The question was asked innocently enough.
"Hey Lori, can you fly?" Rian asked over breakfast.
Lori sighed. "Why do people keep asking that? No, Whisperers can't fly. We leave flying to Mentalists, Horotracts, bugs, kites and hot air sacks." No matter how much she had tried when she'd ...
2021-09-29 06:41:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe Little Pink Bottle
"So, while I have all of you here…" Kim began as the various sugary, carbonated drinks flowed and bags of chips were opened, "can I ask for your help? Willy and Tammy especially."
"What about, Kuya Kim?" Tammy asked....
2021-09-26 00:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostBlood, Wire and Water
It was lunch and Rian still wasn't back.
Lori grimaced as she made her move on the sunk board impatiently, trying to ignore the smell of the stew her opponent was eating. Without Rian, the three weren't sitting so closely together anymor...
2021-09-25 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostA gentle wind blew from the river, making Mikon's skirt flap a little as she walked with Erzebed—she said call her Riz, but Mikon liked her full name—along the borders of the darkness, keeping company as she'd offered that first night. Try as he might, Lord Rian couldn't keep Erzebed company ...
2021-09-25 05:40:33 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Lori came down for breakfast the next day, there was an undercurrent of eagerness in the air. Usually, most people focused on their food or conversations, but this morning, even without paying attention, she could tell that many people were glancing towards her.
"People are certainly...
2021-09-23 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post"It doesn't need to be completely ice! We make a wooden skeleton that the ice can wrap around for structural integrity!"
"What about impacts? Damage?"
"Wooden boards mounted on the outside! It doesn't matter if they crack as long as they protect the ide underneath!"
"People will...
2021-09-21 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostSo, Nightmaerangers will be taking a short break as I plot out the next two arcs. It MIGHT be replaced in the interim by The Apocalypse Survival Chronicle of a Magical Girl Mecha Pilot depending on what I manage to bang out. We'll see.
... 2021-09-20 06:46:55 +0000 UTC View PostIt was lunch and Rian still wasn't back.
Lori grimaced as she made her move on the sunk board impatiently, trying to ignore the smell of the stew her opponent was eating. Without Rian, the three weren't sitting so closely together anymore. In fact, Umu and Riz were literally sitting at oppo...
2021-09-19 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostOn the Madness Of Mountains, Part 10
Jas—or rather, Jaselle Alhambra, as she introduced herself—didn't have any clothes. According to her, she'd flown from Manila as superheated plasma, leaving behind a trail that was probably literally cold n...
2021-09-19 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostEmergency Order Bonus
The final test assembly came the next day. They were almost out of time, after all. While Lori hoped that they'd be able to bring the components to River's Fork and assemble it that day… she wasn't holding out much hope. In fact, sh...
2021-09-18 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIt was with a happy heart that Lori watched Lori's Boat, full of… well, full of part of the next batch over miners who'd be mining in River's Fork for the week moving downriver. The rest were still packing, doing last-minute laundry, or were making themselves useful by watching the chi...
2021-09-16 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post"And done!" Rian declared, giving the waterwheel an experimental turn. It moved MUCH more smoothly than it had before in her demesne when they'd been testing it, thanks to the rendered seel fat they'd added to the bearings as lubrication. "It's all yours now, your Bindership."
Lori nodded a...
2021-09-14 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe final test assembly came the next day. They were almost out of time, after all. While Lori hoped that they'd be able to bring the components to River's Fork and assemble it that day… she wasn't holding out much hope. In fact, she'd already resigned herself to having to go back to R...
2021-09-12 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSubcontracting To Experts
At about mid-morning at a demesne some call Lorian, the day after its numbers had been temporarily reduced, a scream of frustration rose over the land. It was a scream of anger and rage, of a desire to impart endless suffering, of someone ...
2021-09-12 03:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostOn the Madness Of Mountains, Part 9
No matter how intense the light, Kim wasn't blinded. Neither were the Lava Horses. Or rather, the Lava Horse and what were likely drones. Being blinded need eyeballs, needed cells that reacted to light chemicall...
2021-09-12 00:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe parts came together over the course of the next two days, and no one lost any fingers or larger extremities.
Once all the pieces had been cut, Lori had switched from operating the water cutter to helping the blacksmiths set up an impromptu forge for making nails once it became clear joi...
2021-09-09 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe planning meeting didn't finish until mid-afternoon. The smiths had bowed out of any actual building, as everyone silently agreed this wasn't important enough to use their precious metal on, but had remained in an advisory capacity, being familiar with mechanical systems and their construction...
2021-09-07 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostAt about mid-morning at a demesne some call Lorian, the day after its numbers had been temporarily reduced, a scream of frustration rose over the land. It was a scream of anger and rage, of a desire to impart endless suffering, of someone badly in need of new socks. Truthfully, it wasn't that...
2021-09-05 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostOn the Madness Of Mountains, Part 8
Kim was not a violent man, but he knew how to throw a punch. His dad had made sure he knew that much. Make a fist, tuck your thumb on the side, not inside, and aim to punch somewhere a little behind...
2021-09-05 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostPrivacy, Privies, and Winter Worries
"So, good news, we have volunteers," Rian said as he sat down opposite her for dinner. "They'll be ready to go with us tomorrow. Though it took some negotiating, since they don't want to be away from their families until winter....
2021-09-04 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThey arrived back in River's Fork a little after noon. From the looks of it, lunch was over. Fortunately, Rian had prepared for this and had had some of breakfast saved for the second batch to eat, in case they missed lunch at either demesne.
Someone in River's Fork appeared at to be as for...
2021-09-02 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostA brief reminder: there will be no updates on the last week of the month of September and half the next week of October. Updates will resume on the 6th of October, Wednesday. This is for anti-burnout measures, and to run some errands. Because I don't know how the rest of the world looks, bu...
2021-09-02 13:54:41 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, Lori woke up and resigned herself to needing to leave her demesne. Again.
She promised herself this would the la—second to last time she'd ever need to leave her demesne ever again, ever, for any reason! And this time she'd keep that promise!
But for now, she ...
2021-08-31 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post"So, good news, we have volunteers," Rian said as he sat down opposite her for dinner. "They'll be ready to go with us tomorrow. Though it took some negotiating, since they don't want to be away from their families until winter. How do you feel about different batches of volunteers, each batch do...
2021-08-29 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostOn the Madness Of Mountains, Part 7
The ground was being very uncooperative as Kim tried to take control of it though the particles of sand he had touching the ground. When he'd done this back in UP, and in other times before, it had been like plu...
2021-08-29 00:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostRian and Lori Experiment With Each Other
She'd just pulled the partially-filled syringe—it contained only a small amount of blood, only a cubedrop—from her arm when she heard Rian let out a high-pitched scream of alarm.
Startled, Lori whirled, only to fin...
2021-08-28 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLori actually spent some time at her table, working on making bearings of an even size. She'd long since made a bearing mold using her beads as a template, carefully filling in and smoothing out the denomination markings until she had smooth spheres. A pity she hadn't unlocked the abilities of a ...
2021-08-26 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostIt was Ralii's turn to hunt this time, while the others stayed back and took care of the fiddly, disgusting work that needed to be done to turn beast hides into proper leather, and seel skins into proper furs for when the winter came. They'd also have to help the little ones properly butcher the ...
2021-08-25 15:53:08 +0000 UTC View PostActive binding test: successful.
Change of active binding test: successful.
They had time for one last test before they had to go back for dinner: the longevity test.
Lori was unsure how long she could maintain a connection to the waterwisps from her blood. While it was certainl...
2021-08-24 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs we come to the end of the month, a few announcements. First, please be informed that there will be no posts on the last week of September up to the 6th of October for anti-burnout reasons. I'd rather not work much on my birthday. And no, I didn't take a week to get born. Regularly schedu...
2021-08-23 03:44:52 +0000 UTC View Post