SelkieMyth

Bonus Content - Black Crow, White Dove

Black Crow! White Dove!

There was once a pale woman, who nearly every living being must meet. And yet, they feared this meeting, ran from her, shunned her. Loneliness was her only companion.

So she split herself in twain, so she would always have a friend.

White Dove offers wings to those who are ready to meet their end. Black Crow violently wrenches away those who stubbornly cling to life.

They are two sides of the same coin...

Book 3 cover artwork - rough sketch

Hey all!

As we start to move into book 3, I figured I'd post the rough sketch I have for it.

The artwork had been ordered well ahead of time (And the artist is past the contracted deadline....), but the Artist is having health problems. Hope he gets better!

Changes that have been requested:
1) 'Mockingjay' Eagle to SPQR eagle

2) minus the sword

3) Red cape

4) And more!

Book 1 ePub

By popular demand!
Yell at me if this is somehow the wrong file. 

Book 2 ePub!

For those of you who like that sort of thing - the book 2 ePub!

Also, a minor edit from the last chapter - Liesa -> Chloe. That's what I get for editing with Flora fussing @_@!

Chapter 100– Major Interlude – Iona – The Tunnel to Terrabethia

Iona got out of bed with all the fury and joy of an 8-year-old.

An 8-year-old on her birthday.

An 8-year-old on her Unlocking Day!!!

The rest of her family groaned in the small hut they called home as Iona blazed through, and right out the door.

“I unlocked! I unlocked!” She cried out, excitement and joy radiating from every fiber of her being.

She ran past the longhouse that dominated the center of the village, the traveling skald sleeping ...

Artwork Update, AKA buying artwork is dangerous for me

After the poll here https://www.patreon.com/posts/46042093 I went and contacted Srion to commission the artwork. 100 euros, aka $120 USD. Ok, fine.

I also commissioned two chibis, at $25 and $35, and a secondary magic circle at $150 (a friend - has some cool ideas)

AKA, this is why me getting artwork is a dangerous game. Expect it to trick in over the next few weeks - previews on the discord #art channe...

Need a name!

Hey all!

I want to thank you all for your continued support.

As I review chapter 100, I'm realizing I'm not happy with one of the woman's name that I have. I don't want to go into great detail, but the name's kinda important, for reasons that'll become clear.

Hence, my solicitation to you. What's a solid name, that you'd like a woman to have? Shorter is preferred, along with slightly in the fantasy-leaning direction.

There's no restriction on the culture, unlike curren...

Chapter 99– The Grand Ranger Meeting

Longish chapter warning.

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The Summer Solstice was here, and I woke up bright and early with the sun. Artemis still hadn’t enacted her revenge for the “bugs in the bedroll” stunt, and I knew she wasn’t the type to simply go “oh well, you got me, I deserved it, well done.” The suspense was almost worse than any revenge she could enact.

But today was the Solstice, the day of the Grand Ranger Meeting – or s...

Which Artist to commission for the next artwork?

I've gotten dozens of portfolios, and after doing my own QC, and putting it to a discord vote to narrow it down further, here are the top choices for artists to do the next artwork commission.

They're listed in order from top to bottom of how much the discord voters liked them.

Feel free to vote for multiple!

PS: I liked the first one I'm hiring him for an Elaine chibi regardless. This is why commissioning artwork is so dangerous for me, I always end up getting mo...

Quick Artist Solicitation

Hey all!

I'm commissioning artwork to celebrate 500 patrons, since that's what you all wanted.

I have my standard method, but I just wanted to give members of the community a chance to throw their hat - and portfolio - into the ring.

Reply with your portfolio, or a friend's portfolio if you're interested.

A low-spoiler description of what I want and the price.

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Chapter 98– Government Vivisectionists

We left the restaurant, and I realized to my dismay:

“I have no idea where the temple is.”

Most towns had a single, grand, temple, dedicated to all the gods and goddesses. It made numerous aspects of organized religion easy – a donation to one god was a donation to all of them, or so the priests said. If you needed to pray for, say, a healthy child and a good harvest, it meant you didn’t need to bounce around to multiple temples. It also meant that a few priests could serv...

500 Patrons! Thank you so much everyone!

I checked, and as of today, I've hit 500 patrons! Thank you so much! Your support lets me do this full-time, and be able to properly justify it. I really can't say thank you enough.

To celebrate, I'm going to get some artwork. Just checking really fast - would people prefer that I find an artist and commission them, like all the other artwork I've gotten? Or would people prefer an art contest?

Budget is probably going to be in the $100-$150 range. Only the best for all ...

Chapter 97– Reunion

I stood there, stunned at seeing my parents again, heart beating like a galloping horse, frozen, not even able to muster up enough presence of mind to shoot Artemis a betrayed look. They also froze, staring at me, looking me up and down.

The tension is the air was palatable, so thick it could be cut with a knife.

“Wha- how?” I stammered out.

Trust Artemis to crack a joke.

“Elaine, I’d like you to meet my good friends Julia and Elainus. Julia, Elainus, I’d lik...

Quick update on the posting schedule for the next week

Hey all!

On Jan 14th, I have a spotlight advertising event, where I get to talk all about my book to a bunch of people. Huzzah!

As a result, I really would like to get book 2 finished by then, so it's ready for any of them to buy it if they want to. 

In order to get that done, I'll be posting Sat-Sun-Mon, then making Wednesday's post on Tuesday. At which point, I'll be able to get the epub generated.

Once I have the epub, I finally figured ou...

Chapter 96– Prelude to a meeting

There were a dozen or so temporary rooms at Ranger HQ that Rangers could use when they were in town. Generally, that translated to “when there was the grand meeting of Rangers every two years”, which further translated to “First come, first served.”

The Ranger lifestyle was nomadic, and most didn’t bother owning a home. There was no point. Those that were brave enough to have families, that had relationships strong enough to survive the distance, who didn’t bring their famil...

Chapter 95– Minor Interlude – Julius Reports to Command

This was originally written as a bonus chapter, then got promoted to a main chapter as the last "bump" to get back to a 5x/week posting schedule and to make chapter 100 special.

The first one didn't happen - I got wrecked too hard parenting - but the second one did!

This is also twice as long as a normal chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it in the end!

I have slim hopes for a short bonus content tomorrow. Slim, but it's there.

Cheers!

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Chapter 94– Entering Ariminum, The Capital

Artemis and I slowly made our way back to the Argo, and when we got close enough, Artemis had me pause.

“Should probably throw up [Veil] for a minute while I grab some spare tunics.” Artemis said.

I looked down, at the clumps of armor and weapons held against me, sandals and helmet being the only properly placed items.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

I threw up [Veil]for a minute while Artemis made a quick trip to and fr...

Annual Billing is up + Artwork Poll

Hey all!

I enabled annual billing. If you're interested, there's a 10% discount if you prepay a year. Yay!

I'm wondering if there are enough artists to run artwork contests within the community. Are you all interested in art contests with modest prizes?

Really tired. 

Cheers all!

Selkie

Chapter 93– Death, a dozen different ways

Spring was here, spring was here! Life was skittles, and life was beer. The most wonderful thing about the late spring, though, was birthday time! Woohoo!

We were just about done with our round of Remus, and the Argo, along with the rest of us, was on a merchant boat, heading towards the capital. We’d hit all the towns we needed to, and going overland back to the capital would take too long. A nice, leisurely trip on the boat was just what the healer ordered, and was some sol...

Chapter 92– Libraries and babies

Happy New year!

A chapter at the last moment for any Patrons who are unsubscribing <3

I might be able to go back to 5x/week posting on Sunday. 

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Winter was here, and it wasn’t that bad. The environment was more conducive to massive squalls and storms, and I had a grand time jumping around in the rain, letting the wind blow, feeling the might and power of the storm. Laughing at the rain, jumping in puddles. Bein...

Chapter 91– Brigantium II

I sheepishly slinked back, and started working on the work needed, namely, grabbing one of our massive water kegs, rolling it down to a nearby well, filling it up, and bringing it back. It kept me out of Julius’s eyesight – out of sight, out of mind – and let me have fun with my new and improved strength stat.

Look at me! Bodybuilder Elaine in the house! I could just barely lift the massive keg of water when it was full now, but I ran a serious risk of crushing myself. I rolled it...

The Ranger Team! Second artist!

The whole Ranger team again! More artwork I commissioned for everyone to enjoy!

From left to right:

Arthur, Elaine, Artemis, Julius, Kallisto, Origen, Maximus.

The artist was a bit slow on this one, but I think it's slightly higher quality in the end.

Yes, Elaine's short, especially next to the man-bear-mountain that's Arthur. Yes, Artemis and Kallisto's eyebrows don't quite match. Yes, Julius suddenly has a beard. No, Origen was rarely bare-chested - the ar...

Chapter 90– Brigantium I

Autumn. Three months after Arthur had slain the sea monster, two months after Julius had made it back, complaining that he “was a sprinter, not a marathon runner” and other such grumblings, we rolled into another town, Brigantium, another stop on our route.

My leveling rate had slowed down massively, and I was seeing glimpses into why people ended up around level 150-200 lifetime, with only the best, the people constantly throwing themselves into danger, getting to the higher levels...

Expand the bonus story to everyone?

Merry Christmas all! First poll:

Should the recent bonus story go on RR/the $1 Patrons? Or keep it exclusive to the the current audience?

Chapter 89– Sing my name, for a thousand years

Merry Christmas, one and all!

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It took us a few weeks to travel through the Kadan jungle, and we were nearly out, setting up for the evening, when Julius pulled me aside.

“I’ve finished my pushups!” I said defensively. I’d expected to be berated about them some more, and I ended up doing almost 10,000 in the last few weeks, as the interest-pushups kept piling on.

By some miracle, I’d gotten a natural point in Stren...

Bonus Chapter: Julia and Elainus react to Elaine running away.

Elainus was on patrol with Catonus through the streets of Aquiliea. Standard. Predictable. Every foot where it should be, every person where they belonged.

It was good, knowing where people belonged, where things belonged. It made it easy to tell when something was different, something was wrong.

Like Bakus today. Bakus always had three tables for his wares, and carefully had four rows of goods, neatly arranged on it. There’d usually be holes here and there, as he sold off his c...

Chapter 88– Plague Aftermath

I must’ve died.

Something went horribly wrong at the end of the healing session, and I was dead. I’d been good in my last life, and I’d been sent to heaven as a reward for all my good deeds, for healing people, for my [Oath], for saving Perinthus.

That was the only logical explanation as to why I was waking up to piles of mangos heaped all around me!!!!!!!

There was some vague sleepiness, some mild exhaustion, that instantly f...

Chapter 87– Plague XVII

Quick Author's note: This is a LONG chapter. 3x the normal length. You can thank the beta readers for it, they wanted a long grand finale. It'll still count as a single chapter for posting schedule-ness, hurray!
Some people have missed it, so a quick reminder: I'm temporarily on a 3x/week posting schedule, as I adapt to new parenting. Tentatively moving back to a 5x/week schedule in January. I need to revive my backlog, among other things. There will be a chapter ...

Chapter 86– Plague XVI

“Got him.” Everyone said, almost in unison, like a practiced motion. Caecilius was a bit slow on the uptake, only just now casting his Radiance skill, burning and purifying the dust in the air, giving me a clear view of what was going on. I took a quick glance at him. He looked sweaty and nervous, and I could see why Julius didn’t want him near the action. With reflexes like those?

The dust was clear, and I could see Hesoid’s body. Rather, it was more mauled and pasted flesh tha...

Chapter 85– Plague XV

“Right, we still need to talk with Verta, Berucus, Glacius, Hesoid, and Markus.” Julius summarized for us once we got out. “I’m not sure if we should talk with Markus first or last. If he’s the problem, and his apprentices are in on it, it’s going to be a fight.”

“If it’s a fight, why don’t we separate them first, then talk to them one at a time? If one of the apprentices cracks, we can hit them all first, before tackling Markus.” Arthur said.

Julius nodded a...