SelkieMyth

Chapter 84– Plague XIV

Artemis re-opened the side door, and we strode in. Julius in the lead. Then Arthur, Maximus, me, Artemis, and Kallisto taking up the rear. Artemis for the large line of fire, Kallisto for taking hits, me in the middle, to protect the healer, and Julius in front as the face.

We moved in force, striding in. My hair would be doing wild things under Artemis’s electrical field, if it wasn’t for the helmet over my head. Arthur’s bow was out, arrow knocked. Maximus was making some experi...

Prediction poll

Generic title to avoid spoilers! 

Due to various issues there’s a chance I might not be able to make tomorrow’s chapter on time. Everything is ok, but we’re  needing to look closely at Flora just to make sure.

Trying to make a bit of content for everyone while bored in the hospital waiting for time to tick by unable to write

anyways, onto the fun poll! Who done it?

Chapter 83– Plague XIII

The apprentices looked at each other nervously. Herodotos swallowed, paled, steeled himself, then said. “There was a runner. You should go see for yourself.”

Artemis tensed, coiled up like a spring ready to fire. Not one of those small little springs that used to be in pens. No, she was one of those heavy-duty large springs, that once it went off, you knew it would ruin someone’s day.

My hair raised up around me, and chunks of stone from the wall separated out, going to Arte...

Chapter 82– Plague XII

True to the prediction of Julius and Markus, the Cholera bombshell, the revelation of what the disease was and how to fight it, completely derailed the rest of the meeting. Some couriers were brought in and dispatched, and suddenly everyone was interested in seeing what was going on, in being part of the action.

I’d lit the spark, carefully fanned the flames, and now I could sit back, and enjoy the roaring fire of action it’d become. Something like this was far larger than any one p...

Chapter 81– Plague XI

The next morning rolled around, and I was jumpy and bouncy as could be. I was the first one awake, and I woke up half the team as I eagerly put on every piece of my armor, greaves banging and clattering on vambraces as I rushed through the process of putting everything on.

Artemis groaned and rolled over, throwing a pebble – without any skill behind it – at me. It was satisfying to hear it clang against my armor and drop off, without me feeling a thing.

I wouldn’t dare to th...

Baby is here!!!

I’d happy to announce that Flora Jean was born this very early morning at 5 lbs 13 oz (6.25 kg)!

shes happy and healthy, same with mom, although we’re all a little sleep deprived. We’re going to be   in the hospital a few days, and I don’t have Access to my computer to post anything. One I get home, all backlogged chapters will  be Posted- yay binge reading 

and i I have a wonderful baby sleeping on my chest! Hurrray!!

Missing Monday, possibly Wednesday’s chapter

Hey all,

As I write this I’m in the hospital with my wife. Baby is coming right now. 

With how long things take, there’s no way I’ll be able to post Mondays chapter on time. Depending on how long we’re in the hospital, Wednesday is also at risk.

all chapters I owe you will be posted as soon as reasonably possible when I get back, but there’s going to be some time with baby first. 

Fear not there are 9 chapters of bac...

Chapter 80– Plague X

The rest of the week passed in a blur, a haze of pain, red flags, sadness, sickness, hide map, disease, death, blue flags, rot, blood, a random scattering of orange flags, vomit, pus, way too many hours spent staring at the map, thinking, trying to tease the pattern out, to see what was happening, punctuated by four rocks from Artemis through an offending limb. She was a hair more considerate, and tended to only take out a hand, instead of the entire arm – much cheaper for me to he...

Chapter 79– Plague IX – The Greater Good

I rarely do author's notes on Patreon. It's just not easy, and breaks the flow of the story.

This chapter is a deep dive into some aspects of medical ethics, and the difficult and damning choices that sometimes need to be made. 

A quick overview can be found here: https://vtethicsnetwork.org/medical-ethics/overview

I'd love to do some deep dives and discussions on medical ethics ...

Chapter 78– Plague VIII

I woke up, ravenous, and slightly confused. Wasn’t I just in the clinic room inside the temple? As I slowly shook sleep off, and Elaine.exe booted up fully, the fogginess in my head vanishing, I realized what must’ve happened.

My ‘one moment of rest’ had led to me passing out, falling into a sleep so deep I hadn’t noticed being carried back to the Argo. I must’ve been more tired than I thought, gone longer and harder than I believed.

Well, there was no changin...

Chapter 77– Plague VII

Patients continued to come and go, with varying amounts of mana costs. My initial guess had been horribly off. The two patients I’d seen were among the worst cases of each, and established a sort of “cap” on how much mana I’d use at most. Less-severe cases took less mana. Not that I saw many of those.

Once we’d gotten a bit of a rhythm down, it got easier. Origen helped find and ferry people back and forth - the central organization didn’t extend that far, and the only other...

Chapter 76– Plague VI

“I’m going to tentatively agree that there are two plagues.” I said, thinking about what everyone had told me, evaluating their reliability, just like I had to when on-duty in town to take complaints that Rangers got. “I would guess that at least one, if not both, can be transmitted directly from person to person. There’s no way it’s by eye contact though – disease just doesn’t work that way! There’s no way for the bacteria, or virus, or whatever, to leave through the eyes. ...

Chapter 75– Plague V

My eyes went wide, like a mango cut in half, and my mouth opened. “You’re a girl!” I said, pointing accusingly.

She laughed, a high, tinkling laugh, like the chime of a bell. “Yes, but stop pointing, or your fellow Ranger will think there’s something wrong. One of my skills stops sound from escaping, but if you look too agitated, he might come in anyways.”

“What’s with the…” I gestured broadly.

I couldn’t see her face, but living with Origen had given m...

The Ranger Team

The Ranger Team!

Kallisto, Maximus, Origen.

Elaine in the middle.

Artemis, Arthur, Julius on the bottom.

Because my verbal descriptions suck. 

There is a second commission incoming :)

Chapter 74– Plague IV

Maximus tilted his head at me, clearly noticing that I’d gotten notifications and wanting to know more. I shook my head at him, indicating that I’d tell him later.

“Be careful at first with it, until you’ve got the hang of it. It should level quickly here, which should be quite a boost for you.” I said. “Feel free to let your fellow, er, apprentices stop you by the way. No penalty for trying and failing.”

“By the way, after this meeting’s over, I’m hoping to gi...

Chapter 73– Plague III

“What can we do for the Rangers?” Templar asked sourly. Julius smiled, his best PR smile – brilliant, teeth showing, not touching his eyes at all.

“Actually, it’s more ‘what can we do for you?’” Julius said. “We’re here to help. We’ve brought a fairly powerful healer along with us, and we plan to do some work as a team. We’ll get to that in a minute.”

“First, I’d like to introduce Elaine. Her full background is classified – what I can say is she’s...

Weekly Bonus Material - Gemstones

Gemstones! Briefly mentioned in Aquiliea, where Elaine got a diamond to store a skill! (And her parents got some as well, but they were responsible)

How they works: Artisans and crafters with the right class and the right Element (Gemstone), can "Attune" a gem, by a combination of skill and cutting it, make it receptive to holding skills. Anyone with the right elemental affinity can then store a skill in the gem, giving the skill a one-time use at no mana cost to use.

<...

Chapter 72 – Plague II

After some time passed – Artemis finally managed to talk me into playing knucklebones with her, but her stat advantage made it frankly unfair – I got a polite “knocking” on my shield. I lowered the shield, and the rest of the team hurried in.

“Shield up.” Julius ordered, and I quickly complied, wrapping the entirety of the interior of the Argoin [Veil].

“You know, I could get used to this. Never have to worry about eavesdroppers again.” Ju...

An update regarding Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Hey all!

As I've mentioned a few times, I'm expecting a baby soon!

Well, soon has turned into "Probably this week". I'll try to keep you all updated, but there's no telling if I'll be able to.

If I suddenly drop off the face of the planet, it's A) Because I'm in the hospital with baby, and B) I will post all the backlogged chapters. I promise.

However, once baby has shown up, I will probably reduce my posting rate to 3x a week for the f...

This week's bonus content solicitation

Hey all!

This is your chance to request this week's bonus content.

If a bunch of things are suggested that are doable, I'll put it to a poll for Journeywoman+ patrons to vote on.

If not, this week will be Gems and all things about them, how they work, which ones are attached to which element, etc. We saw Elaine having a diamond very briefly, but there are more!

Chapter 71 – Plague I

The gate closed behind us with an ominous shudder, the sound of the bar metaphorically and literally locking us in. We were committed now, surrounded on three sides by the makeshift, manned Legion walls, and the Nostrum Sea on the last side.

I started to have some self-doubt. What had I just dragged us into? Did I really think I could make a difference on my own?

Artemis reassuringly squeezed my shoulder, getting some sort of idea what I was concerned over. A good reminder, that I...

Chapter 70 – Arriving in Perinthus

A few more days passed, and we were nearly out of the nasty stretch of road, approaching Perinthus. It was getting hot and muggy, practically tropical. Arthur and Artemis were still pissed at each other – Arthur due to taking the flak of one of Artemis’s shots, Artemis because she felt she was being unfairly blamed for what was, in her mind, a perfectly reasonable response – there had been a monster attacking her, it wasn’t like she jumped at a twig snapping, and Arthur had been doing...

Chapter 69 – Classing up!

Authors Note: Due to this being a Very Colorful Class-up chapter, google doc link with all the colors: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZToHxYOEPVi7mr4Criz-uZIBSRvnynm6o7FuXzlJkAg/edit

Feel free to add comments in directly!

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I opened my eyes to see Librarian, cracking a huge smile ...

Chapter 68 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus VI

“Nothing’s wrong with this area, so to speak,” Julius started to say. Artemis interrupted him.

“Long story short, there’s still a bunch of beasts in the area.” Artemis said with a grimace. “High-level Saber-tooth tigers. They’re like Julius and Arthur combined – sneaky, fast, and with high damage. They’re incredibly fragile though, and easy enough to kill, if you survive the initial ambush.”

“Oh, and humans are on the menu for them.” Artemis finished up.<...

Bonus Content - Zones and Beasts

This week's bonus content - zones and the creatures found there!

Now, there's been a lot of shuffling around, and creatures can be found outside of their zone. For example, most "generic, domesticated" creatures around found everywhere, or minor variants of them - for example, deer are everywhere, sheep and wolves are everywhere, etc. If they're marked as being in a zone, it means there are probably more than the average amount running around.

It's also been semi-carefully analyze...

Chapter 67 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus V

Salona had been relatively relaxing - for me. Pushing the Argo to town hadn’t been any fun, and had the guards make fun of us – until we explained the why. Kallisto helped me set up a similar agreement with another merchant – although this time it was simple advertisement for him, and patients paid what they could for me – and Artemis and I spent time yo-yoing between doing that, and the baths.

The rest of the team didn’t have it nearly so relaxing. There was some thief around...

Requests for this week's bonus content

Hey all! There are enough high-tier patrons to do a solicitation for this week's bonus content - you can make requests on what people will vote on, or if there's only one or two suggestions, I'll just pick one!

A shortlist of ideas:

1) Full character sheets of party members
2) Short stories
3) Worldbuilding (Beastery, gods, religion, etc.)

Cheers, and thanks for supporting me above and beyond!

Announcement on schedule change

Hey all!

In the past 22 days, I've posted 22 chapters. Yikes!

I'm sadly unable to keep up the pace, and a few days ago I put up a poll asking "What days of the week should I be not posting".

Tuesday and Thursday won. There will be no chapters Tuesday and Thursday, starting tomorrow.

Bonus content polls and bonus content will be returning though!

Cheers,

Selkie

Final book 2 cover artwork

Final cover artwork for book 2! Hurray!

On a different note, I've just started a commission for the entire party - look forward to that in the coming weeks! 

A big thank you to all of you for making this possible!

Chapter 66 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus IV

Artemis had one of her terrible grins on her face as she looked at me.

“Whatever it is, I want no part in it.” I said, cutting her off as she opened her mouth.

Her grin, if anything, became even more terrible.

“That’s the beauty of it. See, you can’t deliberately hurt yourself to heal, or burn yourself for your fire resistance. But if we were…”

I shielded a pebble thrown by Arthur, glaring at him.

“See, my point!” Artemis exclaimed. “...