“…long story short, he’s cutting a very persuasive figure on the stage.” A man quietly pinched small flakes of green leaves into a pipe, compressing it down with his thumb.
“You can’t worm any doubt in?” asked a female’s voic...
2024-07-11 06:57:09 +0000 UTC View PostArgrave had learned throughout his life that words could be twisted in very exceptional ways to make the horrible seem almost noble. Robin Hood, for example—objectively, this supposedly skilled archer was a dirty criminal, likely guilty of enoug...
2024-07-10 07:03:37 +0000 UTC View Post“Argrave, some reports,” Elenore’s voice cut into Argrave’s ear the moment he was free of Raven’s lab.
“More?” He asked with surprise—she’d already delivered some on his journey back, something about riots.
“A claim...
2024-07-09 07:01:06 +0000 UTC View PostFor book-related stuff only, read bold.
To start, I'll say I'm really glad I took that break.
I've been able to keep writing through multiple surgeries, but when it came to this, I absolutely needed the time to stop...
People that have been on here for a while probably know I try to keep things pretty seamless. Five chapters a weak, not much babble. Nonetheless, I've been having some problems these past weeks-- making edits, changes, lagging behind, et cetera.
Though Argrave had said not long ago that he trusted his brother, now that his intentions were clear and they’d all agreed to help Orion on his search, he did consult two encyclopedias for answers. The first was his own head—not to toot his ow...
2024-06-27 06:57:32 +0000 UTC View PostFollowing Orion’s presentation of his findings, Argrave gathered together all of his closest counsel to consult about the path that they needed to pursue. It came alongside reports of growing unrest—for the first time, there was what could be ...
2024-06-26 06:57:16 +0000 UTC View Post“I suspect the man’s head burst into gore due to the pressure of containing Gerechtigkeit, not out of any deliberate act,” Raven said as he studied the corpse.
Anneliese looked at him as he turned the body over in his hands. “I might...
2024-06-25 06:58:59 +0000 UTC View PostAs mentioned in the 'changes and news' post, I'm rearranging things. This is where volume 12 will start. Consider the previous chapter a false start, to be repurposed later in the story with different context.
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“The end is nigh, ladie...
Willem had almost been expecting the worst when Anne Claire practically marched into the meeting with Petronella, a scowl on her face. A couple hours later, she returned markedly more cheerful than she’d left.
“Petronella will do as our ...
2024-06-23 07:34:58 +0000 UTC View PostI'm going to be relocating what is currently chapter 660 to further in the story (and recontextualizing it accordingly). I don't think it's fitting to jump right into the action. A bunch of people dying because of 'mental attack' is just a number ...
2024-06-22 07:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“Just from initial reports, I can tell you as many as one thousand people killed themselves yesterday.”
King Argrave of Vasquer hung his head upon hearing that news, and his black hair briefly concealed his gray eyes. He lifted his head ...
2024-06-21 06:47:46 +0000 UTC View PostTraugott gave them one last hex from beyond the grave—specifically, a headache. That was truly the only thing they gained from this interrogation. Anneliese had already cracked the code, so to speak, on his bid to use Sophia’s power contained ...
2024-06-20 06:45:18 +0000 UTC View PostDrinking alcohol was really just drinking scummy water for Argrave—his black blood, coupled with all the other myriad ways that his body had changed since using the Fruit of Being, made both water and rubbing alcohol equally intoxicating. Which ...
2024-06-19 06:54:53 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Argrave went to find Sophia, preparing himself for what he thought could be a serious and heart-wrenching conversation, he saw something that made him pause and watch. Orion was giving her a piggyback ride, and running around the courtyard ve...
2024-06-18 06:59:24 +0000 UTC View PostAfter sleeping on it, I'm retconning the choice to have the Shadowlanders suck out the brains of the ancient heroes. A), 27 people would definitely not all agree to such a thing, B), it's something of an unflattering end, and C), I don't want ever...
2024-06-17 06:58:35 +0000 UTC View Post“Are all of you really sure that you want to do this?” Argrave asked, looking between the dead heroes of old.
“I can speak for myself alone, but I know that my time is running out,” Felipe I confirmed with a stoic nod of his head. ...
2024-06-16 07:00:51 +0000 UTC View PostArgrave stood proudly beside Anneliese as they walked toward the white-haired woman, taking their sweet time. There was a tacit understanding between berserker and non-berserker that they were to meet, amply far from Traugott, to negotiate on the ...
2024-06-15 06:58:48 +0000 UTC View PostAfter Anneliese declared her intent, she began the rigorous process of transforming Traugott. Ghislain concealed her utterly with his illusions, and the other casters all guarded her diligently as she worked. Nothing escaped—least of all Traugot...
2024-06-14 07:00:36 +0000 UTC View PostTraugott assessed the situation objectively, plugging in a new variable to the equation to adjust its answer. From the outset, he’d thought a few dozen S-rank spellcasters to eliminate him was a dire miscalculation on Argrave’s side. It made m...
2024-06-13 06:49:37 +0000 UTC View PostAnneliese had always felt a particularly strong loathing toward Traugott.
It was difficult for her to pinpoint why, exactly, which troubled her—she liked to consider herself as someone calm, objective, and rational. She found hate largely ...
2024-06-10 06:54:53 +0000 UTC View PostFor this chapter to make sense, read the changelog if you haven't.
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“You are Willem van Brugh, are you not?” Petronella asked him, smiling as ...
I'm dealing with some obnoxious issues around the house, so I've decided to take this day off from writing and just relax. I have, however, been doing a great deal of editing and mulling and pulling. Rather than repost every change I made, have so...
2024-06-08 07:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostFrom birth, Traugott had always felt like his life was tied to the abyss. It consumed all he felt endlessly. There was little that inspired anything inside of him. Though he felt emotions like rage, sorrow, happiness, and all others, it was as tho...
2024-06-07 06:55:19 +0000 UTC View Post“I won’t let you.”
Orion blinked open his eyes. The pain that he’d been feeling moments before had all gone, replaced only with the pleasant and familiar sensation of wind gracing his cheek across windy plains. Remembering what he wa...
2024-06-06 06:52:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe casualties from the assault of the silver knight were staggering. Elenore reviewed the figures as she sat.
A great deal of the most prominent spellcasters in the world had been in Blackgard, and many went in its defense. As it turned out...
2024-06-05 06:56:11 +0000 UTC View PostOrion’s blade plunged between the gap in the silver armor’s knee. Unlike the indomitability he’d felt colliding with his foe’s shield, what he stabbed… he was certain it was flesh and bone, not metal and power. He was certain it was not ...
2024-06-04 06:45:36 +0000 UTC View PostElenore entered into Hause’s temple, escorting Sophia urgently yet gently. After Argrave’s fight with the Castellan of the Empty, this place had been rebuilt to be one of the strongest fortifications within Blackgard, acting as something of a ...
2024-06-03 06:56:24 +0000 UTC View PostA pale, red-haired woman stared at a wooden house just outside the noble quarter in the dead of night, peering out like she could see through the night as easily as a cat. Then, she slunk away into an alley. Her steps were quiet enough she could l...
2024-06-02 06:53:48 +0000 UTC View PostA week had passed since Willem’s introduction to the aloof and impartial Countess Anne Claire van der Duyt. She had suggested that he base himself out of the count’s estate—undoubtedly to save him some starting costs for his business, and fo...
2024-06-01 07:13:41 +0000 UTC View Post