Bongosian Press posts
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§108 Pursuit
Kasper"Let! Me! Out!" Kasper pounded on the walls around him. He couldn't see them – he couldn't see anything at all – but he could feel the surface in front of him to hit and claw at it."I want out! I want out!" he screamed, but no one could hear. He knew what it felt like to be inside a privacy barrier. His shouts turned into a wordless roar, pitiful in the sound-stifled confines of his box.That's what it was: a box. He wasn't standing up, but lying down. He stretched his arms until he could feel both sides...
Map of Estfold
It's been a while since our last sourcebook update. Here is a map of Estfold province, with a good chunk of Dimmik showing in the south. It will be included in Legate of Mourne.
§107 Taken
Taylor arrived in his slime form, ready for assassins, armed insurrections, enemy wizards, or popular uprisings. Instead, he landed in the middle of the princess's study.What's wrong? Their bond twisted with worry."Rebecca is making a play against the Divine Envoy."Explain."She said she was going to 'put a leash' on him so he could be controlled. She thinks that if she succeeds, she'll win Father's favor even though he's said the envoy's off-limits. I thought I talked her out of it weeks ago, but toda...
§106 Opportunities
Princess Mariella — Imperial Palace, AvimoreThe day had been long, and the carriage ride was rough. Mariella somehow got stuck in a Priory carriage with bad suspension, and she could feel every stray rock and crease in the road through the bench seat. The lower city clinic had been full of early cases of corruption, and she'd spent everything she could on purifying them. Tonight, she would ask for mana crystals so she could finish the rest of them before they got much worse.Death by corruption was a slow process, until it wasn't. At t...
An Enterprising Beetle
Sprits come in all shapes and sizes, some of them quite small. Here's one from volume 2, running off with some delicious Wokehaad Farms preserves. One should be careful while tromping around Twilight. Spirits can discern the difference between an insect and an insect-type spirit, but the rare mortal visitor likely would not. Running around smashing things, just because you can, is a good way to draw the ire of Great Spirits.
§105 Behind the Mask
I miss the noise of common folk,their joys, their toils, their simple cares.In fall, I don my deepest cloakTo stalk unknown the season's fairs.— Erkenbrog the DecimatorTaylor — WenfoldTaylor sat on his hilltop and watched a battle between the Army of Darkness and Dogeneh's Praxium Brigade. The field of battle was a remote area in Wenfold, mostly open ground with scattered trees, twenty miles from the nearest road. Each army had a four-foot-tall obelisk to protect, spaced a few hundred yards apart. Their objective was simple: destroy...
My Zombie Book
If you ever get tired of mostly lighthearted fantasy, you can try my zombie book, Hungry New World. There are no superpowers, and the closest thing to magic is the zombies. (As one reader pointed out, zombies defy the laws of thermodynamics and therefore qualify as magical beings.)Fair warning: it's a more adult read than Not A Dark Lord.
§104 Disgruntled
Taylor — The Void"You aren't yourself today," said Strife. "It's been a while since we've seen you."Taylor was taking a lot of pieces off their chessboard, throwing pawns at the god's lines to watch his defenses react, then prying open the gaps. He was playing more to hurt Strife than to win the game."I'm a mortal. I don't have infinite time.""You do when you're with us. You're sulking because you're mad about the children.""Of course I'm mad about the children. They ...
§103 Avimore III
That evening, Taylor went fishing in the river branch running through Avimore. The waterway was as desultory as the rest of the lower city, bricked in on both sides, forming a deep channel twenty-five feet wide. The water had a slight stink and loitered on its way through the capital. He didn't hope to catch any fish, and wouldn't eat any if he did. For that matter, he wasn't even using bait. He had a large hook on the end of his line, below a heavy weight, and his pole was a praxis capable of hauling large fish out of the water.All...
§102 Avimore II
The morning post brought a card from Rasmusen, with a priory header and the embossed profile of their famous building. Ras had made contact with the palace clinic and delivered the circle into "competent hands." Even knowing how averse Taylor was to the palace, the priest invited him to tea with "a person of some importance."Taylor declined, citing a previous engagement, but asked for an evening meeting at the priory or another place of Ras's choosing, so long as it wasn't in the palace. He dashed down the street to catc...
Alchemist eBook: §084..101
Your weekly eBook update, with a new cover.
Legate update; plotting volume 4; holidays
I finally have Legate of Mourne back on track for publication. Multiple illustrations are in the works right now, so apprentices can look forward to high-resolution versions of the illustrations and maps. When Legate is released, all current apprentices will get a copy.Now that I've become addicted to letting Scrivener create ebooks for me, I'm learning how to control the format when exporting directly to PDF. My hope is that future volumes will go quickly if I don't have to use three or four different programs to write, layout a ph...
§101 Avimore I
Getting into Avimore was inconvenient compared to every other major city in the empire. Taylor didn't have any travel points into Dorian at all, not from Twilight or the Other Place. Partly, that was because the emperor kept his front yard clean of rifts, so he'd never had a reason to lead an expedition there. Partly it was because Taylor avoided the empire's home province. Other than his trip to Moyalwande, he'd managed to avoid all of Doria.He took his portals to various places, running his errands, but ended in Wokehaad, arri...
§100 Running
He wanted to send a purification circle to the clinic, but getting materials into the palace wasn't so easy. They only trusted certain people to transport goods, and there were procedures to follow. Taylor had no way in other than as Miss Wibbles, and a summoned spirit couldn't leave permanent items behind. But he might know someone who could help.He found the parlor occupied by Rasmusen, Ophelia, and one of the three boarders, who was probably a spy. Taylor had tried to follow the "writer", but the man rarely went anywhere, and...
§099 Mata'ari
What, then, is the difference between a dark lord and any other person of great power? There is a strangeness that obscures their purpose from other men. We understand the conqueror, even as we hate him. But a Dark Lord is unknowable, even among those who follow him.— Types and Archetypes"How do you get a meeting with Mata'ari?""Good afternoon to you, too." Saria was lounging in her stream in Twilight, which meant she was presently in her water elemental form. "It's hot today. Cool yourself in my water." She di...
Alchemist eBook export
Here is this week's epub export. No format changes.
Vol 4 Cover; So Many Delays
In keeping with the recent tradition of showing off my lack of artistic ability, here's the sketch for The Alchemist cover. (That's supposed to be a volcano in the background.) I was due multiple pieces of art this week, but wouldn't you know it, production gets less reliable in the run-up to Thanksgiving.It's been hard to get any movement on Volume 2, which was supposed to be out by now. First, I left my backpack in Ottawa, stranding some chapter drafts and sketched ideas in another country. Then, US Customs decided got snerty ...
§098 The Other Princess
Silas "The Smiling Man" — MidwayThe Smiling Man was in a rented house in Midway, where a second-story window gave his team a good view of their target's backyard. Some of his partners had struck up passing relationships in the neighborhood and the nearby markets to collect more information.The master and his wolfkin pup had returned from vacation and were back to their usual routines. The wolf was having his morning sparring session, this time with the striped bear spirit, while the Mask watched and shouted encouragement.His were ...
§097 Meetings
Cecilia did not happen to cross his path on Academy grounds, which was disappointing, but Rahel gave him a lot to think about. Spirits talked to each other, and Rahel had learned about the purification of Mount Uroda and its great spirit through them. Even if she hadn't, Taylor's title of Dux Twilight was in the open thanks to Silvain. Rahel wouldn't say where she learned about the existence of a divine envoy, but once she had, the connection to Taylor was easy to see.Suddenly, having portal trees all over the empire felt as much a ...
§096 Training
Taylor popped into Twilight while still a slime, perched on Saria's counter, with a pyramid of indigo marbles piled next to him. He had only been gone for an hour, but the Army of Lightness was gathered there to cheer his return. When Taylor found the class skill for turning back into a human, he misjudged the space around him and knocked into the stack of marbles, spilling his payout everywhere. Indigo was a highly-ranked color; now, they were all over Saria's house.When his friends were finished cheering, which took a while, and done ...
eBook Update: ch 84-95
For those of you who prefer eBooks, here is your weekly update. Hopefully, I'll have a real cover to put on this soon.
§095 What the Princess Summoned
They say he walks the land in strange forms, the better to spy on his domain. If they see a beggar in the street with sharp eyes, or a cat that sits too long in one place, they point and say to each other, "Mind yourself. He is watching."— "Dark Lord Dalvoorde." in Ancient Lords of the Muse ValleyPrincess Mariella — AvimoreRebecca's pride turned to disgust. “What in the name of all the gods is that?”“It’s very … blobby,” agreed the court magician. “Not what I would expect after spending so much mana.”Mari...
Erstdwerg Sketches
Remember when I left my backpack in Ottawa? I had the hotel FedEx it to the US, where it promptly got stuck in Customs. Even in the best of times, my [Red Tape] skill is pitiful, and Customs has a high challenge rating. Five rounds of paperwork and three weeks later, I finally recovered my backpack. I had unpublished chapters in there, some of which I had to rewrite, and sketches. One of my discoveries was a sketch I had forgotten, for an illustration of Erstdwerg for vol2.Per usual, someone who can actually draw has ahold of these now. We'...
§094 Practice
Princess Mariella — Imperial Palace, AvimoreHer dear sister was at it again. Rebecca had commandeered their Maestra, three additional mages, and the main summoning circle, the one court magicians used to summon flying mounts to carry messages or imperial officials at great speed. She planned to power her attempt with an impressive quantity of mana crystals, although how she got hold of them was anyone's guess. Her goal was nothing less than a great spirit.She might be able to do it someday, though not at her current level. Rebecca had tal...
§093 Sunglaze Resort
Taylor — Sunglaze Basin, Twilight RealmWhen Taylor and Saria first met, they made each other some promises. She promised to be his guide in the Twilight Realm, help him map gateways between there and Aarden, and source rare materials. Among other things, he promised her a night at the Sunglaze Resort, and the time had come to pay up. Springtime was said to be the ideal season, and he could feel her impatience through their bond. The battle at Uroda was two full weeks ago, and that had come on the heels of over two months of not doing much whi...
Alchemist eBook: Ch 84-92
I've worked in Scrivener for a couple of years, but I've never tapped its full potential. I always use other programs for layout and eBook formatting. But, like most powerful software, it isn't simple. It will take some time to refine the format enough to be worth using.I've had requests for chapters in eBook format, but the only way that's practical is if I can narrow the production time down to a few keypresses. I'm trying something new by compiling my outputs directly from Scrivener. If it works out, I plan to post we...
§092 Home
IEF Observer Report, "Drill Edge", Uroda RiftSummary:Subject "Drill Edge" exhibits sustained mass summoning, a fair grasp of battlefield command, and tier-4 magic.Great Spirit Uroda was observed leaving the mountain.Observation post was detected but not approached.After Drill Edge's departure, scouts penetrated the mountain. No corruption detected, but the core is inaccessible.Auxiliary mage was summoned. Report attached.Aprox 4k cu ft of mana crystal was staged outside the mountain, addressed to "His Imperial Majesty...
§091 Grand Melee
The Dark Lord called down to Mabundala from his tower, loud enough for the armed host to hear. "You say I deserve death for the change I wrought in the world. But I have only danced at the end of Fate's string."— Elven HistoriesFor the first time in this life, Taylor felt like he needed a drink. It was hard to be angry when he understood the gods' position all too well. They had a civilization to save, and they could recycle souls whenever they felt like it. To them, a mortal death was a small thing because they knew what lay ...
§090 Midwife
Arc-Silvain climbed the stairs until she was a few steps below Taylor, who bent his knees slightly and prepared to counter her first move. His enhancements were all in place and tuned for combat.The arc woman offered a small bow. "May I join you, if first I apologize? I brought snacks." She produced a paper bucket and shook it. Something crunchy-sounding rustled inside. Taylor didn't harbor high hopes for the human-suitability of anything the air spirit might bring to a battle holiday."That depends on the quality of the apology,...
§089 Cazenac
In the past, Taylor had always planted a runner from his portal trees on a newly-closed rift. He didn't close them completely, but left an underground chamber where the mana could accumulate. The tree fed from the mana pool and reached out its roots for home, in the Other Place. All the portal trees were, in fact, the same tree, springing up from the roots of the first one he planted on a hilltop in the wilder parts of Estfold. It was little more than an idea when he started, something interesting to try. He didn't know the Other Place ...
