4.35 Task Force
“It’s time,” Jori said, fighting down the excitement rising in her chest. Finally, they were going to do it! Nuros’ servants were going to die—some of them, at least. They would have to h...
2025-08-24 11:49:26 +0000 UTC View Post
HankTheMoose posts
4.34 Elemental Development
“They’re here!” Piranin called out as she pushed through the doors into King Grundrik’s private rooms. “Humans, your majesty! I saw them with my own eyes.”
Grundrik looked u...
2025-08-19 12:08:45 +0000 UTC View Post4.33 The Duergar Capital
I'm debating putting Jori's scene second in this chapter, because the ending hits better for a chapter ending, but I haven't decided yet. Subject to change, feel free to weigh in.
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2025-08-15 21:55:39 +0000 UTC View Post4.32 Highstone
By the time they’d hiked back up, fetched the others and returned, the chamber was cool enough that the others didn’t need magical protections. Several Karil’Dirin goblins accompanied them to...
2025-08-11 22:43:06 +0000 UTC View Post4.31 Spark of Life
I hope you guys like mad science magic, because that's pretty much the whole chapter today.
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Bernt looked over the other spellforms on the wall, trying to make sense of wh...
2025-08-07 21:28:15 +0000 UTC View Post4.30 An Inquisitive Mind
The goblins led them down the tunnel only a short distance before they reached another small intersection chamber. A warm, dry wind blew up out of the tunnel on their left, making a soft howling so...
2025-08-04 21:51:53 +0000 UTC View Post4.29 Karil'Dirin
After a long, hunched-over walk that couldn’t have taken more than half a minute in actuality, Bernt emerged from the tight tunnel into a large natural cave. It was, as promised, much roomier tha...
2025-07-30 20:43:36 +0000 UTC View Post4.28 Case Dismissed
Josie strode into the magistrate’s chamber to hear the verdict for her big case, trying not to let her nerves show. The summons had come too early. They were supposed to have another hearing next...
2025-07-26 21:49:49 +0000 UTC View Post4.27 Surprise Mission
Hi all, I'm not better yet, but I've finally managed to get another chapter out. More soon. I'm also running edits on some prior chapters to try to clean up some setup things for the RR version...
2025-07-23 19:47:54 +0000 UTC View Post4.26 A Modest Proposal
Tolland, the long winded old Madzhuri representative, is now a paladin again (totally forgot in an earlier scene and made him a priest, this will be cleaned up in the rr version)
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2025-07-16 22:26:19 +0000 UTC View Post4.25 Grand Thaumaturge
“It’s quite a fascinating process,” Grand Thaumaturge Jopuri said, pouring coffee into three cups that he’d laid out on Dalbrand’s desk in the archmage’s office. “It almost appears as...
2025-07-13 22:23:35 +0000 UTC View Post4.24 Classified Briefing
Bernt half expected to be marched straight to the Norhold Command Center to resume his work healing the military’s remaining burnouts, but instead he found himself following Archmage Dalbrand up ...
2025-07-09 22:03:11 +0000 UTC View Post4.23 A Diplomatic Solution
At first, Bernt avoided practicing any spellwork for fear of antagonizing his guards. Eventually, though, the sheer boredom of incarceration wore him down. He began casting small spells – a light...
2025-07-06 11:04:01 +0000 UTC View Post4.22 Hate Speech
This is the updated edited version as of August 12, '25
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Bernt could feel a blood vessel pulse in his temple as he worked to keep his mana network under control. He wanted 2025-07-02 21:58:54 +0000 UTC View Post
4.21 Accused
The trip back up to the Peaks was long, but somehow Bernt still felt like he arrived too quickly. His experience at the Conclave so far, as well as his interactions with Jesra had shown him that he...
2025-06-29 21:56:25 +0000 UTC View Post4.20 A Timely Warning
“I’m not so sure this is a good idea…” Estrid said as she watched the vial of burning rain on the table. It looked exactly like the one he’d used to form his first investiture, with a lar...
2025-06-26 22:21:01 +0000 UTC View Post4.19 A Little Help From Our Friends
Jori had received an enchanted timepiece from Iriala to help her track their scheduled summoning times. It was a simple metal rod that cast a shadow according to the position of the sun. The archma...
2025-06-22 21:18:52 +0000 UTC View Post4.18 To Kick a Hornet's Nest
I realized as I was writing this that I overzealously cut out 2 bits of exposition from earlier chapters that I'll need to write back in for RR. I had a feeling I was being too slash-h...
2025-06-18 20:19:34 +0000 UTC View Post4.17 Testimony
For the next... 3? maybe 4 chapters, please shout if you feel like something wasn't sufficiently set up. I'm trying not to drag out the political stuff too much without skipping steps, but it's...
2025-06-15 11:42:26 +0000 UTC View Post4.16 A New Charter
Feedback requested: This chapter picks up about 2-3 days after ch 15, skipping some plot-irrelevant bits where Bernt is trying out more spells and generally having a bad time talking to other l...
2025-06-11 20:53:50 +0000 UTC View Post4.15 The Revivalists
“They’re called revivalists,” Doreen explained, handing Bernt her battered tin tea pot, which was filled to the brim with cold water. “They’re loud and obnoxious, but they’re not releva...
2025-06-08 21:40:56 +0000 UTC View Post4.14 Bad Faith
Hi all, sorry for the late post. I've finally got my family, cats, and stuff all moved to my new place in Berlin, which was way more complicated than moving should have any right to be. I also ...
2025-06-04 22:02:32 +0000 UTC View Post4.13 The First Session
Bernt wanted to spend some more time catching up with his friends and he still needed to talk to Uriah about what else he might have learned from his novels, but as he approached the Scryer’s Off...
2025-05-29 19:40:42 +0000 UTC View Post4.12 Government Backing
“First thing is, of course, I’d like to be paid appropriately for my work,” Bernt began, doing his best to sound like he wasn’t intimidated at all to be negotiating with a high-ran...
2025-05-27 22:01:29 +0000 UTC View Post4.11 Connections are good, value is better
The biggest pinch of the move is over, so I should be able to keep up with posting from now on again. There's a possibility I miss a post in the first week of June, but I don't think it'll come...
2025-05-25 18:07:14 +0000 UTC View Post4.10 The Diplomat
Alright, It's 1 in the morning, so I can't promise the edits are clean. I'll go over it again tomorrow, but in the meantime, here's a chapter for you!
Edit 5/21 -- I did another roun...
2025-05-20 23:03:53 +0000 UTC View Post4.9 The First Step
The cultist’s name was Ranna. She was the same woman who had originally found him at the confluence, together with a dwarf and a human man both of whom Bernt had killed. She had left them to die ...
2025-05-17 21:33:01 +0000 UTC View Post4.8 An Unexpected Rescue
Bernt marched down the path, trying to keep up with Song as they made their way down the mountain toward the Phoenix Reaches where he’d left his things. He’d tried to come up with several argum...
2025-05-14 16:27:09 +0000 UTC View Post4.7 Rumors
As Jori felt herself dragged out of the hells by magic, she mentally prepared herself to deliver her update for the great mages. They’d raised Lidis to class two, four of her scouts had returned ...
2025-05-11 12:15:39 +0000 UTC View Post4.6 A New Plan
By the time they finished the three-hour ascent up the endless stairs and stepped through the doors of Ruzinia’s Temple, Bernt wanted nothing so much as to go to sleep. The sun had long since set...
2025-05-08 11:17:03 +0000 UTC View Post