Bongosian Press

§108 Pursuit

Kasper

"Let! Me! Out!" Kasper pounded on the walls around him. He couldn't see them – he couldn't see anything at all – but he could feel the surface in front of him to hit and claw at it. 

"I want out! I want out!" he screamed, but no one could hear. He knew what it felt like to be ins...

Map of Estfold

It's been a while since our last sourcebook update. Here is a map of Estfold province, with a good chunk of Dimmik showing in the south. It will be included in Legate of Mourne.

§107 Taken

Taylor arrived in his slime form, ready for assassins, armed insurrections, enemy wizards, or popular uprisings. Instead, he landed in the middle of the princess's study.

What's wrong? Their bond twisted with worry.

"Rebecca is making a play against the Divine Envoy."

Explain.

"She sa...

§106 Opportunities

Princess Mariella — Imperial Palace, Avimore

The day had been long, and the carriage ride was rough. Mariella somehow got stuck in a Priory carriage with bad suspension, and she could feel every stray rock and crease in the road through the bench seat. The lower city clinic had been full of early cases of corruption...

An Enterprising Beetle

Sprits come in all shapes and sizes, some of them quite small. Here's one from volume 2, running off with some delicious Wokehaad Farms preserves.

One should be careful while tromping around Twilight. Spirits can discern the difference between an insect and an insect-type spirit, but the rare mortal visitor likely woul...

§105 Behind the Mask

I miss the noise of common folk, 
their joys, their toils, their simple cares. 
In fall, I don my deepest cloak
To stalk unknown the season's fairs.
— Erkenbrog the Decimator

Taylor — Wenfold

Taylor sat on his hilltop and watched a battle between the Ar...

My Zombie Book

If you ever get tired of mostly lighthearted fantasy, you can try my zombie book, Hungry New World. There are no superpowers, and the closest thing to magic is the zombies. (As one reader pointed out, zombies defy the laws of thermodynamics and therefore qualify as magical beings.)

Fair warning: it's a more adu...

§104 Disgruntled

Taylor — The Void

"You aren't yourself today," said Strife. "It's been a while since we've seen you."

Taylor was taking a lot of pieces off their chessboard, throwing pawns at the god's lines to watch his defenses react, then prying open the gaps. He was playing more to hurt Strife than to win the game.

...

§103 Avimore III

That evening, Taylor went fishing in the river branch running through Avimore. The waterway was as desultory as the rest of the lower city, bricked in on both sides, forming a deep channel twenty-five feet wide. The water had a slight stink and loitered on its way through the capital. He didn't hope to catch any fish, and wou...

§102 Avimore II

The morning post brought a card from Rasmusen, with a priory header and the embossed profile of their famous building. Ras had made contact with the palace clinic and delivered the circle into "competent hands." Even knowing how averse Taylor was to the palace, the priest invited him to tea with "a person of some importance."...

Alchemist eBook: §084..101

Your weekly eBook update, with a new cover.

Legate update; plotting volume 4; holidays

I finally have Legate of Mourne back on track for publication. Multiple illustrations are in the works right now, so apprentices can look forward to high-resolution versions of the illustrations and maps. When Legate is released, all current apprentices will get a copy.

Now that I've become addicted to...

§101 Avimore I

Getting into Avimore was inconvenient compared to every other major city in the empire. Taylor didn't have any travel points into Dorian at all, not from Twilight or the Other Place. Partly, that was because the emperor kept his front yard clean of rifts, so he'd never had a reason to lead an expedition there. Partly it was b...

§100 Running

He wanted to send a purification circle to the clinic, but getting materials into the palace wasn't so easy. They only trusted certain people to transport goods, and there were procedures to follow. Taylor had no way in other than as Miss Wibbles, and a summoned spirit couldn't leave permanent items behind. But he might know ...

§099 Mata'ari

What, then, is the difference between a dark lord and any other person of great power? There is a strangeness that obscures their purpose from other men. We understand the conqueror, even as we hate him. But a Dark Lord is unknowable, even among those who follow him.

— Types and Archetypes

2025-11-24 20:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

Alchemist eBook export

Here is this week's epub export. No format changes.

Vol 4 Cover; So Many Delays

In keeping with the recent tradition of showing off my lack of artistic ability, here's the sketch for The Alchemist cover. (That's supposed to be a volcano in the background.) I was due multiple pieces of art this week, but wouldn't you know it, production gets less reliable in the run-up to Thanksgiving.

It's been har...

§098 The Other Princess

Silas "The Smiling Man" — Midway

The Smiling Man was in a rented house in Midway, where a second-story window gave his team a good view of their target's backyard. Some of his partners had struck up passing relationships in the neighborhood and the nearby markets to collect more information.

T...

§097 Meetings

Cecilia did not happen to cross his path on Academy grounds, which was disappointing, but Rahel gave him a lot to think about. Spirits talked to each other, and Rahel had learned about the purification of Mount Uroda and its great spirit through them. Even if she hadn't, Taylor's title of Dux Twilight was in the open thanks t...

§096 Training

Taylor popped into Twilight while still a slime, perched on Saria's counter, with a pyramid of indigo marbles piled next to him. He had only been gone for an hour, but the Army of Lightness was gathered there to cheer his return. When Taylor found the class skill for turning back into a human, he misjudged the space around hi...

eBook Update: ch 84-95

For those of you who prefer eBooks, here is your weekly update. Hopefully, I'll have a real cover to put on this soon.

§095 What the Princess Summoned

They say he walks the land in strange forms, the better to spy on his domain. If they see a beggar in the street with sharp eyes, or a cat that sits too long in one place, they point and say to each other, "Mind yourself. He is watching."

— "Dark Lord Dalvoorde." in Ancient Lords of the Muse Valley 2025-11-14 20:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post