…Is this it?
Are we dead?
Again?
We didn’t feel anything. But the world is gone. There’s nothing to see but emptiness. It’s like an inverted Between. Too much light instead of the absence of it, but the effect is the same.
We try to move, and realize we can feel Zyneth. We’re still wrapped around his shoulders. We squeeze him, but he...
2025-05-11 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostTo my disappointment, the gods don’t leave after we haul Sandro off the transport. They also don’t reveal themselves to anyone else, instead preferring, I suppose, to continue providing me with a personal haunting. I privately let Mirzayael know but otherwise ignore them, too busy keeping an eye on The Dungeon Core—and Sandro’s cape.
“Good job, Salvia,” Mirzayael says to them ...
2025-05-09 12:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostOllie and I head up to meet Mirzayael and soothe her worries as Dizzi and the rest continue loading the shuttles. They’ll be bringing Sandro with them when they’re done. Unsurprisingly, the town claims no responsibility for his actions, and are more than happy to let us take him off their hands.
Mirzayael is already waiting for us when Ollie lands.
“Everyone’s alright?” sh...
2025-05-07 12:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostI’m blasting out of the city with my Jets before I even have a moment to consider my options. Dizzi is still in the shop. I probably scorched Blair with my flames, which certainly wasn’t a wise move. But all I can think about is Ollie, whose alarm is spiking through me indistinguishable from my own.
“What is it?” Mirzayael asks. “Is Ollie alright?”
“<...
2025-05-05 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostYedzaquib screams and writhes as magic crackles over his skin, pulsing off his body in haphazard waves. The wound in his chest stitches itself back together.
“What’s going on?” Zyneth asks, backing up.
“I don’t know,” I say. “But something’s happening with the System. I think—I think he’s trying to fuse with the remnant. He has a Role now.” Even if it isn’t p...
2025-05-04 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time we reach the next city, people have started coming to us. Airships move much more quickly than our city does, and word is clearly spreading. I’m not sure if we really have anything of value to offer in trade, but I think people are more excited to visit a castle in the clouds than anything. I hadn’t expected “tourism” to become our main industry.
They also soon discove...
2025-05-02 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostI don’t end up visiting Hetopolis. The idea of leaving the Dungeon Core unguarded makes me uneasy, no matter how irrational the thought may be. Instead I spend the next three days showing more visitors around, working more trade deals, and making money. Literally making money. I feel guilty every time I do it, but we need the supplies, and the merchants are more than happy to accept ...
2025-04-30 12:00:26 +0000 UTC View PostAs soon as I think the words to Mirzayael, I recall the last thing Blair had said to me. She didn’t want me telling the Fyrethians of their visit. But Mir is different. She’s a leader—she’s my partner—and she deserves to know as much as I do.
Mirzayael stiffens. “What—”
“Don’t say it aloud,” I quickly think. At least I had only shared the thought with ...
2025-04-28 12:00:37 +0000 UTC View PostStill pinning their limbs to the floor, we recoil. “It’s… us.” Our soul is churning with a maelstrom of horror and regret and sadness. But even through all that, we still feel its pull. That scares us just as much.
“What?” Zyneth demands. “What do you mean?”
“It’s another feral remnant.” Yedzaquib clasps his hands behind his back and slowly circles around us, r...
2025-04-27 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostSo a long term goal of mine is to make stickers for a bunch of NPSeeds characters. I'd like to have at least one for every pride flag lol. Anyway, I've got 3 already designed! I don't have them in sticker form yet, but I hope to get that done at some point this year.
Here they are!
Noli, from Glass Kanin:
2025-04-25 23:19:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
My stomach is cold with dread. I don’t know who these people are, but they’re clearly not supposed to be here—and I wasn’t supposed to notice anything was wrong. What do they want? Are they Jorrian? I need to get them away from everyone else. If something happens, I can’t let anyone get hurt.
“What’s going on?” Mirzayael asks, picking up on my fear. “What is...
2025-04-25 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostAt the very least, the guests and I are excited about the bath house. Mirzayael, Gardi, and Salvia are significantly less delighted.
“I’ve ensured all the water levels are low enough to be safe,” I tell her that morning. “No one is in any danger.”
“I’m not worried about drowning,” she says. “I’m worried about the Jorrian.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What exac...
2025-04-23 12:00:18 +0000 UTC View Post“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Mirzayael thinks.
“Me too,” I agree.
Her mind dances with amusement. “That’s not as encouraging a response as I was hoping for.”
We’re standing outside of the prison cells. Ragna’s door is open, her cell empty; just knowing she’s gone makes me feel a bit less stressed.
Now, for prisoner...
2025-04-21 12:00:33 +0000 UTC View PostFire sears around us as we hit the ground and roll. Beneath the flames is something solid and physical, and that’s what we grapple with, shredding our glass flail to form more limbs in an attempt to pin our foe down. Determination courses through us. We have to beat this creature. We need to. And then—
Our mind skips. Then what? Kill it? No, that doesn’t feel right. Ye...
2025-04-20 12:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostOver the next few days, we gradually drift across and then away from Mount Haze. It’s still within sight, but tonight the last of the airships will depart, and then we’ll be alone floating over the wilderness. It seems our max stay for any one city is four days. We could spend more mana to fight the winds and hover over a city for longer, but we don’t deem it practical right now. We need ...
2025-04-18 12:00:40 +0000 UTC View PostHey Everyone!
I will be publishing A Little Salty on KU on May 12th, and as such will need to remove the chapters here and on RoyalRoad. As a show of thanks for all your support over the last year(!) I'd like to provide a free copy of Salty for you all to download anytime this next month before the release date.
Thanks again for all your wonderful support!
Here's th...
2025-04-16 19:42:55 +0000 UTC View PostBy the end of the day, everyone is exhausted, but in good spirits. We create some accommodations for a few of the ships to spend the night, while all but Captain Marlowe and the agriculture team depart. We all meet in the office after dinner for a debrief.
“Lisari?” Dizzi asks when I ask her if she’d spoken to the scholar. “Yeah, I chatted with her a bit. Pretty cool application o...
2025-04-16 12:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe festive atmosphere is sustained over the next several days, and by the time Mount Haze is in sight, the city seems more excited than nervous to meet with traders.
We’ve caught sight of distant airships on the horizon for the last couple days, but now the sky is practically teeming with them.
The mountain itself, which appears to be a dormant volcano, climbs about two thirds th...
2025-04-14 12:00:24 +0000 UTC View PostOh, no. Oh, fuck. Shit crap fucking—
Anger surges from Ink, in contrast to my dread, and I mentally leap at it, wrangling it back before it can do anything rash. My soul is tight with fear, but now is not the time to act without thinking. Yedzaquib is not someone to underestimate—especially given his level.
[Name: Yedzaquib]
[Species: Arachnoid]
[Class: Mind Weaver]<...
2025-04-13 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe hall is a cacophony of happy voices and laughter. Children run around the meal circles with silk ribbons, and toss around colorfully dyed cloudstone. The councilors are still arriving, meeting Mirzayael and I at the meal circle at the head of the room, while Ollie sprawls on the open-air balcony behind us. Meritis prances around in front of him, showing off his newly dyed feathers in shades...
2025-04-11 12:00:57 +0000 UTC View PostAs soon as I wake, it feels as though the festival has begun.
It’s planned to be an evening ordeal, involving a feast, dance, games for the children, and of course Dizzi’s fireworks display, but already the anticipatory atmosphere seems to have infected the air.
Arachnoids have strung up silk streamers all over the palace, dyed bright colors of red, orange, and yellow with help ...
2025-04-09 12:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostTrading with Deltablue went better than I could have hoped.
Thanks to Captain Marlowe’s advanced notice, the town was only reasonably nervous to see a giant dragon and a small platoon of harpies descend on their beach from a giant city in the sky. I kept an eye on things through Ollie, and Dizzi once more worked her charm on the locals until they were willing to get close enough to see ...
2025-04-07 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostZyneth and I arrive in Lustaria around midday, the sun almost directly overhead. Zyneth immediately strips off his cloak, so I guess it must be warmer here. I try to feel the change, but the difference is too subtle for my glass to pick up.
“Do we head straight there?” I ask.
“Yes and no,” he says. “I’m supposed to send a letter ahead so they know when to expect me. Befo...
2025-04-06 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostMirzayael picks a large hall with a second floor balcony. Marbled stone pillars stretch from floor to distant ceiling, and weathered artwork is pressed into the walls. The floor itself is an intricate and spiralling mosaic, and the ceiling looks like it might even be gilded. To think there are so many forgotten rooms like this all throughout the Fortress. It’s stunning.
“Create a boul...
2025-04-04 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe Dungeon Core makes retching sounds when it eats all the shed dracid skin.
Oh come on, I think. You didn’t complain with Mirzayael’s leg.
That was entirely different! It was hard and crunchy and was almost like a less delicious rock. This is dry and flakey and gross.
Mirzayael chuckles as she listens in. “Then it will really get a kick out of th...
2025-04-02 12:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostCaptain Marlowe departs the next morning, sailing ahead to inform the cities of our approach and peaceful intentions—and no doubt to establish himself as our emissary and ensure he’s owed a cut of the profits. His advanced warning should make me feel better about the impending contact with nearby cities, but the previous night’s conflict still weighs heavily on me.
There’s no sort...
2025-03-31 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostEveryone’s a bit scraped up, but luckily we have a healer in our midst, so we’re on the move again before long. It’s also a good thing we have someone with a map, otherwise we definitely would have gotten lost in the wilderness. After Attiru points us in the right direction, Noli helps find the easiest path to traverse. Bushwhacking our way through overgrown woods, I use a Shade Scythe to...
2025-03-30 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI freeze for a moment. “What?”
Mirzayael has already stepped out of the hall and is out of sight. Bringing up the Map Interface, I can see a dot labeled Arachnoid racing down the hall.
“Something the matter?” Captain Marlowe asks.
“The Jorrians,” Mirzayael repeats in my head. “I set up a trigger so if their cell door opened unplanned, I woul...
2025-03-28 12:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t like this,” Mirzayael thinks. “We know nothing about them.”
“GUESTS?” Ollie repeats excitedly. “ARE THEY BRINGING ANY TOYS?”
The Dungeon Core notices new matter enter its range. Oh, it has not eaten these things, before! Can it have a little taste? Just a nibble.
“No!” I cry.
Captain Marlowe raises an eye...
2025-03-26 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAt least a dozen crewmembers on the airship are at the rail, watching me with various degrees of wariness and disbelief. I quickly have Echo scan them and read off their levels and classes. I relax fractionally. None appear combat oriented. A couple are also new species I haven’t encountered before—great. Another species Mirzayael will want me to add to the Dungeon Core’s index.
“...
2025-03-24 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post