Bob took a deep breath and smiled. He'd spent the better part of his day off just flying south from the Hidden Dungeon, following the coast, and after a few hours, he'd found a beautiful cove. Or maybe it was an inlet? He wasn't sure, but there was only a very narrow passage to the ocean, and the entire thin...
2021-12-14 22:11:55 +0000 UTC View PostElania watched as over fifty men and women streamed through the magic portal that Bob had created.
The aforementioned troublemaker shot her a smile and went through the Portal himself after the last member of the security detail had passed through.
She'd suspected that they would need to arrange an expedition to t...
2021-12-14 00:02:48 +0000 UTC View PostElania smiled at Prime Minister Julwry's outburst. "I felt the same way when I was briefed, Prime Minister," she assured her.
"While I have the utmost respect for both you and your office, Madam President, I am compelled to request additional evidence to corroborate these rather extraordinary claims," Prime Minist...
2021-12-08 21:23:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe second part of what I'm calling the chapter of regret debuts. I'd originally written the meeting with the president, the summit, and the excursion to Thayland as one chapter clocking in at just under 3k words. But it made the various world leaders into two dimensional characters who read like sociopaths at...
2021-12-07 19:37:15 +0000 UTC View PostApologies for the delay on this. I rewrote it several times, and I eventually decided to split it in half so that I could expound a bit more. The short versions all had the cabinet sounding like psychopaths.
President Elania Hartford oscillated from considering the presid...
2021-12-03 23:47:11 +0000 UTC View PostBob shook his head as he looked out over Glacier Valley. All forty skyscrapers were completed, and while he hadn't talked to Mike yet, he suspected that the Dungeons were complete as well. The entire valley seemed to seethe with uniformed men and women.
It had been two weeks since he'd last visited. He...
2021-11-30 00:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostTime until System Integration: 590 Days, 6 Hours, 23 Minutes, 7 seconds.
Bob was working to build out the Hidden Dungeon. Given that each floor was designed for ten people, he had been able to build each floor quite quickly. He was just starting his day and starting the twentieth floor. &nbs...
2021-11-20 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostIt's brought to my attention that some of you are caught wondering just how much longer until Earth receives what could be indelicately referred to as 'The Shaft.'
So, I put it to a vote! Who wants to see the count timer at the head of each chapter?
2021-11-15 19:57:38 +0000 UTC View PostIt was amazing how quickly things could move when you had effectively unlimited resources. Bob looked across glacier valley. He'd just finished training another fifty Curators, and he'd been told that the next batch, which would be ready tomorrow, were going to be trained by the top ten Curators from the first gro...
2021-11-15 19:40:14 +0000 UTC View PostJessica was sipping on a cup of what tasted not entirely unlike lemongrass tea. It carried notes of citrus and was served piping hot, which was nice, as the wind had whipped up the boulevard from the harbor, making the walk rather chilly.
Kathaleen's reminded her of an old book store in Melbourne she'd loved when ...
2021-11-14 18:09:07 +0000 UTC View PostTime until System Integration: 604 Days, 6 Hours, 21 Minutes, 58 seconds.
Bob glanced at the timer at the upper left-hand corner of his vision as he washed the shaving cream off his face. He tried not to dwell on the countdown. He had right around twenty months, give or take, before Earth wa...
2021-11-14 11:48:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe long-awaited lost chapter. I'm sorry folks, last weekend was rough, had a couple of minor issues on the farm that needed professionals to resolve, but that resulted in my mother asking when they were going to be fixed every thirty minutes or so, which meant I didn't get any sleep.
As always, I appr...
Bob had finished the fortieth floor of his Arcane Depths, seeding it with a Summoning Affinity Crystal. That process had been remarkably simple, he'd simply placed the Affinity Crystal in the space where mana would initially flow into the conduits that would feed the floor, and as he worked his ritual, it gradually diss...
2021-11-07 00:18:37 +0000 UTC View PostI was cleaning up my PC, when I found the write-up for a campaign I'd run years ago. It's a part of the world setting I created to GM/DM for my players. It's a neat bit of lore, and I think it showcases the differences between my writing eleven years ago, and my writing today.
So ends another weekend, and begins a new month. Thank you for your support, it means the world to me.
Bob leaned back in his chair, watching the sunset of murmuring falls. Monroe was curled up on the ledge, soaking in the last few rays.
The herbs in his sunroom had done remar...
2021-11-02 09:49:07 +0000 UTC View Post"Those are some proper walls," Bruce said as they emerged from the Portal and got their first look at Harbordeep.
Jessica nodded. The walls were probably more than twenty meters tall, and they looked to be nearly as thick. She couldn't imagine how much work must have gone into building them. Then again...
2021-11-01 10:12:14 +0000 UTC View PostAfter over an hour of fighting in the cavern, their escape had been almost anti-climatic. They'd climbed up the chimney, avoided the tree full of Owlacoons in the sinkhole, and then rushed back to their campsite. Dave and Amanda had shown up a few hours later, and they'd portaled the group back to Glacier Valley.<...
2021-10-31 09:14:08 +0000 UTC View Post"Shiela, are you with us?" Jessica asked as her friend's eyes fluttered.
She'd been unconscious for almost twenty minutes while Jessica and the others had dealt with attacks from the Badgats, as she'd decided to name the Badger/Bat hybrid monsters. There were two different spawns in range of them, and the respawn ...
2021-10-30 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostFourth Chapter this weekend! I'd hoped for more, but life gets in the way. Please remember that I'm committed to keeping the Human-Servant patrons a full four weeks ahead, or twelve chapters. This chapter marks the first time we've reached a full thirty chapters ahead! All praise to our divine feli...
2021-10-26 09:44:19 +0000 UTC View PostJessica looked over the edge of the sinkhole. As promised, it was almost twenty meters down into a forested glen. The best place to drop down was right next to the waterfall. With a mental push, she summoned out a persistent effect bundle of rope. It wasn't as strong as what she could summon with conce...
2021-10-25 09:11:24 +0000 UTC View PostBob walked past Mike in a daze, hearing but not understanding the question he was being asked.
He walked up to the counter and numbly indicated the steak and potatoes option on the blackboard, then schlepping his food back to his table, where he began to eat mechanically.
While it was nice to know what was coming,...
2021-10-24 13:03:58 +0000 UTC View PostOk, so I did quite a bit of foreshadowing on this bit. Thou shalt not crucify the author when he warned you this was coming.
"Jess, you've got to see this!" Derrick announced as he burst into the spatially expanded tent that the Australians had borrowed from Dave and Amanda to use a ba...
2021-10-24 09:43:13 +0000 UTC View Post"So, have you considered our request?"
As Bob rubbed his temples, he took the time to consider that his life on Thayland had taken a drastic turn for the worse after he'd started bringing people from Earth over.
Really, once he'd started involving the government. The retired marines had been fine, mostly, as...
2021-10-23 11:50:44 +0000 UTC View PostBob rubbed his temples, having closed his eyes already. The deep rumble of Monroe's purr did double duty as a low-grade shoulder massage.
"The reason that your Dungeon isn't being consistent in regards to monster respawns is because you've effectively used trenches for your mana flows rather than conduits," Bob mu...
2021-10-22 12:07:38 +0000 UTC View PostSo, I gave a little bit of thought as to why I've been getting sick so often. And then I realized that I spend an awful lot of time at various doctor's offices and medical facilities with my mother. I'm going to blame my cold on the constant exposure to sick people. That being said, I apologize for the l...
2021-10-17 11:32:54 +0000 UTC View PostMike ejected his magazine with one hand while summoning a fresh one into his other.
The wave had been everything Bob had promised. For the past twenty minutes, he'd been dropping monsters in batches. He'd quickly learned that using the Barrage skill was better than using the burst setting on his rifle, offer...
2021-10-13 22:44:46 +0000 UTC View PostEddi looked out over the full might of the Endless and smiled. Sure, other paths were flashier, and the truth was they really did need to alternate into Curators, but the Path of The Endless Swarm offered a degree of safety while still making a huge impact that no other path could match.
They'd shown their worth d...
2021-10-11 22:58:17 +0000 UTC View Post"Was that a..." Jessica trailed off.
"I think so," Amanda said hesitantly.
"Bob said something about the King being a Dragon," Dave muttered as he watched the massive creature winging off into the distance.
Jessica shook her head. Dragons. "So how about that brekky, yeah?" She asked, placing a hand ove...
2021-10-10 22:37:16 +0000 UTC View PostIt has been mentioned in Discord, but I wanted to restate it here. The King's voice is that of Bruce Campbell. When you read his lines, they need to be spoken in his voice in your mind. Only then will you appreciate the true Majesty of the King of Greenwold.
~---------------~
...
2021-10-10 06:59:54 +0000 UTC View Post"The King is coming here?" Bob asked.
"I don't think that he's angry," Nora offered.
Bob took two deep, calming breaths. The King was coming to Glacier Valley. He would need to keep Lt. Colonel Smith away from him, which shouldn't be too difficult, as Bob had been successful in his avoidance o...
2021-10-09 22:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
