Riots
Riots are a destructive form of protest which can damage your Renown and Infrastructure.
Managing civil unrest is a fact of life for all rulers, from village burghers to emperors. When your citizens' Happiness drops between 10-25% in o...
2020-04-18 22:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I followed Masha out to a trestle table, where she had her trunk open and was deftly arranging her potion-making tools: glassware, a crucible - a thick metal dish on a burner - and a funny-shaped jar called an alembic, among other things. When she was finished, she unrolled a c...
2020-04-18 22:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The time difference between Taltos and Myszno was about four hours, so we arrived at midday after teleporting. That was just great, because I’d taken my helmet off and had forgotten to put it back on.
"Ow! Ow ow ow!" My scalp prickled as the sunlight hit it, like ...
2020-04-18 22:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
We were ready to leave just after dawn, while the sun was simmering on the horizon and Archemi’s enormous moon, Erruku, was a translucent golden ghost against the pale blue and pink sky. Karalti had taken Cutthroat on a test flight, and now the hookwing hung from her chest, s...
2020-04-17 22:04:50 +0000 UTC View Post(Sorry about the late chapters - I've been racing to finish the very final parts of the book!)
Three hours and a couple chapters later, I knew Suri would want to see this.
I cleaned up as much as I could before knocking on the door of her suite. By the smell of her ...
2020-04-17 22:04:15 +0000 UTC View PostMy head was ringing as I wandered through Vulkan Keep to the library. My chat with Ignas had power-leveled my Leadership skill, added a point each to Intelligence and Wisdom, and left me thinking about my fight with Suri in a whole different light. It had made me realize something important - nam...
2020-04-17 22:02:09 +0000 UTC View PostAuthor Note: Long chapter is long! One of my faves of the book, personally.
I didn’t calm down until I reached the Parade Ground and saw Karalti. She rested on the pad formed by her pubic bone and the base of her tail, looking down at Masha. The tiny ...
2020-04-13 21:55:10 +0000 UTC View PostSuri started on the papers we'd looted from Al-Asad until we were in the carriage back to Vulkan Keep. While she read through them, I checked the status of Myszno and worried. Six days had passed, leaving us with only twenty-one until the harvest. Karhad was in a bad state. Food was running low, ...
2020-04-13 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
"Fucking hell, this is ridiculous." Suri fumed as we lurked in a corner of the ballroom, trying - and failing - to avoid drawing attention. "I've got all those papers we pulled out of the Warden’s Quarters, you've got shit to do, and we're standing around here like loons, dri...
2020-04-12 20:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I was still brooding on Ignas’ words when I joined the others in the dark red gallery of the Senate Chamber. Everyone who had been in ballroom had filed into here, taking positions on the fine walnut benches that encircled the Speaker’s Floor. Royalty sat closest to t...
2020-04-11 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
The Orlahatz, Vlachia’s grand parliament house, was built at the terminus of the river that ran all the way from the glaciers of the north through the volcanic bastion of Vulkan Keep, down a steep gorge that separated the castle road from the city, and then through the ...
2020-04-10 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostWe hung in a motionless, bone-chilling black void. I couldn't feel the other players, the saddle, or sense Karalti's mind. Fear began to gnaw at my guts as the nothingness dragged on and on... but then, I felt a rush, like the sensation of rising up through cold water, and we burst out into the m...
2020-04-09 20:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
A rush of primal fear lanced through my gut. Every Californian knew that sensation of the earth about to rise up under your feet, split apart, or liquefy. The rumbling built, and built, until the few bookshelves we hadn't turned over began to sway back and forth.
"It's th...
2020-04-08 08:11:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe tunnels beyond the makeshift hospital were completely dark. They’d been bombed into oblivion, with craters in the floor and a groaning roof that rained sand down on our heads as the four of us – Suri, Karalti, me, and the unseen presence of Lahvan - crept out into the open.
“Ugh, ...
2020-04-02 23:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe tunnel down to Al-Asad was wide enough for a wagon to pass through, and tall enough that I could stand on Cutthroat's back. I crouched on her hindquarters with the Spear held low, knees loose, gripping Karalti's shoulder for balance. The hookwing charged down into the depths of the prison, do...
2020-04-02 02:53:57 +0000 UTC View PostThe Bashir Desert, Dakhdir
Suri had described Al-Asad as being mostly underground. Maybe the prison part was, but the horking huge fortress on top of it was definitely not. It was stuck on top of the only hill for miles around in this vast, dune-swept plain, looming over...
2020-03-30 23:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostI went back to the Count's Suite to decompress after sorting out which quests I wanted to farm out, and which ones I wanted to do myself after we bought Suri home. My ears were still ringing as I let myself back into the cool musty quiet of Lord Bolza's old living quarters. The Ducal Suite was an...
2020-03-29 23:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time the Great Hall was empty, we had a lot of quests. An unbelievable quantity of quests. Twenty-three different titles sat in my special Kingdom Quest pane, conveniently organized by urgency - which meant they were not organized at all, because every single one had equal priority and the...
2020-03-28 22:31:23 +0000 UTC View PostUnfortunately, the Voivode’s Throne wasn’t a huge-ass fantasy chair with flaming skull torches or voluptuous women and-or panthers lounging around the base of it. It was a simple, well-made but worn chair of dark wood, green leather, and silver thread. The chair was up on a stage, so that I g...
2020-03-26 04:02:33 +0000 UTC View PostNow? Really? Did it have to be NOW?
“My vassals?” I slammed the harness buckles in together. The harness was slightly crooked, but it worked. I’d spent the whole day making it. “Like, the other Counts, or-?”
Istvan scowled. “Your vassals, as in, the Barons who ...
2020-03-26 04:01:42 +0000 UTC View PostMyszno, Vlachia: Five Days Earlier
"Suri didn't know where Al Asad was. And if she did, she never told me. But if what Vash said is true, Cutthroat should lead us to her." I moved around Karalti with the stiff, efficient motions I'd learned in the army, tightening straps and ...
2020-03-26 04:01:27 +0000 UTC View PostIf you've ever seen Achmed the Dead Terrorist, you know EXACTLY what the Bandit Leader sounds like.
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The Bashir Desert, Dakhdir
We were almost at the end of the Stone Forest when the bandits finally decided to make thei...
2020-03-25 23:51:33 +0000 UTC View PostKaralti's physical stats have definitely come a long way! But that's what the math says they should be.
Level 13 Young Adult Queen Dragon
Strength: 101
Dexterity: 128
Stamina: 55
Will: 52
Wisdom...
2020-03-25 23:41:17 +0000 UTC View PostHector & Karalti's sheets, plus the first four chapters will be put up here today! Because the character sheets in Archemi Online are getting kind of long and the characters are reaching mid-levels and are not leveling as often, I am putting them in their own separate appendix from this b...
2020-03-25 23:39:02 +0000 UTC View Post
YOU GUYS.
Justin just sent me this tonight: the first couple of minutes of Kingdom Come. And it is so fucking amazing.
Laurie (who does the female voices and the A.I/Narrator voices) hasn't read her parts yet, so the A.I is narrated by Justin in this sample. Those parts will be in Lau...
2020-03-09 08:15:02 +0000 UTC View PostI'm working on some of the background structure/worldbuilding of Archemi - specifically, the feudal system of Vlachia. Thought this might be interesting to those of you who love the kingdom building and worldbuilding aspects of LitRPG:
"Hector's full title is: Duke Dragozin Hecto...
2020-01-20 00:28:56 +0000 UTC View PostMy first post today was public, intended for both patrons and the fans who check this page for snippets of upcoming books. However, this follow-up is just for you guys - a link to the first five chapters of Ghosts of the Past.
As I've mentioned before, this has been a VERY difficult story t...
2020-01-03 23:29:36 +0000 UTC View Post
The last quarter of 2019 has been intense, to say the least.
Firstly, I want to apologize for my absence. Those of you who follow me on my personal Facebook account may know that my wife was suddenly admitted to hospital in late October. I don't want to discuss the details of w...
2020-01-03 23:14:17 +0000 UTC View PostPhew: sorry I've been quiet, guys. I'd planned to post some chapters last week, but my wife ended up in hospital for five days after a sudden collapse on the 23rd.
Anyway, here's chapter two!
The woman we were here to rescue, Suri, had spent four days in t...
2019-11-02 10:05:10 +0000 UTC View PostAfter working a bit further into WS, I decided to rewrite the first chapter - the original just wasn't working for me. So here it is, completely unedited, filler text and all. This is how it starts - once I hit the 25K word mark, I'll go back, edit, and add in the game meta.
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2019-10-03 09:18:30 +0000 UTC View Post