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Happy. Of course, Goblins had a word for the feeling. They understood happiness as well as any other race, no matter what other species thought of them. They had a word for happy and more words for grief and anger than could be expressed in the limited language of the common tongue. But they had […]

Erin Solstice was sleeping, and then she woke up. That was generally how her life worked. She squirmed about comfortably in the blankets that were her bed in one corner of the kitchen and then opened her eyes. Sleepily, she changed clothes beneath the sheets, grabbing freshly laundered clothes from the neat pile lying next […]

Day 9   She knew. Before the sun rose, Rags knew. It was a gaping hole in her heart, a certainty of loss. It was fury and grief. And tears. Goblins didn’t cry. It was a waste of water. But despite knowing that, despite knowing that the Goblins clustered around her were watching their Chieftain, […]

(This story is on break until January 8th for Patreon readers, and January 11th for Public readers!)   It was a fated encounter, if you believed in fate. If you didn’t, it was still fated because Bird was Bird and there were only so many times Erin could distract him with a plate of hot […]

Every species had a way of meeting. Not individually, but in large masses. For instance, Gnolls had no written law, but they still obeyed tradition quite scrupulously, and they had a number of customs that related to interaction between two or more tribes. When two tribes of Gnolls met, there were ceremonies to be observed. […]

It had been a long time since Olesm had sat in his office without being afraid or stressed out. A long time, and yet a short one. In his head, Olesm knew that it hadn’t been that long. A bit over a week at most since the Raskghar had begun attacking in force. But oh, […]

Day 5   The Humans came with the dawn. They blew war horns, waking the Goblins of the Flooded Waters tribe from their sleep. But the Goblins knew the Humans were coming and so many were already awake. They surged out of their camp as the Humans appeared in the distance. Only, this time there […]

Even when he’d left, even on the days when he sat in the sand or snow, Velan could still remember the humid heat, hear the buzz of insects and feel the wet soil under his feet. As he swam across the ocean, he still remembered his home. It was that place that had shaped him. […]

The sky was open. A warm sun shone down on the green grass below. The air smelled of spring. In the field just outside of Celum, the flowers and wild grass had been cropped short. A [Shepherd] must have taken his flock through the meadow recently. That also meant there were piles of poo in […]

Night deepened and turned to day. The dungeon that had rung with the sounds of battle grew silent. The adventurers, Antinium, and people of Liscor returned to their city through the magic doors, breaking the exits behind them. They returned with the captive Gnolls, with a Minotaur in shackles, and a half-Elf. In triumph. In […]

“I can’t believe it. I can’t. Is it a message? A code? Were they just bored? Or—something else?” “Mm. I don’t know.” “It has to be something. It can’t just be nothing. I have to know what it means.” “You agree it means something, don’t you? Foliana? Foliana?” The Squirrel-tribe Beastkin looked up. Foliana, leader […]

The Cave Goblins fled as the adventurers attacked. The tunnels and passages of the dungeon echoed with shouts and screams and the reverberations of battle. Fire lit up one passage and the Cave Goblins heard Raskghar scream. They ran as the Gold-rank adventurers pressed in, fighting the Raskghar as they poured out of their lair […]

“We have defeated the adventurers. They flee this dungeon, too exhausted to fight longer. The Antinium have retreated. Their dead lie in droves and they have failed to take the dungeon once more. My strategy succeeded, as I knew it would.” Calruz stood at his war table, staring down at his map of the dungeon. […]

At dawn, the Gold-rank adventurers entered the dungeon in grim silence, dropping beneath the water into the shadowy halls where monsters flooded forwards, resisting them step by step. Later that day, Yvlon would awaken and together with Pisces, Ksmvr, and six other Silver-rank teams, enter the dungeon. The adventurers would go forwards bringing spell and […]

Yvlon Byres woke up and realized two things. Firstly, that Falene had hit her with a sleep spell. And secondly, that she’d been tied to her bed.  With a spell. The magical bindings looked like they were barely more than strips of glowing cloth, but no matter how hard Yvlon struggled and cursed, she couldn’t […]

When she’d first woken and seen him, he had been just as she remembered. Tall. Proud, his horns gleaming in the faded light. A warrior and leader. The Captain of the Horns of Hammerad. That prickly, stubborn, prideful, honorable friend she’d fought with for years. Calruz. But when the shock had faded and she’d taken […]

“I think I see them. Alright everyone! Let’s get ready for tonight! Lyonette? Begin Plan A. Numbtongue? How are the windows coming?” Erin Solstice stood on the hill outside her inn, shielding herself from the pouring rain with a cloak. It didn’t really help; she was already quite wet from being outside and the cloak […]

Death came down from the mountain. Death and despair. The green tide of bodies fled from every tunnel and gap in Dwarfhalls rest. They abandoned Tremborag’s fortress in a panic, both Tremborag’s tribe and the Goblin Lord’s army alike. They were no longer an army. They were a fleeing mass of people. They fled from […]

Ordinarily, on any other day, Erin would have been thrilled to have an inn full of guests. However, today just wasn’t that kind of day. She was tired, upset, ashamed of herself, and currently understaffed. Erin rushed from table to table with drinks as Drassi, Ishkr, and Lyonette all did the same. She was relieved […]

Ceria sat on the floor of The Wandering Inn. The wood beneath her bottom was slick with melted ice water and blood, but she didn’t care. Her arms and both hands, living and skeletal, shook. She was bleeding from a gash down one arm where a Goblin blade had cut her, but she was alright. […]

A boycott. Of all the trials that The Wandering Inn had faced, Erin would have assumed that would be the least challenging. And she would be right, except that unlike every crisis she’d weathered so far, the boycott hadn’t ended after the first day. Unlike undead invasions, Goblin attacks, angry Rock Crabs or diarrhea, the […]

It was the silliest of notions. A fanciful request. After all, by his calculations it was probably late March in this world, early April at the very latest. If the months even lined up the same way as they did back at home. It was far too many months away from October, and there weren’t […]

She sat below. He stood above. The distance between the two was immaterial. They were linked and the rock and stone and water that lay between them were no barrier. If they had stood ten miles apart they might have struggled with this trick. But practice made the task easy as breathing here. When she […]