pulling it up onto the shore to beach it properly so it wouldn't drift away. Grem scrambled down to help as Lori and everyone else tried to keep from falling over. Some people in the crowd helped, pulling them up, and one grabbed the anchor and stuck its hooks onto the ground. She heard greetings in the thick, northern accent, on the theme of 'Grem, you're back!' and 'You're still alive!'.
"Everyone!" Grem cried with a big smile on h...
2021-04-15 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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She slept on the barge, anchored securely out in the middle of the river. With all the supplies removed, there was plenty of room for her to stretch out. She had her rain coat to lie down on, her old pillow, her blanket, and her hat to put over her head so bugs wouldn't lay eggs in her ears, not that there were any bugs in the demesne yet. As sleeping arrangements go, it wasn't bad. When they had been originally travelling, she usually slept under a water wagon in case it rained, but that cha...
2021-04-14 05:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Okay, so, had to edit Demesne Chapter 25 because a number was absurdly low, and I was driving myself to conniptions with math before I gave up and admitted I had to (shudder) edit a number so it made more sense. This shouldn't make much of a difference to readers, but I'm letting you know in case you happened to remember the old number and wonder why it seems to have increased.
For the rest who read after today, just ignore this, this mostly applies to Patrons who've already read ...
2021-04-12 12:59:41 +0000 UTC
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It was very tempting to boldly say 'No', throw him into the water, then turn around to go back to her demesne.
But if what he was saying is true…
"How did no one rob you blind in Covehold?" Rian said.
Lori blinked at him. "What?"
He gestured vaguely in the general direction of her face. "You practically have 'greedy mark, please swindle' written on your forehead." The lord glanced at the other three men leveling spears at Grem. "It's not just me, right? You can see i...
2021-04-11 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Day Of The Plague Dog, Part 3
"So talk," an incongruously normal, feminine voice said.
To be perfectly honest, Tammy hadn't really thought past this part. She'd sort of assumed that she wouldn't get this far. But she only had to talk. That wasn't hard.
"So, first off, sorry for crashing into you, but it was the fastest way up here. And thanks for not eating me," Tammy said brightly. She tried to smile, then realized without lips that didn't really w...
2021-04-11 07:42:29 +0000 UTC
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Lori's Boat
With the probationaries telling them that there was, in fact, no rapids between her demesne and their previous, now unclaimed one, as well as the assertion there were wounded left behind, Lori was… all right, still worried this was a trap. But the possibility of an unclaimed demesne was worth the risk… but someone would know that, that's why they thought it was a trap, and the supposedly unclaimed demesne was the bait… but if it wasn't a trap...
2021-04-10 17:00:03 +0000 UTC
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"– according to her biography!" Lori ranted. "So, it doesn't work like that!" She panted and reached for the water skin for a drink to soothe her throat.
Landoor– and his name would forever be burned into her head for his utter stupidity– said, "But in the story–" and that was as far as he got before the other two hurriedly clamped hands over his mouth and shuffled him off to the far side of the barge from Lori, hissing urgently. She made a note to try and remember thei...
2021-04-08 17:02:00 +0000 UTC
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There was much screaming, holding on to the sides of the barge and lying down next to the pile of supplies crying about how they were going too fast.
"You're all being overdramatic," Rian sighed.
That was rich coming from him, but Lori couldn't help but agree in this instance
"Seriously guys, relax," he said, trying to coax the other four men on the barge into something like a dignified position as Lori handled the rudder. "You're missing out on a great view."
Her fins...
2021-04-07 05:02:00 +0000 UTC
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As some of you may know, SB is currently down. Now, I don't know how many of you followed me from there for sure, but I know it's a number greater than 2. So, until the issue is resolved, and that wrenched hive of scum and villainy is back on it's feet, today's Maria will be posted here. You can also read it on FFNET and AO3, b...
2021-04-07 04:49:24 +0000 UTC
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With the probationaries telling them that there was, in fact, no rapids between her demesne and their previous, now unclaimed one, as well as the assertion there were wounded left behind, Lori was… all right, still worried this was a trap. But the possibility of an unclaimed demesne was worth the risk… but someone would know that, that's why they thought it was a trap, and the supposedly unclaimed demesne was the bait… but if it wasn't a trap…
For the first time in her life, Lor...
2021-04-04 17:01:03 +0000 UTC
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Day Of The Plague Dog, Part 2
The area of the street where the yellow newcomer and the plague dog were fighting was clear of people, who'd all drawn back to take out their phones. The plague dog grappled with the newcomer, trying to get them in its jaws. It fought like… well, a dog, leading with its fangs, batting with its front paws. Its limbs were jerky though, its inflammations working against it and hampering its movements. But it was huge, it treated the...
2021-04-03 17:37:37 +0000 UTC
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While trying to write the latest chapter of Nightmærangers, I gave in and tried to give them a short, cut for TV-size OP lyrics. Why? Because apparently there are still some self-delusions I need to shed.
As this is a sentai series, the original lyrics are in a foreign language. Here they are:
English Lyrics
We are here,
Defend your world.
Will fight,
To see
New morning
Even wake up
The nightmare continues
When will it end
T...
2021-04-03 17:32:43 +0000 UTC
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The Strangers
It was the most awkward lunch Lori had ever attended, and that included the time her mothers and she had attended a family reunion in another demesne and everyone kept asking who her father was.
Rian had had one of the stone cooking pots brought out. It was still a third full, reminding Lori she hadn't had any seconds yet, and a fire had been lit under it. Wooden bowls of stew were being passed around to the strangers, and many were eating l...
2021-04-03 17:02:00 +0000 UTC
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HELLOOOOO Patrons and possibly people who for some reason are reading the free chapters here instead of somewhere more convenient, like Royal Road (please leave a rating, it really helps me reach more people!) or SB (I interact more there). Thank you for staying with me anot...
2021-04-02 08:30:47 +0000 UTC
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It wasn't much of a ceremony. Grem, the assorted probationary subjects he was eating with, Rian to take over when she was done, and anyone else who might be in hearing range, which from the murmur of voices having breakfast in the Dungeon's dining hall wasn't a lot. There was a murmur of excitement in the voices around them that reminded her of the first day of school year at the academy, when classes were slightly reshuffled and people wasted time trying to get to know who they'd been reshuf...
2021-04-01 17:01:59 +0000 UTC
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