I had to supply a venue for the procedure, on the grounds that Sneppit’s crew were taking enough of a risk by helping me and she wasn’t about to compromise one of her own secure locations on the surface. That seemed reasonable to me, but since I was away from my own power base and not that familiar with the layout o...
2022-01-13 16:34:16 +0000 UTC View PostAmong the potential targets Maugro found for me, I selected a “pawn shop” which was known to fence stolen goods for its perfect intersection of several criteria: it had survived the purge relatively unscathed, its proprietor had started voluntarily paying protection to one of the imported bandit gangs to secure his place ...
2022-01-10 21:05:34 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: And this is the chapter that's going up on RR this evening. It took all morning to finish and I don't think I've got another chapter in me today, so I'll try to have the proper Patron advance chapter out tomorrow. We're close to being caught up!
***
“Yeah, that’s great,” she...
2022-01-06 21:47:46 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: This is the complete chapter 2.31; the first half has been properly edited and the second is now included. That ended up longer and more involved than I anticipated and I've run out of steam finishing it, so I'm afraid I'm still a bit behind on updates. This is going up on Royal Road immediately, and ...
2022-01-05 01:22:18 +0000 UTC View PostHere's the notification I put on the current RR chapter, which I will also ping as an announcement on Discord:
"Holiday Hiatus Notice:
I had hoped to finish Book 2 before taking a prolonged break, but I've reached a point where I have to acknowledge I've failed to me...
2021-12-17 01:06:50 +0000 UTC View PostI didn’t know why the experience left me so out of sorts, which only made it worse.
The Spirit’s “revelation” about the goddesses was… Well, upon due consideration, not much of anything, really. Sure, I didn’t know the tidbit that all past Heroes and Dark Lords were Japanese, but in hind...
2021-12-14 00:32:17 +0000 UTC View PostI hadn’t realized how big this island was.
Highlord Adver hosted us in a drawing room rather than his study where he preferred to conduct discreet business of this kind because of the décor: one wall was taken up by a huge map of Dount. It was clearly designed for decoration, having nothing labeled except Caer ...
2021-12-07 01:22:39 +0000 UTC View Post“Ohh, no,” the talkative bandit groaned. “He said the thing.”
Two of his compatriots smacked him quiet this time.
“All right, ladies,” I said. “Everyone crowd around, get a good look. You know the drill: sing out if you have a claim to make.”
“What’s he talking about?”...
2021-12-03 01:35:39 +0000 UTC View PostInstead of sleeping in a warm, cozy guest room in the luxurious Caer Yviredh, we got to camp amid the damp khora and really enjoy that crisp autumn chill up close. I didn’t regret the decision, though, because while I had hammered out a foundational agreement for my alliance with Clan Yviredh, we were a long way from ...
2021-11-30 04:51:11 +0000 UTC View PostFlaerdwyd lowered his hands, dropped the spell, and sank back into his chair, looking sickly and terrified. I followed him for a moment with the tip of the rapier before finally removing it, and re-sheathing the weapon.
Behind me, Nazralind separated herself from the women along the dining room’s walls and pulle...
2021-11-21 01:46:02 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: This is the full chapter. The first section has been edited but isn't substantially different from what you previously saw, if you'd rather skip right to the first break.
“Here’s the thing, though,” Biribo continued, weaving back and forth in the air as if slightly worked up, “these a...
2021-11-17 07:19:42 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor's Note: This is an unedited half-chapter. I'm behind again due to multiple circumstances as discussed in the Patron channel on Discord. I'll post the second half as soon as it's done, but for now there have been so many schedule slips lately I didn't want to let another update day pass without havin...
2021-11-16 05:27:35 +0000 UTC View Post“What? Lord Seiji, that’s not a beastman,” said Mimi.
“Wh—he isn’t?” I pointed at the fallen man, who was still partially curled up and wincing in pain after the tumble he’d taken. “Look, he’s got the ears and the tail and everything.”
“Exactly. Ears and tail, nothin...
2021-11-14 03:38:48 +0000 UTC View PostThings were changing around North Watch.
It wasn’t practical to entertain business guests in the kitchen, now that the kitchen was actually serving its intended purpose; preparing food for over a hundred people three times a day, plus cleaning up after all that food prep, meant it was bustling with activity more often...
2021-11-09 03:16:07 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t mind sleeping in a barracks with other women,” Sicellit stated in a particularly tightly-wound voice. “I understand those are the available accommodations out here and it’s not much of a hardship. Hell, it’s more comfortable than my own room back at the Cat because I specific...
2021-11-05 01:22:59 +0000 UTC View PostHearing Junko rapidly approach, I decided to take a risk.
“Oh, she scared the hell outta Benit and Radon the first time,” I said aloud, deliberately casual. “I’ll go ahead, calm the dog and wait by the gates. Biribo, you can guide ‘em the rest of the way, right? See you in a minute.”
...
2021-11-04 02:18:14 +0000 UTC View PostHey everybody, just wanted to drop a line and keep everyone updated on the status of these. They are running behind schedule, and I want to reassure folks that I haven't forgotten and am not neglecting them. The nominated and voted topics are still coming:
September: Goose & Twigs's adventure
Octob...
2021-11-01 01:15:52 +0000 UTC View PostIt was not one of the best trips back to North Watch, but definitely wasn’t the longest or most difficult; that honor still went to the previous one, when I’d been escorting most of the population of Cat Alley, along with their various hangers-on. This group was smaller, and while the kids slowed us considerably, th...
2021-10-29 00:16:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Jassner,” I said aloud into the echoing, expectant silence, “wanted to be a messenger and travel to different cities. He would hang around the trade roads, watching the couriers pass by and asking any who’d talk with a Gutter Rat about their travels. I wonder, Uncle Gently—did you pick him as a sacrific...
2021-10-26 02:55:17 +0000 UTC View PostSome of my spell combinations seemed like they were pushing the limits of what could be a plausible joining of their base spells, but Summon Bound Slime just did exactly the same thing as casting Summon Slime and Tame Beast in succession. The slime came into existence already bound to my will. It saved a step, tha...
2021-10-26 02:55:07 +0000 UTC View PostWe moved out right after the ceremony, which put us on the street just as full dark fell. Gwyllthean was quiet, even here on the middle ring; what had happened in the Gutters that morning cast a pall over the whole city, and even those who were inclined to celebrate Lady Gray’s downfall seemingly did so in private. &n...
2021-10-18 23:23:22 +0000 UTC View PostI finally learned about Fflyr funerary customs that day.
They did cremate their dead. Not in crematoriums, though, they used open-air pyres. That would not work ordinarily—it takes an immense amount of heat to reduce a human body to ash, and I would know—but the Fflyr had the advantage of asauth...
2021-10-15 02:55:10 +0000 UTC View PostWe had to pass through a cell block to get where we were going, which meant sticking to the center of the path out of reach of the arms extended through the bars at us. Those cells were overcrowded to an extent that would’ve resulted in human rights complaints on Earth. Well…parts of Earth. All these men...
2021-10-12 02:05:55 +0000 UTC View PostIn keeping with the established pattern of everything good on Ephemera being horribly tainted somehow, my first hug from Aster was delivered at high velocity while she was wearing chain mail.
“Oof!” I actually staggered under the impact; Nazralind reached out to steady me with one hand on my back, which I’m ...
2021-10-09 03:53:38 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh, shit,” I commented upon seeing the line of stalled merchant caravans blocking the major highway into Gwyllthean. It was still early in the morning, but from this distance it already looked to be close to a kilometer long.
“Yeah, and that’s only the khora’s fronds,” said Nazralind, patting me on th...
2021-10-05 04:53:13 +0000 UTC View PostHi, everybody, sorry again for being late with the most recent chapter. It's up now!
I am actually posting this to let everyone know I need some more time on the current bonus chapter--the voted topic of Twigs and Goose's adventure. As you've noticed, they've just returned to the main story and the consequen...
2021-10-02 03:37:10 +0000 UTC View PostOf course, it wasn’t as simple as jumping right to carving me up like a chunk of roasted beef, which was both good and bad, because while I enjoyed not being carved up, stretching out the anticipation wasn’t great, either.
Seven of the noblewomen-turned-bandit gang had come to retrieve me from the river, no...
2021-10-02 03:32:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe only good thing about being shot by a bunch of crossbows is that it happens too fast for you to dwell on how much it’s going to hurt. Which, it turns out, is a lot. Fortunately for me,I immediately discovered so many new sources of pain that I didn’t even have time to properly notice.
I was ...
2021-09-28 01:09:46 +0000 UTC View Post“Is that an attack?” I shifted my feet in preparation, but despite Biribo’s exhortation to move, I didn’t yet take a step. This seemed like a bad situation in which to run around in confusion.
“No, there’s no offensive element,” he said impatiently. “The spell’s called Locate, it’s ...
2021-09-24 02:59:04 +0000 UTC View PostShepherding two unwilling recruits who were only along because they were terrified of me obviously required a great deal of my attention, which spared me the opportunity to get too lost in my own thoughts, but even so, I had plenty of time to worry as we made our careful, stealthy way through the back alleys of the G...
2021-09-21 04:11:37 +0000 UTC View Post
