Bacon Macleod

B4 Chapter 446: Imperium Mortum, pt. 6

Kaius's heart pounded in his chest as he ran; his team ran with him. 

This damn ruin seemed endless and ever-changing, even with them following the clearly painted directions that had been emblazoned on the walls. 

They'd managed to make some progress over the last quarter h...

B4 Chapter 445: Imperium Mortum, pt. 5

They moved like forgotten horrors, twisted creatures of gearing and steel. Dozens of legs undulated with unnatural jerks, slipping from motionless to blurring speed as six automata raced down the hall in loose formation.

Kaius slowed his approach, cautious. This was a new foe, and for all t...

B4 Chapter 444: Imperium Mortum, pt. 4

A deep, bassy twang split the air as Kenva loosed another arrow. The projectile lanced straight towards the warded, artificed bolt-thrower that was swivelling to get an angle on Ianmus. The timing was perfect. Right as mana built up in its charged rails, her arrow slammed home, twisting the metal...

B4 Chapter 443: Imperium Mortum, pt. 3

A red light of violence drenched the stairwell as the high-pitched alarm shrieked. It was loud enough it was almost physically painful, regardless of Kaius’s stats.

His mind raced as he watched dozens of fixed automata erupt from the walls. Turning and swivelling to face them, each looked...

B4 Interlude 20: Strangspine, pt. 3

Inside Earnsdale’s fortifications, rustic housing sprawled out in a great tangle. They were sturdy, built with stone foundations — cleanly cut grey blocks that looked strong enough to weather even the greatest of storms. As was common in frontier villages, the houses themselves were made from...

B4 Interlude 19: Strangspine, pt. 2

From his position at the head of their cart, Bronwyn looked around with interest. They were on a paved road that cut its way between shallow hills, ubiquitous in this region of the frontier. On every side, they were surrounded by dense brush, undergrowth, and canopy so overgrown that they merged ...

B4 Interlude 18: Strangspine, pt. 1

Bronwyn held his head high and kept his gaze fixed ahead as he walked down the streets of Deadacre at the head of their team. At his age, with more than a few years at Silver, he was long used to the looks they got out in public.

Word had gotten out that they were leaving on another expedit...

tomorrows chapter will be late

blame the hallowed eve

some of you will do timezone math and be even more understanding

B4 Chapter 442: Imperium Mortum, pt. 2

Any doubt that might have once existed in Kaius’s mind had long since fled: this Imperial ruin was military. Whether it was official Empire forces or a privately owned bunker of some ancient noble dynasty had yet to be seen. 

The defences were too heavy, and the place was far too rei...

Chapter 441: Imperium Mortum, pt. 1

Deep beneath the earth of Deadacre, Kaius looked upon a shattered tunnel of alchemical stone and beheld true devastation.

Heart still pounding from their close brush with the installation’s defences, Kaius crossed past the immense vault door. He was alert, ready for anything. Only the god...

B4 Chapter 440: Beneath the Streets, Finale

Crouched at the base of the hole they’d found in the centre of the Imperial ruins, Kaius looked over four skeletons with a critical eye.

It was a team, no doubt about it, though he had no way to tell if they were actual delvers, or simply a team of unfortunate would-be graverobbers. It lo...

B4 Chapter 439: Beneath the Streets, pt. 4

Reaching the centre of the ruins was proving troublesome. From the small portions of scouting that Ro had done during the guild’s initial raid on Old Yon’s hideouts, they knew the ruin stretched to encompass the circle of dead ground that surrounded the city. Considering that Deadacre itself ...

B4 Chapter 438: Beneath the Streets, pt. 3

Following a slowly descending path of hard-packed dirt and dusted cobblestone, layered in nearly a finger’s width of dust, Kaius saw the sudden transition between catacombs and Imperial ruins as clear as day.

Ahead of them, smooth moulded stone had been shattered as a path punched into a ...

B4 Chapter 437: Beneath the Streets, pt. 2

A/N: I believe this weekend is my last one fully off. Im going up to 6 next week, much more sustainable with editing and plotting demands.

From a brick-and-stonework pipe in the wall opposite them, a spray of muck slopped into the river that ran through the centre of t...

B4 Chapter 436: Beneath the Streets, pt. 1

Kaius entered his shared common room, Porkchop on his heels. He was dressed for battle, clad in scale mail made up from the second-tier artefacts they had found in their delve. His glyphs were charged with a variety of spells. Only Eirnith on his temples lacked many inscriptions. He kept a few ch...

B4 Chapter 435: Briefings and Plans, Finale

Kaius perked up, shuffling back in his seat as he sat upright. Finally, they were going to hear about their part of the job — and it was a good one at that. Anyone with Delver aspirations dreamt of exploring some abandoned Imperial settlement at some point in their life, though most never got t...

B4 Chapter 434: Briefings and Plans, pt. 7

A/N: I’m realising I should have started briefings and plans in chapter 431, when the actual briefings and plans started lmao. Probs will give the dawntown letter chapters, and the teaching niles a skill chapters there own name on RR.

Kaius took a sip from his tumbler of ...

B4 Chapter 433: Briefings and Plans, pt. 6

Grandmaster Olmos swept his eyes over Kaius and his team, appraising each one of them individually.

Kaius wasn't sure what he was expecting when Rieker had said they would be talking to the grandmaster of the Guild. Perhaps somebody of palpable strength, grizzled and warlike...

B4 Chapter 432: Briefings and Plans, pt. 5 

Kaius pecked at his slice of toast, aimlessly staring out the window of the Dusty Stables onto the street below. He wasn't so much groggy at having had to get up early — not with his stats — as he was a little more distracted than normal.

It had been an interesting few weeks, full of tr...

B4 Chapter 431: Briefings and Plans, pt. 4

Kaius breathed, calming himself as he looked down at his hands. His left pinky and ring finger were missing — a return to his state from a year ago, when he’d lost them fighting the Siege Ogre. Working through the permutations of Vesryn runes he’d discovered had been troublesome, to say the...

B4 Chapter 430: Briefings and Plans, pt. 3

Kaius pushed open the door to the Guild, the heavy oak feeling closer to balsa with his ever-growing strength. As the well-oiled hinges slid open, the soft murmur of discussion that permeated the Guild’s common room fell dead silent. Within, teams of delvers from Copper to Steel stoppe...

B4 Chapter 429: Briefings and Plans, pt. 2

As a group, they crowded around the large table in their private common room. Kaius sat at the centre, an envelope of thick yellow parchment in hand. It was crude, but sturdy — like everything else that came from the outskirts of the Frontier.

“Well, go on then. What are yo...