Kartara’s words sent a ripple of excitement coursing through me. I’d half-feared her cynicism and distrust would get the better of her, but I’d not misjudged the huntmistress. She knew as well as I did that this was not an opportunity she could let slip by.
The first real chance the b...
2025-02-25 21:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe single glance I cast over my rear was enough to assure me that things were faring as well as they could with the brotherhood. Duskar’s cavalry company was already sheltering behind the much-expanded silver dome, and even the infantry were nearly within its reach.
The brotherhood’s f...
2025-02-25 10:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostMy plan was simple. To kill as many nagas as I could and in as short a space of time as I could manage. And the best way to go about that was using my telepathic abilities.
So, weaving psi, I cast.
You have activated fearsome aura.
You have failed ...
2025-02-24 21:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post…
…
Passage completed.
You have entered sector 30,199 of the Nethersphere.
Warning: The rift you traversed is closing! The void tree that created the...
2025-02-24 10:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostHi all,
February has been a dry spell, I know :).
I'd planned on releasing DM/Runeguard chapters, but things didn't pan out. Those chapters will still be coming—when I can't say yet—but in the meantime, I will be releasing two GG chapters per day over the remainin...
Hi all,
I'm still recovering from the post-write haze after completing book 8 of The Grand Game (lol), so instead of writing, I'll be attending to some much-neglected admin over the next few days.
First up, some news regarding my upcoming releases (confirmed):
Player Profile: Michael
Level: 273. Rank: 27. Current Health: 100%.
Species: Human. Lives Remaining: 4. Ghost’s Lives Remaining: 4.
Active Pacts: 7 / 20.
True Marks: Powerful Acolyte.
True Marks (hidden): Worthy Adversary, Wolf ...
2025-01-28 08:28:17 +0000 UTC View PostNote from Tom: This the final chapter of Book 8. I hope everyone enjoyed the story. Let me know what you think of the book and the ending :)
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I spun around, fleeing once more, with Ghost by my side. But this time, I didn’t plan on ...
2025-01-25 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostNote from Tom: One more to go after this!
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The three harbingers were less than halfway across the lake when I felt a change in the void tree’s regard. I stiffened, immediately going to full alertness. Was another attack...
2025-01-25 11:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostOver the course of the next few minutes, my world narrowed to one thing only: the void tree.
The chances were good that it had picked up on my farspeaker communications, but I doubted it knew what to make of them—other than that we had a plan—and I wasn’t worried about how it would re...
2025-01-25 06:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe next few minutes passed in a haze of concentration as I traded blows with the void tree. I struck at it with shadow, and every now and again, managed to land a physical disable—usually as a result of stunning paw or ponderous step.
It, in turn, threw a relentless barrage of psi spells...
2025-01-25 05:45:35 +0000 UTC View PostYou have teleported onto a level 340 young void tree.
The nether toxicity at your current location is tier 30, boosting your health, psi, stamina, and mana regeneration rates to 31% per minute.
I emerged from the aether atop my target—nestled amongs...
2025-01-25 02:57:06 +0000 UTC View PostYou have taken the form of a level 267 elder wolf, gaining primal resistance (+30% against all damage types) and health regeneration (2% per second). Your nether resistance has reached 100%. You are now immune to all hostile nether spells and effects.
Your current n...
2025-01-24 17:09:00 +0000 UTC View PostYou have entered the safe zone of sector 45,104.
You have entered the safe zone of sector 12,560.
Your facial disguise spell has dissipated.
You have entered sector 18,240 of the Forever Kingdom. 2025-01-24 14:10:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Note from Tom:
I think I should rename this book: "The book that wouldn't end!" :P
I've only just finished the first draft of the last chapter. That means, including this chapter, there are 7 more to go. It also makes book 8, clocking in at 185k words, the longe...
2025-01-24 07:46:35 +0000 UTC View PostDay 8 of Michael’s Deadline
I didn’t think I would manage to get any sleep, but much to my amazement, I woke up feeling surprisingly rested and reinvigorated the next morning.
What time is it? I wondered, sitting up amongst the blankets forming...
2025-01-23 16:39:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe process of replacing Kolath with Bacheus was not a short one, nor was it one Kolath was willing to let us observe. Banished to the exterior of the compound, and with nothing else to do, Shael, Anriq, Nyra, Ghost, and I sat down and exchanged tales of our respective journeys.
It passed t...
2025-01-23 06:55:11 +0000 UTC View PostI stared at the white marble walls—and the gaping hole between them—my thoughts whirling. The compound’s crystal door was open.
And it shouldn’t be.
There was only one explanation: someone was waiting within. A sector boss was dead—and had been since before we arrived....
2025-01-22 19:58:41 +0000 UTC View PostThe second half of my mission in the nest went as flawlessly as the first, and it was only a little later that Nyra and I were heading to Nexus.
It was time to attend to the final piece of business still left undone.
You have cast doppelganger, transforming your form int...
2025-01-22 04:22:07 +0000 UTC View PostReaching into my bag of holding, I hauled out my entire store of ability tomes. None of the Strength abilities I’d unlocked a few days ago had proved effective against the stygians so far, but I’d not expected otherwise. The three abilities were still only at tier one, after all.
...
2025-01-21 19:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNote from Tom: I've tweaked this chapter slightly to cater for some of the comments/concerns raised.
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Day 7 of Michael’s Deadline
The next day began like any other.
But it was not just a...
2025-01-21 10:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostYou have successfully dominated a level 240 stygian naga.
You have successfully dominated a level 244 stygian naga.
You and Ghost have reached level 263!
The blood-bindings went off without a hitch, but Ghost, Elise,...
2025-01-21 07:36:00 +0000 UTC View PostElise and Ghost’s training regime did not entail dashing wildly into and out of the nest as I half-feared it would. Instead, at the edge of the foothills, the pair drew to a halt.
“This is it,” Elise said.
“This is what?” I asked, inspecting...
2025-01-20 05:35:43 +0000 UTC View PostDay 5 of Michael’s Deadline
Seating myself between Safyre and Adriel, I scanned the faces around the campfire. Lucius and Elise were both present, as were all the Pack elders—Duggar, Snow, Sulan, Aira, and Leta. Terence, Teresa, and Sedgwick were also in attendance, as ...
2025-01-19 20:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostNote from Tom:
Phew, the comments are really hotting up :) At this stage, I don't have time to do more than skim most of them, but rest assured that at some point, I'll give everyone's theories a deeper look :).
Still, I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the ...
2025-01-19 13:04:40 +0000 UTC View PostAn hour later, my netherstone safely in my pocket, we reconvened in the brotherhood castle.
“So, you spoke truly,” Kartara began without preamble.
The huntmistress, her three advisors, and I were sitting around the large ornate table in the library. The four congregated at t...
2025-01-17 15:36:19 +0000 UTC View Post“Wait!” I called.
The huntmistress kept walking.
“Goddammit, stop. At least do me the courtesy of hearing me out!”
Kartara drew to a halt but didn’t turn around. “Why?”
“Because I have a plan—a workable one.”
“Unlikely.”
“I do,” I in...
2025-01-17 09:47:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe next room Kartara led me to was a library. Shelves lined every wall, each full of neatly stacked books.
Striding down the center of the chamber, the huntmistress spread her arms and turned around in a slow circle. “This is the work of centuries, and contains every last morsel of infor...
2025-01-16 14:00:39 +0000 UTC View PostHi all,
As some of you have no doubt realized, we are reaching the end of book 8.
There are at least 15 chapters still to go. They are not all written yet, but they will be—and soon! (I'm burning the proverbial midnight oil :))
Anyway, all of them must b...
2025-01-16 12:46:55 +0000 UTC View PostI slowed to a halt. “Shall we get down to business, then?”
Stopping beside me, the huntmistress studied me gravely for a second, then shook her head. “No.”
I stared at her in surprise. “No?”
“No,” she repeated firmly. “I will not deal with someone whose intenti...
2025-01-15 23:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post