“Yes, yes, I’ll pay your price,” the nobleman said impatiently, dry-washing his hands. As dry as possible with how sweaty they looked, at least. “Name it, money is no object. &n...
2021-05-14 03:19:24 +0000 UTC View PostDespite myself, over time I started to like the Fflyr.
Sure, they used a whole overcomplicated set of hand gestures to signal social status (apparently that most common folding-down thing was...
2021-05-11 01:42:47 +0000 UTC View Post“Yeah, I can do it,” said Harold, turning the crossbow over in his hands and holding it up to peer critically at its cocking mechanism from up close. “Just need the materials…and prop...
2021-05-07 01:23:41 +0000 UTC View Post“There’s my girl!”
Junko came barreling out of the fortress pretty much as soon as we were close enough to see it; I’d started to hear her distant barking around the same time I’d s...
2021-05-04 01:26:46 +0000 UTC View PostBeing pursued by people who wish you harm is obviously stressful. However, if you’re being pursued at a sedate walk through an idyllic countryside (weird alien plant life notwithstanding) o...
2021-04-30 02:45:35 +0000 UTC View PostThey rose from their kneeling postures simultaneously. Not by planning, but simple familiarity; Pashilyn and Flaethwyn had prayed together so many times over the years they instinctively reci...
2021-04-29 03:40:25 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s difficult to project your voice through a layer of muffling fabric; I can only imagine how difficult it would be for someone who hadn’t had formal vocal training from middle school through...
2021-04-27 03:28:47 +0000 UTC View PostProgress was paying off. Bit by bit, North Watch became more livable, thanks to our efforts. And, as I’d predicted, I noticed an uptick in morale. Just having something to d...
2021-04-23 03:18:46 +0000 UTC View PostMy decision to drip-feed myself answers as I had questions and not just sit down with Biribo and have the whole world explained in an afternoon had, to be honest, been made simply because I was ove...
2021-04-20 03:13:36 +0000 UTC View PostThere was always something to do at North Watch. Or at least, something that needed doing.
The ongoing cleaning project would be the work of months at least; it didn’t seem like a hug...
2021-04-15 23:00:19 +0000 UTC View Post“And that squares us,” Maugro said, sweeping the stacks of coins off the table into a bag, which he swiftly made disappear into his coat in an impressive feat of legerdemain. The goblin g...
2021-04-13 03:09:08 +0000 UTC View PostOver the next hour I learned that Miss Minifrit was a capable administrator, as well as someone who had the respect of her working girls and did her best to look after their interests. One by...
2021-04-09 02:34:55 +0000 UTC View PostOn Ephemera, the red light district was actually a blue light district. The traditional marker of a brothel, it seemed, was a lamp over the door which burned cool blue behind frosted glass; t...
2021-04-06 03:35:43 +0000 UTC View PostOur shopping trip occupied the rest of the morning because I insisted on acquiring each of the several items we needed from a different shop. I was aware that this was probably overcompensati...
2021-04-02 03:08:29 +0000 UTC View PostThere he was, in the flesh, mostly as I remembered him. It wasn’t like Shinonome Yoshi’s visage was burned into my brain, but there were exactly two Japanese people on this planet and onl...
2021-03-30 03:31:49 +0000 UTC View PostHe watched the peculiar young nobleman stride to the door of the Guildhouse, collecting a more shabbily-dressed man loitering nearby whom Rhydion took for a servant. Shifting his concentratio...
2021-03-29 01:41:25 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh, it’s all anyone’s talking about down at the Trader’s Guild,” Cadimer Auldmaer said as he set a plate of fruit pastries between us on the desk in his office, still warm enough to be s...
2021-03-26 01:00:59 +0000 UTC View PostIt took us most of a day’s hike to get into position along the main trade road where it led to Gwyllthean from the surviving northern landbridge. The khora forest encroached onto civilized ...
2021-03-23 03:10:17 +0000 UTC View Post“Can I ask a favor?” Aster said quietly as we strode toward the road and the embattled wagon, where Mr. Auldmaer was now clambering back and forth atop his wagon, looking for a position from wh...
2021-03-19 03:02:03 +0000 UTC View Post“This is a Spirit?”
“This one isn’t exactly…typical,” Aster admitted.
“These are the things that hand out spells and artifacts.”
“Well…among other thi...
2021-03-16 02:47:26 +0000 UTC View PostThere were goblins in my kitchen.
At least the kitchen was clean, as per my parting orders to the gang. Actually it looked rather nice, with the garbage and general filth (and ...
2021-03-12 04:33:55 +0000 UTC View PostEphemera was giving me plenty of practice at maintaining a stage presence, despite the lack of actual stages. I seized that familiar poise and wrapped it around myself like a fluffy blanket, ...
2021-03-09 04:44:39 +0000 UTC View Post“Lord Seiji,” Aster said in clear relief as I approached.
The three men around her all turned to study me, the young clerk blinking owlishly, the old one controlling his expression better...
2021-03-05 03:34:48 +0000 UTC View PostI have a couple of important announcements!
First of all, a clarification of how Patreon's systems work, because moving to the reward tier structure has caused some confusion. If you're...
2021-03-02 04:55:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning I found myself having a nice breakfast at a charming little inn which catered to Gwyllthean’s wealthy class of travelers and reflecting on how damn surreal everything was. ...
2021-03-02 04:55:00 +0000 UTC View PostMy new asshole friend Lord Arider of Clan Olumnach, whom I had no immediate plans to betray but had a feeling that was where this relationship would end up, took a step to the side and paced around...
2021-02-26 01:40:25 +0000 UTC View PostWe arrived at Gwyllthean in the afternoon, having walked for most of the day. That gave me an idea how far it was from my evil lair, even accounting for the roundabout route we’d taken, and...
2021-02-23 04:51:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe sky of Ephemera was weird. During the day it was a deep purple, with stars faintly visible even when the sun was high, fading to a rosy pink all around the horizon. I had my first c...
2021-02-19 04:49:16 +0000 UTC View PostSo that was how my first day as the Dark Lord ended. I’d left Akihabara in the afternoon and apparently arrived on Ephemera in what was the early evening local time, but given how much of t...
2021-02-16 04:45:38 +0000 UTC View PostThey continued to stare. I stared back, as imperiously as I could manage, focusing on my breathing, projecting outward confidence. I couldn’t help noting that all of these people had ...
2021-02-12 04:56:42 +0000 UTC View Post