Allanther

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 34

My return to the tower was smooth, with my only complaint being the mists of the morning leaving me feeling damp. Fire magic took care of the actual dampness, but did nothing for the feeling that returned the very moment I was dry. Rather than fly with a flaming beacon to attract notice, I made do with the feeling and dried out again on the tower’s roof. Lilly met me there, looking worried and tired, still wearing the same clothing from the day before.

Despite how tired we both felt a...

New Cover!

Cover art for those who haven't seen it!  A friend of mine and excellent artist did this for me and I'm super happy with it.  It beats the stock photo I'd grabbed from google.  

Some of you might have already seen it, and for those of you who have, I'm sorry for the repeat.  For those who haven't, feel free to let me know what you think!

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 33

After I had paced myself to lethargy, I took a hot bath with a glass of wine and a plate of cut pears. The events of the day had distracted not only myself but others from our meals. It was the small hours of the morning when I finally took myself to bed.

I woke around midmorning, and after dressing in my white robe with blue sunbursts, I found myself eating a late breakfast of roast flame boar and fried eggs. For some reason Chelsea had cooked an enormous helping of the eggs. It was li...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 32

As I walked up the stairs, I had several concerns regarding Lilly. House Shielding had sent me a missive several weeks ago detailing her use of my name inappropriately to garner a position in the guard for another orphan. While I still hadn’t responded to them, mostly because it was beneath my concern, I had put aside that knowledge to address with Lilly in our next correspondence.

The correspondence I received from the Arcanum master regarding her also indicated that while she did we...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 31

I watched from the top of my tower as the newest beast wave approached. This wave was composed of condors, wild frost elementals, and yeti.  All of which were led by a powerful ancient yeti, whose mere presence caused frost to form around it. I wasn’t terribly worried about the beasts, and wouldn’t have even bothered to oversee the attack if concern over Kine’s village wasn’t on my mind. The flock of condors was the most concerning, even if the villagers had retreated into their ...

Ch delayed

Today's chapter will be released at a later time than usual today.

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 30

My air elementals held me in the air over a Mirtallean town, and my gargoyles flew nearby. I hadn’t planned this foray out, not really. The idea had nested in the back of my mind like a giant spider and crawled out every now and again when I was planning out my revenge against Sena or thinking on the war. It was only the fifth-tier assassin that moved my hand.

The town below, like all of the villages, towns, and cities in Mirktal was build in a spiral. The very center building was a s...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 29

I couldn’t help but frown as I gazed at the newest tower attached to my wall. Lutha had arrived that morning with fifteen other dwarves from her clan. They’d been cast out from her home in Sena City due to some dwarven clan hierarchy rules that I didn’t quite follow. She didn’t beg for refuge, but she didn’t have to. I was more than willing to accommodate her and her family’s needs, though she brought some interesting news with her.

Apparently, the Pestilence wasn’t simply...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 28

I spent the rest of the day on the top of my tower, though I had to use ice magic around midafternoon to combat the heat and sun. Ram’s wife, Lutha, didn’t arrive that day, which turned out to be a good thing. The realization that she was coming did a lot to put my emotions in perspective. Here I was, angry with the loss of a potential partner, and she’d lost her husband. A dwarf who she expected to live the rest of her days alongside.

To say I felt small after I looked at it from...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 27

Several days had passed since I had spoke with Loralie on the tower top. In that time, I had decided to stop some of my experiments. The pits outside my tower were not going to provide results before the Pestilence arrived, and most of the monsters within were useless to me otherwise.

At Eni’s request, I allowed Philipe the opportunity to go towards Lark to solicit volunteers so that the wolves had the opportunity to continue living. I had taken some of my anger and hurt out on the sn...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 26

A week had gone by in a flurry of activity. The towers were complete, two of them. Loralie and the mages with her had moved into a tower attached to the wall surrounding my own tower. Three stories tall, and nearer to the back. If I drew a line from my tower to it from above, the line would continue and point directly at the cellar beneath my lake.

My new assistants had done well in the construction, with two basement laboratories and several decent-sized bedrooms. The beds and other fu...

Not a chapter

Sorry for the delay - caught a bit of a chest cold and today and tomorrow's chapters will  delayed.  

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 25

As I was flying back to my tower the next day, I couldn’t help but chuckle. The Bakers’ Guild, for all their normal posturing, was simply not prepared to be nominated to the duty of verifying mages’ spells to combat the coming threat to humanity. The faces of the mages when they realized who would do the recordkeeping and the faces of those recordkeepers was a treasured memory to me now.

Unlike the flight to Sena City, I wasn’t held back by the need to stop in route, nor did I s...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 24

I had spent most of the evening taking in the sights and sounds of a city I had lived in for many years, determined to make them a memory to be held for when the Pestilence leaves it a ruin. It was a somber walk, one where I paused to take in the laughter from taverns or the arguments of couples. I watched children play in the streets and merchants haggle with customers.

Moreso, the disappointment I felt in King Sena’s reaction plagued my thoughts. While certainly, he had to defend hi...

Interlude Chapter Options

Hi!  I wanted to see if any of you would be interested in an interlude chapter from a different point of view.  I've put together a list of some of the characters to choose from, but if the option you want isn't on the list, feel free to comment below to add it.

This format isn't indicative of what the interlude chapter would be about.

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 23

Among the people shouting, the loudest was the fat attendant who sputtered and shouted, “You refuse?! This is a lawful order! To refuse is treason!”

I shook my head and waited, watching as the king looked from me to his attendant and back. He leaned forward, looking down on me from his throne. It may have been more intimidating if he weren’t staring at my beard. The large red banner behind his throne, a white crown over a star rippled with his every movement.

“Explain your...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 22

I arrived a few days later at the western gate to Sena City.  While I may have made an entrance landing before the gates from the air, that was not my intention. The guards in their fanciful armor and orange cloaks were quick to allow me entry after I told them my name.

My first stop was at an inn called the Scholars’ Delight, an inn that was a refuge for scholars and academics, teachers and mages. With walls lined with bookcases displaying a great volume of random literature in ...

No chapter tomorrow

Hello!

Just wanted to let you all that there won't be a chapter posting tomorrow.  Sorry!  I'll try to make it up with double chapters later this week or an additional chapter this weekend.  

Thanks for understanding!

Allanther

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 21

It took two days for the summons to arrive. I spent the night I’d found out that Laxton Bay had fallen pouring over my plans and notes and preparing. Much of the next day had been wasted with recovering from that excess with sleep.

Against her wishes, I’d moved the former slave scout Murettita’s cell to the edge of my laboratory and installed a doorway so that she could be fed. While she wasn’t pleased with the change, the creation of an alcove for her chamberpot soothed much of...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 20

The last two weeks had been fraught with several annoyances that were luckily matched with several successes in my experiments. I was currently doing the recording keeping in my laboratory next to the greatest annoyance I’d had to deal with.

Murettita the Quivering Mess was the remaining scout I’d freed from slavery. I had already created five different wands with the disenchantment spell needed to free any future slave scouts and handed four of them out to my guards and assistants....

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 19

When I awoke, I was greeted with some good news. It seemed that compared to the last few days of detailed work that wasn’t to my benefit, I had been somehow rewarded by fate.  I was eating a breakfast of sausage and peppers cooked into eggs, something a little too spicy for the morning, and Philipe arrived to inform me of visitors.

Recently, I had been delegating the task of dealing with visitors to my apprentices and guards, only stepping in when I needed to. Now, my new senesch...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 18

The next morning, I was, admittedly, grouchy. Despite several projects moving forward, my heart wasn’t in them. I was considering the implications of the assassination attempt last night.

Of the two breakthroughs, I had achieved the first in ascertaining the correct measurement of mana to infuse. It had moved to the second stage, which meant that now I had set up several plants to determine the length of time it took for infusion to result in monsterization.

The spider egg I hel...

Interlude - Adam - Meathead - Lilly

Interlude – Paladin Adam

I called forth the power of Bi and swung my fist into his face, knocking the man back into his comrades. A spear squealed as it scratched across my armor, but I snatched it away with my other hand. Now I had a weapon. All around me Mirktallean spearman circled, jabbing at me with skittish strikes.

Another battle, the tenth in a fortnight as my Order charged it its way across northern Sena on our bulls. Yet, our enemy had grown wise to us. This battle, un...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 17

It had finally happened. I was sitting on the top of my tower watching the sunset with a disgruntled frown as I looked down into my cup. I should have expected it. It was truly only a matter of time. Perhaps it was the season, or perhaps it was my own choices, but it was still quite disheartening.

I swirled the wine in my cup and sighed as I watched it spin. I had grown tired of strawberry wine. The novelty had just worn off. Given that I’d been drinking only strawberry wine for nearl...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 16

I watched from my rooftop as Baron Froom’s ostentatious carriage being pulled by four fancifully carved wooden horses rode slowly down the road to my tower. The horses were a dark, polished wood and the carriage itself seemed to be made from living plants. No doubt it was his druidic wife’s handiwork.

With a sigh, I stood and walked down the stepwell to meet him. A week ago, we had a feast to see Leslie, Meathead, and Mena off on their journey. Not as lively as the feast that saw Wa...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 15

The next morning, after a breakfast of grilled fish over corn, I was approached by Jax.  I was headed downstairs to my laboratory, when I noticed him following behind me.  Jax was the third of my attendants, the shorter brother of Philip, who made up for his lack in height with a greater number of freckles and a brighter shade of red hair.

“Master,” he called, his voice sounding soft and uncertain.

I paused on the stone stairwell, two steps above the illumination spe...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 14

I sat at the curved stone table on my first floor, looking at my four guards as we ate a meal of pork stew with biscuits. I had allowed Chelsea to open some of the pantry to support the refugees at Kine’s request, but I regretted the loss of chicken. This stew would have been twice as good if it were made with chicken instead of pork. In hindsight, I should have made that specification, but it was only a temporary setback.

My guards were quietly slurping at their dinner, and none had ...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 13

With my illusion back in place, I arrived on the top of my tower near the middle of the night. The moon was high in the sky but I couldn’t see any reflections along my lake. Instead, the front of the tower seemed to host a variety of people camping in tents. Dwindling fires glowed throughout the encampment, with tents circling each one. No doubt those fires were intended more to keep monsters at bay than to ruin my view. Though, I suspected they were more successful at the latter than the f...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 12

In the morning, I ate cold travel rations with a frown, and then prepared several moonstones with enchantments. The bunny illusion had worked well, and it would be negligent of me not to take advantage of that fact. The enchanted moonstones would hold the spell for a half day and recharge under moonlight. I only brought three tiny stones with me, so I wouldn’t be able to do more with them.

With those prepared, I ordered a wind elemental to lift me away in the direction I had seen the ...

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 11

Four days later, Mena and Leslie arrived. They arrived with the merchant from Lark that normally came to sell us food and sundries. The addition of the lad from Woodhoot, Fin, came as no great surprise and I had him settled into a partitioned room near the kitchens that he would share with Rolf.

The ladies were suitably chastised and embarrassed by their performance as my attendants, or at least tactful enough to act that way. They also seemed to have come to some kind of understanding,...