AuthorPalt

A Gamer's Guide 275

In a terrified, panicking haze, Jarne searched the entire house, from top to bottom. He found hidden silverware, wedding jewelry, clothes, fabrics, things worth stealing, things worth eating, things worth burning, all in their proper places, untouched, unbothered. But no bodies. Only the black, dried puddles of molten viscera...

A Gamer's Guide 274

“...In summary, only one of the houses—house Dagrun—had direct contact to key aggressors in the riot. However, two other houses had close contact with them during this time. Going by the scent profiles on page eleven, we have good reason to believe that house Fysh and house Feynix sent funds to them, portions of which w...

A Gamer's Guide 273

They went down a street. The shutters of all the houses were drawn, the stern gazes of their guard companions keeping people from doing much of anything. 

“Five inhabitants, two infected,” Kitty said, pointing to a house. Dipping his brush in blue dye, Jarne smeared two vertical lines atop the doorpo...

A Gamer's Guide 272

“Execution? Mole, you can’t seriously—”

“It’s the only logical decision, Rat,” Mole said, not even looking up from his work. Not even standing up to face Jarne. After a few seconds, since Jarne wasn’t replying, Mole signed and turned to look up at him. His eyes were deeply-set. He looked abo...

A Gamer's Guide 271

“Hey guys!” Mole said, smiling brightly, a transparent crystal clutched tightly in his hand. “Thanks for saving me! Kitty told me everything. Apparently, it was a really close one. But you made the right choice! I’m sure Plus would be proud.”

Every single hair on Jarne’s body stood straight up. A ...

A Gamer's Guide 270

They entered, and within minutes, they had Mole on one bed, and Plus in the next.

“Well?” Jazz asked. “Didn’t you say you had an ability to save anyone?”

“I do,” Benevil said. “However—”

“So use it then!” Jarne snapped. “They could be breathing their...

A Gamer's Guide 269

“Hoeksak!” one shouted through a mouthful of raw grains and jam. 

“Derecho!” another shouted.

“Kill it! Kill it!” a third barked.

Without spending even a fraction of a second to hesitate, Jarne rushed back up the stairs, cursi...

A Gamer's Guide 268

“I’m sorry. He’s really far gone. I think… unless someone were to donate, then…” Jazz bit her lip. “But he’d never agree to that! If he found out that you died to save him, he’d never forgive you!”

“I don’t mind that,” Kitty said.

“He’d never forgive himself,...

A Gamer's Guide 267

It was fair to say that everything was going to shit. It had been for a while, but this was definitely the shit-cherry on top of the shit-cake. 

“Where is he going? What the fuck is happening?” Jarne said, far from surprised to notice that literally no one was paying attention to him. Well, alright...

A Gamer's Guide 266

During the rest of the day, Emil went from manor to manor, speaking with the judges and judgesses, begging a thousand million pardons for not being able to tell the news last night. Each time, he was met with condolences and surface-level forgiveness that poorly hid their real opinion of him. At the very least, none of them a...

A Gamer's Guide 265

“You have your notes? And your staff? And your—”

“Yeah, yeah, I have it,” Emil said, bravely pushing through his hangover by casting a detox spell on himself over and over again. The effect was diminished, but it was better than nothing. How could he have forgotten to detox last night? He felt like ...

A Gamer's Guide 264

Without wasting any more time, they headed inside, met with Fr. Blueroot who had graciously accepted to hold the funeral, and took a seat, all four next to each other on the bench closest to the altar.

And after that… Emil wasn’t too sure. He felt dazed and lost. His clothes were stuffy and sweaty and w...

A Gamer' Guide 263

A week passed. Emil still hadn’t cried.

“Yes, the first of March works with me,” Emil said, taking a sip of his clarea of water. The spiced honey used for this pot was borrowed from the mayor’s pantry, though it wasn’t the best he’d had.

Still, it was high enough in quality to...

A Gamer's Guide 262

When Emil woke up, there was a tingle in his right hand’s fingers. The room was cold and his chest ached in three different ways. Groggily, he lifted his head from his pillow and peered out into the darkness. The window was open. That explained the cold.

A shadow sat at his desk, reading something in the ...

Book 2 art inserts

FINALLY DONE DRAWING NOW I CAN FINALLY REST YIPPIEEEEEE

Book 2 floor headers

Overall, I’m fairly happy. The style shifted a lot from the last book to this one, partially to express Fennrick’s development, mainly for artistic convenience. I got a stricter deadline this time, so I can’t afford to muck around.

Anyhow, I’ve got a few more pieces to draw before I can send them all off...

Book 2 chapter headers + various stuff

Currently working on the art for book 2… going well! I’m super excited to see all this stuff on page once the first and second novels come out. Very exciting. Now, I just have to draw the actual floor headers, alongside some art for the fifteenth floor… Gonna be fun!

VERY SOON TO BE STUBBED (chapters 3-76)

Heyo!!! In short: THE FIRST BOOK OF THIS SERIES, CHAPTERS 3-76, WILL BE REMOVED IN APPROX. THREE HOURS AS PART OF THE PREPARATION FOR FULL RELEASE. NEW CHAPTERS WILL CONTINUE BEING PUBLISHED.

In long:

Hello!! I wanted to have more time to prepare everyone, but Podium gave me the wrong date for stubbing, so... yeah...

A Gamer's Guide 261

Surprisingly, in line with his promise, Kitty succeeded in finishing the hazmat suits before she died. Though, by that time, she wished she’d been dead.

“You’re excited, right? I sure am!” Kitty said as he gently brought another spoonful of some unknown food to her slacked-open lips. By routine inst...

A Gamer's Guide 260

“...So, you’ve been taken off the donor list, but Moleman still feels confident that he can figure out some kind of vaccine to cure all of this. Of course, I’m still fairly sceptical about all of this, but he seems to like working on it just for its own sake, so I can’t be too negative. Oh, but he’s doing very well ...

A Gamer's Guide 259

Midday, late January, a day like any other. Or, it would’ve been.

“You want to learn what?”

“But you’re busy, so you really don’t have to, like, unless you want to? But you really don’t have to.” He shuffled slightly closer to the door. “I thought that… The la...

A Gamer's Guide 258

Whenever she had the strength to, be it daytime or nighttime, Myriam would sit by the window. It was hardly a large window, with the pane only barely sizeable enough to let in enough light to not require daytime illumination. Not to mention that since it sat facing the courtyard, and this was only the fourth floor of seven, i...

A Gamer's Guide 257

Maybe it was a good thing that her unfortunate illness had been discovered so soon. It certainly gave her plenty of time to goof off before it developed too much to allow for even that. 

And still, to Myriam, it was far from a good thing. Because of this, she now had to spend her days isolated, with he...

A Gamer's Guide 256

She ended up in the hospital that very day, fully quarantined. There was no end to the ex-mayor’s complaints once he heard that she fully had her own room, not that he was in any place to do anything about it. After all, unlike him, there was a fairly good chance that her illness could infect not only goblins—but also hum...

A Gamer's Guide 255

“Shame about that poor stablemaster. And on your birthday, too. You must have felt dreadful all evening, Mole.”

“Not at all. It happened late at night, mayor, so there was no way for me to…” Again, like usual, Moleman doesn’t seem too keen on lying. At least, not with a straight face. After all,...

Signed Copy Sign-Up Form!!!

Do you want a signed physical copy? Do you have five minutes over to fill in a form?? Then this form is for you!! For the low-low price of 34$ (a mere 8$ increase compared to buying it retail--that's how little my name is worth!) you can receive a fresh-off-the-grill signed copy sent right to your doorst...

A Gamer's Guide 254

By the time I finish making Moleman’s birthday gift, it’s five minutes to his birthday and he has knocked on the door several times asking to be let inside. But perfection is hard-won, and I can say with certainty that I am now a victor. Of all the leathers I’ve tanned, this is the best. Of all the items I’ve crafted,...

A Gamer's Guide 253

“Has anyone told you that you could’ve been a drakekeep, doctor? Even Charm’s like wax in your hands!” Lent comments as he accepts the reins from Moleman, smiling broadly. His eyes briefly move to my own hands, before returning to Moleman’s. He hums. “Those are hands, yes?”

“Oh...

A Gamer's Guide 252

Sometimes, Moleman really does confuse me. Nothing against him, of course, it’s just that this whole ordeal with the mayor, and with how the hospital works, and then all that about points and whatnot… It’s enough to make me more than happy I don’t have to deal with any of it. No, my role has become a fairly straightfo...

Art to beat writer’s block

I don’t fully know why considering I’ve been looking forward to this part for like a year straight but I am out here fighting for my life to make stuff happen… at least my pen still moves! Art is arting, occasionally. I also moved recently, which did predictably mess with my writing schedules, but it’s no reason. I mu...