Category: Stories

Leaving William’s shop an hour later with my order placed, it was time to check on a couple of leads for training. Two of them were in the same general direction, so I started that way, looking for a decent-sized street to follow along. As I came upon an intersection, I saw something that made

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Laughing, “That was awesome! I don’t know what you are going to do to attract attention Auntie; I am going to ride my light cycle over to the Explorer’s Association and then vanish! That should get tounges wagging and provide enough of a distraction for me to get my base settled and finish my other

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Nobody is in the parlor when I come out this morning, so I head downstairs to the dining room. Auntie Emma is placing a platter of pancakes on the table. There are already some scrambled eggs and bacon out, and the explorers are chatting and eating. “Good morning, everyone.” Pleasantries are exchanged, with Auntie Emma

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Following the explorers upstairs, I find myself drifting into introspection mode…  I can create enough wealth to buy anything I want. With that, I have everything I need to survive in the city and to live extravagantly if I want to. I could set myself up as a local power, but that would tie me

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I look at the explorers and say, “You can keep eating. Nirvana is unlikely to join us for a while. If my guess is right, she’s going to wait until I prove something I’ve started to suspect unless I stumble into something else. Bring out both handbooks, and I’ll show you where to spend some

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The explorers looked at each other, smiled, and shouted, “Itadakimasu!” I laughed! “How awesome is it that particular Japanese custom has apparently become mainstream!” Auntie Emma replied, “It never carried a heavy religious connection and thus stuck when many western phrases dropped out of favor. The third drawer from the left, Jeb, has the serving

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“Ok, I promise not to do anything else I think will attract Nirvana’s attention today – let’s get to the obelisk, update, and find lodging.” Grumpy nods, “Let’s go. I’ll take us to a place where we may be able to get a suite of rooms with a common area.” He stops when he notices

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Just as we are coming up on the exit to the graveyard, a couple of adventurers decked out in clothes and equipment that screams, ‘THUG!’, step out from behind the pillars that the gate is attached to. “Well, well, it’s some of the big shots in the Explorer’s Association. What do you think, Billy? Do

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“Let’s get out of here; adventurers are starting to gather for the nightly raids,” said Grumpy while pointing out some people coming down the main path from the gate. They were quite a ways out. “I agree. In fact, why don’t we head to the road? I’ll offer them my shovel, letting them know we

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When I look around, I see Grumpy looking at me. He shakes his head, “I don’t want to know.” Laughing at him, “Oh yes, yes you do, but it can wait. Have you picked from the vault?” “No,” he replies. “That’s fine. Take your time. I want to spend an hour here, then have a

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After Gilden and Grumpy remove the locks and lift the gravestone out of the recess, Mason and I look in it. “This one is different – there is a palm reader here.” Kneeling, I place my palm on the reader, and a mechanical voice sounds out. “Your party is the first to access the James

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After we pass through the foot gate, Grumpy takes us to the left, where there’s a path along the foot of the wall that we follow. The walls and crenellations are high enough that we can’t see the guards stationed there. The forest has also been pushed back, leaving an open field of about five

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We’ve just come up on a large square, offset so that the road that passes through the gate is on the left side of the courtyard as you face the gate from inside Horn Point. This arrangement is so that the traffic coming into the city can be shunted off for inspection while traffic leaving

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“Follow me,” shouted Grumpy! And he ran into an alleyway. We’re on a minor street with crafter shops after a few twists and a squeeze between some crates. Many of the doorways have people standing nearby, smiling and catching skittles as they fall out of the air. Gilden says, “Put your cloaks on while we

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Gilden said, “Let’s stop by the COM market and help Jeb get a ‘standard pack’ built on the way to the graveyard. I know he’ll need more than he got from the Bobs.” “Shopping is more along my strengths! Is there anything you want to pick up besides basics?” asked Mason. I replied, “I want

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I woke early, the best night’s sleep I think I have ever had. Becoming a digital human has a lot going for it. I wonder how well Moore’s Law held up after I died? It seems like you can have the best of both worlds by living physically and going digital near the end. There

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Grumpy64 stares at me while I finish laughing. Finally, he says, “Who or what is ‘Red Robin’?” “Based on that small confirmation, they are a defunct restaurant chain specializing in Hamburgers and ‘bottomless fries. ‘Bottomless fries’ are an ‘all-you-can-eat’ option.” “It doesn’t surprise me that you know about something that doesn’t exist. But how did

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“There’s nothing like a soak in a hot tub after an adventure,” Mason continued. “However, when you are out in the field and don’t want monsters tracking you like bloodhounds, you need to clean up and eliminate any excess scent. My cantrip starts with a damp cloth in one hand and then say, ‘Scrubbing Bubbles’

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Soon I saw Harry and three other men with baskets on long handles moving along the rows from the back forward. Everybody is putting a token or silver into the basket. I put mine in when it’s my turn. They empty the baskets into a small chest at the front of the room that is

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Clara came back with my blue cheese and placed it on the table. I smiled and said, “You can never have enough cheese. Let’s see if this works like I think it should.” I dumped the blue cheese dressing on my salad and then held the little bowl in my left hand, “Spice Rack Blue

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The inside of The Weather Vane is much larger than I would expect for a medieval tavern. There must be seating for more than five hundred people. You can see two staircases from the door – going both up and down. And most surprising of all – it doesn’t smell. Not it doesn’t smell bad

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The north entrance of the Church of Money wasn’t any busier than your average mall and not nearly as intimidating as the market I saw from the chapel doorway. As I left, I could finally see what Horn Point looked like – and I wasn’t expecting a weird cross between the industrial revolution and medieval

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Frank walked over to the hallway on the right, picked up a hammer tucked into a recess on the wall, and then struck a gong in that same recess. Then he started walking over to me, “OK, another attendant will be here shortly. We can go set up your account. When you return, there’s a

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Frank has pulled his bench so he can lean against the wall and put his feet on it. I pick the bench next to him, sit down and say, “I don’t think I am ready to brave that level of capitalism.” Frank starts laughing, “It’s so funny that you say that! You see, you are

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