SerProcrastinate

Chapter Eighty-Three (TIBK)

"VESSEL..."

The voice bypassed the ears entirely and manifested directly in the mind.

Eirik took another step forward.

"COMMANDER, STOP!" Olaf bellowed.

The entity noticed. ...

Chapter Eighty-Two (TIBK)

Eirik's mind raced as he descended.

He had an answer, yes, but they appeared to be more than a conduit than the real thing. To corner them and interrogate directly, would have been a fool's e...

Update: Pausing Billing

Hi friends!

Effective immediately, I'm pausing all billing. The Patreon will remain active, and you'll continue to have access to all content, but you won't ...

Early Access For a New Story?

Hi everyone,

It's been a month back at my day job, and as I feared, it has impacted my writing. Many of you have noted the recent chapters feel rushed, and you're right. The drop in our membe...

Chapter Eighty-One (TIBK)

Crimson light washed over the courtyard.

Pilgrims screamed. Talons staggered back, shields raised against a threat they couldn’t strike.

I am an idiot.

Eirik thought to...

Chapter Eighty (TIBK)

The prison was a side fissure splitting away from the main network.

Cells had been crudely fashioned here. Scavenged metal bars were wedged between natural pillars of rock or anchored into ha...

Chapter Seventy-Nine (TIBK)

The massive ice statue of the Frost Mother dominated the space.

Twin rivulets of vibrant crimson wept from the statue’s eyes, tracing blood paths down the ice cheeks. From the open palms he...

Chapter Seventy-Eight (TIBK)

"Shut the door, Olaf."

Sindri, Yorick, Isolde, Olaf, and Leif stood clustered near the massive table inside the same chamber where he had met with Borin and Varina. This room surely was getti...

Chapter Seventy-Seven (TIBK)

The courtyard had emptied.

Mara had left with the Varina and the remaining templars. Borin tried to get comfortable with the cave dwellings but failed, so he was also gone.

A few faithf...

Chapter Seventy-Six (TIBK)

He was halfway up the main access tunnel when a hand touched his good elbow.

"Commander."

He turned sharply. It was Mara.

"You should be at the healing station," Eirik managed. "P...

Chapter Seventy-Five (TIBK)

The cold granite of the meeting room table bit into Eirik’s good arm as he leaned heavily against it.

The familiar chamber felt alien now. Hours ago, it had been the stage for his apparent ...

Chapter Seventy-Four (TIBK)

Her? Here?

The refugee woman who had begged Eirik for her son's life was transformed. The exhaustion, the desperation, the supplicant's posture – all were gone. Her gaze was fixed on the ho...

Chapter Seventy-Three (TIBK)

Hundreds of pilgrims, refugees, Talons, and Flint's men packed the courtyard below the towering ice statue of the Frost Mother. Torchlight flickered against the serene ice, casting dancing shadows ...

[Announcement] Rewritten Chapters!

Hi everyone!

I wanted to let you know that I've rewritten chapters forty-eight through fifty-seven, essentially the entire Fort Abercrombie reclamation arc. I felt there were too many missed ...

Chapter Seventy-Two (TIBK)

[Daily Absorb Limit: 0/2000 MF - Reset in 00:16:52]

"Commander?" Leif finally burst out. "You can't... are you sure? Giving everything away? Now? To...?"

Eirik stopped abruptly. He deli...

Chapter Seventy-One (TIBK)

The chamber he’d chosen for this… negotiation… was one he’d initially carved as a private meeting space – the same room where he’d confronted Varn and Flint.

It felt painfully ina...

Chapter Seventy (TIBK)

[Settlement Progress: Tutorial Quest #7]

[Time Remaining: 2 days, 12 hours]

[Goals:]

[- Defined Borders - COMPLETE]

[- Habitable Structures - 58.5% Complete]

[- Popula...

Chapter Sixty-Nine (TIBK)

He found Isolde near the statue's base.

Her eyes were fixed on a small group of people gathered a few yards away. At the center knelt Mara, the refugee woman from the payment line. Held in he...

Chapter Sixty-Eight (TIBK)

Eirik winced as cold granite dust stinging his eyes.

[MANA FRAGMENTS +200]

[MANA FRAGMENTS: 9,200/10,000]

Eirik acknowledged the System notificat...

Chapter Sixty-Seven (TIBK)

They came.

Not in the neat lines Yorick's hopeful plans had suggested, but in waves. Great waves of people, driven by the unbelievable whisper carried by every passing trader, every running r...

Chapter Sixty-Six (TIBK)

Eirik Stormcrow sat bent over a rough table carved directly from the granite. His boots were muddy. Fisk had tried to get him to change, but Eirik had waved him off.

The air down here lacked ...

Chapter Sixty-Five (TIBK)

Lord Dagan Varn shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. The ice walls of Fort Abercrombie loomed before him.

Impressive, yes. Undeniably so. But cold. Very, very cold.

He pulled his thick ...

Chapter Sixty-Four (TIBK)

The faint light of midday did nothing to warm the yard where the refugees huddled for their ration. The queue stretched from the door of the makeshift storehouse made of ice. Leif Fenrir stood besi...

Chapter Sixty-Three (TIBK)

Since Rurik left, Eirik'd tried to lose himself in his daily grind—checking the sawmills, inspecting the quarry, absorbing fragments from every scrap of debris he could find. But they only worked...

[IMPORTANT] UPDATE SCHEDULE & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hi guys!

Yesterday I was alerted that this story had been featured in the Rising Stars section on Royal Road. I couldn't believe it, so I went to the page and scrolled until ...

Chapter Sixty-Two (TIBK)

Three days.

Three days of grinding ice from dawn until his vision swam and collapsed into fitful sleeps. Three days of absorbing every scrap of potential fragment-yielding detritus within the...

Chapter Sixty-One (TIBK)

Leif knew that look from Eirik when he hit a wall. Commander probably tried to build something out there and failed, Leif deduced, seeing the residue of expended mana around Eirik.

"Leif," Ei...

Chapter Sixty (TIBK)

Focus intent. Physical proximity to resource. Command absorption.

His gaze fell on a stack of broken wooden beams salvaged from a collapsed storeroom. Useful fuel, already hauled in ...

Chapter Fifty-Nine (TIBK)

The whispers had started in Frostholme’s fetid alleys and snow-choked inns. They spread along frozen trade routes, carried by desperate refugees and wide-eyed peddlers.

And the rumors were ...

Chapter Fifty-Eight (TIBK)

This place is a wreck, Eirik thought, scanning the devastation. Half the walls had crumbled sections where stones had been pulled out for who knows what purpose. The barracks roof had cave...