Khall woke, groaning. The air was choked with ash, smoke, and soot. She wasn’t sure where exactly she was, but it was sure that she was no longer in the Second Step. The air was no longer rich with the feeling of arcanite, and the smog was again keeping her vision clouded. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t see ar...
2024-05-30 06:10:39 +0000 UTC View PostAfter I’d left the specifics of the planning to Sybil, I stepped out of the den where I’d been talking to the assembled Alphas. I didn’t have much in the way of trust in their abilities, but if they were able to find out more about the movements and locations of the humans, then they would have done enough. It took me a...
2024-05-29 03:23:20 +0000 UTC View Post[Sybil POV]
“Now, tell me what you know of the packs that have disappeared.” The True Alpha’s voice rang out over these, his newly assembled subordinates. Sybil listened to his questions while glancing over the rather… unimpressive showing of supposed Alphas.
The more time passed by, the more Sybil r...
2024-05-28 07:59:18 +0000 UTC View PostAfter days spent with my hosts, I finally felt that the Kha I had convinced to allow me to stay with them were comfortable enough around me that I could finally ask the questions I was most interested in asking. Even so, I had been sure to begin my questioning with more mundane questions, though those answers had ...
2024-05-24 22:35:36 +0000 UTC View PostSorry for the lateness! I've been super busy today. Thanks for the patience!
If it had been any other member of the swarm, I might have refused to go down, or been snide in my response, but with Rulac here, I immediately understood the severity of whatever was the reason for my summons. As I stepped for...
2024-05-24 05:52:56 +0000 UTC View PostNothing coherent crossed my mind as I felt my body respond to Sybil’s unexpected touch. I breathed deep, and the slightly familiar, attractive smell filled my head. My attempt to calm myself had served to cloud my thoughts further, and I exhaled before speaking. My voice had become throaty and husky without my conscious tho...
2024-05-22 23:20:55 +0000 UTC View PostOccasionally (I know, that's less than ideal), such as today, I have chapters done before the time that I would post them (8PM for me). Would you, as a patron, prefer that I post the completed chapter early, if I have it done early? Or would you prefer that I, instead, wait and post it at the usual time?
2024-05-22 22:45:44 +0000 UTC View PostI had thought ever since my evolution that while I had struggled against Wisterl before, I would now be able to dominate her were we to spar once again. In the past days, I had come to learn that I was completely mistaken when thinking that.
It was obvious that I was bigger and stronger than Wisterl, and there was...
2024-05-22 02:37:16 +0000 UTC View PostIn this “Second Step”, Khall began to feel small. She had been small before, but she’d never felt that way since she’d been quite stupid before she’d evolved. Then, she’d evolved and had since been larger than any other creature she’d seen, the only thing taller than her being the occasional hill or bush. While ...
2024-05-21 21:14:45 +0000 UTC View PostAs more days passed, the wolfstag pups and hatchlings grew more competent and comfortable with each other. Initially, both sides had snapped at each other, but now, as the keelish continued to mature much more quickly than the pups, Joral and his appointed assistants began to teach them how to communicate with their scaled co...
2024-05-21 04:48:17 +0000 UTC View PostSwimming forward through the magma, Khall snapped idly at fry. The little fish weren’t really worth eating unless she was hungry, and instead of hunger, all she felt was elation at taking action and changing. All around her, the magma cooled slightly, becoming thicker, harder to traverse, and a bit less welcoming. It was st...
2024-05-20 21:35:38 +0000 UTC View PostMarata POV
Marata wasn’t sure if she was so methodical as a result of her years spent Earthspeaking, or if she had become so proficient with Earthspeaking as a result of her methodical and cautious nature. Whichever of the two it was, though, Marata observed and investigated every last bit of the surr...
2024-05-18 03:12:35 +0000 UTC View PostIt was fortunate that there was a Windspeaker prudent enough to send a message to us after they initially found keelishsign. Though they were sure of their own competence and mentioned that they had a True Earthspeaker in the village, I long had prepared a squad to march at the earliest needful moment. My on...
2024-05-17 03:28:48 +0000 UTC View PostThe pack whose den we walked into was already at each other’s throats before we got there. A male and female were wrestling in the dirt, snarls and screeches echoing off the enclosed walls, and the rest of the pack simply watched as both sought to gain advantage over their foe. There was a certain level of control in the fi...
2024-05-16 03:18:37 +0000 UTC View PostFoire and Vefir had taken the eggs to a corner near my personal quarters and hollowed out a little space to lightly bury them, and as I looked at them, Vefir sent a brief burst of his magic into the sunken eggs. I couldn’t tell what exactly that would do for the small fetuses, but I could be sure that it wouldn’t harm the...
2024-05-15 05:09:35 +0000 UTC View PostWith a comfortable sigh, Khall settled into her home of the past week. She didn’t know how she could tell it had been a week, she didn’t know why she knew what a week or a day was, and there was nothing that let her know that time had passed, yet she knew, and was confused by her confusion. The more time went by, the more...
2024-05-14 22:21:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe introduction of biologically altered creatures into the environments surrounding and within the borders of the Holy State of the Veratocracy was a prophetic move by the Gran Verat. With His ascension to the position of Gran Verat, there were many actions taken that could have, in the hands of a non-omniscient ...
2024-05-14 04:25:47 +0000 UTC View PostThe flames dancing over and sticking to her didn’t bother her any longer. In fact, they didn’t even bother her eyes once she opened them. Whereas the heat before had attempted to scrub the flesh from her bones, now there was a light tickling. Instead of any pain, there was, in fact, comfort in the heat as Khall subconscio...
2024-05-13 20:11:47 +0000 UTC View PostAs we forced ourselves to carry instead of drag the bodies to the abandoned wolfstag den, I found myself almost regretting the decision. We were miles from our destination, and though I was strong enough to carry a body over each shoulder for a time, I couldn’t carry them for an extended period of time. Beyond that, Took ca...
2024-05-11 03:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDifferent from when I’d killed the Earthspeaker in the throes of battle just minutes before, I didn’t have the thrill of battle or the detachment of [Combatant’s Bloodlust] as I killed Farrah. I’d known her name, I’d spoken with her, and though I called it a warrior’s death, the “opportunity” I’d offered Far...
2024-05-10 03:33:06 +0000 UTC View PostFoire’s mourning keens cut me to the core as he stood over Treel’s cooling body. I’d never realized they were mates, or that they had even thought to do so. Keelish didn’t seem to be monogamous, so where did the idea of “mate” even come from for these two? I stopped myself from thinking further on it, instead reac...
2024-05-09 03:19:37 +0000 UTC View PostI commanded Vefir to take cover and keep himself safe as I rushed forward into combat. I activated [Combatant’s Bloodlust] and watched the two humans in the front as their Callings finished and earth began to flow up their bodies to cover their forearms, chests, and thighs. Thankfully, neither were full Earthspeakers, becau...
2024-05-08 03:33:29 +0000 UTC View PostExplanation: I recognize that Khall’s understanding of what a stone is is demonstrably incorrect in a variety of ways. She’s dumb. I know it. You know it. Just let it go, because it’ll be ok.
A stone is what it is–so too was Khall. If an egg was thrown at a stone, the egg would break, and if a f...
2024-05-07 22:53:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe Speakers’ College of the Red Abbey will now implement mandatory self-defense courses for all students and faculty. The focus of the new self-defense courses will consist of descriptions and practices of specific and efficient approaches with how to deal with and potentially when to flee from humanoids with n...
2024-05-07 02:17:20 +0000 UTC View PostKhall rolled over, comfortable. She figured that rolling in the dirt should help her figure out what would help her form her stone core essence, and she liked it anyways, so it was good twice over! With a chuff of contentment, she turned to look at the tiny exit from her little burrow. A few embers drifted by every so often, ...
2024-05-04 06:25:36 +0000 UTC View PostMy mind was finally recovering enough for me to really work through this new [Skill], as well as everything else that had changed. Firstly, I wanted to better understand this new [Skill] even better. Did [Imperial Bearing] mean that every one of my Sonilphon related [Skills] would be improved, except [Quaking Claw]?
[Th...
2024-05-04 02:54:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Lavaline cub, Hsui, slowly slunk forward into the stupid lizard’s hole. He couldn’t believe that it was so dumb that it was coming down here again. Maybe it was thinking that this time, just like before, he wouldn’t be able to finish it off? The lizard was bigger than him, stronger than him, tougher than him… but ...
2024-05-03 04:32:31 +0000 UTC View PostWhile there were a dozen small contacts made before that day, true first contact with the rogue swarm was far more volatile, explosive, and shocking than even the most pessimistic of the Veratocracy had ever dreamed possible. Until that moment, respect and credence had been given to the Gran Verat’s prophecy tha...
2024-05-03 03:06:13 +0000 UTC View PostHey there free members! There have been more of you joining, which 1. I really didn’t expect, and 2. I’m not sure what I can do for you. Even if you aren’t paying for anything, I think you’re pretty cool and would like to provide something for you here. But that raises the question: what?
I am so unsure as to wh...
2024-05-02 14:15:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe next days after my initial attempt to look into finding some humans passed without any noteworthy occurrences except for the hatchlings’ first hunt and my first address to them that came immediately after. That and disconcerting information I gained exclusively through my [Status].
Their first hunt went with...
2024-05-02 03:01:35 +0000 UTC View Post
