《Isekai'D Shoggoth》Interlude 1. Klaus Gets The Red Herring
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He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Normally, Klaus did not care to resort to scryings, magic foresight never gave straight answers and more than often proved to be misleading in hindsight. But still, some things could be divined if one approached the matter with a grain of salt. And the mystery of fraulein Gillespie was... a problem. All available data he had insisted she is merely a divinely inspired noble, gifted with a few scraps of alchemical knowledge. Available data was a load of crap. He had seen his own head, as delivered back to Kraut by kronprinz Hiram, along with dire warnings not to antagonize obviously powerful family further. His own notes mentioned that this was not a solo operation, he had two aides. Neither of which could be found. Which meant they were all caught and disposed of, quickly and efficiently, given that out of the whole Parsee, Hiram was apparently the only one in the know about his demise there. Alyssa Gillespie was most emphatically not whom she appeared to be. Hence, the divination.
Most of the scrying is relying on visions. Something he was very loathe to do, because visions are intrinsically colored by the biases and presumptions of one experiencing them. That left one odd ritual that was more of a summoning than scrying, and called forth assorted items that had "connection". Mostly, random crap, like pebbles that had been stepped onto by target in the past or scraps of fabric from clothes worn by the target in the past, or... In short, random garbage. All of that random garbage was, in some way, important - for example, a pebble could be the one the target stood on when they beheld a miracle or some such. The problem was deciphering such connections, which was very much a crapshoot. The problem is, this time it was different. Instead of an assortment of random garbage, he found himself in possession of twelve neatly calligraphic sheets of paper, with immaculately drawn portraits and a bit of information.
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He considered the papers intently. What was the connection? Three women, nine men. All of them considerably older than Alyssa Gillespie. None of them even remotely resembling her parents. Or any people Klaus knew. That did not mean as much right now, sadly, him being only a few weeks out of the decanter. He was still refamiliarizing himself with the situation. Directing his attention to the papers, he split them according to what he could figure out from the names and short details provided. One pile contained "not likely to find out much about". Names like Xianyong Bai and Quarbani Singh went there - he recognized the names as natives of far Orient, and the pictures had borne the assumption well. Most of the others went into "maybe" pile, with names and faces he tentatively placed as people from Pharos and Transbalkan. In the end, he had put his focus on three papers. Michelle Dachss sounded very Champagne-like, though he knew of no nobles with that family name. Warren Clyde - very albish, both in name and looks, but again, likely a commoner. But the last? Oh, the last paper was where he would concentrate his attention for the foreseeable future.
Frank Bilders. The black sheep of Bilders family. Also known as Oireland Butcher. No one knew he was named Frank, actually, but every other Bilders was accounted for, and the information.... did match, well, insofar as he could gleam. He was still expressly curious about all the weird names on the papers. It was clear that they came from a world not quite the same as one Klaus inhabited currently. He knew enough to sense the otherness to papers. But that was simply fascinating on the level he could not fathom - was Alyssa Gillespie really from another world? Could be, could be. The question was, then, what is her connection to Oireland Butcher and who are the other eleven?
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High School DEATH GAMES
"'Why,' a woman asked me, 'would they show a movie with things I do not want to see?' She is not unusual. Most people choose movies that provide exactly what they expect, and tell them things they already know. Others are more curious. We are put on this planet only once, and to limit ourselves to the familiar is a crime against our minds." - From the Great Roger Ebert Be forewarned, this story is not for everyone. It's not even for some people. This is for just a select few who get wet from misery and excited by suffering. This is no level up, power up, let's kill monsters, op mc, fantasy land, standard litrpg garbage you find in basically every other story on this site. If the rest of RoyalRoad is shounen (which it is), then this is Gantz/Berserk. Sorry. I lied. This is darker than Berserk and bloodier than Gantz. Not a manga fan? Then how about Korean cinema? Have you heard of Kim Ki-duk? His works The Isle, Moebius, and Pieta all come to mind. Again, this is not for normal people. There's a bunch of other normal stories for normal people to read. The whole rest of the site library is for normal. This is a special section set aside for a special type of story meant for a special kind of people. If you follow or favorite this, you're telling the whole world that you're a little different. A bit twisted. I guess you could call it the BDSM of reading. Which segues perfectly into the introduction. Are you kinky? Are you familiar with the taboo? Have you ever thought about the depths of human depravity? What I'm trying to ask is, do you like fucked up shit? Do you like massacres and public shamings? Do you like watching people fall into despair, going insane, or turning into psychopaths? Do you get turned on when love is destroyed and hedonism reigns king? Well, I've got the perfect story for you! If you're uncomfortable with profanity, gore, sexual and traumatising content, then I recommend you move on. I won't judge you just cause you're a pussy. And I'm not talking about the fake labels of the other candy ass stories on this site who think their shit is morbid or even remotely disturbing, I'm talking about the shocking, offensive, real fucked up shit that you can't even use incognito mode for and you gotta install Tor browser. (You don't actually need to install Tor, you idiot.) If you love that shit or even if you're just curious, then read on. I swear it's not as bad as you think it'll be. It's much worse. - Signed with no love, Marley (written by a friend in the voice of Marley) Unapologetic, cynical, pretentious, pessimistic, hypocritical, selfish, sarcastic, passive, apathetic asshole main character named Marley. Alternate POV: Badass, intelligent, proactive, loving, nice, friendly, optimistic co-main character Sophia. This is essentially a rough draft. Grammar and spelling has been read through and fixed for the most part. If you don't like something, tell me why you don't like it. Don't just rate it low anonymously. Thanks.
8 208Losian
It's been a while hasn't it? Since I disappeared. Sorry this couldn't be under better circumstances, but let's just agree that it's better late than never. I've been finding my way back since then, traveling across worlds of magic, science, even eldritch locations. I've seen things you wouldn't believe, and some I'd prefer you didn't. I'll tell you everything, even what I became in the dark. A long, long time ago, hahah... Never mind. Let's just start. My intention is to explore every. single. world I can think of from scifi to high fantasy, hopefully forming an overarching storyline along the way. I hope to be able to explore most of the settings, most of the tropes, and play with them in multiple different ways. However, this also means that many of the tags will only apply for specific sections of the story... As the first arc is now completed, chapter titles will be slowly edited to include the world involved, and then any relevant tags. Also exists on wordpress here, will update both sides simultaneously. Constructive criticism welcome and much appreciated. 20/3/2018. Previous cover courtesy of Archmage Naoki, also Bobb on the Discord RRL server.26/3/2018. Current cover courtesy of ssddx. Thanks for the cover.
8 254The Ageless Sword
In a world where using magic is a given, those who can't have no place. Being one of those unlucky few, Tavia has spent most her life keeping out of sight and waiting for something to change. Her hope of attending Avel'lier, the most esteemed university for training Knights and Altheists in Marquest is slowly dying, and she fears being left at home with the mother who only sees her defects. She gets her chance after a terrorist attack leaves her in possession of one of the most storied Artifacts in Marquest's history, The Ageless Sword. The sword can give her the strength to change her fate, but it comes with burdens of its own. Suddenly, Tavia, whom no one wanted, is the only person who can protect her city from the machinations of a organization bent on resurrecting a monstrous false-god, but after so long in the shadows, can Tavia find the courage to step up and save everything she cares about?
8 122I was given a new life yet I somehow became a battle lunatic
John wakes up in a strange new world filled with magic, monsters, and adventurers. He quickly comes to learn that he is no longer human and seems to be the only one of his kind. Did this change occur solely on the physical level, or is he loosing more of his humanity as his power grows? John tries to make a place for himself in the world he was dropped in to, while finding it harder to recall the one from his past. Many new friends stand beside John as he tries to unravel the mysteries behind who, or what, put him here and he's going to need all the strength he can muster in order to deal with the consequences of what he unearths.
8 138The Periplus of Hanno
Considered to be Ancient Carthage’s Odyssey, the original Periplus of Hanno was copied from a Carthaginian temple and taken back to Greece. For two thousand years, it existed only as a copy of a copy, a brief, broken story that only hinted at a larger tale… until now. Hanno, King of Carthage, has just lost his queen, and the Council of Elders threatens to take his throne. In order to preserve his dynasty, Hanno must take the Libyan citizens of over-crowded Carthage on a journey West, beyond the fabled Pillars of Hercules, and to the uncharted African continent below. There, he will encounter terrible beasts, hidden magic, and legendary titans. But the Council of Elders refuses to just let him succeed, and threatens to unite with the powerful forces of this unknown land, and halt the Periplus of Hanno.
8 122SoulBinder: A Tale of a Conqueror
8 125