Last Words for the Day: Work-in-Progress - DA01 - March 28, 2026 (AET)

-

A new project, and one which I'm using to renew the well between older projects. 2,328 words, today, plus 804 words of glossary, DA01, is a predominantly fantasy LitRPG game setting, which I am currently writing 'into the dark.' However, the nature of this genre will demand some outlining as it progresses, and I have already begun making notes beyond the glossary.

Last words for today are as follows:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once the price was decided, the old man signaled to the younger, who withdrew a bag of coin from beneath his cloak, and gestured to where the ship ‘s clerk sat.

“Shall we?”

The overseer had long released his grip on my neck, and I had very wisely stood still and waited until the whole process was over. I didn’t manage to stifle a flinch when the crewman releasing my hands brushed against my back, but I did manage to keep the protest silent.

To my annoyance, my hands weren’t released, but were cuffed at my waist in front, while a cloak was draped over my head and shoulders…as if that would disguise the true nature of our relationship.

Still I said nothing, content, for the moment, to be led away from the ship, its stinking hold, and its reminder of the treachery of my homeland.

The Narrator continued his spiel as we moved away from the docks, the old man and his escort stepping into a canopied buggy crafted from ebonwood with ironwork that was more than the decoration it appeared, with the chain to my cuffs being hooked to the side.

“Those from the underdeeps are often glad to turn their backs on the sea, and as their vision clears, are treated to the marred beauty of Troferys, City of the Many-Starred Sun.

I took a deep breath, determined not to fall, and refusing to ask for a ride.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 And on that cheerful note, I bid you all goodnight...or good morning. Have a great day out there, wherever and whenever in the world you are.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Free Read: Forest Connections

-
Today, I managed to settle down and write a response to the latest flash fiction challenge on Chuck Wendig's Terribleminds blog - The Dead Body . There were only two rules: the word limit was 1,000, and the story had to open with a dead body. This is what came out: Forest Connections The body swayed in the trees rocked by storm winds and illuminated by lightning. It was naked, except for the green, leather gloves it wore on both hands—the hands from which it was suspended from the tree. It might have been an attractive body, if there hadn’t been a gaping wound where its stomach should be. Perhaps… but Garamond wasn’t looking at the body, didn’t notice the slender hips or sculpted chest, the beauty of fine-chiselled cheek bones or luxurious fall of hair. Garamond fought his breakfast back into place, swallowed bile, forced his focus to the other trees in the grove, the ground onto which he’d nearly stepped. If it hadn’t been for the crow flying out of the chest cavity...
Read more

Writing Craft: Using Tradition to Give Depth to Your World

-
It’s Australia Day, today, and that, coming so soon after Christmas got me to thinking about what significance this sort of even might have for world building. After all, every society celebrates or commemorates something, whether those events centre around a religious festival, an event rooted in history that helps define national identity, a culturally significant day, or a personal event. Each and every one of these helps to give a society structure, and to build individual identity. They are often used to cement a society of individuals into a cohesive whole, and as such are an essential part of social fabric. And this means that a variation or replica of some or all of the events below should exist in every story that is peopled by individuals and communities: Religious Festivals: Christmas, Ramadan, Passover, and Easter are the four events that come immediately to mind, and this reflects my own cultural bias and experience. Those of you from other backgrounds will come ...
Read more

NEW RELEASE: AUTUMNAL THREAT

-
Image
An alien autumn. An unseen predator. Deadly burrowers and an oncoming winter. And bugs big enough to ride. Joaquin only wants to warn his daughter of a new danger. To keep her safe. To make her understand her mother isn’t coming back, while keeping her alive. But what if he’s wrong? What if Mariam really did survive? What if, when everything looks like it’s going wrong, it’s really going right? Autumnal Threat is Joaquin's story. It is a father's story...and the story of a husband who misses his wife, and wants to keep his daughter safe from a new threat on their frontier world. It's a story of hope, and not giving up, and of family, as well as an exploration of what an alien eco-system might look like. It was a lot of fun to write. You can find links to this newly released, stand-alone, science-fiction short story on this Books2Read page: https://books2read.com/u/mgyopK or read an earlier version in A Collection of Lost Ships and Colonies .  
Read more