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nemorosus

nemorosus

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Chapter 100: Unsullied Knife

Argrave stepped through a pool of dark red water, the sound of the sloshing echoing out across the lower levels. The sentinels were near, but they gave the three of them a cautious distance. The di...

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Chapter 99: Night of Withering

Argrave stared out, once again, into Nodremaid. The bleak and inconstant red light coming from the ceiling seemed a salve for the constant darkness they had been subject to inside the Menagerie. Ar...

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Chapter 98: No Rest for the Wicked

Argrave grabbed Anneliese’s wrist weakly. “When I die…you go see Orion. You’ll need his help for the jester,” he mumbled. “After, you should deal… with the war. I think. If you like O...

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Chapter 97: Selling Air

Galamon set Argrave up against the wall, while the Sentinels behind them lowered the iron gate to the Menagerie. It collapsed against the stone, letting out a puff of dust that expanded out across ...

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Chapter 96: Death in His Breath

Ossian and Argrave did not enter the headquarters of the Order of the Rose without proper planning. What they intended to do was already established long beforehand, both offering some contribution...

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Chapter 95: Moving Hearts of Stone

The first day of cohabitation with the Stonepetal Sentinels proved to be tense.

The horde of Guardians of the Low Way reached the great iron door, eventually—the sounds of their bodies and ...

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Chapter 94: Butting Heads

Ossian stood at the doorway of the headquarters of the Order of the Rose, siphoning the last few members of his bands inside the cold stone halls. He did not feel at ease being here, but the sight ...

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Chapter 93: Heads and Tails

The severed head stared at them warily from its position atop a stake. Despite the utterly destroyed room around it, where every wall had been scorched black from fire and other spells, both the st...

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Chapter 92: Menagerie of Morbidity

Galamon had his hands on the handles of a turn wheel. As he turned it, a heavy iron gate rose upwards, the sound of chains echoing out into the spacious central lobby. Argrave kneeled low, trying t...

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Chapter 91: Dependent Thought

Argrave awoke feeling refreshed. Sleep had come easier than he expected it to. At the very least, his body could sleep when he needed to.

All of that changed when he tried to move.

At o...

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Chapter 90: Poorly Timed Breakthroughs

“They were more experienced with this life than I am,” Galamon stated, before pushing up a shelf loaded with rocks in front of an iron door. The thing could not have been light, but he pushed i...

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Chapter 89: Hard Won Respite

Darkness loomed ahead, starkly contrasting with the red lights shining behind. Argrave tried to peer beyond to little effect.

“I don’t sense anything ahead,” said Galamon. “Only… de...

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Chapter 88: Oppressive March

If there was one thing that Argrave hated above all, it would be ignorance. More specifically, his own.

Seeing something he had no clue about made him squirm. When he encountered such a scena...

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Chapter 87: The Lame Will Walk

The point of Nodremaid closest to the tunnel entrance from which Argrave and his companions had entered was the most thoroughly ‘cleaned.’ It was largely devoid of danger or foliage, and the ci...

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Chapter 86: Stone and Bone

Argrave looked back, seeing none of the moonlit night beyond. The Stonepetal Sentinel’s encampments was far beyond them. “Galamon… anyone behind us?” he asked uneasily.

“No,” the ...

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Chapter 85: Thorny Hospitality

Alasdair leaned on a table with his arms crossed, standing just over a woman who examined a long piece of parchment with spell light. The woman was old, with wrinkled skin and thinning gray hair, a...

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Chapter 84: Stone Vigil

A vast mountain towered overhead, like a sheer wall of gray stone warding off all who would dare approach. At its base, a great opening gave way into sheer darkness. The hole was so large that it c...

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Chapter 83: Backpacking

Note: changed ' Rosestone Sentinels' to 'Stonepetal Sentinels.'

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Galamon hefted a giant pack over his shoulder. With both his armor and the pack, he could not weigh less than five ...

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Chapter 82: The Wider World

“She is too old,” Helmuth said, sitting just beside Elias.

“You’ve said this,” replied Elias, cradling his head with one hand. “You’ve said this many, many times. My father marr...

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Chapter 81: Farewell Once Again

“What do you mean, ‘the Duchess won’t be coming?’” Induen pronounced each word very deliberately, teeth clenched tight in anger. The prince was in a small room, shabby room that seemed to...

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Chapter 80: Wrapping Up

The worst part about Elias being correct had to be the fact that he wasn’t smug about it, Argrave had come to realize. Were it anyone less decent, Argrave was sure they’d be rubbing hi...

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Chapter 79: It Can't Happen

“I see no reason to think that Delbraun would cheat us on this matter,” Elias said with a determined stare at Argrave. “He will give us his answer at the end of the banquet, just as he said....

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Chapter 78: One Job

Argrave stared out beyond the hedge maze, just tall enough to see over the well-trimmed bushes. Night had fallen, bathing Count Delbraun’s estate in pearly moonlight. The wind had grown colder ye...

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Chapter 77: One Percent

Argrave and his entourage of well-dressed companions stepped past the open set of gargantuan carved marble doors, entering into the banquet hall just behind their footman. Two sets of stairs branch...

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Chapter 76: Proper Eating

Dusk light washed over the city of Jast, the orange giving the somber city an amber hue on its black stones. The towers seemed less dark and foreboding as high as Argrave was, though he was not fon...

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Chapter 75: Castellan of the Empty

“Now that is done,” Rowe said, stepping in front of Argrave and his party. “I won’t be denied my answer any longer, Galamon. Do you intend to break your word? Has your time in this place of...

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Chapter 74: Negotiations

“What are we doing here?” asked Galamon, looking around at outfits hung on simple carved mannequins. The majority of them were quite grandiose, studded with jewels of all denominations and made...

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Chapter 73: Purple Haze All in His Eyes

Argrave’s eyes lingered on the man wearing reddish-brown robes slight beside and behind Elias: Helmuth. Black hair, a widow’s peak, a dour face, and a beard trimmed to a point all lent the spel...

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Chapter 72: Grandfather Acquired

“What is this? I’m on human soil not a day and already I have you groveling at my feet?” Rowe asked mockingly. All of Argrave’s party was crowded into his room, and the aged elf himself sti...

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Chapter 71: A Prince's Example

I might make this chapter appear earlier to break up some monotony of the relatively tame Jast sections. If you're reading this in the distant future and you recognize it, feel free to ignore.

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