No sooner did she turn her eyes to the cathedral’s door that there came an earth-shaking impact, followed by a scream that resounded clear-as-day even through the hair-thin gap which had just opened in those doors.
Like the clarion call of a trumpet, it contained only a singular note. Hate. Hate beyond hate, a hateful fl...
2022-11-01 20:09:04 +0000 UTC View Post“...Your Divinity, the Courier has returned,” a eunuch official relayed to the Divine Emperor.
Raising an eyebrow in genuine, if minimal surprise, the man-god replied: “Oh? Send him in.”
The little man walked into the throne room and kowtowed as appropriate. Not in a mood to wait for the whole sequence to be through, he comma...
2022-11-01 04:17:26 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Taking the weekend off, next chapter on Monday, 31st October. No reason, just feel like I need a bit of a mental refresh.
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Resentment for that incomplete draconic form washed over him; resentment towards the Gu for failing to give proper for...
2022-10-28 21:26:14 +0000 UTC View PostAs for the Deterrence Fields, the guardians of that place simply didn’t pay him any mind, just as they hadn’t paid any mind to other travelers. The Armor of Pure Purpose, though it was undoubtedly an artifact of incredibly advanced arcane machinery, did not give off the sort of essentia signature that would provoke the automata into acting. ...
2022-10-27 21:45:38 +0000 UTC View PostVic reabsorbed his construct and they continued on their way, walking through the great flower-filled cavern at a leisurely pace as they took in the scenery, with Zefaris taking at least a half-dozen photographs as they went. The closer to the cathedral they got, the more its larger-than-life scale came into perspective, its doors and windows an...
2022-10-26 23:58:29 +0000 UTC View PostIt was blinding, impossibly so, shining down as though the sun itself. The only thing most of them could make out was the twisted, vaguely bulbous shape, affixed to the cave ceiling by a black rod. A snaking, serpent-like tendril shot off from the main mass, wrapped around the rod, and it, too, shone with a blinding brightness. Two smaller rods ...
2022-10-26 03:27:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe pool of blood shuddered, waves lapping at its edge as the walkway retracted and the outermost ring began revolving, suspended in thin air. It passed through the liquid as if it weren’t even there, causing no disturbance. Then came the middle, and the inner ring; somehow their motion wrapped the avatar in its own chains, an impossible quant...
2022-10-25 02:16:36 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Sorry for the delays. Been moving stuff around a bunch in editing.
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A horseshoe-shaped double stairway led up to an elevated platform at the chamber’s back, where knelt a blackstone statue of the skinless thing from earlier, its stakes and chain...
Just as Aeshador had promised, two particularly large molemen arrived at the settlement after the second day of their stay. They were in good spirits, and it quickly became evident why when they explained that a direct passage through to the next region of Agartha had opened up for the first time in months.
Satisfied with this making up th...
2022-10-23 06:01:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe moleman turned his beady little eyes towards Jorfr.
“Ask me fer summin’. Within reason. Food an’ lodgin’ fer the night, a chunk o’ metalbug carapace, summin’ like that.”
Exchanging brief looks with his compatriots, it didn’t take the northman to make his choice: “We would use your holy hall for a rite.”
...
2022-10-22 14:41:23 +0000 UTC View PostDespite the dwellers’ diminutive size, the ceilings of this dwelling were surprisingly forgiving.
“I’m tellin’ ya we can’t fuckin’ go diggin’ shit up while the Dungeon Core’s throwin’ a fuckin’ temper tantrum rearrangin’ rooms an’ shit! Y’forget what happened last time?!” the surly little voice grumbled. “That...
2022-10-21 12:11:23 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Sorry for the no-warning break in posting, had another hay fever flareup yesterday and passed out for twelve hours trying to sleep it off. At least it worked.
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“I decided that I had to take down the Emperor because his lackeys came after m...
2022-10-19 23:06:33 +0000 UTC View Post“The Primary and Secondary clans are also called the great clans or greater clans, though the term can refer to any clan that earns it in the popular consciousness.”
Taking a sip of Liquid Vigor, he continued.
“The classification and assigned spring of any given clan is determined personally by the Revenant King when he wakes u...
2022-10-18 10:24:49 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: I'm not doing a bunch of fuckin cave crawl chapters lmao
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The first leg of our journey into the depths of the earth was best described as disappointingly uneventful. Days of trekking through one cave system gave way to another, nearly identical cave ...
2022-10-16 00:40:00 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Zel tended towards a widely varied diet out of an inherent curiosity for flavors and her body’s ravenous demand for nutrition, Jorfr’s overwhelming preference for meat meant that most of his meal kits were dominated by big, hefty cuts or meat-adjacent foods, though Ozmir’s downright religious outlook on the culinary arts meant that t...
2022-10-15 09:23:39 +0000 UTC View PostIt quickly became evident that both of the Sturmgandrs had been pushed too far. Dissatisfied but also altogether unsurprised, Zel grumbled: “Well, we could still ride them, but it would be a tremendously stupid thing to do. Let’s just settle down for now and I’ll get to taking them apart.”
And so, they did just that; lacking the lo...
2022-10-14 08:16:36 +0000 UTC View PostOne lung, one motorbike; she had to push herself to generate enough Fulgur to push both machines to maximum output, releasing bodily limiters and digging into her deeper reserves, but by the Dead Ones, it worked. Suddenly, the giant arms of the Deterrence Fields began coming alive, perhaps roused by the truly immense outpour of Fulgur constantly...
2022-10-13 05:51:34 +0000 UTC View PostFor a half-minute or so Victor sat still, focusing Viriditas in the eye of his staff as brambles grew out of it and bound the implement to his hand; Zefaris was dumbfounded by how utterly calm he remained in this situation, as if he had done this a dozen times before. Or, at least it seemed at a glance; she could see his heart beating out of his...
2022-10-12 05:05:55 +0000 UTC View PostPreparations took less than a minute; Zefaris donned her mask with a fresh canister, while Victor settled himself in a backwards-facing position behind Jorfr and downed over a liter and a half of liquid to help ease his spellcasting; a full bottle of Liquid Vigor and a liter of water. Not entirely trusting of the redhead’s ability to hold on a...
2022-10-11 03:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: I've fallen ill with a severe flareup of hay fever, and basically could barely function for most of the last two days. It's getting better now. This chap was delayed by a day as you can tell and 77 will probably be out tomorrow, though I hope to get back into the normal swing of things tomorrow.
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2022-10-10 00:04:13 +0000 UTC View PostDrawing in a deep breath, the comms officer nodded, reaching for the talismanic knife. The Courier and the Commissar both evacuated the chamber with some reluctance, making their way to the ground floor.
There echoed a determined cry up the stairwell: “MAY HIS DIVINITY’S RULE EXTEND TO THE HEAVENS AND BEYOND!”
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2022-10-06 23:23:44 +0000 UTC View PostBefore putting the second spindle in place, the Courier donned an Ikesian gas mask and a leather apron, both salvaged from the boiler room. With these new protections in place he hefted the spindle from its recess and brought it around the elemental’s back, a step-stool having already been placed here to make up for the striking height differe...
2022-10-06 03:07:57 +0000 UTC View PostAll at once, it came flooding back to the Courier, and he instinctively prised an immense, silver plate of armor from its silk-padded recess. It was lined from within by Itrian demon-sealing talismans, the shrines which produced them being one of the few traces of Itria whose continued existence His Divinity had allowed by integrating them into ...
2022-10-05 06:21:18 +0000 UTC View PostDay 1
I was tasked with delivering the Armor of Pure Purpose yesterday; it is an artifact wrought by His Divinity the Emperor himself, or so I was told, as the only thing I received was a locked chest. His Divinity entrusted me with the knowledge of its purpose, at the least; a valuab...
2022-10-04 07:14:22 +0000 UTC View PostSighing, Zel dialed back the coyness and asked an earnest question: “Just one thing; how do I know you won’t use my blood for some of that sympathetic magic you mentioned earlier?”
“I avoided asking for a strip of your skin so this wouldn’t come up, but I suppose I can’t expect you to know that blood alone doesn’t work as a s...
2022-10-03 04:14:27 +0000 UTC View Post“Instant Pyrography…” she uttered; smoke and sparks emerged from the first scroll and flowed to the second, new burn marks appearing on its wood. A few seconds later, she threw the still-smoldering scroll over to Zelsys.
“It has the core Itrian shrine guardian arts; mostly various seals and sympathetic magic, some simulacrimancy as...
2022-10-02 07:50:10 +0000 UTC View PostSilence. Then, a confused exclamation: “What?”
“This thing was one of Koschei’s most beloved possessions and you’re surprised that he used it for one of its intended purposes? An Antediluvian Gem is not just a soul storage medium, it’s the supreme caster’s essentia ballast; do you not know the tale of the Inverse Sorceress?"<...
2022-09-30 07:44:48 +0000 UTC View Post“And yet my Aether rating is my lowest attribute,” Zel said.
The Smoke Witch scoffed, “So you have a Tablet. Give it here, let me take a look.”
Zel did as asked, and after a few seconds, the Witch tossed it back to her with a disgusted look on her face.
“That abominable facsimile you call a Tablet was made in the last...
2022-09-29 04:12:54 +0000 UTC View Post“Tian… Who?”
“Come on, now you’re just pulling my leg. Tian Feng? One eye gold, one silver? Face all uncanny looking from overzealous magical beautification? Has a hate-boner for the Three?”
“...Xiān Dì,” Zelsys piped up. “You mean Xiān Dì, the Divine Emperor of Pateiria. He brought about the Three Kings’ down...
2022-09-28 02:32:30 +0000 UTC View PostThe woman dropped from the sky like a stone, landing in the middle of the clearing right between the four of them; she stopped herself just short of a hard landing with nary a sound, and revealed herself to be, indeed, a woman. She wore bright red, loose pants and what looked like an old-timey silk dress shirt, and her hair was bound in placed u...
2022-09-27 00:31:53 +0000 UTC View Post