Tired, so… some traces of wildlife.
I’m not sure, but I’m thinking antlion.
I broke 50 K!
I still need to outline more, though, and writing actual prose is going to take even longer. Going to try and do as much of that as possible before the end of the month. But! NaNo accomplished!
…With that in mind, have a bit more villain. đ
Well. Heâll just find ways to counter the counter, thatâs all. Layer the control spells, different types, so that what breaks one wonât shatter another. Itâll work.
And for a time, it does. Maybe a week. Another village, another controlled monster, another quest he knows has been sent out to lure in more toys….
Two snaps this time. The white-out is longer. Long enough that by the time heâs recovered thereâs a Giant Spider in his face, and for a few minutes he is very busy.
…This time the lair has salt water. Or possibly salt dissolved in water. Heâs not sure. But the aura traces, while faint, are too familiar.
How the hell did she do that twice?
He may or may not have shredded a few trees in fury. Certainly a few mobs. But he was a rakshasa warrior, so once his bloodlust was sated, he straightened his kimono, took another form, and ventured into town to find one very annoying young Huntress. Checking the quest board should be a good start….
The quest board had been updated, sure enough. With a description that stopped him dead. âPossible shapeshifterâ, âbeasts under outside controlâ, and âaural traces imply high-levelâ were only part of the damning words. And what was this – this gall, to declare âwatch out for the micro-smirkâ? He was a skilled impersonator, the match of any kabuki player; he did not smirk!
(He does. Most people donât see it. She saw it, and the jolt of adrenaline almost made her log out then and there. Almost.
(But then she got angry. Midnightâs supposed to be a game. An escape. Fun, in a world that keeps trying to kill her soul. And hereâs more scummy, arrogant evil. No. Not when she could do something about it. She canât in the real world, but here she has just as much power as any other new Hunter. And she was going to use it.)
Worse were the rumors flying through passing players, that some griefer was laying traps to kill innocent newbies….
As if any player were ever innocent. Especially this one. Certainly she could have detected the control magic on the monsters, if she were quick and quiet. But she could not have unmasked his presence in both villages without prior knowledge. There was no way. Some information broker had to die.
Three brokers, a lot of gold, and at least one oath of vengeance from a bereaved player later, Bakemono was forced to consider the option that maybe he hadnât been betrayed after all. So how had she known?
This is a bit of roughing out of why the Villain hates the Heroine. Backstory, Continue reading
…No, seriously, you can get an awful lot of wordcount out of a door. Continue reading
Yesterday was busy. Incredibly busy. Had to go rescue someone who locked their keys in busy. Continue reading
Sometimes your brain needs a different visual approach.
Okay, so part of my current plotting involves figuring out what happens over the course of 5 days to get the characters to the Plot B big final fight. Continue reading
iFlop. Or maybe iThud. Yes, yes, I made wordcount (41.8 K as of last night), Continue reading
It took a lot of shots to get lucky enough that the lantana and the honeybee were still just long enough.
Yes, it’s that time of year….
Charity can be dangerous. Or at least hard on the nerves.
So. Long story short, Continue reading