ThePudding

The Grey Knight: Chapter 1 (PREVIEW)

Chapter 1: Entombed

The dead can’t walk.

Another of those small, comforting lies.

He’d heard many of these simple platitudes. Telling someone it will be all right when you both know it won't be. Telling someone there is plenty of time, knowing that they will rush anyway.

Yet here, breathing in the musty, stale, ancient air of the cavern he stood within, he knew the lie.

The dead can’t walk.

He knew that corpses did not get up and sha...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Like a Child

CROWN(Wryna)

I stood very still and stared at the elder. I didn’t have to fake surprise and shock – I was actually feeling both of those things. The question had been so sudden.

What are you?

I didn’t know.

| DUCK: Okay, boss, don’t panic. She used a skill on you called Memory Weft. ​
| DUCK: It doesn’t rely on anything in the System, and doesn’t try to read you...

End of Book 1 Neophyte World Builder and Next Week

Earlier today, the final chapter of Book 1 dropped. Of course, this means that chapters will stop for a week while I get some editing done and prepare for Christmas. Chapter 81 will drop for Paid members on the 19th, the same day Chapter 71 posts for everyone else.

This does not mean I’m not posting anything during the next week.

I may make some ‘Extra’ posts for Neophyte as I put things together. I don’t have anything in particular planned, but I’ll toss something up if...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Simple Village

CROWN(Wryna)

The monastery was quite impressive for its size. I knew that only a small population – a few thousand – actually lived here full time, and most of the elves still in the original areas had more developed cities. Yet as I hiked up the winding path with one of the sentries by my side, I couldn’t help but admire what they’d done with limited manpower – elfpower? – and completely different materials than what I’d k...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 79

Chapter 79: The Gods Must Be Crazy

CROWN

I materialized the Avatar within sight of the monastery, but far enough away to have a leisurely walk towards it. That would give me enough time to get my bearings. At least, that was the idea I had when I set myself up.

I took stock of my current situation. I’d ended up in a duplicate of Tastka’s body, as a matter of convenience – I hadn’t bothered to make a full elf body of my own, so I didn’t have a male ...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Stranger in the City

SENA

The three servants chatting in the hallway abruptly dispersed, shuffling to either side to make way for Sena’s passage. They were typical laborers, each one sporting short cropped hair and the telltale fuzzy, slightly pointed ears of the totems that made up their caste – the humble gezar. Physically sturdy and with a reduced need for sleep, they made excellent servants in the Hall of Voices.

None wanted to get in Sen...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 77

Chapter 77: When It Rains

CROWN

When I had first learned about the idea of Proxy Avatars, I’d been looking forward to the idea that I could experience ‘life’ and things like true flavor while relaxing in the Sanctuary. Just the thought of more intense sensations had been tempting, and I’d only hesitated due to the cost.

The reality was, while the taste and feeling were more intense, the whole experience was also more of a pain than not.

Every b...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 76

Chapter 76: The Magnificence of Chall

CROWN

I really didn’t want to spend more than a few weeks here, this time. I could do a more thorough exploration of the culture later. Twenty years in a Totem tribe gave me plenty of time to learn the gestures, language, and habits of the region, if not the nation I was currently in.

Fortunately, the city was more organized than I expected. I’d seen from my Sanctuary that they’d managed to build some impressive bu...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 75

Chapter 75: The Myths We Make

CROWN

I hadn’t been sure it would work, but it did. Both the guards and the villagers in Kelstad were eager to hear the myth I’d made up to prepare them for incursions… once I made it sound like it was common knowledge elsewhere.

This was a technique that I had heard about when I had been Tastka, but I had never considered myself a storyteller so I had never tried it. The theory went that if I was eager to tell them a stor...

Big Changes, Employment Stuff

So, I’ve just been informed that I’ve been laid off from my actual day job that brings in most of my cash.

This is (probably) not a crisis! I have an emergency fund, I’ve been getting a bit of money from Patreon, and it doesn’t go into effect until Jan 5th. I also have a huge backlog of PTO that is getting cashed out. I’m not in immediate danger.

It does mean I’m going to be on the job hunt, because writing can’t pay the bills even if my Patreon earnings were ten tim...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 74

Chapter 74: What Lurks Beneath

CROWN(????)

The tribe was far from any others, but that was fine with them. Their nearest neighbors were a Totem tribe of peaceful gatherers, hardy but not aggressive.

At the edge of the known wilderness, this tribe had everything they needed. Fresh, clean water, fertile land for crops, a largely quiet forest around them… ideal for making a life. They had no metal, but they needed none, for not but a day’s journey away lay ...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Scenic Road

CROWN

I’d learned a lot about what to consider, lately. I tried to pay attention to some of these details that I knew would be important later while I approached the checkpoint.

The terrain was idyllic and pleasant enough. Much of the continent was covered in forests, aside from some mountainous areas and the coasts or lowlands. A large crescent-shaped region broke up this mega-forest with a savannah-like area of tall grasses dotted...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Where the Wild Things Are

CROWN

I had failed to consider the effect of cutting off an Incarnate Avatar early. I wasn’t sure how the friends and family had reacted, but I doubted it had been pleasant when my Avatar just fell over and died one day. I’d have to figure out a cleaner way to handle that. I felt bad for everyone my ignorant self had known.

Yet it had worked. I’d grown up for two short decades in a small tribal community tha...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 71

Chapter 71: A Day In The Sanctuary

It was a big day.

Well, “day” was a loose term, in my Sanctuary. Time didn’t work quite the same way here. It was intrinsically linked to the universe that constituted my real ‘body’ now, in a very real sense. Right now that universe was experiencing time at a leisurely rate of about five times as fast as I could feel it here, which was basically a snail’s pace considering I usually let it run at thousands of times that speed.

T...

Book 1 Completion, Book 2 Plans, Vacation

Well, this now marks the completion of posting Book 1 of Neophyte World Builder, a series that will have at least three books.

For those of you in the free tier, this doesn’t mean anything until you get to December 11, because that’s when the finale is publicly available.

For those in the paid tier, tomorrow marks the first day of releasing Book 2 chapters. You’ll get 10 of these before December 11th hits.

Starting December 12th, I’ll go on a brief vacation...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 70

Chapter 70: All These Worlds…

ADMINISTRATOR POV

The Perception Filter had updated while we were in the temporary afterlife, leaving Orpheus looking a bit less professional now.

She still looked sharp and competent, despite my discovery that she was in a disorganized panic. Her purple hair – a constant that gave me the feeling it had something to do with her true form – now held springy ringlet curls, and she was slightly shorter than before. She...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 69

Chapter 69: Reunion and Choice

EYSSA POV

Eyssa woke up with a start, her ears and nose both twitching.

Something was off.

She wasn’t bleary. Her eyes blinked in the dim light, but didn’t have the blurriness she was used to. The aches she’d gotten used to – especially in her side and back – were gone. She felt… strong, but somehow light.

“Eyssa’s up.”

That voice was familiar. Eyssa was already pushing herself upright...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 68

Chapter 68: What Is Reality?

“Have a seat.”

Orpheus gestured to my recliner, while she herself sat… a comfortable easy chair appearing behind her just in time to catch her. I wondered about that, since she had earlier indicated no desire to sit, but maybe it was for my mental comfort rather than something she needed. Even that would be odd for her, as Orpheus rarely showed any consideration for my comfort.

Regardless, I settled into my recliner, but didn’t kick it ba...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 67

Chapter 67: What Have You Done?

REALITY POINTS
2,471.093
DEBT
14,840.982
Gross Generation +75.94/cycle
Universe Maintenance -0.383/cycle
Cluster Tithe -37.779/cycle
Debt Garnish -22.667/cycle
Net Income +15.112/cycle

Now I was completely lost.

It was thirteen years later, in the universe I’d created. The expedition had returned, to a tearful and happy reunion. Tastka’s ...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Afterlife

ADMINISTRATOR POV

Nothing ever goes as planned.

If my original ideas had worked, I wouldn’t have spent so much time making adjustments and fine-tuning everything. It had taken a while, but I was convinced that over a little time, energy generation – and the spread of the elf species – would pick up dramatically.

I stretched arms over my head with a sigh. All this was nice, but…

“Yeah… ugly little problems,” I m...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Fond Farewell

FISK POV

A day ago, Fisk had never heard of dragons.

Now, he was watching his childhood friend talk quietly to the second dragon they’d seen. This one was smaller, yet still huge compared to an elf, easily able to grasp and pick up any of the explorers in its talons. Unlike the vegetation-covered Kesseken, the newcomer – called here through magic by Kesseken – showed sleek scales and revealed that it had large, leathery...

Neophyte World Builder: Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Higher Purpose

TASTKA POV

“You want to know about your class, the Soulkeeper. It was an accident, but one I’m not unhappy with. You weren’t supposed to be able to sense me, but since you can… hello.” The figure of me made a strange expression, baring her fangs but lifting ears as if being friendly. “I could try to explain more, but I’m not sure I can in a way you’ll understand. But I know someone who can. Seek out Ke...