We've been discussing which character to commission artwork for next and then we realised, why not ask the readers?
So here's the question: which character would you like to see artwork for next?
2021-01-15 01:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostSort of serious question. It has been a whole series of tech issues on tech issues.
(Sometimes I wonder if it's a user problem instead. - Rosa)
Anyway.
We're nearly done with the first pass editing for the story and would love to hear from you all so do feel free to shoot us any questions or comments!
(I'm also working on a possible little surprise for you all as well, yay! -Rosa)
Excited for Book 2? Heehee
2021-01-14 01:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostBraden woke from his exhausted slumber with a start. A feeling of foreboding clenched at his heart while cold sweat soaked his back. He struggled out of his blankets as the midmorning sun blasted through the windows past the tattered curtains.
He had slept in his clothes, all but the forceweave jacket and trousers were rumpled and stinking of blood and sweat. His gear was beside his bed and he quickly put them on. The holstered Plasma Lancet went to his hip, the collapsed spear went on ...
2021-01-11 14:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe next couple of days after Yuriko and the others found the ruins by the lakeside were quiet and uneventful as far as the Wyldlings were concerned. If it weren’t for what Yuriko saw during her treetop scouting, she would have felt like they were on vacation.
The lake’s calm waters, the rustling of the leaves, the bending reeds, and the symphony of the cicadas settled over her like a languid wave. They had found the vine-choked ruins just as the sun was setting and they’d barely ...
2021-01-11 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostA ball of flame bloomed in the middle of the field, transforming into a red lotus that spread its petals, consuming everything within a dozen paces of it. The swarmlings were vaporized, their remains absorbed by the ground, while the crater produced by the attack, surprisingly shallow compared to how strong the blast was, slowly healed over.
There was nothing left of the swarmlings save for a few motes of ash while the Wanderers left a small indistinct clump of grey goo.
“Waste ...
2021-01-11 13:45:00 +0000 UTC View PostHeron held in a wince when he stepped in a depression on the path, jostling his left shoulder and sending a spike of pain that ran up and down his arm despite the numbing ointment Krystal had slathered on his wound. His left arm hung in a makeshift sling and, hopefully, a bout of Recovery tonight would be enough to return his left arm to function.
They were moving at a brisk pace, not quite a jog, but close enough. It was a pace that Heron could keep up for hours. He was guarding the re...
2021-01-11 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe attack came suddenly, the pervasive silence broken only by the rush of a speeding body, trampled bushes, and snapping twigs.
Heron barely got his shield up when the Wyldling appeared behind them, spear in mid-thrust, aimed to skewer his head.
Skrrtch!
Heron’s shield hand buckled from the force and the tip skidded across the metal, slipping past a second later only to impact his Facet-made hardened air shield and knocking him off his feet.
Animus 2021-01-11 13:16:00 +0000 UTC View Post
That night, Yuriko dreamed. It was strange, really, since she didn’t activate her Facet yet, the Golden Silhouette was there that night. It also wasn’t in the form it typically took to demonstrate techniques to her, rather it was in its original form.
It was a masculine figure with a perfectly sculpted physique who stood a head and shoulders taller than she was. The light that composed its body was contoured in such a way to make every muscle evident and he clearly wasn’t wearing ...
2021-01-11 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostHello, Patrons, and a happy new year!
Okay, so starting this week, now that we're nearly completely caught up with the advanced posting, the chapters will be released every Monday all in one go. You will now have the choice to either read everything in one sitting or continue following the one segment per day reading.
Whew!
We're working on our social media accounts next so we can have other ways to interact with everyone and share things about the world we've built. Is it a...
2021-01-04 13:15:59 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko kept her Animus circulating inside her body as she strolled over the branches. Minute muscle movements prompted by it made sure her balance never wavered and she was always ready to spring into action.
Much like Recovery, the next technique in the Strengthen Physique set no longer worked. The feeling of wrongness was so pervasive that it made her physically ill. The previous night, when she activated her Facet before she slept, the golden silhouette had shown her a new p...
2021-01-04 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post“We’re so dead!” Mikel breathed as he stared down the cliffside. “We’re never going to make it home, not in one piece.”
Fear, anxiety, and worry, among other unnamed but distinctly uncomfortable emotions gnawed on his guts, along with the various other phobias he kept suppressed throughout his entire life. He felt someone punch his arm.
“Knock it off!” Krystal glared at him with her alluring green eyes. Her oval face was framed perfectly by her fringe, while the re...
2021-01-04 01:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostSquee!
Leaves flew in the air, branches snapped, and berries fell to the ground as the creature that had startled Yuriko and her team squealed at them as a warning. It was a boar--a particularly large specimen of its species, with dark brown fur, mottled with lighter coloured spots, fierce tusks jutting out from its lower jaw, though the right one was broken off at the tip. Its shoulders came almost up to Yuriko’s chest and it was longer than she was tall.
“Ancestors!...
2021-01-04 01:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko and her team ran away from the battle site as quickly as they could. Almost by default, they had followed their own trail back, which made sense when she thought about it later. There was already a path, and they had cleared it of overhanging vines and protruding thorny branches when they first went through it. Of course, just as it was an easy path for them to follow, like a stream following its banks, it also meant that whatever might follow them would have an equally easy time track...
2021-01-01 13:45:00 +0000 UTC View PostFor hundreds of paces around the Watchtower, the corpses of uncountable swarmlings shed green motes of light, while the rest of its body decomposed. The carapace broke down, muscles liquified, and their blue blood seeped into the barren earth.
The west side of the tower was already a barren place, consisting mostly of dried and cracked soil, with piles of broken stones and deadwood. The other sides of the tower, which should have been covered in short green grass, was now littered with ...
2021-01-01 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostBird song and sunlight woke Yuriko up from her fitful sleep. She sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes, nearly bumping her head on a low lying branch as she did. Yesterday’s aches and pains, the few bruises and a couple of scratches on her hands and neck, had disappeared, not even leaving a faint line.
“Good morning!” Krystal said cheerfully, from the campfire. She had a pot hanging over the fire and was stirring the contents with a ladle. The paper wrappers of the ration bars were...
2021-01-01 13:15:00 +0000 UTC View PostJacqueline Sayer Yoran loped down the game trails easily despite the canopy blocking most of the moonlight. To her eyes, the trail was exceedingly clear and was even highlighted in blue. She could see past the leaves, branches, and even see around the trail when it turned or twisted. Her normally dark eyes were glimmering with a silver light, her Animus at work.
It had taken her quite a long time to find that Wanderer and lead it back to the first team, and now she was tired, grumpy, an...
2021-01-01 13:01:09 +0000 UTC View PostMarron woke up with a jerk, his cheek stinging and his face wet. His eyes darted about in the darkness before abruptly realizing that he had fallen asleep in the office and there was a smear of ink on his cheek mixed in with his drool.
His night vision was barely good enough to make out silhouettes in the darkness and the curtains drawn over the windows blocked the moonlight though it did give the said curtains a bright silvery border. Marron made his way there, stubbed his toe on a cha...
2020-12-31 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostOkay, so it's been a bit of a struggle. Technical issues we had before combined with the on-going connectivity glitches have contributed to being off-schedule with our posts but the top tier, Jade, is almost completely caught up. This means by next week, we will hopefully be on track with the Monday full segment drops. :D
So here's to ringing in the new year and fervently praying for things to be better all over the world. We have much to mourn and just as much to be grateful for. Ultim...
2020-12-31 01:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“You look a mess,” Krystal said again. “You’ve got blue ick all over you.”
Yuriko shrugged. “I’ll wash up when we find a stream. It shouldn’t be too far.” The stench was getting to her though.
“Uhm,” Orrin walked up to them. “I think I can help.” He held out a finger, the tip of which was glowing a dim red. “May I?”
“Go ahead,” Yuriko said, bewildered.
His fingers touched her cheek and felt her skin tingle as something seemed to crawl ...
2020-12-30 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostA bolt of gold lit up the night as though the sun had risen at midnight. It streaked majestically, burning through the branches and leaves that were in its way before it splashed against the Wanderer’s Protective Field.
A tiny part of it managed to get through the cracks and turned a spot on its carapace black. Yuriko exhaled and started to gather Animus into her weapon. The Antid seemed to barely notice her bullet and it kept swinging at the trees around it, cutting them dow...
2020-12-29 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“I want roasted pork loins! Or even fried pork chops! Anything but this, please!” Orrin moaned as he nibbled on the corner of their trail rations while tears seeped from the corner of his eyes.
“We should have killed that boar,” Heron muttered, nursing a cut lip from when his teeth slid off the ration bar when he forcibly tried to bite into it.
The Eternal Empire of the Righteous Order’s ration bars were famous throughout the planes. It was famous for being filling, nutr...
2020-12-28 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning saw all the teams near the flag pole in the central courtyard. Each cadet carried with them a backpack, their weapons, and supplies. Yuriko felt a bit strange since none of them had done any morning exercises or training. It made sense, of course; there was no need to waste strength when they were about to do something dangerous.
“The Shillogu Woods is a vast buffer zone between the Empire’s territory and the barbarians of the north,” Armsmaster Byrne began once e...
2020-12-25 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe One Who Watches and Waits stretched languidly on his marble throne. Before him was an idyllic paradise with flowering trees and bushes in full bloom perfuming the air with varied scents. Alone, each flower would intoxicate anyone who smelled them, but together, the different scents cancelled each other out such that a visitor who would have expected to smell something would find themselves disappointed.
Behind him was a wasteland of dust and ashes, and skeletons with half rotting fl...
2020-12-24 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning, the entire class was up early for physical training. However, unlike the previous times, they only did the warm-up run and not the strength-building exercises afterwards.
Armsmaster Byrne and Leader Yoran pushed the cadets as hard as they could and everyone was winded by the time they finished. Yuriko’s sweat dripped down her face and some of her hair stuck to her cheek.
“Recovery!” Armsmaster Byrne yelled.
With a groan, they sat down and started to u...
2020-12-23 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostArgh, I hate it when the scheduling gets messed up!
Had to repost yesterday's posts because they were out of order. Oh well. We're getting the hang of it.
How are your holidays so far? I hope everyone is doing well despite all the craziness from the pandemic.
We're out of the house today running errands and doing other work-related things. The pandemic precautions makes it all so tedious! Still, staying safe is always always much better.
Cheers and merry Christmas!
... 2020-12-23 03:43:38 +0000 UTC View Post"What do you mean you're not sure?" Marron asked. "Please elaborate."
Yuriko scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I was asleep when the inlay completed. The Facet didn't give me information on what it is or how to use it. I haven't tried channelling Animus into it yet."
"And you shouldn't, not by yourself anyway." Marron rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Let's go test it then."
“Wait, you fell asleep during your inlay and you succeeded?” Niamh blurted out in...
2020-12-22 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostAt least, for today.
We're officially all caught up now but there's more to come! And again, lots more things to plot and plan and that includes Book Two!
Excited? I know we are.
- Rosa
2020-12-21 14:01:04 +0000 UTC View PostNiamh fiddled with her pen while watching Marron out of the corner of her eye. The junior officers’ office block faced the west, giving them a lovely view of the Tidelands and the multi-hued atmosphere above the line. She’d always loved looking at it, despite the danger it represented.
Rumiga City, where she was born and where her family was based, didn’t have a Tidelands but it did have the Passage that led to Delovine. The Passage was much narrower, of course. The Watchtower gua...
2020-12-21 13:45:59 +0000 UTC View Post“Do you think she tasted it already?” Orrin asked fretfully.
Braden rolled his eyes at his twin. “That would depend on her. She looked quite distracted over dinner.”
“Huh. Well, I didn’t expect you to lose so badly.”
Orrin tossed a ball at Braden which would have gone far above his head except he activated his Facet. A shadowy glow covered his hand as he reached up. The ball swerved in midair and fell into his palm. He tossed it back to Orrin who caught it easi...
2020-12-21 13:30:00 +0000 UTC View Post“... what makes you think you can help? Two Knight-Captains and three Knights are in that team, we only have a few Knights here…”
Yuriko caught most of the words from the other speaker but with the door muffling their voices, she couldn’t tell who it was. She wanted to enter the office to find out why her father hadn’t returned, to find out if they were in danger. Her hands clenched as worry and fear ravaged her mind.
The voices were softer now and she couldn’t hear an...
2020-12-21 13:15:59 +0000 UTC View Post