Well, here it is, good or bad. I almost forgot to post it, oddly. That would not have been good for my already failing reputation.

Chronicles of Koeleth: the River’s Tale
Chapter IV
Traveler’s Respite

Tom woke up early the next morning, which came as a surprise to Aaron, who had never seen Tom rise any earlier than he had needed to in the couple of months that he had known him. Tom made use of the bathroom provided by the inn to purge himself of the dirt and dust of the road. Going in, he looked like an impoverished beggar, but, coming out, he had cleaned up nicely. He had slicked back his usually messy hair, and he even bothered to groom his beard more than usual. After rummaging around in his travel pack for a couple seconds, he produced clean, unmarred gentleman’s attire, wholly foreign to his usual wardrobe. The transformation complete, he hardly resembled the road weary warrior from before. This all came as a great shock to the half awake Aaron, and he couldn’t help but comment.

Continue reading Chapter 4: Fourth Time’s The Charm

Well, I am finished with the horrible ordeal of “rewriting” chapter 4. I still have to get it edited and such, but you will be seeing it FOR REAL, I PROMISE, on Friday. I am not overly pleased by the work, but there wasn’t much that I could actually change, and I couldn’t make it much more interesting without extending the chapter too much. Sorry. However, I do think I managed to make the chapter read a bit more smoothly. I will be taking a brief break from my writing, about half a week, because I bashed my head in (figuratively) trying to crank out this chapter, to the point that I didn’t actually do what I set out to do with this particular chapter.  I just need to recover from what ultimate boils down to me overthinking this and burning myself out in the process. Sorry. Anyways, I have another one of my legendary weapon segments. This is probably going to be most of my bonus content for a while.

A Blacksmith’s Adventures with Weapons of Legend: Aegis of the Giant

“How did I get myself into this situation?” Tom spoke aloud but to himself.

He ran barefoot down the narrow corridor, wearing nothing more than a pair of baggy, decrepit old slacks. His only weapon was an unlit torch, being more useful as a flimsy club than a light source. Somehow he had manged to outrun his pursuers, perhaps due to his bareness and their heavy armor, but he knew that if he couldn’t find an exit to this labyrinthine dungeon, he would inevitably be caught. And he sincerely doubted that they would be so kind as to lock him up once more. No doubt the guards he incapacitated would be opposed to further watching over him. Tom briefly stopped to catch his breath, leaning against the refreshingly cool stone wall. Still, he could not help but worry about Dustin, who had been imprisoned here longer than Tom. In fact, that was why Tom was out here. After escaping himself, he freed Dustin, and they split up to increase the chances of one of them escaping.

“Dustin, I hope you’re faring better.”

“Who’s there? Come on, boys! I think one of the escapees is over there!” some random guard shouted.

“Damn me and my big mouth!”

Tom took to fleeing once more, charging down the nearest hall, only to end up at a forking path. After a brief mental debate, he pressed onward down the left path. The path steadily rose upwards, and, before long, the the stone ceiling and walls gave way to caged walkways that crossed over the prison cells below. Tom spotted a bedraggled figure on another bridge and stopped.

“Dustin!” he shouted.

“Tom!?” the man shouted back in confusion. “I found a shield!”

Dustin lifted up a large, intricately designed, lustrous black buckler. Tom had an idea of what it might be, but he had to get closer to confirm it.

“I see a corridor up ahead!” Tom shouted. “Let’s meet there!”

“Okay!” Dustin replied, before looking back and running.

Tom soon saw the reason for his haste, as a group of guards charged after him. Tom had to move himself, as he could hear his own pursuers rushing his way. He ducked into the corridor where he and Dustin were to meet and used a lit torch to set his own on fire. He did not give his pursuers a chance to see him, however, and quickly moved on. Tom charged towards Dustin, who was clearly affected by the weight of the shield. He was not alone; three or four guards were close behind. Instinctively Dustin lowered the shield. Tom launched himself towards the shield and pushed off it, nearly touching the ceiling. He then tossed his lit torch into the crowd of guards, causing a sufficient stir. Tom quickly confiscated two of the guards’ clubs, a decidedly non-lethal weapon, but certainly effective enough against unarmed, unclothed prisoners. It was true that the guards had swords, too, but in such a confined space, you risked hurting yourself or your allies as well as your foes. Tom, in an impressive display of skill and prowess, handed the enemy quite a beating. There was no time to rest, though, as Dustin warned of more foes coming, this time from the other way.

“Let me see that shield!” Tom demanded.

After a quick inspection, Tom confirmed his initial assessment: this was the Aegis of the Giant. Legend stated that it was the first godsteel weapon ever created, handed down to man by the Thorn King, the earth guardian that is said to inhabit the Thorn Crown Mountains and the eponymous giant in the shield’s name. For centuries, the mountain tribes had been oppressed by invading armies, until the Thorn King’s champion rose up from the as yet unknown Koelings and fought back the invaders. From this act of bravery and kindness, an eternal peace and friendship was born. The truth, as Tom knew well, was that it was not even close to the first godsteel weapon, as the method of forging went back to at least a century before, though few, not even Tom, actually knew how godsteel weapons were forged. It was, in fact, a man-made weapon. It was, however, the first godsteel weapon to be used by a Koeling and not by the mountain folk, and it was true that it was the symbol of a united front against a mutual foe of the mountain folk and the Koelings. A minor war, but one that left an indelible mark on both their histories.

“It’s just a shield! How does this help us?” Dustin fretted.

“Not just a shield. Mostly a shield, but-” Tom exclaimed as he reached into one of the narrow gaps in the back of the shield, “also a miniature armory.”

He pulled a dagger, whose steel was just as dark as the shield.

“That’s just a dagger!”

“A very, very well made one. Here, take these,” Tom commanded, producing two more daggers, both a bit longer than the one he had, and both made of godsteel. “You can dual wield, right?”

“Yeah, but these better be as good as you say!”

Tom simply smiled, as he ran to meet their opposition. The guard weapons simply glanced off the shield, as if they were hitting it with twigs. Tom easily cleared a path, while Dustin made sure to dispatch anyone who got too close, his weapons tearing through the flimsy chainmail of his foes. All of a sudden, their purpose changed. Rather than just escape, Tom and Dustin had the prospect of seeking some vengeance. As soon as they reacquired their own weapons, of course.

So, I did not get anything up yesterday. Because I was sick. I had a cold yesterday, which, in and of itself, isn’t terrible. Some people get destroyed by even the slightest illness. I, on the other hand, sometimes don’t even recognize the fact that I am sick until it’s already in its final stages. So, in short, sickness itself doesn’t really get to me. What really takes the wind out of my sails is the medicine. Because, like most people, I’d rather not be sick longer than I have to be. All that to say, when I wasn’t busy doing things, I can’t remember what I was doing, because I was loopy in the head from cold medicine. I was in no state to write anything. So, you have my sincerest apologies.

A Blacksmith’s Adventures with Weapons of Legend: Wicked Desire and the Twin Suns

It was with apprehension that the swordsman approached the criminal. He dreaded the coming encounter, knowing full well how it must end.

“So,” the fiend began, his back still turned to the swordsman. “You’ve finally arrived. It’s about time. You know how many people I’ve had to kill to get your attention?”

The warrior stood in silence.

“No? I’ll tell you, then. 23. That’s right. 12 men, 9 women, and 2 children. I tried to be civil. I tried to kill as few people as possible, but you just wouldn’t come. So, after I had killed a few soldiers, I decided maybe some civilians would motivate you. Only the men, mind you. I know you’re big on chivalry. But you wouldn’t come. So I had to push the envelope. The women were next. And, boy, were they fun! And yet you still refused my invitation. So, naturally, there was only one option left. The kiddos were rough, though. They’re wiggly when they’re still that young. Hard to hold onto. You can’t kill ’em when they won’t stand still. I had to settle for only killing two. But it seems that was sufficient.”

The warrior held his tongue, but the rage flowed from him in waves. He could not afford to blindly lash out, though. He knew exactly what he was dealing with, and the weapon was more dangerous than the man wielding it.

“It’s told me about you, you know. You have fascinated and baffled it. You’re one of the few. You got away. But even more than that, you resisted. No one resists the Wicked Desire. And yet you did. Tell me. Why? This blade hates me because it can’t twist me. I have always been twisted, so it doesn’t get the pleasure of doing it itself. But you! It loves people like you! The moral! The idealistic! The compassionate! It loves to break you. To cut you open, dissect the darkness of your mind, and to bring to the surface the dark desires hidden in your heart. Even now, you feel its lustful tendrils probing your mind, trying to free your perversions. How long did you carry it before the Paragon of Compassia took it from you? How long before you felt an irresistible urge to rape, murder and destroy? But you never broke, did you? You holed yourself away in a dead city, kept yourself away from the living, especially your loved ones. You didn’t want to hurt any of them. But I love this weapon! It’s given me new, even more twisted ideas! Truly delicious, really. And we’ve been thinking, what would be better than putting down the man who resisted? So here you are, Thomas Riversedge. Shall we begin?”

The monster turned and locked eyes with Tom. It was true; for several months, Tom’s mind and soul were held hostage by the wretched blade known as the Wicked Desire. Tom knew more than most about legendary weaponry, but this greatsword in particular stood out. Because he personally dealt with its terrible effects. It was not a normal magical weapon. It was a shard of Desiren’s soul given earthly form. A beautiful black single-edged blade, in the shape of a woman’s profile, with an intoxicating magical aura. It was hard to resist the blade once one set their eyes upon it. Once it was taken up, however, it began to play tricks on the mind. It took your greatest fears and darkest secrets, and it twisted them into perverse desires and unholy temptations. The purer and kinder you were, the more it desired to see your downfall. For months, Tom fought its demonic control. He had encountered the previous owner in the wilderness, and the man begged Tom to kill him. Tom refused, causing the man to attack him in a desparate bid to force his hand. Tom, unfortunately, did have to eliminate him. During his own struggle, his only contact with the outside world was Tara, the paragon of Compassia, who checked up on his friends and family for him. Eventually, with the aide of several of Tom’s allies, she wrested possession of the evil weapon from Tom. Something about Compassia’s blessing, or maybe as a part Tara’s intrinsically incorruptible nature, prevented Tara from being affected by the unholy weapon. Now, Tom had to face it down once more.

“Maybe, if you had lied, and told me the weapon forced you to do it, you might have been able to live a normal life after this, but it seems even the blade will not vouch for you,” Tom said gloomily.

“Come on! Let’s fight already!”

With that, the wicked man charged at Tom. Tom gave him an appropriately retaliatory volley of strikes.

“Man,” Tom said, “you’re really dishing out some serious damage here. Luckily, I came prepared.”

“What are you gonna do? Charm me into submission? Ha!”

“You’re not going to like this, old Desi!” Tom growled as he pulled out two golden swords.

The Wicked Desire seemed to scream in anger and fear as it felt the clash of the two shimmering blades against its own black-stained metal.

“What!? What is that!?” Tom’s foe shouted. “My sword wishes to withdraw! What did you do!?”

“The Twin Suns!” Tom declared in victory. “The guardian slaying swords! And let me tell you, it hurts to get hit by these babies when you’re comprised solely of a shard of a guardian’s soul!”

Tom knew that the legends of the swords slaying guardians were a bit exaggerated, but it was true that the blades, forged using the magic of wild guardians, did have a notable impact on guardians, abominations, and magical weapons. Hence why he brought them with him for this battle. After an extended battle, Tom finally brought his foe to his knees.

“It’s no use,” the criminal panted. “We all know you can’t kill people!”

“Can’t?” Tom said. “Or won’t? You see, I don’t kill people, if I can’t justify it. Plus, I like to give people second chances. But you are special. I can completely justify killing you. As you so kindly relayed to me, 12 men, 9 women, and 2 children.”

“You wouldn’t!” the man shouted.

Tom put the twin blades against the criminal’s neck. In a flash, the man’s head came rolling off.

“In this case, I would.”

Well, um, you may have noticed the distinct lack of chapter…again. Apparently I’m very bad at keeping my promises. Anyways, here’s what’s happened with chapter 4 and why you don’t have it yet. I attempted to completely rewrite the chapter, with a completely different story and a completely different series of events. That…did not work with the rest of my story. Now, I could have easily fixed these story issues, but it would have come in the form of cheap fixes, like explaining that when a character died they miraculously actually didn’t somehow. So I tried to redo it again, and it failed again, but this time because the story raised too many questions. A made a third attempt at rewriting the chapter, but didn’t get far because my heart wasn’t in it. So, I settled for polishing the boring, rather uneventful original chapter 4, which I’m not quite done with. I’ve made some progress on trying to make the medieval aspects of the world more realistic, thanks to Sorin, who is still alive, despite any rumors to the contrary, and is a history major. I like my adventure being adventurous, but for the sake of at least a little bit of realism I want to make it clear that this world is indeed Medieval. So commoners like Tom and Aaron can’t own land, for example. They can only rent it. Thus, Tom is not purchasing a home, but renting in Chapter 4. Now, I have taken some liberties. In many medieval nations, it was true that only nobles could own weapons whether it was a specific type of weapon, or just weapons in general. This is not true of my world. You need a license to lawfully own weapons, but that’s quite a step up from “nobles only.” Anyways, I plan on fixing a bunch of things retroactively. Making the prices of inns more realistic, for example. Little things that won’t affect the story overall, but hopefully give it a more real flavor. Anyways, I’m not done with Chapter 4 just yet. Sorry. No bonus content tonight, but hopefully in the morning you’ll get some, and maybe a chapter.

Sorry. I’ll be a bit late with my chapter again. I haven’t quite got it finished yet. So I’m looking at Thursday or Friday again. A thousand apologies. So another (hopefully) decent mini chapter.

A Blacksmith’s Adventure with Weapons of Legend: Gore Glove

The warrior and the rogue were rapidly losing ground to the angry guards. At the first opportunity they ducked into the hollowed out trunk of a large tree, narrowly dodging a hailstorm of arrows.

“What are you doing now?” Aaron asked as Tom rummaged through his travel bag.

“Where is it? C’mon, I just found it! I can”t have lost it already!” Tom mumbled.

“What?”

“Ah! Here it is!” Tom shouted, pulling what appeared to be a peculiar gauntlet.

“What is that?” Aaron inquired as Tom slipped the strange armor on is right arm.

“A bit awkward, given my biological predisposition, but I think I can make this work. Behold! The Gore Glove!”

“The what?”

“I would take the time to explain, but I think we have a more urgent issue to attend to. Watch this!”

Tom erected a temporary water barrier to position himself and then charged headlong into the mob. Aaron watched as the glove produced a wide array of tools and lethal aspects. One second small blades sprouted from the knuckles, and the next it was entangling people in thin strands of wire shooting from the wrist. Spikes would protrude from the back of the hand before giving way to a small dart launcher on the side. When Tom had sufficiently scared off their pursuers, he returned to Aaron in the log.

“Magic?”

“Nah. The expert fusion of a trapper’s skillful hands and a armor smith’s expert technique. The trapper and the smith were trying to develop a means of personal defense for the people of their village, a cesspool of crime and depravity not unlike Silversin. Unfortunately, some less than savory elements caught wind of their scheme and killed them and took the gauntlet. It was so well made that it’s survived the wear and tear of being used by countless unworthy thugs.”

“Impressive.”

Well, last update, I told you I’d be trying to get you a new chapter on Friday. I then proceeded to tell you that I might not get around to it since i had a busy week. I then proceeded to give you what in retrospect seems like an exceptionally lackluster minisode about Tom and a girl with a despairing outlook on life. That was a tragedy. For multiple reasons, and only a handful of them within the story. But that’s not what this update is about. This update is about a chapter-less Friday. Welp, sorry about that. Life was, as I stated, busy. So I am working on chapter 4 now. And I am not entirely sure when I’ll get it out. Hopefully Wednesday, but no promises. I’ve been trying to improve the chapter, which has been the whole point of my rewrite venture, and it’s been mildly problematic, as I am not entirely sure what I’m trying to do specifically. So we’ll see. But yeah, I won’t leave you hanging with nothing to read. Another minisode concerning Tom and legendary blades and what not.

A Blacksmith’s Adventure with Weapon’s of Legend: Eidolon’s Breath

Just as their horses were upon him, the young rogue vanished into thin air, only to appear instantaneously several yards away. he charged forward as quickly as he could, but it did not take long before his pursuers were on him again.

“I have you now!” Kristin screamed, swinging her sword towards the thief, only to have it slice through empty air. “Gah! Tom! How do we beat this guy? You know weapons, right? He’s got that funky looking knife!”

“Well,” Tom shouted over the noise of the horses, “if you had listened to me when we first started out, we might have already caught him! But that’s beside the point. That’s the Eidolon’s Breath! One of those rare magical artifacts that has survived through the ages! Like the Envoy, but less powerful! Thus why the Guardians have allowed it to continue to exist!”

“What does it do!?” the female warrior asked, spurring her Expanse raider, Daisy, to go even faster.

“C’mon, Squall! Keep up! The Eidolon’s Breath only grants one ability, one spell, to each of its wielders! But what the ability is and how useful and powerful it is depends on who is using it! It uses wind magic exclusively, but they still allows for a wide variety of spells! This guy, for example,” Tom said with a huff, “clearly requires the use of a short range teleportation spell! Annoying but not unconquerable! I’m willing to bet he can’t go beyond his range of vision! Otherwise he would have teleported to a safer place than a little farther away then he was before!”

“How will that help us!?”

“I don’t know yet!”

The chase continued for a while longer, but soon the thief showed signs of exhaustion. Knowing that his time was almost up, he decided to stand his ground. Brandishing the ornate dagger, the thief made an about-face. Tom and Kristin brought their horses to a stop and hopped off.

“Nowhere to run, kid,” Tom said. “We’ll let you off easy if you give back what you took.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kristin declared. “I think we should punish him right here.”

“My mission, my rules.”

“Fine.”

As form of answer, the young man attacked Tom. The veteran warrior easily deflected the blow, but the rogue teleported before he could counterattack. Appearing behind him, he delivered a painful punch to Tom’s temple.

“Agh! Not fair! Fine. If you want it that way.”

Tom readied himself and it did not take long for the thief to regret his decision. Tom handily countered everything the thief threw at him, skillfully predicting his movements, despite the rogue’s magic. The thief’s weariness worked to Tom’s advantage. Tom drew a sword in between teleports and struck the Eidolon’s Breath as soon as the thief reappeared. Tom caught the dagger and sheathed his sword in one smooth motion. He twirled it around in his hands as Kristin tied up their target.

“So,” she asked, approaching Tom, ” what do you get from it?”

“Umm, increased awareness and speed.”

“That seems pretty dull.”

“Yeah. This weapon was made for thieves, though, and I’m not its type. We should keep it out Aaron’s hands, though.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“The Eidolon’s Breath has a rather prophetic inscription on the handle. It reads: ‘The eidolon rewards the prince of thieves.’ It’s not terribly poetic, but what it means is that a highly skilled pilferer, such as our very own Aaron, would wield great power with this in their possession. And can you think of a better thief than Aaron? I can’t. He might even be able to unlock the ghost spell.”

“Ghost spell?”

“It’s said that the Eidolon’s Breath harbors a spell that can turn one into a ghost, allowing them to pass through walls, fly, and turn invisible. Maybe not as mobile as teleportation but pretty darn close. And it’s hard to beat being totally undetectable. Now, come on. We have a thief to turn in and goods to return to their owners.”

Hello, dear readers. This is a simple informative update. Just wanted to let you know what to expect in the near future. I plan on releasing my next update on Friday. This may not occur, however, as I have obligations that I will have to tend to throughout the week. Nevertheless, I will at least attempt to compensate for this potential event by giving you another gift.

The Question

Tom grabbed the young woman and ran. When he finally found a sufficiently safe place, he and the girl stopped.

“Why did you save me!?” the girl screamed, ripping her arm out of Tom’s hand. “Did I ask you to save me?”

Continue reading Information for Your Knowing

Sorry about not being on time. No excuse. I literally forgot that I had to post on Wednesday. On the plus side, I also hadn’t finished the chapter, so it gave me the opportunity to do that. Anyways, this post is called “Shame and Updates and more Shame,” so here’s the “Updates” part of that.

Chronicles of Koeleth: the River’s Tale
Chapter III
Tavern Troubles

“So,” the farmer inquired, “what happened after that?”
“Huh? Well. We just kind of hung out… Oh, you mean after Tom and Aaron rolled into town?” the old man chuckled.
“Yeah, that. And what do you mean ‘we?’” the bartender inquired suspiciously.
“Well, the next couple of days were pretty dull, let me tell you,” completely ignoring the young man’s question.

Continue reading Chapter 3: Shame and Updates and More Shame