Mecanimus

The Calamitous Bob 85: Inevitable

“Every battle is won before it is ever fought.”

- Sun Tzu

All of Kazar and its surroundings had gathered to see the troops leave. Men, women and children covered the entire plaza in a sea of humanity. They hid every balustrade and adorned every window. The great press of folks stared at Viv, standing before her pulpit, with laser focus. The silence was deafening.

There were almost four thousand people gathered here. Kazarans old and new, refugees and mo...

166. Asset Collection

I sit at my desk and sign the construction order for a shipyard; an entire shipyard for standardized river steam ships. I used to sign orders for table cloth.

It has been a long century.

In the wake of the civil war and hive scourge, the north of the United States expands its influence with feverish energy and we have made full use of it. Real Estate and abandoned farmlands. Factories. Infrastructures. Schools and ports. Private security. There is no sector our tentacular influenc...

The Calamitous Bob 84: Confluence of Hatred.

The white shapes bounced up and down the treeline at great speed, faster than they should. Talan was on his feet screaming before he could think about what to say. Gesticulating and pointing led to more people looking. Screams erupted among the lines.

“You have to go! You have to hide!” He told the apothecary.

The bald man nodded and collected his things, then lifted a poisoned man with some difficulty. Lines of archers and spearmen were already forming. A sergeant was asking ...

Who wants an audiobook?

I got three codes for free copies of the Journey audiobook, available on the American website only (.com) so it won't work on other platforms. Comment below if you want one and I'll select three people at random to send the codes to (I hope there are three people lol).

If you get one you have to leave a nice review >:D so I can trap more people. I only have two reviews for now :/

The Midnight Accords (Journey Book 4 ) cover artwork

I think it's my favorite one so far.

165. Larceny

May 16, 1867

I was more than ready to go out for an evening to accomplish that bit of larceny Sinead mentioned, only to find out that the insufferable cad had taken one month just to prank me, and that the event would take place later that year in Philadelphia. I should honestly not be surprised, because I have always known Sinead is a dilettante and that his perception of time is somewhat skewed.

And so I find myself at the top floor of a comfortable inn overlooking the Delaware ...

The Calamitous Bob 83: Green Hell

The army waited nervously for an assault that never came. Talan spent a good fifteen minutes scrutinizing the underbrush, identifying every twig in front of him until his brain was about to burst. Nothing emerged from the edge of the trees except for the odd insect and fluttering birds. Eteia herself led a short patrol around and confirmed that it was, indeed, only a parting shot. An act of spite, no doubt. The men joked about the witch being only able to achieve so much but Talan did not lau...

164. Liberation, opus one

In the Accords chamber below Boston’s fortress, Constantine’s arcane display moves more than all the participants put together. The Wardens stand like statues, each influential and powerful enough to devastate an army — or buy it — each holding back by tradition and the knowledge that there are other monsters around. Despite our restraints, we still play our games starting with our appearance.

Every lock of hair, every understated jewel and custom-made ribbon of fabric speaks of...

The Calamitous Bob 82: To Quell a Rebellion

Viv sat at her desk back at the tower, at a loss. The wind brought in the fragrant perfume of the Kazaran tree’s lilac blooms. The apothecary had dropped off a large vat of powerful poison, then left with a huff. Not only did he have a prickly personality, but he also saw himself as a healer and disapproved of Viv’s tactical choices, or so it seemed.

And now she was having doubts.

Viv took out a piece of paper and made a list of the change she had brought to the expanding town...

163. Devourer

“I have decided on a course of action!” Alexander clamors back in my office in Marquette. “Your trials have shown me the truth. The west is wild and untamed, filled with dangers and savages. Outlaws terrorize the widows and orphans!”

“Errr, it might not be all that bad,” I observe with diminishing patience. Time is short.

“But where good men do what must be done, evil cannot triumph. The law and justice have no frontiers, and I shall be its sword. Starting today, I w...

The Calamitous Bob 81: Second and Third

AN: Many people correctly noticed that the end was unpolished so I made some adjustments for improved clarity.

Danger sense: Intermediate 1

Mana Mastery: Beginner 7

Focus +1

Viv felt little different as she watched the first squad move bodies to a pyre. The only exception was danger sense. Somehow, she was able to pick the direction from which the danger would come, or at least it had worked at the very end of the fight. She thoug...

162. Here we go again

Something stirs in the threads of fate.

I wish I could remove this pompous, overdone sentence from my mind, and yet nothing else can accurately describe the weight on my mind since I returned to my domain. My intuition functions more sharply as long as I remain in my lands and it hints at something important, something that is not even related to my current worries.

The trip to the White Cabal was a pleasant and filling diversion, but the main urgent issue remains. Lord Benoit, Wa...

The Calamitous Bob 80: Standing Alone

Viv sighed. In her mind, the three problems added themselves to her original purpose, turning the refugee camp into a viable caravan. Her mind had been altered by the magic of Nyil with all mental stats in the high thirties. Concretely, she could process things faster and more clearly. Parameters like the distrust of the various factions and the state of the weakest link turned into conditions then into first steps of a simple, yet achievable plan. The swirl of thoughts gracefully resolved it...

161. White Cabal

“Is it her? She doesn’t look like much.”

“What did you expect? A tail? Bat wings?”

The young guard crossed his arms defensively. Hazel was against ribbing but this time, the little twat had it coming.

“Shut up you two. Vampires have excellent hearing,” she said in a low voice.

Joel sulked in silence while the older man, Willis, gave her an irate glare. She widened her eyes in the universal ‘are you going to say something’ message and he relented. It c...

Map for The Calamitous Bob

The map shows everything that is relevant up to chapter 73. I will publish an Amazon version soonish and this will be included in it. Enjoy!

PS: the map was made by a colleague:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/32947/the-courting-of-life-and-death

Bob the Calamity part 6 (63-73)

Another 'typo-light' compilation.

The Calamitous Bob 79: Winter

The Deadshield Woods were white. A thick blanket of snow expanded to the horizon in a sea of cottony clouds. The heavy shroud lay still under a lack of wind, frozen in time. This deep in the forest, the unnatural stillness had grown even more pronounced. It killed conversations with every falling tuft of snow, every creaking branch that caught the eye of the column.

From afar, the oppressive sensation had been replaced with deep tranquility.

It was a good thing, then, that Viv was...

160. The World does not wait

The autumn wind blows with the promise of rain over the deserted road. Adrien stands over the trampled dirt of the flat road in his impeccable beige suit, an exquisite transplant in an otherwise drab garden. His essence and mine meet in the middle where they touch but do not mix, setting a frontier that we both respect, for now. I am still not used to this new sensation of existing outside of my body.

Urchin and John take a few steps back. In a contest of lords, all other combatants are...

Last announcement, promise.

I just need a break sorry I really need to outline or I'll fail both arcs. There will be no release next week. I'll use that to correct the tidal wave of typos, inconsistencies, and other mess plaguing the earlier chapters. Please don't kidnap me.

Announcement: the Journey audiobook is live

I worked with a company called Podium to have Journey brought to life by a pro voice actor called Hollie. Well okay I didn't do much but listen to that thing it's amazing. That southern voice.

Link: https://www.audible.com/pd/B09GL4J49P

Same as before if you could drop a dithyrambic review to make me happy and famous that would be great. But seriously listen to it it's well done. I'm just sorry I can...

Announcement

Ok so I had chibis made by the excellent Wenart so I could use them as emotes on Discord. They are being resized but in the meanwhile please enjoy the real size artwork. The man is Jeffrey, the werewolf leader. Not sure why I added that one. Anyway. Enjoy and don't miss the next announcement in a separate post.
Link to the artist: https://www.deviantart.com/wenart/about

The Calamitous Bob 78: Autumn

Author's note: Sorry I'm a bit tired and this is a transition chapter. There will be typos. I'll go over it again with some help tomorrow if you prefer to wait.

Acuity +1

Acuity Reflex: Beginner 8

Danger Sense: Beginner 8

It made sense that those skills mostly improved when she was in danger. Viv considered the small yet helpful progression as the veterans finished off the wounded beastlings and collected their own. The old man by her side turned ...

159. Autumn Cleaning

We leave Marquette the next night in complete secrecy. Phineas has received a gift from Constantine while I was away, a low-born Nightmare. This is, in reality, a thinly disguised show of support for our operation. I suspect that by now most Wardens know that Illinois is being contested anyway. I make sure to bring my armor and have personal effects sent by carriage. As for us, we will ride through the countryside in travel clothes. I did not have the time to find anything better than a chest...

The Calamitous Bob 77: The Convoy

158. Cry Havoc

I decide against leaving immediately and spend the rest of the night patrolling Marquette. I pay a particular attention to auras and smells. Unfortunately, if there are any vampires around, they are being cautious. I do meet with some success while inspecting my personnel one by one and finding one under the thrall of an enemy. The influence appears as a light hue in the man’s aura. A summary inspection of his neck reveals two discrete bite marks.

I manage to control myself before I k...

The Calamitous Bob 76: A tale of many wings (with typos)

This one contains more than the regular amount of typos. I'll upload a corrected version tomorrow and send a new notification but in the meanwhile you can read this one if you don't mind too much.

157. While the cat's away

The crate containing my armor now lies on Trieste’s deserted docks, hidden from view by rows of barrels and other supplies. It only takes me a moment to realize that the box is unnaturally cold and also that the metal exterior is, in fact, a containment field. I mention it to Loth who nods with pride.

“Oh aye, it is as ye say. Below the mountain, we found a place that used ta be a magma chamber. Once, it had been connected to the surface by a chimney, but that one had closed eons ag...

The Calamitous Bob 75: Growth

156. Daughter of Thorn and Hunger

In the interstitial gap between a moment and the other, in the cracks between two atoms, enough substance exists for the transcendental to crawl through. That is, provided that someone foolish showed it the way.

What is space, what is time to one that exists before it?

For some reason, the entity has chosen the image of a young man in a tan suit. He sits on… nothing really, just a crenelation in the infinite vastness of a dot. His features remind me of my brother and father, lik...

The Calamitous Bob 74: On a limb

Chapter has no blue boxes so I'll just post it as is.

Laborers and soldiers alike busied themselves with the very last of the harvest. Tons of cereals were already in warehouses or ground into flour by Kazar’s mills. Only a few vegetables and some orchards at the edge of the forest remained, and they soon became hives of activity. The Kazarans collected the fruits as they ripened, defended the fruits while they ripened, and dressed and cooked the hare-like monsters who failed to bre...