Boom! Booom! Booom!
Flames blossomed near the ceiling, igniting the rafters and showering the theatre floor with embers. Screams filled the air, as well as panicked squeals and pained screeches. Yuriko’s mandala prevented the flames from touching her, but the heat was rolling in....
2023-06-05 13:45:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe trip to Lindorn was short. It was a mere ride on the railway that lasted for less than half an hour. It was the trip back that was in question, Yuriko realised, as the theatre of moving pictures would play well into the evening and the railways didn’t operate that late. The solution was rat...
2023-06-05 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post“What did you say! How dare you…!”
“What can someone like you know…?”
“You dare!”
Sheamus concealed a chuckle behind his hands, though Yuriko noticed it anyway. Eleven of the students, except for Douglas, were shouting, while he was frowning.
“Silence,”...
2023-06-05 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko examined the packet of papers that had been given to her a couple of days ago. It had been a week since they arrived in the Karcellian Isles, and she spent most of it in the library. She hadn’t been this studious even back in Sharom, but examining the varied runescript formations had bee...
2023-06-05 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning found Yuriko back in the college. According to the agreement forged, she, Gwendith, and Sheamus, as well as some of the marines, would take turns teaching promising apprentices to create an Animus core. As the apprentices were already awakened, in a sense, all that was needed was...
2023-05-29 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko’s first reaction to seeing such threatening runescript formations was to thicken her condensed aura to prevent Animus from being siphoned from her. The density of the ambient Chaos in the room was higher than outside, but it was still lower by several orders of magnitude when compared to...
2023-05-29 13:45:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe cabin was certainly homely. From the front door, it opened into the combined dining and kitchen, and a short hallway at the back led to the three bedrooms and the shared bathroom. The furnishing was modest, but looked quite sturdy. And, perhaps because it had been a while since the last occup...
2023-05-29 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko simply blinked at the Third Archon’s statement and chuckled softly. Edison held in his laughter, too. Hysterical laughter, almost. From the looks of his Lordships, they didn’t believe everything he’d reported. But then again, who would? This young woman who was only halfway into her ...
2023-05-29 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostThey arrived in Lindorn after several hours of travel. The landcraft Yuriko boarded only had room for three or four passengers, and Edison was on the front seat. Gwendith joined her, of course, while the rest of the convoy followed behind their lead.
For most of the trip, Edison droned on a...
2023-05-29 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Yuriko woke up, it was to the gentle sway of the waves. The porthole above her head showed a false dawn, as well as an endless stretch of blue water. Gwendith was in the other bunk, which was a narrow strip barely wide enough for a single person to use. Asami and Desire were assigned to the ...
2023-05-22 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe flag on the pole portrayed a trio of lightning bolts grasped in the middle by an iron gauntlet. Yuriko could just see the details on the nearest ship, which was still several longstrides away. Enhanced Sight brought everything to a focus and she noted that even the smallest warship was at lea...
2023-05-22 13:45:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe process of getting to the Wheelwright was more convoluted than Yuriko expected. First of all, there was no going through the crowd at the docks. Second, Edison needed to contact the boat, and he couldn’t do it while they were in the open. In the end, they trudged towards an inn, which was p...
2023-05-22 13:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe innkeeper, the pudgy woman who was at the reception when Yuriko and the others arrived, rushed into the common room and confronted the warriors, yelling and gesticulating fiercely. The woman spoke a mix of her country’s language, along with a smattering of Karcellian. The odd word or two mo...
2023-05-22 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe weakening of the feeling she had was less like a disappearance and more like an obfuscation. Yuriko knew that whatever it was that was pushing her to get to was still there, but it was no longer pulling her towards the northwest. It wasn’t pulling at her from any particular direction at thi...
2023-05-22 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostOut of his bag, Edison Matthews pulled out a sheet of white paper as well as a writing instrument. A fountain pen, as far as Yuriko could tell, was filled with dark brown ink. The older man was quick to sketch out an outline on the paper. He spent a few minutes on it, which turned out to be a rou...
2023-05-15 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostTrue to Edison Matthews’ word, the nearest farming village, which took them about an hour to walk to, accepted the bundle that the dark-haired man offered, and welcomed them with open arms. Yuriko felt a bit uncomfortable not knowing what he said to the villagers, but with her perception aura u...
2023-05-15 13:45:01 +0000 UTC View PostIt had taken Edison Matthews several days to cross the Sanctus-Richmond border. Well, he could have snuck across, of course, but since he held a Sanctus Kingdom passport, it would be a waste if he threw the advantage away and got caught as a spy. The kingdom had always been neutral in the conflic...
2023-05-15 13:30:00 +0000 UTC View PostIntercepted Confederate transmission.
Decryption using known ciphers.
Glory xx the Tyrant
Wertford captured x - day ahead of xchexxle. Procexx xx north coast in xx xxx. Request Sky xxight suport.
Alxxxx arxx fexx to xxxx and massed near Crizania-Norrinth border. Encircleme...
2023-05-15 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe sensation of being watched lasted only a few moments before disappearing. Yuriko looked around, but figured that the logical place it came from would be towards the ruins on the hill.
Even so, she couldn’t see anyone looking.
She was tempted to flare her Anima to its full bright...
2023-05-15 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe feeling of being watched persisted for a few minutes before it disappeared. It did leave Yuriko with lingering disquiet, and the feeling that if they didn’t move now, they’d be found soon. However, it was still light out, and the woods dropped off into fields as they went farther south. T...
2023-05-08 14:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostA few hours after dawn, Axel jolted awake at the sound of petrol engines as well as tracks crunching down on shrubs and…
Crack! Thud!
And of tanks running over small trees.
There had been a light drizzle during the night, and the morning was quite nippy. Steam puffed ...
2023-05-08 13:45:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe fighting wore on until twilight. Axel Voight was huddled behind hasty fortifications while the Richmondian soldiers fired shots towards the wall every few seconds. He’d been observing the riflemen’s bullet reserves and he wondered if there would be enough to last the rest of the battle. 2023-05-08 13:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Following the witch’s trail was trivial. All Axel Voight had to do was activate his vision cantrip and the blazing sun that was her occult resonance shone through the trees and undergrowth. But as they climbed up the hillside, the stiff-lipped Storm Leader Rorn Dussel was getting antsier by the...
2023-05-08 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostAxel Voight murmured under his breath, and discreetly made the proper hand sigils. And at the same time, he sent his focus into his casting ring and activated the reactive malachite. The small green stone began to smoulder, allowing him to power his cantrips.
From one blink of an eye to the...
2023-05-08 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Master…” Desire murmured as Yuriko fed her a droplet of distilled Chaos. It had taken Yuriko nearly a couple of hours to produce one through painstaking meditation. It would have taken her just under a minute otherwise at 1 iarvesh, but the ambient Chaos of this realm was so thin that most...
2023-05-01 14:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe morning muster was ongoing. Chief Storm Leader Rorn Dussel waited patiently in his quarters while his Junior Storm Leader organized Second Company. The 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division was part of the 2nd Strike into Norrinth. The 1st Strike had already commenced yesterday. Fifty Divisions of...
2023-05-01 13:45:01 +0000 UTC View PostSkreeee!
The screech echoed into their corridor and Yuriko glanced back. Of course, the only thing she saw was the far wall, but it wasn’t hard to imagine that another rift had formed from the siphoned Animus. She wasn’t actually sure if the only exit to that chamber was the co...
2023-05-01 13:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostFor Section Leader Axel Voight, the constant tapping of the telegraph keys in the office was a familiar and comforting sound. His morning had started slow…though considering the state of the Confederacy, such slow days were to be treasured. The instruments in front of him went through their cur...
2023-05-01 13:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostYuriko had expected the experience of going through the portal in Synkrasia towards Siderious would have been smooth and instantaneous. After all, she witnessed the Warforged going through the portal one after the other, in quick succession. So the process should have been instant. But maybe, bec...
2023-05-01 13:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostAnd with that, we conclude Book 9! Anyone want to throw in their thoughts on what's going to happen from this point? We LOVE reading the discussions on Discord!
That said, we'll be taking a week off to put together the first bits of Book 10 and possibly plan out a second series that we'll b...
2023-04-17 14:15:01 +0000 UTC View Post