William Jones
Stories
10
Chapters
3,868
Words
2.6 M
Comments
0
Reading
8 d, 21 h
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Wally could speak every language known to man and several that had become lost. When dealing with some humans, he found that the most powerful languages were non-verbal. CATHERINE had been his tutor, and she had taught him how to speak two languages simultaneously. It was tricky, and humans were masters of this technique. Welcoming a stranger to your town with a smile while crushing their hand to show dominance. Polite gestures that nevertheless conveyed disdain. Today he was speaking to angry…-
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Nothing at all lives forever. Every tree know that, deep in their roots, from the time they sprout from a seed. But no one thinks of death in the spring as new branches grow strong and buds turn to fruit, and new life forms in the heart of a tree. Summer brings the sun that beats down on mature branches, and the moon which entices a young dryad to dance with her sisters. Autumn is the harvest, sharing a fruitful year with the creatures that come for the festival. They celebrate and dance with the young…
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Ozzy awoke to the smell of pancakes and strong tea. He normally only needed four hours of sleep a night, but drinking rum with his fellow captains had strained even his metabolism, and he'd slept in. He was surprised he didn't have a hangover. As he rolled out of bed, Suzette put two plates on the table, heaped with butter, strawberries, and pancakes. Hers with three, Ozzy's with over a dozen. "You made breakfast; bless you." "Breakfast? That was at 7 am, just after you went to bed. This is lunch. It…
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"Yeah, well, I'm disappointed. I'd hope that you would kill people for no reason at all. Humans will kill for the last piece of the pie. Squash to the face is a death penalty nearly everywhere." "Testing your reflexes and seeing if you're always awake." "I need a teleport stone. A big one. Or I need to know how to make one or where to steal one." "Because they're screwing with me and screwing with my city. I don't let anyone do that. I'm about to start hitting back hard, and that would help." "Drive…
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Theordis was greatly enjoying his dinner. Nothing added to the flavor of food like the glow of victory. And everyone at the table knew who had been victorious and who got put in his place. Geoffrey was still fidgeting in his chair and drinking his wine in gulps, upset over the timing. He'd been so close to closing such a lucrative deal. This would have made up for his failures to convince some of the friendlier corporations that they needed Imperial Storehouses. Alchemarx and Soylent had laughed at the…
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Theordis had not expected such a fine little Inn in such a small, out-of-the-way town. They had been greeted by the Innkeeper and his staff as if they were nobility and shown to quite comfortable rooms on the 3rd floor overlooking the town. Hot baths were already prepared for them, and dinner would be served in an hour. A bottle of wine was brought to each room, along with an assortment of cheese and fruit. Theordis cautioned them all. "This is all fine, and I'm going to enjoy the hospitality, but remember…
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Over large bowls of hearty gopher stew, the new inhabitants of the Barony of Gadobhra discussed what to name their new Hamlet. Sloth Hollow was proposed, but it was quickly pointed out that there weren't any sloths left—the same for Gopherville and Shewburg. Still, most felt that the huge battle needed to be remembered somehow. Ozzyburg was proposed, but the Butcher was too modest to accept such an honor and quickly declined. Finally, someone suggested the name, North Farthing. "After all, this was part…
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Ozzy explained how gopher hunting worked. "I'm going to thump my hammer on the ground hard, and it will drive out all the critters living underneath. Most normal gophers won't survive, but there's a chance of having a bigger one down there. Those will be higher level and might even have a name. You have to be careful of them. Just run away and come towards me or one of the other workers. If we can catch them, one of us will pin them down and let some of you hit at them to gain experience and points. We…
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Ozzie was enjoying himself. He still wondered why Suzette and Ben had thought it necessary that he be the one to start leading families out to the open land by the unicorn fields. Over the years of working with his friends, he'd learned that you sometimes just went along with things and got the whole story later. If they needed him to get together a crew and start building hamlets, that's what he would do. The sun was high; there was a mild breeze and just a few clouds in the sky. And a day spent out in…
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Jonathan Yarrow was tired. He was tired of running and sleeping under a wagon, worried that his family would have to flee again in the middle of the night. They had rested in the large refugee camp on the outskirts of Rowan keep for the last three days. He was still uneasy. The Legion at Northguard had done nothing to aid them when the raiders burned their villages and herded them like cattle to the north. Things seemed better here. The Legion had supplied them with food and clean water, and a healer had…
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