jmclarke

IABD 66: The Monk's Account

It was all there, laid out in black ink on yellowed parchment: a testament to a man’s suffering and his accounting of a supernatural grudge. With shaking hands Matthias picked the book up. 

“Some of the language is very old.” he whispered. “And judging from the words, I believe...

IABD 65: The Wailing Path

Searing pain flooded Matthias Stonebreaker’s being. 

Before his horrified eyes, his shadow tendril abruptly bent then twisted, the prismatic light doing the same, bending then collapsing onto itself, rupturing in pops of radiance brighter than the noonday sun.  

The g...

IABD 64: The Battle on the Stairwell to Darkness

Matthias had no time to dwell on Ellian’s words, as much as their gravity struck him to his core: if this stairway led to the Old Abbey Roads, then going down them would mean descending into some kind of hell. Those stairs would lead to a network of ancient tunnels and ruins, home to potentiall...

IABD 63: The Passage Below

The sound of weeping was as clear as day, soft, as though coming from a distance.

Matthias thought the voice most likely belonged to a man, though the sobs were choked with such grief, it was difficult to tell.

His siblings went quiet; ears cocked in the direction he’d indicated. 2025-05-07 21:01:06 +0000 UTC View Post

IABD 62: The Ancient Chapel

“We should enter through the chapel,” Matthias suggested, pointing to the long structure. “It’s the biggest space in the abbey, and probably where the ghouls are most likely to gather. I say we clear them out.”

Bregindoure and Dagma grinned.

“If there are a lot of them, we...

IABD 61: The Blizzard

The fires of combat faded long before the bonfire did. 

For a time, Matthias and Beggahasta sat by the flames, enjoying their wine and talking. Wine loosened the warrior woman’s lips, and she told her son of battlefields she’d fought on long ago.

She told tales of death, life...

IABD 60: Blood Hunger

The undead troll loomed above Matthias, long tongue lolling out, arms spreading wide. Beside it shuffled a pack of smaller ghouls, snarling, fangs gnashing. Their claws gleamed in the firelight, wet from snow, resembling fresh blood.

The tendril lashed out, bowling ghouls over as he closed ...

IABD 59: The Ghoul Trap

Ignite,” Mistress Polla commanded. “And burn long.”

Inside the derelict hermit house, a towering pile of wood hissed, steam rising, abruptly bursting into flame. Flickering firelight and shadow danced across the home’s inner walls, casting light over thick branches—ends wrapped in...

IABD 58: Stonebreaker vs. Stonebreaker vs. Stonebreaker

“Before you face ghouls,” Beggahasta’s voice rang out over the courtyard. “I’d like to get an idea of how you fight while circulating your energy. Facing ghouls without knowing that life energy circulation will not distract you would be foolhardy. Prove yourself today so you can fight t...

IABD 57: An Idea for a Trap

Snow crunched in the courtyard, jolting Matthias from the Realm in Dream.

Moving silently, he sprang from his bedroll, peering through the window—behind him the room was unnaturally bright, reflecting the moonstruck snow outside.

Grey ghouls were prowling across the snowy ground. 2025-04-23 18:40:14 +0000 UTC View Post

IABD 56: Sprinting Ahead

Matthias Stonebreaker shielded his eyes as crimson light flared across his brother’s back, momentarily blinding everyone in the garden. Bregindoure’s roar thundered through the sky.

Every ghoul prowling Windstone likely heard it, whether deep underground or lurking near upper windows. 2025-04-21 20:22:12 +0000 UTC View Post

IABD 55: A Test of Affinity

Matthias silently climbed from his bed roll, tiptoeing through the dark hermit house, passing his sleeping sister. Bregindoure’s bed roll was empty, and the young greatfolk could hear his mother in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

The scent of porridge was mixing with the miasma of Winds...

IABD 54: Training

The ghouls hadn’t tried testing the wards with force of numbers again, but they hadn’t given up on trying to get to their prey either. After that failed headlong charge, they had changed tactics, using guile and low cunning instead of numbers.

Every few nights, a small number of ghouls ...

IABD 53: Beginning Training at Windstone

For three days, Matthias practised Life Energy Circulation.

For three nights, Matthias practised Life Energy Circulation.

The days were trying; the miasma constantly hung over the abbey, clinging to every scrap of clothing, wafting through their home. Even the glass windows, crafted b...

IABD 52: Enduring and New Life

“It’s eerily quiet.” Bregindoure gripped his shield and mace, moving cautiously through the woods, eyes glancing frequently at the surrounding trees.

Reds, yellows and browns had begun to bleed into the green canopy—autumn was near—his immense boots crunched on the occasional fall...

IABD 51: Setting Up Camp

As Matthias gingerly picked up a ghoul’s corpse in the living room of their hermit house, it struck him that no essence had risen from the thing and entered his shadow after it had died.

It was later in the morning, the Stonebreaker family was now hard at work clearing their new home of h...

IABD 50: A Horde of Grey

‘It spoke,’ Matthias thought. ‘The thing can speak! It speaks our tongue!’

The ghoul knight’s eye-symbol was fixed on Matthias as though he was its oldest enemy. A long tongue slipped from between needle-like fangs, running across cracked lips. 

“Feeeaaaast!” it his...

IABD 49: The Hermits' Houses

The stench hit Matthias first; stinking worse than the smell of several privies, a rotting wound and decay, clinging to his nostrils, making his nose and eyes water. Yet, the assault to his senses did not end there; it went deeper—through his flesh—reaching down to his soul.

Even his sp...

IABD 48: The Anatomy of an Abbey

The rain began falling, pounding on the carriage just as it reached the outer edges of the Windwood.

One moment they were flying in comfortable silence, and the next they were caught in a deafening drumming. The downpour battered the roof, sounding like it would break it apart as moonlight ...

IABD 47: The Curse of Windstone

“But it’s only a coin,” Dagma pointed out. “Coins are just meant to be spent.”

“I know of several collectors who would spit blood if they heard such a statement, but more importantly, it is not a coin: that, my friends is a shield. When wielded, its magic can shrink it down to t...

IABD 46: Coin, Cultivation and Negotiation

Ecaris’ revelation rolled over Matthias, transfixing his thoughts to silence.

He’d never really given any thought to what meeting another Divine Breath cultivator would be like, or if he’d ever meet another one, but randomly stumbling upon one on a seedy side street in a market far fr...

IABD 45: The Hidden Merchant

“What do you mean ‘make proper use of them’?” Matthias asked. “Are you an alchemist?”

“Among other things. Many other things, but let’s stay on topic. The body parts of the demonic beast—claws, bones, some of its organs, and its soul-core—are also valuable,” the mercha...

Mark of the Fool Announcement: Light Novels Delayed to Due Paper Shortage

Hello everybody!

Just wanted to give you a quick update on the light novels. I've been informed by my publisher that due to a paper shortage, the printer won't be able to get them done until later. They're currently scheduled for release on May 5th.

I just found out, sorry about th...

IABD 44: A Situation

Matthias whirled to see a man trying to rob his sister.

Dressed in plain clothing, the stranger was unremarkable except for the pair of daggers at his hip; his stubbled face scowled as he tried pulling the young girl’s coin purse from her hands, grunting in surprise at the ten-year-old’...

IABD 43: Dagger Rock

“Good, there is enough mist about to let us land in secret.” Polla watched the mural change before her. “Better that we land unseen. Dagger Rock is a place where you don’t want the wrong kind of attention.”

Matthias kept his eyes on the murals; grey mist swirled in all of them, as...

IABD 42: A Trusted Friend

Jan Eklund shivered like a mouse caught between a cave-lion’s front paws. “G-give me a moment, I will get dressed and—”

“That will not be necessary,” came a voice so deep, it seemed to rise from the netherworld itself.

Jan Eklund knew it well…and could not deny the order...