Despite their resolve to help further, they weren’t able to do much. The terror birds were simply too fleet of foot, and had torn their way into the city with such speed that by the time the crew...
2024-07-12 15:17:24 +0000 UTC View Post“Level 21,” said Nessa as the triangular facet in the polyhedron yawned open wide. “Terror birds!”
Harald clutched the Dawnblade tightly as he stared at the portal. Small shapes appea...
2024-07-09 13:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostIt rapidly became evident why the goblin bosses had chosen this chamber for a last stand.
As before, it was a single grand room, the ceiling roughly domed overhead. There were no light source...
2024-07-05 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostA massacre can be a beautiful thing.
They powered into the center of the building. It was a giant stone womb. Walls curved up to form a precarious dome overhead, roughly built, looking on the...
2024-07-02 13:02:24 +0000 UTC View PostHarald awoke at Sixth Bell, and rolled out of bed. He felt refreshed and vigorous. He dressed in the pre-dawn gloom and cinched on his new studded leather armor, paid for out of the crew fund. It w...
2024-06-28 13:00:22 +0000 UTC View Post“Abyssal Initiate 2,” said Nessa, drawing her blade slowly from its black scabbard. “Your second level in less than a month. Some might call that impressive.”
The sun was setting, cas...
2024-06-25 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostThree days passed before Nessa returned.
Sam would arrive at dawn for their morning run, and then the day would proceed apace, with Harald and her falling into their old routine. Vic was ofte...
2024-06-21 13:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostHarald awoke in his bed.
It was strangely luxurious. Confused, smiling, he stretched in his armor and turned to stare out his sunlit windows.
His body was sore, and he felt a strange co...
2024-06-18 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostBlood loss was making him delirious, Kársek realized. The hall stretched out before him at impossible length, its lines growing vague and twisting each time he began to lose focus.
“In...
2024-06-14 13:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post“I’ll get out here,” said Nessa as the carriage rumbled past a broad avenue.
Harald roused himself. They were still a good ten minutes from the Angelic Quarter, and crossing a bad stret...
2024-06-11 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostI've been doing a lot of napkin math behind the scenes, trying to optimize my writing/publishing schedule so that I can both keep Thrones going at a steady pace, and write Gods o...
2024-06-09 22:07:20 +0000 UTC View PostHarald all but blanched at Lady Melisende Celestis’ words. “You’re saying you’re preparing for war?”
Melisende turned back to the fireplace. “It’s not coming tomorrow, but it’...
2024-06-07 13:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostNot what I expected, thought Melisende as she sat at the head of the table. That pleased her. She searched for predictability in politics but despaired of it in person. The hulking youth w...
2024-06-05 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostHarald found the portal back to the 8th Level not long after. It stood in a narrow hallway just off the hub in which he’d killed the three scarecrows.
For a while he simply stared at the co...
2024-06-03 13:00:22 +0000 UTC View PostWhere before creeping through the 27th Level had felt fraught and filled with mortal peril, it now felt… exciting.
Harald moved slowly, forcing himself to remain cautious, but awareness of ...
2024-05-31 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostHarald turned the Dawnblade to and fro. The Abyssal Attunement was gone, so that its stone length glimmered wetly as always, muted green and eerily sharp. How to activate its tracking powe...
2024-05-30 13:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostHarald prowled the 27th Level.
He did so carefully, cautiously, quietly. At times, when forced to, he lit his scale lantern, keeping the Copper light at its lowest ebb. He moved slowly down d...
2024-05-29 13:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostHarald emerged into a natural cavern that had been partially converted into a domicile. Pale diamond light filtered down from large vents in the ceiling, and from the largest a constant rush of wat...
2024-05-28 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostHarald summoned the Goldchops. They materialized by his shoulders, and he felt the surge in vitality and strength that came with wielding them. His body felt sheathed in newfound power, his muscles...
2024-05-27 13:00:28 +0000 UTC View Post“What the hell was that, Harald?” Nessa spun to glare at him, and in that moment none of her vulnerabilities or weaknesses were visible. The woman who wrestled with glory, the laconic and wry c...
2024-05-26 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostPower flooded up from Harald’s core.
The Throne of Harmony had sustained him until now, and Harald had thought himself blessed. But with that source of strength now came the Throne of Shado...
2024-05-25 14:19:59 +0000 UTC View PostSam had sat up, her eyes wide, staring at her palms in wonder. Nessa lay back, her hand clapped to her brow.
“Incredible.” Vic leaped to his feet, eyes burning bright. “To think I’ve ...
2024-05-24 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostMatters financial kept Harald from delving into the dungeon as swiftly as he desired when dawn broke upon Flutic.
Returning from his run, he saw Master Ling and a handful of assistants at his...
2024-05-23 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Here you guys go! I thought this might be useful. This graphic illustrates the 100 levels of the Dungeon in terms of which levels can be accessed via the Dungeon Portal. The first dozen levels (the...
2024-05-22 14:26:14 +0000 UTC View PostHarald couldn’t sit there and watch the crowd bid on his soul.
For that’s what it felt like.
Each time a House representative offered another absurd amount for a commonplace item he...
2024-05-22 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone, I threw this together to help sort things out. The shield colors reflect the uniform colors for each House. Hope it helps!
2024-05-21 20:21:29 +0000 UTC View PostHarald watched the House Thornvale warrior walk away, and only realized belatedly that his fists were clenched. A murderous instinct arose within him, a violent and mad desire to plunge after the m...
2024-05-21 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostStrains of violin music played over the crowd’s murmur, a single virtuoso player drawing fluid, plaintive notes from their instrument. The crowd reacted as Master Ling led Harald and Vic into the...
2024-05-20 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostVic and Harald set out for the Platinum Rose Auction House early the next day. It was overcast, clouds pressing down heavy upon the rooftops and towers of Flutic, and all the colors seemed bleached...
2024-05-19 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post(Note to new readers: I've updated all the chapters from hereon out with a bunch of edits and corrections. You're now reading the final copy that will be published on Amazon, but old comments f...
2024-05-18 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post