That Monday night, Logan and Inga met in the undercroft lobby at the bottom of the Stairwell of True Seeing. Logan had brought the shield and dagger he’d won from the Threshing dungeon. That chipped dagger would have a hard time cutting butter, ...
2020-09-04 00:28:41 +0000 UTC View PostThe next two weeks went by in a flash. After that first Underground Feng Shui class, Logan had decided on two out of the three mushrooms he would cultivate. However, he was still on the fence about the second-level mushroom.
Like on...
2020-09-01 22:15:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe feasting guests all moved as one, shooting up from their seats in a ravenous frenzy and lurching toward us, clawed fingers extended, mouths wide.
Ferraro dropped back, narrowly avoiding a woman in a tattered sequin-covered dress, and unl...
2020-08-29 18:50:14 +0000 UTC View PostAs they walked to the Golden Serpent Hall, Logan realized that he wouldn’t need breakfast because while he’d been busy refining his core, the chicken leg in his room was already busy filling his stomach. Hurray for Digestion! Neat trick alrigh...
2020-08-27 23:11:49 +0000 UTC View Post
We followed Levi into the short connecting hallway, which was just as opulent as the antechamber had been. Ridiculously gaudy wall-mounted lamps of filigreed gold and silver lit the way with more spectral firelight. Nooks and cr...
2020-08-23 18:07:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Behold, from the Thieves Suit: the Lieutenant. He's a bruiser, an enforcer, a thug, and he's only to happy to let you know it.
"Someone had to get their hands dirty. Good thing dirty is what I do."
2020-08-21 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostLogan woke up with his Dungeon Core Grimoire vibrating on the nightstand. Despite the fact that it was a leather tomb, as thick as a phone book, the book brimmed with so much potent magical energy that it might as well have been an iPad. It was fi...
2020-08-20 13:17:06 +0000 UTC View Post
From the Inquisitors Suit, I give you: the Inquisitor Errant. He's a veteran of the war against darkness and depravity and though he might not be diplomatic, he is exactly the guy to call when a monster needs killing.
"Save your excuses....
2020-08-19 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
From the Monster Suit, I give you the Shambler! This is one of my favorites -- love the colors and the overall layout. The butterfly is a particularly nice touch!
"They speak for the trees. They stomp and rend for the tress, too."&...
2020-08-17 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostWe stepped out of a shimmering gateway, a fold in space and time, and into a lavish antechamber that I hadn’t seen in years. This room still haunted my nightmares once every blue moon or so, though.
It was a circular space with white...
2020-08-15 17:08:12 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone! Sorry for the pause in chapters and content. This last couple of weeks have been tough. My wife had to fly back to Colorado to help take care of her mom after an ankle replacement surgery. My mother-in-law is doing great, but t...
2020-08-15 17:03:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone! So I wanted to share some art with you all. There will be a BUNCH of it coming down the pipeline. DJ Bodden (Author of the Illusionist) and I thought it would be really cool to make a VGO Custom Card Deck. It'll have all the normal c...
2020-08-12 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
“Hyperbolic much?” I asked, rolling my eyes. It was always the fate of humanity with him.
“God’s honest truth,” he said, holding up his fingers like a boy scout. “If she carries through with her plan, it’ll c...
2020-08-09 17:41:40 +0000 UTC View Post
“I supposed Greg is right. I’ll concede that maybe, maybe, I had this coming.” James said gestured at his face. He was sitting in a leather club chair, an icepack pressed up against his bruised and battered mug. T...
2020-08-01 19:31:32 +0000 UTC View Post
Dinner was better for Logan, but only because the menu was leftover chicken legs. They were lukewarm and some pieces were about to turn. For a fungaloid, apparently, the extra tang was just what the doctor ordered. Logan traded...
2020-07-30 23:48:13 +0000 UTC View PostLogan and the Terrible Twelfth hit the Golden Serpent Hall for a quick lunch—some kind of succulent roast in a thick gravy sauce—and then made their way to the Akros Coliseum, which was the northeast practice field. A dirt running track, packe...
2020-07-29 01:15:20 +0000 UTC View Post
“You dirty son of a bitch,” I growled, hands balling into fists, gaze fixed on the man at the far side of the room like a heat seeker locking onto target. Sharp dressed, with movie-star good looks and a 1920’s hairdo, Jame...
2020-07-25 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostLogan and the rest of the incoming freshman class were given a single day of orientation. Inga, the bookworm moth woman, was overjoyed when they were given their DCG, or Dungeon Core Grimoire. It contained the following:
· A very e...
2020-07-23 22:13:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Professor Yullis Rockheart, the rector prime of the Shadowcroft Academy and the master of the Azure Dragon Clan, stood alone in the Golden Serpent Hall, but he wasn’t alone for long.
Shadowcroft came down the steps from ...
2020-07-22 21:57:40 +0000 UTC View Post
“And now, without further ado, let the games begin!” Across from us, a steel portcullis lurched up with a shriek, but instead of discharging more pitiful prisoners, a deafening bellow rang out. The ground vibrated and trembled as monsters expl...
2020-07-18 07:23:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone. Wanted to share the first episode of a brand new VGO short story, called Portal Mage. And, as a thank you for supporting me, I'm making it available to Patrons at every level! This one is a collaboration with D.J. Bodden, author of t...
2020-07-16 20:17:46 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone! Just thought I'd share this slick new piece of art that Shadow Alley is commissioning for the upcoming Snake's Path by Kenneth Arrant -- the follow up to A Snake's Life. Love the art, though the picture placement is too high, since t...
2020-07-15 20:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Afternoon, more art exclusively for patreon.
From Wendigo Rising we have an artist's interpretation of the Blob zilla. This was the finale were Yancy fought Achak and they dueled metaphysically. Giant construct against giant construct....
Logan stepped into a gloomy, rocky cavern, filled with towering stalagmites and stalactites like the teeth of some monstrous creature. Flittering bugs, each the size of a quarter, buzzed lazily through the air, shedding witchy g...
2020-07-15 00:08:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Logan found himself in a classic dungeon hallway with only one way to go. He padded forward slowly and silently on his fat gumby feet. He had to move slowly, of course, because his little mushroom frame simply wasn’t built...
2020-07-11 14:59:16 +0000 UTC View Post
The pain spun Logan Murray into a dark void. The second time in less than twenty-four hours he’d visited Abysstown. Population ouch. Well, no one ever said that dying and becoming a dungeon core would be easy.
This time,...
2020-07-09 13:11:04 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone! Wanted to give everyone a little update. So this past Fourth of July weekend, my wife and I held the second annual Shadow Alley Press Retreat about an hour away from our house in Kentucky. We hold the event for our authors and other ...
2020-07-08 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
There is no going back. There is only forward. The words echoed in his head like the clarion chime of a struck bell.
Wow. Now that was a hell of a gut punch.
Logan sat down. He swallowed hard and pressed his...
2020-07-07 19:23:20 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone, here's chapter four of Shadowcroft. I've had a blast working on this book so far, but building out the magic and "game system"--though this is more cultivation than litRPG--is definitely one of my favorite parts of writing. That and ...
2020-07-02 17:02:41 +0000 UTC View Post