In the aftermath of a betrayal and the resulting trigger event, the life of 27-year-old Christopher Newman takes an unforeseen turn. Unfortunately for the competent but unenterprising corporal, no amount of running or denial seems to be enough to put that genie back in its bottle.
2023-08-11 18:58:11 +0000 UTC View PostShikamaru exhaled as he stood before a door bearing a restricted area sign.
It was no big deal, he argued to himself, attempting to reconcile the fact he—a mere Genin—had, for the fifteenth time in the past seven days, been escorted by an entire squad of ANBU operatives to a restricted room in a secret underground facility that should not exist. The fact that he had been held in isolation—forced to undergo similar repetitive intrusive medical and psychologi...
2023-08-10 12:03:04 +0000 UTC View PostFaywyn.
LEVI'S army marched down the wide dirt path leading to Faywyn. Their boots still wet from their earlier river crossing kicked up dust as they made their way back home. The sun was setting behind them, casting long shadows across the fields and meadows. The men were tired, but their spirits were high as they approached the silhouette in the distance.
The earl himself stare...
2023-08-05 23:33:43 +0000 UTC View PostTowleigh.
TIMEL Lone had just drifted off to sleep when the sound of urgent knocking on his chamber door woke him. Annoyed, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Who is it?" he groused.
"It is I, My Lord! Tavish!" came the voice of his steward immediately after. "I'm sorry to wake you, but there is urgent news you must hear!"
Lone sighed. Reaching ...
2023-08-05 23:31:25 +0000 UTC View PostMallowston.
MALINA was uncertain what to make of her father’s return. On one hand, she was glad to see he was alive, albeit dreadfully haggard. On the other, she loathed him for the horrible dilemma he had thrust them into. His lust for the von Grifenburg’s lands had inadvertently cost them theirs. Her anger at the count grew with the knowledge that he was bested...
2023-08-05 23:29:25 +0000 UTC View Post{Excerpt}
The Band of the Six was the most influential and decisive spiritual force in the history of Udoris, at least until the advent of the Great War. Alone, it was the most significant religious body to exist throughout the Early to Late Middle Ages. Tracing its history several centuries back, witnessing the birth and collapse of numerous kingdoms and empires, it is recognised as the oldest continuing absolute monarchy in the ancien... 2023-08-05 23:27:33 +0000 UTC View Post
{Excerpt}
The lion is considered to be the king of mortal beasts, and the eagle the king of mortal birds; hence, the gryphon is thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Since antiquity, gryphons were known as astute guardians of treasures and priceless possessions, protectors from evil, witchcraft, and secret slander, symbols of great power and guardians of the divine.
According to the an... 2023-08-05 23:25:44 +0000 UTC View Post
{Excerpt}
The Strega being the longest river in Udoris is the most important waterway in Algrim. Cutting a slightly winding path through the kingdom, it originates at an estimated elevation of only about 300 metres in the Treilleauzo territory of the Aiga mountain range, within the north-western territories of Quilton, before discharging another 832 km away into the Ignis basin, east of the Morgan channel. 2023-08-05 23:23:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Mallowston.
THE sky was a sickly shade of grey, a reflection of the death and despair that hung heavily in the air. Aden dreaded to imagine what cruel sights awaited him upon his arrival at Mallowston. A murder of crows flew overhead, their seemingly mocking caws grating at his ears. In the dim light of dawn, the Strega appeared murky and brown, swirling with eddies and currents that pul...
2023-08-05 23:17:09 +0000 UTC View Post{Excerpt}
…A renowned fraternity formed by a small group of merchants in Crotha during the late 1400s is believed to be the first true merchant guild in Udoris. Following the annexation of a Crotha after the Great War, the growing confederation of merchant guilds came to dominate trade around the Gulf of Verum, with their influence soon extending along the Northern Seas; all the way from Gold Bay in the west to the Caspian gulf in the... 2023-08-05 23:15:03 +0000 UTC View Post
An edited map containing all the locations that would be treated as canon in this Fanfic.
2023-08-05 17:53:14 +0000 UTC View PostWe continued to stare at the ceiling as the door shoji slid shut behind Shizuka. We felt strange; a certain hollowness in our guts as the Kunoichi departed. The feeling we found was eerily distracting. Annoying.
Depressing.
We did not enjoy it.
We turned off a few nerve bundles in our amygdala, utterly suppressing the unusual emotion. Our thoughts cleared and our breathing evened out. No longer distracted we could focus on more important things. We ...
2023-08-05 17:44:20 +0000 UTC View PostShizuka stared at the door finding herself unable to go beyond it. Her hand hovered inches away from the fixture; hesitant. She bit her lower lip in frustration as she tried again to steel her resolve, only to fail once more. She was terrified, she realised. Petrified by the presence that lay beyond.
Shizuka had earlier made the misguided assumption that she was prepared for the undertaking required of her ...
2023-08-04 04:46:37 +0000 UTC View PostTo love is to sacrifice…
We relished the sensation of natural energy coursing through our meridians. Our chakra network buzzed pleasantly as we felt the world’s essence pour into us.
It was intoxicating!
To love is to sacrifice…
The feeling inebriated us so much that we scarcely reacted when the others vacated the room. Our inattentiveness towards our immediate surroundings greatly alarmed us on a subconscious level, bu...
2023-08-02 18:43:19 +0000 UTC View PostShizuka was unsure if she was stupid, or just insane. Her heart thundered as she led Sagiri up the tower towards the Uchiha’s temporary abode. She had not seen her presumed sperm donor since her last meeting with Lady Marika, nor could she claim to have any sort of handle on his temperament. Confronting a shinobi of his calibre over a matter like this seemed to her the kind of thing she should not be allowing her beloved to do, but, alas, he refuses to see reason.<...
2023-07-31 14:31:43 +0000 UTC View Post“Musume-sama, may I come in?”
“...No.”
Shizuka refused to look up as the door slid open. “I don’t remember permitting you to enter, Tokiwa,” she said, pulling her knees closer to her bosom.
“Then I must apologise,” came a sedated reply. Shizuka finally looked up, her defiant gaze rising to meet that of her attendant. The older woman sighed as she plopped down beside her, saying nothing as she placed a consoling hand on Shizuka’s ...
2023-07-31 14:30:16 +0000 UTC View PostI have been thinking about how to work the overarching plotline for a while now and realised Kaguya might not be so easily removed without altering the rest of canon in SIGNIFICANT ways. So I came down with three choices for my next course of action and want your opinions before I take any drastic steps in any direction.
1) I remove Kaguya completely as well as any associated info, altering canon to fit the fanfic.
2) I use Kaguya as she is, accepting the baggage that comes with i...
2023-07-29 07:56:13 +0000 UTC View Post“...I don’t understand what you mean, Uchiha-san?” Marika replied, a sinking feeling rising in her chest. Rarely does one turn the hand of a kunoichi from Nadeshiko, especially not one as attractive as Shizuka. Marika groaned as the image of a white-haired man with a red line extending from under his eyes surfaced in her mind.
Not him too!
“I mean, why should I have to settle with your successor?” the Uchiha continued with all the calmn...
2023-07-28 03:32:30 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t care that he is a prodigious Uchiha, nor do I care about how talented he is or how compatible we would be together! I am not getting married to him!”
Marika rubbed her temple in frustration as her successor refused to see reason.
“Shizuka—”
“No, sensei! I am sorry, but I cannot do this! I already have someone I love!”
“Shizuka! Shizu—”
*bang*
Marika winced as the shoji was violently thrown op...
2023-07-28 03:30:59 +0000 UTC View PostWe lounged languidly by the windowsill, looking out from the room we were provided up in the matriarch’s tower at the village below. Beyond Nadeshiko’s walls, a sprawling forest extended from the foot of the hill on which the community was perched towards the horizon. The sun had long since descended out of view, the night sky now adorned by a brilliant display of twinkling stars.
Even as we indulged ourself in the tranquillity of the moment, our attention ...
2023-07-28 03:29:32 +0000 UTC View PostDon't forget to connect your discord to your Patreon account, especially if you are in the lvl III tier. Hosting the Q&A sessions would be much easier to do and plan in advance on Discord.
2023-07-24 21:21:55 +0000 UTC View PostFaywyn.
LEVI awoke to the seemingly perpetual wails of the wintry morning, wooden shutters clattering noisily with each frigid gust of wind. The earl let out a low groan as he lifted the rather exquisite patchwork sheet of deerskin that was his bedcover, careful as he disentangled a slumbering governess from his person.
With a slight shiver, he slid off his bed as the early-mornin...
Windy fir woodlands.
THE last days of autumn had arrived, and the world was awash in a riot of colours. The trees once adorned in lush greens, now wore a cloak of golds, reds, and oranges, a final burst of brilliance before the winter chill set in. The air was crisp and cool, with a faint hint of woodsmoke drifting on the breeze. Leaves crunched underfoot, and the smell of...
{Excerpt}
The true messenger pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeons derived from the wild rock dove, selectively bred for its ability to find its way home over extremely long distances. The messenger pigeon has an innate homing ability, meaning that it will generally return to its nest (it is believed) using magnetoreception.
Flights as long as 1,800 km (1,100 miles) have been recorded and their average flying spe... 2023-07-24 16:28:36 +0000 UTC View Post
{Excerpt}
Shortly after the Great War in the year 1512 S.T., legendary alchemist, Lucien Damevar stumbled upon the explosive properties of black powder (a combination of saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal) while seeking the cure to an unknown ailment plaguing his only child. The Ivonnian alchemist wrote in his diary an account of the substance, saying; "After heating together the saltpetre and carbon of... 2023-07-24 16:25:58 +0000 UTC View Post
The northern border - Algrim.
DRAKE sat at the foot of a tent, calmly watching as yeomen and servants alike busied themselves with the arrangement of the camp. The soft neighing of hitched horses and the rustling of leaves in the evening breeze blew over him. In times like this, he sometimes found himself melancholic, his mind adrift as he reminisced about the good days...
Windy fir woodlands.
STARING at her rippling reflection in the cup, Vaiu paused to take in the progress; or lack thereof. Frustrated, she pondered, wondering why she longed for the mundane when the very world was her oyster. Even for one such as herself, life was too short for all the lives she constantly dreamed of living; searching for feelings that she knew might one day de...
Faywyn.
LATE autumn—falling leaves of many colours; deep brown, fire-orange, and wine-red, they meander. Flying. They ramble on this, on that, their only chance to wander. Roving. Descending to the forest litter where they would spend the rest of their existence in the hectic, pallid hues of decay, emanating the ancient scent of a ripened earth. Dying.
The Keep w...
{Excerpts}
The Nameless Ones are a cult of religious assassins bred, trained and governed with the sole purpose of enforcing the will of the god-consort of the Creed of the Twins; The Lord of Death—referred to as the Father by the Nameless, and the Groom by members of the Creed’s governorate.
After passing a recondite training regime and rite of passage, members of the Nameless exit as calamitously... 2023-07-24 12:48:37 +0000 UTC View Post