Plum Parrot

M53

Morgan groaned and sat up. He didn’t know why he was groaning - his body felt perfectly fine, and he could see that he was uninjured and his clothes undamaged. “Is this real? Did I get teleported here, or are we talking in my head or something?”

“Hmm, are we in your head or mine? What an interesting question.” The Azure Paladin replied, moving to stand closer to Morgan. “On yo...

M52

Issa pulled the straps tight on Morgan’s breastplate, and he pulled up his status sheet:

Status

Name: Morgan Hall

Race: Human - Base 4

Class: Hollow Guard - Advanced

Level: 17

Core: Vortex Class - Base 3

Energy Affinity: 9.2

2022-02-21 16:25:21 +0000 UTC View Post

M51

Happy Saturday - Hope you all have a nice weekend!

“It still doesn’t feel right; it’s like the forms from my style are just fancy, sometimes inefficient versions of standard sword fighting moves.” Morgan wiped the sweat from his forehead and stretched, shaking out his wrists in frustration; Issa had parried all of his attacks and, using her Haste ability, given...

M50

Morgan stopped before he stepped onto the stairs leading to the fourth floor. He’d asked Issa to wait for him back on the first floor, and he assumed that Ykleedra was still in the atrium. He was alone for the moment, and he wanted to pause to gather his thoughts. Was he rushing this encounter for sex? He almost laughed at the idea, but the concern was valid. Issa had said he should hurry up ...

O7

Olivia stood by, watching while Bronwyn set up the election on the Colony Stone. A few other people were around, but it was surprisingly quiet for the middle of the day. It seemed like most of the colonists had fallen into a routine of sorts. Some people had duties they needed to fulfill, like a guard rotation or working in one of the council-purchased buildings. Others were keeping themselves ...

M49

Morgan spent the next few minutes showing Issa and Ykleedra around the tower, at least the parts he had access to. Both of his guests were impressed when they saw the atrium, but Ykleedra scurried into the thick foliage with a squeal of delight. Morgan could hear her moving through the hedges and trees, and though he had spent a lot of time cutting back the overgrowth, there was a lot of shadow...

M48

Morgan turned to his party and motioned for them all to stop. They’d made good time through the forest that morning, even though Ykleedra was unmounted. She had a natural knack for moving through the woods, and her long legs made it easy for her to surmount obstacles that were a bit of a challenge for the roladii. That being the case, it was only mid-morning when Morgan caught a glimpse of th...

B22

Bronwyn woke to the sound of stomping feet and the raspy voices of many Urghat around her. The sun was just starting to rise, and as she looked around in the morning light, she realized Urghat had surrounded her sleeping area; they had formed a circle around her and were waiting patiently. A sense of dread crept down her spine, and she scooped up the still sleeping Hops, depositing him in her b...

B21

Happy Saturday, dear Patrons!

Bronwyn couldn’t help the nerves she felt as she strode down the hill toward the Urghat camp. She made sure the Underclaw ring on her bicep was in plain view and did her best to appear nonchalant. She was a good hundred yards from the first tents when the shout went out among the Urghat, and they started to crowd out of the camp toward h...

O6 + M

Olivia was glad to be back in the saddle again. She hadn’t spent much time visiting Blue during their short stay in Tarn’s Crossing, and she’d missed him. More than that, she was glad to have that whole duel business behind them and to be making quick progress back toward First Landing. They’d left the day after the duel, and Olivia could see that Morgan and Issa were glad to be going a...

M47

Swent moved like lightning. He drove forward, his shield held high, and punched his gladius straight at Morgan’s stomach in a thrust that was more a blur than a movement. Morgan barely had time to react; he fell back, carving his sword down in a sideways slash. Swent knocked the blade away and kept driving. He was too fast for Morgan, and the tip of his gladius pierced Morgan’s stomach befo...

M46

It was still dark out when Morgan heard the knock on his door. He sat up in bed. Having been awake for the last hour or so, staring at the ceiling, he wasn’t startled by the sound. He stood up and slipped on his boots - he was already dressed. He went to the door and said, “Who is it?”

“It’s Roald. I have your sword.” Roald’s voice was a gruff whisper. Morgan opened the door...

M45

Morgan woke the following day with the gray light of dawn coming through the bay windows of his room. He used the washbasin next to the wardrobe to splash water on his face, banishing the grogginess of his hangover. Morgan hadn’t slept well; he’d had a lot of wine with dinner and then too much of that brandy that Roald had served out. He dressed in some of his new pants and the sturdy black...

B20

It was mid-morning when Bronwyn headed out the northern gates. She had packed up her belongings, stopped by Olivia’s campsite, and found that she’d already left with Morgan. She was a little sad that she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, but she was excited for her. Going to meet a new type of people, essentially making first contact with an alien society, sounded pretty damn exciting. ...

M44

Hope you're having a good weekend :)

-Plum Parrot

“Alright, Morgan, I’ll come back to meet you and Olivia in an hour,” Issa said, squeezing Morgan around the waist. “Unless you want me to come up with you while you bathe?” she growled softly, with an impish grin.

“Uh, hell yes, come up with me!”

“You scoundrel! What do you tak...

O5

Olivia held still while the diminutive Ardeni woman measured her for the third time. She was a lovely, older woman who’d been thrilled to show Olivia the many styles of clothing that were popular in the surrounding areas. She had sketchbooks, wonderfully painted in watercolors, that depicted women in everything from dresses to skirts to pants paired with various types of blouses, some with de...

M43

Morgan was happy. He was so happy that he felt guilty about it. He was healthier than he’d ever been; he had new friends, a new world, and even a budding relationship with the most amazing woman he could imagine. Walking over the bridge, along the rail with Issa holding onto his arm, made him think about how much he’d gained coming to this world. He thought about how much his sister would h...

O4

Olivia watched as Morgan and Issa walked away down the street. They’d agreed to meet up at the inn around dinner time then walk over to Issa’s family home for a meal. At first, Olivia had been worried about Issa’s reaction to her. She’d had a big smile when she asked who Olivia was, but there was something in Issa’s eyes that made Olivia feel like a rabbit being regarded by an owl. Sh...

M42

Welcome to February, dear Patrons! Thank you to all of you that are new, and thank you to those of you who've stuck around for another month!

-Plum Parrot

More and more traffic started to pass Morgan and Olivia as they drew closer to Tarn’s Crossing. People were generally friendly, though a few Ardeni that they met refused to acknowledge them, hurrying by as quic...

B19

Bronwyn stretched her neck and rubbed her temples as she left the tavern. The sun was bright in the clear sky, even this late in the afternoon, and she dearly missed her sunglasses and baseball cap as she attempted to shield her eyes with her hand. She walked down the road towards the Settlement Stone, thinking about the mission she had accepted for the council. She was supposed to start scouti...

M41

Here's your bonus Saturday post! Enjoy!

Morgan, Olivia, and the Ardeni herders crested a long, gradually graded slope a few hours after midday of their third day out from the longhouse, and Morgan saw the Rill Catcher for the first time. A long, blue ribbon filled the nearby horizon, stretching from the southeast then gradually curving to disappear into the forested hi...

O3 + M

Olivia winced as the Energy flowed through her channels to form the Icy Shards spell above her hand. She’d never cast so many in a row before, and she could feel her Energy running low. She couldn’t believe Morgan had dismounted and charged into the pack of boyii hounds like that. At first, it had looked like the pack would swarm him, but then he’d simply exploded - a ball of crackling bl...

M40

After spending a few more hours drinking and swapping stories, the herders and Morgan and Olivia retired to the longhouse to sleep. The air was warm in the low-ceilinged building because one of the hunters had lit a central hearth earlier in the day. By now, it was down to coals, but plenty of residual heat persisted. Morgan and Olivia were given bunks near the far end of the longhouse, while t...

M39

Morgan was watching the Ardeni herders as they played a game that was remarkably like horseshoes. They had three stakes in a triangle outside their longhouse, and one Ardeni would stand at each stake, trying to throw loops over the other two. It seemed like there was some allowance for blocking your opponents’ rings, but only on certain throws. Morgan tried to figure out the rules for a while...

O2 + M

Olivia’s heart jumped into her throat, and she whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. A rather short, blue-skinned man stood off to her left, about twenty feet away. He held a bow with an arrow on the string but pointed it to the ground. The most striking aspect of his appearance was his mohawk and beard’s shockingly bright orange color. Olivia noticed that Morgan had spotted ...

M38

Morgan and Olivia made good time traveling through the southern forest near the colony. Thousands of settlers spending the last week or more foraging and hunting in the woods nearby had created paths and scared away most of the low-level creatures that might pose a threat. That being the case, Morgan set a pretty tough pace, being sure to pause now and then to monitor Olivia’s progress. She d...

O1 + M

Olivia walked out of the tavern and took a deep breath of the evening air. She closed her eyes and savored the slight chill that tinged the spring twilight. Someone bumped past her to get into the tavern, and she stumbled to the side. “Oh, excuse me!” Her cheeks reddened as she realized she’d been standing in the doorway, but the person who bumped her was already gone. “Oh, well!” She...

Extra Patreon Posts on Saturdays

Hello, dear Patrons! I have managed to build up a bit more of a backlog, so I'm planning to release an extra chapter to Patreon each Saturday - at least as long as my backlog persists.

Thanks for all of your support!

Cheers,

-Plum Parrot

M37

The meeting in the tavern’s backroom had been going on for a while now. It started with introductions; Morgan knew Olivia, Arthur, Bronwyn, and vaguely Dr. Kerns. He knew he’d met some of the others but was glad to hear their names again. A lady named Maria Rios represented a large group of craftspeople and citizens, then there were other technicians and engineer types like Rene Bisset, Tan...

B18

Hello Patrons! Just a head's up that this post should probably have come out around M34, so it might seem out of order a bit. I'm sorry about that!

-Plum Parrot

Bronwyn jogged out of the cave, loath to be in there any longer than she needed to be. When she came out of the cold dark cavern into the sun, she took a deep breath, some tension running out of her; she kn...