Showing results by author "Andrew Schmitt" in All Categories

After wiping out the drak nest, Eric finds himself now also in a trap. In order to avoid dying in a cave-in, he activates the manuscript he received for defeating the Lady of the Anomaly. A portal then whisks Eric away to the lookout point atop the mysterious Citadel of Chaos.

Our future. Noncitizens and individuals of low social standing can only find work in one place: the virtual world of Disgardium. And that might mean mining ore; it could just as well mean cleaning pigsties or washing dishes in a tavern, but that's about as glamorous as it gets. Fifteen-year-old schoolboy Alex has dreams of working as a space guide. All he can think about is the stars, but life gets in the way, and now his only path to achieving that goal is through the game.

What is it like for a small flap-eared goblin herbalist to play the role of the Dark Sovereign, the main antagonist for Boundless Realm's hundreds of millions of players? What is it like to find one's self the standard bearer for an army of man-eating giants, cyclops, skeletons, ghosts, and other hellspawn, who don't give a damn about their modest little ruler? Our hero didn't desire such an unenviable fate, but there is no way back now. But the longer he plays, the better he understands that he is just a pawn in someone else's game.

Gnat the Devourer is becoming a more prominent figure in grand space politics. Sure, he may not be totally independent yet, but he has enough leeway to be able to differentiate Earth's interests from those of its Geckho suzerains and act exclusively for the good of his own kind. Gnat must balance obligations to his almighty suzerains against a desire to advance humanity's position in space, and his home planet's search for ever more allies.

Ceasefires have one big downside: They eventually come to an end. And when they do, once again game nodes are set ablaze, and platoons of Dark Faction soldiers threaten our customary world with destruction. The enemy has grown stronger and more numerous. To make matters worse, they also got their hands on even deadlier weaponry. They have learned painful lessons from previous encounters and adjusted their tactics accordingly.

Your parents are getting divorced. Now, once you turn 16, you'll be doomed to a pitiful existence on the lowest rungs of society. The neighbor girl got plastic surgery for your sake and is levelling fast to impress you. A Sleeping God gave you its power, but now demands absolute loyalty and obedience, even in real life. Something called the Destroying Plague wants its Emissary to infect everyone alive and, as luck would have it, that Emissary is you! But the city sees you as its salvation, not a cause of great suffering.

In this world, steam and electricity are the favored sources of power. Science has taken the place of religion, while magic is unknown by all but peculiar outcasts. But the border between reality and the underworld here is extremely thin. Thankfully, the adepts of scientific knowledge have found success holding back the onslaught of infernal creatures. Electricity is stronger than magic, but even it is not all-powerful. A former detective constable for the New Babylon Criminal Investigative Police, Leopold Orso is illustrious.

New Babylon is the capital of the mighty Second Empire. Dirigibles drift over the city, steam trains race down its tracks, and the factory chimneys never stop billowing smoke, even for a moment. The hegemony of science is unquestioned, and yet magic hasn't disappeared from the world. It remains dissolved in the blood of those who are called Illustrious. Hardline reductionists find that hard to accept, but it is not in their power to change the longstanding status quo.