Oh! And every last one of you inspires me. Your dreams are worth chasing and I know you can make it!
Oh! And every last one of you inspires me. Your dreams are worth chasing and I know you can make it!
Five days left! Again, I am fully funded so this is just an extra special thank-you treat! I intend to accept the Quill offer and get all y’all copies of this magnificent book just as quickly as I may! Okay, so here are two more races for your reading pleasure: Kalutai and Minotaurs.
Kalutai
Kalutai are definitively classified as a Hard or Uncivilized race, though their origins are widely disputed. It seems they are a mutation caused by the fusion of some form of biped, such as an orc, and a primeval canid or felidae ancestor, or possibly they hail from the progenitor of both genus. They have evolved into several distinct lines. Collectively, they are called kalutai, and exhibit thick fur, a hunched back, a pronounced snout, teeth with a wide jaw like that of a hyena, and rounded triangular ears set parallel to their eyes and about four inches back. They stand at about seven feet, though they hunch and so can straighten to be closer to eight. Their legs and arms are thick at the base and thin at the tip, with wide hands and feet bent such that they can effectively scramble on all fours, though they primarily walk upright.
In general, a band of Kalutai is composed of between six and ten individuals and never intermingle with other races, though they will contract out as a unit for hordes and mobs. They have thick hides and are largely impervious to fire, which has led to their propensity for using explosives. Most exhibit no natural arcane talent and the race uses both sugelancas and arcane draining bombs very readily. Of note, when one in a band goes into heat, the others almost always do so as well within a few weeks. The entire band will retire to the deep wasteland to dig a temporary den. They raise the collective young for five years before returning to their abandoned occupations. The pups are left to find their way in the world and harbor no bond to their sires or dams. Each female gives birth to a litter of between three and nine pups.
This race has a fascinating biology. All are born female, and the least dominant in a band will become a male. They tend to wear clothing approximating that worn by others in their range. In cities, this means they wear leather breastplates and thick leather shorts, though they have no cultural sense of modesty. They do tend to enjoy the very young of most races, seeing them as no different from their own abandoned pups.
Minotaur
Minotaurs: While this race usually is found in its greatest numbers on the great plains of other nations, the colossal figures do, occasionally, travel abroad. They are generally even tempered as long as nothing threatens them. At an average of twelve feet and well over a thousand pounds, very few things actually seem dangerous.
The omnivorous race is known to live for up to three hundred years, though they do not tend toward civilizations and are decidedly nomadic. When they live in cities, they usually prefer regions with fewer individuals inhabiting them. Thus, haunted, derelict or generally abandoned structures, especially those with broken walls and plenty of holes for sunlight are a preferred residence.
There are very few mutts of the race, as most females would not permit something so frail as a human male to impregnate her. Those few human females who become impregnated usually either miscarry early or die before the second of five trimesters. With considerable arcane expense and a fleet of healers, it is technically possible for a human female to bring a calf to term; a cesarean is the only way of extracting the young and the procedure renders the woman infertile ever after.
7 days left! All funded, but if you’re looking to jump in, I’d love it if you did!
These are two more of the races in the world. I will say that this first book focusses on elves (specifically Sophielecent elves and their wards) and bugbears but is peopled by a plethora of rich and fascinating cultures. Below are two more. Tomorrow, I’ll have another pair up!
I wish y’all a fantastic time with everything in life! I’ve been blown away by the support and genuine love expressed and wish, in whatever way I may, to reflect that same affection back into the community. Know y’all go forth with my blessing, in addition to the myriad others you’ve earned.
Trolls
Ogres are typically a cave dwelling, largely solitary race, though they have a history of getting on very well with orcs. They are highly social with one another and have rich cultural provisions for visitors to their ranges. Their communities, if such a term can be applied, are composed of dozens of small territories and a central neutral zone wherein they may come to gather and intermingle.
Ogres require precision and order in their lives. Any deviation in the normal ebb and flow of their territories is seen as a mortal offence and they usually hate the clutter humans create. Nonetheless, if a mutt stumbles onto a range, it is often adopted and trained to properly exist within the culture.
Unlike other races, ogres are raised in an intricate manner, spending a little of their youth with each of the mature adults bordering the central neutral area. There is not so much a culture of dominance as a culture of rigid territorial rights. Banishment is normalized; if an ogre reaches adulthood and no territories are presently available and unclaimed, they are sent away. These individuals either gravitate to the city, find acceptance in another cluster of territories or begin their own cluster, if an area has space for this. It is usually from these new clusters and from the city dwelling ogres that mutts occur. Being highly social, they do not enjoy isolation and will take comfort in interacting with small homesteads and with clearly defined neighbors.
Additionally, ogres are inherently gifted with changing the flow of arcane energies, which makes them masters at crafting the arcane bombs favored by the kalutai. A proficient, older ogre can usually negate all arcana in an area surrounding it with nothing more than a burst of concentrations. Conversely, they can cause arcana to surge in a region, creating wild growth and genetic instability in local flora and fauna at will.
Hobgoblins
Hobgoblin society is fiercely matriarchal, with males performing periphery tasks and usually being lighter and slighter of frame than their female counterparts. They make up for this by generally being a little taller than the women, and the males are usually very easy going with all races, be they Hard or Soft, while the women tend to be hypercritical and slow to trust.
Hobgoblin women, as with most Hard Races, select their mates. Unlike most other races, these pairings, usually made for life, are just as likely to be made between differing genders a they are to be between a male and a female. Genetics are not valued overmuch and a mother often has chldren sired by many different males, though her designated mate will be the father figure -- or secondary mother figure -- to her young. While both parents raise their young, the entire community sees to the wellfare of all hobgoblin children as a matter of course. It is often said that there are no hobgoblin orphans, just children with a new set of parents. The culture also values architecture, mathematical concepts and sculpture.
Hobgoblins usually range in height from a little over six feet to a little under seven, have mottled, two toned skin, like light reflecting off a river, and regularly intermingle with other groups of Hard races. While protective of any area wherein their young roam, they do not maintain rigid territorial barriers and often allow intruders to trespass without incident, provided the interlopers move off without causing undue harm. If they seem inclined to linger, a few males will be sent out to test them for general levels of friendliness and, if they are fairly docile, will often incorporate their settlements or migratory routes into the community’s territorial range.
Nine days and about eight hours left! Next race in the countdown!
270.
I am both honored and impressed.
Y’all are GREAT!
Um, this is the background blurb for goblins. It’s in Chapter Three: Progress and Regression. I hope you like it! Only 9 days left! To get all the main and populous races in here, there will be some days wherein they are doubled up! OH! and 5 more sales means one more raffle winner! Y’all have been truly astounding and I am very highly impressed with each and every one of you!
Goblins are a fascinating race. There are dozens of ways by which a Goblin might acquire power within the ranks of its race, but the three most common are via finding and defending a claim to a Big, via being considered the most traitorous and crafty, and via accumulating the most material wealth. Larger members of the race tend to be victimized and culled early, especially by those who perceive them to be enemies.
Their skin is highly sensitive to their emotional states, ranging in color from pale yellow tan when they are completely relaxed, to a dark green, almost blue color when they are agitated, fearful or excited. They are highly sexist, with females almost never being seen. The gender is much less common than that of males. They have their own ranking system and their pull is primarily over who may breed with them. Like most Hard races, all relations are initiated by the female aspect.
Goblins are one of the few Hard Races to lay eggs. These are very soft and only set out for about ten days before hatching and are laid in clusters of between five and thirty. A female goblin can lay these eggs approximately five times per year and each egg laid may have a different sire. Goblins do not differentiate lineage, and young goblins are given only passing care before being treated as any of their adult counterparts. They are physically fully mature at five years and mentally mature at about nine, though their brains remain highly plastic for the entirety of their two to four decades of life.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G1xgFZnvX1COvAnDHyCwh0QFVwkUNNylMDr8760IBaY/edit?usp=sharingHello and a welcoming week full of good things and adventure to you all!!! I am setting a personal goal to reach 300 pre-orders by August 14th, when I finish funding, and I want to let folks know that I am one (ONE!!!!) follower away from posting the next chapter! I’m hoping to put it up first thing tomorrow (all is written, all I’m waiting on is a friendly follow from one soul! If you know someone who might be interested, send ’em my way! Tis FREE!!!)
Speaking of awesome, all of you guys ROCK!!! I keep smiling and dancing and have nothing but absolute exultation for everyone who’s cheered from my corner, whether they cheered silently or financially or in letters or in ANY form! I’ve felt your intentions and I treasure them with all my heart.
Now for the important bit; I’ve finished 5 of the fully illustrated spiral bound books but I’ve run out of the proper paper type, so I’ll bee picking that up first thing tomorrow and hopefully the other nine will be done and ready by Friday. And Skylar, I am so sorry to take so long. I’m working on your Raffle Prize, I promise! Had to all but start from scratch, but now it’s even better! To the other winners, I haven’t forgotten you either! I’ll ask your preferences (or mail the finished products) with the spiral bound pieces this Friday (unless something comes up, but something’s not invited this week!)
Okay, okay, I’ve stalled long enough. This is a companion piece to Kalla Names a Pup. It may or may not be suitable for children, so please pre-read it first (as with any of these stories. My guess for the most child-friendly pieces are Bosco, Pretty Girl, Telles and
the Kiki tales, in that order. The rest might be, of course. None of these are, like, vile... but do make your own judgment calls!
The indented one is this week’s
--->;;;;Kalla Downs a Stag
Have an AMAZING WEEK and Direct Message me at ANY TIME!!! Including for spontaneous compliments or reviews!
Sorry for the late reply! I’ll get a full update and your latest short story up shortly! Y’all are great!
Greetings Destiny-followers,
It’s been a little over a week since the Inkshares/Nerdist contest and I want to thank you all again for making Destiny Imperfect possible. It’s been a rollercoaster ride so far, and the best is yet to come.
I’d now like to point you in the direction of another one of the contestants. Matthew Poat put together an immense top ten performance and his book, Squids In, looks like a complete blast. I’d love to see this project come to life, and it’d be great if you could get behind this squishy cephalopod. You can find Matt’s book here. Hit the pre-order button and embrace your inner octopus!
Enjoy your weekend!
Peter
Holy $#(^!!!!!! Okay, let me explain… Hwa ha ha ha ha!!!!! SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness, YES!!!!! Dreams are AWESOME!!!!!!!! OWWWWWW! Okay, dreams are awesome, and so is my next door neighbor, but running through my backyard to tell her that I just funded leads to splinters. Geesh! Well, it’s only a little blood, so… Worth It!!!
Okay, breathing. Good. Thank you all SO EXPLETIVE much!!!!!!!!!
I’m kinda glad I wrote the bulk of this letter yesterday. I’m so excited I keep typing in circles but that’s okay cuz I HAVE FAITH IN EVERY LAST SOUL OF HUMANITY!!! Seriously! All of you are amazing, wonderful, PHENOMENAL PEOPLE OF WORTH!!!!! OWW! Doesn’t matter if my foot hurts from that twig-thorn, I’m too happy not to dance!!!!! Okay, the rest is from yesterday, so it’s probably cogent. Love y’all. Genuinely. Love. I… I’m gonna paint mugs and work on my short story and tell people they’re awesome and make the whole world feel as amazing as I do RIGHT NOW!!!
For anyone who was looking to get the limited-run prize, tomorrow is the last day to pick up two or more copies of Borehole Bazaar. This is a super-awesome opportunity to get a uniquely hand-illustrated collection of cute short stories mailed diretly to your home well in advance of your copy of Borehole Bazaar. That said, I’m hoping BB will be up and ready SUPER quickly so it can get into all your happy hands!
This week, I hit 250!!! What this means is that I have yet another three RAFFLE WINNERS!!! The lucky winners are Rebecca Rubin, Crwebber707 and Lauren Huffman!!! I’ll be getting ahold of you to hear your choice of prizes, but they include an etched glass mug, a hand-painted ceramic mug, a laser-etched coaster (or four!) or an entirely wooden (with hinges) book from those listed below! If there is something else you would prefer, please just let me know! I’m fairly crafty and I love my small power-tools!
The list of books should all be child-friendly but I’d advise giving each a once-over, especially A Simple Game and Forgiveness in a Latte. This week’s selection, Kalla Names a Pup, is indented and alludes to cannibalism and death, so use extra caution with it.
---->;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; Kalla Names a Pup
As always, please Chase Your Dreams. It’s worth it, as are you.
