Alright, so that third post didn't really work out last week, but I have an extra long one for you today!
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“What does that mean?” Torvald asked. Bernt had found him and several of the others gathered around a table to hear Nirlig drunkenly regale them with the story o...
2025-02-03 15:43:36 +0000 UTC View Post“You need to go in there and talk to them,” Olias told Torvald, huffing as he marched next to his grandnephew and pointed ahead to the carriage. It was obvious to Bernt that the old man didn’t get much exercise. “You have to trust me on this. It’s important.”
“And say what?”...
2025-01-31 22:38:07 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, I'm down with a fever again so posts may be a bit irregular this week. Today's post is unfortunately not going to be on time. I should still be able to get all three done, though.
In other news, Underkeeper Book 1: The Dragon's Gambit will be published by TimelessWind ...
2025-01-30 13:51:18 +0000 UTC View PostAs the news spread that the demons were out there, the mood in the camp grew tense. Captain Emata, who had somehow put herself in charge, assigned guard duties to every combat-capable person available, which was everyone except Angjou, Surin, Olias and Regin. They took their assignments without c...
2025-01-28 15:32:06 +0000 UTC View PostJori pulled the bone stopper from the small demon skin vessel and focused on its contents, slowly drawing the soul from it. Her control had improved, but it was still hard to move souls or soul fragments without drawing them into herself.
There wasn’t much left of this one – a headless ...
2025-01-25 12:53:16 +0000 UTC View PostBernt sat in the inn’s common room, tapping his foot nervously. With the addition of Torvald's great uncle, they were fifteen people in all, though Torvald himself wasn't here. He was currently being questioned by the City Guard because of his latest divine mission. He'd bolted out of bed in th...
2025-01-23 16:16:23 +0000 UTC View PostWhen the City Guard came to knock on their door in the morning before sunrise, Bernt feared the worst. Uriah’s bed was still undisturbed, his small pack leaning against it exactly as he’d left it. But Uriah came walking through the door a moment later, looking stiff and pale. His robes were c...
2025-01-21 15:48:38 +0000 UTC View PostThe guild was a beautiful structure that dated back to imperial times, with high ceilings, carved marble columns and a general sense of gravitas that Halfbridge lacked. Unfortunately, the place had seen better days. While it was clean and mages moved about their business as they did back home, en...
2025-01-18 16:23:30 +0000 UTC View Post“Well, thank the gods that’s over.” Ed said with feeling, turning away from the corpse. He’d started to feel like he’d be stuck in this hellhole forever, sitting in a cave with nobody but imps for company. All things considered, it could have been worse, but that wasn’t saying much. 2025-01-16 14:54:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Bernt’s banefire spell clipped the hag’s flank as she tried to dodge. She shrieked in pain and again the sound didn’t reach Bernt’s ears. Someone was protecting them from the creature’s withering screams. It fell to the ground and writhed in agony as the spell devoured its flesh.
...
2025-01-14 12:06:04 +0000 UTC View Post“You can’t be serious.” Uriah said, glaring at Bernt. “You’re talking to a demon in the hells, and you’re surprised we got ambushed?”
“Hey, watch it!” Elyn reprimanded him. “Jori is our friend – she wouldn’t betray us.”
“Besides,” Torvald added reasonably...
2025-01-12 18:03:59 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, this one took a whole lot of editing back and forth, to the point where it's kind of blurring together in my head now. So I'd like to ask you guys to point out if you notice any unnatural breaks/transitions anywhere that need smoothed out. Thanks!
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Bernt looked ...
2025-01-09 17:53:22 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, I wanted to add a notice here to let you know that there's some additional content on the RR version of the END of Chapter 16 and the beginning of...
2025-01-07 17:40:06 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time noon rolled around, the novelty of traveling forth into the unknown had worn off. There were fields, copses of trees, more fields, villages in the distance, and even more fields. This region was the northernmost portion of Besermark’s heartland, which was roughly a triangle marked o...
2025-01-05 16:12:13 +0000 UTC View PostAt the paladin’s insistence, Bernt and Torvald accompanied the two gnomes back to their house, both to keep Linnie from trying to pursue the ogre and to try to explain things to the locals. Judging by their behavior so far, it seemed likely that they would try to take out their misguided anger ...
2025-01-02 22:05:50 +0000 UTC View PostAnother one hot off the presses. I caught another (or maybe the same again) strain of toddler sickness, but the chapter's done! And with that, we resume Patreon billing and the regular posting schedule. Happy New Year!
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“Hold on a minute, now,” Uriah said. ...
2024-12-31 16:09:36 +0000 UTC View PostBernt went to find the Fergefield Mages’ Guild while the others went ahead to the bakery. The receptionist raised an eyebrow at Bernt’s scrawled note, but she agreed to submit it to the scryers when he pulled out Iriala’s token. Ideally, Bernt would have liked to spend the day here, looking...
2024-12-26 12:23:23 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, it's late, but at least one post got done this week. Not sure if I'll get you guys another one before Christmas, but if not, you'll get a post later next week.
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Uriah pulled a face as gray banefire shot from his outstretched hand, splashing down not far away in the...
2024-12-20 12:51:18 +0000 UTC View PostHey all, sorry there’s no update today, whole family’s down with the sickness.
2024-12-17 19:57:41 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, so the ink isn't dry on this one yet, I literally just finished drafting it. Buuut, I didn't want to put you guys on hold again while I edit, so you're getting the beta version. Feel free to drop issues into the comments. I'll run my own edit tomorrow and paste in the cleaned up versi...
2024-12-13 18:22:53 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, I'm going to be on the road tomorrow, so your second post this week is going to drop a day late on Friday the 13th. Cheers!
2024-12-11 18:46:49 +0000 UTC View PostBernt stripped off his clothes in the chilly changing area, noting with some embarrassment that he smelled a bit under one arm. He’d meant to get up earlier today and bathe before coming, but he’d been up late, finally recreating the portal to nowhere in the back room of his house and talking...
2024-12-10 13:36:56 +0000 UTC View PostIn the end, it wasn’t quite as simple as Bernt had predicted. Hallan had a strong grasp of runes and warding and it took the librarian only a moment to point out several obvious problems that needed solving before they could actually try to create a portal to nowhere.
For one, there was n...
2024-12-05 15:07:43 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, Happy December. I didn't manage to get this all properly edited before posting, so please let me know if all the magical theory is too unclear. I'm also going to be suspending patreon billing in December and slowing down posts to 2/week for the Holidays since I'm going to be traveling...
2024-12-03 16:03:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Alright.” The pimply young solicitor said, pen scratching on paper as he took down Bernt’s report. “So, the shade had a three-dimensional shape in the darkness? It was standing up?”
Bernt fidgeted, his arm bumping into a wall in the cramped, broom closet sized office at the Solic...
2024-11-30 16:28:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Tell me what you’ve worked out about the Temples, so far,” Iriala demanded, stabbing her fork into some greens. She’d summoned Bernt to her office for lunch – the second time she’d done so since he’d been reassigned to the guild.
The first time around, she’d grilled h...
2024-11-28 14:37:50 +0000 UTC View PostBernt pulled an icy hand from his sleeves to wave to Palina as he entered the tunnel down to the Undercity, dodging oncoming traffic to skirt around a group of weary-looking people who were slowly shuffling down the passage. Snow hadn’t fallen yet, but it was clear that winter had arrived. He w...
2024-11-26 13:09:20 +0000 UTC View PostBernt’s knees ached as he triple-checked the chalk markings on the stone behind his desk. It was already late in the evening, but there was no way he’d go home to sleep before he tested this. The rune circle in front of him wasn’t his own design – he’d copied it from a book – but that...
2024-11-23 17:35:10 +0000 UTC View PostBernt squared his shoulders and knocked on Iriala’s office door, doing his best to appear calm and confident. He didn’t need to be nervous—the archmage had asked for him specifically, and she’d traded her influence to get him here. That should have reassured him, but he still couldn’t q...
2024-11-21 16:07:11 +0000 UTC View Post“Really? You’ll do it?” Torvald said, clearly excited.
“I’ll accept if the count appoints me.” Bernt hedged. “You said yourself that you can’t just choose me.”
“Eh.” Torvald shrugged confidently, pulling out a piece of paper and scribbling something...
2024-11-19 13:46:13 +0000 UTC View Post