Akhier

  SoulDive

  They/Them, known online as May/Hem, is about to venture into the world of SoulDive, the second full immersion VR game developed by the SAI. Within they'll take on the name Gem Paroxysm and bring their own brand of chaos to this fantasy world of Magic and pyers.

  The Sapient AI just put out their second Full Immersion Virtual Reality game called SoulDive. Unlike their first game, this one is all about fantasy. A world of the four cssic elements and those oh so familiar alignments from a certain dragon game. Our main character, Gem, put off joining the first FIVR game because they weren't too hot on the genre and had been unable to get a capsule. Now though, they managed to get a capsule for the true FIVR experience and fantasy games are right in their wheelhouse.

  Pnning to post chapters Mon/Wed/Fri

  [colpse]

  Ace turned back to the crowd, “I said I would execute them and I’m going to keep my word. The ones who promised to leave will be allowed to leave and those who didn’t agree will be exiled. I’m kind of sad that 38 idiots couldn’t even bother lying about their intentions, especially when I wasn’t having them swear to not work against us.

  “Whatever. This st section will take pce at the outer gate, which conveniently is straight down the road. Now, I won’t require you to all come along and watch, though I would prefer it. Those of you spying on the event for others at least should see this to the end.

  “We will reconvene just outside the main gate in half an hour.”

  The half hour passed quickly and honestly, Ace could have probably started after only half that time. Those who were interested followed as Ace finagled the root magic into transporting the captive. It wasn’t easy and took a lot out of him, but prevented any runners. Still, Ace waited, keeping exactly to his word. Then once the half hour was up Kelly snapped her fingers and amplified the sound to get everyone’s attention.

  Ace turned towards the captured. “Under the rules of hospitality and despite our belief that you meant us harm, we accepted you and provided free food and a pce to stay. However, while you ate our food and drink, invoking a guest’s rights, all of you acted against us and proved yourself undeserving of such hospitality.

  “Under those rules, it is entirely within my right to decide your punishment and in doing so, I have held back.” Ace turns to the bigger group of captured. “Some of you have accepted my lighter punishment.

  “While I am sure many don’t intend to keep your end of the bargain, what will be, will be. For now, you have sworn that once free, you will leave and not come back for a year and a day. May you keep your word.”

  Ace sighs and focuses on the 38 defiant ones. “You all however spit in the face of my clemency. All I asked was that you not enter my town for a year and a day! Despite your attempts on my life and position, I decided to not only let you live, but allowed you freedom.

  “Well, I guess I’ll just have to invoke a punishment with a deeper meaning behind it. You, the 38 before me, have broken the sacred rules of hospitality and so I pass judgment! Forever more shall you be exiled from these nds.”

  As Ace finishes his procmation, the 38 men and women are broken out of his roots spell with a loud crack. Not of their own will, but rather by way of an outside force. Without violence, yet cking gentleness, the group are flung away from the gate.

  On and on they go, reaching the top of an arc before coming down with a suddenness on any of the boats at the dock that are being used to transport people up river. One of the men, angered by this, attempts to jump back onto nd. In turn, an equal force pushes him back and since he jumped at an angle, nds in the water instead of the boat. Others assist him on getting back in, but no one else tries to return.

  Back at the gate, Ace releases the remaining captives from their bindings. “Well, you can leave now. Do note, I only had you swear not to enter the town. I’m not going to get on you if it takes you a little bit of time at the docks to figure out arrangements to leave.”

  Shell-shocked, those now free stand there until some of the regur townspeople shoes them away. Then from the gate, Cami shows up and walks over to Ace. “And I thought I was supposed to be the crafty one. Are you telling me I got this fine fine gray fur for nothing?”

  Ace snorts, “I’m sure you can still teach me a thing or two. I remember a saying about how ginger gets spicier with age.”

  Cami shrugs, “Never had any ginger so I wouldn’t know. Though I have to ask, did you provide free room and board for the event so you could invoke these hospitality rights on them? Even my people have some knowledge of them, despite not particurly following them. Can’t exactly just accept anyone into our home if they show up asking for guest rights.”

  Ace, “Yes and no. While that whole show of exiling them was good pageantry, at least most of them weren’t reted to the Fae in any way. So while hospitality rights are easy enough to invoke, I doubt the magical expulsion will st more than a fortnight. Not that I’m going to tell them that.”

  Cami nods, “The system might be kind, but it isn’t going to police people for you. What actual long-term benefits do you get for doing this?”

  Ace gestures at one of the guards at the gate. “While we can’t magically tell if you’ve committed a crime or anything, by exiling them like this the town’s guards will always be able to spot them. Even if they try to disguise themselves or hide in something.

  “I really hope they try to attack the town with the others. The guards on the wall will see them coming no matter how they try to hide. And speaking of the others, we sadly don’t quite get that much info.

  “Exile, especially when invoking a greater power or tradition, has a lot more oomph behind it than just telling them not to come back for a year and a day. Though specifically setting it to be a year and a day connects it to the whole Fae nonsense. So there might be some extra magic behind it.

  “However, when any of them do end up breaking their oath, that is when things get fun. At that point, it is a lot more serious, the same with those who were exiled. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do, but I’m hoping to make use of that cow deity we’ve got the herd worshiping.”

  Cami raises an eyebrow, “I thought you wanted to stay out of the whole divine nonsense? Wasn’t that the point of the cattle worshiping a deity and not the farmer?”

  Ace sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “That’s not really an option. Our pnet had so many religions before the system came and so many of them ended up actually existing. And that doesn’t even get into the various greater powers who want a piece of that faith pie.

  “There is no way to avoid religions, cults, and those they worship. Instead, I’m going to spread it out thin. The Fae, the Divine, and so on. Of course, I would prefer to avoid more infernal sorts. Maybe something specifically to acknowledge their existence without calling on them or singling any group or being out from the rest.

  “Then, through the fact that we allow all in our town as long as they follow the ws, we should get left alone. Though, as you already know, I’m not going to allow people in the inner circle to actively worship others. At this point, we have their number and know that we do not need them.”

  Cami, “There will always be those looking for relief from something or a quick route to power. It is easy now, but ter on? How will you maintain this among our descendants?”

  Ace shrugs, “first of course is through education. Not even the heavens will trade equally with you. Any power will gouge you for their blessings, the demonic and infernal are just more open about it.

  “Though when has that ever stopped a desperate teen from making promises they can’t actually afford? Which leads to the fact that we should actually be able to detect someone praying to another within the inner circle. Faith is a real power, you just can’t use that which you generate yourself.

  “That just leaves those who worship something and know not to do it within the inner circle. Yeah, that’s a bit out of our hands. We’ll need to keep an eye out for the symptoms until they’re old enough for the oath. Unlike the oaths I had those fools make, our oaths have a lot more power and proper system backing.”

  Cami, “Well, just one more thing to throw on the pile of troubles for future us.”

  Ace sighs and agrees.

  All the while, down in the dungeon Ally is not happy. ‘Why does he keep doing that?’

  Doyle nods, ‘Well, it worked once and he seems to have a pn for it.’

  Ally makes a fist and shakes it, ‘But he doesn’t have to yet! If he keeps pulling on the Fae mythos, they’re going to pull them in. Combined with me being here? Recipe for a bad time!’

  Doyle nods again, ‘Yeah, I can see that.’

  Ally throws herself on her bed, ‘And we’ve been going through all that trouble to keep the Fae away! Sure, we didn’t make a big deal about it after the first time, but we keep popping any fairy rings or what have you that form.’

  Doyle tilts to the side and back, ‘Not really that much effort, but true.’

  Ally sighs, ‘Sure, I guess the whole hospitality rules thing isn’t just a Fae creation. Though we do like to take it too far.’

  Doyle grabs into that, ‘Speaking of the Fae. I’ve heard of the whole hospitality thing, but I’ve also heard of a few others. Stuff like not eating their food or saying thank you. How much of that is true?’

  Ally frowns, ‘Thank you? What in the multiverse does that mean?’

  Doyle, ‘It was one of the odder ones I can remember. Basically, if you say thank you, the fairies in the stories would take it as you owing them something. Oh, and you never want to owe a fairy a favor.’

  Ally’s face lightens and she ughs. ‘Thankfully, that isn’t really a thing. I guess I can see how that might come about. However, even the Fae need to make space for culture and nguages. Too many people would get mad if we started ciming that people who said thank you to us owed us a favor.

  ‘As for that other one? Yeah, if you end up in the Fae realm as a normal mortal, don’t eat the food. Cosmologically, Fae realms fit right between Dream and Nightmare. Depending on the pce, they might even be the same pce with Fae being the border between the two.

  ‘That means the food avaible will either be the sweetest of dreams or the direst of nightmares. IE, those unprepared either won’t be able to force themselves to eat normal food or die from the experience. And even if they stay, the food there won’t act as substance for regur people.

  ‘You have to be able to gain substance from energy instead of physical material. Not that the food isn’t real. Rather, everything is in an energy state. Of course, you can bring normal food into the Fae realm and sometimes a Fae expecting a mortal guest will prepare appropriately.

  ‘Most of the time? Yeah, better not chance it. Though after a certain point, you don’t have to worry about it. After all, as you just heard with the whole masterwork stuff, there is a point where something is as good as it can be without magic.

  ‘Even the body will hit that point. Then you become like a magic item. Well, as a dungeon core, you get treated as a natural wonder so like how your loot is automatically masterwork, you are as well. Anyway, after a certain point, even the most basic no magic fighter will be magically strong.

  ‘Once a person is far enough along, they will be able to eat Fae food. That doesn’t fix not being able to stomach normal food of course. That, however, doesn’t matter because if you can eat Fae food and not starve, you can already sustain yourself on energy which skips eating. Or of course you can spend a ton of money to get a high level chef to make you dreamlike food. Either or.’

  Akhier

  NeoRealm

  Jason has just turned 18 and will be finally be able to py The biggest VR game out there, NeoRealm. Using a bit of knowledge from his past (life) he wants to start his adult life with a bang. Taking the road less traveled will sound quiant compare to where he wants to go.

  ~NeoRealm~ the most realistic VR game to date. A Fantasy world which even after years of exploration is still mostly unknown. Want to experience the mysteries of the Arcane? Become one of the many types of Magic Users and work to improve your ranking till you can move mountains, or just ftten them if you prefer. Do you just desire to wield sheer physical power? Then train your melee skills beyond all others and decimate towns with a single swing. Or maybe you just want to know what its like to be a cat person. We have those too. Come on in and join us at 5x the speed of boring old reality (you heard us right, not your average everyday 4x time compression!). *WARNING - limited to those age 18 and up, we are not responsible for any minor losing their grasp on reality, sanity, or species

  SoulDive

  They/Them, known online as May/Hem, is about to venture into the world of SoulDive, the second full immersion VR game developed by the SAI. Within they'll take on the name Gem Paroxysm and bring their own brand of chaos to this fantasy world of Magic and pyers.

  The Sapient AI just put out their second Full Immersion Virtual Reality game called SoulDive. Unlike their first game, this one is all about fantasy. A world of the four cssic elements and those oh so familiar alignments from a certain dragon game. Our main character, Gem, put off joining the first FIVR game because they weren't too hot on the genre and had been unable to get a capsule. Now though, they managed to get a capsule for the true FIVR experience and fantasy games are right in their wheelhouse.

  Pnning to post chapters Mon/Wed/Fri

  Banished Talent

  There were things hidden in the darkness and they’re about to introduce themselves to the hood of my car. Not that the knowledge will do me much good. Some Talents aren’t too appreciated by the Powers That Be, and with magic? Sometimes the best option is to just Banish the problem.

  I’m Alvin Smithson and let me tell you my story.

  Alvin grew up on Earth, or at least one shockingly simir to what you’re familiar with. Except for the magic. And Alvin? Despite never having experienced magic before, he believed in magic a little too much. So when magic found him, he was past the point of being returned to his boring modern life. Then things got worse when they tested him to see if he had any magic of his own.

  Join me, as we get a front-row seat to Alvin being banished from Earth and as he descend into a painful rebirth. He won’t be leaving the pnet alone, though. Much to his misfortune, a person going along has decided this is all Alin’s fault and is more than willing to make their displeasure known. So now Alvin only has a limited time to learn about his power in a pce actively trying to kill him.

  Can Alvin adapt fast enough? Gain the power needed? Or will he be just another life snuffed out in a realm where no one has ever escaped from?

  This novel has been finished and while you can read it in the entirety here and on my Patreon, there is a more polished version avaible for purchase as an ebook for 3.99 on both Amazon and my Patreon. I will get more of the cut if you buy it on my Patreon shop, but I understand that getting an ebook on kindle can be a hassle so feel free to use Amazon. If anything, it will help boost the story in the algo.

  [colpse]