Yeoldebard
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“It’s called a book. You open the file, and you can read about all kinds of things.” Leo growled at the tiger manipulating his tablet. He couldn’t speak without it, and Jeisa had just taken it away like he didn’t care. For all Leo knew, he didn’t care. He’d been on the ship for… he didn’t know how long. Days? A week? Longer? Leo hadn’t figured out Jeisa’s sleep cycle yet. It was like he was back in the army, catching sleep whenever he could. More often than not, he and Jeisa were squeezed in
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“Done.” Arlo blotted the ink dry on the parchment before him. Neat letters lined nearly every inch of the page, detailing, in no uncertain terms, David’s obligations to himself and Coradiel. Two thousand gold had been counted out — nearly the last of their money. They’d be lucky to afford a room in Turtleback Ferry at this rate. Their schedule had changed; they would now be skipping a few towns and hunting more desperately for food in the wild. He supposed he should be happy the halfling was
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Their wheel broke. Arlo knew it could happen. He even knew it was likely to happen given his luck. But still, a wheel cracking apart while rain poured down around them was the worst thing that could happen to them. Thankfully for the group, they had a mage with them. Unfortunately, the mage had to hide under the wagon, flipping frantically through his book for the right spell, while praying to… someone, that his spellbook wouldn’t get wet. A waterproof enchantment hadn’t been on his mind w
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Leo passed the picture of rice and beef onto the last sign. He looked around the brig slowly, making sure everyone had gotten the right image on their panels. Everyone still looked miserable, but the cells were clean, and the room no longer smelled like refuse. It was a step in the right direction, but Leo knew he could do more. “Are we finished here?” Jeisa leaned against the wall, watching Leo’s travel around the room. Leo got the distinct feeling that the tiger was annoyed with him. But the
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They entered Wartle on the third day of travel. Wheels sank in the muddy road. It was only due to the Lighten Object enchantment that the wagon didn’t get mired down. To the south, the Mushfens sprawled beyond the Yondabakari River. To the north, a separate river drained Ember Lake into the Yondabakari, with the result that much of Wartle was built on stilts. Passing through the town, such as it was, Arlo found himself grateful for what little comfort they could provide. The last three days
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They left early the next morning. Arlo’s light guided a cart pulled by Jack and Diane through the dark city. In the back, Tsuto and Orik sat, feet and arms bound. It was a stipulation insisted on by the guards — neither would be freed from their bonds until they were at least thirty kilometres from the city. Arlo figured that meant the first night. A shadow crossed their path. Coradiel pulled up, and Arlo lifted his staff, shedding light on the person before them. “Shalelu?” Coradiel deman
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Leo was crying. Jeisa had no idea how to deal with crying. Yelling, sure, screaming, yeah. Physical violence? He had his remote for that. But crying? Over physical contact? Jeisa did the only thing he could think of. He left the room. The tiger lay in Ngarin’s office, watching a bar pass back and forth over his head. He didn’t know how many times the stupid thing had to pass by him — wasn’t once enough? But no, it must have been thirty times by now. At this point, all it was doing was addi
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Arlo gasped. Air flooded lungs. Blood began flowing. His entire body erupted in pins and needles. Arlo whimpered, curling in on himself. “Arlo…” Agony engulfed his body. A weight pressed down on him, arms wrapped around him. “Get off him…” His ears flicked. His nose flooded with smells. One male… two females… aiuvarin… humans…. He gulped down more air, and his eyes opened. Light stabbed into him. Arlo cried out, shutting his eyes against the glow. It vanished, plunging the world into
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The piling was empty. Coradiel was certain of it. He’d circled the massive support a dozen times now. Unfriendly eyes stared at him as he ran a hand over the grimy rock that held the Irespan up. Nearly a hundred paces around, it held plenty of secret hiding spots, and yet there was no sign of Arlo. No body, no urn, nothing. Was he supposed to leave the rest of the money first? That didn’t seem right. If he did that, what would stop the thief from stealing the gold and never returning Arlo to
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I would agree... except the captain of the ship is Jeisa's segal. Matyas acts as the quartermaster, though he is in charge of the whole operation. It's smoke and mirrors to keep people from freaking out when an imperial warship pops out of witchspace, as the Lidikrys call it.
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“Apfelkuchen.” “Apfe’kuche’…” Leo wrote the word down, and pressed the button to translate. He stared at the tablet, trying to make sense of the gibberish on the screen. “Here.” He thrust the tablet at Jeisa, who stared at the glyphs in confusion. “This… doesn’t say anything,” the tiger said. “It’s just… it’s gibberish.” Growling, Leo yanked the tablet back, hammering out as close a translation as he could. Thank fuck he actually knew German — though this person sounded like they might b
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In the shadow of the goliath known as the Irespan, a clock tower sagged. A feat of modern engineering and magic, the limestone tower stretched sixty metres into the air, scraping the underbelly of the Irespan far above. Coradiel’s neck strained as he tilted his head back. He’d known about the tower for years — everyone knew about Magnimar’s failed attempt to bring some sort of civilisation to the darkness of Underbridge. But to see it with his own eyes in all its leaning, faded glory… Coradiel
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It is (un)surprising how often that seems to be the answer to Lidikrys in general.
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“Jeisa.” The tiger shot out of bed. Bleary eyes took in a white rat. Beady eyes stared back coldly. “Commodore.” Jeisa threw a hasty salute, one the Lidikrys didn’t bother to return. “I have been informed that you locked up your bonded not an hour ago. Far be it from me to question what kinds of games a tiger might play with their partner,” Matyáš said. “But something tells me you’re not playing. So I wonder. Why is your bonded in the brig? Perhaps you are regretting your hasty decision? I
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Sleep was a strange thing. To Coradiel, watching someone else sleep was a stranger occurrence. Particularly when the subject was an amurrun who was afraid of closing his eyes. His house was secure against invasion. Arlo could rest easy here for a little longer before they had to move. Coradiel had already prepared for their exodus. A bag of necessities sat beside the front door, and Diane and Jack waited to be saddled for the day. And still he let Arlo sleep. The amurrun was beautiful, l
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He didn’t care what the tiger said. Leo was a slave, just as much as the humans trapped in the cages. But he was in a position of privilege somehow. He’d do whatever he could to keep this position, but Leo’s first responsibility was to those people locked up in the brig. With that in mind, Leo paid close attention as they walked through the corridors of the starship. He still wasn’t sure they actually were in space, but everything he’d seen… well, there wasn’t anything on Earth like what he’d
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Still, to have your wizard out-rogue the rogue...
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“It’s boarded up?” Arlo stared at the townhouse in the waning afternoon light. Trees rustled in a light breeze, shaking leaves onto a flagstone path that led around the back of the building. More concerningly, boards covered every window, blocking out any view within. “I didn’t tell anyone Foxglove was dead. Did you?” Arlo asked, glancing at Coradiel. “No,” the paladin said, fiddling with a set of keys. “I got these off his body though-” “When did you do that?” “I had plenty of time
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“What are you?” Oh great. He’d found the speech function. Jeisa sighed, his eyes creaking open. Had he moved too much in his sleep? Or was the human that rude that he’d wake Jeisa up after — he looked blearily at his tablet — SIX HOURS?! Jeisa shot out of bed. He was late, he was so very late. Why hadn’t his alarm gone off? Probably because it was in neat pieces, with a tiny screwdriver beside it. Leo must have gotten curious about how the base worked. Like a blasted kit. Fine, he got it.
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Night of the Living Dead
Yeoldebard commented on Yeoldebard's story chapter in Night of the Living Dead
I couldn't come up with a name for Coradiel's horse, so I just went with my gut -
Coradiel swirled a glass flute, watching crisp white wine lap against the sides. Delicate bubbles ran down the glass in a mesmerising pattern, echoing the effervescent dance playing across his tongue. “That is most fascinating, Lord Scarnetti,” he said politely to a blonde man. Titus Scarnetti’s slightly wrinkled face and woollen scarf around his neck spoke of a noble who was getting on in age — Coradiel had seen more than his share of nobles waste away into fragile, ever-chilly caricatures of
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Leo’s eye cracked open. He could have sworn he heard the hissing door. Was it open? Was he free of- “You took your shirt off. You can’t leave the room if you aren’t at least somewhat dressed.” He rolled over groggily, eyes blinking. Heavy fog was swiped off with a hand, and Leo yawned. Strange… he didn’t feel dead. And Jeisa didn’t act dead. One plus one probably equaled two… though he wasn’t even sure about that any more. Still, Leo was going to operate on the assumption that he was still
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Pick your poison: A night hiding from ghouls or a night hiding from overzealous matriarchs who think you're marriage material
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A body slid down Coradiel’s back. It slumped to the floor with a breathy groan. The arms holding him slipped, relaxed, fell away. Fingers trembled. And a piece of bloody wood clattered to the ground. Hands scrabbled for his throat, smearing red across bare, unmarred skin. Coradiel collapsed against the desk, sobs wracking his body. He hadn’t killed Arlo. It was just a vision. Just the house trying to hurt him. And it was succeeding. The house had beaten him, and he hadn’t even reached Alde
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It's unfortunate that when you kidnap someone from their home, they're not usually inclined to be cooperative.
