As I looked at the little token that would grant us permission to visit Artemis’s sub-island - I couldn’t believe Artemis had an entire island - I realized a little problem.
“Wait. How do we get to the islands?” I asked the [Clerk]. I mean, I supposed I could probably fly over there, but with the School’s defenses and a token implying the island had additional protections, it was possible there was a special method.
I hadn’t ...
2024-03-22 02:00:01 +0000 UTC
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My energy levels crashed almost the second we took off towards the flying island where the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft was located. I hit myself with [Zenith Everlasting], then briefly split off a thought process to work out why.
The solution hit me like a pie to the face. It was because I was doing something about Auri’s situation now, instead of restlessly waiting. All of my restless pacing around had done me no favors.
To my mi...
2024-03-20 02:00:01 +0000 UTC
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412 days later, I woke up with a start, my jaw aching from grinding it all night long. I wanted to angrily throw off the covers and stomp around without a care in the world, but I held myself back. Iona would end up bearing the brunt of my bad mood, and that wasn’t fair to her.
That was it. It was going to be six years and a day tomorrow, the moment the sun crested the horizon, and Auri wasn’t back. She was obviously still alive and doing fantastically well for herself - th...
2024-03-18 02:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Flying back home was a joy, eager impatience warring with my enjoyment of flying. I redoubled my resolve - shortly after Auri was back home, the Eventide Eclipse should go exploring around the world. Problems for Iona to fix, people for me to heal, and sights to see. Iona was fully mortal, and as long as I didn’t draw too much attention to myself, we shouldn’t have any problems. If I contained myself to healing sick children in villages who needed specialized care, and not flexing by mass...
2024-03-15 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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About a month later, I woke to the grand humming of the giants, greeting the rising sun in their own way.
I spent a brief moment disoriented, having changed where I was sleeping a few times now. The first night I’d slept in a giant’s shoe, not realizing what it was. After a great amount of embarrassment, I’d tried sleeping in [Vault of Ages], but the looming sense of dread, the complete deadness of the [Vault], and occasionally peeking in...
2024-03-13 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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I slightly bowed to the [Monk], in a similar manner to how I’d seen the occasional giant greet each other in the Valley. The gates he was in front of were enormous. They were modestly sized for the country, but they were larger than even the grandest city gates I’d seen. My head went from shin-height to ankle-height, and he was too far away for me to see anything from [The World Around Me].
Aspiration. Words. Action. Effort. Mindfulne...
2024-03-11 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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I’d already decided that I’d take the journey through the Valley of Echoing Prayers slowly. It served three purposes.
The first was that Night had recommended it. The second was to work on my grasp of the Kanauri language, exclusively spoken in the region. A good number of giants might be fluent in High Elvish, but the region was so insular I doubted it was widespread. Then again - giants, practically Immortal lifespan, and -
I spun off a thought process with [Luminary...
2024-03-08 03:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for last month's incentive link going all wonky. Working on redoing things.
It was suggested to me that a google drive link could work, and initial testing seemed promising, so let's try this!
The Lady of Death from the Han arc
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NmfHjyPYKGR_Rq-dFMzQEEVhcnMXbLX1&usp=drive_fs
2024-03-06 07:30:58 +0000 UTC
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I woke up to Iona bolting upright in bed, swearing up a storm. I jumped up, snapping my wings open, a flood of information entering my mind from [The World Around Me], looking for the fire, looking for the [Assassin].
Were the gnomes back to finish the job?!
After a few heart-pounding moments of adrenaline flooding my system, my fingers poised to catch a spellbook and [The First Rays of Dawn] on the tip of my tongue, and Iona slow...
2024-03-06 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The great wheel of time meant nothing stayed the same, no matter how much I wanted it to.
This too shall pass. Both a happy and a sad statement, an ode to the relentless march of time and change.
My little clinic was one of the places that had undergone numerous changes, no matter how much I resisted and tried to prevent anything from being different. My new healing ability to ‘fix’ minor defects bordered on biomancy, and the fact that I was handing out ‘free bioman...
2024-03-04 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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It was a dark and stormy night. Detective Fenrir, Private Weyevern, was deep in his office-lair, surrounded by piles of unpaid bills. He’d done a few favors for the [Landlady] over the years, and was at no risk of being evicted.
The fact that none of the bills had Fenrir’s name on them never once crossed his mind. His teeth delicately wrapped around a barrel of whiskey, and with one quick tilt of his head, he swallowed the entire thing whole.
The whis...
2024-03-01 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Iona knelt in the chapel, her head bowed in prayer, her hands clasped around the shaft of her axe.
Selene and Lunaris, I pray for your guidance and grace. Light the way forward, and help me through the trial I am about to undertake.
A raspberry blew in Iona’s ear. Selene wasn’t amused by Iona’s prayer.
You know exactly what you’re doing! Have faith in yourself! Selene said.
You know yourself as well as we do, and nobody knows your own hear...
2024-02-28 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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AN: Hey! I realized just a few days ago that this chapter was needed, and I sat down with minimal planning and time to write it. Wordcount wise I'm happy, and I think the chapters decent, but if it feels off or lower quality, I'm sorry, it hasn't had the usual amount of time to 'cook' and get edited. I think it's a solid, enjoyable chapter, but if something feels a hair off - that's what it is.
Bonus - I've got another chapter in my backlog, which is a HUGE win in my books!!
Thank yo...
2024-02-26 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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I promise I want to get more text incentives done. It's on my list!
For now, more CJ art!
Third time's hopefully the charm, I don't want to spam people, but I test a link on my end, it works, I post it here, it breaks. Trying a new image host.
For real, I'm willing to pay for a good image host if anyone knows one that's easy and simple to use.
https://pixhost.to/show/110...
2024-02-22 21:38:58 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
This upcoming week, being the last full week of February, is admin week. I heard a collective cry of dismay at that news.
In related news, there's the potential for a bonus chapter to be posted this week, depending on how it all flows. I've got some awkward pacing ahead (the chapter, if done, would be written and almost immediately posted, then everything after it renumbered... yeah...), and having the chapter done as a 'bonus' would make that work better.
In oth...
2024-02-18 23:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Night knew when he’d finished a speech strong.
“I am passing off further matters to Addolorata. While not a Sentinel herself, she is a member of my team, and speaks with my voice.” Without further ado, he sat down, and a devil stepped up to the front of the stage.
Night had four visible members of his team, and I was willing to bet there were a few more that weren’t public-facing. I’d briefly met some of them when I’d met with Night earlier, but took the chanc...
2024-02-16 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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The ringing symphony of steel on steel greeted me when I returned home, a pair of Valkyries sparring in full gear. I poked my head into the salle, watching a display of skill and magic, seeing once again how an utterly alien style of fighting worked. A longsword and kite shield wielded by a pachysaurus type saurian against a bearkin wielding a greatsword almost as tall as she was - and she towered over Iona by a full head.
On one hand, combat was combat. Trying to kill someone was tryin...
2024-02-14 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Night was a gracious vampire, my mentor, my friend. He’d spent quite a lot of time with me, helping me settle in when I first came back.
But he was a busy, busy man.
During his ‘vacation’ from leading the Sentinels, he still had a full social calendar. Not only did most of the Sentinels seek to bend his ear on occasion, but he was the vampire. He seemed to know everyone, have connections to all the movers and shakers, was mentoring at least three people in wildly di...
2024-02-12 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Vatius
Vatius believed he played one of the most important roles in the Exterreri Empire.
Sure, the Senate passed laws.
Sure, the Emperor ruled.
Sure, the guards, Rangers, and Sentinels took care of problems.
Sure, the various guilds ran the economy.
Sure, merchants made the whole thing run smoothly.
Sure, they’d all starve without farmers.
But!
All that paled in compare to his work. His art.
Who would know of the...
2024-02-09 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Auri
The Dungeon sounded like a ton of fun! Endless levels of puzzles and traps, fake-real monsters and TREASURE! It was one of the Things To Do around here!
From everything I could tell, The Dungeon was what Elaine called an Oddity, something that just Didn’t Make Sense. It played by its own rules!
I wanted to be an Oddity. I wanted to play by my own rules! Like be able to be here and be with Elaine and the rest at the same time. That would be fun!
2024-02-07 03:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Sasha was fast. It didn’t take long until we were over blessed dry land again, and no longer over the killer water.
The Peaks were interesting. A whole range of mountains, with a few of them glowing with active lava. My totally expert eyes from seeing the Tears of Vulcan up close and personal suggested that most of the mountains were volcanic, but most of them were dormant.
I hoped I got to see one go boom while I was here!
Errr…
In a totally safe and not ...
2024-02-05 03:11:00 +0000 UTC
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I tried to schedule my posts to line up and release at exactly the right time.
I clearly derped, and messed up which week Friday's was supposed to come out at.
Can't un-post something, so you get all the chapters now, and no chapters next week (Because you've already gotten all three of them)
I'm a little dissapointed - even thought it was ready to post, I had still hoped to edit the wedding chapters one more time.
Cheers, enjoy the binge!
2024-01-26 06:18:57 +0000 UTC
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My cheeks burned as we kissed in front of everyone, the crowd cheering and clapping at our display. Iona fearlessly pulled me in closer, heedless of Auri’s flames, to get a better grip on me as she kissed.
One of the Valkyries shouted out a crude suggestion in Sanglo, and the soldiers of the Sixth got the tone, even without understanding the words. They immediately tried to one-up the Valkyries, shouting their own suggestions in High Elvish. A harsh glare from Night and Sigrun quieted...
2024-01-26 06:16:58 +0000 UTC
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The dress was something special, something only Auri and I could do. We’d practiced it in her hall of mirrors, working on getting something just right that I loved.
My little phoenix friend’s utter mastery over flames of every color gave me infinite possibilities and variations. Interestingly, white as a wedding color hadn’t caught on, or at least hadn’t been the Exterreri fashion for hundreds of years. They took the approach that brides looked much better in black, whi...
2024-01-26 06:16:37 +0000 UTC
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I couldn’t sleep a wink.
The wedding had been a blast! Tons of fun! Endless mango juice! Even the three grumps loosened up and seemed to have fun! Petrie still had his beak waaaay up in the air, but Ra and Sasha had some good conversation with Night and a few of the older vampires!
They were so old! How did anyone get that old?!
Sasha’s flames were still burning strong, which was a huge relief. When I got that old, my flames would be just as pretty as they were ...
2024-01-26 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
Terrible timing with the admin week, but on the other hand, I've finally gotten it back to being the last week of the month! Hurray!
Webcomic's going well. The pilot should be done soonish, I'm super excited!
I've finally sprung for a permanent server for various community games. Palworld's taken things by storm, and at the urging of a good friend of mine, I've set up a community BTDEM palworld server! Come join and play with other mango fiends here! 147.189.168...
2024-01-21 15:11:32 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for the delay!
Caution at work, etc. it's super cute, and with today's chapter, appropriate!
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/864504247530029117/1197670340512460921/SPOILER_Elaine_and_Iona_in_bed.png
2024-01-19 22:11:15 +0000 UTC
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Time had passed, both too slowly and too quickly. Too slowly, in that the three phoenixes kept finding new and interesting ways to give us all grey hairs, and too quickly in the sheer excitement and anticipation of getting married!
It was like I blinked, and my wedding was going to be the next day.
I couldn’t sleep a wink. I spent the first half of the night with my Phoenix party, sipping wine, nibbling on cheese, and playing stupid games with my friends. Then I headed ...
2024-01-19 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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I got poked in the side.
My consciousness briefly flickered to [The World Around Me], letting me know I was safe in my home. I groaned, rolled over, and stuck my head under the pillow.
I was tired. I’d spent most of the night awake, and I’d earned my rest. I didn’t want to get up, and I didn’t-
I got poked again, more insistently. I paid a little more attention this time, noticing the hand was disembodied.
Oh. It was Auri’s [...
2024-01-17 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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There was always something new. Someone asking for attention, someone knocking on my door.
Knock knock knock.
Iona and I traded looks.
“I’ll get this one.” I hauled myself out of my far too cozy couch, idly wondering if I needed to stash some of my books somewhere else before Auri arrived with the phoenixes.
Made me wonder if the two were related. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Arachne had sent over some reinforcements my way, like Atlas and his tea...
2024-01-15 03:00:32 +0000 UTC
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