Kaius's heart pounded in his chest as he ran; his team ran with him.
This damn ruin seemed endless and ever-changing, even with them following the clearly painted directions that had been emblazoned on the walls.
They'd man...
2025-11-07 20:30:04 +0000 UTC View PostThey moved like forgotten horrors, twisted creatures of gearing and steel. Dozens of legs undulated with unnatural jerks, slipping from motionless to blurring speed as six automata raced down the hall in loose formation.
Kaius slowed his app...
2025-11-06 20:54:05 +0000 UTC View PostA deep, bassy twang split the air as Kenva loosed another arrow. The projectile lanced straight towards the warded, artificed bolt-thrower that was swivelling to get an angle on Ianmus. The timing was perfect. Right as mana built up in its charged...
2025-11-05 20:29:16 +0000 UTC View PostA red light of violence drenched the stairwell as the high-pitched alarm shrieked. It was loud enough it was almost physically painful, regardless of Kaius’s stats.
His mind raced as he watched dozens of fixed automata erupt from the walls...
2025-11-04 20:44:09 +0000 UTC View PostInside Earnsdale’s fortifications, rustic housing sprawled out in a great tangle. They were sturdy, built with stone foundations — cleanly cut grey blocks that looked strong enough to weather even the greatest of storms. As was common in front...
2025-11-03 20:26:01 +0000 UTC View PostFrom his position at the head of their cart, Bronwyn looked around with interest. They were on a paved road that cut its way between shallow hills, ubiquitous in this region of the frontier. On every side, they were surrounded by dense brush, unde...
2025-11-02 20:49:48 +0000 UTC View PostBronwyn held his head high and kept his gaze fixed ahead as he walked down the streets of Deadacre at the head of their team. At his age, with more than a few years at Silver, he was long used to the looks they got out in public.
Word had go...
2025-11-01 04:03:02 +0000 UTC View Postblame the hallowed eve
some of you will do timezone math and be even more understanding
2025-10-31 14:43:20 +0000 UTC View PostAny doubt that might have once existed in Kaius’s mind had long since fled: this Imperial ruin was military. Whether it was official Empire forces or a privately owned bunker of some ancient noble dynasty had yet to be seen.
The defe...
2025-10-30 20:13:03 +0000 UTC View PostDeep beneath the earth of Deadacre, Kaius looked upon a shattered tunnel of alchemical stone and beheld true devastation.
Heart still pounding from their close brush with the installation’s defences, Kaius crossed past the immense vault do...
2025-10-29 20:26:18 +0000 UTC View PostCrouched at the base of the hole they’d found in the centre of the Imperial ruins, Kaius looked over four skeletons with a critical eye.
It was a team, no doubt about it, though he had no way to tell if they were actual delvers, or simply ...
2025-10-28 20:30:15 +0000 UTC View PostReaching the centre of the ruins was proving troublesome. From the small portions of scouting that Ro had done during the guild’s initial raid on Old Yon’s hideouts, they knew the ruin stretched to encompass the circle of dead ground that surr...
2025-10-27 20:23:47 +0000 UTC View PostFollowing a slowly descending path of hard-packed dirt and dusted cobblestone, layered in nearly a finger’s width of dust, Kaius saw the sudden transition between catacombs and Imperial ruins as clear as day.
Ahead of them, smooth moulded ...
2025-10-26 20:30:03 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: I believe this weekend is my last one fully off. Im going up to 6 next week, much more sustainable with editing and plotting demands.
From a brick-and-stonework pipe in the wall opposite them, a spray of muck slopp...
Kaius entered his shared common room, Porkchop on his heels. He was dressed for battle, clad in scale mail made up from the second-tier artefacts they had found in their delve. His glyphs were charged with a variety of spells. Only Eirnith on his ...
2025-10-22 20:32:50 +0000 UTC View PostKaius perked up, shuffling back in his seat as he sat upright. Finally, they were going to hear about their part of the job — and it was a good one at that. Anyone with Delver aspirations dreamt of exploring some abandoned Imperial settlement at...
2025-10-21 20:32:26 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: I’m realising I should have started briefings and plans in chapter 431, when the actual briefings and plans started lmao. Probs will give the dawntown letter chapters, and the teaching niles a skill chapters there own name on RR. 2025-10-20 20:29:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Grandmaster Olmos swept his eyes over Kaius and his team, appraising each one of them individually.
Kaius wasn't sure what he was expecting when Rieker had said they would be talking to the grandmaster of the Guild. Perhaps s...
Kaius pecked at his slice of toast, aimlessly staring out the window of the Dusty Stables onto the street below. He wasn't so much groggy at having had to get up early — not with his stats — as he was a little more distracted than normal.
<... 2025-10-16 20:30:03 +0000 UTC View PostKaius breathed, calming himself as he looked down at his hands. His left pinky and ring finger were missing — a return to his state from a year ago, when he’d lost them fighting the Siege Ogre. Working through the permutations of Vesryn runes ...
2025-10-15 20:49:23 +0000 UTC View PostKaius pushed open the door to the Guild, the heavy oak feeling closer to balsa with his ever-growing strength. As the well-oiled hinges slid open, the soft murmur of discussion that permeated the Guild’s common room fell dead silent. Wi...
2025-10-14 20:27:52 +0000 UTC View PostAs a group, they crowded around the large table in their private common room. Kaius sat at the centre, an envelope of thick yellow parchment in hand. It was crude, but sturdy — like everything else that came from the outskirts of the Fr...
2025-10-13 20:31:45 +0000 UTC View PostKaius sighed in relief as they turned another corner and were presented with a narrow side street that was undeniably part of the Delvers’ Quarter.
It wasn’t the casual opulence of magic and the runic inscriptions baked into the fo...
2025-10-12 22:01:32 +0000 UTC View PostJust taking a wee bit longer to edit
2025-10-12 20:19:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Spent a buttload on these, and very happy with them.
Artist is Xavier Collette, whose done cover art for a bunch of tabletop games, and a few novels (including the french edition of The Witcher!!!)
You guys get to see them first, and...
Kaius suppressed a laugh as he watched the ratty urchin stare at him like he’d suggested the kid go kill a Guardian.
“Did I stutter, Niles? Pick up your stick.”
The boy leapt to obey, drawing a grin from Kaius. Teaching the kid a...
2025-10-09 21:52:57 +0000 UTC View PostWalking through a packed square, the crowds parted before them like waves at a ship’s bow. With him and Porkchop in front, towering over the common folk, people all but threw themselves aside to give them room.
In all honesty, Kaius ...
2025-10-08 20:31:53 +0000 UTC View PostSitting with his eyes closed, Kaius frowned as he did his best to shove all distractions from his mind.
He’d left breakfast a little earlier than the rest, heading back to their rooms to make an attempt at cycling. It wasn’t the fi...
2025-10-07 22:02:11 +0000 UTC View Post“And here is your suite,” Hensch said, pushing open the heavy oak door — one of four that lined the hallway down the centre of the top level of the Dusty Stables.
With Kenva joining them and their newfound wealth, they had decided to u...
2025-10-06 20:30:03 +0000 UTC View PostKaius stared up at the Dusty Stables with a surprisingly anxious knot in his stomach.
It looked exactly as he remembered it. On the street level, gated stables held tamed or bonded beasts that weren’t suitable for staying in the inn....
2025-10-05 20:25:43 +0000 UTC View Post