Uranium Phoenix's Projects posts
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Chapter 289 - Trials of Time
Cycle 325Unsurprisingly, the chthonic needle she’d given to the Ominian was gone the next cycle. That was too bad. Coating the chthonic needles in relicarium was out of the question, because that would link them to her soul. If she subsequently sent the needle to the Ominian, she would be torn apart.She continued delving the depths of the Labyrinth, looking for yet more Vaults that might contain a second or third chthonic needle.***Cycle 329The leviathans had proved to be difficult to negotiate with. Eventually, she got them to understand tha...
Weekly roundup 2/8
Interesting TangentIn his world history lecture series, Richard Bulliet talks about a lot of interesting things. One that stuck with me was his ideas on why so few human remains have been found in Africa. He hits on two reasons:One, since modern humans evolved in Africa, they evolved alongside predators. One likely predator is the hyena. Hyenas, unlike many predators, don't just eat the meat of their prey, they eat the bones too. Completely inconsiderate of future archeologists!Two, humans, with their little fingernails and relatively weak ...
Chapter 288 - Continuation
Cycle 309Mirian awoke and immediately conjured her newly bound ring. Sure enough, the Vault enchantment had stayed. She closed her eyes. Even at this distance, she could feel Meu. The drain was noticeable, but well within her capabilities.She repaired the hole in the ceiling, more out of habit than anything else, said her goodbyes to Lily, and flew off. The first day was one of the most critical, and she had much to do.***Cycle 310“Alright, head count. Anyone missing?” Gabriel asked the dreaming Prophets. There was a moment as everyone look...
Weekly roundup 2/1
A reader requested Interesting Tangents get a collection so if you ever want to just browse the posts I've made about history, writing, cons, worldbuilding, etc., you can click it. It'll start with this post, and I'll slowly be adding to it.Interesting TangentIn 1491, Charles C. Mann writes a lot about what we know about the complex and numerous civilizations that existed in the Americas before Columbus, including fascinating bits on modern archeology that explains how we know what we know, but also, how even large civilizations cou...
Weekly roundup 1/25
The secessio plebis was when the plebeians of ancient Rome got fed up with the upper class patricians and all left the city to go camp in the hills. It didn't happen a whole lot, but it did happen several times, varyingly about onerous debts (and people being imprisoned for those debts), insufficient government representation, plebeian rights, and other complaints that have been lost to time. Given the plebeians did all the work in Rome, when they were united like that, they had a pretty strong negotiating position. I think I first learned ...
Weekly roundup 1/18
Tangent TimeThanks to everyone who commented on last week's poll! It can often be difficult to put into words some of the story concepts I'm thinking about, but you all had a lot of fantastic things to say, so thanks!Today's tangent is brought to you by Tacitus, the ancient Roman historian. When I was reading his "Histories," one of the things that struck me was how he described some of the conspiracies. With the Roman Empire unstable, tons of people thought "hey, being emperor sounds pretty sweet. Why not me?" So a ...
Weekly roundup 1/11
This Week You Get A Question - Preferred Early Power LevelsI've been catching up on reading the big names in progression fantasy and litrpg, while also sorta keeping an eye on modern Royal Road trends. Right now, everyone loves archmages, for example. In the past, it was more warriors, but those stories escalate power quite quickly and you still get the 'aura farming' and 'glazing' of the MC that recent archmage stories have quite early. I've found it interesting how quick the progression is in some of the classics. By t...
Chapter 279 - The Unmoored
The man watched her, and Mirian felt the intense power of his aura. The metal embedded in him glinted strangely in the arcane light of the internal sun, crawling with both a nacreous light and oily shadows. He looked at Mirian with his eyeless gaze.Then his aura surged. In the place where his eyes had once been, Mirian saw cracks in the skin swim with energy. The power swelled, then—he vanished.He reappeared a moment later, except there were nine of him. There was no time to respond to his attack—he’d started casting the spells at some ot...
Weekly roundup 1/4
Woah, it's a new year. But not for Mirian! She's still stuck in the same one she started in. Awww.If I logged all my daily word counts correctly (I didn't, but the number should be pretty close to what I did), I wrote 457,962 words in 2025, most of which were obviously for this story. Thanks again to all you wonderful folks for supporting me! Seriously, it's amazing.Fun TangentIn some places and times, humanity really has seen the end of the world. Palmer mentions the letters of Petrarch, who takes a turn towards despair as the ...
Chapter 278 - Luamin
Mirian slowed dramatically as she approached the doors of the mountain-sized Elder building. When she was low enough on the ground, she dismissed the camouflage barrier. When no light beam spells attacked her, she relaxed slightly.She landed, feet touching gingerly down and stared up at the colossal doors. Torrian Tower could have fit beneath the arch.When she took her first step forward towards them, though, she nearly lost her balance and stumbled forward in the strangest manner. The gravity here is all wrong, she thought. It was like she did...
