I put it to a poll and you decided, here's a sneak peak at the first sketch of Zef's bust. I'm holding off on a full-body illustration purely because she doesn't have a full "set of gear" the way Zelsys does just yet.
A/N: I'm merging my two daily chapters into one, since this is the same format I'm already posting my daily Patreon updates in.
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The more he cross-referenced, the more discrepancies he noticed between the handwriting in this journal and the other material...
2020-10-13 12:36:20 +0000 UTC View PostIf and when I commission more artwork, what would you like it to be? I'm keeping this poll Patron-only since it's your money funding these.
2020-10-12 14:39:56 +0000 UTC View PostShe turned towards Zef when she put the cotton ball down to try and soak another one in disinfectant.
“C’mon, it’ll be easier if you just get in the bath with me.”
The cyclops gave a nod and a token sigh of resignation. “Alright,” she relented, pulling her shirt over her head before she began to unbuckle her trousers. Zel...
2020-10-12 14:34:17 +0000 UTC View PostHe quickly ran out of paper, and digging through the writing desk’s many drawers led him to use a spare clear journal he found therein for his decoding efforts.
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Therefore, I believe that the contemporary understanding of Azoth as a concept is flawe...
2020-10-11 13:43:17 +0000 UTC View PostHe was fully aware of the childishness of his visceral discomfort with the implication of a sapphic relationship between one of his comrades and the person who got them across the border. But that was Makhus the man, Makhus the Alchemist. The source of such insecurity was far deeper than his conscious self, it was an insufferable little boy that...
2020-10-10 12:27:30 +0000 UTC View PostIt had been almost an hour since she began cleaning the store alongside her comrades, and Zef’s mind continued to wander while her body did all the hard work. Of all lessons she had learned in the military, it was the ability to mentally check out for long stretches of menial labor that she valued most. Her marksmanship was her pride and joy, ...
2020-10-09 14:04:13 +0000 UTC View PostBoth because of her payment, and because it had turned out Quincy was not quite as guilty as she had thought.
Had he sent people to their deaths at the maneater’s talons? Yes.
Had he done it with the intention of their deaths? No, if his word was to be believed, and Zel’s gut told her he was telling the truth. There was clearly m...
2020-10-08 14:34:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe street performer was gone from his previous spot, but his belting still echoed through the streets as she walked them, approaching the inn.
It wasn’t all legible, the lines she could pick out were just as charged as those of the previous song.
“We could have never won this!” the singer’s sonorous voice thundered fro...
2020-10-07 11:09:30 +0000 UTC View PostA kick to the chest to knock its confused, headless form even further back, to give her enough time to take another breath.
She had enough time to align the cleaver’s cutting edge for an upward swing, but by then it was already at her throat again, swiping and stabbing with its claws as blood gushed from its stump neck in a pattern of fr...
2020-10-06 13:15:52 +0000 UTC View PostFrom deep in her chest there rumbled a hearty laugh, gouts of Fog spilling forth with each bark. She pushed the trigger lever far enough to hear the first click whilst she excused her outburst, “I apologize for laughing, but… Surely you understand why I find it rich when a cannibalistic beast questions my humanity.”
Another slo...
2020-10-05 17:17:15 +0000 UTC View PostSmall gaps in the corn led into two other clearings such as this, and after briefly considering walking straight into the corn, she chose to follow the one to the right. Her gut told her it would be unwise to step into the thick of the maize.
A smaller clearing, barely five meters across, bone fragments strewn about on the ground. In the c...
2020-10-04 13:58:31 +0000 UTC View PostThere was a brief break in the singing after that, his strange eye-ornament’s glow dimming as he muttered some sort of prayer. Another breath. Another roar-sung verse. The foreign soldiers were becoming visibly upset, as were some of the other audience members. In the former case, they were visibly angry and yelling, while in the latter, they ...
2020-10-03 09:25:14 +0000 UTC View PostA knock on the counter and a call of “Ey, barkeep!” was all it took to call the humanoid manifestation of positivity out of the kitchen, his smile shifting ever so slightly at the sight of her.
“Late sleeper, huh? I take it you want to have breakfast ‘fore you deal with the beastie,” he accurately predicted as he dusted his...
2020-10-02 16:11:22 +0000 UTC View Post“United by one wise man, an Independent State. This was much against the wishes of certain governments, whose leaders tried to break us down and make us all repent…”
Eventually, the steam that filled the bathroom and his own lack of focus on maintaining the technique allowed it to fade away much faster than it otherwise would, and he...
2020-10-01 11:32:20 +0000 UTC View PostHer hand came to a stop when Zefaris approached, making no attempt to hide her intentions as crawled onto the bed. “I’m no coward,” she uttered.
“Oh really?” came a laughing response. “Prove it, coward.”
The Tablet landed on the ground beside the bed with a thud, its projection flickering away just like both their prete...
2020-09-30 10:33:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe towel nearly slipped off when she bent down to pick up the holster of her cleaver and the arm-harness of her gun, both of which she had previously discarded in front of the bathroom door.
“All yours,” Zelsys said as she sat on the other bed, shedding her towel to use it as little more than a sitting mat while she nonchalantl...
2020-09-29 15:36:49 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh yeah…” she sighed, relaxing near every muscle she could. The filth and tension of gods knew how many miles walked and two fights were melting away, and before she knew it, the tub was nearly full.
She absent-mindedly closed the valve with her foot, and returned to soaking in the water. It reminded her of the liquid nothingness sh...
2020-09-28 14:17:29 +0000 UTC View PostHe handed her one, assuring her that, “I’ll make sure your lady friend gets the other key to number four. The rooms are just up the stairs and down the hall, can’t miss it. The bath has its own heating crystal and water transmuter, so all you’ve got to do is adjust the temperature dial. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got an inn to run....
2020-09-27 12:54:38 +0000 UTC View PostIn fact, she noticed an even further detail by focusing on her peripheral vision to sneakily get a glimpse of their table. Zefaris wasn’t just ogling her, she was using the Homunculus Eye to surpass a normal human’s ability to stare at another’s ass.
Zelsys found this endlessly entertaining for some reason, to the point where she wen...
2020-09-26 11:19:15 +0000 UTC View PostStanding over his crumpled form, she ducked and reached for his face. She turned his head, opened one of his eyes, even slapped him a couple times and made sure he was breathing. “He’ll be fine,” she remarked, standing back up as she looked to his companions. “All yours.”
A reluctant, stunned nod from the one with a mustac...
2020-09-25 11:59:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Forfeit or your knee goes,” he seethed, taking hold of her kneecap. As if an addendum, he muttered “Cloud-scattering Sacred Breath…” to himself, taking in another sharp inhalation. She knew he would be able to maim her well before she could take a proper breath, that feeling of impending danger screeched in the back of her head like a...
2020-09-24 10:35:04 +0000 UTC View Post“Make me, bitch,” he spat.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, cur,” she spat right back, smiling.
The barkeep yelled at them, “Don’t even think of fighting in my goddamn inn, you hear me?!”
“Want to take this outside, little boy?” Zelsys asked Halxian.
“Wherever you wish, hag,” he grinned. ...
2020-09-23 08:44:50 +0000 UTC View PostIt was far from full, as far as she could tell from where she sat.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, rising from her seat and making her way towards the notice board. It chiefly held a number of smaller requests and advertisements, from trade offers for goods and services to simple jobs, universally written in simple writing on vaguely...
2020-09-22 09:52:01 +0000 UTC View PostWhile she spoke, she touched her cleaver’s handle with one hand, retrieved the Tablet with the other, and set it down on the table. She went to her traits list, turning the device upside-down so Makhus could read.
“First, second, fifth and sixth trait from the top. I’ve had them since I woke up.”
Makhus looked them over...
2020-09-21 12:13:49 +0000 UTC View PostAbout a minute of haggling later, she was dragged into full awareness when they came to an agreement, “A’ight, so that’s one large bottle and two small ones.”
Thinking quickly, she reached for her cleaver’s handle to loosen the holster, the merchant’s apparent alarm at this quickly quelled when she retrieved the Tablet and let ...
2020-09-20 08:32:33 +0000 UTC View Post“What do you plan to do when you get to that gate, huh? Assault some grunt and play into their nation’s propaganda?!” she questioned, assuming that at least part of the apparent prejudice against Ikesians had to have come from wartime propaganda.
To her surprise, he blinked a couple times and seemingly snapped back to his senses. She...
2020-09-19 11:20:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe bearded historian nodded, “Exactly. Next thing they know, they’re getting pounded into the dirt with rolling thunder artillery and an army of peasants is fighting and winning against their trained martial artists using mundane blades and glorified muskets. No wonder they pulled out all the stops, to them it must’ve been like Ikesia cli...
2020-09-18 09:27:07 +0000 UTC View Post“I’d grind the solid shell into a fine powder, use it as the base for ink. Then, I’d distill the mercurial solution into an elixir, which I’d imbibe while tattooing an appropriate sigil onto myself,” he continued, the veneer of stoicism vanishing from his eyes to reveal a mad glint. A smile formed on his face, but he was snapped back i...
2020-09-17 17:38:48 +0000 UTC View Post