Pushing the cart was boring, exhausting work. Blessedly, Julius had us on a sort of rotation, where some of us could get a break. There seemed to be some vague math involved regarding our strength and vitality stats, and how often we were on break. However, having even lower stats then moved the needle back up on how often I was pushing – maybe Julius was hoping I’d get another natural strength or vitality point.
The long and the short of it was, Arthur and I were on break together,...
2020-11-15 16:49:24 +0000 UTC
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It took a few weeks, but we made it to the town of Genua without further noticeable incident, and had a nice week off, doing not much. It was a welcome relief from the road, the petty disputes we resolved, the random attacks, the urgent calls in the night. We left Genua, and headed to Salona, the next town on our route.
There was one of those lovely days in late winter when spring was pretending it had arrived, but it wasn’t quite around yet. No matter how I sliced it, it was a wonder...
2020-11-14 14:41:01 +0000 UTC
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Some random dinosaur pictures.
Totally random.
No reason I'm posting them.
Nope.
None at all.
(Chapter out soon!!)
2020-11-14 14:22:18 +0000 UTC
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For example, if you vote "Saturday and Sunday", I'll post MTWRF.
2020-11-13 16:09:49 +0000 UTC
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Of course, that conveniently ignored the fact that there were two more towns between here and Perinthus. We left town, and my training, and learning, from the Rangers redoubled. I worked on my skills – all of them, from class to general – and continued to learn all sorts of interesting tips, tricks, and Ranger knowledge. A few villages after Virinum, Artemis started another evening of training after our travelling was done.
“Elaine, your training with the bare-bone fundamentals of...
2020-11-13 13:45:52 +0000 UTC
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The updated rough color artwork for book 2!
2020-11-12 22:30:20 +0000 UTC
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I got up, yawned, stretched. Artemis rolled over, muttering something unintelligible. I leaned back, pressing up against some chest of supplies or another, and just waited for Artemis to be awake enough to hang out with.
It was the least I could do after last night.
Kallisto eventually showed up, popping his head into the Argo.
“Hey Elaine! Glad to see you made it back safely last night!” He said, dropping off some supplies and picking up some other stuff.
2020-11-12 13:06:08 +0000 UTC
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“First, name. Level. Stats.” Julius ordered.
Swimmer promptly answered all the questions. I looked over. He looked like he was both metaphorically, and physically, sweating. Good.
I mustered some energy together. “Julius, heads up.” I said. “If you hurt him, I’ll need to defend and heal him. I don’t have the energy to right now.”
Julius looked at me, face morphing from enraged to concerned. He nodded.
“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. You.”
2020-11-11 12:58:32 +0000 UTC
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I seethed as the three adventurers bustled around me. I was not a thing. I was not property.I wasn’t some errant dog that needed to be fetched back.
The whole legality of it was probably questionable to boot – probably why they’d smuggled me out of the town, instead of going through the gates during daylight. How had they pulled that off anyways? Probably bribed some smugglers or something. Jackasses, the lot of them. Arrest all the smugglers! Throw em to the lio...
2020-11-09 15:09:32 +0000 UTC
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I was incredibly thankful for [Center of the Galaxy] – there was no way I’d have reacted in time without it, and I’d be in a full-blown panic right now instead of calmly assessing the situation.
First off, I needed to move, to run. I wasn’t prepared for a fight, I wasn’t a fighter, and this was an ambush. First rule of fighting, don’t. If I stayed turtled up in my shield, it’d get hammered until I was out of mana, break, and then I’d be helpless. Not an ...
2020-11-09 14:44:25 +0000 UTC
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After the lady left – I never caught her name – I went back to playing with fire, trying to make a careful circlet for myself without lighting my hair on fire. I had [Fire Resistance], but my hair wasn’t fireproof.
Yet. One day….
I finally got the flames to play nicely, evenly flaring out to make it more a crown than a circlet, and my efforts and manipulation were rewarded.
[*Ding!* Congratu...
2020-11-08 12:39:19 +0000 UTC
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Sorry all - I'm exhausted this week trying to keep up with the posting schedule, and I don't have the bandwidth for bonus content.
Put it another way, your bonus content are all the extra chapters I'm posting this weekend.
Instead, something fun! A pool for people to call what Elaine's future plant/fungi/dinosaur/animal companion will be!
The prize: Infinite "I told you so's". Special Discord flair.
Anything you can imagine that's a classica...
2020-11-08 01:29:16 +0000 UTC
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I woke up after yet another terrible night’s sleep, yawning and stretching. At least I was clean. I got my stuff together, heading out to the wagon with the banner fluttering in the breeze. I took a deep breath of the sea air, long years of living next to the sea combined with the season suggesting, hinting with a wink-nudge, that a storm might be brewing, was thinking of coming in.
Today would be fine though. I hung out for awhile at the “waiting” desk – Artemis was grumbling u...
2020-11-07 12:47:17 +0000 UTC
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Maximus and I raided the market, him treating me. I mostly think it was because he was feeling bad about forgetting how long I could go, and he knew how to get Julius to pay him out of the team’s funds more easily than I did, but either way, I wasn’t going to complain about someone else buying the food, and handing it to me.
“Alright Elaine, that’s probably enough.” Maximus said, eyeing me as I scarfed down yet another fish-on-a-stick monstrosity.
“Bumph a wanmph mooar...
2020-11-06 13:21:01 +0000 UTC
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“Let’s work on your new Fire skills now. From the sound of it, you got classic mage skills, right?” Maximus asked, pacing back and forth in the wooded clearing.
“Right. Along with [Fire Resistance].”
“Ok, first lesson on being a Fire mage: Don’t.”
I tilted my head quizzically at that. Maximus grimaced.
“I wish I had Artemis here to demonstrate. Either way, a pure, stand-alone Fire mage isn’t particularly strong or powerful. It’s n...
2020-11-05 13:21:33 +0000 UTC
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I woke up the next morning to a mighty roar, a lion asserting it was king of the jungle, a dinosaur triumphantly claiming its territory.
My stomach declaring the morning plans, which was FOOD.
I sat up, immediately awake, only to find a bowl of food next to me. My money was on Artemis. I promptly chowed down, got up, only to realize: Now what?
I was supposed to be training my new skills, and today was fire. Fire. Heat and dancing flames. Eventual fi...
2020-11-04 12:37:26 +0000 UTC
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I tensed up as I heard them coming, then relaxed, remembering that we were Rangers, and could probably just flash out badge to get out of trouble. I could see them perfectly well, although they couldn’t see me all that well on top of this roughly 20-foot (~7 meter) tall wall. Artemis had a crazed grin on her face.
I knew that look. That was the look she had right before she blew up a pillar as a ‘demonstration’. That was the look she had right before she’d ask me to do some craz...
2020-11-03 12:11:55 +0000 UTC
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Artist's first draft on the new book cover. Still needs work.
I'm leaning towards #1, although the artist said "Whoops, hang on, I meant to send you #2 instead". #1 just feels more "Elaine" to me, although #2 has nicer "motion"
To be clear: Elaine's going to hit adulthood in this book, and the cover artwork reflects it. I'd also planned for Elaine to become an adult in book 1, but, well, things happened.
Things might still happen in book 2, we'll see
2020-11-02 20:22:09 +0000 UTC
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“Artemis, do you want to handle this part?” Maximus asked.
“Sure! Elaine, barrier, or shield skills, are incredibly useful skills, I think that goes without saying. There’re a few aspects to a shield that help determine how good it is. First is how fast it takes to generate. Second is how well it absorbs or dissipates attacks. Third is how long it lasts, fourth is how mobile you are, and fifth is additional utility or aspects. Quite a lot of that depends on the element it’s ma...
2020-11-02 12:27:20 +0000 UTC
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I sat up with a mad cackle, looking at the faces around me. Julius had thunderclouds on his face. Artemis looked at my face, her eyes widened, then she was cracking up, muffled laughter coming from behind her hand. Kallisto looked like someone had stolen his favorite toy.
“Elaine. That better be a damn strong fire class.” Julius said, annoyance and disappointment in his voice. Wind him up, come clean. Wind him up, come clean. Which to pick….
“Nope! Pink.” I said cheerful...
2020-11-01 14:36:30 +0000 UTC
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My degree, and first jobs out of college, were accounting jobs. Money, how it flows, debits and credits, reporting, and transparency, are deeply ingrained.
As a result, I figure that while I could keep everything private, I might as well let all of you who care know the current financial breakdown of BTDEM.
Note: This is a lot of boring financials, and not really worth digging into unless you're deeply interested.
Expenses so far:
Book 1 Cover: $350
M...
2020-11-01 14:34:39 +0000 UTC
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In the Oddities post recently, instead of "Find the Lamp" I had "Find the Lamb"
Option 1) I edit the post to be "Lamp"
Option 2) I roll with the typo, and you must find and pet a magical lamb to summon Genie.
2020-10-31 13:11:03 +0000 UTC
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This weeks bonus content at the oddities! A series of, well... it's hard to describe!
They don't follow the rules. They're outside of the System. They are strange and bizarre entities. In no particular order:
A living hurricane, a perpetual storm moving across the oceans forevermore. Maybe it's feeling merciful and will listen to your pleas for mercy, and change course around you.
Maybe it's bored, and wants to see you sink.
A flock of [Redacted]
2020-10-31 12:57:39 +0000 UTC
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Hey all! What do you want for this weekend's bonus content?
I'd love to see ideas for more bonus content that I can put in next week's poll.
Also, welcome all new patrons, and thank you! You're help me keep this going!
2020-10-31 01:37:47 +0000 UTC
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Right! I got to pick a second class! Which meant more reading time!
“Elaine, you don’t have all day to keep reading. It’s already been hours and hours.” Librarian, knowing what I was thinking either through mind reading or just being me, put a damper on my enthusiasm. Hang on.
“The books you picked earlier. They weren’t just for my fun, were they?” I asked, pieces of the puzzle coming together with a click. I thought I’d seen a theme.
Librarian gave a slow, s...
2020-10-30 12:32:17 +0000 UTC
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I open my eyes, back in the library of my soul. Librarian was waiting for me with a smile, and this time, she was dressed in a beautiful long tunic, as deep purple as I’d ever seen before. If this was in the real world, there’d be houses cheaper than her- my- dress.
“Welcome back!” She came over and gave me a big hug. “You’re back so much faster than I expected!” She was right – I didn’t think I’d be back here for years! Being with the Rangers, diving into that fire,...
2020-10-29 11:58:29 +0000 UTC
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I woke up hating life. My head was murdering me, and a quick check through [Medicine] told me that I had a hangover, and that none of my skills were hangover cures. Dehydration. I needed to let Julius know that dehydration was a weakness of mine.
I groaned, head pounding, as I rolled over on the floor of the wagon. Water. Must find water. The door flung open, the light burning my eyes, as Artemis, with a fake-cheery voice designed to cruelly torture me said.
“Ri...
2020-10-28 13:09:52 +0000 UTC
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I blinked in surprise, in confusion, the lump in my throat growing and changing. I wasn’t being kicked out? I was being asked to formally, properly join? I’d be able to call myself a Ranger?
“Now, I know it’s a big decision – you’d be locked with us for the remainder of the trip, you’d need to attend Ranger academy once this route was over, and it’s a long commitment, which –“
I cut him off by giving him one of my patented “crushing” hugs, hurting myself mo...
2020-10-27 12:28:26 +0000 UTC
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I’d never had such a good night’s sleep, and when someone was shaking my shoulder, I sleepily brushed them off.
“Give me some more time…” I sleepily muttered into my pillow. I wish I could ask for a few more minutes, but timekeeping. I needed to invent timekeeping. After sleep.
The incessant hand on my shoulder left, and I let myself drift back off to sleep, only to be rudely picked up and dumped on the floor.
I cracked open my eyes, to see Artemis, who had her han...
2020-10-26 12:26:42 +0000 UTC
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Hey all!
This weekend is insanely busy for me, so instead of the usual vote incentive for what bonus content I'll be posting this week, I'm picking a slightly easier one for me.
Level-colors! Ever wondered how I got a color for [Identify]? Ever wondered how I kept it straight? This chart's the answer! I mapped out every single color from level 1 to 4096 (Made significantly easier by being ridiculously good with Excel), and whenever I need to know what color a leve...
2020-10-24 01:43:27 +0000 UTC
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