ddwebb

D - 0 - 2

“A vruph, huh,” Tzi mused, lowering her wand and studying the new page the Grimoire showed her closely.  Even the magical book had been uncertain this would work, but using Divination on one of the skulls had rendered an image and full dossier on the living animal itself.  The vruph, according to its fresh entry in her Grimoire, was a predator which lived in these forests, preferring to hunt by stealth and ambush than chase or combat.  Its tawny color and subtle stripes wou...

H - 8: They Will Try to Walk All Over You

She was laughing at him.  That cruel, mocking smile he’d seen her use when talking behind her friends’ backs…but never at him.  Kaln reached for her, but Haktria turned her back, still laughing.  Sneering.  Stepping out of his reach…always just out of reach.  If he could only reach her, he knew he could explain…  Surely she would explain, make everything make sense.

But he couldn’t reach her.  The bars of his cell were in the way, ...

D - 0 - 1

“Master?”

Tzi groaned, which was a mistake.  It was her first conscious action, and it made her skull vibrate unpleasantly.  Her skull felt generally as if it had already taken all the abuse it could handle.  What had happened?  She'd been up half the night working on a ritual...

“Master, I really think you should get up, please.”

“I'm skipping breakfast,” Tzi muttered thickly, trying to turn over and burrow back into her blankets.

Excep...

H - 7: I Am Having a Really Strange Day

Kaln’s wives smiled at him, so brilliantly it made his heart pound despite the obvious glint of cold avarice in their eyes.  Emeralaphine actually licked her lips, and there was nothing in the expression he could mistake for lust.  They were getting something they wanted: a source of power.

Assuming they kept to their end of the deal, he couldn’t begrudge them that.  He was also getting power—and more importantly, survival.  And…other incentives.

“Wel...

D - 0 - 0

A/N: So, that title requires some explanation.  I'm using the initial system with my new publication schedule to indicate which story a given chapter is in.  Dysland's structure starts with a Book Zero, of which this is Chapter Zero - so, the prologue to the prologue.  The reason for this will become apparent eventually, though possibly not until the whole story finishes.  I will not be taking any further questions at this time.  Hope that helps!

H - 6: I Do

Once again, a stunned silence fell, filled by the distant background music of water and ancient machinery.

“Have you lost your mind?” Emeralaphine finally asked, her voice oddly conversational, even casual.  “Serious question.  If we have to put you down, I’m taking your hoard.”

Tiavathyris cleared her throat loudly.  “I believe, in that event, my claim is as good as yours.”

“Very well, then.  Standard rules: one divides it, the other pick...

H - 5: Oh, Is That What You Think

“Ugh.”  It was the white dragon who broke the ensuing silence, in a tone of utter contempt.  “Why, you little thug.  Did you have to vaporize him?  Boy, have you any idea what the corpse of an elder dragon is worth? In spell reagents and crafting materials alone!”

All five of the other survivors swiveled their long necks in unison to glare at her.

“Oh, roll those scandalized eyeballs back into your heads,” she sneered. &nb...

H - 4: You Are Just in My Way

There was nothing like a jolt of pure, animal terror to ground a fellow after an out-of-body experience.

Kaln froze exactly like a rabbit, momentarily ceasing even to breathe, as a flood of stress hormones absolutely cleansed his system of any lingering transcendental dissociation; his last cogent memory of having ascended so far beyond himself was a lingering and rapidly-fading insight into exactly what those microdoses of biological chemicals were and how they worked, and then even th...

H - 3: Do Not Try to Go Alone

Was this what it felt like to die?

That was the last thought Kaln experienced before the nature of thought itself melted away into something…else.

His mind was…expanding. Mind and body both—no, wait.  It wasn’t that his body was changing in a way that his eyes or other senses could perceive, but his connection to it seemed to fray even as his awareness of it deepened beyond what Kaln could have imagined.  Instants ticked by slowly enough to grasp, second...

H - 2: There's No Way It's That Easy

At least the invisibility thing involved getting his shadow back, just in time for it to disappear again.  Still, knowing it would be there once he was visible again was a comfort; for all that a shadow provided him no actual benefit, its absence felt wrong.  Also, having it properly attached was evidence that the Entity had departed to…wherever it spent its time when not visiting Kaln.  With that little matter settled, Kaln was free to concentrate on his next problem: climbi...

H - 1: I Think I've Found the Flaw in Your Plan

The weeks of hiking through the desert and up the mountain almost seemed worth it in the moment he crested that great ridge and gazed down over paradise.

A vast valley spread out before him, green and cool.  Forests were interrupted by meadows and the occasional cluster of distant smoke plumes that signified a village or small town, and even from this height the threads of roads were visible along with those of winding rivers.  Stunning waterfalls fell from the surrounding pea...

So I've been going to therapy for a while...

And I'm going to TMI a little bit now.  I've long made a habit of being open about my mental health struggles, despite the fact that I generally prefer to be a private person.  I began this out of professionalism; since my brain problems were causing the stories to be interrupted and delayed, I felt my readers deserved to know what was happening and why.  That's still my main motivation, but over the years I've also learned that a lot of people struggle with similar problems, a...

The future of TGAB

Irrespective of my ongoing mental health issues and the impact they keep having on my publication schedule, there's a specific matter continuing the future of The Gods are Bastards that I would like to bring up with the community before it comes to a head. I'm very interested in hearing what people think about this.

TGAB has been doing very well on Royal Road, and one of the consequences of that is that I've begun to be approached by publishers who scout there. So far, I have p...

burnout

So...I think I might need to pause again for a while. 

I hate doing this - I always hate doing it, but I especially hate to coming so soon off a recent scheduled break.  And it hasn't been all that long, just a couple months, since my last unscheduled major break.  Stopping now feels unearned. 

But I'm beginning to think I've come to a point where I have to or there's going to be a much worse problem. 

I've had more trouble getting chapters ...

17 - 16

Controlled chaos was the best they could hope for, under the circumstances.  Ravana exerted as much control as she was able, of course, mindful that the limits of her grasp were defined not only by the forces at her disposal, but by the consequences of over-using them.

The square outside the cathedral teemed with activity, even more than during the paladins’ surprise attack; it had been enough time for rumor to spread throughout the city, and doubtless beyond.  Fortunately t...

17 - 15

They did not come with the crack of dawn, as would have better suited a story.  In politics as in war, timing was everything, and so they waited for their moment.

Two hours after dawn proved enough time for Madouris to not only wake up and shake off the winter chill enough to being the day’s business, but more crucially, for the papers to be in circulation.  The Imperial Herald, like its competitors, went to print well before the sun rose, and by the time most of th...

17 - 14

“Ravana!  We need more power crystals!”

Fortunately, Fross’s sudden entrance occurred after the discussion had mostly wrapped and the group in the solarium had begun to break up.  Ephanie and McGraw had already arrived, summoned by Yancey at Trissiny’s request, and Szith had come with them, the two soldiers having apparently been sparring.  Now the several separate conversations into which the sunroom had fallen came to a halt as everyone turned to stare at the pi...

17 - 13

“I can’t believe he did it!  The son of a bitch actually went and did it!”

Natchua glanced over her shoulder at him, then returned her gaze to the manor window, with its view of Veilgrad spread out below.  The city’s predilection for tall buildings and decorate spires meant there was no unobstructed view to be had of any of its public spaces, but the Leduc estate’s altitude provided a sufficient angle to see parts of them.  Even from this distance, her ...

17 - 12

“Your Holiness?” Branwen asked hesitantly.

He laughed, softly but suddenly, causing her to flinch.

“There wasn’t a thing I could have said,” Justinian mused out loud, gazing at the door through which the assembled nobility had just departed.  “Even the attempt would only have cemented the impression made.  And I could have made arguments, you know; so many details of that performance don’t stand up to scrutiny.  But it did not matter....

The once and future schedule slip

Last Avenist update was a partial chapter; the full one wasn't completed until today, just in time for it to go up for the other Patreon levels.  I can't count that as a full Avenist-level update, so I'm counting today as a missed update for that level.  Which means...you know the drill.  Skipped update for other Patreon levels next time, skipped update for public readers the time after that.

I'm frustrated with myself and very sorry to all of you for this, especially com...

17 - 11

It was well into the afternoon when Natchua and Jonathan returned home, appearing in the reconstructed entry hall of Leduc Manor in a swell of shadow.  They were expected.

“Just so we’re absolutely clear,” Melaxyna said by way of greeting, “did you ask Embras bloody Mogul to show up here and wait around for you to return at some unspecified time for a meeting?”

“I did,” Natchua answered.  “Wow, he actually waited this long?  I wasn�...

17 - 10

“And…  This place was your family’s summer hunting lodge?”

“Are you by chance a student of history, Sheriff Ingvar?”

He did not miss her choice to address him, out of the several possible titles, by the one which tied him to her own regime, but Ingvar also knew very well when something was not worth pointing out.  “Very much so, my Lady, but of a quite…specific focus.  I’ll no doubt be suitably surprised by whatever anecdote you are about to share....

17 - 9

Most of the group departed toward their own various objectives, but Ravana’s school roommates, plus Scorn and Fross, had congregated in the cathedral-sized grand entrance hall of Madouri Manor when the Duchess herself and Trissiny returned from their own after-breakfast task.

“It itches.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Ravana, I think I know what my own face feels like!”

“It feels unfamiliar,” Ravana said with amusement.  “Trissiny, people of bo...

Schedule interruption

Yeah, this is a real awkward time for it, being right in the middle of restarting the normal schedule after the normal break week, but it can't be helped.

As previously announced, the Avenist chapter is running late because on Thursday I had what felt like a normal depressive episode that interfered with my writing.  It's been a few days since then and it turns out I'm just getting sick.  I'm dizzy and exhausted and can't focus on anything, or go up and down my stairs without ...

17 - 8

Trissiny was the last to arrive at breakfast—dressed casually without her armor, yawning, and with her regulation braid emitting a few uncontrolled blonde wisps.

“You look like hell, Shiny Boots,” Ruda stated.

“And good morning to you too, my dear friend and comrade Zaruda.  I trust you slept well?”

“I slept at all, which is clearly not true of everybody here.”

“I got a solid four hours,” Trissiny said, interrupted by another yawn.  ...

17 - 7

“Sir, please.  This is a place of peace.”

“And there’s no reason it can’t remain such,” Colonel Ravoud said in the tone of stern and implacable calm he had perfected during his years in the city’s military police.  Then as now, it helped to be backed up by a squad of soldiers—even if the Holy Legionaries in their elaborate armor and polearms were obviously more ceremonial than combat-ready.  “The investigation we require should be minimally disruptive. &...

17 - 6

“I have assigned you a handpicked team to be your support in this mission,” Justinian said.  “Meet with Colonel Ravoud as soon as he returns, which should be within the hour.  He will make the final arrangements for your departure.  I emphasize, Basra, that they are support.  In essence, their role will be to keep you protected, supplied, and in contact with your home base—and, as much as possible, mitigating and cleaning up after whatever collateral damag...

17 - 5

The silence of the winter night was barely disturbed, and mostly by noises too minute for human hearing.  Only the steady whisper of the slight breeze through bare branches, and the occasional call of a local owl, interrupted the pristine quiet.  This was a well-tended forest, left to grow somewhat wild during the inept reign of the previous Duke Madouri; some underbrush had been allowed to encroach, not due to be culled by its newer and more skilled custodians until the spring, but...

17 - 4

Toby looked up at the swell of darkness that rose amid the falling shadows of evening, but it was only Gabriel and Razzavinax arriving.

“Good timing, as ever,” said Ampophrenon, inclining his head in greeting.  “Unless there have been more surprises?”

“These should be the last,” Razzavinax agreed.  “Avelea and Zanzayed were a bit ahead of us, so unless they’ve had an unexpected lapse in competence in the last fifteen minutes…  We should have them a...

17 - 3

“I don’t know,” Rector exclaimed in exasperation, throwing his hands up and accidentally losing his grip on a fragment of power crystal, which went spinning away into a corner of the underground laboratory.  “Nobody does!  It is not knowable!  There was no discernible interference at the time, I was scanning for that.  Magical surveillance would have registered as interference!  At that level of transcencion activity, observation and interact...