Tony Valdez liked an update for Exile, Magus

Wednesday update time!

Our progress continues to be slow, but with a little over a month to go I’m still hoping we can reach goal. Thanks to everyone who has already ordered as well as those of you who have recommended Magus to others.

Today I’ll move the journey forward a bit to Pentaz & Buscidia’s time on the peninsula known as The Blade where Pentaz spends a few months receiving a bit of formal education in his magicking at a small academy run by the head of a Wilder Elf community. You can read about that starting here in Chapter 31.

The Wilder Elves (pronounced will-der as in wilderness) are seen as savages by most of the more "civilised" elves in the far eastern elven nation of Lanadalaria, and even their less judgemental cousins in Hanaen sometimes regard them as a bit backwards. They live as nomads in the untamed wilds, living entirely off the land and flowing with the seasons. When they do build settlements it is only temporary structures, huts of vine, wicker, and fallen tree limbs which have seen no blade.

While they tend to avoid contact with those who do not live as they do, they are not hostile to outsiders and will often aid those they see in need, albeit secretly when possible. Like all elves they have innate magical talent, though all but their shamans and priestesses use this talent only for blending in and tracking game.

That’s all I’ve got for today’s update. As always thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this bit of insight. For my fellow D&D players my prototype Wilder Elf racial option follows(as with the Dwarven options I presented this presumes you only gain what is listed below, not the standard PHB qualities as well).

  • Ability Score Increase:  +1 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom.
  • Age:  Typically reach adulthood at around 100-120, aging at around 1/8th human rate until then. Their aging slows down significantly at this point, to around 1/40th human rate, causing them to maintain a youthful prime until around 850-900 years. They can live up to 1,000 years, with their aging speeding up dramatically this last century or so to around 1/2 the typical human rate.
  • Alignment:  Chaotic Good.
  • Size:  Medium, stand between 4’7" - 6’2"
  • Speed:  30’.
  • Skill Training:  You gain proficiency Perception and Survival.
  • Weapn Training:  Proficient with Pikes, Shortswords, Longbows, and Shortbows.
  • Reverie: They must sleep just as humans do, but while sleeping they are able to perfectly recall anything from their past through dreams. These memories fade somewhat upon waking, but if a particular aspect is focused upon when starting a Long Rest then immediately upon finishing the rest you can make an appropriate skill check(typically Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion) with Advantage to recall some bit of information/lore.
  • Art of the Chameleon: By concentrating for 1 round you can wrap yourself in magic which causes you to blend in with your surroundings. This provides Advantage on Stealth checks provided that you move no more than 1/2 your Speed. This magic is extremely sensitive to strong emotions and thus cannot be maintained in combat.
  • Life Sense: By actively concentrating as a Bonus Action you can sense the presence and vibrancy of life within a 30’ radius of you. The sensation is most commonly described along the lines of temperature as follows: alive and in good health (Warm); healthy plant life, or animal life in poor health (Lukewarm); plants in poor health, or animals in abysmal health/dying (Cold); and plants/creatures that will die or have died within 1 minute (freezing). Non-living creatures such as undead or constructs, as well as corpses, stones/minerals, and incorporeal creatures are merely voids in your perception with no temperature whatsoever.Since this does not rely on your normal sense you can use this ability while Blinded, Deafened, or otherwise unable to use your normal 5 senses. This does require the use of a Bonus Action every round it is used/maintained. This can be used to detect the presence of invisible creatures so long as that creature would normally be able to be sensed through this ability as described above, as well as to compensate for Blindness. At the start of any turn in which you are using your Life Sense in this way, you choose whether to negate your Disadvantage on Attack Rolls against a single creature or the creature’s Advantage on their Attack rolls against you.
  • Languages:  Sylvan, Elven and 1 of the following – Common, Primordial, Gnomish, Orcish.


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    Tony Valdez liked an update for A Beast Requires

    I’ve never been so thankful for a Wednesday.

     

    First of all, A Beast Requires is closing in on a 100 backers! So far 93 people have pre-ordered 115 copies of the book, pushing it towards that first hurdle of 250 pre-orders. Yea, it’s pretty damn awesome. What isn’t awesome is that this entire month has gotten away from me. There was a carefully orchestrated schedule of events and a timeline set in place, that went out the window to find a shallow grave in the backyard. Granted my entire backyard is a shallow grave, see as it’s the place where good grass comes to die. 

    See, I have this job, right? It’s at night, doesn’t pay great, and ever so slightly eats away at your soul. It’s difficult to describe, mostly because of the sort of work they do. Say you’re out at the zoo, and you’re walking through the primate house, unless your zoo doesn’t have a primate house, which would make me sad. But let’s say hypothetical zoo has a hypothetical primate house, full of hypothetical primates. Now there is a spot in this hypothetical primate house, where hypothetical primates fling hypothetical poo. There’s no avoiding the spot, no matter how much you try, and before everyone leaves, they are always pelted with hypothetical poo. My job is to block the exit and ask you which hypothetical poo smells the hypothetical best.

    On Monday I gave them my two week notice. On Monday I was offered a much better job. It will take me a few days to adjust to a new work schedule, but it will be much more conducive to updates. With 70 days left in the campaign, there’s a lot to get done, and expect the videos to start returning next week. Thank you all for supporting A Beast Requires. Without knowing it, you’ve all helped keep me sane and helped me to survive the hypothetical house of poo.


    - Jay

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      Tony Valdez liked an update for The Catcher’s Trap

      Dear Friends

      There are many exciting news in the world of The Catcher’s Trap. As the official publication day approaches, media interest is ramping up, and the details for the release party are getting sorted out.

      So first mark your calendar. The Catcher’s Trap is out in bookstores on November 8th, the release party is on Thursday, November 10th at 6 PM at North Haven Barnes and Noble, 470 Universal Drive N, North Haven, Connecticut. You can RSVP by sending me a message or in the Facebook event.

      RSVP here

      Yesterday I had an interview with Connecticut NPR as part of a special series on immigrants living in Connecticut. It was a great opportunity to talk about my story, my struggles and the path to my dream of becoming a published author. I will share the link to the interview when it airs in mid-October. I have a couple of more radio engagements lined up and several interviews with blogs and a newspaper. All very exciting stuff.

      It is going to be a busy fall for your friendly neighborhood nerd-author. I’m so looking forward to that!

      Finally, please remember you can help make another dream come true (I know, I have no shame) let’s help this high heel lover, machete wielding, fabulous drag queen get into bookstores. Get a copy of Bad Medicine and support my efforts to win the current Crypt TV horror contest at Inkshares.

      Order here:

      THANK YOU!!

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        Tony Valdez liked an update for Tantalus Depths

        Trivia Update:

        I have done more world-building for Tantalus Depths than will even come close to actually showing on its pages. This is partly because I do intend to expand upon the universe in the future, both in direct sequels and unrelated anthology stories, but if I’m honest with myself, it’s mostly because I don’t know when to quit.

        While much of the world-building I’ve done is crucial for fleshing out characters and themes within the book, there are some things I’ve crammed into the story purely because I can.
        Here’s a short list of Easter eggs, hidden references, and insignificant facts you can expect to find in Tantalus Depths.

        Don’t worry, there are still plenty in there that I’m not telling you about.

         

        What else can you expect to find in Tantalus Depths? The unexpected, mostly. I’ve filled every page with layers of meaning. It’s an adventure on many levels. If Tantalus Depths affects you the way I want it to, by the time you’ve read the last page your brain will have either exploded or twisted into a knot.

        Be a part of this adventure. Pre-order Tantalus Depths today!

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          Tony Valdez liked an update for Blue Water

          FROM THE BLOG DIARY OF EMILY HUNTER.

          Entry #1: July 10, 2013

          Okay, so this is supposed to be helpful in some way.  I’ll believe it when I see it, but here’s hoping...

          First of all, I have to apologize.  I am not a tech savvy person.  I don’t have a facebook and I don’t tweet.  So me starting a blog is a little strange, I’ll admit.  I had an old email address that I just tried to log into for the first time in god knows how long, only to find it overrun with ads for male enhancement drugs and people from Nigeria trying to give me money.  Turns out you need a google email address to start a blog on blogger, so I guess I got a new one.  If anyone ever reads this, I guess you can feel free to drop me a line.  Unless you’re the prince of Nigeria, in which case, fuck off.

          Second of all, I might have to apologize again.  One of the conditions ("rules" is more like it) of this blog, is that I’m not allowed to delete anything except typos.  So if I ramble or say god knows what, it’s here for posterity for all eternity.  Sorry to any readers out there.  Luckily, I doubt anyone but me and one other person will read this.  So no worries, imaginary readers.

          So this is supposed to take the place of a diary; somewhere to collect my thoughts.  I’m supposed to add something every week if I can, no matter how big or small it is.  So apology number three if I bore you with an entry all about how I like sushi.

          I’m also supposed to be as honest and forthcoming as I can be.  But, as I’m firing these thoughts deep into the web without knowing where they’re going, we’ll probably get there slowly.  I’d hate to see people at work look me up and read some of this.

          Can I swear on a blog?  Oh, I guess I already did. 

          So this is entry #1.  Numero Uno. So here we go on a tour of my brain.

          I guess I should start with the introduction.  Hello world.  My name is Emily Hunter.  First time blogger.  Pleasure to meet you.

          Where to go from there?  I work in a grocery store.  It’s a little place, family owned.  The owner is a pretty nice guy. I stock shelves and pretty much run the place on the third shift.  It’s great for me because I’m kind of a night owl, and I like my alone time.  Not many people come in, so I’m usually by myself. The owner doesn’t seem to mind leaving me on shift alone because he’s got plenty of security cameras, a police panic button, and the police station is less than a block away, and fully visible from the front entrance.  Still we’ve been robbed twice, never while I was on shift, and both times they caught the robbers.  Once as they left, once an hour and a half later.  So it’s perfectly safe.  (My mom doesn’t like me working there alone.  I’d usually not worry about her finding this and reading it, but she just got her first smartphone two weeks ago and has apparently gotten really good at using it.  So, just in case you’re reading this mom, there’s nothing to worry about.)

          So I just got off work at 8, took the bus home and walked in my door at 9:15.  I got to work on this stuff, wrote my first entry, and now I need to go to bed.  Working third shift also means you miss out on the sun.  I never sleep as much as I’d like.  (I’m following the rules and not deleting that sentence.  Just so you know.) 

          So signing off,
          Emily  

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            Tony Valdez liked an update for Murder at the Veterans’ Club

            I’m not dead yet.

            Dear friends and followers, I have been getting back into the groove of active campaigning. I try to keep accurate records, in case things should happen to go wrong ... it also helps to alert me to friends who have promised an order but who may have forgotten. Do not worry: I shall hunt you down.... Er. I mean, I shall send you a gentle reminder. Yes.

            (Seriously though. I really appreciate everything I’ve gotten from you guys so far. Some of you have been hugely encouraging and enormously helpful. In many ways, this will be as much your victory as mine.)

            Meanwhile! I’ve finally managed (after many, many takes) to record a video for the project page. Go take a look!

            What to expect from me in the near future:

            1. A third Peterkin Investigates IF game.
            2. A floor plan for the Veterans’ Club.
            3. A gentle reminder.

            Now, let’s talk about a couple of works around here that I would really like to see getting further on their campaigns.

            1) "Upload", Mark Meredith. I’ve spoken about this before, but it bears repeating: this is some quality noir happening here, for all it’s classed "science fiction". The Thriller Night Syndicate seems to agree, since they’ve named it this month’s pick. It tells the story of Detective Qin (look, an Asian hero! Not that I’m biased or anything!) in a world where people habitually clone themselves to guard against unexpected death. Well, here’s Qin in a newly cloned body, and the story opens in gritty, noir fashion on a crime scene where it’s discovered that the vic is ... Qin’s previous body. Seriously, if you love mysteries (and if you’re following "Murder at the Veterans’ Club", then chances are that you do) you’re going to love this one.

            2) "The Fairy Stepmother, Inc.", Maggie Hoyt. This is a very different flavour, but delicious all the same. It’s Cinderella told from the stepmother’s point of view ... though I suspect there will be a number of twists thrown in. Evelyn, the stepmother in question, is introduced as an intelligent, independent woman, who has to deal with some rather rigid societal expectations; and it’s all told with some delightfully wry humour. Check it out: I promise you the prose will just race along like a drive through the countryside.

            Until next week, friends! In the meantime ... don’t forget!

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