L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 6

Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan: Chapter One

The problem with pig blood was how horrible it smelled when it went off and how quickly it could spoil on a balmy evening. On the upside, getting several buckets of the stuff was easy in the Mercantile Alliance. All it took was a quick trip to the local butcher. Unlike human blood, there was no need for murder.

Well aware that his pint-sized apprentice was staring at him as if he’d lost his mind, Timmy dipped his paintbrush back into the bucket and scribbled another doodle on the wall. This p...

A Reward…

For persevering with all the delays, how about a reward?

I will be posting Chapter One of Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan either later today or tomorrow. It is roughly 12,900 words. Note that the chapter itself is basically the final version (just need to proofread it a tad more for typos etc.).

Patrol (Flash Fiction Fridays #68)

Palladio stood silent sentry over the village. Patrols were a regular part of training for the ninja rats, and regular trips through the local villages ensured they remained familiar with possible battlegrounds. Black Tower Castle was a nigh-impregnable fortress. Its position atop a massive outcrop of rock made it all but impossible to attack using mundane methods, and its magical defences were the equal or better of any fortress in Everton. Lord Timmy had also cleared the castle’s immediate sur...

Puddle (Flash Fiction Fridays #67)

The boy and the girl looked at the puddles that had been left by the rain.

“I think this puddle is the best.” The boy nodded sagely and poked the puddle with his foot. “Yep. This puddle is definitely the best.”

The girl shook her head and poked a different puddle with her stick. “No way. This puddle is better. It’s definitely the best.”

The boy and the girl stared at each other. Then, as if by mutual agreement, they both raised their feet and –

SPLASH.

The two siblings engaged in the ancient and...

Ghosts (Flash Fiction Fridays #66)

Katie gulped and looked away from Old Man.

“You see them, don’t you?” Old Man murmured as the drizzle turned into rain around them. “Yes, it was raining that day. I can still remember the way the mud churned beneath their boots, the way the water clung to their armour and dripped from their weapons.”

Around them, standing silent but angry sentry, were scores of ghosts. All of them stared balefully at Old Man, their spectral forms still bearing the wounds he had inflicted upon them.

“Maybe we sho...

World-Building and Gods

World-Building and Gods

If you’re writing a fantasy story, the odds are pretty good that if it goes long enough, you’ll need to do something about the gods of that world.

The question you should be asking yourself is: how involved are the gods in daily affairs?

The answer to this question is very important because it will shape how much the gods are likely to be involved with the progression of the story and the development of the characters.

If the gods are relatively divorced from daily affair...

Dream Eater (Flash Fiction Fridays #65)

Dream Eater

Timmy glanced up from his book. He wasn’t normally the sort of person to watch somebody else sleep – that was more than a little creepy – but his pint-sized apprentice was a special case. Over the past week, she had complained about having several strange dreams. That was not, in and of itself, cause for concern.

Strange dreams were hardly unusual for necromancers, and the castle was something of a… hotspot for unusual occurrences. However, the specific content of her dreams had draw...

Everton’s Language

Everton’s Language

Everton speaks the same language as the Eternal Empire. This is because Everton was once a province of the empire. Moreover, most of Everton’s nobility is made up of nobles originally from the empire who were part of the original rebellion that saw Everton secede from the empire.

The language spoken by the empire is the most commonly spoken language in their hemisphere since the empire is the single most powerful nation and has many provinces, colonies, and so on. Everton itse...

Species-Innate Magic

Species-innate magic refers to certain forms of magic that are inherent to various species.

Perhaps the most famous form of species-innate magic is the petrifying gaze common to all gorgons. Another famous example is the fire magic found in all fire salamanders. Dragons, likewise, all possess an affinity for fire magic. This even includes ice-aligned dragons although they tend to use their ice breath and ice magic over their fire-related abilities.

Note that elves do not, technically, have a spe...

Paired Magics

It is not all that uncommon for someone to possess two forms of magic. One of these will usually be referred to as their primary magic whilst the other will be referred to as their secondary magic. Some systems classify the first form of magic to appear as the primary magic whilst other systems refer to the more powerful form of magic as the primary magic.

Generally speaking, people with two forms of magic can be broken up into two groups: those with paired magics and those with unpaired magics....