Plum Parrot

Victor 10b. Grinding

Here's my first draft of Victor 10b. Let me know what you think. Should I add more to the end or does this feel satisfying enough?

-Plum

When they got to the carved stone ramp that led down around the pit in a spiral, Victor had a sudden surge of vertigo. The ramp was about as wide as a one-lane road back on Earth, but there was no...

O42

Dear Patrons and Olivia fans - I have a sinking feeling that I messed up Olivia's stats at some point. If you can see a mistake I made, please let me know because I can't figure it out.

Thanks!

-Plum

The darkness only gripped Olivia for a few seconds because a sudden surge of Energy brough...

M91

Morgan looked down at the little hollow and then out over the rough hillsides. He didn’t see any better options, so he led the six Ardeni down into the rocky, scree-covered space between two hillsides. The slope was fairly steep, and the gully was well hidden from casual observation. “I want you all to rest here while I go and try to get eyes on the gargoyles and their operation here. I wan...

M90

Morgan had been teleported before, and he was pretty sure that was what was happening to him now. As the darkness seemed to rush past him, he wondered why teleportation seemed different based on who or what was causing it. He'd seen kaleidoscopic lights with the Token of Travel; when the Yovashi had teleported him by accident, he’d felt the tug of dimensional magic and a sense of timelessness...

Victor 9b. The Well

Here's my first draft of the next Victor chapter. Let me know what you think!

-Plum

“I’m sorry I said that,” Thayla said after the rush of Energy faded. “I know you risked yourself to get that thing off my neck, but I don’t want to get killed because I showed you my secret.”

“You think Lam would kill you for hav...

Head's up about incoming Bronwyn Arc for FWFW Vol. 2

Hey all, 

When I started writing FWFW volume 2, I wasn't sure I was going to include a Bronwyn arc. The further in I got, though, the more I realized I needed it. Now we're starting to near the climax of Vol. 2, and before I publish that to you all, I think I need to deliver the ten or so chapters of Bronwyn's story.

It will probably be next week when we get to it. I just wante...

O41

Like the last two chests, the bronze chest offered her different rewards, and when Olivia touched one of them, the other two disappeared. This time there were only three choices: a crystal orb, a red metal ring, and another book. She’d already taken one book, so this time she reached for the ring, not sure why it called to her more than the orb, but she wasn’t disappointed when she bonded w...

O40

Looking at the cold, dark water, Olivia debated whether to go back to the room where she’d first met Jaliss to try one of the other doors. She supposed there could be another path forward, but would she have to fight through four more rooms? There was also the chance that the doors only led to different routes up to the second floor. “Forward it is.” She concentrated and cast Elemental Fo...

O39

Olivia strode through the slime puddles and chunks of frozen ooze, moving on toward the door that should take her to the final room of the third level. She’d had to fight, predictable, four oozes in the fourth room, so she figured there’d be five in the final room. She didn’t want to be overconfident, though, so she paused in front of the door, leaning with her back against the stone wall...

Addendum to Victor 8b

Hey all - I figured since I'm only promising one chapter a week, I shouldn't leave people on a cliffhanger. I finished the scene with the creepy thing in the corner:

Thanks! 

-Plum

Victor stepped back behind the crumbled doorway, his heart racing. What the hell was going on? He peeked around aga...

M89

Morgan fought like a man possessed. Perhaps he was, for the spirit in his sword had come calling, and he methodically cut and clawed at the creatures swarming him. He wielded his sword in his right hand, slicing and stabbing, and his left hand, surrounded by the ghostly remnant of whatever kind of creature the Corran Blood Rager had been, slashed, tore, and ripped the monsters apart if they cam...

M88

The rescue party, much diminished, had continued down the gargantuan tunnel, ever descending, until they started to notice smaller tunnels branching off to the left and right. Still, the enormous central tunnel continued, but Rorth called a halt and turned to Issa and Morgan to consult. “I’m reasonably sure the left-hand tunnels lead down toward the Rill Catcher and the part of the Deep Dow...

O38

The chest had a light coating of frost on its smooth cherrywood surface, but it opened noiselessly on polished brass hinges. It was about the size of Olivia’s father’s old red toolbox, but its contents wouldn’t have gone well in anyone’s garage. Laid out neatly, lined up next to each other in the bottom of the chest were a yellow, cloth-bound book, a fat, blue candle, a shiny, silver po...

Victor 8b. Revelations

Here's draft one of the next Victor Chapter.

-Plum

With dread heavy in his heart and butterflies swimming in his stomach, Victor approached Captain Lam’s study. They’d been back for an hour and had a meal together as a unit, and then Victor and some others had decided to head to the Contribution Store. He’d barely gotten outside, waiting with ...

O37

Olivia stepped off the stairway onto a polished marble floor the color of a pale pink rose. Warm light suffused the air, making the small chamber feel welcoming and restful. Opposite the stairs, about five paces away, a cherrywood door with a crystal doorknob awaited her. She glanced around the room, ensuring she hadn’t missed anything, then walked up to the door and tried the handle. It open...

Quick note about Victor 7b

I made a bunch of edits and added a short scene to the end of Victor 7b. If you're following that story, you might want to check it out.

Cheers!

M87

Morgan charged into a clump of the gargoyles, as he’d dubbed them in his own mind, and fired off another Azure Burst just as it came off cooldown. Six or so of the creatures tumbled through the air and over the rocky ground, supernatural flames clinging to their thick, clay-like hide. They screamed in agony or became still, depending on the severity of their burns and secondary wounds. The so...

Victor 7b: Guard Duty

Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter of Victor. If I get time to write another this week, I'll post this early, otherwise, it'll be next Sunday's release on RR. As always, Please let me know if there's something you particularly like/dislike.

-Plum

Victor’s new boots pinched his feet around the toes, and he frowned, thinking o...

M86

Morgan Stood near the prow of the long flat cargo barge, looking over the assembled grim-faced warriors. By the time the barge had arrived at the central pier, Issa had selected thirty-two experienced hunters and fighters. Most of them were above level twenty, which they called tier two. As she evaluated other prospects, the governor had finally descended to the docks with an entourage of town ...

Victor 6b: Inspiration

Here's Sunday's chapter a little early for you all. I haven't done a revision pass yet; please let me know if something doesn't make sense, or if you hate it!

Thanks,

Plum

Victor wanted to spend some more time cultivating and building up his smaller inspiration-attuned Core, but he hated f...

M85

Morgan and Issa sat together in her father’s kitchen, enjoying a huge breakfast of biscuits, eggs, sausage, and greens cooked with something remarkably like garlic. Issa had been filling Morgan in on what he’d missed while his body went through its changes. It amounted to a lot of her visiting and catching up with friends that she’d been missing over the last couple of months. Morgan was ...

O36

Olivia summoned a ball of fire and tossed it high into the air, using her will to hold it, hovering there, shedding light over a large area. She was at the base of the stone chasm wall, and an uneven rocky floor spread out before her, littered with rocks and boulders from tiny to cottage-sized. She didn’t see the source of the roar at first, but then the ground shook, and a bear-shaped boulde...

O35

The portal was a swirling maelstrom of silver and black whorls. It wasn’t passively sitting in the archway, either, but rather tugging at Olivia and the room's air. When she stepped toward it and reached a hand into the spinning plane, it yanked hungrily at her, and she found herself stumbling into a frigid torrent that pulled her, tumbling, into what felt like a dark, underground river. Subc...

Victor 5b: Soul Searching

Yay! I've had a little extra time this week and will be posting 2 Victor chapters. This one, and another this weekend.

Victor groaned and collapsed onto his narrow, scratchy mattress. He felt like he did after his first day at summer wrestling camp as a freshman. In a way, it was a good clean feeling of having worked his ass off, and, on a deeper level, he felt...

O34

“I can’t believe it’s been a week already,” Olivia said, staring at the splatters of rain hitting the banked windows in their dorm. Her friends had just gotten back from the cafeteria, exhausted from a bout of instruction from an unusually grumpy and hostile Commander Grobak. Olivia had been on her own all afternoon, Oylla having given her “time to reflect” before she had to step th...

M84

“Do you think your father would be annoyed?” Morgan asked Issa.

“About what?” She stretched out, pushing her pillow back and turning to face him.

“That I’ve been sleeping in your room with you in his house for the last week?” He yawned and stretched, enjoying the tingles that spread through his tight muscles after a long night’s sleep.

“Annoyed? No. Dismayed?...