The trip return trip to Stoneburrow was slower than the trip out. General Themis had no reason to hurry and many reasons to keep her men and horses well-rested. The Red Banner and House Franklin scouted the surrounding areas for ambushes but Winter had given up on harassing them, more interested ...
2024-11-04 19:31:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe attendants to Lesser God Emperor Unca Varn were used to him receiving visions from the Old Gods. He would stare into space, mumbling to himself, conversing with unheard voices, and then shouting to show his dominance. They were unsure of what to make of his performance today, but it was highl...
2024-11-03 21:20:07 +0000 UTC View PostAn Arcane Workshop was something most Engineers never saw, let alone earned. The people who did have them were cagey about how they came to get them, sharing only small hints to keep their brother Engineers working on the quest. The Engineers who had joined Milo in fighting off the ...
2024-11-02 02:05:20 +0000 UTC View PostThis one ended up writing itself, with a lot of, 'What would Milo do' popping into my head. This is definitely a first draft, as I wrote the whole thing in the last hour.
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After a round of drinks, which Milo was forced to participate in, (and ...
"And you are sure that the lateral move of 153.2 yards to this new location is accounted for in your calculations?"
Vladimir sighed heavily, Damien had asked this question nine times now. "Yes, Damien." He knew that Damien wasn't worried about an error. He loved errors and sometimes made t...
Most people, including most of their fae cousins, misunderstood gremlins. While they looked something like tall, thin goblins with dark hair and huge eyes, they were not related, although many people made the mistake and assumed they were. This amused the gremlins and annoyed the goblins. Despite...
2024-10-27 18:58:07 +0000 UTC View PostMight be a little raw, I was writing pretty fast. Will go over it some more to pretty it up later.
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Sledgemonkey sighed as he saw what Milo had started. Not his fault. It didn't take much to get the younger Engineers going, they were making up for lost years with gusto, and loo...
Milo was nervous as he walked through Shadowport to the small stone and metal building that housed the entrance to the recently built tunnel that led to the Deeprock Engineering complex deep beneath Shadowport. The dwarves had dug the tunnel they called 'The Loophole' to the surface...
2024-10-25 01:26:24 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a cold night, even if warmer than the one before. Suzette didn't feel uncomfortable, though. Gaining resistance skills for both Ice and Cold meant normal cold didn't affect her. As she climbed through the ruined halls and chambers of the Crystalthorn Academy, sh...
2024-10-24 19:39:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe thunder of two thousand hooves hitting the hard, frozen ground was deafening. Harmony rode at the front of the herd next to a Taco wagon pulled by sprinting Contract Workers. Her fellow Couriers were spread throughout the herd of horses, increasing morale and augmenting their speed. The one-l...
2024-10-24 02:30:06 +0000 UTC View PostCallendish Maer, the newest member of the Winter Council, High Lord of Ice, and commander of Winter's forces in the Province of Grultain awoke on a sunny winter's day. His perspective was odd, only showing him the backside of an ogre as he bounced along on its shoulder. Confused, not knowing wher...
2024-10-22 01:52:39 +0000 UTC View PostLater that night, Captain Tallsqueak held another meeting in the casino. Invited were Captain Whale, Captain Cuda, Captain Goldtooth, Captain Squint, Captain Annie, and Chief Engineer Sledgemonkey. Captain Tallsqueak served a selection of aged whiskey found hidden in Mako's office in the casino a...
2024-10-21 23:32:43 +0000 UTC View PostBeluga had the wheel of the Drunken Shark since she was the only person on board who could keep the ill-made tub of rotten wood on course. The rudder tended to get stuck, and the cure was either keeping a crew member hanging from a rope on the back of the ship and ready to whack it ...
2024-10-21 16:47:25 +0000 UTC View PostPutting this up early, to avoid the cliffhanger.
They watched as the Frost Devil screamed after Ben and his mount. Ben slowed, timing his descent, trying to judge how fast Mudhead could pull up. Finally, he gave up, dropped the reins, and held on with his good hand. "You know better than ...
"What can we do to hurt that thing or drive it off? Or is our only hope hiding in a hole until it gets bored?" Themis knew the tactics to fight a dragon, (Not that she had the people needed for that.) But she'd never come across a good description of how to fight some sort of sentient tornado.
The next round started and Milo dodged immediately, having no idea what 'legal' trick Mako would come up with next. He looked horrible, his clothing scorched and burned and some of his fur blackened. But his Near Fiendish Regeneration was super-charged with Battle Cheese and he wasn...
2024-10-19 00:50:35 +0000 UTC View PostThe more Milo learned about Mako and the rules for his upcoming match, the more he saw the cage as a trap. He was playing by Scavenger Rules, and he hadn't read the rulebook. Was there even a rulebook? Probably, but written in four dialects of dwarvish with a different version in each clan.
The sound of hooves preceded Harmonia riding up to the wagons, jumping her horse over one, and leaping from her mount. People got out of her way as she ran to Themis. "We have trouble. My Weather Sense is going crazy. If I were on my ship I'd be running with full sail from a typhoon...
2024-10-17 20:57:02 +0000 UTC View PostRolly was standing on a wagon, trying to catch a glimpse of his wyverns. One of his duckish spies had given a quick report that they had made contact with the enemy and suffered a casualty. Other ducks were landing and giving reports. Winter was moving fast. "Ben! Tell Themis we've got more stuff...
2024-10-17 02:37:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe cold night wore on. The Red Banner's patrols were pulled in before either the horse or the rider froze to death. It was tight-packed within the enclosure of the wagons with the horses in the central area and wouldn't have been possible without the threat of freezing to death outside. The hors...
2024-10-15 22:02:47 +0000 UTC View PostThe miles passed quickly as the Shepherd's flock followed along safe paths. Twice they came to broken bridges across treacherous ice-covered rivers. The Shepherd tapped his crook on the ground and a bridge of stone grew from either side, as wide as his flock. The horses were nervous about going a...
2024-10-14 21:40:43 +0000 UTC View PostAs the three Couriers mounted for the dash back to the wagon train, Harmony looked upward at Ben, then at Mudhead. She rode around and around the big roan horse who preened and flipped his main and tail, happy to be appreciated.
"This is the same horse? He's bigger, stronger, and looks fa...
Seeing a clan of Scavengers in port might give anyone the impression that they were lazy, drunken sots. This was true, but only up to a point. It was similar to how an Enclave of Elves could spend a summer sniffing flowers in a meadow, yet when threatened with war instantly become serious and mar...
2024-10-13 18:36:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe Sharks were a shadow of their former strength. A dozen, maybe two dozen, had deserted and went mining or sailed away on small rafts. Beluga and her crew limped in as the sun was coming up, in horrible shape, bruised everywhere, and with many broken bones. All of them knew they were lucky to b...
2024-10-11 00:16:59 +0000 UTC View PostA day off. Finished this chapter, putting on dinner, then writing 352. A good day.
After that I have two busy days, and then four chapters this weekend. Probably three Butcher and one Rat.
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Deep under the earth in the ancie...
It was a strangely quiet group of Scavengers who met the next morning in the scrap heap, which used to be the Silver Shark. Most had small injuries from smashed noses and broken arms along with a good amount of slashes and stab wounds. Ambushing rival gangs and extorting money from merchants wasn...
2024-10-10 00:45:51 +0000 UTC View PostSo, I think I have successfully figured out the tricks to send notifications to both tiers when a story becomes available to them. It involves multiple edits and toggles to get it right. One odd thing left is that if you upgrade from 5.00 to 10.00 you'll get both for 1 month. Someday, Patreon wi...
2024-10-08 00:38:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe detachment of Couriers from House Franklin arrived in Wolfsburg just before dawn, twenty-three people altogether, all mounted upon an exceptional array of horses. Whatever attitude the Red Company might hold of House Franklin, it was improved several notches by the quality of their mounts, an...
2024-10-07 17:29:13 +0000 UTC View PostClan Shark was meeting on the beach, surrounded by the scrap metal and wreckage that used to be a sleek and powerful submersible. Captain Mako had made it clear that any of the crew who weren't there should burn their tophats and take jobs in the mines. To her disgust, five of her crew had left t...
2024-10-06 20:46:04 +0000 UTC View PostBelinda woke each morning with the feeling she was drowning. She swam for the surface, the light getting closer each morning, but never reaching the surface. Kicking drug addictions is incredibly difficult even with the help of advanced medical technology and she'd been on these drugs all of he l...
2024-10-04 05:04:11 +0000 UTC View Post